Letters on County Commission, real unemployment rate, Brownback

County not putting community first

The three conservative members of the Sedgwick County Commission seem to have forgotten that the commission exists to serve our community.

Over the course of our history here, the commission has always put the needs of the community over petty politics. A legacy of these decisions – the Sedgwick County Zoo, Exploration Place, Comcare, various arts funding programs, etc. – all exist because this commission’s predecessors put community first. That is something of which the conservative majority on the commission seems to need to be reminded.

I don’t want to save a whopping $2 a year and lose some of these programs and put others in harm’s way. This negatively affects the quality of life here, and gives others reasons to move away.

Honestly, I’d rather pay $2 more a year in property taxes and expand the existing programs so that our children can enjoy the things I have taken for granted, but that now seem to be under threat by an activist commission that is putting politics before community.

Not true economy

Dan DiMicco of Forbes magazine wrote in February that the real unemployment rate in the United States was 15.8 percent, not the official 5.6 percent at that time. This included the reported unemployed and involuntary part-time workers; the workers marginally attached to the labor force; and unemployed workers with 66 percent labor force participation rate – about 26 million people.

The true economy is not what happens on Wall Street but how the average American lives. And right now the average American lives paycheck to paycheck if he or she is lucky, or hand to mouth if not. The primary reasons for this include the recession starting in 2008 (which was a result of unregulated banking practices), deregulation of corporations (which led to exporting a large part of our manufacturing overseas) and uncontrolled immigration (which is taking jobs from American citizens and lowering wages) – the latter two having started in the 1970s.

Both the Democratic and Republican parties claim the high ground, yet both are culpable in every respect. Both dance to the tune of Wall Street and whatever jig it plays.

Isn’t it time for our politicians and political parties to honor their oaths to uphold the Constitution and start writing laws that promote the general welfare, not the welfare of the top 1 percent?

Going backward

Given how our beloved state is falling behind other states in our region financially, educationally, governmentally and socially, Gov. Sam Brownback needs to add a syllable to his last name. His leadership has made his more fitting last name “Brownbackward.”

This story was originally published July 21, 2015 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Letters on County Commission, real unemployment rate, Brownback."