In the past, slaughterhouse waste – fatty scraps and bits of connective tissue left over from beef processing – was used only for pet food or rendering into cooking oil. But in 2001, a South Dakota company called Beef Products Inc. received U.S. Department of Agriculture approval for a new process that extracts fat from the scraps and treats the remaining tissue with ammonium hydroxide to inhibit pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella. The resulting gelatinous pink mass, nicknamed “pink slime” by a horrified government microbiologist, is mixed into ground beef as cheap filler (up to 15 percent in school lunches), reportedly shaving 3 cents off every pound that contains it. These trimmings are also in much of the ground beef sold in this country (as much as 70 percent, according to ABC News). But many consumers have no idea they’re eating “pink slime” because it is not disclosed on labeling. The USDA recently announced that starting in the fall, schools will be able to opt out of pink slime. This is a good first step. We also need to insist that pink slime is labeled in grocery-store ground beef. Consumers have a right to know what’s in their burgers. – Bettina Siegel, Houston Chronicle
More than 200 local plant workers are paying the price for a burning controversy over what they produced. Beef Products Inc. closed its Holcomb plant because of backlash over production of lean, finely textured beef used in hamburger, sausage, ground beef and other foods. Critics who dubbed the product “pink slime” waged a campaign of misinformation powered by television shows and social media. The unfortunate developments stemmed from controversy over BPI’s use of ammonium hydroxide to kill harmful bacteria, including E. coli and salmonella. The process was wrongly depicted, leaving consumers understandably confused and concerned. As a result, fast-food chains and grocers dropped food items with textured beef. Plus, the U.S. Department of Agriculture gave school districts an out regarding the purchase of the beef, instead of defending the safety of a product that received a governmental stamp of approval. Stepped-up efforts to help consumers better understand a process in place to keep them safe should help undo enough damage, hopefully, to allow the Holcomb facility and BPI as a whole to resume putting out a beef product long considered safe to eat. – Garden City Telegram
President Obama is pulling ahead in some key swing states, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. It shows Obama leading over either GOP candidate, Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum, in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. But much can happen between now and November, particularly after Republicans stop fighting among themselves and rally behind their nominee.
It’s one thing for doctors and pharmacists to refuse to participate in abortions or to prescribe or dispense contraceptives – though that can create significant problems for women living in small towns. But the Kansas House went too far in expanding the state’s conscience law so that doctors and pharmacists don’t have to refer patients to other providers. That goes beyond protecting the consciences of doctors to imposing those views on patients. The House also is considering legislation that would limit the liability of doctors who lie to women about the condition of their pregnancies to try to prevent them from getting abortions, and that would require physicians to inform women seeking an abortion about the risk of breast cancer, even though mainstream science doesn’t support a link between abortion and breast cancer. Meanwhile, those on both sides of the abortion debate can’t believe that a former abortion doctor at a now-defunct clinic in Kansas City, Kan., put more than 1,000 patient files in a recycling container. The files, which included personal information about patients, were discovered by an Overland Park woman.
Gov. Sam Brownback is smart in wanting to boost ecotourism in Kansas. Brownback met last week with Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and discussed ideas for attracting to the region more hunters, bird-watchers and others who enjoy nature. Kansas “boasts a diverse landscape with many outstanding opportunities for travelers to enjoy the outdoors,” Brownback said in a statement. Tourism is already the third-largest industry in Kansas, based on jobs, and there is a lot of potential for growth. Working with neighboring states is also smart. “I am encouraged that we are working together to identify and develop strategies to attract people to this beautiful region of the world,” Brownback said after the meeting.
Good for City Hall staff for responding to a fake tourism ad aired on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show that spoofed our city as “Wichitawesome.” But the city didn’t need to lower the bar. The city’s video has a cardboard cutout of Kimmel imbibing from a beer bong in Old Town, throwing up in the Arkansas River, getting “lei-ed” (ha, ha) and being friskily frisked by an airport security officer. The video was targeted at Kimmel and the younger audience that watches his show. But a video can be clever without being crude. For example, Grand Rapids, Mich., created a positive music video last year in response to Newsweek including it on a list of “America’s Dying Cities.” It’s received more than 4.6 million views on YouTube.
Leon Rodriguez, director of the Office for Civil Rights within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is scheduled to meet today with Gov. Sam Brownback about the state’s long waiting lists for services for the disabled, the Kansas Health Institute News Service reported. HHS and U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom have been concerned that the waiting lists violate disabled individuals’ right to live in the “least restrictive environment.” The Brownback administration (like past administrations) has shown little interest in reducing the waiting lists, preferring to focus on tax cuts. But the federal government appears to be tired of waiting. Those on the waiting lists certainly are.
