Letters on Supreme Court nomination, Trump and racial backlash, outdated tax system, guns on campus
GOP has chance to redeem itself
I was very moved by President Obama’s nomination speech for Merrick Garland for the U.S. Supreme Court, and the judge’s heartfelt thanks for the honor. Never have I heard more impressive qualifications.
The president has fulfilled his constitutional duty to nominate, and the judge has accepted. The ruling political party in the Senate now has the obligation to confirm or deny.
This ruling party, therefore, now is given the precious opportunity to redeem itself to the American people, away from the current pandering to the very worst in its election efforts, to pursuing the best in its obligation to the nation, not the party.
Failing this, I can no longer consider this ruling party as functional.
Alfred James III, Bel Aire
Racial backlash
President Obama didn’t create Donald Trump. The people who hate Obama did.
Trump’s front-runner status is irrevocably part of the historic obstruction and backlash against Obama. His appearance in the corridors of power has inflamed the minds and rhetoric of those who want to take this country back (back from whom?).
Though racial backlash is rarely discussed in mainstream media, history reveals that there have been specific repercussions to black progress. After President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the backlash included the birth of the Ku Klux Klan in Tennessee in 1865.
Trump has played a direct role in the Obama pushback. The business mogul repeated the big lie that Obama was born in Kenya. Trump is the personification of years of Southern strategy and Obama obstruction. He’s voicing out loud the racial resentment previously dog-whistled.
Trump is fully aware of the changing demographics in America. If he is the GOP nominee, we’ll learn in November whether a majority of white voters alone can carry him to victory, when the makeup of the Obama coalition proved just the opposite in 2008 and 2012.
Billy J. Walker, Wichita
Update tax system
Now that another tax season has ended, is it feasible for the current antiquated process to be brought into the 21st century? Individual citizens spend hours gathering papers, receipts and any other needed documentation to prepare their taxes. Some have to take time out of their schedule to visit an accountant or tax preparation company. Also, many citizens spend hundreds of dollars to have someone else complete their forms.
Our government already knows much of this information: salary income, interest income, dividend income, property taxes paid, etc.
A 21st-century tax process could look like this: The IRS would print our tax documents with the appropriate blanks filled in and send the documents to the taxpayer. Then taxpayers could review their 1040 and other tax forms for accuracy.
Taxes might not get such a bad rap if the system were updated and made easier and less expensive.
Denise O’Leary-Siemer, Wichita
Guns were common
In debating the issue of concealed guns on college campuses, Kansas Democratic Party chairman Lee Kinch said, “My God, when I was in college back in the early ’60s, if you’d suggested bringing guns on the campus, you’d have been locked away into a mental institution” (April 15 Eagle).
I lived on the campus of what would become Wichita State University during 1960-65 while going to school. I shot on the rifle team for those years. We had guns on campus every day for practice and matches on the weekends. During the matches, the visiting teams carried guns on campus. The university held a national match every year, and teams from all over the United States, including Alaska, were on campus for two weeks. This amounted to 10 individuals per team and 100 to 200 teams. Now that’s a lot of guns on campus. I also shot in this national match while I was in high school.
During those years there was not one incident – not one.
By the way, the WSU rifle range is still there. It’s in the old auditorium, but is used for storage.
Skip Nelson, Wichita
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This story was originally published April 22, 2016 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Letters on Supreme Court nomination, Trump and racial backlash, outdated tax system, guns on campus."