Letters | Supreme Court, NRA, global warming - Kansas City Star

Obama, Supreme Court

The president warned the U.S. Supreme Court against judicial activism. I wonder what he thinks about the court now?Mike WeaverLansingNRA is a pimp for gunsI don’t know what the National Rifle Association started as, but it has ended up as just a pimp for the gun manufacturers.Guyen MorrisonKansas CityTax break failureTax breaks for the rich do not create jobs, they kill jobs. The money is kept and hoarded.Tax money is spent and put into circulation, and, yes, the government can create jobs. Spending money on infrastructure creates many jobs.When President Bill Clinton raised taxes, we had millions of new jobs.When President George W. Bush cut taxes for the wealthy, we went into the worst decline since 1929.Check the history.It is right there in black and white.Albert HenryNorth Kansas CityGoogle electric for KCI liken my Google Fiber discussions with my neighbors to living at the dawn of the 20th century, trying to decide whether to wire our new homes for electricity.Come on, Kansas City. We are at the dawn of a new era, and we cannot imagine what is possible.Veda RogersKansas CityRed ink flood in U.S.OK, Al Gore said if the polar ice caps ever melted our coasts would be flooded with three to 17 feet of water (8-28, A2, “Arctic melt”). Well, they’ve melted a lot, and the last time I checked the only city underwater is Washington, D.C.It is awash in red ink.Terry KliethermesLeawoodShortsighted on repairsOver a decade, Congress spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the construction of the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. It amazes me that a minor additional amount was not allocated then to repair the obvious, long-term leaks in the rotunda dome (8-26, A3, “No funds available to fix U.S. Capitol’s leaky roof”).Jim DingwerthOlatheEver-warming planetWe think it’s hot. Imagine 10 years from now.Environmentalist Bill McKibben says humankind has raised the temperature 0.8 degrees Celsius through CO emissions from fossil fuels. That is close to one degree, and MIT’s Kerry Emanuel says “any number over one degree involves a gamble.”At just 0.8 degrees Celsius, the following have occurred:• June broke or tied 3,215 high-temperature records across the U.S.• There have been 327 consecutive months in which the temperature of the entire globe exceeded the 20th-century average.• This spring was the warmest ever recorded for our nation.• Oceans are 30 percent more acidic. We the majority of Americans who believe in global warming should demand that we put a price on carbon and move quickly away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Don’t let the Koch brothers in Kansas, big oil and big coal destroy our future because of their greed.Read McKibben’s article “Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math” in Rolling Stone’s Aug. 2 issue or find it on the Internet.Mary Helen KorbelikMission HillsEliminate ObamacareI think it is wonderful when people are compassionate, and certainly health care for just about everyone is a form of compassion, especially for a nation as wealthy as the United States. The recent Supreme Court decision on Obamacare ensures health care for the vast majority of citizens. The only problems we face are what type of health care will be available, and how will it be paid for. Fewer health care professionals are forecast, resulting in less timely care. Perhaps this will happen, perhaps not.There is only one way to pay for Obamacare â€" the same way we pay for Social Security and Medicare, and that is through taxes.Need I remind people that both of these programs are insolvent?Obamacare ensures that everyone has been issued a credit card with no upper limit and no defined interest rate for an indefinite period of time.Good luck paying off the balance. Those who will benefit from Obamacare and welcome it are kidding themselves with the feeling this is a good, compassionate thing.It won’t be long before there is a change of attitude.Scrap the program and work on something more viable.John H. Brown Jr.IndependenceCosts of cutting taxesTax cuts â€" oh, the power of those two words. Mention them around anyone over age 15, and you will have a conversation. Who wants them? Why, everyone.Why do we want them? More money in our pockets, of course.When do we want them? Last year, for starters.How much of a tax cut do we want? Paying anything is too much. We must have all of our money to pay bills and save for vacations and new cars.How do we get them? By electing and re-electing those who ensure that no one pays taxes. Who’s that? Why, those who give tax breaks to big corporations. They’ll find it easier to un-tax everyone.How do we get our streets fixed, our new schools and everything else? By paying the taxes you don’t consider â€" license fees and taxes on sales, gas and utilities.Didn’t you just say you had a plan to not pay anything? Yes. Well, why would I have to pay to hunt, fish, drive a car, pay for a home and everything else I want?Because, you have extra money now that you’re not paying taxes.Michael J. KnightKansas City, Kan.Sanchez columnContrary to Mary Sanchez’s Aug. 27 column, “Willing to be legal,” our immigration laws are not broken. Our reluctance to enforce them is the problem.If we adopted the same policy Mexico has, our immigration problems would vanish overnight. If you transgress the Mexican border, you are not afforded welfare, health care, education or job opportunities. You are extremely lucky to survive.Robert LangtonMissionGOP, global warmingGlobal warming? If you enjoyed this summer, keep voting Republican.Stephen MeekLeavenworthKemper Arena as casinoWhy not turn Kemper Arena as an obsolete event hall into the Kemper Casino?It’s big enough to hold tables, slots, dog racing, boxing and a number of other betting opportunities all at the same time.What’s that? The existing gambling boats may protest? It will take away business?If that is how they feel, give them the opportunity to cover Kemper’s costs in return for the city not pursuing the gambling emporium. In return, let them make book on the American Royal.“The odds are 5-1 that Palomino Patty will win the mane-braiding contest.” Wow. Now I really want to go to the horse show.Talk about win-win. Thomas StroudOverland ParkCostly streetcar noveltyIn the 1930s and 1940s, I grew up riding streetcars. For a nickel (under 12) or a dime, you could get on a streetcar and, with transfers, get to within a few blocks of anywhere in Kansas City.A Sunday day trip was possible. Get on a streetcar at the old Montgomery Wards store at St. John and Belmont avenues, ride through downtown, past Union Station, south on Main Street to 43rd Street, past the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and on out to Swope Park.The streetcars ran on rails imbedded in the middle of the street and were powered by overhead electric lines. Trolley buses were an improvement because they could pull to the curb and not impede other traffic.After World War II, the suburbs made it necessary to travel by car to reach your destinations. The streetcar became obsolete, and the tracks and overhead lines were removed.I think any new trolley car lines would be used sparingly and at great cost. Keep the motor buses and spare us all an expensive “novelty.”LeVergne Hammond IndependenceAngels at Missouri DMVI recently went to the state motor vehicle office in Raytown to obtain a “handicap” hanger for my car prior to entering the hospital for surgery. There were 15 to 20 people waiting in line.I was blessed by a man who saw me and offered his first place position in line. Thanks to the kindness of strangers, I was done in five minutes.There are angels in the Kansas City area.Pam Christianson Kansas City