Opinion Line (Jan. 10)

I checked “feel an earthquake” off of my bucket list. They can stop now.

I have decided that being a Democrat is smart. No worries about budgets, debt, spending, etc. Just use money from others, locate all forms of entitlements, sit back, relax and enjoy life.

I so despise the greedy fat cats that I would take a major cut in pay if the trade-off was that the government was empowered to tax these millionaires and billionaires into oblivion. Republicans have failed to grasp that a majority of the country feels the same.

I’ve been playing Powerball not so much because I need the money, but because having a Kansas taxpaying winner may be the only way we can balance the budget.

Why even live-stream Gov. Sam Brownback’s State of the State address? If he’s telling the truth it’ll be short anyway, as in “Kansas is a mess, folks, and I’m the reason. Excuse me while I step out and join the folks who’ve already packed and left.” We should be so lucky.

Brownback is afraid of art because it represents freedom.

I think Republican legislators are keeping taxes too low in order to not fund vital services such as state hospitals and prisons, because their goal is to make them so weak the public will more easily accept for-profit companies taking over.

One solution to the revenue problem in Kansas is to tax guns and ammo. Kansas has the authority to levy taxes and it would not infringe on the Second Amendment. Taxing tobacco generates very little, but taxing firearms would balance the state budget.

The fix for ISIS in the Middle East: They need to pass some laws over there making it illegal to have guns. That should fix the gun violence, right? The president is using the same logic.

To take power from the people, you must take away their guns. Hitler knew this. The one who has the gun has the power.

Experts agree that prosecution of felons in possession of firearms is the best way to reduce gun violence, not more background checks of lawful citizens as decreed by the president. Yet possession crimes are almost never prosecuted.

The National Rifle Association and Donald Trump have this in common: Both generate fear and hate.

I’m trying to fathom why a candidate to fill a legislative office brags about being a Christian and an NRA member. These two things do not go together. Jesus was a pacifist. He told Peter to put the sword away when the Roman authorities came for him.

Everyone in America should go see “The Big Short.” It makes you want to take your money out of the bank and find a fence post to bury it under. Very scary.

If you don’t like what you receive as a tip, get a job where there is no tipping. No one owes you a tip.

This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Opinion Line (Jan. 10)."