Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax cuts were supposed to spur enough economic growth that significant budget cuts wouldn’t be necessary. But his administration now seems to be fashioning a new narrative as it moves toward cutting state spending next year, Associated Press reported. “There are forces beyond the state’s control,” spokeswoman Sherriene Jones-Sontag said. “There’s still a great deal of uncertainty with the economy.” That’s true, but that was the case when Brownback signed the tax cuts into law, despite warnings from state budget analysts that the cuts could result in significant budget shortfalls. “Sherriene can spin it as forces beyond their control,” Kansas Democratic Party chairwoman Joan Wagnon said, “but the truth is this is what they created.”
Secretary of State Kris Kobach isn’t the only well-known Kansas name on the GOP front lines in a fight against the so-called epidemic of voter fraud. A New York Times article noted that former U.S. Rep. Jim Ryun (in photo), who represented the 2nd Congressional District from 1996 to 2007, now chairs the Madison Project, a political action committee financing a plan called Code Red USA to blanket polling places in swing states with conservative election observers watching for Democrats bent on voter fraud. “Our mission is to organize, equip, train and mobilize grassroots conservatives to take back America,” says a Code Red USA video, which describes the “Obama political machine” as “absolutely determined to do anything to stay in power.”
Good for the entire Kansas delegation in the U.S. House for voting Wednesday to stop using tax dollars to subsidize political party conventions. Now a final measure will be negotiated with the Senate, which has passed its own version. The $35 million in public support for the recent conventions represented only 20 percent of their total costs, and eliminating the subsidy won’t help the nation’s deficit. But the political parties can and should pay for their own parties.
Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax cuts were supposed to spur enough economic growth that significant budget cuts wouldn’t be necessary. But his administration now seems to be fashioning a new narrative as it moves toward cutting state spending next year, Associated Press reported. “There are forces beyond the state’s control,” spokeswoman Sherriene Jones-Sontag said. “There’s still a great deal of uncertainty with the economy.” That’s true, but that was the case when Brownback signed the tax cuts into law, despite warnings from state budget analysts that the cuts could result in significant budget shortfalls. “Sherriene can spin it as forces beyond their control,” Kansas Democratic Party chairwoman Joan Wagnon said, “but the truth is this is what they created.”
