Poor in America have all the necessities of life Re: “Let’s get real about poverty in America,” Nov. 15
Walter E. Williams had it right. In our country, the “poor” are not really poor.
The Occupy Wall Street people now operating in most of our large cities decry the fact that 1 percent of the population controls much of our country’s wealth. But if we examine the situation realistically, we see that for the most part, the poor in America have all the necessities of life provided by many government programs.
Very few people go without food. Poor people live in nice houses or apartments. They have adequate schooling and health care, again taken care of by the government. If they live in assisted living facilities, they enjoy the same services as those who pay out of pocket.
There may be areas of extreme poverty, street people who are not quite sane or who are on drugs, and those who do not want to take advantage of government programs. But I am tired of hearing about how the poor suffer. They live in luxury compared to the way many of us lived when we were young.
Our country is doing enough and sometimes too much, keeping people dependent by taking away their initiative.
Murray Katz
Silver Spring
Education funding should not only go to public schools
County governments and teachers unions are intolerant of competition, be it from charter schools, vouchers, or serious administrative and budgetary reform. Self-serving policies of the past over wages, pensions, benefits and work rules allowed the accumulation of public-sector financial rot which can no longer be overlooked.
Like pig farms to people passing by, these unfunded excesses don’t pass the smell test. The simple cure is funding education, but bypassing public schools.
About 10 percent of the nation’s parents already send their children to private schools, which represents a massive unrecognized and unappreciated education subsidy. Educating these children doesn’t cost the county a dime. If the county allowed parents to send their children to private schools with 75 percent of the per student funds presently budgeted for their education, the remaining 25 percent could be spent on those continuing in public schools.
This would eliminate the political, economic, and administrative lethargy and indecision over reform in the present public school system, reduce taxes, and create a powerful political force supporting parental choice.
Jaime L. Manzano
Bethesda
Wisconsin recall effort teaches two lessons
Not only did Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker tell the electorate what he would do if elected, he did what had to be done to right the sinking Wisconsin ship.
There are two lessons to be learned by the recall effort.
First, just how powerful and entrenched the government employee union is and second, just how much liberals love big-spending, obtrusive government and how they can’t see beyond their idealistic noses.
Jerry Randall
Wauwatosa, Wis.
