Letters on Kellogg stoplights, Ike’s ideas, Clean Power Plan, Trump, women’s vote

Kellogg stoplights far from gone

Way back when the 1 percent countywide sales tax was approved by Sedgwick County voters for the expansion of Kellogg to a six-lane freeway, a major advertising pitch aimed at the voters was to reduce the number of traffic signals on the highway. I remember the ad stating there were perhaps 14 or 15 traffic lights across the city that would someday go away.

With the new traffic light being installed at the intersection of 151st Street West and Kellogg, there are now seven stoplights between 199th Street in Goddard and 111th Street West in Wichita. I’ve not bothered to count the lights from the Kansas Turnpike entrance on East Kellogg to the next turnpike/K-96 entrance miles several miles farther east.

Though it is very nice to have a nonstop freeway from Maize Road west to the East Kellogg turnpike entrance (about 12 miles), eastbound travelers from Goddard to Wichita and westbound travelers from Andover to Wichita continue to deal with at least as many traffic lights on Kellogg as there were when the six-lane expansion first began.

I had visions of a six-lane east-west freeway totally crossing Wichita with zero stoplights in my lifetime. Unfortunately, my vision was just a dream. By the way, I don’t believe the 1 percent sales tax will ever sunset, as it appears the widening of Kellogg will be a never-ending project. Oh, well – at least we have the 12-mile stretch to travel on.

Honor Ike’s ideas

We have completed the Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport, and Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., is now trying to raise money for a new Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, D.C.. While we honor Eisenhower for what he accomplished as a military leader and as president, we should also honor his ideas.

Under Eisenhower, the top tax rate was 90 percent. He used the money to rebuild Europe, send our returning soldiers to college, and build the interstate highway system that provided economic growth for decades.

Eisenhower warned us of the military industrial complex, but we are now spending five times as much as any other country on defense. Eisenhower was known for caring for his soldiers. We have state-of-the-art weapon systems. Why can we not have a state-of-the-art VA system to care for our veterans?

Eisenhower’s 1956 Republican platform included providing federal assistance to low-income communities, protecting Social Security, providing asylum for refugees, extending the minimum wage, improving the unemployment benefits system, strengthening labor laws and unions, and assuring equal pay for equal work regardless of gender.

Times have changed since Eisenhower, but certainly we could be a better nation if we considered his ideas.

Stand up to EPA

Now that the Obama administration has finalized its sweeping carbon regulation – officially known as the Clean Power Plan – Kansas state lawmakers face a critical choice: Will they allow this federal takeover of our state’s energy grid, or will they stand up for our right to affordable, reliable energy?

The president’s new carbon regulation is simply wrong for Kansas. It is all economic pain and little, if any, health or environmental gain.

President Obama’s carbon regulation forces Kansas to cut our carbon dioxide emissions by 44 percent by 2030. A study by Energy Ventures Analysis estimated that just a 22 percent cut – as was initially proposed last year – could raise annual gas and electricity bills by $750 by 2020. As we now face a final regulation that is twice as strict, our energy prices will soar even more.

The only good news is that Kansans don’t have to take this lying down. Under federal law, Gov. Sam Brownback and state legislators also have the choice of not submitting an implementation plan to the Environmental Protection Agency, which is charged with enforcing the regulation.

The right choice – and the best way to ensure that Kansas keeps control of our own energy and environmental policy – is for the state to say “no” to any state plan. The alternative would be to hand the keys over to unelected federal bureaucrats 1,000 miles away. This simply makes no sense.

Need state plan

Thomas Pyle of the American Energy Alliance advises Kansas not to submit a plan to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, speculating the regulation will meet the same fate as another EPA regulation that was thrown out by the courts (“Don’t let EPA fool state twice,” Aug. 16 Opinion).

Thus the former Koch Industries lobbyist wants our state to forget legislation signed by Gov. Sam Brownback that develops a plan in tandem with utilities to meet the EPA regulation. If Pyle’s guess about future court rulings is wrong, the EPA will force upon Kansas a more costly plan developed by Washington, D.C., bureaucrats.

Perhaps Pyle’s advice is influenced by his misconceived notion regarding the cost of wind energy. Recently in the Wall Street Journal, he cited wind energy as costing 10.7 cents per kilowatt-hour, yet utilities like Westar Energy are paying less than 2.5 cents.

Kansas should rely on state utilities and our leaders in Topeka to do what’s best for Kansas instead of taking advice from a lobbyist in Washington who clearly doesn’t have his facts straight nor genuinely care about Kansas’ best interests. Let’s not let Pyle fool us.

Dump Trump

I found it refreshing to read a Davis Merritt commentary with which I could substantially agree (Aug. 25 Opinion). He was correct in saying that support for Donald Trump to be president reflects poorly on his supporters. Though there is more than ample reason for people to be frustrated, character matters greatly.

With Democrats offering no good choice for president and Republicans having the strongest group of contenders since Ronald Reagan ran for re-election in 1984, it is sad to see Trump muddy the waters. Strange as it sounds, a comparison of Trump with Hillary Clinton might make Clinton look honest. Neither billions of dollars nor a loud mouth qualify Trump to be president.

I believe most Americans want a president who loves our country more than himself. Additionally, I believe most want integrity, excellent judgment and respect for others.

Most Republicans want a leader who is committed to liberty and free enterprise. Trump has evidenced very little understanding of economics and is a long way from being a conservative. It is even less rational to believe Trump in 2015 than it was to believe Barack Obama in 2008.

Though Trump’s success in the polls has been quite disconcerting, I remain cautiously optimistic that his support will evaporate as people learn more about the man. The other 16 Republican contenders are far more qualified to be president.

Women’s vote

Wednesday’s celebration of the 95th anniversary of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote, sponsored by the League of Women Voters-Wichita/Metro, was uplifting and thought-provoking (Aug. 27 Local & State). It was not only about what was but what is – and considering that 95 years encompasses almost three generations, I don’t think we appreciate that right.

The speakers included women elected to office at the state and national levels, and included a woman who had run but lost. Also speaking was a woman, not born in this country, who has been instrumental in getting people registered to vote.

A most important point made was that we voters have become so jaded and overrun by the political action committees and high-dollar donors that we feel our vote is not important. Our democracy will only work if people voting in large numbers will make Topeka and Washington recognize that they represent us.

Please vote whenever given the opportunity. No election is not important.

This story was originally published August 29, 2015 at 7:03 PM with the headline "Letters on Kellogg stoplights, Ike’s ideas, Clean Power Plan, Trump, women’s vote."