Peter Hancock's reporting is on shaky ground

Peter Hancock has replaced liberal activist Scott Rothschild as the Lawrence Journal-World's statehouse reporter. However, he appears to have the same odd obsession with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as Rothschild had. In a December 5 article, Hancock writes about Kansas state legislators attending an ALEC meeting. In the article, Hancock makes the following claim:

ALEC has come under fire in recent years, and several of its corporate members have dropped out. Some of those, such as General Motors, have cited ALEC's support for "Stand Your Ground" laws that allow people to use deadly force to defend themselves in any place where they have a lawful right to be if they reasonably believe they face an immediate threat of bodily harm or death. 

A Florida version of that law was used in 2013 to acquit George Zimmerman for the killing of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager.

Of course, Stand Your Ground was not used to acquit George Zimmerman, as ABC News noted earlier this year:

When a Florida jury deadlocked on the first degree murder charge against software developer Michael Dunn, the state's controversial "Stand Your Ground Law" was once again hoisted into the media spotlight. 

Dunn was convicted on four other charges in the case, in which he fired 10 times at an SUV after an argument with the teens inside about how loud their music was, and will likely be sentenced to a minimum of 60 years behind bars.

As in the case of George Zimmerman, acquitted in the killing of Trayvon Martin, the public outrage was often directed or misdirected, at the Florida law. 

Many, including legal commentators who should know better, repeatedly citing the statute as a crucial issue in both cases. 

And yet neither defendant invoked the controversial aspects of Florida's law. In fact, both defendants argued basic self defense law that would have been similar in just about every state in the nation.

Praeger the Prevaricator

Sandy Praeger, the RINO Insurance Commissioner for the state of Kansas, has stepped into the 2nd Congressional District between the incumbent, U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, and her Democrat Party challenger, Margie Wakefield of Lawrence.

According to the Topeka Capital-Journal on October 24, "Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger said in an interview information shared by Jenkins on Medicare cuts, premium rates and policy cancellations was 'just across-the-board wrong.'" Praeger was then quoted as saying the following: "

No polices have been canceled due to [the Affordable Care Act]."

That is a flat-out lie. The fact that millions of Americans had their policies canceled due to Obamacare was the basis for Barack Obama's oft-stated claim, i.e., "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it," being named as PolitiFact's "Lie of the Year" for 2013. According to PolitiFact, "So this fall, as cancellation letters were going out to approximately 4 million Americans, the public realized Obama’s breezy assurances were wrong." 

The cancellations did not stop in 2013. According to Politico on October 17, 2014, "More than 22,000 Coloradans were informed in the past month that their health coverage will be canceled at the end of the year, state insurance authorities disclosed this week, a spike in cancellations already roiling the state’s fierce campaigns for the Senate and governor’s seat." Further:

Health plan cancellations in late 2013 exploded into a national controversy that only subsided when President Barack Obama rewrote Obamacare rules to let states and insurers revive canceled health plans and continue them for up to three years. 

Colorado was one of those states, but the Rocky Mountain State only agreed to let substandard plans continue through 2015. Ten insurers have agreed to continue their plans through 2015, Salazar noted, but the nearly 200,000 people covered by those insurers face the same cancellation notices next year if they haven’t obtained coverage that meets Obamacare standards by then.

Make no mistake about it--these plans are being canceled due to Obamacare. Praeger lied to the Capital-Journal, which should surprise no one since she has a long history of lying to advance her left-wing agendas.

Lawrence Journal-World blames Democrat's education cuts on Brownback

In the October 19 issue of the Lawrence Journal-World, "reporter" Peter Hancock engages in the mainstream media practice of citing a study from a far-left think tank without telling readers that it is a far-left think tank with a far-left agenda. In this case, Hancock cites the Center for Budget Policies and Priorities (CBPP). In The Practical Progressive: How to Build a Twenty-First Century Political Movement (2008), Erica Payne, co-founder of the Democracy Alliance and former Deputy National Finance Director for the Democratic National Committee, lists CBPP as an organization that is part of the "Progressive Infrastructure." It's board of directors includes many who would be recognized as those on the left.

But what was really egregious about Hancock's article, which claims, according to CBPP, "direct state funding for public schools in Kansas is still nearly 15 percent less than it was before the start of the Great Recession," is that Hancock blames Gov. Brownback for education spending cuts that took place under Mark Parkinson, Brownback's Democratic predecessor.

Below is a chart that shows the average spending per pupil in Kansas from 2005-06 to 2014-15. As you can see, the average amount per pupil dropped during the 2009-10 school year and then again in the 2010-11 school year. The average amount then began to increase again year after year beginning with the 2011-12 school year.

Note that Gov. Mark Parkinson became governor in 2009 when Gov. Kathleen Sebelius went to Washington, D.C., to serve in the Obama administration. Parkinson was also governor in 2010, when the state budget was set for fiscal year 2011.

However, this is what Hancock reported: "Kansas began cutting budgets in 2008, under then-Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Democrat, when state revenues began to plummet following the collapse of the financial industry and national housing market that fall. They continued in 2009 after Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, took office."

Again, Brownback did not become governor until January 2011 (also, note that Sebelius, and not Parkinson, was governor in 2008).

