I recently talked to a national reporter who came to Kansas to cover the Legislature’s wrap up session. He wanted to know how we arrived at our current Rubik’s Cube puzzle of revenue, funding, and budget issues.

Here’s my story of how Kansas arrived in its current circumstances.

From the early 1970s until 2010, Kansas was governed by a loose, moderate-conservative coalition of legislators and governors who did a more-than-decent job of representing the wishes of the electorate. Save for four years in the House, GOP lawmakers held clear majorities in both chambers. Still, for much of the period, elections were competitive, especially for governor; a mix of conservative Republicans, moderate Republicans and Democrats governed in responsible ways.

Major governmental obligations, such as education and highways, were funded adequately; the three-legged stool of income, property, and sales taxes provided steady, if not opulent, revenues.

Were there major conflicts within the Legislature during this 40-year period of moderate-conservative governance? Of course. There were fights over education funding, tax levels, prisons, highway construction, abortion, universities, etc. There were partisan battles, and rural-urban skirmishes. In the end, legislators deliberated, compromised, and finished their work in early May, often with cross-party majorities on major issues.

I’m not trying to paint some idyllic version of Kansas politics. A school-funding struggle raged in the courts for ten years, eventually requiring a large infusion of cash. There were winners and losers, and the most conservative Kansans accurately viewed their interests as consistently under-represented. Slowly, over the 1990-2010 period, the right wing of the GOP gained power, both within the party and inside the Legislature. But with Bill Graves, Kathleen Sebelius and Mark Parkinson occupying the governor’s office, moderate-conservative governance remained in place.

The 2010 off-year elections produced state and national Republican landslides. Sam Brownback and a far-right GOP majority won convincingly, more in response to President Obama and his health care legislation than statewide issues. Still, the Governor could argue that he had a mandate to shrink government and cut income taxes.

Although 2011 saw mostly symbolic issues, such as defunding the Kansas Arts Commission, move through the process, the 2012 legislative session produced the set of major income tax cuts that profoundly affected the state. Ironically, the Senate that passed Brownback’s “great experiment” tax cuts represented the last vestige of the moderate-conservativism in state government, as its members had won election in 2008. The Senate leadership trusted the governor to negotiate a more moderate bill, but he ended up signing one with steeper cuts than even he had proposed. And he took full credit.

In 2012, the governor and his allies campaigned vigorously against several moderate and conventionally conservative Republican senators, resulting in far-right chamber that matched the House over the next four years.

With lower income tax rates, total exemptions for 330,000 businesses, and, to be fair, economic downturns in oil, agriculture, and aviation, revenues plummeted after 2013. Any number of stopgap, one-time fixes were adopted, including massive transfers from the state highway fund. Sales taxes were increased, but revenues continued their decline. Once again, the Supreme Court again decided that K-12 education funding was constitutionally inadequate.

Finally, in the 2016 primary and general elections, something approaching the traditional moderate-conservative legislative membership was restored; lawmakers immediately faced the difficult, inter-connected problems of reduced revenues, $900-million in budget deficits, school funding, and Medicaid expansion, along with many other related issues, such as finding $24 million to keep guns out of hospitals.

That’s the Cliff Notes version.

It took a lot of digging to get here. We’ve got a long haul to see daylight.

Burdett Loomis is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas.

By DAN STEFFAN
Regional Project Manager
Kansas Deppartment of Commerce
Business and Community Development Division

I read with interest, the article on the Ellis Co. Commission and the City of Hays Commission combined meeting. As a resident of Hays and having spent the majority of my career in the field of Economic Development and Business Development with the Discover Financial Services and the Kansas Dept. of Commerce, I wanted to comment on the discussion of the direction of the Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development, for the benefit of the Citizens of Hays and Ellis County, if not for the County and City Governments of Ellis County.

“It was suggested that the Two Governments work together to outline clear objectives for the Coalition,” was a statement that puzzled me. Isn’t that the purpose of having representatives of both the Cities (Hays, Ellis and Victoria) and the County Government, on the Board of Directors for the Coalition?

