Op-Ed by Peter Lucas:  Kansas Unemployment FAIL

Back in the 90’s, I worked for a company that was seasonal. We would work 9 months and be laid off for 3. I was laid off, so I enrolled in a couple of night classes. I was still available to work, but the unemployment office told me I could not draw unemployment if I was a student. So their brilliant plan was to give my lazy coworkers money (the ones who were watching Jerry Springer and drinking beer all day), but not give me, the hard working student, anything. Thanks Kansas.

I’ve been reading lots of news about the underfunded Kansas unemployment system, and how they are in dire need of more money, and how they’re raising rates (nearly double) on employers because so many people are currently unemployed. (more…)

When Amanda Adkins was elected a year ago to the top position of Kansas Republican Party chair, she went unchallenged, and there was some degree of enthusiasm and optimism.   While few knew Adkins personally, there was a large amount of trust placed in her, due to the knowledge that she was “Brownback’s choice.”  Brownback’s preference in Adkins — a former campaign manager for Brownback — had never been clearly, publicly stated, but this was the unsaid conventional wisdom among Republican activists. (more…)

A Constitutional Amendment

Last week’s special election in which Massachusetts was a serious wake-up call to Washington, but I think they got the wrong message. What they should have heard was, “We the people don’t like the direction you’re taking us in. You haven’t convinced us that yours is the best way to run this country, and you’re not listening to us. We voted Democrat because we liked what your mouthpiece Obama was offering, only to now find it was a bait and switch. Stop now.” (more…)

The following op-ed column is written by JR Claeys (below), who is running for the 2010 Republican nomination for Kansas Secretary of State, a position currently held by the retiring Ron Thornburgh.  To submit your own article, please send it to the following Email address, editor [at] kansasprogress dot com.

By J.R. Claeys:

Photo identification presented at the polling place when receiving a ballot is the best available procedure to ensure accuracy and security while protecting citizens’ right to vote.

Several states have implemented weaker forms of voter identification and I fear Kansas may follow. These weaker forms allow for utility bills or a piece of mail to serve as valid identification at a polling place. The requirements vary, but the national law allows for more than 15 forms, including cable bills and telephone bills.

What causes a problem at the polling place is the complexity of the current national law being applied to every voter during every election. Right now only first-time voters are required to show one of these weaker forms of “ID.” When all voters are required to present an ID, the ID’s must be uniform and free from interpretation, otherwise we risk reducing voter turnout by causing the elderly, the infirm and the disabled to leave long lines caused by reviews of varying forms of identification. (more…)

Edmund Burke is credited with the following theme:  evil triumphs when good men do nothing.

World War Two-era German pastor Martin Niemoller drafted versions of this famous poem about misguided pacifism:

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a communist;

Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist;

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist;

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew;

Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Johnson County, Kansas, is full of good men who do nothing, and we need their help now, more than ever, to stop the Democratic Party’s attempt to re-make the United States — a Constitution-based, freedom-based democratic republic — into a European-socialist democracy where every virtually every personal decision would be made for us by the federal government.

According to RedState and Roll Call, the passage of ObamaCare is not a sure thing:

Another senior House Democrat familiar with negotiations on the bill said no progress has been made this week on any of the key sticking points in the House and Senate bills, despite steady meetings with union leaders and the White House.

“There’s no agreement. No deal on anything. Nothing,” the lawmaker said.

The Overland Park Chamber of Commerce and Olathe Chamber of Commerce pretend to support the interests of business.  They do not.  They are an extension of trial lawyers, labor unions, Kansas Democrats, and local governments.  But many members of these chambers are businesses and businessmen who know better, but who are afraid to act.

Moreover, the Kansas Chamber (the state-wide group) and the US Chamber vocally oppose ObamaCare.

You can make a difference today by calling these Johnson County businesses, companies with political influence all around the nation.  Tell them to oppose this offensive, anti-health care, and unconstitutional legislation that is being pushed by liberal Democrats Dennis Moore, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Harry Reid, and President Obama.

