Letters to the Editor for Feb. 26
Baloney to Sen. John Barrasso's balloon column Feb. 19
The good Senator seems to forget that the huge Chinese spy balloon wasn't brought down over the continental U.S. because the U.S. military advised President Biden that there no way to prevent human injuries/deaths or damage to property or ground. Considering the debris field could easily be seven football fields wide (4080 ft x 1120 ft), this was the sound decision.
Perhaps the good Senator should do a little more reading up before posting an opinion that clearly tries to bash the President. I'm sure he can access classified government reports of such things.
Facts are so boring, aren't they Senator Barrasso? Why let them get in the way of your obvious political posturing?
Gregg Bender, Springfield
Surviving "woke" democracy
We are at a crossroads in our history. It's time to decide whether we want to hold on to the principles that made our country great or lay down and give in to the woke socialist agenda.
What is "Woke Democracy"? Woke followers glorify abortion; they want to legalize crime and eliminate punishment for all crimes. They are more concerned with the rights of criminals than the rights of law-abiding citizens. Even the D.A.s in all the big cities have adopted this philosophy; they want to disarm law-abiding citizens; they want to promote sexual perversion; they want preferential treatment for non-citizens (the Democrats in the House recently voted to allow illegals to vote, even illegals in prison. This is insane); blatantly fraudulent elections will continue if they are allowed to prevail; they also want to persecute parents who are demanding their children not be taught equity, diversity and inclusion, and instead go back to reading, writing and arithmetic.
It's almost as if the "ruling class" is doing everything they can to promote a revolution. That would give them an excuse to clamp down on the people (patriots) they so fear. Look at the fence they erected in D.C. out of sheer self-induced paranoia. No reason for it whatsoever.
Previous democracies that failed have always plundered the working class, and the United States is no exception. The current administration could write a book on the subject. Their tactics are obvious. They extract wealth from the working class to pay for endless wars; reparations for the "oppressed" groups; printing and spending money around the clock for pet projects that benefit nobody (this had greatly devalued the dollar in only two years and created unprecedented out-of-control inflation); open borders for the purpose of changing the electorate; cancellation of student debt; crazy climate change legislation, and the list goes on.
This "plunder" has now become very sophisticated and is being carried out by a cabal that includes our elected officials, multi-national corporations, the media and academia, just to name a few participants. Like it or not, the Republicans are the only realistic option for those of us who believe America is worth saving, and we best get busy between now and the 2024 elections.
Andy Fischer, Springfield
Legislature shouldn't leave disability support out of budget
Last month, Governor Mike Parson failed to include any funding increase for community-based disability service providers like Easterseals Midwest in the recommended FY24 budget.
The disability community and those of us who provide services to them are — to put it simply — being left behind.
Over the past two years, Missouri has made huge strides to fund disability service providers and the essential workforce behind them. For that, we are extremely grateful. The increased funding has allowed us to combat the Direct Support Professional (DSP) workforce crisis, raising the wages of our essential, dedicated workforce.
This is still is not enough and our General Assembly knows it. In fact, a supplemental budget is currently moving through the approval process to appropriate an 8.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment and a $2/hour shift differential for state frontline workers. The funding we are fighting for is the same funding being approved for state services.
DSPs remain underpaid for their essential contributions to our community. Sadly, due to low wages that stem from underfunded federal and state disability services, more than half of DSPs access publicly funded services, work multiple jobs, and leave the industry altogether, costing providers dearly.
The nearly 6,000 Missourians with disabilities that we serve annually and the tireless workforce that they rely on deserve better. We urge Governor Parson and our legislators to prioritize the disability community and DSPs by supporting a rate increase for community-based providers in HB 10 of the FY 2024 Budget.
Wendy Sullivan, Easterseals Midwest, chief executive officer
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Letters to the Editor for Feb. 26
