To the editor:

Our meretricious Gov. Brownback has taken the Republican “weed-whacker” approach in his “slash and burn” technique to get attention and eliminate programs using his line-item veto, including $689,000 funding for the Kansas Arts Commission.

Brownback claims he is just trying to balance the budget without raising taxes. (Hello, tea party!) Perhaps Brownback’s new job description is: “It’s all about me now, baby, for one day, I shall run for president of the United States!”

On the dome of the state Capitol, dwells a statue of a 22-foot almost naked guy, “Ad Astra,” shooting an arrow at the sky. He weighs over two tons and is much too heavy for the dome. Someone suggested a fiberglass copy as a solution … but, oh no … too practical! Ten years later, he is still up there, and the dome is still surrounded by scaffolding and cranes. Today, the finished work is estimated to be $340 million (originally projected at $90 million) with no firm completion date. Brownback wants to save money in the arts? Well, bringing down Ad Astra might be a start, or is it too hard to see the forest for the trees of construction?

Kansas has a $493 million shortfall. Take away this $340 million tribute to our illustrious, progressive Kansas government in Topeka and we would probably not have a governor whacking and attacking the arts and social programs of Kansas. It’s akin to what Quantrill did to Lawrence back in 1863: “Slash and burn, baby!”