There weren’t any big surprises in Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ State of the State address tonight. She emphasized education (all-day kindergarten and other early learning opportunities), health care (passage of the Kansas Health Policy Authority’s proposal) and energy (wind, alternative fuels and conservation). She will release her budget tomorrow, which will show how much her initiatives would cost and how she intends to pay for them.
The GOP response, delivered by House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, focused on several of the same issues but placed more emphasis on curbing state spending, cutting taxes and a balance energy portfolio (Holcomb power plant). Neufeld also called for stronger enforcement of immigration laws that deny public benefits to illegal aliens.
It wasn’t must-see TV.
Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are so similar on so many issues that the new conflict over race has been magnified in importance. It seems clear that Bill Clinton’s “fairy tale†comment was taken out of context (he wasn’t talking about the Obama phenomenon, but the candidate’s narrative about his opposition to the Iraq war). But Hillary Clinton’s comment about the civil rights roles played by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and President Johnson speaks for itself; subsequent comments only seem to be deepening the insult felt by many African-Americans, who thought she was diminishing King’s significance. In any case, the whole thing may be out of Clinton’s hands, in that what she now says she meant matters less than how others heard it at the time.
Here’s conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg’s take on the GOP presidential campaign:
“Mitt Romney has been hacked apart like the Black Knight in ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail.’ John McCain’s fortunes — which had been bouncing up and down like a printout of Dick Cheney’s EKG — have suddenly spiked northward after his victory in New Hampshire. Fred Thompson ran a brilliant ‘testing the waters’ campaign from his front porch, but when he tried to walk on the water, he sank like a basset hound trying to swim. Pushing the poor beast under the waves was Mike Huckabee, whose down-home folksiness makes Thompson look like David Niven.
“Huckabee’s surprise surge in Iowa has made him this season’s pitchfork populist, albeit a much nicer one — sort of a Disneyland Pat Buchanan. Then there’s Ron Paul. He started out as the designated wack job, then became so successful that the Des Moines Register had to cast Alan Keyes in the role of hopeless firebrand wingnut for a brief campaign cameo. And it’s a sign of how poorly Rudy Giuliani — once the indisputable front-runner — has done that I’m now mentioning him only after Paul.â€
Goldberg blames the chaos not on the candidates but on conservatives, who he says are changing what they believe.
There is no shortage of finger-pointing in education, as many worry that some students are still being left behind. Texas teacher Susan Creighton wrote in a Dallas Morning News commentary that adding competition to the educational job track would improve teaching performances. School districts should reward excellent performance with promotion or bonuses, just as the corporate world does, she said.
Creighton wrote: “In order for teaching to become a profession of prestige and respect in our society, we teachers need to be held accountable for the effectiveness of our teaching, in return for which we need to be rewarded with a respectable living wage commensurate with our performance.â€
Greg Orman, an Olathe businessman and Democrat, may not have much chance of unseating Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., this year, but he now has an official campaign Web site, YouTube video, Facebook and MySpace pages. He’s running “to change Washington’s tired and stale ways†and to address “serious issues that our current leaders in Washington have not addressed, including health care, our energy policy and our dependence on foreign oil.â€
Rebecca Martindell of Benton was this week’s cartoon-caption winner. We liked her reference to the roller coaster issue and the way she tied it to City Hall.
Jim Thomas of Wichita nearly won with his: “If he pulled his kerchief up above his nose, he’d fit right in!†Bill Bauck had a good one too: “Kolb’s payout was nothing compared to what this guy will get!â€
Preston and Tammie Pannell of Haysville had this dour entry: “I can’t wait till the arena auctions.†From Aaron M. Wells of Wichita came, “The bondholders better hope for good weather if he gets hired!â€
Wichita’s Charles Churchman submitted, “Who’s better qualified to manage the wild west world at City Hall?†Haysville’s Roger Neugent had this one: “He said something about naming the arena the Prairie Palace and holding Sunday services!â€
From Jerry Busch of Wichita came, “His fiscal planning is close enough for government work!†Stan Nunnenkamp of Wichita said, “We probably wouldn’t notice the difference.â€
From Ryan Cole (former marketing director for Etheredge) came, “Kansas’ biggest business failure — I guess he has the right qualifications for city manager!†Finally, my favorite, submitted by Sue Dresher: “What happened to my wallet? Have you seen my wallet?â€
After a wind or ice storm downs tree limbs in Wichita, city crews come through neighborhoods and pick up the debris. The January 2005 ice storm required an army — 300 city and 200 contract workers with 200 pieces of equipment. Makes you wonder what Wichitans would make of the libertarian approach of McPherson, which has left it to residents and businesses to haul their recent storm debris to the local trash transfer station. “Our people, as a general rule, feel that the government is not the first place to go to get these things done,†McPherson Mayor William Goering told the Hutchinson News.
Look at it as an affirmation that individual responsibility works. Or maybe it points to the lifesaving good a primary seat-belt law for adults could do for Kansas. In any case, authorities link the state’s 15-year low in traffic fatalities last year — 404, down from 468 in 2006 — to what’s reported as a 75 percent driver usage rate for seat belts. That rate still lags the nation’s 82 percent, but is 14 percentage points higher than Kansas’ 2002 rate. Sedgwick County’s usage rate was an impressive 80 percent last year, up from 59 percent in 2002. Whatever their reason for better buckling, Kansans should keep it up. As Pete Bodyk, traffic safety chief for the Kansas Department of Transportation, told the Topeka Capital-Journal: “The single most effective thing is to protect yourself and pay attention. Wear a seat belt, and make sure all your passengers are wearing seat belts.â€
There weren’t any big surprises in Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ State of the State address tonight. She emphasized education (all-day kindergarten and other early learning opportunities), health care (passage of the Kansas Health Policy Authority’s proposal) and energy (wind, alternative fuels and conservation). She will release her budget tomorrow, which will show how much her initiatives would cost and how she intends to pay for them.
