Voice For Liberty

Tag: Kansas Republicans

  • Kansas fourth district Congressional candidate forum

    Last night the candidates for the Republican Party nomination for United States Congress from the fourth district of Kansas squared off in a ninety-minute forum at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Wichita.

    The candidates for this nomination (and their campaign websites) are Wichita businessman Jim Anderson, Wichita businessman Wink Hartman, Wichita businessman Mike Pompeo, and Kansas Senator Jean Schodorf. Election filing records maintained by the Kansas Secretary of State indicate that Paij Rutschman of Latham has filed for the Republican Party nomination, but little is known about this candidate at this time, and Rutschman did not appear at this event.

    Former television new anchor Anita Cochran was the moderator. The event was broadcast live on radio station KQAM 1410, “The Big Talker.”

    The forum started with opening statements by the candidates.

    Mike Pompeo, June 16, 2010Mike Pompeo

    Pompeo said, as he often does, that “Washington DC has fundamentally lost its way. There are elected officials there no longer connected to Kansas in the way we all know they need to be.” He traced his biography: Growing up in Southern California, attending West Point and serving in the Army, then attending Harvard Law School and working three years as a lawyer. He came to Wichita to start an aerospace company that he said grew to one of the five largest aircraft subcontracting companies. Today he runs Sentry International, a company that services the oilfield industry.

    He told the audience that “the candidates sometimes sound like they’re saying about the same thing. But listen closely — we could not be more different.”

    Wink Hartman, June 16, 2010Wink Hartman

    Hartman that he is the “only Kansan in the race.” He said he was born and raised in Wichita, graduating from Southeast High School and working his way through Wichita State University. He said he had a “multitude of jobs” including painting houses, selling trashcans door-to-door, and repossessing cars.

    Hartman told the audience “I am a businessman. I am not a politician. I’m not trying to build a political resume.” He said he has learned to balance a budget, meet a payroll, and how to work with increasing government regulation and taxes. He said he has created thousands of jobs in this community for over four decades. He promoted his business success as a key qualification.

    Jim Anderson, June 16, 2010Jim Anderson

    In his opening remarks Anderson said “I am an American.” He said he has been an airline pilot for 25 years, bringing both commercial and corporate aviation experience and business management experience to this race. “I am the leader out in front to reform government with a Fair Tax, a balanced budget amendment, term limits — the only one fighting for term limits — and a pledge to this community, to this district, for no earmarks.”

    He told the inaudible that the Constitution begins with “We the people,” not “We the government.” The government has no right to confiscate our money, dictate morals, and decide on health care. He said he is the tea party candidate.

    Jean Schodorf, June 16, 2010Jean Schodorf

    Schodorf told the audience that she and her opponents are all Republicans, working to get the nomination. She held up as sign reading “JOBS!” and said that the fourth district has the highest unemployment rate in the state. People are hurting in both urban and rural districts, she said, and she wants to go to Congress to end the recession. She want to work with state and local government to bring back economic development and recovery.

    She said she is a native of Independence, although she was born on a military base in North Carolina. She said she wants to bring the tanker contract back, and wants to bring back jobs from Mexico. Her experience in the Kansas Senate and background in education will help her “hit the ground running,” she said.

    The first question directed at all candidates had to do with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Has it changed your view on drilling in deep waters in the Gulf? The need for energy independence was stressed by all candidates except Schodorf. She recommended that all oil companies voluntarily stop drilling until safety plans are reviewed and approved.

    The second question asked about policies that should be changed or implemented to increase the creation of private sector jobs.

    Answering first, Hartman said he has experience in this area. He said the current income tax structure limits the ability of business to grow and that the Fair Tax should be discussed. He added that regulation places a burden on business, and that regulation must be reduced.

    Anderson said that the Fair Tax is the “bottom line,” adding that government controls us through the tax code.

    Schodorf said she is the only candidate who has voted on taxes, listing several business tax cuts she had voted for in the Kansas Senate over the years. She supports keeping the Bush tax cuts in place. She said that our representative in Congress and the state need to work together to create incentives for business to locate in Kansas, saying that we will be competing with other states for jobs.