Also, as a reminder, which is all too often forgotten in the discussion of the day, Economic Development is an umbrella term. Economic Development encompasses Business Development, Community Development, Trade Development, Workforce Development and Travel & Tourism Development. While the Hays CVB has been charged with Travel & Tourism Development (and rightly so), the Ellis Co. Coalition is charged with the remainder of these efforts.

Business development is a three legged stool and includes start-ups/entrepreneurial development, expansion and diversification of existing businesses, as well as retention and recruitment. Retention efforts go unnoticed and unrecognized, because this effort is primarily all done behind the scenes. Remember that every Communities major employer is another Communities biggest prospect! Over the years, I have assisted the ECCED with the retention of three major employers in Ellis County!

Recruitment has changed drastically over the last 20 years, as rather than cold-calling on businesses to recruit them to a Community, Site Selectors (or Site Eliminators, as I like to refer to them) have created a Niche for themselves as consultants for businesses looking to expand or relocate from their current location. Retail developers have become the same as Site Selectors for Retail development.

Quite frankly, Land prices are a major obstacle to further retail development in Hays. Another is the unemployment rate (2.6% in March), which also impacts Site Selectors in seeking a Community with an available workforce. Some say that 3.2% of the population is unemployable, thus in Ellis County, we are already employing the unemployable!
Housing and more appropriately “Wage Appropriate Housing” is also an issue in Hays and impacts economic development efforts. As finding and meeting labor needs is one issue for businesses, but meeting those prospective employee’s housing needs is another. The Median Wage in Ellis County is: $15.44 per hour ($32,117 Annual). Take this into consideration when looking at housing availability/affordability in Ellis County and the impact housing has on economic development efforts.

Community Development includes everything from infrastructure to “Quality of Life” issues which are all a part of the overall economic development effort. A major factor in the decision for a business to locate an expansion and/or relocate to a particular Community, includes the amenities that the Community has to offer. It is NOT all about incentives!

Trade Development is about expanding markets for Kansas products outside of the State of Kansas and the United States, and of course, as previously mentioned, Workforce Development is a BIG issue in the area of business development. Meeting labor needs effectively for existing businesses, as well as those being courted and developed locally.

Primary Job creation; that being those jobs created in the area of Kansas basic industries include; manufacturing, mining, agriculture, and interstate transportation. Wholesale trade, financial services, business services and tourism activities, if primarily undertaken for out-of-state markets, are also considered to be Kansas basic industries, as well as research and development of new products, processes or technologies. This should be the primary focus of any business development effort in the realm of economic development, as well as the retention and expansion of existing businesses that fall into the Kansas basic industries categories. These are the areas of business development that the Kansas Dept. of Commerce is able to provide incentives for, based on Job creation, wage levels and capital investment.

The Economic Development Directors I work with on a daily basis, within the Regions of N.W. and N.C. Kansas, hear this mantra from me on a regular basis. But struggle with local boards, citizens and special interests, in keeping their focus on the overall effort of Economic Development being an umbrella term encompassing a lot more than most people realize. As Economic Development is a Process and NOT a Program.

Seems some in our society today remain anxious about the food they buy and serve to their families. While it’s not a recent phenomenon, questions about food safety are bound to occur.

While some food safety problems occur on the farm, many more occur in the kitchen where food can be mishandled or poorly prepared. Keeping food safe is everyone’s business. Yours and mine.

The way we handle, store and cook food can mean the difference between a satisfying meal and a bout with E. coli or salmonella. Keeping food safe in our diet requires a few tried and true steps. Keep food clean, keep it separate, cook it completely and always chill it.

When shopping, keep eggs and raw meat items separate in your grocery cart from foods that do not need to be cooked. Avoid cross contamination.

To prevent raw meat and poultry from contaminating foods that will be eaten without further cooking, enclose individual packages of raw meat or poultry in plastic bags. Position packages of raw meat or poultry in your shopping cart so their juices cannot drip on other food.

When purchasing products labeled keep refrigerated, do so only if they are stored in a refrigerated case and cold to the touch. Buy frozen products only if they are frozen solid. Never buy something that feels mushy.

As a wise and safety-conscious shopper, it is our responsibility to keep food safe once it leaves our local grocery store or meat market. Always shop for perishables last. Keep refrigerated and frozen items together so they will remain cold.

