Needed help
Voter approval of Jackson County Question 1 would allow older adults and caregivers to benefit from a senior services fund.
Neighboring Clay County uses senior service funds for rides to appointments, home-delivered meals, residential repairs, safety modifications and access to programs and services.
These funds come from a modest property tax of 5 cents per $100 of assessed value.
The population of Jackson County residents 60 and older is projected to nearly double by 2030. As more adults need help, services funded by Question 1 would greatly improve the quality of life for older adults and their caregivers and prepare our region for the future.
For more information, visit moalso.org
- Tina Uridge, Executive director, Clay County Senior Services, Gladstone
About face
I have never voted for a Democrat for president. Since I turned 18, I have voted seven times for Republicans, voted once for the Green candidate and chose not to cast a vote more recently.
For the past nine presidential elections, I considered myself a Republican and never thought I would ever leave the GOP. However, now I can’t imagine remaining in the Republican Party, whose leaders play down the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, declare that elections have been stolen when they don’t win, overreact to commonsense gun-safety legislation, knowingly spread lies about and demonize legal immigrants, promote horrible conspiracy theories that hurt many innocent people, turn their backs on the advice of public health professionals and deny the overwhelming evidence presented from scientists regarding climate change.
The Republican Party, at best, has evolved into the party of “the ends justify the means.” Republican politicians are unashamedly pushing outright lies to achieve what they truly believe is best for our country. However, at worst, ignorance, hate, greed and selfishness have completely consumed them.
I now consider myself a Democrat and will be voting for Kamala Harris this November.
- Sheila Fowks, Olathe
Real emergency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency was structured to respond to natural disasters. There is nothing “natural” about 21st century invasions such as Hurricane Helene. It’s painfully obvious that FEMA, as structured, is no match for the severity of climate change-fueled disasters. And, there is no reason to believe the situation is going to improve.
If a foreign military had attacked the southern U.S. and generated this level of carnage, America’s response would be swift and decisive — “All enemies foreign and domestic.” America is under attack, and the organization responsible for a timely response, through no fault of its own, lacks the staffing and funding to meet the challenge.
The incoming administration must address this situation as one of its first official acts. A portion of the bloated defense budget should be redirected to hire and train the necessary personnel and to provide advance staging of adequate supplies in multiple disaster-prone locations across America.
Nature is beginning to fight back, and America must be prepared.
- Jim Bretz, Blue Springs
Charity danger
On Nov. 5, voters in Platte County will decide on a new “children’s services fund” tax. The proposed quarter-cent sales tax would fund mental health services for children. We all want to help kids, right? It may at first glance seem to be an easy choice, but Platte County residents should think twice before supporting this new tax.
Politicizing charity is a dangerous road to go down. So is creating another, obscure taxing district with little oversight. The children’s services fund in Lafayette County provides a useful case study for those problems. The fund had operated for years with almost no oversight. Those operating it routinely engaged in improper activities, including funding charities affiliated with board members and funding a private business that wasn’t a nonprofit. After a whistleblower called attention to these problems, the state auditor investigated and referred the fund to authorities.
If voters pass this tax and create this fund, will some kids benefit? Of course. But entangling philanthropy with politics, creating a new taxing agency with limited oversight and making charities dependent on government are not the best ways to help kids in Platte County.
- David Stokes, Director of Municipal Policy, Show-Me Institute, St. Louis
Be secure
With escalating tensions in the Middle East and Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine approaching its third year, I cannot emphasize enough the commanding presence of American oil and natural gas in the global market and the energy security benefits it provides.
It’s a stark reminder of the poor energy policy decisions made in the 1960s and ‘70s, leading to the 1973 oil crisis, with skyrocketing prices and economic turmoil. In this moment, let’s learn from those mistakes — not repeat them. With energy demand set to increase, we need energy from all sources.
Some in Washington are pushing policies that restrict access to sources of oil and natural gas, make us dependent on China for critical minerals, limit consumer choices and threaten the infrastructure that keeps our energy system running. These policies are misguided. They discourage investment in energy projects and impose unrealistic timelines and mandates.
Americans need choices, not mandates, and honesty about the consequences of losing our energy advantage or sowing the seeds of a new energy crisis. The question is whether our energy will come from America, with our commitment to environmental stewardship, or from nations that do not share our values.
- Edward Cross, President, Kansas Independent Oil & Gas Association, Topeka
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