Monday, October 13, 2008

Rotary forum

Both Kasha and Gene spoke to Ark City Rotary Club this afternoon. The contrasts in substance, and style, are striking. Kasha is very at ease and natural and speaks without notes. Gene is, as he pointed out, plain spoken. His answers were direct and several times he didn't take all the time given.

On the issues, it is clear that Kasha is still passionate about less-government and less and taxation, while Gene highlights issues that need government help or at least, action, education and health care.

The choice for voters, I think, will be clear.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is for me -- GO KASHA!

Anonymous said...

The person I know who was there said that Burr didn't really answer the questions he was asked. They said Kelley was a lot better than Burr, but neither impressed them too awful much with staying on the questions asked.

Bur said there were simple solutions to a certain problem, but never said what any of those simple solutions might be.

Kelley was the clear winner according to this person.

Curious said...

The differences have been clear for some time.

Don't mistake plain spoken for anything other than that. Mr. Burr relates well to his potential constituents and will work hard to learn the specifics of his new duties in the legislature. Most of the solutions are simple ones. All it takes is courage and a commitment to principles and not a commitment to a political future.

Each offers something markedly different.

Ms. Kelley's loyalty is clearly to the KRA and voting their party line in return for future support for higher aspirations. We're critically aware of where the KRA value structure has landed us over the last decade.

It's time for a return to democratic leadership.

Anonymous said...

THat is a giant load of hogwash. KRA might appreciate Kelley's votes but there are NO "ties" other than the ones curious makes up.

Anonymous said...

"Hogwash"

Now that is a great word!

Anonymous said...

I think the KRA would be surprised to learn that they have controlled the State for the past decade.

Anonymous said...

How can Burr do anything for us in Topeka when he can't even speak without notes Sally has written for him? His effectiveness will also be lessened by the burden of his physical limitations. I seriously doubt if he could stand up the grueling schedule in Topeka.

And, what will he stand FOR? He hasn't said exactly what he stands for or what he would do, but I'm willing to bet it would involve MORE TAXES!

Anonymous said...

I think you all under estimate Mr. Burr. Of course he has notes. He hasn't spent four years in Topeka learning the correct lingo or spent four years being exposed to all the garbage that legislators have thrown at them.

He has good ideas and will represent us well. Can't stand up to the physical demands? That is a cheap shot considering that Kasha Kelly Magolious has a new baby. How can she stand up to those demands. If the people on the blog can mention Mr. Burr's wife why are the reference to Kasha's husband always deleted?

Kasha is a good person but it is disappointing to watch people sling mud and act like Mr. Burr has a foot in the grave or is not just as good. Let us decide who to vote for on their view of the issues. If Kasha wins she will continue to do well but I think Mr. Burr can be just as effective.

Anonymous said...

Kasha never needed someone to write her notes or feed her ideas. She has always stood on her own and for the people.

As for having a child and being able to fulfill her duties I would say she has never faultered prior to nor since the birth of her child. She has proven she can do the job and does the job.

Anonymous said...

All politicians get fed ideas or should by their constituents and need to listen to those ideas.

Yes, she will be able to handle both responsibilities but Mr. Burr is just as capable and making hims sound too old is cheap. He is younger than McCain so Republicans can not have it both ways.

If he had not used notes and misquoted he would have been blasted for that as well. He may not be your favorite candidate or mine but think we need to have some discussion of issues.

Anonymous said...

We as Republicans are more than willing to spend all the time you want discussing issues? What does Burr stand for and what can he possibly to follow through on his ideas?

Anonymous said...

Hear the man speak for himself-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtOTFLsbzMQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp6CkwJN51I&feature=related

Anonymous said...

I'd rather have Kasha, who is a strong woman, than Burr, who is a weak man with his wife doing all the string pulling. Why didn't she just run... it's obvious she is the brains of the outfit, and he is but the mouthpiece.

Anonymous said...

After the school district invested thousands of dollars and hours of work to get equal funding for all schools Kasha voted against it. Why could she not support our local schools and the plan to insure they got equal dollars. She basically snubbed the work of the district and the people who were in the trenches fighting to get equal funding. This is not the only time this has happened. She tries to do a great job but sometimes think she forgets to check with all entities of her district that have important interests and interests that have worked hard to make sure our district is equally funded. I know she expressed some noble reason to oppose the funding but the schools here knew the realities and she ignored those that not only teach but also need the funds for survival. It seemed she really didn't care about the local schools and they should have been supported by her. It seemed our local needs should have been considered before the negative vote. Will this direct slap to a local issue happen again?

Anonymous said...

I don't see Kasha's voting against school funding as a slap on anyone. I think it was a difficult choice, but the right one. She's over-the-top pro-education; however, she is not impressed with the way schools are run and all the waste. Like many, I think she believes schools should be run in a more business like, cost effective manner.

