Lately the Kansas GOP delegation has complained a lot about federal spending. But Citizens Against Government Waste contends that our lawmakers are very good at earmarking spending. The group’s 2009 Congressional Pig Book calculated that Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan. — who spoke against increased government spending at the anti-tax tea party protest in Wichita last week — was the biggest porker in the Kansas delegation, delivering $84.5 million in earmark spending. In contrast, Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Lenexa, now the state’s sole Democratic member of Congress, had the lowest earmark total, at $6.3 million.
Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, had $38.9 million in earmarks, and Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays, had $16.6 million, according to the report. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., who had $45.3 million in earmarks, received a special “Narcissist Award” from the group for $2 million spent annually on a national intelligence scholarship named in his honor.
Will Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, join the Republicans who’ve had to apologize to Rush Limbaugh for showing insufficient deference to the king of conservative talk? When the 4th District congressman and wannabe U.S. senator met with the Kansas City Star editorial board last week, he was asked whether Limbaugh was now the de facto leader of the GOP. “No, no, he’s just an entertainer,” Tiahrt answered, according to Star columnist Yael T. Abouhalkah.
Asked about the episode and resulting Web buzz, Tiahrt spokesman Sam Sackett said Tiahrt was not speaking negatively about Limbaugh but was trying to defend him against the suggestion that Limbaugh could be blamed for the GOP’s woes. “The congressman believes Rush is a great leader of the conservative movement in America — not a party leader responsible for election losses,” Sackett told The Eagle editorial board. “Nothing the congressman said diminished the role Rush has played and continues to play in the conservative movement.”
The recent arena-building experiences of Tulsa and Kansas City, Mo., have held valuable lessons for Wichita. So it bodes well for Sedgwick County’s Intrust Bank Arena, opening early next year, that Tulsa’s BOK Center and Kansas City’s Sprint Center were among the nation’s top five live entertainment venues in the first quarter of 2009. The BOK Center, which opened last fall, came in second to the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla. The 1½-year-old Sprint Center came in fifth.
“Sen. Roberts (K-State class of ’58 ) plans to inform Coach (Bill) Snyder that his knee surgery was a success, and following some routine rehab, he will be back in uniform and armchair quarterbacking well before the start of the 2009 season.” — Office of Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., after the senator’s surgery to repair torn cartilage
“She’s just flat wrong.” — House Speaker Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, on Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ coal-plant veto
“He’s moderately radical.”— Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life, distinguishing Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson’s stand on abortion from that of “die-hard radical” Sebelius
