Do your jobs, city councilors
Can we find serious adults to represent St. Paulites and conduct city business on the St. Paul City Council? At first, the 2024 slate of City Council members offered much promise. Unfortunately, that promise of good governance was replaced with stunts, drama, and lawsuits.
Let’s hope that for the next City Council election, we can find public servants who will faithfully fulfill their responsibilities. But for now, I ask that the current City Council members get back to work and do their jobs without distractions.
Kate Hunt, St. Paul
In this fiscal mess together
Reading Thursday’s Pioneer Press was a painful reality check.
The page one headline article stated President Trump’s tariff taxes are expected to be more than $1 trillion annually and will “shatter the global trading system” and likely “ripple through the global economy”.
But wait, here buried on Page 6 is an article on the budget negotiations in Washington where the Treasury needs Congress to raise our debt ceiling by $4-$5 trillion, adding to the current $36 trillion (>$100,000 per person) debt load.
So the headline-grabbing, globally upsetting tariffs will only offset 20%-25% of the relatively under-the-radar anticipated increase in our nation’s debt.being discussed in Washington, and in fact if we could somehow balance our budgets going forward and apply all of the new tariff taxes to our debt it would take over 30 years to pay off.
Wake up, everyone. We are all in this fiscal mess together and will only get out of it if we work together and stop the finger pointing. It will not be easy or painless. Tariffs may or may not be part of the answer but it seems clear there needs to be some combination of tax increases and budget cuts moving forward.
Tyler Beck, Vadnais Heights
The people pay
To piggyback on Don Jacobson’s letter to the editor in Thursday’s paper (“The old argument for higher taxes”), I would remind people what Paul Harvey used to say; “Corporations don’t pay taxes, people pay taxes,” as corporations just pass any tax that they have to pay on to the products they make or services they provide.
Dave Schultz, Stillwater
Snake oil
Scientific medical research and health management in the second Trump term has been replaced by snake oil and witchcraft.
Joe Danko, North St. Paul
Discriminating against some taxpayers
The current budget proposed by Gov. Walz discriminates against non-public education. He wants to cut the $109 million ($54.5 million annually) from the state budget. This money is used for transportation, textbooks, curriculum, nurses and counselors. Walz’ proposal does not make fiscal sense.
According to 2022-23 figures, the cost of K-12 education per public school student is approximately $18,000. Of this, state taxes paid $7,700, local taxes paid $7,500, and the federal taxes paid the remainder.
The total of non-public school students during that same period was about 72,000, about 29,000 were home schooled, leaving a total of 43,000 who attended a traditional non-public/religious school. Considering the number of non-public students and the annual amount of $54.5 million, state taxes paid approximately $1,275 per year/per student to these non-public schools. If, on the other hand, the parent decides to have their child attend public school … that $18,000 figure comes into play.
The students of these non-public institutions are receiving an excellent education. Their parents contribute to the tax base of state, local and federal government. It then becomes an issue of fairness. Are you discriminating against this group because many are religious schools, or not a part of the teachers union?
Imagine what it would cost the taxpayers if every one of these students attended public/government schools. Take the blinders off Gov. Walz … you are getting a good deal.
Jerry Wynn, St. Paul
Get into the weeds on data centers
Minnesota, we must get in the weeds with proposed data centers in our communities.
Open the door slowly, oh so slowly.
I’m staggered to find myself looking at a single landscape that has emerged to threaten everything that I care about in one fell swoop: smart energy use, conservation of water, recycling metal resources and protecting farm land.
Just what are data centers about? Essentially they are large warehouses filled with computers that handle AI and our digital needs. A quick glimpse: 10 new data centers are being proposed in Minnesota. The largest is the size of 25 Target stores. Energy use of 10 data centers = energy use of ALL Minnesota homes. The proposed Farmington operation would use twice as much water as the whole city itself. Whoa … what?
