Opinion

GUEST COLUMN, Dick Morris

History is repeating itself. In 1996, Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr tried to leverage publicity about President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky to force Clinton to testify under oath and set up a trap to catch him committing perjury.

Now Trump’s prosecutor, Alvin Bragg is trying the same stunt. Bragg is hoping that Stormy Daniel’s testimony about her relationship with Donald Trump is sufficiently steamy and pornographic to induce Trump to testify in his trial and subject himself to the possibility of prosecution for perjury. He is also hoping that Michael Cohen’s testimony is sufficiently powerful that Trump has to take the stand to rebut it.

GUEST COLUMN, Dave Trabert, The Sentinel

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of HB 2036 was entirely predictable.  We’ve heard the same excuses as she vetoed every income tax bill placed on her desk since 2019 – it’s not affordable, it gives too much relief to the wrong people, yada yada yada.  She professes to want to give Kansans “meaningful tax relief,” claims to be fiscally responsible, and is a middle-of-the-road compromiser.

GUEST COLUMN, David Trabert, Kansas Policy Institute

After personally lobbying House Democrats to approve a similar tax relief plan she negotiated with top Republicans, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is now pondering whether to veto HB 2036. However, many of the governor’s other actions contradict her stated concerns over a bill that passed with strong bipartisan support (119-0 in the House and 24-9 in the Senate).

For example, Kelly says her initial reaction is that HB 2036 is “too expensive.” However, the Kansas Legislative Research Department (KLRD) tells the Legislature that it costs only $146.5 million more over four years, or about $36.6 million annually. That amounts to a proverbial ‘hill of beans’ – only 0.35 percent of a $10.5 billion General Fund budget average over the same period.

GUEST COLUMN, Dane Hicks, Kaninfo.com

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) recently provided the 2023 Kansas Civil Asset Forfeiture Report to the Kansas Legislature, and released it to the public.

Civil asset forfeiture is a procedure that authorizes law enforcement agencies to seize and forfeit property and cash that was obtained with proceeds from, or used to facilitate, certain criminal activity. Once a forfeiture proceeding concludes, the forfeited property or funds may be used for permissible law enforcement operations, or to further public safety objectives.

Civil Asset Forfeiture Reports have been submitted to the Kansas Legislature annually since 2020, as is required by K.S.A. 60-4127. In 2018, the Legislature amended the Kansas Standard Asset Seizure and Forfeiture Act (KSASFA) to include additional reporting requirements.