Voice For Liberty

Author: Bob Weeks

  • Wichita-area Legislators Hear From Citizens

    Sedgwick County Legislative Delegation 2008-01-06

    Last night, Wichita-area legislators met in the jury room at the Sedgwick county courthouse to hear from citizens about their concerns for the upcoming Kansas legislative session. About 22 legislators attended. Absent by my reckoning were Jason Watkins (it was explained that he was in Topeka), Brenda Landwehr, Raj Goyle, Steve Huebert, Mike Petersen, Delia Garcia, Joe McLeland, Tom Sawyer, and Ty Masterson. Perhaps 75 or so citizens attended.

    Meeting chair Carolyn McGinn explained that this meeting was primarily a chance for citizens to speak to the legislators, and that’s what happened. The meeting started with each legislator introducing themselves, describing the boundaries of the district they represent, and naming the committees they serve on. Remarkably, no one took this opportunity to speak at length.

    30 citizens signed up to speak, so chair McGinn announced that the time limit would be two minutes for each speaker.

    Speakers included Candice Hare, who is in charge of communications for the Socialist Party of Kansas. She said that people have a growing expectation of government to solve employment and environment problems. Some form of universal health care is inevitable, she said, and she wants Kansas to be at the forefront of this issue. Also, more rail service is needed in the state transportation system, which would create many jobs. Wichita needs more public transit, too.

    Dave Trabert, president of the Flint Hills Center spoke about property tax reform. The appraisal system is what is driving the increase in the property taxes that homeowners and businesses pay. The plan to solve this is called Proposition K, designed by Art Hall of the Center for Applied Economics at KU. The elements of the plan are to establish a baseline value for each piece of property. Then, have a fixed increase each year, probably two percent each year. Finally, adopt a cost-based standard for new construction.

    William Davitt spoke about several issues. He wants to get fathers back in the family, taking care of their children. He said we must elect municipal court judges so that they are free and independent, instead of being supervised by the city manager. Locking drunks in jail is not working, and the new drug court will not work, as there is no good long term treatment in Wichita. Finally, he urged legislators to not use eminent domain to destroy our places of business and our homes.

    Walt Chappell, who is newly elected to the state board of education, spoke about the three Cs: cooperation, consolidation, and coalitions. We have too many small school districts in Kansas, he said. There could be $200 to $300 million in savings each year by consolidating small school districts. Coalitions are essential. We have too many taxing units.

    Many of the speakers spoke about the state child welfare system and alleged abuses within this system. I’ve heard some of these speakers before, and they are very passionate about their cause. Many members of the audience would interject agreement or applause while these people spoke. It seems that a common problem is that grandparents have grandchildren who somehow get involved in the system, and then the grandparents can’t get custody of these children, even though they would very much like to have custody. Some speakers allege corruption at all levels of the system, and name several judges as complicit.

    The meeting started shortly after 7:00 pm and ended at about 9:00 pm.

  • Arkansas Democrat-Gazette publishes editorial in Paul Jacob’s defense

    From FreePaulJacob.com

    A super editorial appeared in yesterday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, defending Paul (and, more generally, the First Amendment) and calling AG Drew Edmondson a “zealot” and “a bully with considerable power, a high state office, and more ambition than respect for the rights of others.”

    The Sunday lead editorial read in part:

    This indictment has been hanging over the heads of Paul Jacob and those helping him garner signatures for a year. If convicted, they would have faced 10 years in prison for the heinous crime of taking part in American politics. Now they’ve been freed at last, or certainly should be in a free country. This indictment should be quashed; it should never have been filed in the first place. As the Tenth Circuit now has indicated.

    But no right is safe unless citizens are willing to exercise and defend it. For there will always be Drew Edmondsons around to challenge rights they don’t care for, and not even the Constitution of the United States, for all its virtues, is selfenforcing. Only citizens willing to fight for their rights, and courts able to enforce its letter and spirit, can keep the Constitution alive.

    The bad news is that General Edmondson may pursue his prosecution/ persecution of Paul Jacob even after this appellate ruling. His official spokesman says Oklahoma’s attorney general will appeal the Tenth Circuit’s decision. But at least now he’ll have the First Amendment to contend with. Paul Jacob, who once again has stood up for the rights of all Americans, deserves congratulations. Also, thanks and respect.

    Read the entire editorial here.

  • Prudence Requires Postponement of Wichita TIF District: The Video

    Bob Weeks recommends postponing approval of a Wichita TIF district until new procedures are put in place. Plus, a question about future mill levies, with a response from council member Sharon Fearey. The remarks in printed form are at this link: Prudence Requires Postponement of Wichita TIF District.

  • Markets are the best regulators

    Since the start of the current financial crises, we’re told that markets are at fault. The most common diagnosis is that there’s not enough regulation in place, and only a move away from reliance on markets and toward more laws and regulations will save the economy.

    One thing that did happen is that someone misjudged the risk that was present in the mortgage-backed securities that led to the downfall of several investment banks. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal does the best job I’ve seen of explaining how this mistake, made by credit rating agencies, was responsible for this crisis. The article, written by Robert Rosenckanz, is Let’s Write the Rating Agencies Out of Our Law. Here’s a summary, as best as I can produce, of this article:

    Rating agencies can make mistakes.

