WE Blog

This political run will be but a tiny ‘blip’ on the political historical screen. A waste of time and the ink to print on a ballot.
Nothing against him personally but politically he is immature at best.
“Tax breaks for the working poor”…what? The working poor pay next to nothing in taxes now. Does he actually mean blatant income redistribution? That’s usually what naive socialism usually means.

SSITL–

Is there something in the water where you live that causes you to boil down a complex social problem to the one word: socialism?

The World Health Organization ranks US health care 37th in the world behind France, Singapore, Japan, England and even Columbia and Costa Rica.

Cuba’s life expectancy is slighter higher than ours.

Meanwhile the costs of family health insurance has doubled from 2001 (when Worst President Ever took office) to now–519 a month to over 1,000 a month. The number of uninsured has gone from 38.4 million to 46.9 million during that time.

The 12,000 dollars a year that the average family pays for health insurance and medical care drives our trillion-dollar costs to the highest in the world–fully 16 percent of GDP.

Meanwhile, “socialist” Taiwan spends only 6 percent of its GDP on healthcare and covers everyone.

Not only that, only 2 percent of costs goes to administrative overhead while 18 percent of ours goes to overhead.

Here you are, SSITL, paying more and getting less while you worry about socialism.

Dumb.

Although I am a conservative pro-life Republican, I have to agree that young liberal Democrat State Senator Don Betts has a tremendous “once in a life time” political opportunity if he acts boldly. Given the success of Barak Obama’s message of hope, reform & government accountability, Obama is successfully appealing to independents and conservatives that are disgusted with the cynicism, hypocrisy and corruption of the entrenched Republican leadership that claims to promote smaller and more efficient government and to protect individuals’ constitutional rights against an out of control and abusive judiciary.

In a 2/23/08 editorial from the Newton Kansas internet newspaper, Christian Chronicle, publisher Russ Jones wrote:

“I’m fascinated by the recent survey results found by The Barna Group. The study reveals that if the general election was held today, 40 percent of all born-again adults who are likely to vote in the November general election would choose the Democratic candidate, and only 29 percent would choose the Republican candidate. The remaining 28 percent are currently unsure whom they would support, preferring to vote for a specific candidate rather than strictly along party lines . . . . . . . To make the situation even more confusing - in a recent nationwide Zogby Poll conducted for the American Bible Society about six in 10 Americans likely to vote say they would be more likely to vote for a presidential candidate who speaks publicly about following the example of admirable leaders from the Bible and who uses the Bible for guidance in both public and personal matters.”

I have observed Sen. Betts 3 – 4 times during State Senate Judiciary hearings last year. I definitely thought was a light weight and never asked questions to challenge Sen. John Vrtil’s positions or votes (that I assume were decided before the hearing). It seemed like Republican Sen. Phil Journey was the only independent senator on the committee. I’m willing to give Senator Betts the benefit of the doubt because he is so young and Vrtil is so powerful. In my opinion the 8 member Legislative Leadership Committee (Top 3 GOP leaders in the House & Senate and the Senate & House Democrat leaders) is the second most powerful fascist political organization in Kansas after the Kansas Supreme Court. The LLC controls the legislature and runs the state during the 8 months that the legislature is not in session.

Liberal Democrat 1st term State Representative Ray Goyle (who was a former ACLU attorney in Baltimore) also has a once in a life time political opportunity to make a name for himself. I agree with Obama that the citizens have become very bitter about the incumbents (mostly Republican who refuse to listen to the citizens. The real issues in Kansas & America are not abortion, immigration, health care, higher taxes to fund education, gambling, same sex marriages, etc. Most Americans realize that both parties will need to reach compromises on these issues. I think that the real issue in 2008 is that Americans are disgusted with elitist, hypocritical political leaders, corporate leaders, law enforcement & regulatory agency heads, judges, attorneys and doctors that betray the public’s confidence.

The easiest way for Betts & Goyle to score national headlines would be to expose the corruption in which the US Attorney Eric Melgren & State Attorney General Steve Six’s offices refuse to prosecute the criminal activity by Wichita judges & prominent attorneys and by the psychologist who is the wife of a Foulston Seifkin law partner and the daughter of a retired federal magistrate. Betts is fully aware of the scandal, but I doubt that Goyle has taken the time to get involved because he appears to be more concerns about becoming a crony of Governor Sebellius (and her hubby Gary who is a federal magistrate) rather than protecting the civil rights of his constituents.

I always thought Goyle was a carpetbagger for the national Democrat party who would head back to Washington after one term to work for a Democrat attorney general. It seemed to me that if Goyle went back to Washington DC with has a few scalps in his belt and helped the national Democrat party expose the scandals involving selective , political prosecution by Bush appointed US attorneys, that he would be rewarded with a senior position in the US attorney’s office and would be back in Kansas in less than four years as one of the youngest liberal federal judges appointed by reformed minded President Obama. After one year in Topeka, maybe Goyle has lost his idealism and believes that Governor Sebellius & Sen. Vrtil are invincible and cannot be humiliated despite the recent resignation of former State Attorney Genral Paul Morrison who received rock star adulation by the Wichita Eagle & the Kansas City Star.

