Workin’ for the Democratic Man!

Excerpts from The Journals Of A 21st Century Schizoid Man:

Jim Browning was a short stocky man about as tall as I was and that wasn’t very tall. I don’t often work for members of the Democratic Party, but this guy was local. I knew him and I knew his politics. Although he wore a suite, he also had a slight beard, his hair had just a touch of gray and he had a laid back look about him.  

His desk was a meager looking plain wooden table with drawers. His office was small and rather plain except for all the election posters he had on the wall. I was sitting at a table full of information pamphlets that I would soon be giving away door to door.  Browning was running for the Representative to my district and he was running as a Democrat.

He was running against a far-right-wing Republican. His name is Mike O’Connally, a true Tea-Party Yahoo. This young twerp looked as yuppie as it was possible to get. Always in the three-piece suit and tie, with his boyish looks, he couldn’t have been much over 25. He had short crew-cut style hair and he was clean shaven. He looked like a Jehovah’s Witness traveling around on the bicycle. But he would have none of that. The chamber of commerce and had just backed him, along with the Koch brother’s fake think tank Americans for Prosperity backed O’Connally against a moderate Republican who had served the business community well over the last 20 years. But now, The Chamber and the Koch brother stooges decided they could get a better deal. In fact, they owned this guy, lock, stock and barrel. O’Connally was also tied in with ALEC so he could get free speeches he didn’t have to write.

Sitting next to me was a friend of mine, a free-lance writer named Hector Helium. He was about my age, dressed rather business casual and he started laughing when he told us he had heard O’Connally giving a speech at an economic forum put on by our local Chamber of Commerce. He recorded the speech and to his surprise, it was word-for-word identical to a speech he had taped by a politician who spoke at a similar event in St. Louis.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Hector said as he stroked his sort goatee. “I didn’t realize you can get elected knowing nothing at all. Both O’Connell and this other guy, Gibbs, had pulled up ready-made speeches from ALEC. All you have to do is parrot what these ass holes tell you to say. Talk about an easy job!”

One thing we all noticed was that O’Connally won the primary election where only 19% of people voted. Surely when we explain that O’Connally had used the low primary turnout as a “dirty trick” to try and flush out a moderate Republican, it wouldn’t be that hard to convince people to vote for Browning as a reasonable alternative—or would it?

I started walking door to door in Browning’s district and already I knew we had problems. I went up to this normal looking middle class house, with blue wooden framing on the outside and the guy inside literally gave me the creeps.

Out walks this old fart wearing overalls, a john Deer hat, with white hair and crooked teeth. He told me; “Them thar libaruls want to take all our guns away and make ever-boduh gay. I never vote fer nun them thar Dem’crats. I’m a Kanzen. I always vote Republukin.”

The next guy I came across called himself Ray. He also described himself as a Republican. He’s a 40 something, not that old with dark hair, wearing blue jeans and a clean shave and he looked like a good ol’ boy as far as a nice open minded guy. But he wasn’t.

“People vote Democrat because they want a welfare check rather than working for a living,” he said. Apparently he believed only Republicans hold jobs.

“Do you seriously believe no one who votes Democrat holds an actual job?” I asked rather astounded that anyone would actually say that, much less believe it.

“Some uh them thar people work at government jobs in one form or another,” he said. “Those are just another form uh welfare. Dem’crats get ‘dem a job where they only work a few hours a day and get what amounts to a government handout.”

A few minutes later this same jackass was bitching because there is only one place to renew a person’s driver’s license.

“It took me three hours of waiting and there is only one office left in town!” he said.

I thought to myself; “You dumb-ass! Did you really think all these people working in government offices didn’t really do any work?” Then there is that annoying belief that poor people are just lazy and chose to live that way.

“Those people could get jobs if they really wanted them,” Ray said.

“Do you have a job?” I asked him.

“Of course ay do. I always had a job. You think Ay’m one them thar lazy poor Dem’crats?”

“So you never had to look for work?”

“Nah!”

“So you haven’t actually had to look for work in a long time?”

“I keep my job. That’s cuz ay’m not lazy. I work hard and don’t lose my job. People who aren’t working’ choose to live that way. They make a choice. That is why I never vote for those lazy people who vote Democrat.”

I decided that I would attach my Republican opponent at his weak spot, his corrupt relationship with the Koch Brothers and the Chamber.

“Did you know that Mike O’Connally is finance largely by the Koch Brothers and their PAC Americans for Prosperity?” I asked Ray. “So the Koch Brothers are actually trying to buy this election. They used dirty tricks to get O’Connally to beat a moderate Republican in the primary so he could win the general by just beating a Democrat. The Chamber of Commerce was behind him also.”

“What do you have against the Koch Brut has? They are producers. The Democrats err supported by parasites who just want to get free money from our movement, while people like the Koch Brothels are producing the wealth in this contra.”

Well, I finally decided that talking to Ray was a lot like talking to a wall. Surely I would have better luck with one of the other working class voters in this largely working class neighborhood. Surely there was someone in this neighborhood who was bothered by the idea of a corrupt politician running for the benefit of a few moneyed interests over the interests of the workers.

So I walked a few blocks to a large pale red house and knocked on the door. This balding guy with glasses came out to talk to me. He looked smarter than the last two. Would that turn out to be true?

