Voice For Liberty

Tag: Smoking bans

  • Kansas governor proposes taxes, smoking ban, green energy projects

    Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson‘s State of the State address Monday proposed two new taxes, a comprehensive statewide smoking ban, and a cabinet team to promote green energy projects. He didn’t propose closing tax exemptions, and he made no mention of an available method that could help Kansas make it through a fiscal shortfall.

    The complete text of the governor’s address, as prepared for delivery, is available at Protecting What We Have, Building for the Future.

    What’s missing from the governor’s address is recognition that the state is sitting on hundreds of millions of unused cash that could be tapped to get the state through a tough spot. The Kansas Policy Institute has performed research and analysis that indicates that by spending down these fund balances, Kansas schools and agencies could continue delivering services without requiring a tax increase.

    In his response to the governor, which was recorded before the governor spoke, Speaker of the House Mike O’Neil opposed tax increases. He didn’t mention the fund balances.

    Instead of making use of an untapped resource, the governor proposed tax increases. In particular, the governor proposed taxes that fall hardest on poor and low income people.

    His proposed cigarette tax falls hardest on low-income people, as they smoke proportionally more than high-income people, and spend proportionally more of their income on cigarettes.

    The increase in sales tax again falls most harshly on low income people, as they spend nearly all their income. Wealthier people may save a lot of their income, and saving isn’t subject to sales taxes, at least not for now. Purchasers of stocks and bonds don’t pay sales tax.

    Although the sales tax is proposed to last just three years (the bulk of it, anyway; two-tenths of a cent is proposed as a permanent tax to fund a highway plan), there is a definite risk that these taxes become permanent. The Intrust Bank Arena, which just opened in downtown Wichita, was funded by a temporary sales tax. That tax ended as scheduled, but there were those — including at least one officeholder — who wanted the tax to continue.

    At the same time the governor proposes to raise money through increased taxation of cigarettes, he also proposes a comprehensive statewide smoking ban. This is at cross purposes. Does the governor want people to smoke or not?

    It will also be interesting to see how comprehensive any proposed smoking ban legislation will be. The ban proposed last year exempted state-owned casinos like the one that recently opened in Dodge City.

    The governor didn’t address eliminating the many tax exemptions, which the Secretary of Revenue is promoting as a way to raise perhaps $200 million per year in revenue.

    The governor didn’t mention Schools for Fair Funding’s decision to sue the state for more school spending.

    In his address, O’Neil said that Kansas families and businesses are struggling and making sacrifices.

    While tax revenue to the state has fallen, demand for government spending has continued. Raising taxes now near the end of a recession, he said, is short-sighted and counterproductive. It is not prudent to raise taxes. “Raising taxes now in the middle of a severe recession would mean losing tax-paying businesses that are already struggling to survive.” Loss of these businesses and their employees would make the fiscal situation worse, he said.

    This applies to either new taxes or to the elimination of tax incentives. Either would harm growth and reduce capital that businesses need. “Simply put: Kansas businesses can’t pay more unless they make more.” While a tax hike may be attractive in the sort term, increasing taxes is harmful in the long run.

    O’Neil said it’s a false choice to either allow business to keep its money or fund government’s obligations. Business must be strong if government is to be fiscally sound. If business grows and prospers, the state’s fiscal situation will improve.

    O’Neil said the 2010 legislature will thoroughly examine all spending to make sure that government is operating efficiently, and is spending only on those things necessary to fulfill the legitimate role of government.

    He supported a budget stabilization process — by constitutional amendment if necessary. He said we should work towards using zero-based budgeting. More audits are needed, and he reminded us that Kansas used to have a state auditor.

    On education funding, O’Neil said that when all sources of funding are considered, schools have been cut less than 1.5% on average, and schools are receiving more funding than in fiscal year 2008. The school funding lawsuit is irresponsible, he said. K through 12 education cuts have not been as severe as cuts to other state agencies.

  • Wichita-area legislators hear a variety of issues

    Last night, members of the South-central Kansas legislative delegation heard from citizens in a meeting at the Sedgwick County Courthouse. The 2010 Kansas legislative session starts next week.

    Greg Dye of Wichita spoke on the Bank of North Dakota. He says that Kansas should have such a state bank, which would require an amendment to the Kansas Constitution. He also said that states should seek to remove themselves from the control of the Federal Reserve Bank.

