House Republican leaders played a cheap political trick over the weekend when they tacked a proposed minimum wage increase, from $5.15 to $7.25, onto a bill of inheritance and other tax breaks for the rich.
The gambit allows moderate Republicans up for election to point out that they voted for a minimum-wage hike — denying Democrats a potent economic issue. Meanwhile, the bill has no chance of passing in the Senate.
An estimated 15 million American workers would benefit from the boost in the minimum wage, which, because of inflation, is at its lowest level of buying power since 1955, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Meanwhile, in the last decade, lawmakers have approved cost-of-living wage hikes for themselves of about $35,000.
Working Americans aren’t getting a fair shake.
Who are minimum-wage workers? Would boosting wages hurt businesses, as critics often claim? What’s the difference between a minimum wage and a living wage? Check out this good link for a helpful overview of the issue.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
The U.S. State Department used accounting tricks to hide construction cost overruns in Iraq and knowingly withheld information from Congress, according to a federal audit released last week. One example cited by The New York Times was the construction of a children’s hospital in Basra that was supposed to cost $50 million. After being told by its contractor that the hospital would end up costing $98 million, the State Department’s agency that administers foreign aid classified the additional $48 million as overhead and still reported to Congress that the hospital project cost $50 million.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
In an interview with The Iola Register, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius noted that if Johnson County District Attorney Paul Morrison beats Attorney General Phill Kline in November, Morrison will see a $40,000-a-year pay cut. He “is willing to run even if the state office pays so much less than his current job because he thinks it is that important to bring professionalism and competence back to the top legal office in Kansas,” Sebelius said.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Kansas State Board of Education member Connie Morris of St. Francis played the martyr in a recent campaign letter, saying that she is shocked “that liberal activists who controlled our school system for years would stoop to childish behavior.” She added: “I have been called every name in the book and have put up with endless personal attacks and insults. Sometimes that behavior has made it difficult to justify continuing to serve on a board that pays less than $6,000 per year.” Actually, the job pays a lot more when you include the trip to a Miami resort Morris tried to stick taxpayers with. But never fear — Morris concludes that she is running again because she truly cares about our children’s future.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The Medicare prescription drug program depends on beneficiaries choosing the plan that best suits them. But how can they be expected to choose the right plan when they can’t get straight answers about the plans? Government Accountability Office investigators found that the plans only give correct and complete information about a third of the time. Here are some more details from the report, as reported by The New York Times:
Investigators placed 900 calls to 10 of the largest companies that offer drug coverage to Medicare beneficiaries. They reached customer service representatives in 864 calls.
The plans provided accurate, complete responses to one-third of the calls, 294 of the 864. Twenty-two percent of the 864 responses were inaccurate, 29 percent were incomplete, and no answers were provided to the other questions.
Two of the 10 companies gave inaccurate or incomplete information at least 75 percent of the time, the report said. And operators at the same company sometimes gave different answers to the same question.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Could the future of autos be not hybrid or hydrogen but electric? Check out this review of the recent unveiling of the Tesla roadster, an electric car that is generating a lot of buzz: It can go 0 to 60 mph in four seconds and makes no sound whatsoever. The green angle: It’s twice as efficient as hybrids and emits no tailpipe emissions. The battery charge has a range of 250 miles — several times greater than past electric cars.
An electric sports car? Interesting, huh? Here’s the company Web site.
