Rome Is Looking Better From Topeka - NYT Editorial Board

[DonViejo]

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD MARCH 20, 2017

Kansas can only hope that reports are true that the Trump administration will let its governor, Sam Brownback, escape the disaster he created in Topeka for a quieter United Nations agricultural post in Rome. And global humanity can only hope for the best.

Mr. Brownback, a Republican first elected on the Tea Party crest of 2010, used his office as a laboratory for conservative budget experimentation. His insistence that tax cuts create, not diminish, revenues has left the state facing a ballooning deficit plus a ruling by the state Supreme Court that Kansas schoolchildren have been unconstitutionally shortchanged in state aid for years, with the poorest minority children most deprived.

The court ruled this month that they would shut the state’s schools if funding wasn’t made equitable by June 30. It found reading test scores of nearly half of African-American students and more than one-third of Hispanic students were deficient under aid formulas favoring more affluent school districts.

Mr. Brownback played no small role in the long-running school crisis by leading the Republican Legislature to limit school aid after enacting the largest tax cuts in state history, for upper-bracket business owners. Characteristically, the governor’s reaction to the court mandate was to further undermine schools by suggesting parents “be given the opportunity and resources to set their child up for success through other educational choices.”

If that’s the governor’s parting contribution to the school crisis before his flight to a Trump diplomatic appointment, Kansas parents and school administrators cannot be too surprised. They have been experiencing the deepening budget crisis firsthand in shortened school hours and resources as the state suffered two credit downgrades. Public protest led to a number of Brownback loyalists voted out last year, with legislative newcomers igniting a budget revolt against the governor. He barely survived a showdown last month, by vetoing a $1 billion tax increase.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/20/opinion/rome-is-looking-better-from-topeka.html?emc=edit_th_20170320&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=57435284

[citood]

1. I disagree with one aspect of this

"Mr. Brownback, a Republican first elected on the Tea Party crest of 2010,"

He didn't win as a Tea Party candidate. He won because a) name recognition means a lot to Kansas voters and b) the opposing field was very shallow.

For background, Kathleen Sebelius had left to take a cabinet position...her LT Governor (a Democrat) had actually at one point been the head of the Kansas Republican party, and decided not to run, the up and coming AG was mired in a scandal...and the bottom line is 3 out of 4 Democrats I ask (in Kansas) cannot even name Brownback's first opponent (Tom Holland). The field was so shallow, Holland was the only candidate in the primary.

IOW, there was a vacuum and Brownback filled it. Nothing to do with the Tea Party.

[DonViejo]

2. The article doesn't say Brownback was a Tea Partier....

instead; "...first elected on the Tea Party crest of 2010...." He was elected at the height of the Tea Party's popularity

[citood]

3. Trust me, his election had Zero to do with the Tea Party

A particular set of circumstances left the gate wide open for him...but it had absolutely nothing to do with the Tea Party. Might as well equate his victory with release of the I-Phone 4, or any other random event in 2010, that had absolutely nothing to do with his election. The Tea Party is not a strong organization in Kansas.

[DonViejo]

4. I think you are mis-reading the article....

all the article is reporting is the 2010 election was the height of Tea Party wing nut influence. That influence impacted on voters throughout the country, not just Kansas.

[Scruffy1]

5. Being a native Kansan I'm amazed he has held on that long.

The damage done to the state will take decades to fix. there was a time when Kansas was proud of its schools and one of the most non racist places in the USA. I always assume that Brownback is a chip off the old block. His father went to prison for bribery.
I'm sure he is totally owned by someone with lots of money and power My experience with Bible toting ideologues is they are nothing but frauds who are after money. The whole school funding issue is racist to the core and its a repeat of Jeff Sessions in Alabama. The rich, white districts like Johnson County get all the money and the poor ones like KC, Kansas get doodly. Of course our tame media will never attack them on this and use the words "pro life" and "conservative" to cover for their corruption and racism. What's really bazaar is that he got reelected. But then again, Kansas almost elected a quack doctor, who later had to flee the US, in the 1930's. When things start going bad voters are looking for a change and are easy prey for bunco artists like Brownback.