Is this a case of liberal historical revisionism or extremely sloppy reporting? Who knows? However, the Journal-World's readers deserve a front-page correction to this front-page article.

Margie Wakefield doesn't love Obamacare?

Just how unpopular is Barack Obama in Kansas? In a October 10 Facebook post, Margie Wakefield, Democrat candidate for the the U.S. House, takes issue with incumbent Rep. Lynn Jenkins, who linked Wakefield to Obamacare in new commercial.

"Congresswoman Jenkins has a new, negative television ad that claims that I said that I love Obamacare," Wakefield whines. "That is a lie, plain and simple. I have never said that I love the Affordable Care Act because it does have flaws that need to be fixed."

Wakefield did not elaborate on what she believes to be the Obamacare flaws that need to be fixed. Of course, saying that something or someone has flaws does not mean we do not love that something or someone. For example, we love our spouses and children, regardless of their flaws.

Apparently, Wakefield's "I don't love Obamacare" stance is a relatively new one. On her personal Facebook page, she has a March 23, 2013 post in which she "liked" a post from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Facebook page. That page was promoting a bumper sticker with the message "I 'Heart' Obamacare."

As far as lying, in a May 8, 2014 article in The Iola Register, Wakefield is quoted as saying, "The majority of Americans like the new health insurance law." In truth, there has never been a poll that has shown Obamacare has majority support. In fact, in July a Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that Obamacare is more unpopular than ever. Just 37% of those poll had a favorable view of the law.

Greg Orman flip flops on voting as a "private behavior"

I find it interesting that independent U.S. Senate candidate Greg Orman claims that he voted for Mitt Romney in 2012. He has made this claim in an attempt to distance himself from Barack Obama. However, check out this interview Orman did with MSNBC. After being asked if he'll vote for Sam Brownback or Paul Davis for governor of Kansas, he replies: "You know, I'm not making that decision public. I think your voting behavior is ultimately a private behavior."

What's good for the goose is good for the mountain goat?

Economist Stephen Moore wrote an outstanding piece in Forbes magazine last week in which he compares the economies of Kansas and Illinois. This article deserves a larger dissemination in Kansas, such as in the Kansas City Star. Unfortunately, that won't happen since the Star has noted that it will no longer publish opinion pieces from Moore.

In a July 7, 2014 column in the Star, Moore took on far-left economist Paul Krugman. Shortly after, Star columnist and editorial board member Yael (which literally means "mountain goat") Abouhalkah discovered that Moore's column included outdated data. Abouhalkah's discovery led Miriam Pepper, editorial page editor of the Star at that time (she has since retired), to announce, “I won’t be running anything else from Stephen Moore.”

Douglas County Conservative wonders if the Star will hold other columnists, including Abouhalkah, to the same standard. For example, in September 9, 2009, Abouhalkah reported that two polls "show Obama won big time":

Two polls that matter show President Barack Obama had a strong showing with the American people Wednesday night. 

His passionate speech on the absolute need for health care reform resonated with many. 

-- The CBS News poll said Obama's approval rating soared from 62 percent to 69 percent after the speech. 

-- A CNN poll said 68 percent of its respondents gave a thumbs up to the speech. Only 8 percent were negative. 

Now Obama must build on the strength of his good speech to get real health care reform passed in Congress. 

The moment of success he created Wednesday night should not be allowed to wither and die in Washington.

Note that there was not a single major poll that showed Obama's approval rate above 60% in September 2009. The highest was a CNN/ORC poll that showed Obama's approval rate at 58%. The highest CBS News poll that month showed Obama's approval rate at 56%. So where did Abouhalkah get that Obama's approval rate went from 62 percent to 69 percent after he delivered a speech on health care? Apparently, from a March 2009 Huffington Post article. According to that article, "A CBS News poll of approximately 500 people saw approval of the president rise from 62 percent before the speech to 69 percent afterward." In other words, Abouhalkah used outdated data, i.e., polling from six months earlier to make the point that Obama's approval rating increased dramatically after a speech delivered in September 2009.

The same Huffington Post article also shows that Abouhalkah used outdated data regarding the CNN poll: "Meanwhile, a poll on CNN showed that 68 percent of respondents -- who skewed a bit Democratic -- viewed the speech positively, 24 somewhat positively, and only eight percent not positively."

Abouhalkah presented outdated polling from March 2009 to make a point regarding a speech Obama gave six months later. Nevertheless, the Star continues to publish his columns five years later. It is quite possible that Abouhalkah simply made a mistake and there was no nefarious intent on his part. However, we could say the same of Stephen Moore. If the Star gave Abouhalkah the benefit of the doubt, shouldn't they extend the same courtesy to Moore?

In another case, on Monday, October 10, 2011, Abouhalkah wrote the following: "I know the Occupy movement is having some effect, because ultra-conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh called the Americans involved in the group 'idiots,' 'clowns' and other names Monday."

It would not have been possible for Limbaugh to have done that on October 10, 2011. Limbaugh had a guest host, Mark Davis, that day.

UPDATE: Douglas County Conservative emailed this item to Steve Paul, the new editorial page editor at the Star, and asked, "Given this, I wonder if the Star might reconsider its ban on Stephen Moore's op-ed pieces." Paul replied with one word: "No."

