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Benjamin B. Hodge

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I encour­age Kansas read­ers to get to know one or more John­son County con­ser­v­a­tive group.  I’ll men­tion three groups, all recently formed:  the Gardner-Edgerton Repub­li­can Cen­tral Com­mit­tee, the Con­ser­v­a­tive Repub­li­cans of South­ern John­son County, and Kansans for State and Local Reform.

Each group has a unique focus and feel, but the main pur­pose is the same: pro­mote con­ser­v­a­tive issues and can­di­dates, when no one else will.  These groups are absolutely essen­tial – par­tic­u­larly on fis­cal mat­ters – prior to 2013, when John­son County precinct com­mit­teemen and women will next have the oppor­tu­nity to replace Ron­nie Metsker, our county’s lib­eral chairman.

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Our Email on the Kansas budget from the Kansans for State and Local Reform PAC.

Position of Kansans for State and Local Reform PAC:

Legislators should vote “no” on any budget that increases the state spending (SGF) by more than 3% over last year’s budget.

Why 3%: That number equals the rate of inflation plus population growth.

Right now in Topeka, Legislators are making final changes to the state budget.

The following position is approved by the Advisory Board for the Kansans for State and Local Reform PAC: We ask that Kansas Legislators vote “no” on any state budget law that increases State General Fund (SGF) spending by more than 3% from last year’s budget.

If you add the rate of inflation to the state’s population growth, it equals roughly a 3% total growth.

Position statements require the support of at least the majority of our advisory board, which currently includes Rep. Mike Kiegerl, Michele Lockwood, Sen. Kay O’Connor, and Joel Yourdon.

Background: The budgets proposed by Governor Sam Brownback and the Kansas Senate increase state spending by around 6-7% over last year’s numbers. At present time, it looks likely that the House will support similar, large spending increases in state spending. This is despite the fact that a majority of the House — not just the majority of Republicans, but a majority of the entire 125-member body — are considered to be conservative.

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(Yes, I learned of this idea from Erick Erickson…)

Click here to read the original Email in a Web-friendly format.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Column: “GOP’s DC Opportunity: Put Money, Time
Into School Choice”

Haven’t yet read this new print publication?  Click here to find one of the 200 locations near you where this paper can be picked up.

First, an important update on DC school vouchers.  This is from The Washington Examiner at 8:05 p.m. today, Saturday, April 9 (emphasis added):

“The last-minute deal to avoid a government shutdown means life largely continues as usual for most people, but some D.C. policies will be changed by the budget deal.The deal includes a measure that bans the District from using city funds to provide abortions for low-income women and a provision to continue a school-voucher program in D.C.“More recent articles on the subject:

• Clerk of the US House shows all Kansas House members supported DC school vouchers
• Washington Post: “Budget deal includes D.C. abortion rider, money for school vouchers”
• RedState: “House GOP de-segregates DC school system”
• Heritage Foundation: “Opponents of DC School Voucher Program Can’t Get Facts Straight”
• Washington Times:  “House votes to restart D.C. school vouchers”
• Associated Press: “US House reinstates DC school voucher program”

Here’s my column on the matter, published in The Citizen. Please note that there are several links/sources embedded within the original article; to reach those links, go to the original article at The Citizen’s Web site.

The Citizen: “GOP’s DC Opportunity: Put Money, Time Into School Choice”

Read the news, and you’re likely to see edi­to­ri­als and news arti­cles dis­cussing “cuts” in K-12 government-run edu­ca­tion. Fifty-three per­cent of the Kansas bud­get is spent on K-12; add in spend­ing on col­leges, and two-thirds of the bud­get is spent on education.

We’re told we need to spend more, that cuts will harm the qual­ity of edu­ca­tion in Kansas.

We hear noth­ing, of course, about the more than $1 bil­lion in unused money sit­ting in the accounts of 300 Kansas school dis­tricts, accord­ing to the Kansas Pol­icy Insti­tute. Or that Kansas schools spent $12,330 per stu­dent in 2010, up from the 2005 per-student expen­di­tures of $9,707.

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Click here to read this in a Web-friendly Email.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Campaign volunteers reach an estimated 3,000 doors county-wide

Hodge thanks volunteers and other candidates around the county who partnered in walking door-to-door with campaign literature

Dear {FIRST_NAME},

Johnson County:  it’s a big county.

The population is almost the size of a small state.  It’s difficult to reach every voter — this is one of the reasons why I’m one of the only candidates proposing changing our election  method to six districts, with one at-large chair, just like the Board of County Commissioners.

But we reached many, many voters in a personal level.  We personally visited somewhere around 3,000 doors throughout Johnson County.

I’d like to say thank you to volunteers, and also to other fiscally conservative candidates around the county  who helped share the load.

