Readers share thoughts on Donald Trump, Kansas taxes, physical education
Trump’s pitch
It hurts me to ride through big cities and see the blight in housing and commerce. In those areas, people struggle to live, clothe, feed and educate themselves and their children.
They navigate dangerous neighborhoods to get their children to school. They witness victims of addiction and purveyors of such.
Or worse, they become victims of assault.
As the parents and the children grow older, they encounter political panderers who offer safe streets, welfare, aid to dependent children and housing subsidies if they vote for a Democrat.
They do so each election cycle.
And what do they have to show for it?
Crime and blight in housing and commerce, while the panderers keep pandering.
So now comes a man who asks, “What do you have to lose?”
You are given crumbs from your panderers’ buffet and are expected to like it.
But what if this man, who is described as blunt, even bold, says you have the right to more — safe streets, a school of your choice, a good education and a job.
Do you risk the possibility of such? Education, union and city leaders say no. But Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump says yes.
What do you have to lose?
Carl Stuart
Independence
Editorial editor
The Aug. 24 front-page announcement, “Pulitzer winner to head editorial board,” of Colleen McCain Nelson joining The Kansas City Star’s editorial board will be significant if her experience with The Wall Street Journal begins a shift in The Star’s editorial philosophy toward a more acceptable center position.
Charles Arnett
Overland Park
Trump as president
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump sees America like a run-down building. Trump is a fixer-upper — once down and shabby becomes a sight of beauty and full of life and livable.
Let’s all make America a land of peace. Together we can. It can and will be done.
Vote for Trump and we will all triumph.
He will be a great president.
Have a nice day, and God Bless America!
Don’t forget to vote on Nov. 8.
Mary K. Firsick-Houk
Independence
Paying more taxes
Taxes are never paid by business.
They are always paid by the consumer of the goods and services provided by that business (8-28, A1, “Hundreds of thousands of Kansas business owners are exempt from state income taxes. But many, feeling like ‘freeloaders,’ want the tax break to end”).
Businesses and corporations are not taxpayers. They are tax collectors. That is the only tax function they perform. So please don’t be misled by the “I’m so rich I don’t need a tax break” argument proffered by lawyers like James P. Zakoura.
The intent in doing away with this tax was for it to be passed on to the consumer in the form of lower costs for services rendered, to the extent that individuals and businesses are not doing so is a sign of greed.
On the subject of greed, all of you who feel like you aren’t paying enough in taxes, take heart. The tax rate, both state and federal, are minimums, not maximums.
I am confident that the state and federal governments will be all too happy to accept your check for any additional money you feel compelled to contribute for the greater good. Don’t force the rest of society to pay more just so you can feel better.
Or better yet, make a direct contribution to your favorite charity, it will do much more good.
Sean Doherty
Overland Park
Physical education
High school physical education classes play a key role in preventing obesity, strengthening the mind, developing mastery of the body and establishing emotional stability.
For many decades, a war has been waged against unhealthiness. One place you could find legitimate progress was at La Sierra High School in California in the early 1960s. Coach Stan LeProtti initiated a program that spread across 4,000 high schools nationwide and caught the attention of President John F. Kennedy.
LeProtti’s curriculum demanded more from students than of midshipmen entering the Naval Academy as it categorized students into groups according to their physical vigor.
His methods of training focused on forging toughness.
Unfortunately, that resolve was discontinued with the counterculture in the 1960s and the unpopular Vietnam War.
It is time to revisit LeProtti’s approach, for rebellion must not trump discipline.
We owe our children a better system for physical development because, as Socrates said, “No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”
Carlos Velasquez
Blue Springs
This story was originally published August 29, 2016 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Readers share thoughts on Donald Trump, Kansas taxes, physical education."