The economy, health care reform, Dennis Rodman

Could someone please explain to me how to grow jobs and expand the economy with the explosive expansion of regulations and adding fees and taxes to anything that walks, talks, makes any type of noise or has an odor? In short, if it exists, tax it and regulate it.

I forgot, it takes an army of people to enforce regulations and collect fees and taxes. I guess this is the jobs part.

But I am still puzzled on how this grows the economy.

If the upper 1 percent had to do 100 percent of the work necessary to create this wealth, there would be no wealthy upper class.

Equality is not a redistribution of wealth. It is the true and honest distribution of wealth.

Both the Missouri and Kansas legislatures refused to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid. By not accepting these funds, the states gave up millions of dollars that would have helped expand the states’ economies, improve rural health care and help the needy.

Huh? I don’t understand.

Now Missouri and Kansas want to extend to businesses the right to discriminate against gays because of business operators’ religious beliefs.

I can only imagine how much this excites the members of the Westboro Baptist Church. After all, the church is a religious organization. Do you really think Jesus would approve?

Again, I don’t understand.

Kansas has already passed a law nullifying the enforcement of some federal gun-control laws, and Missouri is trying to do the same.

Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed it in Missouri last year. Brownback signed the Kansas law. Many legal scholars agree this is clearly unconstitutional.

Isn’t this one of the reasons the Civil War was fought? Again, I don’t understand.

I have two questions. What does the GOP stand for? And which state GOP legislators will have National Rifle Association favorite, Ted Nugent, campaign for them?

I was so surprised to open the Feb. 23 Star to the center of the first section and see “Kansas City’s largest news force.” Where is the diversity this paper so adamantly loves to push?

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has done nothing that would merit calls for her resignation. Admittedly, the rollout of the Affordable Care Act was not problem-free.

However, the obstructionism she and President Barack Obama have faced has been a big part of the problem with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The Republican-led House of Representatives has wasted time voting more than 40 times to repeal the law.

Republican governors in many states, including Kansas, have refused to implement health care exchanges or to expand Medicaid for the uninsured. There are several more examples of this naysaying.

The Affordable Care Act is a long overdue means of beginning to rein in health care expenses.

Former National Basketball Association player Dennis Rodman’s behavior — going to North Korea four times within 12 months, singing “Happy Birthday” to the head of the most dangerous communist state, Kim Jong Un, and saying inappropriate things about his fellow Americans while he was drunk — is disgusting.

He has returned to the U.S. and admitted himself into a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility in New Jersey. I’m seriously puzzled why U.S. officials let this clown shame our country.

What he needs is a soul cleanser and mouth soap. I want to see justice done for his wayward conduct against his homeland.

Early this past year, a very close and dear friend — Gerry — suffered a serious and extremely painful injury to his left eye. What at first appeared to be a routine eye-care procedure became instead a series of very unpleasant and hopeless eye surgeries.

Gerry eventually lost the sight in his left eye. Throughout this unfortunate ordeal, Gerry, a Raymore U.S. Postal Service letter carrier for more than 30 years, never complained or stopped smiling.

His only wish was to return to his mail route as soon as possible. His remarkable courage and devotion to his job have been a true inspiration to all of us who know and love him.

Gerry is finally back on his mail route, delivering the mail as usual with his undiminished courage, sense of humor and bright smile. In addition, he now wears a smart, fashionable, black eye patch. We all wish Gerry a happier, easier 2014.

It is absolutely wonderful that New York, Chicago and Detroit have lowered their homicide rates. I am aware that cutting homicide rates is a great goal of some civic groups.

But we need to help these groups. To lower the homicide rate in Kansas City, choosing a lifestyle that involves guns, violence and criminal activities wouldn’t be appropriate.

Wouldn’t it be appropriate for city officials to study the cities that have drastically cut their homicide rates? When news reporting indicates we have another murder, and another murder, and yet another murder, it becomes the same old, same old.

How terrible and sad is that? What does it take to lower the murder rate in Kansas City?

I don’t know, but someone in New York, Chicago and Detroit does. Shall we see what they have done?

Great idea, I think.

Once again, one of the Republican legislators of Missouri embarrasses his state and its people. Rep. Rick Brattin’s bill to allow parents to let their children opt out of science classes that teach evolution is ridiculous and should be thrown out immediately.

Missourians have a hard enough time keeping up with the rest of the states educationally. To allow kids to opt out of learning about scientifically proven facts such as evolution is pathetic and speaks more about the Christian agenda.

The rest of the civilized world looks at us and laughs as we fall even farther behind in science literacy. Brattin throws the word indoctrination around and says that science classes are teaching only one side.

But there is no other side to teach. There is no debate among real scientists.

I have not found any accredited, peer-reviewed articles or papers on creation. Why? Because you cannot test “God did it.”

Teach evolution in science class, and teach religion in church.

Shame on you, Rep. Rick Brattin.

You should know there is a wall between church and state, and for very good reason.

As a longtime letter writer who has been published regularly on The Kansas City Star’s opinion page, I decided several months ago to take a self-imposed hiatus from writing to The Star.

I usually rant about political issues (I’m a leftie), but I decided that the sorry state of political discourse in our country no longer merited my commentary. I decided my best course was to agree to disagree.

But I still read the opinion pages every day without fail and am always happy to see the diverse range of subjects and opinions presented therein. This is a direct result of the editorial board.

Regardless of the beliefs of a few misguided folks, the board consistently serves up letters from people of all political stripes. Those who write letters that rail about how “liberal” The Star is should, perhaps, get their news from a more self-affirming source (such as Fox News or The Wall Street Journal).

The mere fact that your letters (a lot of them) get published is mute testimony to the fairness of The Star’s editorial board. Carry on, editors.

This story was originally published February 28, 2014 at 6:08 PM with the headline "The economy, health care reform, Dennis Rodman."