Nobody knows, but routine verification of voter eligibility isn't possible under current state law.

State leaves the ballot unprotected

Calls to regulate New York financial institutions and the banks on Main Street are gaining strength. But even in the middle of a busy election season, calls to regulate voting in order to prevent voter fraud are going unheeded, claims one non-partisan Kansas group.

The November Patriots, a grassroots group of citizens dedicated to create a more open government, has sent two warnings to Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburg in the last week, explaining how the current voter registration system does little to stop illegal immigrants from voting next month. [ Read more...]

Moran, Moore, Tiahrt refuse to talk about a problem three-quarters of all voters say is being ignored.

Moran, others shrug off immigration issue

Voters in Kansas have grown used to the silence with which many candidates greet questions about difficult issues, such as immigration.

Two weeks ago, Kansas Liberty asked Jerry Moran, Dennis Moore, Todd Tiahrt and the other candidates running for one of the state's congressional seats for their views on undocumented works and illegal immigrants.

Only Lynne Jenkins and Nancy Boyda, the two candidates in the Second Congressional District race, and James Bordonaro, the Democratic candidate for Jerry Moran's seat in the First Congressional District, responded to our questions.  [Read more...]

Illegal immigrants find obtaining key voter ID increasingly difficult.

Law restricting driver's licenses begins to show results

A law passed last year could have an effect on the number of illegal immigrants showing up at the polls this November.

The law was designed to toughen the restrictions for obtaining and renewing driver’s licenses, which is one form of identification used when registering to vote.

Bob Dane, director of communications for the Federation for American Immigration reform, said tougher security laws are an important step in controlling several illegal immigrant problems. [ Read more...]

In the David v Goliath epic now playing in Wichita, the rock to the noggin was Karl Peterjohn's idea that tax increases should have taxpayer approval.

Wichita businesses not leaving home after all

A race for a seat on a county commission normally would fly below the radar. Local papers have plenty of other news to handle and local leaders have plenty of other issues to face.

But one man's campaign for a set on the Sedgwick County Commission has sparked a greater-than-usual interest. He's not only attracted the attention of the local paper, he's angered the deepest pockets in Wichita.

What caused the backlash? [ Read more...]

Taxation committee sees declines in state sales taxes, gas taxes, and corporate income taxes.

Lawmakers get more bleak news about state tax revenues

Going into the 2008 legislative session, Kansas’ budget picture has gone from bad to worse - and one veteran lawmaker said it could get worse still during Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' last two years in office.

Rep. Kenny Wilk, a Lansing Republican who chairs the House-Senate Committee on Assessment and Taxation, told committee members Thursday that the budget situation reminded him of 2002, when Gov. Bill Graves persuaded the Legislature to support a $250 million tax increase––and still had to make cuts in education and social spending to keep the state in the black.

Wilk said receipts for the state in the first quarter of the fiscal year were $18.0 million short of projections. He pointed to a sharp drop – 9.2 percent – in corporate income tax receipts, as a warning sign that state revenues will decline further this year. [ Read more...]

Punch-drunk publisher staggers on, despite losses in circulation and advertising.

Star publisher takes yet another hit

At first, it seemed like good news for the McClatchy Company, the once high-flying publisher of the Kansas City Star and the Wichita Eagle. The company announced a third-quarter profit, the equivalent of a unicorn spotting for the nervous employees of Kansas' liberal dailies.

But then the ad revenue reports came in, and the Star and the Eagle were back in the real world again, where the papers faced the now-familiar scenario of declining readership and declining advertising.

In a statement released with the new figures, Gary Pruitt, the company's chairman and CEO, said the ad forecast “continues to be weak...we expect print adverting revenues to continue to be down. Thus far in October, advertising revenues are tracking similarly to September." [ Read more...]

Farm groups applaud company's COOL move

Tyson will use USA label after all

Tyson Foods has announced it will use the USA label on all meat products raised in the U.S., ending a feud with farm groups including the Kansas Farmers Union.

