Print edition: 
Deficit spending can make sense
I was driving down Tyler south of Kellogg, grousing about all the paid-for-by-stimulus-money road construction, when it occurred to me that I was exactly, perfectly, 100 percent wrong.
This is the perfect time to be doing road repairs and other infrastructure-type things. Borrowing costs are almost nil, plus there's a recession on. Most contractors will be willing to work for only as much profit as absolutely necessary to keep the business running. You won't get these prices during a housing boom, when all the asphalt is going into subdivisions. No, economically, this is exactly what we should be doing, deficit be damned.
It also makes sense to me on a personal level. A friend and I both graduated college in 1979. There was a recession at the time; nobody was hiring kids out of school. So we were faced with the question of whether to go to graduate school for MBA degrees. People had told me that unless someone was paying you to go, forget it. So I elected to work at Howard Johnson's, while my friend decided to go off to Columbia University. "And so I increase my debt," his letter to me said.
Years later, you know how the story turned out. I've done quite well, considering my lack of self-investment, by hewing to a conservative fiscal path. I pay as I go, and take on debt kicking and screaming. My friend graduated two years later, up to his ears in debt. But a year later, the recession ended, he got a job in finance, and now he's many, many times wealthier than I am. Two paths, two successes — who really took the unnecessary risks?
MIKE DWYER
Wichita
Boot Obama
It's been just more than a year since President Obama took office. In that time, it's become quite obvious that he is not only seriously underqualified for the job, but also very dangerous because of both his inexperience and his "my way or the highway" mentality. I believe that it's time to give him the boot and let someone else take the reins.
Our economy is growing worse, not better, under Obama's leadership. Obama either hasn't figured out or doesn't care that what stimulates an economy is cutting taxes and creating jobs, not stimulus packages and freewheeling spending.
Our country also feels less safe, at least to me, with Obama at the helm. This is a guy who doesn't see homeland security and our military as priorities and wants to give accused terrorists the same rights as American citizens. He's convinced that hostile world leaders can be simply reasoned out of their evil intentions.
What's scariest of all is that Obama is not listening to the American people. Many of us do not want this new health care bill, and have made it loud and clear. Yet Obama and his gang of thugs in Washington, D.C., are insisting on pushing it through by whatever means possible — sweetheart deals, closed-door meetings, Christmas Eve votes, and outright aggression.
If Obama's current agenda is allowed to blossom to fruition, things will just go from bad to worse. And it's possible he will create so much damage that the next president may not be able to undo it.
JODY MOSIER
Towanda
Party of intolerance
I grew up in a Republican family where Bob Dole once stood in the backyard and campaigned for president. Looking back, I cannot help but wonder if my parents really knew just why they were Republicans, other than it was good for business.
I was a registered Republican for more than 20 years. Let's just say that I came by it naturally. Now I realize that the Republican Party is a party of intolerance. Most of its members either misunderstand or are bigoted against gays in the military. Many Republicans feel that we should have freedom of religion just as long as it is Christianity.
I will take that one step further. These same Republicans believe that their interpretation of Christianity leaves little room for those outside the right-to-life movement. In their eyes, it is also OK to omit the separation of church and state.
And why get your facts straight when there is a large group of Republicans who still foolishly believe that it was Iraq that attacked the twin towers? Some of the same conservatives can look a person straight in the eye and claim that President Obama is not a U.S. citizen.
If you align yourself with any or all of these beliefs, there is still hope. I found a way out and joined the Democratic Party. My vote may not count for much in the state of Kansas, but I sure do sleep much better at night.
LARRY STEPHENSON
Andover
All fall short
A Feb. 5 Opinion Line comment about "good Christians" was horribly mistaken. The fact is, there's no such thing as a good Christian. Everyone thinks that Christians are supposed to be perfect angels who never do anything wrong. Well, that's the opposite of Christianity. We know we can't be perfect angels.
Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." All Christians slip up now and then, and everyone else doesn't get it. And that's why we need Jesus. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
Christians try to do things that are right. But don't think that if they mess up at one thing, eternity is ruined for them.
JUSTIN BOSTIAN
Goddard