KS GOP: Paul Davis embraces "sexual deviant"

The Kansas Republican Party reported today that a sexual deviant played a prominent role in a new television ad for Paul Davis, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate.

The Kansas Republican Party today became aware that the actor in the Paul Davis campaign ad was once arrested for soliciting sodomy in a Topeka park. Additionally, he was banned from the Boy Scouts of America because they became aware that he was "suspended from his teaching position at Seaman High School for inappropriate conduct with a male foreign exchange student." 

According to records, Jeff J. Montague was arrested by Topeka Police on Oct. 3, 2007, as part of a prostitution sting operation. 

Montague appears in a new Davis campaign ad where he uses a theatrical voice in attempt to dispel claims about Davis. At the end Paul Davis states directly to Mr. Montague "Thanks Jeff. You're not so bad yourself."

"The use of an actor with this sort of background raises serious questions about Paul Davis' judgment and what kind of people he would surround himself with if elected," said Clay Barker, executive director of the Kansas Republican Party.

"Sex crimes, particularly those with children and students, are a serious matter and associating a campaign with someone of this background raises doubts about Paul Davis' fitness for office. Paul Davis should remove the ad immediately and apologize to all Kansans."

The records for the arrest can be found here. The records for the Boy Scout investigation can be found here (part I) and here (part II).

Boog Highberger: The Progressive Luddite

I'm going to do something a bit impolite in this post: I going to share some articles that Boog Highberger, candidate for the 46th House District, wrote as a young man. Yes, I know that the media went after Mitt Romney and his alleged bullying of a fellow high school student. And I also realize that the media thought Virginia gubernatorial candidate McDonnell's 20-year-old graduate thesis was somehow relevant. However, Romney and McDonnell are Republicans, so their distance pasts are fair game. That rule does not apply to Democrats, so I must apologize in advance to those who are offended by the sharing of Highberger's youthful rants.

In an article that originally appeared in "The Gentle Anarchist," a magazine published in Lawrence during the mid-1980s, Highberger decried technology and declared that the "Luddites were right." The Luddites "were 19th-century English textile artisans who protested against newly developed labour-saving machinery from 1811 to 1817." The Luddites were known for "machne breaking."

"Technology that is complex beyond the understanding of the people dependent on it is a threat to freedom," Highberger wrote. "Such technology disenfranchises people by taking away from them the power to make the decisions that affect their lives and placing it in the hands of 'experts'. Autonomy and self-management demand a technology that is subservient to its users. If you depend on something, you need to know how to fix it."

In another article from "The Gentle Anarchist" entitled "Money," Highberger proposed that everyone should have a photo ID to spend money. That's an odd requirement given the Democrats' almost universal opposition to voter ID. " Each person wishing to spend money other than coins, which would remain in circulation, would be required to have a bank account," he wrote. "The bank or federal government would issue to each depositor a U.S. payment card similar to plastic credit cards. In addition to the necessary codings, each card would contain the photograph and fingerprint of the depositor...Every business establishment, including taxicabs, would be equipped with a terminal in which the payment card could be inserted...(and) make a visual display of the charge so that the customer could see the exact amount being deducted from his bank account. . . In the event the customer did not have the amount in his account the terminal would so indicate..."

I have to wonder if such a terminal would be technology that "disenfranchises people by taking away from them the power to make the decisions that affect their lives and placing it in the hands of 'experts'." Well, does anyone really expect a liberal to be consistent?

In 2005, when Highberger was mayor of Lawrence, he proclaimed International Dadaism Month at the city's weekly commission meeting. Dadaism was "an early 20th century art movement that embraced chance, randomness and nonsense."

Highberger has embraced nonsense for most of his life. That's his prerogative. However, the voters of the 46th District should reject the chance to send his nonsense to Topeka in November.

Consider getting "over-the-top" television content

What is "over-the-top" television? According to Wikipedia, "over-the-top" content "refers to delivery of audio, video, and other media over the Internet without a multiple system operator being involved in the control or distribution of the content."

I unplugged from satellite television several years ago and now, except for Netflix, pay no monthly fees for television viewing. There are several ways to do this, but I will limit this article to how our family did it.

We bought a Roku streaming player when they first came out several years ago. We now have three Rokus in our home for each television. The Roku works in conjunction with your high-speed Internet connection to make it possible to watch Internet content on your television screen in your living room or bedroom instead of watching it on a smaller computer monitor.

Once you have installed the Roku unit, you'll have access to dozens of channels offered through Roku. As a political news junkie, I can watch C-SPAN and Newsmax TV live. If you haven't checked out Newsmax TV, please give it a try. "America's Forum" with J.D. Hayworth, "MidPoint," and "The Steve Malzberg Show" are outstanding programming and unabashedly conservative. I would also recommend the "America's Survival" channel, which makes a compelling argument that Fox News has moved further to the left during the past few years in what is an apparent case of "O'Sullivan's Law."

In addition to using Roku, I have downloaded software from PlayOn. The software costs $59.99, but that is a one-time fee. We have been using PlayOn for over two years now. PlayOn allows you to view news, sports, and entertainment from around the world. Programming for many cable networks is available either directly through those networks or a third party such as Hulu, although you may have to wait a day or two before you can watch it.  For example, I'm a fan of "Longmire," which is aired on A&E. I can't watch it live since I don't have cable or satellite service. However, I can watch it the next day through Hulu. 

