Budget-cutters, cut thyselves
If the Federal Government is interested in saving money, why are they not looking at the Executive Branch, the Senate, and the House of Representatives? First, cut their staff by 25%, reduce their per diem by 25%, and ensure both the Senate and House work a minimum 40-hour work week without breaks for fundraising.
Jerry Carroll, Roseville
Afraid?
Why is Trump afraid of the truth?
Why has he fired (illegally) Inspectors General?
Why is he afraid of the truth?
Scott Frantzen, Woodbury
Mayhem is the wrong route
The Trump Administration claims that economic tumult and pain is a small sacrifice for long-term improvement. This trajectory might look good in theory but real humans pay the price.
A family’s buying decisions are based on current paychecks and savings, not on hopes for moneypots in future. Retirees have relied on decades-long planning that means nothing if our economy is not reliable. Business production transitioned some decades ago to offshoring, so a humane transition back home will also require decades (not weeks). Businesses’ long-term plans (products and services, procedures, equipment, logistics, and customer interaction) are based on a predictable economic environment managed by the federal government. “No surprises” and a realistic timeline must be a part of any federal actions, with the executive and legislative branches working in tandem.
Linda Bryan, Maplewood
Tech Bros and treason
Let’s just call it as it is: treason.
Donald Trump and his Tech Bros have taken over the government to enrich themselves.
Eliminate skilled and experienced federal workers in all departments. Eliminate any departments that have investigative authority (and notably were in the midst of investigations in many of the Tech Bros’ business dealings).
Destroy the systems in place; then, miraculously, their companies will step in to “fix them” and reap mighty bounties.
Create economic chaos; watch the stock prices go down; the billionaires will save the system by buying up stocks at low prices and reap huge profits.
Post governmental property for sale; guess which billionaires will buy it and lease it back to us, the citizens. More profits.
More than this being a “reverse Robin Hood scheme” to shamelessly profit on the backs of middle class and low-income American taxpayers, this is intentional destruction of our government. And, it is simply treasonous.
Linda Snouffer, St. Paul
They work for their parties, not the people
One would laugh out loud if it wasn’t so sad. Politicians continue to say they will work for the people of Minnesota when they get elected. Unfortunately, they simply work for their party. Look at the statements coming out of the Legislature. It is about the power of the party, sharing power, etc. The people of Minnesota come in a far second when it comes to politicians’ priorities.
W. G. Faust, Stillwater
Give Putin an inch …
President Trump thinks he can give Putin what Putin wants and get away with it. You give Putin an inch and he will take 100 miles.
If we do not drive Putin out of Ukraine, Crimea, Belarus and anyplace else that he has his finger into, we are telling China go ahead and invade Taiwan, we won’t stop you. If China takes Taiwan we will no longer have the latest and greatest computer chips, and we become a Third World country. If we try to stop a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, we will be in WWIII.
Lenny Leier, St. Paul
Is efficiency really the point?
The FAA signed a large telecommunications deal with Verizon in 2023 after a competitive bidding process. It now comes to light that DOGE has not only infiltrated FAA systems but installed Spacelink technology in various locations, putting the plans for upgrading FAA communications into chaos.
How many government agencies have had their servers accessed by DOGE? How many payment systems have been exploited in the name of efficiency. Slash/chainsaw/woodchipping might work for business, but there are laws and protocols for government agencies which almost certainly have been violated.
The replacement of inspectors general and the CFPB are clear indicators that it is not government efficiency for the elimination of waste, fraud and abuse that is uppermost in the mind of the administration.
Wake up people. The moral ground of democracy is slipping out from under us in blitzkrieg fashion and Congress isn’t getting a firm grip yet on the new reality.
Michael Cassel, Roseville
Where does this leave us ordinary folks?
Is President Trump actually concerned that he is hurting the people of the United States? Does he even know? Where conditions are pointing even the Billionaire class will soon start to feel the effects? Is this the goal of Trump and the GOP? The complete dissolution of anything public so the entire country is owned like a Monopoly game? Where does that leave us ordinary folks?
Joe Danko, North St. Paul
The overall strategic plan?
Many people who voted for Trump did so in the belief he would restructure government and run it like a business. With Musk riding shotgun, that’s apparently what they’re trying to do. They haven’t been forthcoming about their overall strategic plan, however, so one can only guess at it. But based on their actions and pronouncements, this is the way the plan looks to this observer:
Values — Power and money for top leaders.