Place perishables in the coolest part of your car during the trip home. Pack them in an ice chest if the time from store to home refrigerator will be more than one hour.

You can prevent E. coli infection by thoroughly cooking ground beef, avoiding unpasteurized milk, and by washing hands carefully before preparing or eating food.

Cook eggs to at least at 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Completely cooked, is completely safe.

Fruits and vegetables should be washed well, but washing may not remove all contamination. Keep a separate cutting board for raw meats and another for food preparation does not require cooking, such as salads. Again, this simple step helps avoid cross contamination.

Keep food chilled. Meat, lettuce and eggs should be stored in a refrigerator that is between 33 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Minimize the time in and out of your fridge. It is difficult to keep the temperature constant, especially if you have a family that continuously opens the door.

Never leave perishable food products sitting out on the counter. Put them in the refrigerator once you’ve served them. The rule is that if perishable food is left two hours at room temperature, it should be discarded.

While most of these tips sound simple, a common-sense approach the next time you shop and cook could ensure safer food for your family.

John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.

Ever get right to the door of the state hospital room of your suicidal, or maybe criminally insane, distant cousin and start thinking “do I really want my concealed-carry pistol now?”

Not often? That’s probably a good thing, but starting July 1, at the 32 buildings on campuses of the state’s four hospitals, you may not have to worry about that.

What’s this about? A largely forgotten portion of the state’s concealed-carry law which on July 1 will prevent anyone in authority at the state hospitals from making sure that there aren’t any guns in the buildings.

The original concealed-carry law passed several years ago had a provision that carrying guns at state hospitals, private hospitals, and on university campuses could be prohibited until July 1 of this year by merely posting a sign.

On July 1, those signs become just a decorative nuisance. The folks who run those hospitals and colleges won’t be able to prohibit concealed-carry by the general public unless there are guards and metal detectors and those electronic wands to make sure that nobody not specifically authorized to carry a gun can enter one of those buildings.

The key is that unless a hospital or school can make sure nobody has a weapon, well, everyone can have a weapon. Probably not a good idea at hospitals where there are mentally ill patients, or probably even at public colleges where, well, there are college kids.

Gov. Sam Brownback appears to have last week recalled that provision in state law, and in a budget amendment handed to the Senate Ways and Means and House Appropriations committees, he asked for $12 million for the upcoming fiscal year and $12 million the next year before he leaves office to get the guards and metal detectors and such needed to meet the nobody carries guns or everyone can carry guns provisions of state law.

Seems a little late to remember that provision, and while state universities and private hospitals have been working with little result most of the legislative session to win exemption from the lifting of the ban on concealed-carry, the wrap-up session starting this week is the first time there’s been a realization of the effect of that provision.

For the four state hospitals—Larned and Osawatomie state hospitals, the Kansas Neurological Institute and Parsons State Hospital and Training Center—Brownback asked lawmakers to appropriate that $12 million a year for the remainder of his term. Probably a little late, we’d guess, with the July deadline approaching and the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services which runs the hospitals saying it will take maybe nine or 10 months from the day it gets the check to meet the gun screening requirements.

One fix is simple. Just remove the language from state law that requires gun-search equipment and personnel to prohibit folks from carrying guns into those hospitals—and maybe because it would just take a few more lines of type, college campuses?

This is going to be interesting for Legislature-watches. Do lawmakers continue the now signs-only no-concealed-carry ban, which gun lobbyists oppose? Or do they pony up the money for the security measures and hope that nothing bad happens until the state hospitals get their security measures in place?

Yes, it seems a little late to be considering which way to go and money for state hospitals is tight. And…of course, do workers at those state hospitals decide to get licensed to carry concealed weapons and decide they’d rather take those security door guard jobs estimated to pay $65,000 a year rather than lesser-paying jobs mopping floors and providing health-care services and feeding those hospital patients?

All of a sudden, this gun business hits lawmakers where they look first—at the budget.

See how this comes out…

Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at www.hawvernews.com

By JOHN P. TRETBAR

The debate over the Keystone Pipeline expansion returns to Nebraska, and a big crowd is expected this week for a hearing on the latest proposed route. The Nebraska Public Service Commission plans to take comments on the project during a daylong hearing Wednesday in York, Nebraska. Nebraska is the only place where the route TransCanada proposed has not been approved. The Lincoln Journal Star reported plans by supporters and opponents to bring large numbers of people to the hearings.