An attempt Tuesday by Rep. Steve Brunk, R-Wichita, to create a one-year pilot project of the federal electronic employment verification program was derailed by the usual immigration politics, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported. Brunk wanted to test the E-Verify system, which checks citizenship status, on applicants for state government jobs before requiring the private sector or local units of government to use it. He warned his Federal and State Affairs Committee that if lawmakers loaded up the bill with other requirements – such as that law enforcement officers check the immigration status of people they encounter – he would stop debate. But other lawmakers couldn’t resist trying to broaden the bill, and the measure quickly stalled.
Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, was taken to task by the Wall Street Journal editorial board for being one of two Republicans to join Democrats in voting in the House Budget Committee last week against the budget blueprint of Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., which would reach balance in 2040. “The budget passed 19-18, but if the rebellion spreads it will play into the hands of Nancy Pelosi, who wants to show that Republicans can’t govern,” wrote the editorial board, which lauded Ryan’s vision of how to promote growth, reform entitlements and protect defense spending. It continued: “Conservatives who really want to limit government should focus on major reform, not on hitting some unlikely balanced-budget target in some future year.” In a statement after the committee vote, Huelskamp praised Ryan but said “a real path to tax reform is missing from this budget. On April 1 the U.S. will have the highest corporate tax rate in the world; and on January 1, America will be hit with an onslaught of tax increases. The American people know we cannot afford to ignore these critical realities, and they are looking for Republican leadership to protect hardworking taxpayers.”
Kansans can wish Kansas State University men’s basketball coach Frank Martin well in his new endeavor of trying to pull South Carolina out of the SEC basement, and cheer on KSU president Kirk Schulz and athletic director John Currie as they seek a new coach who’ll be a positive and lasting asset for the Wildcats, the state and the Big 12. Seeing Martin ditch KSU after five seasons, four NCAA Tournaments and a 117-54 record, it’s fair to wonder whether there’s any loyalty these days between coaches and colleges. But Wichita State University fans just saw proof of its existence in the announcement that men’s basketball coach Gregg Marshall (in photo) plans to stay and build on his five seasons and 109-61 record, which have included a Missouri Valley Conference title and NCAA Tournament bid this season and the NIT Championship last year. Marshall said: “Wichita State is a special place, with great resources, from facilities to academics to people.” And a great men’s basketball team, thanks in large part to Marshall.
Norton Bonaparte Jr., the Sanford, Fla., city manager caught in the harsh spotlight of the Trayvon Martin shooting, looks familiar to many Kansans. From 2006 until last July, Bonaparte was the city manager of Topeka, exiting after a challenging tenure marked by power struggles with elected officials and controversies over a police helicopter, the city zoo and more. In 2008, Bonaparte was one of five finalists for the job as Wichita’s city manager, which went to Robert Layton. In taking the job in Sanford last September, noted a Topeka Capital-Journal editorial, Bonaparte unknowingly went from the frying pan to the fire. On Friday, the day after the Sanford police chief stepped aside temporarily, Bonaparte acknowledged: “The issues that have been brought to my attention regarding the black community and the Sanford police department go back 10 years. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done there.”
Sam Brownback made an odd choice for his first bill to veto as governor – one that the Legislature approved unanimously. After using only his line-item veto last year to nix some expenditures including state arts funding, Brownback blocked a bill last week that would give individual counties control of the $20.2 million tied to the Kansas Oil and Gas Valuation Depletion Trust Fund. The House had passed the bill 124-0, and the Senate had approved it 40-0. Brownback doesn’t necessarily disagree with the bill but thinks it “needs to be considered in the context of a comprehensive pro-growth tax and budget package.” In other words, the Legislature seems to be passing bills and cutting taxes willy-nilly without a plan for how it all fits together. The next question: Will the Legislature override the veto?
Oral arguments began today before the U.S. Supreme Court in the challenge to the federal health care law. Kansas is one of the states opposing the law. Attorney General Derek Schmidt wrote a commentary in the Sunday Eagle that summarized the states’ case. “We are challenging the authority of the federal government to commandeer American citizens (through the individual mandate) and to commandeer state taxpayers (through the required Medicaid expansion) in pursuit of Washington’s objectives,” Schmidt wrote. “No matter the nobility of its purpose, Congress may not use extra-constitutional powers that it simply does not possess.”
