Letters on empathy, liberty, ex-felon voters, Trump, economy, bathroom policy, foster parents

Kansas could use a shot of empathy

After reading an article in the Atlantic titled “Against Empathy,” I am more convinced than ever that a general lack of empathy within our Legislature has a lot to do with the current situation we find ourselves in.

If empathy and the general well-being of society (both immediate and long term) don’t guide our public policy decisions, then what does? Some fantasized notion that “improving” the economy by cutting taxes on certain groups will somehow fix all of society’s problems? Well, we see how well that’s working.

We don’t need a “shot of adrenaline” into the heart of our economy, as Gov. Sam Brownback purports his tax experiment will accomplish. We need a shot of empathy into the hearts of our elected officials.

Power of liberty

Desiring to pass along the values, principles and traditions of the republic, my wife and I recently took our 12-year-old grandson to Washington, D.C., to tour our nation’s monuments and memorials. In the National Archives, we viewed up close our founding documents: the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights.

From those momentous seeds planted in 1776, 1787 and 1791, respectively, America grew into the most prosperous nation in the history of the world, a moral force for good, that “shining city on a hill.” As Americans, we are all fortunate to experience, as the preamble of our Constitution reads, “the blessings of liberty.”

Now in the fourth quarter of our lives, we are witnessing with alarm increasing support of socialism in the land. Socialism, found nowhere in our Constitution, is little more than a disguised form of slavery – the forcible use of the labor of one person to serve the purposes of another, invariably ending in joblessness, debt and suffering.

The highlight of the trip with our grandson was a visit to Arlington National Cemetery. As the nation remembers this weekend those who died while serving in the country’s armed forces, it is our prayer that “we the people” will rediscover the morality and power of liberty as envisioned by our founders – and that our grandson and his generation can flourish in the land of the free.

Get vote back

Ex-felons in Kansas do not forfeit their right to vote for life. People convicted of a felony can’t vote in prison or jail, but if they are U.S. citizens, no longer behind bars and not on probation or parole, they can vote in Kansas. Voting rights will be restored as soon as they register (and provide proof of citizenship).

The group JENI (Jobs and Education-Not Incarceration) is working to get the word out and register voters. Please share this information with your family, friends and co-workers.

JENI volunteers will be registering all voters at the Wichita River Festival, June 3-11, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Douglas and Water. To complete registration, take a photo of your birth certificate or other citizenship document and bring your phone or a paper copy. We’ll help you securely send in your required proof to get ready to vote.

Since 2013, thousands of people who have attempted registration, but did not send in proof of citizenship, have been suspended and removed from the voting lists by Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

Check your voting status at www.canivote.org. I hope to see you at Riverfest. Get your vote back.

A vote for Trump

Finally, the two-party system is falling apart. Of course, this country cannot stand divided, so let us look at these parties.

On one hand are Bernie Sanders supporters who do not want to support Hillary Clinton (and vice versa). On the other hand are right-leaning folks constantly saying things like, “I’ll support whoever receives the nomination, but I like (a candidate other than Donald Trump) best.”

Despite the media lying and twisting his message, and Trump himself riding on aggressive rhetoric, he continues to garner support. He is uniting the right, and maybe the masculine, aggressive energy he puts out is just what our country needs right now.

I am a young adult who went through a very liberal phase. Trump has pulled me back to the right. It is time for Kansans to rally around him. You may not agree with everything he says, but he is the best chance our country has right now.

Work together

I’m not about to wade into the politics of who should or shouldn’t be president. That’s not something everyone will ever agree on. But I think we can all agree, regardless of our political leanings, that the rhetoric and partisanship have become worse over the past year or so. And that concerns me.

The problems this country faces are big ones (think lowering the deficit, reforming Social Security and Medicare, reforming the tax code). They are the kind of problems that aren’t going to get solved unless all of us work together.

It’s time we insist that members of Congress (old or new) start setting aside their differences to make headway on some of these things before it’s too late.

Not doing so badly

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, during President George W. Bush’s last six months in office, the economy lost an average of 484,000 jobs per month. During President Obama’s past six months (including April of this year), the economy added an average of 212,000 jobs per month. By comparison, the figures for President Reagan were 227,000 and for President Clinton 127,000.

Though we are not quite back to the Reagan levels, maybe we aren’t doing as badly as some people want us to think.

Bathroom policy?

If I understand conservatives’ position on transgender people and bathrooms correctly, they believe that someone born with a woman’s anatomy, but who identifies as a man, transitions to living as a man and is attracted to women, should be required to use the women’s bathroom. And they have no problem with this.

Am I missing something here?

Special people

May is National Foster Care Month and time to focus on children in the foster care system. I would like to encourage anyone who may be interested in becoming a foster parent to contact a child-placing agency.

Nationally, there are 400,000 children in the foster care system. In Kansas, there are more than 6,000 children in the foster care system.

I would also like to highlight the important role foster families play in our foster care system. Foster families are unsung heroes in the lives of children unable to live in their own homes.

EmberHope currently supports more than 250 foster homes in Kansas. We recently had a celebration for our local foster parents. It was heartwarming, amazing and humbling to see the unconditional care that foster parents give to children not their own.

We have single and married foster parents. We have foster parents younger than age 30, and we have foster parents in their mid-70s. But each of them is a very special kind of person. So if you know someone who is a foster parent, thank them for what they do each and every day.

This story was originally published May 29, 2016 at 12:04 AM with the headline "Letters on empathy, liberty, ex-felon voters, Trump, economy, bathroom policy, foster parents."