Betts & Goyle are so young, it’s hard to tell if they have the ambition or courage to try to be something important. As one of the youngest member of the Commission on Judicial Evaluations, Betts may be more comfortable settling in to an upper rung of the local fascist political-legal caste system by ingratiating himself with Foulstin Seifkin attorney, Jack Focht, & spouse Former Foulstin Seifkin partner, Gloria Flentje, and Attorney General’s Daddy, retired Supreme Court Judge Fred Six.
http://www.kansasjudicialperformance.org/commission.shtml

If Betts behaves himself and becomes the token minority state senator loyal to the corrupt Orwellian elitist establishment in Wichita, Betts and his wife will become part of the good old boy club like Venita & retired State Senator Rip Gooch who was rewarded by being invited to become a minority owner in former Wichita Mayor Bob Knight’s Sumner county casino joint venture along with MGM Casinos and the abortionist Tiller’s defense attorney Steve Joseph and his corrupt law partner, Ross Hollander, who I have continually accused of suborned perjury from a Wichita Psychiatric Consultant, psychologist in a family law custody case. You would think that Ross would do the honorable thing and either reprot himself to the Office of Judicial Administration so that Stan Hazlett could give him a slap on the wrist with a private unpublished censure or would have the guts to sue me for slander.

Bill McKean
Kiakahahaha@yahoo.com
316 293-6079

CapnAmericaPosted April 17, 2008 at 9:08 am |
“The working poor pay next to nothing in income taxes, true.
But they pay a lot for sales tax and all kinds of fees–like tag fees etc.
The poor pay a higher percentage of their income to taxes than the rich do.”

So, what your point?
Yet they consume as high, or higher, a level of community and social services paid for by taxes. Do their cars not require the same cost to register, etc? Do they not get the same government services from their sales taxes, which they undoubtedly pay less of than those of higher income? No one should get a free ride. What does paying a higher percentage of income have to do with anything except to try and elevate one earning higher. You’re saying if one decides not to work then they should be given, without taxes, the benefits of society. What an incentive to a good work ethic. Dumb! But expected from you.

Socialism, in consideration of the brevity of a blog posting is used as such; (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles. Or, 2.The stage in Marxist-Leninist theory intermediate between capitalism and communism, in which collective ownership of the economy under the dictatorship of the proletariat has not yet been successfully achieved.”

Conservatives don’t complain about fascism, when the corporations get their welfare checks. They only complain when the people creating the wealth benefit from the wealth they produce in the form of such basic human rights as health care.

How about next time you call upon the socialist fire department or socialist police department tell them you don’t want their help because that’ll be contributing to socialism.

TomPaine,
Didn’t you apply for your card which shows you are poor so you don’t have to pay any sales tax, property tax or gasoline tax?

But keep in mind, you are hearing economic talk from conservatives and they don’t know what they are talking about when it come to economics.

“Conservatives don’t complain about fascism, when the corporations get their welfare checks.”

Corporations don’t get welfare checks…they get tax incentives to do things which create jobs and give people needed work. At least argue honestly.

I only met Don Betts once, but he seems to have a functioning brain.

He’s got Tiahrt beat on that at least. Tiahrt (to steal one of my favorite MrC lines) could be mistaken for furniture.

Rage,

I have met Tiahrt many times. I have spoken with him several times. I have heard him speak many times.

You are full of crap.

Tiahrt was at my work place eating lunch a few weeks ago.

He asked about my father and when I told him that my dad had broken his shoulder he sent him a get well card.

The man is not some stupid demon like you liberals love to characterize anyone you disagree with as being.

P.S. Since you know Todd so well, ask him why he ducked my question about crime statistics, abruptly and bizarrely changing the subject to OJ Simpson.

I could insult Rage’s intelligence as well, since he enjoys insulting Tiahrt’s intelligence.

However, I don’t like picking on the those enclosed in the Liberal Progressive Glass Ceiling prison.

Heh, no, actually, Nathan, it’s the man’s whole history in the state Senate and Congress that inform my opinion of him.

You don’t need to guess how I was acting in 1994:
http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2008/03/tiahrt-lobbied-against-house-ethics-panel/#comment-312955

Perhaps he had some logical reason for such an exceedingly odd tangent, but it looked like I’d just pushed him outside of his predefined comfort zone to me!

“Corporations don’t get welfare checks…they get tax incentives to do things which create jobs and give people needed work. At least argue honestly.”

Yeah, like Steinbreener’s American Ship Building company that was given $49 million to not build two ships. Or the $300 million given to a masseuse to buy antique Chinese bullets. Sure corporate welfare creates jobs, it gives millions to executives and keeps them filthy rich at your expense. Nice that you argue that these corporations couldn’t possibly hire people if it wasn’t for welfare programs from the government to build items that aren’t needed.

Rage,

Well, I suppose we will have to agree to disagree.

You have your anecdotal evidence and I have mine.

Except I have spent far more time with Tiahrt than in a simple exchange of some quick questions.

Betts is an empty suit and the mouthpiece of his liberal, pacifist professors. His own liberal establishment isn’t even supporting him as evidenced by his pathetic fundraising ($13,000 on his most recent report). He may be a nice guy, but he’s not a good fit for this district and definitely not ready for prime time. Todd is true to his constituency, and his place on the appropriations committee has been an invaluable asset to his community. Todd is a wise and independent thinker who knows his district well. I think he thoughtfully considers each issue. That’s what I call a great representative!

“his place on the appropriations committee has been an invaluable asset to his community.”

i.e. - PORK. However, with his waning influence that wil decrease - ESPECIALLY as we see pressure to eliminate earmarks.

“I have met Tiahrt many times. I have spoken with him several times. I have heard him speak many times.”

Of COURSE you have Nathaniel. Step mommy has money.

Meanwhile, Tiahrts spokesman emailed me that if I wanted representation I should move to another state.

I think that Betts is doing a wonderful job! He is a great spearker, and he is not the corrupt Kansas politician as the writer had stated. Betts is well educated and he also comes from a very smart family good luck in what ever you choose to do for this racist city of ours.