Unfettered Letters

Pay cut for Congress

In light of AIG executives being asked to return their bonuses, maybe members of Congress would consider lowering their salaries 30 percent.

Consider it job retention.

 Mary Anne White
Bonner Springs

‘Liberal friends’ were wrong

Joe Neuner’s “liberal friends” were wrong (4/4, Letters). It was not his vote for John McCain that caused the nation’s hope and economy to falter or additional troops to be deployed to Afghanistan. It was voting for George W. Bush.

The additional troops are being sent to Afghanistan because Bush misdirected our military resources to Iraq, and Joe should know that McCain advocates sending even more troops. Remember, Osama bin Laden is probably hiding in Afghanistan, not Iraq.

It sounds like Joe expected Obama to solve all the problems that America faced on Jan. 20 in less than three months. Like a runaway 18-wheeler speeding the wrong way down a highway, it’s taking drastic action and time to slow the freefall and turn the economy and the nation around while dodging all the oncoming obstacles.

Sally A. Radmacher
Kansas City

Time for a tea party

Discontentment and disappointment are being felt by more and more middle Americans. These feelings are shared by people of all faiths, genders and race. Middle Americans are the backbone of our great nation, but our voices are being ignored by the representatives we are paying handsomely to represent us.

Tea parties are being planned across our nation. We have called, e-mailed and faxed our representatives to no avail. The blame game and finger-pointing have become a joke. Covering their tracks is becoming increasingly difficult for this Congress. The American people are gathering to show their civil disobedience in a peaceful but determined way. We will not see our country destroyed from within and stay silent.

Malinda Handforth
Independence

Cleaver’s mea culpa

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s apology for voting to tax Wall Street bonuses was pathetic (3/29, Local, “Cleaver asks for forgiveness over AIG vote”). He states that they had a contract. Well sir, so did the autoworkers.

Corporate America has created two types of politicians — not Republican or Democrat, but those bought and paid for and those for sale. Cleaver just put his sign in his front yard.

We, the taxpayers of America, are bailing out a system that will destroy our country. Corporate capitalism is not the capitalism that made America great. The capitalism that we know rewarded hard work and invention. Corporate capitalism pays huge salaries and bonuses to people who have driven their companies into the ground.

Corporate capitalism (not world demand) brought us $4-a-gallon gas. That was three hedge funds (two of them American) playing pingpong with oil.

The list is endless. Just let them fail.

Dan Lopez
Kansas City

Liberal friends were right

I have to admit it. My liberal friends were right.

They told me if I voted for John McCain, the nation’s hope would deteriorate. Sure enough, there has been a 20-point drop in the Consumer Confidence Index since the election, reaching a lower point than any time during the Bush administration.

They told me if I voted for McCain, the U.S. would become more deeply embroiled in the Middle East. Sure enough, tens of thousands of additional troops are scheduled to be deployed into Afghanistan.

They told me if I voted for McCain, the economy would get worse. Sure enough, unemployment is about 8 percent, and the new stimulus packages implemented recently have sent the stock market lower than at any time since 9/11.

They told me if I voted for McCain, we would see more “crooks” in high-ranking positions in federal government. Sure enough, several recent Cabinet nominees and Senate appointments revealed resumes of bribery and tax fraud.

Well, I ignored my Democratic friends in November and voted for McCain. And they were right. All of their predictions have come true.

Joe Neuner
Olathe

Treasury trove of zings

Perhaps before we grant Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner additional powers, he ought to prove his proficiency in Turbo Tax.

Forgive me if I am skeptical of his ability to handle the powers he has right now.

Jenifer Martin
Lee’s Summit

Obama: “You’re doing a heck of job, Brownie, uh, Geithner”

Paul Stark
Shawnee

Why we elected Obama

Forgetting eight years of our past president? How can those 96 months, almost 3,000 days, be forgotten so soon?

There are a lot of words leftover to eat from pre-election wisdom. Those with the least help continue to be self-appointed wise men with yet even more words to eat.

Look closely at President Barack Obama. Remember why we elected him. He has surrounded himself with people who know far more than most all of us combined. Reality is as it is now. Conditions then and now make none of us qualified except him.

What all the rest of us need to do is to show patience and support. I repeat: Remember why we elected him. We were right.

Marilyn Frenzel
Overland Park

Bravo to Burroughs

Kudos to Kansas Rep. Tom Burroughs of Kansas City, Kan., a politician who actually does what he says he will.

A recently unemployed patron of Turner Library, where I work, was visibly distraught. He was having a hard time signing up for unemployment benefits — a complicated, frustrating and arduous process, to say the least. After many unsuccessful calls to the unemployment office, he was truly at a loss and profoundly depressed.

I called Burroughs, who was in a meeting but was kind enough to take my call and hear me out. After I explained the situation to him, he promised to check into the matter. I talked to the patron the next day, and he was grateful. He said Tom had called him and helped him through the process that very afternoon.

In this age of dissatisfaction with many of our elected officials, it is encouraging to find a politician who really does care and who does what he says he will. This is Tom Burroughs. I don’t live in his district, but his district can be proud of him.

Thank you, Tom!

Janet M. Sutera
Shawnee

Definition of insanity

I once heard insanity described as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Could someone please explain to me why voters send the same people to Congress year after year after year and expect different results?

I love reading the “We’re as mad as h___, and we’re not going to take it anymore” letters. Unless you can afford to own a congressperson, your only coin of the realm is your vote. If you’ve voted for the same elected official for more than two terms, you are part of the problem.

Sharon Tolson
Kansas City, Kan.

Welcome to socialism

Do politicians read history? The causes and attempted cures for the Great Depression and today’s financial crisis are very similar. The causes of both were weak and poor banking practices and home foreclosures. The cures consist of throwing money at the problems.

Neither worked under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In 1937 we entered the “depression within the depression.” In 1940 the rate of unemployment was more than 15 percent. World War II saved the day.

We have bankruptcy laws. Use them. Give the economy a chance to cure itself.

Today’s approach will result in inflation and a massive tax increase for the middle class in 2010.

Welcome to socialism.

W. Waite Welker Jr.
Overland Park

I cannot understand why our lawmakers are rewarding incompetence and gambling and do not allow failing businesses to enter bankruptcy, just like any other U.S. company. Isn’t this S&L all over again?

Unfortunately, we have become a bankrupt, socialist society that relies on our government to take responsibility for our health, wealth, secondary education and even the raising of our children (just to name a few). We cannot afford to simply keep increasing taxes to pay for the entitlements of those who refuse to live within their means.

Life is about choices, and unfortunately we, as a society, are teaching our children that there are no negative consequences to those choices. Moreover, we are teaching them that if you want (not need) something badly enough, just put in on credit. No need to work hard and save. That may disqualify you from one of the thousands of entitlement programs offered by our generous representatives.

Paul Dawdy
Liberty