TheChat: Did Kansas legislators place politics ahead of state’s financial interests?

Good morning.

▪ “Legislators did not want to reduce the cost of government.” — Dave Trabert, president of the conservative Kansas Policy Institute think tank, criticizing state lawmakers for lacking the courage to cut expenses when they cut taxes in 2013.

A one-time 8.5 percent cut in state government expenditures would have done the trick, Trabert said at a forum. That would have ended concerns over budget deficits and future tax increases. Lawmakers, though, had said such a dramatic cut would have had dire political consequences.

▪ “We’ve given it to law enforcement, and we’re waiting to hear from them.” — Missouri state Sen. Kurt Schaefer, a candidate for attorney general, announcing that he had closed his Capitol office because of a death threat.

Schaefer, a Columbia Republican, believes the threats stem from his anti-abortion work. Last weekend, a caller to his general Senate phone line issued the threat. (link courtesy of johncombest.com).

▪ “It is prudent to pause the admittance of refugees from Syria ... to ensure we are preventing terrorists from entering our country.” — Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster siding with Republicans in calling for blocking the entry of Syrian refugees into the state.

Koster is a Democrat and a candidate for governor next year. Critics said Koster and the Republicans were using the refugees to seek political advantage.

▪ “I’m not unhappy.” — Donald Trump on Bobby Jindal’s decision to drop out of the GOP presidential race.

Jindal is a good man, Trump said, but had been nasty to Trump on the campaign trail.

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 9:46 PM.