The Fever Swamps of Kansas.Thomas Frank's book What's the Matter With Kansas? and Jesse Walker's review of it ("The Fever Swamps of Kansas," March) both miss the essence of this heartland state located in the middle of flyover country Flyover country or flyover states is a somewhat derogatory Americanism, a nickname popular among entertainers, businessmen, and others concerned with doing business on the coasts. The name comes from the fact that many Americans shuttle between coastal locations — e.g. . Frank misses how Democrats have actually won the Kansas governor's mansion 24 of the last 40 years but have not elected a U.S. senator since the 1930s. For insight into Kansas politics, Michael Barone's latest Almanac almanac, originally, a calendar with notations of astronomical and other data. Almanacs have been known in simple form almost since the invention of writing, for they served to record religious feasts, seasonal changes, and the like. of American Politics provides more incisive incisive /in·ci·sive/ (-si´siv) 1. having the power or quality of cutting. 2. pertaining to the incisor teeth. in·ci·sive adj. 1. Having the power to cut. understanding of Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius Kathleen Gilligan Sebelius (born May 15 1948) is currently serving as the forty-fourth Governor of Kansas.[1] She is the second female governor of the state of Kansas, and is currently chairwoman of the Democratic Governors Association. in a few pages than Frank does in his entire book. Sebelius has regularly violated her 2002 campaign promise not to raise taxes. Frank's book does not explain how Sebelius got elected, nor will it provide insight into why Sebelius is likely to be rejected next year by Kansas voters. Frank parrots the conventional political wisdom in Kansas that there are three political factions A political faction is presently an informal grouping of individuals, especially within a political organization, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group with some kind of political purpose (referred to in this article as the “broader organization”). in the state: Democrats, "moderate" or tax-and-spend Republicans, and out-of-power conservative Republicans. But Sebelius' nominally Democratic administration contains two cabinet members from her "moderate," tax-raising GOP predecessor's cabinet, including former GOP Gov. Mike Hayden
John Michael "Mike" Hayden, (born March 15, 1944) was forty-first Governor of Kansas and current Secretary of the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Department. . Her lieutenant governor lieutenant governor n. Abbr. Lt. Gov. 1. An elected official ranking just below the governor of a state in the United States. 2. The nonelective chief of government of a Canadian province. is a former Republican businessman, and her latest hire as the lobbyist for her Department of Revenue is the recently defeated GOP chairman of the Senate tax committee for the last four years. This is not an unusual situation, since Sebelius' cop predecessor as governor appointed his Democratic predecessor's budget head to retain that position in his administration. In many ways Kansas is akin to a one-party state. Automatic property and income tax hikes have helped elected officials avoid politically painful votes for more than a decade, and Kansas now has one of the highest levels of state and local government employment as a percentage of the entire state's workforce in the country. This is the reality that Frank ignored and Walker's review touched on only indirectly. Karl Peterjohn Executive Director, Kansas Taxpayers Network Wichita, KS |
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