HB2130, a measure that would stop unions from automatically deducting political contributions from members, passed on a 75-46 vote, but not without union thugs in the galley attempting to stop the vote from happening. Video of the incident can be seen here.

After union members attempted to stop the vote through blunt intimidation, they were escorted out under Kansas Highway Troopers supervision. So much for improving the public discourse, right?

14 Republicans voted with the unions. You can see everyone’s vote here.

As members entered the chamber, female legislators reported being called derogatory names by union thugs. And the Wichita Eagle is reporting a union boss told everyone to be quiet until HB2130 came up for a vote, and then they could, “…do whatever you want.”

Absolutely disgusting behavior Kansas voters will continue to reject.

And will an un-elected Democrat Secretary of State give Republican candidates the run around?

State Representative Bill Light

State Representative Bill Light withdrew his candidacy for re-election to the Kansas House May 12. Light was facing a strong conservative challenge in the August primary by Dan Widder of Ulysses.

In a Hutchinson News article, Light claimed that his retirement had nothing to do with his conservative challenger, even claiming that he didn’t know Widder. However, the article notes that Light filed for re-election in January and told the Hutchinson News in November that he liked to file in January before the start of a legislative session, “so that all will know my intentions.”

When contacted, Widder stated that he had attended a legislative coffee a few weeks ago where he questioned Light about the upcoming budget debate. While he didn’t disclose his planned challenge to Light, he said that Light certainly knew who he was.

So apparently something happened during this legislative session that changed Light’s mind about serving another term. That something, I believe, is Light’s realization that voting for a massive tax increase and facing a serious conservative challenger meant his chances at winning another term were little to none.

When asked about Light’s withdraw, Widder reiterated that it changed nothing as far as he is concerned.

“I don’t plan to do anything differently,” Widder stated.

In his bid to be placed on the ballot, Widder and campaign volunteers collected the signatures of more than 175 registered Republicans in his district. Widder stated that he contacted the Kansas Secretary of State’s office prior to beginning to collect signatures and asked what the procedures were for being placed on the ballot via petition. Widder’s campaign then collected the signatures and submitted them to the Sec. of State’s office.

However the Sec. of State rejected the petitions stating that they needed to be signed by the volunteers that collected the signatures, according to Widder. So he directed all volunteers that collected signatures to sign the petition and resubmitted it to the Sec. of State’s office.

Once again, Widder said, the petition was rejected. This time another contact in the Sec. of State’s office said that each page of the petition needed to be signed on the back with the volunteer that collected those signatures. Widder stated that he simply put all the signatures together into one petition and had all volunteers sign together. Further, the Sec. of State’s office claimed that volunteers should have only signed and dated the petition after collecting all of the signatures. Due to time constraints and lack of communication with the Sec. of State’s office, Widder elected to file by fee.

Widder claimed that he made numerous phone calls to the Sec. of State’s office before beginning to collect signatures and at no time did anyone detail to him that volunteers must sign the back of each petition page they collected. Widder said each time he called he seemed to get a different reason why he couldn’t file via petition.

The Sec. of State’s office is currently being held by un-elected Democrat Chris Biggs. Biggs is one of five Democrats holding statewide office that were not elected but rather appointed by either former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius or current Gov. Mark Parkinson. Both Sebelius and Parkinson appointed only Democrats, regardless of the party affiliation of the previous office holder.

And as this Kansas Liberty article notes, Bigg’s appointment also means that the state’s three person canvassing board is now held entirely by unelected Democrats. The board is tasked with verifying the state’s election results.

The 124th House district may be a template for the rest of the state and a significant sign of how the August elections may pan out. Gov. Parkinson and other Democrats claim that they will be rewarded for raising taxes on Kansas families, but Light’s withdraw seems to indicate that liberal Democrats and Republicans know otherwise.

Democrat Dennis Moore also withdrew for re-election this year after voting in favor of national health care and multiple bailouts. The two situations are eerily similar.

Raj Goyle, D-Wichita

Only two House Democrats voted against the massive budget bill in the House yesterday, one that will require the largest tax increase in Kansas history. One was Patrick Maloney of Kingman. He replaced Dennis McKinney, who is one of many Democrats to be appointed to a statewide seat. The other was Raj Goyle of Wichita.

Goyle is a former ACLU attorney and liberal member of the Kansas House. Goyle is running for Congress in the fourth congressional district around Wichita, and just recently was the only House Democrat who voted to end the corporate income tax in Kansas. This vote was very out of character for him, and this weekend’s budget vote was even more strange.

Goyle has a measly 9% rating with APF-Kansas for the 2009 legislative session.

Could it be that Goyle is now voting how he knows the voters in Wichita want him to vote, just so he can get elected to Congress and then later vote however he wants, a la Dennis Moore?

Nahhh, that’d never happen.

The study concluded that a sales tax increase would cost private sector employment, but would fuel government jobs, thus saving close to 2,000 in the first year. The study confirmed a January study by Dr. Art Hall of the University of Kansas who ran a 6 year projection of over 26,000 private sector lost jobs. Monday’s study by Dr. John Wong of WSU only made one year projections.

Monday’s study received significant media coverage because of it’s pro-tax sympathies, while Hall’s January study received little attention.

