TOPEKA, Kan. - As reported in a recent Topeka Capitol Journal article, KanVote exposed a major discrepancy in new voting restrictions which has
resulted in a functional poll tax.

KanVote found that in order to obtain a free voter ID, voters without access to necessary proof of citizenship would be forced to pay for a birth certificate. KanVote made the discrepancy known this week at a rules and regulations hearing held by the Secretary of State's office.

After hearing KanVote's findings, Kris Kobach stated that free birth certificates are available for accessing the free voter ID. He claimed the discrepancy was mere confusion caused by his senator, Kelly Kultala. Kobach blames Kultala for postponing the implementation of voter registration regulations and creating confusion among related agencies regarding when free birth certificates are available.

Upon further investigation, KanVote discovered that the new voting restrictions do not make free birth certificates available to those applying for a voter ID.

COLBY, Kan. - The following is a little snip taken from a Kansas City Star article:

"The Revenue Department's analysis of the Brownback plan examined income tax data from 2009 and breaks down taxpayers into six income brackets. The only bracket with a tax increase ranges from zero up to $25,000.

"That group, made up of 564,328 tax filers, would pay $88.2 million more in taxes under the governor's tax plan. Meanwhile, the highest income bracket making $250,000 a year would pay $110 million less in taxes."

I don't have the resources at my finger tips to validate these figures. But, I've learned that tax reform reflects an advantage for those proposing the reform. Most of Gov. Brownback's agenda is benefiting the upper crust far more than the the hard tack biscuit eaters in the lower income brackets.

This article is a continuation and the third in a series of three. To read Part 1, click here, and Part II, click here.

BOGUE, Kan. - I had hoped the opinion we sought from Stovall would also deal with the problem of irrigation lobby dominance of water politics. I sought a one-person, one vote representational scheme but unfortunately the Kansas State Attorney General disagreed. "The definition of an eligible voter found in K.S.A. 82a-1021 does not violate the one man, one vote rule of the United States Constitution." Unfortunately, only a tiny fraction of the people living in the area directly affected by GMD policies, the thousands who have stake in the future and an opinion about what should be done and when, have any vote in GMD decisions. That ought to change.

As to takings, the AG essentially ducked the question: "Whether a reduction of a water right constitutes a compensable taking depends upon the purpose for which the reduction is made. Without consideration of the purpose for which the reduction is made, no balancing test can be applied to determine whether the taking is compensable."

In other words, a critical issue -- whether private disputes over water appropriation rights takes precedence over the Chief Engineer acting in the broader long term stewardship of the resource -- was not, and hasn't been, addressed, either by the Attorney General or by the courts. It must.

WICHITA, Kan. - At the height of the 2011 Kansas drought that lasted through spring, summer, and into the fall, Gov. Sam Brownback called a summit of "stakeholders," for a discussion on the future of the Ogallala Aquifer.

The Governor's Summit

The four hundred attendees who gathered in Colby, Kansas, included, among others, representatives from the Kansas Geological Survey, Kansas State University, Kansas Ag bankers, and the Kansas Farm Bureau, as well as Carolyn Armstrong, Colby City Manager and Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer, representing the League of Kansas Municipalities.

A hydro-geologist from the Kansas Geological Survey, Dr. Geoffrey Bohling, said of the meeting, "A common statement at the summit was, 'I don't like big government [or government regulation], but we need to regulate use of the aquifer.' This was coming from the stakeholders: irrigators (farmers and ranchers) and people responsible for municipal water supplies. Attached to that was the idea that people would prefer more of a grassroots approach to regulation -- for example, all irrigators in an area cutting back their use by a certain percentage voluntarily."

SALINA, Kan. - As he campaigned for governor around Kansas last year Sam Brownback felt little need to lay out any specifics on what he wanted to do once in office. With Republicans having succeeded in nationalizing state and local elections he offered little more than cliches on the need to grow our economy.

