Will Aug. 7 be the last stand for moderate Republicans in Kansas?
If Gov. Sam Brownback, a conservative, has anything to say about it, it might.
“It’s pretty obvious that Gov. Brownback and the conservatives are putting on a major effort to absolutely gain control,” said Mark Peterson, political science professor at Washburn University.
Of moderate Republicans, Peterson said, “They’re in a constant state of erosion, and it’s clear that conservative values are a very big thing right now.”
Conservatives already rule the House and the executive branch. The last remaining toehold for moderates is the Kansas Senate.
Republicans hold a 32-8 margin over Democrats in the Senate, and of those 32 Republicans, conservatives hold a slight edge.
But moderate Republicans and Democrats have been able to team up to eke out majorities on several key issues.
If there’s a swing of two or three seats, conservatives would run the Senate, too, so a few hundred votes in a handful of key races could be the deciding factor Aug. 7, the day of the Republican Party primary.
Across the state, incumbent moderates are being taken on by conservatives in the GOP primary.
Brownback entered the fray, saying in a prepared statement: “Because of the alliance in the state Senate between Democrats and some Republicans that join together to promote a Democrat agenda, the primary election has effectively become the general. Therefore, I am going to be involved in a limited number of primaries.”
Brownback’s camp refused to provide a list of which candidates he was endorsing, but statements from some of the candidates and appearances by Brownback have revealed some of his picks.
For example, Tom Arpke, a conservative from Salina, got Brownback’s endorsement against Sen. Pete Brungardt, also from Salina.
Brownback has also endorsed Rep. Jim Denning for Senate District 8, who faces incumbent Sen. Tim Owens, and Rep. Greg Smith who is running for the state Senate District 21 in a contested primary. Both of those districts are in Johnson County.
Brownback’s allies, the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Americans for Prosperity, have also targeted moderate Republicans for defeat, such as Senate President Steve Morris, of Hugoton, Jean Schodorf, of Wichita, Vicki Schmidt, of Topeka, and Carolyn McGinn, of Sedgwick.
One of the key stated fears of moderates is that if conservatives control both the House and Senate, then Brownback will be able to ram through public school changes that were shelved during the last legislative session.
Brownback’s proposal would have eliminated state limits on local property tax increases for education and replaced a system that gives districts with large populations of at-risk students more money. But critics said removing property tax limits would have widened funding disparities between rich and poor school districts, and that replacing the at-risk weighting didn’t take into account how student populations change.
Some moderate Republicans also find the tax cuts that Brownback signed into law contrary to good governance. Brownback said the cuts will spur the economy and create jobs, but critics say the cuts will benefit mostly the wealthy while robbing the state treasury of needed funds for schools and social services.
“Kansas education cannot survive with the tax cuts that were passed and still manage to produce the kind of results that Kansans expect from their education system,” said Rochelle Chronister, a Republican who has been involved in state government and politics for decades.
Chronister is the spokeswoman for a group of 55 former legislators — all Republicans — called Traditional Republicans for Common Sense. The group has been highly critical of Brownback. Chronister said she hopes that moderate Republicans survive the primary.
So why don’t moderate Republicans join the Democratic Party if they feel under attack in their own party?
Chronister said that while some Kansas Democrats seem sensible — she pointed out Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka — the national Democratic Party is too liberal for many moderate Republicans.
Peterson, the Washburn political science professor, said the dominance of the GOP in Kansas is too much of a climb to entice moderate Republicans, outside of a few notable exceptions, to join the Democratic Party.
He said he has spoken with several moderate Republicans who tell him “there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of affecting policy in this state if you are not a member of the Republican Party.”
Comments
booyalab 10 months ago
Political moderates are less happy than political extremists. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/opinion/sunday/conservatives-are-happier-and-extremists-are-happiest-of-all.html
livingstone 10 months ago
The first chapter in the bible has already said it all... the more you know the less happy you will be.... If Adam and Eve didn't care much about knowledge, and stay ignorant, we'll all be happy... cheers and enjoy your weekend!
SnakeFist 10 months ago
That depends on how you define "happiness". If you mean the happiness of an animal in God's petting zoo, then yes. To paraphrase Lucifer, it is better to be a rational being in an imperfect world, than an irrational animal in a perfect garden.
booyalab 10 months ago
So you're saying that liberals know how ignorant they are about economics and it makes them sad?
livingstone 10 months ago
booyalab, i didn't mention anything about liberals and conservatives... I'm just saying that the more you know, the less happy you are. There are worried liberals... many are academics and very knowledgeable persons... most of them aren't happy... there are very happy liberals who.. really don't know much... there are very happy conservatives.. who just believe in religions and hated sciences... and there are very unhappy conservatives who know too much and just want more money (like the Koch brothers).... it just happens that a little bit more liberals know a lot more things.... and some conservatives know a lot more (like Dick Cheney), and Dick isn't a happy man.... since he knows more.. than that little Bush Jr.... Bush is a happy man.. Dick is an... angry man.
fiddleback 10 months ago
Thanks for sharing this article. The one part of the equation they don't account for is IQ, but then that's somewhat implied when extremism is so comfortingly oversimplified. The funniest part of this is how much evolutionary advantage religious conservative extremists seem to have-- bigger families and, poor diets aside, longer life expectancy from having a sunny side up. I think this really answers the question about why as a species we haven't evolved past ridiculous superstitions, binary political philosophies, and, as the article puts it, "system rationalizations" regarding the ills of society: there's a major competitive advantage to having such a cloistered mind.
booyalab 10 months ago
Thanks, I thought it was an interesting article. I think moderates are less happy than "extremists" because they feel pulled in multiple directions. As far as the conservative vs liberal difference, I am a conservative but I don't feel the need to explain the difference in terms of politics. Probably because I tend to think politics explains very little, but also because I think it's simply that conservatives are more likely to be married and married people tend to be happier than single people.
