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.

While I wasn’t able to be at the rally in Overland Park today, I was with you in spirit! Meadowlark has a photo journal up about the rally.

There’s also a great piece on KDOT’s new claim that 10,000 jobs will be created with our state’s share of “spendulus.” In short, many states are simply taking the average yearly wages of a construction worker and dividing it into the total amount of money they get, leaving virtually nothing to pay for construction materials and other costs.

I’d further point to today’s Capital-Journal article, where $2.5 million will be spent to buy new buses for Topeka transit.

That earmark for Topeka comes from $16 million set aside for urban transit, with $6.6 million going to Wichita, $2.8 million to Johnson County, $1.9 million for Wyandotte County and $1.9 million to Lawrence. A total of $14 million is going to rural transit projects, but those recipients haven’t been determined.

How new buses will create jobs is beyond me.

The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission today fined a private citizen $7,500 for speaking to the media about a complaint he filed against state Sen. Dwayne Umbarger for misuse of campaign funds.

As far as the public knows, no hearing was conducted regarding the charges against state Sen. Umbarger. The commission has never publicly addressed the complaints or even acknoledged an investigation, but several news sources in Kansas have previously reported that the Ethics Commission is no longer investigating Sen. Umbarger and no fines against the Senator are on record.

When emailed for comment, Van Meteren still had nothing to say.

I would love to talk to you about this issue, (but) my attorney advises me that until a higher legal authority lifts the gag order the Ethics Commission has imposed on me, I really can’t.

Is that what our state has come to? Senators can funnel campaign cash and report such violations to the Ethics Commission, essentially proving a law violation, but as long as they amend their reports to be in compliance with the law, no action is taken.

And yet when a private citizen takes the initiative to root out corruption, wherever it may be, he is fined for his efforts by the very government commission that is supposed to be holding our politicians accountable.

For more in depth coverage, see today’s Kansas Meadowlark story.

Related Articles:

KRA Blog: Ethically Challenged Commission ‘clears’ Umbarger
KRA Blog: “Ethics” Commission targets private citizen
KRA Blog: First amendment case postponed one month
KRA Blog: Freedom of Speech defended at Ethics Hearing
Kansas Meadowlark: “Free Speech” May Cost Kansas Citizen $7500
Kansas Meadowlark: First Amendment Defense Thorny Issue for Ethics Commission
Kansas Meadowlark: Fines and other actions by the Ethics Commission at their December meeting
Kansas Meadowlark: 1st Amendment Constitutional Right may become issue in Kansas Ethics Commission Hearing in January. Silence the accuser?
Kansas Meadowlark: Ethics Commission Fines Candidate $500 and PAC $2500
Kansas Meadowlark: Did Senator Umbarger violate ethics rules buying a carport with campaign money? Umbarger clairvoyant?
Kansas Liberty: Talking to press attracts Ethics Commission ire
Kansas Liberty: New campaign finance charges leveled against Umbarger
Kansas Liberty: Primary opponent says Umbarger violated campaign finance law
Kansas Liberty: Umbarger yields to ethics pressure, repays fund

What form of government is the best?

Timeline shows Top Democrats defended Fannie, Freddy.

Chuck Schumer: The American people don’t care about wasteful spending.

]]> http://www.kansasra.org/blog/archives/874/feed 0 http://www.kansasra.org/blog/archives/859 http://www.kansasra.org/blog/archives/859#comments Wed, 18 Feb 2009 06:09:37 +0000 KRA ED http://www.kansasra.org/blog/?p=859 Last week I sat down to work on a legislative update and found myself stumped at what to say. All the little individual items I thought I needed to share seemed to pale when faced with what’s going on in Washington. I sat watching the House & Senate debate and vote on legislation they hadn’t read while breaking their own rules that were put in place to prevent them from not allowing time for review before voting and I grew angrier by the hour. Our Republic is under attack in ways we never imagined possible. We are nationalizing industries that should be private, saving businesses that perhaps shouldn’t be saved from themselves, and spending money that has so many zeros behind it that it boggles the mind to try to comprehend it. Friday the 13th really was a dark day this February. I simply couldn’t find the words after all that to talk about little things going on here in Kansas and decided to wait until after the weekend to work on an update.

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.

Gov. Sebelius caring for Greensburg tornado victims

I’m going to make a simple request of Gov. Sebelius: Either get out or get to work.

Over the past six years your administration has created far too many problems for the taxpayers of this state to put on hold while you prance around Washington trying to sell yourself for a job you already told everyone you didn’t want.

