Alan Cobb, state director of Americans for Prosperity Kansas; Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita; and Barry Poulson, Americans for Prosperity Foundation’s distinguished scholar and a professor of economics at the University of Colorado; met with Eagle editorial board members Friday to discuss the merits of a Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. They made a good case for the need to curb the growth of government spending and improve Kansas’ business climate. But the question remains: Why does Kansas need to amend a one-size-fits-all budget formula into its constitution in order to do that?
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
It wasn’t a bad idea to have President Bush do a pep-talk show with U.S. troops (and one Iraqi) via satellite in advance of Saturday’s constitutional referendum. But the stage management that was inadvertently exposed through a satellite feed error was embarrassing, especially the preshow coaching by a Pentagon official. Unfortunately, it was consistent with this administration’s controlling way with the media. A famously similar slipup before one of Ronald Reagan’s speeches (“We begin bombing in five minutes”) at least showed the world the lighter side of the Cold War.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
With Bush’s faltering poll numbers, Democrats see the 2006 midterm elections as a chance to regain power. They hope to capitalize on recent scandals in the GOP by focusing their campaigns on ending the “culture of corruption.” And they’re also planning to wheel out a contract with America.
Sounds familiar, huh? Perhaps what goes around really does come around.
Posted by Melissa Cooley
Congratulations to Wichita State University on its largest-ever gift, $8.5 million from the estate of W. Frank Barton to support the business school that already bears his name. The wonderful gift will endow three distinguished faculty chairs and enhance WSU’s drawing power for the long term.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
This will come as a shock to most Kansans: The United States is losing its competitive edge in science. A panel of 20 experts assembled by the National Academies — the nation’s leading science advisory group — is calling for an urgent effort to combat the United States’ slipping status.
The group’s report — which was requested by a bipartisan group in Congress — listed 20 steps that the United States should take to maintain its global lead. Funny, I don’t think attacking the long-established scientific theory of evolution made the list. But as our conservative State Board of Education members would say: What do experts know, anyway?
Posted by Melissa Cooley