    Pompeo pointed to his manufacturing experience and how government works to discourage jobs. Government bureaucrats, he said, are not interested in seeing that we are competitive. He criticized the statewide sales tax increase in Kansas. He said that the U.S. has the second-highest corporate income tax rate in the world, which discourages job creation.

    Another question: Are there any parts of the recently-passed health care law that you agree with and want to see implemented?

    Answering first, Anderson said we should repeal the law because it is unconstitutional, adding that nowhere does the Constitution give government the right to mandate the purchase of health care. Nothing in the plan benefits citizens, he said, adding that tort reform along with the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines is needed. “Let the free market drive the product, and you’ll get a good product at a low price.”

    Schodorf said that she liked the portion of the law that prohibits companies to refuse insurance to those with per-existing conditions. The ability of people to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until the age of 26 would keep a pool of healthy people in the insurance pool.

    Pompeo said we don’t know what’s in the bill, and that it was a “travesty” the people voted for the bill without knowing. He said it was “radically undemocratic” and rejected the will of the people. Competition always drives improvement in quality and price, and this factor needs to be introduced into the health insurance marketplace.

    Hartman said the bill will limit access to quality health care, pointing to poor quality health care in Canada. He recommended tort reform and personal ownership of health insurance policies.

    On a foreign policy question relating to the recent incident involving a Turkish ship, candidates agreed that Israel is a friend of America and deserves our support. Pompeo said that Obama’s policies “make our enemies closer” and pushes our friends away, adding that we need to make sure people know America will protect its national security interests. Hartman said Israel is a stabilizing force and has the right, as does America, to defend itself against all enemies. Anderson said the American President should send a message that this behavior will not be tolerated, and that Israel is our friend.

    A question asked about the honesty of politicians.

    Answering first, Pompeo said that not all politicians are dishonest, but that too many go to Washington and become corrupted by the power. He said that voters should realize that politicians will behave in office like they run their campaigns, so we should ask candidates to tell the truth. If candidates say things that do not match the facts, voters should “call them on it at every turn.”

    Hartman said he can’t answer that question, as he’s not a politician. He said that when you elect the same people, you should not expect different results. Politicians drink the Kool-aid when they “go across the river,” saying that they no longer represent you,instead representing personal and special interest groups that have supported them.

    Anderson said we need to look closely at who we are electing, noting that some candidates have accepted money from political action committees and from lobbyists. He echoed Hartman in saying that we shouldn’t send “the same people” back to Washington.

    Schodorf said she has worked for the people of Kansas in her job in the Kansas Senate. She added that voters should look at what candidates believe in, and who they work for.

    During a break for radio commercials, moderator Cochran stood behind each candidate to give their supporters a chance to show their support. Pompeo supporters cheered the loudest.

    After the break, candidates answered a question directed to them individually. These questions will be covered in another story.

    A question asked about whether the recession has changed the candidates’ personal or public spending on credit. Answering first, Anderson said the federal government must balance its budget and that its spending habits must change, starting with an overhaul of the tax system.

    Schodorf said that personally she has been saving money and paying off bills. She said the federal government needs a balanced budget amendment to force it to balance its budget as the state of Kansas must. She supports a bi-partisan commission to find ways to cut spending and cut the deficit.

    Pompeo said the problems we have today have been caused in large part by bad government decision-making, using Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as examples. He said that regulators are telling banks that they want them to make loans, but the regulators behave differently.

    Hartman said we need to do something about our $13 trillion in debt. More spending will not create prosperity and solve problems, he said, citing the failure of the stimulus program and “cash for clunkers.” He added that we need to shrink the size of government and take a look at the Fair Tax. He said that the amount of federal government debt held by China is a problem.

    The candidates each made a closing statement of up to one minute. Going first, Schodorf said she is running for Congress to bring back jobs and economic development. She said she believes in helping senior citizens, the disabled, and our kids. She said the Republican Party needs to be a big tent party, and a party of solutions, not the party of “no.” She said we need to bring sense to government.

    Anderson referred to Ronald Reagan’s contention that freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction, and that it must be fought for by each generation. Our country is in trouble, he told the audience, and he said that he is the common sense conservative candidate.

