However, since the legislature went home and the primary election season began, the Senate President Steve Morris began a policy of using so called “moderate,” actually liberal groups, to blast conservatives with election eve smears tried and often succeeded in trashing conservative Republicans running for the KS senate. It got really ugly before the August 5 primary as party funds under Morris’ control was funneled to tax ‘n spend Republicans and “moderate” pacs (for more details on this visit the kansasmeadowlark.com for all the names).

That is unfortunate. The energy issue is too important for political hacks like Steve Morris to screw up. Morris, who did a good job on the energy issue in 2008, often votes liberal on fiscal issues and has regularly backed higher taxes and spending dursing his long legislative service.

Morris was one of two senators hob-knobbing with the odious Supreme Court member Lawton Nuss at their infamous luncheon meeting during the scandalous Montoy case for some ex parte discussions about this then active lawsuit. Nuss, who had represented the lead plaintiff in this lawsuit, the Salina public schools, before joining the court as a Bill Graves appointee was later “admonished” by the court’s in house Yorkshire terrier sized ethics “watch dog.”

Morris’ fiscal vote rating according to groups like the Kansas Taxpayers Network is only a few points higher than the very liberal minority leader in the Kansas Senate, Tony Hensley, of Topeka (see kansastaxpayers.com). When liberals like Morris run the GOP at any level, the net result is political and fiscal bridges to no where that leave the fiscally conservative Republican base disenchanted and disappointed.