Letters to the editor: Democratic candidates, stifled innovation, Pope Francis

Democratic confusion

Simply stated, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is unable to manage the crisis surrounding her emails and Benghazi when she was secretary of state.

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders can’t seem to shake the fact that he is a socialist.

Which one is the most vulnerable?

Steve Katz

Leawood

Stifling innovation

The Kansas City Power & Light Co. and Westar contend that solar users don’t pay their fair share for the energy and infrastructure they use (10-14, A7, “Rates may shine less brightly on solar-powered homes”). They claim this over and over, but they’ve never been asked to prove it.

We think that if an objective study were done, it would find — as such studies have in other states — that the benefits of distributed (on-the-home) solar — particularly in reducing demand during peak times, and helping the state comply with carbon regulations — would more than outweigh the costs. We think the utilities are doing this, not to make pricing fairer but to quash independent solar energy in Kansas.

Even though KCP&L and Westar are monopoly providers, and even though their costs are passed on to consumers, and even though their investors are guaranteed a rate of return far in excess of other investments, and even though solar customers make up a tiny percentage of their customer base — still that tiny bit of competition is too much for KCP&L and Westar, and they are determined to stamp it out.

Imagine if Ma Bell had been allowed to put a premium on cellphone use in the 1980s. The last 30 years of innovation would never have happened. If the utilities want to keep their market share, they should get in front of changes in the market, not try to snuff them out by unfair pricing.

Rabbi Moti Rieber

Director,

Kansas Interfaith Power & Light

Overland Park

Remake KC Chiefs

Maybe the Kansas City Chiefs could bring their pre-season team back.

Richard Lumpkin

Prairie Village

Kansas toll gates

Why does the Kansas Turnpike Authority continue to require travelers that have a K-Tag to slow and drive through a gate? I travel quite a bit, and no other venue I travel to that has toll roads — Florida, Texas, Arizona, Colorado or Oklahoma (which K-Tag partners with) — require travelers to slow to a gate.

They all have full-speed lanes that allows traffic to flow safely through. I have kids at Kansas State University. My wife travels on the Kansas toll roads for work, and we travel to visit friends/relatives in Colorado and Oklahoma frequently.

Several times I have seen vehicles stopped either in or just after the K-Tag gate. That’s very dangerous.

I unfortunately saw the aftermath of the semi that ran into the tollbooth on westbound Interstate 70 last year that luckily only killed the driver of the semi. It could have been much worse if he had driven into a line of cars waiting to pay.

When will the Kansas Turnpike Authority catch up with everyone else and use cameras and/or K-Tags to allow vehicles to travel at highways speeds through toll gates?

When?

William Carlsen

Prairie Village

Clinton, abortion

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has be scrutinized over Benghazi and the email controversy, but there is something bigger that she needs to be called out on and publicly exposed for. There is something that she supports that kills more than 300,000 innocent people in this country every year, but there will be no investigatory committees established to search her out.

Clinton said this years ago: “It’s rather odd to talk about climate change and what we must do to stop and prevent the ill effects without talking about population and family planning.” It’s easy to see that she is referring to contraception and probably abortion as well.

Shame on Clinton for being a mother who supports abortion.

Michael Rachiele

Prairie Village

Pope Francis’ gifts

What was so wonderful about Pope Francis? Many measured him in probably as many ways as there are those who watched him.

As for myself, I couldn’t help but think of the way he exemplified Christ in his words and actions. It wasn’t so much what Pope Francis said as what he did.

Did he visit an up-to-date school campus with all the technological advances? No. Pope Francis chose a small humble one in Spanish Harlem in New York in a deprived neighborhood.

Where did he choose to eat lunch one day? He served it and ate it with the homeless instead of an upscale restaurant with dignitaries.

On his way to various places, Pope Francis always had time for the sick, the disabled and the children, reaching out to them and touching them. He took time to visit the marginalized in our society, such as prisoners, letting them know their lives were important and to make good use of this time to get their lives back on track.

Pope Francis didn’t spout climate control in scientific terms but pleaded with all of us to care for the planet, our shared home. I could go on and on but I think it suffices to say that for this Christian, he truly made me examine myself as to whether I was living a truly Christian life and treating my fellow human beings in a caring way.

Joan Nelson-Bow

Overland Park

This story was originally published October 27, 2015 at 4:32 PM with the headline "Letters to the editor: Democratic candidates, stifled innovation, Pope Francis."