Opinion Line (Jan. 4)

If LeBron James and other star athletes want to use their fame to make the world a better place, they should take off the “I can’t breathe” T-shirts and wear ones that say “Be a good father” or “Respect authority.”

Since passage of the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, Democrat-championed laws and policies not overturned by Republicans have worsened black illegitimacy, criminality, unemployment, poverty and academic performance. Blacks should protest liberalism, not cops.

There are a few bad cops who abuse their power. Then all the good cops get soiled with their behavior. I salute good cops. I think our elected officials should be just as aggressive, if not more, about weeding out the bad cops as they are about weeding out bad teachers.

It sounds to me like our governor and Legislature are testing the old adage, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” Public education is not a business. It is an essential service to maintain our freedom and therefore an essential service of our government.

No one would trust the fox to design a henhouse. Yet the state’s legislators want to rewrite the formula prescribing educational funding. They have not lived up to the previous formula they wrote, so why should we trust they will live up to any new formula they write?

No matter how much money is provided to our public school system, most of it is wasted on poor teachers and administrators. Evidence shows that students do not benefit when second-rate personnel receive raises.

The measure of a leader is to assess the results of his actions and make appropriate corrective actions. It will be interesting to see what leadership qualities our governor shows in correcting apparently failing taxing policies.

Kansas 2015 – open saloons, booze available on Sundays, state-owned casinos with a monopoly on legal smoking, concealed handguns everywhere, education treated as unimportant and prostitution practiced in the Legislature (“Buy me, and you have my vote”). Gov. Sam Brownback has set Kansas back 140 years.

The first question for all the candidates for the city of Wichita this election is: What is more important, $30 million for a new library, or more monies for streets, police and fire?

People want to count the 20,000 Kansas voters who couldn’t produce information as to who they are. So why don’t we count the millions the government has decided to ignore in the unemployment rate calculation?

The U.S. economy is growing at a solid 5 percent annual rate. Additionally, fewer Americans are applying for jobless benefits. However, the Republicans continue to tell us the economy is bad. Their message has no foundation.

Funny that Obama will negotiate with Cuba, Iran and Russia, but refuses to partake in any bipartisan discussions here at home.

This story was originally published January 3, 2015 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Opinion Line (Jan. 4)."