Kansans’ low opinion of President Obama held steady in June, with only 34 percent telling SurveyUSA that they approve of the job he’s doing. Obama’s job approval last rose above 40 percent in October. Meanwhile, Gov. Mark Parkinson saw his job approval rise from 40 to 48 percent between May and June in polling sponsored by KWCH, Channel 12. Approval ratings for Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts held steady in June, at 47 and 49 percent, respectively.
The state’s budget problems were so severe that it had to make painful cuts to some deserving programs, such as a fund that helps cover funeral and burial costs of the poor. Still, it was striking that lawmakers could find millions of dollars to continue a tax cut to wealthy estates but couldn’t come up with $520,000 to help indigents receive a proper burial.
The death of Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., inspired some bipartisan praise from members of the Kansas delegation, past and present.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan.: “One of the first privileges I had as a new senator was to attend a not just required but mandatory visit, lecture and sermon from Sen. Robert C. Byrd. Freshman senators learned more in that several-hour session than they did in the first two years of service. He was gracious, kind and took the time to get to know me as a person and to know my wife and family. He had the keenest of legislative minds and was the keeper of the institution of the Senate’s flame. He held it high and will be missed.”
Former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan.: “America has lost a national treasure with the passing of my friend and former colleague Robert C. Byrd. I had the privilege of working with Sen. Byrd as the Republican leader at a time when he served as the Democratic leader, and we maintained a good working relationship despite philosophical differences on a number of issues.”
It’s understandable why some of the GOP candidates in the 4th Congressional District race were upset by Mike Pompeo’s proposal that he and fellow front-runner Wink Hartman hold a series of one-on-one debates. No one wants to be left out or likes another candidate deciding who is viable. But it also wasn’t a huge deal. There have been many forums already with all the candidates, with others planned before the Aug. 3 primary — so there have been plenty of opportunities for voters to see all five candidates side by side. That said, Pompeo’s proposal was politically naive and made him vulnerable to charges of arrogance.
Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays, is maintaining his big lead over Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, in their U.S. Senate race, according to the latest poll by SurveyUSA, sponsored by KWCH, Channel 12. Moran has 53 percent support, while Tiahrt has 33 percent. A SurveyUSA poll last month had Moran up by 23 points.
On the Democratic side, Lisa Johnston is leading with 24 percent support, according to the poll, followed by Charles Schollenberger with 16 percent, and state Sen. David Haley, D-Kansas City, and Robert Conroy, each with 11 percent.
A dispute over Medicaid could result in another budget blow for school districts. At issue are Medicaid funds that pay the salaries of paraprofessionals who provide attendant care to students with disabilities. USD 259’s share of those funds is about $200,000 a year. The Kansas Health Policy Authority is trying to resolve the dispute, which involves whether the funds can go only to qualifying students in a school environment. The authority also hopes to reach a separate agreement that might actually increase funding to schools, which currently are reimbursed for less than their actual costs. But for now, school districts face a funding limbo.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling today that Americans have the right to own a gun for self-defense anywhere they live will lead to the overturning of laws banning handguns. But its impact might not be that great — at least initially. Only two cities — Chicago and one of its suburbs — have such bans. Also, cities and states are still able to pass some restrictions on gun ownership — though it’s not clear yet how far those restrictions can go. Still, it’s a landmark ruling clarifying that Second Amendment gun rights trump local bans.
The ruling may cause some division among conservatives concerned about activist justices overturning the will of voters and lawmakers. For example, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge J. Harvey Wilkinson III, a leading conservative jurist, criticized the court’s earlier decision overturning a Washington, D.C., handgun ban. Wilkinson wrote that the ruling “encourages Americans to do what conservative jurists warned for years they should not do: bypass the ballot and seek to press their political agenda in the courts.”
The belief in limited government has its limits, judging from one moment in a recent panel discussion in Washington, D.C., titled “Tea Time: Can There Be a Conservative Populism?” Panelist Dick Armey, former Texas congressman and now chairman of FreedomWorks, suggested that Social Security become voluntary. “If you did that, it would go away,” Armey said. “People would not choose to put their hard-earned money into a corrupt government Ponzi scheme.” Presumably to prove his theory, Armey asked the gathering how many would take the money elsewhere. Columnist Eleanor Clift noted that “only a smattering of hands went up in the largely conservative crowd. This is what happens when conservative populism meets reality.”
Only 19 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, and 70 percent disapprove, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll. But it gets worse: Only 9 percent think members of Congress have done a good enough job to deserve re-election, while 79 percent think it is time for new people. President Obama fares better: 47 percent approve of Obama’s job performance and 43 percent disapprove. He doesn’t do as well on some specific issues. For example, 43 percent approve of his handling of the Gulf oil spill while 47 percent disapprove. Still, that beats BP, which received only a 13 percent approval rating for its handling of the spill.
UPDATED 6/28 — The Republican races to replace both Reps. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, and Jerry Moran, R-Hays, have tightened up, according to the latest SurveyUSA polls sponsored by KWCH, Channel 12.
In the 4th Congressional District contest, Mike Pompeo has surged ahead with 39 percent support (up from 10 percent support in a February poll). Wink Hartman is a close second with 37 percent support, followed by state Sen. Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita, at 9 percent and Jim Anderson at 6 percent.
State Sen. Jim Barnett, R-Emporia, remains the leader in the 1st Congressional District with 23 percent support. But Tracey Mann is now in second place with 20 percent support (up from 4 percent in February). State Sen. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, is third with 18 percent support. Remaining support was split among three other candidates, and 16 percent of those surveyed were undecided.
