Letters: Actually, it IS about President Trump

Why the focus on Trump Well A latest letter writer took issue with David Brooks column A Time for Civic Uprising This letter was published under the heading Where is the evidence While I think Brooks plays a little fast and loose with the term civic uprising I agree with his central idea that a core motivation for Trump is the acquisition of unchecked power The letter writer s primary point is that Brooks is one of multiple commentators so consumed with their hatred of Trump that they lose sight of the problems Trump is trying to address such as bureaucratic inefficiency dividing line insecurity national debt he conveniently forgets that the national debt soared during Trump s first presidency inadequate prosecution of criminals and so forth He writes Attack and vilify and dehumanize the person And this isn t about President Trump Really it IS about Donald Trump Even if one acknowledged that the problems raised by the letter writer are legitimate and require serious efforts to correct does this justify having a man as unbalanced as Trump in the preponderance powerful office in the world Donald Trump has openly stated that he is serious about making Canada the st state of the US Canada our tremendous neighbor and ally has been forced to take this threat seriously This is but one undeniable indication that Trump is profoundly unbalanced People focus on Trump and harshly criticize him because his statements and actions warrant such criticism and alarm Peter Langworthy St Paul Where did it go It has been nearly five years since the statue of Christopher Columbus was unceremoniously and illegally toppled from its pedestal damaged and removed from the State Capitol grounds where it had stood since I have a minimal questions Where has the statue been stored for the past five years Has the statue been repaired When will the constituents be able to see the statue again Where will the citizens be able to see the statue again If Gov Walz is against censoring books why is he fine with keeping a work of art a statue of an Italian created by St Paul Italian-American artist Carlo Brioschi hidden from society view Who can and will answer my questions Greg Cosimini St Paul What s great about all this About days into the Trump administration what is great about higher food prices continued high interest rates retirement accounts losing value lack of due process for multiple citizens cuts in tuition funding cuts in social programs cutting early childhood growth reducing press freedoms turning back civil rights gains tariff proposals that cost average citizens thousands of dollars cuts in worldwide human aid that in the long run aids United States mistrust from other countries friendly to us allowing other countries more latitude to reduce US world influence hurting US veterans attempts to make it harder to vote etc Gordon Hayes Eagan A tariff on work-at-home employees Much has been revealed about tariffs these days Just put a tariff is a tax on foreign imports But tariffs are really just a bargaining chip to negotiate fair commerce amongst countries Since we ve established the basics on tariffs as a bargaining tool I offer an incentive to bring state administration employees back to work in St Paul As a resident property-tax payer of St Paul paying the lion s share of property taxes for vacant tax-exempt authorities buildings I propose a tax on establishment employees who refuse to come back to work and are living inside the -mile Walz Wall If they refuse to come back full-time a state income tariff should be imposed on their paychecks Why as St Paul residents should we pay for un-occupied establishment office spaces Shouldn t stay-at-home state employees get taxed at a higher rate to offset their physical absence They re getting a paycheck just like the other workers who want need to journey to the office The in-office employees are making sacrifices It s time for the pajama-bottom workers to pay up We baby-boomers and earlier generations did not have the luxury of working from home Particular may say that the work-from-home ship has sailed I say turn that ship around bring it back to port A beacon of hope is a Stay-at-Home Income Tariff Mark Kirchner St Paul There goes lunch money One of Gov Walz s arguments for mandating workers back to their offices was that they will eat lunch at downtown restaurants But with all their new expenses such as a second car and insurance for it daycare for a child not even born when mom started working from home and downtown parking at day there goes the lunch money Carole MacCarter Maplewood Once they re clean consider felons I am a pupil at Augsburg University going back to school to obtain my master s in social work paired with my licensed alcohol and drug counseling degree I am nearing the end of my first year in the two-year venture and enjoying my current approach syllabus I am a -year-old female and I have just reached years sober I was consumed by addiction and lived in a world full of darkness I went to Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge in October of and completed their short-term undertaking which changed my life As I have been in recovery I have met hundreds of OUTSTANDING individuals with quite the past and record Even after years of sobriety these individuals are unable to get certain jobs due to the past crimes they committed while in addiction You see addiction turns us into different people When you step into long-term recovery you step into a new life A life of freedom We are NOTHING like we used to be I am calling Minnesotans to consider felons with five years of a clean record for the police force In Minnesota you are unable to serve on the police force after you have been convicted of a felony which unfortunately various people in recovery have However people in recovery are qualified People in recovery know how the streets are run know all about the drug scene know where the hot spots are and have the smarts to know the appropriate interventions They also have compassion for individuals still stuck in criminal activity We need more people on the force who can relate to the people we serve and with that I can guarantee we would see more positive change Police staffing across the U S is at historic lows It s time to consider alternative options Jaycie Gerding Maple Grove Related Articles Thousands celebrate Cinco de Mayo in St Paul with a parade and more Man arrested in domestic violence homicide in St Paul home Como Zoo says its newborn sloth has died unexpectedly St Paul voters will weigh in this November on administrative citations Wilder East Clinic opens on St Paul s East Side