Kansas rated better than average in a new ranking of the best states to make a living. MoneyRates.com examined data on income, cost of living, taxes and unemployment. Virginia had the highest adjusted average income of $43,677. Kansas was No. 19 at $37,008. Of our neighboring states, only Colorado ($40,490) had a higher average income than Kansas.
The following satirical headlines come from borowitzreport.com and theonion.com:
Tebow, Sanchez Vow to Work Together to Throw Football
Potential Matchup Between Black Man and Mormon Poses Dilemma for Bigots
In Possible Gaffe, Romney Says Poor People ‘Taste Like Chicken’
In Positive Economic Sign, Republicans Starting to Say Again That Obama Wasn’t Born in U.S.
GOP Voters: ‘Can We See What It Looks Like With Huntsman And Perry Again?’
Gay Tiger Attacks Santorum
New Breeding Program Aimed at Keeping Moderate Republicans from Going Extinct
Knicks Trade Jeremy Lin For Selfish Jerk Who Plays Knicks-Style Basketball
Secretary of State Kris Kobach is still trying to rush into place a law requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration. A bill changing the date when the law goes into effect from next January to this June 15 didn’t make it out of a Senate committee, effectively killing it. But like a monster from a bad horror movie, the measure if alive again, as some House members replaced the contents of an unrelated Senate bill with Kobach’s plan. Voting-rights advocates contend that the bill is aimed at suppressing voter turnout and accuse Kobach of resorting to “shady gut-and-go tactics.” But Kobach defended the procedural move as common. “This is an acceptable alternative, and it would allow each senator to vote on this issue,” he told the Lawrence Journal-World.
Good for the Kansas Senate for passing an education plan last week that boosts state funding for education by $74 per pupil each of the next two years. “It was really a compromise for all districts to get some funding,” Senate Education Committee chairwoman Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita, told The Eagle editorial board. She also said that the fact that 30 of the Senate’s 40 members voted for the plan “sent a message that people are supportive of public ed.” That message is in stark contrast to two House GOP plans aimed at cutting funding. The Kansas House wisely abandoned a plan that would have cut $29.4 million from mostly large school districts, including Wichita. But House Speaker Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, is still pushing a plan that would punish those districts for having reserve funds, even though their reserves are smaller as a percentage of their budgets than smaller schools. “Districts that would have been hit by the cut are, on average, 4 to 5 times larger than those that would have been exempt,” wrote Peter Hancock of the website Kansas Education Policy Report. “They also serve the overwhelming majority of African-American, Hispanic and low-income children.”
Kansas ranks ninth among state governments for its transparency, accountability and anti-corruption mechanisms, according to a new study by the Center for Public Integrity, Public Radio International and Global Integrity. But that’s not as good as it sounds, as none of the states rated high. The study looked at various “integrity risk indicators, ” such as public access to information, political financing, state budget processes, lobbying disclosure, ethics enforcement and redistricting. Kansas was among 19 states that received a “C” grade. No state received an “A.” A New York Times editorial concluded: “The report shows that most statehouses can barely be trusted to maintain the rudiments of good government.”
The “sarcasm bombing” of Gov. Sam Brownback’s Facebook page is still going strong. The page has been swamped with comments during the past two week from women asking Brownback for medical advice on female issues ranging from menstruation to pap smears. The posts are from people upset that Brownback and the Legislature keep passing bills affecting women’s health care. Said one poster: “Since it’s clear that you don’t believe that I am capable of making reproductive decisions privately with my doctor, I am turning to you for help.” Similar posts are also being made on the Facebook pages of other governors, including Rick Perry of Texas.
Two years ago, Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a landmark, once-in-a-generation legislation that was decades in the making.
Having lost that argument through the democratic process, the Republicans and their allies are now seeking to have the Supreme Court overturn the ACA by judicial fiat.
That’s right – the same people who complain endlessly about the overreach of “activist judges” now want to use the highest court in the land to reverse the will of the people as expressed through their elected representatives.
The Affordable Care Act is not even fully implemented, yet it’s already making a powerful difference in the lives of the American people.
Today, already 2.5 million young adults have gained health coverage, thanks to the ACA provision that allows them to stay on their parents’ plans until age 26. And last year, 3.6 million seniors saved a total of $2.1 billion on pharmaceutical costs, with the closing of the “donut hole” coverage gap written into the 2003 Medicare Part D prescription drug bill.
And there are more benefits to come, if the Supreme Court upholds the law and allows the bill to take full effect. By 2014, at long last, your insurance company will no longer be able to discriminate against you because you have a pre-existing health condition.