President Donald Trump signed executive orders aimed at expanding offshore oil drilling and reviewing land-use restrictions (national monument designations under the Antiquities Act) made by his predecessors. The orders allows expanded offshore oil drilling and upends public lands protections put in place in Utah, Maine and other states. Trump ordered his administration, led by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, to review where the US could allow offshore energy development, revoking rules put into place after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, and putting Arctic drilling back on the table.

A pair of big-oil earnings reports last week signaled some improvement in the entire industry. Chevron reported a $2.6 billion quarterly profit, and Reuters reported the company finally turned cash-flow positive, earning more than it spent. Exxon’s production fell during the first quarter, but the company reported its profits doubled to more than four billion. Reuters reported that cost cuts and asset sales provided a boost to both companies, but noted that the results highlighted the slowly improving dynamics for the energy industry. Chevron has sold more than $5 billion in assets since last year and is seeking buyers for its Canadian oil sands business. Both companies are bullish on the Permian Basin of Texas, where Exxon doubled its holdings in a deal worth $6.6 billion earlier this year.

Baker Hughes reported 870 active drilling rigs across the US last week, marking an increase of nine oil rigs and four targeting natural gas. The count in Canada was down 14 to 85 active rigs. Independent Oil & Gas Service reported 13 active rigs east of Wichita, down one, and 25 in western Kansas, down two for the week. They’re moving in rotary drilling tools, or preparing to, at sites in Barton and Russell counties.

There were just 24 permits filed for drilling at new locations across Kansas last week, including three in Russell County. There were seven new permits filed in eastern Kansas and 17 west of Wichita.

Independent Oil & Gas Service reported 19 new well completions across the state last week, 470 so far this year. There were 13 new completions east of Wichita and six in western Kansas, including one in Ellis County and one in Stafford County (a dry hole).

An Australian firm spudded its first oil well since the price plunge in Rooks County, Kansas. Empire Energy Group was expecting to reach 3,500 feet of total depth on its Thompson #9 well last week. By Monday (5/1), the company was waiting on completion tools, according to a drilling report by Independent Oil & Gas Service.

Oklahoma politics reached the boiling point last week. The Daily Oklahoman reported that for the second time in two days, Oklahoma Senate and House leadership abruptly canceled budget hearings that typically are used to roll out significant revenue-raising measures. At the heart of the matter was a GOP plan to raise the gasoline tax by six cents, which Democrats say would cost families an extra $150 at the pump each year. The Democrats would prefer to raise the state’s oil and gas production tax rate from 2 percent to at least 5 percent.

Oklahoma regulators and a pipeline operator initially blamed internal corrosion for the leak of about 450 barrels of crude oil from a pipeline on farmland northwest of Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission notified the federal government about the spill April 21, and blamed corrosion, according to reporting by KFOR-TV4. Since then the OCC told AP that corrosion was not to blame. The Kingfisher County farmer estimated he might have lost about 120 acres of pasture and wheat crop from the spill, but officials now say the spill was contained to about 70 acres of farmland, a country road, and a small creek. This is the 25th pipeline incident for Plains All American Pipeline in the state of Oklahoma in the last ten years or so, with 14 of those blamed on corrosion.

The restart of two key oilfields in Libya pumped more crude into an already bloated market. Libyan crude production was at 491,000 bpd on Thursday according to Reuters. But the OPEC member is targeting 800,000 bpd soon and upwards of 1.1 million barrels per day by August.

BP reported a major discovery in an existing field in the Gulf of Mexico, crediting a new computing algorithm and supercomputer to better interpret seismic data. The find, worth a potential $2 billion in recoverable oil, according to reporting by the Houston Chronicle. The discovery is in an undrilled section of BP’s Atlantis field in 7,000 feet of water 150 miles from New Orleans. It has been obscured by a salt dome, which distorts seismic waves that oil companies use to map features below the earth.

The world’s largest crude oil exporter cut pricing for June exports to Asia, as it fights to defend sales in its biggest regional market. Bloomberg reported Saudi Aramco raised prices to all other regions. The Saudis are losing market share as a result of OPEC’s agreement to curb supplies to bolster prices. A Middle East researcher said the winners in the fight for market share are Iran and Iraq.

