To the editor:

Missouri Republican leaders are committing political suicide by ramming right-to-work legislation through the Republican-con-trolled Legislature for signing by the new Republican governor.

I am a staunch conservative Republican, but I predict that most Missouri Republicans will be thrown out of office in 2018 and 2020 — and Democrats will rule Missouri for the next 50 years.

On Nov. 8, we Missourians voted a landslide for Donald Trump — not for right-to-work. Donald Trump will easily win re-election in 2020, but most Missouri Republican politicians will be defeated.

Of course, unions oppose right-to-work. But there is also a huge group of non-union “Republican” voters who get bigger paychecks because their employers do not want them to unionize. These higher-salaried, non-union “Republicans” know that employers will slash non-union salaries, too, if the unions are weakened by right-to-work. Therefore, in 2018 and 2020, these non-union “Republican” voters will vote 100-percent Democrat to punish Republican politicians.

Republican leaders should forget about right-to-work. Instead they should eliminate the Missouri state income taxes — both individual and corporate. Then Missouri Republicans will be heroes.

Missouri is declining economically. In the past 50 years, more than 100,000 wealthy people have left Missouri and moved to such states as Texas, Florida and Tennessee, which have no state income taxes.

Those wealthy Missourians have withdrawn many billions of dollars from Missouri banks and deposited them in no-income-tax-states for jobs creation in those states. Also, many corporations have left Missouri. Further, thousands of young entrepreneurs have also fled Missouri to no-income-tax states.

Missouri is the easiest flatlands crossroads of America for trains, barges, trucking, interstate highways and airlines. Missouri has two of the world’s largest rivers, many good schools of technology and the magnificent Ozarks for tourism.

However, much airline and Mississippi River barge traffic has moved south from St. Louis to Memphis, because Tennessee has no state income tax.

Concerning tourism, Nashville, Tenn., is bigger and wealthier than Branson in the booming country-music industry.

Finally, Boeing is moving some production to St. Louis, primarily because of “special-for-Boeing” income-tax reductions by the Missouri Legislature.

If Republicans eliminate the Missouri state income taxes for everyone, wealthy people, corporations and entrepreneurs will flock to Missouri, which will boom like Texas, Florida and Tennessee.

Then Missouri will be rock-solid Republican for the next hundred years.

Robert G. Willmering

Oakville