I've heard many teachers say that huge funds are spent for programs that don't work, so the next year $$$ is spent on another program that still doesn't work. And, teachers complain they can't really choose their own materials and teach creatively so as to better interest more children in learning.

Think about i.

Anonymous said...

She voted to continue to allow other school districts to receive a higher per pupil reimbursement than we get here and I have thought about it every time I get my teacher paycheck.

Her vote was politically motivated and she overlooked the time (years) that our district and other districts worked to prove that state funding was inequal. Why should some districts receive more state education dollars than her own district? She had the opportunity to rectify the situation but she chose to believe others and not those locally that knew the realities of the funding laws.

This had nothing to do with wasteful spending but with what was rightfully due to the citizens of our community - her district. Waste is an issue in all phases of government but on this one she voted to keep her party happy and overlooked the constituents in her district and let other districts in the state receive a disproportionate share of state aid. That is not a statement on educational spending but on how she feels about the educators in her hometown.

Anonymous said...

"Hear the man speak for himself-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtOTFLsbzMQ&feature=related"

Thanks. didn't know that was there.
I missed the forum.
First time I heard or saw Mr. Burr.
To be honest....I'm not impressed.

don't know the man, just my opinion

Anonymous said...

If you are so convinced that Burr's wife is the one running the campaign should we be convinced that city commissioner Scott Margolious is running his wife's Kasha Kelly's campaign? I didn't see Sally even at the Rotary meeting so where do you get that reference and why do you keep making that such an issue. I thought it was good that spouses support each other.

Anonymous said...

Apparently you have never interacted with Scott and Kasha.


If you had, you would know who is running her campaign. There would be no question.

Anonymous said...

My impression that Gene's wife is the brain's behind things is that:
1) Many have complained about her being the verbal (and negative) one when the Burrs came to their door.
2) Gene's most intelligent in written word; he gets pretty weak whan he's off the paper. Those who know them well say Sally does all the writing and researching for him.

Anonymous said...

First of all, I think it is silly to try and vilify someone who has the strong support of a spouse in their political aspirations. That is equally afforded to both candidates. Please find some legitimate negative criticism. The spouse support/involvement thing is an asset.

As for the how to's discussed, I do not know that I would concur that money is spent on programs that do not work is the best identifier of what is wrong with education.

Look at the model of publiuc design. It is the one place where highly qualified, educated people's talents are squandered under a menagerie of administrivia.

A huge reason why we do not get the bang for the buck in education is because every program is built out FIRST with a new layer of administration and huge administrator slalaries and overhead.

Across this state and this nation, we launch bidding wars to lure in administrators to "save the system" while pinching pennies and metering out increase in pay for the professionals in the classroom.

My goodness, we are about to spend $10mm on a football stadium that will serve less than 10% of the HS student body (football soccer etc) while we are forcing our classroom teachers to beg for a ream of paper to copy lessons for students or to send ntes home to parents.

What's wrong with education?? $36mm for buildings and stadiums while asking parents to bring tissue and requiring teachers to beg for a $3.50 ream of printer paper.

Whose educational solution is that?
The first half million dollars of salaries in 470 go to Central office Administrators which is more than the collectvie salaries for all certified teachers in two elementary school buildings.

Whose educational solution is that? Is there any wonder that there is teacher shortage and a glut of educational administrators coming out of colleges.

Whose educational solution is that?

(undeited for spelling or grammar but not passion on the educ platform.)

Anonymous said...

Geez. I called and talked to her. She thinks teachers should have competitive pay and not have to scrimp for paper and other supplies. She said every entity has waste, and that she agreed the funding formula was unblananced but the vote didn't just balance the forumula. She also thinks the formula needs redone because it restricts funding for schools like ours. How simple. Phoned her and now understand.

Anonymous said...

I was talking to a teacher tonight who informed the salary scale is set by the LOCAL school board not by the state. We get a certain amount per student. It was noted how top-heavy our district is in the administration office; personnel cuts at the top and watching other areas where there is waste would go a long way toward helping teachers (and, therefore, their students)! He said this is so in many school districts.

Anonymous said...

One of Mr. Burr's publications says something about "not being burdened by a job and family", I think the issues that have surfaced about his health would be more apt to be a burden than those things. Did having a family "burden" the Mr. & Mrs. Burr when they were building their careers?

Anonymous said...

Charles, I agree TOTALLY with you about where the spending in the education organization has gone wild.

As for spousal support for candidates, I agree that is good and admirable. I think the problem we see with Mrs. Burr supporting Mr. Burr is that it seems she's running the show -- not just following his lead and helping him. She can't sit beside him in the legislature and speak for him, so we may not get strong representation if he is elected.

The majority of people in the area are quite aware of Kasha's strong leadership and her passion to represent them well.