Letters | Health care, the presidential race, pets - KansasCity.com

Health care in Kansas

Senate President Steve Morris recently stated every Senate Republican supported the Health Care Freedom Act, a bill that amends state statute. He conveniently omitted the more important proposal to amend the Kansas Constitution, the Kansas Health Care Freedom Amendment, which would have allowed a vote on this measure.The amendment was held up for three years in the Senate Judiciary Committee by Republican leadership until finally a vote was scheduled for the floor this year.Once the debate began, a motion was made to send the bill back to committee, thus avoiding debate.The motion, which failed, was supported by Republican senators Pete Brungardt, Jay Emler, Jeff Longbine, Carolyn McGinn, Steve Morris, Tim Owens, Roger Reitz, Vicki Schmidt, Ruth Teichman, Dwayne Umbarger and John Vratil.In 2010, Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook moved to pull the amendment out of committee, where it was being held up by Senate leadership. She simply wanted to debate the measure, but her motion failed, with many Republicans, including Morris, opposing it.I find it odd that Sen. Morris encourages citizens to vote, while he worked to deny Kansans the opportunity to cast a ballot on this important amendment designed to fight the federal takeover of our health care system. Derrick Sontag TopekaConsumer-driven U.S.A few recent letter writers have touched on an important economic point: Our president and our Congress do not create permanent, sustained private-sector jobs.During this election cycle, however, we?re hearing people tout themselves as job creators.They?re in local races in commercial after commercial and stump speech after stump speech. It feeds voter expectations, and it?s probably impolitic for any candidate to do otherwise.But the reality is that outside of instituting more stimulus programs or a government expansion or declaring another war, government is not really the remedy for jobs, especially private-sector jobs.Consumers are the remedy. Simply put: Consumers create jobs, and when consumers decide to spend more on products and services, more businesses will hire.No one builds a warehouse and fills it with new employees and equipment without there first being consumers generating a demand along with a predictable income stream. The remedy is not a political candidate.It is us as a collective of consumers, confident in our own country and the future and moving things forward as always. Robert Barnes Kansas CityObama treated unfairlyConservative radio host Mark Levin says this of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney:He loves his country, he believes in America, he does not want to fundamentally change this country, he is religious and he is a family man, and naturally President Barack Obama is just the opposite of all of these virtues.Levin?s hatred of Mr. Obama spews through his microphone every night. If Levin were forced to pay everyone a quarter for how often he has referred to the president as a Marxist, for example, we would all be millionaires. Naturally, he is angry about the president?s political rhetoric. Levin thinks it unfair that Obama attacks the GOP and its candidate. So here is the way it is supposed to work.Obama, as president, may not campaign but instead must remain in the Oval Office running the country. Only the Republicans will be allowed to run negative ads and speak of nasty ?truths? about President Obama. Even during the debates, Mr. Obama must remain mute, and if he does not do so, he will be gagged. Michal Betz Wichita47 percenter?s fearsI am a middle-aged man who for years has been stricken with muscular dystrophy. I am what Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney refers to as a member of the 47 percent who pay no income taxes.When I was physically able to work, I paid my fair share of taxes. Now that I am severely disabled (so disabled that my brother had to type this letter for me), I find that Mr. Romney opposes my ?entitlement? to ?food? for the last days I have on earth.I fear that if Mr. Romney is elected, it will not be a biological disease that takes my life but rather the denial of nourishment to a severely disabled body by a man who cannot ?elegantly state? why he wants to kill me. Mike Milum IndependenceInclude all AmericansI?m a 68-year-old veteran of the Marine Corps and have been working and paying Social Security taxes since I was 16. I am now receiving Social Security (which I earned), am now paying taxes and am a registered independent.And, apparently unlike Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, I think the president of the United States should ?worry about? all of the citizens of the United States, not just rich contributors in Boca Raton, Fla. Joe McMillian OlatheLee Judge cartoonThe Boy Scouts are one of the greatest youth groups in the United Sates (I will go as far to say the world), helping young boys become men and teaching them skills such as leadership and duty along an emphasis on moral values and ethics.Before you judge them, Lee Judge (9-21, Editorial cartoon), let me ask you this. What have you done for the youth of our planet? Patrick Moylan Kansas City Romney, low-pay workRepublican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, have promised 12 million new jobs in their first four years in office. I wonder, will they be good-paying jobs? That?s doubtful because former governor Romney has backed away from supporting an increase in the minimum wage.Will these jobs offer medical coverage? Probably not. Former governor Romney wants to do away with the Affordable Care Act. How about other benefits? Not realistic.Collective bargaining will disappear when the Republican crusade to abolish labor unions succeeds. Will we still be able to celebrate Labor Day by the end of a Romney-Ryan term?What do you think? Gerald K. Gentry, Ph.D. OlatheReport without biasMuch of the media is doing a tremendous disservice to our country by the biased coverage it is giving. Why is The Kansas City Star giving so little coverage on the protests in Pakistan, Egypt, Libya, North Africa and various other countries?Could it be that the news media, in their endeavor to shape and turn U.S. elections, do not find it newsworthy? Another troubling factor is most of the letters printed on the opinion page are in favor of ?their? candidate.The news should be reported objectively and not with the sole purpose of disparaging one candidate while enhancing another. American citizens deserve better. Rose Soptic Roeland Park Kudos to The StarCongratulations to The Star, to reporters Mark Morris and Brian Burnes and to everyone else at the newspaper who played a role in the ?Killer Love? series last week. It was dramatic, riveting and clearly written.If newspapers want to get more readers, I think it?s serial stories like these that they should shoot for. The only criticism I have is that the sketch that accompanied the first installment ? of a wide-eyed and thunderstruck Teresa Stone after finding her husband?s body ? probably was an inaccurate portrayal.As readers found out in the last installment, Teresa had come to loathe her husband, Randy Stone, and wanted him dead. Her response might well have been a fist pump and an emphatic, ?Yes!? Jim Fitzpatrick Kansas CityPets add value to lifeWe all know that pets lower blood pressure and become like one of the family many times over. I?ve been owned by cats all my life. So when my husband died, his cat went into mourning. She didn?t eat or drink for days, cried constantly and slept on his old jacket for a year.I thought I was going to lose her. However, in time, she shifted her grief into affection.Now, she is never more than inches from my side, she greets me at the top of the stairs when I come home and she curls up with me and a good book. She has licked away my tears, has been my sounding board when I vent anger or disgust and loves me, no strings attached.I cannot imagine my life without her. All our pets ask is for food, shelter and affection.I have been humbled by her simple affections.Have you hugged your pet today? Alice Brandom Kansas City Truth from politiciansWouldn?t it be wonderful if one day God decided that all politicians from that day on could only tell the truth? There would be a lot of red faces. Loretta Gordon Harrisonville

Source: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/24/3832045/letters-health-care-the-presidential.html

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