Yeoman2 10 months ago
Why do we continue to call them the relatively placid "conservatives" ?? They are extrimists, and facists. Let's call a spade a spade. Our governer has made a very careful study of politics in Germany in the 1930s. This news rag has supported this facism. They are clearly out to bring down the lawfully elected government of the United States of America and replace it with their facist adgenda learned from the overthrow of the Weimar Republic.
lunacydetector 10 months ago
if you look at things with an open mind, today's fascists are the democrats.
kuguardgrl13 10 months ago
-Equal rights for all -Give all students a quality education -Fair taxes -Healthcare for everyone
What about this is fascist? I hate to use Wikipedia, but please read the basic definition of a fascist: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism
Liberty275 10 months ago
You are casting pearls to swine.
kuguardgrl13 10 months ago
If you read the article, it says the Fascists take political beliefs from both sides (yes, even socialism). What makes Fascists different from liberals is that Fascists aren't tolerant of people who are different (aryans, anyone?). In general, American democrats are quite tolerant of others. This is something that the Tea Party is not. That's my point.
jkilgore 10 months ago
If you're looking to detect lunacy, look in the mirror.
sourpuss 10 months ago
Nope.
Oxford English Dictionary: n. an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. • (in general use) extreme right-wing, authoritarian, or intolerant views or practice.
Yeoman2 10 months ago
Like the Nazis
rtwngr 10 months ago
As in, "I'll tell you what a religious exemption is. You don't define your religious beliefs, I do." ala Barack Obama/Kathleen Sebelius
cait48 10 months ago
Ummm no, LD.
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini
wheatrancher 10 months ago
And if you learn basic English, I agree to a point with a couple of changes-----democrat Republicans. And of course they are fascists ----the far right ones. As well as the far left Democrats.
63BC 10 months ago
What is a "facist" precisely? One who judges people on facial appearance?
There was a political movement of "fascism" in some parts of the world last century. It was defeated by a coalition favoring constitutional government respecting popular sovereignty and individual liberty---precisely what today's conservatives stand for in the US.
The fascist movement in Germany referred to here was represented by the Nazi Party. "Nazi" is an abbreviation of two German words meaning "National Socialism."
Read more. Spew less.
tomatogrower 10 months ago
"constitutional government respecting popular sovereignty and individual liberty-"
Conservatives stand for this if you are a straight, white, healthy male with lots of money.
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus 10 months ago
""Nazi" is an abbreviation of two German words meaning "National Socialism.""
A name chosen to attract true socialist voters, who far outnumbered fascists. In fact, it was a blatant lie (a tactic quite similar to current Republican/Tea Party tactics.) After coming to power, the Nazis jailed communists and socialists, and eventually sent large numbers of them to concentration camps.
boltzmann 10 months ago
"Read more. Spew less." Perhaps you should take your own advice. By your logic, the German Democratic Republic must have been a democracy because it had the word in its name. Given that the leader of one of the largest members of that coalition was FDR - are you implying that FDR would be in sync with "today's conservatives" - that would be news to both FDR and the current conservative movement.
Therefore, I think that your comment counts as an "spew" and not something to be taken seriously.
Yeoman2 10 months ago
"Nationalsozialistche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei"...National SocialistGerman Worker's Party
Crazy_Larry 10 months ago
The Nazis embraced socialist symbols and language to attract the working class vote in Germany. They were not socialists.
Yeoman2 10 months ago
"Naionalsozialistche Deutsche Arbeiterpartri" - National Socialist German Worker's Party
mikekt 10 months ago
Give us a break
Your dictionary explanations are charming but humans are being turned into commodities & cannon fodder by a rich few at the top & life form many is poverty, alcohol & drug addiction with little hope of escape for the benefit of corporate freedom to do as the rich please with society
Crazy_Larry 10 months ago
(oops, wrong reply. this should have gone to the poster above you, yeoman) The Nazis embraced socialist symbols and language to attract the working class vote in Germany.
Crazy_Larry 10 months ago
Watch and learn. Spew less. You might be surprised by the many similarities to what is happening in the USA today. After WWI, the German people were in great despair and poverty...they longed for someone to lead them back into prosperity...they were ripe for the picking.
Chronicle of the Third Reich, vol.1 1/3 by DarkFellowships
Crazy_Larry 10 months ago
Just because they called themselves National Socialists doesn't mean that they were socialists. The Nazis embraced socialist symbols and language to attract the working class vote in Germany. Socialism is the idea of a classless society. Nazi society was very class-oriented with warrior and leader as the highest class, and Jews and workers as the lowest class. Socialism dreams of a society without a leader, national socialism had Hitler, probably the most glorified leading figure in history. Socialism dreams about a society where there are no national states anymore, and people live together without any remark on their origin or "race". The Nazis were the most nationalist / patriotic / race fanatic people ever. The Nazi system was financed by big industrialists, factory owners and bankers, while they would probably be the greatest enemies of socialists.
