Consequences of vote

As we Kansans prepare to vote largely for candidates with an “R” behind their names, I wonder whether we’re comfortable voting for more government intrusion, the acceleration of wealth to those few who already have the lion’s share, the shifting tax burden on those with the least and slashing support for children, elderly, sick and poor.

Kansans have voted this way for years, but as most of us become older, sicker and poorer, we’ll face the consequences of our votes. Soon government will completely control women’s health while we struggle to support ourselves and our families.

Those with the money and power have watched us vote for them, knowing we mostly vote out of fear. It’s a fear that someone else might get what we have and a fear of others with different-colored skin, religious beliefs, political views and sexual orientation.

It is my hope that, when making our decisions about whom to vote for this year, some of us will think long and hard about what the candidate will do for us, our local community, our state and our country before we simply vote for the one with the big “R” behind his or her name.

Ron Roesler

Manhattan, Kan.

Obama not presidential

My wife and I went to see the movie “2016: Obama’s America.” It is a vast collection of facts that the blind followers of President Barack Obama cannot refute.

But that will not have any success in swaying their love for this fraud. I do believe that his followers are truly in love with the man and want to be blind and deaf to what he is doing to this country.

Now the Fed is going to spend $40 billion a month buying up mortgage bonds that Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke says will put more people to work? Meanwhile, the government is slashing $110 billion from the military budget to further weaken our defenses and throw thousands of military personnel into the non-existent job market.

Also, because of the current severe unrest in the Middle East, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel asked for a meeting with Obama recently. But the president declined as he was appearing on David Letterman and chatting with one of the Kardashians.

What a man.

David German

Kansas City

Star recommendations

Every day brings us a Kansas City Star edition with recommendations for candidates for public office — virtually all Democrat. Why not just spare us the daily verbiage and splash “Vote Democratic” across the front page and be done with it?

Jim Paulsen

Kansas City

Romney’s shifting plans

I just heard it again. Both Mr. Alan Simpson and Mr. Erskine Bowles have stated specifically that Mitt Romney’s plan for the economy could not possibly work. “The figures just don’t add up,” they say.

Romney’s response? “That’s not my plan.”

What exactly is his plan? Try to get an answer.

It was just like when the president talked about Romney’s 20 percent tax cut to the rich. “But I don’t have a tax cut for the rich,” Romney said. So what has he really been saying throughout the entire election?

He’s really got it down. It’s very difficult to argue logically with someone who changes his position with every challenge.

And even I must admit that Romney does sound good.

Don’t have a job? He’ll get you one. He can do it. We just don’t know how.

He can bring down gas prices, disarm Iran, lower taxes, increase military spending, bring down unemployment and balance the budget. And he can leap tall buildings in a single bound.

But even he admits he will need two terms to do it. Let’s give that same option to the president.

Rebecca Reagan

Lenexa

Poor foreign policy

As our country moves closer to the upcoming national elections, it seems to me that the developing crisis in the Middle East is not an accident that was unforeseeable. It was not a meteor out of the sky but rather a likely result of the dithering that has masqueraded as foreign policy for 3½ years.

As an example, consider the president’s public statement that Egypt, a staunch ally for 30 years, is no longer an ally. What diplomatic purpose does it serve to have our leader add more uncertainty to what is already an explosive mix of cultural, religious, ethnic, and postcolonial resentments and passions?

It goes beyond awkward or clumsy or undiplomatic. It is sophomoric and emblematic of a captain lacking both rudder and compass.

These are times that demand clarity of vision, steadfastness of purpose and the finesse to carry out a coherent foreign policy. I see none of these qualities in our present national leadership.

Michael Nagle

Kansas City

Cigarette tax increase

Why, why, why would funds raised from the increased tobacco tax be given to the public schools? I have always heard the schools get money from the state-run lottery, casinos and city and state taxes.

Yet the majority of our schools are performing below par academically. If the students were better educated, I could understand.

There apparently is a lot of money wasted. Is it poor administration ration?

Helen Byrne

Kansas City

Romney bad for U.S.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has made millions by outsourcing American jobs to China to make money. He did this with several companies.

He made millions of dollars in one deal in Florida. Romney made more millions on another deal and made even more money here in Kansas City. We have lost hundreds of American workers.

In three deals we lost a lot of American jobs. Romney made millions of dollars in three deals. Do you still want to vote for a job killer like Mitt Romney? I hope not.

Research Mitt Romney before it is too late. Think before you vote.

Florentino Camacho Jr.

Kansas City

Remembering GOP

Let’s forget that Republicans launched the Iraq war to destroy weapons of mass destruction that didn’t exist — many of that same team would return under Mitt Romney.

Let’s forget that Republicans said/say “drill baby drill” and damn the consequences. Romney has promised to end all the regulations of the Obama years enacted to prevent another Gulf oil disaster.

Let’s forget that Republicans created an atmosphere of loose oversight/nonregulation of banks that helped create the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression (that same brand of Republican was in charge then, too).

Let’s forget that Republicans have so vilified government that we’ve forgotten the origins of the GI Bill, Social Security, Medicare, civil rights ... it wasn’t this Republican Party. The party of Lincoln is long dead.

This Republican Party’s stated objective was simply making President Barack Obama a one-term president. What a waste of four years of public office.

Let’s not forget that it was we who elected them: those of us who voted for them, those of us who didn’t vote and those of us who didn’t work hard enough to elect someone with a sense of the common good.

Charles Bishop

Kansas City

Reducing U.S. debt

Would Republican-backed tax cuts help the economy? Here are a few facts about the federal deficit from the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Treasury:

Except for about a year during 1835-1836, the United States has continuously had a public debt since 1789. World War II caused the highest percentage increase in the deficit.

The social programs enacted during the Great Depression caused the second-largest. The percentage increase under President Barack Obama is the third-highest.

Debt nearly tripled under President Ronald Reagan, who increased military spending and lowered tax rates, slashing the top income tax rate from 70 percent to 28 percent. Under President George W. Bush, the gross public debt increased because of the decreased tax rates and two unfunded wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

So, this begs the question: Would Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney-backed tax decreases reduce the federal deficit? The numbers suggest otherwise.

Sara Sautter

Overland Park

Changing elections

I wonder whether it ever occurs to folks forwarding hate emails conveying false messages that they are aiding and abetting activity that should be punishable by law. Needless to say, perpetrators hope to sway the electorate.

A recent news story spoke to this, saying eventually the truth will come out. However, when used during last-minute campaigning, it can affect the outcome. This may have been the case in some instances during the 2010 elections.

It is possible that extreme ideologues have no qualms about this potential cheapening of our sacrosanct system for getting out the vote. However, in the final analysis, we all have to live with it and are responsible for the outcome.

Robert R. Cook

Manhattan, Kan.