It is wrong-minded to dismantle or undermine a plan that will work.
Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional down to its very DNA. The Supreme Court can save itself and the country years of litigation by striking down the entire law when it issues its decision this summer.
The individual mandate should be struck down because it isn’t protected under the Commerce Clause.
The law also requires states to expand their Medicaid programs to cover families earning up to $30,000 a year. Lawyers for the 26 states that are challenging the law will tell the court during oral arguments this violates the Tenth Amendment’s protection of states’ rights.
The Affordable Care Act bashes into the Constitution at every turn because it is fundamentally in conflict to the essential founding principles of this country – freedom and the sovereignty of states and citizens. It turns control over one-sixth of our economy to the federal government, ceding life and death decisions to the state.
The law is wrong for America, and the sooner the Supreme Court overturns it, the sooner we can get on the path to patient-centered reform that fits our economy – and our Constitution.
Grace-Marie Turner, Galen Institute
“Drill, baby, drill” makes a nice chant, but it doesn’t make much of a difference on gas prices. As an Associated Press analysis of 36 years worth of data showed, and as economists have been saying for years, oil prices are based on a world market, and the United States doesn’t have enough oil to significantly influence that market. That’s why gas prices are climbing even though oil production in the United States is at an 8 year high and the percentage of oil that we are importing has been declining. Likewise, the Keystone pipeline, if it is approved, wouldn’t lower gas prices, according to analysts. That said, there are other economic benefits to domestic energy production, including jobs and tax revenue.
Good for Rep. Jim Howell, R-Derby, for carrying an amendment on the House floor this week that would allow local officials to provide voters with a plain-language explanation of what they’re voting on. The issue arose during last month’s vote on the tax incentive for the Ambassador Hotel in Wichita. The official wording of the ballot question was so convoluted that it was difficult to know what a “yes” or “no” vote meant. There is understandable concern about whether officials could be trusted to write a neutral explanation of a ballot question, but Howell’s amendment provides some checks and balances. As Howell urged his fellow lawmakers: “Let’s fix this mess.”
Mitt Romney seems to have an insurmountable delegate lead now, but that isn’t stopping his campaign from helping his challengers. A senior adviser said Wednesday that Romney’s campaign would reset and start over again in the general election, “almost like an Etch-A-Sketch.” Rick Santorum’s campaign responded by passing out pocket-size Etch-A-Sketches and touting that “conservative principles should be written in stone, not on Etch-A-Sketch.” Gingrich gave an Etch-A-Sketch to a young girl at one of his campaign stops and told her, “You could now be a presidential candidate.”
The five private insurance companies hoping to oversee Kansas’ Medicaid system have until March 30 to show that they have assembled at least half of the statewide provider network needed in order to secure a contract, the Kansas Health Institute News Service reported. As a result, the companies are pressing service providers to sign contracts or letters of intent. Many providers are holding off, not wanting to commit to a company that might not be chosen. Krista Postai, who runs the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas in Pittsburg, likened the companies and their sales pitches to “the cute guys with the blue eyes who sell computer software.” She said that “you want to believe them, but it never works the way they said it would.”
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll showed Rick Santorum having 66 percent favorability rating among Republican and Republican-leaning women, the highest of the GOP presidential candidates. But the problem for Santorum and the other candidates is that they don’t do well with women overall, according to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. A hypothetical contest between President Obama and Santorum found the president winning among women by 24 percentage points. Against Mitt Romney, Obama won by 18 points among women. The gender gap is particularly a problem for Republicans because women tend to vote in higher numbers than men.
In the past, slaughterhouse waste – fatty scraps and bits of connective tissue left over from beef processing – was used only for pet food or rendering into cooking oil. But in 2001, a South Dakota company called Beef Products Inc. received U.S. Department of Agriculture approval for a new process that extracts fat from the scraps and treats the remaining tissue with ammonium hydroxide to inhibit pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella. The resulting gelatinous pink mass, nicknamed “pink slime” by a horrified government microbiologist, is mixed into ground beef as cheap filler (up to 15 percent in school lunches), reportedly shaving 3 cents off every pound that contains it. These trimmings are also in much of the ground beef sold in this country (as much as 70 percent, according to ABC News). But many consumers have no idea they’re eating “pink slime” because it is not disclosed on labeling. The USDA recently announced that starting in the fall, schools will be able to opt out of pink slime. This is a good first step. We also need to insist that pink slime is labeled in grocery-store ground beef. Consumers have a right to know what’s in their burgers. – Bettina Siegel, Houston Chronicle
