The perjury trial isn’t over, but it’s not looking good so far for "Scooter" Libby (in photo). The former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney is on trial for lying about his role in disclosing the name of former CIA agent Valerie Plame and for obstructing the investigation. Libby claims that he didn’t lie; he just had a faulty memory. But prosecution witnesses have indicated that Libby was so involved in spreading this information that it is highly unlikely he forgot about it.
Former New York Times reporter Judith Miller said Libby spoke to her about Plame on June 23 and July 8, 2003 — yet Libby told the FBI and a grand jury that the first time he heard about Plame was on July 10. Five government officials also have testified that they spoke to Libby about Plame before July 10. And Libby’s own notes indicate that Cheney told him about Plame on or about June 12.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
As our editorial today argues, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is right to demand hardship pay for Kansas National Guard members whose tour of duty was recently extended to meet President Bush’s troop surge.
She also shares other governors’ concern that the Defense Department’s heavy reliance on National Guard and Reserve troops in Iraq is undermining state emergency and disaster readiness.
The Iraq war is affecting Kansas, and state leaders need to protect the interests of the state, its citizen-soldiers and their families.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
The special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction reported that the U.S. government has wasted tens of millions of dollars in reconstruction aid. When you spend more than $300 billion to help rebuild a war-torn country, there’s going to be a certain amount of waste and fraud. Still, this isn’t acceptable, and the report’s timing hurts President Bush’s new request for an additional $1.2 billion in new reconstruction aid.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
A long-awaited five-year United Nations climate report, to be released later this week, is expected to be the most dire yet, as well as the most conclusive about a human link to warming. The study reportedly cites a 90 percent probability that human activities are to blame for most of the warming trend of the past half-century.
But some top scientists are saying the report isn’t dire enough, and doesn’t take into account recent major melting events with arctic ice, which some think could mean flooded coastlines much earlier than previously thought.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Sen. Sam Brownback has been heralding himself as the only rock-solid social conservative in the GOP presidential field — in his self-history, he emerged fully formed on the political scene as an anti-abortion crusader.
And in a recent interview he questioned former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s credentials on abortion, saying “there’s going to be a lot of discussion about where do people actually stand on the issues and where have they been and where are they now and how reliable are they to stay that way.”
Brownback should expect some discussion of his own past and whether he was always solidly against abortion. There’s disagreement on that point, as this Lawrence Journal-World article shows.
Former Kansas GOP chairman Tim Shallenburger says he gathered from a conversation with Brownback during his first congressional run in 1994 that Brownback “was not pro-life.”
David Gittrich of Kansans for Life also said of Brownback during this time, “He didn’t know whether he was pro-life or pro-choice.”
Confronted about this on “Fox News Sunday,” Brownback rejected the notion that his position has evolved over the years. “My position has become more clear, but it’s not evolved.”
Is that clear?
Here are the issues busying state lawmakers nationwide, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures:
Immigration (32 states approved 84 new laws on immigration in 2006; expect more in 2007). Homeland security and standardized ID cards (states will have to spend at least $11 billion over the next five years to comply with the federal Real ID Act). Budget pressures. Health insurance. Sexual offenders and predators (Congress is requiring states to meet new requirements on how information about sex offenders is collected and shared). Energy and environment. Minimum wage (39 states now have a minimum wage above the federal requirement; Kansas has the lowest minimum wage). Higher education reform. Privacy (identity theft, Social Security number protection, etc.). Obesity (trans fat may be the new tobacco).
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Rep. Sharon Schwartz, R-Washington, chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, recently warned her panel members against text-messaging during meetings, to ensure that the debate is out loud and lawful. “I think we need to be careful that we don’t violate the open meetings law,” Schwartz said. True, few of those serving in Kansas government text like teenagers — yet — but it’s something all Kansas government boards should guard against as technology takes over communications.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
