Letters

Shopping for my son will be much easier thanks to Congress. A bill banning lead and phthalates from kids' products is expected to be signed into law soon. Parents across the country will have a few less toxic chemicals to be concerned about but our concern shouldn't end here. Lead and phthalates are not the only toxic chemicals in products harming kids. Bisphenol A, a hormone-disrupting chemical found in many baby bottles, is still allowed in polycarbonate plastic.

A bill banning bisphenol A and phthalates was passed by the Minnesota Legislature but vetoed by Gov. Pawlenty. Minnesota must continue its efforts to protect children's health by prohibiting all toxic chemicals in our children's products.

MARY DAUMAN

ANDOVER

Bridge concerns: Who's responsible? Wasn't it Gov. Tim Pawlenty who had all of the MnDOT money going into the general fund so MnDOT had to jump through more hoops to get approval for necessary road and bridge repairs? Wasn't it the lieutenant governor who was the commissioner of transportation and had no background in engineering by which to judge the need of this work? Wasn't it MnDOT, by previous inspections, that warned of potential problems with the 35W bridge?

I don't believe the accountability issue has been dealt with yet and I haven't heard of any changes to this system.

DAVID JENSEN

Do the math before blaming military Reading the comments regarding Peter J. Nelson's commentary ("As boomers grow old, America must grow up," Aug. 3), I saw a lot of misleading statements and outright untruths. Before you "experts" start popping off on the "facts," you should really learn to differentiate them from opinion and the drivel that you are being fed from the far-left. According to the CBO, in 2006 the largest item in the federal budget (in millions) was Social Security $548,549. This was followed by national defense at $521,840. ... But when you (rightfully) combine the other entitlement totals, you end up with a whopping $1,346,404,000,000! That's 1.3 trillion dollars, or more than 2 1/2 times the annual defense budget. And remember, that number doesn't include Social Security.

Grow up and stop blaming the military for the economic woes you believe are around you. "Provide for the Common Defense" and "Promote the General Welfare" are both in the Constitution, and there's no reason why we can't do both more efficiently and effectively.

SEAN C. NOVACK

COON RAPIDS

Is there a connection [linking] high prices for us at the pump, oil companies' all-time record profits, extreme pressure on Congress to pass greatly expanded drilling rights, and former oil company executives with only five months left in office?

CHAMPLIN

With all the hoopla over rising energy costs, to drill or not to drill, alternative energy ideas, something got lost. Critics of drilling say there won't be oil flowing for seven to 10 years. Won't we be needing oil in seven to 10 years, or am I missing something?

Drillers say oil could be flowing in as little as 18 months. The big problem is refining capacity. American refineries are operating at near capacity, so more oil is not going to mean more gasoline in the short term. That, I believe is our problem: We are thinking short term. It is all about me, and I want it right now. Let's think in both short term and the long term, for us and our kids.

MIKE KILEY