It wasn’t a surprise that a jury today found Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller not guilty of 19 misdemeanor charges. Based on news reporting on the trial, the prosecutors presented a weak case that Tiller violated a state law requiring an independent second opinion for the late-term abortions.
Nearly all the experts say that Pakistan/Afghanistan is the biggest foreign policy threat facing the United States. Today President Obama outlined his new strategy for this problem area. It includes sending 4,000 more troops to train Afghan security forces and increasing aid to Pakistan. He said that al-Qaida “is actively planning attacks on the U.S. homeland from its safe haven in Pakistan” and that “the situation is increasingly perilous.”
Wichitans are of two minds about how President Obama is doing, according to a new SurveyUSA poll for KWCH, Channel 12. In the Tuesday poll, 49 percent said the administration is heading in the right direction, while 41 percent said it’s on the wrong track. Only 26 percent said they expect the local economy to improve by the end of 2009, while 28 percent predict it will get worse and 43 percent anticipate no change. In a statewide poll co-sponsored by KWCH, Obama had a 55 percent approval rate, up a point from last month and down seven points from when he took office.
The GOP-controlled Legislature is on the verge of increasing the state minimum wage. Miracles never cease. The House and Senate have passed bills that would increase the state’s current $2.65-per-hour minimum wage to the federal minimum, which will soon be $7.25. For years, GOP lawmakers have blocked efforts to raise the state wage, which is the lowest in the nation. They and business lobbyists have considered the minimum wage to be a socialist threat to the free market, even though the law change would affect fewer than 20,000 Kansans, according to estimates. GOP lawmakers are now wisely deciding that this ideological fight isn’t worth the political black eyes.
Tracking a cell phone signal takes seconds on TV crime dramas. But in real life, after the 2007 kidnapping of 18-year-old Kelsey Smith of Overland Park, her parents “worked for four days to have her phone location traced,” said state Sen. Pat Apple, R-Louisburg. “The wireless company did not respond. Passage of the Kelsey Smith Act would ensure no other family would have to go through the pain of waiting that Kelsey’s family did.” Versions of the bill have cleared both chambers and must be reconciled. Such legislation should be a useful tool for law enforcement in situations when every second counts.
Obama “picked 14 of the Sweet 16 right. That’s pretty good. That’s better than he did with his Cabinet positions.” — Jay Leno
“President Obama also announced another faith-based program: his budget.” — Leno
“Very strange incident at JFK Airport in New York City today. An AIG executive going through security had to empty out all his pockets. You know what fell out? Senator Chris Dodd.” — Leno
“The only way Obama could get more TV time is if he had eight babies.” — Craig Ferguson
“Michelle Obama is planting a vegetable garden on the White House lawn. You know the economy’s bad when the Obamas are afraid of running out of food.” — Jimmy Fallon
