Individual liberty, limited government, economic freedom, and free markets in Wichita and Kansas
Articles about the Kansas legislature, both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Kansas news reports and blogs are still trying to decide who won last week's showdown between Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and Republican legislative leaders. GOP message lost in drama provides an example.
But as reported on this blog (Sebelius’ Proposed Cuts Not Likely Enough, Kansas Governor Not Facing Reality of Budget Crisis) and in other places, this crisis was solely of the Governor's own making.
Today Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius held a press conference at 4:30 pm. She said she submitted a budget to the legislature five weeks ago, and…
It’s hard to know who’s on the right side in this matter. Facts seem to be in short supply, with contradictory statements coming from Kansas…
The Kansas Liberty story Lawmakers claim Sebelius' demand for money would violate state statutes reports on a conflict between the two parties named in the story's title.
Here’s a letter from citizen activist John Todd to Wichita City Council candidate Ken Thomas. The election of Wichita municipal court judges is important for…
Yesterday we saw how the website of the Great Plains Alliance for Clean Energy contains a list of ten questions for Sunflower supporters. My post…
At the Kansas Legislature website, two useful pages to visit are the roster of house and senate members. These pages hold the names of all…
Martin Hawver explains that as bad as the Kansas budget situation is, Governor Kathleen Sebelius — at least for now — isn’t required to recognize…
Recently the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy began sponsorship of a valuable resource for all Kansas. This site, Kansas Votes, provides information about pending…
Representative Mike O’Neal, Republican from Hutchinson, is the new Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives. He spoke on January 10 at Americans For Prosperity‘s…
The following testimony from John Todd explains some of the harmful effects of taxpayer-funded lobbying. Isn't it terrible that that interests of governmental bodies like the city and county you live in or your local school district are different from your interests? As John explains, local government has become a special interest group, and like other such groups, it must lobby for its own interests.
When Sen. Phil Journey, a legislator who is known as a conservative, uses the term "legislative buffet," it reveals the wisdom and foresight of Bastiat, who long ago described the legislative process as this: "A share of the plunder for me, for me!"
Kansans are focused upon the floods as well as the results of the tornados that tore up this state in early May. The wrath of Mother Nature is upon us just as the Kansas legislature has left its own flood of spending and whirlwind of legislative changes on this state. The legislature’s fiscal wrath might be overlooked by Kansans focused upon their flooded basements or providing help and assistance to the devastated folks who survived in Greensburg. Kansans ignoring the legislature do so at their peril.
It's the people who “give” tax money to the government, not the government who “gives” it back to the people in the form of tax cuts. If the government cuts taxes, the government gives us nothing. It simply takes less of what is ours in the first place.
Because the conventional wisdom is that smaller class sizes are good for students, the extra money and smaller class sizes will be saluted as a victory for the children. Editorial writers, school administrators, teachers, and those who don't care to confront facts will thank the Kansas Supreme Court and Kansas Legislature for saving the children.
What is the higher priority? Should the Legislature send $143 million more to schools or preserve the form of government our forefathers carefully designed over two hundred years ago? The separation of powers doctrine is fundamental to maintaining our free society because it maintains a balance of powers with the judiciary unable to control the budget. That is until last Friday when the Kansas Supreme Court blurred the lines and came out with a ruling that the Kansas Legislature should appropriate an additional $143 million to the K-12 schools, for starters. The Court expects $568 million more after that.