Americans For Prosperity Archives - Page 15 of 16 Voice For Liberty

Feb

Americans for Prosperity model budget to be presented

This Friday Derrick Sontag, Kansas State Director for Americans for Prosperity, will address members and guests of the Wichita Pachyderm Club. His topic is "An update on the budget shortfall in Kansas, how we got there through excessive spending, and how our state’s tax burden compares with neighboring states." AFP's model budget for Kansas is 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 Sontag. All are welcome to attend Pachyderm club meetings. The program costs $10, which includes a…

Feb

By Bob Weeks

Kansas news digest

News from alternative media around Kansas for February 16, 2010. Supreme Court denies motion to reopen Montoy case (Kansas Liberty) "The Kansas Supreme Court decided today that it would not be reopening the Montoy school funding case. ... Reopening the Montoy case would have saved the districts a significant amount of time and money." Committee considers school consolidation (Kansas Liberty) "Small district complains that community economically relies on schools, Representative says towns should not solely rely on taxpayer dollars to function." Groups launch government transparency Web page (Kansas Liberty) "Americans for Prosperity and the Kansas Policy Institute have teamed up…

Feb

By Bob Weeks

Regulation has not lessened, instead it has harmed us

Last week's Wichita Eagle featured an op-ed by Brad Beachy, who is co-chairman of Wichita Democracy for America. Several of the claims made by Beachy deserve examination. In particular, Beachy blames free markets as the cause of our current economic problems: "The Great Recession we're in now started in late 2007, after several years of deep tax cuts and major repeals of government regulation in the financial market." Let's look at regulation. Not everyone agrees with Beachy's claim of major repeals of regulation in recent years. The liberal Time Magazine wrote this assessment of George W. Bush's regulatory legacy about…

Feb

By Bob Weeks

Government spending does not create prosperity

In 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 argue that reducing Kansas state spending will cause economic growth to suffer. Even more locally in Wichita, city council members and city hall bureaucrats argue that government is responsible for managing economic development in Wichita, some going so far to proclaim that free people and…

Feb

By Bob Weeks

Don’t buy canard about spending

By Alan Cobb "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. "Canard" means a false report -- and we've got lots and lots of them about these claims. If I take $20,000 from my neighbor and hire a gardener, the economy certainly hasn't grown by $20,000. It's simply been a shift of money. Rearranging the furniture in your living room doesn't increase the number of easy chairs or TVs. That's what happens when your taxes pay for someone else's salary, build a…

Feb

By Bob Weeks

Kansas model budget released

The 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.

Jan

By Bob Weeks

Kansas tax alert system launched

The Kansas chapter of Americans for Prosperity has created an information system to help keep Kansans notified when legislators propose to increase taxes. According to AFP: "AFP’s Kansas Tax Alert will notify you when a state representative or state senator sponsors legislation that will increase taxes. You will be just a few clicks away from letting that legislator know how you feel about the proposal to increase your tax burden." To register for the system, click on Kansas tax alerts.

Jan

By Bob Weeks

Kansas news digest

News from alternative media around Kansas for January 20, 2010. Letter form the Newsroom -- Tax Exemptions Edition (State of the State Kansas) "This week we will also look at the issue of tax exemptions where we will hear from a number of people, including, Revenue Secretary Joan Wagnon, Representative Marc Rhoades (R) and the Kansas National Education Association." Republican Candidates For Congress In The 4th District Debate (State of the State Kansas) "The Great American Forum hosted the first debate between the Republican 4th Congressional District Candidates Friday night. We put in a word from each of them here…

Jan

By Bob Weeks

Kansas legislative scorecards, rankings

Kansans need to know the true voting record of members of the legislature. Legislative scorecards or ratings can be a valuable resource for learning about the actions and record of legislators. These ratings are valuable because they record what a legislator actually does. Sometimes that's different from what legislators say they do. Producing a meaningful rating is difficult. You need to find votes that discriminate between political positions, as including a bill where the vote was 115 to 3 provides little discriminative value. Sometimes there are procedural votes leading up to final passage, and it may be these somewhat obscure…

Dec

By Bob Weeks

AFP releases Kansas education spending policy primer

Americans for Prosperity-Kansas has released a three-page document that details some facts about Kansas spending on schools and education. It's an important topic, as K-12 school spending represents about half of our state's general fund spending. Education -- as we're reminded by school spending advocates -- is also one of the most important things we can provide the children of Kansas. There are also many misconceptions about Kansas school spending, as recently highlighted by Kansas Liberty. For example: “There have been claims that funding for schools has ‘returned to pre-Montoy levels,’” said AFP-Kansas state director Derrick Sontag. “However the policy…