Save Kansas, four former governors say

After state governors have finished their terms of office, they automatically become part of a small, elite group of former leaders in the state and you rarely hear or learn about one of them knocking the current one, even if they are from different political parties.

That is, until now, in Kansas.

Two former Democrat governors of Kansas and two former Republican governors of Kansas have joined forces in an unprecedented coalition they’re calling “Save Kansas.’’

If the name of the coalition sounds very serious, it’s for good reason.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (Democrat, 2003-2009), Gov. Mike Hayden (Republican, 1986-1991), Gov. Bill Graves (Republican 1995-2003) and Gov. John Carlin (Democrat, 1979-1987) say they have all reached the same conclusion (partisan politics aside) that current Gov. Sam Brownback (along with his supporters in the State Legislature) and his experimental economic policies are very bad news for the state and must be stopped immediately.

These four former Kansas governors have nothing to gain in forming this “Save Kansas’’ coalition. They are not running for election anywhere. They just love Kansas.

They have been calling on Gov. Brownback for about a month now to admit that his tax “experiment’’ in Kansas has failed and that immediate action must be taken to stop the calculated destruction of the state’s tax revenue stream before it’s too late.

These four former governors call for the state to return to a balanced tax policy, quality educational opportunities, reasonable healthcare access, safe highways, improved public safety and judicial impartiality - all things that they say Gov. Brownback and his supporters are working against.

It must be terribly embarrassing and disappointing for Gov. Brownback to have these four former governors speaking out publicly against him. 

The Brownback tenure as governor has shown that Washington, D.C.-style politics that he learned while serving there do not work in Kansas.