Letters: Readers discuss Greitens, The Star and Steve Rose
Missouri budget
It’s brilliant, isn’t it? Gov. Eric Greitens cuts the budget mostly at the expense of higher education. (Jan. 17, 1A, “Greitens swings an ax at budget”) Never mind that higher education is the one vehicle by which the state’s economy can grow due to the development of brain power and entrepreneurial capability.
The governor says, “We must come together, tighten our belts, be smart and wise with our tax dollars, and work our way out of this hole by bringing more jobs with higher pay to the people of Missouri.” Why then would he be such a proponent of so-called right-to-work legislation? The only reason politicians want such legislation is to lower wages, not to increase them.
Expect budget woes to continue as long as our Republican legislature and governor drive the economy on the backs of low wage earners.
Cliff Schuette
Kansas City
Editorial board
The front page of the Jan. 12 edition of The Star introduced the new editorial board. The part that I read with wonder was “people who will bring a different perspective to Kansas City.”
Hmm. Within this context, just what does the word “different” mean?
A national TV network bills itself as “fair and balanced.” Yet anyone with at least a second-grade schooling knows that this is not an accurate statement.
In the 1930s, my mother and father attended Cotner College in Lincoln, Neb. They often recalled a statement a professor wrote on a chalkboard: “Keep an open mind, and a suspended judgment.”
That statement could be applied in 2017.
William W.
McDermet
Raymore
Good deeds
Mará Rose Williams’ story of area high school students’ interest in and passion for social justice did my heart good. (Jan. 16, 5A, “Area high school students are seeking a deeper social justice conscience”)
Thank you, students, for your care for others. Thank you, teachers, for helping facilitate this learning.
Laurie Fisher
Kansas City
Trump fans’ duty
As Donald Trump assumes the presidency, the Americans who voted for him need to pressure Trump to reject the hate and violence of his campaign.
Many Trump voters don’t agree with his racist or misogynistic statements, or believe that Trump was merely playing to the crowd. Nevertheless, these Americans must face the fact that their vote has put in office a man who emboldens some of the most vulgar discourse in modern American politics. Those voters need to take responsibility by pressing Trump to eliminate the voices of hate from his administration.
If Hillary Clinton had won, then her voters would have had a responsibility to encourage her to build an administration representing all Americans, not just the political elite. Now the danger to American democracy is not the perpetuation of a ruling clique, but the elevation of despicable, hateful ideas into the mainstream national discourse.
Trump isn’t going to listen to Democrats who complain about hate and racism. But if millions of Republicans who voted for him despite the ugly statements pressure Trump to back away from that incendiary speech and those who peddle it, then we have a chance to restore a bit of civility to American politics.
Jordan Simpson
Kansas City
Rose column
I always get a chuckle reading Steve Rose’s (“Mr. I’ve never seen a tax increase or government program I didn’t like”) twisted rants. In his commentary of Jan. 15, he lays out the elite liberal mantra that those darned ordinary citizens just don’t understand how things are supposed to be in government. (23A, “Petitions allow cranks to stifle forward-looking governance in Kansas City”)
I’m not sure there is panic in the streets that the arboretum and Deanna Rose in Overland Park could have been in jeopardy. The convention center probably should have been put to a vote based on its history so far.
But the more important thing Rose helped me understand is why I am voting against Carl Gerlach for Overland Park mayor next year.
For a self-righteous politician to say he was glad he didn’t have to worry about “citizens overruling the government by referendum,” and that today’s issues are very complicated — implying no average resident could comprehend them — only illustrates how he and thousands of other faux-elites are out of touch with what is happening at the grass-roots level.
By next election, Gerlach will have had 12 years to enlarge his ego. That is plenty of arrogance time for me.
Reed Plate
Overland Park
Medicare future
All you seniors who voted for Donald Trump need to carefully read all the latest AARP Bulletin articles concerning Medicare.
It appears there are three very influential Republicans who have vowed to change Medicare as it is today: Vice President Mike Spence, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Trump’s pick for head of the department of Health and Human Services, Tom Price.
Considering the power they will soon wield in both houses of Congress, it is scary reading for Medicare recipients.
Ann Breda
Lee’s Summit
This story was originally published January 21, 2017 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Letters: Readers discuss Greitens, The Star and Steve Rose."