Crazy_Larry 10 months ago
Side note, the vast majority of German society at that time considered themselves as good Christian people.
lunacydetector 10 months ago
i'm glad the conservatives are trying to kick out all the democrats who lied and ran as a republican to get elected...thus the name, RINO (republican in name only).
livingstone 10 months ago
The Democrats have no idea.... the Republicans have bad ideas.... but should be kicked out.... and adopt the party that is started Kansas... Libertarian.
traveler12 10 months ago
Call me weird, but I'm starting to like Brownback.
Liberty275 10 months ago
You're weird.
Pot, kettle, black.
:-)
Crazy_Larry 10 months ago
The Nazis were good Christians too.
kuguardgrl13 10 months ago
I am not at all surprised that moderate republicans in Kansas reach across party lines to get the dems to vote with them. Kansas democrats (as compared to dems in other states) are also moderate. Sibelius is actually somewhat conservative compared to members of the national party. That being said, I think several of us dems are willing to vote for some moderate GOPers if only to keep a majority away from Brownie. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Dems and moderate republicans both dislike Brownback and his uber-conservatives, so we stand a better chance if we work together. The democrats did abysmally at the state level in 2010, so maybe we'll learn something. Stay strong for democrats for local, state house, and national, but consider voting for those moderates for lower level state. Obviously registered democrats can't vote in the republican primaries, but encourage your GOP friends to vote moderate! Keep funding for our schools and prevent our state from going under! Nothing about Brownback and his goons is good. He needs to be ousted in 2014!
oxymoron 10 months ago
I register as a Republican just for the primaries. Have done this for over 30 years. Now more than ever, we must preserve moderation whatever the name of the party. Kansas has become Brownback's "lab". We don't want to be his monkeys.
merrill 10 months ago
RINO's = Sam Brownback/The Walton Family(WAl-Mart),Koch brothers which in effect is removing republicans from the republican party. These Neocon extremists do not believe anyone should challenge their decisions. Sam Brownback should be the ruler of Kansas no questions asked.
This removes democracy and sensible spending of tax dollars, funding public education and keeping people employed which means a strong economy.
Sam Brownback was in Washington D.C. for this:
In the end big debt and super duper bailouts were the results which does not seem to bother Republicans, as long as they are in power.
In fact, by the time the second Bush left office, the national debt had grown to $12.1 trillion:
ENTITLEMENT - Over half of that amount had been created by Bush’s tax cuts for the very wealthy.
ENTITLEMENT - Another 30% of the national debt had been created by the tax cuts for the wealthy under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
• ENTITLEMENT - Fully 81% of the national debt was created by just these three Republican Presidents. http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2010/0111orr.html
ENTITLEMENT - Starting in 2003, George W. Bush destroyed the world economy by encouraging U.S. banks to make loans to those who could not afford them, through schemes such as the "American Dream Downpayment Initiative". This is the fraudulent home loan game that has put the USA economy where it is as we speak. An orchestrated event such that Reagan/Bush executed.
Also through the destruction of oversight, such as lawsuits to prevent state securities laws from being enforced on Bush's watch.
Once Bush's policies led to their inevitable result of economic collapse, the United States found itself in a situation where it had to take on debt in order to restore the economy.
http://www.reaganbushdebt.org/CalculationDetails.aspx
Larry 10 months ago
Merrill - blaming Bush for the banking collapse. Seriously! I don't know you but it is hard to believe you're not being sarcastic with your post. Talk about entitlements and poor economies. You might find the link below interesting. Perhaps the state (California) and U.S. city (Detroit) in the worse shape financial have been under democrat party control for quite some time including California governor (lefty in sheep clothing) Arnold S. http://news.investors.com/article/449155/200811010059/how-mortgage-crisis-happened-good-intentions-paved-dire-path.htm?Ntt=mortgage%20crisis
kuguardgrl13 10 months ago
The problem with Detroit is not that its leadership belongs to a particular party. It is an industrial blue-collar city that hasn't been able to develop a service economy. Think about it: Detroit; Pittsburgh, PA; Wichita. These were all industrial cities in the last century, and all three fell on hard times when we stopped producing and started outsourcing. Pittsburgh has been able to come back slightly with medicine and technology, but it is still behind New York and other service empires. Wichita would still have a viable economy and jobs if Boeing hadn't left. And who still actually makes cars in Detroit? The factories are elsewhere. This is not the fault of democratic mayors or city councils. This is a Republican federal government allowing corporations to outsource jobs to foreign countries and importing more than we export.
Crazy_Larry 10 months ago
We can blame Bush for bailing out the Wall Street banks. Obama became President in January 2009. On Sept. 8, 2008, the U.S. Treasury seized control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and pledged a $200 billion cash injection to help the companies cope with mortgage default losses. About a week later the government bailed out American International Group Inc., or AIG, with $85 billion. The Fed refused to save Lehman Brothers and the company was forced to file for bankruptcy. Some of the largest financial institutions were on the verge of collapse as the mortgage market melted down. As the crisis hit the global market, the credit freeze spread. The Treasury and the Federal Reserve began working on a $700 billion bailout plan. President George W. Bush signed the bailout plan into law Oct. 3. Weeks later, on Oct. 29, the Fed cut the key interest rate to 1 percent.