“I’m Mark; I’m canvassing on behalf of Jim Browning, who is running for this district’s House of Representatives.”

“I’m Phil,” the man quickly answered. “Is he a Republican?”

“No,” I answered.

“I can’t vote for a Democrat.”

“Why?”

“He might be pro-union. “

“Unions aren’t supporting Democrats anymore.”

“I can’t take a chance. It isn’t fair that they make all that money and the rest of us just make a little over minimum wage. Do you know how much more those Boeing Union guys make than I do?”

“But there unions earn them that money. They pay dues, go to meetings give up their incomes when it comes time to strike. It takes a lot of work being in the union.”

“I think they are all just lazy and want an easy paycheck. They don’t want to work too hard so they join a union.”

“You mean they’re lazy like the poor people on welfare and the people who work for the government?”

“That’s right!”

“But if they are so lazy, how do they get those benefits?”

“They buy off our elections through the Democrats. It’s all about corruption.”

“What about the Koch Brothers and their PACs, the Americans for Prosperity and their use of ALEC. They give way more than unions to buy elections. Did you know that O’Connally is solidly in the pockets of the Chamber of Commerce and the Koch Brothers? He’s in debt to those people for a lot. Whatever they ask for he will have to give it to them. He won’t have to pay any attention to your needs or those who work as you do. He can put all the tax burden on you, while giving his rich friends all the tax breaks.”

“But they are rich and this is America where you earn all that wealth and power. If I ever get rich, and I hope someday I do, I want to be able to count on the political system to protect my rights. People who don’t like the Koch Brothers are just jealous that they don’t have all that money.”

“But Browning would defend you and your rights right now. Don’t you want a politician who cares what happens to you now, before you ‘get rich?”

“If I’m not rich it’s my own fault. I’m not going to blame the Koch Brothers or any other rich people because I don’t live the way I want to. The answer is to get rich.”

By now I realized I was just talking to another wall. Throughout the neighborhood, I was running into weird ass yahoos who didn’t seem to have a lick of sense between their ears. It was nearly the end of the day and it was at a rather large house and maybe this guy made a little more money. Of course I didn’t know if they would make any difference.

“Hi! I’m Bob,” the enthusiastic tall thin man said.     

I thought maybe this guy might be a little different. So I decided to go straight at the environmental argument.

“People here don’t like them tree-huggin’ enviermenalists,” Bob said. “And there ain’t no global warmin.’ That’s just a scam by them libaruls who just want to control us with all their socialism and communism.”

“Why would they want to do that?” I asked in amazement. After all, I was a socialist and I couldn’t see any clear cut link between socialists and liberals—accept on some social issues. Most socialists and Marxists I knew hated liberals almost more then they hated conservatives. I have to admit that I was one of the acceptations to the rule.

“It’s all about control,” Bob explained. “That’s what the Democrats is all about. They just want to control us and tell us how to live. I’m an individualist. I don’t depend on anyone for anything. I’m completely self sufficient.”

“An individualist?  Do you make your own clothes, build your own car, and grow your own food?”

“Well that doesn’t matter. Modern man uses the paycheck rather than the bow and arrow for his food. I just don’t believe in taking hand-outs.”

“Most people who have taken government handouts have paid into the system at one time or another.  Even the few people who haven’t ever held a job pay taxes and spend their money on the economy. So everyone is interdependent in one way or another—unless you live as a hermit in a cave.”

“Oh! That’s ridiculous. People on welfare are bums and I’m not one of those. Those people are ignorant. The reason Republicans win in this state is because people in Kansas are better educated. Ignorant people vote for Democrats.”

“Since I’m working for a Democrat, you must think I’m very ignorant.’

 “You don’t understand simple economics that much I can say for sure. If you understood how economics work you would never vote for a Democrat.”

“I guess I just need more education,” I said sarcastically.

“You need a job that is for sure.”

“I have a job.”

His jaw dropped and he gave me a look of surprise as if he had never heard of a working Democrat before.

Finally—done with canvassing for the day. And if I had seriously given it any thought, I would never do it again. After a hard day on the campaign trail, it was time to kick back and relax in my black leather chair with a cold Magnum Malt liquor can. The TV was on and one of our esteemed City Councilmen Cal Brewhaa was on TV talking about a new airline coming to Wichita, known throughout the city as the “Air Capital.” Brewhaa talked about all of the great jobs it would bring here.

“We hope to have the AA-Hole Airline moving to Wichita next month,” said Brewhaa. “This will provide lots of aircraft jobs.”

Yes it would, I thought to myself. But what kind of jobs? Will there be minimum or near minimum wages! Or will there be any union jobs that pay an actual living wage. This town was good at finding low income jobs for the little people who lived here. Many, just like those I had talked to while canvassing were likely to work at such low paying jobs and then bitch because they can barely get by—then vote Republican!

Make no mistake about it. This is a one-horse town. It’s the air capital of the Mid-west.

Of course those who don’t want to build air craft can blow it out their asses, as far as our city leaders were concerned. Most people with significant talents, which did not go well with building aircraft, left this town—if they were smart.

