Changing Republicans

Reader Forum
Changing Republicans
I was raised by Republicans in the time of exemplary Kansas Republicans.
Ike was idolized in my
household, and Bob Dole
sat more than once at our
kitchen table. I was a Rooks
County Young Republican
with Jerry Moran, and Keith
Sebelius nominated me for
the service academies.
Sam Brownback ran as
a Republican. But the first
thing he did was to attack,
with great success, Republicans in the state Legislature
and replace them with those
who shared his ideology. He
installed operatives in Topeka who cruised the Internet
seeking (and finding, in the
case of one high school girl)
those who would disparage
our governor. Retribution
was swift and strong.
Next, he attacked the state
constitution when he and his
now-compliant state Legislature altered it, again with
great success, to take judgeships out of the hands of the
citizens, and put them under
his — the governor’s —
purview. The consolidation
of the power of all three
branches of government,
intended as a constitutional
scale of checks and balances,
The Hays Daily News • Monday, Oct. 27, 2014
was complete. Many of the
judges holding these positions were Republicans.
Next, he went after the
public education system,
denying certified teachers
due process while eliminating the educational requirements that have historically
determined the bottom-line
requirements for those who
would teach our children.
In Kansas, teachers are our
next-door neighbors, our
nieces and nephews. And,
being Kansans, most of
them are Republicans.
Brownback had to be
forced by the Supreme
Court to fund the schools
and still managed to insert
into the spending bill a tax
credit for corporations that
donate to private, religious
schools. This seems like a
wonderful thing, until you
realize somebody has to
make up that money when
it’s diverted from the treasury. Who do you suppose
that is?
These attacks, I feel, are
ample reasons to question
if Brownback is really a Republican. One thing is clear
from his attacks on the tax/
public education structure,
and that is he doesn’t consider the farmers, the teachers
and the wage-earners to be
his constituency. These Kansans are bearing the brunt
of his tax realignment.
Remember also that Kris
Kobach ran as a Republican. He ran against the
specter of voter fraud and
illegal aliens — and ultimately, illegal aliens committing voter fraud. None such
had ever been recorded, but
that was his platform and he
was elected.
He recently went all out
in an attempt to block the
resignation of the Democratic candidate in our
senatorial campaign. He
claimed confidence in the
law he was enforcing, and
his interpretation of it. Yet,
when it was scheduled to be
heard before the Supreme
Court, he maneuvered to
have it pushed to a lower
court, rather than plead it
before the highest court in
the state. Why would he
do this? There is only one
reason. To delay the final
decision on the matter until
after the deadline for ballot
printing had passed. This
was the highest election
official in the state using his
office to try to tilt the field
in favor of the candidate
for whom he was a state
campaign chairman. If this
wasn’t illegal, it was at least
PUBLIC NOTICES
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required publications of certain important government records and of court proceedings and notifications.
To view these notices online go to www.hdnews.net/notices/
(First Published in The Hays Daily
News October 27, 2014)
PUBLIC NOTICE for
Operating/Capital
Transportation Services
Funding
ACCESS Transportation/DSNWK
is submitting an application for
capital and operating assistance
for transportation services under
the 49 U. S. C. 5311 (rural public
transportation) and the 49 U.
S. C. 5310 (elderly/disabled
transportation) of the Federal
Transit Act. The applications will
be for capital funds to replace
vehicles in our current fleet and
for operating funds to help provide
public transportation services in
Ellis County and Elderly/Disabled
transportation
to
individuals
served by DSNWK in the eighteen
county area of northwest Kansas.
As stated above, ACCESS
Transportation/DSNWK receives
Federal Transit Administration
(FTA) operating dollars. This
funding is utilized for the
purchase of fuel, insurance,
equipment, maintenance and
storage. ACCESS/DSNWK is
seeking Kansas Disadvantaged
Business
Enterprise
(DBE)
certified companies as potential
vendors for these services.
Please contact: Anna Findley,
Transportation Manager/DSNWK,
(785) 621-2078, if you are a DBE
or are interested in learning more
about the DBE program.
Written comments and questions
in regards to this application
are encouraged and will be
accepted until November 8, 2012
and should be sent to: Anna
Findley, Transportation Manager
for Developmental Services of
Northwest Kansas, Inc. at P. O. Box
1016, Hays, Kansas 67601. (Last
published in The Hays Daily News
November 10, 2014)
(First published in the Hays Daily
News October 13, 2014)
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF
ELLIS COUNTY, KANSAS
In the Matter of the Estate of
CECILIA STAAB, Deceased
Case No. 14 PR-96
NOTICE OF HEARING AND
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
THE STATE OF KANSAS TO ALL
PERSONS CONCERNED:
You are notified that on October
9, 2014, a petition was filed in this
Court by Regis Von Lintel, executor
named in the First Codicil (dated
September 2, 2010) to the Last Will
and Testament of Cecilia Staab,
deceased, dated March 21, 2003,
requesting the codicil and will filed
with the petition be admitted to
probate and record; petitioner be
appointed as executor, without
bond; and, petitioner be granted
Letters Testamentary.