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/federal-reserve/financial-crisis-timeline.aspx
merrill 10 months ago
Gov Sam Brown is in Kansas doing this:
Worker's taxes siphoned off by their bosses Thursday, April 26, 2012 | Posted by Jim Hightower
Where is the $47 million tax dollars that belong to Kansas taxpayers?
My congratulations to workers in 16 states – from Maine to Georgia, New Jersey to Colorado! Many of you will be thrilled to know that the income taxes deducted from your paychecks each month are going to a very worthy cause: your corporate boss.
Good Jobs First, a non-profit, non-partisan research center, has analyzed state programs meant to create jobs, but instead have created some $700 million a year in corporate welfare. This scam starts with the normal practice of corporations withholding from each employee's monthly check the state income taxes their workers owe.
But rather than remitting this money to pay for state services, these 16 states simply allow the corporations to keep the tax payments for themselves! Adding to the funkiness of taxation-by-corporation, the bosses don't even have to tell workers that the company is siphoning off their state taxes for its own fun and profit.
These heists are rationalized in the name of "job creation," but that's a hoax, too. They're really just bribes the states pay to get corporations to move existing jobs from one state to another, or they're hostage payments to corporations that demand the public's money – or else they'll move their jobs out of state.
Last year, Kansas used workers' withholding taxes to bribe AMC Entertainment with a $47 million payment to move its headquarters from downtown Kansas City, Missouri, to a KC suburb on the Kansas side, just 10 miles away. What a ripoff! Among the 2,700 corporations cashing in on such absurd diversions of state taxes from public need to private greed are Goldman Sachs, GE, Motorola, and Procter & Gamble.
For more information – and for ways you can help stop this despicable giveaway – get the full report, entitled "Paying Taxes to the Boss." It's available at www.GoodJobsFirst.org.>
- Sign in to suggest removal
AMC Entertainment has since been sold to Dalian Wanda Group of China.
When this tax deal was cut AMC and Cordish Co. of Baltimore were partners. As of 5/25/12 this partnership is becoming history.
As with many buyouts/mergers people lose jobs sooner of later due to the expense of purchase. Is all of the above legal as far as the $47 million tax dollar give away is concerned?
Where is the $47 million tax dollars?
merrill 10 months ago
Need for Voter ID based on voter fraud is fraudulent in and of itself
Voter ID is A Fraud
All of this voter ID/voter fraud chit chat is a bogus approach to convince voters that republicans are concerned about voter fraud which cannot be further from the truth.
According to radio news on Thursday voter fraud has been available to the republican party for several years. It is accomplished by way of paperless voting.
According to the news story it has been successful for the republican party because democrats do not pursue the fraud which it seems to me is anti American. Then again so is this nonsense voter ID law. The need for voter ID has been based on fraudulent information that there is voter fraud taking place but it has nothing to do with voter ID and never has.
Voter ID cannot protect the voters from electronic fraud at the computers no matter if voters have a dozen ID's each. Computers are set up to vote wrong in favor of the republican party.
This has been going on for years. The new RINO repubs which began the over throw of the republican party in 1980 do not believe in democracy. They admire Chinese Communist Government or Iraq/Afghanistan style democracy.
The republicans have dreamed up this scheme for voter ID to cover votes that do not take place on computers. How many ways can republicans keep voters away from the voting booth is the objective. Just saying use a drivers license,existing state ID's or a medicare card would defeat their purpose and shoot themselves in the foot.
Pastor_Bedtime 10 months ago
Yep, the radicals in my party would rather see me vote Democrat than dilute their conservative fervor on the state level. We see it happen on this board even. Their tent simply has no room for those who refuse to march lock-step with the conservative agenda. Funny thing, though, they may need a few of us moderate Republicans on the national level come fall....
tomatogrower 10 months ago
They are even asking people to sign a loyalty oath to their party. It's become quite scary. Their party is more important to them than the country, the state, or anything.
Enlightenment 10 months ago
The Republicans in Wisconsin also had their party members in office also sign a loyalty oath during the midst of the Gov. Walker recall campaign.
JayhawksandHerd 10 months ago
So, which party took control of the Senate as a result of the recall election?
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus 10 months ago
The conservatives may be able to win elections as a fringe party this time, but as the majority of Kansans, who tend towards moderation, not extremism, recoil at the petty and mean-spirited nature of their governance, the Republican Party might just push themselves into irrelevance.
sourpuss 10 months ago
I can't agree with you, busrider. I think the majority of voting Kansans are extreme, petty, short-sighted, and severely socially conservative. They care more about social issues than economic issues. You will NEVER convince them to vote Democrat and many of them prefer to vote for the most conservative candidate available. They abhor true education, they hate change... it's sad really, but they far outnumber everyone else.
jafs 10 months ago
If that were the case, then Sebelius never would have been elected governor.
sourpuss 10 months ago
She was from old Kansas politics and the Party was not Teabagged at that time.
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus 10 months ago
The GOP has really taken a turn to the weird (and not a nice weird) over the last 50 years, and the base of that weirdness turns out better for primary elections. For moderates in the party, it's a matter of identifying as Republican that has them holding their noses and voting for whoever the Republican nominee is in the general election.
