Mitt Romney says he's not concerned about the poor? Who would have thought that? What has he ever done to make you think he did? Neither is he worried about the wealthy. That's not surprising, either. The modern Republican's programs have always been more favorable to the perpetuation of wealth and its power.

Both major political parties receive a major portion of their campaign finances from the wealthy. But, statistical analysis show the Democrats have a higher percentage of contributions from grass roots supporters. Both parties have some very wealthy members. Both parties have some scoundrels and both parties have some very good leaders. Bottom line -- -- Vote for the individual. But, if you're not sure about individuals, my opinion is to take a chance on the Democrat. I'm a conservative liberal Democrat. Now you figure out what that means.

COLBY, Kan. - Let's take another look at some information that Bob Hooper presented in his article. Some people don't agree with or believe those statistics. But then, I've known some people who would swear on a stack of Bibles that up is down and down is up. Reality is beyond the realm of their existence.

Incidentally, the richest 400 gained 12 percent. from 2010 to 2011. Since 2006, their net worth increased by $250 billion, about 17 percent. On the other hand, "Over the past five years Americans, on average, have seen no disposable income growth if you adjust for population and inflation. This also explains why they're spending like it's 2006 -- because they don't have more money to spend. No wonder the recovery continues to feel like a recession: that's an awfully long time to go without a raise."

COLBY, Kan. - What is your opinion of the promise to rush into Cuba, as soon as Castro 'kicks the bucket', and establish a democracy? I guess the leading Republican contenders for the presidency don't realize the failure of establishing democracy, U.S. style, in Vietnam and Iraq.

I'm not an expert on the state of the Cuban people, but it seems to me they are better off under Castro's rule than they were under the U.S. backed dictator that Castro overthrew. This, in spite of the embargo and isolationism imposed on Cuba by the U.S.

Perhaps we should let the Cuban people decide their own political system. It appears that some Eastern European countries were fairly successful in establishing themselves, after the fall of the U.S.S.R., without direct interference or aid from the U.S.

COLBY, Kan. - I missed the first part of the President's address. GrannyP recorded it and I'll listen to it in the morning. The last portion of his speech, that I got to listen to, seemed to clearly address the state of the union and the political disparities we face. He addressed some issues that we need to resolve and gave his directions he wanted to go.

COLBY, Kan. - The following is a little snip taken from a Kansas City Star article:

"The Revenue Department's analysis of the Brownback plan examined income tax data from 2009 and breaks down taxpayers into six income brackets. The only bracket with a tax increase ranges from zero up to $25,000.

"That group, made up of 564,328 tax filers, would pay $88.2 million more in taxes under the governor's tax plan. Meanwhile, the highest income bracket making $250,000 a year would pay $110 million less in taxes."

I don't have the resources at my finger tips to validate these figures. But, I've learned that tax reform reflects an advantage for those proposing the reform. Most of Gov. Brownback's agenda is benefiting the upper crust far more than the the hard tack biscuit eaters in the lower income brackets.

COLBY, Kan. - I copied the following from an email I received.

Dear Kansas MoveOn member,

You might be surprised to hear that Mike O'Neal, the Republican Speaker of the Kansas State House of Representatives, is praying for President Obama.

Unfortunately, he's praying for the President's death. And he's exploiting the Bible to do so, circulating an email that cites Psalm 109: "Let his days be few; and let another take his office. May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow."

Sadly, it's not unusual for Republican politicians to use vile and hate-filled rhetoric when speaking about President Obama. But when they exploit religion to do so, people of faith have a moral responsibility to condemn it...

That's why I created a petition to Speaker O'Neal on SignOn.org, which says...

COLBY, Kan. - Kansas Free Press is a little more active than its mother media site, Everyday Citizen. The publisher's original intention, I believe, was to allow Kansans to put more local concerns and opinions up for discussion on this site.

I've been around a lot of years, all in Kansas, and I have been made aware of issues and events that I was not aware of, until I read it here. The comment section is certainly not limited to Kansans.

The comments, quite often, are much more detailed and revealing than the original articles. That is good. Most of us regular writers are hoping to get a dialogue going to help people become more involved in society's everyday happenings. Some visitors might think we, the writers, are all cheerleaders praising ourselves. But as you'll discover, we sometimes get into some pretty heated debates amongst ourselves.

COLBY, Kan. - 'Tis the season! What's the season? It's the season that motivates all the arguments about proper salutations. It's the season that merchants hope to make up for the slow economy of the past seasons and years. It's the season that some hope to reclaim their dominance in setting agendas and controlling the content of programs to celebrate the season. It's the season that mental and social professionals tell us more people suffer depression than at any other time in the year. (How sad that is!) All the bitter battles over whether it's 'Merry Christmas' or 'Happy Holiday', a 'Christmas Tree' or a 'Holiday Tree,' whether any particular group has absolute ownership of a particular day, whether we'll sing my choice of songs or your choice of songs, or all the other battles that rage on don't benefit any of us.

COLBY, Kan. - For the most part, we are a group of liberal leaning free thinkers and progressive minded individuals who enjoy sharing our opinions and experiences with one another and visitors to our site. I don't believe any of us think we have all the answers to society's problems.

We, the citizen journalists who write at Kansas Free Press, welcome comments from all, friend or foe, as long as they are not laced with foul language or abusive criticism. One visitor referred to our content as "common with older Everyday Citizen blogs." I'm not sure what 'old' for Internet media is, but Everyday Citizen (EC) and Kansas Free Press (KFP) have not been around very many years.

COLBY, Kan. - If readers go back and read Bob Hooper's A Message from the SEA Party, they'll find these snippets in Hooper's article: "Then with a wide grin, 'You think the millionaire ought to pay more taxes than the bus driver ... or less?' A thunderous 'MORE!' from the crowd... It's Obama and his class war .... W-w-w-wait. You're shaking your head. Not Oba..? Wha... Reagan? Reagan, a Marxist economic justice'er? Well, indeed. It was Ronald Reagan. He was speaking at Northside HIgh School in Atlanta on June 6, 1985, shortly after starting his second term."

And then a little snippet from an anonymous commenter named Jonathan in reply to Hooper's article, " ...take your anti-capitalism message and go home - before somebody gets killed."

I say, "Jonathan, did you forget that the 'great communicator' was a Republican capitalist? He apparently didn't hear or interpret the thunderous response of the crowd. Instead, he came up with his famous 'trickle down theory'. How did that work for you, or anyone else reading here in Kansas Free Press?"