A new documentary that laments the auto industry’s determined opposition to electric cars — “Who Killed the Electric Car?” — has just been released. But the Tesla might be a sign that the death notices were premature.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Include Peter Beinart, editor-at-large of the New Republic, among those who objected to Democratic leaders’ efforts to block Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki from speaking to Congress. Beinart, who wrote the book “The Good Fight: Why Liberals — and Only Liberals — Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again,” wrote in The Washington Post that the objection was really about “appearing more pro-Israel than the White House and thus pandering to Jewish voters.” He wrote: “The Democratic Party’s single biggest foreign policy liability is not that Americans think Democrats are soft. It is that Americans think Democrats stand for nothing, that they have no principles beyond political expedience. And given the party’s behavior over the past several months, it is not hard to understand why.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The American Association for the Advancement of Science, whose leaders have a commentary on today’s Opinion pages, isn’t the only national science group calling for a change on the State Board of Education. The online blog by the editors of Scientific American last week declared, “Kansas, Undo the Damage” — calling on primary voters on Tuesday to help to defeat state board members “who have inflicted embarrassing creationist nonsense on your home’s science curriculum standards.” Board conservatives are running proudly on those new science standards, but the problem, as the Scientific American post puts it, is that they “undermine the teaching of empirical science and lend credence to supernatural explanations for natural phenomena.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Credit Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, for trying to promote fiscal accountability on Capitol Hill, but his bill to subject federal programs to the scrutiny of a base-closing-style commission was pulled from the House floor last week after it drew too much resistance from Tiahrt’s fellow Republicans. The measure might live again after the August recess. If so, it will face criticism such as that expressed last week by Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., who said that “we don’t need a commission to evaluate these agencies; that’s what we’re elected for.” To which the obvious response is: Then, by all means, evaluate these agencies’ effectiveness and spending.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius shouldn’t have vetoed a campaign finance bill last session that would have increased disclosure of campaign contributions. But give her credit for voluntarily reporting the donations her campaign receives during the 11 days before the election. Sebelius filed her first report July 26 with the secretary of state’s office. It lists 69 donors making a total of $27,360 to her campaign. Still, it would be better if all candidates had to file donation reports and this information were viewable online, as the legislation she vetoed would have required.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The following satirical headlines come from the Web site borowitzreport.com:
ANGELINA JOLIE, BONO SIGN MIDEAST PEACE ACCORD; Israel, Hezbollah Not Consulted
BUSH ATTEMPTS TO GIVE KIM JONG IL FULL-BODY MASSAGE; North Korean Madman Recoils in Horror
BUSH NAMES SYRIA, IRAN TO ‘AXIS OF ASSHOLES’; President’s Obscenity-Laden Keynote Address Rocks G-8 Summit
ASTRONAUTS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE SUDOKU PUZZLES; Congress Questions Limited Ambition of Discovery’s Mission
BUSH SAYS ROAD MAP TO PEACE IS STILL IN GLOVE COMPARTMENT OF PEACE; But President Acknowledges Difficulty of Unfolding, Refolding Map
BUSH STATES OPPOSITION TO GAY DIVORCE; Constitutional Amendment Would Protect Institution of Traditional Divorce, President Says
IRAN OFFERS TO ABANDON NUCLEAR PROGRAM IN EXCHANGE FOR NORTH KOREA’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM; State Department Taking ‘Close Look’ at Iranian Offer
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The Rolling Stones, coming soon to Wichita, have received a lot of gibes about being too old to rock. Nonsense. Some of us aging boomers still have the mojo working. As Keith Richards has said, people like the band’s music — they’re good — and they love playing. What’s the problem? As I argue in my column, the geezers are all right.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
President Bush, reacting to the rising level of destruction in Lebanon, said Thursday that he was “troubled” — but apparently not troubled enough to work for an immediate cease-fire. Bush said he was holding out for a “lasting peace, not a fake peace.” The administration has discounted the possibility of a cease-fire until Hezbollah is disarmed, though Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Friday that they support a multinational force to help Lebanon regain control of the southern part of its country from Hezbollah.
But Hezbollah isn’t going to be disarmed anytime soon. My guess is that the thousands of innocent Lebanese who have become war refugees would appreciate some of that “fake peace” right now. Many believe the Bush team’s diplomatic foot-dragging is meant to buy time for the Israelis to inflict more damage on Hezbollah and leave the terrorist group with less leverage in negotiations.
But the widespread destruction in Lebanon risks a wider conflict and is playing right into the hands of Hezbollah.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Russ Jones used his Christian newspaper, The Chronicle, based in Newton, to endorse Ken Canfield in the GOP gubernatorial primary. “I’m so compelled that this is the right decision that I would be rebelling against God not to make this recommendation,” Jones wrote.
What Jones didn’t write — or disclose until after criticism — was that he is also Canfield’s press secretary.
