The Mid-America Regional Council created Smart Port, a private, non-profit agency and is part of a public/private partnership. Smart Port has proposed that a Mexican Customs Facility, covering approximately six acres, be built in the West Bottoms area in Kansas City, Missouri. In September 2005 Kansas City, Missouri secured a $3.1 million loan to construct the facility. The loan is to be repaid with user fees. This will be a joint customs inspection facility. Reciprocal concessions were given to the United States Customs Inspectors in Mexico.

Connected to the this facility is the Intermodal Transport System in Gardner, Kansas, Intelligent Transport System, Scout Cameras and Amber Alert Systems. ITS can track freight world-wide.

Problems with the Mexican Customs Facility are varied and troubling. The current property is under lease until 2024. A lease buyout could cost $10 million. The sovereignty issue has not been resolved. Although increase in immigration is denied, this area would be “Mexican friendly” and considered an economic cluster. This will be one of ten economic cluster areas in the United States that will facilitate the global economy.

The U.S. Government is strongly leaning toward amnesty for illegal immigrants currently in the country. States can take action on their own by passing laws and ordinances regulating illegal immigrants. China is also making inroads into the country. China owns the MG automobile plant in Ardmore, Oklahoma. There are an unknown number of Chinese in the country illegally.

For more information, go to www.america2050.org. Joyce Mucci can be contacted at jmuccie@aol.org.

“Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West” was shown at the Glenwood Theater at 7:00pm on January 11, 2007. The co-sponsors of the event were the Sunflower Republican Women’s Club of Johnson County, Zenith Booster Club, and the Jewish Republican Club of Johnson County.

Chris Stigall, Talk Show Host of KCMO 710 introduced the movie. Dr. Ace Allen moderated the question and answer period after the movie.

Movie-goers were impressed with this very important movie and feedback was extremely positive. Another showing may be in the future as interest seems to be very high..

For details of the movie, click here.

For the movie site, click here.

The FairTax:

• Abolishes the IRS
• Closes all loopholes and brings fairness to taxation
• Ensures Social Security and Medicare funding
• Brings transparency and accountability to tax policy
• Allows American products to compete fairly
• Reimburses the tax on purchases of basic necessities
• Enables retirees to keep their entire pension
• Enables workers to keep their entire paycheck
• A lively question and answer period followed.

September 20, 2007 -- GOOD TURN OUT FOR THE REPUBLICAN ROUND-UP
On September 20, 2007 about seventy Republicans enjoyed a picnic supper at Quivira Park. It was a beautiful, balmy evening, and the social hour was lively as friendships were renewed and everyone caught up on news. Elected officials in attendance were:

Representative Dr. Jeff Colyer, 48th District
Representative Ben Hodge, 49th District
Senator Nick Jordan, 10th District
Representative Mike Kiegerl, 43rd District
Senator Julia Lynn, 9th District
Representative Sheryl Spalding, 29th District
Senator Dennis Wilson, 37th District
Commissioner Doug Wood, Johnson County Board of County Commissioners
Commissioner John Segale, Johnson County Board of County Commissioners
Scott Schwab, Chairman of Johnson County Republican Party

Also in attendance:

Steve Howe, Candidate for Johnson County District Attorney

Heidi introduced Jack Cashill, author of “What’s the Matter with California”, his latest book. The book will be released in October. Jack reported on what led up to his writing the book and a brief synopsis of his travels in California to gather research for the book.

A drawing was held for an autographed, advance copy of the book. Tracy Thomas won the drawing and a notation saying it was the very first book in circulation.

The speaker for the evening, Chris Stigall, KCMO 710 Morning Talk Show Host explained the Fairness Doctrine. Although the legislation was defeated this year, Democrats are still anxious to see Talk Radio quieted. Chris reported that Talk Radio is an American invention and allows Conservatives a voice in the media. The Mainstream Media and NPR are megaphones for the Democrats. Talk Radio allows a free exchange of ideas and is the only place that allows everyday citizens to voice their opinions and concerns. The Internet is quickly gaining ground with another place Conservatives can express their views. Conservatives need to be aware that the Fairness Doctrine legislation can return in another legislative session.

Chris announced that KCMO 710 was sponsoring “5 Behind the Mic”. Laura Ingraham, national talk show host, will be starting her book tour of “Power to the People” in Kansas City. Rush Limbaugh endorsed Laura’s book on his radio talk show. The event will be held at the Uptown Theater on September 18, 2007. Also on the program will be national radio talk show hosts Rusty Humphries and Dave Ramsey. Chris Stigall will host the evening. Chris presented tickets to the event to all those present that wished to attend.