You are required to file your written
defenses to the petition on or
before November 7, 2014, at 9:00
a.m. in the Ells County District
Court, 1204 Fort Street, Hays,
Kansas 67601, at which time and
place the cause will be heard.
Should you fail to file your written
defenses, judgment and decree
will be entered in due course upon
the petition.
All creditors are notified to exhibit
their demands against the Estate
within the latter of four months
from the date of first publication
of notice under K.S.A. 59-2236
and amendments thereto, or if the
identity of the creditor is known
or reasonably ascertainable, 30
days after actual notice was given
as provided by law, and if their
demands are not thus exhibited,
they shall be forever barred.
/s/ Regis Von Lintel
Petitioner
DON C. STAAB, #5596
1301 Oak Street
Hays, KS 67601
Telephone: 785-628-8517
Facsimile: 785-628-2243
Email: [email protected]
Attorney for Petitioner
(Last published in The Hays Daily
News October 27, 2014)
an abuse of his elected office
and impeachable under our
state constitution.
Finally, there’s Tim Huelskamp, a state embarrassment without equal, pushing
Vern Miller and Phill Kline
far down the totem pole.
He spent his early congressional years writing bills
exempting shoe imports and
certain chemicals from U.S.
tariffs. Who, exactly, was he
representing? Lately, a flurry
of fetus and marriage/religion related propositions,
endless prattle on cable, and
a steady source of fodder
for the comedians. He voted
against farm bills that are
the lifeblood of the small
Kansas towns. He pushed
for a government shutdown
in retribution for congressional refusal to repeal a bill he
didn’t like. It didn’t matter
his constituents in these
small towns — the farmers,
the FSA and USDA employees (almost all Republicans)
— would lose. Again, it was
his ideology that mattered
more than the citizens he
was supposed to represent.
As election day approaches, I ask you to remember these things we have
witnessed with our own eyes.
Don’t vote for a party or an
ideology, but for the good of
our state. Vote for Kansas.
Randall Baughman,
Manhattan
Medicare experiment
If there is one topic
seniors in Kansas can agree
on it has to be the importance of protecting access
to and viability of Medicare
for us 65-plus folks. You and
I paid into and now value
the contract that guarantees
quality health care via an
established federal network.
Hands down, it is the most
valuable and popular federal
program in the country.
Why then did Gov. Sam
Brownback and the state
Legislature feel compelled
to promote a compact with
eight other states to move
Medicare to state-run status,
allowing member states to
set their own health care
policies while using federal
dollars from a block grant?
The Kansas Legislature
approved and the governor
signed the compact proposal
in April. To become law,
Congress must still approve
Kids Go To The Polls
November 4th
Kids Voting Kansas, an affiliate of Kids
voting USA®, was created as a solution
to citizen apathy and poor voter turnout.
Kids Voting sparks a renewed interest in
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they also experience information gathering,
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voting. Students are active participants
in this learning process, discussing and
debating the election in school and at
home.
Kids Voting Kansas, an affiliate of Kids Voting USA®,
began in 1992 in six Kansas communities. The program
now encompasses 55 communities with over 230,000
students.
On election day, kids go to the official polls with a parent or
guardian and “Vote” on the same issues adults do. Results
are reported to the news media just as official results are.
Thanks to our Hays Sponsors
who have made this
program possible here!
that bill, and the president
must sign it.
This move was part of
the governor’s plan to bring
more programs and their
administration into state jurisdiction while claiming federal dollars to support them.
Ask yourself: How well has
the state done in funding its
obligation to public schools
or to state retirees via
KPERS? Why should states
take federal dollars to set up
a new bureaucracy managed by the governor’s own
appointees when the current
federal program has worked
so well for so many?
Here is where you come
in, dear concerned voter.
Remember the popular
outcry when the Affordable Care Act was still in
the planning: “Keep your
hands off my Medicare?”
Ironically, it is the states,
not the federal government,
which have decided to get
their hands on and experiment with our Medicare. If
that plan is worrying, even
infuriating, to you as it is to
me, take your displeasure to
the ballot box and vote all
the “experimenters” out in
November.
A5
Morris. Davis is an honest man with integrity and
is well-respected, as was
Morris, by his peers in the
Legislature.
As you enter that voting booth, ask yourself,
who would you rather have
as your next governor? A
governor who is willing to
ruin his opponent’s reputation just so he can win an
election? Or, an honest man
who will work with both
sides of the aisle in the Legislature and lead Kansas out
of the mess we are in? I will
put my money on the honest
man any day. I hope you will
join me in electing Davis as
our next governor.
