To the editor:
The school counselor in a third-grade classroom where I was substitute teaching told the 9-year-olds about bullying. She told them bullying is hurtful behavior over and over. The children discussed how bullying is not nice. They learned bullying has consequences and is illegal at school. The counselor pointed out that we should leave others alone if we don’t like them. If someone is in a bad situation, we should help him or her. The children learned that name-calling, threatening and hurting are ways to bully others.
It seems there is a bully in the Statehouse. He is hurting many Kansans over and over. Women, children, the poor, sick, weak and aged pay the consequences. The Topeka bully should leave the arts, schools and social services alone. Better yet, he should help them, not destroy them. A leader should know not to name-call, threaten and hurt to bully Kansas citizens.
Comments
xm75 1 year, 4 months ago
The arts, schools and social services bullies should leave my taxes alone.
If YOU want to pay for the arts YOU should pay for the arts and leave me out of it. The people of Kansas have finally elected a few officials who, in a small way, want to stop using the power of the police and state to forcible extract money from some to give to other's pet art projects.
progressive_thinker 1 year, 4 months ago
The investment that was previously made in arts funding would likely yield more returns for Kansas than many of our other economic development investments in recent history. Our current model for arts funding [as in no state funding] was allegedly modeled after that in Vermont. An interesting letter to Brownback in this regard can be found at:
http://artsissues.blogspot.com/2011/05/open-letter-to-kansa-governor-sam.html
Please note that the State of Vermont reported a total Return on Investment from state funding of the arts of 775%
If you look at the economic successes in Kansas that have been seen through investments in the arts, [example: Wichita Grand Opera] it is hard to understand how we as a state can walk away from the proven economic growth benefits
parrothead8 1 year, 4 months ago
Yeah...schools are such stupid things to fund.
fearthetaliban 1 year, 4 months ago
Please have KS get out of the millions they spend on wildlife. It's only a hobby. PLEASE ask the state to stop using our taxes to support hunters and fisherman
wounded_soldier 1 year, 4 months ago
What a weak letter, sorry to be so bold. Instead of hitting and naming the nail, she talks around it. The people of Kansas has given this man carte blanche to do as he pleases. No one considered the consequenses of this governor winning at such a high mandate. He is a bully and he has to be stopped. Even though many don't want to pay for arts, it is this enrichment that makes people happy.
Cant_have_it_both_ways 1 year, 4 months ago
What about those bullies that bully the taxpayer into supporting those who don't want to work and organizations like teachers unions? With your attitude, there is no wonder why the children today have an entitlement attitude.
You should be fired.
jhawkinsf 1 year, 4 months ago
There are people who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. They have spent their lives working hard and playing by the rules. And there are people who have spent a lifetime working as little as possible. They scam the system for as much as they can get, with no regrets. To lump those two groups together is a disservice to the former and encourages the latter.
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus 1 year, 4 months ago
Perhaps a course in anger management would be of help.
esteshawk 1 year, 4 months ago
Those teachers. How dare them want the EQUAL PROTECTION to PEACABLY ASSEMBLE to PETITION THEIR GOVERNMENT.
After all, they are government workers, and cant have it both ways.
voevoda 1 year, 4 months ago
Odd, Cant_have_it_both_ways, that you pair "those who don't want to work" with "teachers," who work very, very hard under difficult circumstances: kids who aren't properly reared, intrusive parents, dismissive members of the public, arcane regulations, budgets that never stretch far enough. Why do you feel so entitled, Cant_have_it_both_ways, to demand that a teacher be fired for exercising her right to free speech and criticizing the government, very much the way you do so often on this forum? I guess the "entitlement attitude" isn't exclusive to "the children today."
Mike1949 1 year, 4 months ago
Think the Arts should be voluntary. But education, personal mate choices, what women do with their bodies and whether or not they are ready for a child, those are freedoms, personal freedoms. Those are not being bullied, they are being dictated by a authoritarian dictator! It is enough to force me to go out and purchase guns and ammunition for self defense of my freedoms!
Ragingbear 1 year, 4 months ago
His twitter stunt would qualify under the new "digital harassment" laws.
imastinker 1 year, 4 months ago
There is NO decision that a politican can make that will nor affect a person or group of persons in a negative way. None. You can't lower income taxes without cutting services. You can't fund the bus or the library without raising taxes. You can't promote alternative energy without harming investors in oil companies and trucking companies that deliver the oil. See what I mean?
