Letters: Readers discuss Trump’s big support, Brent Welder and American infrastructure
Big support
As usual, the left-leaning, liberal Kansas City Star reported only on the small group of people who protested President Donald Trump’s visit to Kansas City with filthy signs, filthy words and lots of hate speech. (July 25, 2A, “Trump’s visit to KC brings out protesters”) You typically did not report on the multitudes of true Americans who stood along Interstate 29 and cheered, waved and gave thumbs-ups to Trump as he returned to Kansas City International Airport to return to Washington.
The Star should have reported the whole story.
Sterling Farber
Olathe
Country, not party
I enjoyed reading the letter Sunday from a man helping his 94-year-old neighbor, who is a veteran. (18A) I’m also a vet, and my father was a decorated World War II vet.
Our veterans are not getting their full entitlements these days. Our president, with his five draft deferments, doesn’t have to worry about that.
My favorite president in my lifetime is Harry Truman, the Democrat from Missouri. He faced difficult challenges and hard decisions in his presidency.
The tax breaks passed by the current president, Republicans and some Democrats will put us deeper in debt. They don’t trickle down and never have. Tax breaks are a joke.
As elections come closer, people need to analyze the candidates, not just vote for the party they represent. We need to elect people who have the common good as their focus and aren’t bought out by large corporations and big money.
Stan McNickle
Overland Park
Welder for Kansas
We’re not a chemistry set. The “Kansas experiment” left us with a $900 million budget gap because the Koch brothers spent untold amounts so they could control what happens to us, our families and our children.
Our lives shouldn’t have been former Gov. Sam Brownback’s Christmas presents to play with and demolish. As a result, our schools remain gravely underfunded and Wyandotte County has been left with inadequate health care.
Enough is enough.
Brent Welder is the only candidate running a Bernie Sanders-style, 100 percent clean campaign. He is not taking one penny of corporate PAC money. He’ll look out for the little guy, because he’s done so his entire life.
Welder is the only uncorrupted choice for Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District. He’s also the surefire way to remove unethical Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder because, according to the only poll taken, Welder has a seven-plus-point lead.
Other Democrats in the race sound good but offer no concrete policies. They vote against reasonable solutions because of dark money. Welder is beholden to us, not big donors.
We deserve a fighter. This is urgent. Vote for Welder on Aug. 7.
Jennifer Kosarin
Kansas City
The roads ahead
The most recent report card on America’s infrastructure from the American Society of Civil Engineers averaged a D+.
I have been a proud ASCE member for 62 years, yet I have a very different view.
Our buildings are supplied with more reliable electricity than we could possibly need. We can get everywhere with our roads and airports. Most Americans have safe water supplies (while over 2 billion people worldwide don’t). We have well-managed sanitation (which more than 4 billion people lack).
So why does ASCE offer such dismal appraisals of American infrastructure? Admittedly, it lobbies to advance the interests and profits of its members. Since fear is a great motivator, we are warned of impending danger.
But in a changing world of finite resources, last-century infrastructure — designed, built and still operating on a massive foundation of fossil fuels — cannot continue.
As engineers, we must stop perpetuating the illusion of infinite resources and redirect our efforts to creating foundations for a truly sustainable future, wherein our shared infrastructure will be energy-efficient, democratized, distributed, renewably powered, modest, environmentally safe and adequate for meeting basic public needs.
Perhaps America’s infrastructure does deserve a near-failing grade, but not for the reasons ASCE ascribes.
John T. O’Connor
Columbia
Easy answer
President Donald Trump asked on Twitter: “What kind of lawyer would tape a client?” (July 26, 10A, “Trump lashes out at Cohen over recording”)
The answer, based on what we now know, is quite simple: a smart lawyer, considering the nature of his client.
Tom Fisher
Leawood