Letters to the Editor for April 2

Politicians creating problems

I saw recently that the Missouri House voted to strip public libraries of state funding. Instead of coming together to work through their concerns, they chose to allow their ideologies and fears to damage a public system which provides information to all of us.

Our representatives should be problem solvers who represent us and not fear mongers who just represent their parties and interests.

Michael Scriven, Springfield

Bank bailouts are bad business

"I'm from the government and I'm here to help." Ronald Reagan thought these were the nine most terrifying words in the English language, and he was right. He took on big government and reduced discretionary spending by 14% his first year in office. He also focused on tax reforms which shifted power from the federal government back to the American people, where it should be. We need his policies now more than ever.

Unlimited government spending over the past 26 months has led to the highest price inflation in 40 years, with no end in sight. Inflation causes interest rates to rise which in turn causes bond prices to drop, and that causes banks to become illiquid. This is exactly what happened earlier this month with the Silicon Valley Bank collapse. It seems like there is a major calamity every month. This month, the taxpayers have the honor of bailing out Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, to the tune of billions of dollars. This is nothing less than the transfer of wealth from the lower and middle class taxpayers to the donor class Silicon Valley billionaires.

The Silicon Valley Bank CEO sold $3.6 million in stock just before the collapse. He apparently knew something was going down. SVB was in serious trouble last fall but the regulators chose to ignore the problem. Once the collapse happened, we were told not to worry. Janet Yellen insisted that no losses would be borne by the taxpayers. Well, we hillbillies didn't just fall off a turnip truck. The money has to come from somewhere. The bottom line is all banks will have no choice but to increase fees and those fees will be passed along to the customers.

But fear not folks. Your money is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government. Sounds great except for the fact that we are now $31 trillion in debt. That's trillion with a "T". Your money is being backed by an entity that is bankrupt. The only thing that keeps the house of cards from collapsing are the printing presses. The dollar will continue to be devalued as long as the printing presses continue to roll.

We can turn this nightmare around but it needs to happen quickly. The only way to make that happen is to stop the insane spending. That will require dismantling the Deep State and the Republicans assuming control of the White House and the Senate in 2024.

Andy Fischer, Springfield

Thoughts and Prayers Aren’t Working

We’ve experienced yet another mass casualty shooting, this time in Tennessee, in a private religious-based school, and the same act has unfolded.

Thoughts and prayers.

Just like in all the prior shootings before it, we go through the same song-and-dance, and do nothing to limit people’s access to certain firearms, like the ever-ubiquitous AR-15 that so many killers have used since the 21st century began.

We refuse to acknowledge the reality that every other country has many of the same issues we do, but have much less violence because of how they view and treat guns.

We ignore the fact that limiting or eliminating access to one gun doesn't equal a violation of people’s constitutional rights, since we’ve done exactly that previously.

All the while, we put up facades about “protecting children’s innocence” via stopping them from reading and learning about history because “it’ll make them uncomfortable.”

Guess what? Having a school turned into a warzone, and having drills to prepare for that distinct possibility, is far more “uncomfortable” for a child than reading about Malcolm X, Dr. King, or Sitting Bull.

The real irony here, though, is that so many talk about constitutional rights, but forget all about natural rights, including the most basic one:

The rights to live.

Michael Jenkins, Springfield

Lawmakers should not neglect elderly, disabled in budget

Politicians in Jefferson City have passed into law tax cuts and tax breaks estimated to cost up to $1 billion a year, speaking of a huge budget "surplus" in state coffers to justify it, while underfunding social programs in our state.

Note the 'In-Home Health Care Program' funded by Medicaid. Not to be confused with the 'Home Health Care Program' funded by Medicare. The IHHC program in Missouri has been extremely remiss in finding and keeping qualified in-home housekeeping and personal-care aides since the pandemic. Some folks have waited months to be sent a worker. Those sent often seem unprepared or undertrained to do the work needing done.

Money is the key. State funding for IHHC must increase. Two main problems exist: (1) too low wages paid to these workers; and (2) a lack of employer-paid health-care coverage. Medicaid of Missouri isn't providing enough salary and other benefits to attract a competent, responsible, and reliable pool of applicants.

Shame on you Jefferson City politicians! Please keep disabled and elderly folks independent at home, and out of a super-expensive and depressingly permanent 'feel-treated-like-livestock' institutional nursing facilities.

Kevin Corbin, Springfield

Fanaticism should not be celebrated

Religious fanaticism is not an American value. We are not proud of the Puritans in Massachusetts who hanged young women in 1693 or the self-righteous Missourians who chased Mormons out of the state in 1838. We mock the straight-laced Christian Temperance lobbyists who pushed through Prohibition in 1919.

So it is disturbing to watch the enthusiastic spread of Christian Nationalism in state after state, a domino effect more insidious than any anti-communist theory. Each law passed to ban books, outlaw trans people, or force pregnancy takes one more brick out of the wall that separates church and state. When the wall collapses, who will triumph? Not the majority of us.

Christianity can never be a “national” religion — it’s much too diverse. From the silence of a Trappist monastery or Christian Science reading room to the joyous shouts of a AME chapel or the formal processional of an Episcopalian church, the word is no, thank you, Christian Nationalists. We’re doing just fine without you.

Betty Burnett, St. Louis (a Missouri State University alumna)

Time to rethink elections yo-yo

I tried to explain the following to family, friends, and students during the last election cycle. So as the next election cycle approaches, let’s re-examine election science!

About 150 million people voted in the 2020 presidential election. Herein lies the conundrum with a two-party system — there are only two options, just like flipping a coin.

When you flip a coin 50 times, you might get 40 heads and 10 tails. But when you flip it 150 million times, the Law of Large Numbers states that the probability will tend toward the theoretical probability of 50-50.

That's why elections are becoming so close. If only two parties remain and more and more people vote, the results will only converge at Even Stevens. Until one day, there is no such thing as a swing state, swing county or swing district — it could come down to one swing voter! (See Costner movie).

The last scenario is unlikely given that American presidents are chosen by the Electoral College. But the popular vote has become increasingly important to voters, the public at large, the media and politicians. So, having advanced knowledge of where the snowball is rolling is like having a crystal ball.

My letter is not about advocating for a third party or a coalition government, it is about awareness. It is time to consider change based on the data. If science is not used for decision making, we are lost as a culture. Doing the same thing and expecting different results ...

Dr. Gregory Dlabach, Strafford

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Letters to the Editor for April 2