“Arlen was an amazing man,” Gov. Sam Brownback said of Arlen Specter, the Wichita native and former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania who died Sunday. “He was a tough fighter you always wanted on your team. He loved what America stood for and lived the American dream.” Brownback and Specter served 14 years together in the Senate. Former Wichita congressman Dan Glickman also praised Specter, who was a longtime family friend. “Arlen was always helpful to me during my congressional career, not only because we shared many of the same positions on issues, but the bond (between) two Kansas politicians who both happened to have attended the same synagogue in Wichita was stronger than our different political party affiliations,” Glickman said, adding that “the country will miss Arlen’s independence, tough-mindedness and patriotism.”
Kansas Democratic leaders predicted early last week that Americans for Prosperity and other groups would try to link them to Obamacare, even though they have nothing to do with federal law and state lawmakers can do nothing to block it. That’s what the groups did to GOP moderate lawmakers during the August primary. “The misinformation that came out in the primary elections is undoubtedly going to be repeated again in the general election,” said House Minority Leader Paul Davis, D-Lawrence. True to form, AFP sent out mailings later in the week saying that Republican candidates would fight to “stop Obamacare.”
State lawmakers and county officials voiced concern last week about Gov. Sam Brownback’s veto of $750,000 in state funding for a program that protects drinking water, the Lawrence Journal-World reported. State Sen. Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick, chairwoman of the Legislative Budget Committee, described the elimination of the program that helps local health departments inspect and monitor wastewater and water systems as “short-term conservatism versus long-term conservatism.” Other lawmakers complained that the state was off-loading costs on local governments, which may either raise fees or cut corners. Reno County, for example, has raised the fee to install a wastewater system from $90 to $275.
“Arlen was an amazing man,” Gov. Sam Brownback said of Arlen Specter, the Wichita native and former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania who died Sunday. “He was a tough fighter you always wanted on your team. He loved what America stood for and lived the American dream.” Brownback and Specter served 14 years together in the Senate. Former Wichita congressman Dan Glickman also praised Specter, who was a longtime family friend. “Arlen was always helpful to me during my congressional career, not only because we shared many of the same positions on issues, but the bond (between) two Kansas politicians who both happened to have attended the same synagogue in Wichita was stronger than our different political party affiliations,” Glickman said, adding that “the country will miss Arlen’s independence, tough-mindedness and patriotism.”