Finally the day had come to reap the rewards of our hard fought campaign labor. It was campaign night. It’s a great time to mingle with political folks and swill cheap boos while watching to see if any of our candidates actually win. On those rare occasions when a Democrat does win in the Wichita, it is a big celebration. I was wearing my business casual duds and sitting at one of the many folding chairs around the folding tables covered with all kinds of nifty snacks, cheese, crackers, finger meets, etc. Then there was a bar that served all kinds of soft drinks, coffee, a few types of beer and wine. This was a large building which used to be an old theater and had lots of meeting areas. It had lots of homey decorations and real furniture.

What I liked best about these events were all the cute Democrat women. Some were quite sexy looking. That is one thing the Republicans did not have was really sexy women. And there women were as dull as they come.

I stood with Browning by the TV all night as the local news reported one district’s results after another.  By now I figured that losing this election was a foregone conclusion. But what I didn’t expect was the percentage of votes Browning did get. By about midnight, with more than 90% of the votes in, Browning got 43% of the popular vote. Was that possible?!

Could some of the voters actually grown tired of Brownback’s personal punk boy? Were there some voters who actually took the time to look at issues and the blatant corruption of the Republican Party in this coup they used to gain control for their corporate greed? Apparently I got to a few voters. I don’t know who they were, but not every voter in this state is an ignoramus. Some can actually think for themselves and that was a great revelation for me that night.

Kansas Gov. Brownback takes on the Supreme Court over education cuts

From Wichita Peace and Freedom Party Examiner

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has decided to take on the Kansas Supreme Court and the entire system of checks and balances, in his continuing defunding of public education. Last week an attorney represented the state government and argued that the Kansas Supreme Court had no right to demand that lawmakers spend hundreds of $millions that have been cut by the Brownback administration. He has refused to spend adequate money on the state’s public schools.
According to CJ Online;
“Justices of the state's highest court peppered counsel with questions during a three-hour hearing on the appeal of a Shawnee County District Court ruling that the Kansas Constitution was violated after appropriations were slashed during the recession and money plowed into income tax cuts when the economy rebounded.
The lawsuit brought by students and districts in Hutchinson, Dodge City, Wichita and Kansas City, Kan., produced the lower court finding in January that state aid ought to be increased by more than $440 million annually.”
As Brownback has taken on the Supreme Court, he has argued in the past that he represents the will of the people and the courts have no right to interfere.
"Through today's ruling, the courts are drastically increasing the property tax burden on every Kansan," Brownback said in a statement reported in NewsMax. "The legislative process is the appropriate venue for debating and resolving issues of taxation and spending."
Some of his allies in the legislature have shown outright contempt for the courts interference. 
“Such high profile legislators as Rep. Steve Brunk from Wichita and Senate President Susan Wagle have suggested they will just ignore the ruling of the Supreme Court and continue to do what they feel like,” according to The Idiot Factor.”Brunk said there’s a mood in the legislature to give the courts the finger,”
The Kansas City Star reported that the courts have pushed for adequate school spending, but the present legislators may now just ignore the court’s ruling;
“Eight years ago, after much wrangling, the Legislature complied with a Supreme Court order and pumped an additional $750 million-plus into schools.
This time, the Legislature might not be as willing to agree to more court-ordered spending, moving Kansas into unknown territory about what happens when one branch of state government defies another.
“I don’t see the Legislature right now, with this makeup, going along with what the courts say,” said House Speaker Ray Merrick, a Republican from Johnson County. “But I could be surprised.”
So the battle continues with Brownback and his supporters fighting over cuts supporting tax cuts for businesses and some individuals at the expense of the state’s commitments to public education. It is a sad day when favors to business people are more important than the education of our future generations.

Sen. Wagle lies about ALEC

From  Wichita Peace and Freedom Party Examiner;

August 27, 2013

Senator Susan Wagle, in another article in The Wichita Eagle, berated a letter by H. Edward Flentje’s commenting politicians who have used taxpayer’s money to attendALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) gatherings. (Aug. 18 Opinion)
She not only defended her taxpayers support of ALEC but she also lied about its purpose and insulted Flentje’s point of view.
For example:
“First, Flentje decried the use of state funds for registration to American Legislative Exchange Council policy conferences, alleging a partisan agenda at taxpayer expense. Then he complained that companies sponsor a variety of discussions and events at the conference, and accused corporations of buying influence. Flentje then attacked ALEC’s principles of free markets, limited government and individual liberty as ideological rhetoric.”
Lie number one: nowhere does claim he is against the free market. As for smaller government, anyone who needs any kind of license renewed, or has spent three or more hours in line at the Wichita Department of Motor Vehicles, or has called a government agency on the phone and waited at least 10 minutes, knows what all this smaller government really means. As for being “against free markets and individual liberty,” he only complained about giving businesses too many tax cuts.
Another false statement by Wagle;
“The truth is Kansas lawmakers attend a variety of policy and legislative conferences throughout the year. Similar to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Council of State Governments, the National League of Cities and the National Governors Association, ALEC is an educational nonprofit organization, does not lobby and is not a voting institution. In essence, the conference is a table at which lawmakers, policy analysts and business leaders meet to exchange ideas and inform one another on effective solutions to state and local matters.”
This is the biggest lie of all. ALEC acts as a super PAC that works mostly through Republicans and very conservative Democrats gives financial aid, policy papers and speeches to its favorite candidates. Many of our Kansas politicians have gotten substantial aid by ALEC. ALEC is a PAC and that can’t be denied. They operate with politicians in secret and they try to run US affairs without voter approval.
According to the group Exposing ALEC;
“Through the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council, global corporations and state politicians vote behind closed doors to try to rewrite state laws that govern your rights. These so-called "model bills" reach into almost every area of American life and often directly benefit huge corporations.
In ALEC's own words, corporations have "a VOICE and a VOTE."
As the site says, all this is done behind the backs of the voters so corporations can re-write laws to suit them and the common worker pays for this through their taxes supporting these junkets by politicians such as Wagle.
We need to keep espousing these lies and these secret anti-voter organizations such as ALEC as politicians, such as Wagle, continue to spread these lies.