PlayOn also includes a feature called "PlayMark." Using PlayMark, you can "mark" just about any video from any website for watching later on your TV. I use this to "mark" documentaries and other videos available on YouTube. For political junkies, there's a large number of great videos available on YouTube, but it's a bit of a pain to sit at a computer to watch them. Roku and PlayOn make it possible to watch them on your television.

As I noted above, there are other ways to watch "over-the-top" content. This is how I do it, but a different way may be better for you. For more information about Roku and "over-the-top" content, please view this video (if you watch it on your computer monitor, imagine how nice it would be to watch it on your television instead):

Kansas City Star lifts language from a 1960s playbook

In the August 19 issue of the Kansas City Star columnist Dave Helling took Fox News' Sean Hannity to task on page A4:

A generation ago, that reaction would have been predictable: Conservatives would have backed the police, no questions asked. Indeed, we saw some of that last week, when Fox News host Sean Hannity worried about "outside agitators" in Ferguson and the New Black Panther Party, language clearly lifted from a 1960s playbook.

Apparently, Helling didn't get a chance to read all of the August 19 issue of his newspaper prior to writing his column. If he had, he would have noticed this headline on the front page: "'Outside agitators' stoke residents' ire." "The people causing all the trouble, they aren't from Ferguson," said resident Mike Marion, 26, in the article.

As far as the New Black Panther Party, they have indeed been in Ferguson, and even took over the police chief's press conference.

Helling then went on to suggest that Hannity is a hypocrite because he allegedly took a different position regarding the Clive Bundy case in April than he is regarding the protesters in Ferguson:

In April, when rancher Clive Bundy battled federal officials in Nevada, the pundit said: "I'm just afraid of what this government is capable of doing. ... We saw what happened in Waco." 

As far as I can determine, Hannity has yet to link authorities in Ferguson with those in 1993 in Texas. 

That kind of double-talk [sic] seems more and more like old news.

Of course, it would be difficult to link authorities in Ferguson with those in Waco for one very obvious reason: The authorities in Ferguson are local authorities, while the authorities in Waco and Utah were federal authorities. When Hannity said "this government," he was clearly referring to the federal government.

Who is Dan Watkins and the Kansas Values Institute?

The Kansas Values Institute (KVI) has been attacking the record of Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican. The chair of KVI is Dan Watkins, an attorney from Lawrence. Helen VanEtten, Topeka, a national committeewoman for Kansas Republican Party, has done a great job of outlining Watkins' longtime connections to the Democratic Party. Kansas Meadowlark has also done an outstanding job of reporting on where KVI gets its money and with whom it spends it. However, liberals and moderates who are cheering on KVI might want to consider Watkins' business dealings in Douglas County.

Many liberals and moderates opposed the construction of the South Lawrence Trafficway (SLT). Few, however, know of Watkins' role in the SLT, which goes back to the 1980s. The Pitch, an alternative newspaper based in Kansas City, did extensive reporting on the SLT and Watkins in 1997. According to The Pitch:

Watkins served as chief counsel for the Kansas Dept. of Transportation from 1980 to 1984. He says he worked with County Commissioner Nancy Hiebert, KDOT planning director Michael O'Keefe and members of the Kansas Turnpike Authority to "look at transportation-related problems and possible solutions" before the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce ever got involved. But Watkins' name also appears on the trafficway proposal that came out of the secret Chamber of Commerce planning meetings.

Further:

In August 1985, when the Douglas County Commission sought engineering firms for a preliminary study of the highway, commissioners were impressed with HNTB's bells and whistles. "Describing the firm's presentation, which she said included color-coded charts and an '8-foot-long' visual aid, Hiebert said she has 'never seen a presentation up to that level,'" according to the Journal-World. HNTB won out over eight other firms, though none of the firms had submitted bids. The county paid HNTB $148,500 for the preliminary study.

When HNTB returned several months later with its results, the presenters included Daniel J. Watkins, a managing partner in the firm and the father of Dan Watkins. The elder Watkins later retired from HNTB, but not before the firm had secured much of the county's trafficway business. Some argue that the family connection was a bit too close.

"No one says that very loud," says Dan Watkins. "HNTB was selected for every major road project in the state of Kansas. They designed the Kansas Turnpike and many turnpikes around the country. They were a firm well positioned to design limited access roadways when the federal interstate system was funded in the '50s and '60s. They're one of the largest design firms in the country. My dad is a well-recognized, well-respected engineer. The fact that he's my father doesn't have a goddamn thing to do with anything."

Many liberals and moderates also opposed Columbia/HCA's proposal to build a second hospital in Lawrence. Watkins also played a major role in that controversy proposal, as did Hiebert and another lawyer turned judge named Paula Martin.

In 1994, Martin was part of a 19-member pool of Douglas County attorneys hoping to be appointed to a new judgeship. Amongst the seven-member judicial nominating committee was Nancy Hiebert, a former Douglas County commissioner. Two years before then, Hiebert had been appointed to the Commission on Judicial Qualifications, which is the state's watchdog agency for municipal and district judges.

