Government spending

17
Dec
By Bob Weeks

Obama faces earmark test

A test for President Barack Obama is coming up soon. When campaigning for the presidency, Obama pledged to end earmark spending. As reported earlier this year in Time Magazine: "... both Obama and Republican nominee John McCain tried to outdo each other with their pledges to rid Washington of the notorious pet projects that legislators slip into spending bills. Obama, who authored 2007 legislation to overhaul congressional ethics rules governing lobbying and earmarks, runs a real credibility risk when he makes exceptions to his own rules." But did he make a pledge to end earmarks? MediaMatters says he didn't make…
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01
Nov
By Bob Weeks

Rep. Steve Brunk on Kansas taxes and spending

Speaking to the Wichita Pachyderm Club on Friday, Kansas Representative Steve Brunk (Republican from Bel Aire) addressed taxation and spending in Kansas government. Brunk said "We need more taxpayers, not more and higher taxes." In evaluating legislation, he said he asks these questions: Does this help the state of Kansas bring companies to the state, and does it offer encouragement to companies already here? Kansas is usually just about in the middle of all states in ability to attract companies to the state. We should be able to better than that, and a way to do better is to reform…
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27
Mar
By Bob Weeks

Myths of Roosevelt and the New Deal presented in Wichita

Yesterday Burton W. Folsom, professor of history at Hillsdale College spoke to a capacity crowd at a luncheon sponsored by Americans for Prosperity-Kansas and the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy. His topic was three myths of the New Deal, based on his recent book New Deal or Raw Deal? How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America. The first myth is that the New Deal got us out of the Great Depression, or at least made good headway. Massive spending and a doubling of the public debt, however, didn't do much to cure unemployment, as admitted by Roosevelt's treasury secretary…
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21
Mar
By Bob Weeks

Wichita Tea Party on Tax Day Flyer

Susan Estes has created a printable flyer to promote the Wichita tea party protest on tax day, April 15. Click on Wichita Tea Party Planned for Tax Day, April 15 to learn more about the event. Thanks to Susan Estes for creating the flyer, and for the great imagery. It hints of one of the themes of the protest, which is "Flush twice, it's a long way to Washington!" Click on Wichita Tea Party Tax Day Flyer to download the printable flyer. It's a pdf file.
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17
Mar
By Bob Weeks

Kansas blogger prone to exaggeration

Jason Croucher, writing in the Kansas Jackass blog, says that we're spending trillions on the Iraq war and little domestically. Is this really the case? A running tally of the cost of the war from CostOfWar.com is at about $605 billion. That's in line with other estimates. It's true the war is going to continue to cost a lot for some time, and the cost may well exceed $1 trillion at some time in the future, but that's a lot different from saying "all those trillions spent in Iraq." Then there's this from Croucher: "Ah, but then, suddenly, the federal…
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14
Mar
By Bob Weeks

Perhaps the greatest Wichita Eagle opinion line ever

"It is a popular delusion that the government wastes vast amounts of money through inefficiency and sloth. Enormous effort and elaborate planning are required to waste this much money." This appeared in the Wichita Eagle on March 13, 2009. Originally, it appeared in Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government, a book written by the very funny P.J. O'Rourke.
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12
Mar
By Bob Weeks

Kansas Fed-Up with High Taxes

Here's a press release from the Kansas chapter of Americans For Prosperity reporting on the results of a poll about taxes and spending in Kansas. Interestingly, the poll found that a majority of lower-income Kansans are opposed to higher taxes on high income earners. This goes against the theme of some authors, including Thomas Frank, the author of the book "What's the Matter with Kansas," who argue that working-class people should vote their pocketbooks. Meaning, of course, soak the rich. Study Finds Kansas Fed-Up with High Taxes and Wasteful State Spending Lower-Income Residents Oppose Tax Hikes, Even if They Don’t…
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27
Feb
By Bob Weeks

Wichita Tea Party News Coverage on KSN Television

The Wichita Tea Party protest as covered by KSN Television, February 27, 2009. A very good job by reporter Josh Witsman. "Someone needs to go and cut up Congress and President Obama's credit card, because it’s not their credit card -- it's our credit card."
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