Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., offered an unusual take last week on the problem with President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping. Without criticizing the program, Brownback said the White House should not have pointed to the war on terrorism as justification. Better to say it comes with presidential powers, Brownback said, than to blame it on the war, which might deter future Congresses from approving military action.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Nobody likes to pay more for power, which is what Westar Energy’s northern Kansas customers soon will do. And all of the state will face the uncertainty brought on by Westar’s new ability of pass fuel and environmental costs directly onto consumers. But it’s to the Kansas Corporation Commission’s credit that Westar’s newly approved 4.7 percent rate hike in the north is accompanied by a 4.2 percent cut in the southern region that includes Wichita. That disparity is fair because former KGE customers in the south have long paid much higher rates for the same power as the former KPL customers in the north, owing to an outdated plan to pay off the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant. Westar was denied its desired $84 million rate hike Wednesday, but the KCC’s action also rightly endorsed the tremendous strides made by Westar’s new leadership to reduce debt and right the company’s course after its disastrous David Wittig era.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Did you read last week about an Italian judge issuing European arrest warrants for 22 CIA operatives wanted for the alleged kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric? Prosecutors want the suspects’ extradited for the abduction of Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr from a Milan street in February 2003, The New York Times reported. The CIA reportedly tried to cover up the abduction by telling their intelligence “partners” in Italy that Nasr had fled the country. Instead, the CIA reportedly took Nasr to Cairo, Egypt, where he said he was tortured.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
What to make of the news that U.S. solicitor general Paul Clement, the Bush administration’s top lawyer, has filed arguments on behalf of Anna Nicole Smith and wants a role when her case has a U.S. Supreme Court hearing Feb. 28? Ten years after the death of her late husband, oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, the topless dancer-turned-punch line is still fighting with his estate over whether she’s entitled to millions of dollars.
Why the White House interest in the case? Most likely, it’s the legal point in question — when federal courts may hear claims that involve state probate proceedings. We can only hope it isn’t because the president has been spending his time watching Smith’s wretched reality show.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The courts and Congress likely will decide whether President Bush has the authority to approve eavesdropping on U.S. citizens without a warrant. But it’s still puzzling why Bush didn’t just get court permission and avoid this constitutional showdown. As former Secretary of State Colin Powell noted this past weekend, it likely wouldn’t have been difficult to obtain such warrants. And, Powell said, “even in the case of an emergency, you can do it. The law provides for that.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Some of the state’s most vulnerable residents recently learned they were getting a 4.1 percent cost-of-living increase in their federal Supplemental Security Income from Social Security. Then they heard from the state that — surprise! — their food stamps would be cut, in some cases by exactly the same amount. This is the sort of eligibility rigor that makes perfect sense in policy debates but can seem like a cruel joke upon delivery to the people who rely on public assistance to survive — especially when you consider the slipshod (or worse) administration of huge government contracts going to rebuild Iraq and the Gulf Coast.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Hospitals should help heal people, not make them sick. Yet about one in every 20 patients contracts hospital-borne infections, according to a new study by the National Center for Policy Analysis. And more people die from those infections each year — about 103,000 — than die from AIDS, breast cancer and automobile crashes combined.
To their credit, Wesley Medical Center and Via Christi Regional Medical Center reportedly have infection rates lower than the national average, according to an Eagle news article. And they have infection officers who monitor problems and work to reduce infections.
Still, as the study indicated, hospitals can and should do more to keep their patients safe.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