At the time that Martin was being considered for the new judgeship, the 1994 Polk's Lawrence City Directory shows her office was located at 211 E. 8th St., Ste. C, in Lawrence. The directory also listed attorney Dan Watkins' office at the very same address.

After the pool of 19 had been pared down to three, the governor appointed Martin to fill the new judgeship. (Dan Watkins has worked for and with several Kansas governors. I have heard, but could not confirm, that he lobbied Gov. Joan Finney to appoint Martin to the judgeship.)

That same year, Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp began expressing an interest in doing business in Lawrence. The corporation hired Hiebert as a liaison between the corporation and City of Lawrence officials. By early 1995, Columbia/HCA had proposed to buy half of Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Dan Watkins, a Lawrence attorney working on the Columbia/HCA proposal, "estimated that $28 million in cash would be generated by the creation of the joint venture." Hiebert appeared with Watkins when he presented the proposal to Douglas County commissioners. In June 1996 Hiebert was promoted to serve as acting chief operating officer of Mt. Oread Medical Arts Centre, which was owned by Columbia/HCA. Like Watkins, Hiebert is deeply involved in Democratic Party politics. In fact, she and her husband John hosted Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, at their home in 2005. At aht event, Dean told the crowd, "This is a struggle of good and evil. And we're the good."

After LMH trustees rejected Columbia/HCA's proposal to buy LMH, Columbia/HCA announced its intentions to build a for-profit hospital in Lawrence to compete with city-owned LMH.

In December 1996, Lawrence city commissioners unanimously rejected Columbia/HCA's proposal to build a new, for-profit hospital in Lawrence. According to the Journal-World, "Columbia's local attorney, Dan Watkins, cautioned commissioners that governments aren't always granted immunity from antitrust laws, particularly when the city, which owns the hospital, is a 'market participant.'"

In February 1997, Columbia/HCA filed a lawsuit against the City of Lawrence, saying "The city commission had no reason to deny Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. its request to build a hospital in Lawrence." (Hiebert left her position as acting chief operating officer of Mt. Oread Medical Arts Centre prior to the filing of the lawsuit.)

In July 1997, three executives of Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. were indicted by a federal grand jury in Florida on charges of defrauding the government for over a decade. They're charged with conspiring to overbill Medicare and Medicaid by more than $1.7 million. Richard Scott, chairman and chief executive of the corporation, was forced to resign. In August 1997, the trustee for the New York state public pension fund sued 11 current and former executives and directors of Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., saying that they had allowed "pervasive and systemic" criminal fraud to flourish throughout the company. In January 2001, two subsidiaries of The Healthcare Corp., formerly Columbia/HCA, pleaded guilty to criminal fraud charges and were fined $65.2 million.

Back in Lawrence, Columbia/HCA's lawsuit against the city was given to Judge Paula Martin to rule on. In May 1998, Judge Martin ruled in favor of Columbia/HCA, saying that the city's permit rejection was "unreasonable.'' The city responded with an appeal.

In February 2000, months after Columbia/HCA had sold its Mt. Oread complex to LMH, the Kansas Court of Appeals overturned Judge Martin's ruling, and for one simple reason, which the judge apparently overlooked: Columbia/HCA did not own the property involved, so the question of whether it should be allowed to proceed with a new hospital was moot.

I will leave it to the reader to judge for herself or himself whether Watkins' roles with the SLT and Columbia/HCA represent "Kansas values."
 

Bird Watching: On the lookout for a conflict of interest

Burdett A. "Bird" Loomis, a professor of political science at the University of Kansas, penned an opinion piece for the Wichita Eagle on November 20, 2012 with the headline "Brownback’s goals are costing Kansans." Loomis ended his piece with this: "In the end, we’re not going bye-bye, nor are we the worst state in the nation. But that’s how we’re trending. It’s bad news for Brownback, and even worse news for Kansans who must suffer the unintended consequences of the governor’s quixotic bid for the presidency."

Of course, Loomis served as the director of administrative services for Governor Kathleen Sebelius (who went on to deliver bad news for most Americans in the form of Obamacare), so no one should expect Loomis to support Brownback's policies. However, note that Loomis' piece was published just months after his son, Dakota, was named communications director of the Kansas Democratic Party.

In the past Prof. Loomis has been asked by various media in Kansas and beyond to offer his analysis on politics in Kansas. Given his son's position with KDP, this is an obvious conflict of interest. If you see any examples of Prof. Loomis offering such analysis prior to the general election in November, please contact Douglas County Conservative at dococonservative@gmail.com.

Peter Hancock gets the facts wrong--again

Liberal activist Peter Hancock of the Lawrence Journal-World reported on the GOP gubernatorial primary election shortly after it was clear that Gov. Brownback had won the election. According to Hancock, Brownback won despite a "surprisingly strong showing by a virtual unknown in politics." In the same article, Hancock noted that "Secretary of State Kris Kobach handily won his GOP primary." Note that Brownback won over Winn 63% to 37%. Kobach won over Scott Morgan 65% to 35%. Apparently, Hancock believes the difference between winning "handily" and facing a "surprising strong showing" from an opponent is two percentage points.

