Readers write (May 24): State budget, marriage equality, Tim Pawlenty

With two very different budget proposals and no compromise in sight, the obvious solution is for the two budget plans to be submitted to the voters to choose. The same would work for competing legislative redistricting plans.

A general election would force each side to moderate extreme positions. If it takes a change in a law to allow this vote, change the law.

LEN SCHAKEL, LAKELAND

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As the father of two sons who served tours of duty in Iraq, I appreciated the fact that then-U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton wouldn't get bullied into going along with the falsehoods that steamrolled us into the war.

No one argues that the rich aren't paying their fair share of taxes. The Republicans just don't want to tax them.

Dayton was right in 2002, and he is right in 2011. Stick to your principles, governor. Help the wealthy to become the solution instead of the problem.

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Hallelujah! At last we hear the voice of reason in this whole budget mess. We don't need and shouldn't want rhetoric and fear-mongering guiding budget decisions. Get the facts!

I agree with economist Paul Anton's position that the state needs a nonpartisan department to advise the Legislature by providing detailed research on budget issues ("Taxes? Cuts? To economy, it's all the same," commentary, May 21).

I was unaware that the Legislature didn't already have this kind of professional input on these crucial matters. I am disgusted to find out that they've pulling arguments out of thin air -- or more disgusting places.

Businesses of all sizes must make fact-based decisions to stay afloat. It's time the state's largest entity does the same thing.

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The presence of the gay marriage amendment on next year's ballot will make gay rights a hot topic in Minnesota schools. Teachers are often expected to present controversial topics to students with an unbiased approach.

To treat this topic the same would be an irreparable mistake. Openly gay students are making up an increasingly larger proportion of student bodies all over the state.

For a teacher to at all legitimize the validity of this amendment would send an emotionally damaging message.

It would also be counterproductive to the anti-bullying campaign currently being conducted in our schools, a campaign largely the result of the mistreatment of gay students by their straight peers.

BILL BOEGEMAN, SUBSTITUTE TEACHER, PRIOR LAKE

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Arnold Schwarzenegger, Newt Gingrich, John Edwards, Elliot Spitzer, John Ensign, Mark Sanford, Charlie Sheen, Mel Gibson, Larry King, Rudy Giuliani, Tiger Woods, Michael Douglas, Michael Jordan, Donald Trump ...

These men, not gays, represent the threat to the institution of marriage and the over-50-percent divorce rate.

I trust that if presented with a vote, Minnesotans are smart enough and fair-minded enough to reject the scapegoat amendment that targets those who care about one another and simply want to live like anyone else.

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It's too bad the Star Tribune loves to paint all people who disagree with gay marriage as hypocrites and extremists. It seems to me only the extreme views and rhetoric of people on the subject get media attention.

I guess that sells papers. What is lost in all of this is the many people who are conflicted about the issue and are not gay bashers. What is also lost is the fact that you can be a thinking person and disagree with gay marriage.

One doesn't have to be a "dogmatist" to be against gay marriage.

MARK J. MATHEWS, GREENBUSH, MINN.

The Minnesota Family Council is supporting an amendment to limit civil marriage to "one man and one woman." Tom Pritchard, the council's president, says: "Our goal is not to make it personal."

Sorry, but there aren't many things in my life that are more personal than my marriage. And you are not welcome to meddle in it.

JEFF MOSES, MINNEAPOLIS

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Thank you for the only uplifting story I've read in ages, the Duet feature on Diane Bias-Mosel and Soraida Palacios in the Variety section ("Schooled in teamwork," May 23). I'm thankful for the cooperation of Bias-Mosel and Palacios for the sake of students in Gaylord, Minn.

On the other hand, it is two days past the "end of the world," and we don't seem grateful. Perhaps the stories about the Minnesota Legislature add to our general dismay.

This elected body had to fund our state properly in order to keep it running and to deal with an historical debt left by a man now running for president. Instead, both houses have frittered away their time on an amendment banning gay marriage and seeking to require a photo ID for voters in Minnesota.

Our Constitution already is painfully long, gay marriage is not currently legal in Minnesota, and a photo ID in a state with the cleanest elections in the nation would not help us get rid of the clowns already elected.

DARLENE MARTINSON ROSS, BENSON, MINN.

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Now I know what Ronald Reagan meant when he famously said, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."