To the editor:
On Sept. 26, a caravan of vehicles paraded past the Veterans Park shelter making disruptive noise for U.S. Senate candidate Barbara Bollier’s presentation to voters. Bollier responded by saying the caravan’s right to protest was a great part of living in America and that she absolutely supported that right. It was a gracious and considerate response and reflected well on our Kansas heritage of common decency.
On March 31, Wichita Mayor Brandon Wipple was participating in his monthly “Call the Mayor” program soliciting input from Wichita residents about Wichita issues. U.S. Senate candidate Roger Marshall called in declaring that U.S. House Democrats were holding all of America hostage and that hundreds of Americans had died while being kept hostage. When the mayor pointed out the program was not a political infomercial for Marshall and that Marshall had made no mention of such claims to the Mayor when they met two weeks earlier, Marshall replied, “Who’s interrupting me?” “I wasn’t expecting to be blindsided.”
On June 6, 2017, the majority of Republican Kansas Senators voted to end the Brownback radical income tax cut and the fiscal train wreck of debt and lost services that it left behind. Bollier was one of those who demonstrated that always benefiting those of us with the most money is not the right answer.
On Dec. 20, 2017, Marshall voted in the U.S. House to pass the 2017 federal tax cut which increased our federal debt by $1.5 trillion and routed 65% of the benefit to those of us in the top 20% of income.
On July 19, 2018, political party bosses removed Bollier from her Senate committee leadership position because she declared it was possible for someone not of her party to be the best candidate for office. She took an action even though it cost her politically.
Marshall has boasted that only 2% of his votes have been made without the prior approval of the President. He saw this boast as a political benefit in his primary election.
Bollier has stated she would protect Social Security from cuts. Groups that study Social Security say this means the Social Security tax exemption of annual income above $137,700 must end. The Biden proposal would leave income between $137,700 and $400,000 untaxed, but tax income above $400,000.
After four years in Congress, Marshall has done nothing to preserve Social Security. With millennials feeling behind on retirement savings, Marshall has stated anyone younger than 55 years old should count on receiving less than the current benefit level that many seniors are barely getting by with.
Bollier has held office in both political parties. She has stated her goal is to unite Kansans, saying, “We absolutely can and must work together.”
Rather than produce a bipartisan bill, Marshall voted for a House agricultural bill with a poison pill for Democrats of an increased work requirement for SNAP benefits. Senator Pat Roberts, who knows how to actually pass an agricultural bill, built and enacted the bipartisan bill that now serves Kansas farmers.
John Sturn
Ellinwood