Read more at:

• Studies Agree: A Sales Tax Increase Kills Jobs
• Who’s Really Behind Pro-Sales Tax Study
• Opposition blasts Wong report stating increase in taxes better than budget cuts

INTRODUCTION OF ORIGINAL MOTIONS
Having voted on the prevailing side, Rep. Peck moved, pursuant to House Rule 2303, that the House reconsider its adverse action on HCR 5032 in not adopting the resolution under that order of business, Final Action on Bills and Concurrent Resolutions (see HJ, page 1226). Roll call was demanded.

On roll call, the vote was: Yeas 75; Nays 47; Present but not voting: 0; Absent or not voting: 3.

Yeas: Aurand, Bethell, Bowers, Brookens, A. Brown, Brunk, Burgess, Carlson, Craft, Crum, DeGraaf, Donohoe, Faber, D. Gatewood, George, Goico, Gordon, Grange, Hayzlett, Hermanson, Hineman, C. Holmes, M. Holmes, Horst, Huebert, Jack, Kelley, Kerschen, Kiegerl, King, Kinzer, Kleeb, Knox, Landwehr, Light, Lukert, Maloney, Mast, McLeland, Meier, Merrick, Morrison, Moxley, Myers, O’Brien, O’Neal, Olson, Otto, Palmer, Patton, Pauls, Peck, Pottorff, Powell, Prescott, Proehl, Rhoades, Schroeder, Schwab, Schwartz, Seiwert, Shultz, Siegfreid, Spalding, Suellentrop, Swanson, Tafanelli, Vickrey, Wetta, Whitham, Williams, B. Wolf, K. Wolf, Worley, Yoder.

Nays: Ballard, Barnes, Benlon, Bollier, T. Brown, Burroughs, Carlin, Colloton, Crow, Davis, Dillmore, Feuerborn, Finney, Flaharty, Frownfelter, Furtado, Garcia, S. Gatewood, Goyle, Grant, Hawk, Henderson, Henry, Hill, Kuether, Lane, Loganbill, Long, Mah, McCray-Miller, Menghini, Neighbor, Peterson, Phelps, Quigley, Rardin, Roth, Ruiz, Slattery, Sloan, D. Svaty, Swenson, Talia, Tietze, Trimmer, Ward, Winn.

Present but not voting: None.

Absent or not voting: Fund, Johnson, Neufeld.

The motion of Rep. Peck to reconsider action did not prevail.

note:
Reps. Fund and Johnson were excused on verified illness.
Rep. Neufeld was excused on legislative business.

All votes on this issue in the last week (House votes & Senate Judiciary Committee) can be found on this Kansas Liberty webpage.

Listed below are those who voted against letting the people’s voice be heard. If you know a good candidate running in one of these districts, post their website link in the comments section. If you live in one of these districts and don’t know of or see someone good running, help us find the right candidates so we can change the Kansas House in 2010!

To pass, the amendment needs a two-thirds supermajority of 84 votes in the House. Today’s vote was 76-44. Listed below is how the votes came down according to party and yea or nay. Click the members name to get their contact information and call, fax and email them TODAY.

Republican Yeas: Aurand, Bethell, Bowers, Brookens, Brown A, Brunk, Burgess, Carlson, Colloton, Craft, Crum, DeGraaf, Donohoe, Faber, George, Goico, Gordon, Grange, Hayzlett, Hermanson, Hineman, Holmes C, Holmes M, Horst, Huebert, Jack, Kelley, Kerschen, Kiegerl, King, Kinzer, Kleeb, Knox, Landwehr, Light, Mast, McLeland, Merrick, Morrison, Moxley, Myers, Neufeld, O’Brien, O’Neal, Olson, Otto, Patton, Peck, Pottorff, Powell, Prescott, Proehl, Rhoades, Schroeder, Schwab, Schwartz, Seiwert, Shultz, Siegfreid, Spalding, Suellentrop, Swanson, Tafanelli, Vickrey, Whitham, Wolf B, Wolf K, Worley, Yoder.

Contact (preferably by phone) the Republicans below and ask them why they voted against limited government.

Republican NAYS: Nays: Bollier, Hill, Quigley, Roth, Sloan.

Contact (preferably by phone) the Democrats below and ask them to once again vote yea. They will be under pressure to change their vote.

Democrat YEAS: Lukert, Maloney, Meier, Palmer, Svaty, Wetta, Williams.

Contact (preferably by phone) the Democrats below and ask them why they voted nea and ask them to change their vote.

Democrat NAYS: Ballard, Barnes, Benlon, Brown T, Burroughs, Carlin, Crow, Davis, Dillmore, Feuerborn, Finney, Flaharty, Frownfelter, Furtado, Garcia, Gatewood D, Gatewood S, Goyle, Grant, Henry, Kuether, Lane, Loganbill, Long, Mah, McCray-Miller, Menghini, Neighbor, Pauls, Phelps, Rardin, Ruiz, Slattery, Swenson, Talia, Tietze, Trimmer, Ward, Winn.

These Representatives didn’t vote. Keep in mind that they may have not been able to vote due to illness. Contact (preferably by phone) the Representatives below and ask them to make an effort to vote for the Healthcare Freedom Amendment.

Didn’t Vote: Fund (most likely would have been a yea, is currently hospitalized according to fellow House members), Hawk, Henderson, Johnson, Peterson.

Government run healthcare supporters gathered in Wichita Saturday to protest the Healthcare Freedom Amendment (HFA). The Amendment, sponsored by Reps. Brenda Landwehr, Peggy Mast and Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, would try to prevent the federal government from imposing fines, or even jail time, to Kansas citizens who choose not to have health insurance. Opponents of the HFA claim that it would opt Kansas out of any “public option” that passes in Washington. However, no where in the two page document are these provisions found.