Granted, there are promises to use sustainable energy to meet the huge increased need for electricity production but only good intentions there, no guarantees, no teeth so far. And the delivery, the grid, the extra lines? Who pays for these? And using less water is a goal, but again so far we have no identifiable requirements. Aside from construction jobs, data centers only add 20-50 long term jobs. Greenlighting these facilities is more like approving a bridge or a highway than any business. This is a complex and significant new issue.
As Minnesota citizens, it’s our job to insist that there be the best possible guidelines for this coming chapter. Within the next five years we must bring our best minds to the job of striking the right balance between critical digital infrastructure and responsible use of public funds, precious resources and open land. We will need serious conversation and collaboration between many sectors.
Slow down, be smart, make educated choices Minnesotans.
Karen Hannah, Stillwater
Get back to the office
Governor Tim Walz has instructed most state employees to return to the office on a hybrid schedule. The employees and their union are against it and in fact they protested outside the governor’s mansion. Some gathered in front of the Capitol a week ago.
Funny how they don’t want to return to the office, but make an effort to hold a news conference and stage a protest. For those at the Capitol that day, did they use time off?
Their parents/grandparents never had an option to work at home, so get back to the office.
Jacqueline Heintz, Maplewood
Phones: off limits during the school day
January 6 was a peaceful protest. It was about manifest destiny, not genocide. Confederate heroes fought for states’ rights.
Please do not allow our children to access social media platforms that amplify these falsehoods during the school day. I believe it is essential for at least one generation to understand history before the ongoing revisionist efforts take effect. Allowing cell phones during class breaks only ensures that our children will be distracted during class, constantly seeking the next dopamine hit that these platforms provide in the pursuit of profit.
Colin Cook, Shoreview
Economics is destiny
The Pioneer Press published an excellent column titled “Economics is destiny” in a recent edition. Economics is not a deeply studied field of knowledge in the general population. Nevertheless, a properly functioning economy depends upon informed and well-behaved governance interacting with the business industry on behalf of the general well-being of the nation.
Unfortunately, we are witnessing a veritable train wreck in governance and economic planning at the hands of our U.S. president, whose erratic policies are undermining our national and international image, stability and well-being. This recklessness has been exploited by Elon Musk, a non-elected subordinate to the president who is running amok with attacks on vital agencies and public service within the U.S. government.
A subservient U.S. Congress has further compounded this dilemma via recent legislation that reduces income taxes for the upper income strata of our population. This entire prevailing scenario has evolved into a modern-day reenactment of the “Let them eat cake” quotation attributed to Marie Antoinette in response to the plight of starving peasants during the French Revolution.
Millions of working-class citizens, many of whom voted for the purveyors of this dysfunctional governance, are facing disablement of vital U.S. government services, persistent inflation, deteriorating job opportunities and a likelihood that an economic recession will be forthcoming. Our destiny is in peril.
Gerry Del Fiacco, Eagan
‘I know nothing’
One of the regular and ongoing bits within the 1960s television series “Hogan’s Heroes’” ,a story about US airmen in a German POW camp, was the lovable and buffoonish Sgt. Schultz.” He would react any time a risky question came up with a hands-in-the-air-baffled-look-on-his-face, “I know nothing.”
I was reminded of this when I watched our commander in chief answer questions regarding the bombing attacks on Houti targets with virtually the identical reaction. In that same instance it also occurred to me that. shouldn’t our POTUS be aware that the US was undertaking a major air attack that was putting our military personnel in “harm’s way”?
With all the spinning and coverup surrounding this incident I guess an honest answer from our fearless leaders would be a miracle.
Jack Palmer, Lilydale
A bright moment
At a time when empathy and civility seem to be in short supply, Timberwolves’ coach Chris Finch, his fellow coaches, and Wolves players recently provided us with a reminder of the goodness of people. Finch’s decision to start Joe Ingles so his son (who has autism) might see his dad play his first game was a kind and thoughtful gesture.
Thank you to Finch and reporter Jace Frederick for providing a bright moment for many of us.
Go Wolves!
Liz Erickson, Eagan
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