Kraus Admits He's Trying to Send Our Tax Dollars to Other States with Silly Filibuster

Sen. Will Kraus (R-Lee's Summit) appeared with KTRS' McGraw Milhaven earlier today to talk about his support for the filibuster spearheaded by Sens. Jim Lembke (R-Lemay) and Brian Nieves (R-Freedom Bunker).  If successful, their filibuster will block the acceptance of our own federal tax dollars to fill holes in the state education budget and provide for extended unemployment benefits.  

As everyone from Speaker Steve Tilley to President Pro Tem Rob Mayer have advised their colleagues, this absurd stunt will do nothing to reduce federal debt or deficits.   Nieves has tried to suggest otherwise, but today Kraus acknowledged the fact that the federal dollars have already been allocated and will not go back into a magic bank account if he, Lembke and Nieves and successful.  

MCGRAW:  This money you're rejecting... from the federal government. That's not going to go back to pay off the deficit, that's just going to go to another state for jobless claims and for education.  You understand that?

KRAUS: I do.

MCGRAW: And even though it's -- some will call it pork, some will call it whatever, you would rather not do it and have some other state get those tax dollars...

KRAUS:  We need to start sending messages to Washington that they need to be more responsible...

Listen:

Yikes.

In the same interview (around the 5:15 mark), Kraus was completely stumped with questions about how insurance companies should be prohibited from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions (Kraus says he supports the provision in the federal health care reform law that stops that practice) without some sort of individual insurance mandate or program to get everyone into the insurance pool.

Listen:

Again, yikes.