Readers Write: Somali Minnesotans, Walz’s response to fraud, Northstar Line

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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I commend Republican state Sen. Jim Abeler for admonishing President Donald Trump over his disparaging comments about Somali Minnesotans (“Republican state senator admonishes Trump for calling Somalis ‘garbage,’ invites him to Minnesota,“ StarTribune.com, Dec. 7). His courage in doing so is a wonderful contrast to most elected Republicans. I invite readers to watch the interview of state Rep. Lisa Demuth, speaker of the Minnesota House, that aired on a segment of the PBS News Hour on Friday. Interviewer Fred de Sam Lazaro asked Demuth what she thought of Trump’s comments, and she deflected. Lazaro again said the question was about Trump’s comments, but she refused to answer. Her response is the epitome of the spineless Republicans who don’t dare criticize the president, even when he says things so obviously vile.

Fred Quivik, St. Paul

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Dear Mr. President,

Between your continuous rants and midnight writings on social media, could you find the time to come to my class, where I have volunteered for many years helping young (and not so young) adult immigrants learn English? You will sit among the many students from Somalia, who are happy to be in Minnesota. You will see that they come to class each day ready to learn our language so they can get a job and be contributing members of society. You will find these students to be friendly, kind, honest, eager to learn and so appreciative of all my help.

Lollie Eidsness, Golden Valley

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As a Somali American and a former Republican candidate in Minnesota, I was deeply disappointed to hear the president refer to a minority community as “garbage.” No president should ever speak about any group of Americans that way. It’s not strength, and it’s not leadership.

In Minnesota, people are already struggling with real problems: the cost of living, health care stress, small businesses under pressure and a politics that feels more like a grudge match than a serious effort to govern. When our national leaders choose insults over solutions, they make all of that worse.

You don’t have to agree with every community, every leader or every policy. But you do have to remember that these are your neighbors and fellow citizens. We can fix our economy, our policies and even our parties. We cannot fix the damage that comes from calling people “garbage.”

Fadil Jama, St. Paul

Here we go again! In the Saturday edition of the Star Tribune, we heard that the incompetent management of the Walz administration and the Minnesota Department of Human Services is at it again. By imposing a moratorium on group homes for disabled people (“Providers blast pause on group homes,” Dec. 6), a moratorium that is not defined in scope and length, Gov. Tim Walz and his DHS minions are burning the house down to smoke out a rat. Residential services are a cornerstone for the survival and care of persons with disabilities. Using the Feeding Our Future debacle as an excuse for sweeping cuts to services for people who need residential care is like saying, “The cow barn is dirty, so we need to get rid of all the horses on the farm.”

Despite what the administration may say, a “moratorium” amounts to a cut in the real world. What alternative do providers and families have? Minnesota has never had a sufficient supply of residential providers. A decade ago, I was asked by DHS to conduct a study on this topic and found that residential options were severely limited and underfunded. Nothing, in my opinion, has changed since. Now, the administration wants to reduce it even further, to make itself look tough in a campaign year.

The public should understand that the term “residential services” is an all-encompassing term, much like “health care.” As the article stated, some young people need transition housing, which has repeatedly been proven effective. Persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities can find freedom and empowerment by living in community settings with peers. Individuals with mental health issues can be treated and helped to regain functioning abilities to become productive citizens, wage earners and taxpayers. Individuals with neurodivergent issues like traumatic brain injury, autism, ADHD, dyslexia and Tourette’s can receive the specialized care they need.

Shall we open up large institutions again, where we know from experience that physical and mental abuse was rampant? Are we going to impose additional hardships on elderly parents who may not have the ability or skills to care for their loved ones? What plans does DHS have after the moratorium ends to restore the services lost? Walz built his original gubernatorial campaign on child care issues. Are adults and children with disabilities not equally important to him, or is that a class of people who can be ignored? Tell us, Walz!

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Ah, yes, Feeding Our Future, the fraud scheme that Republicans love to talk about — and this paper loves to let them talk about, again and again, most recently in Andy Brehm’s Dec. 5 column, “Amid mounting fraud, it’s clear Walz doesn’t deserve a third term.” Among other things, Brehm suggests only Minnesota state tax dollars were involved; a lot of it was federal money. He argues Gov. Walz did nothing in response. That’s not true. I swear the Star Tribune loves to let Brehm recklessly ramble just to see the responses it’ll get.

What’s the solution to the fraud? Less use of private or nonprofit organizations to run programs? Or more government oversight of those programs? It’s hard to see the Party of Less Government going for either option. And it doesn’t. It just tells us that Republicans should be in charge of state government rather than the current Democrats.

Here in Minnesota, all of the bad actors who were involved in fraud are being prosecuted. At the federal level, where the Republicans are in charge, large-scale fraudsters are being pardoned or granted clemency. See, for example, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, hedge fund manager Jason Galanis, reality stars Julie and Todd Chrisley, campaign finance figures Elliott Broidy and Rudy Giuliani and, more recently, “businessmen” Devon Archer, Trevor Milton and Carlos Watson.

Kevin Carpenter, St. Cloud

As for the argument that buses are an improvement over trolleys: The ridership of the Green Line, which is much like a trolley, would beg to differ.

I have been a bus driver, and I have ridden in buses, light-rail trains and commuter trains in both New York City and Chicago. I can tell you which ones I prefer.