Guiding principles —Truth is what we say it is. History is irrelevant. DEI is the cause of everything that’s going wrong. Blacks are DEI hires. Women too, unless they’re attractive to CEO. Humanitarian aid is woke. The best way to gain more power and money is to align with international leaders holding similar values (plus it’s a kick hanging out with autocrats).
Goals — Divert to the wealthy money from programs that help the masses. Fire all government workers who aren’t directly increasing our Values. Form alliances with dictators. Shatter trust in democracy.
Short term strategies: Ignore legal obstacles in shutting down programs and reducing workforce as fast as possible. Lower rich people’s taxes. Ambush long-time allies on reality TV as pretext for allying with dictators. Launch a propaganda campaign repetitively hinting at the need for suspending impediments like court decisions, presidential term limits, elections and the constitution.
Long term strategies — Transition to autocracy.
Rich Cowles, Eagan
We have room for these Afghan friends
The AP reports that Afghans who worked for the U.S. military during the war, and who have been promised resettlement in America after exhaustive background checks, have just been informed by President Trump that all flights are cancelled, because “America cannot afford to bring them here.” He states that our government must help our own citizens first.
Many of these Afghans and their families have been granted asylum in Pakistan pending their flight to the U.S. Since Trump’s cancellation of all flights, these Afghans will be deported from Pakistan back to Afghanistan, where they will be known as enemies of the Taliban. The best we can hope for them is that they will not be tortured before being executed. We can hope their wives and daughters will not be raped.
Is America really full? Too full to accept people who risked their lives for us because they believed in an idea of America? These people we might call heroes?
Mr. Trump, America is not the country you are portraying it to be. We may not have room for every refugee who seeks to cross our borders, but we have room for these Afghan friends. To refuse them asylum is inhuman.
Dutton Foster, St. Paul
Don’t forget the skating band
Mr. Soucheray’s Sunday column (“St. Paul Johnson’s hockey team was the pride of the city”) was interesting and brought back memories of that time.
City schools competed fiercely in most sports during that era. There was another element that has been lost. In the late 1940s the Murray High School marching band offered music and skaters between periods at the state hockey tournament. The band skated and performed maneuvers like those from the football halftimes. In addition, we played music for the figure skaters who also performed. As the sole skating band in the nation, Murray’s concert/skating band also received a brief mention in an issue of a LIfe Magazine story about the hockey tournament. Thank you Mr. Heron!
Carl Brookins, Roseville
Admirable actions for peace
As one who has opposed nearly everything that President Trump has said or done since he descended the golden escalator to announce his first run for the presidency nearly 10 years ago, I admire his efforts and actions to bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine War.
Granted, his tag-team assault with Vice President Vance in Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week was disgraceful and his siding with Russia troublesome, but he is at least taking some steps to bring closure to that conflict. This is in stark contrast to the well-intended support for Ukraine by the Biden administration, which made no meaningful or effective effort to bring the parties to negotiations or develop an exit plan to save lives, money and other resources, but instead just kept pouring in funding and armaments into a bottomless Ukrainian pit.
The devil is, as the saying goes, in the details. But the predecessor administration demonstrated another old saw that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, while President Trump is making a helluva effort to bring a conclusion to an otherwise endless war.
For that, he deserves praise, albeit grudgingly, from this critic and perhaps others as well.
Marshall H. Tanick, Minneapolis
A human face
Thanks to Frederick Melo for his engaging story about Debra Gatto (“Woman shares what her time of homelessness was like,” March. 5).
Her honesty in reflecting about the challenges of homelessness and the rewards of finding a place to live put a human face on an issue that’s too easy to think about in the abstract.
David Healy, St. Paul
Why I love our winters
It was challenging getting home from downtown St. Paul after the recent snow storm. On one of the downtown streets a young woman had her car stuck in the snow trying to enter a parking ramp. I jumped out of my car to help push as two men from other vehicles did the same. When I arrived at my development the private streets had not been plowed yet. But I was able to use the tracks made by a couple of other vehicles, only to get stuck in my own driveway. Thank you to the can man who came to my rescue and helped me out!
When I could finally relax in my nice warm home and was watching Tyler Henry, a medium on Netflix, who twice, when the mention of Minnesota came up, said, “I love Minnesota!” For all that we complain about Minnesota winters, it’s our harsh weather that makes us who we are. We help our neighbors. We look out for each other. We care about our communities. This is who we are, partly BECAUSE of our weather. I’m proud to be a lifelong Minnesotan.
Linda Murphy, Cottage Grove
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