Voice For Liberty

Tag: Kansas Watchdog

  • Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Monday October 17, 2011

    Government job creation. Reason editor Matt Welch introduces the magazine’s November issue, which contains articles on free-market job creation. After citing the litany of failures, he concludes: “Such persistence in the face of repeated failure suggests that some powerful myths continue to hold sway among politicians and many of the people they represent. Among the most stubborn of these is the notion that passing a bill to fix a problem is the same as actually fixing the problem. This assumption — which reaches its illogical conclusion during times of national panic, when do-something busybodies like Michael Bloomberg will say that it doesn’t matter what Washington does, it just needs to do something — is oblivious to the law of unintended consequences, to the reality of corporatist lobbying, and to the limitations of government power.” … Then having done something, government is oblivious to what it has actually done: “A curious flip side to the myth of government omnipotence is near-complete incuriosity about government side effects. That is, people remain convinced that the state can and should look a problem squarely in the eye and fix it, but they are rarely moved by daily examples of the harm caused by earlier fixes.”

    Wichita City Council. Tomorrow the Wichita City Council considers these items: The city will consider revisions the ordinances governing municipal court bondsmen. The agenda packet reports “Currently, six departments are involved in the licensing and oversight of bail bondsmen.” The goal, says the city, is a more efficient process. … Johnson Controls asks the city for a forgivable loan of $42,500. It is proposed that Sedgwick County do the same. The State of Kansas is contributing $1,168,000 through various programs. Worldwide, Johnson Controls has 137,000 employees, sales of $39,080,000,000, and profits of $1,540,000,000. Yet, corporate welfare is still required, it seems. … As always, the agenda packet is available at Wichita city council agendas.

    Kansas tax plans. “In the coming months, Brownback and state legislators are expected to deal with at least three major proposals to change Kansas’ tax structure.” More from Kansas Reporter at Competing tax plans head for Kansas Legislature .

    Repealer on tour. “Government regulation is costing businesses valuable time and opportunities and denying state and local government millions in tax revenue from business activity and development, according to business leaders speaking at the ‘Drowning in Regulation’ tour stop in Wichita Wednesday.” The event was part of the Office of the Repealer seeking input from Kansans. More, including video, from Kansas Watchdog at Legislators Hear Examples of Businesses Drowning in Regulations. The Repealer (Dennis Taylor, Secretary of Kansas Department of Administration) will make a public appearance in Wichita on Tuesday, November 1st at 11:30 am, in the Wichita Public Library Patio Room (223 S. Main).

    Sowell: And then what will happen? Last week I quoted at length from a book by Thomas Sowell (Applied economics: thinking beyond stage one) where he writes about “thinking beyond stage one.” Later that day the great economist was interviewed by Sean Hannity, and he told the same story. Video is at Thomas Sowell on ‘Hannity’.

    Zuckerman on Obama. James Freeman of the Wall Street Journal interviews Mortimer Zuckerman, who is a Democrat and an Obama voter. He has been openly critical of President Barack Obama and his leadership, and that again is expressed in this article. Zuckerman told of the real unemployment numbers: “Mr. Zuckerman says that when you also consider the labor-force participation rate and the so-called ‘birth-death series’ that measures business starts and failures, the real U.S. unemployment rate is now 20%.” … Zuckerman is pessimistic about the Obama Administration, writes Freeman. An example: “At that time he supported Mr. Obama’s call for heavy spending on infrastructure. “But if you look at the make-up of the stimulus program,” says Mr. Zuckerman, ‘roughly half of it went to state and local municipalities, which is in effect to the municipal unions which are at the core of the Democratic Party.’ He adds that ‘the Republicans understood this’ and it diminished the chances for bipartisan legislating.”

    The fall of California. “California has long been among America’s most extensive taxers and regulators of business. But it had assets that seemed to offset its economic disincentives: a sunny climate, a world-class public university system that produced a talented local work force, sturdy infrastructure that often made doing business easier, and a record of spawning innovative companies. No more. In surveys, executives regularly call California one of the country’s most toxic business environments, while the state has become an easy target for economic development officials from other states looking to lure firms away.” Reasons: “a suffocating regulatory climate,” “California taxes are high and hit employers and employees hard,” and “the state’s legal environment is a mess.” Complete article by Steve Malanga of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research in the Wall Street Journal at How California Drives Away Jobs and Business: The Golden State continues to incubate cutting-edge companies in Silicon Valley, but then the successful firms expand elsewhere to avoid the state’s tax and other burdens.

    Public Sector Inc. Speaking of the Manhattan Institute, its project PublicSectorInc is a great resource for learning more aboout the issues of public sector employment. Says the site: “PublicSectorInc.org is a one-stop-shop for the latest news, analysis and research about the issues facing the public sector and the American taxpayer. It provides a national forum to probe problems and develop solutions at the state and local level. With a critical focus on the urgent topics of pension reform, employee compensation, bargaining and retirement health benefits for public employees, PublicSectorInc.org is shaping the national debate unfolding in state capitals and city halls across America.” … An example article of value is Valuing Job Security as a Public Employee Benefit.

    Markets and trade help all. James Otteson explains the motivations and concerns of Adam Smith, one of the earliest economists and author of The Wealth of Nations. In a short video, Otteson explains: “One of the main concerns is … how do we raise the estates of the least among us? He’s deeply concerned about the poor in society.” Continuing: “His investigation of centuries of data … shows that, empirically, the way to help people who are the least among us, the bottom rungs economically of society, is by allowing for commerce: free trade, free migration, limited government. To the extent that you can encourage those policies, their estates will be raised tremendously. … What he’s interested in is those people at the bottom, and his endorsement of markets and of trade is because he thinks they’ll help the people at the bottom, not because they’ll help the people who are already rich.” Over the centuries since Smith, we’ve learned many times that economic freedom is good for everyone, especially the poor. … The video is from LearnLiberty.org, a project of Institute for Humane Studies.

  • Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Thursday October 13, 2011

    Wichita city leaders too cozy with developers? Yesterday I participated in a KAKE Television news story where I explained the need for pay-to-play laws in Wichita and Kansas. These laws generally restrict officeholders from participating in votes or activities that would enrich their campaign contributors. In the story I said “What I, and some of my political allies object to, is what is happening in plain sight: In that there is a relatively small group of people — and their spouses and people who work at their companies — who regularly contribute to a wide variety of city council members, both political liberals and political conservatives, because they know that they are going to be coming to the city council and asking for taxpayer money.” Officeholders and the developers who contribute deny there is a connection between contributions and votes. Curiously, these developers generally don’t make contributions to school board members, county commissioners, state legislators, or federal representatives. Actually, it’s not so curious: It’s primarily the Wichita City Council that is able to vote to give them money. I would say the contributors are acting rationally. … If there is no connection between contributions and votes or consideration, there should be no problem in getting the council to agree to some form of pay-to-pay law for Wichita. An example is a charter provision of the city of Santa Ana, in Orange County, California, which states: “A councilmember shall not participate in, nor use his or her official position to influence, a decision of the City Council if it is reasonably foreseeable that the decision will have a material financial effect, apart from its effect on the public generally or a significant portion thereof, on a recent major campaign contributor.” … KAKE correspondent Deb Farris reported that Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer doesn’t look at the list of campaign contributors. I wonder: does he send thank you letters to his contributors? … Video and story at Wichita City Leaders Too Cozy With Developers?