    Several speakers, including Wichitan Mark Gietzen, who is president of the Kansas Coalition for Life, asked legislators to cut funding to Planned Parenthood. He thanked legislators for passing such a law, and said it was unfortunate that the governor vetoed that bill. He said that Planned Parenthood has plenty of funds, and taxpayer money should not be used to fund organizations that provide abortions.

    Allegations of problems with the child protection system in Kansas is usually an issue at these meetings. One speaker said he spent time in jail because of false accusations of a Sedgwick County family law judge. It’s driven by money, he said, in that when a child is judged to be a “child in need of care” the state gets money.

    Another speaker said that “every child is nothing but a dollar sign to the system” and made allegations of inappropriate postings on Facebook by SRS attorneys.

    Marlene Jones spoke on child issues, citing the Kansas Legislative Post Audit study of 2009 that found that “58 percent of the social workers in Sedgwick County were being pressured by the Sedgwick County DA’s office to include distorted, falsified facts to remove children.” She referenced recent hearings in Topeka where SRS Secretary Don Jordan stated that Kansas’ reunification rate of children with parents is 25 percent, which Jordan also said is the same as the national average. But Jones said that according to HHS statistics, the national average is in fact 52 percent, making Kansas’ average less than half that. Jones said that Sedgwick County’s rate of reunification is only 15 percent. Families of the other 85 percent, therefore, are emotionally and financially destroyed trying to attempt to get their children back, “not knowing that there was never any possibility of that happening.” She urged accountability. There is video of Jones’ testimony.

    Kip Schroeder of Wichita acknowledged the difficult job the legislators perform. Over the past ten years, he said, Kansas has lost 17,200 private sector jobs. During the same time Kansas added 20,200 public sector employees, which he said makes it difficult to maintain a balanced budget. He asked that legislators not raise taxes under any circumstances.

    Judicial corruption was the topic of several speakers. A citizens’ grand jury, an ombudsman, or some type of outside entity is asked for as a way to investigate this alleged corruption. It’s requested that Jim Morrison, a Republican member of the Kansas House of Representatives from Colby and chair of the Government Efficiency and Fiscal Oversight Committee, be given subpoena power to compel testimony under oath.

    One speaker suggested a constitutional amendment that would require citizen election of supreme court judges, saying that would cause attorneys and judges to expose each others’ corruption as part of a campaign for election.

    Others allege that Blackwater contractors working for the CIA are in Wichita conducting illegal surveillance and killing people in Wichita hospitals, because they were fighting for justice.

    Dave Trabert of the Kansas Policy Institute presented testimony about how Kansas can make it through the current financial situation without raising taxes or cutting essential services. His remarks may be read by clicking on Solution to Kansas budget crisis offered.

    John Todd of Wichita asked legislators to forgo tax increases. “This is not a time to raise taxes on businesses and families that are struggling to pay their bills and trying to maintain their jobs. Economic recovery will come from the private sector, particularly small businesses that don’t need a rollback of hard-fought tax relief gained in previous legislative sessions.” He also recommended legislative approval of appointments to the Kansas Supreme Court, no seat belt requirements or smoking bans, and passage of the state sovereignty resolution (Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 1615).

    KCTU Television’s R.J. Dickens presented a colorful argument for a “real person law,” which would require companies to make it easier to talk to actual customer service persons on the telephone. “We have the right to contact with other human beings in a timely manner,” he said. He added that the Kansas Corporation Commission has fined Kansas utility companies for not answering telephones quickly enough.

    Kelly Wendeln spoke on the topic of wind power versus coal generation of electricity. He named all the area legislators who voted against the expansion of the Holcomb Station coal-fired electric plant in Western Kansas.

    Gordon Bakken asked legislators to legalize marijuana, saying that enforcement of the marijuana prohibition laws creates more problems than the drug itself.

    Joel Weihe of Wichita spoke on downtown Wichita development and revitalization. He asked that legislators turn down requests for tax credits as a Wichita downtown development tool. He said that only a small number of developers benefit from these subsidies. Also the subsidies let government pick winners and losers, and therefore creates an unlevel playing field.

