The essence of good government is trust.
From 1965 to 1967, my dad, Jack Gilligan, served in Congress and helped pass landmark laws like the Voting Rights Act.
There's a digital revolution taking place both in and out of government in favor of open-sourced data, innovation, and collaboration.
But the dollars spent on economic incentives and new investment strategies are wasted unless we seriously address the two most important economic issues in Kansas: education and health care.
I've spent my career fighting the worst practices of insurance companies.
I'm a former insurance regulator. What companies really want and need is some clarity about what the rules are.
If you're self-employed, between jobs, or can't get insurance through work, you'll have access to affordable health insurance as good as Congressman Paul Ryan's.
There are people in this country who have waited for decades for affordable health coverage for themselves and their families.
General Motors spends more on health care than steel.
The premium tax credit that is in the Obama plan is exactly that - it is a tax credit, and it isn't cash. It is a discount on the amount that you pay for an individual policy based on your family size and your income.
In many ways, human health is the great global connector.
Insurance companies can no longer refuse to cover Americans with pre-existing conditions.
The men and women who serve this great nation, whether they are stationed in Iraq, Fort Riley, or the Korean Peninsula, or they serve us at home as our community first responders, serve because they believe in America.
The Democratic plan in the 'Affordable Care Act' has, I would say, more government support, more government regulation around trying to protect the finances of individuals, trying to protect people who had pre-existing conditions, making sure that they could actually be in an insurance market and not set off to the side.
Although black and white Americans live, work, and learn together now, there is still injustice in America.
A healthy state encourages many voices - and lots of listening.
But wishing our Kansas soldiers 'God speed' is not enough. We need to comfort, care for, and protect their families. And we should ease the financial burdens that these families often face.
I believe we all agree that, for the health of Kansas, nothing is more important than education.
If your voices are not heard, you can be sure that many others will be - in particular those who are paid to present a point of view, and often do it most effectively.
We have by far the most expensive health system in the world. We spend 50 percent more per person than the next most costly nation. Americans spend more on health care than housing or food.
