To the editor:

Our state government is considering funding for improvements in Kansas education and health care. Who benefits? Certainly wage earners and their families benefit. Employers benefit also. Without an educated, healthy work force, businesses cannot produce and grow, as many have grown. Business owners reap the benefits of the daily, practical, informed decisions of their educated staff and production workers. We take education so much for granted that we hardly recognize this gain by business owners.

Neoliberals (these are far-right conservatives) have urged privatizing many common government functions, including schools, so corporate owners can make a profit from them. So far, none have spoken out for production corporations to teach reading, writing, arithmetic, etc., to otherwise unschooled new hires. They want to “outsource” that expense.

This said, I believe those individuals gaining the most income from these societal gifts are the most eligible for a tax increase. I don’t know where politicians might draw the line — maybe earners with more than $150,000 annually. For our national government taxes and other revenues are at a 45-year low — 17 percent of GDP. This is an opportunity for Kansas legislators to utilize an underutilized source of revenue — the wealthy beneficiaries of schooling and health expenses we all contribute to.

Speaker Doug Mays of the Kansas House has said this would be “a train wreck.” It would only if you believe in increasing inequality and the wealthy not paying their fair share.

Mark Larson,

Lawrence