"I will tell the people what's going on at the statehouse. I'm going to treat the capitol as a borderline crime scene. ... If businesses don't have to pay taxes, the burden should not be on those trying to feed themselves." - The Valley Falls Vindicator & Oskaloosa Independent, March 3, 2016.

Across Kansas the top 1% are looting and on-the-loose, pitting us against each other. Communities in Jefferson County need to democratically prepare themselves for food and energy autonomy.

- MICHAEL CADDELL, Publisher, Producer Radio Free Kansas

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Tim Carpenter: KANSAS SENATE HEARING POINTS TO SECRET DEAL TO SECURE $400 MILLION FOR STATE DEFICIT @ Topeka Capital Journal


Clearly I'll need to add to the list of mafia-style accounting tricks the Kansas Republican leaders are willing to engage in.

[Excerpt] " ... Shannon Cotsoradis, president and chief executive officer of Kansas Action for Children, first shared information about the prospect of behind-the-scenes maneuvering during testimony to the Senate Ways and Means Committee. She said advocates of Senate Bill 463 were marketing changes to the CIF and KEY accounts funded by tobacco revenue as a way to strengthen government transparency. However, she said, selling long-term revenue for short-term gain would place in jeopardy the state’s early-childhood education system.

“I can’t imagine anything less transparent,” Cotsoradis said. “It’s really hard to throw babies and toddlers under the bus. I don’t think policymakers on either side of the aisle want to do that.” ... [End of Excerpt]

Read the complete article at the Topeka Capital Journal.

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Editorial Board: BROWNBACK'S PLAN FAILING @ Topeka Capital Journal

"MARY, IT HAD TO BE DONE" - DAD'S OLD NEWSPAPER CREW

Yes, even his wife's family legacy publication is feeling the burn. The kitchen cabinet just spilled the coffee and stood up at the table. [Excerpt] ... "Those who believe the state has a vested interest in funding university and technical colleges now watch as those institutions face cuts. Those who believe people with mental illnesses or physical disabilities deserve compassionate help are appalled by limitations imposed on services.

Yet Brownback won’t back down from his cornerstone policy, which eliminated state income taxes for 330,000 physicians, dentists, lawyers, farmers and other business owners, and also lowered the individual income tax rates on Kansans. ..." [End of Excerpt]

Read the complete shocking piece at the Topeka Capital Journal.

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Letter to the Editor, TIME TO FIX STUPID, Nov. 5, 2015

Published Valley Falls Vindicator, Oskaloosa Independent

TIME TO FIX STUPID?

The Social Security Administration just released that 71 percent of all American workers make less than $50,000 last year.

What kind of quality jobs is this economy producing? A full-time job of $10/hour all year long excluding a two week “vacation” makes about $20,000. The federal poverty level for a family of four is a little over $28,000. Yet 40% of all American workers made less than $40,000 last year.

Stupid is, as stupid does, especially wealthy people sucking for tax loopholes.

“When you look at what we’ve done, it’s so unreasonable, so amateurish. There’s 1.5 million taxpayers in Kansas, and we’ve decided that 333,000 don’t have to pay tax.” - - Sen. Jim Denning, R-Overland Park.

He watches the disastrous economic results as one of the many lawmakers who supported Gov. Sam Brownback in radical tax reform, which led last July to the largest tax increases in the history of Kansas.

While the silent majority of citizens, the paycheck taxpayers, already having more than 25% deducted for federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Unemployment Insurance must carry the wealthy Kansans with an increased sales tax on food.

Sen. Denning and many other fools might be feeling the pull of the concrete boots many Kansans decided to put on for the governor before taking a polar bear plunge into Lake Trickle Down.

A Brownback appointee, Angela de Rocha a spokeswoman for the state Department of Aging and Disability Services, asked her cronies last week on Facebook, “Do we want these slow learners voting?”

Register to vote. It’s time to fix stupid.

Let’s make next Election Day payback time.

Mike Caddell
Radio Free Kansas
North Jefferson County