It’s great that federal tax revenues are expected to be up about $250 billion over last year. President Bush should cheer the gains, but he should be careful in claiming credit, as he did Tuesday (see photo). The increase was primarily due to larger corporate profits, executive bonuses and stock market gains — which could reflect the growing income gap in America. And even with the extra revenue, the deficit this year is expected to be about $300 billion. That is less than earlier forecasts but not much to brag about.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
It will be harder for city leaders to ignore the 17th Street rail-trail proposal after some 150 Wichitans appeared at Monday evening’s District 2 Advisory Board meeting to urge Wichita City Council member Sue Schlapp to support the recreational trail through east Wichita (she’s on the fence).
Nick Howell, who helped organize the show of support, said bikers, joggers and walking enthusiasts overflowed the meeting room, and sent an unmistakable message: We want this trail.
It’s a worthy project. Let’s hope the city is listening.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
It may be the strangest facet of a strange political year in Kansas — that state Sen. Kay O’Connor, R-Olathe, who gained fame in 2001 for reportedly criticizing the 19th Amendment, is running for the job of overseeing the state’s elections.
Meeting with The Eagle editorial board Monday, O’Connor called The Kansas City Star story that inspired the outcry “a hit piece” that misrepresented her views. “I did not say it. It was not true,” O’Connor said. Still, she noted, “I am a very conservative lady. I did say I am obedient to my husband.” But she’s been voting since she was 18, she emphasized. “I can do nothing but say my life of voting shows I support a woman’s right to vote.” But will Republican voters view her as the best person for the state’s top election job? The Aug. 1 primary will tell.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
I’ve admired the consistency of the Libertarian Party — when it says it favors limited government, it really means it. And when it comes to fundraisers, the Kansas Libertarian Party doesn’t hold stuffy, black-tie gatherings. Perhaps you read this weekend about the party’s attempt to hold a fundraiser at Lake Edun (in photo), a nudist camp in Shawnee County. County deputies blocked people from entering, enforcing a court order banning “commercial or recreational activities” at the camp — thus proving the Libertarians’ point about there being too much government.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Given what we know about cigarette smoking now, surely fewer people should end up dying from tobacco this century than last. Not so, according to the global public health data in the Cancer Atlas. If we keep up the current pace of global puffing — now 1.25 billion men and women — a billion will die worldwide from smoking this century, 10 times the number who did in the 20th century. Secondhand smoke gets all the ink these days, but what else should we be doing about firsthand smoke?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
