Letters on sales tax, Roberts, judicial branch, Brownback, immoral tax plan, Medicare compact, Kahrs, Kobach

Help the needy by voting ‘yes’

I have spent my career and life advocating for and serving the less fortunate in our community. To help them, please vote “yes” on the proposed sales tax for Wichita.

Though this proposed tax will add some additional burden dependent on how much is actually spent, I believe it will be less burdensome than the alternatives. Potential increased water rates, estimated to be as high as 50 percent, will have a far greater and devastating impact on the poor over time. And then there is the threat to transportation, a very real lifeline for many people.

Those working with the poor will tell you that utility costs and inadequate transportation are two of their biggest challenges. Wichita simply cannot afford any further diminishment of its very limited transportation system, and desperately needs to expand it. Nor should we put the poor at further risk with the potential for skyrocketing utility bills.

Though a sales tax is not the perfect plan, it is a far better plan than none at all, and it will substantially improve life for the marginal while making Wichita overall a more desirable place to live for the rest of us.

Wichita is home to caring people who want the best for our community and for those in need. On Tuesday we can once again demonstrate this by a “yes” vote.

False choice

The proponents of the sales tax increase, including The Eagle editorial board, are being disingenuous when they say that if voters do not pass the proposed tax, huge increases in water rates are inevitable. This is not true.

If this initiative is defeated, there is nothing that would prevent the Wichita City Council from putting a new proposal on a future ballot that would raise taxes dedicated to water, infrastructure and mass transit – eliminating the “economic incentive” portion. Council members only included it in this proposal because they knew that it would never pass on its own. They are hoping that voters will go to the polls, hold their noses and vote for the measure, even though they only favor three of its four components.

I say, vote “no” and send a message to the council that its scare tactics and subterfuge won’t work. Present us with a proper choice, and it will pass overwhelmingly.

Fair judges needed

One of the principal tenets of American justice is that we have a fair, impartial, unbiased and nonpolitical judiciary. Judges take each case, one at a time, and exercise their best judgment about the law and the facts of that case – completely separate from any prevailing political winds of any given moment in history. The introduction of politics into this system serves only to dilute and diminish the strength of equal justice under the law.

Law professors, civics teachers, parents and thoughtful citizens have dedicated our lives to teaching the importance of the rule of law to the vitality of the republic that we so treasure. Kansas has had a strong merit selection/retention system. This system has yielded a long line of very distinguished judges and justices who have served the state well.

This election is simply not about any one case. We must be guardians of the rule of law for our time. A fair and impartial judiciary is the backbone of the rule of law. As a retired U.S. Court of Appeals judge for the 10th Circuit, I encourage voters to become fully informed about each judge on the basis of unbiased, impartial and nonpolitical background information.

More information about the selection of judges and importance of a fair and impartial judiciary can be found at http://ivp.nawj.org/.

Three branches

Anyone who has taken a social studies class has learned that our Founding Fathers designed our federal government with three branches as a form of checks and balances so that one branch by itself would not have more power than the others. States structured their form of government using this same principle.

Fast-forward to 2010. Sam Brownback was elected governor of Kansas. This gave him power over the executive branch. Shortly after that he bullied people into believing that moderate Republicans were keeping the Legislature from doing what he wanted, which gave Brownback control of the legislative branch. Now Brownback wants more control over the judicial branch.

The system we have for the unbiased selection of judges in Kansas has worked for many years. It does not need to be changed.

Do the right thing for Kansas. Vote for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Paul Davis.

Second reason

The Eagle editorial board’s endorsement of independent U.S. Senate candidate Greg Orman mentioned only one reason to vote for Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan. – the possibility he might become chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee (Oct. 26 Opinion). There is a second reason.

If Orman is elected, it significantly increases the chances of Democrats controlling the Senate in two or more of the six years for which he would serve. Though Orman may not be willing to vote for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., as majority leader, despite his past contributions to Reid, if he does hand control of the Senate to the Democrats, there is no doubt that will also mean the chairmanships and majority of all important committees will be far more liberal than if Republicans are in control.

