Commentary

Dear Friend, Imagine working 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, and being expected to be right 100 percent of the time. Not 99.9 percent of the time — 100 percent of the time. You don’t get to choose which days you work, and that means you’re working a lot of Saturdays and Sundays…

Dear Friend, Raising cattle sounds mighty easy until you get kicked in the gut by a thousand-pound steer. I raised cattle for a lot of years — some good, and some bad. Long enough to know that if you’re looking for a quick, easy buck, you’d best go looking elsewhere. Like everyone else who’s done…

Dear Friend, For a 10th time, Senator Schumer and his caucus voted again to keep the government shut down, not pay our troops and deny our seniors the Medicare telehealth benefits they’ve earned. Meanwhile, leftwing radicals will host protests this weekend to praise them for “standing up” to President Trump. The only problem is, they…

Dear Friend, “Every day gets better for us.” That is the offensive comment that Senator Chuck Schumer had to say when he was asked about his government shutdown. “Every day gets better for us.” Who does he mean by “us?” Does he mean the thousands of air traffic controllers, Border Patrol agents, and other essential…

Dear Friend, At 12 a.m. on Oct. 1, the government shut down. It didn’t have to happen. House Republicans already passed a bill to keep the government open. There were no gimmicks and no partisan politics involved; just a straightforward, clean bill that ensured our troops and border patrol agents get paid and the government…

Dear Friend, Rural hospitals are a lifeline for our communities. In many cases, not traveling an extra distance after an accident can make the difference between life and death. Yet, their survival, and rural medicine in general, has been in jeopardy. I’ve been fighting for many years to ensure they survive, but that shouldn’t be…

Dear Friend, Most have probably seen the horrific video or images of Iryna Zarutska, who was savagely murdered while riding the train last month in Charlotte. The man who stabbed her was charged with first-degree murder this week. It’s a stark reminder that being soft on crime simply does not work. It’s also a reminder…

Dear Friend, North Missouri spans a lot of miles. You don’t have go far to find transportation issues that need fixing. That might be a lettered route in Adair County or traffic snarls in the Northland of Kansas City. As the chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, it has been my priority to not…

Dear Friend, “When disaster strikes…FEMA just gets in the way.” That’s not actually how that phrase is supposed to go, but all too often, that’s the story I hear. Folks expect that when disaster strikes — whether it be a flood, tornado, hurricane, wildfire or something else — the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will…

Dear Friend, Last week, I discussed the service medals my office was able to recover for a northwest Missouri veteran’s family. Over the years, I’ve had the honor of doing that many times. One of the great joys of representing you is helping when the federal bureaucracy isn’t getting the job done. A lot of…