The Republican party is pouring in big $$$ to keep our BOE wingnuts

[atommom]

This is war.

Word is circulating among Kansas political professionals that the Republican party has opened the floodgates, allocating $1 million to right-wing candidates running for re-election to the board of education in 2006. That means that creationists such as John Bacon, Connie Morris, Ken Williard, and Iris VanMeter might have as much as $100,000 at their disposal for the primary election alone.

It goes without saying that this kind of cash is unprecedented in the history of Kansas school board elections.

To mount a serious challenge, moderate, pro-science candidates such as Harry McDonald, Don Weiss, Tim Cruz, Sally Cauble, and Kent Runyan will need strong financial support from supporters of science education across the country.

That means supporters of science education need to put their money where their mouth is. Red State Rabble is in the process of putting together a list of addresses for candidates who pledge to reverse the disastrous policies of the present board majority.

http://redstaterabble.blogspot.com/2005/12/six-figures.html

[Mabus]

1. So, this is what they mean by "Leave No Child Behind"

they're going after our educational system to program future generations to their way of - I hesitate to use this word - "thinking".

[Big Unit]

2. Board of Ed. has Donation Limits

If the State Republican Party is going to deliver $100,000 to each neocon running for reelection, they are going to have a hard time doing so legally. I believe that K.S.A. 25-4153(g) limits donations from party committees to a candidate to $500 per election cycle. Of course, there are other ways a State Party committee can assist with a candidate campaign, so voters should still take heed of your message.

[atommom]

3. They used some shady tactics last time to get around the limits.

Of course, they didn't have this kind of money last time, but the right wing has set a precedent for cheating.

The issue in Kansas isn't corporate contributions, rather, it is the funneling of money through a group of PACs -- all of which share the same treasurer and post office box -- to to get around contribution limits. In effect, they are concealing the source of the funds -- just as DeLay did -- by setting up a group of dummy PACs to allow right-wing contributors to give more than the law allows.

Here's how they worked it:

In 2002, right-wing school board member Connie Morris, for example, was given $500 by the FAIR State PAC on Nov. 5. She also received $1,000 from the FAIR Federal PAC between Oct. 21 and Oct. 25. On April 12, the FAIR Federal PAC -- which had already contributed $1000 to Morris -- transferred $500 to the Kansas Republican Victory Federal PAC which turned around the following day, April 13, and made a $500 contribution to Morris. The Kansas Republican Victory Fund state PAC also made a $500 contribution on May 8.

The bottom line? Morris received a total of $2,500 from PACs that share the same treasurer and post office box. That's $1,500 more than Kansas law allows a single PAC to give.

More:
http://redstaterabble.blogspot.com/2005/12/right-wing-pacs-funnel-money-to-board.html