    Other coverage is from the Wichita Eagle at Sedgwick Co. residents tell legislators not to raise taxes, Kansas Watchdog at Wichita-area Legislators Hear From Citizens Before Session Starts, State of the state Kansas at Kansas Legislators Hear Capitol Preview, KWCH at Kansas Lawmakers Hear From Citizens, and KAKE at Lawmakers Hear From Citizens Before Heading To Capitol.

    Analysis

    The attendance by legislators this year was noticeably lower than in recent years. There were some new voices in the audience this year, but many of the speakers are familiar to the legislators from previous appearances.

    Some speakers in these forums and other similar situations demand that legislators “do their jobs” and work for the people, or something similar to that. The problem, however, is that there is a great diversity of opinion on what it means to “work for the people.”

    The allegations of widespread corruption in Kansas state and local governments may contain a seed of merit. But sometimes people, after they’ve lost their cases in court or the legislature doesn’t agree with their positions or requests, declare corruption as the reason for their loss. Followers of this blog know that the city council, county commission, school board, Kansas legislature, and United States Congress rarely agree with the positions that I believe in and advocate. I believe that most of these politicians and officeholders are simply misinformed about issues, or that they don’t believe in freedom, liberty, and limited government as I do. It doesn’t mean they’re corrupt. They’re just wrong.

  • Kansas news digest

    News from alternative media around Kansas for November 9, 2009.

    Political involvement and Kansas smoking ban

    (State of the State Kansas) “This week we focus on two issues: the proposed smoking ban in public places and getting young people involved in the political process.”

    Districts Have Funds To Meet Projected $100 Million Shortfall

    (Kansas Watchdog) “Kansas school districts will fall about $100 million short of needed funds by the end of the current 2010 fiscal year according to Dale Dennis, Deputy Commissioner of the Kansas Department of Education. But school districts statewide had $175.7 million in their contingency reserve funds at the beginning of the current fiscal year. Dennis says those taxpayers’ dollars can be used to cover the shortfall, but once districts spend that money it’s gone.”

    Does not compute: Kansas to use “stimulus” debt to save future interest payments?

    (Kansas Watchdog) “So, we’re using $159.2 million in stimulus spending to realize interest savings on bonds? But that $159.2 million is new debt. We’re trading ‘saved interest’ for more debt? What we’re doing is only increasing the debt and the interest we owe.”

    Human services and school funding dragging state into a deep deficit

    (Kansas Liberty) “If Kansas maintains full funding for human-service caseloads and school financing — including the huge outlays for special education — the state’s budget will plummet into a deficit of $722.5 million within the next two years, according the state’s Consensus Estimating Group.”

    Roberts warns Democratic health plan may cost taxpayers $2.4 trillion

    (Kansas Liberty) “Kansas’ U.S. Senator Pat Roberts said Wednesday that the Democratic health care plan could result in a $2.4 trillion tax burden being placed on United States residents over the next decade. ‘The rushed health care reform proposals being debated behind closed doors could end up costing the taxpayer $2.4 trillion over ten years while doing nothing to lower the rising cost of care for patients and causing insurance premiums to rise,’ Roberts said in a statement. Roberts’ data comes from the Senate Budget Committee, a spokesperson said.”

    Proposed health insurance ‘exchanges’ worry Blue Cross

    (Kansas Liberty) “The Democratic health care plan’s creation of a ‘health insurance exchange’ brings up some concerns for private health insurance providers — and for Republicans who are opposed to an expansion of government. The exchange will create a marketplace, likely online, which will allow for businesses and individuals to select their health insurance on their own. This will differ from most current practices in which either health insurance brokers, or in-house employees work as facilitators to match businesses and individuals with health insurance plans, although it also duplicates existing private enterprise solutions. … ‘And what we do not need is an insurance version of Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac.’”

  • Kansas protects its gambling interests

    At one time Kansas prohibited its citizens from gambling because it was thought to be immoral. That attitude started to change when Kansas allowed a lottery. Now that the state owns casinos — that’s right, in Kansas the state owns the casinos that aren’t Indian casinos — thoughts of morality have been swept aside. Or, at least, we’ve decided that the potential revenue inflows to state coffers is more important than the moral health of Kansans.

