House Republicans value tax cuts for the wealthy over public education | Opinion

Inferior education

It is inconceivable to me that Kentuckians want an inferior education for their children. HB 500 calls for freezing pupil funding for two years, slashing transportation funding, eliminating raises for teachers and increasing health insurance premiums by up to 78 percent, as well as making no investment in preschool.

Teachers in adjacent states have considerably higher incomes. This is how Kentucky legislators are resolving the tax cuts they have been implementing since 2018, tax cuts which disproportionately benefit the wealthy. We need to return to a graduated income tax rate of 6 percent and provide our kids with a solid education. My children have long since graduated from the Fayette County Public School system and are thriving. I am not a teacher or school employee. I just want all kids in the state to get the same quality education that my kids had. Otherwise, our state has no future.

Krisia Rosa, Lexington

US “Turned Over”

When I was a young boy growing up in rural central Kentucky, I would often hear farmers saying their ponds ‘have turned over’. Never really understood it but it’s when a pond’s water from the bottom rises to the top and the top settles to the bottom. It is based upon temperature fluctuations. The problem occurring is that there is less oxygen at the top thus resulting in fish die off.

America today is living in this “pond turnover.” The stability that has existed for years has been denigrated to what we are living with today. Irrational becomes rational. Complacency becomes paranoia. Love becomes hate. The only hope we have is that in time the process is reversed. The oxygen is restored and commonsense prevails. It can’t happen soon enough.

Bob Sutton, Springfield

Deficit v. surplus

This week the Kentucky Legislature is debating whether to support a U.S. constitutional balanced budget amendment.

In these discussions it’s common for the federal budget to be compared to that of a household. “Household budget surpluses are good, therefore federal surpluses must be good also…right?”

Let’s look and see. The US had budget surpluses from:

• 1817-21 and in 1819 a recession started;
• 1823-36 and in 1837 a recession started;
• 1852-57 and in 1857 a recession started;
• 1867-73 and in 1873 a recession started;
• 1880-93 and in 1893 a recession started;
• 1920-30 and in 1929 the Great Depression started;
• and, 1998-2001 and in 2001 a mild recession started. (Sources: Thayer, Am J Econ Sociology 1996 and St. Louis Federal Reserve)

Some economists would call most of these recessions actual depressions.

This information may come as news to you. It certainly did for me. And it’s calling for a major change in the way we think and talk about the federal budget. For starters, maybe the federal budget is nothing like a household budget. If federal surpluses are associated with harm to the economy, are deficits — in moderation — actually good?

Bill Dake, Versailles

Protecting seniors

Thank you for your recent coverage of HB 491 by John Cheves and Tessa Duvall which will improve safety and accountability in Kentucky’s long-term care facilities. I appreciate the Herald-Leader’s thoughtful attention to protecting residents in long-term care.

According to the Kentucky Long-Term Care Ombudsman, “Far too many long-term care residents suffer psychological, physical and other types of abuse and neglect.” This reality makes thoughtful oversight and transparency reforms not only reasonable, but necessary.

I strongly support passage of this bill as a meaningful step toward improving safety, dignity, and peace of mind for residents and their families. I also respectfully encourage Rep. Kim Moser, R-Independence, chair of the House Health Services Standing Committee, to grant this bill a hearing so legislators can fully consider its merits. Kentuckians deserve a long-term care system that prioritizes accountability and resident protection. Thank you for continuing to elevate this important conversation.

Ann Jeannette Pierce, Owensboro

Tipping shoppers

I’m a personal shopper and don’t understand why grocery delivery has a different tip standard than restaurant service!

Why is it acceptable to expect someone to drive to a store, shop for your items, place them in their car, drive them to your home, take them to your door, and then only tip them 1-2 percent?

When you go out to dinner, you have no problem leaving your server, who doesn’t have any overhead costs and doesn’t even leave the building 10-25 percent. Grocery delivery is always farmed out. The delivery drivers do not work for the store! They are independent contractors who are trying to provide you with a service. They have no control over what the delivery platform may charge you for your order, and most orders will only pay shoppers between $5-6.

The shopper/driver has to use their gas, their time, their car and their insurance to bring your order to you. If you don’t have time to go shopping yourself, or maybe just need a pack of diapers, please remember that the person bringing you your order is not an hourly employee of any store and depends on your tips more than any server at a restaurant.