Not content with reporting on just the election results, Hancock continued with this tidbit: "Brownback's primary win came on the same day that a new Gallup poll showed Kansas is the only state in the nation to see an increase in the number of uninsured residents since enactment of the federal health insurance law, commonly known as Obamacare." Hancock provided a link to a Kansas City Star article about the poll, but he obviously failed to read that article. If he had, he would have noticed the headline: "Kansas is the only state to see a significant increase in its uninsured rate, survey says." (My emphasis) Hancock dropped the word "significant" from his reporting. If you check out the actual Gallup poll, you'll find that two other states--Iowa and Virginia--also saw increases in their uninsured rates.

Hancock also failed to include a qualification from Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, who supports Obamacare. According to Praeger in the Star's article, the number “appears to be an anomaly that needs more review. To have the uninsured jump that much in one year would be unprecedented.” Praeger added, “We will try to find out where the discrepancy is.”

According to the Star, Dan Witters, research director for the Well-Being Index, "did not offer an explanation for the growth in the uninsured population in Kansas. However, Kansas is among the states that have not expanded their Medicaid programs to cover more people with low incomes, an option through the Affordable Care Act."

That is true. However, 21 states that also did not expand their Medicaid programs saw decreases in their uninsured rates.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article1093005.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article1093005.html#storylink=cpy

USD 497 troll/teacher ("trocher"?) displays anti-Christian bigotry

Those who have visited the Facebook pages of Sam Brownback, Kris Kobach, and other Republicans may have noticed comments from a certain troll named David Reber. Reber is a teacher at Lawrence Free State High School and the lead negotiator for the Lawrence Education Association. In addition, Reber appears to be an anti-Christian bigot. See video below:

Reject the smearing of Kris Kobach

It won't surprise many that the Kansas City Star has endorsed Scott Morgan, the liberal Republican from Lawrence, over incumbent Secretary of State Kris Kobach in the August 5 GOP primary.  There are only liberals on the Star's editorial board, so they will pick the more liberal candidate.

However, note the Star's headline in their endorsement of Morgan: "Reject extremism in Kansas’ Aug. 5 primary." Of course, no one should accept extremism. However, the endorsement never got around to defining what they meant by "extremism." In fact, the word was never used again after the headline. The Star merely expressed its opposition to a Kansas law that requires voters to show they are citizens before they can legally vote in Kansas. This is hardly an extreme position. In fact, a March 2014 survey found that 78% of likely voters believe everyone should be required to prove his or her citizenship before being allowed to register to vote. That’s up from 71% a year ago. Just 19% oppose that requirement. The Star is with the 19%, suggesting that they may hold the extreme position with a shrinking minority.

Liberals have been employing the "extremist" smear for decades now. In fact, Ayn Rand wrote an outstanding essay during the early 1960s entitled, "'Extremism,' or the Art of Smearing":

Among the many symptoms of today’s moral bankruptcy, the performance of the so-called “moderates” at the Republican National Convention was the climax, at least to date. It was an attempt to institutionalize smears as an instrument of national policy—to raise those smears from the private gutters of yellow journalism to the public summit of a proposed inclusion in a political party platform. The “moderates” were demanding a repudiation of “extremism” without any definition of that term. 

Further:

This brings us to the deeper implications of the term “extremism.” It is obvious that an uncompromising stand (on anything) is the actual characteristic which that “anti-concept” is designed to damn. It is also obvious that compromise is incompatible with morality. In the field of morality, compromise is surrender to evil. 

There can be no compromise on basic principles. There can be no compromise on moral issues. There can be no compromise on matters of knowledge, of truth, of rational conviction. 

If an uncompromising stand is to be smeared as “extremism,” then that smear is directed at any devotion to values, any loyalty to principles, any profound conviction, any consistency, any steadfastness, any passion, any dedication to an unbreached, inviolate truth—any man of integrity. 

"Man of integrity" would be a good way to describe Kris Kobach. If you agree with that, then reject the smearing of Kobach.

'Republican' Davis supporter switched parties days before news conference

Cynthia Yulich, former USD 497 school board member (2003-2007) and president of Emprise Bank in Lawrence, is one of the 104 103 "Republicans" who are supporting liberal Democrat Paul Davis in his bid to unseat the Republican incumbent, Sam Brownback, in this year's gubernatorial race.

It turns out that, since at least as early as August 2008, Yulich had been either a registered Democrat or an unaffiliated voter. According to the Douglas County Clerk’s Office, she registered as a Republican on July 2.

Like Scott Morgan, the "moderate" Republican running for secretary of state, Yulich was on the Lawrence school board when USD 497 started working with the Pacific Educational Group's "Courageous Conversations" program. As this blog has noted before, USD 497 has spent more than $300,000 on this is radical, socialist, and, frankly, racist program during the past several years. That should give voters an idea of just how radical some of these "moderate" Republicans actually are.

h/t Travis Perry, KansasWatchdog.org

Scott Morgan and Wint Winter go "All In"

Three days after Scott Morgan appeared at a rally organized by the Democrat-dominated Mainstream Coalition and a day after Winter Winter, Jr. formally endorsed liberal Democrat Paul Davis for Kansas governor, the "moderate" duo appeared on MSNBC's "All In with Chris Hayes" on July 16. (video here, transcript here)

If I had to describe their appearance in one word, that word would be "odd." If fact, Morgan offered this response after Hayes asked him why he was challenging Kris Kobach in the GOP primary race for secretary of state:

Well, it`s kind of an odd decision, but frankly it was realization that at some point
you have to stand up and say, this isn`t as -- we`re better than this. 