If you add moderate Republicans to Democrats and moderate Independents, I think moderates definitely hold a majority in this state. If the GOP continues to go down the same path, they will eventually marginalize themselves out of contention even here in Kansas.
sourpuss 10 months ago
I very much hope that you are right. Very much.
Crazy_Larry 10 months ago
"If the GOP continues to go down the same path, they will eventually marginalize themselves out of contention even here in Kansas." Fingers crossed!
woodscolt 10 months ago
The wacko radical takeover of the republican party will meet its end one day but by then they will have destroyed the state of Kansas and Kansas will have to bring in moderates to rebuild and if they can't fix the problem the wackos took years to inflict fast enough then the wackos will be raring their ugly heads again. In the mean time the corrosion will continue. Therefore it is necessary to run these wackos out and destroy them.
Centerville 10 months ago
Most of the RINOs are acting astonished that that they are being accused of selling the state down the river. Their votes are on record - they have proven they can't be trusted - even if , during election years, they try to fake being sensible.
jafs 10 months ago
The idea that only very conservative Republicans are "real" Republicans means that the R party will eventually just marginalize itself, and become less of a political force.
Seems like a silly idea to me.
KS has had moderate R and D representation for a long time, and has done just fine with it - why change something that's working?
merrill 10 months ago
RINO's = Sam Brownback/The Walton Family(WAl-Mart),Koch brothers which in effect is removing republicans from the republican party. These Neocon extremists do not believe anyone should challenge their decisions. Sam Brownback should be the ruler of Kansas no questions asked.
These RINO facist thinkers do not like democrats,green party thinkers or republicans. They are RINO facists through and through.
When will the nation and Kansas wake up and vote democrat or Green Party to get rid of these RINO facists?
The nation,state and city governments can live without RINO facists. In fact people would be working again and the economy would begin moving again like a powerful locomotive.
kansasfaithful 10 months ago
I am getting lots of exercise walking my neighborhood supporting a good conservative for state senate. I love it and I am really liking the feedback I am getting from neighbors who traditionally don't care or may not agree or understand the out of control spending at the local, state and federal levels of government. They want jobs and security. Not government security but individual security and liberty. They don't want to pay for others who are not working as hard at they are. So we will see. As for those republicans teaming with democrats I am fine with this. It is part of the governing process and a healthy part of legislative process. But some of these republicans have crossed the line and are now supporting failed policy and we are going to defeat them out of principle. I like the idea that larger cities fund more of their educational costs leaving more state aid for rural areas and smaller communities. Lawrence for example because of it's public school system, Haskel and the University of Kansas is receiving a disproportionate amount of state educational aid and if the city thinks our schools need more we should pay for it. Many communities want it both ways. More state aid so they don't have to make hard choices about funding schools and roads and other community services and still attract businesses who pay close attention to their overhead and especially their tax bill. Because the pockets of the taxpayer are now empty local governments are running scared. The state funding is falling and the taxpayer is broke. If we don't fight to create and recruit business Lawrence is in deep trouble moving forward. The Lawrence city commission still hasn't figured this out as they fund recreational centers and an outdated public library at the same time we have schools and a chief of police demanding 40-60 million in increase spending. We have a water plant that needs another 50-70 million dollar fix and the list goes on. Like other cities around the country Lawrence will not be able to maintain this spending and will collapse if we don't change course. In the past 20 years Lawrence ran off Walmart and American Eagle Outfitters because of a stupid argument on a living wage. We don't hear that argument today. Lawrence demanded something like 8 bucks and hours form Walmart. Walmart said screw you and moved down the road to Ottawa where they are paying 12 bucks or more an hour. The small city of Ottawa knew better and is laughing all the way to the bank. I hope we have learned our lesson, but I won't bet on it.
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus 10 months ago
LIke I said, voters will soon have their fill of petty and mean-spirited. Enjoy the "victories" while you can.
hear_me 10 months ago
Correction. Haskell is not funded by the state. It's part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior. It's federal.
KansasConscience 10 months ago
Poorly written and disjointed. There, I've made the obligatory hack at your writing style and thought process.
I continue. "hear_me" is correct. Haskell is Federally underfunded and supported also in part by grants. That university receives no state funds. In fact, some at the State level and more than a few here in Lawrence wish that Haskell were not in Lawrence.
The KU and public schools are funded from different pots of money, so one has no bearing upon the other. Of late, the argument has been public school funding. One of The Guv's goals is to get enough Party of the Teabag state senators so that he can push ALEC's and the Koch families agenda though. One piece of that agenda will essentially defund public education from the state level, reducing that funding to what can be obtained through property taxes. Lawrence will be hurt of course because few can stand another property tax increase, especially those on fixed incomes. The districts that will be hurt worse are those from smaller, less affluent communities that just plain don't have the money to pay increased property taxes. Those communities may well see their schools wither and die.
The article notes that the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and AFP support targeting moderate senators with "conservative" candidates who will, if they win, support The Guv's agenda. The Kansas Chamber of Commerce is to the right of the moderate republicans, exactly where The Guv lies. The AFP is a Koch front, with one of it's better known shills living in Lawrence and sometimes posting here. Need I say more.
Roads are state funded unless you're talking about county roads, not major highways. Local road maintenance and school funding are two different pots of money and don't affect each other.
