KANSAS: SHIFTING SANDS..........

The mood in America is moving right; not left ! And it isn't social issues that is causing the shifting sand.

ALL politics isn't local ! Tick, tick, tick.


Centrist Republicans Feel the Heat in Kansas Primaries
By MARK PETERS @ WSJ.Com

ALMA, Kan.—Conservative Republicans in Kansas are looking to drive the party's centrists from the state legislature in primaries next month in a bid to turn the state an even deeper shade of red.

Long a conservative state, Kansas already has been shifting further right, particularly since 2010, when Sam Brownback was elected governor and Republicans backed by the tea-party movement won control of the state House of Representatives. Now, challengers backed by conservative groups including the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Americans for Prosperity are aiming to unseat a dozen centrist Republicans in the 40-member Senate, the last part of the statehouse that, combined with a handful of Democrats, can mount opposition to Mr. Brownback and the House.

Mr. Brownback, a former U.S. senator who ran for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, already has notched legislative victories in his first year and a half in office, including a large income-tax cut he signed in May. A defeat of the centrist Republicans could open the door for further tax cuts, reduced state funding for schools and other government services, and new power by the governor over judicial selections.

"Ideally, Kansas can become a place where conservative ideas of government are tried and exported to other states," Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state, who has been supporting challengers in the primary races, said in an interview.

Here in Alma, a town of 800 residents about 100 miles west of Kansas City, fiscal concerns are grabbing attention from abortion and other social issues ahead of the Aug. 7 primary. Ken Smith, manager of Alma's farm cooperative, with its circular silver grain bins rising above a strip of stone buildings that makes up downtown, said students need a good education but that school spending needs to be kept in check.
"My main issue is going to be fiscal responsibility. You can't keep spending money that's not there," Mr. Smith said.

But, he added, "even for conservatives," some of the ideas being pushed by the challengers "may be a little too conservative."

Predicting the outcome of the races is difficult because turnout often is low in primaries, and redistricting has many incumbents running in unfamiliar areas.

At the center of the primary campaign is the May tax law, pushed by the governor and Kansas House members, which cuts individual state income-tax rates and eliminates taxes on nonwage income for about 191,000 businesses.

Challengers such as state Rep. Joe Patton, who is trying to unseat Sen. Vicki Schmidt, are championing the tax measure, saying it will help speed economic growth by attracting companies to Kansas and sparking the creation of small businesses.
"I'm the conservative in this race," said Mr. Patton at a candidate forum at St. John Lutheran Church in Alma on Sunday night.

Some of the senators facing primary challenges voted against the package, while others—including Ms. Schmidt—voted for it, but say they were told the bill was just meant to start negotiations and not become law. They fear the tax cut will damage the state's solid fiscal position and force deep cuts in government services in years ahead.
The Kansas Legislative Research Department projects the state would run a surplus for the current fiscal year but that in two years, annual revenue would fall short of estimated state expenses by $677 million, or 11%.

Tim Owens, a Republican state senator from the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park who voted against the tax cuts, has been warning voters in his campaign about some of the challengers' views. "I used to think I was a conservative," Mr. Owens said. "I'm not sure Ronald Reagan would be a conservative today."
Mr. Owens said he has clashed with Mr. Brownback over how judges are appointed. He said if the challengers win, legislation likely would pass giving the governor more power over the selection of judges to the state court of appeals, leading to the appointment of more conservatives and a rightward shift in the judicial branch.

Dozens of former state legislators have formed a group to support the centrist senators, calling themselves Traditional Republicans for Common Sense. Mr. Brownback also has entered the party fight in recent weeks, saying in a statement that "because of the alliance in the state senate between Democrats and some Republicans that join together to promote a Democrat agenda, the primary election has effectively become the general."

Kansas is going to shit because of the right wing radicals.They have caused so much division in their own party.The republicans could not agree on redistricting,so judges had to do it.this has resulted in incumbents running against each other.the more we get in there the worse it will get.Soon the term "moderate" will be obsolete .

Ekim, are you saying the right wing of the party isn't reflecting popular sentiments?

Ekim, are you saying the right wing of the party isn't reflecting popular sentiments? Originally Posted by Whirlaway

Did you read it? moderates in each party were the ones who got some bills passed the wing nuts are causing gridlock.If the world is wrong right yourself.

The point of the article is that the right wing of the party has the momentum; thus, the center is bucking them....I presume the right wing is getting their momuntum from the electorate ????

The article says the party is being pulled right by the Tea Party wins in 2010.....obviously the gridlock is being caused because there is a subtantial number of Kansas voters who want things to move more right, not less !

That is the point of the article Ekim...and my post !

Not necessarily all over the country in '08 turnout was poor and let the wingers gain momentum.Maybe after watching them at work will they be reelected next term. Will see...

I'm sure Conservative Republicans in Kansas are working feverishly to eliminate all federal price support for crops, right?

chirp, chirp, chirp

I would bet that the Tea Party conservatives are against the subsidies. It is the moderate centrists GOPers who are status quo and want the subsidies to continue...and of course they get plenty of support from the centrist Democrats.......

But state legislators have very little to do with crop support legislation...that is the domain of the Feds.

See my post here........on that subject........

http://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=500680

Well looks Kansas TP reps Huselcamp and Jenkins like their state feeding at the federal trough. I'm sure they are the only ones though.

http://ceinquiry.us/2011-06-17-tea-p...farm-subsidies

Huelskamp is a big disappointment.

Well looks Kansas TP reps Huselcamp and Jenkins like their state feeding at the federal trough. I'm sure they are the only ones though.

http://ceinquiry.us/2011-06-17-tea-p...farm-subsidies Originally Posted by Submodo

Looks like that is what the tea party will get you.Thought they were anti government?

Don't jump to the wrong conclusion; who knows what devils were in the details of Rep. Earl Blumenauer amendment (#3) to H.R. 2112. Blumenauer is a very liberal Democrat from Portland, Oregon.

The National Taxpayers Union gives Blumenauer and F (Fail) on his legislative/voting record. He is a big spender ! The no vote on his ammendment is no sign the TP is abandoning their small government agenda.

http://www.ntu.org/on-capitol-hill/n...lumenauer.html

Any Reps and Senators will vote to protect the pork in their districts..

Not true. They do it all the time; John McCain is famous for his votes against pork.

Any Reps and Senators will vote to protect the pork in their districts.. Originally Posted by ekim008

Ok that,s one I stand corrected.I posted a while back about the 2 mil the gov spends yearly on subsidizing empty seats on airplanes flying out of small airports.It came up in a bill in the house and was defeated.Guess who the people were that voted no....