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Did you watch The Incredibles? I have to say it was a rather good movie, for an animation, but I maintain I only watched it because my wife made me.
Some recent comments by Rep. Dennis Moore seem to be a little reminiscent of a scene in the movie. It's where Syndrome (the evil guy) reveals his plan to sell his inventions to the public so that everybody can be a superhero.
"Because when everyone's super (evil laughter), no one will be!"
Compare that with Dennis Moore's remarks about a hate crime bill that just passed the House.
“I have seen senseless acts of violence committed against individuals for no reasons other than their religion, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation.”
I don't doubt for a second Moore saw all of those crimes as the former DA for Johnson County. But after listing all of the groups that make a crime a "hate crime" in his view, it seems to me that pretty much everyone is special. Wouldn't that mean every crime is a hate crime?
I mean, let's look at the groups he mentions. Religion? Well, almost everybody is religious, except maybe atheists, but even they have a set of beliefs that they live by, which is the definition of a religion. Ethnicity? I'm ethnic. Pretty much everybody is. Gender? Yea, I have a gender too.
Moore's comments cover anyone and everyone in the general population. What's the point in "hate crime" legislation when anything and everything can be a hate crime? Besides, isn't all crime a bit hateful?
Let's face it. When everyone is in a protected class, no one will be.
Planned Parenthood is once again in the headlines, this time because of help they gave a 14 year old girl who was being abused by a 23 year old man.
According to Kansas Liberty, Sen. Tim Huelskamp and Rep. Lance Kinzer released an audio tape of a girl speaking with Planned Parenthood of Kansas and MId-Missouri where the counselor advised the girl to seek pregnancy testing and contraceptives at the clinic for both her and her abuser. The clinic made no effort to counsel the girl on her sexual abuse or report to law enforcement officials about the abuse.
Planned Parenthood has received over $550,000 the past two years in state funding. Both lawmakers raise an excellent question as to why an organization that refuses to follow Kansas law, especially concerning sexual abuse, continues to receive state funding.
The audio is available on Huelskamp's website, www.huelskamp.org.
The beginning is rather disturbing. I guess I should have known that even abortion clinics make you press one for an abortion, two for birth control, etc, but in my mind I kept hearing, "Press one to kill your child, press two to..."
The caller made it clear that her boyfriend was 23 years old and the counselor didn't seem to care. In fact, the counselor didn't seem to care even a bit for the girl, putting her on hold without warning in the middle of a conversation. Certainly not against the law but its interesting to hear the "compassion" in Planned Parenthood's counselors none-the-less.
If a girl called you up and said she was 14 and then said her boyfriend was 23, wouldn't you at least want to find out more information? Not if you're Planned Parenthood. At the heart of the matter is whether or not the clinic thought the girl was being abused. The fact is Planned Parenthood has shown over and over and over again that they believe 12, 13 and 14 year old girls can make sexual decisions just fine on their own, even when it involves men in their 20's and 30's who could have complete control over them.
The fact is, Planned Parenthood doesn't report the abuse because they don't view it as abuse.
Rep. Lynn Jenkins will deliver the Republican weekly response this Saturday. She plans to focus on fiscal issues and the out of control spending Washington continues to engage in.
What an opportunity for the state of Kansas and Rep. Jenkins. I'm looking forward to a well thought out, vibrant response. That would be in contrast to the last time a Kansas politician made a response on national television.
Video of the address will be on her website later Saturday.
Rep. Jenkins has been a stand out star for the GOP in just her first term. No one has been more vocal about the out of control spending going on than Jenkins.
When it came to fiscal issues, I had serious concerns about Jenkins during the campaign. Her past history of voting for sales tax increases as a state Representative made me rethink whether she was the strong fiscal conservative she claimed to be. I'm happy to say I was wrong.
Citizens who want to see a comprehensive energy plan passed in Kansas this year are holding a rally tomorrow at 1:30pm on the south lawn of the Capital. If you would like to see cheaper energy rates, more energy production and the investment and jobs that would come along, join the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, Americans for Prosperity and other groups to encourage legislators to override former Gov. Sebelius' veto.
Here's the official invitation with details:
Join Congressman Todd Tiahrt, Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins, state legislative leaders, the Kansas Chamber, Americans for Prosperity and other business and labor groups to ask the legislators to override Sebelius' veto of the energy bill.
The rally will begin at 1:30pm this Friday (May 1st) on the south side of the capitol. If it is raining the rally will be held in the basement of the old Hayden High School on the NW corner of 8th and Jackson in Topeka.
