Letters: What’s your plan, Democrats? It’s so much safer to just criticize

So much easier to just criticize As I open the Pioneer Press on a daily basis there is one thing that I can be sure of there will be a front page story detailing how budgetary cuts directed by President Trump and the DOGE unit led by Elon Musk are causing hardships among Americans There will also be similar stories sprinkled throughout the paper I am hard pressed to find any articles detailing the consequences of inaction on the part of our budget deficits If our budget deficits continue at its current pace in years the U S ruling body will default on its loans and there will be nothing that can be done about it No more Social Protection no more Medicare inflation will be rampant and at the very least a recession will ensue The dollar will apparently lose its status as the world s primary reserve currency with all of those consequences Also who now is going to loan the U S money needed to keep all of its obligations going This should be a bipartisan issue with both parties working to find a response Instead the Democratic Party offers nothing but criticism Where are their solutions What are they planning to cut It s so much safer to just criticize Please Minnesota senators and members of Congress what are your plans for cutting the deficit Don Lohrey Shoreview I don t know President Trump s deferral when inquired on Meet The Press in recent days whether he is obligated to abide by the Constitution is predictable troubling and reflective of his failing memory or mendacity His answer to the question I don t know underscores various of the actions his administration has taken which have drawn the wrath of a number of judges even including several he appointed to the bench The non-committal response also belies the oath he took when entering the presidency - months ago as well as in as prescribed in the Constitution that he would to the best of my ability preserve protect and defend the Constitution of the United States His ignorance of that provision indicates that his ability to carry out his oath is limited or he was not being truthful when he swore he would do so In any event his behavior would disqualify him from membership in the right-wing Oath Keepers group that supports him Marshall H Tanick Minneapolis A missed Messi opportunity I attended the Inter Miami vs MNUFC match in recent months and was deeply disappointed by the recovery of fans in the supporters section particularly children who were communicated to remove or cover up their Lionel Messi jerseys According to ushers only MNUFC gear was allowed in that section This guidelines if it exists is not only misguided but was inconsistently and unfairly applied First Messi is the greatest soccer contestant of all time a global ambassador for the sport For countless fans especially kids watching him play is a once-in-a-lifetime experience Asking them to hide their admiration for him is not only petty it s contrary to the spirit of the challenge Second MNUFC is not a storied club with the legacy or stature to demand this kind of tribal loyalty from a quarter of its stadium If the association wants a small contingent of hardcore supporters to follow certain rules that s one thing But enforcing it on casual fans who were fortunate enough to get tickets is something else entirely Third Messi s presence brought the club unprecedented attention and revenue By my estimate this match generated times the typical game-day revenue Instead of embracing the moment the association chose to alienate fans who helped make it special Eventually I ve attended plenty of MNUFC games and I ve never seen this plan enforced before If the club truly believes in it it should apply it consistently not just when one of the greatest athletes of our time is in town This was a missed opportunity for the club to celebrate a unifying moment for soccer fans in Minnesota not a time to police jerseys Joe Trenzeluk Wayzata The cure Midterm elections People what is happening to our elected representatives I fear there is an unreported healthcare emergency in the halls of Congress as well as our very own state Legislature What could it be Have lead paint chips been drifting down upon the balding pates of our nation s and state senators and representatives or perhaps mixing in with their modest cafeteria lunch soups What could be causing this cranial malaise this mind-numbing brain fog that seems to have become endemic to legislative halls I have only the clues of this condition to know of its existence What other feasible reason could there be for them to forget the tenets of community fitness For instance I read that our state leaders wish to leave a segment of Minnesota residents without the means to access reasonable medical care Allowing sickness and sickness to develop and fester threatening the constituents wellness Or as in our nation s halls of state they are debating how to cut Medicaid benefits to provide tax cuts to the already wealthy Another threat to inhabitants vitality These can only be responses of particular form of undiagnosed brain disorder that must be cured I believe that can best be done by midterm elections Bob Emery Mendota Heights Before either of us departs I m no fan of memorials I m not against them I just wonder what good it does for the dearly departed They needed to hear what s announced when they re alive and wondering what it s all been about To me they re just another contest I know more good things to say about them than you do We make competition out of anything There is an exception though that these mourners create something worthwhile and lasting in their name a donation to their favorite cause an endowment a scholarship a way for the deceased to live forever still alive after death So Don because I believe you don t know you don t know I want to enlighten you about what you think you know about me And tell you what your being part of my life means to me now Before either of us departs that is This is my paean to you a word I didn t realize was in my ken until I began typing When I started in the writers group your remarks led me to believe you d been an English professor I liked what you commented about my stories ever encouraging showing me subtle nuances I didn t see in phrases I d watch you out of the corner of my eye measuring your facial reactions when you silently read my story An English mentor after all and unwitting mentor You helped me get in touch with parts of myself that I had lost to realign puzzle pieces that made no sense that didn t quite fit And you introduced me to the Bulletin Board in the Pioneer Press I was able to make an item from my bucket list come true I saw my name in print in a publication people paid for Wouldn t have happened without your encouragement A major boost for me Related Articles Letters More politicians should follow Walz s lead on money for religious institutions Letters Preventing landlords from screening tenants is a one-sided view of our housing difficulty Letters Let s not make it harder to learn Walz wrote A private school principal responds Letters Definitely it IS about President Trump Letters St Paul Council should delay vote on rent-control amendments All the friends I grew up with who gave my life meaning and purpose are gone now Connecting with you has renewed my sense of looking forward to another day with anticipation rather than antipathy I keep a message on my fridge a reminder of what s the majority central to being alive and well It presented itself to me when I needed a helping hand with relationships gone awry Stay in touch with those people who make you feel good about yourself and distance yourself from those who do not I m happy we re in touch Don Milan Mockovak who describes himself as years of age not old yet and an Episcopal Homes resident