The Wichita protest was to target Rep. Landwehr for her support of the HFA and was a follow up to a rally in early November in Shawnee targeting Sen. Pilcher-Cook. At that protest, government healthcare supporters were met by a large group of freedom loving patriots.

The spin from the left was that they were all shipped in by Koch Industries, even though they were unable to produce any evidence of this assertion. One would think big buses with a whole bunch of people would be easy to document. Of course, they are unable to do so because it simply doesn’t exist. Any “busing” by Koch or AFP is pure fiction, a grand lie concocted by liberals to convince themselves only the left can produce an uncoordinated, spontaneous grassroots movement.

The Koch lie seems to be in line with previous attacks by the left, where even they admit they were wrong when challenged to provide evidence.

This morning, I received an e-mail from Melissa “Missy” Cohlmia, the Communications Director for Koch Companies Public Sector. In it, Ms. Cohlmia asked:

“Can you point me to the facts behind this statement? The astroturf movement is paid for by David Koch of Wichita-based Koch Industries to the tune of $20 million of his own treasure.”

Admittedly, I failed in my post yesterday to appropriately link that statement. Mostly, however, that failure was because it’s a commonly known fact that Koch Industries is behind Americans for Prosperity, widely reported by the traditional and non-traditional press.

In fact the truth is AFP now has over 700,000 individual donors. Koch donations now account for less than 5% of AFP’s donations.

But as liberals go, they just couldn’t stop themselves and had to go even further.

One way that’s ever so popular with liberals is parading the children around. We must do it for the children, don’t you know! Thus Kansas’ 58,000 uninsured children becomes the call for more government programs. Of course, never mind there’s already a program out there called Kansas Healthwave. To a common sense Kansan that’d be evidence of a government failure, but to a liberal, it’s a call to more government action.

In fact, it seems the lefties have gotten themselves so worked up, they’ve forgotten what exactly happened in Shawnee less than a month ago.

In a weekend update, the left says things never got out of hand.

Despite the tone of our local Fox affiliate, that morning never got ugly. Passions are high on both sides, but never did the event escalate over some shouting matches.

But just a few weeks later, an organizer with the same liberal blog told a very different story to the Wichita Eagle.

“We had a bunch of (tea party supporters) come out and get pretty much in everybody’s faces,” said Sarah Burris, a spokeswoman for Forward Kansas. “They just want to raise a ruckus.”

Could it be liberals change their story based on what they think will get them the most traction in the press?

It also looks as though it’s okay to come from out of town for the rally, just as long as you make the trek for the right side. Just before the Shawnee rally, liberals had this to say:

…none, I repeat none, of the pro-Reform rally members will be bused in from surrounding areas — like American’s for Prosperity and David Koch did in Washington DC yesterday.

But they boasted of all the out of town folks for yesterday’s gathering:

Many of the demonstrators drove to Wichita from cities all over Kansas. Colin Curtis, of Manhattan made the trip because he wanted to ensure his side was represented in the debate

And I guess when flip-flopping on your version of protest etiquette doesn’t yield the results you want, you can always just start calling names.

From Twitter:

• @sarahburris: If you use teabagger in a press release do we think they’ll use it? #fwks
• @sarahburris: @immunis the experts say only if its in a quote just FYI #fwks

From the Wichita Eagle:

“We had a bunch of (tea party supporters) come out and get pretty much in everybody’s faces,” said Sarah Burris, a spokeswoman for Forward Kansas.

Now that’s a term even the Wichita Eagle won’t publish, try as the liberals might.

I’m willing to make a decent bet (tea party supporters) was inserted because the liberal’s spokeswoman decided to use a derogatory term for their opponents rather than show a little class.

Unfortunately, facts don’t get in the way of liberals. Their perception is reality, no matter how skewed it is, no matter how little evidence they have to support their assertions.

It’s the kind of insinuations and lies we should expect from this group in the future.

@KansasWatchdog – Hawver reports Melany Barnes elected 3-0 to replace Tom Sawyer as State Rep in 95th district in Wichita. Sawyer moves to Parole Board.

Only three people decided tonight who will represent thousands of citizens in Topeka during the next legislative session. As has been noted before, just a few votes can make all the difference in Topeka. Your vote counts even more when your elected to represent a precinct.

Both the Republican and Democratic Parties elect precinct people every two years to represent their neighborhoods. If a state representative or senator should resign their office before their term is up, it is the respective parties precinct representatives who will vote in a replacement to fill out the remaining term.

Tonight’s vote was to replace a Democratic State Rep, and since only Democrats get to decide who the replacement will be (and vice-versa for Republicans), that probably explains the extremely low number of people voting. Can you imagine just three people deciding who will represent you for the next year, or three years if they are replacing a state senator?

Signing up is easy. Any registered Republican can run for precinct man or woman. Go here to print fill out the filing form, then turn it in to your local county elections office by June 10, 2010. You’re name will be placed on the 2010 primary election ballot, and if you win the most votes, you’re in!

As always, contact us if you have any questions about what is involved.

State Representatives Peggy Mast (R-Emporia) and David Crum (R-Augusta) sent a letter this week to Attorney General Steve Six, requesting that his Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Unit conduct a formal investigation to determine whether SRS violated Medicaid funding rules when it directly awarded $712,000 in extraordinary funding to Community Living Opportunities (CLO) in November, 2008.

