 |
The Kansas Meadowlark |
|
The Kansas Meadowlark |
|
October 30, 2004 |
|
|
|
Dr. Tiller hijacks education issue: |
|
|
|
Weak Kansas laws allow political money
to flow secretly, especially in the week or so before an election.
In August the Kansans Meadowlark asked "who's behind the mysterious Kansans for a Moderate Government PAC"? This mystery PAC, which surfaced in late July after the primary election reporting period, sent mailings in at least four state senate races, in the August primary. But the group had only raised $250. which was all from one individual, Jack Ranson, a well-known political activist in Wichita. The Lawrence Journal-World reported "Kansans left in dark about political donors" in late August and mentioned Kansans for a Moderate Government, but has not followed up on this story yet. Unknown to the public -- until now -- was that the biggest political money story from 2002 was connected to this 2004 mystery PAC. In 2002 Dr. George Tiller of Wichita spent nearly $300,000 to influence Kansas politics. Few newspapers reported much about the story. The Lawrence Journal-World broke the story, and a few newspapers, like the Wichita Eagle, reported the story. The Eagle even opined in 2003 that better disclosure before elections was needed in Kansas. The Kansas City Star barely reported the story and the Topeka Capital Journal refuses to print anything about the secret 2002 political money. See this page for info about Tiller's attempt to buy the 2002 race for Kansas Attorney General. Why shouldn't Dr. Tiller try channeling secret money again in 2004, since many in the Kansas press refuse to print anything about this secret money, or comment about his influence in Kansas politics? Dr. Tiller's ProKanDo PAC contributed $38,330 to Republicans for a Moderate Government with the first contribution made on July 23, 2004, which was the day after the end of the reporting period in July. This undoubtedly was done intentionally to hide this money from voters in the August primary contests. The ProKanDo modus operandi is to channel money from one PAC to another PAC in the days before an election. This paralleled the way ProKanDo channeled money through the Kansans for Democratic Leadership PAC in 2002 to obfuscate its source. Dr. Tiller and ProKanDO can easily get away with this because most of the Kansas press ignore his political money and influence. Here is part of the report recently filed with the Kansas Secretary of State's Office: |
Who is Jerry Busch, the single individual contributor during this
reporting period to Kansans for a Moderate Government? Mr. Busch is
a 72-year-old Republican from Wichita, who has contributed $250 to the
ProKanDO PAC. According
to Open Secrets Mr. Busch has made these political contributions in
recent years:
Jerry Busch was one of the underwriters for a ProKanDo PAC fund raising event held at the home of Rosie and Mark Cassell in Wichita on June 5, 2004. Here is the complete list of underwriters for that event:
The ProKanDo flyer for this event said this about Dr. Tiller:
The Lawrence ProKanDo fundraiser, held on May 20 at the home of Tess Banion and George Wanke, had this group of Sunflower underwriters and host committee members:
Political notables at this Lawrence fund-raiser included:
At that time the ProKanDo invitation said exactly what it was planning to do, so perhaps none of this political money should be surprising:
In August all known mailings by Kansans for a Moderate Governemnt were about the issues of education and the environment. See this page for the mailings supporting Lisa Benlon against Nick Jordan from August in State Senate District 10. The third mailing on that page from August is nearly identical to a recent mailing in support of Democrat Randy Brown in the State Senate District 31 race: |
|
The issue of education explains why at a recent ProKanDo
fundraiser in Mission Hills, Republican for Moore
education leader John Martellaro was in attendance. Mr. Martellaro,
a Howard Dean supporter, leads a small group, Kansas
Families United for Public Education, that gets considerable media
exposure on the education issue. Dr. Tiller, ProKanDo, and education
groups now appear to be on the same page politically.
Is anything else known about Kansans for a Moderate Government? Only in the last day has anything been reported by the press: The Oct 30 Winfield Courier reported this about State Senate Distrct 32 race (incumbent Democrat, Greta Goodwin against Republican challenger Ray La Boeuf):
This was also reported by the Ark City Traveler. The Leavenworth Times reports that Senate District 3 candidate, Democrat candidate Jan Justice received these related contributions:
The Republican challenger in the Senate District 3 race is Roger Pine. So does Dr. Tiller have a new interest in supporting education and environment issues in Kansas? Or, has Dr. Tiller hijacked the education issue for his personal agenda? Since the Kansas press is unlikely to report this story, especially before the election, please E-mail these details to friends that may be interested. The Kansas Meadowlark welcomes additional information from the public about other mailings by Kansans for a Moderate Government. |
|
|
| efg |
|
K a n s a s M e a d o w l a r k @ e f g 2 . c o m |