Letters: Readers discuss congressional spending, KCI contracts and Manchin hypocrisy
Refusing reality
Imagine this scenario: You are a woman whose husband goes on a multiyear spending spree to satisfy his most hedonistic and wasteful desires. Since he controls the credit cards, you can only voice your strong opposition and watch in horror as your collective debt goes through the roof.
You finally regain control of your spending, but the damage has been done. Now it’s time to rescue your credit situation to avoid the default that would wreak havoc on every aspect of your lives. But your husband will not participate and blames you for his reckless spending. He threatens to sit idle and let your entire world collapse because of his credit abuse.
How would that make you feel, and how would you deal with the situation?
That’s where America finds itself. Trump Republicans spent trillions to make each other even richer than they already were. Now they deny and deflect responsibility. It’s just another stop on the Trump Express Crazy Train.
- Scott D. Roby, Lenexa
Need to know
The Sept. 23 front-page story, “KCI concession project could get bidding change,” about the concessions contract at the new Kansas City International Airport terminal, stated that Kansas City Councilman Kevin O’Neill “struggles with making the bids public now but would support making them public after a decision is made.” That’s pretty backward thinking, Councilman.
By that logic, why not let each political party choose the candidates for the primaries, then make the other candidates public only after that decision is made for us? Gosh, think of the benefits: only one round of commercials, only one round of campaign signs cluttering the streets, lots less junk mail and fewer robocalls.
As for me, I prefer putting up with the hassles, instead getting to know about all the choices and having an informed say in the outcome. That should go for airport concessions contracts as well as general and primary elections.
Please, Kansas City Council members: Insist that the bidding committee make public all the bids, not just The Chosen One. It is so necessary to make a truly knowledgeable decision on which potential vendor to give the contract.
- Kathy Hinkle, Olathe
How we got here
Monday evening’s TV news featured an interview with Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who again expressed concern over President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion assistance bill. Manchin tells us he fears the plan could lead to a “culture of dependency.”
Hearing this from a multimillionaire who made nearly a half-million dollars last year just through shares owned in a coal company called Enersystems borders on the obscene.
If day care for working parents, home care for elderly parents and restoration of an equitable tax system constitute a “culture of dependency,” count me in. Manchin’s apparent lack of empathy with ordinary Americans who are struggling in a pandemic-ravaged economy is astounding. One could argue views like his produced many of the problems we face today.
- Robert Florance, Kansas City
Women’s might
When women are empowered to join and fully participate in the workforce, everyone benefits. A recent Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation report finds that nearly all the economic gains that have occurred among middle class families since 1970 have come from the increased earnings of women.
But barriers such as access to quality, affordable child care prevent many women’s equitable participation in the economy. Work-family policies such as paid leave and flexible hours enable mothers to stay in the labor market – both as employees and as entrepreneurs. The McKinsey Global Institute found Missouri could grow its economy by 10-15% by 2025 if women’s workforce participation increased.
At the Kauffman Foundation, supporting women’s success in the workplace and civic life is critical to our mission.
Thankfully, United WE and its Women’s Economic Development Task Force is hosting town halls across the state to help make that happen. The next is at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 6 at the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. Here, women can share experiences and priorities to inform a report for state policymakers outlining the biggest obstacles women face and solutions to provide relief.
I urge all area women to join. Register at united-we.org/mo-town-halls, and let’s get to work.
- Kim Wallace Carlson, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Missouri Women’s Economic Development Task Force, Kansas City
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Letters: Readers discuss congressional spending, KCI contracts and Manchin hypocrisy."