Rep. Mast chairs the House Social Service Budget Committee and serves on the House Health and Human Services Committee as well as the Joint Committee on Home and Community-Based Services Committee.

Rep. Crum is Vice-Chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee and serves on the House Social Service Budget Committee.

Rep. Brenda Landwehr (R-Wichita), who chairs the House Health and Human Services Committee, said she was pleased Reps. Mast and Crum requested the investigation.

“Kansans deserve a determination whether SRS has again violated Medicaid funding rules through its funding decisions.  If the Attorney General’s investigation does find SRS at fault, those responsible for and involved with the additional funding decision should be held accountable for their actions,” Chairman Landwehr said.

Kansas Liberty is also covering this story and has additional background information. AG Six has said he’ll look into it but won’t comment during the investigation.

Queen Kathleen and Democratic Senator Arlen Specter attended a town hall meeting in Philadelphia where the two were trying to convince a large audience that they knew what was best for the nations health care system. Imagine their surprise when the audience insisted they read legislation before they pass it and stop and think about what exactly they’re doing before they vote. Sounds reasonable, right? Not for Queen Kathleen.

Now, isn’t Kathleen Sebelius the one who was Governor of Kansas when they passed legislation, which, by the way, no Representative or Senator had read, that allowed the state to become the first in the nation to own casinos. And since that time, hasn’t the state only broken ground on one casino when four were planned and has had to bid and rebid casinos across the state because company after company passes on building in Kansas? Now, wasn’t gambling supposed to solve all of our state’s financial problems forever and ever Kathleen?

So, how did that bill that nobody read work out anyway???

So with that in mind, get a load of the explanation she tries to pass off to the crowd.

“I’ve never been in Congress.”

I love it! But you had no problem signing a bill as Governor that you knew full well no one had read. And look what it’s gotten us!

Oh, and isn’t Arlen Specter one of three “Republican” Senators who voted for a “Stimulus” bill that none of them had read?

That crowd had every right to boo not only Specter, but Sebelius right off the stage. Both have a clear history of endorsing the kind of behavior that has gotten us into this mess and they both deserve to be told exactly what they heard yesterday in Pennsylvania.

Unfortunately, the labels and platitudes have confused what should be a simple charge. Elected Republicans should govern by the principles they profess in campaign rallies and advertisements. Those principles were once the difference between the parties. The Democratic Party has always been an amalgam of special interests and constituencies with specific needs and wants cobbled together with government programs and spending. The Republican Party, at its best, is a party of broad ideas and principles. For example, those who tend to vote Republican believe in limiting the size and scope of government and respect the guarantees of individual freedom and liberty of our Constitution; they respect life and its diversity; and they understand that free market capitalism, the glue that holds the Republican party, and our Nation, together, is both the most efficient and most moral economic system.

Elected Republicans, particularly in Congress, have expanded government; ignored the Constitution; bailed out failed big businesses with taxes collected from successful small businesses; and spent, and spent, and spent. The Republican Congressional network of wasteful earmarks, corporate welfare and politically motivated subsidies simply recast the Democratic model of purchasing votes (ethanol anyone?). Now, Republican leaders express surprise that in a fiscal arms race to decide which party can spend the most, the Democrats have won.

Republicans can only govern creatively and effectively when the deeds and actions of their candidates match their words.

A TEE Party activist displays his T-shirt

Around 80 citizens attended AFP’s TEE Party in the capital. Activists stood outside the House chambers to greet legislators as they entered and then moved to the viewing balcony to see our government at work. One activist had a campaign flyer from her Senator stating that she had worked to remove the franchise tax, eliminate the estate tax and make Kansas a more tax friendly state. She planned to remind her Senator what she said on the campaign trail.

At noon activist regrouped for a quick lunch. A few legislators joined the group including Sens. Susan Wagle, Dick Kelsey, Mike Petersen and Rep. Steve Brunk. A few organizers quickly addressed the group, including FairTax from Kansas City, Sedgwick County Commissioner Karl Peterjohn and grassroots activist and TEA Party organizer Amanda Grosserode.

FairTax activists have plan in place to bring the FairTax to Kansas. A bill is currently working its way through the Missouri Senate. Advocates noted the devastating effects that could happen here in Kansas if Missouri becomes much more business and tax friendly than Kansas.

Karl Peterjohn gave some tips on effective lobbying. He spoke about the important impact citizens can have on their government.

Amanda Grosserode mention another protest for Congressman Dennis Moore. Details will be announced on their website soon.

Participants were encouraged to visit legislators in the Docking State Office building and in the capital. Some plan to stay and hear the Governor’s address at 4pm if possible. Buses leaving for Johnson County and Wichita will still leave on time at 4pm however.

Reactions from citizens vary. A common theme seems to be the amount of taxpayer funded lobbying that is occuring under the dome. A group from invisiblekansas.com was also under the dome urging no cuts to their taxpayer funded activities. There seems to be every constituency imaginable under the dome lobbying legislators right now except taxpayer citizens.

AFP member Vonda Wiedmer displays her T-shirt message

There’s a TEE Party in the statehouse today. Americans for Prosperity – Kansas has organized grassroots activists to come and encourage lawmakers to not tax their way out of their spending problem. Citizens met this morning at 10am and are now spread throughout the statehouse speaking with legislators about what needs to be done to fix their budget problem. Here’s what AFP Director Derrick Sontag had to say this morning.

