Unfettered Letters

Best wishes to Sebelius

I applaud President Obama for his Health and Human Services secretary pick and congratulate Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on the nomination. This won’t be easy, but I’m sure Sebelius is up to it if confirmed.

Sebelius’ years at the helm of a Republican state attest to her abilities to work with others of opposing viewpoints and get things done. Much like the president, Sebelius can see past the partisan bickering and special-interest group vitriol that often cripples attempts to fix urgent issues facing us all.

Best wishes and good luck, Kathleen. I know you can do it.

Jess Hall
Lenexa

KC must crack down on begging

Kansas City needs to get real about the people who beg day after day at intersections, on the Plaza and on highway ramps. Beggars are often substance abusers who are frustrated that social service programs don’t provide alcohol or recreational drugs. Folks who give to the beggars, while good-hearted, provide money for either alcohol or drugs, fueling the substance-abuse problems.

Kansas City should pass laws prohibiting street begging. Beggars are a traffic hazard. Begging can cause accidents at traffic lights by distracting drivers.

Beggars hurt commerce, tourism and the reputation of the city. Tourists on the Country Club Plaza are scared by the unsavory characters begging at the intersections.

Instead of falling for their ruse and giving street beggars money, take what you would have given them and spend it at one of the struggling businesses in the city. For the greater good, give a struggling business owner a much-needed foothold in tough economic times.

Bill O’Brien
Kansas City

Private womb, public assistance

Wombs are private matters (2/13, Letters, “California octuplets”). But when the woman in charge of said womb continues to produce children without any means of support for them, she makes her private decision a public matter, regardless of how many babies are in that womb.

Californians will undoubtedly be caring for all 14 of Nadya Suleman’s children. Nevertheless, public money needs to continue to be spent to educate women and families about all of their options, because once children are here, they are ours. It takes a village …

Bernadine Kline
Liberty

We, the people, must help selves

Susan Dickey (11/28, Letters, “We, the people, need help”) wrote something that caught my eye. “When will someone on Capitol Hill start helping us, ‘the people?.’” This struck me as a symptom of what’s wrong with our society today. Too many people want government to take care of them rather than working through their problems.

My father grew up through the Depression, was orphaned as a teenager and was sent to a relative’s farm to work. He worked hard, as all did on the farm in the 1930s, and then built up his own farm enough to sustain our family.

When he was in his 80s, I mentioned to him that Habitat for Humanity was building someone a house near him. I thought he would be pleased, but instead he said “Nobody ever built me any damn house.”

We are truly becoming too soft.

Bill Moses
Liberty

Cards for unwed mothers?

Helen Martinez (9/9, Letters) writes that Hallmark’s gay marriage cards are about sinful lifestyles. On Sept. 7, The Star ran article telling that of U.S. children born to mothers under the age of 30, more than 50 percent are born to unwed mothers (Local, “A slow but seismic shift; Most mothers under 30 are unmarried, and the costs to society are huge”).

I don’t suppose Hallmark has any cards specifically for unwed mothers, but it seems that the churches are quite silent about this huge problem while loudly condemning those few who are homosexual. This is probably because the churches are filled with unwed parents or close relatives of unwed parents.

The worst sin of all is the other person’s sin. If it gets close to home, we don’t want to hear about it.

Vernon Hales
Merriam

More for tax money

Republicans who believe in “small government” (which won’t be able to regulate their money-making tactics) should match their small government with small taxes — say a 90 percent tax cut.

No more “small government” — and a paltry 10 percent tax cut — over 10 years. Most Americans pay about 40 percent in federal and state taxes. I want something for my money: education, health care, infrastructure — big, fat social programs.

Bill Doty
Overland Park

Homeless people in Northland

The Northland Assistance Center in North Kansas City helps supply food and prescription needs to a clientele of approximately 15 homeless males, including Mike O’Brien, who is featured in The Star’s article (5/19, A-1, “Homeless people migrate to Northland”).It is my experience that these men are not a “threat to public safety” or a danger to children. Many of these individuals have mental health issues that combine with and lead to substance abuse and dropping out of society. Our clients will not seek shelter downtown. Even they are afraid of these shelters.

Rousting these individuals from their camps and destroying or confiscating what little property they have is not the solution.

I have witnessed the compassion of the Northland community. I hope leaders in the community work together with nonprofits and social-service agencies to provide shelter and adequate care for this growing population.

Rita D. Pearce
Executive director, Northland Assistance Center
North Kansas City

Removing ‘retardation’

We wish to clear up misunderstandings that some people have regarding SB756 and HB1627/2076. Both bills would remove the words “mental retardation” from the title of the Division of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. Most of Missouri understands this is a simple name change, though some opponents have some misinformation.

One misunderstanding is that mental retardation is distinctly different from a developmental disability. In reality, mental retardation is one of a variety of developmental disabilities.

Another misunderstanding is that this would somehow remove people with that diagnosis from services or eligibility. In fact, a name change would not change the mission, those eligible for services or those receiving services from the Division or contract providers. The legislation clearly states that.

Advocates have been working to get this legislation passed for more than 10 years. The words have come to carry a negative connotation in Missouri and across the nation. Missouri is one of just a few states that still use “mental retardation” in state business.

It is time to implement this simple change to respond to the requests of the people served by the Division, their families and supporters.

Shelly Shetley
Chair, Missouri Planning Council
for Developmental Disabilities
Kansas City

Helping benefits us all

Recently a number of letter writers, responding to reports about the subprime mortgage crisis or columns in The Star, emphasized individual responsibility. That is commendable, and the espoused principles (e.g., Gary Pederson on the Jan. 14 Letters page) are absolutely supportable. Unfortunately, too often there is a self-righteous stance behind these comments that turns categorically against so-called government handouts.

What these people seem to forget is that a nation is not just an assembly of individuals, but a collective with a minimum amount of necessary solidarity. If voluntary charity worked, the United States, whose population is generous, would not have the highest percentage of people in poverty among advanced Western nations.

Access to universal health care, day care and free education are actually the in the best interest of all members of a nation, unless they are intent on holding up class barriers. No other Western society has the immense imbalance of wealth that the United States has, and that is why support for those in need has to come from the collective.

As taxpayers we have to choose our representatives wisely, so that our contributions to the common pool of money are used in the interest of the majority of us.

Klaus Karbaumer
Platte City

Get what you pay for

We are corrupt, greedy and selfish.

Every one of us (rich or poor) expects benefits out of the public treasury, while unwilling to shoulder our fair share.

A country rich in billionaires and millionaires having a national debt is a disgrace. Constant demand for tax cuts is proof of our national kleptocratic psyche.

So let us not blame the politicians or the government. Let’s put the fault where it really is: “we, the taxpayers.” Or should I say “we, the thieves.”

Peter Theoharis
Lenexa