Next week, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) will be holding its annual meeting in San Diego. ALEC is a right-wing, big business-friendly organization founded by the Koch Brothers to generate boilerplate legislation and urge its introduction into state legislatures around the country.

MainStream wishes you a happy and safe Independence Day weekend.

Please commemorate our country's founding by celebrating our Freedom. Not the "freedom" proposed by the extremists here in Kansas and elsewhere, wherein they are "free" to impose their opinions on all Americans, but rather the freedom envisioned by the founders of this country, where each citizen is created equal, and endowed with the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

This week, Governor Brownback signed the bills that will fund state government for the next year... oh, wait, that will almost fund state government. The bills he was given by the Kansas Legislature fell roughly $50 million short, so he expects to trim that as the year progresses.

Taxes raised on all Kansans—except 333,000 business owners—under the guise of averting a self-made financial crisis. The Kansas House, followed the Senate, and kicked the $400 million can down the road to next year – on the backs of Kansas children, working class, elderly and disabled.

The long fight in the House may have ended this morning at 3:30, but there are House members who can hold their heads up high today. Some are our stalwart moderates, some are steadfast conservatives who stuck to their principles. Whatever their reasons, they did not bow to the threats and pressure, and for that, we count them heroes.

At 3:30 in the morning today, the Kansas House of Representatives passed a tax bill. It took 23 days of extra session, almost a million dollars in overtime pay, and Governor Brownback threatening them twice. The bill, which still needs to be passed by the Kansas Senate, but looks very much like a bill they already passed once, is not good for Kansas.

If you were not paying attention, you might think the Kansas Legislature had just gone home. This week’s activities involved a long working weekend (for the Senate, as the House basically told the Senate they could go first) during which they agreed on very little, but managed to hammer out a tax bill that was then stripped for procedural reasons to send it to a conference committee. Basically, they worked and made speeches and stayed up late and then decided to erase all of that. That weekend of lost work cost the taxpayers $85,000.

This is the blog post you share with your friends and family. Why? Because this is the post that will convince them that Kansas needs to change, and that they need to get in the game to help bring that change.

Deficit remains
No ownership of problem
No resolve in sight