Kansas views on fund raids, failed policies, Planned Parenthood
Fund raids – Even as he voted against the Brownback administration’s proposal to move $50 million in the Children’s Initiatives Fund to the state general fund., Sen. Ty Masterson seemed to make light of the concerns we and others have about the future of CIF. “This is not unlike letting my little girl sleep in my bedroom even though I know there’s not monsters in her closet,” said Masterson, R-Andover. Perhaps the senator would like to tell the Kansas Department of Transportation – which is on pace to have $1.4 billion of its budget shifted to the general fund during Brownback’s tenure – there are no monsters in its closet.
Failed policies – Conservative Republicans in the Legislature, who pushed for the deep income tax cuts at the heart of the state’s dysfunction, are fond of saying that government needs to be run more like a business. But no business could get away with failing as spectacularly as Kansas has. Voters will have opportunities to turn over many legislative seats in elections later this year. It is crucial to recruit and elect candidates who will reverse the damage of recent years.
Between the power grab, the nonsense legislation floating around the Capitol and the ham-handed politics from the Governor’s Office, lawmakers of several stripes are beginning to challenge the leadership and stand up for sensible government. Could this mean they see that Kansans understand Gov. Sam Brownback and his allies are turning our state into a storm of incompetence?
Even those who believe the tax cuts need more time to work should fear the escalating collateral damage: excessive borrowing, downgraded bond ratings, persistent budget shortfalls and deep cuts to vital services. Plus, neighbor and peer states are outperforming Kansas without radical tax cuts.
Planned Parenthood – Sam Brownback spins conservative rhetoric as well as anyone. But the rhetoric only serves the state when it’s true, and lately Brownback hasn’t appeared too concerned about whether his opinions have any facts to back them up. Brownback reached a new low when he refused to backtrack on his rhetoric on Planned Parenthood, even after those claims were proved baseless.
This story was originally published February 14, 2016 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Kansas views on fund raids, failed policies, Planned Parenthood."