Amy Cundiff, Lexington

Thanks, Andy

I want to thank U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., for strengthening my appreciation for the potential of prayer. Now that I realize it is acceptable to be a Christian — with being white and a male as a bonus — I can pray without reservation. Now, Barr can move on to other issues (including ads) and demonstrate he can hold more than one thought in his head at a time.

Charles Myers, Lexington

Extreme weather

Sadly, I remember my dad in the 1950s saying, “If every Chinese adult came out and started their individual vehicle, the air pollution would kill all of us.”

Sad, too, are the extreme weather dangers.

It’s worse to imagine what we will leave for our kids and grandkids.

While President Donald Trump is moving to allow much more dangerous pollution, our economy is consumption-based. Shopping is America’s number one addiction. We show off such to the world.

Trump also may create a war! The military-industrial complex loves war, yet people and the earth are victims. Russia now supplies massive amounts of weapons to India and China for manufacturing work and production consuming more of our earth.

Shipping massive amounts of consumer goods also significantly contributes to global warming. Politicians push “infrastructure” work primarily with road construction feeding a limited bunch of thieves, well-known contributors to many politician’s campaign funding. Our governor, maybe all our elected officials, push more spending -probably for job creation.

I heard a local geography professor say that global warming is an ongoing threat to the world’s environment with rains/floods, droughts/fires, extreme hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, even tsunamis! More importantly, it’s deadly for children and the world’s future.

Is this child abuse by politicians and business?

Don Pratt, Lexington

Politicized media

For us who are reaching our mid 80’s in age, we have seen a lot of American history. This is an election year. We are experiencing governance policies, activities not following decades of legalities, norms, traditions and history. There are basic tenets of our democracy. One is the first amendment to our constitution. Protects speech, media, assembly and petition. The Federal Communications Commission has the primary authority for communication laws and regulations. The political party in power controls the commission. Considerations are being given to political friendly businesses granting and invoking licenses, including acquisitions and mergers. There are foreign countries with government controlled media, normally types of autocracies. Historically, our constitution does not favor government political media intervention. The end result could be a centralized pro-government apparatus allied with media oligarchs who own and control all print and broadcast media. There is an acquisition in progress that is relative. Paramount is a behemoth media corporation. They own CBS. Recently, Steven Colbert was told he could not conduct a political interview as planned. He already had fallen out of favor with CBS resulting in his show being canceled. Jimmy Kimmel was canceled by ABC then reinstated. Paramount is also pursuing takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery which includes CNN. It is obvious what is happening here. Conservative and MAGA media already dominate America’s political landscape. Danny Shearer, Lexington

Jackson Hall demolition

I am writing in regard to the decision of Hazard Community and Technical College to slate Lee’s College’s Jackson Hall for demolition as printed in the article of the Jackson Times-Voice recently. I want to voice my extreme disapproval and disappointment with HCTC on how they have handled the situation.

There have been no official reports of the condition of the building by HCTC, nor, has there been any request of public opinion or their solutions to save the building. There also have been ZERO news releases about the thought of demolition from their website or their official social media pages! Even the HCTC Board of Directors meetings had no mentioning of the status of Jackson Hall in the past several years!

It’s disrespectful to the people in this area and to the alumni of the former college that outdates its parent company by 85 years! Especially, considering the history of the building and Lees’ campus and the people of Jackson that campaigned to raise $50,000 to build it! The board of Lees decided to name it after the people who helped make that building possible: Jackson.

It is a shame.

Brandon Gross, Jackson

Private justice

I remember several years ago when the Obama Administration was accused of slow walking the application of a few right-wing conservative groups when they applied for 501c3 status. The Republicans went absolutely nuts “Obama is weaponizing the IRS and Department of Justice against our constituents.” “Unfair!” “Corrupt!” “Un-American!” they shouted.

Since many of these groups were actually fronts for violent extremist groups, the slowdown in their applications turned out to be totally justified.

Now, however, we have the DOJ, the IRS, and other federal agencies actually being used by President Donald Trump as his own private secret police to investigate and charge his enemies (defined as anyone who disagrees with him).

What do the Republicans say about that? Not a word. Not one.

Jim Porter, Danville

Edited by Liz Carey