Conflicted on St. Paul Question 2

I must admit that I’m conflicted on how to vote on Question 2 on the ballot for those who live in St. Paul. On the one hand, I am a big fan of ranked choice voting, and moving the election of the mayor and the city council members to the same ballot as the presidential election will accelerate the appreciation of the inherent benefits of RCV.

But on the other hand, I’m also a strong advocate of making Election Day, the first Tuesday following the first Monday of November, a paid national holiday. Keeping local elections on odd-numbered years will retain the focus on those years on local issues and will strengthen the argument for making Election Day a paid holiday every year.

In the end, I will vote No on Question #2 and fervently hope that we can move forward in the coming years on both of these improvements to our democracy.

— John Crea, St. Paul

Might give the free tax-prep tool a try this year

I am preparing to purchase annual income-tax-return software. I have used the same software since the 1990s with one or the other two brands that dominate self-preparation software. Reviews on Amazon show an alarming tone of angry users experiencing difficulties and lack of response from customer service. Most problems other than software bugs are delays issuing changes to government forms.

The IRS has a website where most tax filers can calculate and pay taxes free of charge. I just might give that a try this year. Behind the scenes tax prep corporations have been successfully lobbying Congress and battling the IRS to prevent the U.S. Government from offering comprehensive free tax preparation as is normal in a host of other countries. $Multi-billion profits are at risk.

— Joe Danko, North St. Paul

Better decisions ahead?

Our own Gov. Walz will continue his political journey either here or in Washington in January. Thinking about this, I call to mind the numerous and often disastrous mistakes he has made in his terms here, from the mishandling of the Minneapolis riots and Feeding our Future abdication of responsibility to all the poorly conceived and often bad laws he signed. In addition, Minnesota’s proficiency in education bombed from Number 5 when he took over to at least Number 17, and this despite spending billions of dollars, depleting the surplus available when he started.

Of course, this is not news to many taxpayers, and we all make mistakes. But, and here is the point: A mature, thoughtful person acknowledges and apologizes for his or her mistakes, makes reparation if possible, and most importantly, tries to learn from those mistakes, seeking humility, prudence and especially wisdom. There will continue to be monumental decisions for Gov. Walz, and I invite all concerned citizens to join me in hoping, and especially in praying, that he will make better decisions, the right ones, in the future.

— Lorrie Wood, Mahtomedi

To those on the fence …

I am a centrist Democrat who has had various letters published in the Pioneer Press imploring my fellow Democrats to not take actions based on naïve and/or extremist perspectives. I understand how actions of the left can be very frustrating to those on the right — some of those actions frustrate me as much as anyone.

However, my biggest concern by an extremely wide margin is that Donald Trump will be elected as the 47th president of the United States. I have heard many Republicans say: “Democrats thought the sky would fall in 2016, but it didn’t, and there was a ‘peaceful’ transfer of power in 2021 — what are they so worried about?” There are many rebuttals to this perspective; however, I will focus on one.

On January 6, 2021, Trump and his followers at the U.S. Capitol (“hang Mike Pence”) applied extreme pressure on Vice President Pence to not certify the results of the 2020 election. This election process had quite easily overcome all legal challenges by Trump (even the conservative Supreme Court including three Trump appointees would have nothing to do with these challenges). Therefore, Pence was obligated by the United States Constitution to oversee the certification of the results. Pence (hardly a progressive “snowflake”) has publicly stated that he had to obey his conscience and the Constitution, even if this meant disobeying the very clear demands of his boss. Had Pence not acted in this principled and patriotic manner, a true constitutional crisis would have resulted. If Trump is elected this time around, there will be no guardrails like Mike Pence and his fundamental decency and honor in place.

I personally am very happy to vote for Harris. However, I understand that she is not everyone’s cup of tea. To those on the fence, I ask them to carefully reflect on the alternative. Trump has shown very clearly who and what he is over the course of his life. He does not care about the Constitution; he cares about Donald Trump.

— Peter Langworthy, St. Paul

Good for some laughs

About 20 years ago, Jack Klugman and Tony Randall were the Odd Couple on TV and were good for a few seasons of laughs. Today, we have the clod couple starring as Kamela Harris and Tim Walz who are actually suggesting that they should team up as the next President and Vice President of the United States. That too is good for some laughs.

The key issues facing our country are high prices at every turn, open borders and crime in the streets.

When attacking inflation, Harris and Walz have a combined years of experience in the private sector totaling zero.

The border disaster with Harris responsible demonstrates her ability to manage a challenging problem. She not only did not solve the problem, she never addressed the problem.

When Tim Walz was faced with a crime crisis he took immediate action, he let the city of Minneapolis burn for three days.

Imagine the communication that would be required to deal with our serious enemies; China, Russia, North Korea and Iran to name a few. Harris is now famous for her speaking gifts, “word salad” and “bubbles, no bath.”

Walz should bring some sound direction to our financial concerns. After all, he was able to make an 18 billion dollar surplus in Minnesota disappear in a blink. And, there is no evidence that anything has improved across the state.

Harris powerfully demonstrated her talent when it comes to sound decision making, she chose Walz for a running mate. She is afraid of a competent interviewer, Walz is afraid of combat.

— Jon Swenson, Eagan