“Since filibustering imposes virtually no costs on the minority, at least in the modern Senate in which the norm against filibustering is long gone, there’s every incentive for the minority to filibuster even if they don’t really oppose something or someone,” Jonathan Bernstein wrote. “Governing is all about bargaining, and the filibuster under current rules gives opponents of anything a powerful bargaining chip.” Though some have suggested that the GOP won’t filibuster as much next year, Bernstein disagrees. “While it’s impossible to see more filibusters (since by insisting on 60 votes, Republicans already filibustered everything), it’s very likely we’ll see just as many,” he wrote. “And that makes the question of Senate rules reform absolutely crucial.”
But Jennifer Rubin argues that “those planning on tinkering with Senate rules are well-advised to do some serious thinking about the unintended consequences of their desire to give the Senate majority more power,” noting that the Senate could switch to a GOP majority in 2012.
Our editorial on today’s Opinion page ranks the top 10 political issues of 2010. We tried to base the rankings on issues that generated the most public passion, not just big news stories, and we gave preference to local and state topics. Issues included the elections, the role of government, the sales-tax increase and the smoking ban. Did we miss any big talkers?
The Washington Post has compiled a photo gallery of the political winners and losers of 2010. Winners included John Boehner (in photo), the tea party, Harry Reid, Lisa Murkowski and Sarah Palin. Losers included liberals, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and big-spending candidates Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina.
Some leading conservative voices are saying that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has gone too far in mocking and misrepresenting first lady Michelle Obama’s effort to encourage healthy eating. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said that Palin doesn’t understand what Obama is trying to do and that Obama is “stating the obvious: that we do have an obesity crisis in this country.” He added: “The first lady’s campaign is on target. It’s not saying that you can’t or should never eat a dessert.” A Wall Street Journal editorial suggested that “Palin would be more effective if she made some distinctions among the Obama policies that really are worth opposing.”
Being Kansas’ governor-elect hasn’t been great for Sam Brownback’s attendance record in the U.S. Senate. But it’s been good for Kansans’ approval of him as a U.S. senator. In SurveyUSA’s December poll of Kansans, 58 percent of respondents said they approved of the job Brownback was doing. That was up 8 percentage points in a month and Brownback’s highest rating in five years. The poll, sponsored by KWCH, Channel 12, also found approval ratings of 47 percent for Sen. Pat Roberts, 45 percent for outgoing Gov. Mark Parkinson and 31 percent for President Obama (down 13 points in a month).
The recently passed food guidelines for schools are not nanny-state politics, as many critics suggest, columnist Mary Sanchez wrote. “This is hardly Armageddon. It’s about feeding hungry children healthful food,” Sanchez wrote. “And given that childhood obesity and the resulting rates of diabetes and other health issues wind up costing taxpayers to treat the uninsured, wouldn’t it be fiscally more prudent to nip this nutritional demon when our children are younger and less rotund?”
Mark Parkinson looks back on his 20 months as governor and time in Topeka in a year-ending blog posting mentioning the Hawker Beechcraft deal as capping “four very rewarding years.” Noting that the “economic development wins” also included last summer’s deal to secure Bombardier LearJet’s future, he wrote, “I’m particularly pleased that we were able to help Wichita during one of its most challenging times.” Among the other things he’s pleased about: “Steering the state budget through a very challenging time.” Making progress on wind farms, major transmission lines and a renewable-energy manufacturing industry. Landing the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. Passing a public smoking ban and new transportation plan. He said he wishes his administration could have worked on the waiting lists for services for those with disabilities and the underfunding of the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System.
This is expected to be among the three warmest years on record, and 2001 through 2010 was the warmest decade on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization. So why have there been record snowfalls in some states and countries in recent years? “As global temperatures have warmed and as Arctic sea ice has melted over the past 2½ decades, more moisture has become available to fall as snow over the continents,” explained Judah Cohen of an atmospheric and environmental research firm.
Many Kansans already were worried that Secretary of State-elect Kris Kobach would be like former Attorney General Phill Kline, who was tossed out by voters for politicizing the office and crusading against abortion providers. Those concerns were heightened last week when Kobach picked Kline’s former senior deputy attorney general, Eric Rucker (in photo), to be assistant secretary of state. Rucker also served as Kline’s top aide in the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office before voters tossed them out again. Rucker then ran for Shawnee County district attorney in 2008 but lost in the general election, in large part because of his connection to Kline. In August, a disciplinary panel recommended that Rucker receive an informal admonition for failing to correct false information given to the Kansas Supreme Court. Nonetheless, Kobach said of Rucker, who served as deputy assistant secretary of state in the early 1980s: “It is difficult to imagine a person more qualified to be assistant secretary of state.”
