September was a rough month for President Obama in Kansas, judging from the latest SurveyUSA poll co-sponsored by KWCH, Channel 12. Only 39 percent of Kansans surveyed approve of the job he’s doing, down six percentage points in a month and down 23 points since he took office. The month ended with approval ratings for Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback slipping a few percentage points to 54 and 48 percent, respectively. Gov. Mark Parkinson saw his approval number rise four points to 53 percent, the highest in his five months in office.
Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger continues to advocate for a federal mandate that people have health insurance, in part because she sees it as the only way to stop companies from excluding coverage based on pre-existing conditions. “If we don’t require people to buy coverage, then they will just wait until they need it and then they can’t be excluded, and it will just drive up the cost for everybody,” Praeger said in Lawrence, adding that “you can’t buy homeowners’ insurance after your home is on fire.”
For years, Democrats wrongly portrayed GOP proposals to curb the growth of Medicare as attempts to kick medicine out of Granny’s hand. Now the roles have reversed, and Republicans are falsely accusing Democrats of cutting Medicare benefits as part of the health care reform proposals. Some may cheer this role reversal as “turnabout is fair play.” But it shows how both parties are willing to scare seniors in order to score political points. No wonder it is so difficult to reform entitlement programs.
– “In hindsight, thank goodness that I lost. My life would have been incredibly different.” — Gov. Mark Parkinson, reflecting on losing his first legislative race by 36 votes in 1978 when he was a junior at Wichita State University
– “Apple pie doesn’t get that.” — Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., speaking in Hesston, about a Gallup Poll showing that 80 percent are satisfied with the quality of their health care
– “Yo Westboro Baptist Church! I’m happy for you and Imma let you finish, but Adolf Hitler was the best anti-Semite of all time!” — A sign (inspired by Kanye West) countering the Topeka church’s recent protests outside Brooklyn synagogues
– “If everybody in this country didn’t smoke, ate right and exercised, we would have plenty of money to cover health care in this country.” — Former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, while at KU to accept the 2009 Dole Leadership Prize
