Kansas views on Brownback blame game, budget fixes, guns on campus
Blame game – As the state’s fiscal crisis continues to deteriorate and the Legislature moves toward the center, the Brownback administration has shifted into full blame-deflection mode. A recent newsletter from the Governor’s Office attacked Democrats and “the media” but didn’t mention all the Republicans who are demanding change. Now that these voices are unified, they’ll soon be deafening in Topeka.
Orwellian doublespeak might be consuming national politics at the current moment, but Kansans have rejected it for Topeka policymaking. 2017 will be a year of reckoning as Gov. Sam Brownback’s economic disaster finally begins to be dismantled. The media will not be to blame as legislators come to the defense of this great state – regardless of what the governor says.
Fiscal fixes – Here’s the problem with short-term fiscal “solutions” like delay payments to the state pension plan: There’s no telling what condition the state’s finances will be in once the deadline arrives, which can lead to further procrastination. This is why, instead of relying on temporary measures and hoping the problem will fix itself, the Brownback administration should have been working on a sustainable budget all along.
Guns on campus – It seems like a bad dream to read about the preparations Kansas State University is making for guns on campus. The university is, of course, doing its best under the circumstances. It has no choice. What really needs to happen, though, is for the state Legislature to stop this silliness before it actually goes into effect. Guns have no place on a college campus, or in any other educational setting.
This story was originally published December 26, 2016 at 5:05 AM with the headline "Kansas views on Brownback blame game, budget fixes, guns on campus."