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Sebelius: At the helm of a financial shipwreck

Dec 8th, 2008
by admin.
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News finally broke today of what had been whispered about by legislators for a few days; the state of Kansas is broke and can’t pay its bills.

Kansas public schools only got 75% of the payments they should have received in December. The reason? It’s simple really, the state doesn’t have the cash.

“We do not have enough cash in the bank,” said Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ budget director Duane Goossen.

And I guess it depends on your point of view what the cause of the missed payment is. According to many news outlets, it’s just a sign of the slipping economy (as opposed to massive overspending by Kansas bureaucrats.)

If signs of economic troubles weren’t already clear, here is another one. A monthly payment of $220 million split among the state’s 297 public school districts was delayed four days this week.

And what, just what, might have been done to avoid this? Well, here’s a hint, don’t spend so much!

As American’s for Prosperity’s Alan Cobb said:

“Isn’t it worth mentioning the impact of four years of large budget increases on the current budget situation? If the budget had simply increased at 5 percent, hardly a small number, each year since 2004, we would have more than $2 billion in the bank now.”

Yes, I do think it’s worth mentioning.

But apparently the Kansas press doesn’t. A Google News search turned up only a rehashed AP article and a breaking story from the Journal-World. You would think the state of Kansas literally defaulting on it’s payment obligations would be news, but not in Kansas.

Here’s something else worth mentioning that I’m sure the Kansas press won’t; this ship was run aground by none other than Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

During her six years in office state spending has risen at astronomical rates. State obligations in the form of more bloated education spending were set in stone by hand picked Supreme Court justices and now Kansas has defaulted on payments because the governor is unwilling to cut spending when the state needed it the most.

And for my favorite quote of the day came from newly appointed State Treasurer Dennis McKinney (D), who was upset that legislative leaders finally got a clue and stopped letting bids for statehouse renovations.

“Now is the time to build highways and renovate the Statehouse because it costs the taxpayers less…”

Look, I’m no fan of the massive amounts of money wasted by public education, but don’t you think meeting our educational needs are more important than plush new offices for legislators?

You have to ask yourself, this is the guy Sebelius chose to be our next Treasurer? Another grand move on her part.

And what’s worse, she couldn’t have gotten us into this royal mess without the help of liberal Republicans.

What’s that? Moderate? I’m sorry, but moderate means just that, taking things in moderation. Voting for massive increases in spending when the state doesn’t have the money isn’t moderation.

And then, in true ‘moderate’ form, it’s all blamed on tax cuts rather than massive spending.

Here’s a newsflash for all the ‘moderates’ out there (Republican or otherwise as no politician in Kansas is a liberal according to the Kansas press); Kansans aren’t taxed too little, you spend too much!!!

Supreme Court orders Kline to move to Artic, exchange law degree for ice-fishing license

Dec 5th, 2008
by admin.
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Did the headline get your attention? Upset because it was misleading?

Now you know how I feel.

I began with the Kansas City Star’s Primebuzz blog, then I moved to the Lawrence Journal-World, The Topeka Capital Journal and others. And it couldn’t have been more plain from the headlines I was reading…man, what a beating Phill Kline took today.

For instance, I began with this headline, “KS court blisters Kline” where I was told, “It’s one of the most blistering opinions delivered in memory, according to The Star’s legal reporter.”

Then I moved to the Journal-World, “Supreme Court blisters Kline, orders return of abortion clinic records.” The first paragraph said it all, “The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday ordered Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline to turn over copies of patients’ medical records from an abortion clinic he is prosecuting.”

KSN in Wichita, “The Kansas Supreme Court orders Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline to turn over abortion patients’ medical records.”

As I continued on my ‘mainstream’ media tour, it was more of the same.

Finally, I turned to my emailed headline from Kansas Liberty, “Despite opinion’s scathing language, DA Kline can keep copies of abortion records.”

Based on the scathing language directed toward Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline in an opinion issued by the Kansas Supreme Court this morning, it might seem easy to conclude that Kline not only suffered a legal defeat, but that he disgraced the offices in which he served during an investigation of Planned Parenthood.

But, cutting through the criticism and innuendo contained in the majority opinion, written by Justice Carol A. Beier, it appears the ruling actually favored Kline on the law.

Beier wrote: “The above analysis leads us to the conclusion that [Planned Parenthood] and the Attorney General are not entitled to the primary relief they seek. We will not force Kline to disgorge ‘each and every copy’ of the patient records Kline and his subordinates have made ‘and any and all other evidence Kline developed and obtained while he was acting as Attorney General that he took with him to Johnson County’.”

Then, I turned to KAKE Channel 10 from Wichita. What I read there made me think two different rulings from rival courts had been passed down today.

“Supreme Court Denies Contempt Proceedings Against Phill Kline”

The Supreme Court denied an abortion clinic’s petition for contempt proceedings against former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline on Friday, but the court granted other relief and sanctioned Kline for his handling of the clinic’s patient records.

What a difference some perspective gives.

It’s amazing what a loaded headline and a writers slant will do to your understanding of the facts. As I read headlines proclaiming that the records must be “returned” to the AG’s office, I found myself thinking that Kline had lost, the records had to be returned, and the case was over.

It was amazing. I continued to think this even as I read, in story after story, that only copies had to be turned over. It wasn’t a return of records, it was a copy and supply of records.

I have to admit, it never fully sunk in until I got to the Kansas Liberty and KAKE 10 stories.

How many people do you think never got around to reading those articles?

Today isn’t a defeat for Phill Kline. Today is a defeat for a free and responsible press and an informed public.

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