Letters on Obamacare ruling, Brownback, ag support, gay flag, smoke-free anniversary

Words no longer have meaning

I think we all knew this would happen. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act. The English language now has no meaning other than that which is given to it by nine unelected judges in black robes.

The word “state” doesn’t really mean “state” (as in the 50 United States). Instead of looking at what the law actually said and meant, the justices looked at the effect of overturning it. Because they thought the results of overturning it would be too disruptive, they upheld the law. Such is the result of legislation by judicial fiat.

So we find that words have no inherent meaning. This in turn means that laws passed by an elected Congress have no meaning. Congress is irrelevant except for whatever power these nine justices allow it to have. Our republic is imploding before our very eyes, and I’m afraid that the majority of citizens are more concerned about the immediate effect on their insurance coverage than they are about the long-term survival of liberty.

Folks in Topeka

There is a growing number of my acquaintances locally who have expressed disdain with political opinions I have expressed in letters to the editor. Assuming the party affiliation for these folks to be Republican, I am wondering what their opinions are now of the people they elected to office during the past four years.

I have a growing fear of the direction their elected officials are taking our beloved state. Our governor has little respect for any of the judicial actions of state or federal judges, which is really scary. There is no way I can respect my governor when he shows so little understanding for the needs of people in the state of Kansas and criticizes the courts for trying to right his wrongs.

It appears that once elected to office in Topeka, folks suddenly think they are wiser and more skilled in dealing with local offices and courts. The learning curve seems to be just opposite to that.

Supported ag

As a farmer and rancher in Kansas, I know this recent legislative session was very challenging. But when we look at the session as a whole, lawmakers should be commended for their tenacity and extended debate on budget and tax issues.

Our grassroots members worked with lawmakers as they enacted water, annexation and scrap-metal bills that were priorities for Kansas Farm Bureau, and rebuffed efforts to overturn the state’s constitutionally mandated system for use value appraisal of agricultural land. A minority of urban legislators proposed changes to agricultural property taxes and were met with strong opposition. We thank legislators for preserving certain business and agricultural tax exemptions important to both rural and urban Kansas. KFB policy is also supportive of the provision included in the final tax bill requiring voters to approve tax increases by cities and counties in certain circumstances.

It was a tough session for all, and the process was not pretty. But we do appreciate the Legislature’s recognition of the continuing importance of agriculture to our state, and we look forward to better times ahead for all of Kansas.

Ban gay flag?

With all the controversy over banning the flying of the Confederate flag because of its divisiveness, should the gay-pride rainbow flag also be banned because of its divisiveness? I would say there certainly are as many upset about what one flag stands for as the other.

Once again we are attacking objects. Just as many want to blame guns and enact gun laws because of all the murders, are we going to start blaming flags for assaults? Are we going to ban cars because of drunken-driving deaths? Has common sense totally gone out the window?

Each and every person is responsible for his own behavior and actions. But it seems we have become a society of blaming others, not ourselves.

Smoke-free norm

They say time flies when you are having fun. Wednesday marks the five-year anniversary of the Kansas Indoor Clean Air Act.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, secondhand smoke exposure causes lung cancer, heart diseases and respiratory diseases in nonsmoking adults and children, resulting in an estimated 46,000 heart disease deaths and 3,400 lung cancer deaths among U.S. nonsmoking adults each year. Effective July 1, 2010, Kansas decision-makers took the bold step of adopting the Kansas Indoor Clean Air Act, providing statewide protection from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

Across the nation, the progress made during the past decade in enacting comprehensive state smoke-free laws is an extraordinary public health achievement. In the span of 10 years, smoke-free workplaces, restaurants and bars went from being relatively rare to being the norm in half of the states and Washington, D.C.

Thanks to bipartisan efforts in the Legislature, the tireless efforts of our state’s health advocates and the support of Kansans, the Kansas Indoor Clean Air Act continues to ensure that everyone can breathe clean air. I encourage our state decision-makers to continue protecting Kansans from the dangers of secondhand smoke and tobacco.

This story was originally published June 29, 2015 at 7:03 PM with the headline "Letters on Obamacare ruling, Brownback, ag support, gay flag, smoke-free anniversary."