Letters on government ‘creative financing,’ new library, medical marijuana, Challenger explosion

Government relying on creative financing

“Financial agreements concern lawmakers; more oversight sought” (Jan. 26 Eagle) revealed a fundamental problem in government. All levels of government are appropriating funds for purposes that are intended for another function. That is not necessarily bad, except they mislead the public in order to get support for spending on pet projects.

The Kansas Department of Transportation has long been the bank of Kansas. The general public assumes it is using money it receives to build roads and bridges. In reality, much of those funds are going to other government organizations and to pay interest. Why do this? To have money to spend that the public would not support.

Creative financing is the new vision of government to get money for projects the people will support and skim money to other projects. Government can use fees and fines for revenue and claim it has not raised taxes or rates. Utility companies are prime targets for fees, so a government does not have to raise taxes and rates. There are extraordinary fines on companies to “punish them,” except the public pays the fine in price increases.

Creative financing may be legal, but is it ethical when you create a misleading image to the public?

Library make sense?

It has been 50 years since I have been in a public library. In those 50 years, I have educated myself well, including college. As I continue to learn, I use the Internet, books, periodicals and my morning newspaper.

I am sure many are like me in the way they receive information in today’s world. But there are many among us who cannot afford to do the same. This makes public libraries an essential need for continuous learning.

I am, however, not sure $33 million for a new library versus $22 million to remodel the current downtown library was the route to head. And adding salaries for 11 more employees to a strapped city budget will exacerbate the issue that we face.

Adding a new library also adds one more empty building in town we don’t need. The Wichita Library Board says we may be able to use it for Century II overflow or other activities. This likely means we will need to keep it in tip-top shape, with heating and cooling year-round, and it still would not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

I am not sure the new library can be justified given current attendance.

Medical benefits

As a Wichita representative of the Kansas Silver Haired Legislature (KSHL), I would like to respond to the “The new snake oil” (Jan. 26 Letters to the Editor). Unlike the letter writer, KSHL representatives have investigated why America’s medical community is enthusiastically embracing the healing capabilities of cannabis. Based on that research, an 87 percent majority of KSHL representatives from across Kansas voted to urge the Legislature to legalize medical marijuana.

Though the letter writer said the “Food and Drug Administration has never been able to find that cannabis cures anything,” according to the National Cancer Institute, the potential benefits of medicinal cannabis for people living with cancer include prevention of nausea, appetite stimulation, pain relief and improved sleep. Scientists have also proved that medical marijuana is helpful in treating glaucoma, colitis, Crohn’s disease, psoriasis, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy and diabetes, to name a few conditions.

Rheumatoid arthritis sufferers in Kansas must buy expensive biologic medications and highly dangerous and addictive pain medications. They could, instead, use medical marijuana to lessen chronic pain and go to sleep more naturally. It’s even been found to reverse the effects of RA in some patients.

It’s time to listen to the scientists and medical experts, and reject the mythologies surrounding this issue.

God-given plant

The writer of “The new snake oil” (Jan. 26 Letters to the Editor) must not be aware that cannabis has been documented for more than 5,000 years medically, still without a single death. That’s safety on a biblical scale.

For millions of sick citizens, the real “cruelest side effect” is being caged for using the relatively safe, God-given plant.

Remember Challenger

Thirty years ago I was standing in one of the aisles in the Martin Marietta facility in New Orleans where we built the external tank of the space shuttle. We were watching the launch of the Challenger shuttle. As it rose into the sky, we stood in awe of this magnificent machine. Then it happened.

I immediately turned to my manager and said, “Something’s wrong.” As we all know, it was the end of the Challenger. We were immediately told to collect all data on that particular external tank for the investigation we knew was coming. In eight hours, we filled an entire room with boxes and boxes of data.

For several days, we were subjected to know-it-all engineers and reporters blaming the accident on the external tank. That hurt. Later it was determined that the problem was one of the rockets attached to the outside of the shuttle.

When they finally restarted the program, my wife asked if I still wanted to go on a launch, and I resoundingly said “yes.” That first launch after the accident was the safest you could fly in.

This story was originally published February 2, 2016 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Letters on government ‘creative financing,’ new library, medical marijuana, Challenger explosion."