Bring as many people as you wish and lunch will be provided from 11:30-1 in the basement of the old Hayden High School.
"The cuts are huge, just huge, and beyond the ability of schools to absorb," he said. "And the legislature knows it's violating Montoy."
That's the assessment of Alan Rupe who lead the charge to sue the state of Kansas for more education funding. If you've even wanted to know how divorced from reality the educrats are, give today's Dodge Globe article a read.
Rupe went running to the press today because he knows that some kind of education cut is coming. The cuts proposed by the House and Senate are much, much less than any other agency has been asked to absorb. Of course, that means nothing to Rupe.
"The court didn't rule that the constitutionally-mandated right to an education changes with the size of the state budget," said Rupe, a partner in the Wichita law firm of Kutak Rock, LTD. "It ruled that the state was in violation of that mandate, and must provide an adequate education to every Kansas child, period. Since the court never actually approved the legislature's actions, and since it's clear the legislature is willfully violating its constitutionally-mandated obligations, the court has an obligation to take back jurisdiction."
In other words, it doesn't matter than K-12 spending makes up more than half the budget. And it doesn't matter that the state is going broke because its citizens are going broke, not making as much income as they did before and not buying as many things as they did before. All that matters is his twisted view of the Kansas Constitution.
I was at a loss for words at his complete break from reality.
The cuts are NOT too much for schools to absorb. And with new evidence that schools are sitting on $1.36 BILLION, how can someone actually say that schools need MORE money when everyone else is going broke? If schools can't deliver a quality education in Kansas after a less than 5% cut, then our education system has many more problems to solve than just money.
Further, it looks to me that Rupe just flat lied to the Dodge Globe.
"They (the Legislature) seem to have just eliminated their ability to raise taxes," he said. “Meanwhile, the cuts to the schools are huge, and, in fact, return the education funding to pre-Montoy levels."
I'm going to ignore that first part for now. Anyone who believes that even a 5% cut to education would return school spending to pre-Montoy levels is a liar. Since 2003, education spending has increased 53%. In total, the Montoy case increased education spending by more than $1 billion. The $100 million or so that is being looked at pales in comparison to the hikes in spending of the past four to five years. Mr. Rupe, you are a liar.
Now, back to that first part, where he says the legislature can't raise taxes. Is that why your running to the court, so you can mandate a tax increase on your own? Is that that kind of state we live in now? Have we regressed back to taxation with representation? If the court reopens the case and orders additional increases in education spending, that's exactly where we'll be.
It's sad to say but the mess Sen. Browback finds himself in is mostly of his own making.
When Kathleen Sebelius was announced as a candidate for HHS, all Sen. Brownback had to do was stay quiet. Either that or talk up what an honor it was to have someone from Kansas considered for the post and stay quiet on his opinion of Sebelius. After all, isn't that what Senate hearings and floor debate is for? Why go through the motions if everyone has already made up their minds about who should and shouldn't be confirmed into the Presidents cabinet? Who could have predicted the tax problems that arose? Or the lies about donations from Tiller? Had Brownback just kept quiet, he would have been handed the right ammo to justify a no vote. Coming out so quickly with a statement of support was just plain stupid.
And the icing on the cake was the explanation of vote. A yet to be seen pandemic flu is not a reason to vote to confirm. Conservatives aren't about to buy that.
In short, Sen. Brownback decided to play politics. I'm not going to say that he played politics rather than stand by his principles, because I don't believe that's true. I do however think his political strategy was misguided. Sebelius was out of the US Senate race before she ever got in. While everyone talked up the DailyKos poll that showed her way ahead of Tiahrt or Moran, she was also at 48%, against two Republicans with worse name recognition statewide than her. After over six years in office she should have been well over 50%.
No one in the media or the party wanted to say it, but 48% isn't exactly a glowing endorsement. I think Sebelius saw the writing on the wall. She knew with a properly funded Republican on the other side that her record would be drug out into the open and getting above 50% would be difficult. After all, she's a calculating politician, one that is certainly not going to take a chance on a Senate seat when she can get a confirmed reservation to Washington two years early.
I voted for Brownback each time he ran for US Senate. I still support the good Senator and I will not only vote for him, but work on his gubernatorial campaign. There are elements of the pro-life movement that now say he can't be trusted and is as worthless as Sebelius herself. It's a lie that couldn't be further from the truth.
