Senate President Susan Wagle, Republican, told a Wichita gathering that she supported the merging of the two groups, but said transfers from KDOT to the general fund need to stop.“I think all that extra money – I’m glad we merged the two facilities. It has brought economy to the system, but we can’t keep, in the future, robbing from KDOT, because we will deplete those funds,” she said...
2. Kris Kobach Kills Political Future (Perhaps the dumbest thing I wrote all year.)Watch your words, GOP legislators. This KDOT “robbing” is a political wedge issue that the Democrats are going to try beat you with using the all-too-willing crayons of reporters.It’s fine for Wagle or any other Republican to say the budget needs to be balanced, and we need a budget that works – i.e., money goes where it’s needed in the first place, rather than making a pit stop in the KDOT fund. It’s not acceptable to use words like “robbing.”
I cannot vote for Trump. In fact, I will not vote for Trump...
That said, I'm stunned that Kris Kobach is publicly endorsing Trump. Politically, I believe Kobach's Trump endorsement may have been suicide. There's no way on earth Trump wins Kansas, and it's equally unlikely a Trump administration would have room for someone with the conservative street cred of Kris Kobach.3. Now Seeking Sam Brownback's Marbles (We're getting a horse arena. I am not impressed.)
Gov. Brownback has got to be leaving a trail in his wake, because clearly he’s losing his marbles. Brownback told reporters he will consider vetoing a provision in the budget that disallows the use of STAR bonds for Wyandotte County projects until the STAR bond program is reformed.
4. Congressman Pompeo Dips Toe in Senate Waters
In a truly mind boggling display, Sen. Jerry Moran has made a public request for Republicans to hold hearings for a President Obama nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Et tu, Sen. Moran?
As an aside, is that photo the best picture on the interwebs? I think yes.
6. Rubio Supporting Friends (He should've gotten out sooner. Still not sure it would have made a difference, and now I question whether any Republican other than Trump could have won the White House.)
Friends, what I'm about to write is going to hurt me almost as much as it hurts you. However, friends don't let friends bask in the light of grand delusions, and so, please consider this the same way you'd consider a friend who takes your car keys when you're set to get behind the wheel after four Fireball shots.7. Budget Shortfall: Who Gets the Blame-- Part 2
Marco Rubio needs to get out of the Presidential race. He needs to drop out today. Right now. As soon as possible. Unfortunately, he's a politician, which means he is a narcissist. That's not an insult to the Senator, for whom I have great respect. It's just a reality. All politicians are narcissists. They can't help it. It's OK. God made them that way on purpose.
Rubio has no honest path to the nomination. None.
Kansas attorneys are running a real racket. They pick their friends to sit on the bench, then sue the legislature for more funding for schools while collecting a hefty sum to “represent” the schools before the judges they picked. I don’t know how this isn’t illegal.8. Budget Shortfall: Who Gets the Blame--Part 1
Let's recall, shall we, how revered (absolute train wreck) leader, former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius DELAYED state tax refunds and state paychecks in 2009. She was a real peach that lady. Even now, I'm still stunned at the virtual media pass she received when her plan to make ends meet involved holding onto money that the state owed to individuals. That's downright immoral...9. Uh, Guys, the National Review Linked to My Blog
So, libs and media, before you go on your merry way crucifying Brownback, of whom I'm not the biggest fan, please take the entire logging industry out of your eye.
10. Brownback Should Refuse to Negotiate with Terrorists (To this day, it hurts my soul that no one listened to my advice on this one. We should never have taken the Supreme Court's bait. There's no way to prove I was right, but no one will ever convince me otherwise on this one.)
Gov. Brownback should decline to call a special session of the Kansas Legislature. Hasty decisions are rarely wise, and a special session with a looming deadline during a tumultuous election season is the definition of haste. It's a virtual guarantee of a horrible solution to a problem created by people who never had the power to close schools in the first place.
11. Rock Chalk Head Scratch
Rock Chalk U hopped on the social justice train this year, embarrassing a great state.
The whole thing is a train wreck, rolling down the tracks to exciting destinations like Lower Enrollment, Dumber College Students, and Shame on Our State! These are places I have no interest in visiting. They’re also places I have no desire to fund at levels above existing ones.12. Credit or Blame? (Media gives Rooker credit for school finance deal.)
13. A Bad Plan (Using TANF money, which will probably come up during the 2017 session)As a completely misinformed Star editorial proves, conservatives will never receive credit for out-liberaling Democrats. (I am still trying to figure out why conservatives would want to, but it appears that's our plan.)
This legislation is a total loser, in my humble opinion. Rather than battling for credit, everyone involved should be attempting to place blame at the feet of others.
First, let’s talk about that tobacco settlement fund. It’s bad public policy to use one-time money to fund ongoing operations. Once the tobacco money is gone, I’m pretty sure schools are going to continue expecting cash. Down that road leads a tax increase. (That’s the entire point of this exercise, as I told you yesterday.) There is one bright spot in using tobacco settlement money. This requires firing up the Way Back Machine, all the way back to 1999. Britney Spears was burning up the charts with “Baby One More Time,” jelly shoes and overalls were popular, and in Kansas, Bill Graves was piloting the U.S.S. Kansas into choppy, ice filled waters. That was also the year ambulance chasers won a $1.6 billion settlement with tobacco companies, and Kansas was awarded a $131 million cut of it. Thank you, smokers! What followed was an epic display of so-called children’s advocacy organizations acting like buzzards fighting over a carcass. These are liberal-leaning groups like Kansas Action for Children, whose stated purpose is FOR THE CHILDREN, which really means, give us tax money so we can advocate for more money.
14. Don't Look Now, But Caving Is Imminent (Legislators surrender like the French in the face of mild German aggression.)
I KNEW if legislators were called back to Topeka, they'd surrender like the French in the face of mild German aggression. Actually, they're lamer than the French. At least the French passed out weapons and acted like they might use them.
The members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committee sound like they're about to pass out of committee a "recommendation" that Kansans just pony up $38 million.
Guys, this is a loser. A major loser in every way you slice it. The liberals and moderates get to say I told you so. (Least of my worries, really.) Their campaigns can now count on a conservative backlash... If conservative legislators are looking for a way to depress conservative turnout, they may have just landed on it with this crazy plan.
15. Stop Telling Girls They Need Hillary to Win to Follow Their Dreams (Perhaps the biggest irritation from this campaign season)
16. Magic Fairy Sprinkles Hope-y Change Dust at State BOE (State board of education makes insane request for $900 million more in school spending)
Moms, if your daughter didn't think she could be President before Hillary Clinton won the Democrat nomination, you're doing it wrong. That's your fault.
Apparently, members of the board of education think there’s a magical fairy who flies around sprinkling cash on the heads of people who act self-righteous.
17. Brownback Derangement Syndrome Rears Its Head
Some days, the liberals go off the rails for no apparent reason at all. Call it a case of Brownback Derangement Syndrome. If you suffer from BDS, please seek medical help. It's a serious illness that can affect your ability to reason and use logic. Yesterday, state officials said they are working to overhaul state employee layoff protocol. Specifically, the changes would allow layoffs to be done based on performance rather than seniority. Cue screaming of the liberals.
Liberals are always running through the forest banging into the trees. This policy change is a good thing--one that most reasonable people can agree on. It isn't political. The liberals, however, can't separate their hate from Brownback from policy...The legislature will have a large say in the decision. It's not Brownback's alone to make. The people calling foul on this one are clearly suffering from BDS. Take a pill, folks.
18. Most Expensive Schools in History Fail Kids so Give Schools More Cash
These demands for ever-increasing public school funding are a complete racket... It's not about the children, and it never has been. The so-called mods and their allies on the Court don't care if a thousand little Jaylens fail. They care whether they receive a cut of his educational funding. End of story. They are revolting, because they can look at that cute kid and demand their cut without any shame.
19. And This Guy Is on a List To Be Commerce Secretary
I guess Rep. Mark Hutton believes that in order for a tax incentive to be worthwhile, it needs to save every individual an average of $20,000 to $25,000 per year. I'm fine with that target, but my math says that won't work. Most people don't pay that much in the first place.
And if a policy goal is simply to create jobs that pay the Kansas average, why don't we just take everyone's earnings over $25,000? The government could create SO many jobs that way. Oh wait. That kind of thing has been tried before about a million times throughout human history. It starts with people waiting in bread lines slowly starving, followed by riots, wars, and piles of bodies.
20. Biggest General Election Disappointments
November 8 was kind of a euphoric night. The could-be good guys beat the definitely bad guys on a national stage, shocking everyone. But into each life a little darkness must fall, and the darkest parts of election night 2016 were reserved for the people of Johnson County. We screwed up on a pretty epic scale. The damage to our wallets is going to be painful in ways we haven't yet considered.
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