Print edition: 
Sales tax would slow recovery
David Calvert stated that the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce should be ashamed of itself for opposing a sales-tax increase ("Chamber should be more like Donovan," March 14 Letters to the Editor). He asserted that our metro-area businesses are putting profits over people. He also stated that, much like the arena tax supported by the chamber, the tax would go away in three years. History would suggest otherwise. The state increased the sales tax from 4.9 to 5.3 percent during the past recession. It did not solve funding for the poor or disabled, nor did the tax increase go away when the economy rebounded.
The chamber has taken its hold-the-line-on-taxes position not because our 1,500 business members put profits over people, but because we understand that the problems facing Kansans will be more quickly solved by rebuilding the economy and getting people back to work. Tax increases and government spending will not create employment or revive the state's economic engine. Increasing the costs of goods and services will only lead to fewer purchases, more business closures, higher unemployment and less taxes being paid.
The people who are responsible for running our region's businesses oppose a tax increase during this recession because they know it will be counterproductive and will only slow the state economic recovery that Kansans so desperately need.
SAM WILLIAMS
Chairman
Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce
Wichita
Pass health reform
Hardworking Kansas families can't wait any longer for health reform. Insurance premiums are skyrocketing while salaries stagnate. Kansans are working their fingers to the bone to afford their high out-of-pocket expenses while they are being denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
Right now, Congress is debating legislation that would help Kansans afford high-quality health insurance plans, limit how much Kansans would pay out of pocket, and offer tax credits to small businesses to go toward coverage for their workers. Without reform, more and more Kansans will lose coverage and the numbers of uninsured Kansans will increase.
We need comprehensive reform now. The U.S. House of Representatives could vote late this week on the proposed legislation. Please take a moment today or tomorrow to call your representative. Ask him or her to vote "yes" on health reform.
CORRIE L. EDWARDS
Executive director
Kansas Health Consumer Coalition
Topeka
Handled poorly?
Regarding Wichita water utility director David Warren's resignation (March 11 Local & State): A dedicated employee who has served many years in his job, pleasing other administrators, should deserve every consideration when things do not go well. From all appearances, this resignation was poorly handled — though I recognized that this may not be the case, as I only know what I've read in the newspaper. If I'm correct, it appears to me that the city of Wichita owes Warren recognition for his years of service.
DARREL THORP
Wichita
Don't target cigars
If the state needs to raise taxes to make up for its large budget shortfall, then we believe it's not fair to target select groups, such as premium cigar retailers. Every Kansan needs to pay more.
Targeting specific groups is not going to be a long-term fix. Targeting premium cigar retailers will lead consumers to spend their dollars in surrounding states or on the Internet. The proposed tax increase before the Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee could easily mean the demise of all premium cigar retailers in Kansas.
RICK DAUGHERTY
JASON WEBSTER
NEIL EDWARDS
Owners
Humidor Cigars & Lounge
Wichita
Arena complaints
I went to the Jeff Dunham event Friday at Intrust Bank Arena. I am a short, stout woman; I sat next to a stranger who was 6 feet tall and stout. I have to say that I have never paid so much to be so uncomfortable.
The seats are too small and there is no legroom. There is no way to get out of your seat unless everyone gets up and disrupts everyone above and around you.
I doubt I will return to the arena for anything unless I am on the floor and in the very first row. Not much of a chance of that occurring.
I heard nothing but complaints around me about the accommodations. If this arena is going to succeed, there are going to need to be some structural changes, or the people of Wichita will let it die. I won't even touch on the parking problem, which was disorganized.
DEBORAH LOEWEN
Wichita
'Madea' ignored
We had two large events come to our city on March 11. "Madea's Big Happy Family," starring Tyler Perry, was at Century II. Bon Jovi was at Intrust Bank Arena. Both events sold out.
My friends and I attended "Madea." It was a fantastic play, and the show's audience was very diverse.
The next morning I read a very large article in The Eagle about the Bon Jovi show. There was not a word about the show at Century II.
If The Eagle wasn't going to write about both events, it shouldn't have written about either. The Eagle's conclusion about what was newsworthy failed completely this time.
ROSIE L. LOVE
Wichita