    Obama economic strategy questioned. This year’s Nobel prize in economics went to Thomas J. Sargent of New York University and Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, and Christopher A. Sims of Princeton University. In its reporting, the Wall Street Journal explained (A Nobel for Non-Keynesians: People’s expectations about government policy make it difficult for officials to affect the economy in the ways they intend to): “The Swedish economists announcing the award emphasized, correctly, the importance of Messrs. Sargent’s and Sims’s thinking about the role people’s expectations play in economic decision making and the larger economy. But what they failed to mention is that their work has also offered empirical evidence that the school of thought known as Keynesian economics — which believes that government can turn a flagging economy around with the right combination of fiscal ‘stimulus’ (generally government spending) and monetary policy — is fallible.” In further explanation, the Journal writes: “One of Mr. Sargent’s key early contributions, along with University of Minnesota economist Neil Wallace, was the idea that people’s expectations about government fiscal and monetary policy make it difficult for government officials to affect the economy in the ways they intend to. If, for example, people get used to the Federal Reserve increasing the money supply when unemployment rises, they will expect higher inflation and will adjust their wage demands higher also. The result: The lower unemployment rate that the Fed was trying to achieve with looser monetary policy won’t happen. This conclusion was at odds with the Keynesian model, which dominated economic thinking from the late 1930s to the early 1970s. The Keynesian model posited a stable trade-off between inflation and unemployment.” The 1970s however, saw stagflation — both high unemployment and high inflation at the same time, a danger that some feel will grip us in the near future. Keynesianism, of course, is the basis of the economic policy of President Barack Obama and the reason why the economy has not recovered. … While these economists worked on national economies, does the theory of rational expectations apply to state and local governments, meaning that it is very difficult for local government officials to micro-manage their economies through intervention? I think so.

    Public vs. private. One of the curious statements in Rhonda Holman’s Sunday Wichita Eagle editorial (Say ‘no’ to naysayers, October 9, 2011) was where she wrote of the “crowds increasingly assembling downtown for concerts and events.” Curious because not long ago she begrudgingly realized the cool down at the Intrust Bank Arena, writing: “Intrust Bank Arena’s strong performance during its inaugural year of 2010 couldn’t last. And it didn’t.” (Make case for arena, August 19, 2100 Wichita Eagle) I don’t know if these two editorials are at odds with each other. … I have noticed one downtown Wichita venue that seems to have a lot of concerts, that being the Orpheum Theater. That venue doesn’t suffer from government genesis and ownership as does the arena, although the arena’s management is in the hands of the private sector. As part of its restoration the Orpheum may qualify for historic preservation tax credits, a government spending program that I oppose. That subsidy, if obtained, is quite small compared to the total taxpayer funding of the arena.

    Kansas tax policy. Several news outlets have reported on how hard Kansas state officials are working on crafting a new state tax policy. That worries me. The best tax policy is one that is simple and fair to all. The more tax policy is worked on, the more likely it is to contain measures designed to manage the behavior of people and business firms. This would be a continuation of the conceit that the state can manage economic growth, and contrary to the concepts of economic dynamism for Kansas, where fertile ground is created for all companies.

    Petition drive is on. Last Friday citizen activists started the petition drive to give the people of Wichita a chance to vote on crony capitalism or free markets. See Our Downtown Wichita (motto: “Limited government and free markets in Downtown Wichita benefit everyone. Centralized planning and crony capitalism benefit only a few.”) for more information.

    Kansas education scores mixed. From Kansas Reporter: “Kansas students’ performance on reading and math proficiency improved for the 11th consecutive year, according to Kansas State Department of Education’s latest State Report Card for schools released Tuesday. Some 87.6 percent of the students tested turned in scores in the top three of five performance levels for reading and 84.7 percent achieved similar scores in math. But two other performance yardsticks show different results. Statewide Kansas test scores on ACT college entrance exams, which are averaging 22 points out of a perfect 36, have been flat for the past five years. … Most Kansas statewide reading, writing and math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, tests have changed little since 2000, according to the U.S. Education Department, which counts the test results as the broadest national measure of how school systems compare state by state. ‘Fourth-grade math tests have improved significantly, but that’s about it,; said Arnold Goldstein, program director for the federal Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics.” Complete story on Kansas Reporter at Kansas education scores proved mixed picture of schools’ success.

    ‘Federalists’ author to appear in Wichita. On October 25th Kansas Family Policy Council is hosting an event in Wichita featuring Joshua Charles, a recent KU graduate who has teamed up with Glenn Beck to write the book The Original Argument: The Federalists Case for the Constitution Adapted for the 21st Century. The book debuted at the top of the New York Times Bestseller List in July. … KFPC says “The event will be at Central Christian Church (2900 North Rock Road in Wichita) on Tuesday October 25th at 7:00 pm. Doors will open at 6:30 pm. This is a free event and dessert will be provided for attendees.” RSVP is requested to 316-993-3900 or contact@kansasfpc.com.

    Kansas gas wells appraisals. Some Kansas counties use different methods of gas well valuation for tax purposes, writes Paul Soutar in Kansas Watchdog: “The method used to appraise the tax value of gas wells in Stevens County is ‘not correct or appropriate’ according to a report commissioned for Stevens County and released at their latest meeting. The method is or has been used for at least nine years, possibly since the early 1990s, in nine Southwest Kansas counties covering much of the Hugoton gas field, the ninth highest producing field in the U.S. in 2010.” … The complete investigate report is at Report Says Gas Well Appraisal Method ‘Not Correct or Appropriate’.

