Barack Obama needed a big win in Saturday’s South Carolina primary to regain some momentum from Hillary Clinton — and, boy, did he get it, routing Clinton by 28 points. Obama will get another boost with Democratic loyalists when Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., endorses him Monday. And then what will Obama do Tuesday? Hold a rally in El Dorado. Click here to make a reservation. But Obama still faces a big challenge in winning the nomination, as the demographics in the rest of the states may favor Clinton, who has done better with white, female and older voters.
State Rep. Larry Powell, R-Garden City, has sent the book “Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years†to state legislators and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in an effort to spread the word that global warming is no big deal.
The book, by S. Fred Singer and Dennis T. Avery — well-known climate skeptics — discounts the role of human-generated greenhouse gases in climate change and suggests global warming is just a natural cycle of warming.
It’s fine for lawmakers to get opposing points of view, as long as they understand that the view Singer and Avery represent is decidedly in the minority among scientists and largely discredited.
They’d do better to read the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s landmark report (“Summary for policymakers†online at ipcc.ch). Or read Elizabeth Kolbert’s book “Field Notes From a Catastrophe.†Or check out the RealClimate site, run by respected climate scientists who have refuted the Singer and Avery book’s assertions point by point (they called it “Unstoppable Hot Airâ€).
With so much hard data and consensus science out there, why would lawmakers want to hang important policy decisions on this marginal book?
Kansas’ Sam Brownback did not rate a place among potential “veepstakes†winners recently named by the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, but another Kansan did, Kathleen Sebelius. Cillizza said: “The two-term Kansas governor is a rising star nationally and is coming off a successful stint as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association. Don’t forget that Obama has a soft spot for the Sunflower State; it’s where his mother called home.â€
People can argue about what’s in the economic stimulus package and whether it will do much good. But the means to that uncertain end was a thing of beauty — Republicans and Democrats, coming together in record time to make a deal that Americans will feel in their pocketbooks. “I hope that this agreement will show the American people that we can fix it and will serve to move along other bipartisan agreements that we can have in the future,†said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Only time and the next big task will tell.
Congress does not often know best when it comes to medical matters. But those who know best are allowing “drive-through†mastectomies to continue. Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays, is among lawmakers who have a problem with that. He’s a co-sponsor of the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act, and he joined “Desperate Housewives†star Marcia Cross last week in promoting the bill on Capitol Hill. The bill, championed by the Lifetime network and more than 20 million viewers who signed an online petition, would allow women the choice to stay in a hospital for at least 48 hours after their mastectomies. “The difficulty of the situation should not be made worse by the uncertainties of insurance coverage,†Moran said in a statement.
Barack Obama needed a big win in Saturday’s South Carolina primary to regain some momentum from Hillary Clinton — and, boy, did he get it, routing Clinton by 28 points. Obama will get another boost with Democratic loyalists when Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., endorses him Monday. And then what will Obama do Tuesday? Hold a rally in El Dorado. Click here to make a reservation. But Obama still faces a big challenge in winning the nomination, as the demographics in the rest of the states may favor Clinton, who has done better with white, female and older voters.