    Hartman said that can show something that no one else can: his record of success in the community in creating good-paying jobs.

    Pompeo said that we live in the greatest nation in history, but we are on the brink of losing that. He said it is immoral and wrong for Washington to spend the money of the next generation. The federal government has just a few tasks, such as keeping us safe and protecting every human life. Then, he said government should get out of the way.

    Notes

    The event was well-attended, with almost 400 tickets collected. Many more may have gained entrance without a ticket. Candidates had tables in the lobby with literature.

    While Cochran did a good job keeping the event on schedule, not all in the audience were pleased with her demeanor. There was one gaffe in particular that was offensive: Schodorf was answering a question and remarked as her time ran out that she forgot something she meant to say. Cochran interjected “Sometimes Alzheimer’s kicks in right at the right time,” adding that she was “not kidding, that Alzheimer’s is horrible.”

    During the intermission for radio commercials moderator Cochran let the crowd indicate its support for each candidate by cheering. Pompeo seemed to be the crowd favorite by a large margin. This was not a scientific poll, but an indication of the sentiment of those in the audience.

    During the forum, Schodorf twice held up a sign reading “JOBS!” saying she’d just been to a rally. That rally was sponsored by union members, and its purpose was protesting the outsourcing of jobs by Wichita manufacturers (See Aviation workers rally to protest outsourcing.) During this forum Schodorf mentioned returning jobs from Mexico.

    The issue of job creation is important to two of the candidates who promote their business experience as qualifications for this position. Two remarks should be noted: First, business and government are two very different fields. The businessman is motivated by profit; indeed, profit is the measure of success. But government has no ability to profit, and thereby no such yardstick.

    Second, to a business, jobs are are a cost that is to be minimized. There are not many businessmen who create jobs just for the sake of creating jobs. Instead, they hire workers because there is work to be done, and if that work is done, profit will be (hopefully) generated. This is not to minimize the accomplishments of Hartman and Pompeo, as both have been successful in business and are to be commended for that. But claims that job creation is the reason for a business’s existence must be questioned.

    While Anderson has not had the same type of business management and entrepreneurial experience as Hartman and Pompeo, the responsibility of being the captain of a jet airliner with several hundred passengers on board is not a trivial experience.

    Additional coverage from State of the State KS is at Anderson, Hartman, Pompeo and Schodorf Answer Tough Questions in Debate at Wichita’s Orpheum Theatre.

  • Schodorf – Goyle race might feature reversed roles

    If Jean Schodorf captures the Republican Party nomination for United States Congress from the fourth district of Kansas, the general election contest against likely Democratic Party nominee Raj Goyle might feature a reversal of commonly-held roles.

    That’s because in this year’s session of the Kansas Legislature, Schodorf, as a Kansas Senator, voted for the budget bill that increased spending and required an increase in taxes to support the spending. In this case, the main source of increased taxation is the one cent per dollar increase in the statewide sales tax that will go into effect on July 1.

    At about the same time, as a member of the Kansas House of Representatives, Goyle voted against both bills. Only one other House Democrat voted against the budget bill.

    The usual case, of course, is that Democrats favor increased taxing and spending, while Republicans are generally opposed.

    During this year’s legislative session school spending advocates said that schools have “cut to the bone,” and that without increased school spending, Kansas schoolchildren would suffer. Similar claims were made for people dependent on social services from the state. Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson, a Democrat, agreed. He proposed the spending and sales tax increase (and a cigarette tax increase) in his state of the state address in January, and aggressively promoted both during the session.

    So it would be interesting to see how Goyle would explain his votes to the usual Democrat constituencies such as, say, the Kansas National Education Association (or KNEA), the teachers union.

    More evidence of the reversal of the usual positions of candidates from the two parties comes from analysis of votes during the recently-completed legislative session. In the Kansas Economic Freedom Index for this year, Schodorf scored 18%, resulting in a tie for 27th place among the 40 Kansas Senators. In the House, Goyle’s votes earned a score much more supportive of principles of economic freedom. He scored 67%, ranking 47th in a field of 125 members of the Kansas House.

