Daily Archives: June 24, 2009

Sanford’s star dips

June 24, 200912:00 p.m.

sanfordmarkAt least South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford doesn’t have to wonder whether anyone would miss him if he disappeared. But doesn’t his six-day AWOL episode — and the confusing revelation that he wasn’t really hiking along the Appalachian Trail, as his staff initially said, but in Argentina “to do something exotic” — damage his GOP star power and chances to be the 2012 presidential nominee? UPDATE: The governor admitted he was in Argentina having an affair. Definitely not a good career move.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under U.S. politics | Comments (180)

Five steps to Obama care

June 24, 200911:59 a.m.

doctorswashinghands1There are five keys to putting health care reform into President Obama’s “win” column, according to Politico: Put the bully pulpit to work. Keep it at $999,999,999,999. Decide if bipartisanship matters. “Let’s Make a Deal: Industry Edition” (meaning more things like Saturday’s $80 billion savings deal with drugmakers). Decide what he truly wants (“He has laid out three principles that leave plenty of wiggle room: Slow the growth in health care costs, expand coverage, and guarantee choice of doctors and private and public insurance plans”).

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Health and safety, President Obama | Comments (18)

Obama mania won’t last, matter

June 24, 20096:04 a.m.

obamathumbsup2President Obama has been criticized for being covered too much and too approvingly by the media, a subject pondered Sunday by the roundtable on ABC’s “This Week”:
“Three great love affairs in world history are Abelaid and Heloise, Romeo and Juliet and the American media and this president at the moment,” agreed commentator George Will. “But it doesn’t matter over time. Reality will impinge. If his programs work, he’s fine. If it doesn’t work, all the adulation of journalists in the world won’t help.”
Bill Keller, executive editor of the New York Times, attributed some of the attention to Obama’s “fascinating life story” and status as the first African-American president. “But don’t confuse attention with love,” Keller said. “Here is a new president who has promulgated one huge, ambitious program after another. So of course he gets a lot of big Page One headlines. But I don’t think at least up till now that it’s been unskeptical or uncritical.”

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Media, President Obama | Comments (100)

Open thread 6/24

June 24, 20096:03 a.m.

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By The Editors | Filed under Open thread | Comments (127)

Cheering on the Crown Uptown

June 24, 20096:02 a.m.

crownuptownWhile many other Wichita entertainment enterprises have come and gone, the Crown Uptown Dinner Theatre has endured and endeared itself to Wichitans for 32 years, with a tenacity very much like that of its late founder Ted Morris. Now, just days after it looked like the Crown’s long run was over because of the economy, an anonymous investor and new management team plan to keep the theater going. That’s a relief for those who work at the 81-year-old former vaudeville house. But it’s also a relief for Wichita, which sorely needs a place to go year-round to enjoy a meal, laugh, song and dance.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Wichita | Comments (6)

Obama and the deficits

June 24, 20096:01 a.m.

cash6“There are two basic truths about the enormous deficits that the federal government will run in the coming years,” wrote New York Times economics reporter David Leonhardt. “The first is that President Obama’s agenda, ambitious as it may be, is responsible for only a sliver of the deficits, despite what many of his Republican critics are saying. The second is that Mr. Obama does not have a realistic plan for eliminating the deficit, despite what his advisers have suggested.”

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under President Obama | Comments (129)

A hybrid Lamborghini?

June 24, 20096:00 a.m.

lamborghiniYou know there is momentum for reducing auto emissions when Lamborghini, the Italian high-performance sports car manufacturer, is researching a possible hybrid engine. The move is the company’s effort to lower emissions by 35 percent by 2015, USA Today reported.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Business, Environment | Comments (4)