Church fundraising, good medical care, Medicaid expansion

In attending a church meeting recently to discuss fundraising for a new sanctuary, I made a decision not to contribute or join the church, the reason being the message.

Can you believe they want to raise and spend $90 million on a new site when the current facility is wonderful (3-9, A1, “Leawood megachurch eyes a $90 million overhaul”)? Just think how much the poor and needy could benefit from this money being spent on them rather than feeding the egos of the church and its parishioners.

A sermon was given about a struggling woman just making it day to day and having no money to contribute to the building fund. Rather than showing empathy and helping her, the minister suggested she give up her coffee a couple days a week and give that savings to the fund.

Can you imagine how selfish a statement that was? Instead of the church meeting the needs of the poor, the poor are expected to meet the needs of the church.

Instead of building a structure for people to gather and worship in a small community where a church already exists, the church should be going out and gathering and helping people who can’t afford a cup of coffee.

Until Pete Rose is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Ty Cobb and Rose with more than 4,000 hits stand alone in the game, no matter how troublesome they were.

I recently received a letter in the mail from our family-practice doctor, who is a little worried about the mild anemia detected by my blood test.

“Your B-12 level was in the lower range of normal,” he wrote. “Please get vitamin B-12 1,000 mcg (over the counter) and take one daily.

“After you have been on this a couple of months, I would like to recheck your blood work. I have enclosed an order.”

Republicans such as Mitt Romney tell us poor folks don’t need health insurance. They can always go to an emergency room.

Sadly, not only does the emergency room cost the public far more, but people never get year after year of care from a physician who deeply knows the patient.

Just now I get excellent service not only from our family doctor of 25 years but also from the Veterans Affairs Hospital cardiology.

I’m grateful for both Medicare and Obamacare for those who need it.

Steve Anderson is obviously a shill for Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, so it is not surprising that his March 12 column opposing Kansas’ participation in Medicaid expansion, “The cost of Medicaid expansion,” complained only about the cost of expanding Medicaid but failed to address the costs, both human and monetary, of leaving thousands of lower-income Kansans uninsured.

After noting the shortcomings in the provision of medical care for current Medicaid recipients, rather than offering suggestions for improvement of the existing Medicaid program, Anderson simply argued that we cannot afford to provide medical care to the less fortunate in our state.

Unfortunately, this let-them-eat-cake contempt for lower-income citizens has become a hallmark of the Republican Party and the Brownback administration in particular.

Does Mr. Anderson want a Kansas where poor folks just get sick and die because it costs us too much to get basic medical care? The financial cost he calculated for the next decade is less than the tax windfall bestowed upon lawyers, doctors, accountants and other professionals by last year’s cut of our income taxes.

The Kansas electricity monopoly, Westar, has recently had two bills introduced in the Kansas House and Senate: HB 2458 and SB 280. These bills are designed to reduce the incentives for Kansans to generate electricity by changing net metering guidelines and strapping customer-generators with a monthly fee.

U.S. residential photovoltaic solar installations have had a compounded annual growth rate of 51 percent since 2005. Yet, in the beginning of 2013, of 690,000 customers, Westar had only 102 clean-energy, net-metered customer-generators. Why?

The answer: Kansas has among the fewest incentives to invest in renewable energy of all 50 states. HB 2458 and SB 280 would ensure even fewer.

The 51 percent growth rate of solar in the U.S. speaks of job opportunities lost in Kansas. In 2012, while the rest of the economy had job growth of 2.3 percent, solar-energy jobs grew 13.2 percent. Kansas missed out on that rate. This legislation ensures more job opportunity loss.

Stifling the initiative of Kansas families to contribute to our energy needs, and stifling the creation of clean-energy jobs, does not contribute to the Kansas renaissance of our dreams.

Contact Kansas legislators today. Tell them to vote no on HB 2458 and SB 280.

On the farm bill passed last month, Sen. Jerry Moran helped push through an amendment giving alfalfa consideration for crop insurance. Now why would he do that?

Alfalfa is a key crop, and producers need an incentive to plant more. Really? I thought the market should determine the incentive. Let’s keep government out of our business. After all, Moran is from red Kansas.

Here is just another example of government providing another trough for the farmer to belly up to.

One other point to clear the record, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is dismissive of the farm bill regarding country-of-origin labeling. But the independent cattle producers organization and about 20 other farm organizations have been for country-of-origin labeling even before it was “cool.”

So the shoulder-to-shoulder reference is offensive, I’m sure, to those organizations, and is not true.

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that an owner of a company that provides health insurance for its employees is a devout member of a church that forbids blood transfusions. Or, I am employed by a company that for religious reasons considers porcine animals unclean.

Will I be denied drugs that have been developed using these animals or denied a blood transfusion because these medical procedures conflict with their religious beliefs?

I am hopeful that our courts and judges will make decisions that make our country free and just for everyone and not for special interests, however powerful they may be.

It is quite a privilege to live in our great country and to be able to express our opinions without fear of redress.

There is no doubt in my mind that Kansas City International Airport needs to be redone.

I cannot imagine what people say when they land at this airport.

It is ugly and dingy, and if you’re stuck there, it’s the most boring airport in the world.

On my recent flight, I was struck by the fact that when I got off the plane in Kansas City, there was nothing to direct people where to go to get into the main part of the airport and no one to tell people where their luggage could be found.

Another thing I have never seen at any other airport is restrooms that are separated. If you get off the plane and need a bathroom, you might see a men’s restroom but you might have to walk a bit to find a women’s restroom.

That is just weird.

We need a modern airport that gives people a good first impression when they fly into Kansas City.

I have been in many different airports, and I think the convenience factor at KCI is overrated. Other airports I have been to are just as convenient.

There are so many really good comics, I don’t understand why “WuMo” was selected.

Please rethink it.

I am also concerned that comics used to be for a parent to read to a child.

Not any more.

And why is cussing needed to express otherwise good humor?

This story was originally published March 15, 2014 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Church fundraising, good medical care, Medicaid expansion."