Jack’s witty and engaging story telling style kept everyone enthralled. In relating the facts and stories in his well researched book Jack uses the metaphor of cultural “plates” clashing, just as the earth’s plates clash and cause earthquakes along the many fault lines throughout California. While the earthquakes can cause physical damage, the results of the cultural clashes have consequences that have changed the culture of California into a dysfunctional disaster. The subtitle of the book, “Cultural Rumbles from the Golden State and Why he Rest of Us Should be Shaking” relate how those clashes have reverberated across the nation, changing culture and traditions that have effected us all. Jack’s profiles of notorious figures in recent history tell the story of those cultural shifts which the media and Californians have cast a blind eye to the obvious, or ABETTO. The disintegration of the family and fatherless ness with the help of no fault divorce, secular scams and humanism replaced traditional religious belief, and hard core environmentalism are a few of the issues Jack addresses and illustrates the consequences.

One only has to substitute America for California in the title, and the results would be the same. We have all been shaken. Are we engaging in ABETTO?

Identity theft can be prevented by:

Using a gel pen when writing checks. Gel cannot be washed and checks altered.
Secure your personal information in your home.
Guard your social security number.
Destroy all documents that contain personal information before putting it in the trash.
Do not put out-going mail in your unsecured home mailbox.
Demand businesses protect your information.
Do business with reputable firms.
Be vigilant when on the internet.
Carry only the information and cards on your person that you will immediately need.
Contact the Direct Marketing Association Mail Preference Service to stop junk mail.
Review your credit report annually. One free annual report is provided annually.

Go to www.annualcreditreport.com.

Identity thieves get your personal information by:

Stealing wallets and purses.
Stealing your mail which includes your bank account and credit card information, pre-approved credit card offers, new checks and tax information.
Completing a change of address form at the post office to divert your mail to another address.
Finding information in your home.
Physically stealing information from businesses, bribing employees who have access to files, or hacking into electronic files.

How identity thieves use your personal information:

Thieves call credit card issuers posing as you to change your mailing address. Using that information they use your credit card to run up charges. Because of the time lag, it may take some time before you even realize the theft.
Thieves steal your name, social security number and date of birth to open new credit accounts. When the bills are delinquent it is reported on your credit report.
Thieves use information to open new bank accounts and write bad checks.
Thieves file for bankruptcy under your name.
Thieves buy cars by taking out auto loans in your name.

Billions of dollars is lost by businesses and individuals annually. It takes 330 hours to restore a lost identity. Should you be the victim of identify theft, react immediately by:

Notify your bank
Notify your credit card companies to impose a credit alert
Notify your employer if your employer ID is lost or stolen
File a police report
File a report with the FTC. Obtain the “tool box” to restore your credit. The FTC has instituted laws that make suppliers responsible for safeguarding your information.

It is best to be cautious and aware. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Protect your identity.

January 10 - Kansas Caucus Preview
The meeting room at Smokehouse BBQ was almost filled to capacity as Republicans throughout the area arrived to hear plans for the Kansas Republican Caucus which will be held on February 9, 2008. Christian Morgan, Executive Director of the Kansas Republican Party announced the presidential candidates who have filed for the Kansas caucus. They are Rudy Guiliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Fred Thompson. Campaign staff from all the candidates have been contacting the office as candidate staff prepare plans for caucus attendance. Also, caucus sites have been selected throughout the state.

Christian explained that only registered Republican voters can participate, ID will be required, and voting must be in person. Voters must be checked in by approximately 10:00 AM. Corrie Kangas, Political Director, went into detail about the caucus process and and answered questions after her presentation. Information about the caucus can be found at http://ksgopcaucus.org.

Scott Schwab, Chairman of the Johnson County Republican Party, announced the four sites for the 3rd District. They are Matt Ross Community Center in Overland Park, West Glenn Theater in Shawnee, Blue Valley NW High School in Overland Park, and Gardner Edgerton High School in Gardner. Scott encouraged people to volunteer to help with various duties at a caucus site. Volunteers can sign up by sending an email to Scott at Scott@scottschwab.com. Scott stated that the Johnson County Republican Party website would be updated soon with more information. Since there is a possibility that the nomination will not be decided by Feb 5th Super Tuesday, Kansas delegate votes will be valuable to the candidates.

February 16, 2008 -- Eggs and Issues
Sunflower Republican Club “Eggs and Issues” meeting on February 16, 2008 had a full house with about fifty people in attendance. After a great breakfast the legislators in attendance informed us of the important issues being considered in this session of the Legislature.

Majority Leader Ray Merrick reported that as week six begins on February 18, 2008, the top issues to date are the Budget, Immigration and Budget Transparency and Energy. Legislators are keeping a close eye on the budget and are striving to keep it at a 5% increase. The budget transparency act will cost $4000, not $40,000 as reported. The Transparency Act will allow everyone to keep tract of the budget on-line. The Senate Immigration Bill will be heard on February 27th. The House will also introduce immigration legislation. Ray surmised that after six years in the Legislature, it appears "the squeaky wheel gets the grease” and the interest of the people is not being heard.

