To the editor:

The biggest roadblock to solving our federal government debt problem is us. 

The rest of the Kansas Congressional delegation put responsibility and reality in front of propaganda and posturing and voted for the new debt ceiling law. But our first district Representative Tracey Mann and Senator Roger Marshall voted no. Through Mann and Marshall, we just voted for a 30% decline in stock prices, the elimination of 2 million jobs, receiving only 8 Social Security checks per year instead of 12, and a recession. 

Mann and Marshall made their no votes after it was clear the bill would pass. The broadly held expectation was that more responsible members of Congress would save them from paying any real-world costs as they maximized their political propaganda positions as extremists.

Mann said Americans deserve a well-thought-out plan to address debt. For 12 years we have had one: the Report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, commonly known as the Bowles-Simpson Plan. But Mann and Marshall are loyal to the unspoken prime directive to work to benefit those of us with the most money relative to those of us with less. They cannot vote for a solution to the debt problem because any solution to our debt problem means those of us with the most money would receive less and pay more. 

And of course, as an electorate, we voted for Mann and Marshall. The biggest roadblock to solving our federal government debt problem is us.

John Sturn

Ellinwood