Student debt relief is ‘unfair,’ Justice Gorsuch? Rich business owners got forgiveness | Opinion

What’s ‘fair’ here?

During arguments about the partial federal student debt relief plan proposed by President Joe Biden, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch stated that it was not fair to others who have paid off their debts. Really?

During the pandemic, families got child care credits to help during this difficult time. Donald Trump made Paycheck Protection Plan loans available to business owners (several members of Congress took these loans) and churches (which pay no taxes), and many of those loans were forgiven in full. Additional agricultural subsidies helped farmers. Stimulus checks came in the mail. Trump and the Republicans gave huge tax breaks to their uber-rich cronies. I heard no complaints about that.

I don’t have small children in day care. I don’t own a farm. I didn’t receive a PPP loan and have it totally forgiven. I get no tax breaks. So when Gorsuch complains about “fairness,” I have to laugh. His parents were both lawyers, presumably affluent, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he incurred no student debt and didn’t have to work his way through college.

Forgiving up to $10,000 of federal loans wouldn’t come close to erasing student debt, but it would help middle class and poor kids who have dreams, too, like my own.

- Karen Marie Zentz, Raymore

Just talk sense

Sen. Josh Hawley recently claimed President Joe Biden wants to “wipe out” blue-collar workers and their culture. (Feb. 3, 7A, “Hawley says Biden would ‘wipe out’ blue-collar life”)

Of course, Biden does not intend to eliminate blue-collar life in our country. I am a registered Republican, and I am embarrassed by politicians who mislead the electorate. There is no excuse for deceiving the public.

This country has long had the most dynamic middle class the world has ever seen, composed of blue-collar workers living their lives honorably. For any politician to try to “wipe out” these people would be not only immoral, but politically suicidal. It would also cause our allies to develop a sense of distrust for our country and its leadership.

This country needs sensible politicians. When we have high-ranking elected officials who regularly espouse ridiculous ideas suggesting our republic is in danger, we need to pay attention — because many people around the world are taking notice.

We need strong politicians who understand what our real problems are and who propose viable solutions. We must choose leaders who speak the truth about all matters, and not those who misinform voters to get elected.

- Michael H. Jones, Leavenworth

Lost the plot

I support The Star’s removal of the comic strip “Dilbert.” (March 1, 2A, “To our readers”) Although not a big Twitter user, I did follow up on all the hubbub about Scott Adams’ remarks on his YouTube channel to confirm his rather cynical and nihilistic take on race in America.

Setting aside those angry, mean words for a moment, Adams’ characters have been getting less funny and more cynical over time. His dystopian office climate used to have some point about the absurdity of modern life in the office, and sometimes it was funny, too.

For years now, it hasn’t been funny. Adams seems to have become consumed with his hatred for many things he doesn’t like, as if he needs time in a shared office to socialize himself. I don’t know when he went of the rails, but after reading his comic strip for 30 years, I think he has lost his touch to shed light and humor on the office setting. What is left is so cynical and sad that it is the one comic strip I stopped reading some time ago.

Thanks for a new shot for anything else.

- Matthew Browning, Kansas City

Power performance

I’d like to give a shout-out to the Evergy crew that showed up in our backyard by 5 a.m. last week after a severe thunder and wind storm took out my neighbor’s tree at about 2 a.m., knocking down two utility poles along with the power, cable and telephone lines. The crew brought men, trucks, chainsaws — you name it — and had trees chopped up, two new poles in and the power back on by noon. Fantastic performance.

Sadly, while the TV and telephone service was up and running within a couple of days, those companies’ cables and associated detritus remain in our backyard, and no plan to string proper cables from the new poles has been communicated to us. We hear something along the lines of, “Well, you know, that’s another organization’s responsibility, and they have to get the contractors out, and blah blah blah.”

Oh, well. Bravo, Evergy.

- David Lowe, Leawood