Leadership doesn’t mean you propose a budget that neither takes into account the full extent of the crisis facing our state nor realistic solutions to the problem. Honest and truthful leaders don’t tell the voters they are staying to solve a budget crisis, criticize legislative leaders trying to find solutions to our money problems and then jump ship when you see greener pastures.

Those actions are not the actions of an honest, trustworthy leader. They are the actions of a self-seeking, egotistical politician. So if you are unwilling or unable to do the work of the citizens of Kansas, move on so true Republican leaders can find solutions to problems you helped create.

Kansas’ problems simply can’t be trumped by your sales pitch to the Obama administration. Either get out or get to work.

Earlier in the evening Rep. Jerry Moran, Rep. Todd Tiahrt, Sen. Sam Brownback and State Sen. Tim Huelskamp spoke to the audience about their plans to run for higher office in 2010. It was so refreshing to see so many quality Republican candidates. 2010 is certainly going to be a tough year for Democrats in Kansas!

Everyone left refreshed and renewed, ready for the battles that lay ahead of us!

If you missed hearing KRA President Don Small on the Jim Cates show yesterday, you can listen to the recorded program by clicking here.

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!

A blog post by Americans for Prosperity is getting quite a bit of attention on the political blogosphere. The post proposes probable votes of Republican Senators in the recent leadership elections.

It wasn’t the attention the post gathered that I found interesting, rather it was the lack of attention from any Kansas Senate member that I found interesting. Committee assignments left little doubt of who supported liberal leadership and who didn’t.

Julia Lynn was first elected by precinct leaders to replace former Sen. Kay O’Connor two years ago. This November was her first general election to the Kansas Senate.

Lynn’s campaign was infused with thousands of dollars from the Senate Leadership PAC. This is the same PAC that infused $45,000 into KTRM to fund their KKK press releases and their mailers against Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook saying she didn’t want parents to be able to get help for their sick children.

Lynn describes herself as a conservative and has a pro-life voting record. So why Sen. Lynn has decided to associate herself with this crowd is a little confusing. Is power so greatly desired by some that they’re willing to do anything to get it?

When asked by Kansas Liberty why she cast her vote for liberals, Lynn just flat out lied.

“What I looked at was how much experience they had with the budget and their breadth of knowledge, and the current leadership obviously had a depth of operational knowledge.”

This is the same leadership team that refuses to rule out tax increases to fix the state’s budget crisis. This is the same leadership team that oversaw massive spending increases the past four years. This is the same leadership team that allowed the budget to get where it is in the first place!

Julia, just tell the truth. They bought your seat with Senate Leadership PAC money and now you have to pay them back. Politics would be so much nicer if people just told the truth.

Now, here’s the part I don’t understand.

“Contrary to popular belief, Derek Schmidt is an extremely capable, conservative Republican, and I think our current leadership team knows what we need to do.”

Huh? Schmidt a conservative? The leadership team knows what to do? They can’t rule out tax increases, but they know what to do?

Barnett was probably the biggest surprise. Conservative Susan Wagle was his running mate just two years ago but Barnett decided not to vote for her.

Unlike Lynn, Barnett has a record of leadership roles for conservative causes, most notably during the 2007 session when the now all-too-apparent-fatally-flawed gambling bill was passed.

It’s these outspoken roles and votes in the past that make his leadership vote so confusing. It doesn’t make sense why you would vote for a team that will use their power to stop legislation that you want passed. What good is a chairmanship if leadership won’t allow a floor vote?

Leadership votes will be hard to explain to conservative activists, especially if Barnett chooses to try for higher office again. This is especially true when you look at the quality of candidates conservatives have for Governor (Sam Brownback) and in the first congressional district (Tim Huelskamp.)

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!!!

Umbarger filed finance reports in late July for the primary election cycle where he showed using campaign funds to build a carport. He claimed that the expense was valid because he needed a place to store his campaign materials. However, photos taken of the new building showed only half walls with the bottom portion open to the elements and, surprise surprise, no campaign materials.

A day later, Umbarger filed an amended report returning the funds.

Umbarger’s finance report also shows quite a bit of funny money being spent with hundreds of dollars spent on fuel within a two or three day time period. His October filing shows multiple reimbursements for the fuel because of a Commission advisory that the expenditures were illegal, issued back in 2007, before his purchases.

I guess it’s okay to break the law as long as you fix it…sometime. I’m curious what the statutes say about how long you have to break a campaign finance law without ‘fixing it’ before there’s action on the part of the Commission.