For those Kansans who don’t have a problem with that (or a problem with the few positions Orman has actually spelled out), a vote for Orman is appropriate for the reasons cited by the editorial board. For those like me who want to minimize the risk of major legislation being shaped by liberal Democrats, a vote for Roberts is the lesser of two evils.

Not supporting

I am not supporting the re-election of Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan. Roberts voted to reform and cut food-stamp spending for the poor. On Tuesday join me in voting for Greg Orman for U.S. Senate.

Consider impact

This is not the time for a protest vote. Remember when people didn’t evaluate a candidate and made a protest vote for “change”? It matters who is governor.

Gov. Sam Brownback’s policies have been positive. The number of jobs has increased, and our unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the nation. We have more teachers statewide. Overhead and bloat were reduced while services remain dynamic and responsive. Positive changes do not happen overnight, but they are happening.

It also matters who is our senator.

There are hundreds of bills stalled in Congress because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., will not allow them before the Senate. The majority must change to get a new leader. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., will help lead this charge. He works hard for Kansas and we know him. What do we really know about his opponent? Some tout Roberts’ length in office as a negative, but it is a positive, as his seniority will give him the opportunity to chair committees that will positively affect Kansas.

Vote – and consider the impact.

Tax break wrong

Kansas House Bill 2117 exempted LLCs, partnerships, sole proprietorships and other pass-through businesses from state income tax. This means some Kansans who make the most pay nothing in personal state income tax. Nothing.

Many doctors, lawyers and bankers are exempt from state income tax. There is something morally wrong with a society in which those who make the most pay nothing. This law is bankrupting our state and leading to the denial of services to the poor. It is morally, ethically and economically wrong.

I have voted Republican many times in the past, but this year I will be casting my vote for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Paul Davis.

Medicare at risk

Gov. Sam Brownback turned Medicaid over to private insurers, renaming the program KanCare. At the time he promised big improvements. But according to executives at Wichita’s two big hospital systems, the opposite has been true, as they are having problems getting paid by KanCare. The same thing is happening to hospitals throughout the state.

But what’s doubly alarming is that the governor in April signed into law a health care compact that seeks to privatize Medicare, making all Kansans 65 and older subject to the same sort of hardships as those covered by KanCare. Sandy Praeger, Kansas insurance commissioner, has stated that she sees no evidence the Legislature has thought through administration of a program like Medicare. She believes that such a move would place the health care of Kansans in jeopardy.

The first step in ensuring our Medicare program is not jeopardized is to go to the polls on Tuesday and vote Brownback out.

Kahrs for Medicare

We recently received an election mailer accusing state Rep. Mark Kahrs, R-Wichita, of “taking away our safety net” and “putting Medicare up for sale to big corporations.” These claims are not true. The growing costs of Obamacare are the greatest threat to Medicare.

We are on Medicare and are concerned about threats to its long-term financial viability. The legislation supported by Kahrs would join Kansas with at least eight other states in a compact to give them more control and freedom to make changes and improvements. It could reduce the risks to the future of Medicare. The closer government is to the people it serves, the more responsive it is to the people. This is not an effort that should be demonized; it should be applauded

Do not let unfounded scare claims keep you from voting for Mark Kahrs in District 87.

Kobach’s waste

I have been dismayed for years about the amount of tax resources wasted by Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s litigation. Despite declining revenues of the state and cuts to spending for our most vulnerable citizens, Kobach says that “the price tag for the legal assistance we have here is very reasonable.” This statement was in regard to the recent case in which Kobach spent $34,000 to fight the removal of Democrat Chad Taylor’s name from the ballot for U.S. Senate.

To put this in perspective, the average salary for a starting teacher in Kansas is about $33,000. It is a shame when lawyers who, by Kobach’s account, worked “a very short amount of time” make more than teachers who work tirelessly on behalf of students. If you are tired of paying lawyers instead of benefiting citizens of Kansas, please let your voice be known in Tuesday’s election.

This story was originally published October 30, 2014 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Letters on sales tax, Roberts, judicial branch, Brownback, immoral tax plan, Medicare compact, Kahrs, Kobach."