Readers Write: Harris’ economic plans, Planned Parenthood, Strib rebrand, Iron Range, weed

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has finally started to release her economic plans.

One of her first steps will be to remove taxation on tips. This is the same plan that former President Donald Trump announced a few weeks ago.

She is adding language to prevent price-gouging. That would lead to price controls and product shortages. Cuba and Venezuela, anyone? This did not work for Richard Nixon back in the 1970s. So why would it work now?

She wants to give first-time home buyers $25,000 toward a down payment. That might lead to more people buying homes, which would lead to bidding wars and increased home prices.

She announced, “As president, I will be laser-focused on creating opportunities for the middle class that advance their economic security, stability and dignity. Together, we will build what I call an ‘opportunity economy.’”

What I am wondering is, why did Harris, who has been part of the leadership of our country for the last three-and-a-half years, not implement these plans instead of waiting until right before the upcoming election?

Oh, wait, I believe I just answered my own question.

Mike McLean, Richfield

Planned Parenthood’s move to offer free abortions and vasectomies at the Democratic National Convention is a stark reminder of how much the Democrats have embraced extreme positions. Is this really the message they want to send, that abortion and sterilization are casual, on-demand services? How does this align with the values of protecting life and personal responsibility? Furthermore, if these procedures are so essential, why aren’t they being discussed with the gravity they deserve? It seems the left is more interested in pushing a radical agenda than having a serious debate on the ethics of life and reproductive health.

Joseph Engesser, Red Wing, Minn.

I was very surprised by the rebrand on Sunday when I opened up my e-edition of the Minnesota Star Tribune! As a 25-year-old subscriber who’s been reading off and on for several years, I’m a fan. The new headline font is gorgeous.

I’ve always been a fan of the opinion section, even when it makes me want to pull my hair out, so I’m excited about all of the new columnists being introduced and the mere mention of adding a Gen Z voice in the future is a very interesting one. It made me dream for a moment of being a columnist myself, but then I saw how many awards the new voices have won and realized I’m nowhere near qualified. I could maybe write a passable column on comics and gaming, but I don’t know if I’m a good fit to be the mouthpiece of my generation.

I will, however, try and start submitting more to the Readers Write column. I’ve done a handful over the years (under Max Ritter, before I got married), mostly about how badly I wanted us to redesign our flag. Now that we’ve done that, I’ll need to find new things to care about!

Thank you all for giving Minnesota a paper to be proud of — the refresh makes me more eager to get engaged with it.

Max Murphy, St. Paul

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As I picked up the newspaper this morning from under our apartment door and looked at the new masthead of “The Minnesota Star Tribune,” I recognized fully that the daily paper will now be different. It is a big endeavor, and I wish you all well and happy discovery. Coverage of polity and politics at three levels of governance — international, federal and state — with their enormous levels of complexity will, I assume, remain the same.

Local is another level of big complexities. Although born elsewhere, I have lived in this state for over 60 years. Always in “greater” Minnesota, whose name seemed to have a wisp of condescension. It is a big state with deep and varied geology, geography, natural history and the cultures of the native peoples who were living here and then the settlers who came for discovery and also exploitation of its riches. Minnesota is now governed by 87 counties, 855 cities about 1,800 townships and myriad civic groups. So, please study up and use maps not just for roads but also for natural systems and governing units. Also, for your readers’ education, please insert a little index map for increasing geographical knowledge.

Janet Green, Duluth

Aaron Brown’s “Old family photo reveals how much has changed on Iron Range” (Strib Voices, Aug. 19) is a well-crafted, fascinating commentary. This segment in particular caught my attention: “Today’s Iron Range isn’t like the past. Health care professionals outnumber miners. We have more open jobs than people; opportunities abound, though you will not hear that from most” (emphasis added).

Though we may not hear that from most, let’s hear more about that in the Star Tribune. What are the job opportunities that are going unfilled on the Iron Range and why?

Lisa Wersal, Vadnais Heights

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Heartfelt kudos to Brown for his beautiful, elegiac piece on Minnesota’s Iron Range and its mining community, told through the lens of his family history — and thanks to the newly revamped Strib for offering us his crystal-clear voice. From its vivid details of mining to the sweeping and wise final two paragraphs, it held my attention-challenged brain in thrall. Brown’s call to reject the lure of fuzzy nostalgia and embrace the inevitability of change and the mission to fix what it breaks is one we all need to hear.

Timothy R. Church, St. Paul

The piece “Maybe legalizing weed wasn’t such a great idea” (Aug. 15), by economist Tyler Cowen, cites items from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City regarding economic gains and personal losses following cannabis legalization. Letters to the editor on Aug. 18 criticize the review of the Fed report for very different reasons (”A bad idea? How?”). Both are correct. A summary sentence from the report says that “the economic benefits of recreational legalization are relatively modest but are widely distributed. At the same time, costs are more likely to accrue to heavy-user individuals and are not easily found in aggregate state-level data.”

There are some economic gains to be had with the introduction of legal cannabis, including some small bump in a state’s GDP, employment and tax revenue. However, there is a cost for this, and when it falls upon a family, the benefit cannot compensate for the harm to a loved one. The increased rate of schizophrenia, substance-use disorders and academic failure are the costs that mental health practitioners confront every day. Contrary to the argument in one of the letters, individuals have died from cannabis due to suicide and serious adverse health effects.

The adult cannabis law fell short of managing harms. High potency is one of the largest causes of mental health harms to users. Another is poisonings of children and health effects from cannabis and medication interactions. The law failed to provide a clear set of warning labels for these dangers. This is much that Minnesota can learn from the experience of states that were mistaken in thinking legalization was a solution without problems.

George Realmuto, St. Paul