Anti-abortion fanatics try zoning laws to try and shut down Wichita’s only abortion clinic

Anti-abortion groups, almost entirely made up of right-wing religious cult members that want to control the city, have used every dirty trick they can to try and shut down the South Wind Women’s Center, which is presently one of the few abortion providing clinics here in Wichita, KS. Their latest tactic is to use zoning laws to shut the clinic down. These groups have tried both legal and illegal tactics to shut down SWWC.  Recently a minister was threatening to have Julie Burkhart, head of SWWC, shot in her church as Dr. George Tiller, the former abortion provider was.

-Otto

Here is a report from Burkhart:

On Tuesday, the Wichita City Council heard, for the 2nd time this year, from members of four anti-choice groups from Kansas. Their goal was to re-zone the area where South Wind Women’s Center is located. The land has been zoned for medical uses since 1937. Anti-choice bullies want the area rezoned as a residential area. 

The antis spoke about:

The dangers of school children in a residential area seeing graphic images displayed in front of the clinic
--The signs are the very ones that their anti-choice groups insist on displaying daily in front of SWWC.

The antagonizing of anti-choice protesters by clinic escorts and staff, although they could provide no evidence of these allegations.
--SWWC does not have clinic escorts. SWWC employees and patients both report regular intimidation by the antis. SWWC employees do not interact with the antis presence outside the clinic.

Near gun violence and antagonism has increased since SWWC opened.
--All the incidents of "near gun violence" were from 2004-2009. None reported since SWWC opened in 2013.

--Mark Gietzen (anti-choice extremist) made threats of violence before the City Council and to the press.           -To the Council members, he said "This is a warning that if you don't do this [rezone the clinic], there is likely going to be a problem."          

 -To MSNBC, he said “Even a well-meaning dog will bite at some point in time if you keep antagonizing it.”

--Gietzen's veiled threats are the real cause of disruption and violence in this community.

--Disruptions to the residential area surrounding the clinic --None of the people who spoke to the Council live near the clinic.

Odd how the very things they complained about are the same problems that they create. You and I both know their desperate tactics to close SWWC will end in defeat. Thanks to your commitment to women's access to health care, we have already helped hundreds of women. These complaints are nothing more than a grasping at straws attempt to end access for women in Kansas.

Read more about the City Council meeting:

Huffington Post- Kansas Anti-Abortion Activist Says George Tiller's Former Clinic Is 'Trying To Provoke' Gun Violence

MSNBC- Kansas Clinic Under Fire From Anti-Abortion Activists 

Think Progress- Kansas’ Anti-Abortion Activists are Citing Their Own Disruptive Protests to Justify Closing a Clinic 

Wichita Eagle- Anti-Abortion Groups to Again Ask Wichita City Council to Rezone Area Near Women’s Clinic

Solidify your support for Trust Women Foundation by making a donation of $7, one dollar for every member of the Wichita City Council. Your donation will send a symbolic message to the City Council members that we have the support of the community locally and nationally.  

Wichita has not been kind to its artists

From Wichita Peace and Freedom Party Examiner;

 

Last weekend business consultant Jill D. Miller wrote in The Wichita Eagle that Wichita is a city ripe for artists to succeed. That’s not surprising considering that she is a business consultant, since Wichita is big on commercial art. Ads and promotions for businesses saturate the landscape in this city.
She said a person needs to be creative, but how true is that for the non-commercial or non-conformist artist in this area?
The truth is that this city has never been very supportive of artists and most that do succeed at it move away. An example of that is Tom Otterness, whose art can be seen at both Wichita State University and at the Wichita Art Museum. He has been very successful, but he also moved to New York City where he can make real money. Many fine artists have been raised here in Wichita, but most move away if they want real success.
His sculpture series Dreamers Awake is on display the Wichita Art Museum and it is satirical of present day society. Some people have even complained about it. One of the most ridiculous complaints came from people who objected to a large statue of a woman carrying a sickle. They accused it of resembling communism. 
Miller said it is possible to make a living as an artist in Wichita, but the artist may not become a millionaire doing it. It also may not turn out what people expect to be doing.
Actually I’ve known few artists, musicians and especially free lance writers (of which I am one) who make more than supplemental income here in this city.
She also said that an artist needs to be creative. For the local Wichita market that is not good advice. At most art fairs and shows in this town, there are a few creative artists, but mostly people sell pictures of wheat fields, old barns and animals in the woods. The creative art is harder to sell.
The Wichita Eagle mentioned that Miller helped develop the business plans for the successful Donut Whole and the Bluebird Arthouse in Delano. But the Donut is mainly just a coffee shop and not a major hub for artists. The Bluebird is mostly an art supply store.
Miller described an artist who was successful at as a business person. As she pointed out in
The Wichita Eagle:
“Ian Walker Stewart, 35, a graphic designer whose found-art collages have garnered him several shows in recent years, says the key is having a craft that can be monetized. That craft, he said, should become part of your art.”
He added that the artist should include the concept of capitalism and it has to be part of the art.
What does this say for the Andy Warhols or the Dadaists style of artist who try to knock down the old stereo types and open up the door here in Wichita? Well—that’s obviously not going to happen here. This is not a town for non-conventional artists and those who do have such talent move away.

