Letters on war on fascism, unequal tax burdens, pro-life voters, Steve the angel, campaign letters deadline

We are again at war with fascism

Too much has been made about what to call terrorism. President Obama wants it called something, but not with the use of words denoting anything to do with Islam. His most vehement detractors, on the other hand, want it otherwise.

Obama and his writers are wordsmiths, and not very good ones at that. They are kept stupefied, allowing themselves to fumble the issue so miserably. It is all so needless.

It was fascism erupting from Christian Europe that brought so much of the world to ruin 80 years ago. And now it is fascism that has erupted from the Islamic Middle East and North Africa that is bent on similar death and destruction.

Obama and the wordsmiths who write for him should come to understand that fascism then was not qualified as “Christian,” nor should fascism now be qualified as “Islamic.” Fascism has only one qualifier, which is that state tyranny shall prevail over individual freedom. We are again at war with fascism. Are we then to get on with it or not?

Unequal burdens

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the top 1 percent of Kansans with income pay just 3.6 percent of their income in state and local taxes. The next 4 percent pay 6 percent. The next 15 percent pay 7.7 percent.

But the middle 20 percent pay 9.5 percent.

The Keystone Research Center and Good Jobs First calculate that if the top 1 percent paid the same rate as the middle 20 percent, Kansas would have $724 million in additional revenue. If the top 20 percent paid the middle-class rate, the state would bring in $1.3 billion.

Either approach would resolve the state’s fiscal crisis.

Oblivious voters

Regarding Wichita State University professor emeritus Edward Flentje questioning Gov. Sam Brownback’s future electability (Feb. 18 Now Consider This): I think many Kansans vote the straight pro-life ticket, as their church tells them to. (Churches aren’t allowed to do this if they want to keep their tax-exempt status, but this does not seem to worry the churches.)

These are Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s kind of people who vote the straight party line with no thought to the big picture and no thought to what their vote may mean to the state’s future. They probably home-school their children or send them to private or religious schools, thus they do not worry about school funding being cut. Their main concern is preventing abortion. And as long as the politicians are making an abortion almost impossible for a woman to obtain even if her life depends on it, they are happy and oblivious to all the disasters awaiting Kansas, as many of our legislators and governor seem to be.

Steve an angel

While I was trying to pay for my almost $50 grocery purchase with the only card on me, my 75-year-old brain could not get the personal identification number right. A 6-foot-tall angel handed the cashier cash and said, “Take it out of this.” When I asked his name, he smiled and told me only his first name – Steve. I intend to pay it forward.

Letters deadline

Letters to the editor about the Tuesday primary must be received by 1 p.m. Thursday in order to be considered for publication.

This story was originally published February 25, 2015 at 6:05 PM with the headline "Letters on war on fascism, unequal tax burdens, pro-life voters, Steve the angel, campaign letters deadline."