Your argument about Walmart going away does not hold water for two reasons. We are now blessed with two Walmarts in Lawrence: the upscale one (a "Debby" store if I remember correctly) on west 6th street; and the "dirty Walmart" on South Iowa Street. If they were chased away because of a requirement for a living wage, then why are they able to pay $12 an hour in Ottawa vice the requested $8 an hour here as you indicate. The Walmart distribution plant has been in Ottawa for many years; it was not driven away from Lawrence. Are you confusing American Eagle and Walmart? Regardless of the company, my question still stands, why are they able to offer $12 per hour in Ottawa and couldn't (didn't want to) offer $8 per hour here.
Finally, I commend you on getting exercise. We all should do that more often. At least your walking around your neighborhood distributing campaign literature will have one benefit.
none2 10 months ago
Some of your comments make sense other's don't:
1) Working harder than other people? Knocking on their doors and finding them home? Are they telecommuters; are they bankers who only work 9 to 5 M-F? I do telecommute, but that is rare. I don't have just 9-5 hours M-F. When you are salaried, you get your work done period. I would also find it hard to figure out why jobs would be a high priority for them if they are already hard working.
2) I agree that less funding is needed in urban areas. They already have lots of government funding. Places like Manhattan, Topeka, Lawrence, Leavenworth/Lansing have plenty of government funds. They are basically government towns. In the case like the state government, they should distribute those departments through out the state. Look what happens when government is concentrated in one area. You have for instance millions spent on the eternal project to improve the state capitol building. Now they find out that the roof is no good? Now they also need a prayer room? Why did they need underground parking? If parking is so bad, maybe they should move the government to the center of the state -- Great Bend. I bet people don't complain about parking there. I would doubt that there is any underground parking in Great Bend.
3) I agree that Lawrence is a mess. The local and county governments as well as the voters treat tax payers money as gambling money. I don't think they have ever voted anything down. They want the bypass, they want the empTy; they want the new library, they want more parking; they want more spent on police; they want to open up new school buildings. I cannot recall when Lawrence has ever believed in voting down something expensive. It is a house of cards that will collapse under its own weight one day.
4) I don't believe most conservatives want to save money anymore that extreme liberals. They want to waste money on voter ID. Where is the problem? Do we have illegal aliens electing communist-friendly liberals? I grew up in a part of western Kansas that now has lots of Hispanics. I don't know any liberals taking over western Kansas despite all the illegals. Do you? The conservatives certainly don't want to save school money when they propose vouchers. How will vouchers help children in rural Kansas? Is there a rush to open up private schools in rural Kansas? Granted I'm sure there is plenty of educational improvements needed -- just saying you need more money to make everything better is crazy. However, how is giving private school vouchers to parents in urban areas fair when so many rural parents don't even have that choice. If someone's child is too good for their public schools, then either get involved with their PTA to clean up and improve their school district or spend their own dime on a hoity-toity private school. I don't want my hard earned money I paid in taxes going to subsidize private schools.
kuguardgrl13 10 months ago
I will agree partially with your argument on schools. The private school vouchers are infinitely more fair to Johnson County parents compared to, say, Dodge City. I will, however, argue that asking large, urban areas to foot more of the bill for schools than a small town is ridiculous. What are property taxes like in Wyandotte compared to Johnson County? The KCK schools, Bonner, and all the others would flounder because there just isn't enough local money to support them. Rural schools would have the same problem. Suburban schools might be ok in a system like this, but their quality would go down as there is less funding to support extraneous programming (AP classes, dual credit at JCCC, athletics, the arts). I have a feeling that this system is not up to the standards that our state constitution requires for school funding.
none2 10 months ago
I wasn't even thinking of Dodge City when I meant rural Kansas. I grew up in southwestern Kansas, so as a child, Dodge City, Garden City, and Liberal were my definition of "cities". I'm talking about much smaller towns. Dodge City's Catholic diocese does run a school for K-8 grades. While that is just one, compare to the small towns of Kansas where the public school is it.
I would find it hard to believe that Wyandotte County does not have enough local money to run their school districts. Think of how many people live there: 158,224 was the population of Wyandotte County (2008). The town I grew up in was around 1,000 and the school district there is about 550 square miles.
Think of how many people shop at Legends, go to the race track, go to the Renaissance Festival. While Wyandotte may not be as prosperous as Johnson County, neither is it a struggling community compared to other areas of the state. Do you have any idea what other parts of the state would do to have that kind of prosperity? I'm sure the Unified Government of Wyandotte cries about their poverty all the way to the bank as they deposit in their sales tax revenue from Legends alone.
As to property tax, someone pointed out years ago that although Wyandott has higher property tax mill levy, a house valued at X thousand dollars would probably valued much higher in Johnson County. Thus the lower mill levy in Johnson County would be offset by its higher value that can be taxed... Perhaps that has changed over the years. I don't know as I don't keep up with real estate prices in other areas anymore.
kuguardgrl13 10 months ago
I will admit that I've never lived in a small town in my life. I don't know that much about rural Kansas. But I've been inside a KCK high school. While Wyandotte does have the Legends, the KCK schools are struggling for funding. So many of their students are impoverished and/or don't speak English as their first language. And even if you have things like the Legends in your county, that doesn't mean you see much of a benefit from it. Eudora schools don't benefit from business in Lawrence. It's the property taxes within the school district. So people who live in USD 497 pay taxes to fund those schools. People in Bonner Springs don't fund KCK schools. The Legends is in Bonner, not KCK.