Stopping voter suppression was the main agenda for KanVote, this last Saturday

From Wichita Peace and Freedom Party Examiner;

Stopping voter suppression was the main agenda for KanVote, this last Saturday.
“About 13,000 voters have been knocked off the voting roles because of Kobach’s New Law.” said Louis Goseland, of Sunflower Community Action, who chaired the event. He was referring to Secretary of State of Kansas Kris Kobach’s voter picture ID laws which he got passed in the Kansas legislature.
“He could site less than 100 cases of voter fraud when he passed the bill,” Goseland added.
Goseland also said that voter fraud was never the key reason for that. He pointed out this was a bill that has been promoted by the conservative activist PAC the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). They want voter restriction laws that go state by state. He played a clip from Youtube where Paul Weyrich, an ALEC member said "I don't want everybody to vote." Weyrich admitted that ALEC and the conservatives leverage goes up as the voting numbers go down.
Groseland said that people are getting notes telling them they need to come in and prove they are citizens and they have to show a birth certificate. Many of the 13,000 who could not cast their votes in the last election are in a type of voter limbo.
Another fact that was brought up was the US Supreme Court has struck down a voter ID in Arizona that is similar to the one here in Kansas. People at that meeting were wondering if there is a possibility of doing that here.
There were two sessions on what can be done to fight against the voter suppression laws here in Kansas. There was a session on what kind of pressure can be brought to our elected leaders to change our laws, and the other session was to look at changes in the laws to add to the voter rolls rather than cut down on them.

As for putting pressure on elected officials, some of the ideas included writing letters to the editor, filing lawsuits against Kobach and other similar Kansas politicians, protesting at the Kansas State House offices and flooding their offices with phone calls and faxes. Also suggested was asking the opinion of Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
A group of people came up with some Ideas for changing the laws, such as letting felons vote, letting children of emigrants vote, and using social media to promote the write to vote.

Economic Freedom—lies and distortions from Charles Koch

As usual with Charles Koch, this add running on TV in the Kansas area and elsewhere, is very misleading. It starts off telling you that if you earn $34,000 a year you are in the top 1 % of the world’s earners. What he is not telling us is that about 1/3 of the world has people who earn $2.50 an hour or less. No one living in the US could afford to live on a salary that low. But some countries are poor, their people live in huts or shanties and about all they have to buy with that money is a small amount of food. Many people in such countries have no electricity, running water, flush toilets or few if any health services.

Notice the graph on world earnings below:

Notice that North America and Europe together make up about 2/3rd’s of the world’s wealth. The US makes up most of North America.

The reality is that most of the countries in this graph have a relatively similar economic system. “Economic freedom” as Koch tells us, is really not that different from country to country.

For example India makes up only 2%. But how much economic freedom does that country have?

According to Wikipedia:

“Until 1991, all Indian governments followed protectionist policies that were influenced by socialist economics. Widespread state intervention and regulation largely walled the economy off from the outside world. An acute balance of payments crisis in 1991forced the nation to liberalise its economy; since then it has slowly moved towards a free-market system by emphasising both foreign trade and direct investment inflows. India's recent economic model is largely capitalist. India has been a member of WTO since 1 January 1995.”

But does all the economic freedom result in well paid happy workers? Again Wikipedia:

 “However, the country ranks 140th in the world in nominal GDP per capita and 129th in GDP per capita at PPP

……. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption,malnutrition, inadequate public healthcare, and terrorism[1].

So people in the US are economically better off than the people in India. According to Wikipedia here are some differences between India and the US including population, India has 1.27 billion people, the US has 315 million people, The US has more land and more resources, so that has a great deal to do with the differences in their place in the world economy.

The United States is a developed country and has the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2012 GDP of $15.6 trillion – 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity, as of 2011.

Then there is Europe that has 32% of the world’s share of wealth. About 30% of Europe’s workers belong to unions, compared to12% of workers in The US. That means that Europeans get better wages and benefits than their US counterparts.

One country that is very poor, vet has many economic freedoms and lacks government regulations is Bangladesh. The Rana Plaza Garment fire disaster in Bangladesh, caused the deaths of at least 1,127 workers, due to ignoring safety regulations. The minimum wage for Bangladesh's garment workers is $37 a month.. That’s one country where economic freedom and lack of government over-reach has not benefited workers.

So don’t be fooled by the phony statistics of any ad put out by Charles Koch. His ad is mostly just lies and that is what he and his brother do best.