Saudi Arabia says its security forces foiled an attempt to blow up an oil product distribution center near its border with Yemen. The state-run news agency said they spotted a remote-controlled boat laden with explosives. The kingdom has been at war with Yemen since 2015, leading a coalition against Shiite militants aligned with Iran. Saudi Aramco is building a 400,000 barrel-a-day refinery in the area.

The relaxing of nuclear sanctions against Iran, and implementation of that country’s new plan of action, prompted a big spike in Iran’s oil 2016 exports. According to the head of the Iran Oil Terminals Company, about 780 million barrels of crude oil hit international markets from the Kharg Oil Terminal last year, compared to 432 million barrels the year before. More than 800 oil tankers arrived at the terminal to receive crude in the year ended March 21, compared to 540 vessels during the previous year.

Beans and legumes are nutritional wonders disguised in lowly form. Dried beans and peas, collectively known as pulses or legumes, are storehouses of concentrated nutrients, especially protein and dietary fiber.

Their nutritional endowment has to do with the fact that legumes are seeds; they contain all that is needed to reproduce themselves, along with enough nutrients to sustain the new plant until it can draw its own nutrients from the soil.

Legumes are unique because, nutritionally, they belong to both the protein and vegetable food groups. They have no cholesterol, are high in fiber, and are naturally low in fat. They are also good sources of a variety of minerals and antioxidants. When included in the diet, legumes can help reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers. They are a good choice for people who must control blood sugar, and a good option for a meatless meal. They are so healthful, in fact, that Walk Kansas team members are challenged this week to make three recipes with beans for the “Bean Power Mini-Challenge.”

The protein in legumes, like most vegetable products, is “incomplete,” lacking in one or more essential amino acids. However, this deficiency can easily be overcome by serving beans with grains, nuts, or a small amount of lean meat. These foods provide the missing amino acids to complete the protein.

In addition to protein, legumes are well-stocked with complex carbohydrates, B vitamins, and minerals such as zinc, potassium, magnesium, calcium and iron. In fact, a cup of cooked beans supplies about 25 percent of the daily value for iron for women, 40 percent for men. Eating foods rich in vitamin C along with beans helps to increase the absorbability of the type of iron in beans.

Legumes are second only to wheat bran as the best plant source of dietary fiber. Both types of fiber, soluble and insoluble, are present. Soluble fiber has been shown to help lower blood cholesterol levels and control blood sugar; insoluble fiber increases bulk, alleviates some digestive disorders, and may help to prevent colon cancer.
Beans and legumes come in a few different shapes and a rainbow of colors. Archaeological evidence shows that they are among the oldest agricultural crops, dating back perhaps ten thousand years. They have been found in Egyptian tombs and are frequently referred to in the Bible.

With their rich nutritional value and long history, beans and legumes are a wise food buy– the cheapest protein source of all with no waste. They are easy to cook, tremendously versatile, and they keep well.

There are many ways to add legumes to your diet. At the salad bar, add garbanzo and kidney beans; add lentils to spaghetti sauce; include beans and lentils when making soup, stew, or a casserole. Enjoy hummus as a snack with vegetable dippers and whole-grain pita bread or crackers, and spread on a sandwich or wrap. Prepare legumes as a side dish, and explore how other cultures feature beans by trying an ethnic recipe. You’ll find other ideas in the 33-page booklet “Cooking With Beans and Legumes” on our website at www.ellis.ksu.edu under Health & Nutrition.

If you kitchen bean vocabulary is limited to chili and bean dip for chips, then it’s time to learn more about the powerful punch packed by this humble food.

Linda K. Beech is Ellis County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.

I’ve heard some folks refer to cattle as hamburger on the hoof. With this reference in mind, the past few weeks have had me salivating as I think of all the luscious jellies out there still on the bush. Yes, each of those fragrant bee-attracting blooms is a bit of jelly still on the plant, and I can’t wait to harvest the fruits and heat up the kitchen.

