Veto override

I have been just baffled why -- during all this talk about budget shortfalls -- we have not heard one peep out of our legislators about cutting spending.

Everywhere you look people are cutting back on their spending. Why can't our legislators to do the right thing and tighten the state's belt? But, instead of finding transportation dollars by cutting other areas of spending, they raise the taxes on us.

BARNEY NESSETH, ZUMBROTA, MINN.

They did their jobs It's sad to witness the Republican Party's retaliation against those House caucus members who dared to put the needs of their constituents, employers and Minnesota businesses ahead of party loyalty.

After almost two decades of gridlock and underfunding, it was time to get something done for the people of Minnesota and their transportation system. These six Republicans, as well as DFL legislators who voted for the transportation bill, showed courageous leadership in taking a very tough, if not unpopular, vote.

If the state yet again failed to step up, necessary projects would either not get done or fall to the feet of local government and upon the backs of their property taxpayers. Many communities' property taxpayers have already had to take up the state's slack. Taxing users to fund transportation is a much fairer approach to our shared transportation system because it places the burden of the system on those who use it. There should be no doubt this transportation bill is a property tax relief bill.

It's unfortunate that after years of delay and decay in our transportation and transit system we see the heavy hand of party politics at work in an effort to ensure that courageous leadership does not break out in St. Paul again. Truly sad.

Why surprised? For everyone complaining about the recent DFL-provoked tax increases to pay for transportation funding: Many of you voted for them. Now you get what you voted for -- tax and spend and tax and spend.

CURTIS E. EVERT, BRAINERD, MINN.

McCain deserves better National hero John McCain certainly deserves a better running mate than the bitter, petty and vindictive Tim Pawlenty we've witnessed in the last week in the wake of the transportation veto override.

JON ROSS, LAKE ITASCA, MINN.

Plastic, please For transportation, $6.6 billion. That comes to about $3,300 per household in Minnesota. Can I get my appropriation in a gas card?

The Star Tribune reached a new low with its hatchet job on Carol Molnau ("Molnau sold farm near road she pushed," Feb. 24).

The implication that Molnau's advocacy of the Highway 312 project was driven by self-interest is not supported by the facts. While it is true that the sale price of Molnau's Carver County parcel was in excess of the assessed value of the land, it does not necessarily follow that the sale price was a consequence of the new road.

As an attorney in Carver County, I am familiar with many other farm parcels that have sold for values far in excess of the assessed value, even before the new highway project was approved.

Molnau's advocacy for additional roads rather than commuter trains and her opposition to additional tax increases is clearly contrary to the Star Tribune's editorial position on these issues. It is not unreasonable to have a public debate on these issues. The implication that Molnau's policies were driven by self-interest, however, is not supported by anything other than innuendo.

JAY A. BENSON, CHANHASSEN

While we can feel sorry for Amanda's family members, they're the ones who didn't fulfill their responsibility. How many parents would see their daughter get two DWIs before the age of 21 and not try to get her help? And if they did try to get her help, then Amanda ignored it and suffered the consequences of her actions.

This is hypocrisy on the part of Amanda's parents and their attorney.

CRAIG H. ANDERSON, BRAINERD.

Look in a mirror While I share in the grief of another tragic death from alcohol, the unlimited ability of people to refuse responsibility and to blame others galls deeply.

A Feb. 29 story asked, "What's a friend's duty?" It should have asked, "What's a parent's duty?" A child raised with a deeply ingrained sense of values and respect could not have ended her life this way. This lawsuit should be thrown out. Blame, if it really needs to be attributed, should come right back to Mom and Pop.

In his Feb. 24 commentary on the Real ID system, Bruce Schneier is more than willing to trash the system, but this esteemed security consultant wasn't willing to provide alternatives.

I've seen the effects of identity theft first hand. I know we need something that will provide more security than a driver's license that can be reproduced on a home computer.

DARLENE TESTER, ELKO

If a U.S. passport isn't enough to let us keep our shoes on at the airport, what is $23 billion in plastic ID cards in everyone's pocket going to do to make us feel less like sheep in our own country?