And he was such an extreme example of what had gone wrong in Kansas,
and I was oddly qualified for the secretary of state, and so I decided, you
tell your kids, you have to stand up to the bully, and I said, OK, I need
to stand up and say, this doesn`t represent us.

Of course, two nominal Republicans appearing on MSNBC to join in on that network's bashing of the GOP is not a common occurrence. But there was Morgan and Winter sandwiched in between segments featuring Robert Reich, Bill Clinton's secretary of labor and chairman of the left-wing Common Cause, and a certain Zephyr Teachout, who is challenging Andrew Cuomo in the Democrat primary for governor of New York because she doesn't believe he is liberal enough. As you can see, it was an odd evening.

According to Morgan, Kobach uses his position as secretary of state "as a platform both in the state and nationally to go against immigrants...." As someone married to an immigrant who came to this country legally, I have to take exception to that comment. My wife and I were at an event with Kobach last week. He could not have more cordial towards my wife. Morgan is being very dishonest when he conflates legal immigrants with illegal immigrants. Kobach's appearance with Gov. Cuomo's brother, Chris, on CNN on July 17, demonstrates that Kobach also is not a "bully" when it comes to illegal immigrants. He showed a great deal of compassion and sympathy towards the thousands of Central American children who have recently crossed our border. Cuomo and Kobach actually had a thoughtful and reasonable discussion about that tragedy of Obama's own making.

Kobach "just has a deep desire to be on national television," Morgan continued, apparently unaware of the fact that he was on national television, albeit a network with few viewers.

Morgan then went on to claim, without evidence, that Kobach "wants to be president." He followed that comment with this odd statement: "And so that doesn`t rub well with a lot of Kansans, whether
they`re moderate or conservative." No, because it rubbed us Kansans the wrong way when fellow Kansans Landon, Eisenhower, and Dole ran for president. 

Wint Winter was up next. Winter was representing the 104 (make that 103) "moderate" Republicans who have endorsed Democrat Paul Davis in his campaign to unseat Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican. 

"What prompted you to take this somewhat dramatic step," Hayes asked Winter. Winter gave three reasons, all of which appear to be false. Here they are:

"Number one, he`s enacted, in his own words, an experimental extreme tax plan."

I can find no record of Brownback saying, in his own words, that his tax plan is "extreme." I have emailed Winter to see if he can provide a source for that claim and will include an update if he responds.

"[S]econdly, that`s resulted in cuts to our schools. Education is a victim of that experiment."

The following chart shows that actual per-pupil spending on education and the inflation-adjusted funding beginning in 1998 have both increased:

According to the Kansas Policy Institute, "Inflation-adjusted funding appears to have declined by 3.7% since 2008 (green line) but that is also misleading. Total funding as reported by the Kansas Department of Education is actually district-reported total expenditures. KSDE calculates local expenditures by subtracting the amounts they funnel to school districts from state and federal sources from district-reported total expenditures. However, local expenditures are not the same as local funding because districts often do not spend all of the state and local tax dollars they receive. The portion not spent is used to increase their cash reserves (and not reported as funding)."

Winter's third reason was that Brownback's tax plan resulted in "a very substantial deficit spending."

However, as Raney Gilliland, Kansas Legislative Research Department director, told Kansas Watchdog, “There really aren’t deficits, I think you’re probably aware of that, because constitutionally we can’t go below zero.”

Winter later went on to say, "we need a governor in the state legislature that can balance the budget."

Winter hasn't be in the state legislature for more than two decades, so perhaps he has forgotten that the governor does not serve in the state legislature. The governor is in the executive branch.

When Hayes returned to Morgan, Morgan said, "But the point here wasn't to succeed necessarily -- I'd love to win and I think it's more possible than I would have thought." So Morgan is not in the race necessarily to succeed. I find that to be an interesting statement for two reasons. First, note that he said this after claiming that Kobach "doesn't want to be secretary of state." It sounds a bit as if Morgan was projecting. After all, at the beginning of the interview he said, "It's not the most exciting office; it's largely clerical." Second, doesn't that statement add more credence to the belief that Morgan is merely running against Kobach in the primary in an attempt to weaken the secretary of state before he faces his Democratic opponent in November?

Odd indeed.

Paul Davis' botched rollout of "Republicans for Kansas Values"

According to the Kansas City today, "The Paul Davis for Governor campaign said it slipped up Tuesday by not including its disclaimer on a news release announcing the endorsements of more than 100 Republicans in Kansas." Further:

Kansas law says any “brochure, flier, fact sheet, postcard, fund-raising invitation, or door hanger that expressly advocates the election or defeat of a candidate for state or local office must include the ‘paid for by’ statement,” according to the Ethics Commission website. 

[Republicans for Kansas Values] expressly endorsed Davis. 

Wednesday, an official with the Davis campaign said RKV isn’t an independent group, just part of the candidate’s campaign committee 

The official said the RKV news release should have included a statement it was paid for by the Davis for Governor committee.

Unfortunately for the Davis campaign, the RKV only got worse today. It seems that former U.S. Rep. Jan Meyers, 85, didn't really endorse Davis for governor. From the Kansas City Star:

Meyers said she did join Republicans for Kansas Values — “I’m trying to be a moderate” — but would never publicly endorse a Democrat over a sitting Republican governor. She said that “there must have been some miscommunication.”

