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.

GREAT BEND, Kan. - Sometimes, somebody just tells the truth. It's usually a child, like in the "Emperor With No Clothes." Everybody knows the truth down deep, but then someone just blurts it out, and there is a sense of relief and embarrassment.

Johnny Carson once said the only people who really tell the truth are the very young and the very old. There is some truth to that, but sometimes a middle aged person says what everyone knows to be true but is afraid to say.

Governor Mark Parkinson had such a moment last week. Discussing the Kansas legislature's 20 year "tax-cutting binge," Parkinson mentioned that the tax breaks have generally gone to the wealthy and corporate interests. "What have we done for the average person? Virtually nothing. The public has got to understand, they are being left out."

How true.

TOPEKA, Kan. - On March 4, 2010, after a lengthy debate, the Senate voted on legislation that prevented cuts from being made to Kansas' unemployment benefits.

As unemployment rates have continued to rise in Kansas, the state's Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund has been drastically depleted. The fund, which is financed by employer taxes, has recently had to borrow money from the federal government to keep up with payments to unemployed Kansans.

I voted to prevent any cuts to unemployment benefits for Kansans. I have always sided with Kansas workers on issues such as wrongful death, worker's compensation and unemployment.

This bill doesn't solve the problem of a dwindling unemployment trust fund, but until we get the economy working for everyone again, the best decision is to help struggling Kansans make ends meet.

TOPEKA, Kan. - Kansans for Life has targeted Kansas Supreme Justice Carol Beier. They have bought ads on television, print and radio in an attempt to control and influence the judiciary process. The motivation to remove Justice Beier stems solely from their disfavor with the Justice over rulings surrounding the actions of former Attorney General Phil Kline.

Justice Carol A Beier recently asked the Kansas Ethics Commission to decide if campaign finance rules apply to retention elections for Supreme Court Justices. The ruling stated...

"Since the position of Supreme Court Justice is not included in the definition of state officer, The Campaign Finance Act does not govern your election."

WICHITA, Kan. - Kansas legislators held a Town Hall Meeting on Saturday, March 6th at the WSU Metroplex and what a meeting.

Kansas State Rep. Brenda Landwehr sounded like she was trying to resurrect the confederacy. Y'all remember the confederacy? Our southern cousins decided in 1861 that they didn't have to obey the U.S. Constitution's "supremacy clause" and in fact could leave the Union if the national government passed a law they didn't cotton to.

Landwehr has decided she doesn't much cotton to following a president she didn't vote for, let alone being forced to uphold his nasty piece of legislation that would provide health insurance for a bunch of losers who can't afford to purchase their own but want a handout from hard working legislators like Landwehr.

SALINA, Kan. - Few folks are against free speech. But what one says is always limited to what one sees. Many good talkers are not necessarily good seers.

Case in point: Chapman Rackaway's recent editorial on the Supreme Court Citizens United case. His misguided missile, intended to strike its critics, instead winds up wounding the very free speech he advocates.

That arrow struck especially deep, given Rackaway's solid contributions to free speech, particularly through his hosting of candidate forums on Smoky Hills Public Television and his college teaching at Fort Hays State. His achievements illustrate, however, that all truth is relative, and easily blinded.

To defend free speech, Rackaway scaled Mount Everest rhetorical heights, only to fall off the cliff of corporate, moneyed influence. It's a common error.

ANDOVER, Kan. - Why would any church want to align itself with a politician or a political party?

As the geeky Milhouse van Housen asked Bart Simpson, "What do they have to gain?", and the next shot cuts to the Reverend Lovejoy throwing a cache of coins down a counting machine, the implications are clear; the church needs money to destroy the secular world.

In real life, it is not as crass as directly funneling money from the church to the politicians since that would be a campaign violation and no church would be that profoundly foolish. However, when it comes to the well known and often maligned principle of the separation of church and state, the only separating going on is the church effectively keeping government out of their business while entangling itself into the bowels of political races, governmental entities, and PACs to push their agenda into secular society.

TOPEKA, Kan.- Last Friday, the Kansas Coalition for Workplace Safety held a rally in the old Supreme Court chambers at the Kansas State Capitol. The rally was well attended by many of us who want to see injured Kansas workers given a fair shake for a change.

Rep. Paul Davis, the House Minority Leader and Sen. Anthony Hensley, the Senate Minority Leader gave a run down of Kansas' failing public policy concerning the treatment of workers injured on the job by no fault of their own.

Workers who have been victimized by our workers compensation system showed up to have their stories heard as those of us who attended saw real life examples why we need to ramp up this fight. We are among the worst in the nation, folks, and it is time we get this backwards mess straightened out.

BASEHOR, Kan. - In these days of federal, state, and local public services funding cuts, there is a great deal of activity centered around citizens helping themselves during natural or man-made disasters. When public services fail, citizens must be prepared to "do it themselves."

When you mention emergency coordination for widespread disasters, the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA usually come to mind. But there is another group of people with a long history of emergency service -- and one that predates DHS and FEMA by several decades. And that group is amateur radio operators.

TOPEKA, Kan. - On February 18th, House and Senate members passed the final version of the rescission bill, which made a number of cuts and adjustments to the 2010 state budget to address the state's $400 million deficit.

The bill affirms many of the same recommendations Governor Mark Parkinson outlined last year. One of the more significant cuts added to the bill was a 5% reduction in pay for all state officials, including legislators.

Even with the passage of the rescission bill, the legislature may need to take up the FY 2010 budget again in the near future. Revenues were lower then expected in January, and the state will likely be short another $40 million by July even with the additional cuts approved this month.