Daily Archives: May 14, 2009

Surprising pick for lieutenant governor

May 14, 20094:27 p.m.

Lieutenant GovernorTroy Findley wasn’t on the radar screen as a possible pick to become lieutenant governor. In fact, few Kansans had even heard of Findley until Gov. Mark Parkinson selected him Thursday. But Findley has good credentials — a former state lawmaker, former Lawrence banker, chief of staff for Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and now Parkinson. As Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, noted, Findley has “political and policy expertise and long-standing commitment to the people of Kansas.”
Still, Findley was a bit surprising from a political standpoint. In choosing a lieutenant governor who says he won’t run for governor, Parkinson missed an opportunity to give the Democratic Party a running start in what likely will be an uphill race to retain the governorship in 2010.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Kansas government, Parkinson | Comments (2)

Palin and Prejean join forces

May 14, 200911:49 a.m.

prejean2Sarah Palin, who just signed a book deal, has jumped into the Carrie Prejean debate, decrying the “liberal onslaught of malicious attacks.”
Borowitz Report responded with a news spoof headlined: “Palin-Prejean Alliance Predicted in Book of Revelations; Beauty Queens Prefigure End of Days.” The spoof also reported that “in 1555 Nostradamus predicted the alliance between the two right-wing beauties when he wrote, ‘The slayer of beasts shall meet the barer of breasts.’”
Meanwhile, Fox commentator Greg Gutfeld joked that Prejean’s seminude photos “offer undeniable proof that God is a dude and He totally exists. Seriously, I am so going to church on Sunday.”

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under U.S. politics | Comments (33)

Don’t keep putting off entitlement reform

May 14, 20096:03 a.m.

socialsecurity1President Obama was met by second-guessing when he announced earlier this year that he wanted to reform entitlement programs. After all, President Bush pushed hard for reform and got nowhere in Congress, including with his own party. And doesn’t Obama have enough on his plate already?
But a report this week by the Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees showed why reforms are needed now. It warned that, because of the recession, Social Security and Medicare could be insolvent by 2037 and 2017, respectively. And Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue noted, “The sooner we get on with the task of reforming the system, the easier it will be to make the tough choices.”

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under President Obama | Comments (168)

Open thread 5/14

May 14, 20096:02 a.m.

thread-comm57

By The Editors | Filed under Open thread | Comments (171)

Does torture work?

May 14, 20096:01 a.m.

waterboarding5Richard Cohen wonders if Vice President Dick Cheney is right about something: “Where I reserve a soupcon of doubt is over the question of whether enhanced interrogation techniques actually work.” Cohen called on the White House to release the memos that Cheney claims prove such interrogation saved lives. “If Cheney is right, then let the debate begin: What to do about enhanced interrogation methods? Should they be banned across the board, always and forever? Can we talk about what is, and not just what ought to be?”
But Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, calling Cheney an “Old Faithful of self-serving nonsense” who should go back to Wyoming, wrote that “it is impossible for Cheney to prove that anti-terrorism methods within the bounds of U.S. law and tradition would have failed to prevent new attacks. Nor, for that matter, can Cheney demonstrate that torture and other abuses were particularly effective.”

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Terrorism | Comments (69)

Late-night laughs

May 14, 20095:58 a.m.

stamp44“The price of a postage stamp went up to 44 cents this week. Isn’t that unbelievable? They said they had to raise the price because fewer and fewer people are using the mail these days. That’s government thinking, isn’t it? ‘Hey, nobody’s buying our product. Let’s raise the price.’” — Jay Leno

“Pretty soon, it will actually be cheaper and easier to just put a little glue on a dollar bill and stick it to an envelope.” — David Letterman

“If there were just some other way to send written messages that were free and a million times faster. If you guys think of something, e-mail me.” — Jimmy Fallon

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Late-night laughs | Comments (3)