Readers Write: Mass shootings on campus, federal spending, Israel and Gaza, Memorial Day

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

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Thanks to the reporter for the article on campus safety at the University of Minnesota (“Is the University of Minnesota prepared for a mass shooting? Students push for more safety measures,” StarTribune.com, May 12). I am the mother of two U alumni, one of whom is returning in the fall for graduate school.

I’d like to call attention to this quote from the article, attributed to University of New Haven Prof. Michael Lawlor: “The most important thing I say to people is if you see something, you need to say something, even if it’s a member of your family or a patient or your roommate.”

Under Minnesota law, a law enforcement officer, city or county attorney, or family or household member may file a petition for an extreme risk protection order (ERPO). If you know someone who has access to guns, and you have reason to believe that they pose a risk to themselves or others, you can request an ERPO, which is a court order that temporarily restricts a person’s access to guns, allowing family members to quickly intervene in dangerous situations. More information is available online at onethingyoucando.org/minnesota.

I would encourage all of us to continue to work on upstream solutions to prevent this scenario in the first place. It’s only impossible if we do nothing. The kids didn’t ask to be here; we brought them here. It’s time for the grown-ups to step up and protect their lives.

Leah Kondes, Minneapolis

A letter writer in the May 20 print edition of the Star Tribune takes issue with critics of President Donald Trump’s attempts to address the federal deficit, accusing them of logarithmic-scale hypocrisy and ignorance. I suspect the vast majority of folks would not be so critical if the administration was developing a thoughtful, balanced strategy for deficit reduction. The vitriol is reserved for, and clearly earned by, a meat-cleaver approach that disproportionately harms those who can least afford it; further alienates segments of our population who are already fighting for dignity and respect; damages our ability to monitor, predict and address natural and man-made disasters (like climate change); impairs future innovation dependent on today’s research and development; and diminishes our efforts worldwide to promote freedom and democracy. All while attempting to retain tax cuts that mostly benefit the wealthy and which will, according to nonpartisan analyses, actually increase the deficit! So, count me among the ignorant hypocrites.

Doug Norris, Champlin

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Did I read this right? Part of the Republican budget bill includes provisions to eliminate taxes on tips and overtime pay. Dumb idea on both counts!

Let’s start with the overtime pay. Eliminating taxes will encourage employers to keep their overall head count down and pile more work and more hours on their already overworked employees. Unemployment will go up, and workers will be spending more time at work and less with their families — exactly the opposite of what I believe our society should strive for.

Now to the tax on tips. Why should tips not be taxed? They are income for the tipped worker, and a dollar in tips spends just as nicely as a dollar on the paycheck. And talk about an invitation for abuse! A $15 haircut with a $5 tip now becomes a $10 haircut with a $10 tip. Previously untipped services will get in on the act. How long before the guy who does your taxes figures out that he is better off charging you $250 with an expected $50 tip than his current fee of $300?

The closer we can get to a flat tax on all income, whether from employment or investments, the better off we’ll be.

John Crea, St. Paul

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A writer to the Star Tribune on Tuesday attempted to defend our poor, picked-on president for attempting to protect our economy because “trillions of dollars of deficit cannot be sustained.”

Trump is not attempting to reduce the deficit and never has. He proclaimed himself to be “the king of debt” in the 2016 campaign and followed through by creating the third-largest deficit increase in history by giving massive tax cuts to the rich.

The current budget Trump and the Republicans are attempting to ram through Congress will again add trillions to the deficit by giving billionaires tax cuts, increasing taxes for low earners and slashing Medicaid (that the Republicans bravely will delay until after the 2028 election). The Medicaid cuts will hit Trump supporters and red states hard, which is why the Republicans in the House are holding almost no hearings and votes are occurring in the middle of the night. Their “Big Beautiful Bill” cannot withstand scrutiny in the light of day where it would be exposed as a Big Billionaire Boondoggle.

If, as the writer hopes, Trump and his party are “making some sort of attempt” to reduce the deficit, I suggest they eliminate the tax giveaway to the rich and maybe even cancel Trump’s June 14 ego parade that is costing us millions for no good reason. To expect Trump to cut even two cents from the deficit is nonsense.

Brad Engdahl, Golden Valley

Don Daher says, “There is no such thing as a ‘just war’” (“Looking at the world, the idea of progress seems hollow,” Strib Voices, May 21). What does he think should have been done as Adolf Hitler annexed one country after another with the intent of killing all the Jews and turning all non-Aryans into slaves of Germany? Turn the other cheek? What should the citizens of Ukraine have done when Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded their sovereign country? Resign themselves to the fate that Putin decided for them? And how should Israel have responded when Hamas murdered 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 250 more?

There are times when a nation simply must fight back. Unless a nation is willing to defend itself, it risks losing its sovereignty.

Yes, war is hell. But when evil people start a war, good people must fight to defend themselves and their country.

James Brandt, New Brighton

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I was very glad to read about aid trucks being allowed back into Gaza (“First aid trucks enter Gaza, but allies press for more help,” May 20). Food, medical aid and supplies are needed for the non-Hamas Palestinians living in Gaza, and I hope that the aid will continue and increase, as Israel has promised, and that it will reach the people it is intended for. However, I wonder why the U.S. and our allies are not also vigorously pressing for the release of the remaining 58 hostages, both living and dead, that have now been held in unbearable conditions for almost 600 days! It is almost as if the majority of the world has forgotten about the hostages — except for the brief excitement last week when the last known Israeli-American hostage was released.

We need both types of humanitarian gestures at this time — release of all the hostages and providing aid to non-Hamas Palestinians — and should not do one without remembering the other. We must bring all the hostages home now!

Sheldon Berkowitz, St. Paul

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The recent murder of two Israeli embassy workers in Washington, D.C., is an awful act of domestic terrorism. These two killed individuals had little to do with the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, just like many Gazans had nothing to do with Hamas.

However, there now has to be massive concern that this act will be praised and seen as an act of justice by many, including here in the Twin Cities. It is not anything of the sort. This was an act of unsolicited revenge done by a radicalized individual who gave into fanaticism. If anything has been learned since Oct. 7, 2023, it is that such fanatical and tyrannical murderous events only lead to more innocent victims, as the number of Israelis and Palestinians dying in this conflict seems now to increase every day, including, sadly, those living in the United States as well.

William Cory Labovitch, West St. Paul