Daily Archives: April 15, 2009

Tiahrt, Sebelius should hold pay-per-view debate

April 15, 200912:05 p.m.

globalwarming24If Gov. Kathleen Sebelius wants to raise some extra cash to help the state budget, maybe she should accept the challenge of Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, to debate global warming. They could charge admission, and maybe even make it pay-per-view television. It could certainly be entertaining to see Tiahrt, who doesn’t think humans contribute to global warming, try to hold his own against Sebelius, who has much more experience grappling with this issue.
Meanwhile, Tiahrt, who said last month that he opposed Sebelius’ nomination as secretary of Health and Human Services because of her support for abortion rights, said during a visit to Hutchinson Tuesday that he expects Sebelius to be confirmed and that it is important to have someone in that position who has knowledge about rural health care, which Sebelius has.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Environment, Kansas delegation, Kansas government | Comments (50)

WE tweet, too

April 15, 200912:00 p.m.

wetweetYou might check out our Twitter page. It has links to We Blog and Opinion page content, plus additional comments and updates. And let us know if you have a page we should follow.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Media, Uncategorized | Comments (4)

Tax Day marked by tea parties

April 15, 20096:03 a.m.

teaparty“Today might become the biggest tax-and-spend protest since the Boston Tea Party of 1773,” Cal Thomas wrote about the planned tax protests today. Thomas said that “the cry at these tea parties should be ‘not a penny more’ until governments get their houses in order, just as we must do.”
Sen. Sam Brownback will be one of the speakers at Wichita’s tea party, which is focused mostly on the stimulus bill.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under taxes | Comments (77)

Are tea parties ‘fake’?

April 15, 20096:02 a.m.

“President Obama is being called a ‘socialist’ who seeks to destroy capitalism. Why? Because he wants to raise the tax rate on the highest-income Americans back to, um, about 10 percentage points less than it was for most of the Reagan administration. Bizarre,” wrote Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, suggesting that the GOP’s anti-tax tea parties are “AstroTurf (fake grassroots) events” put on by the party’s “usual suspects.”
Media Matters noted how the tea parties have been aggressively promoted by Fox News.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under taxes | Comments (413)

Open thread 4/15

April 15, 20096:01 a.m.

taxreturn

By The Editors | Filed under Open thread | Comments (85)

Fearey’s years mattered

April 15, 20096:00 a.m.

feareyThe praise was appropriately abundant Tuesday for Wichita City Council member Sharon Fearey, who reached the end of her two-term limit. Few council members have worked harder or with more heart, and her service mattered to Wichita’s parks, arts, downtown and historic preservation. Among the comments by Fearey’s colleagues: “I’ll miss her one-minute tantrums,” said Lavonta Williams, who also expressed gratitude that Fearey shared wisdom and strategies with her. “I think everyone recognizes that Sharon fits that fiery red hair very well,” said Jeff Longwell. “I think over a period of time we’ve actually learned to get along. And that’s a product of evolution,” said Jim Skelton. Janet Miller won last week’s election and succeeds Fearey.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Wichita government | Comments (5)