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Nashville Shows Need for Kansas Property Tax Reform
Read more: Nashville Shows Need for Kansas Property Tax ReformUsing the small town of Nashville, Kansas, a KWCH Television news story shows why property tax reform is needed in Kansas. Specifically, reform of the appraisal process is required. In Nashville, just by cleaning up his property, a homeowner’s property taxes doubled. Proposition K would, in part, introduce predictable growth in appraisals, which would eliminate…
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Green Jobs: Fact or Fiction
Read more: Green Jobs: Fact or FictionOne of the seemingly compelling arguments made by proponents of green energy is that the shift to different types of energy production would create many jobs and be good for the economy. This argument is particularly appealing right now, as job losses are stacking up. The article Green Jobs: Fact or Fiction examines four studies…
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The True Danger of the Current Economic Crisis
Read more: The True Danger of the Current Economic CrisisThomas Sowell explains that the true danger we face is not recession or even a depression, but the permanent expansion of government that lingers forever: No matter how many times President Barack Obama tells us that these ?extraordinary times? call for ?swift action,? the kind of economic policies he is promoting take effect very slowly,…
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Economic Stimulus: Timing is Everything
Read more: Economic Stimulus: Timing is EverythingWhen I took macroeconomics in college way back in the 70’s, people actually believed in Keynesian economic theory. It was in the textbooks. One of the problems with government attempting to stimulate the economy the Keynesian way is the matter of timing. By the time we’re sure we’re in a recession, Congress passes laws, and…
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Term Limits in Wichita
Read more: Term Limits in WichitaIn Wichita, city council members and the mayor are limited to serving two four-year terms. Last February the Wichita Eagle reported that some council members were considering a measure to end term limits. The main reason for wanting to do away with term limits is the perception that time and experience are required in order…
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American Majority Candidate Training in Kansas
Read more: American Majority Candidate Training in KansasRecently I attended a campaign training event produced by American Majority. This event was targeted to candidates and their supporters for city council and school board offices. Dennis Wilson is the Kansas Board Chairman of American Majority. He just completed service as a member of the Kansas Senate. Addressing the audience, he said that individual…
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Redesigning Kansas County Government: Follow-up
Read more: Redesigning Kansas County Government: Follow-upLast week I reported on a talk that Kansas Senator Kansas Senator Chris Steineger, Democrat from Kansas City, delivered to some 300 citizens at Americans For Prosperity’s Defending the American Dream Summit in Wichita. One of the things Steineger believes is that Kansas has too many counties, a legacy from the days of travel to…
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Didn’t Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation free your ancestors?
Read more: Didn’t Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation free your ancestors?The hypocrisy of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation came in for heavy criticism. His Secretary of State William Seward said, “We show our sympathy with slavery by emancipating slaves where we cannot reach them and holding them in bondage where we can set them free.” … President Obama can be forgiven for celebrating the hypocrisy of Abraham…
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Bob Hanson of Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission Speaks to Sedgwick County Commissioners
Read more: Bob Hanson of Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission Speaks to Sedgwick County CommissionersAt the January 21, 2009 meeting of the Board of Sedgwick County Commissioners, Bob Hanson, President/CEO of the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission addressed the commission. We have to step back and wonder why it’s necessary to occupy the time of the Sedgwick County Commissioners and the people of the county who pay attention to…
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Kansas Public Schools: Draconian Cuts?
Read more: Kansas Public Schools: Draconian Cuts?As Kansas prepares to make spending cuts to balance the budget in face of declining revenue, special interest groups roll out the horror stories of what funding cuts will do. A public school advocacy group in Kansas is sending emails with this message: “A 3-5% cut in school funding will force school districts to make…
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A Few Questions for AFP’s Derrick Sontag
Read more: A Few Questions for AFP’s Derrick SontagI and a few others met with Americans For Prosperity’s Kansas state director Derrick Sontag on Friday. Following are a few of the questions I asked, and Derrick’s answers. Q. Last year AFP had a model budget. Did that have anything to do with the relatively low increase in spending — compared to previous years…
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A Cautionary Note for Kansas Wind Power
Read more: A Cautionary Note for Kansas Wind PowerA piece in the Wall Street Journal contains some useful information that we should keep in mind as we consider the future of energy in Kansas, even though the focus of the column is the debate over wind power on Nantucket Sound. (Blowhards, January 24, 2009). One thing is the hypocrisy of “green” power proponents.