Readers Write: Tax cuts, Minneapolis school board election, single-payer health care and Jeff Johnson, poll about Brett Kavanaugh

Back in December 2017, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, claiming that it would result in a tax cut for the middle class. It also cut the corporate tax rate to 21 percent, the lowest in our history. Now, President Donald Trump is saying Congress is going to pass another tax cut, "but this one for middle income." ("No middle-class tax cut on the way: Congress in the dark about Trump's midterm pledge," front page, Oct. 24.)

So, we didn't get a tax cut? And Sen. Mitch McConnell is on record stating that because of the huge U.S. budget deficit, Congress must cut "entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security." Middle-class workers have been contributing to these programs on every paycheck, and depending on them for retirement, since 1935 when FDR signed the Social Security Act. So, now we cannot count on these programs in our retirement? Wake up, people! The middle class is being lied to!

I'm astonished by how dismissive the Hennepin County Board District 4 endorsement of incumbent Commissioner Peter McLaughlin was of challenger Angela Conley's broad knowledge and experience ("Value experience in county races," editorial, Oct. 24). Yes, Conley is extremely strong on social services, which make up a significant portion of the county budget; no, that's not all she brings to this race — not by a long shot.

I'm also stunned that the Star Tribune Editorial Board would cite racial disparities, the need for criminal-justice reform, and the housing and homelessness crisis as reasons to stick with the status quo. The incumbent has had 27 years to work on reducing disparities, enacting criminal-justice reform and tackling housing insecurity in Hennepin County; the very lack of progress in these areas is precisely why we need Conley on the board.

Angela is the candidate with knowledge, experience and the appropriate sense of urgency around these issues. She's a renter who's experienced housing instability firsthand, and she's worked extensively serving homeless and precariously housed families. She's extremely knowledgeable about criminal-justice reform, and has been highlighting the need to end cash bail from day one. If the incumbent has begun emphasizing this, it's because he's facing a tough election-year challenge from a candidate who's serious about it.

As for racial equity? Since when has this been a priority for the incumbent? Unless I missed it, he has yet to even agree to Angela's proposal of establishing a long-overdue racial equity advisory council to the board. That would be a terrific place for an all-white (since its inception) commission to start if it's sincere about closing the gaping racial disparities in the metro.

We need Angela Conley's vision, creativity, experience and community engagement chops on the Hennepin County Board.

I take exception to the seemingly lazy and therefore inadvertent disrespect in the endorsement of Marion Greene for re-election to the Hennepin County Board in District 3. Commissioner Greene is not the only candidate the Editorial Board endorsed to run largely unopposed. An editor's pen could easily have slightly shortened the other endorsements, making room for at least a couple of sentences educating the public about her exemplary career in the Minnesota House and as county commissioner. She is a serious, smart and dedicated public servant who has persistently advocated for better health care options, protection of the environment, and the needs of children and young people in Hennepin County. She deserves better, and so do the readers of the Star Tribune.

The Star Tribune/MPR News Minnesota Poll published Oct. 22 newspaper confused me. For many years I have supported a single-payer, government-based health care system, but I honestly do not know how I would have responded to the question, "Do you think it is or is not the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have health care insurance?" I believe it is the responsibility of the government to make sure all citizens have health care, but that is not the same thing. In fact, as we learn every day, many people who have insurance find it difficult or impossible to obtain care. This was a poorly worded question.

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Regarding Republican gubernatorial candidate Jeff Johnson's Oct. 24 commentary "Universal coverage sounds great — until we get bill": He appears to be very confused and forgetful about the Affordable Care Act, which was put into law in 2010. Before that, coverage guarantees for pre-existing conditions did not exist. Insurance companies routinely denied patients. Yet Johnson writes: "Minnesotans with pre-existing conditions have been protected from discrimination for decades — as they should be — and that will continue when I become governor."

Excuse me, but the last time I did the math it hasn't even been one decade. So, no, Minnesotans have not been covered for decades. And I find it ironic that all the haters of the Affordable Care Act now are champions of some of it.

All Minnesotans have a right to and deserve health care. It is amusing that Johnson says a single-payer program would cause costs to soar. He uses the Japanese proverb "Nothing is more expensive than something that is free." But I look at the current premiums and deductibles for family coverage and wonder: How much higher than what the citizens of Minnesota are already paying can a single-payer plan be? Also, these stories of people not being able to get the necessary drugs because of costs is outrageous. Needing years to pay off health bills is outrageous. Having to file bankruptcy because of health bills is outrageous. No hardworking Minnesotan should have their American dream derailed because of health costs.

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The gubernatorial election should be a referendum on how well state government is serving the people. Unfortunately, the administration of outgoing Gov. Mark Dayton and former Lt. Gov. (now U.S. Sen.) Tina Smith has presided over major access problems with MNsure, a complete breakdown in the Minnesota Licensing and Registration System, traffic and construction nightmares, and failure to couple Minnesota tax law to the new federal system.

Performance should matter. The DFL has let us down. Let's give Republican Jeff Johnson an opportunity to make state government work again.

Only 35 percent of Minnesotans believe Christine Blasey Ford's testimony against Kavanaugh? ("State is split on Kavanaugh," Minnesota Poll, Oct. 24.) Shocking, yet typical. As described, the attack she alleges would not have been prosecuted in 1982 or 2018: no penetration, no DNA, no physical injury. No virginity was lost. Hey, it was just rough horseplay! Can't you take a joke?

She answered all the questions put to her, directly and succinctly, acknowledging what she did not know. When Judge Brett Kavanaugh had his turn, he read dramatically from prepared, partisan remarks. He was evasive and off-point when asked about his contemporaneous high school yearbook. He was impertinent to U.S. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Amy Klobuchar, apologizing to her only after a short recess when he was probably "counseled" on his behavior. Although admitting to heavy drinking and to still "liking beer," he believed there was no possibility that he had ever "blacked out." His cohort Mark Judge was in AA, but not Kavanaugh.

Kavanaugh revealed his bullying behavior in that testimony under oath. Had he not been confirmed, President Trump had a roster of others to nominate, all of whom had worked as hard as he. Once again the attacker won and the victim lost. As did we all. If she lied, she should have had a better story.

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"State is split on Kavanaugh" — so what? Why does it matter? He is a Supreme Court justice, and will continue to be so, regardless of what Minnesotans thought, or think. Publishing these poll results serves no purpose whatsoever! I can't imagine why the editors thought this should be a front-page lead article.