    Lieutenant Governor in Wichita. This week’s meeting (October 14th) of the Wichita Pachyderm Club features Lieutenant Governor Jeff Colyer, M.D. speaking on “An update on the Brownback Administration’s ‘Roadmap for Kansas’ — Medicaid Reform” … Upcoming speakers: On October 21st: N. Trip Shawver, Attorney/Mediator, on “The magic of mediation, its uses and benefits.” … On October 28th: U.S. Representative Tim Huelskamp, who is in his first term representing the Kansas first district, speaking on “Spending battles in Washington, D.C.” … On November 4th: Chris Spencer, Vice President, Regional Sales Manager Oppenheimer Funds, speaking on “Goliath vs Goliath — The global battle of economic superpowers.” … On November 11th: Sedgwick County Commission Members Richard Ranzau and James Skelton, speaking on “What its like to be a new member of the Sedgwick County Board of County commissioners?” … On November 18th: Delores Craig-Moreland, Ph.D., Wichita State University, speaking on “Systemic reasons why our country has one of the highest jail and prison incarceration rates in the world? Are all criminals created equal?”

    Urban renewal. “The goal was to replace chaotic old neighborhoods with planned communities.” Planned by government, that is, with all the negatives that accompany. The fascinating video from Reason.tv is titled The Tragedy of Urban Renewal: The destruction and survival of a New York City neighborhood. Its introduction reads: “In 1949, President Harry Truman signed the Housing Act, which gave federal, state, and local governments unprecedented power to shape residential life. One of the Housing Act’s main initiatives — “urban renewal” — destroyed about 2,000 communities in the 1950s and ’60s and forced more than 300,000 families from their homes. Overall, about half of urban renewal’s victims were black, a reality that led to James Baldwin’s famous quip that “urban renewal means Negro removal. … The city sold the land for a token sum to a group of well-connected Democratic pols to build a middle-class housing development. Then came the often repeated bulldoze-and-abandon phenomenon: With little financial skin in the game, the developers let the demolished land sit vacant for years.”

  • Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Friday September 23, 2011

    Downtown Wichita site launched. As part of an effort to provide information about the Douglas Place project, a proposed renovation of a downtown Wichita office building into a hotel, a group of concerned citizens has created a website. The site is named Our Downtown Wichita, and it’s located at dtwichita.com.

    Keystone pipeline hearing, bus trip. On Monday the United States Department of State will hold hearings in Topeka concerning a proposed petroleum pipeline. Says Americans for Prosperity: “Our great country has an opportunity to complete a project that would provide billions of dollars in economic activity, create thousands of high-paying manufacturing and construction jobs, and at the same time take a significant step toward providing for greater U.S. energy security and independence. … Because the project originates in Canada and would provide a pipeline extension to the Gulf Coast, through Kansas, the project requires State Department approval. TransCanada owns the Keystone pipeline, which currently runs from Canada to Oklahoma. … It has finally received tentative approval from the Environmental Protection Agency and now sits before the State Department. The State Department is holding a hearing in Topeka on Monday, September 26th from noon to 3:30pm and 4:00pm to 8:00pm at the Kansas ExpoCentre, located at the corner of Topeka Blvd. and 17th Street South.” … To help citizens attend this unusual hearing, AFP has organized a free bus trip from Wichita. The bus will load from 7:30 am to 8:00 am at the Lawrence Dumont Stadium Parking Lot. It will return to Wichita around 7:00 pm. Lunch is provided. For more information on this event contact John Todd at john@johntodd.net or 316-312-7335, or Susan Estes, AFP Field Director at sestes@afphq.org or 316-681-4415.

    Health care reform. “Lt. Governor Jeff Colyer spent nearly two hours with the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Health Policy Oversight Monday explaining the imperative and complexity of solving problems with government health care he likened to a Rubik’s Cube. The challenge of the 1974 puzzle and the current Medicaid and health care debate is finding a way to align multiple facets of each side without upsetting another side.” More from Kansas Watchdog at Public Health Care System Reform a Governmental Rubik’s Cube .

    Pompeo defends against Obama’s attack on aviation. “Rep. Mike Pompeo (KS-04) spoke on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in defense of the general aviation community, which is so important to job sustainability and job growth in South Central Kansas.” Video from C-Span is at Pompeo House speech on aviation.

    Wichita corporate welfare opposed. This week the Wichita City Council granted another forgivable loan. Thank you to John Todd for appearing and offering testimony opposing the loan. In his remarks, Todd said: “Over the past few months, I have watched a majority of this council fall into the trap of trying to buy customer business with free-money economic development schemes out of the public treasury. This program might work if the public treasury held unlimited funds and the public gifts were offered to every business owner on an equal basis. … In 1887 President Grover Cleveland vetoed a bill that would have given $10,000 for seed to farmers in drought-stricken Texas saying something to the effect that he could not be a party to taking money out of the treasury to benefit one group of people at the expense of another group, no matter how worthy the cause, stating that it is the responsibility of citizens to support the government and not the responsibility of government to support the people. Cleveland further issued a challenge for private charitable giving for the farmers. A number of newspapers adopted the relief campaign and in the end Americans voluntarily donated not $10,000 but $100,000 to the afflicted farmers. I would suggest a similar publicly driven voluntary relief campaign in lieu of the forgivable loan you are considering today to see if there is public sentiment to charitably fund this local economic development project.” … I’ve been told what the target company really needs is relief from a regulatory trap.

    The trap of job creation. Today on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal program, Rhone Resch of the Solar Energy Industries Association appeared. He promoted solar energy as great for creating jobs, telling viewers that solar energy creates more jobs per megawatt than any other form of power generation. This illustrates the trap that politicians and those who benefit from government subsidy usually fall into: that more jobs is a good thing. Wouldn’t it be much better if we could generate all the electricity we wanted using fewer jobs? Then these surplus employees could be put to work on something else — or simply enjoy leisure. … A few years ago an editorial written by a labor union official appeared in Kansas, praising the job-creating power of wind energy. In response, I wrote “After all, if we view our energy policy as a jobs creation program, why not build wind turbines and haul them to western Kansas without the use of machinery? Think of the jobs that would create.” … In a video produced by the Cato Institute, Caleb Brown explains the problems with relying on government and its spending for jobs: “Politicians and entrepreneurs face different problems. Entrepreneurs care about creating wealth, both for their customers and themselves. This means getting more output with fewer inputs. Politicians often care more about maximizing inputs like labor, even when that job creation could make all of us materially worse off. It would be easy for the president and Congress to create new jobs: They could simply ban the use of computers, farm machinery, or any other labor-saving device. But that would clearly raise prices … It’s hard to see how that improves anyone’s standard of living.”

  • Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Monday August 15, 2011

    Kansas economic development welfare promoted. An email from the Kansas Department of Commerce Business Development department informs us that “Kansas continues to add to its incentive tool box making it an even more competitive state for business.” A link in the email leads to a list of incentives, which include (and I don’t think this is a comprehensive list): Site location assistance; customized incentive proposals (including coordinating with local officials on local development incentives); Promoting Employment Across Kansas (PEAK), which allows companies to retain up to 95 percent of the state withholding taxes their employees pay; wind and solar bonds, paid off from the payroll withholding tax of the new jobs; Kansas Economic Opportunity Initiatives Fund, providing zero percent interest forgivable loans (if the loan is forgivable, why does it carry interest, I wonder); industrial revenue bonds which allow companies to escape paying property and sales taxes; community development block grants; partnership fund; Kansas Bioscience Authority; Investments in Major Projects and Comprehensive Training (IMPACT), Kansas Industrial Training (KIT), and Kansas Industrial Retraining (KIR), which pay for the employee training needs of companies; enterprise zone program; High Performance Incentive Program (HPIP); machinery and equipment property tax exemption; property tax abatements; sales tax exemptions; and machinery and equipment expensing deduction. … Missing from this list is the formation of the Job Creation Program Fund, which is a slush fund under control of the governor and Department of Commerce. And as the email message promoted, some of these programs have been expanded due to action of the recent Legislature. … There are perhaps one or two of these measures that conform to free market and economic freedom principles. The remainder amount to the state taking an “active investor” role in economic development, as explained in Embracing Dynamism: The Next Phase in Kansas Economic Development Policy by Dr. Art Hall, and reported on in Kansas economic growth policy should embrace dynamism. … Looking forward: Kansas officials — starting at the top with Kansas Governor Sam Brownback — want to reduce or eliminate the Kansas income tax in order to make the state more competitive for business. Will we then be able to eliminate all these incentives and the bureaucrats who promote and administer them?

    ‘Birth of Freedom’ screening. Tonight (Monday August 15th) the film The Birth of Freedom will be shown for free in Wichita. The film is a product of the Acton Institute, whose mission statement describes the institute as “[promoting] a free and virtuous society characterized by individual liberty and sustained by religious principles.” This free event is Monday from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at the Lionel D. Alford Library located at 3447 S. Meridian in Wichita. The library is just north of the I-235 exit on Meridian. The event’s sponsor is Americans for Prosperity, Kansas. For more information on this event contact John Todd at john@johntodd.net or 316-312-7335, or Susan Estes, AFP Field Director at sestes@afphq.org or 316-681-4415. … I’ve been told by those who have viewed the film that it is a very moving presentation.

    Kansas Republicans meet. At its summer meeting in Wichita, the Kansas Republican Party establishment warmed up to tea party and grassroots ideas and concepts, according to reporting by Paul Soutar at Kansas Watchdog. As an example, delegates approved a resolution rejecting all aspects of Obamacare (a tea party agenda), instead of an alternative resolution by GOP Chair Amanda Adkins, who represents the establishment Republicans in Kansas. … Earlier reporting by Soutar (Ideology, Political Reality Split State GOP on Health Care ) illustrated the division between the establishment and the tea party and grassroots wings of the party over health care, particularly the early innovator grant that Kansas recently rejected.

    Wichita City Council. The Wichita City Council in its Tuesday meeting will consider these items: Repair or removal of two unsafe structures and a conditional use permit for a nightclub which the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission rejected. The council will consider final approval of an ordinance regulating seasonal haunted house attractions, even though the need for this seems nonexistent. … The council also considers a letter of intent for Hospital Facilities Improvement and Refunding Revenue Bonds to benefit Via Christi Health System, Inc. These bond are similar to industrial revenue bonds. In each case, the city is not the lender, and it does not guarantee the creditworthiness of the bonds. In the case of IRBs, the benefit is that the borrow generally escapes paying property taxes, and also perhaps sales taxes too. But as a non-profit entity, Via Christi would not pay these taxes. … The council will receive a quarterly financial report for the quarter ending in June. … As always, the agenda packet is available at Wichita city council agendas.

    Kansas values to be topic of speech. This Friday’s meeting (August 19th) of the Wichita Pachyderm Club features Jay M. Price, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director of the public history program at Wichita State University, speaking on “Clashes of Values in Kansas History.” His recent Wichita Eagle op-ed was Kansas a stage for “values showdowns.” In that column, he wrote “The most visceral conflicts in our society arise when deeply held values are at odds. Time and again, Kansas has been a visible stage for such ‘values showdowns.’” The column closed with: “Picking just one value, such as freedom or liberty or private property, without the desire for a law-abiding society that embraces civil rights for all can lead to very unpleasant consequences, and vice versa. However, if we struggle with these ideals, the result can be akin to a suspension bridge that functions precisely because there are numerous forces put in opposition to one another, resulting in a strong, stable structure.” … The public is welcome and encouraged to attend Wichita Pachyderm meetings. For more information click on Wichita Pachyderm Club … Upcoming speakers: On August 26, Kansas State Representatives Jim Howell and Joseph Scapa speaking on “Our freshmen year in the Kansas Legislature.” … On September 2 the Petroleum Club is closed for the holiday, so there will be no meeting. … On September 9, Mark Masterson, Director, Sedgwick County Department of Corrections, on the topic “Juvenile Justice System in Sedgwick County.” Following, from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm, Pachyderm Club members and guests are invited to tour the Sedgwick County Juvenile Detention Center located at 700 South Hydraulic, Wichita, Kansas. … On September 16, Merrill Eisenhower Atwater, great grandson of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, will present a program with the topic to be determined. … On September 23, Dave Trabert, President of Kansas Policy Institute, speaking on the topic Why Not Kansas,” an initiative to provide information about school choice. … On September 30, U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo of Wichita on “An update from Washington.”

    Libertarianism explained. Dr. Stephen Davies of the Institute for Humane Studies explains in this short video message the basic ideas behind libertarian political philosophy: “[Libertarians] also argue that human beings are ultimately autonomous, self-defined, choosing individuals. And the kind of social order which is most conducive to the widest and most diverse range of human flourishing is one in which the role and power of government is kept to the minimum. Now this does not mean, however, that they need support a particular moral code or anything like that. It’s perfectly possible for someone who is a traditional Christian, someone who is a complete atheist, to both be libertarian in the way I’ve just described.” He listed policy issues that libertarians support, if they are being consistent: Free markets, free trade, free movement of people, free speech, constitutional and limited government, and opposition to coercive paternalism. But, for some policy positions, the libertarian position is not as clear and there can be disagreement. Foreign policy and abortion were mentioned as two such areas. Davies also addresses the accusation that libertarianism is an irrelevant political creed. … This video is from LearnLiberty.org, a project of Institute for Humane Studies, and many other informative videos are available.

  • Kansas budget director on budget, fiscal reform

    By Paul Soutar, Kansas Watchdog.

    WICHITA — Budget Director Steven J. Anderson outlined how he and his boss, Gov. Sam Brownback, would like to improve the fiscal affairs and economic recovery in Kansas. But Anderson admitted the effort isn’t likely to win him many friends.