    Now that Kansas is in the business of gambling, it’s working to protect the monopoly it granted itself. In Wichita, entrepreneurs sought to get around gambling laws by offering a variation of poker that they argued was legal. A judge disagreed, and the game was shut down, preserving the monopoly of the state in gambling.

    Having settled the question as to whether gambling is moral, we now see that this case is all about the money. The state doesn’t like competitors.

    The state is willing to look the other way on smoking too, when it comes to the potential of earning more revenue from its casinos. Earlier this year the Kansas senate considered a state-wide smoking ban that allowed smoking in its casinos.

    Is this another example of Kansas hypocrisy: smoking should not be allowed, except where it might reduce the state’s gambling revenue?

  • Articles of Interest

    Van Jones, Jay Leno, smoking in Kansas, Obama’s health care speech.

    Obama and the Left: The lesson of the rise and fall of Van Jones

    This Wall Street Journal commentary analyzes the resignation of “green jobs czar” Van Jones. “Our guess is that Mr. Jones landed in the White House precisely because his job didn’t require Senate confirmation, which would have subjected him to more scrutiny. This is also no doubt a reason that Mr. Obama has consolidated so much of his Administration’s governing authority inside the White House under various ‘czars.’ Mr. Jones was poised to play a prominent role in disbursing tens of billions of dollars of stimulus money. It was the ideal perch from which he could keep funding the left-wing networks from which he sprang, this time with taxpayer money. … [leftists who helped elect Barack Obama] are increasingly frustrated because they are discovering that Mr. Obama will happily employ ‘movement progressives,’ but only so long as their real views and motivations aren’t widely known or understood. How bitter it must be to discover that the Fox News Channel’s Glenn Beck, who drove the debate about Mr. Jones, counts for more at this White House than Mr. Sirota.” Ouch.

    Rooting against Jay Leno

    Tonight, Jay Leno’s new television show makes its debut. Not all are happy. As reported in the Los Angeles Times story Jay Leno’s new show is surrounded by drama: TV insiders hope NBC’s cut-rate alternative to scripted content fails: “… a fair number of industry insiders — and not just rival executives — will be rooting for it to flop. That’s mostly because, as part of NBC’s controversial experiment to overturn 60 years of prime-time TV traditions with relatively cheap programming, Leno’s new show is perceived as a potential job-wrecker.”

    Evidently the Leno show will cost only one-third of the cost of the scripted dramas that usually appear at the 9:00 pm (Central time) slot, and that means fewer jobs. But because of the show’s low production costs, it can be a business success even with low ratings compared to its competition.

    Kansas casino smoking ban

    The Wichita Eagle story Group claims smoking in Kansas casinos an ADA problem tells of an effort to force the state of Kansas to prohibit smoking in casinos.

    It should be noted that in Kansas, the casinos are owned by the state itself, and the state hopes to collect a lot of tax revenue from these operations. That may be why earlier this year when the Kansas senate passed a sweeping state-wide smoking ban, it proposed to allow smoking in state-owned casinos.

    Whether or not you believe in the merits of the smoking ban, the attitude of the state is clear: regulate everyone else, but not my myself.

    A Bipartisan Plan to Wreck the System

    In a funny — well, it would be funnier if it weren’t so sad because it’s so true — the Wall Street Journal’s Holman Jenkins writes the speech that President Obama should have given last Wednesday. Here’s an excerpt:

    Now, much has been said about our “public option” that’s been confusing and misinformed. It’s in that spirit that I speak to you tonight.

    Critics wonder: How can a new “public option” bring meaningful competition to the health-insurance marketplace and drive down costs?

    They miss the point. The great work done so far has tended to squash competition, and we would continue this work—by restricting the ability of insurance companies to design and market their policies; by regulating what coverage they can offer; by using tax distortions to keep consumers in the dark about what their health care really costs, so they will continue to treat it as a “free lunch” when it actually gobbles up more and more of their disposable incomes.

    People, this is why insurance rates keep going up and up, and why a competitive marketplace, in which consumers reward those who provide high-quality care at low cost, hardly exists. And I say again, with all humility, this is a great bipartisan achievement.

    I think he’s right: the present system is a product of both parties.

