Letters on mental health cuts, Trump’s personality, J.C. Moore
Cuts to mental health make no sense
On July 1, Gov. Sam Brownback’s Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services ended the state’s contract with the University of Kansas Center for Mental Health Research and Innovation, the major provider of evidence-based practices used to treat mentally ill Kansans. Collaboration between the state and the KU center began in the late 1980s, funded by Medicaid funds from the federal government. As a result of the loss of the contract, the center has had to lay off 12 of its 15 staff members in this program.
Brownback also cut nearly $57 million from the state Medicaid program for this fiscal year. His administration also cut $30 million over the past year from the state’s 26 community mental health centers.
The past weeks have heightened awareness of the violence done with guns. We know that people suffering from acute mental illness should be denied access to firearms.
Funding to help identify the mentally ill and treat them with evidence-tested strategies should be fully supported by our legislators and our governor. Instead, they drastically savage mental health treatment programs and let everyone carry guns concealed and openly. Go figure. Vote them out!
Gretchen Eick, Wichita
Trump’s personality
Gordon Humphrey, a former U.S. senator for New Hampshire and a delegate at the Republican National Convention, recently wrote a brilliant, penetrating portrait of Donald Trump for CNBC titled “Dump Trump in Cleveland.” Humphrey very successfully zeroed in on the glaring, authentic side of Trump’s personality.
“Trump is a classic sociopath,” he wrote. “He lacks a conscience. He never feels guilt, shame, embarrassment, regret or remorse. He is untroubled when causing others pain. He never apologizes.”
Humphrey also wrote: “Trump, unlike leading candidates in past years, is utterly unqualified to be president. Put aside lack of relevant experience, his shifting positions, his incoherence. The man is psychologically unfit to be the nation’s chief executive and commander in chief of our young men (and) women in uniform.”
I say, God save us from this megalomaniac in November, and I pity those who see all of the above as leadership credentials.
Les Taylor, Wichita
Moore dedicated
With a sense of greatest respect and confidence, I would like to endorse GOP candidate J.C. Moore to represent the people of Kansas House District 91. I have known Moore for more than three decades as a close friend and colleague at Newman University.
Moore is known for his passion to help students succeed, his warmth, kindness and generosity of spirit. His masterful teaching and academic advising skillfully guided his students into careers serving their communities as physicians, teachers, scientists and allied health professionals. Since retiring, he has decided to devote his time to representing the people of Kechi, Park City, Valley Center, Maize and northwest Wichita in the Legislature.
Moore is a person of integrity, honesty and foresight. He is determined to restore fiscal responsibility to Kansas, fund education properly and provide health care through expanded KanCare. His utmost concern is to provide education to children and young adults by procuring adequate funds for our schools and universities.
I enthusiastically endorse J.C. Moore to represent District 91.
Surendra Singh, Wichita
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This story was originally published July 21, 2016 at 12:03 AM with the headline "Letters on mental health cuts, Trump’s personality, J.C. Moore."