With Democrats like these, why is anyone surprised Missouri is so deep red?
Few achievements
With little more than two months until our general election, what are Missouri Democratic Party officers doing? Are officials such as Michael Butler, Genevieve Williams, Randy Dunn, Matthew Patterson and Akeam Ashford encouraging voters to vote? Is there coordination with churches and other organizations to make sure voters who need physical help can get to the polls? Do voters fully understand the voter ID requirements? Are young voters being targeted to register?
The answers to all those questions is, it isn’t apparent.
Their website indicates the party is having a large fundraising dinner on Sept. 10. The money they will raise is probably coming too late to inform rural Missourians why their hospitals have closed. Why state workers are underpaid. Why social services are understaffed. Why Medicaid wait times are way past federal guidelines. Why job growth, health care, education, wages and quality-of-life issues in rural Missouri all suffer.
Missouri is flush with federal cash but won’t spend it to help those in rural areas. Do the people who live there know this?
So what have Missouri’s Democratic leaders accomplished? Very little besides collecting checks. Bon appetit in September.
No wonder Missouri is a red state.
- Bill Miskall, Dittmer, Missouri
Working for Kansas
You don’t have to be an engineer to notice our infrastructure problems. The American Society of Civil Engineers grades U.S. systems every four years. The 2021 national grade was C-minus. Kansas “earned” a C. The overall picture doesn’t look good for people who rely on our highways and public transit.
Every report from the society has included a crucial recommendation: Congress must invest in our infrastructure.
Lawmakers responded in August 2021 with the largest infrastructure investment since President Dwight Eisenhower’s Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956.
Our own Rep. Sharice Davids negotiated with members of both parties, then voted with the bipartisan majority to help the entire county. She knew the bill would improve transportation and rural broadband here at home, while creating thousands of well-paying jobs.
We’re already seeing the benefits. Ninety-five projects in Kansas have received funding, including construction of the interchange at U.S. 69 and 167th Street in Overland Park, K-68 expansion in northern Miami County, rural broadband installation and replacement of lead water pipes.
I’ll be voting for Rep. Davids in November. She’s focused on commonsense solutions — not political games. I’m confident that she’ll fight for Kansans and work across party lines to benefit all Americans.
- Dan Murphy, Shawnee
The wrong time
Two years ago, in the midst of a pandemic with a crushing recession looming, former President Donald Trump signed the Paycheck Protection Program. Sure, there are issues with some of the loans, but this $953 billion giveaway saved a lot of businesses, and the recession was short-lived.
Now the current president faces inflation and a possible looming recession. One of the largest debt factors for the middle class is student debt. Is it not a right and proper response to extend the government’s might to stave off this recession by freeing up consumer spending capacity by canceling a financial burden that arguably should never have been created in the first place.
Political false equivalencies and “What about me?” whining misses the point that the middle class needs help to stabilize the economy. Let’s get behind it and get it done.
- Rob Steinmetz, Overland Park
Big small impacts
I want give a shout-out to Mayor Quinton Lucas, the City Council and the Public Works Department. We residents told Kansas City that we wanted to see less emphasis on big projects and more attention on maintaining what we have. We have definitely seen more sidewalk repair in our neighborhood and a faster response to pothole calls and trash-in-roadway calls. Kudos to you all.
- Christopher Hope, Kansas City
Warm it up
Enough with the blue street lights. The yellow and white ones are warm and inviting. The blue ones look like the light in a reptile cage. Surely there are energy efficient light bulbs that aren’t so dreary.
- Brian Banks, Overland Park
