Josh Hawley flings the accusation that Biden’s nominee lied under oath? That’s rich | Opinion
Oath violated
Colleen Shogan, President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the National Archives, is getting accustomed to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. On Tuesday, the senior senator from Missouri accused her of lying under oath. (March 2, 1A, “Hawley accuses nominee of lying under oath about posts”) What’s next? Will Elon Musk accuse her of being arrogant?
Hawley has a Tyrannosaurus rex-sized skeleton in his closet. On Jan. 3, 2019, he raised his right hand and said: “I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”
As Capt. James T. Kirk of “Star Trek” would say: “What happened to your oath is obvious.”
- Robert O’Rourke, Leavenworth
Hawley’s chops
Honorable (?) Sen. Josh Hawley accused Colleen Shogan of lying during her confirmation hearing to lead the National Archives. Hawley should know lying when he sees it, as he has experience: He promised not to be like “career politicians just climbing the ladder” when running for Missouri attorney general — then started campaigning for the Senate just months after getting elected.
- Allen Maty, Smithville
Problems hidden
The recent guest commentary in The Star by GOP Kansas legislators Renee Erickson, Kristey Williams and Brenda Landwehr highlights the uninformed reasoning of recent Republican school proposals. (March 3, 8A, “Legislators: School choice could boost Kansas kids’ achievement”) They decry disappointing test results in math and English but then suggest — without evidence — that privatized schooling or home-schooling can improve matters.
Years of educational research demonstrates that these so-called “remedies” are unlikely to have a positive effect — and in fact do quite the opposite, especially in math.
Parents are generally not effective math teachers, and most private schools do not do a great job either. The reason is that highly skilled math teachers are in short supply and demand higher salaries. And this is where school funding comes into play.
It’s good that Kansas has increased funding somewhat, but that doesn’t mean it’s enough to raise performance for students facing great difficulty. Short of that, improved test scores are unlikely to materialize. But if these legislators get their wishes, we’ll never know, because their private schools and home-schooling parents wouldn’t be subject to the accountability expectations that public schools face, including state-mandated assessments.
In other words, the problem would get swept under the rug, and public schools would lose funding they need to serve the kids who continue to show up to learn.
- John Rury, Lawrence
USPS woes
When did the U.S. Postal Service change its motto to “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds, but just 60% of the time”? This has been the case with the mail delivery in our neighborhood for the past several months.
Each day, I receive email from the USPS notifying me of the mail I should receive that day. About 40% of the time, no mail arrives nor is outgoing mail picked up.
I spoke with one of our mail carriers, who told me it was due to staffing shortages. He said they constantly recruit, but for every nine they hire, 12 quit because of the working conditions and how they are treated.
Numerous articles have been written about the changes U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has made that have hurt service. He has certainly Deminished the Joy for postal workers and the customers the post office is to serve.
- Baruch Kaelter, Leawood
Jeff City diet
In a recent guest commentary, Marilyn McLeod lamented that the legislature has introduced more than two dozen bills to make it harder for Missourians to petition for statutory or constitutional redress. (Feb. 26, 20A, “Don’t make it harder for Missourians to be heard”)
To protect this very democratic right of redress of the people, I submit that very same citizen initiative petition process be used to initiate a constitutional amendment to reduce the size of the General Assembly by one-third. A reduction in our 163 state representatives and 34 state senators should lead to more reasonable discourse in Jefferson City and less extreme cultural war nonsense.
- H. Jonathan Pratt, Kansas City
Debt solution
If the Supreme Court ultimately pushes back against President Joe Biden’s executive order to forgive up to $20,000 of federal student loan debt, it will be time to think outside the box. Another way to effectively reduce this debt would be to recalculate each loan using the best and most competitive interest rates available for each loan payment period.
Federal loan interest rates have historically varied from about 5% to more than 8%. Shouldn’t they be redone using the daily Federal Reserve discount rate over each loan payment period plus a small administrative fee of maybe .25%? Interest adds to a loan quickly, and I think the effect would be satisfactory and fair to all.
Surely, we didn’t hope to profit from those loans. Did we?
- Ron Platt, Overland Park