A year later his true agenda has come into focus. Brownback's main goal appears to be to shift of the state's tax burden from the wealthy to the middle and lower classes. Two items that will fit into his push during the next legislative session are the revamping of the state's Medicaid program and a push to eliminate the state income tax.

SALINA, Kan. - Voter fraud is indeed a Kansas problem, as Secretary of State Kris Kobach points out. Not the kind he alleges. The kind he perpetrates.

The real fraud is perpetrated upon voters, not by them. Kobach's failure to account for just under $80 thousand in contributions and expenses, in a campaign that raised just over $157 thousand, is breath-taking for a man who is presently the watchdog, or rather WatchFox, over the chicken house of Kansas' electoral machinery. Was his staff incompetent or did he just flout the law? Choose your poison.

Whatever the case, Kansas voters, beware! One of Kobach's most egregious fellow-perpetrators is U.S. First District Rep Tim Huelskamp. A leading example is Tim's Town Hall Phone meetings.

At first blush, they seem the essence of Democracy. Call in, talk to Rep. Tim firsthand, and hear other Kansans' questions. Efficient, direct -- what could be better?

WICHITA, Kan. - The Occupy Wall Street movement sparked by demonstrations on Wall Street has spread across the country, even to Kansas.

Here is a video from Wichita's first occupy moment on Sunday, October 2.

WICHITA, Kan. - Governor Brownback wants all of the single Kansas moms to say, "I do," especially those on any kind of government assistance. He's even offering to pay for some coercion (I mean "counseling") to get all those single ladies in the mood for matrimony.

Heck, he'll even pay for the marriage license. How sweet of a deal is that? "We'll just put this ring on your finger little lady, sign on the dotted line and now you have become some other chump's responsibility." Welfare mom problem solved!

Governor Brownback, the women of Kansas have a proposal for you!

We, the women of Kansas, take you, Sam to be our wedded governor. To have and to scold for the next 4 years, for better or worse. It won't get worse, will it?

SHAWNEE, Kan. - After hearing talk about a faith based marriage initiative in Kansas, I can't help but wonder if perhaps Beyonce's "Single Ladies" is stuck on repeat on Governor Brownback's iPod.

Sitting comfortably in one of the many rooms at Cedar Crest mansion, the married father (our Governor) thinks he can curb child poverty and crime rates by encouraging single parents to get or stay married. While I want to believe his intentions are pure, his actions once again show how out of tune he is with us, the common folk.

Obviously, this man does not truly grasp the reality of our lives and the problems that single parents face.

With a baby on my hip, and lacking a college degree, I was 24 years old when I walked away from the unhealthy nightmare that was my marriage.

WICHITA, Kan. - Below is a running tally of the damage done to this state in just eight short months thanks to the Brownback Administration and radical republicans in the Kansas Legislature.

1. Supported action to sign Kansas onto the Virginia/Florida lawsuit declaring "Obamacare" unconstitutional. Even though President Obama won a decisive victory in 2010 on the promise of affordable healthcare for all, the republicans refused to admit they lost the general election and act as if it was treason for the federal government to pass such a dastardly, socialist inspired idea. Bottom line is the state of Kansas has many citizens who need healthcare. Protesting a duly passed piece of legislation by the federal government is sour political grapes and sticking it to the poor as you sanctimoniously claim it will hurt Kansans.

2. Vetoed funding for the Kansas Arts Commission after citizens rallied across the state and lobbied their representatives to save the arts. The Kansas Legislature listened to the people, and approved funding, only to have Sam wipe out the funding with the stroke of his magic pen.

3. Brownback maintained Kansas would still get funding from the NEA(National Endowment for the Arts) even though he wiped out the Kansas Arts Commission. Brownback was wrong; the state received notice it would NOT get matching federal funds from the NEA since the Governor's pet group-Kansas Arts Foundation, was hardly in a position to be trusted with taxpayer money without any clear organization or ability to prove it would not soon collapse.