Senator Julia Lynn stated that she would be supporting the energy bill. This is a $3.6 billion investment in the state of Kansas. Many businesses have contacted her in regard to the statewide smoking ban stating it will harm their business. She prefers this issue be handled locally. Julia stated that she supports the bill that will forbid tax money being used for lobbyists. Now taxpayer money funds lobbyists who then lobby the Legislature for more tax money. Julia commented that she received many emails from Democrats blaming the Legislature for not funding a primary.

Senator Karin Brownlee stated that the resulting chaos in the Democratic Caucuses became evident when it shows they could not count and were ill prepared. Karin supports the Energy Bill as it will be a huge investment and will result in revenue when the energy is sold out of state. Karin related that it appears regulators are not upholding state law in regards to Credit Union issues. Disaster Relief has requested funding, but the bills will be combined so the whole issue can be addressed more efficiently. Senator Susan Wagle from Wichita and Karin will address the ineptness of the Board of Healing Arts in the Commerce Committee.

Representative Mike Kiegerl recognized the hard work and leadership of Ray Merrick. Mike is co-sponsoring Lance Kinzer’s Right to Life bill. Mike has concerns about the Parole Board doing their duty correctly and will address that issue. Mike supports the Transparency Bill and the Energy Bill in support of the Holcomb Plant. Wind power and other alternative sources are inefficient and expensive. It appears France has it right by creating 80% of their energy from nuclear sources.

Representative Lance Kinzer announced his bill to address the lack of adherence to Federal Law by holding closed hearings unnecessarily. This encourages corruption when access to information is denied to the public. Kansas is the only state whose appointments to the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court are largely controlled by the Kansas Bar Association. Lance is purposing a bill that will allow the nominees be subjected to approval by the Senate and the House. Lance reported his concerns about immigration and how the issue must be addressed with regard to rule of law. Kansas can now try to address this issue. Lance related a story that reflects political/government mindset. Government seems to repeat actions over and over again rather than correct mistakes and periodically review laws to see if they are needed and are doing as initially intended.

A lively question and answer period followed the remarks by the Legislators.

The Sunflower Republican Club thanks all the legislators who attended as they covered the issues that were of interest and concern to all. Unfortunately some legislators were not in attendance because of illness or last minute conflicts that precluded their presence.

Alan stated that the vision for AFP is greater economic growth, opportunity and prosperity through strong ethical foundations, government restraint, and private sector productivity and competition. The mission for AFP is to educate citizens about economic policy; mobilize citizens to achieve fiscal and regulatory restraint by state governments and a return of the federal government to its Constitutional limits.

AFP submitted its “Commonsense Budget Proposal” for fiscal year 2009. This proposal analyzes the past Kansas budgets and policies and proposes a new budget with policy changes that can be adopted for the future fiscally responsible budgets. The forward written by Dr. Barry Paulson begins, “At no other time in Kansas history have state and local governments imposed such a heavy tax burden on Kansas residents. This year, state and local taxes will capture 11.2 percent of the state’s income.” In the five state region only Nebraska has a higher taxes than Kansas. The sharp increase in taxes and debt have resulted in the deterioration in the state’s business tax climate. Again only Nebraska has a lower rating than Kansas. Although the income per capita has risen steadily in the last 26 years, it is still below the national average.

The fatal flaw underlying the structural deficit in the Kansas sate budget is uncontained growth in state spending. Over the last three decades, the growth in state spending has far outpaced the growth in personal income. Over that period, the compound annual rate of growth in expenditures from all funds increased 8 percent per year and the share of personal income increased from 9.1 to 12.5 percent.

The nine “R”s of fiscal responsibility are reform entitlement programs, require more user responsibility, redirect spending to higher-priority uses, reorganize state government, revive free enterprise, restore civil society and remove advocacy, waste and race-based programs, reshape the state-local government relationship and reduce biases in the tax code. This gives the Legislature the blue print to begin work. Copies of the proposed budget were available to those in attendance. Also this brochure can be obtained by calling AFP 785-354-4237 or down-loaded at http://americansforprosperity.org/ks/2008/AFP_Model_Budget.pdf

Mr. Cobb presented an information-laden power point that revealed how individual state programs have grown over the years out of proportion with the growth in population of those specific programs.

Mr. Cobb encouraged attendance at the “Defending the American Dream Summit” which will be held in Topeka on March 19, 2008.

April 10, 2008 -- Judy Morrison, Rob Olson, Arlen Siegfreid, Jeff Colyer
After a grueling end of the session, Majority Whip Rob Olson, District 26, Judy Morrison, District 23, Arlen Seigfreid, District 15, and Jeff Colyer, District 48 came to the Sunflower Republican Club meeting on April 10, 2008. The representatives all were in agreement that this was a difficult session especially with the budget outlook that any increase had to be less than 5%. As the Legislature recessed, this was on track toward that goal.