——————–

Thank you for your time, as always.
Sincerely,

Benjamin Hodge

Kansas Representative, 2006-’08

Trustee, Johnson County Community College, 2005-’09

Kansas Republican Party delegate, 2009-’10

Voicemail: 913-259-4236

contact@benjaminhodge.comwww.benjaminhodge.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hodge.benjamin

YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/benjaminhodgeks

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/benjaminhodge

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The election is this Tuesday, April 5.  To find your voting location by entering your name and birth date, click here to use the Johnson County Election Office’s search engine.

My most recent Email (Click here to read the message in an Email-friendly format.)

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Darla Jaye said this today, about JCCC Board candidate Benjamin Hodge:

“He is the right candidate for the board”

Hodge thanks radio host Darla Jaye for her strong support

Dear {FIRST_NAME},

In weeks past, Darla Jaye has called voters on my behalf of my campaign.  Today, I received the pleasant news that Darla Jaye again publicly stated her support with these words about my campaign:  ”He is the right candidate for the board.”

This support from Darla Jaye came one day after Republican leader Tim Golba announced his support of Benjamin Hodge for the JCCC Board.

I offer my sincere thanks to Darla Jaye for her strong support of my candidacy.

——————–

Thank you for your time, as always.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Hodge

Kansas Representative, 2006-’08

Trustee, Johnson County Community College, 2005-’09

Kansas Republican Party delegate, 2009-’10

Voicemail: 913-259-4236

contact@benjaminhodge.com

www.benjaminhodge.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hodge.benjamin

YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/benjaminhodgeks

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/benjaminhodge

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(Click here to read the original Email in a Web-friendly format).

Endorsement: State Representative Mike Kiegerl (R-Olathe) endorses Hodge

I’m pleased to announce the endorsement of State Rep. Mike Kiegerl, a Republican from Olathe.  I’m honored by the support of Kiegerl, who has shown great courage while voting in the Legislature.

Kiegerl (pictured above) represents the 43rd Kansas House District (out of 125 districts in total).  District 43 is in the southwest corner of Johnson County, representing the rapidly growing areas around Olathe, Spring Hill, and Gardner.  (It’s the big purple area in the lower left, below).

Rep. Kiegerl was first elected in 2004 (link to Johnson County Election Office Web site’s archived data).  He won re-election with 57% in a three-way race in 2006, with 54% in a three-way race in 2008, and with a 71% margin in a two-way race in 2010.

Please keep Kiegerl in your prayers, or perhaps send him an Email through his Web site to offer him encouragement.  About a month ago on Monday, February 14, Kiegerl suffered a minor stroke in Topeka, but he was discharged from the hospital on March 3, and is very much still his lively self.

He wrote in a legislative update, “I was very lucky in my misfortune.”  He ended the same newsletter with this quote:  Happy is the man who truly can say, “Tomorrow do thy worst for I have lived today!”- Fielding.

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I owe this anonymous Johnson County Sun reader a “thank you” for his/her voice of support for my JCCC candidacy.

In the March 16, 2011, version of “Talk Back” (a call-in portion) in The Johnson County Sun, a readers says this:

Trustees are liberal

I’m glad to see conservative Ben Hodge file to run for the JCCC Board of Trustees. There needs to be more diversity at the college. Most of the current board members appear to be liberal Democrats. At least that’s the way they appear when they are televised on the JCCC Board of Trustee meetings.

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Click here to read this campaign Email in a Web-friendly format.

Benjamin Hodge
Kansas GOP Delegate, 2009-’10
Kansas Representative, 2007-’08
JCCC Trustee, 2005-’09
Web site: BenjaminHodge.com
Phone:  (913) 259-4236
Email: contact@benjaminhodge.com

Saturday, March 5, 2011

“They listened to JCCC President Terry Calaway tell
them of impending staff layoffs, then voted to spend
money that might have saved a few of those jobs.”

– Johnson County Sun editorial

Incredible: Even the liberal Johnson County Sun’s editors
agree – JCCC wasted tax dollars by spending $125,000
on ”image consultants” after losing a federal court case
over illegal expulsion of four nursing students

Also: Read the editorial The Campus Ledger, the JCCC student newspaper

Wow.  The liberal, always-cheerleading-for-big-government Johnson County Sun just acknowledged that Johnson County Community College wasted a ton of your tax money on “re-branding.”  JCCC did this directly after spending another ton of your money trying unsuccessfully to justify their decision to illegally expel students, and going to federal court and losing on every single argument.

The editors at JCCC’s student newspaper, The Campus Ledger, come to a similar conclusion.

I’ve included the text of both editorials below.  I’ve also included images — you can click on them to enlarge and print out, if you’d like.

Lastly, please share this with your friends and family, reminding them that in one of the toughest economies ever faced by United States citizens, our local governments in Johnson County are indeed wasting our tax dollars.

I need your vote and your friends’ votes on Tuesday, April 5.  I pledge to reform the spending habits and open up the budgets at Johnson County Community College.

1.  Click here to read the editorial by The Johnson County Sun on March 1, 2011 — “Trustees make bad decision”

2.  Click here to read the JCCC Campus Ledger’s editorial on February 17, 2011 — “College should mind expenses from brand redesign project”

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