Letters on county budget cuts, Iran deal, turnpike death, inflation, Confederate flag

County cuts are unfair, harmful

As residents and taxpayers in Sedgwick County, we want to express our deep concern about the proposed cuts in funding for the Sedgwick County Zoo, Exploration Place and other arts-related organizations in our community (July 21 Eagle). We are particularly alarmed about earlier funding agreements made by the Sedgwick County Commission that are now on the chopping block. That not only seems unfair and unprofessional but extremely detrimental to some of the most significant cultural and educational attractions in the county.

If that happens, it will hurt residents of Sedgwick County, but also have a negative impact on the thousands of out-of-town guests who frequent these attractions. To put the zoo in such a financial bind after it has, in good faith, raised significant funds for the new elephant exhibit is wrong and harmful.

We have deep respect for the tasks faced annually by our elected officials in making financially prudent decisions. However, we think it is extremely shortsighted to roll back financial commitments to local nonprofits, particularly when these cuts do not have to be made in order to balance the budget previously prepared by former County Manager Bill Buchanan.

We realize that parks, streets, fire protection, law enforcement and many other needs have to be met. We hope county commissioners will try harder not to do that on the backs of some of our community’s greatest educational resources.

Remember past

It is said that if you forget the past, you are doomed to repeat it.

After World War I, Germany was defeated and under the Treaty of Versailles. Germany was so severely limited as to types of planes, ships, tanks, etc., that it could build, it could never again cause war. The German people were under such hardship until a man named Adolf Hitler came along to change things.

Is it any different today? In regard to Iran, sanctions too severe can cause a madman to do terrible things. I think that President Obama’s solution is the right and only thing to do.

Death preventable

I have been following the tragic story of the drowning of Zachary Clark (“Floodwater covered I-35 where young driver died,” July 18 Eagle). Clark’s vehicle was sucked through a culvert in a flash flood. Numerous witnesses watched in horror, unable to assist him in any way.

This accident was a near carbon copy of a similar accident in 2003, just 2 miles away, when floodwater swept six people to their deaths. All of these deaths were preventable, and this month’s was inexcusable.

This stretch of the I-35 Kansas Turnpike, built in 1955, is a proven highwater, flash-flood danger zone. Its culvert-drainage system has been long known as ineffective. Yet this problem has not been corrected through many decades, either by constructing larger drainage culverts or building barriers on either side of the roadway to prevent vehicles from being swept off the road.

In 2003, with the drowning deaths of six people, this should have been an absolute wake-up call to the Kansas Turnpike Authority to correct this problem immediately.

Clark’s family should immediately litigate against the state for wrongful death compensation.

Inflation good?

Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen recently stated that “we want to feel reasonably confident that inflation will move up” before raising interest rates.

Can inflation really be a good thing for everyone? Low rates of inflation are like a good pickpocket, not really noticed until it’s too late to do anything about it. High rates can be catastrophic, disrupting lives and economies, and occasionally destroying governments.

Generally speaking, an 80-year-old has had 75 percent of his life insulated from the effect of inflation. It would have been a problem for his parents from his birth through age 20. From then until he was 60, a good job and annual raises would have masked its effect. Only in the period from age 60 to 80, when individuals have few options to control their income, do most realize their pockets have been picked.

A cursory Internet search reveals that the debate primarily revolves around “how much inflation” is a good thing rather than whether it is a good thing. I would suggest that the debate needs to return to whether inflation is a good thing at all.

Cheap shot

I turned on an episode of the new David Duchovny show “Aquarius” last weekend. There was a scene in which a person drives into the parking lot of what appears to be a diner, and as the car pulls up, the camera focuses on a bumper sticker that says, “Proud descendant of a Confederate veteran.” I think the sticker also has a Confederate battle flag on it. The driver walks in and shoots a police officer, who appears to be very likable and, more important, is black.

Regardless of where one stands on the Confederate battle flag and its display, someone needs to tell the good people at NBC that taking these kinds of cheap shots is hardly the way to win people to your argument. By the way, I changed the channel.

This story was originally published July 22, 2015 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Letters on county budget cuts, Iran deal, turnpike death, inflation, Confederate flag."