TSA mess shows failure of big government

May I suggest that those favoring more government intervention in our lives take a look at the long lines of people waiting for clearance to board flights at airports these days?

People are being told to arrive at least two to three hours before their flights; and still, tens of thousands are missing those flights, sleeping overnight in airports, wasting colossal amounts of time and money, and experiencing gross inconvenience as a by-product of lousy management by the TSA arm of “Big Government.”

I know that our president and attorney general, among others, are preoccupied with the bathroom and shower stall preferences of a tiny fraction of the nation’s population; but one would think that they might devote some management attention to solving challenges at the TSA that are negatively impacting millions of people.

And, I’ve yet to see penalty threats aimed at TSA’s wrongdoers that are like those thrust at bathroom practice purists. The misfeasance of the TSA provides ample evidence that the federal government has grown far too large, is highly insensitive to the needs of those which it is supposed to serve, and is just too big to manage effectively.

We’ve seen this before with the VA, the IRS, the NSA, the Obamacare launch debacle, and on and on. Let’s move forward by confining the scope of government to those functions which are absolutely necessary and leave the rest of it to free market solutions.

We can start by turning TSA unionists’ duties over to private sector firms that might actually be both effective and accountable.

Charles F. Falk

Schaumburg

No embarrassment for Palin on this one

In the May 15 letter titled “Foreign policy expertise,” Mary Warren of Wheaton asks us to remember embarrassment regarding former Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s comments about Russia. The only embarrassment comes from people confusing Tina Fey’s spoofing of Governor Palin and what Governor Palin actually said.

In the skit, Fey pretending to be Palin said “And I can see Russia from my house.”

The actual comment from Governor Palin came during an ABC interview when she was asked what insight she had gained from living so close to Russia. She responded, “They’re our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.”

Since that is true, there is nothing to be embarrassed about.

Terry Tallian

Wood Dale

It’s time for voters to step up against taxes

Lake County property tax bills were delivered recently. Property owners remain in shock.

Illinois has risen to the first among our 50 states in its reliance on property taxes to fund its schools, townships, libraries and fire protection districts; and, its major reliance on property taxes to fund park districts, community colleges, counties and other local governments.

Lake County has the distinctive rank of highest in the amount of property tax collected among the 102 Illinois counties and 15th highest among the 3,143 U.S. counties.

We owe our costly property tax situation to past and present elected General Assembly members, who for the last three decades have failed to adhere to sound fiscal policy practices in their attempts to legitimately balance each year’s state budget, and, to address and change the state’s antiquated property tax laws.

The economically stressed areas have been hit the hardest, as land and property values have plummeted, tax rates have risen disproportionately in order to maintain mandated services.

As the cost of living has increased, the more affluent areas have felt the pain of significantly increased property tax demands to support “expected” levels of service.

Illinois holds over 2,000 more government units than any other state in the union. Many of these units provide services that are duplicated by other government agencies. There has been reluctance on the part of county and state politicians to initiate and support legislation to eliminate the duplicity.

The voters must bear some of the responsibility for their economically painful property tax situation. In the past, many have voted their hearts, not their heads. Some have not voted at all, and some have studied the issues and voted based on that knowledge.

The time has come for all to become knowledgeable.

Janice Schnobrich

Lake Bluff

Pass laws to help kids live past age 5

As kids in America, our childhoods were quite normal. Our parents made sure that we received all our shots to stay healthy. We had toilets to use and soap to wash our hands. We ate regular, wholesome meals. These were things we took for granted.

We realize now that we were extraordinarily privileged. In many parts of the world, clean water, nutritious food, toilets, soap, and medicine are luxuries. As a result, 1.5 million children die from vaccine preventable diseases each year. Pneumonia is the number one infectious killer of children under the age of five worldwide — more than HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. Diarrhea, an easily treatable condition for most children in Illinois, kills 550,000 children each year in the developing world.

We must do more to help these children. One way we can assist is by passing key pieces of legislation like the Reach Every Mother and Child Act. The REACH Act would greatly improve our government’s strategy to ending child and maternal deaths and help kids get vaccinated. It would also restructure our global health programs and better equip us to reach every mother and child with lifesaving help — before it’s too late.

Through initiatives like this, we can make sure that we help society’s most vulnerable populations and ensure that children worldwide are granted the same opportunities to survive and thrive as our own children in Illinois.

Over the years, we’ve realized the following: change happens when people speak up and take action. We encourage you to join us and speak out, so that elected officials pass laws like the Reach Every Mother and Child Act and so that we can create a world where every child can live past his or her fifth birthday.

U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren

Plano

Judith Rowland

U.S. Policy & Advocacy Manager, Global Poverty Project

Government lines abound everywhere

Waiting in line at the airports has become intolerable, and it’s not only airports. If anyone has been in a post office lately the government waiting game plays out there too. It seems like it’s always the same scenario — lots of passengers, lots of customers all waiting in line, one guy at the counter while 20 government employees are in the back on break; laughin’ it up.

Taxpayers are brow-beaten for not paying enough. Yet the more we pay the worse the service gets. Whatever happened to quality and the customer comes first.

It’s said that when you buy quality, you only cry once. I’m still waiting for my sobbing to end.

Mike Simon

Glen Ellyn

Sentence understandable for killing daughter

The decision by Judge Joel Greenblatt to sentence Bonnie Liltz to four years in prison for the death of her daughter should be praised. As he stated: “Life is precious ... Even a life that is profoundly disabled ... The choice you made was not an act of love. It was a crime.”

Those of us who have children/adults with disabilities know that life with them (and for them) can be very difficult.

And, yes, their living situations can be far from our standards. But, you keep looking!

How many of Liltz’ sympathizers actively participated in helping her find an institution that would meet her daughter’s needs?

My husband and I kept visiting facilities before we found our daughter’s current placement. She has lived for over 15 years with an organization in our geographic area. Is it what we had hoped for when she was younger? No!

But she is happy; we know she is safe and cared for by staff and she LIVES.

Patricia D. Herrmann

Arlington Heights