Letters on Kobach’s commie labeling, military spending

Kobach figured out that I’m a commie

Boy, Secretary of State Kris Kobach is one smart fella. He’s the one who figured out that the League of Women Voters is really a covert commie organization (“League of Women Voters didn’t realize it was communist,” Feb. 25 Eagle Editorial). We had people fooled for 95 years.

When I go out I always look for other leaguers (comrades). We try to wear red so we know each other. We have a secret sign that, now that I think of it, looks a lot like a peace sign. Then there is the secret password. All right – you forced me to tell you: “democracy.” It’s a good one, because nobody seems to know what it means.

On my bedside table I have a copy of a biography of Susan B. Anthony. But under it is the Communist Manifesto. Pretty tricky, right?

What Kobach doesn’t seem to understand is that communism is primarily an economic philosophy. The mission of the League of Women Voters is to inform voters of the issues and facilitate their ability to vote.

I am a proud member of the League of Women Voters, and have been for more than 30 years.

Rethink military budget

In fiscal year 2016, the U.S. government is spending $830 billion on the military. Spending for Medicaid is $610 billion, and it is spending $456 billion for welfare programs.

The writer of “Enslaved to entitlements” (March 3 Letters to the Editor) asserted that “we’ve spent more money on the progressives’ ‘war on poverty’ than on all of America’s real wars combined.” At first I wasn’t sure I believed the stat, so I looked up the budget numbers. Looks to be true.

But this letter is meant more as a gut check than a fact check.

Imagine a world where the United States spends less of the federal budget on military spending. If only a portion of the savings were spent on the common good, we could have more health and basic science research, extend educational opportunities for Americans by funding early childhood and university educations, and improve our infrastructure.

The U.S. accounts for more than a third of the world’s total military spending, paying more on the military every year than the next seven largest military budgets combined. It’s time to rethink our national priorities.

This story was originally published March 10, 2016 at 6:05 PM with the headline "Letters on Kobach’s commie labeling, military spending."