Sam Brownback has done more for the pro-life movement during his time in the Senate than nearly all other politicians combined. Anyone who says they will not support Sen. Brownback for Governor over this one vote is completely misguided and has become so enthralled with themselves and their holier than thou I'm pro-life ego that they have lost sight of viable, reasonable steps that can be taken during this next election to shut down Tiller and Planned Parenthood. Anyone breaking from Sen. Brownback because he's not "pro-life enough" has broken from reality itself.
Thank you Sen. Brownback for all you have done. Please though, rethink the counsel that you've been receiving. I think you could genuinely benefit from some new ideas in your office.
Yesterday I highlighted an investigative story from the Flint Hills Center on just how much money schools are sitting on at the same time they come to legislators and ask for more. The report was also discussed by Kansas Meadowlark, Wichita Liberty and Kansas Liberty. No other news outlet in the state has discussed where taxpayer money is being spent (or not spent) on education.
And it's not at all surprising. It's hard to say there isn't a bias in the media when they ignore well researched, thoughtful investigative journalism such as what the Flint Hills Center published yesterday. For all the talk of the death of investigative journalism, I'm beginning to believe more and more that "investigative journalism" has been dead a long time already. Newspapers like the Wichita Eagle and Kansas City Star are only interested in journalism if it involves shoving a camera in someone's face or embarrassing someone they don't like.
It's been speculated that with the financial trouble the newspaper industry finds itself in that someday soon they may be replaced with not-for-profit papers or independent investigative reporters. That's basically what was done at the Flint Hills Center. However if the newspaper industry will simply continue on the same path it's been on for the past who knows how many decades, there's little point in making our free press financially free as well. Quite honestly, unless these new founded "non-profit" papers are interested in doing hard hitting journalism, I'd rather see them just go bankrupt.
And the silence doesn't even make sense. As I read the report schools themselves are not a fault. It's a bad system set up by Topeka that has encourage financial behavior on the part of districts that's cause the rat-holing of such large sums of cash. Don't districts want to have access to that money? Don't districts want the flexibility to spend that money as they wish? Or are they so hungry for more tax dollars that they're willing to ignore $1.36 billion just sitting on the table?
Did you hear that? No? I did. It's the cry of the educrats. "We need money! The children will come out at dumb as Karl Rove if you cut even one dime from our budget! Oh, oh, oh the humanity! We're so hard up for cash even on penny less and we'll have to shut down half the schools, sell all the computers and start teaching with chalkboards again!"
Yes, the educrats are ramping up to save the sacred cow called education funding. That's why a new study by the Flint Hills Center is such bad news. Turns out they've been sitting on quite a sum of cash for a while. $1.36 Billion to be exact. That's billion with a "B."
In fairness, it's not all their fault. In the state's quest to make sure programs are effective, they've forced districts into sequestering money into 26 different funds. And because anything left over in their general fund is subtracted from their next disbursement from the state, anything left over is moved into one of those funds. And quite honestly I can't blame them. If someone told me I was going to be punished with less funding next year simply because I was responsible and didn't spend as much as was budgeted this year, I'd move the money too. But once it goes in, it doesn't come back out. So now over $1 billion is just sitting there, waiting to be used.
The report comes at a critical time for the state. Faced with a nearly $400 million shortfall, legislators are looking to cut whatever they can. The problem arises when they try to go after the biggest part of the budget, K-12 education. Now with nearly $1.36 billion in found money, are legislators willing to cut K-12 knowing that the resources are there for districts to provide the same level of education they always have? I think there will be an attempt, but educrats will be quick to fight back.
Some of the issues to be raised will be the variability of funds across districts. Some are flush with cash, like Wichita and Johnson County schools. Others have significantly less. How do you redistribute money equally between these schools while avoiding the ire of the Supreme Court?
And the money is in special funds. I'm sure educrats will be quick to point out that money should be spent on the programs the fund was set up for. Normally I'd agree, but the assessment depends on how much of that money was originally earmarked for that fund and how much was moved in just to avoid future cuts to general funds. What a mess to figure out.
It's sticky issue and one that needs to be dealt with in the next session. Current funds need to be used before coming to the taxpayers for more. At the very least, lawmakers need to institute uniform accounting practices between districts. After all, how can the state ensure equal funding if everyone counts their change differently?
The queen is gone! What a great day for Kansas and a dark future for America.
