PROSPERITY: A little lacking

Reading the governor’s priorities left me a little confused. I believe prosperity comes with wage increases and sound bureaucracy. We can fine-tune the education system, employ the best teachers and double their salary, but it won’t do squat. We don’t grade the system, we grade the students…

Far too many students are being left behind. Poor nutrition, substandard housing and health care are conditions too easily overlooked by someone who’s never missed a meal.

(Fast for a few days, then try your hand at the SATT.)

The same principle applies to Little’s other priorities because they rely on cheap labor. What if that low income earner is hit with financial burdens?

Online requests for UI until they “give up.” SNAP applications that feel as if you’re being booked in the county jail. A social worker looking down their nose as they do an extensive forensic audit designed to deny applicants. Going to work hungry. Trying to sleep as your world collapses.

You might say, “Well, it sucks to be them,” but it’s the other way around. They’ll still go to work and get paid. The poor quality they provide won’t cost the business who employs them. They’ll pass the cost on to the consumer. Weak and unfocused people tend to have accidents. Yet there’s workers’ compensation, passed on to the taxpayer. They also tend to get very sick with whatever’s going around. Again passed along to every nurse and patient within arms reach…

That sound like prosperity to you?

STEVEN REYNALDS

Coeur d’Alene