Letters on expanding Medicaid, noisy neighbors, flight tests, Trump

Push lawmakers to expand Medicaid

Regarding “Hospitals still plan to push for expansion of Medicaid” (Nov. 15 Eagle): It is disheartening that Kansas continues to allow impoverished citizens to go without health insurance, living without the means to afford preventative care and with the ever-present possibility of incurring significant medical debt.

I am hopeful that the change in political climate will encourage Kansas leaders to listen to medical professionals and citizens and find a way to support the expansion of Medicaid. I support the idea of enrolling for insurance now to put more pressure on state representatives later.

Kansans’ need to stand up and advocate for themselves. Support the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas. Go to its website. Sign petitions, attend a candidate forum, and call representatives. Improving the health of our citizens and supporting each citizen’s financial stability benefit the insured and uninsured alike.

Too pessimistic?

The Eagle asked if Wichita is too pessimistic for its own good (Nov. 27 Eagle). When that question is related to the daily quality of life issues affecting neighborhoods, I would tend to say that the pessimism is justified.

Quality of life issues – such as noisy neighbors with loud cars, booming stereos and incessantly barking dogs – are rarely addressed. If you do not believe this, ask any mail carrier or anyone who has tried to find a quiet neighborhood to live in without resorting to living on the very fringes of the city.

Perhaps these issues could find solutions if our city leaders would acknowledge that the current system of reporting and resolving neighborhood issues is cumbersome, intimidating and mostly ineffective. City officials such as the police, animal control officers and others should be able to issue citations and, if necessary, bring the miscreants to court.

The current system in which neighbor is pitted against neighbor in court is designed to fail. In this era of guns for everybody, it’s dangerous as well.

Flight test pride

Recently The Eagle highlighted flight test events for two new corporate jets – the Cessna Longitude and the Bombardier Global 7000 (Nov. 22 Business).

The Longitude continues the legacy of the Citation product line, dating to the Model 500, which first flew on Sept. 15, 1969. It is arguably the most successful business jet in history. The 7000 will be a resident at Bombardier’s Wichita Flight Test Center during its certification trials.

Wichita should take pride in that we are one of the few places in the world that has the resources necessary to carry on this very specialized activity. We have the skilled company employees, the Federal Aviation Agency personnel, the air traffic environment and the weather that support experimental and production flight tests.

Investment in new aircraft designs is a proven indicator of future success, and Wichita continues to make its mark on the world of corporate aviation via Textron Aviation, Learjet and the Bombardier Flight Test Center. These are reasons for pride and optimism.

What will happen?

President-elect Donald Trump is a shameless con artist, and from what we read of his Twitter account, a congenital serial teller of falsehoods. He has no experience to run our country. He has surrounded himself with a gaggle of genuflecting sycophants who will stay employed only as long as they never disagree with him.

He denigrates institutions our fair country has built up over the past 200 years. He has such thin skin he lashing out like an angry high school kid who had been disrespected in some way or another.

And what support can we expect from our members of Congress? Already they are designing bills to cut taxes, flush Medicare down the drain, stack the Supreme Court with spiral-eyed ideologues, and, of course, turn back environmental laws as fast as they can.

For the past eight years we heard little from conservatives except the dangers of the national deficit. Now they want to cut taxes, again, and throw us into gloom for the next 30 years. Calling them hypocrites is being generous.

America is in serious trouble. Our foreign friends are wondering what Trump will do. Will he disband NATO, cancel trade agreements willy-nilly, encourage countries to develop their own nuclear weapons?

It seems the Republican dog caught up with the tires on the car passing by. Now what is going to happen?

This story was originally published November 30, 2016 at 5:03 AM with the headline "Letters on expanding Medicaid, noisy neighbors, flight tests, Trump."