Now the question becomes just how left has Mark Parkinson gone since he switched parties in '06. I don't think his stance on any issue of importance has changed at all. I think he's the same liberal he was before and will continue to be til 2010 rolls around. He'll just be a little more cushy with Steve Morris and John Vratil. But then again, the only difference Morris had with Sebelius was the coal plants, so what's changed? Nothing!
The positions haven't changed, just the strength of the person behind them. Parkinson isn't seen as strong as Sebelius, so basically Republicans are happy about him being in charge because they think they can peel off enough Democrats to override any veto he might hand down. Certainly possible when it comes to pro-life legislation, but I doubt any coal plants will be built anytime soon.
How much damage did Brownback cause to himself? That may not be known until November next year, but I still believe his chances of winning are pretty good. Kaw and Border has posted a defense of Brownback. It's worth a read.
All in all things are looking quite bleak for Democrats in Kansas. Their savior has bolted for their other savior and now there's no one to save them from the mean, nasty Republicans. Either Tiahrt or Moran are a shoo in for Senate, their best candidate for governor they've decided to attack themselves (Steineger) and they only have appointed officials as Treasurer and AG who now have to fund raise on their own with out the help of Queen Kathleen.
Such a refreshing morning!
I like to give a pat on the back to a Democrat every once in a while, especially one that I wouldn't have supported.
Shawnee County DA Chad Taylor asked the Shawnee County Commission to delay a motion that would have prohibited assistant DAs to carry concealed weapons. Taylor said that while the courthouse was staffed with officers during regular business hours, he was worried about his staff's protection during other hours when they may have to attend to business in the courthouse.
Good for Taylor. While I don't own a gun and probably never will, I support the right of others to arm themselves if they so choose. It was three years ago that people like Sebelius, Anthony Hensley and a whole host of other people said Kansas would return to the days of the wild west if law abiding citizens were allowed to arm themselves. Yea, sure, that happened...
The whole point of carrying a concealed weapon is for self-protection. Anyone working in law enforcement is inherently at more risk and it just makes sense that they should be allowed to protect themselves.
This is in contrast to Sedgwick County DA Nola Foulston. That's the gal who rode shot gun for Tiller during grand jury investigations. She's decided that her hard left beliefs trump the safety of those working for her. That's certainly bad news for employees of the Sedgwick County DA's office.
File this one under "What were they thinking?"
Sens. Derek Schmidt, Jay Emler and Les Donovan are proposing a new program to let tax cheats pay their back taxes without any penalties. The Department of Revenue says the bill will add $22 million to help the state's budget problems. I don't know if the bill has a name yet, but I propose calling it the Sebelius/Daschle Act of 2009.
If that many Kansans owe back taxes, here's a plan, make them pay their back taxes! How's that for a plan? These three Republican's remind me of Oliver Twist. "Please tax cheats, would you please pay up your taxes? We've spent and spent and now we'd like some more please!"
What a joke. The state has a spending problem, not a revenue problem and our legislators would be wise to realize which side of the equation they need to focus on.
Separate from the budget issue is how this looks to those of us who actually file and pay our taxes on time. Why go to the trouble if Senators like Schmidt, Emler and Donovan are just going to bail you out when they decide they really need the money? This is nothing more than legalized tax amnesty on the Obama cabinet nominee level.
If these three stooges want tax cheats to pay their bill, then they should pay interest to those of us who paid up for the time they government had control of our money. After all, I could have instead taken those tax payments and invested them in a bank CD or something and made a little cash before I forked it over to the state for them to waste.
I wonder how much the state would net if they had to pay back interest to every taxpayer that paid on time?
Legislators will return tomorrow to try and fix their spending problem from the past four plus years and they'll be looking partially to gambling revenue to do it. That is, of course, if there is any gambling revenue.
It looks as though Missouri is also having a hard time getting their fair share of gambling dollars. Voters approved a proposition in November that repealed the state's loss limit within a two hour period and hiked the state's share of revenues. According to the Kansas City Star, the measure was expected to bring in $100 to $130 million in new cash to the state.
Too bad that's not how it work out. Turns out Missouri is only going to see $30 million this year. The Missouri proposal was passed because the money was supposed to go to schools. It's all for the kids, don't you know?
So how exactly do legislators here in Kansas expect to close their budget problem with gambling revenue when the only gambling zone that is actually building a casino is in Dodge City? I assume the $50 million figure being thrown around is from privilege fees companies would have to pay upfront to be able to build and manage the casino. The southeast gambling zone has gone through two lettings without getting a commitment to build from anyone. Are legislators betting on funny money to close the gap?
That's what it looks like to me.
