Ground Zero for Kansas Democrats

Kansas Democrats wiped the slate clean and elected new party leadership this weekend at their annual retreat in Topeka.
The time for licking wounds is past. Last year’s disastrous election cycle proved if Democrats don’t make some big changes — and fast — Kansas will become a one-party state.
We’re almost there. No Democrat west of Highway 177, on the other side of Emporia, holds a seat in the Kansas Legislature. In southeast Kansas, Rep. Adam Lusker, Frontenac, is the only remaining Democrat. Former Rep. Jerry Williams, D-Chanute, gave up the ghost in 2012 when redistricting sliced his District 8 in half.
Kansas Republicans have earned the right to take November’s election as a mandate to continue the path of slashing taxes despite the harm it is doing to education, social services, prisons, courts, and infrastructure.

TO REGROUP, Democrats should target their efforts on middle class voters and how they are getting the shaft. By and large, Gov. Brownback’s scheme of tax cuts favors the wealthy. A high sales tax disproportionately hurts middle-income earners compared to the wealthy. Tax breaks for businesses are great for bosses, but do nothing for employees.
The same can be said for those whose children attend public schools. Most of us don’t have the option of sending Muffy or Winthrop to a private school, where tuition tops any factory paycheck. So when funding to education is cut, it’s teachers and children of the middle class who suffer.
Health care, specifically expanding Medicaid, should be at the forefront for Democrats. Rural hospitals are holding on by a thread because of recent funding cuts. Expanding health insurance for lower-income Kansans will help ensure hospitals like Allen County Regional keep their doors open.
A hospital, much like good schools, not only provides a critical service, but also works to attract new industries to a region.

THE GOP mantra that benefits to the wealthy trickle down to middle- and low-income workers and help spur spending has more holes than Swiss cheese as evidenced by our budget shortfall.
It’s a crisis Democrats can ill afford to lose.
— Susan Lynn