These five Johnson County businesses serve in leadership roles within either the Overland Park or Olathe Chamber, and any one or two of these corporations could force a vote on the matter - the Nazarene Church (Mid-America Nazarene University), Garmin International, Sprint, Zurich North America, and Midland Loan Services (PNC Real Estate).  They could speak up, but they will not.

It can be expected that this is the case in other communities around the US, with these same companies.

In the case of Olathe’s Mid-America Nazarene University — Kansas City is the international headquarters of the Church of the Nazarene — it is MNU’s Vice-President Kevin Gilmore who is as the chairman of the Olathe Chamber.  Gilmore tells people he is conservative.  We need his leadership, today.

Again, we encourage you to call these five businesses, and ask them to make a stand against ObamaCare.

• The Nazarene Church (Mid-America Nazarene University).  Ask for President Ed Robinson’s office.
• Garmin International
• Sprint
• Zurich North America
• Midland Loan Services (PNC Real Estate)

When Good Men Do Nothing.

Your efforts today may greatly decrease the likelihood that ObamaCare will become law.  I do not consider it to be too late to make a positive difference on behalf of freedom.

The following five national/international businesses are influential in local politics all around America, and, unacceptably, they refuse to oppose this anti-liberty legislation: the Nazarene Church (Mid-America Nazarene University), Garmin International, Sprint, Zurich North America, and Midland Loan Services (PNC Real Estate).

Each of those five businesses has a leading employee on the board of one of two large local chambers of commerce in Kansas - the Olathe Chamber and the Overland Park Chamber - and neither chamber is willing to take a position on ObamaCare.  The US Chamber and the Kansas Chamber (state-wide) both oppose the Democratic legislation. (more…)

By Tom McMahon:

By Tom McMahon.

Kansas Progress editorial: For months, nobody told us about this conflict of interest, but everybody needed to know

Fox News calls MIT economist Jonathan Gruber “one of the leading academic defenders of health care reform.”  Of course, “health care reform” means whatever President Obama and liberal Democrats decide to call “reform.”

Yesterday, Friday, January 8, at 5:23 p.m., The Boston Globe reported that President Obama’s administration has paid about $400,000 to Gruber.  This is an influential ObamaCare supporter.  It appears that while Gruber did not try very hard to disclose the payments, Gruber may have replied honestly when asked.  From The Globe:

Gruber is being paid to analyze the costs and effects of various health reform proposals.

For example, he wrote an Op-Ed piece last month in the Washinton Post on a proposed tax on high-cost health insurance plans and was quoted in an online Atlantic Monthly article in November, and in neither case was his tie to the administration disclosed. Gruber, however,did disclose his paid work for the administration in a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine.

In a phone interview with the Globe today, Gruber said that he never attempted to hide his government contracts and in fact disclosed them whenever he was asked by reporters. But he said he could only recall three or four instances in the past year when reporters even asked him whether he was under contract with the Obama administration. (more…)

By Benjamin Hodge. Also published at Race42012.com and RedCounty.com.

Should Republicans see to it that the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program remains alive, through private donations?  Erick Erickson wrote about this idea in April 2009, but it seems that very little discussion regarding the topic has since occurred, anywhere.  I would like to write about it now, in order to encourage a more serious consideration of the matter.

According to The Wall Street Journal in May 2009 (emphasis added):

About 1,700 kids currently receive $7,500 vouchers to attend private schools under the Opportunity Scholarship Program, and 99% of them are black or Hispanic. The program is a huge hit with parents - there are four applicants for every available scholarship - and the latest Department of Education evaluation showed significant academic gains.

According to the Cato Institute’s Andrew Coulson, DC “public” schools spend $25,000 per student. Our own federal government has admitted that the parent-driven voucher program is out-performing the government-run schools, and at 1/3 the cost.

