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Randal O’Toole discusses urban planning in Wichita
Read more: Randal O’Toole discusses urban planning in WichitaLast week Cato Institute Senior Fellow Randal O’Toole was in Wichita. He delivered a public lecture Thursday evening to a crowd that braved poor weather to attend. O’Toole said he spent 15 years studying urban planning. He said he’s learned this: “Urban planners promise us paradise on earth, but first we have to give them…
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Urban planning discussed on Kansas Week
Read more: Urban planning discussed on Kansas WeekEconomist, author, and Cato Institute Senior Fellow Randal O’Toole discusses urban planning and redevelopment on the KPTS Television public affairs program Kansas Week. Tim Brown is the host.
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State budget ‘gap’ is all about perspective
Read more: State budget ‘gap’ is all about perspectiveWhen businesses or individuals talk about cutting their expenses, it means they are going to spend less money that they did in the past. But when governments talk about budget cuts they often have a different perspective: they are spending less than they had hoped to but not necessarily less than the year before. For…
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Government spending does not create prosperity
Read more: Government spending does not create prosperityIn his op-ed Don’t buy canard about spending, Alan Cobb of Americans for Prosperity writes about the illusion that government spending creates economic growth. It’s an important topic, as we’ve just been through nearly a year of Obama stimulus spending, and people are wondering if the effort has paid off. Locally in Kansas, spending advocates…
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Don’t buy canard about spending
Read more: Don’t buy canard about spending“Canard” is a funny word. It keeps popping into my head anytime I read another self-anointed do-gooder who claims that government spending leads to economic growth.
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Goal of Kansas tax reform is economic growth
Read more: Goal of Kansas tax reform is economic growthDr. Art Hall, who is Director of the Center for Applied Economics at the University of Kansas has proposed a radical change and simplification to the Kansas tax system. Besides simplification of the way the state collects taxes, the major goal of the proposal is to encourage economic growth in Kansas.
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Kansas model budget released
Read more: Kansas model budget releasedThe Kansas Chapter of Americans for Prosperity has released its model Kansas budget for fiscal year 2011. Titled Commonsense Budget Proposal, it contains “a roadmap for legislators seeking to make Kansas government more efficient — and less costly — without turning to Kansas taxpayers,” according to AFP Kansas state director Derrick Sontag.
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Kansas bill would forbid taxpayer-funded pleas for tax increases
Read more: Kansas bill would forbid taxpayer-funded pleas for tax increasesA bill just introduced in the Kansas Legislature by Representative Joe Patton, a Topeka Republican, would bar taxpayer-funded lobbying for tax increases. The bill is House Bill 2622, captioned “an act concerning the use of public funds for lobbying.” The bill is very short, the important part being: “No taxpayer funds shall be used for…
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Kansas sales tax increase would cost jobs
Read more: Kansas sales tax increase would cost jobsThe Goldwater Institute has issued a report on the lost jobs that an increase in the Arizona sales tax would cause. According to projections by the Beacon Hill group, the one cent increase in the sales tax would bring in $1 billion annually to Arizona state government. But the cost of this sales tax would…
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Kansas school consolidation: it won’t be the first time
Read more: Kansas school consolidation: it won’t be the first timeAn issue that some promote as a way to make Kansas schools more efficient and save money is school consolidation. It’s not the first time schools in our state have gone through consolidation. Kansas Senator Chris Steineger, who is a Democrat representing Kansas City, recently asked the Kansas Legislative Research Department for information about school…
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WaterWalk hotel subsidy passes
Read more: WaterWalk hotel subsidy passesNot that it matters much now since the measure has passed, but here are a few things that haven’t been discussed much regarding the subsidy to a proposed hotel in Wichita’s WaterWalk development.
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Kansas scores poorly in initiative and referendum rights
Read more: Kansas scores poorly in initiative and referendum rightsCitizens in Charge Foundation — a transpartisan national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process — has released its 2010 Report Card on Statewide Voter Initiative Rights. Those familiar with Kansas will not be surprised to learn that our state scores poorly, as do many other states.