Judy Morrison carried HB 5033, the resolution that requests the State of Kansas withdraw from the Security and Prosperity Partnership. The SPP has huge consequences, not only for Kansas, but for all the states all along the corridor into Canada. The products from China would be transported to Mexico. The products would be loaded onto Mexican trucks that would travel on a new, widened highway from Mexico to Canada. The United States would not have control of this highway. This highway would be an adjunct to the inter-modal ports already planned in Kansas and other states. The House of Representatives passed this concurrent resolution.

Majority Whip Rob Olson discussed the Energy bill. Rob explained the Holcomb plant was extremely important to the growth and development in Kansas. One of the important purposes of the Legislature is to craft sound public policy that creates a stable business climate and promotes economic development across all of Kansas. Twice this session the Legislature sent the governor sound energy policy that she chose to veto. The latest energy bill, House Substitute for Senate Bill 148, moved Kansas toward a balanced energy policy with regulatory certainty including all fuel sources and ensured Kansas would continue to have reliable, inexpensive, and clean energy for years to come.

The future energy needs of the entire state and $3.6 billion of economic development for western Kansas that required no taxpayer-backed funding needs a veto-proof vote from the House. Kansas utility companies are well on their way to meeting the President's new energy goals of reducing production of greenhouse gases. And House Sub for SB 148 would assist in those efforts by requiring:

• Net metering for solar in statute;
• A renewable portfolio standard for renewable energy production from wind;
• Energy conservation by state government;
• "Best available control technology'' for CO2 reduction in coal fired power plants.

Arlen Siegfreid reported that he was Chairman of the State and Federal Affairs Committee. Many bills were considered by the committee. The most controversial was the Immigration Reform Bill. There were extensive hearings and debate. Legal immigrants are welcome in Kansas. It is unfair to burden Kansas taxpayers with the mandated costs of illegal immigration. The only avenue allowed by Federal Law is through licenses for business. However, the reform should not unfairly put businesses in a position of undue risk. The bill that passed the House includes penalties for any business to have knowingly employed an illegal alien or failed to comply with federal law. The measure also increases penalties against those who deal in False ID Documentation, and other features as well. The bill is in Conference Committee.

Jeff Colyer reported that a great many hours had been spent to develop Health Care Reform. The committee worked over the summer to implement the goals from the Kansas Health Policy Authority. The legislation approved by the House makes health insurance more affordable and accessible and protects Kansans who lose coverage because of job loss or illness. While it meets 15 of the 21 goals set by the Kansas Health Policy Authority, it does not mandate a statewide smoking ban or increase cigarette taxes to pay for the reform. Quality care is available to all Kansans and that the government avoids involving itself in socialized medicine. Kansas can make their own decisions when it comes to their health, not government bureaucrats.

Each of the representatives reported on just one main issue before the Legislature. Each member works on several committees and have a wide range of duties.

A question and answer period followed the presentations over a range of other topics.

Speakers:
Senator Nick Jordan, Candidate for Congress from the 3rd District
Steve Howe, JD, Candidate for JoCo District Attorney

Guests: Ken Smith, Candidate for Johnson County Sheriff
Representative Ben Hodge-Confirmed his resignation as Representative from District 49. His future plans were not complete at this time.

Key Points from Nick Jordan:
This is a critical election. We need to make Congress accountable for their actions as well as their inaction. The general feeling in the country is negative towards Congress and for the first time in a long time voters see their Congressman as part of the problem. Voters are looking for new ideas and vision.

Nick’s background is in tourism and hospitality. He was a founding member of the Overland Park Convention and Visitors Bureau. Nick has been in the Kansas Senate for 12 years. He has a proven record of being Pro-Life, fiscally responsible and has earned taxpayer advocacy awards. Nick co-authored the Kansas Economic Growth Act that created the Kansas Bioscience Initiative and the Kansas Entrepreneurship Initiative to bring more business and jobs to Kansas.

Dennis Moore votes 97% of the time with Nancy Pelosi. He was one of the architects in the $600+ billion budget and will raise taxes to pay for it. He will also vote to roll back the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, resurrect the death tax and roll back the marriage tax break. He blocked the approval of FISA that supports counter-terrorism surveillance. He voted against the moratorium on earmarks.

Jordan’s campaign beat Moore in net fundraising in the first quarter of 2008. Nick has received attention from Republican lawmakers in Washington. Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) came in August of 2007 for a fundraising event and President Bush is coming for a fundraising event on May 29th. Jordan also has the financial backing of 40 members of Congress. Jordan has support from the entire spectrum of Republican leadership and voters. The Jordan campaign staff includes Dustin Olson and Katie McBreen. They are focusing on voter ID and micro-targeting that can benefit all Republicans in the district.

Q&A: