New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s decision — again — to not run for president in 2012 means that the lineup of GOP presidential candidates may be set. Among those candidates, Mitt Romney has moved into the lead as Texas Gov. Rick Perry has faded. Romney has 25 percent support in the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll, while Perry has dropped to 16 percent and is now tied with Herman Cain for second place. Perry’s support fell 13 percent since the last poll. His biggest decline was among conservatives, whose support for Perry dropped from 39 to 19 percent. Whoever wins the GOP nomination has a strong chance of beating President Obama, according to the poll. Only 37 percent of those surveyed believe Obama will win re-election, and 55 percent think the GOP nominee will win.
To the untrained eye, the planning grant that the Regional Economic Area Partnership wants to apply for seems straightforward. Why shouldn’t REAP seek a $1.5 million federal grant to encourage sustainable development in Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey, Reno and Sumner counties? But Sedgwick County Commissioners Richard Ranzau and Karl Peterjohn claimed in a commentary in Sunday’s Opinion pages that the grant is part of an Obama administration effort “to circumvent the will of Congress, the states and the people.” And they claimed that the elected officials throughout the region who support the grant have “paved the way for President Obama to plan and develop our communities according to his progressive, big-government vision.” Wow, that sounds scary. And a little nuts.
Good for Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., for recognizing the importance of Wichita’s Aquifer Storage and Recovery project and vowing to help get federal funding for it. The city should be eligible to receive $26 million for the recharge project, which will help provide water from the Equus Beds aquifer for 550,000 people through at least 2050. But the proposed 2012 federal budget has only $46,000 allocated. Moran said he would try to make sure that Wichita gets its full funding. “This is an important project that has significant consequences for the state and directly to the city of Wichita,” he said.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s decision — again — to not run for president in 2012 means that the lineup of GOP presidential candidates may be set. Among those candidates, Mitt Romney has moved into the lead as Texas Gov. Rick Perry has faded. Romney has 25 percent support in the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll, while Perry has dropped to 16 percent and is now tied with Herman Cain for second place. Perry’s support fell 13 percent since the last poll. His biggest decline was among conservatives, whose support for Perry dropped from 39 to 19 percent. Whoever wins the GOP nomination has a strong chance of beating President Obama, according to the poll. Only 37 percent of those surveyed believe Obama will win re-election, and 55 percent think the GOP nominee will win.
