This morning's papers contain a selection of interesting letters. In the Rochester Post Bulletin, Mary E. Jones writes that We must increase fuel efficiency. Jones notes that bipartisan legislation is pending in Congress:
Now Congress has the opportunity and responsibility to require dramatic improvements in the fuel economy of new vehicles, to levels that are technically and economically feasible. The Markey-Platts bill (H.R. 1506) is a bi-partisan bill that would make our vehicles much more fuel efficient by 2020. The bill will not only increase fuel economy standards, saving consumers billions of dollars at the gas pump, it will drastically cut our oil dependency.
Fuel economy standards haven't gone up since 1987. I'm proud to say Rep. Tim Walz of Minnesota is a co-supporter of the bill.
In last week's Post Bulletin a letter by one of Randy Demmer supporters compared the Minnesota House Republican's vote against the smoking ban to opposing Jim Crow laws. In today's PB, reader Ben Sullivan notes that the Jim Crow analogy was improper:
I would like to reply to Bruce Kaskubar's comments on the Minnesota smoking ban. Comparing the smoking ban to Jim Crow laws is a huge insult to African Americans and other minorities who had to live through the oppression and indignity of that era.
I would also like to remind Mr. Kaskubar that those who did choose to oppose Jim Crow laws often lived in fear for their lives, and I doubt that Rep. Randy Demmer will be receiving any threats on his life for voting against the smoking ban.
I hope that the next time Mr. Kaskubar, or anyone for that matter, has to step outside to light up they appreciate that the worst they might get would be an ugly look from a passerby and not horrible slurs and death threats just for sitting at a restaurant or choosing not to give up their bus seat to another of a different skin color.
In the netroots, DJ Danielson, a pesky recent Winona State grad, compares recent letters to the editor at MNCR in Letters to the Editor. Tim Walz; John Kline.... Having finished school, Danielson has returned to his hometown in the Second CD, where he finds himself wishing that Rep. Kline was as accessible as Congressman Walz.
The Wege reacts to our post about the fundraising for Andrew Hanson, wishing that the government would provide for disabled veterans. Good point: didn't there used to a be a poster about having to have bake sales for the Pentagon instead of schools? Now wounded warriors are the object of the bake sales, rather than clear policy and funding levels that adequately provide for those who are wounded in the service of their country.
Finally, in the Mankato Free Press, Rapidan labor activist Pat Ryan writes Unions good for whole community. We agree, and thus recommend that our readers contact Senator Norm Coleman and ask him to support the Senate version of the Employee Free Choice Act. You can call his office at 202-224-5642, or sign an online petition that will be sent to his office.
The EFCA has already passed in the House. Congressman Walz, who promised to support the legislation in his bid for office, voted for the measure.
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