    His presentation to the Wichita Pachyderm Club Friday included much for fiscal conservatives to like, including efforts to reduced state spending, lower income tax rates and make state government more efficient. But some planned initiatives probably won’t sit too well with a portion of the Republican base.

    Anderson said he thinks the Fair Tax, a proposal that relies on a sales or consumption tax and eliminates virtually all other taxes and exemptions, would not work politically. “From a strictly numbers perspective it’s very viable,” he said.

    “When you talk about the Fair Tax you gore about everybody. Twenty percent of the GDP in this country is non-profits. Do we really want to take the charitable deduction away from your churches?” One audience member said yes as Anderson continued. “I think the hue and cry becomes really high and pitchfork and torch sales go up all over town when you talk fair or flat tax.”

    Anderson also said he prefers to keep the 19 percent sales tax increase, from 5.3 to 6.3 cents on the dollar) enacted by the 2010 Legislature. “That isn’t wildly popular among some members of my party,” Anderson said. Repealing the tax increase was high on the priority list for many freshmen legislators.

    Anderson would use the extra sales tax revenue to offset reductions in income tax rates. “I believe income tax is an economic inhibitor and sales tax is a measure of economic activity.”

    Senate Bill 1, which would cap state spending and use sales tax revenue to reduce income tax rates, passed the House and is likely to get another shot in the Senate next year. Opponents of SB1 argue that sales taxes place a greater burden on the poor who spend a higher percentage of their income on necessities.

    Recent experience shows that improving the state’s fiscal health and competitiveness will not be as simple as cutting one tax and increasing another.

    In August 2009 QuikTrip demolished a store in Kansas then built a new one on the same property just a few feet to the east so the store, cash registers, and gasoline tanks are on the other side of the state line in Kansas City, Mo. The company said it pays lower taxes, has a better regulatory environment and has more customers who save money on gasoline taxes, sales taxes and cigarette taxes. Kansas loses an estimated $1.4 million in tax revenue each year because of the move.

    Anderson said by keeping the state’s income tax rates where they are and cutting the state sales tax back to 5.3 percent the state would get more gas stations, but if the state has no income tax it would be more likely to lure businesses just as Texas and other states with no income tax have done. “I’d rather have the corporate headquarters.”

    Anderson said he advised Brownback to focus on the state’s customers in addressing fiscal reform. “We all know that a business doesn’t survive if it can’t keep its customers. What has happened in Kansas in the last decade? If you’ve seen the latest census you know. Our customers, our citizens, have voted with their feet and left the state. I am probably an example of that. I had greater opportunity moving to Oklahoma.”

    Anderson, a Kansas native and graduate of Fort Hays State University, has an accounting practice in Edmond and worked for Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating from 1999 to 2002 in the Office of State Finance. He moved back to Kansas to work with Brownback.

    “When the state thinks they can raise taxes and outwit business they make a bad mistake,” Anderson said. “Business knows how to deal with that. They either leave the state or they adjust their operations.”

    Brownback wrote the foreword to “Rich States, Poor States,” an annual evaluation of economic competitiveness among the states published by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). “When you read it you will understand where we are going to go. He is very plain that we intend to cut income taxes and we intend to cut them a lot.”

    One of Brownback’s early initiatives was creation of Rural Opportunity Zones (ROZ). The program offers individuals income tax exemptions for up to five years and up to $15,000 in student loan forgiveness for moving into one of 50 rural counties.

    “Part of the reason why we did that was to show those that were on the fence that if you will move to what they consider the hinterlands — of course, being from Western Kansas, I don’t consider it that — for zero income tax, they certainly will jump across the Missouri border into Kansas. It’s been a real success so far and we aren’t a month into it yet.”

    Anderson’s presentation addressed complaints that Brownback’s team is doing too much or too little.

    Newly elected fiscal conservatives and their supporters have said Brownback didn’t move fast enough on reforms during the 2011 Legislative session. Anderson said Brownback’s team is continuing to explore data that was not available during the transition and is finding additional opportunities for reforms he expects to be unveiled soon.

    Anderson also said reforms must not be stalled by projections of economic improvement based on improving income tax revenue. He said about $100 million in recent income tax revenue is from capital gains tax paid by filers who chose to sell investments now rather than after a feared federal capital gains tax increase.

    As of publication time, the Kansas Department of Revenue has not replied to a KansasWatchdog request that they verify or deny Anderson’s claim.

    “We actually are running behind on every revenue source,” Anderson said. “I think that should trouble us when we look down to Oklahoma who just cut taxes again. They just put $219 million in their rainy day fund. I think the proof is in the pudding. Cutting taxes works.”

    Video of Anderson’s presentation is available on Kansas Watchdog TV at Kansas Budget Director Steve Anderson Part 1, part 2, and questions and answers.

  • Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Wednesday July 20, 2011

    Kansas budget director to be in Wichita. This Friday’s meeting (July 22) of the Wichita Pachyderm Club features Steve Anderson, Director of the Budget for Kansas. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend Wichita Pachyderm meetings. For more information click on Wichita Pachyderm Club. … Upcoming speakers: On July 29, Dennis Taylor, Secretary, Kansas Department of Administration and “The Repealer” on “An Overview of the Office of the Repealer.” … On August 5, the three newest members of the Wichita City Council will appear: Pete Meitzner (district 2, east Wichita), James Clendenin (district 3, south and southeast Wichita), and Michael O’Donnell (district 4, south and southwest Wichita). Their topic will be “What it’s like to be a new member of the Wichita City Council?” … On August 12 Kansas Representative Marc Rhoades, Chair of the Kansas House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, will speak on “The impact of the freshman legislators on the 2011 House budgetary process.” … On August 19, Jay M. Price, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director of the public history program at Wichita State University, speaking on “Clashes of Values in Kansas History.” His recent Wichita Eagle op-ed was Kansas a stage for “values showdowns.” … On August 26, Kansas State Representatives Jim Howell and Joseph Scapa speaking on “Our freshmen year in the Kansas Legislature.” … On September 2 the Petroleum Club is closed for the holiday, so there will be no meeting. … On September 9, Mark Masterson, Director, Sedgwick County Department of Corrections, on the topic “Juvenile Justice System in Sedgwick County.” Following, from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm, Pachyderm Club members and guests are invited to tour the Sedgwick County Juvenile Detention Center located at 700 South Hydraulic, Wichita, Kansas. … On September 16, Merrill Eisenhower Atwater, great grandson of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, will present a program with the topic to be determined. … On September 23, Dave Trabert, President of Kansas Policy Institute, speaking on the topic Why Not Kansas,” an initiative to provide information about school choice. … On September 30, U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo of Wichita on “An update from Washington.”

