Readers Write (Jan. 20): Bonding bill, labor, Paula Deen, Vikings

Republican reaction to Gov. Mark Dayton's bonding bill is perplexing. State Sen. Majority Leader David Senjem says the governor's proposal is too much.

Senjem says the state should invest just $500 million in needed infrastructure. But history doesn't support that position.

If you go back 16 years -- beyond that which is easily researched on the Internet -- you cannot find a bonding bill that small.

During those times, all of the proposed budgets by Republican governors were higher than what Senjem is proposing now.

It makes me wonder if he understands some of the businesslike advantages of investing in Minnesota now. When construction companies are idled, the cost of building goes down, because more companies compete for the work.

The cost of borrowing -- or bonding -- for the state has never been lower. And when we put the unemployed back to work, we generate revenue growth that Republicans say is our salvation.

For a party that said it was all about jobs, it hasn't worked to create many.

* * *

The Jan. 18 article about the recall petition directed at Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker cited anti-union rhetoric from the right.

"Walker is a hero to his side for standing up to public employee unions and forcing these workers to accept many of the same sacrifices that have been asked of private sector workers."

The argument that public employees should be made subject to market volatility may have become widely accepted, but it is deeply flawed.

A decade ago, we had budget surpluses. I don't recall anyone on the right suggesting that public employees should be subject to market volatility back then.

It's widely known that highly qualified public-sector workers can't earn as much income as they might in the private sector.

People who choose public service, however, are attracted to the small but steady pay increases, quality health care and livable retirement.

In other words, they are willing to exchange limited earning potential for predictability and lowered risk.

By eliminating collective bargaining, Walker and Wisconsin Republicans have destroyed predictability and created heightened risk.

BEN DREWELOW, ST. LOUIS PARK

A Jan. 19 letter writer stated: "Workers are competing more and more with computerized machines that make things. The machines are becoming more efficient faster than the workers."

The largest cost in manufacturing is labor. So in order to compete, companies must do what they can do to decrease labor costs. Replacing them with machines is a good way to do this.

What the letter writer did not mention was the fact that machines will not go on strike.

MIKE MCLEAN, RICHFIELD

* * *

She is a joyous person who made her way up from poverty. She overcame agoraphobia, founded a restaurant, and now promotes her sons.

The editorial should have made clear why her admission that she has Type II diabetes is good, rather than shaming her for it.

MICHAEL ALLEN MIKOLAJCZAK, MINNEAPOLIS

• • •

It's fascinating that on the same day your editorialists demonized Deen as "a force for fat" who has "a moral obligation ... to help her family and friends," the Taste section featured photos and recipes for cinnamon rolls; buttermilk flapcakes; almond and mascarpone bundt cake; overnight waffles, pea soup with crispy pancetta, bread and sour cream; slow cooker beef chili, and Hungarian goulash.

If turkey's not your favorite, how about pot roast, that "like nearly everything else that comes out of the kitchen [is] served in a portion so generous that it should arrive with a doggie bag."

It's also instructive that, in an effort to increase circulation, the Star Tribune features an advertisement in the Taste section headlined "Get your fill" so we can "Dig in to Taste for new recipes..."

I think you have a moral obligation to apologize to Ms. Deen. Perhaps it's time for the Star Tribune "to become a force for good instead of a force for fat."

MICHAEL BATES, HAM LAKE

* * *