• “This is not just your regular veto session. We’ve been spending too much money in this building since day one.”
• Spending has increased by 48% since 2004. “Those are the real numbers folks.”
• “The budget that they are proposing to finish off this year leaves $39, $40 million in the bank.” That’s significantly less than what is required by statute. But then again, statutes can always be changed to suit the situation.
• “If they had just spent what they took in, they’d have a billion in the bank.” 22 months ago the state of Kansas had $1 billion in the bank. Now the state is still trying to fix a $1 billion plus problem
• Legislators knew the problem was coming and yet did ignored their own staff. “They were warned by their own staff two years ago”, that they’d have a negative balance.
• By law the legislative session must be wrapped up in 90 days. “They have nine more days to go.” A tax increase is certainly not outside the realm of possibility. “They’ll get creative and do whatever they have to do at the end of the day.”
• K-12 education is being asked to cut less than one percent of their budget. Yet K-12 spending has increased by 53% since 2003. “It’s simply not sustainable.”

Flint Hills Center investiative reporter Paul Soutar spoke briefly about his newest report on how much money K-12 education is sitting on.

Citizens are now spread throughout the capital speaking to legislators, encouraging them to not raise taxes and hurt the Kansas economy even more. More later in the day.

How many times have you heard the words “nonpartisan” or “bipartisan” or “nonpolitical” uttered by politicians right before they do something that is clearly political?

My guess is we’d all be rich if we have a $1 for each time that happens. It’s as if labeling something nonpolitical somehow makes it so, even if what they are about to do is clearly political.

That’s how we were introduced to a Senate bill dictating how redistricting would happen after the 2010 census.

Those on the left in leadership in Topeka are pushing this bill: Sens. Steve Morris and Derek Schmidt (Republicans), along with Sen. Anthony Hensley and Rep. Paul Davis (Democrats).

The bill, SB 291, is just eight pages long, so I’d encourage you to take a look at it.

If you do, have some strong coffee first because the details the description starts with are enough to resolve most cases of insomnia. But, as they say, the devil is in the details, and if you read far enough, you find them.

You see, this plan they’ve dreamed up would require the Senate majority leader (Schmidt), the House majority leader (Ray Merrick), the Senate minority leader (Hensley), and the House minority leader (Davis) to each name one person to a “temporary redistricting advisory commission.”

The list of persons not eligible to be appointed is long. Are you a city council person or township trustee elected in a partisan race? Ineligible. Are you a party officer? Ineligible. Do you work for the state? Ineligible. Is your cousin a state or federal office holder? Ineligible.

We wouldn’t want anyone with a potential bias or experience in politics or government on this commission. Never mind that very political persons are appointing these people, and that no specific expertise is required to be appointed (I don’t see a best friend or business partner ruled out, by the way) and the commission is required to rely on state employees with legislative research for their data.

Those backing this bill claim that removing this responsibility from the Legislature would make the process non-political and therefore leads to a better outcome.
Under this bill, we’ll have a new commission, not directly accountable to the voters, deciding what district you will live in for the next 10 years.

Now you have four political appointees. Who’s going to lead? Well, that’s up to them. They pick a fifth person to chair their temporary commission. So, we have a new commission, not directly accountable to the voters, deciding what district you will live in for the next 10 years.

Don’t like what they decide? There’s not much your representative or senator can do, even if they listen to your concerns, other than voting no time after time. It’s not until they’ve voted down proposed bills twice and are voting on a third bill that they are allowed to make anything but technical amendments.

Can you imagine the political fallout from voting down the plan twice and then amending the third one in an election year? Even the bravest of politicians probably won’t want to take that on!

The closest the public would come to being able to hold the commission accountable for the plans they present is to hold their representative and senator accountable in 2012 for whom they elected as majority or minority leader in their chamber in 2008 (for the Senate) or 2010 (for the House).

Perhaps the most important vote they make is for these leadership positions, but explaining that to the public and then making it a campaign issue is challenging at best.

And can you see the games for 2020 now? Promise me my friend will be appointed by you to the redistricting commission and I’ll vote for you for majority (or minority) leader. Suddenly the “nonpolitical” commission is tied to some very real political actions in a way that the public rarely sees.

Many of the rules for the commission to follow that are spelled out in this bill are similar to how redistricting was handled the last time around – without special legislation to make it happen. The one big change? Public hearings happen after a plan is finalized.

But there is more in this bill and it’s this part that is the most troubling: the commission isn’t allowed to reveal any of the details they are working on to the public or the Legislature until after they’ve finalized them.

This reminds me of the Ethics Commission or the Supreme Court nominating commission, both of which deliberate and come to conclusions in secret executive sessions and then make an announcement.
Say what you will about politicians making political decisions, at least they do their deliberations in public with input from citizens.

Say what you will about politicians making political decisions, at least when senators and representatives made up the committee the last time around, public hearings and committee meetings and decision making was done in full view and with the participation of the public, with much input from citizens around the state.

That’s one reason the lines for Congress were drawn as they were in 2002, as many wanted certain institutions or military bases to be in the same district and their elected representatives listened to their concerns. Moving this very important decision-making process to a closed-door, small, unaccountable-to-the-public commission is a step backwards for open transparency in government.

