Letters on Thompson campaign, taxing rich, transgender, abortion

Thompson campaign made us all proud

Many thanks to James Thompson for spending his time and effort in running for the 4th District congressional office. Most understand it is an uphill battle for a Democrat to win in Kansas, but Thompson did very well despite the odds.

I would also like to thank Thompson for not running into the gutter with a splash of negative ads during the final week of the campaign. It is very disheartening to see those ads, paid for by out-of-state interests, disparaging and misrepresenting any candidate’s positions and accomplishments.

A hard-fought fight is its own reward, and thanks to Thompson for putting out the effort. You made us all proud.

Missed opportunity

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had a chance Tuesday to make a statement in the first congressional race since President Trump’s election. It could give support to James Thompson, the Democratic challenger in the deep red 4th District, and with a win send a message to both the Trump administration and Gov. Sam Brownback.

Instead, the DCCC largely left it to individual citizens to fund the campaign. Meanwhile, Republican Ron Estes benefited from heavy GOP backing in the final days of the campaign, including recorded phone calls by Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, as well as a visit from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to stump on Estes’ behalf.

Although public interest was high, and the time was ripe for an upset, the end result was predictable – a close-but-no-cigar loss for Thompson, and another missed opportunity for the Democrats.

The Democratic Party isn’t overly popular in Kansas, and Tuesday night showed one reason why that’s the case. Until the Democratic Party starts to devote time and resources to what it often pejoratively terms “flyover states,” it will continue to lose. And as a Kansas Democrat, that’s the most frustrating part of all.

Rich pay their share

Because it is tax time, this may be an appropriate time to reflect on the claim of liberals, echoed repeatedly by members of the biased mainstream media who should know better, that the “rich” do not pay their fair share of taxes.

The “Ask Marilyn” column in the Parade magazine in last Sunday’s Eagle was timely and pertinent.

The question asked of Marilyn vos Savant was: “What percent of the total amount of individual federal income taxes is paid by the wealthiest Americans?”

Her answer: “In 2014, households with incomes of $250,000 or more accounted for 2.7 percent of the returns filed. Together, they paid about 51.6 percent of the $1.4 trillion in income tax the federal government collected that year. Their average tax rate was 25.7 percent.

“Households with incomes below $50,000 accounted for 62.3 percent of the returns. Collectively, they paid about 5.7 percent of the total amount of income tax collected by the federal government. Their average tax rate was 4.3 percent.

“These figures were gathered from the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C.”

Enough said. The figures speak for themselves.

Listen and learn

I attended the recent Trans Day of Visibility: Rally for Equality. I confess, I know and understand very little about the journey of transgender persons and what they have been through, though I know many and am educating myself by studying, listening to their stories, respecting their presence and rights, deliberately seeing them and loving them.

Speakers shared stories of loss and pain, bullying and hatred. I was moved to tears by hearing of youth and adults who have ended their lives because of religion, culture and society that diminished and belittled them. They and their journeys, though filled with tragedy and pain, are courageous and beautiful, all of them.

I stand with and will advocate for transgender persons, and gay, lesbian, bi-sexual persons, and those regardless of sexual orientation, race, gender and age who are marginalized and oppressed.

I implore our society, city, state, country and religious communities to stop the discrimination and hate. Sit down with someone. Talk less and listen more to the stories of those who simply want to live authentically as they were created to be. Join me, won’t you?

Pain of abortion

Regarding the recent letter by the CEO of Trust Women South Wind Women’s Center (“Thoughtless words,” March 18 Letters to the Editor): I volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center. Women frequently come seeking some kind of solace following an abortion. They are still suffering the loss of their baby, and are experiencing depression, emotional disturbances and so much sadness. They are discovering that what they thought would be an easy solution to a difficult problem will be with them for the rest of their lives.

I urge all young women seeking assistance for an unplanned pregnancy to visit one of the pro-life agencies first to see what other decisions are out there for them before deciding to end their pregnancy in a way that brings not only harm to their babies but also to themselves.

This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 5:03 AM with the headline "Letters on Thompson campaign, taxing rich, transgender, abortion."