Opinion Editor's note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes letters from readers daily online and in print. To contribute, click here.
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A Star Tribune special report, “Broken Promises, Shattered Dreams” (June 16), details the problems workers face when their employer company goes bankrupt. The predicament workers face is caused in part by federal bankruptcy law and the judges who enforce it freely.
U.S. policy is lenient toward debtors with debts they cannot repay, and attempts to give them a fresh start. State laws also assist debtors by placing limitations on the enforcement of judgments. A recent example is Minnesota's legislative efforts to protect surviving spouses from having to pay the medical bills of the other spouse, as well as provide other relief from medical creditors.
For many, if not most, bankruptcy offers a chance to get a new start without falling into poverty. But for employees of the bankrupt company, an employer bankruptcy can be devastating, as in the story described in this article: A meatpacking plant goes bankrupt, lawyers are paid billions, lien holders are bailed out, but employees get almost nothing.
Recently, a letter writer called on the DFL to address these issues (“Use the power of the DFL to address this issue,” Readers Write, June 16). But bankruptcy is governed by federal law. Any reform of bankruptcy law must come from Congress, which seems a long way off.
John D. Sens, Savage
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I read a feature article called “Broken Promises, Shattered Dreams.” I have worked in agriculture for over 40 years and have dealt with many immigrants. This is a travesty for immigrants, those who want to immigrate, and the families who sacrificed their lives to immigrate. All they want is a better place to live and safety for their families. But politicians from both parties want to stop immigration for a matter of votes: to vote for either the party that protects the Union or the party that stokes fear of crime. This is what my ancestors and yours have been doing for centuries.
Keep this issue separate from politics. Immigrants want a better life. We need workers. We need taxpayers. We want good people to live here who will support our schools and churches and pay our taxes. They want safety. Sure, some may want to “sneak” in. But imagine the plight of your great-great-grandparents. Remember, this is the land of opportunity, the land of freedom. Welcome them. Don't restrict or stop them. Welcome them.
Star Tribune, please make an effort to focus on the real issues, not the political fallout. Do the right thing, forget about the torpedoes, and tell the real story. We've been subscribers for over 40 years. You have the ability and the responsibility to tell the real story to this state. Depict the real journey of these incredible families who are safe, law-abiding, and who need and want a better life for themselves and their children.
Nicholas Virgil Kunkel, Ramsay
Food Safety
Don't trust that package
Karen Tolkinen's experience moving to a farm and learning how to grow and raise her own food was interesting (“A Big Adaptation to Country Living: Food,” June 13). But her trust in the modern food system surprised me. “I trusted grocery store food in plastic packaging, assuming that food companies had hired experts and sanitary processes to ensure safety.” As more research on plastics is done, we're finding that the chemicals that give plastic its magical, seemingly sanitary properties don't just stay in the plastic; they permeate everything it comes into contact with. Just recently, a Consumer Reports team traveled to Minnesota to sue General Mills for containing worrying levels of toxic plastic chemicals, phthalates, in Cheerios, Yoplait yogurt, Progresso soup, and Annie's ravioli. In fact, of the 85 products Consumer Reports tested, ravioli had the highest phthalate content.
Phthalates have been linked to serious health problems, from diabetes to cardiovascular disease. We don't want phthalates in our food, especially our children's favorite foods. Now General Mills knows this and must take action to test their manufacturing processes and packaging to find out where phthalates are getting in and eliminate them. Following weak federal regulations is not enough.
We all want to trust that the food in our grocery stores is safe, and food manufacturers like General Mills put a lot of resources into developing their products. They should take the extra step of testing the final product to ensure it's not unintentionally laced with plastic chemicals.
Lori Olinger, North Oaks
Sports betting
Keep Postponing the Fight
Regarding “Gambling's Enemy Decided, But the Battle Didn't Happen” (June 17): I'm glad sports betting didn't pass the Legislature this year. There are already enough ways for corruption to creep into the sports world, and enough ways for people to get caught up in addictive, useless behavior. State budgets should not be built at the expense of the less fortunate.
Len Freeman, Long Lake
Israel
Negotiation is for those who are willing
I agree with the logic of returning the hostages to Israel, as outlined in your June 15 letter to the editor, “A Much Better Rescue Strategy.” The scale of diplomacy should at least match the scale of the military effort. But please explain to me how this works in the Middle East. It's not that negotiations aren't ongoing. Unfortunately, both warring nations have pondered ceasefire proposals, sometimes for weeks, and are acting as if time is on their side as the shooting and killing continues. Given that most other countries in the region agree with Hamas that the elimination of the State of Israel is a primary goal, halting military aid to Israel would jeopardize the survival of a long-standing U.S. ally.
I have much respect for the ongoing diplomatic efforts in the region and hope for a truce, or at least a ceasefire. But for diplomacy to work, the warring parties need to pay more respect to their dying comrades than to old ideologies. Sadly, these hardline ideologies leave no room for peace.
Donald Nall, Crystal
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The letter writer lamenting Israel's rescue of four hostages in Gaza (“A much better rescue strategy”) is a vivid example of the moral corruption that pervades the current “pro-peace” movement. While lamenting the loss of life in the rescue operation, the writer places the blame solely on Israel. The average reader may wonder: How did Hamas come to take hostages in the first place? Why are they being held in a populated area (and in the home of an Al Jazeera journalist)? Why accept the premise that taking hostages is itself a valid position to negotiate, like a used car? And what should Israel do if the other side of the table will not accept anything less than the total destruction of Israel? The failure to ask these questions, much less address them, reveals a long-standing worldview in which Jewish lives are at a cost.
Sadly, the time has long passed for the Jew to simply resign himself to death. Perhaps when the letter writer and others accept this, the peace he seeks will come.
Judah Druck, St. Louis Park
