Good for Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for approving Elena Kagan’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Graham was the only Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee to vote to send the nomination to the full Senate. As Graham has noted, elections matter, and presidents should have considerable prerogative in picking justices. And as long as a nominee is well-qualified and of good character, the Senate should approve the nomination. That’s why The Eagle editorial board has supported the nominees, liberal and conservative, of past Republican and Democratic presidents.
“If you want a preview of President Obama’s health care ‘reform,’ take a look at Massachusetts,” columnist Robert Samuelson wrote. He noted how Massachusetts passed a reform plan in 2006 that was a model for the federal reform. “What’s happened since isn’t encouraging,” Samuelson said. The biggest concern is that the state didn’t do a good job controlling costs, which is also a concern with the federal reform. “What’s occurring in Massachusetts is the plausible future: Unchecked health spending shapes government priorities and inflates budget deficits and taxes, with small health gains,” Samuelson wrote. “And they call this ‘reform’?”
It tested the patience of drivers and businesses and the ingenuity of city engineers, but West Street’s $9.6 million reconstruction from Maple to Central is over at last. Those who avoided the hassle of the orange cones over the past 14 months need to make a point to patronize the 100 long-suffering businesses along the corridor. Fortunately for all involved, West Street is now wider and safer, with new turn lanes, traffic signals and improved sidewalks and landscaping. Best of all, the street should no longer turn into a floodway with each hard rain.
After a deliberative process, the Wichita City Council is expected to decide today whether to tighten rules related to inflatable amusement rides. The changes aim to hold businesses accountable for the safety of their rides and help ensure that those who rent the equipment know how to use it properly. With the new rules, which also increase penalties for violations and mandate that accidents be reported, the public ought to feel better about the safety of these rides — a serious concern, in the wake of the death of a 5-year-old boy at a west-side inflatables business in March. To its credit, the city took care to balance public safety with business rights. And as Jay Jones, owner of Kids Fun USA, told The Eagle, the inflatables companies that take safety “seriously have already been doing these things.”