“Hawker Beechcraft laid off 600 and everybody jumped,” said David Brax, superintendent of the Buhler school district. “But we keep cutting K-12, and we’ve cut more (jobs) than that, but it’s spread out over 289 school districts. That doesn’t make much big headline news, but it’s bigger than Hawker Beechcraft.” Through layoffs and unfilled positions over the past two years, Kansas school districts have cut more than 1,100 teaching jobs; 140 other certified staff jobs, such as librarians and counselors; and 930 classified school staff jobs, such as paraprofessionals and secretaries, the Hutchinson News reported.
“Why would someone who’s devoted his career to fighting illegal immigration want to become chief vote-counter for the state of Kansas?” asked a Washington Times story about Secretary of State-elect Kris Kobach. For him, the answer is to fight voter fraud, and in a big way. “This will be head and shoulders above anything any state has ever done to secure the voting process,” he told the Times. “My hope is to create a model with regard to stopping voter fraud that can be used in other states, like we did in Arizona” with immigration. He said no state has done what his “groundbreaking” law would do, including requiring photo ID to vote and proof of citizenship to register to vote, and streamlining enforcement such as by allowing the state as well as counties to prosecute voter-fraud cases. Sounds like an awfully big solution for a largely made-up problem.
The following satirical headlines come from borowitzreport.com and theonion.com:
DEMOCRATS MOVE 2012 CONVENTION TO METRODOME; Most Appropriate Venue, Party Bosses Say
JULIAN ASSANGE TO LAUNCH SOCIAL NETWORK FOR DIPLOMATS; WikiLeaks Founder Plans ‘Twofacebook’
CENSUS FINDS ENOUGH HOMELESS PEOPLE LIVING IN PUBLIC LIBRARY TO WARRANT CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
IN CONTROVERSIAL DECISION, TIME MAGAZINE CALLS MARK ZUCKERBERG A PERSON; Thousands Protest Designation
DISASTER-TORN HAITI BRACED FOR PALIN; ‘We Have Suffered Enough,’ Haitians Say
BARACK OBAMA — EITHER DOING HIS BEST IN ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT TIMES IN AMERICAN HISTORY, OR HITLER
GOLDMAN’S MASSIVE BONUSES ‘TOTALLY DESERVED,’ SAYS SATAN; Prince of Darkness Praises Wall Street Colleagues
The Kansas Board of Regents took a needed, albeit modest, step toward helping more students succeed in college and improving the reputations of the state’s public universities. It approved new college admission standards that will apply to freshmen entering high school in 2011. In order to attend one of the six regents universities, high school graduates will have to complete a new, tougher college curriculum with at least a 2.0 grade-point average. In addition, the students will have to either be in the top third of their class or have a minimum 21 ACT score or 980 SAT. Currently, high school graduates must meet only one of three requirements: complete a pre-college curriculum, get the same ACT or SAT scores, or rank in the top third of their class. The higher standards will help ensure more students are ready for college and, hopefully, that more kids will work harder in high school.
Tim Shallenburger was called a lot of things during his time as a Kansas House speaker and state treasurer — including strong, fair, pragmatic, blunt and funny. But “bipartisan”? Yet the statement announcing Gov.-elect Sam Brownback’s selection of Shallenburger to be legislative liaison said he was “known for his ability to work in a collegial and bipartisan fashion.” While praising Shallenburger, Topeka Capital-Journal columnist Ric Anderson challenged the word choice: “His reputation for hard-line conservatism scared droves of moderates into the waiting arms of Kathleen Sebelius when he ran against her in 2002. Shallenburger drew 45 percent of the vote to Sebelius’ 52.8 percent, and it took eight years for the GOP to retake the governor’s chair. This is a guy who once said: ‘A lot of people try to play it too safe and try to say things that are politically correct and try to make sure that nobody gets offended. I’m not that way.’ Yeah, a real kumbaya guy, that Tim Shallenburger. And Sarah Palin’s known for her reluctance to self-promote.”
Christmas greetings to all WE Bloggers. Though it has been a difficult year for many, with more local layoffs and economic struggles, may this day be merry and bright for all.
“Unlike the Congress, which can be bought off by big oil and big coal, it is not so easy to tell the Marines that they can’t buy the solar power that could save lives,” columnist Thomas Friedman wrote about Marine Corps plans to use renewable energy as a way to avoid roadside bombings of fuel convoys. “I don’t know what the final outcome in Iraq or Afghanistan will be, but if we come out of these two wars with a Pentagon-led green revolution, I know they won’t be a total loss. Wars that were driven partly by our oil addiction end up forcing us to break our oil addiction? Wouldn’t that be interesting?”
It’s encouraging that the population at the Sedgwick County Jail continues to be lower than last year, even though it is still high. The average daily population from January through November was 1,567, about 80 fewer inmates than the same period last year. Credit for the drop largely goes to the county’s wise decision to develop and emphasize alternative programs such as day-reporting and pretrial services.
Wichita residents with alarm systems received a nice Christmas present when the Wichita City Council voted this week to waive a $25 annual fee for those who go a year without a false alarm. Many residents considered the fee a money grab by the city — justified as a fee aimed at covering the cost of responding to false alarms. Good for the city for responding to residents’ complaints and revising its policy.
