Letters on service jobs, judicial confirmation, guns

Service jobs don’t build state’s economy

An article outlined the economic depression in West Virginia because of the decline in the coal industry (Dec. 18 Eagle). My wife’s family is from West Virginia. The vast majority were or are coal miners. Her dad mined until he joined the Air Force, which brought him to Kansas.

The article touted the creation of jobs through small businesses as a good thing, and it is to a point. But one person starting a restaurant, being successful and adding three people does nothing for things in the state overall.

What builds wealth in a state or national economy are exports – such as natural resources (coal), agriculture and manufactured goods. Though the jobs created by the restaurant were real, like all service jobs they did nothing for the overall local or state economy. There is no increase in the tax base, as some other restaurant likely suffered for this one to succeed.

Service jobs are like moving your money from one pants pocket to another. You don’t have more money; it’s just in a different location. They have to do something different.

It makes no sense to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result, which is the primary reason most government programs fail.

Vote on nominee

It has been more than a year since President Obama nominated federal Judge Luis Felipe Restrepo to join the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Restrepo was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate to his current post as a judge in the Eastern District two years ago. He previously served as a Philadelphia-based public defender and is universally respected. In these politically divisive times, he is the rare case of a political nominee with bipartisan support; Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Bob Casey, D-Pa., both recommend his nomination.

One of the most important components of a senator’s role is to give advice and consent on federal judicial nominees. Across the country, due in large part to a concerted effort by Senate Republicans to stall nominations of qualified judges, we are in the midst of a federal court vacancy crisis. Reports suggest that Toomey obstructed the nomination hearing while commenting publicly about what a fantastic nominee Restrepo is. This is politics at its worst.

The Senate finally agreed to consider the nomination next month. Toomey needs to make sure this happens and that the exceedingly qualified Restrepo gets the vote he deserves.

Don’t blame the guns

How dangerous are guns in the hands of adult men and women?

For most of my three-year military service, I worked in a military stockade processing new prisoners into and then out of confinement. There were more than 26,000 soldiers on my post, each having access to at least one firearm, and ammunition was easily available. I interviewed, photographed and fingerprinted hundreds of soldiers, and none was charged with a crime involving a gun. One was charged with murder; the weapon was a 4-inch pocketknife.

Several prisoners attempted to escape. Two were fired on as they ran but were not injured. One escaped; the other was stopped after one warning shot. A third prisoner was being escorted to confinement when he attempted to escape. The guard put down his rifle, tackled the prisoner and turned him over for confinement.

If 26,000 predominantly young males with guns readily available can go years without a single shooting, why do so many choose to blame the guns for crimes? The answer may be the ignorance of guns by the vast majority of Americans who no longer feel a responsibility for serving or defending our country.

Please review the Constitution’s Second Amendment.

This story was originally published December 25, 2015 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Letters on service jobs, judicial confirmation, guns."