Openly discuss KCI

I have followed the discussions about proposed changes to Kansas City International Airport and have been disposed to think that it is fine as is.

And why would we want to spend so much on changing KCI?

Recently I completed my third trip in a month from KCI, and as I reflected on the proposal to change the airport I thought about the cramped and not-so-user-friendly shops and restrooms.

I think it only reasonable that we give some serious thought to the proposals for changes.

If and likely when some changes happen, I hope that the proposal will keep as much of our convenience of parking, shuttle service and relatively easy check-in services in mind and allow for some good and thoughtful community discussion.

Gary Marsh

Overland Park

McCaskill and Akin

Well, Missouri, it seems we have a clear choice for our U.S. Senate seat.

We can either vote for a man who has had both of his feet in his mouth for the last few days or we can vote for a woman who has had both of her hands in our wallets for the last six years.

When you think about it, the choice is obvious.

Jerry Bailey

Independence

Imbalance on far right

Most Republican candidates in primary elections have painted themselves “true conservatives,” trying to position themselves to the right of every opponent.

Election after election, the competition has produced a Republican Party purged of any moderate voice and characterized only by the shrillest ideologues.

As much as Republicans now trying to hide their party’s sharp edges in advance of Election Day may publicly abhor Missouri Republican U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin’s attempt to imbue rape with degrees of severity and to trust some magical, mythical female biological defense against pregnancy, he is exactly the “true conservative” the party has largely become: ignorant, insensitive and inflexible (8-20, A1, “Akin’s remark on rape angers”).

Mark Prout

Lee’s Summit

Wall of ignorance

Now that Republican U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin has earned himself world fame, he deserves a spot next to Rush Limbaugh in the state Capitol of famous Missourians. We can subtitle their space as the Missouri Great Wall of Ignorance.

Jim Fulbright

Platte City

Women opposing Akin

To any woman who supports, defends or votes for Missouri Republican U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin, you need to turn in your woman card.

You have violated the terms of use.

Susan Schank

Kansas City

KCI makeover needed

The issue that most people don’t understand with Kansas City International Airport is that we’re not the airport authority’s direct customers. The airlines are.

Some of them, who happen to be in the top four for airline size, want to expand at KCI. But the only way to do that now is to have gates at more than one terminal, and that’s unacceptable to them.

United is already forced to use two terminals, and if you’re flying on United and making a connection, you might have to leave security, catch a bus from Terminal A to Terminal C or vice versa, then re-enter security.

Passengers are not willing to do that.

Delta can’t expand. Terminal B is full, and there’s not enough room for Delta to do so in just one of the remaining terminals. Southwest is the same.

Even if we maintain the status quo, the facilities inside security are pathetic and too small. The food vendors and places outside security are losing money to stay open the hours they’re required to.

We need those facilities outside of security to be located inside security, and there’s no room.

KCI definitely needs a do-over.

Todd Wade

Kansas City

Implement Obamacare

Legislators continue to play politics with the Affordable Care Act. All of their game-playing and spin cloud the real issue.

We need health care reform in the United States.

Data show that the United States has fallen behind most other industrialized nations in all of the key indicators of children’s health and well-being.

The data also demonstrate that we spend more on health care than any other nation but have a shorter life expectancy than many.

It is documented that there are thousands of preventable deaths each year in this country because citizens cannot afford health insurance.

The difference between us and industrialized nations that are faring better is that all of those nations have government-sponsored health care (find the data at www.oecd.org).

Legislators vigorously debated the Affordable Care Act when it was proposed. The bill passed.

It was challenged, and the Supreme Court upheld it. Now it is time to put politics aside and do what is best for America and for Missouri.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, please commit to fully implementing the Affordable Care Act in a timely and responsible manner.

Sharon Nelson

Kansas City

Republican troubles

It’s nothing short of amazing. Eight years of President George W. Bush and Republican policies caused the current economic problems, including the deficit.

Their decisions not to increase taxes to fund two wars, passing a new drug-entitlement program and passing a massive tax cut (mainly for the rich) caused the surpluses of the Bill Clinton presidency to turn into deficits.

Additionally, the Bush administration’s job creation record was abysmal.

The Wall Street and housing crashes under the Republican mantra of non-regulation capped the perfect storm and culminated in the Great Recession.

Then for three years, Republican policy has been obstructionism. Their stated priority has been blocking all of President Barack Obama’s efforts to combat the recession.

Now presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney says his policy if elected would be the same as the Bush policies. Still, about 45 percent of the electorate is supporting Romney.

Figure that out.

Jerry Lee

Overland Park

Blame Bush for debt

The national debt is outrageous. And those who are most to blame are the conservatives.

They stood by saying nothing under President George W. Bush as the debt soared, and each year fiscal accountability went out the window.

Sure, the Democrats are to blame, too.

But the party of fiscal responsibility, also known as the GOP, must share much of the blame for doing nothing when something could’ve been done. Instead, the Republicans left us in debt.

After the general elections of 2008, conservatives suddenly exploded with outrage and started running around realizing the firehouse really was burning.

And to make matters worse, they began pointing the finger singularly at the Democrats, proving once again that if you want to pour vinegar down someone’s throat, just elect the opposition party.

Yet none of this is going to solve our fiscal crisis because no accountant has ever used ideology to balance the books.

It just does not work. What will work is to begin working with the Democrats.

Yet that is what the new right wing of the Republicans will not do.

Instead, the right wing’s members contend that they are a new party and they can leap buildings with a single bound.

Michal Betz

Wichita

Massacre at theater

Had the Aurora, Colo., shooter used a deer rifle or an elephant gun instead of an assault rifle, would the anti-gun crowd be more pleased ... er, I mean less irritated?

What magazine did the shooter have in his rifle? It’s a moot point considering how fast it is to reload any modern rifle.

If the shooter had a fully automatic machine gun, he could have killed many more. But those aren’t as readily available.

The problem isn’t the gun. It’s the person operating the gun.

The logical answer? Pass a law against gun ownership by mentally unstable individuals.

That should solve the problem, right?

Robert Patterson

Lee’s Summit

Serve cake to Kansans

Thank goodness we in Kansas have a governor who will absolutely resist the expansion of Medicaid to include thousands of poor and low-income adults and parents.

It doesn’t matter that the federal government picks up the entire tab for the first three years and that the share the state would pay rises to only 10 percent by 2020.

Gov. Sam Brownback understands what’s important to the citizens of Kansas: tax cuts and more tax cuts.

As for the poor and low-income, “let them eat cake.”

Charlie Hastert

Prairie Village