What hasn’t been answered is how the information about the closed investigation got out in the first place. Neither the Commission or the candidate being investigated is supposed to speak publicly during an investigation, but I’m not sure what restrictions there are after an investigation has ended.

How does the state of Kansas benefit by having an unelected Commission decide who’s fined and who isn’t? How do citizens benefit from closed door hearings and dismissal of relevant charges?

What does the future of our state budget look like if the Senate Ways and Means chairman can’t even be honest about the commingling of his personal and campaign accounts?

Related:

Kansas Meadowlark: Did Senator Umbarger violate ethics rules buying a carport with campaign money? Umbarger clairvoyant?
Kansas Liberty: New campaign finance charges leveled against Umbarger
Kansas Liberty: Primary opponent says Umbarger violated campaign finance law
Kansas Liberty: Umbarger yields to ethics pressure, repays fund

The most important of these positions is by far that of the Senate President. Current Senate President Steve Morris has been more than a disappointment to all Kansans. Morris’ past four years have seen an average increase in state spending of more than 5% every year. Is it any wonder Kansas government is staring at a 2010 deficit of over $1 billion?

But Morris is more than a black eye to Kansas, he is a disappointment to all Republicans. During his time we’ve seen one of our Republican leaders quoted in the New York Times as having no other difference with Democrat Kathleen Sebelius than the blocked coal power plants.

“But that’s the only major disagreement we’ve had since she took office,” Mr. Morris said. “She knew she would have to work with Republicans when she came in, and she’s done pretty well doing that.”

Republicans deserve a leader who supports Republicans and not just the next meal ticket they think will bring more power to themselves.

He and Vice President John Vratil used their Senate Leadership PAC to further their quest for power, not for the benefit of Republicans fighting Democrats for Senate seats.

In fact, when Republican Senate candidates needed non-monetary help in defeating Democrats, they were met with praise for the Democrat.

Sen. John Vratil, R-Leawood, chairman of the judiciary committee, said hers (Greta Goodwin) was one of the key races that will determine the Senate leadership next year. Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, agreed.

Could the picture be more clear?

If re-elected, Morris promises more of the same. Experience seems to be the hot word of this election season, but is experience with higher taxes and more spending what Kansans really need during these tough budget times?

Of course not. What is needed is strong, conservative leadership offered by Senator Susan Wagle. Wagle has a record of being true to the taxpayers and not to those who put her in power.

Wagle was endorsed by the KRA for her re-election bid this past November and also earned our endorsement as a Lt. Governor candidate with Jim Barnett.

Susan Wagle is the clear choice for a new direction in Kansas.

I, for one, have no interest in a governor who’s nothing more than a surrogate of Obama looking for a ticket out of Kansas. And I definitely have no interest in a Republican leader who sells out his party for a ticket on the Sebelius express.

The race for Speaker of the House showcases two familiar candidates. Current Speaker Melvin Neufeld is seeking re-election but has been hounded by his inability to pass legislation authorizing the Holcomb power plants. He’s also getting significant heat for the passage of legislation in 2007 authorizing state-owned casinos in Kansas.

Rep. Mike O’Neal was endorsed by the KRA in his recent re-election bid to the House. Rep. O’Neal has a good record of being true to the taxpayer and as chairman of the Judiciary Committee has considerable experience with judicial appointments and the power of our courts. He also lead the charge against capitulation to the Supreme Court in their mandate to increase education funding.

With over 50% of the state budget going to K-12 education, it’s virtually impossible to cut state spending by $1 billion without a tax increase or education spending cuts. It’s not yet clear that the Supreme Court would intervene again, but with its past history, another mandate is likely. A strong Speaker is needed, and Rep. O’Neal fits the bill.

And the Democrat races? Well, not that we really care, but the Senate Minority Leader race is interesting for a couple of reasons.

First, we’re told all the time about the split in the Republican Party, but not much is said about the split within the Democrat Party. It was highlighted this past election season with the recruitment of Kelley Kultala against incumbent Democrat Mark Gilstrap. The media likes to talk about the recruitment of conservative candidates against ‘moderate’ Republicans, but for some reason didn’t see much interest in the recruitment of a liberal against a true moderate Democrat.

The race between current Minority Leader Hensley and Sen. Chris Steineger is also interesting because of Hensley’s relationship with Gov. Sebelius. Together, they decided to take out one of their own and spend thousands of party dollars to do it, while loosing a Senate seat. It will be interesting to see if other Democrat Senators agree with their strategy.