    On scorecards produced by Kansas chapter of Americans for Prosperity, things again are upside-down. Schodorf’s rating was 25%, while Goyle scored a rating of 60%, which is more in align with AFP’s promotion of limited government and free markets.

    Schodorf’s votes are not out of line with her history. Goyle’s votes this year are more conservative than his past votes, leading us to wonder if there was a bit of election-year window-dressing going on as Goyle prepared for his campaign for Congress.

  • Tiahrt rally features Rove endorsement

    On Saturday, about 300 supporters of Todd Tiahrt gathered in a steamy hot airport hanger in Wichita to hear the Congressman and his guest, political strategist and commentator Karl Rove. Rove enthusiastically endorsed Tiahrt’s candidacy for the United States Senate from Kansas, one of only two such endorsements he said he is making.

    Tiahrt’s best-known opponent in the August 3rd Republican primary is first district Congressman Jerry Moran of Hays. Tom Little of Mound City and Robert (Bob) Londerholm of Overland Park have also recently filed for this nomination.

    Speaking before Rove, Tiahrt said that the tea party movement has been successful in some elections, and he is proud to be associated and endorsed by Tea Party Express and Kansas groups like the 9.12 group and Icaucus.

    He said that although he’s been campaigning for 18 months, the real campaign is just beginning. He said some of his televisions ads are “a little rough,” because “we need to tell the truth.” Tiahrt told the audience that he’s never voted for a tax increase, while his opponent has, adding that he favors the Fair Tax.

    Tiahrt called for regulatory reform, saying that for manufacturing in America, regulation adds 17 percent to costs. Cutting that in half would make America more competitive.

    He said we need to get health care back “into our hands,” adding that a free market system would lower the costs and give more choices to patients and doctors.

    He told the audience that energy independence is important for putting Americans back to work.

    Finally, he said that litigation reform is important, saying that America has more lawsuits than any other country. Although not opposed to lawyers — noting that his daughter is an attorney — he said there are too many lawyers in Congress. He let the audience know that Moran, his opponent, is a lawyer.

    Rove said that he is endorsing only two candidates in the Republican Senate primary elections — Tiahrt and Marco Rubio of Florida.

    He said that he knows and has worked with both Tiahrt and Moran, and that’s why he’s endorsing Tiahrt. He called Tiahrt a “principled conservative,” saying that although you may disagree with him, you always know he comes to a conclusion because he thinks it’s right.

    Referring to Moran’s statement criticizing Rove as a Washington insider, Rove told the audience that Moran went to Washington five years before he did.

    He told a story about working with Moran on an issue, trying to get his vote. The Kansas City Star’s Steve Kraske reported this based on an interview with Rove earlier in the day:

    In the interview, Rove was particularly harsh on Moran for how the congressman approached a 2001 bill on trade promotion authority that Rove said was aimed at knocking down trade barriers and would have helped Moran’s rural western Kansas district.

    Rove said Moran tried to cut a deal on the bill, offering to back it, but only if the president or Commerce Secretary Don Evans agreed to come to Kansas to help Moran raise campaign money.

    Rove said the idea was ridiculous because Moran already had a big cash-on-hand total and likely wouldn’t face a serious opponent. Moran was from one of the safest Republican districts in the nation.

    It was, ‘What’s in it for me?’” Rove said of Moran. He said Moran told him, “You’ve got to give the president to me in a safe Republican district or the secretary of commerce to me in a safe Republican district to do a fundraiser.”

    The Bush team eventually pressed a North Carolina Republican to vote for the bill, which resulted in its narrow passage.

    Referring to Moran, Rove told the Wichita crowd that it is the Washington insider that says “I’m not doing what’s right for my state or my people, or my district, unless you give me something.”

    The Moran campaign released a statement that read, in part: “Karl doesn’t like Jerry Moran because Jerry stood up to him. Karl’s job was to line up votes to pass the President’s agenda and while Jerry agreed with much of the Bush agenda, he put his foot down against major increases in spending and government bureaucracy, like opposing No Child Left Behind.”

    Rove said that we have important battles to fight, and we need to put forth the best team: “We need people who will go there and do the tough things that are necessary to put our country on the right path again.”

