Johnson County Senator Tim Owens used his position to stop a move to move to the election of judges. It does matter who gets elected and who gets committee chair positions…
Well, I guess any of you who actually checked by here came to realize that I am not keeping up with this blog. I admit that between the technology and the legislative session, I found that I had a hard time getting to this, even though I know “you” need and want to know what is going on in Topeka. I do post articles on Facebook, because it’s easy and I keep it open during the day, but this blog has not been a discipline to which I have been faithful.
So, here I am again. Trying again to make this a place where “you” can check in and get caught up on what’s happening with Kansas politics, MainStream style. I am going to try to put some articles here AND on Facebook and see if anyone starts using this as a resource. If you do, leave a comment…it helps me know you were here.
The 2011 legislative session started rather normally, if there is such a thing. At first, the bills seemed to be “less crazy” than the election foretold, although the budget and taxes have been the subject of debate since Day One–as we all knew they must be. At first, it seemed that perhaps the new legislature was there to do the economic business of the state–budget, taxes, jobs….and would leave the divisive social issues at the door. However, as things got rolling in Topeka, the extremists–the social extremists in particular–did more than show up–they filed bills! There were a few weeks when it was almost impossible to keep up with the bills that were being introduced and the committee hearings being put on the schedule!
Watching it unfold, I’ve decided that the combination of Lance Kinzer and Kris Kobach is either going to be the undoing of the far right–because, together, these two can drive the state back years and years and give us a national reputation as the meanest, mysoginistic, racist state in the midwest. Add Connie O’Brien and Virgil Peck to the mix and Kansas is already on its way to making the national news for all the wrong reasons.
Anyway, I digress. We’ll have plenty of time to remind voters that the hateful words and the hateful legislation, do, in fact, have a connection.
But, for now, while it is winding down, this session is not yet finished. In fact, very little has been set in motion. As of last week, the Governor had only signed one bill.
So, things are not yet set, and the Kansas Senate is holding at bay some of the far right legislation in the Kansas House, but expect that there will be some blows from which it will take time to recover.
If nothing else, it is my hope that any voter who A) sat out the 2010 elections or B) bought into the notion that far right Republicans are the same as moderate ones, is paying close attention. In 2012, we must stand by those in the Kansas Senate who are standing up to extremism today. This too, is best for another post and time.
Thanks for coming back by…I’ll try to be better.
Kansas could use a little more talk like this…how about it, moderate leaders?
Yes,” he said, “these investments require use of tax dollars. I know today cutting taxes is a popular and common political theme. But take a moment and look back at our history. Where would we be if our earlier leaders had chosen to take the easy and popular route and failed to invest in our infrastructure and education?”
Kansas PTA Advocacy Day is Thursday, January 27th, 2011
The Kansas PTA has asked MainStream to remind us all that every Kansan can be an advocate for children and public education. And it can be done either virtually or in person in Topeka…and this Thursday, the Kansas PTA is inviting everyone to do their part!
On Thursday, the Kansas PTA is asking each of us to be a PTA parent! Use your phones, emails, tweets, and texts to your area legislator(s) to let them know that children and public education are an important priority for the state and a critical investment in Kansas’s future.
PTA’s Virtual Participation Game Plan 
How to get involved:
Let your voice be heard on Thursday, January 27th!
Pay attention to the headlines you’re seeing: ”Kansas to require more details on late-term abortions.”
The newly hired head of the Kansas Health & Environment, whose name is Robert Moser, spent his first weeks on the job making sure that the new administration’s interpretations of the rules and regulations for late term abortions in Kansas are clear. But is this really necessary?
Since Dr. Tiller’s murder, there are **no providers of late term abortions** operating in Kansas. None. And, there is not one doctor in the entire country who has indicated that he or she is willing, able, interested or actually moving to Kansas.
So, just like the newly elected Secretary of State has been spending time (and money) on making laws to protect voting systems that have very few problems, our newly appointed Secretary has also been wasting his time and your money while the legislature does its own work.
