Letters on sales tax referendum, Brownback, RPS, Orman, dirty tricks, lost country, break from politics

Sales tax needed to attract talent, jobs

The Young Professionals of Wichita board of trustees recently voted to support the proposed 1-cent sales tax referendum that Wichita residents will vote on during the Nov. 4 general election. The board supports this referendum because it believes this sales tax will help the organization’s mission to attract, engage and retain diverse young talent to effect positive change for a brighter future. In particular, the needs for more diverse job options and a strong public transit system previously had been identified as keys to accomplishing the YPW mission.

Maintaining the status quo in Wichita is not enough to encourage economic growth and attract the millennial generation. Wichita continues to lose young professionals while other vibrant cities in the region are gaining them. The first step in changing that trend is to ensure that we have plentiful and diverse jobs available for a highly educated workforce, a stable water supply, more transit options and road improvements. A “yes” vote on this referendum represents a plan to kick-start Wichita’s growth.

If we support development of the basics needed for economic growth now, continued improvements in the quality-of-life areas that are important to young professionals will follow.

Man of integrity

As a Reagan Republican, Gov. Sam Brownback knows that both incentives and disincentives have an impact. Small businesses create most jobs. Because of Brownback’s tax initiatives, business owners now have strong incentives to locate in Kansas.

I have had the privilege of knowing Brownback for more than 20 years, since even before he first ran for Congress. He has an authentic concern for people. He is a man of integrity. He is gracious and respectful of others.

In just over a month, Kansans get to decide whether we want to pursue a limited-government approach or a big-government approach. If we re-elect Brownback, Kansas will continue to be on the Texas path. As Texas Gov. Rick Perry recently said in Wichita, Brownback understands that “you cannot tax and spend yourself to prosperity.” The evidence is overwhelming that the big-government approach advocated by President Obama, former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Paul Davis inevitably promises more than it delivers.

Brownback wants Kansas to be the best state in the country to raise a family and own a business. He wants to facilitate conditions that will give his future grandchildren an incentive to stay in Kansas. The potency of his tax incentives will be increasingly revealed over time. Let’s make the right choice by re-electing Sam Brownback.

Public backs RPS

A few influential Republicans and organizations have forced Gov. Sam Brownback’s hand on the renewable portfolio standard (RPS). In doing so, they have unnecessarily put Brownback at further risk this fall, given that conservative pollster North Star Opinion Research recently indicated that 75 percent of voters, including 73 percent of Republicans, support the policy.

As a Brownback supporter, I find it disgusting that some in my party are bent on splitting Republicans over the RPS when there’s no gain politically, only loss.

Speaking at a recent Wichita Pachyderm Club meeting, Sen. Michael O’Donnell, R-Wichita, and Rep. Steve Brunk, R-Wichita, agreed that more anti-RPS Republicans are needed to replace rural Republicans in the Legislature – whom they consider not conservative enough (“Lawmakers: Wind-power fight not over,” Sept. 13 Local & State). Conversely, perhaps these same rural Republicans think O’Donnell and Brunk aren’t conservative enough, as they aren’t seeking repeal of tax exemptions and other incentives for aircraft manufacturers.

A handful of Republicans and organizations such as the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Americans for Prosperity will further divide the party if they continue to arbitrarily pick their own business winners and losers. I recall a book titled, “What’s the Matter With Kansas?”

Not wishy-washy

Independent U.S. Senate candidate Greg Orman is receiving a lot of criticism for stating that if he is elected, he will caucus with whichever party has the majority. This is being interpreted by some as meaning he will go where the wind blows for his own political gain.

People are misunderstanding the meaning of the word “caucus.” It does not mean “agree with” or “vote with.” It means to meet with in order to establish a plan of action. If Orman meets with the party in power, he will have the opportunity to influence the direction of proposed legislation. If he meets with the party not in power, he will have no influence at all. If he wants to truly represent the positions he feels are independent, he will want to make the most of that and try to affect what actually ends up being supported in the Senate.

That is not being wishy-washy. That is doing his best to represent the people who elect him.

Dirty tricks

The Kansas Supreme Court ruling in Taylor v. Kobach centered on whether Democrat Chad Taylor met the requirements to have his name removed from the November ballot. The court ruled that he did. Lost in the public discussion of this case was the question of what the purpose was in creating K.S.A. 25-306b.

Embedded in the statute is the phrase “who declares that they are incapable of fulfilling the duties of office if elected.” This acknowledgment would be a poison pill for any serious politician who might want to seek future office.

It would appear that the Legislature creating this statute was attempting to prevent collusion of dirty tricks between candidates. Is it just a coincidence that a Democrat senator from Missouri asked Taylor to withdraw and a heavy-weight Democrat legal team from Washington, D.C., arrived in Topeka?

Kris Kobach may be within the law, as secretary of state, to withhold Taylor’s removal until the Kansas Democratic Party names a replacement as required by K.S.A. 25-3905, which states that “when a vacancy occurs after a primary election in a party candidacy, such vacancy shall be filled by the party committee.” This statute could be another safeguard against dirty tricks.

Lost its way

We have all known people who live without any objective, hard-and-fast, nonnegotiable principles. And we have watched them eventually fall into convoluted tragedies from which there was no escape.

History has watched nations cast aside, one by one, the clear principles on which they were established in the name of progressive adaptation to new circumstances and modern realities. And history has watched as these untethered peoples slide into social, economic and political chaos, which then yields to “temporary” totalitarian re-establishment of order. But order never returns, because the principles that support it have been forgotten and, even if remembered, can no longer be recovered without massive pain. So the people consciously refuse principles and in so doing choose collapse (believing the promises of those who assure them it is neither imminent nor inevitable).

In their hearts, many Americans still have a working conscience. And that conscience tells them that their country has simply and surely lost its way. But few of them can even begin to articulate a single nonnegotiable principle on which America was founded. And so, in a state of spiraling confusion, they first drift then rush toward collapse and destruction believing that fate, God or collective wisdom will somehow save their nation. But history knows better.

Break from politics

The great thing about the Ryder Cup golf competition this weekend is that we do not have to listen to the people running for office. It does get tiresome.

This story was originally published September 27, 2014 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Letters on sales tax referendum, Brownback, RPS, Orman, dirty tricks, lost country, break from politics."