“The newspaper did not endorse me,” Canfield later said. “He personally endorsed me.” Chronicle readers can be forgiven for missing that distinction.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Conservative bomb thrower Ann Coulter, fresh from telling CNBC that she thought former President Bill Clinton displayed "some level of latent homosexuality," toldMSNBC last night that former Vice President Al Gore is a "total fag." Coulter later said that she was joking about Gore — ha, ha — but defended her theory about Clinton. "Everyone has always known, widely promiscuous heterosexual men have, as I say, a whiff of the bathhouse about them," she said. Actually, what everyone has always known is that when commentators have to make more and more outrageous claims, their careers are nearing an end. And in Coulter’s case, that end can’t come any too soon.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
It was a relief that the Kansas Supreme Court accepted the state’s school finance plan; it’s better that funding decisions be worked out through the legislative process rather than by court order. But it was the Legislature’s inaction that resulted in the court’s intervention. And even though the lawsuit is now dismissed, the Legislature’s work and responsibility are not done. For example, its own auditors concluded that Wichita public schools are significantly underfunded, even with the new increase. And lawmakers still need to improve operation efficiencies statewide, such as by consolidating some school administration functions.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Not surprisingly, a new Harris Poll found many Americans gloomy about the long-term prospects for a stable, democratic Iraq (56 percent) and doubtful that invading Iraq has reduced the risk of more terrorist attacks in the United States (58 percent). But what to make of this: 64 percent still say that Saddam Hussein had strong links to al-Qaida (unchanged since February 2005, and still untrue), and 50 percent believe Saddam had weapons of mass destruction when the United States invaded (up from 36 percent in February 2005). On the WMDs, the best guess is that last month’s declaration by Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., that hundreds had been found now has entered public consciousness. Never mind that the weapons were badly degraded and pre-1991, or that intelligence officials said the old shells weren’t the WMDs that we went to war over.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Voters need to beware of last-minute campaign mailers, phone calls or advertisements making negative claims about candidates. Often the claims are distorted or downright false. Especially beware of shadowy, third-party groups that aren’t officially tied to a specific candidate.
For example, an anonymous group called “Traditional Family Values of Kansas” sent a mailer this week that seems to objectively evaluate the top three GOP gubernatorial candidates and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on various issues (but clearly is promoting GOP candidate Ken Canfield). The group grossly mischaracterizes the other candidates’ positions on several issues, such as suggesting that Jim Barnett and running mate Susan Wagle may not really be pro-life and that Barnett supports civil unions. That’s not even close to the truth.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Maybe I’m officially a fuddy-duddy. But I don’t like back-to-school T-shirts that have anti-school messages. I saw several T-shirts for middle school and younger kids advertised in Sunday’s Eagle. One said, “I called in sick of school today.” Another said, “I can’t wait ’till school is over — so I’m leaving right now.” Do parents actually buy their kids these shirts (and then expect them to value education)? Somehow, I doubt that kids in India or China wear shirts like that.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Raytheon Co.’s announcement Thursday that it may sell Wichita’s Raytheon Aircraft Co. is big news, given the uncertainty it creates for 6,000 employees and their families. But it’s no secret that Raytheon sought to sell the plant several years ago. And analysts considered it likely that the “for sale” sign would go out again when the company’s financial picture improved, which it now has.
The success that Boeing Wichita’s former commercial division has seen since being sold off and reinvented as Spirit AeroSystems also will take the edge off the anxiety for some in the community. Spirit has demonstrated the advantages of a declaration of independence from an aerospace giant.
Still, the possible sale of a large community employer can’t help but stoke familiar fears about job cuts, labor contracts and the local economy. Sad to say, but Wichita probably ought to be used to this by now.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The Daily Kos, one of the Internet’s most influential liberal blogs, is trumpeting Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ revitalization of the state Democratic Party and her ability to split the Republicans, drawing away moderate supporters and contributions (she’s sitting on a $2 million war chest for the fall campaign). “Sebelius is a rock star, and my favorite for the veep nod in 2008,” gushes blog founder Markos Zuniga.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Did you see the crazy article in Tuesday’s Eagle about all the drugs and alcohol that security officers have found stashed in potted plants and elsewhere at Wichita City Hall? In the first 39 days since the city installed a security checkpoint, officers seized 3,457 prohibited items, includes bags of crack, marijuana and an open bottle of whiskey. And that was just from City Council members — no, I kid. As City Manager George Kolb noted, there is nothing stopping people from turning around and leaving when they see the security checkpoint. Nothing other than their own stupidity.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
“Alberto Gonzales is achieving something remarkable, even miraculous, as attorney general: He is making John Ashcroft look good,” columnist Ruth Marcus wrote in The Washington Post. She says that Gonzales is more amiable and not as polarizing or ideological as Ashcroft. But, she wrote: “As I watched Gonzales testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, it struck me: In terms of competence (the skill with which he handles the job) and character (willingness to stand up to the president), Gonzales is enough to make you yearn for the good old Ashcroft days.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee