Opinion Line (April 19)

The rich 1 percent has decided it will be Hillary Clinton versus Jeb Bush in the next presidential election. I believe this country has had enough of the Clinton and Bush families. We should remember what a mess this country was in when the two previous Bush boys left office.

There should be no campaigning allowed until six weeks before an election, including a presidential election.

The U.S. has lost our close allies since Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton came into power. We have now replaced them with Iran and Cuba. It’s going to take a new direction to gain back our former allies’ faith and trust. We can’t recover by going with Hillary.

If more guns is the answer, then why not let every country have nuclear weapons? Wouldn’t that make the whole world safer?

We can’t raise test scores at the same time we are making marijuana easy to get. Choose one or the other.

If it works, privatize. Is that the way it works?

Sam Brownback signs a bill to issue $1 billion in bonds for the state pension plan. To demonstrate that he can live by the standards he set for others in the state of Kansas, they should be issued at $25 per day.

The sign says that 1 in 5 kids faces hunger. This is in spite of TANF, SNAP, WIC and a plethora of other welfare assistance. It seems we need to start prosecuting deadbeat parents for child neglect if their kids are hungry.

I am waiting on Brownback and the Republican-controlled Legislature to announce their restrictions on the welfare handout that was given to the small businesses in Kansas (no state income tax).

It’s laughable to hear the insane statement that small businesses are comparable to welfare recipients in receiving benefits from the state. Take one look at Thursday’s Business Today section. How many jobs do welfare recipients create? Kudos to the small-business owners of this community. You guys rock.

How many people do you personally know who are on welfare? Do they get tattoos and go on cruises, or do they run out of food by the end of the month and struggle for the necessities of life, much less the wants? Stop taking cheap shots at the poor.

The governor and Legislature dug the fiscal hole the state’s finances are in, and now they want the least able to afford it to fill it for them.

I don’t resent paying taxes. I resent what the government does with the tax money that I pay.

What do these places all have in common: Intrust Bank Arena, Charles Koch Arena and airplanes? Smaller seats. How uncomfortable can it get?

Can we start looking for another source of water by building a lake south of Wichita by damming up the Ninnescah before it gets to the Arkansas River?

It’s amazing that all the news coverage of Chapa the beaver failed to mention his surname. Is there any question? His last name is Waldo.

Ah, Facebook: narcissism, stalking and ADHD all rolled into one.

This story was originally published April 18, 2015 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Opinion Line (April 19)."