Will this bill see the light of day? It remains to be seen. Right now it’s sitting in the Senate Federal and State Committee – but if leadership wants it out, they can quickly call for a hearing and a vote and have it on the Senate floor in less than a day.

Assuming it passes the Senate, it still has to get through the House, and so far House leaders have been cool to the idea. As Speaker Mike O’Neal said recently about redistricting, “I think that is uniquely a legislative function.”

Let’s hope others realize this as well and this feel-good bill dies a well-deserved death.

But one big thing was happening last week and the results of it have exploded in the Kansas news this week, dwarfing anything else I need to share with you. The Kansas Senate & House managed to pass a compromise bill dealing with the 2009 budget shortfall. All that’s needed as of this afternoon is the Governor’s signature and the current financial crisis is averted. Of course this means cutting spending, which the Governor had the power to do herself last November and still has the power to do today.

You’ve probably heard the dire warnings: Tax Refunds delayed, state employees won’t get paid on time, schools won’t be funded… none of which has to happen if the Governor just does her job. The sky is falling and it’s not my fault, those bad legislators won’t borrow money like I asked! They know they can do this, it’s no big deal, and we do it all the time!

Really, could that be true? As I looked into it, I found myself even angrier than I had been last week watching the circus in DC. You see, the Governor has at her disposal procedures she can take to cut non-essential spending, allowing the government to pay it’s essential bills on time. Has she done it? NO. Instead she’s out there scaring state employees by using taxpayer-funded-email lists to tell them that she cares about them but those bad legislators aren’t doing what I want so you might not get paid on time.

And meanwhile, I’m getting reports of what’s going on with our taxpayer-funded schools. Yes, that would be the schools that reaped a windfall in 2005 thanks to the State Supreme Court legislating funding. Kids are being told to tell their parents that they must call their legislators and beg them not to cut funding or class sizes will double, music and art will be cut from curriculums, and on and on it goes. I have in my hands a letter from a local high school principal, sent to parents with taxpayer funds, reminding them “it’s less expensive to educate children than incarcerate them!”

Honestly, as a homeschool mom who successfully graduated 5 children into community-involved adults without one penny of help from the state, I can assure you I’m quite aware of that little fact, that’s why I didn’t send my children to be incarcerated day after day in government-funded schools. What? You think this means I hate public schools and want them de-funded? Hogwash. See, I can use outlandish rhetoric and hyperbole, too. How about we discuss things rationally and try the truth in regards to funding and the state budget.

The fact is school funding makes up a HUGE percentage of the state budget. We can’t cut spending as much as we must without having the schools share in the cut – unless we are willing to make draconian cuts in other areas like social services and health care to those who can’t care for themselves, the mentally disabled, the elderly with no family, the orphans in foster care. We have a moral obligation to take care of those who cannot care for themselves and if that means a school district can’t build a nice new building this year or must cut a few administrators to make ends meet, well, that’s what’s it going to take. Face it, we can’t just print money and buy everything we want the day we want it. We must budget for it, plan ahead, make do when we can, and be practical in our spending. That’s what families do and that’s what government at all levels needs to do as well. Spending by government will not save us and taxing the people more will not magically bring the state increased revenues if the people cannot pay the bill!

Folks, it’s time you take action. Usually we suggest you call your legislators and tell them what you think – and of course that’s still a good idea now as well. But this time we need something more from you. We need you to make your voices heard in your local paper, on the radio talk shows in your area, and in your communities at town hall meetings, school activities, wherever you are, you need to speak up and say enough is enough, stop the madness, it’s time we live within our means as a society.

There are a number of places you can get talking points and more details. I’m going to list a few of them below. I’m also going to link to the pages on our website that will help you find your local paper, talk radio and elected officials. Please speak up now while we can still make a difference in Kansas.

Charlotte Esau
KRA Executive Director

Links For More Info & Talking Points:

Go to the mainpage of the KRA website and click on your county on the map for local information regarding local papers, talk radio & elected officials. Or follow these links:

Who will blink first? House Speaker Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, and Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, said it would have been illegal for the State Finance Council to have authorized additional short-term debt because state officials couldn’t honestly declare the state could pay the obligation by the end of the fiscal year.
 
House leadership responds to Sebelius lies  Statement from House Leadership regarding the Governor’s continued efforts to misrepresent her role in the events of the State Finance Council meeting and her responsibility to address a revised 2009 budget.

Governor’s Letter to State Employees – Caution! This link is full of the Governor’s spin!

What You Need to Know About the Kansas Budget Crisis

While we all can agree that these are trying times for Kansas families, seniors, and business owners the Kansas House of Representatives respectfully disagrees with breaking the law in order to gain political capital.

The idea that the Legislature is preventing state employees from being paid is the equivalent of shouting fire in a crowded theater. The Governor is attempting to draw attention away from the fact that she has multiple options to fix this problem. Her options do not include illegally issuing certificates of indebtedness when revenues, in this climate, cannot begin to repay the debt. She can easily sign House Substitute for SB 23 or fix the problem by issuing allotments.

The Governor is attempting to mislead the public in an effort to drum up support for poor public policy. The majority of the Legislature recognizes the severity of the current economic situation and is acting in a responsible manner. How the Governor can say on Thursday that we don’t have enough money and issue allotments and then turn around and on the following Monday say, we will have enough money when the numbers HAVE NOT changed is irresponsible and disingenuous. We strongly urge the Governor to use her power to make allotments and cut state spending rather than withholding tax refunds or paychecks from hard working Kansans.

