Daily Archives: May 26, 2009

It’s Sotomayor

May 26, 200910:09 a.m.

Obama Supreme CourtPresident Obama has picked Sonia Sotomayor to join the U.S. Supreme Court, delivering on expectations that he’d name a woman and the court’s first Hispanic justice. It should please Republicans that she was first made a judge by President George H.W. Bush and that she once said: “I don’t believe we should bend the Constitution under any circumstance. It says what it says. We should do honor to it.” But it’s awkward that one of her decisions as an appellate judge may soon be overturned by the Supreme Court: the one siding with the city of New Haven, Conn., against white firefighters who believe they were discriminated against on a promotion exam. Given the sharp partisanship in Washington, D.C., it’s hard to believe the GOP won’t mount an ideological fight over Sotomayor’s confirmation.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under President Obama, Supreme Court | Comments (173)

Farmers could cash in on cap-and-trade

May 26, 20096:02 a.m.

farmmoney2Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union, noted during a visit to Wichita last week that a cap-and-trade emission system could be a boon to Kansas farmers if it allows them to sell emission credits. Farmers could reduce their emissions and earn credits by means such as no-till farming, precision fertilizing and burning methane gas created by manure, Johnson said.
Though one might not think so now, based on their strong opposition to cap-and-trade legislation, Kansas Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts have in the past been big backers of allowing farmers to earn and sell carbon credits. In 2001, Brownback sponsored a carbon-sequestration act in which farmers would earn credits for the amount of carbon their fields absorb. Roberts pushed for federal research on carbon sequestration and called on farmers to help combat global warming. “Let’s be part of the answer, not part of the problem,” he said in 2000.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Environment, Kansas delegation | Comments (130)

Open thread 5/26

May 26, 20096:01 a.m.

thread402

By The Editors | Filed under Open thread | Comments (279)

Cheney running in 2012?

May 26, 20096:00 a.m.

cheneypress1Maybe Dick Cheney is everywhere because he wants to be president after all. As a GOP leader, wrote Roger Simon of Politico, the 68-year-old former vice president “has many pluses. He is very, very good on TV. (People who don’t like what he says overlook how good he is at saying it.) He is calm, articulate and often courageous.” And, Simon added, “the Republicans need a person who knows how to attack. John McCain never seemed comfortable in that role.” He concluded: “Dick Cheney is the voice, the face, the spirit and the guts of the Republican Party today. He’s tanned, he’s rested and his approval ratings can only go up. The Republicans could do worse in 2012. And probably will.”

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under President Bush, U.S. politics | Comments (14)