Readers react to Gov. Sam Brownback, the Royals and Donald Trump

Brownback’s Kansas

When will Gov. Sam Brownback get it through his thick head that his pitiful so-called leadership is destroying our state of Kansas?

I saw recently that almost 4,000 teachers are leaving their teaching jobs because of the massive cuts in school funding and other related programs.

The state board of education has voted to allow unlicensed people to teach in Kansas schools. What the heck are they thinking?

Brownback’s constant misguided ideas have been put into effect by a sad Republican-controlled Legislature and state board of education. They don’t seem to have the guts to go against him, which is doing nothing to help Kansas.

Brownback has done nothing but bully the Legislature, courts and who knows who else to do what he wants. How are we to continue living in Kansas?

Brownback has put us in deep debt and cost a lot of teachers their jobs. He has massively increased taxes, with the highest tax increase in Kansas history, and has made a disaster of school funding and many other programs.

I can’t wait to see Brownback out of office.

Edward L. Keating

Fort Scott, Kan.

Postseason Royals

The recent postseason assignment of seating to many Kansas City Royals season-ticket holders is disrespectful. The notice we received from the Royals said, “We will do our best to provide seat locations that are comparable to your 2015 season location.”

Our assigned seats are poor and definitely not comparable.

I do not accept the Royals’ explanation that it is unfortunate that the numbers cause this to happen. We are told that our non-comparable seat locations are because of so many new season-ticket holders, the almighty Major League Baseball seating needs and “other seating demands.” I believe this is called special interests.

They have put some of us long-term loyal fans out to pasture, which is where my postseason tickets are located.

Now that fans are plentiful, partial season-ticket holders are urged to upgrade to half- and full-season tickets to have a chance at decent postseason tickets. It is also more difficult to obtain an opening-day ticket.

I respect the Royals organization for all it has done for this community and enjoy watching a fine baseball franchise. But this postseason ticket allocation is wrong and should be corrected.

Mike Martin

Lee’s Summit

McArdle column

Megan McArdle, I love you. Your Aug. 19 column, “Trump is peddling ‘bag o’ crazy’ on immigration,” about The Donald was the most right-on assessment of this overblown blowhard’s campaign yet printed by any of the serious columnists.

I especially appreciate the statement, “His campaign is completely unmoored from underlying reality.” Other phrases that moved me were, “weakly tethered to the plausible,” “most genuine jerk” and “towering magnificent whoppers.”

Bless you for pointing out the emperor’s lack of clothing. However, you seem to have forgotten “narcissistic clown.”

Joseph Ogilvie

Lenexa

Trump’s big gift

I saw that Donald Trump has stayed ahead in the Republican polls. Yet a majority don’t want him, so it seems unlikely to me he will be the Republican nominee.

This means that arrogant billionaire will probably run as a third-party candidate. History is clear about third-party candidates — they lose.

Also, the party from which they split also generally loses. The result is that Trump will be giving the 2016 election to the Democrats.

I hope they appreciate his gift. They should at least name him an ambassador to somewhere, maybe Mexico.

He seems to like Mexicans in Mexico.

Bill Betteridge

Independence

Umpire’s calls

Quinn Wolcott has had some troublesome, oft-reversed calls as a relatively new major league umpire (8-17, B1, “A Ken-do attitude”). Does Major League Baseball or the umpires association defend and keep him, send him to an eye doctor or back to the minors for more seasoning?

Steven Cohn

Prairie Village

Paying for college

Financially deserving students across Missouri will have a few extra dollars this year to help pay for college. Gov. Jay Nixon recently announced that his release of Access Missouri funds would result in higher grant awards this academic year.

The maximum award for four-year students will be $1,850, up from $1,500. The maximum award for two-year students will be $850, up from $660.

The Keep Me In College Coalition — a statewide grassroots organization of students, parents and educational leaders working to protect Missouri financial aid for Missouri students — appreciates that the Nixon administration is working to restore the buying power that Access Missouri was designed to provide to the state’s neediest students.

About 50,000 needy and highly deserving students who receive Access Missouri awards can attest to the essential role that these funds play in their ability to pursue the dream of a college education.

As college graduates, they will give back to communities across the state, and we should all agree that is a wise investment.

Will Megl

President

Keep Me In

College Coalition

St. Charles, Mo.

Brownback’s politics

For a while, I’d been hearing people accusing Gov. Sam Brownback of being a “libertarian in Republican clothing.” As a former subscriber to the libertarian philosophy, I loudly but respectfully disagree.

The libertarian philosophy, in simple terms, is about making government as small as humanly possible. Taxes, regardless of whether you’re rich or poor, would be cut significantly, and spending would also be down significantly.

The legalization of marijuana, gay marriage and gun ownership, among other issues, would be entirely up to the people and not up to a governor or a bunch of senators.

Unfortunately, this means things such as food stamps wouldn’t exist because they are perceived as a product designed specifically to breed loyalty to a tyrannical government.

Brownback has cut taxes, but only for his cronies. Brownback apparently pushed for that stupid law about ATMs being able to give people on welfare only $25 at a time. Again, if libertarians believed in welfare, this law would never fly on the basis that it’s both tyrannical and stupid.

Brownback, if nothing else, is yet another neoconservative with nobody’s best interests in mind but his own.

Thomas J. Black

Overland Park

Weather reporting

Apparently, an Aug. 19 letter writer doesn’t understand the primary purpose of televised local news programs, which is to keep us up to date on the weather.

Please note that almost every local television news station reports on the weather as a lead story. Many times we will get a weather report before we get “breaking” news.

I admit that I enjoy knowing what to wear the next day before I have to absorb the happenings around town and worldwide.

After all, a crime across town or a terrorist bombing wherever cannot affect my current status of not knowing whether I will need an umbrella today.

Paul Zolotor

Raytown

Helpful stranger

With all the mayhem in the world, it’s sometimes easy to get a little discouraged and down on the human race. But I was reminded recently that most people are good, concerned and helpful.

I crashed to the pavement on a trail in Riverside while riding my bicycle a month ago, sustaining some fairly serious injuries and knocking myself unconscious for a time.

As I finally started to get up, a man approached me, recognized I was dazed and injured, helped me call my wife, walked with me over a quarter of a mile to the road, and guided my wife to our location.

I would love to know this man’s name. Without him, there’s no telling how long I might have been out there or how much worse my injuries might have been.

He was fantastic and deserves a big thank you.

Rob Perschau

Kansas City

This story was originally published August 21, 2015 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Readers react to Gov. Sam Brownback, the Royals and Donald Trump."