Short term, the tentative agreement between the United Auto Workers and General Motors Corp. is important because it ends a strike, the first against GM in 37 years. Long term, it may be most important for the shift of the massive $51 billion responsibility for retirees’ health care from the company to the union. Of the deal on retiree benefits, one 31-year GM employee said, "If it’s managed right, it will be OK." That could be a big "if." Meanwhile, other companies carrying big retiree benefits burdens have to be buzzing today with "what ifs."
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The Kansas congressional delegation’s tally on the compromise reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program was three in favor, one against. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, explains why he couldn’t support it in a letter on today’s Opinion pages, complaining that it "raises taxes, rejects free market principles, and strays from any serious health policy reform." He also accuses Democrats of playing politics, even though the bill is supported by many GOP lawmakers and the Republican Governors Association. Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays, explained his change of heart — from "no" on the earlier House version to "yes" Tuesday night — in a statement: "Unlike the previous House version, I am glad to see the focus of this legislation is back on low-income families with children. Health and dental services are crucial in the development of young Kansans. If we fail to provide health care to low-income children, we reduce their chances of long and healthy lives. By opening the door to doctor’s offices, we eliminate costly emergency room visits and the end result is healthier children and lower costs."
The Senate is expected to approve the bill by a large margin Thursday, then President Bush is expected to veto the expansion.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The Wall Street Journal subtitled its Tuesday editorial “In defense of the New York Times.” But, not surprisingly, it really wasn’t. The editorial took pleasure in noting that the Times, whose editorial board championed campaign-finance reform, is under fire about those laws. Some are calling for an investigation of the Times not charging MoveOn.org full price for its David Petraeus ad. The Times’ public editor, Clark Hoyt (a former editor at The Eagle), agrees that the rate was a mistake. The Journal’s defense amounted to saying that the problem isn’t with the Times’ ad rates but with the campaign-finance law.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
During the speech to the National Rifle Association in which he bizarrely took a phone call from his wife, Rudy Giuliani expressed support for the Tiahrt amendment, calling it “a sensible provision” that “gives law enforcement the ability to get information.” A day earlier, Giuliani had suggested he didn’t know much about the 2003 measure championed by Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, that blocks access to aggregate gun trace data. Giuliani’s support put him squarely at odds with his successor, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who lost his costly fight earlier this year to overturn the Tiahrt amendment, which he calls “an outrage.”
Bloomberg, who chided Giuliani for disavowing a 2000 lawsuit New York City had filed against gun manufacturers, did praise the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for, “after what they said was overwhelming demand from around the country, starting to give out more information, probably in violation of the Tiahrt amendment.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Mayor Carl Brewer has listed as a top goal developing free or low-cost citywide wireless access, which would give people access to the Internet from laptops anywhere in the city. But cities such as San Francisco, Cincinnati, Houston and Chicago are shelving plans to provide blanket wireless Internet coverage, citing unexpectedly high costs, unexpectedly low public demand and other complications, according to an article in USA Today.
This summer, City Council members delayed entering negotiations with a wireless company so they’d have time to further research the idea. Considering other cities’ mixed experience with wireless, Wichita’s go-slow approach makes sense.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
This has got to be good for some vote somewhere: Fred Thompson and Elvis Presley were eighth cousins once removed, according to a Washington, D.C., genealogist. Presley and Fletcher Thompson, the late father of the GOP presidential hopeful and former Tennessee senator, had in common great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents. The same researcher also has said that Barack Obama is descended on his Kansas-born mom’s side from a Kentucky slave owner; that John Edwards is distantly related to George W. Bush, Harry Truman and Britney Spears; and that both Jimmy Carter and Howard Dean are distant cousins of the King. Thank you very much.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
