Letters: Readers discuss Trump’s conflicts, The Star’s editorial board, Medicare and the Chiefs
Follow the money
The Star’s Jan. 15 articles “Trump’s CEO meetings raise ethics questions” and “Trump raises millions to cover steep costs of inauguration” were placed eight pages apart, on 2A and 16A respectively. If they were placed side by side, potential conflicts of interest would be obvious.
In the first, it says Donald Trump met with AT&T’s CEO but denied they discussed their proposed merger, which Trump has said he opposed. In the second, it says AT&T has donated both cash and in-kind donations. I suggest we follow the money.
It is not just the potential conflict of interest. It is the appearance of conflict of interest. Being as we, the public, are not allowed to see his taxes, it will continue to be unknown whether Trump is working for the people of United States, or Donald Trump.
He says people knew he’s a businessman when they elected him. But I say he knew or should have known that every president in the last 40 years has released his returns. And if that was too big of an imposition, he shouldn’t have run.
Sue Thompson
Mission
Editorial coverage
The recent announcement of the new editorial board for The Star is welcome news. With the new session of the Missouri legislature already in progress, the resumption of local opinion writing on the editorial page cannot come soon enough. So far, the only column concerning the intentions of the Republican-dominated Missouri statehouse has come from a representative of the Show-Me Institute, the mouthpiece of St. Louis multi-millionaire and conservative political funder Rex Sinquefeld, who seems intent on pushing Missouri toward the same failed financial policies that have plagued Kansas under Gov. Sam Brownback.
A good first step for the new editorial board would be to hire a knowledgeable and aggressive columnist to cover Jefferson City the way Steve Rose has so ably kept Kansans informed of the damage that has been done in Topeka by legislators who have marched in lockstep with the Brownback agenda. This will be even more important to western Missourians since Republicans now control both the legislature and the governor’s office, eliminating the checks and balances between the two that might otherwise avoid the Kansas debacle in Missouri.
David Ramsay
Gladstone
Save Medicare
The new administration may end our Medicare benefits as we know them.
Currently, we pay into the Medicare “defined benefit” program with each paycheck. On retirement, it covers about 80 percent of doctor and hospital visits at a guaranteed level.
Many in the House and Senate want to replace our Medicare with a “premium support” system. This system would allot Medicare-eligible people a stipend with which they would shop the market for health care coverage. There is no guarantee that future vouchers will keep pace with the rising costs of insurance, nor provide the same level of benefits offered by Medicare.
The 1965 Medicare promise: If we paid into the program with every paycheck, we need not worry about affordable quality health care upon retirement. It is one of the most popular acts ever passed, and has received bipartisan support for 52 years.
Rather than alter, decrease or dismantle our Medicare benefits, our government should be decreasing health care and pharmaceutical costs. Medicare should be strengthened.
Please write and call your representatives. Implore them to honor our government’s promise.
Judy Davis-Cole
Ottawa, Kan.
Chiefs redux
One and done again. How many years do the Chiefs fans have to wait before they make it to the Super Bowl? Playing conservatively is not going to get you anywhere. I’m not sure Andy Reid knows any differently. You can watch any of the other NFL teams and see how they can open a game up with a variety of plays. The Chiefs do the same plays all the time.
Alex Smith may know how to manage a game, but he doesn’t know how to throw the long ball. Since we’re stuck with Alex next season, possibly in the offseason he can work with someone who can teach him how to throw a ball over 15 yards. And how many times do we run up the middle? It doesn’t work, guys.
I watch other teams and it seems like they have what it takes to move on to the big game. I’m just not sure the Chiefs do.
JuJu Johnson
Lenexa
This story was originally published January 17, 2017 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Letters: Readers discuss Trump’s conflicts, The Star’s editorial board, Medicare and the Chiefs."