The decision was made, by the Governor, to halt income tax refunds last week. Now that her back is against the wall she is using scare tactics to try to manipulate public opinion. We find it perplexing that she will halt income tax refunds due to not having enough money in the budget but will ask for additional certificates of indebtedness even though she knows the dollars for repayment will never materialize without a fundamental change in the 2009 budget. Kansas citizens deserve better.

The Governor did call a meeting of the State Finance Council to consider the issuance of a certificate of indebtedness. However, when it became apparent to all that the certificate could not be issued because it would violate state law, she reluctantly agreed to postpone the meeting. Incredibly, it was reported that Legislative leadership refused to meet. This is patently false.

Republican Leadership is happy to postpone any State Finance Council meeting until after the Governor has had a chance to review and to sign House Substitute for Substitute SB 23. We fully expect the bill to be on her desk by the end of the day tomorrow. While it was passed last week, the process to engross the bill takes a degree of time and is out of the hands of the executive or legislative leaders. There is still plenty of time for the Governor to responsibly address the concerns that she is raising. In the meantime, she should make allotments consistent with the provisions of House Sub. for Sub. SB 23.

Contrary to what the Governor is saying, the certificate has everything to do with the passage of a revised 2009 budget bill. We cannot issue more certificates if the funds will not materialize by the end of the year. Without the revised 2009 budget bill, there is no way that we can legally issue a certificate knowing full well that the money will not be available to retire the debt.

It is shame that the Governor continues to make the assertion that Legislative Leadership is not representing the people of Kansas in good faith. This (unlike her repeated attempts to leave the state in favor of a cabinet post in Washington) is the right thing to do to ensure that we are taking the necessary and legally permissible steps to fix the structural imbalance in our budget.

The Governor is asking the Legislature to be complicit in breaking the law by approving certificates of indebtedness outside of the parameters set in statute. Kansas law requires the Director of the Budget to certify that money will be present at the end of the year to pay off certificates of indebtedness, and there is no evidence that will be the case. There is no reason to believe that under the current budget such money will be available. It is irresponsible and illegal to act as if the money will be available when all economic indicators show that we may see even less.

If anyone is, as the Governor alleges, “jeopardizing our citizens’ pocketbooks” one should look no further than the Governor’s office. Fee sweeps, illegal certificates of indebtedness and non-existent gambling revenue is no way to provide a long-term solution to the economic issues facing our state.

Although we are glad that the economic crisis in Kansas finally has the Governor’s attention, playing a shell game is not the solution.

House Speaker Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, and Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, said it would have been illegal for the State Finance Council to have authorized additional short-term debt because state officials couldn’t honestly declare the state could pay the obligation by the end of the fiscal year.

The speaker and president said the Democratic governor must first deal with the $326 million deficit-reduction bill adopted by both chambers last week. Once action is taken on Senate Bill 25, O’Neal and Morris said expenditures and revenues would likely be brought in line sufficiently to approve more debt.

From Kansas Liberty:

When combined with previous requests, this would create a total loan of $775 for fiscal year 2009, the largest certificate of indebtedness ever issued in Kansas history.

This has understandably angered Democrats and liberals in general.

For the legislative branch to hold the executive branch over a barrel like this, to actually prevent payroll and tax returns from being made, is unprecedented and inexcusable. It is wholly unaccepted for the the Republicans to extort the Governor in this manner, and it comes awfully close to an out-and-out constitutional crisis. Separation of powers guarantees the governor’s power to sign or veto a bill, and if the House and Senate doesn’t like her action, they can always override her veto.

Absolutely true. Gov. Sebelius is free to veto the budget reduction act and continue to pretend the state has money to pay its bills. And legislative leaders are free to refuse to borrow more money that can’t be paid back. So, I guess everyone is free to do as they choose.

I would note however, that I heard not one Democrat complain about the 2005 Supreme Court Decision mandating a set amount of money be spent on K-12 education. Separation of powers only seems to be relevant when you’re on the loosing side.

State Treasurer Dennis McKinney had another take on the situation:

By failing to act on the recommendation of the state budget director to shore up balances in the general fund, legislative leaders put our reputation as a reliable bill payer and our credit rating at risk.

Wrong. Unprecedented spending on the part of liberal Democrats, including McKinney and Sebelius, has put our state’s fiscal reputation on the line.

Republican’s refusing to approve more debt that no one is sure would be able to be repaid, is simply the symptom of years of overspending by legislators and out of control court mandated spending sprees.

It is high time Sebelius and liberal Democrats face reality and address the disease rather than the symptoms.

The Johnson County bloggers at Red County have a nice list posted of what our children and grandchildren will be paying for in the years to come.

I’ll share some of my favorites:

• $1 billion for NASA
• $2 billion to develop advanced batteries for hybrid cars
• $650 million for the digital TV converter box coupon program (because reality TV spurs the economy)
• $3.7 billion to conduct “green” renovations on military bases (I thought they already wore camo?)
• $1 billion for the 2010 Census (to count just over 305 million people)
• $3.4 billion for fossil energy research (Remember folks, it’s the green Democrats that voted for that…)
• $98 million earmarked for a polar icebreaker (this one just puzzles me, couldn’t we just wait for ‘em to melt?)
• $500 million for forest health and wildfire prevention
• $25 million for the Smithsonian Institution
• $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts

Finally, my ultimate favorite two:

• $10 million for urban canals
• $290 million for flood prevention

If I have to explain why that’s funny, we’re in real trouble.