    In questions after the speeches, Tiahrt said he was honored to have someone with the knowledge and stature of Rove endorse him. On why he is the “real conservative” in this race, Tiahrt said conservatism is his core value, and that he is not an election-year conversion, mentioning an Almanac of American Politics description of Moran’s voting record as “moderate.”

    Rove said that in order to win this election, Tiahrt needs to tell Kansans what he would do and believes in, and contrast that with the record of his opponent.

    Rove said that the tea party movement is a grass roots movement driven by concerns about government spending, deficit, and debt. He said that Tiahrt’s record in Congress fits in with the tea party philosophy.

    I asked Rove if he thought it was possible for Republicans to take majorities in the House or Senate this year. Rove said that for the Senate, the Republicans would have to keep every seat that is up for election, and then win many Democrat seats., noting that Republicans have twice as many seats up for election as do Democrats. He said he believes Republicans will gain more seats in both chambers than the historical average since World War II in mid-term elections like this.

    I asked if a conservative strategy was the best strategy in the third congressional district in Kansas (Wyandotte and Johnson counties, and part of Douglas county), noting that the district had elected blue dog Democrat Dennis Moore to several terms and moderate Republicans before that. Tiahrt said that he believes a majority of Johnson County voters are conservative. Rove said that Moore didn’t get out of the race “because he thought conservatism was on the wane in the third district.” He added that Moore had been saying he was a blue dog Democrat, but then voted for liberal policies in Congress.

    When I asked what it means that Moore’s wife Stephene is running for the office, Rove said “It means he’s got better political judgment than she does.”

    I asked if the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is Obama’s issue, or will it impact Congressional races? Rove said that it will impact the midterm races indirectly because it impacts the president’s popularity, adding that in midterms, the president’s job approval and the unemployment rate are two of the biggest drivers in voting. “That’s why Democrats lack enthusiasm and Republicans have intensity, because of what President Obama’s done in office.”

    I mentioned a recent Wall Street Journal editorial by Fred Barnes, which leads with this sentence: “In Washington these days, President Obama is rumored to be hoping Republicans capture the House of Representatives in the midterm election in November.” The idea is that “If Mr. Obama wants to avert a fiscal crisis and win re-election in 2012, he needs House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to be removed from her powerful post. A GOP takeover may be the only way.” Would a Republican takeover of the House lead Obama to a Clinton-style presidency, since the GOP took control of Congress in 1994, Clinton’s first midterm election?

    Rove said that Clinton was a centrist to begin with, and therefore was able to work with a Republican Congress. He said we haven’t seen this ability in Obama.

    I asked Tiahrt if he would endorse one of the fourth district Republican Congressional candidates, and he said no, he trusts the voters to decide.

    More coverage from State of the State KS is at Karl Rove Endorses Todd Tiahrt, Takes Shots At Jerry Moran.

  • Hartman, candidate for Congress from Kansas, recently voted in Florida

    Wink Hartman, a Wichita businessman and candidate for the Republican Party nomination for United States Congress from the fourth district of Kansas, has recently voted in Florida, records indicate.

    Last November, acting on a tip, I telephoned the Palm Beach County Florida election office and found that both Hartman and his wife had voted in Florida’s general election and presidential preference primary election in 2008. Also, both voted in Florida’s 2006 general election.

    At the time of my call, both were still listed as active voters in Florida. Sedgwick County voting records show that Mr. and Mrs. Hartman registered to vote in Sedgwick County in July, 2009.

    While a person with houses in two or more cities or states might choose to call any of them his home, he can vote in only one place. That Hartman chose to vote in Florida may give Kansas voters reason to wonder which state — Kansas or Florida — he feels is his “political home.”

    In 2006 and 2008 the Hartmans could have voted in Sedgwick County either in person or through the advance voting process. The election office will send ballots to out-of-state addresses.

    After requests by email and telephone, Hartman and the campaign declined to comment on this matter. (See update following.)

    Other candidates for this nomination and their campaign websites are Wichita businessman Jim Anderson, Wichita businessman Mike Pompeo, and Kansas Senator Jean Schodorf. Election filing records maintained by the Kansas Secretary of State indicate that Paij Rutschman of Latham has filed for the Republican Party nomination, but little is known about this candidate at this time, and no website is available.