Americans for Prosperity Kansas is holding a "TEE" Party at the statehouse this Thursday. AFP wants as many people as possible to go to the Capital Thursday for the second day of the wrap up session. If you can't attend, make some calls!
Here's the itinerary:
- 10 a.m. -- Meet at Dillon House (404 SW 9th St., just west of the Statehouse) for a briefing on the Kansas state budget. AFP will provide talking points, legislative contacts and other materials, before we head over to the Statehouse to talk with legislators.
- 12 p.m. -- Box lunches will be provided at Dillon House
- 1 p.m. -- We will go back to the Capitol to continue lobbying one-on-one with individual legislators
- 4 p.m. – Dismiss
No signs will be allowed in the Capital, which is why this will be a TEE Party instead of a TEA Party. If you have a T-Shirt you'd like to make to wear, feel free to do so. AFP will have some shirts there for you to decorate if you don't have the time.
If you're not able to come all day, just stop by for the time that you can. I know that's the biggest block to conservatives, isn't it? We just have to... work. It really gets in the way of going to TEA Parties and speaking with legislators, doesn't it?
AFP has arranged for buses from Wichita and Johnson County if you can't afford to make the trip. Go to AFP's homepage to register, even if you don't plan to use one of the buses. There's no charge to attend and lunch will be provided.
David Bossie and Citizens United endorsed Sen. Huelskamp today. After the Peterjohn endorsement yesterday, I'm pretty sure this one is a clear shot across the Wasinger bow. Bossie has written two books, Intelligence Failure: How Clinton's National Security Policy Set the Stage for 9/11 and The Many Faces of John Kerry. The challenge, so to speak, came with this description of Bossie:
In 2008, Bossie was a major fundraiser for Senator Fred Thompson's presidential campaign.
I don't know if that means that Rob was in contact with Bossie and he just refused to support him or if Rob just wasn't able to snow him into an early endorsement like Thompson. It is curious to note that the spring has dried up for Rob in regard to national support and the well of first district support seems to still be closed.
The Hutchinson News has an article up today detailing the western Kansas legislative endorsements of Dick Kelsey. I like Sen. Kelsey and I think he does a fine job as a legislator. I'm never worried he's going to vote the wrong way, but as I previously discussed, I just don't think he's right for this open seat.
The article notes Huelskamp hasn't pursued any legislator's endorsements just yet, which I think is the right thing to do. After all, he still has to work with everyone through one more session. I'm somewhat disappointed the article didn't mention Wasinger's inability to get a single dime from the first district, but I guess no one is perfect!
Sen. Tim Huelskamp picked up another endorsement today, this time from fellow Kansan and Sedgwick County Commissioner Karl Peterjohn. Peterjohn is the former director of the Kansas Taxpayers Network, which has now merged with Americans for Prosperity Kansas.
Peterjohn took an apparent swipe at Huelskamp's competition saying that while some have signed a taxpayer pledge, Sen. Huelskamp has actually kept the pledge for 13 years. Rob Wasinger claims to be the first to sign a Taxpayer Protection Pledge, but Huelskamp was actually the first, having signed during his first campaign for state Senator. Sen. Huelskamp is also the only candidate with the voting record to back up his rhetoric.
"Some others in this race have bragged about being the first to sign the 'no tax' pledge. Well, I'm here to tell you that Tim Huelskamp signed American's for Tax Reform's 'Taxpayer Protection Pledge' thirteen years ago -- and despite great pressure to break his pledge on several occasions – he has always honored his promise to Kansas taxpayers. I am proud to support his bid for Congress."
Huelskamp said:
"We signed the 'Taxpayer Protection Pledge' thirteen years ago when I first ran for the state senate and have never gone back on our word. I'm looking forward to continuing that same tradition of integrity and fiscal leadership in the United States Congress"
As the only one in the race with a proven record of protecting taxpayers, this is news you'll certainly hear again throughout the campaign.
Sorry PrimeBuzz, but I think you're math is wrong. Not that it's your fault, you're just repeating what the transportation people tell you. Heaven forbid you check facts.
The KC Star's PrimeBuzz has a post up about the new construction projects being funded by federal stimulus money. In all Kansas got $378 million in transportation funds from the feds (that's us, the taxpayers.) KDOT claims that will create 10,000 jobs.
The problem, as the Kansas Meadowlark pointed out clear back in February, is that the math doesn't add up. The average highway worker makes around $32,000 a year. Take that times 10,000 and that's $320 million, or about 85% of everything the state got from the feds (us.)
