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Beyond Bailouts Is Recommended
Read more: Beyond Bailouts Is RecommendedI recommend BeyondBailouts.org as a place to learn about the current situation in our financial markets. From their site: BeyondBailouts.org is a joint venture of the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) and Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). The purpose of the website is to educate about government?s role in our current financial difficulties, suggest reforms that address…
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The Facts the Wichita Eagle’s Mark McCormick Overlooks — Or Twists
Read more: The Facts the Wichita Eagle’s Mark McCormick Overlooks — Or TwistsIn a recent column (Facts hurt bond issue opponents’ arguments), the Wichita Eagle’s Mark McCormick shows that he’s as adept at overlooking facts and reason and twisting an argument as is anyone. For example, McCormick takes some bond opponents to task because they admitted they haven’t been to schools to observe overcrowding. But if opponents…
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Reasons for businesses to oppose Wichita school bond abound
Read more: Reasons for businesses to oppose Wichita school bond aboundBy Helen Cochran. Support for the Wichita school district’s proposed $370 million school bond issue from the business community has been lukewarm. There are valid reasons why this support has not been forthcoming. First and foremost is academic accountability. Nationally, bond proposals have been trimmed or postponed as communities wrestle with priorities and the lack…
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Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer’s Reformulated TIF Plan Still a Bad Idea
Read more: Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer’s Reformulated TIF Plan Still a Bad IdeaToday the Wichita City Council holds a special meeting to consider a reformulated plan to provide tax increment financing (TIF) for the area surrounding the downtown Wichita arena. It’s still a bad idea. It appears there are two major changes in the new plan. First, the TIF district is smaller. Second, spending on the district…
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Wichita school district spends $7,642 on logo kerfuffle
Read more: Wichita school district spends $7,642 on logo kerfuffleRecently USD 259, the Wichita school district, asked a school bond issue opposition group to stop using its logo, on the grounds that it was too similar to the logo the Wichita school district itself uses. Newspaper coverage revealed that the district had engaged in a multi-year legal battle with the Washington Apple Commission over…
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Wichita School Bond Issue: Informing or Advocating? CARE Seems to Know.
Read more: Wichita School Bond Issue: Informing or Advocating? CARE Seems to Know.Kansas law places restrictions on the activities that government officials may undertake with regard to ballot measures such as the Wichita school bond issue question on the November 4, 2008 ballot. A page at the USD 259 website titled “Educate, Don’t Advocate” explains the behavior that USD 259 personnel may, and may not, undertake with…
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The Cartoon The Wichita Eagle Wouldn’t Print
Read more: The Cartoon The Wichita Eagle Wouldn’t PrintHelen Cochran of Citizens for Better Education commissioned a series of political cartoons concerning the Wichita school bond issue. She’s paid to have them printed in the Wichita Eagle each Monday for the past month or so. They’re also carried on her group’s web site. But the Wichita Eagle refused to run this week’s cartoon.…
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City Council divvies up tax dollars for the arts
Read more: City Council divvies up tax dollars for the artsA Wichita Eagle news story today tells how City Council divvies up tax dollars for the arts. Can you imagine sitting through these meetings with people like Joan Cole and other members of the Arts Council as they decide who gets — and who doesn’t get — government largesse? I imagine that these people actually…
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Karl Peterjohn, Lobbyist and Advocate for Kansans
Read more: Karl Peterjohn, Lobbyist and Advocate for KansansKarl Peterjohn, candidate for Sedgwick County Commission, is being criticized by his opponent for being a paid lobbyist. It’s a timely slur, as lobbyists are never popular. Lobbying legislators and testifying at the state house is a form of speech that is protected by the First Amendment. Advocacy is one of the ways that people…
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Karl Peterjohn is not bad for business, after all
Read more: Karl Peterjohn is not bad for business, after allIn the story Wichita businesses not leaving home after all, Kansas Liberty finds that criticism of Karl Peterjohn by some Wichita business leaders is a little over-the-top.
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Wichita School Bond: Causation, or Merely Correlation?
Read more: Wichita School Bond: Causation, or Merely Correlation?As part of its argument for the need for a bond issue, USD 259, the Wichita school district, makes the case that students who are involved in arts and athletics do better in school. Recently, perhaps as the result of a request I made, the district’s website added evidence of this. As the USD 259…
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Karl Peterjohn is Sorely Needed in Sedgwick County
Read more: Karl Peterjohn is Sorely Needed in Sedgwick CountyWichita business leaders support Karl Peterjohn. The recent opposition by certain Wichita aircraft executives to Karl Peterjohn — a well-respected and strong candidate for Sedgwick County Commission in District 3 — is ill-informed. Peterjohn, an economist by training, has long been an advocate for fiscal prudence and has fought, on behalf of the Kansas taxpayer,…