Welcome to Kansas, Pat and Sarah !

Headline: Sarah Palin to appear at pancake breakfast with Pat Roberts in Independence, Kansas
Note of welcome to the state from the TTFFIATT(IAT):

So happy that you and Mrs. Palin are visiting Independence! I have made a Google map that highlights some things you two can look at. I've marked a car dealership that employs local people selling cars built in America. Remember how you wanted to all those people to lose their jobs? Then swing by the hospital where people who can now afford health insurance go when they are sick or injured. I have also marked the location of one of the cemeteries will people will end up if you "repeal and replace" Obamacare. I realize that deaths from treatable disease will never affect you or Mrs. Palin, so maybe you should go take a look at the graveyard. I've shown on the map a block in a "working class" neighborhood, just in case you never see these in Virginia. The people here are much less likely to be unemployed, now that that the GOP is no longer in the White House. Also, many of these people have 401k retirement plans that are in good shape now (remember how you railed against the "failed stimulus"). The citizens of Independence, Mrs. Palin, and you have all benefited from the huge increase in the Dow-Jones, so drop on by the stock brokers and check your portfolios. Sen. Roberts, enjoy your visit to Kansas. https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0...

Hey, State of Kansas, send me some information

The State of Kansas is one of the stingy states that has decided not to expand Medicaid to cover those citizens who do not qualify for subsidies under "Obamacare"; you know, one of the states that has an excuse to let citizens of low to moderate means get sick and then die.
We here at the Think Tank have written the following letter/Open records request to agencies in Topeka as small reminder to those in charge that we have noticed what they have done. A tiny reminder that they have publicly displayed their disregard for certain groups of potential voters.
Letters have gone to the Governor, the Department of Revenue, the Insurance Commissioner, and the Secretary of State.

Sir:

I am requesting information under the Open Records Act. There are citizens of the State of  Kansans who, because of their income level, fall into a health care dark zone. They make too much money for Medicaid in the State of Kansas but, they are too poor to receive subsidies to help pay for private insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

Please send me list of all Kansans who do not qualify for Kancare and make less than 138% of the poverty line. Include their addresses and phone numbers so that I can contact these people and point out that elected officials in Topeka are deliberately making their lives more difficult. I will also make sure they know that they have the right to register to vote and elect officials who do not hate citizens who make less than 138% of the poverty line.

Thank  you.

Sincerely,

AB Campbell

I expect to get letters of denial but maybe I'll get audited, or maybe my voter status will be revoked, or maybe I'll get a speeding ticket whenever I leave the house. Such occurrences would only confirm what the refusal to expand Medicaid has shown us; the government of Kansas hates the citizens of Kansas.

I Would Rather Talk About Obamacare, Thank You

My latest letter designed to annoy the Foxwatchers who also read the Hays Daily News.

A co-worker told me that Obamacare is “messing up the country”, I replied that making health care available to more of our fellow citizens is actually “fixing up the country”. I was struck by how nice it is that we were discussing the minutia of the insurance industry, as opposed to subjects that concerned us in the near-recent past.
It has been some time since we analyzed the plummeting Dow-Jones index. We no longer have to discuss the body bags returning from Iraq. Despite the wishes of some of our Senators, we do not currently have to talk about body bags returning from Iran or Syria. This is undeniably a good thing for everyone.
Most people would rather have our most pressing issue be health insurance rates; as opposed to when we were concerned with collapsing buildings and the resulting thousands of casualties. We should be happy that we no longer have to talk about the economy shedding thousands of jobs each month.
Given the alternative topics from recent history, I am glad to discuss the changes taking place in our health care system; changes which will make health care better. Recent newspaper coverage leads me to believe the Hays Medical Center shares my outlook concerning the future of American health care, as they expand buildings and services. I am glad Senator Moran was in town to see this optimism first hand.


Published Dec 15, 2013

We Need Representation

The following letter was published in the Hays Daily News, another in a series of letters wherein the Think Tank For Freedom in America to Think (In A Tank) tells the world how to behave. We suggested the headline, Damn, Tim Huelskamp Sure Does Suck, but the newspaper had their own ideas.

The agreement ending the recent government shutdown included a provision that a conference committee will meet to work out a budget, based on the differing budget bills passed in each of the houses of Congress. This is the process described in the Constitution, which differs from the recent practice of passing Continuing Resolutions that just extend an old budget bill. This House/Senate committee should produce a bill that work to satisfy the citizen’s needs and concerns (national debt,  economic growth, individual liberties, etc., etc. etc.). This important budget bill will then be voted upon by the entire Congress, including our Representative in the House, Tim Huelskamp.
Tim’s voting history and public pronouncements tell us that no budget will be austere enough, no budget will cut your Social Security enough, no budget will close national monuments enough. His input will be neither sought nor considered, because everyone knows Congressman Huelskamp will vote “NO”. That means that we, the voters of the 1st District of Kansas, will not be represented in this budget process; just as we are no longer represented in the House Agriculture Committee.
We don’t like it when drug peddlers are in the Sheriff’s Office, we would not want an arsonist running the Fire Department, and we would not select an atheist to be our parish priest. So why did we elect a person who dislikes government and is a person who believes the “government is the problem”? Should we be surprised that Washington has problems when we sent a government-hater to help run the place?
Let’s send someone who believes government can work for us and will endeavor to make sure government will work for us; as opposed to sending someone who believes in obstruction, destruction, and vandalism.
No word yet from any of Rep. Tim's many offices.
This letter points out a problem, but does not lay out any possible solutions. Who could better represent us in the House of Representatives? I don't know.
In this respect, I am similar to the GOP, with their "Repeal and Replace" suggestion for health care. Replace Obamacare with what? We don't know.

Senator, You Got Out-Voted

The Hays Daily News, March 20, included a letter from Sen. Pat Roberts lamenting Friday’s second anniversary of the passage of Obamacare. One of the reasons he is working to repeal health care reform is that “the law…increases premiums for families by $2,100 a year.” I wondered, “Where does that figure come from?”
A quick search showed that same statement had also been made by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Sen. Mike Enzi, Sen. Mike Johans, and Sen. Orrin Hatch. They reference a letter from the Congressional Budget Office to Sen. Evan Bayh written when the Affordable Care Act was being debated.  “Buried deep” on Page 5 is a table that indeed shows some family premiums going up; but only for a certain kind of family.
The Expected Premium Increase Before Accounting for Subsidies for a non-group family is listed as +10 to 13%.  This is where the $2,100 figure comes from. However, the CBO expects this to be only about 17% of the public. These would be the people who can not get insurance through an employer. Most of us would be the Small Group, less than 50 employees (premiums +1 to -2%) or the Large Group, more than 50 employees (premiums 0 to -3%).  The Senators are quoting a figure relating to one piece of the puzzle and telling us that this represents the whole puzzle.
Those figures come from the line labeled “Before Accounting for Subsidies”; you see, Obamacare will give those non-group families a subsidy to help pay for health insurance, if their income is less than 400% of the poverty line (this would effect families making less than $92,200 per year). After Accounting for Subsidies most of those families Sen. Roberts claimed would be getting hit with an increase of $2,100 will actually see a substantial premium reduction (-56 to -59%). I’m surprised Sen. Roberts didn’t see this figure; it is on the very next line.
Senator Roberts, two years ago you and your GOP colleagues argued in Congress to ration health care according to the patient’s wealth and to continue putting insurance company profits ahead of the customer’s health. You got out-voted.