Brownback roadmap is missing the directions

By Rod Haxton, editor

I’ve been thinking about starting a “Yellow Brick Road Tour” across Kansas in which I outline my goals should I ever be elected governor.
You could call it a “chicken in every pot” dream, but this is Kansas so why not fit the stereotype. My five-point plan calls for:
•Affordable health insurance for everyone.
•Free college or technical school education that doesn’t put a student and their family tens of thousands of dollars into debt.
•A sound infrastructure that includes highways, bridges and transmission lines for wind power.
•Access to free health care for everyone through the age of 18.
•Providing every child with a cuddly puppy or a furry kitten.
Oh, wait, it seems that Republican gubernatorial candidate Sam Brownback has beat me to the punch. He’s announced his own “Roadmap for Kansas” which includes five “measurable goals” that are:
•Increasing the state’s average net personal income beyond $34,500 a year.
•Increasing private sector employment.
•Increasing the percentage of fourth graders who read at grade level.
•Increasing the percentage of high school graduates in college or who are career ready.
•Decreasing the number of children living in poverty.
My plan and that being touted by Brownback are similar . . . well, except for the puppy and kitten thing. But what they have most in common is we don’t offer how we plan to accomplish either one.
I used to think it was the job of our leaders (i.e., governors) not just to identify goals, but to get their hands dirty with the details to attain those goals. This past political season has taught me otherwise. Republicans only have to promise to cut taxes, balance the budget and create more jobs - not explain how it will be done.
“The governor’s job is to lead, not to dictate,” offers Brownback.
Heck, I’ll go along with that. I want lower taxes, more income, a better education for my kids, streets without potholes, access to quality and cheap health care, and cheap utility rates (especially with the current heat wave). Since I’ve identified my wish list, that apparently qualifies me for a leadership role in the GOP.
Conservative Republicans have done a great job of being a little fuzzy when it comes to details. No, let’s make that a lot fuzzy.
Brownback, for example, has declared the state’s school finance formula is “broken” and should be fixed, but is not specific on what changes he would like to see. He wants to focus state funding on “classroom instruction” and “promote innovation.” He also wants a “unified accounting” of how schools use state funds. All of which says absolutely nothing.
He promises to work with legislators to “reform the school finance formula” which should scare the bejeepers out of anyone living west of Salina.
Since Brownback’s roadmap is lacking in details, let’s take a moment to fill in a few for him.
•Observe that Brownback calls for raising “average” net personal income to $34,500. Which means that if one person is making $200,000 a year and another is making $20,000 a year, the average is $110,000.
But if that person making $200,000 sees an increase to $300,000 and the other person’s salary remains constant, the “average” still increases to $160,000, even though the person at the bottom end of the salary scale saw no improvement in their living status.
As a U.S. Senator, and an advocate of extending the Bush tax cuts, this is the type of economic philosophy that Brownback stands for. Higher “average” income doesn’t mean a higher standard of living for the majority of Kansans.
•Conservative Republicans, along with their mouthpieces such as Americans for Prosperity and the Kansas/US Chamber of Commerce, are against higher taxes, even when earmarked for education. The right wing in Kansas, of which Brownback is a leading member, declares that higher taxes chase away industry.
Is it our goal to become a third-world haven for those industries looking for cheap taxes and cheap employment? Or would we rather declare that any industry locating in Kansas will find a highly qualified work force and an excellent infrastructure?
The latter would appear to be a win-win for industry and our hope of retaining our best and brightest.
Brownback says if his administration succeeds in improving the state’s economy and education, there will be “more resources for health care and the people with needs.”
How astute. And to think, it only took a lifetime in state government for Brownback to make this observation.
Leadership is more than laying a map on the table and telling everyone, “Here’s where I want to go. Now get me there.” Real leaders can offer specifics on how to improve job opportunities, increase income - not just the average, but for everyone - how to improve the quality of education and, along the way, the quality of life for everyone.
Filling in the details is messy work.
Until Brownback does that, he’s offering an illusion minus the tin man, Dorothy with her ruby red slippers and the all-knowing wizard.