    —-
    Update: Late in the afternoon the Hartman campaign issued a press release that accused the Pompeo campaign of engaging in “negative, personal attacks.” Hartman’s statement said “I always have and always will consider Kansas my home” and that Pompeo was “raised in California, educated on the East Coast, spent many of his professional years working at a Washington, D.C. Law-firm.”

    According to Pompeo’s biography, he attended college at West Point and then Harvard Law School after serving in the U.S. Army. He worked at the Washington law firm of Williams & Connolly for three years before moving to Wichita.

  • For Payne, good news means opportunity delayed

    A candidate for the Republican party nomination for the Kansas House of Representatives from the 87th district is withdrawing from the race. But it’s really good news for Eric Payne and his family, as his wife is expecting triplets sometime in the fall.

    With the filing deadline being today, the Republican nomination appears to be uncontested, with realtor Joseph Scapa the apparent nominee.

    The 87th district is in east and southeast Wichita. Democrat Raj Goyle is the incumbent. He is not seeking re-election to this position, running for the Democratic Party nomination for United States Congress from the fourth district of Kansas instead. Om Chauhan has filed as a Democrat for the 87th district seat.

    Payne, 31, who works for a family business, appeared to be making a fast start in Kansas politics. On his most recent campaign finance report filed in January, Payne listed over $24,000 in contributions from many donors across Kansas and from out-of-state. He said he is refunding all contributions.

    In two public speaking events, Payne impressed the audience with both his political positions and delivery. My coverage of an appearance by Payne and Scapa is at Eric Payne, Joseph Scapa address county Republicans.

    Reacting to Payne’s withdrawal, Scapa said he wished the Payne family well, and that he’s looking forward to the campaign and winning in November.

  • Kansas Democrats described as ‘imploding’

    Larry J. Sabato, who is director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, is a respected national political analyst who publishes Sabato’s Crystal Ball, an informative look at campaigns and races around the country.

    In the most recent issue Sabato takes a look at 2010 gubernatorial races and concludes that “There’s now no question that the gubernatorial turnover in November will be historic.” He estimates that Republicans will add six or seven states to the count of those states with Republican governors.

    In Kansas, Sabato is pointed in his criticism of Kansas Democrats and Governor Mark Parkinson:

    Kansas: Gov. Mark Parkinson (D), who succeeded Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) when she joined President Obama’s Cabinet as Health and Human Services secretary, has left his party high and dry. He refused to run in 2010, and to add insult to injury, he picked as his new lieutenant governor a Democrat who also pledged not to run. Despite a respectable Democratic candidate in Tom Holland, the election is all but over. Republicans will re-take the governor’s office with current U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback. This is a remarkable example of the governing political party imploding. The GOP can count this one as in the bag.

    Sabato rates Kansas as a “solid Republican takeover.”

    While Sabato describes Kansas Senator Tom Holland as “respectable,” if Holland was attempting to use his votes in the senate this year to establish a record that might appeal to moderates, he failed in that effort. In the Kansas Economic Freedom Index, Holland is the only senator who scored 0%, meaning that voted against economic freedom in all votes considered by this index.

    While it may be that the Kansas Democratic party is imploding, it has done very well in placing its members in statewide office. Considering Kansas statewide elected offices, five of the six are held by Democrats, and none were elected to their current positions.

    Governor Parkinson, while elected lieutenant governor in 2006, rose to his present position when Kathleen Sebelius resigned as governor to take a position in President Obama’s cabinet.

    Lieutenant Governor Troy Findley was appointed by Parkinson to replace himself.

    Secretary of State Chriss Biggs was appointed by Parkinson when Republican Ron Thornburgh resigned earlier this year.

    Attorney General Stephen Six was appointed by Sebelius when the incumbent, a Republican-turned-Democrat resigned.

    Treasurer Dennis McKinney was appointed by Sebelius to replace Republican Lynn Jenkins, who won election to the United States Congress.