The Heritage Foundation covers the DC voucher program here.  Even the liberal Washington Post gets it. From one Posteditorial in favor of the program:

Hoping no one notices, congressional Democrats step between 1,800 D.C. children and a good education. (more…)

4-Block World:

On December 23, we published an article, “Analysis - Pressure will grow on Secretary of State candidate J.R. Claeys to drop out of GOP primary.”

There is one update and one correction offered by J.R. Claeys.

In part, the original article said:

Kobach is well-known around the entire state.  Kobach has near-universal name ID in Kansas’ Third Congressional District, the largest of four districts.  Meanwhile, J.R. Claeys has a few legitimate disadvantages:

1. He’s never held elected office.
2. A decade ago he was an active Democrat, campaigning for Democrats.  This is hardly unforgivable, considering that Claeys was college-aged at the time, but it’s not particularly helpful to have on one’s resume during a first-time campaign.
3. According to Claeys, former Governor Bill Graves encouraged Claeys to run.  The Republican Graves was a key reason why Democratic Governor Kathleen Sebelius was first elected in 2002; only reluctantly and after a long delay did Graves endorse the Republican nominee, then-State Treasurer Tim Shallenburger.

Claeys says:

1. Bill Graves: it’s a rumor, and an incorrect one.  Former Kansas Governor Bill Graves did not encourage Claeys to run.
2. Claeys is not going anywhere, and will be staying in the primary race against fellow Republican Kris Kobach.

From K-State:

JEFFERY MORRIS NAMED K-STATE’S FIRST VICE PRESIDENT FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING

MANHATTAN – A marketing and communications professional with experience in both the private sector and public higher education has been tapped to lead Kansas State University’s communications and marketing efforts. (more…)

Bob Weeks at the Wichita-based Voice for Liberty raises a good point about a recent comment by the McClatchy-owned Wichita Eagle, when the paper pretends that Kansas Rep. Raj Goyle is a moderate: “Maybe it’s the Eagle’s attempt at branching out into comedy.”  For example, Weeks says, The Eagle (nor Goyle’s Web site) never mentions that Goyle was a former ACLU laywer!  There’s a reason that some conservatives call the ACLU the “anti-Christian liberties union.”

And Goyle has the Kansas House’s 12th-worst taxpayer rating.

Read more of Weeks’ article here.

The Star’s Steve Kraske wrote a recent column that, in theory, attempts to review the decade in this region’s political news.

The first new, current quote in the article?  From a “veteran Democratic operative.”  So far, Kraske’s operating procedure is standard for the mainstream media.

Some of the things Kraske leaves out:

• In discussing Democratic Congressman Dennis Moore and former Attorney General Phill Kline, no mention is made of the fact that Kline ran one of the best Republican campaigns against Moore.  Moore was first elected in 1998, and Kline nearly beat Moore in the 2000 general election.  Kline won among Johnson County voters twice, in that 2000 election and in the successful 2002 attorney general race.
• In 2006, Republican State Senator Kay O’Connor ran an under-funded primary campaign against incumbent Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh.  While she lost by a large margin state-wide, O’Connor nearly beat Thornburgh in Johnson County, which contains a fifth of Kansas voters.
  (more…)
  

Diversity Lane, A Liberal Family Saga

by Zach Rawsthorne. Re-published with permission.

Kansas Secretary of State Republican primary: J.R. Claeys vs. Kris Kobach

J.R. Claeys is a Republican candidate for Kansas Secretary of State.  By all accounts, if it were most other races, Claeys would be a strong candidate: he talks like a conservative, and he has a strong resume for his young age of 31.  But Claeys’ opponent is Kris Kobach, whose background and qualifications are as impressive as one can find, anywhere: (more…)

Benjamin Hodge wrote this article at Red County in May 2009:

When the National Republican Senatorial Comittee, headed by Senators John Cornyn and Mitch McConnell, decided to back Florida Governor Charlie Crist over former Florida Speaker of the House Marco Rubio, Redstate’s Erick Erickson began aFacebook group called “Not one penny to the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).” At present time, there are 1,085 members, and I’m one of them.