As President Obama battles a series of unfortunate events, Washington Post writer Sally Quinn suggests the Democrats could strengthen their position if Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton switched jobs. Foreign policy is Biden’s passion and secretary of state his dream job, Quinn wrote. And Clinton’s “incredible” job performance as secretary of state has cleared up doubts about how she’d be as vice president. “It would not be out of the question for Clinton and Biden to switch jobs sometime after the midterm elections,” Quinn wrote. “After the president announced the switch, majorities in both houses of Congress would have to confirm Clinton to her new position, following the rules laid out in the 25th Amendment. She could then immediately begin campaigning for Obama for 2012, and she would also have at least two years in the White House as vice president to give her unassailable experience, clout and credibility.”
Some state lawmakers may brag about not voting for tax increases, but the Legislature’s steady decline in support for state universities has resulted in a series of tuition and fee increases that are squeezing Kansas families. The latest increases, which the Kansas Board of Regents approved last week, range from 4.1 percent at Fort Hays State University to 8.2 percent at the University of Kansas. Over the past five years, tuition at Wichita State University, Kansas State University and KU has gone up between 28 and 30 percent.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has helped boost the campaigns of candidates around the country. Can she do the same for Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, who has been trailing in the polls in his Senate race against Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays? Palin this week endorsed Tiahrt, saying he is a “protector of our Constitution, a pro-family, pro-Second Amendment commonsense conservative who has never voted for a tax increase and has fought to end the wasteful spending coming out of Washington.” And in an apparent shot at Moran, Palin said that Tiahrt “didn’t just stand on the sidelines complacently, but instead actually battled against the bailouts, the debt-ridden stimulus spending, the cap-and-tax energy schemes, and Obamacare.”
The U.S. Supreme Court did the world a great big favor Monday in ruling that “no” means absolutely not in any way, shape or form when it comes to providing supposedly high-minded assistance to designated terrorist organizations. Adherents of the PKK, which has killed 22,000 in fighting for independence for Turkish Kurds, and of the LTTE, which killed 100 in a single bombing aimed at achieving Tamil independence from Sri Lanka, contended that a statute barring support for terrorist organizations violated their First Amendment rights. The difficulty is that organizations like the PKK and LTTE, not to mention Hamas and Hezbollah, conduct terror campaigns while providing social services to constituents. A six-member majority of the court correctly recognized that Congress had solid grounds for prohibiting Americans from supporting what appear to be the lawful activities of a designated terrorist group because of the very real risk of abetting the organization’s nefarious aims. — New York Daily News
The ruling is a defeat for two groups of activists that want to engage in so-called peace building. One is a collection of organizations supportive of the humanitarian and political activities of Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka. The other wants to advise the Kurdistan Workers’ Party on how to take its grievances against Turkey to the United Nations. Writing for the court, Chief Justice John Roberts concluded that such efforts violate a law making it a crime to “knowingly provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization” designated by the State Department. But that is an unconvincing reading of the statute, and one that offends the Constitution. A sounder interpretation was offered by Justice Stephen G. Breyer in his dissenting opinion. He wrote that the law should be interpreted as criminalizing speech and association otherwise protected by the First Amendment “only when the defendant knows or intends that those activities will assist the organization’s unlawful terrorist actions.” Congress should make it clear that it agrees. — Los Angeles Times
The length of time of both the federal trial and the jury’s deliberation in the case of Stephen and Linda Schneider reflected the complexity of the issues involved. In the end, the criminal wrongdoing at the Schneiders’ Haysville clinic was clear, including health care fraud and money laundering as well as prescription writing that more than justified the clinic’s reputation as a “pill mill.” To its credit, the jury held the Schneiders accountable for appalling practices that contributed to the overdose deaths of 10 patients, and perhaps many more. Sadly, though, as such cases bring to light how many people suffer daily with severe pain, they surely make it harder for physicians to help.
Just days after its fifth birthday, Spirit AeroSystems offered its Machinists union workers a contract that seems like a vote of confidence in the company’s next decade, as well as in its work force and in Wichita. Spirit’s 6,000 machinists may or may not decide that the contract warrants their votes today, but the contract seems to provide the company needed flexibility and the workers enviable stability. And the collaborative process of negotiations has been remarkable, especially in the context of the ugly downturn.
In response to the death of Tom Leahy Jr., I expressed regret that local stations don’t make TV personalities like Leahy’s “Major Astro” and “The Host” anymore. Bryan Frye, director of marketing at KAKE, Channel 10, didn’t exactly disagree, but he called to make sure I knew that Mike Harvey, son of the late Henry Harvey (in photo), has been reprising his dad’s role as Santa Claus on KAKE since 2008 and will be back this holiday season in 10 new episodes of “Santa’s Workshop.” Santa’s sidekick will be Hugh Harding, who has voiced the variously named KAKEman and Toy Boy for 40 years.
“President Obama fired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, saying McChrystal showed poor judgment in his Rolling Stone interview. It turns out when it comes to criticizing the White House, the general’s policy is ‘just ask, and I’ll tell.’” — Jimmy Fallon
“The general is in trouble for shooting off his mouth. Once again, another hole Obama can’t plug.” — David Letterman
“The bad news for McChrystal is he got fired for insulting the president. But the good news is, Fox said, ‘We’ll hire him.’” — Jay Leno
Sedgwick County Commission Chairman Karl Peterjohn was being principled in not voting to raise residential trash fees by $1.66 per year. But his vote also showed how ideology can be taken to silly extremes. Peterjohn said he promised during his campaign to push for voter approval of tax increases, and he considers the fee a tax increase — even though state law says otherwise. But while voters could appreciate being asked to approve a tax increase of some significance, most of them likely trust and expect commissioners to decide whether a fee increase of 14 cents a month is needed.