White racists in Wichita attempt to incite a riot at a peaceful protest

There was a march supporting Trayvon Martin, this morning at 11am. As this video shows we still have our share of racist provocateurs in our community.

Should we demand end to long DMV waits or is that just “the future that awaits us?”

We don’t usually respond to The Wichita Eagle’s “Letters to the editor,” but Chuck Jones is probably typical of the people who wonder how we ended up with such long lines at the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Jones wrote;

“Every once in a while The Eagle publishes another story about some poor taxpayer who spent six hours or more renewing his driver’s license. What is mind-boggling to me is that the citizens of Kansas are putting up with this absurdity.”

Well Mr. Jones, the people of Kansas not only tolerate this abuse, they VOTED FOR IT. Governor Sam Brownback and his recently elected allies promised to make major cuts to the government budget and to provide this state with a SMALLER GOVERNMENT. They openly fired thousands of public employees and promised us we would never really miss them.

“The governor should call in those in charge of this mess and tell them they have three months to reduce the wait time to 30 minutes or less and that if they can’t do it, they will be replaced. Repeat as necessary until the problem is fixed.”

The problem here is that the governor IS responsible for this mess. Brownback created it with the help of his Tea Party Republican allies, who just got elected about a year ago. The drivers license bureau is not the only government entity that is being affected by all of this “SMALLER GOVERNMENT” we were promised. Anyone who needs to call and talk to a person about any government service will find long waits and anything that is sent to them, will take three times longer to get. For example, it now takes me six to eight weeks to receive my new teaching license, rather than the one to two weeks it took before Brownback. This is what happens when employees are just let go and no plan is in place to deal with the overload of customers. This is not California. This is Kansas and it is being promoted as the state of the future. This is the Tea Party utopia they want to promote in every state of the union, including California.

So Mr. Jones, warn your California friends that following the lead of Kansas will lead to this and other forms of frustration to anyone who needs to use government services. The only way to fix this is to GET RID of our governor and all his Tea Party friends. THEY CREATED THIS MESS. They lied and said those workers were not really needed and we would never notice them being fired.

If you have had to visit the DMV, just learn to get used to it, because this is the state of the future and this is just part of that future. Either vote the bums out or just get used to this. It will only get worse as this “cut to the core” philosophy continues. 

So remember Kansas—you voted for this! What did you think was going to happen?

Pix by http://www.clarisconsulting.net/blog/dont-wait/.

Rep. Pompea wants us to just “trust the government” when we get spied on

From 

Wichita Peace and Freedom Party Examiner;

While many Tea Party Republicans express a cold skepticism of the government’s spying on us, Wichita’s very own US Representative Mike Pompeo, has assured us that we can trust him and the federal government. In fact he has insisted we are much safer now that our internet privacy is disappearing.
There is no need to worry about our government taking advantage of its advanced spy technology on us. According to Pompeo we can trust the government to do the right thing. He also believes we need to give up our freedom in order to win the never-ending war on terrorism.
According to a statement released to his constituents:
“We cannot abandon effective tools in the War on Terror any more than we can abandon the battlefield—too many lives are at risk. These programs work. In fact, they have worked close to home stopping terrorist plotters in Kansas City. Over 50 terrorist schemes have ended and American lives have been saved—those of our soldiers and those at home—because our professional intelligence community uses these programs. We must support them. We must continue our effective oversight to ensure the privacy of American citizens. And we must win this War on Terror…..”
But does he actually provide details of all these thwarted terror attempts? Not in his news letter to his constituents. He does, however, find a way to point fingers at other government attempts at domestic spying on his conservative allies, while trying to justify his personal “war on terror.” In his newsletter;
“There are few whose distrust of government is greater than mine. The actions of the IRS and of this administration following the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi do not engender confidence and provide no reason to trust this administration. I will remain vigilant in holding this administration accountable for each of those scandals and for executing the government’s central mission of securing our nation…..”
And some of his arguments amount to:”don’ts spy on our conservative people—just spy on liberals or anti-government people:”
“Some have compared the NSA program to the IRS’s scandalous targeting of political opponents of the administration. That comparison is inappropriate. For starters, the military leaders and professional counterterrorism officials at the NSA were acting within the scope of existing law. The IRS officials targeting Tea Party groups were not. Furthermore, General Alexander and Deputy Director Joyce take seriously their mission to keep us safe and protect our civil liberties. You will not see them in a Star Trek spoof video or in a Conga line at a taxpayer-funded conference the way we have seen IRS officials (click here/ my own version). The NSA culture of respecting the rule of law, the mission-driven leaders, and congressional and judicial oversight provide enormous protections for the American people.”
So he’s all for protecting his right-wing allies, but everyone else can just suck it up when it comes to privacy. He has also demonized the man who blew the whistle on government’s violation of our rights:
“Notorious leaker Edward Snowden has recently, and falsely, claimed two programs have resulted in the National Security Agency’s listening to phone calls and reading emails of U.S. citizens unconnected to terrorist activity. Not surprisingly, many in the media have parroted these claims notwithstanding their untrustworthy source.
…Snowden swore an oath of allegiance to the U.S., then stole U.S. secrets, snuck off to Communist China and now pretends to be acting in the best interests of a country that he has both betrayed and fled. These are the actions of a felon and a coward, not a whistleblower or a hero. We have already seen al Qaeda shift its communication tactics as a result of these leaks. It will now be much harder for us to find them.”
Again there are no actual evidence given to back up his claims, so we are just supposed to take his word for it that Snowden is a coward and a traitor. The actual enemy he alerted to is our government’s spying activity on its own people who have every right to know what their government is doing to them.
Once again we see the biased evidence that Pompeo uses to justify his ridiculous accusations. For example:
“Yesterday, I had the chance to go on Fox News and speak about these programs:
…As a veteran, I want our soldiers in the field to have the intelligence they need to perform their missions effectively. As a conservative, and member of the House Intelligence Committee, I take the balance between privacy and protecting American lives very seriously. I believe these anti-terror programs are crucial.”
He also quoted the most conservative and most discredited congresswoman in the US Congress today; “Rep. Michelle Bachmann, who he claims also asked the right questions. The answers she received were clear and unequivocal. Click here.”
So Pompeo has tried to defend his attacks on people’s privacy to The Wichita Eagle. At the same time, Yahoo News has revealed that the FBI and other agencies have used drones to spy on US citizens:
“When it comes to domestic surveillance, sometimes Congress seems like it’s expressing shock and outrage about something it already knows—or should have known. Take the use of drones on U.S. soil.
FBI Director Robert Mueller admitted at a hearing this week that his agency uses unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance on U.S. soil. Mueller insisted the FBI used drones “in a very, very minimal way”—but his comments did nothing to quiet the raging debate over privacy rights in the aftermath of National Security Agency spying revelations.”
So for those of us who live in Wichita, under Pompeo’s district, we can kiss our privacy good-by. Pompeo clearly just doesn’t care.