Originally, Tyson had indicated that it intended to label its meat products, including American meat, with North America tags to comply with the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) Act that went into effect Oct. 1.

The law requires packers to label meat products, as well as some produce, with country-of-origin labels. However, the law includes several categories of labels. One tier is for exclusively American products; another is for meat from the U.S., Canada or Mexico. [ Read more...]

Obama's ahead nationally - but in Kansas, McCain's on top.

Fundraising race mirrors poll race

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is leading the national fundraising race after raising more than $600 million.

Republican candidate John McCain has raised barely half that - approximately $360 million.

McCain is leading in campaign contributions from Kansans. He has raised more than $1 million in statewide contributions. Obama has raised almost $600,000. [ Read more...]

When the federal government doesn't understand the meaning of fair competition, maybe it's time to let the kids take over, says Bill Wyckoff.

Rules of the game

I was driving to my grandson’s peewee football game, hoping to get away from things a little, but the problems of today’s business world kept me from enjoying the moment.

I realized all the negative business doom and gloom coming out of my radio must be part of the problem. So I switched stations to a Jimmy Buffett song and promised to avoid the news for the rest of the weekend. I felt better already.

The great thing about sports and young children is that the kids and parents have fun. Too bad I couldn’t stay in this mental bliss longer, but running a community bank does require one to operate in the present - and that includes news events, like this one: [ Read more...]

The Week on the Web

Report card. The Cato Institute has released the 2008 Fiscal Report Card for American Governors - and Kansas's Gov. Kathleen Sebelius won a "D". Cato said it "uses statistical data" to come up with the marks. "Governors who have cut taxes and spending the most receive the highest grades, while those who have increased taxes and spending the most receive the lowest grades." The survey covered a five-year period. Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and (but just barely) Colorado all scored better than Kansas. In fact, most states did. The "D" doesn't mean a dunce cap for Sebelius, though. There were worse governors. The Democratic governor of Illinois scored an "F" - but apparently he'll be going to jail soon. Cato's state standings are here.

Party list. The Voter Integrity Project's Kansas Vote Fraud page is now online here. A useful resource for the politically engaged, it's also a helpful directory of dead people and felons who are registered to vote. This is good news for those who do direct-mail campaigns for Democrats, including those perennial candidates, Stevenson and Dukakis.

Re-making the myth. The myth embraced by liberals from the bloggers at the Wichita Eagle to the pundit-pashas on the coasts was encapsulated in the subtitle of Thomas Frank's book, What's the Matter with Kansas: How conservatives won the heart of America." Some heart, some victory. Somebody should let Phill Kline know.

Every election cycle, that nonsense is trotted out again and again by the clueless to explain why Kansas votes Republican in national elections, as it has in almost every election since the GOP was formed. Here's an example from a Canadian named Sheldon Alberts writing in the National Post.

Meanwhile, Republican "moderate" state senators John Vratil and Steve Morris, who have run the state senate like a private club for years, are campaigning for Democratic candidates and against all those heart-winning conservatives. An example appeared last week in the Winfield newspaper.

The object of the Vratil-Morris-Schmidt troika is to protect their political power, and has nothing with Republican political goals. During the primary cycle, Morris and Vratil and Derek Schmidt, the senate's liberal leadership, funneled money to a "Republican" hit-group that accused conservatives of having ties to the KKK - all while the state GOP refused to disavow the tactics. Bob Weeks, at Wichita Liberty, wonders how long this stuff will continue. So do we.

A guess: until Morris & Co. are tossed out of senate leadership positions, at which time they will no doubt register as Democrats. GOP liberals would then claim the state GOP is coming apart. Nonsense. Something tells us McCain would win Kansas if Vratil, Morris and Schmidt were in the D column, where they belong. The Republican candidate in Winfield might have an easier job getting elected, too.

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