Letters to the editor (Feb. 26, 2020)

Bad streets

If you want to see a good example of deferred maintenance in Wichita, you need to look no further than any major street east of Hillside and north of Kellogg. There are many sections of asphalt streets where it’s hard to go more than a few yards without driving over big cracks, potholes or uneven, poorly repaired potholes.

This problem is more than just an inconvenience to the public. It causes premature wear on vehicle tires and vehicle suspensions. I hope our new mayor makes a commitment to remedy this problem soon.

Limiting plastic

Wichita’s City Council recently formed a committee to address plastic use. However, House Bill 2625 was introduced, which would prevent Wichita from addressing this problem. HB 2625 infringes on the rights of our local government, hinders environmental responsibility, and neglects the economic benefits of limiting plastic use.

Wichita should have the ability to create legislation that is specific to our needs. Residents in Wichita have petitioned the City Council to allow this committee to be assembled. Wichita residents have voiced their desire to reduce plastic use. HB 2625 would undo the work our City Council has done in representing us.

The Arkansas River runs out of Wichita into the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Decisions that we make in Wichita will affect the health of neighboring states and the ocean. HB 2625 would prevent us from taking the responsible environmental actions we need.

HB 2625 neglects the economic benefits of limiting plastic use. The Arkansas River is a recreational resource in Wichita. However, the Arkansas River is polluted and hinders citizens from utilizing its full potential. The Arkansas River affects our economic success, and this is a major reason why Wichita needs to limit plastic use.

Don’t trivialize abortion

Pro-lifers feel the disdain. It comes in the form of insults from social media, news networks, Hollywood, and politicians. Abortion is trivialized, and those who denounce it are labeled as extremists and worse.

A recent example of this disdain is the editorial cartoon in the Sunday, Feb. 23, Eagle, which depicts Kansas Sen. Susan Wagle as lacking in “dignity, integrity, and compassion,” because she is delaying a Medicaid expansion bill that has the potential of financing abortions in Kansas. Given the stakes, putting the brakes on Medicaid expansion until the Kansas House clears a path for the citizenry to vote on the Value Them Both amendment is the right thing to do and demonstrates her courage.

The “stakes” brings us back to the issue of trivializing abortion. Some have likened abortion to pulling a tooth or removing a mole. The editorial cartoonist apparently has a similar opinion. In fact, abortion is the intentional killing of an innocent human being and it was reported over 6,000 times in Kansas in 2017. This is morally equivalent to killing 6,000 5-year-olds in a single year. That’s not trivial.

Economic headwinds

The economy has been the president’s main talking point for his re-election. The recovery from the recession of 2008 has been the longest post-recession recovery since the Great Depression. Much of those gains in employment and gross domestic product occurred in the previous administration.

Yet, there are many headwinds facing the U.S. and world economies, including: exploding debt and deficits, rising nationalism, trade wars, potential hot wars, fraying alliances such as Brexit, brewing pandemics, relaxed banking regulations, and inflated equity and asset prices.

This president, who himself has reportedly been bankrupt six times, has added over a trillion dollars to the deficit and three trillion to the national debt while giving huge tax relief to his cronies.

With interest rates already low, and quantitative easing exhausted, we are in a poor place to respond to the inevitable economic downturn. We risk a real long-term threat of economic instability.

We have a president who once asked why the government couldn’t borrow more of its own money while interest rates are low? That’s how he thinks. We need to elect a moderate president who can unite the country and knows something about macroeconomics.