    On the Kansas Supreme Court, there are three Republicans and three Democrats, with one Justice being unaffiliated, according to a Kansas Liberty story. In 2005, an analysis by the Kansas Meadowlark had the breakdown as five Democrats and two Republicans.

  • Kansas is a Republican, not conservative, state

    A recent editorial prepared by the Kansas Republican Party concluded with: “Kansas Republicans are presenting a united front with sound plans to meet the challenges of a 21st century economy. Our philosophy centers on liberating the promise of the individual and family as the answer, not more government growth, on a path to prosperity.”

    That’s a fiscally conservative message. The practice of many Kansas Republicans, however, is far removed from this message advocating limited government. Kansas Republicans, especially the Senate leadership, are working to increase taxes in Kansas in a way that leads to more government growth at the expense of many thousands of private sector jobs in favor of government jobs.

    It starts with Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson. Although he is a Democrat, it was not long ago he was a Republican, even holding the chairmanship of the Kansas Republican Party. In his State of the State address in January, Parkinson proposed a temporary once cent on the dollar increase in the sales tax and an increase in cigarette taxes. Although the majority of the sales tax is pitched to Kansans as a temporary measure, these temporary taxes have a nasty habit of becoming permanent.

    In the Senate, the leadership trio of President Stephen Morris, Vice President John Vratil, and Majority Leader Derek Schmidt agree with the governor that increasing taxes is the way to balance the Kansas budget. In particular, Vratil imported a California law that taxes the sugar content of soda pop. The California law had the benefit that the tax revenue would go towards promoting childhood health. In Kansas, the revenue would go to the general fund.

    In both the Senate and the House of Representatives, Republicans hold a majority of seats. But many Republicans do not vote a conservative position on taxes and spending. At a recent legislative forum, Representative Ray Merrick, who is House Majority Leader, explained the political reality in the House. There are 76 Republican members of the House, but Merrick said that on the “very best day” there are 55 who will vote with him, meaning they are conservative Republicans. 63 votes are required to pass legislation in the House.

    Who are these legislators that belong to the Republican party but don’t vote with conservatives on issues of taxation and spending? According to rankings prepared by Americans For Prosperity-Kansas, for the 2009 session of the Kansas Legislature, the Democrat with the highest (most fiscally conservative) ranking is Jerry Williams, with a ranking of 55%. There are 11 Republicans who rank equivalent or lower than this. Their names are:

    Jill Quigley of Lenexa,
    Sheryl Spalding of Overland Park,
    Kay Wolf of Prairie Village,
    Ron Worley of Lenexa,
    Terrie Huntington (now in the Kansas Senate) of Fairway,
    Jo Ann Pottorf of Wichita,
    Tom Sloan of Lawrence,
    Don Hill of Emporia,
    Bob Brookens of Marion,
    Barbara Craft of Junction City, and
    Charles Roth of Salina.

    For the Senate, a similar analysis is clouded by the presence of Democrat Chris Steineger, who is an outlier among Democrats for his consistent votes in favor of fiscal restraint and taxpayers. But some of the worst-ranking Republicans are these:

    Jean Schodorf of Wichita,
    Pete Brungardt of Salina,
    Stephen Morris of Hugoton, who is President of the Senate,
    Tim Owens of Overland Park,
    Roger Reitz of Manhattan,
    Derek Schmidt of Independence, who is Senate Majority Leader,
    Vicki Schmidt of Topeka, and
    John Vratil of Leawood, who is Vice President of the Senate.

    The Kansas Economic Freedom Index, a new project of mine, will also let us learn who votes in favor of economic freedom and against big government, no matter what their party affiliation indicates.

  • For one Kansan, hope springs eternal

    Following is commentary and reporting from Patricia Houser, a former resident of Wichita now living in St. Paul, Kansas. She and her husband have five children and two grandchildren. She is active in her church and Boy Scouts of America, and is the Neosho County Republican Party Chair. She says her political activism began with the prolife movement in Wichita’s Summer of Mercy, and dedicates her time helping prolife candidates.