    Regulatory agencies used these ratings in formulating their regulations. “Most importantly, bond ratings determine — as a matter of law — how much capital regulated institutions need in order to own the bonds.”

    “Since the ratings determine required capital, they have a profound influence on how financial institutions invest their assets — in effect, the regulatory reliance on ratings makes the rating agencies the de facto allocators of capital in our system. And every actor in the financial system has every incentive to group and slice assets in ways that maximize not their fundamental soundness but their rating.”

    “The problem was not the erroneous ratings per se; everyone misgauges risk and ratings agencies are no different. The problem is that these erroneous ratings were incorporated into law. Regulators should not have relied on ratings agencies to asses the risk of bond holdings. Instead, they should have relied on markets.”

    Markets are superior to small groups of people — the credit rating agencies in this case — in making decisions. Because of regulation, however, the financial system was forced to accept and rely on these ratings. That, in turn, led to disaster.

  • Prudence Requires Postponement of Wichita TIF District

    Remarks to be delivered to the Wichita City Council on January 6, 2009.

    Mr. Mayor, members of the council:

    Last month it was discovered that procedures used to investigate the background of potential city business partners were lacking in some respects. It is now recognized that the process that were in place failed to give city council members information that they needed in order to make a fully-informed decision about the desirability of partnering with a certain development firm.

    Today the council is facing a similar situation. As with the previous case, the TIF district itself has already been approved. Now the actual project plan is before you.

    Also as with the case last month, these developers made application under the vetting process that this council has now realized was faulty.

    To my knowledge, no one has made any allegations that the developers before you today have problems like those that caused the postponement of the project in December. But since these developers applied for and were approved for TIF financing under a system that is now recognized as flawed, we really don’t know.

    There is one thing in particular I would like to know: The developers have been asked to agree to what the city calls a “Tax Increment Shortfall Guaranty.” It seems to me that this guaranty is only as good as the financial condition of the guarantor. Has the city examined financial statements of Reverend Harding and his partners, in order to determine whether they have the financial capacity to make good on this commitment, if it becomes necessary?

    I think the citizens of Wichita would sleep better at night if these developers would go through the new qualification process that the city is preparing. It’s been reported that this new process will be ready soon. Mr. Mayor, why don’t we wait a month or two and investigate these developers under the new process that is presently being developed? Then the citizens of Wichita can have confidence in this council and the project the taxpayers have been asked to subsidize.

    Mr. Mayor and members of the council, there’s another issue that I’d like to call your attention to. That’s the possibility that the city or county — perhaps both — might decide to raise their sales tax rates in exchange for lowering the property tax mill levy. If that were to happen, what would be the impact on TIF districts? The assumptions used in the projection for this TIF district assume that the mill levy in future years is the same as it is today. But if either the city or county were to reduce or eliminate its mill levy, it seems that this — and other — TIF districts would not generate enough property tax to service their debt.

  • Steve Moore of The Wall Street Journal to Speak in Wichita

    A message from Alan Cobb of Americans for Prosperity:

    I’m pleased to announce that Steve Moore, of The Wall Street Journal will be joining Jonah Goldberg, syndicated columnist of National Review Online and best selling author of Liberal Fascism, and Speaker of the House Mike O’Neal on January 10th in Wichita at the Defending the American Dream Summit.

    Steve Moore is on the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal, is a frequent guest on Fox News, and recently co-authored the book, The End of Prosperity: How Higher Taxes Will Doom Our Economy- If We Let It Happen with economist Arthur Laffer. He’ll be joining Americans for Prosperity to speak about the current financial crisis and explain what we can do to secure freedom and economic prosperity in the future.

    Steve Moore is a great writer and speaker. One of his best columns was the subject of my post The Decline of Local Chambers of Commerce.

    This summit should be a great event. Learn more about it and sign up in the post Jonah Goldberg to Speak at Kansas Summit.

  • Accountants Seek Bailout

    By Warner Todd Huston

    Washington — In this current economic climate, bailouts for industries in the private sector are quickly becoming the chief form of reform and stability. From newspapers to the financial sector to the auto industry, Congress is infusing life saving money into the bloodstream of the country’s economy.

    But one sector is finding itself over burdened at an alarming rate. Critics say that much more strain will find the CPA’s and accountants of America buckle and something needs to be done before it’s too late.

    Click here to read the entire article.

  • Another Sedgwick County Legislative Delegation Meeting

    At 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 8, 2009, the Sedgwick County legislative delegation will hold their annual meeting at the Wichita State University Marcus Center located at 4205 E. 21st Street, Wichita, Kansas, just east of the WSU baseball stadium. The public is invited but will not be allowed to address the delegation. This is your opportunity to listen and find out about the legislative agendas of local governmental units like the City of Wichita, Sedgwick County, USD 259, Wichita State University, and private sector groups like the Wichita Chamber of Commerce, Wichita Independent Business Association, and others.

  • Sedgwick County Legislative Delegation Public Hearing

    At 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 6, 2009, the Sedgwick County legislative delegation will host a public hearing and inviting public input in the Jury Room of the Sedgwick County Courthouse, 525 N. Main, Wichita, Kansas. This is your opportunity to address your concerns to area legislators prior to the convening of the 2009 legislative session in Topeka on January 12, 2009. Entry to the Courthouse will be through security on the north side of the building. In past years speakers have been given approximately 3 minutes to speak depending on the number of people wanting to speak.