Wrong reason to vote for a flawed bill

“I have yet to find anyone in the body look me in the eye and admit SB 461 is not a political game,” Rep. Ted Powers, R-Mulvane, said last week about the workers’ compensation reform bill that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius vetoed Tuesday. Powers’ contention was that the bill’s real purpose was to portray Sebelius as anti-business in the fall re-election season. “When we use our political wiles to make someone look bad and we use our voters as the pawns to do it,” Powers said, “this is diabolic.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman

12 Comments

  1. Joe Williams
    Posted March 23, 2006 at 12:42 am | Permalink

    Welcome to legislative government. No surprise at any level.

  2. J R
    Posted March 23, 2006 at 1:27 am | Permalink

    The Governor was correct to VETO this employer attack on worker rights.

    Employers hold almost all the cards. They make their money on the backs of their workers. Backs and fingers and health gets broken on the altar of employer greed and exploitation. It is not unreasonable to expect employers to pay up for the damage they inflict.

  3. kelly
    Posted March 23, 2006 at 5:21 am | Permalink

    Normally, I find little to agree with Powers about, but he is right on target this time. There are SO MANY political games being played by the Republican Party in Kansas. Most of them want to push their religion on everyone else, and the other Republicans want to engage in class warfare with anti-worker, anti-family economic security measures like the work comp crap bill. All of them want to try and pass ANYTHING that they perceive might draw a distinction between the Governor, and their already failing gubernatorial candidates. And we taxpayers have to pay for all this nonsense? When November rolls around, they need to be kicked out of office.

  4. Hammertime
    Posted March 23, 2006 at 5:32 am | Permalink

    Go, Ted, Go!

  5. Ben Huie
    Posted March 23, 2006 at 7:43 am | Permalink

    It is refreshing to see some honesty from a Republican in the legislature. This sort of cynycism is very similar to Donovan, Huy, et.al. taking money from out-of-area gambling interests to protect them from competition.

  6. ProudLib
    Posted March 23, 2006 at 7:50 am | Permalink

    Right on, Kelly. Good observation.

    Seibelius is at 60 percent approval, and it’s driving the Republicans nuts.

    To repeat what we Democrats have been told time and time again when Republicans win squeaker elections using quasi-legal means, GET OVER IT.

  7. CF
    Posted March 23, 2006 at 8:21 am | Permalink

    Good for Powers. It won’t please Doug Mays to be called out, but it’s good to see members of the state GOP displaying some integrity.

  8. steve
    Posted March 23, 2006 at 8:21 am | Permalink

    Republicans yearn for the good ol’ days of the Robber Barrons, but what is amazing is that the masses don’t rise up!

  9. Gittin' madder by the minute
    Posted March 23, 2006 at 9:52 am | Permalink

    Makes you wonder how much money those greedy bleeps want to steal. The screw the worker legislation is the bastard child of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and the Wichita Independent Business Association. Shame on both of them.

  10. ksfarmgrrl
    Posted March 23, 2006 at 10:59 am | Permalink

    steve, why the masses dont rise up?

    Opiate of the masses….

    seventy percent of kansas voters are so drugged out on religion to vote. But hey, it feels so good!

    “Robber barons good…gay people bad…..republicans good….democrats bad…..”

  11. ksfarmgrrl
    Posted March 23, 2006 at 11:19 am | Permalink

    git, dont forget the

    ‘mericans for prosperity and

    the taxpayer(antitaxpayer?) network.

    The kochs will be very mad if you leave out these tools.

  12. OneShot
    Posted March 23, 2006 at 12:28 pm | Permalink

    A rule of thumb for politics and government:

    Politicians do not have a talent for governing, just a talent for winning elections.