It appears there are two major arguments with regard to primary races:  issues, and strategy.  And Erickson is getting heat from some Republicans with those two themes:  that either Erickson is not being tolerant to GOP moderates on issues, and/or that Erickson is not focusing on the idea that Crist is the best general-election candidate. (more…)

In mid-2009, former State Senator and newly-announced 3rd Congressional District Republican candidate Nick Jordan released a statement about Obama’s “stimulus.” In the statement, Jordan says that “There have been many unrealistic promises made regarding stimulus spending,” but he also writes, “Overland Park has worked hard to plan and begin this project, a needed project along with others in the area.”

Jordan wants it both ways: he wants to appear anti-stimulus, but he refuses to criticize the spending by local government — spending that is made possible directly through the $1 trillion deficit spending by President Obama and Dennis Moore’s Democratic Congress.  Jordan wants to criticize Democrats for spending too much money, but he is incapable of criticizing the spending decisions of the “moderate Republicans” who consistently mis-manage taxpayer money in local governments throughout Johnson County.   (more…)

From JCCC:

FOUR HONORED WITH TEAM EFFORT AWARD

A reception was held on Friday, Dec. 11, to honor Julie Haas, Melodee Blobaum, Del Lovitt and Dan Holmes with a Team Effort Award for their collaboration in creating the new Johnson County Education site.

The site is very engaging with photos from the schools, Twitter updates and links to articles and meetings specifically related to education in Johnson County.  It provides a central collection point of information for K-12 and higher education in Johnson County.

This project directly supports multiple JCCC strategic goals by “expanding our network of support services to engage students more actively in the JCCC learning experience”, serving as an initiative that provides for the inclusion of a diverse group of individuals in the discussion of K-12 and higher educational topics and by enhancing communication with external constituents.  The nomination was made by Mary O’Sullivan.

JCCC President Terry Calaway praised the team’s efforts and presented each recipient with a certificate and JCCC keychain.

The Team Effort Award is a means to recognize the accomplishments of groups (task forces or cross functional teams) who collaborate on projects that work toward achieving goals in the Strategic and/or Operational Plans of JCCC.  Nomination forms are available online at the Staff Development web page and may be sent to the Staff and Organizational Development office, GEB 238, Box 43, at any time.  Awards are made a few times each year.  If you have questions, please contact Kathy Wing at ext. 4513 or kwing3@jccc.edu.

Read more at Diversity Lane.  Re-published with permission.

Proud Catholic Voters,

I bring you salutations and praise, dear reader! At the time of this writing, there have been over 282,000 wise souls sign up to become Proud Catholic Voters!

Okay, they’re not all in my distribution list yet, but their intent is the same, and it’s something about which to be really excited. I’m referring to the Manhattan Declaration, a document unprecedented in American church history. Reminiscent in some ways of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, it’s a unified call by believers from all Christian traditions (Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical) to confront our toxic culture with biblical absolutes. (more…)

By Jack Cashill.  Read more from Cashill at Cashill.com.

Climategate, TWA Flight 800, and Andy Revkin

© Jack Cashill

The respective investigations into the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 and into climate change have something very specific in common beyond the corruption of results for political ends.

That is the role of the New York Times, in particular Times’ environment reporter Andrew Revkin, in enabling that corruption.

In both cases, Revkin and the Times would pick sides in a scientific controversy, cozy up to the side picked, champion its counterfeit data, and marginalize the opposition.

As to “Climategate,” the emails hacked from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit show Revkin very much an active participant in the information flow. (more…)

By Toby Dials.  Re-printed with permission.

Donate to and learn more about these candidates.

• In Johnson County:
  • District 16:  Amanda Grosserode’s page is Amanda4Kansas.com.
  • District 18:   John Rubin is at JohnRubin.net.
  • District 22:  Greg Smith’s site is GregSmithforKansas.com.
• In Wichita, district 87, currently held by Raj Goyle:  Candidate Eric Payne at EricPayneforKansas.com.