Larry Weigel,
Manhattan
Follow the votes
In this Halloween and
election season, I find the
scariest thing lurking in the
shadows is not the ghoul
who wants to get his hand in
our candy bowls. It is Gov.
Sam Brownback who wants
to take over Medicare for
Kansas seniors. Why has this
prospect been absent from
the conversations concernMary B. Schwindt, ing our future as Kansans
Timken under the present administration?
Last season, the Kansas
Legislature passed House
I, for one, will be glad
Bill 2553 which, if given
when the election is over and congressional approval,
we are no longer subjected
would give Kansas the
to the campaign ads every
authority to “suspend by
few minutes on TV.
legislation the operation
I feel an important policy of all federal laws, rules,
is being ignored by all the
regulations and orders
candidates.
regarding health care” and
Life is one of the greatest to take control of all federal
gifts we receive from God.
funds such as those that flow
Gov. Sam Brownback and
directly from Medicare to
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan.,
health care providers in
have both been leaders in
Kansas.
protecting this basic right.
In a letter signed by
Both have been strong
Brownback on April 22 of
advocates that the rights of
this year, he states “Kansas
the unborn are protected.
already has experience with
Remember Brownback was
a successful state level reinstrumental in closing two
form of a federal health-care
of the Planned Parenthood
program. In January 2013,
clinics in Kansas, the biggest Kansas launched a major
abortion provider in the U.S. reform of its Medicaid
system by covering nearly
I feel this is more important then anything else being 400,000 Kansans under
KanCare.” Truly, I know
debated.
Mark H. Leiker, of no health-care provider
Munjor who has had a favorable
experience with KanCare,
especially in regard to reimbursements. Any hospital
Scripture says a man who official throughout Kansas,
bears false witness against
especially from small hospihis neighbor is like a war
tals which have been forced
club, or a sword, or sharp
to struggle under a backarrow. (Proverbs 25: 18)
log of unpaid receivables
Nothing can be so injuri- from Kancare, will tell you
ous to an individual as to
Brownback’s reforms have
harm his good name or
not improved the Medicaid
reputation.
system — they have made
This is what Gov. Sam
it worse. And now he wants
Brownback has done to his
to take over our funding for
opponent Paul Davis by alMedicare?
lowing a cowardly group of
We seniors like our
unnamed Super Pac patrons Medicare, and we don’t
to put up millions of dollars want it tampered with, so
to pay for an inappropriate
let’s stand up for ourselves.
video shown during primeTake a look at the legislatime when young children
tors who voted for this bill.
are watching TV. The video In my district, Marc Kahrs
is repeated hourly.
voted for HB2553, so he will
This ad goes against all
not be getting my vote. And
of the religious principles
Brownback will definitely
Brownback promotes,
not be getting my vote.
including one of the most
Carol Denning,
important commandments
Wichita
of all, “Thou shalt not bear
false witness against thy
neighbor.”
When actual facts were
The ironic and shamemissing from a pieced
ful efforts by the Kansas
together report obtained ille- Department of Children and
gally by a Brownback staffer, Families to spend a week diga script was written to create ging for insignificant irregua distorted and deceptive
larities in the books of Early
storyline, followed by made- Head Start, imposing large
up video graphics of sexual
fines and essentially forcing
scenes in an attempt to lead them to abandon substantial
prospective voters to a false
future funding that would
conclusion about an event
benefit impoverished children
that was totally blown out of is just another of the long list
proportion.
of conservative attacks on
Brownback’s’ below-thechildren’s welfare.
belt video attack boldly
It seems most social
exaggerates and misrepreconservatives will bend over
sents the truth in a manner
backwards to force a woman
that implies the worst about to have a child she doesn’t
his opponent.
want or is unable to care
This is not a new tactic
for properly. But as soon as
by Brownback. He used it
these babies are born, they
against members of his own are “on their own” and left
party who didn’t agree with to fend for themselves.
him on the severe tax cut
If social conservatives reissues that are now coming
ally cared about the life and
home to roost as revenues
welfare of these children,
start to tumble.
and are not just interested in
Former president of the
imposing punitive sanctions
Kansas Senate, and good
on a “sinful” woman, they
friend, Steve Morris was tar- would support programs such
geted in his primary election as Early Head Start and be
with a vicious smear camoutraged by KDCF’s recent
paign that led to his defeat in harassment. When will pro2012. Morris was a member life folks realize the majority
of our Kansas State Uniof beneficiaries of “welfare”
versity Alumni Association
in Kansas are impoverished
Board of Directors when I
mothers with children, and
was the executive director
the availability of these types
in the late 1970s, and is one of public services are often
of the most honest people
a deciding factor in whether
you’ll ever meet.
they choose to abort or keep
Yet he was thrown under
their babies?
Gary Brinker,
the bus by Brownback. Davis
Hays
fits that same category as
Important issues
Slanderous ads repulsive
Shameful attempts