Crazy_Larry 10 months ago
No, The Legends is in KCK--near Bonner Springs.
http://www.visitkansascityks.com/component/mtree/shopping/legends-outlets.html
question4u 10 months ago
At least everyone seems to know that fascism is bad, but beyond that....
It's like calling 104-degree summer days "temperate". Everyone is free to use words in his or her own way, but the way in which you use words sometimes says more than the words themselves.
KSWIND 10 months ago
Can someone PLEASE make a list of the conservatives for both the House and Senate and provide a link. Redistricting has caused a lot of confusion because former elected officials you knew about no longer represent your area.
verity 10 months ago
Myself, I'll wait and see (meanwhile doing a lot of campaigning).
It could also be that the end of the extreme Brownback wing of the Kansas Republican Party is at hand. We'll know after the election.
I would not call Gov Brownback a conservative. One of the definitions of conservative is resisting change. Going backwards is called reactionary.
Which brings up another problem---the definition of words that we throw around until they become quite meaningless and our conversations become the same.
I've heard rumblings from the rural population about the fact that their bridges are crumbling and may not continue to hold up under the farm equipment. Citizens will see more and more how cutting taxes and government actually affects their lives. You can cut education and the effects may not be seen clearly for some time, but when the bridge you need to drive over to get your combine to the field or your crops/livestock to market, you see it clearly this minute.
sourpuss 10 months ago
“there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of affecting policy in this state if you are not a member of the Republican Party.”
And this is one of the many reasons that Kansas is politically irrelevant. Scared + poorly educated = GOP votes.
People should move out of Kansas. There's a bigger, better world out there.
kuguardgrl13 10 months ago
Who votes democrat in Kansas? Douglas County, the home of college professors. How are democrats uneducated? GOP voters in Kansas are largely those in the small, rural communities out west.
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus 10 months ago
"Governor Brownback is doing a great job "
For the Koch Bros.
verity 10 months ago
"with God's will"
You, sir, are extremely arrogant to think that you speak for God.
woodscolt 10 months ago
Yeah,the wackos think they got god on their side so they can do no wrong.
TheSychophant 10 months ago
People who hide behind god are meek, timid, and ignorant. It's no coincidence that the educational level and IQs of the right wing is lower than the rest of us. They are probably disproportionately represented among the inhabitants of trailer parks.
kuguardgrl13 10 months ago
God's ways? Jesus helped the poor. I've known this since I was a small child. He also loved and cared for children. By cutting social services and school funding, you are not helping the poor and telling children that they don't matter. You call yourself a Christian, but you don't act like one. Shame on you.
JackMcKee 10 months ago
Who is going to want to live in a state with these people? There can't be more than 40 million of these wackos in this country and those have to be spread around the South, Utah and a few places in Arizona. Will that leave enough people willing to live in Kansas?
I know what you crazy right wing extremists will say to this, but I'm getting the heck out of here as soon as I have my nest egg fully funded. If I can find a way to move my business out of here it will be sooner.
"Good riddance" you say? The felling is mutual.
JackMcKee 10 months ago
I'd much rather pay income taxes than sail on this ship of fools.
chootspa 10 months ago
I've started the process myself. I never thought I'd be at this point, but I don't see any way the state will recover.
Katara 10 months ago
Not me. I'll be damned if some group of nincompoops tries to force me to leave a place I enjoy and where I want to raise my children.
I didn't tolerate bullies when I was in school and I won't tolerate them now.
Crazy_Larry 10 months ago
That's the spirit! We need to fight these rascals, not give up and leave our great state!
chootspa 10 months ago
I'd leave a job if it were run by idiots and no longer seemed to have a good future. Now I'm leaving a state for the same reasons.
verity 10 months ago
If Brownback's picks lose, hasn't he alienated the ones he wanted to lose? Seems like this is maybe not a winning strategy for him.
Katara 10 months ago
It is typical social conservative/Tea Party short-term thinking. They simply do not have the ability to think past their noses.
JackMcKee 10 months ago
The future of Kansas is TerriLois Gregory. Have I scared you yet?
verity 10 months ago
Some of the rest of us don't have any other good choices than to stay in Kansas. If you're leaving, then why do you feel the need to spend so much time trying to depress and scare the rest of us?
We know exactly what we're up against. We will continue to fight for what we think is right. Whether you go or not is immaterial to me and I wish you good fortune and happiness whatever you do. Just quit trying to discourage the rest of us. Do you want us to give up?
