Unfettered Letters

Where’s the deterrence?

Where’s the deterrence preventing lowly accused criminals like Brandon Smith and Claude Sterling from killing valuable citizens like Devin Cassidy? (9/23, Local,”.‘She’s touched a lot of people’; Family and friends remember Devin Cassidy, who loved being a scientist and playing violin.”)

Obviously, as shown by the high rates of recidivism, jail isn’t the answer. Instead, if suspects Smith and Sterling knew that the cost of doing what they are accused of doing would be swift death or extreme pain, that in all probability would have kept Ms. Cassidy alive.

David Porter
Kansas City

Wanted: Independent thinkers

Federal agencies, congressional committees, and other governmental entities have started briefing Barack Obama and John McCain staffers about their respective areas. One of those staffs will become our government and eventually brief each candidate’s decision-makers who jockey for powerful positions and influence.

I would like the news media to cover how each candidate selected his staff and works with it. Did he choose people with divergent opinions or those who capitulate to stay in the halls of power?

A president or CEO provides direction but, in many cases, he or she is a talking head for the people surrounding him. To what extent does each candidate welcome different opinions that represent the people? An article about how a candidate works with his staff will serve us better than sound bites from the presidential race’s daily gauntlet of interviews and speeches.

Alan Smead
Independence

Bailout for the rich

Like most Americans, I am trying to understand what has happened on Wall Street and why I have to bail out these companies. I thought that the market would take care of things because of recent deregulation. If we wanted to help people without health insurance, we call it socialism. Saving corrupt companies is capitalistic bailout and the little guy ends up paying for the rich guy.

David Hooper
Kansas City

Fear or taxes?

Fear more Republican leadership

The Republicans won the last two elections by putting fear in the minds of people in this country. It is time for Barack Obama, Joe Biden and the Democratic Party to do the same, but the exception is they will speak the truth.

This country has never been at greater risk and peril than it is now, thanks to George Bush, with the solid backing of John McCain and the Republicans.

If we have another depression it will make the 1920s seem like a picnic. Just ask yourself who brought this country out of the depression back then. It was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Democrat.

We have no time to waste. We are teetering on the brink of disaster here in America and on the world stage. Our international reputation is in the minus column. Four more years with McCain and we will fall off the cliff.

Nancy Nichol
Independence

For lower taxes: McCain

Before the Bush tax cuts in 2000, the top 10 percent of taxpayers paid 67.3 percent of the taxes. In 2006, this same group — the top 10 percent of taxpayers — paid 70.8 percent. History has shown that by reducing taxes, rich people, as well as others, work harder and reduce their efforts to avoid taxes, resulting in more revenue paid to the federal government.

I am not, nor have I ever been, one of the rich as defined by Barack Obama, making $250,000 or more. Those of higher income levels are paying a bulk of the taxes. To try to get more out of them will not result in additional revenue for the government.

You decide: higher taxes (Obama) or lower taxes (McCain).

Ralph McFillen
Overland Park

Debunk the Funk

I voted for Mark Funkhouser for mayor, not a team of Gloria and Mark. If I could rescind my vote, I would do it now. I thought I was voting for a mayor who had visions and dreams of improving our city. Now I know it’s his way or no way. I thought the mayor was supposed to work with the City Manager and the City Council and he’s proven me wrong a number of times. His behavior borders on tyranny and I will never vote for him again. The City Council needs to debunk the Funk before he becomes the “absolute ruler” of our city.

Deborah Austin
Kansas City

McCain’s distraction politics

John McCain’s campaign has turned into distraction politics. Why are we not surprised by this turn of events that threatened the first debate? Distraction politics take our minds off “Foreclosure” Phill Gramm, who was in McCain’s campaign until he called our country a nation of whiners. Distraction politics take our minds off Rick Davis, McCain’s current campaign manager, whose firm took over $2 million from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

What new distraction will McCain pull out of the hat when he gets down in the polls again? Let’s look at issues and not play the same old game that came out of the Karl Rove playbook. Barack Obama can inspire our young people to invest in this country. We owe it to them to elect someone who can stay the course. We need a cool head and steady hand to control the mess that Gramm and the deregulators got us in.

Karen Bourland
Overland Park

Pause to think

At the library recently I picked up a list of 10 tips to use to avoid being caught in a scam. One of these said, “Don’t let anyone rush you into making a decision. Take your time to ask questions and gather information.” Now I see that the Bush Administration is saying we must act quickly to send some money (a whole lot) to some poor troubled people, or panic and ruin will beset us all.

Paul Nadig
Overland Park

Computers vs. Nature

Regarding many children’s preference for computers vs. nature, (9/24, As I See It, “For many kids, computers are preferred to nature”), this summer I made the decision to eliminate TV/computers from our house. Ultimately, the decision has been beneficial to me and my daughter, as well as other children on our block and entire families within our neighborhood.

Without TV and computers, I no longer depended on technology to babysit my daughter. She and I began taking long walks, marveling at nature along the way. We began talking and our bond grew. We met our neighbors, and soon their children began to join us. We discovered new sights and new friends, introducing neighbors to neighbors, people who lived right next door to each other for years but had not met.

I am not sure we will live the rest of our lives “unplugged,” but for now, the pros outweigh the cons. It was raining this morning as I walked my daughter to school. You can imagine my joy when I heard her exclaim, “I just love the smell of rain,” and watched as she turned and twirled under her bright, yellow umbrella. That is a memory technology could never provide.

Karen Shoemaker
Lee’s Summit

The enemy at home

The first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 and the second on September 11, 2001 were said to be an attempt by Osama bin Laden to destroy the U.S. economy. Isn’t it ironic that our own people accomplished what radical Islamic terrorists failed to do, and they did it without taking a single life?

Given our current financial uncertainty, bickering and posturing in Congress, and with the presidential election just a month or so away, our government appears to be in a state of chaos. In the eyes of our enemies we may appear vulnerable. I certainly hope those in charge of our national security are paying attention.

F. D. Jordan
Kansas City

Kobach’s callous tactics

I was disappointed to read of Kris Kobach’s litigation in the recent California court case (9/17, Local, “Kansan examines court case; The California decision could affect other states with similar tuition laws for illegal immigrants”) as well as his plans to pursue a similar lawsuit in Kansas concerning the effort to deny in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants. He may have won the court case but he lost the battle for basic human decency. He has struck a blow against one of the hallmarks of any great country: Care and concern for the poor and for the alien.

Education is the silver bullet. It is foundational to our hope to be a nation which embodies mercy and justice. It is also the best antidote to the racial/immigration strife that we experience here in Kansas. We should do everything we can do to help educate immigrants. We should be begging them to attend colleges in our state, not filing lawsuits to make it more difficult. His efforts constitute an alarming callousness toward the poor. I hope his attempt to follow a similar course in Kansas will be unsuccessful.

Tim Suttle
Olathe