Letter to the editor: Voting for new leadership
To the editor:
The recent Sumner County Farm Bureau Political Forum held July 9 in Wellington and published in the Sumner County Newscow (see here) underscores the importance of the August 2 primary. The incumbents who spoke at the Raymond-Frye Complex clearly don’t understand that Kansas is being driven off a fiscal cliff. Instead, they think that current policies are fine, that there is plenty of revenue, and are roads are great.
They are living with head-in-the-sand syndrome. 
Brownback’s tax policies are ruinous.
Brownback and his legions of Republican rubber-stampers thought they could spin tax cuts into gold. The 2012 tax cuts cut individual tax rates by 25 percent and went even further by eliminating taxes on businesses.With the spinning wheel on full tilt, Kansans had nothing better to do than to wait for the tax cuts to pay for themselves. This “golden†opportunity has failed spectacularly.
- From June 2013 to June 2014, all Kansas tax revenue plunged by 11 percent.
- Individual income taxes fell from $2.9 billion to $2.2 billion and all income tax collections dropped more than 20 percent, according to Forbes.
Most Kansans probably aren’t really feeling “relief†as a result of the tax cuts. To offset the dramatic revenue loss, other tax increases were implemented. For example, Kansas now has the “distinction†of having the largest tax on food in the nation.
Other burdens are being placed. Tuition rates have increased in state universities. University of Kansas undergraduates will pay 5 percent more to attend this fall. In addition, many have been burdened with property tax increases and mill levy hikes.
Brownback is as popular as bindweed in Kansas, but he has been helped with noxious legislators who see no problem with the current financial fiasco.
One candidate at the forum, Larry Alley, who is running for Kansas Senate Seat in District 32, even stated that there isn’t a problem with revenue. Another, Kasha Kelley, District 80 incumbent, blames the media for not reporting the “growth†that is happening.
Hogwash.
Like all Kansans, I want good schools for my children and grandchildren — and good health care. The state of Kansas is jeopardizing all of children’s futures. We can change the future in this primary by electing people who favor fiscal responsibility, good schools, and good health care.
In this election vote for Michelle Schlitz, Anita Judd-Jenkins in District 80, Don Shimkus for District 32 Senate, and Jolene Rice-Roitman in the 116th district.
We need change. That’s why I’ll be placing my vote for new leaders on August 2.
Kay Ryan
South Haven
