Letters on efficiency study, Cuba, Cruz’s kids, bird strikes

Whose ‘efficiency’ is it anyway?

Kansans are being asked yet again to bend over, this time to closely examine Gov. Sam Brownback’s bottomless budget pit – before being kicked into it for burial.

How big is the hole? First year after Brownback’s tax giveaway: $700 million. 2015’s deficit: $800 million. Looming cuts: $120 million to $350 million.

Instead of admitting their obvious failure, our clueless leaders have hired an outside firm, Alvarez & Marsal, to find “efficiencies.” Estimated cash reserves to end this fiscal year: $5.6 million. Amount to pay the consultants: $2.6 million.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Ron Ryckman Jr., R-Olathe, wrote: “Close collaboration between A&M and state employees is the only way” to succeed.

In other words, state workers, “we’re about to fire you or cut your salary, but get in line or you’ll get worse.” The corporate cutback/cutthroat model guarantees poor or no service for Kansans.

Will schools be cut? “Nothing is off the table right now,” said an A&M official.

A&M’s record speaks for itself. St. Louis: 16 schools closed, custodial and food services outsourced, bus routes redrawn, kids walking, academics gutted. New Orleans: 7,000 teachers fired, charters replacing public schools.

In all states, promised savings were questionable. Study costs often doubled, or more.

A&M’s Brownback campaign donations: $2,000 in 2010 and $1,000 in 2014.

Kansans: Wake. Up. The foxes are eyeing your roost in the henhouse.

Brutal government

Jan. 1 marks another anniversary of the Castro brothers taking control of the Cuban government in 1959, after dictator Fulgencio Batista left the country. That’s 57 years. Cuba remains a one-party state (Communist Party) with the power in the hands of Raul Castro.

▪  The state owns and controls newspapers, television and radio. Internet is not available to the average Cuban.

▪  The state controls all economic activity. There is very little private enterprise. Travel is restricted.

▪  Thousands have been killed for political reasons. About 2 million have left the island during the past decades. Human rights violations are common.

▪  The Cuban embargo has been in place for more than 50 years, but about 8 percent of imports in Cuba are from the United States. Cuba is not prevented from trading with the rest of the world.

I welcomed the changes in U.S. policy, but the fact remains we are dealing with a ruthless and brutal government. Keep this in mind if you plan to visit. Look beyond the beaches and the old cars.

Let’s hope 2016 will bring liberty for the Cuban people.

Remember in prayers

It is the beginning of another wonderful year. There are several Americans incarcerated overseas. Let us all remember them in our thoughts and prayers.

Cruz used his kids

Kudos to a Washington Post editorial cartoon for highlighting how Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, exploited his children by using them to spew his negative campaign ads of hate and lies. And then Cruz had the audacity to condemn the Post for “using” his children. He was the one who used them as his pawns to promote his own political ambitions.

One thing is certain: Cruz will never receive the “Father of the Year” award. And this is the man many evangelicals prefer as a presidential candidate? I think they’d better keep looking.

Congress makes laws

Why do we have 535 members of Congress to make laws when all the presidential hopefuls are promising everything anyone wants? Will the new person be a president, a dictator or a liar?

Not the bird’s fault

“Dangerous helicopter bird strikes on the rise, FAA warns” was an interesting article (Dec. 28 Eagle). The Associated Press reporter made it almost sound as though we have suicidal geese and other birds just waiting in the sky for their chance to dive into the engines or windshields of passing aircraft, sort of like those vicious raccoons and possums that rush out in the night to attack our car undercarriages or the squirrels that charge out to savage our front tires. Isn’t it a bit more likely that an aircraft moving several hundred miles per hour is the thing that “strikes” the bird?

The article pointed out that there has been an increase in the number of big birds. It didn’t mention any increase in the number of aircraft. It also pointed out that there are no safety standards for helicopters that weigh less than 7,000 pounds. Does the Federal Aviation Administration think that no damage occurs when a 6,000-pound helicopter smacks into a 2-pound goose?

Let’s get real – virtually everything that man puts into the sky runs into and kills birds. Not a lot can be done about that, but let’s stop implying that it’s the bird’s fault.

This story was originally published December 31, 2015 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Letters on efficiency study, Cuba, Cruz’s kids, bird strikes."