Letters on Medicare compact, Roberts, sales tax

Don’t tamper with our Medicare

This past session the Legislature passed House Bill 2553, which, if given congressional approval, would give Kansas the authority to “suspend by legislation the operation of all federal laws, rules, regulations, and orders regarding health care” and to take control of Medicare.

In a letter signed by Gov. Sam Brownback on April 22, he stated that “Kansas already has experience with a successful state-level reform of a federal health care program. In January 2013, Kansas launched a major reform of its Medicaid system by covering nearly 400,000 Kansans under KanCare.” Truly, I know of no health care provider that has had a favorable experience with KanCare, especially in regard to reimbursements. Hospital officials throughout Kansas, especially from small hospitals that have been forced to struggle under a backlog of unpaid receivables from KanCare, will tell you that Brownback’s reforms have not improved the Medicaid system – they have made it worse.

And now he wants to take over our funding for Medicare?

We seniors like our Medicare, and we don’t want it tampered with, so let’s stand up for ourselves. Take a look at the legislators who voted for this bill. In my district, Rep. Marc Kahrs, R-Wichita, voted for HB 2553, so he will not be getting my vote. And Brownback will definitely not be getting my vote.

Earned our trust

Voters are the employers of our elected officials, and we have an obligation to review job performance before we vote. Sen. Pat Roberts’ performance on issues that matter most to Kansans and the nation is exceptional.

Over the course of his career, Roberts has been a true friend to agriculture. He’s the father of modern farm policy and is an expert on today’s crop-insurance and risk-management programs.

In 1996, Roberts authored a farm bill, nicknamed “Freedom to Farm,” that allowed farmers to plant what was best for their bottom line, not what the government dictated. It allowed farmers to plan for a future by responding to what consumers wanted. Roberts went to bat for ag again in 2000, with a farm bill that made crop insurance with revenue protection more affordable for farmers. It has saved our country billions of dollars in government payments, while allowing farmers to increase their income by producing for market demands.

In addition to his unfailing support of agriculture, Roberts, a former Marine, has voted for decades to protect our Second Amendment rights.

Roberts has earned our trust by championing our Kansas values. Join me in voting for him.

Retire Roberts

During the Republican primary, one of the focal points of Milton Wolf and his supporters was the more than 40 years that Sen. Pat Roberts has already spent in Washington, D.C. It’s an important point.

Despite a record that most consider undistinguished, and has led GOP political strategist John Weaver to refer to Roberts as “basically furniture in the Senate,” Roberts wants more.

Without him, Roberts says, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid or President Obama, or whoever, will do or won’t do or could do things that only he can stop. With this rationale, we can never make a change.

In 1996, Roberts said he planned to serve only two terms in the Senate. He’s now running for his fourth.

Whatever the senator’s contributions, I guarantee the Founding Fathers did not intend for the same person to represent the people for four decades.

After the primary campaign, Roberts’ campaign manager at the time said that Roberts was going home (to Virginia) to rest. It’s time to retire him from the Senate and give him that time to rest.

Won’t buy locally

It seems to me that Wichita residents may have not considered another issue associated with the proposed tax increase. High sales taxes serve, whether we like it or not, as negative incentives for Wichitans to buy locally.

If the sales tax increases to an exorbitant figure, buyers will simply purchase items via the Internet – out-of-state transactions that often are free of sales tax. If we agree that buying from local merchants benefits the local economy, then we must also agree that anything done to hinder Wichitans from buying locally doesn’t help anybody in our fair city.

Keep the sales tax rate reasonable and all of us in Wichita will be happier. I recommend a “no” vote.

‘Yes’ for water

We can’t wait another 20 years to develop a plan for water. Water planning is a continual planning process. It takes several decades to bring another water resource on line. Work on the current Aquifer Storage and Recovery project has been ongoing for more than 20 years, and it is not yet fully developed. Finishing the project is one of the benefits of the 1-cent sales tax.

In fact, the last major water resource brought on line was Cheney Reservoir in the 1950s. The city of Wichita has continued to plan for additional resources since that time, but state and federal laws and regulations have prohibited two other viable options. That’s why the ASR is and must remain our focus. The 1-cent sales tax will help move that project to completion.

Letters deadline

Letters to the editor about the Nov. 4 election must be received by noon Thursday to be considered for publication.

This story was originally published October 27, 2014 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Letters on Medicare compact, Roberts, sales tax."