It’s good that Kansas sent 120 National Guard personnel and two Black Hawk helicopters Friday to assist with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. But it again raises the question: Why didn’t federal officials ask for this help sooner? Why weren’t state National Guards and Army Reserve units on call — or already on their way — before the hurricane landed?
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
David Broder reported in a Washington Post column about Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress pressuring the Federal Election Commission. The lawmakers convinced the FEC to change its ruling and allow them to raise unlimited amounts of money to fight California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s initiative to give redistricting authority to a panel of retired judges.
In California, as in Kansas, lawmakers basically draft their own district boundaries. And the primary goal is protecting incumbents, not being fair or making any geographic sense — which is how we get districts that look like they were drawn on an Etch A Sketch.
As Broder noted: “If there is one cause that motivates the politicians more than the pursuit of pork, it is the protection of their own custom-made districts, shaped by computers and backroom negotiations to spare them the inconvenience of competition on Election Day.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
It will surprise no one who follows the Statehouse that the Wichita-area delegation includes some of the Kansas Taxapers Network’s best-loved legislators. In the Wichita-based group’s 2005 legislative ratings, perfect 100 percent scores were accorded Republican Sens. Phil Journey of Haysville and Peggy Palmer of Augusta. The House standouts, with ratings of 105, included Reps. Bonnie Huy of Wichita, Dick Kelsey of Goddard, Steve Huebert of Valley Center and Bill McCreary of Wellington. The area is also home to one chamber’s worst scorer, Sen. Greta Goodwin, D-Winfield, who earned a 5 percent rating. Check out your legislator’s 2005 and lifetime ratings — and answer this: Is the capacity to stand fast on taxes in the face of real and competing needs really the legislative trait to be prized above all others?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Here’s one way the Bush administration can improve security at home and be more effective in Iraq — work to engage the Muslim American mainstream.
Major U.S. Muslim groups complain that the administration hasn’t done enough to involve them in anti-terrorist work. They’re willing. They just haven’t been asked in a significant way by top leaders.
Former presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark recently offered a good idea : President Bush should call for 10,000 Muslim Americans to help counter jihadist threats at home and serve as much-needed interpreters in Iraq. What do we have to lose, except a war?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
This school year, Wichita teachers should think twice about using candy in the classroom as a reward for student achievement. With rising obesity rates and concern about kids’ health, teachers need to send the right message.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