  • Articles of Interest

    Obama’s volunteer corps, Kansas cigarette taxes, U.S. Auto industry, Austrian economics

    The Rise of ObamaCorps (Americans for Limited Government) “Unless the Blue Dogs can muster enough support to halt Speaker Pelosi’s march to madness, the American taxpayer will have to pony up another $5 billion for paid ‘volunteers’ (an oxymoron if there ever was one) to politically-oriented organizations, the aims of many of which they will invariably oppose.”

    Study documents historic trend of decreased state tax revenues following cigarette tax increases “This study clearly shows that raising cigarette taxes simply drives Kansas consumers to other states to purchase tobacco products,” said AFP-Kansas state director Derrick Sontag. “It clearly results in lower cigarette tax revenues, not because more people are quitting, but because people go elsewhere to avoid paying those higher per-pack taxes. … We hope this document will show to lawmakers that raising cigarette taxes is an ineffective deterrent to smoking and that it is simply unwise to fund government programs with revenue that is likely to dwindle once the new tax takes effect.”

    Detroit’s Fate Sealed in West Wing (Wall Street Journal) Describes President Obama and his team’s involvement in the remaking of General Motors. “Mr. Rattner broke the news to [General Motors CEO] Mr. Wagoner at his office at the Treasury, according to an administration official. Afterward, Mr. Rattner met with Mr. Henderson, and told him he would take over as GM’s CEO.” The president plans to put some of his own staff into the auto companies. We can be sure that as the president and his team assert more control over GM and Chrysler, Congress will want to get in on the act too.

    The Obama Autoworks: At GM and Chrysler, politics is now Job One (Wall Street Journal) More analysis of just how bad things are likely to get now that the American automobile industry — at least GM and Chrysler — is on the road to nationalization. “Bankruptcy or not, the larger problem here is Washington’s industrial policy. Even if Chrysler merges and GM restructures, Mr. Obama wants the companies to make the kind of cars the political class favors, whether or not consumers want to buy them. ‘The United States of America will lead the world in building the next generation of clean cars,’ the President said yesterday. He didn’t mention a goal of profitability. … Mr. Obama’s industrial policy vision runs directly counter to a strategy that would get the companies back to profitability as soon as possible. … All of which is to say that the taxpayer commitment to the Obama autoworks is only getting started.”

    Austrians Can Explain the Boom and the Bust (Robert P. Murphy at the Ludwig von Mises Institute) An Austrian explanation of the recent boom and bust cycle, including the Austrian model of the structure of capital. Interest rates, as it turns out, are very important.

  • Articles of Interest

    Education reform, downtown Wichita arena, Kansas smoking ban, downtown developers

    Education’s Ground Zero (Nicholas D. Kristof in The New York Times) Describes the efforts of Washington D.C. public schools chancellor Michelle Rhee to reform the system. She’s fired one-third of the principals. Kristof reminds us of the importance of teachers: “The reform camp is driven partly by research suggesting that great teachers are far more important to student learning than class size, school resources or anything else. One study suggests that if black kids could get teachers from the profession’s most effective quartile for four years in a row, the achievement gap would disappear.” In Wichita, however, USD 259 is taking the opposite approach.

    Intrust Bank Arena management contract unusual, but not necessarily bad (Bill Wilson in the Wichita Eagle) Explores the nature of the arrangement between Sedgwick County and SMG as compared to other arenas. “The bottom line for these officials: Sedgwick County has a good deal with SMG, but has a responsibility to closely monitor the arena’s performance for taxpayers who paid for the building with a sales tax increase.” More coverage of related issues is Wichita downtown arena contract seems to require Sedgwick County approval.

    Details of Intrust Bank Arena contract with Thunder are a secret (Bill Wilson in the Wichita Eagle) This is an earlier story, interesting for the confusion it raises or exposes, I’m not sure which. Reported in the story: “The arena’s financial performance would be monitored by the county through what [Sedgwick County assistant manager Ron] Holt characterized as limited records access. But [Sedgwick County Commissioner Gwen] Welshimer said she didn’t know how the county would track the arena’s financial performance. ‘We don’t have any access to their books that I know of,’ she said.” Read the county’s contract with SMG, however, and you learn that SMG will maintain accounting records, have them audited, and give Sedgwick County access to them “upon reasonable advance notice.” Also, the county has the right to audit the records at any time.

    Why state smoking ban seems inevitable Rhonda Holman in the Wichita Eagle Editorial Blog) In this post, Wichita Eagle editorialist Rhonda Holman makes explicit the connection between state-paid health care and the state’s interest in controlling behavior: “That’s [passing the statewide smoking ban] the only responsible action the Legislature can take, given the increasing cost burden of smoking-related illnesses on the state …” If the state (that includes the U.S. Federal government) starts taking responsibility for more health care, smoking bans are just the start of state meddling in behavior.

    Minnesota Guys ready to start face-lifts of downtown Wichita buildings (Bill Wilson in Wichita Eagle) Real Development starts work on the improvement of facades of some of its buildings. In the article developer Michael Elzufon manages to use the word “iconic” twice. This article doesn’t tell how these improvements are paid for: a confusing arrangement where the city loans money and recoups it in special assessment taxes. A hefty development fee is being paid to the developers, which allows them to profit for fixing up their own buildings. But they’ll pay that back in the form of the special taxes — or will they? It’s hard to tell where the money is going in these agreements. This benefits developers like Elzufon and politicians on the Wichita city council, as if citizens knew what was really going on, they wouldn’t be happy.

  • Kansas Smoking Ban Conflicts Wichita’s

    Here’s a letter the Wichita Eagle printed from Wichita businessman Craig Gabel.

    There are many reasons to oppose more smoking bans. The posts Testimony Opposing Kansas Smoking Ban, Haze Surrounds Wichita Smoking Ban, Property Rights Should Control Kansas Smoking Decisions, and It’s Not the Same as Pee In the Swimming Pool supply some background.

    The issue that Craig mentions is important. Just last year some establishments such as his spent a great deal of money to install the equipment necessary to conform to the smoking ban that Wichita passes. Now, if a comprehensive ban passes at the state level, this investment is lost. There needs to be some provision for these businesses to be exempted or compensated.

    By the way, did you know that the state exempted itself from the smoking ban when it appeared that it might hurt the state’s pocketbook? See Kansas Exempts Itself from Onerous Regulation.

    Charlie Claycomb has compared a smoking section in a restaurant to a urination section in a swimming pool. Claycomb needs to come and speak with those of us who have spent thousands of dollars remodeling our restaurants this past year to comply with the city of Wichita’s smoking ordinance.

    If lawmakers don’t want smoking, they should have the guts to outlaw smoking everywhere, as well as the sale of cigarettes. They know that if they did, their tenure in office would be limited to the next election. We don’t need any more liberal politicians pushing special-interest agendas and eating away at our personal freedoms “for our own good.”

    CRAIG GABEL
    Wichita

  • Another inept Kansas smoking analogy

    In today’s Wichita Eagle, Wichita busybody Charlie Claycomb makes another inept analogy in an attempt to press his anti-smoking agenda statewide.

    A while back he tried to compare a smoking section in a restaurant with a urinating section in a swimming pool. This is ridiculous to the extreme, as I show in the post It’s Not the Same as Pee In the Swimming Pool.

    Now in today’s letter in the Eagle, Claycomb says that although the United States Constitution gives us the right to bear arms, since that right is heavily regulated, government has license to regulate smoking, as smoking isn’t mentioned at all in the Constitution.

    Here’s why this is another ridiculous analogy (without conceding the regulations on arms are justified or effective): A person in, say, a bar that’s carrying a gun can’t be detected as you enter the bar. You just can’t tell upon entering an establishment whether someone has a concealed gun and intends to cause harm to patrons. This is the case even if there’s a law prohibiting carrying guns into bars, and even if the bar has a “no guns” sign.

    But you sure can tell if people are smoking.

    Smoking ban supporters might argue that since there may be smoking in some establishments, my rights are being infringed since I can’t patronize those places without exposing myself to harmful smoke.

    That’s true. But there’s definitely no right in the Constitution to be able to go everywhere you want on your own terms.

    By the way, did you know that Claycomb is treasurer for Wichita city council candidate Janet Miller? Expect more nonsense like this if she is elected.

    “Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest.” — John Stuart Mill

    “Whenever we depart from voluntary cooperation and try to do good by using force, the bad moral value of force triumphs over good intentions.” — Milton Friedman