To the editor:

I keep blaming Sam Brownback when he does whatever he can to hurt the middle class working people, but when I read about his first wanting the $31.5 million insurance money and then, right after a meeting of the Koch-sponsored American Legislative Exchange Council, turning it down, it’s obvious I am blaming the wrong person or people.

Sam Brownback and our state and federal representatives like Lynn Jenkins and Kevin Yoder are simply puppets paid for and managed by the Republican corporate campaign funders. Perhaps we citizens should create a committee to approach the Koch brothers and ask them kindly if we could express our point of view and describe our needs and see if we might meet somewhere in the middle. Or maybe it’s time for Kansans to stand up and make our votes count and tell the Koch brothers, “Thank you, but we don’t need your guidance.”

I don’t care if you’re a Republican or Democrat, but vote for people who will vote for you, who have the guts to resist the corporate rulers. The Kansas people I know are not stupid and we need to vote for people like Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, who had the courage to stand up and tell Brownback he was wrong when he rejected the money that would help “the least of these.”

Our participation in the 2012 election for state and federal representatives needs to send a message to Sam Brownback that we do have a mind of our own, and we don’t need or want a dictator even if he is managed by someone else.