Readers share thoughts on opioid abuse, KC streetcar, Kansas primary

Shortsighted GOP

Here we go again. The Senate has passed a bill to “fight heroin and opioid abuse” (7-14, A16, “Senate approves legislation”). That’s a good thing. But once again, the Republicans refused to fund the effort.

They would probably also agree that this nation needs a massive infrastructure program, but they would refuse to fund that effort, too. The Republicans are all about cutting taxes for the rich and cutting spending for the poor.

Their sequester program has strangled funding for everything, including military spending. They went along with then-President George W. Bush to fight two wars but refused to fund them.

Because of that, the national debt grew rapidly during the Bush administration. Is it any wonder that many good programs will not get adequate funding as long as Republicans control Congress?

It will probably be a matter of borrowing from Peter to pay Paul — that is cutting some programs to fund this one. If not that, borrowing more money and adding to the national debt would be the next option.

Gene W. DeVaux

Greenwood

Train to nowhere

Again, I am sorely disappointed in Kansas City and its officials for spending $100 million of taxpayers’ money on a train that goes nowhere — that benefits only those who either live in the area that the streetcar services or are tourists.

Those of us who live outside this area either have to spend money riding a bus downtown or driving our cars downtown and paying outrageous prices to park. The streetcar has been touted as a free ride, but it’s not free when you have to pay for parking to use it.

We live in a city that has old water lines and sewers and sidewalks that are falling apart, and yet city officials say they can’t afford to fix them. But they can find money to build a $100 million choo-choo train to nowhere that has no benefit for folks outside the downtown area.

Money could have been spent building a commuter rail to move people all over this city. We have some great places outside of downtown.

Chris Meyer

Kansas City

IDs, ballots, bullets

Kris Kobach, Kansas secretary of state, has disenfranchised 17,000 voters who didn’t produce their birth certificates. By Election Day on Nov. 8 he hopes to disenfranchise as many as 50,000 voters.

Kobach and other Republicans demand that we show our birth certificate and get a voter ID as proof that we’re American citizens with a constitutional right to vote.

So when are Republicans going to demand that we show our birth certificate and get a Second Amendment identification as proof we’re American citizens with a constitutional right to buy a gun?

Bullets or ballots?

Surely at least as much documentation should be required to get access to a military-style semiautomatic rifle as to get access to a ballot.

Susan Pepperdine

Fairway

Oust incumbents

It is past time for Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and his band of economic-tinkering legislators to stop fantasizing and realize that the tax-cut plan is a failure.

Paying for schools with a property tax increase is not the answer. It is no secret there is an election coming, and there are a lot of good candidates seeking to replace the incumbents. They are all mad as hell with what the Brownback tax cuts have done, bringing the state to the brink of Chapter 11.

Moving funds from one pocket to another is poor economics.

All the candidates running, not including the incumbents, have good ideas and plans for saving our schools and for restoring the sound economic footing of Kansas.

William Mace

Overland Park

Neighborly love

Much has been speculated about the sterile difference between affluent Johnson County neighborhood values and those of areas less endowed.

Recently, many in my neighborhood responded to a request to help a 72-year-old veteran whose house was substantially damaged by fire.

He lives alone with his dog. Kind-hearted neighbors contributed hundreds of dollars and time to put his home back into a livable state. Even the letter carrier and the building inspector chipped in.

This generosity transcends the current age of impersonal communication.

In an allegedly conservative state, I am delighted to see evidence of a true conservative value: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Steve Shaft

Prairie Village

This story was originally published July 20, 2016 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Readers share thoughts on opioid abuse, KC streetcar, Kansas primary."