Seeking Santa’s help

Dear Santa: I lost my job and can’t pay my rent. Agencies say they are out of funds until next year or they are running low.

I need help now. So here I sit, knowing I’m not the only one in this situation.

Surely there are others like me in need. I’m job hunting with a severe respiratory infection. The medicine I need I can’t afford.

I have a few days to pay my rent, so instead of a Merry Christmas, I’m imagining what it will be like to spend the holidays in my car, which doesn’t run very well. My landlady wishes she could help, but she has bills, too.

All the local shelters appear full. As I said, I know I am not the only one, so all I want for Christmas is one elf or angel to help others like me who need to keep the roofs over our heads, the heat on and possibly afford medicines we need.

Teresa MacMartin

Blue Springs

Santa is everywhere

“I think Santa drives my school bus,” the child whispered to Mrs. Claus. It was Saturday morning, and the jolly old elf was sitting in my church with a line of children waiting. Mrs. Claus smiled knowingly at the child.

I think it’s lovely that Santa is skilled not only at driving a sleigh drawn by reindeer but also a yellow school bus full of children. Who better to entrust our children’s safety each morning?

I know for a fact that Santa not only drives a school bus, he also teaches school, works in the pediatric ward of a hospital and trains young people to build a fire or learn life skills. Sometimes, Santa appears as a firefighter or as staff working with at-risk young people.

Most often, Santa looks a lot like parents, worrying and praying and loving their children through life as best as they can.

Yes, Santa drives your school bus. In fact, I have a hunch that Santa is at work anytime someone helps a child. He’s there every time we act like “The One” whose birthday it truly is, who taught us to love young and old alike.

Rev. Sally Haynes

Blue Springs

Arming teachers

I read in Thursday’s Kansas City Star that Republican Rep. Mike Kelley and 24 co-sponsors are sponsoring a bill that would allow teachers with concealed-weapon permits to carry guns in classrooms (12/20, A13, “Missouri mulls guns in schools”).

I can only surmise that this cast of intellectually challenged conservatives must be addicted to being ridiculed by Stephen Colbert and other late-night TV personalities. Why else would they propose something so lethally insane?

Do they think teachers are immune from mental illness? What would prevent a deranged teacher intent on going postal from locking his/her classroom door and repeating the horror committed in Newtown, Conn.?

Shortly after the November elections, an exasperated Bobby Jindal (Republican governor of Louisiana) bluntly stated that Republicans have to “stop being the stupid party.” Apparently our Republican state legislators have decided to double down on stupid.

Heaven help us.

Jeffrey Bushman

Kansas City

Responsible gun owners

I grew up handling guns and never had an incident of any kind, and I do not know any responsible gun owners who have had an incident either.

I respect gun opponents’ right to choose not to own firearms and only ask them to give those of us who choose to own firearms the same respect.

I consider firearms to be the same as tools. When handled properly they do a job intended.

Owning them by responsible citizens does not make those individuals macho men.

If not for the forefathers of this country owning firearms, gun opponents would not have the rights and privileges that they have today.

Outside of Vietnam, I have never killed anyone or shot anyone who didn’t give me a choice. In case gun opponents hadn’t noticed, those committing the crimes aren’t stellar citizens to begin with.

They do not care how they obtain their weapons. Responsible gun owners do.

Gary Williams

Lexington, Mo.

Cellphone drawbacks

The use of a cellphone while working at a task may not be a pervasive problem, but it certainly does impair a worker’s concentration and ability to perform, especially while standing or walking.

Most of us would not choose to spend the day with one arm tied behind our back, and it is incontrovertible that the task being performed would not be done very well.

People are employed with the expectation that they have full use of their faculties. Certainly, many people are employed despite physical impairments. This is very different from voluntary handicapping.

From the domestic who will be slower in completing her job, and it may not be done as thoroughly, to the men I have observed doing difficult manual labor with a phone cradled between shoulder and ear, the employer is being cheated — both in the time used and quality of the work.

Additionally, there is a safety factor for the person who is in an unnatural, compromised position.

Today’s mania with instant, constant communication has more than a few negative ramifications.

Steve Sherry

Kansas City

Opposing Obamacare

I am concerned about the issue of Obamacare. I think health care should be left up to states to decide how they believe their people will benefit most.

Nationally, I do not think health care should be forced on anyone.

Everyone should have the right to choose what he or she wants.

Insurance companies should not have to accept everyone. It goes against the common sense of running their businesses.

It is their business. They started it, and they run it.

They should most definitely not have to provide for those who would cause them to lose money if they choose not to. The owners of the companies are people, too, and have their own rights to decide how they want to run their own companies.

Businesses should not have to provide it for everyone, and as a result of Obamacare, they will start laying people off to save money, as is being promised already.

Obamacare does more harm than good. If a state decides it would be good, then that state can decide to have it, as a state government, not nationally.

Regan Jacobs

Liberty

Finding home addresses

It is a pain to be looking for an address in a new neighborhood and people don’t have their house addresses in their yards or on their houses.

What do emergency responders do?

Marjorie E. Lewis

Lee’s Summit

Bad echoes of history

I was reading a history book recently and came across the following passage: “The government was facing bankruptcy ... and ... politicians were incompetent to handle the affairs of state ... where the intricacies of national and international business were concerned. ... It called for specialized knowledge.

“It wanted ... ‘technicians’ who knew how modern capitalist society functioned, and it assured the country that the great business and financial enterprises could furnish these trained men.”

This paragraph reminded me of the general political financial theory of privatizing many functions the government performs. It reminds me of the policies that many Republicans champion.

It seems to be the antithesis of the “socialist” changes that President Barack Obama is accused of pursuing.

I’m still a little taken aback that this was stated by Ernest Mercier, a French anarchist who was envying fascist Italian ruler Benito Mussolini’s political policies.

I think I’d prefer “socialized” medicine.

Jeff Spears

Kansas City

Boost taxes on rich

President Ronald Reagan reduced taxes. The reduction for the wealthy was too great.

Ever since, the wealthy have done much better comparatively than the middle class. And ever since, the debt has exploded, primarily when the presidency was held by Republicans.

The wealthy have had essentially 30 years of significant tax cuts. It is time to increase taxes on the wealthy.

Richard Huff

Overland Park

Slow road to progress

I think the speed at which construction is being done on the streets is too slow to be very effective. It seems that it takes many, many months for an improvement to be made.

And as soon as one is made, there is another improvement that needs to be made.

I think the construction on our streets should be a more serious issue than it is.

It would be nice for me to be able to enjoy the improvements to our roads for once.

Conor Riggs

Kansas City

Kansas DMV pluses

Huge kudos to the Department of Motor Vehicles in Mission. My visit there on a recent morning was short and painless.

The system was working like a well-oiled machine. My total wait time: arrived 7:48 a.m. and out by 8:05 a.m.

Now that’s a winner. I couldn’t have been more surprised and pleased.

Mary Gunter

Mission