    All Kansans voted for “Cut, Cap, and Balance.” From Americans for Prosperity, Kansas: “Americans for Prosperity Kansas applauds Representatives Lynn Jenkins, Tim Huelskamp, Kevin Yoder, and Mike Pompeo for standing up to solve America’s debt crisis by voting ‘Yes’ on H.R. 2560, the Cut, Cap and Balance Act. The Cut, Cap, Balance Act directly addresses the nation’s staggering $14.3 trillion debt by immediately cutting spending, capping the federal budget and sending a strong balanced budget amendment to the states for ratification. … ‘Runaway spending has buried the United States Government in debt, causing us to hit our statutory ceiling at $14.3 trillion,’ said James Valvo, Americans for Prosperity Director of Government Affairs. ‘It is time for Washington to rein it its out-of-control spending and implement real spending reforms. The Cut, Cap, Balance Act provides necessary fiscal restraint that would get America back on the path to prosperity.’ … ‘Families and businesses alike in Kansas are tightening their belts and making tough choices to make ends meet, while Washington has continued to spend with no end in sight as if there are no limits,’ said Derrick Sontag, Americans For Prosperity Kansas State Director. ‘I thank the Kansas Representatives for safeguarding the future of America and demanding Washington tighten its belt.’”

    Foreclosed homes: the maps. We hear about the large number of foreclosed homes, but until you see them on a map, it’s sometimes difficult to comprehend the scope of the problem. For a tour of satellite photographs with indications of foreclosed homes, click on Satellite view of U.S. Foreclosures.

    Kansas certificates of indebtedness. Kansas Watchdog: “Without the state’s most recent internal borrowing, a $600 million certificate of indebtedness (COI) issued June 30, the state general fund (SGF) would have been out of money on July 5, just five days into the new fiscal year, and wouldn’t have a positive balance again until June 21, 2012.” Reporter Paul Soutar goes on to explain how these certificates — a loan to the state to be repaid with funds collected later in the fiscal year — are commonly used year after year. But this is just the start of the state’s problems, writes Soutar: “That’s just the tip of an off-balance iceberg according to the Institute for Truth in Accounting, an advocate for more open and honest accounting for government finance. If all financial obligations, including promised pension payments and health care benefits for retirees, are added up the Kansas state budget was actually $5.2 billion out of balance by FY2011 according to Truth in Accounting.” State accounting practices mask the true magnitude of the problem, too: “Accountants familiar with government and private accounting standards told KansasWatchdog the practice is called double counting and would not be allowed in a private business because it represents a fraud intended to deceive whoever reads the financial report. The double counting approved by the Legislature and Sebelius in 2003 continues in Kansas.” … The full article, well worth reading and understanding, is Certificates of Indebtedness Symptom of Bad Budget Choices.

    Why more regulation is not the answer. Brad Raple of the adverse possessor explains: “Many people associate pure free-market capitalism with a complete lack of regulation. This is not the case. Regulation is the primary reason free-market capitalism works so well. But in a capitalist system, the regulations are market-based instead of based on politically motivated bureaucrats telling people what they can and can’t do. … Bailouts, government guarantees, subsidies, and all other methods of socializing private risk undermine the regulation imposed by free-market forces. … The FDIC is even a huge example of moral hazard. For example, people pay practically no attention to the financial condition or solvency of their banks. After all, why would they? They’re FDIC insured! In other words, no one cares if their deposits are in a bank that is over-leveraged because if it fails, the FDIC will bail out the depositors. Without the FDIC, people might pay a little more attention to the financial condition of their banks. Banks would probably compete based on financial security, as opposed to free toasters, interest rates, and how quickly they can rubber stamp a home equity loan to finance a boat.” … More at Why more regulation is not the answer.

    Myths of the Great Depression. “Historian Stephen Davies names three persistent myths about the Great Depression. Myth #1: Herbert Hoover was a laissez-faire president, and it was his lack of action that lead to an economic collapse. Davies argues that in fact, Hoover was a very interventionist president, and it was his intervening in the economy that made matters worse. Myth #2: The New Deal ended the Great Depression. Davies argues that the New Deal actually made matters worse. In other countries, the Great Depression ended much sooner and more quickly than it did in the United States. Myth #3: World War II ended the Great Depression. Davies explains that military production is not real wealth; wars destroy wealth, they do not create wealth. In fact, examination of the historical data reveals that the U.S. economy did not really start to recover until after WWII was over.” This video is from LearnLiberty.org, a project of Institute for Humane Studies, and many other informative videos are available.

  • Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Sunday July 10, 2011

    Wichita city council. This week the Wichita City Council considers these major items of interest: Capps Manufacturing, Inc. seeks to avoid paying property tax on an expansion of its plant. Under the city’s Economic Development Exemption (EDX) Program, the company, according to city documents, is eligible to avoid paying 80 percent of the property tax on the expansion for a period of ten years. The documents state: “Based on the 2010 mill levy, the estimated taxable value of exempted property for the first full year is approximately $38,387.” I believe this is incorrect; that figure is the amount of property tax that would be paid on the value of the property. If the council approves, Capps will be forgiven 80 percent of that tax — nearly $31,000 per year.

    Bombardier Learjet seeks issuance of $2,564,275 in Industrial Revenue Bonds. The benefit to the company is that the property purchased with bond proceeds is exempt from property taxes, which is estimated by the city to be worth $76,966 per year in taxes that Bombardier won’t be required to pay. Also, property purchased with bond proceeds isn’t subject to the sales tax. If all the items being purchased are taxable, this means Bombardier could escape paying $187,192 in sales tax. Under the IRB program, the city is not the lender and does not guarantee that bonds will be repaid.

    There will be a public hearing for a facade improvement program loan for a building at 1525 E. Douglas to house GLMV Architecture. This action will loan $500,000 for the purposes of sprucing up the outside of the building, with that amount, plus interest, to be paid back in the form of special assessments collected with the regular property tax. It’s similar to the special assessment financing used in new housing developments, but here applied to existing structures. Interestingly, the city documents proclaim a “gap,” meaning that “applicants show a financial need for public assistance in order to complete the project, based on the owner’s ability to finance the project and assuming a market-based return on investment.” In other words, private financing was not available, so the city steps in, and we have another example of the city investing in money-losing projects. Although it is likely the city will be paid back, the program also includes a $30,000 grant for this project. That, of course, is a gift from Wichita taxpayers made by the city council, and will not be paid back. In addition to assistance from Wichita and its taxpayers, GLMV also benefits from state and federal taxpayers, too. Its application for historic preservation tax credits has been approved. Under the state program, GLMV is eligible for tax credits of 25 percent of the $2 million cost of the project, so Kansas taxpayers will be giving this company $500,000.