KSWIND 10 months ago
TerriLois is in my district. I need info on her past years as a rep. Does anyone know where I can find it?
hear_me 10 months ago
Google Terilois Gregory. Lots of articles will pop up.
none2 10 months ago
Are you sure she is in your district? She is like a nomadic gypsie: You may never know exactly where she is living.
chootspa 10 months ago
She's moving districts, so she may not actually be in yours come election time. She's somewhat of a professional carpetbagger it would seem, since that's the second time she's moved to get herself into a redder leaning district.
none2 10 months ago
Redder, or just one who has little to no past knowledge of her?
chootspa 10 months ago
Probably a little of both. In this case, she got redistricted into a good slice of Lawrence. I doubt she wants to run in an even slightly purple district.
leaningleftist 10 months ago
What brownback and his ilk are doing is to close fascism. It amazes me that he can get away with such tactics in this day and age. Im tired of being called un american because I dont subscribe to a certain faith or set of beliefs. It shocks me these "americans" can disregard the founding document which this country stands for, to me this is unamerican. Also, why are so many people so eager to do this? We are not a nation of christians and those of us who arent shouldnt be subject to those beliefs. Why have so many "americans" forgot about the separation of church and state? The framers included it for a reason fellow americans
mikekt 10 months ago
if you want to see something interesting go to: billmoyers.com & watch under Full Shows, CHRIS HEDGES ON CAPITALISM'S SACRIFICE ZONES, from 7/20/2012........go to: elusivetrust.com & scroll down to the Bill Moyers interview.
If your computer can't do video but you have cable or TV here is the schedule bellow.
I just saw it on KCPT Ch#19. Very interesting thought provoking show !!!!!
Wil be on KTWU Ch# 11, Sun. Bet. 5/Pm & 6/Pm.
Wil be on KCPT2, Sun. Bet. 6/Pm & 7/Pm & on Mon. Bet. 3/Am & 4/Am.
This isn't brownbeckistan:...... because sam could be replaced with a monkey that could speak....& no body would notice his departure ! Particularly, the unquestioning news media who just want to get a 15 second sound bite to boil it all down to something that is meaningless enough to be aired.
This is KOCHISTAN or KOCHINDUSSTAN & when their finished with brownie, they might just give us the first talking monkey governor, just to prove that they have the power to do it & pull it off !
Centerville 10 months ago
If you'd like to see this from a more adult angle, the Wall Street Journal covered the story on Friday.
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus 10 months ago
"a more adult angle, the Wall Street Journal"
Why should we believe that this Murdoch/Fox rag is any less corrupt than any of his other papers?
TheSychophant 10 months ago
For every godless commie that our dear leader chases off, we will have five good christians moving to kansas.
chootspa 10 months ago
I hope they come ready to buy houses.
JayhawkFan1985 10 months ago
Sadly, the last of the great republicans is gone. The GOP will never be what it was during the Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower or Ronald Reagan presidencies. Now, we are stuck with the legacy of George Bush II...people like Sam Brownback, Derek Schmidt, Kris Kobach and their ilk. Kansas may not recover.
Crazy_Larry 10 months ago
F*** Reagan! He's the one who got the ball rolling for corporate take over of this country. He was not a great man or a great republicrat.
pace 10 months ago
Enriching the Koch finance and power on the backs of the poor, children, the ill, the elderly and working families. Brownback should resign. He is destroying infrastructure and decades of work by decent Kansans.
oxymoron 10 months ago
Resign? He's on God's mission, don'tcha know?
mikekt 10 months ago
Yea ! The God of Hell !
ChupacabraAzul 10 months ago
Rochelle Chronister certainly has been specter-in-chief for the ghost of Republicans past. But there is a new zombie sheriff in town: Bill Graves is visiting to Kansas carry the torch for “moderate Republicans.”
I readily acknowledge that Governor Graves is the best governor JE Dunn ever had. He is the man who sold us on a $300 million (and climbing) statehouse “renovation” project that will never end. It costs us $12,000 a day for Dunn to park a crane on the statehouse grounds on a year-round basis, year after year, in the apparent expectation that at some point the crane will lift something off the ground or to the ground. Well, cool. Actually (and here I correct myself), Governor Graves didn’t sell us a $300 million dollar project, he sold us a project he told us would cost a fraction of that (and would be long-since completed), but $300 million plus and no end in sight it is. How he is in a position to complain about Governor Brownback (lizard that he is) diverting money from schools is beyond me.
As attractive as conservative Koch Industries in Wichita, the Kansas Chamber of Commerce (considered controlled by the Koch brothers), and the organization Americans for Prosperity (also a front for the multi-billionaire Kochs) must be to a wealthy county-clubber like Governor Graves, Graves is nowhere near enough of a hater to survive in today’s Republican party. They won’t have him. The uber-silk-stocking crowd will never reconcile itself to but a role in the party of people who work for a living (the 26% who voted for his Democratic challenger in 1998), so I have no advice for him.
I do think he and his ilk are dead, and just biding time, waiting for the dirt to be thrown on their caskets after the August primary.
ThePilgrim 10 months ago
It is unlikely that the moderates will win the primaries. Voter turnout in Kansas is less than 25%, and most of those are die-hards and folks who feel strongly about something.
parco814 10 months ago
The end's about already here for anyone in Kansas who doesn't want the poor to either drop dead or move out of the state.
This place needs a lot more John Brown and a lot less Sam Brownback.
Kansas is still a beautiful state despite the ugliness of its oligarchs.
vertigo 10 months ago
Conservative legislators just need to remember one thing:
When they were/are sworn in they place their hand on the bible and swear to uphold the constitution, not place their hand on the constitution and swear to uphold the bible.
Crazy_Larry 10 months ago
by Crazy_Larry
oyster 10 months ago
Why do we keep calling them conservatives? Conservatism is called conservatism because its goal is to conserve the status quo. The "moderates" are the conservatives here. The "conservatives" are radical extremists. We need a more accurate name for them. Plutarchists?
Commenting has been disabled for this item.