Letters: Readers discuss a government shutdown, the GOP tax plan and Robert Mueller

Shutdown

If our elected representatives in Washington decide to shut down the government, it will be interesting to see who accepts benefits and paychecks for doing nothing.

Bob Blackman

Raymore

You can stop it

All Republican representatives from Kansas and Missouri, at President Donald Trump’s insistence, just voted for a massive transfer of wealth to the rich that will ultimately make sure you are never able to retire.

It goes like this:

1. Generate trillion-dollar deficits to give more money to super-wealthy Republican donors.

2. Your Republican member of Congress will then cite these deficits as the reason “entitlements” must be cut.

3. Your Republican member of Congress will then push through an equally awful bill to take away your ability to retire (in other words, cut Social Security and Medicare).

Sound familiar? Kansas has not yet recovered from a similar fiscal debacle instigated by Gov. Sam Brownback and his GOP enablers.

Don’t let them. Educate yourself on the far-reaching effects of this legislation, which ultimately will decimate middle-class and poor families and further push wealth to the richest people in America (like Trump).

There is one step left before this disgraceful mess becomes law. The only way to stop it is to speak out. Contact your representatives and tell them you will vote them out of office if they support Trump’s horrible tax scam bill.

Wendy Noll

Kansas City

One or the other

Thanks to a letter writer in the Sunday Star and an article on the Gizmodo tech site, I learned about Crosscheck, a vulnerable database of voter records that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is reportedly “reviewing” and “pledging to fix.” This should have been covered elsewhere, and sooner.

But why aren’t our Kansas legislators and two acting governors demanding that Kobach stop wasting our time and dollars in the office he was elected to or step down so he can devote himself full time to performing his rendition of the captain in “The Caine Mutiny,” finding the criminal who took his strawberries?

Beth Ciperson

Kansas City

Quit pretending

Now that the Senate has passed its tax scam bill, Sen. Jerry Moran must drop the pretense that he stands for the best interests of the people of Kansas.

OK, so he does stand for the 1 percent of Kansans who make up his donor base, but the rest of us 99 percent now know better.

Moran backed the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, even though every non-partisan medical group said it would crater health care for those who need it most, rural Kansans. Now he’s backed President Donald Trump’s “middle-class miracle” that will ultimately raise taxes on everyone except his donors and ultimately add trillions to the national debt, fiscal responsibility and average Americans be damned.

We expected this behavior from Sen. Pat Roberts and Rep. Kevin Yoder, who would sell their grandmothers for a yea vote on a Republican bill. Now we know Jerry Moran is just like them.

Thanks a lot, Jerry.

Scott Roby

Lenexa

Worthy programs

I am retired and have a secret to share with all of you who are still working: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are wonderful. Those programs provide me benefits and security.

I am telling you this because when this tax reform that members of Congress are determined to pass is put into effect, they are going to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.

To do that, they will divide and conquer. They will say, “Oh, all people already on Social Security and Medicare will keep their benefits, but we are going to take it away from the younger generations.”

So, to you folks who are still working, I can say from personal experience that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are worth fighting for.

So get out and vote. Write to your representatives and keep the pressure on.

Arthur Basler

Lee’s Summit

He sees you

He’s making a list, checking it twice.

Gonna find out who’s naughty and nice.

Robert Mueller’s coming to town.

Jim Waltz

Kansas City

The reason?

There is no dispute. The Russians interfered in our 2016 presidential election. They helped Donald Trump get elected. Why?

John Meyer

Blue Springs

This story was originally published December 5, 2017 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Letters: Readers discuss a government shutdown, the GOP tax plan and Robert Mueller."