Letters to the editor on tax windfall, the wall and public smoking (Jan. 29, 2019)

Fix tax windfall for Kansans

The recent debate over whether to return the “tax windfall” to Kansans presents an opportunity to heap scorn on Democrats and Republicans.

Statehouse Democrats and some in the media are spinning the issue as if the legislature is currently debating a tax cut. Let’s get one thing clear: returning the windfall is most certainly not a tax cut. Rather, it is a correction to avoid a tax increase. Because Kansas is in the minority of states that do not permit tax filers to itemize deductions on their state returns if they claim the standard deduction on their federal returns, the recent doubling of the federal standard deduction will cause many Kansans to forgo itemized deductions and pay higher taxes to the state as a result.

Statehouse Republicans are hardly innocent in this matter. They failed to fix this issue last year because they were too busy larding up a simple fix with tax breaks for special interest groups.

Now Susan Wagle, to her credit, is insisting on a simple, clean bill that will bring Kansas in line with most other states: allowing citizens to claim the federal standard deduction while still itemizing in their state returns. It is past time to get this done.

Rethink what kind of wall

In this day and age, it would seem more appropriate to build a different kind of wall to protect our country — not a brick and mortar wall but one built on electronics using the latest available technology. This wall could be deployed wherever needed, as changes in immigration warrant. This wall would be far more effective overall.

Walls protect our homes, country

In principle, President Trump’s actions in attempting to protect our national home isn’t much different than you and I protecting our own homes. As the ultimate home protector, his job is just a heck of a lot more difficult and costly.

Portions of the U.S. southern border had walls that were built by former presidents long before Trump came on the political scene, but because he now wants to enhance and extend it, his opponents say he now owns it and don’t want tax dollars spent to pay for wall rework.

Some of his critics say walls don’t work, but of course some walls can and do work. The walls of our homes, for example, are designed to keep inclement weather and potential predators on the outside.

A wall that funnels potential immigrants through designated points of entry makes sense, and that seems to be what Trump wants the wall to do in order to better manage and vet who is allowed into our national home.

So is the wall and its cost to build really the argument, or is it simply that some don’t want immigration strictly controlled, at legal check points.

This taxpayer senses it’s the latter, and the reality is it’s not Trump’s wall at all. He only owns a few miles of it; but he probably does own its future.

Fewer smoking areas

The smoking area at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, though inconvenient for smokers, was apparently acceptable to all attendees. Those in charge say there won’t be a smoking area in the new stadium — just one more nudge in the long list of nudges, including the State Fair, malls, airports, hospitals, colleges, etc.

From where the anti-smoking zealots started to where we are now, the list is endless. When will smokers adopt the tactics of the LGBTQ groups and take their situation to court and end this bullying.