To the editor:

Should anyone be looking for a clue as to why our country is currently in economic freefall, I would offer up the recently passed sales tax increase to support the city’s “T for two” bus system as an example.

No matter how you do the math on this turkey, this ill-conceived, poorly implemented and badly managed operation has cost the taxpayers millions of dollars over the past few years and will continue to do so until the next tax increase proposal is rolled out, no doubt, in the near future.

One does not need to be a transportation expert to figure this one out. Just take a headcount of the number of riders you see on a 40-passenger city bus on your way to and from work each day, as I have done for the past several weeks. Here are my last four observations, 0-3-1-2.

Merge with the Kansas University bus system? Now there is a handy idea. Let’s team up with another tax revenue-eating monster! We are all going to need some type of public transportation very soon if we continue to give these poorly managed government entities a mandate to squander our tax dollars.

As long as we are willing to reward poor performance, CEOs will continue to walk away with millions, our congressional leaders will continue to raid the U.S. treasury, and the “T for two” bus system will receive another plaque to hang on their wall when they can proudly proclaim themselves to be the “T for three.”

Gary Hamon,
Lawrence