Letters on tax exemption, school taxes, housing bubble, Trump presidency, Israel
Business owners need to confront governor
It is time for Kansas business owners who got the windfall income tax break in 2012 to come forward.
When the tax exemption on pass-through income was passed, a few business owners said it wasn’t fair. Some of the rest of those business owners are surely feeling guilty as well.
The people who are paying dearly for this exemption are the schoolkids, teachers, the less fortunate, the disabled, seniors and many others. Gov. Sam Brownback and his cohorts now seem ready to close the schools.
The only way things can slowly get back to normal in Kansas is if business owners get together and tell the governor he made a terrible mistake and it’s past time to put things right. The sun can still shine in Kansas.
Nancy A. Myers, Wichita
Will taxes go down?
If public schools are closed, surely my state taxes will go down by about 50 percent, or the percent of the Kansas general fund budget spent on K-12 public education. Right?
Stephen L. Stafford, Wichita
Not Bush’s fault
A letter writer who compared employment records of several presidential administrations apparently thinks that presidents control the economy (“Not doing so badly,” May 29 Letters to the Editor). Let’s consider that writer’s worst case, George W. Bush, whose administration inherited the bust of the real estate bubble of that period. Did Bush create the bubble? I rather think it was Congress, including former Democratic Rep. Barney Frank. He wanted to “roll the dice” on high-risk loans for lower-income people. What the country got was craps.
Harry R. Clements, Wichita
Bring on Trump
Donald Trump does not deserve, nor has he earned, the things said about him by columnist Davis Merritt (“A terrifying preview of a Trump presidency,” May 24 Opinion).
Merritt criticized Trump for saying, early on, that the disappearance of EgyptAir Flight 804 was an act of terrorism. But it is refreshing that someone would speak out with his opinion on such a subject rather than dither, as the current officeholder does.
Merritt also criticized Trump for wanting to negotiate with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. It may not come to pass, but let’s allow him to try. After all, no one stopped President Obama from going to Cuba and being insulted.
Regarding Trump’s list of possible Supreme Court nominees: Trump truly put forward a good list of qualified candidates. As for it not being a politically correct, diverse list – well, more power to him.
Trump’s responses to the British prime minister and the new mayor of London were appropriate given the insults they both dished out. That new mayor of London, for sure, needs to be put in his place.
About the possibility of a Trump presidency, my response is: Bring it on. It is going to be great to have our leader express pride in our great country for a refreshing change.
Jon E. Ehrsam, Wichita
Inspirational speaker
We know much about the Holocaust and the tragic persecution of Jews, but little is available about the situation of the Christian, Muslim and Druze Palestinian citizens of Israel. These are the people who managed to stay in what became the state of Israel, despite the expulsion of three-fourths of the Palestinian population.
Many were uprooted from their villages to make way for Jewish refugees from Europe, but they were allowed to stay in other areas, where they were held under military rule for the next 10 years. Although they have citizenship now, it is a second-class position similar to the situation of African-Americans in this country for so many years.
Archbishop Elias Chacour is a Palestinian citizen of Israel whose family and neighbors lost their homes in the village of Ba’ram, where a kibbutz was built in its place. He is an important voice for coexistence, having founded the Mar Elias Educational Institutions more than 30 years ago, where the students and faculty include Christians, Muslims, Jews and Druze. More than 50 percent of the 3,000 students are girls.
While Chacour is in Kansas to speak at the annual conference session of the Great Plains United Methodists, the Peace and Social Justice Center is proud to provide Wichitans an opportunity to hear his inspirational message at 7 p.m. Friday at College Hill United Methodist Church, 2930 E. First St.
Laura Tillem, Wichita
Letters to the Editor
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This story was originally published June 2, 2016 at 12:04 AM with the headline "Letters on tax exemption, school taxes, housing bubble, Trump presidency, Israel."