She’s not even wielded the gavel yet, but incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi already finds herself on the defensive — not from bitter Republicans, but from the New York Times.
A Times editorial Friday takes Pelosi to task for her ham-handed push to get Rep. John Murtha named majority leader over the better-respected Rep. Sonny Hoyer (in photo). Then there is the chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee, which Pelosi appeared to be using to settle a political score against the panel’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Jane Harman.
“As incoming speaker, Ms. Pelosi will be dogged by skepticism — from within the party and without — about her political smarts and her ability to deliver a galvanized agenda,” the Times says.
Not the sort of performance review you want before your first day on the job.
Posted by Dave Knadler
The Wall Street Journal has an editorial today summarizing the remarkable career and contributions of Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman, who died Thursday at 94. Friedman’s theories on free markets and monetary policy have had a profound impact on this country and other nations. Not everyone agrees with his theories, of course, and his libertarian disdain for regulation and public schools. But the longtime University of Chicago professor kept working and seeking converts until the end; he has an op-ed piece in today’s Journal on why money matters.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
“Since 1992, every national Republican electoral defeat has been accompanied by an obituary for the religious right,” David Kuo (in photo) wrote in a New York Times op-ed piece. “Every one of these obituaries has been premature — after these losses, the religious right only grew stronger.”
But Kuo, who wrote the book “Tempting Faith,” about the betrayal he felt when he was deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, said there was been a “radical change in the attitudes of evangelicals.” He said that instead of directing their energies toward political campaigns, more evangelicals may spend their time helping the poor. One reason: A poll by Beliefnet.com found that nearly 60 percent of non-evangelicals have a more negative view of Jesus because of Christian political involvement.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Everybody knew the tab for needed repairs at the state’s six public universities now was higher than the 2004 estimate of $584 million. This week, the Kansas Board of Regents reviewed an updated list of deferred maintenance needs totaling $727 million, including $44.1 million at Wichita State University. And the $15 million that campuses get each year for regular maintenance doesn’t even approach the needed $84 million. To their credit, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and many lawmakers have stated their resolve to tackle the problem in the session that begins in January, the first since the K-12 funding lawsuit ended. But as regent Donna Shank told the Lawrence Journal-World, “It’s going to take a long-term solution, and it’s going to take additional revenue. And to find that kind of revenue is not going to be easy.”
The issue is complicated by the fact that many of the 567 academic and administrative buildings were built through charitable gifts, without enough thought as to how they will be maintained in the future. But as Wichita State University president Donald Beggs (in photo) recently told The Eagle editorial board: “We’re taxpayers and those are state buildings.” The longer the state takes to deal with its responsibility, the higher the repair bill will go.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The following satirical headlines come from borowitzreport.com:
U.S. BOMBARDS INSURGENTS WITH NEGATIVE ADS; ‘Operation Relentless Smear’ Is Launched in Iraq
SCIENTISTS DEMOTE BUSH PRESIDENCY TO DWARF STATUS; White House Joins Pluto in New Classification
BUSH’S DAD ASKS FOR KEYS TO WHITE HOUSE BACK; Air Force One, President Grounded for Life
KERRY BOTCHES ‘YO MAMA’ JOKE; Omits Words ‘Mama’ and ‘Yo’ in West Point Appearance
PELOSI VOWS TO RETURN BUSH’S BALLS BY EARLY ‘O9; Reassures President in Oval Office Meeting
DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS AGREE TO TAKE TWO YEARS OFF; Two Parties Find Common Ground in Decision Not to Work
CHENEY REMINDS BUSH HE HAS PICTURES OF HIM NAKED; Veep Unlikely to Be Axed, Insiders Say
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
