The Sam Brownback budget is to the editors at the Kansas City Star what Moby Dick was to Ahab, what Bill Clinton was to Monica, what snow is to CNN (Juno, anyone?)–an unhealthy obsession bordering on mania…
The latest breathtaking revelation from the Star is that Kansas Governor Sam Brownback’s budget director emailed a working version of the proposed budget to two “lobbyists”–cries of despair, please–three weeks before it was unveiled to lawmakers. How the Star got ahold of emails sent on a private email account is left largely to the imagination.
Left to the end of the article is the less than breathtaking revelation that nine other current staffers received the same email, and all of the names seem to have been cc’ed.
One of the two lobbyists in question had been Brownback’s chief of staff.
Another had been his campaign manager. Would it not seem helpful to get outside input, presumably free of charge, from people who just might know something about the budget process?
Not to the authorities the Star recruited to further its jihad against the governor.
Predictably, the Senate minority leader called the move “inappropriate.” A Wichita Democrat said the budget director–Brownback was not cc’ed on the email–does not “seem to know the lines between government public action and private industry.”
Yawn! Double Yawn!
“I think you’re digging to find things that aren’t there,” Eileen Hawley, the governor’s spokeswoman, told the Star. “We sought the counsel of a lot of people in that process.”
Rich Steele is a citizen journalist and head of the NSAAS (Non-Smokers Against Anti-Smoking).
This non-story is what passes for journalism in Kansas. Thanks for calling out the idiocy.
I can tell you the rule of thumb for public servants is that all of one’s actions should avoid even the appearance of impropriety.
Of course, Congress, and apparently state budget directors, flaunt this rule at will, it being a priori their actions are always above board.
Thats a tough one Nick. I fully understand where you are coming from, but……
Private industry fuels holds a wealth of information, knowledge and expertise we simply cannot expect our government to have. That is, unless, we greatly expand the size of government. You need only look at the trouble the Supreme Court is having dealing with patent lawsuits involving emerging technologies that the Justices like Ginsberg have trouble understanding.
To use an extreme example. In the ongoing debate over “Net Neutrality” is it inappropriate to consult with say, Bill Gates? Certainly, Bill Gates has some sort of stake in the outcome, but he also has a wealth (no pun intended) of knowledge on the subject of technology and personal computing, and its relation to the economics of technology. After all he did take an emerging technology and took the very difficult step of monetizing it, and in the process became the richest man in the world. Because he refuses to become a government official, should we forever stonewall his immense knowledge for fear of the appearance of impropriety?
This is a really tough issue, and I tend to agree with you Nick. I think this may be an issue of process, not substance. We should by all means be consulting with the brightest minds. And while many of the brightest minds are dedicated soley to the betterment of humanity (Bob Kahn, inventor of the internet by creating the Protocols TCP and IP), many also wish to make a living (Steve Jobs and Bill Gates). I admire Bob Kahn, but I don’t begrudge Jobs or Gates. In fact, because of their business acumen, Gates brings something to the table that Kahn can’t.
So maybe we need to look at the process by which we solicit their advice.
TMS –
You hit the nail squarely here: transparency is what was missing by the KS state budget director sending the draft out. Had he instead convened a semi-public meeting with these folks, notified the general public in advance, et alis, The Star would have had no gripe, IMO.
Perhaps Brownback takes his cue from his “Big Brothers” in the Fed and the Commissar in Chief, whose legendary legerdemain is breathtaking, not only in execution, but dwells in Bernie Madoff territory at closing time when the lights come on and it is time to pay the check.
As a past lobbyist for a Chamber of Commerce, I can tell you that the biggest lobbyist in any state government are the lobbyists from the various bureaus, delivering selective information, while lobbying for more money in the appropriations process. The most fun I ever had was getting an entire labor study admitted as evidence, refuting the Department of Labor’s claim that no information existed on a topic. Department of Labor was not pleased after lying to a state Senate Committee.