It is a typical bait & switch tactic. The conservatives are managing to get late term abortion into every headline. They call every bill related to abortion a late term abortion bill on purpose, knowing it will get folks riled up and hoping you won’t look too closely at the ways they are trying to limit ALL abortions in Kansas.
A few well placed letters to the editor couldn’t hurt. Anybody game?
…may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. 
We all know the childhood rhyme, taught to us so innocently. Perhaps for some of us, it reminded us that the taunting words of our classmates could not hurt us, not physically at least. But, in retrospect, it’s actually not true. Words can hurt and words do matter.
Political science professor and long time activist Frances Fox Piven is now receiving death threats based on TV taunting by Glenn Beck. He has named her an “enemy” of the US Constitution and charges that her calls for the unemployed to protest as a group equate calling for the overthrow of the US Government.
Keep in mind that Piven is now 78 years old and, for the record, has not incited anyone to overthrow the US Government. His charge is ridiculous, although he is careful to quote her words accurately and his network stands behind that technically correct, but wildly inaccurate kind of journalism, if that is what we have to call Beck.
MainStream does not spend very much time on national issues, characters or TV shows! However, MainStream is very concerned about the tone of political discourse and this story is a reminder that sticks and stones will indeed break your bones, and words can really hurt you.
Be respectful out there.
big table of consequences
As a group, Kansas voters are now sitting at a very big table of consequences we set for ourselves in November. In the coming months, even as we bemoan, gripe about, examine, and rant about those consequences, we must not lose hope, we must not stop working. We must build our resources. We must increase our ability to increase voter turnout among moderates.
I’d like to encourage those of you who consider yourselves to be political donors, big or small, to look at what you gave to political parties and candidates in 2010: “we” do spend money on politics. I want to encourage you to not only donate to MainStream, but to spend your 2011 political dollars at MainStream. If you are not a political donor, now is a good time to start! Actually, when you donate to MainStream, you have options about how you designate your donation. You’ll find those options on our website!
In the meantime, I am putting a link to the story that made me write this headline in the first place. Typically, school superitendents tend to be careful about commenting on anything that might seem political. This week, a local superitendent spoke his mind.
The Bonner Springs Chieftan begins its story this way: Additional cuts proposed in per-pupil state aid to Kansas public schools have raised the ire of USD 204 Superintendent Robert VanMaren. “I’m sick of it,” VanMaren said of Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposed budget, released last week, that if approved would mean two more years of cuts to public education funding.
Elections do have consequences. It is going to take a voting movement of voters from both parties and the Unaffiliateds to restore balance and moderation to our political climate and change the table of consequences at which we sit. We’re a small shop, but, thanks to years of support and work on the part of lots of Kansans–and some of our friends from Missouri–MainStream has a following. Help us build that following by donating today…
I was in Topeka when it started snowing. 
I’m always amazed that everyone carries on as business-as-usual. All I wanted to do was get back to my home office. But, I am always glad to be in our State Capital and watch the process of governing at work.
Well, the “red meat” issues have arrived. While the budget is being stewed upon, Kris Kobach introduced a Voter ID bill and Lance Kinzer is on his usual path to making abortion all but illegal in Kansas–only this time there is no Governor nor moderate coalition to stop his bill.
As best I can tell, Kobach’s Kansas version of the Voter ID bill includes a proposal to require voters to show photo identification at the polls, as well as sign their advanced ballots. Also, people who register for the first time in Kansas would have to provide proof of citizenship. And, not surprisingly, the bill also would give the Mr. Kobach’s office new power to prosecute election fraud cases in court.
Of course, all of this ignores the undisputed fact that there is very little voter fraud in Kansas and none of it is linked to illegal immigrants registering to vote. Oh, and it ignores the budget crisis too. I don’t know what the fiscal note on the bill, but I will be sure to let you know how much this unnecessary piece of legislation is going to cost the taxpayers of Kansas.
I wasn’t in the room for Lance Kinzer’s press conference today, but I know he was going to introduce legislation that has been vetoed by Governor’s Sebelius & Parkinson in past years. Again, I’ll let you know the details, but, if you haven’t already, brace yourself. There is no stopping them. Our time to stop them was in August and November, and, frankly, we didn’t do a good enough job then.
Watching this must increase our resolve rather than steal our hope…we must organize, educate, build, grow, and support this MainStream effort to increase voter participation!
In the meantime, I am continuing to talk about some of MainStream’s bread & butter issues. In this polarized political climate, what if there could be a way to create a little interest in talking about the prevention of unitended pregnancies and the provision of medically accurate, age-appropriate sex education in our public schools?
Do you believe in miracles?
I guess everyone knows that this legislative session is likely to be a painful one for many of us. We lost so many moderate legislators in the 2010 elections and we gained a conservative Governor. One of the things I’ve been doing since the election is meeting with old friends & some new ones, as well. I am being challenged to learn more about the budgeting process, which is taking some time. And, as always, I’ve been & will be meeting with allies concerned about some of our bread & butter issues, like sex education, public education funding, church-state separation, LGBT rights and access to full reproductive health care. We know these will be lean days for us legislatively speaking, but there are ways for us stay focused on our issues and in contact with our legislators.
So, let’s start with the Governor’s budget: As expected when he named Steve Anderson, the former budget director of Americans For Prosperity(AFP) which is a group aligned with the Koch brothers, as the budget director for the state of Kansas, Governor Brownback’s proposed budget pleased AFP’s Kansas director.
Like I said, I am meeting with some new friends who are helping me more carefully study the state budget. I am not attempting to become a specialist or expert, and it hasn’t always typically been on MainStream’s radar screen, but the circumstances dictate otherwise. I need to be able to explain things as best I can to you, I need us all to understand the choices legislators will have, and we all need to have some idea about the the consequences of particular budget choices. I am still digesting much of what I am reading and talking with people who understand this better than I. Hang on to your hats, as we will be talking about the budget a lot in the next few months and years.
Most of this first-run budget analysis comes from Bob Harder, former Secretary of SRS, among other things. Bob & Dottie Harder & I have been running into one another occasionally for years now–we’re both United Methodist–but, since the election, Bob has become one of my new found friends, helping me learn more about the KS budget. I am happy to give him credit for his detailed look at the budget. You’ll hear more from Bob in the coming days, I’m sure. So, at this juncture, here are some things to note about Steve Anderson’s budget:
As you can tell, the budget will drive much of the political discussion this session. And, school finance will be one of the primary budget issues. This is one of the reasons that MainStream is working on a forum on school finance to be held on Tuesday, March 1st. Details TBA, but hold that date. It’s the day of the spring primary, by the way. We will elect municipal officers and local school boards. In another post, we can talk about elections and who is running where…the filing deadline is January 25th. You’re not interested in running, by chance?
I think this post is long enough. I know you don’t want to read forever, nor do you want to know every detail of what I do, think or learn. I suppose that one of the reasons you join MainStream is so that I will keep up with it. And, this blog will attempt to share some of it with you. And, friends, there will be things for you to do…and more to come. I’m sure of it.
MainStream needs a inexpensive, accessible, but not pushy tool that we can use to help our members keep an eye on the legislature, on politics in Kansas, with a particular eye for Johnson County, which I will shorthand to JoCo, as I have begun to in email. A blog meets the criteria and allows the reader to control when you read us and when you do not. I am pretty careful about sending emails because they go to so many people and we don’t want to wear out our welcome, organizationally speaking. However, I also know that there are some of you who may want to know more about what we’re hearing, doing, learning, watching, etc. This blog is for you. I will write it from my perspective, with my voice. I will also invite some guest bloggers to contribute and encourage conversation among our readers.
But, this brings up yet another set of challenges–besides the technological ones that I am already encountering as I begin to learn this new tool. You may notice that there are no pictures yet and we have a stock picture. Let’s just say that venturing into blogging means that this middle aged woman has to spend some time becoming familiar with technology that intimidates me a bit. But, back to conversations on this blog–which I have affectionately named MainBlog, the blog of the MainStream Coalition–in keeping with our history as moderates, I hope to keep the conversation on MainBlog reflecting the best about ouir little Coalition. This means I will strive to keep things
We shall see how it goes, as I spend some time learning a new thing. I am counting on some of you joining me…
