Anti-immigration crusader and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has been identified as an unpaid adviser to GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and the source of Romney’s view that “the answer is self-deportation.” But the nature of their relationship got murky last week. When Politico asked the Romney campaign whether Kobach was still an “adviser,” a Romney spokeswoman e-mailed back: “supporter.” Later, Kobach told ThinkProgress: “No, my relationship with the campaign has not changed. Still doing the same thing I was doing before,” which is “providing advice on immigration policy” and communicating “regularly with senior members of Romney’s team.” In response, though, President Obama adviser David Axelrod tweeted: “Kobach botches Mitt maneuver. Refuses to be Etch-a-Sketched away!” Slate political reporter Dave Weigel called it a case of “Ko-bachtracking.” The New York Times’ Lawrence Downes observed: “Latino voters. The Kobach crowd. Mr. Romney can try to have one or the other, but probably not both.”
Kansas has one of the best bond ratings in the nation, which helps keep its borrowing costs low. But that could be at risk based on the tax-cut plans being considered, Bloomberg News reported. “This has got to be one of the more worrisome trends in state and local finance,” Chris Mier at Loop Capital Markets in Chicago said about plans by states to cut taxes when their finances are still recovering from the recession. Bob Campbell, who oversees about $300 million in Kansas bonds at American Independence Financial Services in Wichita, warned that Kansas’ bond returns could be in jeopardy if there aren’t “verifiable offsets for reducing the revenues.” But he added he was optimistic that politicians “will be prudent and will follow the same kind of path they have over the years.” Others aren’t as optimistic, as Moody’s placed Kansas on a negative watch.
Kansas received a second tobacco settlement payment last week, pushing total collections this year to $58 million – and highlighting why there is no reason for the state to short its Children’s Initiatives Fund. Gov. Sam Brownback wants to withhold $16 million from the fund next fiscal year, claiming that the money is uncertain. But the Kansas Attorney General’s Office completes new estimates each year, and the estimates have never been off by anything close to $16 million. Withholding this amount of money would force deep cuts to programs such as Head Start and for children’s mental health – programs that help put kids on a path to success and that save the state money in the long term. The Senate wisely put that funding back in its budget, and House negotiators agreed before budget negotiations broke down. Brownback, who campaigned in part on helping kids succeed, needs to get behind the funding, too.
Anti-immigration crusader and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has been identified as an unpaid adviser to GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and the source of Romney’s view that “the answer is self-deportation.” But the nature of their relationship got murky last week. When Politico asked the Romney campaign whether Kobach was still an “adviser,” a Romney spokeswoman e-mailed back: “supporter.” Later, Kobach told ThinkProgress: “No, my relationship with the campaign has not changed. Still doing the same thing I was doing before,” which is “providing advice on immigration policy” and communicating “regularly with senior members of Romney’s team.” In response, though, President Obama adviser David Axelrod tweeted: “Kobach botches Mitt maneuver. Refuses to be Etch-a-Sketched away!” Slate political reporter Dave Weigel called it a case of “Ko-bachtracking.” The New York Times’ Lawrence Downes observed: “Latino voters. The Kobach crowd. Mr. Romney can try to have one or the other, but probably not both.”
