10 members, 15 witnesses, two months — but to what end?

There was some comfort in the assurance by state Rep. Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, that his 10-member special committee probe of the school-finance discussion by a Kansas Supreme Court justice and two state senators is “not going to be the Spanish Inquisition.” Still, it’s expected to last through July and involve 15 witnesses, possibly including Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and her chief of staff, Troy Findley. That’s a lot of time and effort for what still looks mostly like a poor choice of lunch conversation. Meanwhile, Sen. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, is considering legal action over his request for sworn statements from Sebelius and staffers about possible contacts with the court regarding school funding. It is of concern that inquiries aimed at protecting one separation of powers (the judicial and legislative branches) appear so ready to risk another (the legislative and executive branches).
Posted by Rhonda Holman

8 Comments

  1. JWink
    Posted May 28, 2006 at 6:37 am | Permalink

    Let that luncheon issue of who had lunch with whom die a quick death. Then get on with the business at hand. It seems our Kansas legislature likes to take long detours around important issues that desperately need attention.

  2. ksfarmgrrl
    Posted May 28, 2006 at 7:49 am | Permalink

    Tim “the pandering gadfly” Huelskamp is on another jihad?

    heheh. Wow. It really MUST be a slow news day.

    Timmy boy makes a living on following the bushco plan for driving the base to the polls. There has never been a directive from the RNC or bushco or Ralph “I heart jack abramhoff” Reed, the christian coalition boy about to be indicted,that he hasnt slobbered over and ranted about.

    timmy boy huelskamp was the most hateful of the hateful in the senate during the gay marriage debate. Good way to get those cons to the polls. Now he is jumping on the nuss fuss in order to try to hurt the gov.

    Funny. No one is getting hurt on this deal but repbulicans. He can spin and fume and supoena all he wants, but the REPUBLICANS are the ones involved in this scandal.

    Little boy timmy is a stompin’ his feet and a holding his breath until somone magically makes the governor responsible for this republican gaff.

    And if she isnt responsible? heheh, well, truth matters little to a petulant little boy.

    What with gay marriage having higher approval ratings than bush, that has gotta hurt. But please keep spinning that holy fit timmy. We love how it shows your true colors.

    Timmy boy’s fear mongering, his outrageous rhetoric, his boogyman mentality, and his oh so bold jihad on public education should be enough to convince the rest of the state that he is a NUT JOB who never met an evenagelical he wouldnt pander to for a vote.

    Maybe his district is stupid enough to swallow his lies and applaud his little fits of righteous outrage, but the rest of the state?

    Sorry timmy. With temper tantrums on issues like this, you will NEVER BE GOVERNOR.

    heheh. four. more. years.

  3. Joe Blow
    Posted May 28, 2006 at 8:46 am | Permalink

    Move along, move along, nothing to see here. Get the kiddies their money, $500M on top of the $290M they just got last year (which still isn’t enough, because it’s never enough).

  4. CF
    Posted May 28, 2006 at 9:15 am | Permalink

    BlowJoe,

    Yeah, those damn kids! How DARE they expect to have a right to an education–particularly the poor ones in rural and urban districts, and the non-white ones.

  5. ksfarmgrrl
    Posted May 28, 2006 at 9:19 am | Permalink

    Yeah CF. That damned education makes it difficult to exploit them as workerdrones.

    SO MUCH better to keep them quiet and ignorant.

  6. Marty Venick
    Posted May 28, 2006 at 11:23 am | Permalink

    Yep, big waste of time! I don’t care that a judge had 12 meetings with a state senator from Salina. I don’t care that he violated at least 3 judicial cannons. I don’t care that almost the entire legal community is in shock over the fact that this idiot would go to a lunch with a spreadsheet detailing the numbers to an action in front of him with the parties to that very action. Nope, no big deal at all. “Kansas, more corrupt than you think”

  7. sotheysaid
    Posted May 28, 2006 at 8:24 pm | Permalink

    It is easy to say this was just a lunch. In reality it was much more than that. A judge is not supposed to discuss a case that is before him or her. That is a violation of the code of ethics for judges.

    Then there is the concern that the rest of the court was tainted by this judge and his meetings with the legislators. This is of major concern because you cannot get fair and honest decisions from a tainted court.

    Because of the actions of some of the senators during the legislative session there are question about why they made the decisions they did.

    It is important for us to maintain the integrity of the three branches of government if you truly want a good check and balanced system.

    It is not about republican vs. democrat it is about following the law and our constitution which it appears the Supreme Court has ignored.

  8. ksfarmgrrl
    Posted May 30, 2006 at 11:12 am | Permalink

    “It is not about republican vs. democrat it is about following the law and our constitution which it appears the Supreme Court has ignored”

    HEHEHEHEH

    But just for the record, these were REPUBLICAN senators involved.

    Not the gov, no democrat senator in sight. NO! All were republicans.

    Not that it matters of course…