Readers react to fighting cancer, guns and school funding
Fighting cancer
Thanks to the work of the thousands of cancer patients and their families who supported the #OneDegree campaign, we have a victory to celebrate. Congress heard our stories of hope and loss.
Our representatives understood the need for a renewed commitment to fighting a disease that continues to kill one person every minute, every day. Cancer research was given the largest funding boost in more than a decade.
As part of the end-of-the-year budget process that Congress recently completed, the National Institutes of Health received a $2 billion increase for medical research, and the National Cancer Institute received a $264 million increase for cancer research. The funds will not only restore much-needed resources in the fight against cancer, but they will support breakthroughs happening at cancer centers right here at home.
I want to thank Congressman Kevin Yoder and Congress for making cancer a national priority. This victory is a step to restoring funding after years of decreases and stagnation.
It offers hope to the millions of people who face cancer — for better treatments, for more opportunities to prevent and detect the disease early and for improved quality of life for those diagnosed.
Gay Garrett
Volunteer
American Cancer Society
Cancer Action Network
Merriam
Action against guns
Finally! At last someone has taken action to reduce the number of senseless deaths in this country.
While Congress has done nothing to stop the killing, the president acted with courage to eliminate the loophole that has allowed guns to be sold to anyone. I promise I am one of many who will remember this when I vote in November.
Judith Sturgess
Independence
School funding
As a pediatrician, my responsibility is to protect the health of children. Education is the single most powerful means to achieve this goal.
Promoting health is often made challenging by social concerns — poverty, transportation and homelessness, to name a few. When these social concerns exist, achieving health is nearly, if not entirely, impossible. Unfortunately, poverty is notorious for ensnaring generation after generation.
Education is a means to escape this cycle, but Kansas lawmakers have turned a blind eye to this concern. Budget cuts after budget cuts have hit public schools throughout the state, causing many districts to reduce the number of school days.
Test scores, while not the most accurate representation of student ability, have dropped significantly. Public school is often the only option for impoverished families.
All the while, thousands of children are finding their futures to be increasingly bleak.
To best protect the health and the futures of our children, education must be returned to the forefront of our legislative priorities. Funding for public school must be returned to pre-budget-cut levels.
David Skoglund, M.D.
Mission
Trump as Obama
Once again, The Kansas City Star has a columnist who supports the notion that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign is nothing more than the exploitation of the public using fear and hostility as a driver (1-6, Commentary, “Trump’s support is an old story”). Once again, the obvious has been missed.
Trump is only expounding on the political tactics President Barack Obama has always used. Obama’s approach is simple.
Tell people they have a problem, tell them whose fault it is, and then tell them he will defend their interests. If anyone dares to stand up to him or present a different opinion, he attacks. Obama attacks by demonizing, ridiculing and marginalizing all opposition.
Obama has fought with many groups, including the tea party, Republicans, Democrats, the Chamber of Commerce and the National Rifle Association.
Obama’s approach is always the same. Define the problem in his terms, vilify the opposition, come up with “common sense” solutions and demand public support.
If you take some of Obama’s rails against groups and replace the adversaries with the terms “illegal immigrants” or “extremist Muslims,” you will see great similarities in style with Trump.
The big difference is that Trump has facts on his side and actually does it better. Obama usually has to manufacture his foes.
William Gray
Overland Park
This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 5:53 PM with the headline "Readers react to fighting cancer, guns and school funding."