    The council will be asked to receive and file the city manager’s budget. … As always, the agenda packet is available at Wichita city council agendas.

    Kansas news media criticized. Kansas University political science professor Burdett Loomis takes a look at Kansas news media, particularly its coverage of the Brownback administration, and finds it lacking. In his listing of Kansas news media, Loomis misses a few outlets, namely Kansas Watchdog and Kansas Reporter. This is in contrast to his characterization of Dome on the Range as a “serious attempt.” This is laughable. Dome on the Range, written anonymously, exists primarily to poke fun at conservatives, many times for reasons that have little to do with serious issues of public policy. After several posts in March, DOTR had no posts in May, and one each in June and July. This, combined with anonymity — meaning the author is not willing to be accountable — doesn’t qualify as serious. But DOTR meshes well with Loomis’ personal politics, and Kansas Watchdog and Reporter are sponsored by conservative groups. … Loomis is correct in his assessment of the Kansas Health Institute as a valuable resource for reporting. … The op-ed is at Insight Kansas: Covering Kansas Conservatism.

    The revolving door. Between government and lobbying, that is. Latest example: The Lawrence Journal-World through the Associated Press reports that Michael White, Chief of Staff for Kansas Senate President Steve Morris, is becoming a lobbyist for ITC Great Plains, an electric transmission company. The article says that White will oversee the company’s lobbying in Kansas and Oklahoma.

  • Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Thursday May 19, 2011

    Kansas growth clusters. H. Edward Flentje, Professor at the Hugo Wall School of Urban and Public Affairs at Wichita State University: “For starters, the Brownback economic plan sends a mixed message; it argues against state policies that target incentives to the lucky few but then proceeds to target individuals moving to ‘rural opportunity zones’ for special income-tax breaks and payoffs of student loans.” The hope of the governor is that counties that have been losing population can be revived. But Flentje tells of the difficulties these rural counties face: “Rural Kansas relies much more heavily on state and federal assistance, and the cost of delivering essential public services to sparsely populated areas is substantially higher. Brownback’s preferred counties will be hammered disproportionately by his reductions in school finance and social services, and the limited amenities available in these areas will be further diminished by his cuts in public broadcasting and the arts, among other programs.” … The nostalgia for the glory days of small-town Kansas may not be in our best interests. In his paper Embracing Dynamism: The Next Phase in Kansas Economic Development Policy, which has influenced Governor Brownback’s economic policy, Dr. Art Hall wrote that productivity, which should be our ultimate goal, is related to population density: “Productivity growth is the ultimate goal of economic development. Productivity growth — the volume and value of output per worker — drives the growth of wages and wealth. Productivity growth results from a risky trial and error process on the front lines of individual businesses, which is why Kansas economic development strategy should focus on embracing dynamism — a focus virtually indistinguishable from widespread business investment and risk-taking. Productivity growth tends to happen in geographic areas characterized by density. This pattern shows up in Kansas. The dense population centers demonstrate superior productivity growth.”

    Obamacare waivers go to Pelosi district. From Daily Caller: “Of the 204 new Obamacare waivers President Barack Obama’s administration approved in April, 38 are for fancy eateries, hip nightclubs and decadent hotels in House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s Northern California district. … Pelosi’s district secured almost 20 percent of the latest issuance of waivers nationwide, and the companies that won them didn’t have much in common with companies throughout the rest of the country that have received Obamacare waivers.”

    SRS chief to speak in Wichita. This Friday (May 20) the Wichita Pachyderm Club features Robert Siedlecki, who is Secretary of Kansas Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS). His topic will be “The SRS and Initiatives.” The public is welcome and encouraged to attend Wichita Pachyderm meetings. For more information click on Wichita Pachyderm Club. … Upcoming speakers: On May 27, Todd Tiahrt, Former 4th District Congressman, on the topic “Outsourcing our National Security — How the Pentagon is Working Against Us.”

    Kansas welfare money gets around. From NBC Action News: “At a time when the number of people relying on public assistance continues to grow, millions of dollars worth of Missouri and Kansas welfare money is being spent all over the country, including states like California and Florida, and even as far away as Hawaii and Alaska.” Kansas funds were withdrawn from ATM machines on and near the Las Vegas gambling district, and there were “back-to-back withdrawals totaling $363 at a Disney World gift shop.” Kansas Watchdog’s Earl Glynn contributed to the NBC story, and offers his own reporting at Kansas out-of-state Electronic Benefit Transfer payments .

    Kansas Bioscience Authority contract. Kansas Watchdog: “Tom Thornton’s contract as president of the Kansas Bioscience Authority shows a total pay, bonus and benefit package potentially worth more than $463,200 for fiscal year 2010. That’s more than four times Governor Sam Brownback’s $99,636 salary and $63,200 more than President Barack Obama’s salary. Media reports pegged Thornton’s pay and bonus at about $365,000, but a copy of his contract obtained through multiple sources by KansasWatchdog shows several incentive opportunities and a full breakdown of benefits.” … Thornton resigned from his position in April under criticism from legislators, and the local district attorney is conducting an investigation into unspecified matters. The legislature passed a bill divorcing funding of a federal project in Kansas from the KBA, so that questions about the KBA’s activities don’t jeopardize this funding.

    Medicare reform explained. A video from Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation features Dan Mitchell explaining the necessity for reform of Medicare, and how it should proceed. Reform of Medicare is necessary, and it can go one of two ways: “Obama’s bureaucrats decide whether you get care” or we can put seniors in charge of their care and let markets — not government — lead reform. A market-based solution, as advanced by Paul Ryan, would let seniors select their own insurance, paid for by a voucher from the government. “Programs like Medicare are akin to a all-you-can-eat restaurant with someone else picking up the tab.” That’s a recipe for disaster, says Mitchell. Competition through markets — capitalism, in other words — can provide an increasing array of services of all kinds at lower prices, including health care for all. But capitalism is not allowed to flourish in health care markets, especially for seniors. … The voucher program for seniors has been characterized by liberals as “killing Medicare.” The present system will kill itself, as even President Obama acknowledges. The end of Medicare is not the end of health care for seniors, contrary to the lies of liberals. The benefit of market competition for seniors’ health care business promises better outcomes. For Wichita, which is betting on economic development through industry using composites to create products such as replacement hip joints, it is essential that such surgeries remain affordable enough that they are commonplace. The future of Obamacare, which is rationing, is not favorable for these prospects.

  • Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Friday May 6, 2011

    Wichita downtown sites draw little interest. Wichita Business Journal: “Interest from developers in eight city-owned “catalyst” sites in downtown Wichita was minimal — unexpectedly so. ‘I was a little bit surprised how light the response was,’ says Scott Knebel, downtown revitalization manager for the city of Wichita.” With the city soliciting informal proposals for eight sites, only two proposals were received.

