Letters on Ranzau, free community college, Iran hostages, disabled workers

Those affected by cuts include U.S. citizens

A letter writer thanked Sedgwick County Commission Chairman Richard Ranzau for “protecting my hard-earned tax dollars from being misspent by providing benefits for citizens of other countries” (“Ranzau represents me,” Dec. 11 Letters to the Editor). Unless the writer is Native American, he should re-examine his statement.

Cutting benefits for the most vulnerable of our society is contrary to both the Kansas Constitution and the tenets of every major religion. Plenty of folks affected are indeed American citizens, and even those who are not pay taxes and work hard.

If you don’t think health screening benefits the community as a whole, you probably don’t understand that providing proper nutrition to developing bodies will save us millions in health care in the future.

I know those of comfort and privilege often wish the poor would just go away, but it doesn’t work like that. Maybe if the minimum wage were a living wage, things would begin to change. As far as softening the hearts hardened by bigotry and hatred: I don’t hold out much hope.

How much education?

How many years should pupils attend school before entering the workplace in a complex, technologically oriented society?

Most pupils attend from kindergarten through grade 12. The educational ladder has been extended downward to include nursery school, private or public school for some pupils. There are proposals in Congress to lengthen the Head Start program from 128 to 180 days in a school year and also lengthen the school day from 3.5 to six hours, much like the K-12 level.

President Obama has recommended extending upward from K-12 to include a free community college education. It is true that pupils need more training for the challenges that lie ahead in the world of work. Community colleges offer course work in technical education, where there are a plethora of positions available in society in such areas as plumbing, heating and cooling, electrical, computer programming, and related health field endeavors, among many others. Upon graduation from a community college, students who took general education classes might transfer credits, if applicable, to an accredited college or university.

The world is filled with opportunities, and young people need to avail themselves in making wise decisions pertaining to college or career. This is a critical period in life.

Lives worth more?

I don’t think that the employees of the U.S. government who were held hostage in Iran should get up to $4.4 million each. None was in combat conditions, and they probably were highly paid for what they were doing.

If an American soldier is killed in combat, his family gets $400,000 in life insurance payout. Is a soldier’s life less important than that of a diplomat?

The only thing that makes this somewhat tolerable is that the money being paid to those held hostage isn’t coming from the taxpayer.

Another question to consider is: Are the lives of government employees more valuable than anyone else’s? Do we compensate the families of those killed in California by terrorists? If they were U.S. government employees, we probably would.

Don’t exploit disabled

Enacted in 1938, Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act exempts our disabled from the federal minimum wage. Though one might argue the benefit of meaningful employment against a living wage, with the economy getting better and technological advances for this vulnerable population, I feel that we can no longer exploit their contributions to society. They’re earning less than tip wages and deserve better.

This story was originally published January 1, 2016 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Letters on Ranzau, free community college, Iran hostages, disabled workers."