Also, Mr. Cowboy, the state-funded advocates for various causes. They all signed a contract with the state saying they would not use their public funding to lobby for more public funding, which also happens to be federal law, but none of them seem to have read it. At some point it would be nice to see them held to their word. There is one I know of who pays herself one third of her organization’s entire, state-funded budget and spends most of her time arguing for more funding for her organization. There is another guy who pays himself fully half of his organization’s entire state-funded budget and is in full-tilt lobby mode to get more funding while urging the Legislature to raise taxes. Waiting for our crack Capitol press corps to report on that.
You know, Rich, your presence here on KCC is probably a good thing for my health. I find I need 2-3 less cups of coffee to get up and running on mornings when you post.
You use the continuing attention of the Star on Brownback’s failed experiment as an example of obsessive compulsive disorder. A better and more recognizable example of OCD might be the 40+ votes by the House to defund Obamacare, but that doesn’t fit in your rhetorical lockstep.
If I come upon a burning building with people trapped inside, I don’t just yell FIRE once or twice. I keep yelling it until the first responders arrive to extingush the blaze and save the residents.
FIRE!!!
It is not obsessive-compulsive disorder. It Brownback Derangement Syndrome.
Stomper,
I think our media outlets NEED to be called out. If you haven’t read it yet, may I recommend Sharyl Atkinson’s “Stonewalled”. I think its much better than Bernard Goldberg’s “Bias” from the early 00’s. Goldberg’s book came across as a revenge, vendetta book, but to Sharyl’s credit she criticizes how cozy both parties are with the media. Everytime I watch Fox 4 and see their fluff pieces about YouTube videos about cats, I about vomit. Remember the Deepwater Horizon spill? Why did not ONE reporter in the whole United States ask to see the underwater cameras until three weeks after the spill began? We were told 42,000 barrels of oil were spilling out. This came from the United States Coast Guard and the Dept of the Interior. It wasn’t until one reporter and 3 Democratic Congressmen asked that we found out it was 3 MILLION barrels per day. Our media has become complacent, and lock step with the governement. Or all those movies we like to see, Saving Private Ryan, Blackhawk Down, Band of Brothers, etc, etc, etc,. Did you know the Dept of Defense reviews the scripts of those movies, and makes changes? Then if the Dept of Defense approves the script the issue the permits to allow the use of tanks/jets/helicopters in the films?
Anyways, it was an insightful read. And even if I don’t agree with Steele, I’m glad he is calling out the most imporatant publication in the area. “The image of the news media as fearless watchdogs poised, if not eager, to pursure stories that authorities wish to block is a false image.” We need to get back to an America where the government hates/fears/respects the media, not where they are friends.
I agree with you completely, TMS with regards to all of our media outlets needing to be called out. I’m an old guy that grew up trusting Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, and Chet Huntley. Can’t trust any of them anymore and if one wants to get facts, they better research every source they can get to and even then take it with a grain of salt.
Anybody that reads my mental masterbations knows I’m a leftist but I do try to be pragmatic. Obviously my view of the role of government is 180 degrees from Brownback’s. Yep, the Star is clearly slanted but they are spot on with their view of Sam destroying Kansas , imho. I just enjoy trashing “Rich Steele” and his truncated, simplistic musings. Almost as much as Chuck enjoys trashing mine. 🙂
Geez, I do love political discourse when it is not just throwing insults.
who cares who gets the first copies.
Obviously this guy as governor has screwed up and is now trying to figure out what
to do.
You start messing with the blue vally and Shawnee mission school districts
you are out !!!!!!!
who careswho sees the budget…its a mess and someone with some ideas needs
to figure out what the hell is going on in Topeka.
It’s telling that the KC Star doesn’t have a problem with the Obama Administration conducting day-to-day business in private emails — which is against federal laws.
KC Star … lose your hardon for Brownback.