Opinion Line (July 19)

The American dream is like a reality TV show. Few people ever win. Those who do win are usually jerks. The actions necessary to win are shameful and degrading. The prize obtained is not worth the effort. The losers are forgotten in one day, the winners in one week.

Heaven help us if Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are the best we have.

Based on the Obama administration’s previous spin and lies, it’s a sad day when you have to believe Iran when it claims victory in the nuclear weapons agreement.

If Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran is as great as he claims, why does he feel the need to defend and promote it?

How can John Kerry negotiate anything? He can’t even negotiate a bicycle.

I think it’s time to recall Gov. Sam Brownback. Is anyone else out there fed up with his actions against the good people of Kansas?

Now that Greece has been repoed, Detroit is bankrupt, and Puerto Rico will soon be repoed, when will Kansas be repoed?

“Religious freedom” is just a nice way of saying “hatred and bigotry.”

Let’s make Kansas a sanctuary state for heterosexual marriage, only.

What college or high school graduate would want to be a teacher when all the politicians do is demonize the profession and cut funding? Yes, Kansas will have a teacher shortage. Duh.

The state’s universities were capped at 3.6 percent increases in tuition and fees. Guess what most requested? If they’d been told “no more,” they would be forced to price their service based in real-world competition for and value delivered to their customers. No more expansive halls sheltering tenured professors and their six-digit salaries.

Maybe it’s time for WSU officials to look at where they can make budget cuts instead of “reprioritizing” and raising parking fees 25 percent for students, faculty and staff because they had to cap tuition and fee increases at 3.6 percent instead of 5 percent.

Kudos to the Jayhawks for being able to win a tournament that the Wichita State Shockers were not in.

Are the Sedgwick County commissioners going to lower their inflated wages as part of their defunding and reduction plan?

Cuts to Big Brothers Big Sisters, the zoo, the Arts Council, Riverfest, etc. Never mind that these organization make life in the city worth living. Now county leaders will only meet with city leaders in private.

While the symbols for the political parties have been the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey, Sedgwick County commissioners will have to rely on only the donkey because they don’t want to fund the elephants.

When our cities, counties and state government are faced with cuts, we need to ask ourselves whether it is a “need” or “want” when it comes to spending – just as any family would for food, shelter and transportation over dining out, vacations, Exploration Place or the zoo.

This story was originally published July 18, 2015 at 7:03 PM with the headline "Opinion Line (July 19)."