Brownback trades child support contract for donations

Being an arrogant Tea Party governor means never having to apologize for being corrupted and taking bribes. That fact was made public by The Kansas City Star article “Brownback donor’s Mississippi company gets Kansas child support contract.”

According to the article;

“A Mississippi company run by one of Gov. Sam Brownback's donors has been awarded one of the four contracts to privatize Kansas child support enforcement.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that the Kansas Department for Children and Families announced Friday that Jackson, Miss.-based YoungWilliams Child Support Services was awarded one of the contracts. Company CEO Robert Wells and his wife, Pam, both gave maximum $2,000 donations to Brownback's campaign.”

Not only is Browback openly awarding contracts to those companies who have paid him off (bribery) but he is out to privatize government agencies that need to concentrate on the welfare of children and not on profiting off of people’s problems. The idea of privatizing these sensitive agencies that deal with child welfare is outright ridiculous. It is criminal to allow people to profit from other people’s tragedies. How do we know that a for-profit corporation is going to care about anything other than their bottom line of making money? Fairness will be a thing of the past since child support enforcement will now be about collecting money and fees only. Justice is now a commodity to buy and sell here in Kansas.

Kan. Secretary of State Kobach whimpers over protest

Poor big cry-baby Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach went blubbering, on Monday, to beg state officials to investigate an immigration reform rally that was staged outside his home, Wyandotte County, according to The Wichita Eagle.

It appears that Kobach has not heard of the abortion doctors and the constant protesting of their homes and other forms of harassment that has gone on nation-wide and in Kansas, for the last 20 plus years. They couldn’t do anything about it. Anti-abortionists have run some doctors out of business by protesting them at weddings, their churches, family events and at times, their homes around the clock.

Guess what Kobach—there ain’t shit you can do about it!!!

You can wine and cry all you want, but the constitution and the government won’t help you!

According to The Wichita Eagle;

Kobach told The Associated Press on Monday he asked the Kansas attorney general's office and the Wyandotte County district attorney to investigate the rally at his home, and described the crowd of protesters as threatening. The crowd has been estimated between 200 to 300 people.

Kobach has made a career of anti-immigrant laws and policies around the entire country. Where did he get the idea that such activity, which amounts to constant attacks on the rights of those who live in the country, would not have any consequences?

Mr. Kobach you are a public official. Protests and criticism come with the territory. GET OVER IT YOU BIG CRY BABY! And just get used to it. It’s not going away. If you can’t take the heat, get out of politics. You are already the most racist politician in Kansas, since the demise of the Ku Klux Klan. Most of us don’t feel any need for trash politicians as you anyway.

Kansas legislatures show contempt for Kansas State Courts

From 

Wichita Peace and Freedom Party Examiner:

The same Kansas legislatures who have given generous tax cuts for their wealthy backers are now suggesting that they don’t feel any need to abide by the decisions of the Kansas Supreme Court.
After years of cuts made to education, with teachers being laid off, resources and classes cut, some music classes and driver’s education was eliminated, The Rev. Jeff Gannon had finally had enough. He took the irresponsible actions of the Kansas Government to court, the Kansas Supreme Court. If the Court rules in favor of Gannon, it may order the state to pay up to $450 million in finances back to the public schools.
The Wichita Eagle ran a large article on the struggle between Gannon and the Kansas legislature. In it such high profile legislators as Rep. Steve Brunk from Wichita and Senate President Susan Wagle have suggested they will just ignore the ruling of the Supreme Court and continue to do what they feel like.
Brunk told The Wichita Eagle that he believes there is enough votes in the Senate and House to just ignore what the Supreme Court rules and “we might just say to the court that deciding expenditures is not your responsibility, thank you, and we’ll take it from here,” He also suggested there’s a mood to give the courts the finger,
That’s a lot of contempt for people who are supposed to be in charge of running the state. They seem to think they have all the power they need, by getting elected, to do whatever they want.
Education spending per pupil has gone done three years in a row, according toKansasOpenGov.gov; 2009: 12.631; 2020:12,267; 2012:12,226; 2023:12,595. For two years, it went way down and even though it went up slightly the following year, it went up to lest that the three year before and expenses went up that last year.
It is clear that underfunding education is a major role played by the present Governor Sam Brownback his Tea Party Republican allies.
The Wichita Eagle quoted David Trabert president of the Kansas Policy Institute, another phony conservative think tank. He mention the promotion of charter schools, which are being used nation-wide to bypass, teacher’s unions, pay and benefits. It also allows for conservative standards that amount to just “teaching to the test.” The worst part of charter school system ishow much money will be sucked off of the public school system and in Kansas, the public school system is already in shambles.
The time has come for the citizens of this state to let their Kansas legislators need to be impeached for violating the Kansas constitution, its courts and the idea that they can just “give the courts the finger” And that finger is a product of the people of this state. Our legislators have shown the state’s people nothing but contempt and it is time to show them the door.

Kansas Sen. Wagle has lost touch with reality—says “Kansas is a model"

From   Wichita Peace and Freedom Party Examiner;

For those of us who now live in Kansas and have lived here most of our lives, the changes taking place in our state, initiated from the governor’s office to the house and senate, are noticeable and unmistakably bad.
So it was no surprise last Sunday when The Wichita Eagle ran an article written by Kansas Senator Susan Wagle trying to justify her party’s policies that have damaged our state’s infrastructure, raised taxes on the poorer workers and left other workers with no jobs at all.
But to hear Wagle tell it, Kansas is an economic miracle that the rest of the country will soon want to emulate;
“The 2013 legislative session marked a major step forward in reforming long-term fiscal policy and positioning Kansas as a model for other pro-growth states.”
There may be economic growth in this state, but it is not reaching the working class or the middle classes. There are very few new jobs being created here in Wichita and this is the biggest city in the state. Since the end of the school year, (I work in a local school) I have found few new or summer jobs. What few jobs I have found have had at least 10 applicants for each opening. I know of other people looking for work and many have just given up.
If this is a future model for pro-growth states—where are the jobs? Who wants to live in a state where the jobs are few and far between?
Then she is quick to say that Kansas now has “a FairTax model that targets the taxation of consumption (sales) rather than productivity (income).”
This state has moved the tax burden to sales taxes rather than income based taxes. We now have some of the highest sales taxes in the country. This puts the burden of taxes on the working poor and middle classes who are spending more of their hard earned income on sales taxes. As for “lower income taxes,” that is not the case for those in the lower income tax brackets. Most people I know are actually paying MORE not less income taxes than they have ever paid before. This “Fair Tax model” works for those who make a lot of income, but not for those who earn lower levels of income. The average working class citizens is paying higher taxes than many other states. 
Wagle also wants the readers to know; “We passed a balanced budget while funding core services and kept state spending within our means.”
Her governor, Sam Brownback, and her other cohorts have balanced the budget by wrecking essential services to the average citizen and waging a war against any services to the poor and disabled.
People are spending three hours on average to renew their driver’s license. Any calls made to a government agency now take at least 10 minutes are more to get a real person. Any government services are now taking way longer to get done. It now takes me six to eight weeks to get my teaching certificate back after I reapply. It used to take only one week. This is typical of anything that requires the services of a government employee.
Schools have been seriously hit hard, with teachers being fired, and discipline problems at an all time high. There are fewer services for the students, fewer class choices, overcrowding, and there are shortages of supplies.
The poor in this state have been especially hard hit. According to Otto’s War room;
“Roughly 384,000 Kansans, or 13.8 percent of the state's population, live at or below the poverty line, which is $23,050 a year for a family of four. That number has risen by nearly 80,000 people since before the recession began in 2008. Of those, 34,000 were children, whose poverty rate has increased from 14.5 percent to nearly 19 percent.”
Wagle bragged that “we doubled down on the success of last session and set Kansas on a path to prosperity for years to come.”
If Wagle’s idea of prosperity is a huge increase in poverty that is not the kind of prosperity most of us living here want. I’m sure her rich friends are doing well; the rest of the state is enduring one of the worst economic nightmares in recent history.
This next statement shows just how much Wagle takes the working classes for granted;
“We live in a mobile society. Jobs grow and people locate where they can keep in their own pocket the maximum amount of their hard-earned money.”
She just doesn’t get it. People who can leave this state are doing it and at some point her rich friends she has worked so hard to satisfy are going to need workers to do the work it takes to create wealth. Many of the state’s most talented workers are leaving for states where they can “keep in their own pocket” what they earn. If people’s needs are not met, no amount of sucking up to business will keep the work force here that is required to keep an economy afloat.
This article doesn’t have a lot of statistics because I live and work here. So do many of my friends. We see firsthand what this “model for other pro-growth states” has produced and we want no part of it. God help any state that tries to incorporate this mess into their own economy. They are going to need it.