Nostimulus.com surpassed half a million signatures in the waning hours of the spendulus debate, but it made no difference to the Democrats or three “moderate” Republican Senators. The site is still up if you just feel a need to sign it. I’m sure AFP will keep ownership of the domain name. I have a feeling this won’t be the last “stimulus.”

During the House and Senate debate I had a nightmarish flashback to the last time a legislative body voted on a massive piece of legislation without reading it.

Of course, everyone by now knows what a cash cow state-owned casinos turned out to be for Kansas. And not allowing legislative oversight in the bill, that was an excellent idea. I can only imagine what American citizens will learn about this spending bill over the next year or two.

U.S. House rules state that all conference committee reports must be made available for 3 calendar days before a vote to allow Representatives to read the bill. The Democrat controlled House passed a special resolution to waive that rule so a vote on the 1100 page bill could be taken not even 24 hours after it’s final draft was made available.

Democrat Reps and Senators must be very fast readers.

I can think of a few high points though. Every Representative and all but three Republican Senators voted against the bill. What a dramatic return to conservative principles. It’s certainly refreshing to see that most of our Republican officials intimately understand what lost them the election and what they need to do to begin to win again.

Imagine if Republicans had acted like Republicans several years ago.

Other Kansas spendulus blog posts:

Kansas Meadowlark – “‘Yes We Can’ Pass $787 Billion ‘Stimulus’ Without Anyone in Congress Reading the Bill”
Red County JoCo – The short list of your grandchildren’s debt
Wichita Liberty – NoStimulus.com Effort Crosses 200,000 Petitions
Wichita Liberty – Tim Phillips of AFP explains NoStimulus.com
StimulusWatch.org – Lists all Kansas Stimulus projects

State Rep. Delia Garcia of Wichita wanted Gardasil given to all high school girls in 2007.

Like many, I didn’t understand why politicians thought they should mandate use of a recently approved vaccine for HPV (Human Papillomavirus.) Gardasil is a vaccine for HPV, which has been linked to cervical cancer. Soon after FDA approval however, recipients of the vaccine began to see some very serious side effects, including some deaths.

Even if the adverse effects were unrelated to the vaccine, opponents questioned why it was an “opt-out” requirement rather than “opt-in.” The Wichita Eagle editorial board thought opposition was solely based on the nature of the vaccine.

The proposed legislation to mandate that Kansas sixth-grade girls be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus has hit a wall in the Legislature in the form of House Health and Human Services Chairwoman Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita, who chose not to advance the bill. Her inaction is no surprise. In truth, the bill’s chief advocate, Rep. Delia Garcia, D-Wichita, probably lost most of her cautious colleagues at the phrase “sexually transmitted.”

- Wichita Eagle Editorial Board, March 2, 2007

Women without a family history of the disease and who remain abstinent until marriage have a significant risk reduction in contracting HPV. Why expose these women to unnecessary vaccines? As we’ve been told many times, don’t tell women what to do with their bodies.

After taking a class on vaccines where the evidence of possible problems with Gardasil was discussed, I too began to wonder why there was such a push to get the drug into schools as quickly as possible. At the time, over 20 deaths had been linked to the vaccine.

The unsuccessful push to get the vaccine into schools in Kansas was lead by State Rep. Delia Garcia of Wichita. Garcia received $200 from Merck in October of 2007. Merck is the manufacturer of Gardasil.

Yesterday KAKE 10 in Wichita did a short story about a family who’s daughter is possibly dying because of the vaccine. In the story, Garcia now says she wants answers about the safety of the vaccine.

The HPV vaccine controversy has highlighted the importance of careful thought before acting. Just because an issue involves a sexually transmitted disease doesn’t mean that legislators will oppose it because of an ‘icky’ factor. Sometimes more information and a little bit of time simply makes for better public policy.

Thank you Rep. Landwehr for having a level head and making good policy decisions. Kansans are fortunate that you were able to stop a bad, rushed Democrat proposal.

Last Thursday a socialist Kansas blog put up a post titled, “Weirdest Post Ever: Kelley, Parkinson Hottest Kansas Politicos.” And I have to agree somewhat, that was a weird post, although I’m not sure about ever.

I guess the Eagle isn’t to be outdone. Phillip Brownlee put up a post this morning titled, “Is Parkinson ‘hottest’ politician in Kansas?”

Of course, it’s not unusual for the Eagle to piggy back off of other blogs. The Kansas City Star’s PrimeBuzz is often copied by the Eagle, although they usually put more time between the Star’s post and the Eagle’s post than this little duo today. However, posting directly from a Kansas liberal-socialist blog is a first to my knowledge.

I’m confused, do you guys just have nothing better to discuss or are you really that hard up for blog topics?

Finally, I’ll leave you with this. The anonymous Democrat included State Rep. Kasha Kelley in their photographs and list of ‘hottest’ Kansas politicians. The Wichita Eagle posted photos of Mark Parkinson and Joshua Svaty, both Democrats and only discussed the two in their post.

First, it’s weird Phillip Brownlee wouldn’t include a woman in his post. Second, how funny is it (and I don’t mean haha funny but how sad funny) that Republicans get more coverage from anonymous Democrat blogs than the ‘fair and balanced’ mainstream media of the Wichita Eagle?

The Eagle editorial staff isn’t even willing to say a Republican looks good!