Could labor costs represent 85% of total costs on the six projects planned in Kansas? Or did KDOT just make up some funny math to make the stimulus look good? 10,000 jobs created is a myth. The only way 10,000 jobs could possibly be created is if each and every one of them pays well below the federal poverty line. And if the government keeps spending at its current pace, we'll all be shortly joining them.
Sen. Anthony Hensley is a patriot. A Joe Biden patriot.
Hensley spouted the party line in a Kansas City Star article yesterday. Don't you know the budget problem has been caused by the state not getting enough of the money it's owed rather than legislators like Hensley spending too much?
Hensley told the paper that the Legislature has approved $6.7 billion in tax cuts to businesses from 1995 to 2005. Funny, that sounds a lot like the numbers cited by Steve Rose. Are they talking about the same study? Who knows.
Either way they both have the same problem. Did the study also look at tax increases during the same period? I seriously doubt it. During that same period, sales taxes were increased, property taxes went up, cigarette taxes increased, income taxes increased. The list goes on and on.
And just for good measure, Hensley says that unemployment taxes went down too, so that means businesses shouldn't have a problem giving more money to the government to waste. Sure, that makes sense. After all, if the state had collected more unemployment insurance premiums, that money could be used for... oh... wait. It could be used for unemployment benefits. That's it. So what's the point again???
Hensley believes that the government is entitled to your money before you are, plain and simple. Apparently the Star believes that as well.
The federal government has accelerated depreciation to encourage businesses to buy equipment. The state currently uses the federal depreciation formula for state taxes. By not going to an accelerated depreciation schedule, the state could save about $40 million.
Gee, I didn't realize that by hiking taxes on businesses the state could save money. It seems to me that by hiking taxes the state could take more money. But save? No, the state could save more money by spending less money. That's how you save. Savings, by definition, is not taking more money from the people.
Hensley and Democrats just have a completely different thought process. The government is entitled to whatever you have before you are. It's just that simple.
Quite an interesting letter to the editor in the Hutchinson News today. Titled "Homegrown leadership," the author advocates rejection of Rob Wasinger and Tracey Mann because of their carpetbagging tendencies. Donald Hobson writes:
It is interesting to note that two political opportunists have recently moved their voter registration to Kansas's 1st Congressional District to pursue a U.S. congressional seat.
Rob Wasinger, a Harvard graduate still owning a nearly $900K house in Virginia, moved to Hays in late 2008 and has since retreated to and now resides in Cottonwood Falls. The second hopeful import is Tracey Mann, a Johnson County commercial real estate agent who just established residency in Salina.
Here's the best part:Kansans, now is not the time to trust the judgment from two men who have moved into the 1st District to launch a political career. From being raised in Plainville to listening to constituents in the Kansas Senate, Congressman Moran understood issues facing western Kansas before he ran for Congress. Now is the time to support a person whose roots run deep into the 1st Congressional District landscape and who will not bow to eastern interests.
When I read it through the first time, I kept trying to figure out who he was going to endorse over Wasinger and Mann. The fact that he doesn't even remotely point to a candidate he prefers is quite telling. Residency problems are interesting to me now, but in over a year when people are finally getting around to deciding who they'll vote for, will it be an issue anymore? For some I thought it'd come up, but I didn't think it'd be enough to make that big of a difference in the overall results. Now with five candidates in the race and more probably on the way, this "you're not one of us" attitude may make more of a difference than I previously thought.
Also, did you note that last line of resentment for 'easterners?' That attitude certainly exists, and it's going to be tough for someone from Johnson County, little lone from Massachusetts, to overcome that barrier.
The Legislature returns Wednesday for its wrap up session where they'll have to trim over $330 million from the budget. Democrats and some moderate Republicans are pushing hard for every kind of "revenue enhancement" (aka "tax increase") they can think of without calling for an across the board income, sales or property tax increase.
$330 million is about 2.5% of the $13 billion budget. That's certainly nothing to sneeze at. If the $13 billion budget was instead a $50,000 a year income, a 2.5% cut would be $1,250. A noticeable cut, but one that would certainly be possible.
The other number that is being left out of the budget conversation is how much spending has increased since 2004. That would be 48% according to Americans for Prosperity - Kansas.
So to put that in perspective, that would be like a family spending $26,000 a year and then four years later spending $50,000 a year. Now, would it be possible for them to cut a measly $1,250 after nearly doubling spending over just four short years? I'd hope so.