    Lately, I have felt discouraged by the way our current government, on both the Federal and our State (Kansas) level, has displayed an “I don’t care what the people say, I will do what I want” attitude. I am convinced this behavior is not what our Founding Fathers mandated in our Constitution. They wrote “We the People” for a profound reason, the people are the government; elected officials merely serve and represent the will of the people. All elected officials and most bureaucrats have sworn an oath to uphold and obey our Constitution, yet it is obvious that many of these people do not honor the oath they swore to uphold and disregard it, pushing their own agenda instead. We have blindly trusted them to do what is best for us for too long, and unfortunately, they have betrayed us.

    The Good News

    Last Saturday I witnessed something which gave me hope. I attended the Kansas GOP State Committee Meeting. One of items on the agenda was the adoption of the state platform. The committee which wrote the proposed platform held seven town hall meetings around the state for local Republicans to give their input. The committee then put these ideals on paper.

    These ideals acknowledge God as the source of our rights and privileges, call for fiscal responsibility, reduce government’s size and power, limit entitlements, and encourage Americans to retain the principles which have made us strong while developing innovative ideas to meet today’s challenges. The platform was offered for debate. No member of the assembly offered any criticism and it was passed with 111 yeas to only one nay vote.

    Three minor resolutions were proposed. All three were passed. The most contentious moment of the meeting came over whether to spend the money to print the new platform as a supplemental insert to the GOP Handbook.

    What a contrast to our legislatures. My heart was lifted by the near unanimous resolve of the members to honor God and the Founding Fathers’ vision for our country. I was proud to have been a part of this event.

  • Kansas Republican online efforts lag

    If online political activity has any value, Kansas Republicans aren’t providing much. Many Kansas Republican websites and online outreach efforts are stale and lagging behind in providing timely and quality information.

    As of today, the most recent post on The Kansas Trunkline (promoted as “The Official Blog of the Kansas Republican Party”) is dated November 30, 2009. That’s coming up on three months old. If blogs have any defining characteristics, one is frequent updates with timely material. That’s not happening here.

    This blog is promoted on the front page of the Kansas Republican Party website. That site doesn’t fare much better with regard to timely updates. The most recent news item is from January 25. The Twitter feed displayed there has four posts for all of 2010. The site doesn’t have accurate information about who is — and how to contact — the executive director of the party.

    On the Kansas Republican Party’s Facebook page, the most recent post is from December 1, 2009. The Kansas Young Republicans Facebook page, however, does better.

    Even efforts using cutting-edge technology from campaigns aren’t doing better. SamForGov — that’s Sam Brownback’s campaign application for the iPhone — has an event from November 2, 2009 as the latest campaign event. Under “Campaign Updates,” the only item is a news release from September 3, 2009. The front page of the app still displays an invitation to Kansas Days. That event took place nearly four weeks ago.

    Some local Kansas Republican Party organizations do better. The Johnson County Republican Party seems to be up-to-date with useful information. The Sedgwick County counterpoint doesn’t fare as well.

    The Kansas Democratic Party has a revamped blog that allows for “community bloggers,” although so far only one has signed up. The blog has 10 posts so far for February. Not exactly a fount of information, but better than the stale Republican blog and websites.

    There’s a saying: “You are who Google says you are.” Google, of course, finds relevant websites based on what people say they’re looking for. But when Google (and other search engines) returns these websites with their stale news and out-of-date events, people lose confidence in the organizations that created the sites. Having visited once and finding little of value, people are not likely to return again.

    This is the case if Google even returns these sites in response to searches, as freshness and frequency of updates is thought to be a major factor Google uses in deciding which sites to display to users.

    As a Republican activist, I urge those in charge of these sites to make a commitment to providing fresh, timely, and relevant content. Part of how to accomplish this is to avoid delegating responsibility for the websites and blogs to “tech guys.” That’s because when it takes communication with technical support — and the possibility of receiving an invoice — to update a website or blog, the hassle factor means it doesn’t get done.

    Instead, party leaders, staff, volunteers, and activists need to know themselves how to update websites and blogs. This requires that these sites be built upon technology platforms — like WordPress blogs, for example — that allow for and encourage end-user updates and maintenance. It also takes a commitment by leadership and staff to be trained, and then ongoing disciplined effort to keep the sites updated.