"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

Friday, December 23, 2016

HOLIDAY GREETINGS! #BROWNBACKISTAN

3,122 voters (NYT Nov. 11, 2016) 37.4% did not vote.
You're the most unpopular governor in the country, who illegally signs a $20 million lease agreement without legislative approval, then dolefully watch as your partisan stooges sweep the affair under the statehouse legislative rug.  Rather than face the storm ahead of fiscal austerity, most ran from their offices and "retired."

How easy we forget how we arrived to this historical point in Kansas.

Financing campaigns on millionaire loans, gutting the state's treasury till it's national credit rating falls, not once, but twice while cheering on the shock troops over abortion, gay rights and guns. This is Gov. Sam Brownback's "deplorable" Know Nothing Party, not the Republican Party of Lincoln or trust busting T. Roosevelt, or "I Like Ike."

Let's look at the thieves who didn't get away, as provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Leavenworth woman sentenced after six year $500,000 bank embezzlement spree.

Shawnee man pleads to Overland Park bank robbery.

Kansas City Kansan sentenced in Stillwell bank robbery.

Great Bend, Ks. bank employee pleads to ATM robbery.

Former Wyandotte government engineer indicted on federal bribery charges.

Border War Commerce Counts Too!

Springfield, Mo. man sentenced for bank robbery, kidnapping.

Two Joplin, Mo. men indicted for bank robbery.

And let's not forget those western Kansans, the three who were ready to truck bomb an apartment complex full of Somali moslems in Garden City (courtesy USA Today)

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Editorial Board: BROWNBACK STILL IN STATE OF DENIAL @ Wichita Eagle

Tim Carpenter: CAPITOL RALLY PARTICIPANTS LOOK TO BITE BULLET ON TAX REFORM @ Topeka Capital Journal

The infamous campaign advertisement placed in Jefferson County newspapers last week before Election Day 2016.
My favorite quote from the article: [Joan Wagnon] ...
“There may be individual parts that some might object to, but on balance it’s fair. It will do the job of raising tax revenue. I love the third tax bracket. When they went to two brackets they destroyed the progressivity of the income tax and destroyed their ability to raise money,” Wagnon said. ...
Omitting the extreme disparity of the 1% of the 1% that I provided during the telephone interview, Carpenter still reported an overview of my proposed remedy. The article was short, but I got the last four paragraphs of the 16 in the article.
"Nortonville resident Michael Caddell, who campaigned unsuccessfully for a Kansas House seat in an old Ford truck with signs calling for impeachment of Brownback, said the emphasis of tax reform ought to be on legislation significantly raising the income tax on the most wealthy of Kansans.
Campaign 2016 Truck War Banner 
“I’m going to take the truck up there regularly. I’m going to park the truck so he can see it,” Caddell said.
Caddell said he would urge lawmakers dismiss talk of a gasoline tax increase and have the courage to apply to the richest 1 percent of Kansas residents a 13.5 percent income tax rate. In 2012, he said, the top 1 percent in Kansas earned an average of $1.09 million.
“A hard-and-fast taxation of the top 1 percent income is the immediate remedy,” said Caddell, who was featured in campaign ads holding a double-barrel musket and lost the November general election in the 47th District."
Read the complete article here. 

Barbara Shelly: BROWNBACK'S CHRISTMAS: The Lonely Governor With So Much To Give America @ The Pitch

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Jonathan Shoreman: BROWNBACK NOT TALKING ABOUT BUDGET @ Topeka Capital Journal

ACTUAL SIZE 68 X 27"  WITH BRASS GROMMETS -- $65.00

Email me for details: bluebarnnewscentral@gmail.com 


While waiting for his call from Trump Tower, the governor keeps steering the state down the ravine into the dump.  Impeach Brownback!

Only our elected lawmakers in the Topeka statehouse can send this powerful message and warning to the rest of the country about the #FailedExperiment in #Koch Libertarian economics.

Jonathan Shoreman writes from the Topeka Capital Journal, Nov. 29, 2016 after Sam's last press conference "Brownback not talking to lawmakers about budget, rules nothing in or out":

[Excerpt] ... Several hours after the news conference, Willoughby said that while Brownback is still in the decision-making process, the budget proposal won’t include layoffs, furloughs or major cuts. She said there are steps to building a balanced budget.

“It’s a genuine lack of leadership on his part,” said Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka. “Not only legislators, but the people of Kansas, should be very concerned this governor is not leading at a time when our state is in desperate trouble financially, and it’s all on account of his failed tax policies that he’s led our state down a road of ruination.”

Brownback’s waiting has fueled speculation that the unpopular second-term governor hopes to secure a job in the administration of President-elect Donald Trump and would then resign. The governor brushed away a question about whether he has spoken with Trump or his transition team. ... [End of Excerpt]

Kobach's Nightmare Revealed: Greg Palast's NO BS GUIDE TO THE GREEN TEAM'S RECOUNT @ Discomfit Magazine