The Houston Chronicle reports that when 59-year-old Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, leaves his job, he will immediately become eligible for a congressional pension of nearly $67,000 a year. Over the next 20 years, DeLay could collect a cool $1.3 million, plus health benefits. And his pension is conviction-proof, should he not escape a guilty verdict in the Texas campaign-finance case or otherwise. Such retirement income isn’t as nice as DeLay’s $180,100 majority leader salary was, but it would be the envy of many of the 4 in 10 U.S. workers 55 and older who, according to a new study, have retirement savings of less than $25,000.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
We have an editorial in today’s Eagle about Attorney General Phill Kline’s 2005 legal bills, which were discussed in an earlier post. I had some additional thoughts: That at least Kline’s bills, unlike those of former Attorney General Carla Stovall (in photo) in the infamous case of the tobacco litigation, don’t find Kline handing off legal work to his old law firm. But that it’s interesting to see former Attorney General Robert Stephan and Rep. Lance Kinzer, R-Olathe, among the outside lawyers. And that U.S. Supreme Court appearance and all, Kline’s 2005 travel expenses, $157,000, also paled in comparison with Stovall’s last full year, $256,000.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
For what it’s worth: Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin fed transcripts of 271 televised interviews, news conferences, town hall meetings and candidate debates from the 2004 presidential campaign into a computer text-analysis program that matches words and linguistic patterns identified with various traits and personalities. Their conclusions about President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Sen. John Kerry and former Sen. John Edwards, as reported by Washington Post columnist Richard Morin:
“Cheney easily sounded the smartest of the four, while Edwards and Bush favored the least sophisticated language patterns. . . . When it came to sounding presidential, both Bush and his running mate scored considerably higher than Kerry or Edwards. Bush was the oldest-sounding candidate. Edwards also was the most likely to use feminine speech patterns and ‘female’ words (Bush was a close second), while Cheney sounded most like a man’s man.
“The vice president sounded the most honest of the four, and Kerry the least. Kerry’s language also was most like that of a depressed person, followed by Edwards.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Jacob Weisberg argues in this article that the House and Senate judiciary versions of immigration reform are so at odds that a compromise will produce nothing of worth. He writes: “As a bold alternative, why not pass no immigration bill at all? The status quo of American immigration is certainly flawed. We are turning a blind eye to widespread lawbreaking and probably driving down low-end wages, at least to some degree. On the other hand, the system works in its way. The most motivated, tenacious, and enterprising immigrants, who are therefore the most economically desirable, find a way around the barriers we erect. Once here, they help our economy sustain a high rate of growth and subsidize our Social Security system. In return, those who choose to stay have a chance to create better lives for their children. Do we really want to put an end to this deal?”
He makes some good points, but a lot of voters are demanding action on this issue. I doubt this approach would satisfy them.
Posted by Melissa Cooley
In a commentary in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal, journalist Ross Douthat suggested that religious conservatives should embrace the label “theoconservatives,” and he pointed to Kansas’ senior senator as among a new generation of more articulate, less polarizing leaders who can help transform the nation. The movement needs “More Sam Brownbacks, for instance, whose vision encompasses Third World poverty, prostitution and prison reform without sacrificing any urgency on issues of life and death — and fewer Pat Robertsons and Jerry Falwells, jowly bigots who seem to think that shaking their fists at America is the best way to persuade it to repent. More artists like Mel Gibson or investors like Philip Anschutz, the Christian billionaire behind ‘The Chronicles of Narnia,’ who are comfortable advancing religious ideas within the confines of the cultural mainstream, and fewer culture warriors who sneer at Hollywood and then churn out dreck like ‘The Omega Code.’ ”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The new Wichita City Council ordinance allowing buskers, or street performers, to entertain pedestrians for tips in Old Town, Delano and along Douglas Avenue looks like a big hit, judging by the delighted reaction of people at the March 31 downtown gallery crawl.
The sidewalks showcased local talent such as “Magic Melton,” one-man band Jord “Jayrodin” Peck and some 18 other performers who kept the crowds entertained with music, magic and comic patter.
What fun. As one patron noted, “It makes things come alive.” And that’s precisely the point.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
