Obamacare, U.S. foreign policy, love
Obamacare reprieves
America’s richest companies and corporations have been granted more time to fit the Affordable Care Act into their balance sheets. Most other companies also have received reprieves.
The only players in the Affordable Care Act equation to pay a financial penalty for noncompliance by the original deadline will be those who can afford it the least.
Surprise, surprise.
Alan Franklin
Independence
U.S. foreign policy
I am very concerned that Donald Rumsfeld may be suffering from advanced dementia. He recently said that a trained ape would be better at foreign policy than President Barack Obama.
Only dementia could account for Rumsfeld forgetting that we tried that brand of foreign policy back in the day, from 2001 until early 2009. Given two disastrous long wars, we can confidently say that it didn’t work out very well.
We’d probably better stick with what President Obama is doing.
James Guglielmino
Kansas City
U.S. hidden hand
While the talking heads in Congress and the mainstream media keep people worrying, guessing and reaching for their Prozac, the hidden hand of a political system none of us realizes is being woven into our society is slowly infecting all our institutions. It stretches from pre-kindergarten to universities.
From teachers, public employees and other unions. From corrupt politicians in cities, states and Congress. From extremist judges making hay of our Constitution and our Judeo-Christian values. From our sensitivity-trained military leaders kowtowing to the corrupt politicians and watching the best military in the world being demoralized to protect their retirement package.
And finally, from our secretive spy agencies illegally monitoring our phones and the Internet with the complicity of providers and phone companies.
Obamacare is just a distraction. It’s one more square of the city in a devious plan by the FDR progressives and Obamanomics followers to finally erase any vestige of our representative democracy, our capitalist system and the constitutional rights that many have taken lightly or assumed were a given.
So, keep following Obamacare news, liberal columnists and liberal talking heads and you should come out all right, I think.
Ricci Ballesteros
Kansas City
Love is God’s way
The news from Kansas City brings us to wonder why the Christ message of loving our fellow man is not better understood and lived.
As Christians, we have to look deeper into Jesus’ teachings of God’s love for all men, no matter their religion, ethnicity or political stand.
And this is the challenge of our day. The aberration of violence instigated by ignorance, prejudice and hate is foreign to mankind’s mission. These constituents of thought kill and stop the education that leads to man’s progress.
Our quest is to understand God’s love, for therein is the basis of life, progress and peace.
Our true victory is to love. Acting out of love, we win and find our hand in God’s, in life not death.
Christians are grateful for the Mosaic Decalogue. For through it, all men are held in unity with God. This understanding breaks down all that would divide us.
Understanding ourselves first as children of God, we then can truly turn the other cheek in love.
Riley Seay
Kansas City
KCI convenience
I travel from Kansas City International Airport nearly every week and have flown to a great many domestic airports. KCI is the best airport in terms of convenience and lowest in terms of parking costs.
Airports serve people, and KCI is best for the traveler.
I can see no valid reason for replacing our airport.
I do agree some remodeling would enhance the features of the airport. A new airport is only going to add travel time and increased costs for parking.
Airports serve people, not airplanes. Everyone who advocates for a new airport agrees KCI is a very convenient airport. Why ruin it?
Dan Charpie
Lee’s Summit
KC needs Uber, Lyft
While I was in Los Angeles and San Francisco, I used Uber and Lyft. The apps for the transportation services are amazing.
For those of you who have not had the pleasure, you are in for a very pleasant surprise. It not only saves time and money, but you create jobs for college kids with good driving records.
They are great jobs that pay well — jobs where they can set their own hours, so work does not interfere with their schooling.
Let’s be more progressive for a change and be like Chicago, New York and 73 other cities. So what if the taxicab companies have a little competition?
Check your history. Breaking up monopolies has always been a change for the better.
Georgia G. Jacobson
Blue Springs
KCK speed trap
I broke the law recently. At about 8 a.m., I sped at a daring 33 mph down Minnesota Avenue in Kansas City, Kan., about a half-mile from my home.
The speed limit is posted at 20 mph. The ticket, which will cost me $100.50, says, “Driving at a speed too fast for conditions.”
It wasn’t raining or snowing, and it wasn’t a school zone. The adverse conditions were seemingly the speed zone the Police Department and the Unified Government set up on the last day of the month to increase revenue.
In all, there were three officers distributing tickets to other outlaws. We were lined up like a convoy.
Every week in my neighborhood, shootings take place. Drugs change hands.
Gangs terrorize the area with their tags and their high-speed car chases and their murders.
Prostitutes work the neighborhoods where children walk to school. Many of those children are hungry.
Surely, there are better ways to distribute manpower.
Anita Leverich
Kansas City, Kan.
Illegal immigration
Politicians spend countless hours and tax dollars advocating changing immigration laws.
Through spin techniques, they try to convince us the laws need to be more lenient.
However, no politician or groups supporting these changes have provided environmental and economic impact studies detailing the effects of 12 million illegal immigrants upon U.S. assets, including our tax dollars.
America’s resources are not infinite. However, these folks don’t care because their goal is to change the law, disregarding long-term consequences.
Why? It’s all about the vote to keep specific politicians in office. Financially supported and aligned with certain interest groups, their real intent in chasing the illegal Hispanics is to secure votes by whatever means necessary, including dangling the carrot of benefits (paid for by taxpayers) and the right to vote.
My ancestors immigrated to this country under great effort, duress and sacrifice. But they came in legally through the front door at Ellis Island.
By allowing and rewarding those who enter illegally, we would be disrespecting the values of those who obeyed the laws in seeking citizenship.
Charley Green
Overland Park
Relax, enjoy Royals
There have been quite a few letters criticizing Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost, general manager Dayton Moore, the Glass family or any number of players.
I have been a season ticket holder, so I sympathize to some degree.
The ballplayers are kids from 21 to 30 years old. The front office is working hard to convert potential to production.
The talent pool is thin, too thin for all 30 teams to bring more than 800 players to the major leagues and expect success, especially because we can’t spend like the Yankees or the Dodgers.
And Sam Mellinger’s constant vilification of almost everything Royals doesn’t help.
I hope we can enjoy our one-of-only-30-cities baseball team.
Edward H. Barnes
Prairie Village
This story was originally published May 16, 2014 at 10:38 PM with the headline "Obamacare, U.S. foreign policy, love."