November is looking bright for Republicans. According to a new Gallup poll, Republicans lead Democrats by 51 to 41 percent in a generic ballot of congressional voting preferences. The 10-point lead is the GOP’s largest so far this year. What’s even more favorable for the GOP is enthusiasm. Republican voters are twice as likely as Democrats to be “very” enthusiastic about voting.
The national media are noticing that Koch Industries is among the 2,000 groups that have been approved to seek federal reimbursement for the health claims of “early retirees.” The program, which is part of the federal health care law, is aimed at retired workers 55 or older who are too young to get Medicare. The Washington Post noted that David Koch “has been a major funder of groups that lobbied heavily to defeat the health care law.” But Melissa Cohlmia, director of communication at Koch Industries, defended the company seeking federal help. “Once laws or programs are enacted, we will not place ourselves or our employees at a disadvantage by turning our back on incentives offered to our competitors,” she said.
Kansas native Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., will be leaving the U.S. Senate next year, but another native Kansan may be going there to represent another state. Joe Miller (in photo), who narrowly won last week’s GOP primary in Alaska, was born in Osborne and graduated from high school in Salina. Miller is taking heat for some of his views, such as opposing unemployment insurance and wanting to privatize Medicare and Social Security.
