I would like to commend the leadership in Kansas City for seriously addressing the budget situation there. The Star has been closely covering the debate and discussion as city officials try to close a substantial budget gap. The great news to come out of this is that they are doing the single best, and most difficult, thing they need to do: They are proposing to lay off hundreds of unnecessary city workers. Now, if this sounds callous of me, let me tell you that:

• A) I don’t care; and,
• B) I was fired from a government job once, too (for reasons of a party change of control), so at least I know of what I speak. Trust me, it’s not hard to recover.

When I read that the mayor wanted to eliminate more than a hundred middle managers, including both vacant positions and lay-offs, I was admiringly stunned. I am perpetually aghast, but not at all surprised, that so many people just sort of hang on in government jobs even though they are not needed. It may be the same way in parts of corporate America, but that hurts the shareholders — not the taxpayers.

So I commend the mayor and City Council for making the tough decisions! I will post more about this subject soon. … Isn’t that exciting!