    KPERS. It appears that the Kansas Legislature will pass a pension “reform” bill that does not include a shift to a defined-contribution plan for new employees. Instead, the tough decisions that need to be made about the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System have been placed in the hands of a study committee. More information about the seriousness of the KPERS problem is at Economist: KPERS must undergo serious reform and KPERS problems must be confronted. Video is here, with two parts following.

    More flexibility for school funds. Kansas Watchdog reports that Kansas schools will now have more flexibility to spend funds that are presently stashed away in various funds. Of interest in the article is a chart showing the growth in these fund balances. School spending advocates protest that these funds are needed to because revenue doesn’t arrvie at the same time bills do, which is true. But these fund balances have been growing, because schools have not been spending all the money they’ve been given. While this bill is a good idea, schools have always been able to tap into these funds by simply contributing less to them, thereby spending down the balances. But schools have not wanted to to do this.

    Growth in Kansas spendingGrowth in Kansas spending. Click for a larger view.

    Despite “cuts,” spending grows. For all the talk in Kansas of budget cuts, state spending still manages to grow year after year. Kansas Watchdog is again on top of this topic, noting “Each year various adjustments push state spending above the approved budget, but in 2010 that extra spending took a big jump that will require even more spending in the future.” Of particular interest is the chart showing spending rising every year.

    Sandy Springs a model. Common Sense with Paul Jacob: “Local governments suffer from a big problem: bigness. Too often they expand their scope of services, and, in so doing, progressively fail to cover even the old, core set of services. You know, like fire and police and roads and such. The solution is obvious. Mimic Sandy Springs. This suburban community north of Atlanta, Georgia, had been ill-served by Fulton County. So a few years ago the area incorporated. And, to fend off all the problems associated with the ‘do-it-all-ourselves’ mentality, the city didn’t hire on a huge staff of civil servants. Instead, it contracted out the bulk of those services in chunks. Now, the roads get paved and the streets are cleaned and the waste is removed better as well as cheaper than ever. Reason Foundation, a think tank known for its privatization emphasis, has been on the story from the beginning. A 2005 appraisal predicted that the town would become a ‘model city.’ That prophecy seems to have been on the money, and a Reason TV video emphasizes this with the shocking fact that the town ‘has no long-term liabilities.’ As the rest of the nation’s cities, counties and states lurch into insolvency, Sandy Springs shows a way out.” … The City of Wichita has had success in outsourcing the mowing of parks. Currently, the city has several dozen pieces of commercial mowing equipment at auction.

    States’ war for jobs. Bloomberg Businesweek: “State and local governments eager to recover some of the more than 8 million jobs lost during the recession are giving away $70 billion in annual subsidies to companies, according to calculations by Kenneth Thomas, a political scientist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. States have long relied on fiscal incentives to lure businesses, or keep existing employers from decamping to other locales. Such largesse is coming under renewed scrutiny during this time of strapped budgets. State deficits could reach a combined $112 billion in the fiscal year starting July 1. ‘The tragic irony of it is that in order to pay for these things, they’re cutting other areas that really are the building blocks of jobs and economic growth,’ says Jon Shure, director of state fiscal strategies for the Washington-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. … With the national unemployment rate at 8.8 percent, the threat of a company pulling up stakes is enough to open states’ wallets. ‘States and communities are afraid to play chicken,’ says Jeff Finkle, who heads the International Economic Development Council. … Kansas has offered movie theater chain AMC Entertainment a generous incentives package to move away from Kansas City, Mo., The New York Times reported in April. Officials in Missouri are considering making a counteroffer. Neither the company nor state officials would comment. The bidding war helped prompt an Apr. 5 letter signed by 17 corporate executives asking the governors of the two states to quit offering inducements to lure businesses across state lines. ‘At a time of severe fiscal constraint the effect to the states is that one state loses tax revenue, while the other forgives it,’ the letter said. ‘The only real winner is the business who is ‘incentive shopping’ to reduce costs.’” … Governor Brownback’s economic development plan speaks of “A more uniform business tax policy that treats all businesses equally rather than the current set of rules and laws that give great benefit to a few (through heavily bureaucratic programs) and zero benefit to many.” It will be a while before we know if the state is able to stick to this plan.

    Shale gas to be topic in Wichita. This Friday (may 6) the Wichita Pachyderm Club features Malcolm C. Harris, Sr., Ph.D., Professor of Finance, Division of Business and Information Technology, Friends University, speaking on the topic: “Shale gas: Our energy future?” Harris also blogs at Mammon Among Friends. … “Shale gas” refers to a relatively new method of extracting natural gas, as reported in the Wall Street Journal: “We’ve always known the potential of shale; we just didn’t have the technology to get to it at a low enough cost. Now new techniques have driven down the price tag — and set the stage for shale gas to become what will be the game-changing resource of the decade. I have been studying the energy markets for 30 years, and I am convinced that shale gas will revolutionize the industry — and change the world — in the coming decades. It will prevent the rise of any new cartels. It will alter geopolitics. And it will slow the transition to renewable energy.” … Critics like the Center for American Progress warn of the dangers: “The process, which involves injecting huge volumes of water mixed with sand and chemicals deep underground to fracture rock formations and release trapped gas, is becoming increasingly controversial, with concerns about possible contamination of underground drinking water supplies alongside revelations of surface water contamination by the wastewater that is a byproduct of drilling.”

    Economics in one lesson this Monday. On Monday (May 9), four videos based on Henry Hazlitt’s classic work Economics in One Lesson will be shown in Wichita. The four topics included in Monday’s presentation will be The Curse of Machinery, Disbanding Troops & Bureaucrats, Who’s “Protected” by Tariffs?, and “Parity” Prices. The event is Monday (May 9) at 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at the Lionel D. Alford Library located at 3447 S. Meridian in Wichita. The library is just north of the I-235 exit on Meridian. The event’s sponsor is Americans for Prosperity, Kansas. For more information on this event contact John Todd at john@johntodd.net or 316-312-7335, or Susan Estes, AFP Field Director at sestes@afphq.org or 316-681-4415.

    Voters favor cuts, not tax increases to balance budget. “A survey of Kansas voters conducted on behalf of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce found widespread support for cutting spending rather than raising taxes as the way to balance the Kansas budget. Support was also found for cutting state worker salaries, or reducing the number of state employees.” More at Kansas Chamber finds voters favor cuts, not tax increases to balance budget.

    Here’s the Kansas data. “KansasOpenGov.org provides a repository of data about Kansas state and local governments, giving citizens the data they need to hold officials accountable.” More at Kansas OpenGov: Here’s the Kansas data.