Letters to the Editor (Dec. 1)

Quit alienating teachers

In 1635, just 15 years after the Mayflower landed in Plymouth, Mass., our country’s first public school was established and the other colonies followed their example.

In 1852, Massachusetts again led the way with mandatory attendance at public schools and for the last century, every state has required school attendance. So, why do conservatives, who espouse traditional values, treat public education with such disdain when public education was clearly an important value of our country’s founders?

We know we need a strong educational system to compete in today’s world economy, yet conservatives cut funding for education, driving skilled educators to seek other employment.

Now Congress, to save a few pennies after proposing huge tax cuts for their wealthy supporters, wants to eliminate the tax deductions due teachers for the supplies they buy for their classrooms. This is insanity.

Drawing the line on behavior

Exactly what sort of country have we become? If you are an entertainer, or a sports figure who has engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior, and a woman is brave enough to come forward and make this behavior public, you will very likely be fired from your job.

However, if you are a Congressman, Senator, or even President, you suffer nothing more than public embarrassment. Unless, of course, your name is Donald Trump, who seems to be incapable of being embarrassed.

It would seem to me that men who are making decisions at the highest level of government should be held to the highest standard possible. These men are responsible for enacting laws governing the very behavior for which they have been accused.

Where do we draw the line? Will we forgive a politician for murder if he is a member of the party that we support? Do we as a nation no longer consider unethical behavior to be a consideration when we enter the voting booth, and are we going to continue to look the other way when a member of our party engages in behavior that they should be prosecuted for?

The roads to processing

In response to the Opinion Line writer who questions how Tyson’s chickens will be transported: I sometimes drive along the smaller highways in Arkansas. When I’m near the Tyson processing plants in Rogers or Van Buren, I am horrified to see chickens in crates that are piled on open trucks driving down the highway.

Somehow, those chickens do get out of the crates because there are dead chickens all along the highway. So, yes, the chickens are transported in open trucks ala the Clampetts and, yes, there are many dead chickens along the road for everyone to see.

Neither the trucks nor the dead chickens make for a pleasant drive.

Tax plan hurts economy

I hope Sens. Moran and Roberts are listening.

The key to a good economy is for working people to have good wages so when they buy things, money is flowing and boosts the economy. Giving money to the wealthy allows that money to remain stagnant. Trickle-down economics fails to help our country out of debt. It only gives money to the rich. In Kansas, the devastation will be left behind for years. We cannot allow that for the nation.

Not only is this a horrible tax plan, but it will affect health care as well. Is this the legacy you wish to leave behind? Winning your campaign and appeasing your big donors should never be at the expense of the people you are supposed to serve. If so, then why are you even in office?

Against the tax plan

I have contacted my representatives regarding the current GOP tax plan. I hope they are able to fulfill their duty to put citizens above donors and above party.

We, the people of Kansas, are the ones you work for, not corporate donors and lobbyists. You must fight for us, regardless of the cost, because we all know this is a tax plan to benefit the rich at the expense of the middle class and poor people of Kansas.

I'd like to believe they are difference makers in Washington.

This story was originally published December 1, 2017 at 5:28 AM with the headline "Letters to the Editor (Dec. 1)."