Readers Write (Nov. 12): OccupyMN, Sen. David Hann, Vikings stadium, voter ID, bullying and marriage

I don't understand why the government suddenly has a problem with the OccupyMN protesters. They're still peacefully protesting and haven't done any harm to the Hennepin County Government Center Plaza except to make everyone more aware of the situation.

I realize that winter is coming, but if the demonstrators want to continue their protest through the cold, snow, wind and ice, it's their First Amendment right to do so.

STACY AMSTADT, MINNEAPOLIS

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Gov. Mark Dayton is absolutely justified in his anger at the latest Republican move to place politics over people's lives. State Sen. David Hann has chosen to hold sick Minnesotans hostage in order to make a political point ("Dayton, Hann spar over grants," Nov. 9).

Unilaterally blocking $25 million for improving the health of our state isn't just foolish economic policy, it's also plain wrong.

Hann is putting a hold on cancer diagnosis tools for children, help for people with chronic diseases and aid for veterans who want to stay in their homes -- all because he is playing partisan politics. He should be ashamed.

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While I'm aware that we live in Vikings territory, the priorities of this state are way out of sorts. I am appalled that our governor is going to "extreme measures" to meet the budget for a new stadium, while children are being shoved around to different schools because the schools are closing left and right.

Mothers are scrambling to find carpools and ride arrangements because busing has been cut. Meanwhile, Vikings players continue to go to jail for one reason or another, and we are worried about engaging in a hostile posture toward them?

Come on, governor, how about getting the people's priorities straight?

JACKIE GILBERT, PLYMOUTH

For weeks, there has been little movement on the stadium issue. This confounds me. The argument that the stadium will bring jobs and revenue to the state seems to be too difficult for Republican leaders to understand (I happen to be a registered Republican).

Let's not even bring up the fact that the NFL is a large, revenue-generating machine that prints money for the towns in which it resides, and we'd be no better than fly-over land if we don't get this deal done.

Yet, forget the obvious reasons for building a stadium. Let's remind the United Way, Make-a-Wish Foundation and other nonprofit beneficiaries that if the NFL and its sometimes-generous players leave, so will their contributions.

Come on, Legislature: Let's just get this done!

LORIE COUSINEAU, MEDINA

What's missing in the discussion about voter ID is that we have a system already in place that eliminates most voter fraud. Could this system be improved? Certainly. Would voter ID help this process? Possibly.

Would voter ID disenfranchise some eligible voters? Probably. Would the benefit from voter ID be worth the added financial cost of elections and the social cost in terms privacy concerns? Not likely.

Computer technology already allows us to verify identification with or without a voter ID; let's make use of this technology to audit those ballots that warrant closer attention.

We should fine-tune our present system of election monitoring to strike a balance between the inclusion of those eligible to vote and exclusion of those who are not.

Meanwhile, I must agree with Gov. Mark Dayton that the voter ID issue is a solution in search of a problem.

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Katherine Kersten argues that the problem of bullying is the result of the failure on the part of parents, schools and popular culture to instill in today's children a sense of moral values ("Bullying is a symptom of moral decline," Nov. 6).

She tells us that trying to legislate these values is no way to solve the problem. You can't install a sense of personal moral values in citizens by the "heavy hand of government" because that would be "more government."

I hope that she and those of a like mind will remember this advice when the time comes to vote on whether or not the "heavy hand of government" should be involved in resolving conflicting personal moral values, such as a woman's right to choose and same-sex marriage.