I Owe You a Beer

Only Spotty can give out the Spotty Awards for great letters to the editor, so instead I'm going to offer the best compensation I can. I owe you a beer. If your letter gets published in this space, I officially owe you a beer if you ever come to Drinking Liberally. To get the party started, I'm going to offer up two free pints. First:

The Binger surplus

Isn't life full of little ironies? One day, a member of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's staff is touting the good news that the state will have a surplus this year. The next day we read that about a third of the current surplus comes from a one-time estate tax payment from one person ($112 million from the estate of James Binger).

Isn't the elimination of the estate tax a cornerstone of Republican tax policy? Wasn't all of the money in the estate earned before Pawlenty's no-new-taxes policy took effect?

DICK HENDRICKSON, MINNEAPOLIS

Dick Hendrickson, you rock. The first round's on me.

and:

Plenty of new taxes

The idea that the governor has created a budget surplus without raising taxes is laughable.

I live in western Minnesota, and I can say honestly that many landowners' property taxes have tripled during the governor's term in office. In our small community, the school district had to pass two tax levies in the past 18 months so that one of the highest-ranked schools in the state would be able to keep its doors open for the continued success of our students.

OREN THORSON, EAGLE BEND, MINN.

I know Eagle Bend is a bit of drive, two, two and a half hours or so, but if PZ Myers can make it here from Morris I have faith in Mr. Thorson. Gentlemen, I owe you a beer.