We had a presidential election and, for the fifth time in our history, the winner did not win the popular vote. The most difficult questions at the 1787 Constitutional Convention were: what kind of executive will we have, how will we select or elect the executive, and what should be the term of office?

Gov. Sam Brownback is apparently on President-elect Donald Trump’s “short list” for secretary of agriculture. In any case, under Brownback, Kansas has about a $350 million budget gap to fill this fiscal year. Next year is expected to be even worse. In addition, the Kansas Supreme Court is expected to rule in coming months on whether or not the state has underfunded K-12 schools. Revenue and tax policy and school funding will be high on the legislative agenda when the 2017 session convenes early

The 2016 presidential election campaign has been disappointing for many Americans.

Many Americans this election year have lamented the choices for president of each of the major parties and especially that of Donald Trump for the Republicans. One explanation for this is that for many years now, the two major political parties and their activists have had a lesser role in selecting the nominee for president of their respective party. A strong and vocal segment of Americans demanded that “the people” and not political party activists should choose their nominees for president.

Kansas revenue estimates were missed by nearly $45 million for September. Some incumbent Republican legislators are worried that they will be defeated in the coming November election because of the state’s fiscal problems. Democrats see an opportunity to increase their numbers in the legislature. That is why Republican legislative leaders want the governor to act quickly to address fiscal problems. The state’s tax collections have not met revenue projections for 10 of the past 12 months and for

When campaigning for president in 1976, Jimmy Carter said, “All I want . . . is to have a nation with a government that is as good and honest and decent and compassionate and as filled with love as are the American people.” How good would that government be? Unfortunately, many of the qualities President Carter mentioned are not reflected in the behavior of politicians and citizens. Many citizens may not like who you are, what you believe, and the kind of public policies you want to have. This

Gov. Sam Brownback said in a newspaper column published last Friday that he wants policymakers and educators to work together for educational solutions that benefit students, their parents, and their teachers.

Does the Kansas tax cut experiment qualify as a model for national tax and revenue policy? Two of Donald Trump’s closest advisers on tax policy are economist Arthur Laffer and Heritage Foundation economist Stephen Moore. They were the architects of Governor Sam Brownback’s massive tax cuts that took effect on January 1, 2013. They predicted that these cuts would bring an economic boom to Kansas.

Thirteen state house incumbents and nine state Senate incumbents of the pro-Gov. Brownback coalition were defeated by more moderate candidates in the primary election of August 2. A major defeat was that of Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce, who saw his possible challenge of Sen. Susan Wagle for president of the state Senate fizzle as he lost his election by 14 points. Former Democratic Gov. John Carlin said the election results are the first step to changing the direction of the policies of

Donald Trump let us know in his acceptance speech at the Republican National convention that he thinks the United States is in a condition of crisis because of terrorist attacks and the killing of police in our cities. He touts himself as the law and order candidate and told us that disorder will end if he becomes president next January. Safety will be No. 1. Trump also called attention to problem areas of the economy: 58 percent of African American youth are not employed, which he attributes to