In the past few weeks, this year’s currant bushes sported lovely, fragrant yellow blooms that promise tasty currant jellies, while hundreds of chokecherry bushes blossomed out hinting of savory, rose-red bliss. Unfortunately, the sand hill plums flowered early enough that a frost damaged many of their blooms. Despite the damage, I hope to harvest some fruits for the jelly pot.

I’ve kept an eye on the wild grape vines nearby, but I can’t tell whether to develop a hankering for wild grape jelly or not. Grapes are difficult to predict because the plant can set little clusters, but dry conditions can shrivel them before they become raisins or you have to beat wild creatures to them. Birds love the little purple fruits, so it’s a contest to see whether I can pluck these from the vine before my feathered neighbors eat them first.

I did have currants last year, but I also had free range chickens that quickly dashed any hopes of beating them to the harvest. I’d eyeball the deepening color of the round fruits each day, and by the time they reached picking perfection, my 30 some walking egg factories had gobbled them. I felt lucky to find a handful to toss in my salads by the time the chickens finished their feasts. This year I am down to three chickens, so perhaps I’ll get a bowl full of currants for jelly making.

Because a combination of early blooms, and late frosts, and droughts have wiped out all hopes of summer jelly making in recent summers, I’m watched this year’s plants with an eagle eye. Barring insect or hail damage, I’m hoping this year’s jelly making prospects look good.

Currently, no pun intended, scores of empty jelly jars occupy my pantry. Each container is a silent testament to my failure to harvest a single chokecherry or sand hill plum in recent years. If there were wild grapes, I didn’t find enough to amount to a pot of simmering purple brew.

My goal this summer is to harvest bowls of currants, buckets of chokecherries and hopefully grapes, with a pan of sand hill plums added as each fruit ripens at the right time. I intend to create a little magic with some simple ingredients such as Sure Gel and sugar added to my boiling fruit juices. At exactly the right time, I ‘ll pour the resulting ambrosia into empty fruit vessels, seal them, and let them jell. Then I ‘ll stack the results in front of my kitchen window to let the sun shine through until it looks like a cathedral window instead of my normal glass.

After enjoying the visual effects, I’ll share the goodies with family and friends all through the winter to savor summer’s flavors on our toast and biscuits.

Native Kansan Karen Madorin is a local writer and retired teacher who loves sharing stories about places, people, critters, plants, food, and history of the High Plains.

Combining the Greek words for “knowledge” and “rule,” epistocracy is “government by the knowledgeable.” Philosopher David Estlund from Brown University introduced the term “epistocracy” in his 2008 book “Democratic Authority.”

Imposing an intelligence requirement in order to vote may seem heresy to Americans. But throughout history, voting has been restricted, just as we still limit voting to age 18 and above. We recognize that a minimal amount of intellectual maturity is required to cast an intelligent vote, although there is evidence that youngsters do not make judgements independent of their parents until their early 20s.

Of course, the U.S. is a republic or representative democracy, but not a pure democracy where individual voters decide every policy and regulation.

In ancient Greek city states, those pure democracies excluded women and slaves.

In “The Case Against Democracy,” author Caleb Crain points out how “…Plato thought to entrust power to carefully educated guardians.” And he notes that John Stewart Mill provided a “more practical suggestion…give extra votes to citizens with university degrees or intellectually demanding jobs.”

Few writers reflect on the fact that at the founding of the United States, voting was effectively restricted to the educated elite. Voters were mostly landed gentry who could afford to educate their sons, the future voters. Women and slaves were excluded.

Crain reminds us: “In the United States, elites who feared the ignorance of poor immigrants tried to restrict ballots. …in the next half century the tests spread to almost all parts of the country. They helped racists in the South circumvent the Fifteenth Amendment and disenfranchise blacks, and even in immigrant-rich New York a 1921 law required new voters to take a test if they couldn’t prove that they had an eighth-grade education. About fifteen per cent flunked. Voter literacy tests weren’t permanently outlawed by Congress until 1975….”

The idea of limiting voting to those with a specified level of education opens questions that the average American never ponders. But following the U.K. Brexit vote and then the U.S. Presidential election, a flurry of columnists rediscovered Estlund’s epistocracy concept.

Philosophical ethicist Jason Brennan examined the Brexit decision last June: “Political scientists have been studying voter knowledge for the past 60 years. The results are uniformly depressing. Most voters in most countries are systematically ignorant of even the most basic political facts….”

Brennan asks: “Should we be ruled by the few or the many? What this amounts to is the choice between being ruled by the smart but selfish or dumb but nice…. If a king holds all the power, his decisions matter. He will likely use that power in a smart way, but smart for himself, rather than smart for everybody. Suppose instead we give everyone power. In doing so, we largely remove the incentive and ability for people to use power in self-serving ways at the expense of everyone else. But, at the same time, we remove the incentive for people to use power wisely. Since individual votes count for so little, individual voters have no incentive to become well-informed or to process information with any degree of care. Democracy incentivizes voters to be dumb.” Brennan is a professor at Georgetown University and discusses much more in his new book “Against Democracy.”

While our elections have stimulated discussions of the shortcomings of our form of representative democracy, none of these discussions examined Singapore where the level of education is the highest in the world and their elected leaders have all been highly educated intellectuals.

Many of my overseas colleagues in Asian countries are thinking twice about our U.S. democracy where gridlock and government shutdowns have been recent realities that would be devastating in Asia.

Economist Joseph Schumpeter characterized our representative democracy as where “electorates normally do not control their political leaders in any way except by refusing to re-elect them.”

This flurry of critical discussions should challenge the superficial political education we provide most students. It is time for our teachers to help students discuss and explore both the strengths and weaknesses of our system.
Since it is not right to impose an intelligence test in order to vote, our only recourse is to promote “government by the knowledgeable” through more education, both before and after graduation.

I saw a study recently by Media Research Center where 89% of the news on TV networks was negative toward our President Donald Trump. Liberal media raises its ugly head trashing Trump non-stop. When Obama became president, the percentages were in reverse — proof there is bias and those percentages on both sides are totally unrealistic.

Don’t expect me to apologize for again criticizing liberals as with my previous letters. For every one writing critical of the left like mine, there are 10 critical of the right. There is no shortage of Trump haters, even in local media.

Rush Limbaugh has been claiming recently it’s not media that is an arm of the Democrat Party. No, it is the Democrat Party that is an arm of liberal media. Media, in other words, puts out the narrative that the Dems need to run with. Liberal media controls the Dem Party apparently.

Liberals don’t live in the real world. Their master is like the Pied Piper and chooses what they are to believe. Most is fake news. Most is not reality, lacking in facts, logic and even common sense at times. Those Obama lovers and “never Trumpers” live in a bubble.

Take Trump’s collusion with Russia to win the election for example. There is no evidence to support that claim, but it is impossible to debate most liberals on this issue. There are no facts to back up collusion but that makes no difference.

Try telling a liberal Obama’s eight years of failed agendas led to Democrats losing some 1,200 elections nationally and in states. Obama was a failure, but to a liberal, he was one of the best presidents ever in spite of increased poverty, racial animus, people out of work, international disaster, etc. And, let’s not forget the top 1% got richer during his presidency. No intellectually nonpartisan historian can possibly give the man positive marks.

Obama’s marquee legislation called Obamacare is imploding, yet liberals claim it is as popular as ever. Facts don’t matter to those on the left.

“Hands up, don’t shoot” of Black Lives Matter did not happen. Period. However, law enforcement throughout the country was given a black eye on just another liberal false narrative. Pun intended.

How in the world can anybody justify harboring illegals in what are called sanctuary cities. Defying federal law by these cities is insanity. At the expense of endangering their constituents, the powers to be, prefer harboring illegals (criminals included) as do most liberals. Common sense takes a hike.

How do open borders make us better as a country? The negatives (drugs, crime, jobs, dependency, etc.) far outweigh positives. Liberals claim we need to have compassion but in reality it’s to transform America having little or nothing to do with compassion. Just another example of losing touch with reality.

Try telling a liberal the massive migration of Muslim refugees is not good for this country. Muslims don’t assimilate and prefer Sharia law to our Constitution. Invasion within is their goal politically, culturally and religiously.

What about the disastrous Iranian nuclear treaty? Socialism versus capitalism? An overreaching government versus a less invasive one? Handouts versus a hand up? More versus fewer taxes? Man causes climate change. Please!

Who in their right mind believes liberals when they consistently call Republicans racists, bigots, homophobes, islamophobes and misogynists?

The height of liberal delusion was a recent column in which Leonard Pitts says: “The 12 weeks since Jan. 20 have seen more scandal, international incidents, incompetence, instability, lies and jaw-dropping embarrassments than the previous 12 years combined.” Pitts needs to see a shrink. He’s lost it and proves the whole point of my letter to the editor.

The list of “pie in the sky” and “off the wall” liberal untruths is endless and the differences between the left and grassroots Americans (especially rural Americans) are as big as it can possibly get. Never, since the Civil War, have we been this divided.

Personally, I maintain we can’t possibly make America great again with make-believe liberalism back in control of our government, and it’s clear why.

Les Knoll lives in Victoria and Gilbert, Ariz.

By RON WILSON
Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development

Bangkok, Thailand. A German businessman is building a home and wants mosquito control. He is buying an insect control system from an entrepreneur halfway around the globe.

Paul Friedrichs is the owner of United Mosquito and Fly Control in Mission, Kansas. He is the entrepreneur who took his system to Bangkok.

Paul credits much of his success to his rural upbringing. He grew up on a dairy farm near the unincorporated community of Bremen, Kansas, with a population of perhaps 60 people. Now, that’s rural.

“We grew up among German Lutheran dairy farmers,” Paul said. “It was a very close-knit community. It’s the kind of place where everybody has known everybody for seven generations and everybody has the hymnal memorized.”

Paul’s family, friends and neighbors provided a strong support system for him and his brother and two sisters. During his first eight years of schooling, he was in a class of five at the local Lutheran country grade school. He went on to Marysville High School and then K-State where he studied agricultural economics. Paul credits 4-H, FFA, and the K-State College of Agriculture for providing him tremendous opportunities.

“I wanted to travel internationally,” Paul said. Through FFA, he went to Russia and Hungary. He worked on an agricultural exchange student program between K-State and a university in Mexico, and then earned a Rotary Ambassadorial scholarship which paid for his post-graduate degree from the London School of Economics.

“It was a tremendous experience and the Rotarians were wonderful,” Paul said. After returning to Kansas, he worked as an international trade consultant for a time and did contract sales for an agronomic mineral company. He eventually moved to Kansas City, where he met and married his wife Liz. He was also approached about another business opportunity: United Mosquito and Fly Control. Ultimately, Paul bought the business.

“The broker said, `Oh, you’re an ag guy, so you’ll know all about this.’ Then I found out this business served the equine industry, and we never had horses growing up on the farm,” Paul said. “I had no clue.” But Paul took to the business and has grown it ever since.

Today, United Mosquito and Fly Control has two primary business components: Fly control for equine and livestock operations, and mosquito control for residential applications. “This is a top-of-the-line system and many of our customers are horse owners,” Paul said.

“We have an automated spray system that is installed in barns and it really works well,” he said. This system saves labor and provides great relief for horses.

It uses a natural insecticide that is derived from a special variety of the chrysanthemum flower. Organic options are also available.

The mosquito control system similarly allows a person to be out on their deck, for example, without the hassle and worry of biting mosquitos. United Mosquito and Fly Control serves customers around Kansas City from Omaha to Springfield, Missouri and Columbia, Missouri to Manhattan – and beyond.

“A German businessman with factories around the world was building a home in Bangkok,” Paul said. “He contacted us and eventually contracted to buy our system. I was able to take my dad and he helped me install the system over there.”

“My dad’s a typical former dairy farmer,” Paul said. “Ask him to take two week’s vacation to go overseas and he’ll say `no way.’ But tell him you need him to help you build this system overseas, and he’s willing to help.”

Paul is also renting and farming ground on the edge of urban Kansas City, where investors have purchased land for future growth and development. He has continued to grow the United Mosquito and Fly Control business in the Kansas City area. For more information, go to www.unitedkc.com.

It’s time to leave Bangkok, where an entrepreneur who is originally from rural Kansas is installing a mosquito control system from far around the globe. We salute Paul Friedrichs and others involved with United Mosquito and Fly Control for making a difference with entrepreneurship. They’re helping create a better quality of life, as well as happier horses.