Related:

Kansas Liberty: O’Neal confident of unseating Neufeld
Kansas Liberty: How careful with your money are candidates for House, Senate leadership positions?
Kansas Liberty: Legislative leadership contests are ‘intimate and intense’
Kansas Liberty: Battle develops for top Democratic leadership post in Kansas Senate
Kansas Liberty: School spending cuts could set collision course with the Supreme Court
Wichita Liberty: Susan Wagle for Kansas Senate President
Topeka Capital Journal: Lawmakers to vote on key House, Senate jobs
Salina Journal: Who will be state’s leaders?

In fact, if it weren’t for some confusion among conservative JoCo delegates, liberals would have lost. While the Kansas Meadowlark does point out that some tactical errors by liberals could have contributed to their losses for delegates, these alone can’t explain the complete loss by liberals when it comes to delegates.

A switch of just 20 votes for chairman and 12 votes for Vice-Chair would have meant a conservative win.

What hasn’t been talked about much is the complete meltdown of liberals in other parts of the state. No competitive races were seen in Sedgwick County. Conservatives still have control of the second and fourth districts. The same is expected in the first. And now conservatives will keep delegate control in the third as well.

What is important to note is the lack of a ‘unity slate’ from the liberals. When the numbers are against them, they want to power share, but when they think they can win, compromise and sharing don’t seem to be in their vocabulary. The new JoCo leadership needs to keep the past in mind when making decisions over the next two years. Working together needs to be a phrase they repeat often.

Working together is something to be desired, but it has to be desired no matter what the numbers look like, no matter what the year is. That hasn’t been seen in the past.

The poll has been taken down from the main page, but you can still vote in the poll here on the blog. Just look to your right. Feel free to vote as many times as you like, just wait a few seconds and hit refresh.

And if Gov. Sebelius jumps ship for greener Washington pastures (which she’s sure to do if given the opportunity, because let’s face it, Kansas is just a stepping stone to her), three of the six seats will be held by unelected Democrats.

What an astounding scenario.

It’s rather mind boggling that half of our statewide offices can be filled with unelected politicos, without even so much as a Senate hearing or vote, and virtually no recourse for voters if they don’t approve of the appointments.

When Paul Morrison was caught in his sex scandal, Democrat Stephen Six was appointed to fill his term, which had three years left. That appointment highlighted a significant problem in Kansas…the unlimited power of the Governor to appoint anyone (qualified or not) to fill a vacant office, whether it’s for one month or four years.

Immediately after Morrison’s resignation, many thought there would be a competitive AG race in the ’08 general election, but because of our current laws, we’ll now have an un-elected partisan serving as our chief law enforcement officer until 2010.

Furthermore, Sebelius was free to pick whomever she wanted, regardless of party, regardless of qualifications, and regardless of political ties to unsavory political figures. Six’s appointment highlighted the need for Senate confirmation hearings.

Unfortunately, if Sebelius is given the opportunity to jump the sinking Kansas budget ship for Washington big spending, Lt. Gov. Parkinson will have the opportunity to appoint anyone he sees fit to the Lt. Governor’s office.

So then what happens if he resigns? That’s not outside the realm of possibility…did anyone see the Morrison melt down coming? A Parkinson appointment would create a situation where just one resignation could allow an unelected, unconfirmed political appointment to run the state, without so much as a glance from our elected Senators, and with no recourse for voters if they don’t approve.

Our forefathers fought against taxation without representation. Why do we now accept this as normal and regard it with nothing more than curious apathy?

It’s time the House and Senate seriously look at how statewide offices are filled when left vacant before a term expires. With virtual year round campaigning in our future (Can you say Jerry Moran and Todd Tiahrt???) there will undoubtedly be more vacancies to fill in the future. It’s time we ensure those vacancies are filled with the people’s choice and not an unelected political appointment.

Sebelius’ personal PAC came under fire yesterday from a non-partisan group for using their name to spread lies about a Republican candidate. As the Lawrence Journal-World stated:

“By using the Project’s name to give credibility to these attacks, the Bluestem Fund is cheating the public out of their need for trusted, abundant, accurate, factual information.” Project Vote Smart also said it prohibits the use of its name and information in partisan ads. The Bluestem Fund is chaired by Sebelius and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent months to help Democrats in legislative races.

More importantly, it’s critical that citizens know who’s behind the mailings. Not only does Sebelius twist campaign finance laws to have her own Political Action Committee, but only $30,000 or the hundreds of thousands raised came from inside Kansas. Click here to read the Kansas Meadowlark report.