To the editor:

It’s not easy being a Republican these days.  In the Congress, Speaker Boehner has made clear that Obama’s final three years will be just like those we’ve endured since the tea party triumph of 2010, with the GOP interested only in obstruction. Senate Republicans will try to follow suit. In other words, the responsibility of the Congress to govern will continue to go unfulfilled.

Certain priorities will of course be addressed by the House: repealing Obamacare, pumping up agriculture subsidies while eviscerating food stamps, approving deep cuts in any government function seen as inhibiting business — even if none of those measures has a chance of becoming law. And there will be another round or two of phony fiscal crises pegged to the debt limit. No tax reform, no immigration reform, certainly no gun control — and on and on.

Then there are our Kansas Republicans, determined to lift all boats by cutting (income) taxes on the wealthy and increasing the (sales tax) burden on the middle class and poor. Kris Kobach’s unseemly campaign against immigrants and his continuing efforts to “cage” votes by making it harder for poor people to cast their ballots. The Legislature, beholden to ALEC and its corporate backers, tightening still further restrictions on abortion rights, mandating “concealed carry” in public buildings and treating education funding as an unnecessary luxury. 

I have been a Republican since before the youngsters now running the state GOP were born but, right now, I have to admit it is hard to wear that label.