It's disenginous to sit here and call him a bully because his tax plan raises taxes (or in this case just cuts tax credits) on a group of people. Why not instead tell us what kind of government you think we should have and who should pay for it?
BTW, I don't like Brownback's plan myself.
oldvet 1 year, 4 months ago
well said... +1
BigAl 1 year, 4 months ago
I must admit, the far right has done a great job in perpetuating the myth of liberal media bias. MSNBC is definitely biased on the left. But even they don't claim to be "Fair and Balanced" like Fox. Fox is the most biased news organization out there. FOX News and talk radio are way over the top and control most of the bias in the news today.
O'Reilly, and others on Fox News, spend a lot of time promoting this bias myth. Of course, they never cite themselves for media bias which in itself should tell you all you need to know.
Too bad so many refuse to think for themselves.
Alex Parker 1 year, 4 months ago
I have never removed a comment for simply being critical of our coverage, Phoenixman.
parrothead8 1 year, 4 months ago
If 55% have no trust in the media, that means that 45% have some degree of trust in the media. That's a higher approval rating than Congress.
BigAl 1 year, 4 months ago
I'm sorry that some people refuse to lay down for politicians that they don't necessarily agree with. Shame on people for not questioning a governor that has turned out to be a little to right of Atilla the Hun.
By the way, I am still waiting to see ANY documented cases of voter fraud in Kansas. Wait, I'm sorry, I sure hope that wasn't "attacking"......
sweatybutcher 1 year, 4 months ago
This is a letter to the editor, not an article produced by the LJW.
Armstrong 1 year, 4 months ago
A paid political reporter ? Now that's funny
tuschkahouma 1 year, 4 months ago
math, you're part of the governor's bullying squad....that's why you're oblivious and blame the letter writer...how dare she stand up to you.....
snap_pop_no_crackle 1 year, 4 months ago
YDP ... should ... all ...work ... to ... elect ... another ... governor .... (from a source)
LarryNative 1 year, 4 months ago
The arts are not a bunch of hippies dancing around with flowers in their hair and painting. The arts are the music you listen to, the clothes you wear, the design of your pick up truck and the labels on your favorite beer. Art programs teach and nurture the young who grow up to share their art with others in all different forms. If you want to see a country with no art programs, take a look at North Korea.
friendlyjhawk 1 year, 4 months ago
Governer Brownback is a bully. Plain and simple. He poorly (if at all) communicates except to take away from the people of Kansas. It does no good to make the obvious statement that I didn't vote for him. Enough voters did and now he has made enough changes to push Kansas farther down the red brick road of ridicule and failure. The letter was a good letter because it reminded us in a very simple and sincere way of what is happening daily in this state. Governer Brownback is not working for anyone's good except his own. That perhaps could be why the article about the couple that helps foreign children is so interesting. Why help our own when it is held up to ridicule and taxation at home? Our monies that are spent on helping our own citizens makes us pariahs at home but if it goes out of the state it is much more saintly. But I am digressing. Brownback is a bully, is a bully, is a bully! Ah, there, back on track again
ArnoldKS 1 year, 4 months ago
This whining about arts funding in Kansas has to stop. With the budget deficit and ongoing debt as staggering as it is, there's no reason the state government has to fund this.
Rather, prove that Kansans are givers. If the Kauffman Center can be built with $400+ million of PRIVATE FUNDS, then Kansas art programs can raise a few hundred thousand on their own. Have they no faith in their own offerings? There are plenty of art-lovers in Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee and Wyandotte counties who can contribute to the nonprofits like the KS Arts Commission. (I am one of them and I have never been asked to contribute to a membership or fundraising campaign for the Arts Commission.) There are also plenty of earned-income models of arts and sports commissions -- and membership organizations -- that could be followed here.
The arts community is absolutely capable of ingenuity and creativity when it comes to fundraising. So get started, folks, and raise your own funds to promote your own interests.
Cant_have_it_both_ways 1 year, 4 months ago
IMHO funding the Chambers of Commerce as other organizations is a form of welfare, only these people have to appear to do something for their checks.
gl0ck0wn3r 1 year, 4 months ago
lulz
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