To the editor:

Nothing better illustrates the cruel calculus of hunger economics than the remarks of State Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook in explaining (Journal-World, April 2) why Kansas Republicans continue to reject Medicaid expansion. The federal Affordable Care Act, she said, “creates dependencies” and a “permanent underclass.”

So much for the 182,000 Kansans who fall into the gap that will leave them without expanded Medicaid protection. Too bad if they are needy and disabled. Sen. Pilcher-Cook, R-Shawnee, no doubt wants them to go out and get a job. No matter that those at the bottom of the economic ladder lead desperate lives a step removed from homelessness.   

Yes, the poorest of our state’s poor will probably find ways to muddle through. But our mean-spirited right-wing zealots should not be surprised if the means involve prostitution, burglary and anti-social acts that, in the end, will cost our society dearly. This is no longer the sensible Kansas of our ancestors.