GREAT BEND, Kan. - The Kansas Chamber of Commerce scolded 14 local chambers of commerce on Thursday for supporting a tax increase to fix the yawning Kansas budget deficit. The starkly differing constituencies of the KCCI (Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry) and local chambers of commerce can no longer be papered over.

The KCCI supports huge transnational corporations. The local chambers support Main Street. The KCCI supports far-right libertarian thought. The local chamber groups supports small businesses, whether owned by Republicans, Democrats, Independents, or non-political types.

I assume these local chambers of commerce pay dues to belong to the mother organization: the KCCI. Expect some defections. You can expect this recent dustup to be the prelude for more infighting between the 'mothership' and the local chambers. The KCCI is completely out of touch with small business, and is not worthy of being paid dues by any local chamber of commerce in the State of Kansas.

MCDOWELL CREEK, Kan. - "Families have to balance their budgets," my Republican friend said to me, "and the state should, too." We were discussing Kansas's latest round of budget cuts. I had expressed a worry that deeper cuts would eliminate even more jobs and that insufficient spending on education and infrastructure would undermine long-term recovery. Afterwards, I thought about the family as a metaphor for the state. What if we pushed the analogy further?

A few days ago, I was in a post office in another community, waiting to mail a package. I had spent the previous day on the phone and then on-line, trying to get the USPS's click 'n ship to work. The USPS has been urging customers to complete transactions on-line; but after many hours of frustration -- and multiple "chats" with on-line help -- I learned that the zip code I was trying to mail to had not yet been entered into the system. Hence, my trip to an actual, physical post office. There I found a line of customers extending out the door and around the lobby. I was recovering from surgery and unsteady on my feet, so my package and I leaned against various spots on various walls as the line crept toward the two employees at the counter.

GREAT BEND, Kan. - The results are in, unemployment in Kansas jumped during the month of January from 6.2% to 7.1%. Kansas needs jobs; no one will argue with that. Kansas needs good paying jobs, jobs where a person can work hard, receive a paycheck and not have to worry about food at the end of the month. That should not be a debate.

It is no secret legislature in Kansas has continued to hand out tax exemptions and
give sweetheart deals to major corporations for years, while at the same time enacting tax cuts. Now the state is in trouble and according to The Pew Center On The States, a nonpartisan organization, it may be several years before our states realize just how dire our budget situation is. This is because of two reasons - people in the state of Kansas will need monetary support from the state while they are unemployed, and people are spending less. Both issues have only just begun. When people spend less money that means less revenue, or taxes for the state, this will begin to really hit the budget in the next fiscal year.

WICHITA, Kan. - Like many other progressives, I voted for President Obama with the hope that he could facilitate positive change. But, alas, on issue after issue, Obama has been playing a one-note samba titled "Let the corporations have their way." The guy who was elected because he was "from the outside" has put in place a team that seems to be full of insiders.

In regard to our expectation that Obama would rein-in the banking industry, it's frustrating to find out the banking industry is not only fighting rule changes, but virtually the same rules and same people are still in place that led to our economic crisis.

I agree with Thomas Jefferson, who said, "If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them (around the banks), will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

WICHITA, Kan. - With current financial difficulties facing the country, I find it hard that a service like Kwedit is going help solve the countries current economic crisis. The truth of the matter is although the government, banks, and other financial institutions certainly share the brunt of responsibility for the recession, the public shares a part of the blame, maxing out credit cards so one can have all the latest gadgets and live beyond their means, was a problem even before the recent meltdown.

Here is Stephen Colbert doing an expose albeit in a statical and humorous way shows the sad state of the mainstream media.