Opinion Line Extra (Jan. 29)

How many of the people angry with the weather professionals who missed on their prediction for the storm in the Northeast this week still take everything as gospel when many of those same people spout their predictions about “global warming”?

I am way beyond sick of this “global warming.” Sick of it.

2014 was the hottest year on Earth in recorded history. In the annuals of climatology, 2014 now surpasses 2010 as the warmest year. Those who keep ignoring climate change need to wake up before it’s too late. Future generations are depending on us to turn back this trend.

The Keystone XL pipeline is unlikely to create more than a couple thousand jobs to build and no more than 50 permanent positions once it becomes operational. So much for the Republicans’ jobs program.

Scientists agree when an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, it was the fifth extinction. Our abuse of the Earth – largely through human-caused climate warming – is becoming the sixth. Many lawmakers appear ignorant and are the puppets of greedy lobbyists. We need to change that.

What a relief to have elected President Obama after the mess that was left by the previous administration. Shame on you for your hateful opinions.

There is no legal way to circumvent the U.S. Constitution. Laws declaring “exceptions” to certain constitutional rights are so blatantly unconstitutional as to defy description. The one and only way to override any constitutional provision is to alter it, properly, by way of amendment.

Come on, people – pay our police officers. Hike up taxes on cigarettes, alcohol and junk food. We all need to be safe. People can pay the price for their bad habits. All those people who feel they are above the law – fine them big time. Find the money.

In his attempt to disavow his contribution to the state debt, did Gov. Sam Brownback channel Flip Wilson? “The devil (Legislature) made me do it.”

Here are some family values for you: We who attended school as a child should make sure that all children receive the best opportunity to do the same or better.

If the rich would pay a living wage and benefits to their employees, people wouldn’t have to ask for handouts. Fight for a living wage and benefits for workers instead of complaining about handouts. This is why this country needs unions.

Legislators want us to “uphold the constitutional Second Amendment rights of Kansas citizens” to carry concealed guns without permits. Constitutional right is always emphasized. Yet the Kansas Constitution requires adequate funding for education, which is ignored by Brownback and our legislators. Their hypocrisy and unlawful superior attitude are frightening.

No gun law anywhere has ever kept guns out of the hands of criminals.

This story was originally published January 28, 2015 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Opinion Line Extra (Jan. 29)."