Letters to the editor

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Oct 19, 2008

Training works

I appreciate the letter by Frank Brentine on Sept. 30 about Crisis Intervention Team training. I am a member of the Topeka/ Shawnee County CIT Council, which has offered 40 hours of training twice to law enforcement and corrections officers.

CIT is a community-based, police-driven program, based a model created by Memphis, Tenn., in 1988. Our CIT program was created in the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office in 2006. Other organizations collaborating in our local CIT program, besides the police, sheriff, and Capitol Police, are Valeo Behavioral Healthcare, Family Service and Guidance Center, the Shawnee County Jail, the VA, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Breakthrough House and the League of Women Voters, among others.

Officers learn how to de-escalate a crisis situation and, when appropriate, consult with crisis case managers from Valeo, rather than have a consumer of mental health services booked at the jail. They also serve as effective advocates for persons in crisis when they need to access emergency room services.

The feedback since the April training has been very positive. The expertise carried by officers of the Topeka Police Department, the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office and the the Capitol Police helps protect the safety of everyone, enhancing the quality of life in our community.

DENNIS BOSLEY,NAMI Topeka

Look at the timing

In reading the other James Gilchrist's letter Oct. 4, several things struck me.

For six years under George Bush, the economy was in fine shape, gas was roughly $2.85 a gallon, things seemed good. In the past two years, gas and oil have skyrocketed and the economy has tanked.

What has changed during that past two years? Oh, yeah, a Democratic-controlled Congress.

To nationalize the oil industry seems to be socialism itself. Do like everybody else has done recently -- try to use less gas, get a hybrid, walk. Don't give the oil companies your money.

You want the economy straightened out? Prosecute the wrongdoers, just like they did with Enron. Start with the members of Congress who put us in this position and lined their pockets in the process.

I hear a constant stream of Bush-bashing, yet not one word about what others are doing and have done to this country and our economy, supporting our enemies.

If you want to restore America's dignity and respect, try pulling your "big boy pants" up and act like you are an American. Be proud that you are a member of the finest country in the world.

If you can't do that, maybe you can stand under Barack Obama's seal.

JAMES L. GILCHRIST,Topeka

Not the way to fix it

Where do I sign up? If they are going to reduce the amounts some people borrowed for homes, I think every homeowner in America needs to have the same break.

If they reduce the principal on troubled mortgages by, let's say, 10 percent, then everyone who doesn't have a troubled mortgage should also get a check from the government for 10 percent of their home's value on the open market. If the house is already paid for, they should get 10 percent as well.

Of course, none of us would have to pay taxes on this "rebate," since the homeowners who got their principal reduced would most likely not have to pay taxes on their relief. I expect to get my check for about $20,000 very quickly.

This is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard of. This approach rewards people for taking out overly expensive mortgages and may allow them to keep the houses they couldn't afford in the first place. Why should those people who made bad investments (which is exactly what they did) be rewarded when people who made sensible decisions (and are not in trouble) get nothing?

A reduction of principal shouldn't be part of any deal to "fix" the mortgage crisis.

CRAIG McMANUS,Topeka

Line of blame clear

The very people who caused our current financial fiasco are arrogant enough to think we trust them to fix the problem. The failure of government-mandated programs that gave subprime loans to people with risky credit was predictable. Such loans, backed and guaranteed by the government, led to greedy lenders making millions at the taxpayers' expense.

Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Chris Dodd head congressional committees whose first priority should have been accountability to taxpayers instead of perpetuating a failing program. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi failed to allow legislation that would have provided timely oversight and accountability. Barack Obama, as a community organizer, senator and board member, affected the funneling of millions to ACORN, an activist organization that funded high-risk loans to people with poor credit.

All of the above are among the top recipients of campaign donations from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Their poor judgment and vested interest make them part of the problem, not the solution. In John McCain's and Sarah Palin's words, "Never again!"

DIANE HERYNK,Topeka

A collective effort

In reporting about the Sumner Elementary School building, the history of Brown v. Board of Education becomes obscured. Sumner is but one of 12 elementary schools in Topeka that were part of the Brown case.