READER RESPONSE -- There is a Santa Claus, but . . . .

Overshadowed in yesterday's Star Tribune by the clamour over Nick Coleman's latest use of newspaper pages for personal vendetta was the lead Letter to the Editor from a frequent commentator on this site, Jerry Ewing.

I've learned a lot from the insight in his comments on education posts and his views on a "Universal Voucher" are interesting. I've enjoyed the strong defense he made in debating "The Doctor" on the school choice issue. His comments in the Star Tribune on the morality of the state budget are right on target.

Nice job, Jerry!

Not quite, Virginia

I'm sorry, Virginia, but your little friends are wrong ("State budget is a moral document," Dec. 27). There is a Santa Claus, but state government is not he.

Where is the separation of church and state when liberals want government charity? It is not a moral act to steal from one to give to another, nor is it charity -- no matter how much you care.

The authors give to faith and charity, but then want the state to use its power of taxation to force the rest of us to give even more. Do you ever wonder why these "charitable" people do not voluntarily pay more taxes than they owe? Nothing prevents that, except perhaps the certain knowledge that government "charity" is the moral equivalent of extortion on the one end and prostitution on the other. Perhaps if taxes were lower, we could all be more charitable.

Jerry Ewing, Apple Valley.