One has to wonder if there was any "miscommunication" with others who signed the RKV new release.

 If Davis can't handle something as easy as a news release or signing up people to endorse his campaign, can we really expect him to be able to handle gubernatorial duties?

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article751853.html#storylink=cpy

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Republicans for Kansas Values endorse Paul Davis

The Davis-Docking campaign has released a list of 104 Republicans who have, as a group that calls itself "Republicans for Kansas Values," endorsed Paul Davis, the Lawrence liberal Democrat, and his running mate, Jill Docking.

Looking through the list, the names are overwhelmingly names that appear on a list of so-called "Traditional Republicans for Common Sense." I wrote about this group in May, and made the following points:

Founding members of Traditional Republicans for Common Sense include former U.S. Sen. Sheila Frahm, former U.S. Rep. Jan Meyers, former State Sen. Dick Bond, and others who have not stood for election since the last century. It might be unfair to call these politicians “has-beens,” but there is an “All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up” feel to the group....

Former State Sen. Wint Winter, Jr. of Lawrence is also a member of Traditional Republicans for Common Sense. Winter, last elected to office in 1990, has opposed conservative Republicans for many years. For example, in November 1998 Winter and other “moderate” Republicans backed Craig Templeton over Jim Mullins, a conservative, in the election for chairman of the Douglas County Republican Party. U.S. Rep. Vince Snowbarger had just lost to Democrat Dennis Moore, leading one “moderate” to accuse Mullins of “sitting on his hands” prior to the election. Interestingly, just a few months before the chairmanship election, Templeton was the president of the short-lived Douglas County chapter of the Mainstream Coalition, a liberal organization founded by Rev. Robert Meneilly in Johnson County in 1994. The coalition’s political action committee, MAIN*PAC, actually mailed 67,000 postcards in opposition to Snowbarger’s reelection in 1998.

Is it possible that Winter was unaware of the Mainstream Coalition’s opposition to Snowbarger? Not likely. Winter’s brother, Dan, was on the Mainstream Coalition’s board of directors at the time. MAIN*PAC did its banking with Johnson County Bank, where Dan was the CEO and president.

Of course, Winter is quoted in the Davis-Docking press release along with Dick Bond, who recently accused U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts of "drinking the Kool-Aid" since he allegedly has moved to the right during recent years.

Conservative Republicans would be wise not to assign too much credibility to Republicans for Kansas Values. Their values are neither Kansas nor Republican values. Endorsing a far-left state representative who shares Barack Obama's ideology proves that.

UPDATE: Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, Lawrence, is also a member of Republicans for Kansas Values. Earlier this year, she teamed up with Jill Docking and other liberals to form "Reroute the Roadmap." At that time, Praeger "insisted her membership in the group was not tantamount to an endorsement of Davis." Of course, that claim fits in with her tendency to stray from the truth.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article337679/Praeger-continues-to-distance-herself-from-Brownback.html#storylink=cpy

Scott Morgan to rally with far-left group today

Scott Morgan, GOP candidate for Kansas Secretary of State, announced on his Facebook page that he had been endorsed by the MainStream Coalition's political action committee, MainPAC. In addition, he would be attending the 2014 MainPAC Candidate Rally this afternoon at the Shawnee Civic Centre.

For those unfamiliar with the Mainstream Coalition, it is a far-left group that was founded in Johnson County during the 1990s. But don't just take my word for it when I say it's a far-left group. Consider this letter from Craig Templeton, who was president of the Douglas County chapter of the Mainstream Coalition in 1998:

November 11, 1998 

Mr. John Watkins 

Dear John: 

At the Tuesday meeting, you encouraged us to write, call or fax you if we have anything we felt should be discussed. Tuesday night at the Holidome, you asked me about my involvement with the Mainstream Coalition. You became rather distracted and I didn't get the chance to respond to your question, so I ask your indulgence here for a moment. 

A group of local women had approached me and asked if I could help with their effort to organize a local "Mainstream" group. They explained that they wanted to form this group to provide an open discourse to educate people about issues of the day. They further wanted a community balance and wanted me to provide a conservative perspective. I savor any opportunity to preach to the unsaved! I thought this was my big chance! 

I was wrong. 

The group turned out to be heavily weighted to the left--too many Democrats for my taste. I also then heard the group's founder, Bob Meneilly, speak at KU. It was clear I was making a mistake. Kevin Groenhagan [sic] of the Lawrence Business Ledger was at the same speech and spoke to me afterward about disturbing investigative research he had done on the organization. I invited him to drop by my office where he shared a raft of research he had put together on the Mainstream. 

My last official act with that organization was to make a motion to disband the Douglas County group. The motion carried and to my knowledge the organization gasped its last breath. I am actually proud to say that the only official act I took with the organization resulted in its complete collapse in Douglas County. I guess I sort of thought you'd be supportive of such action on my part. I wish I'd had the chance to clarify this for you Tuesday night. 

Thank you for your interest in my work for the community. 

Sincerely,
Craig Templeton 

cc: Kevin Groenhagan [sic], Lawrence Business Ledger
      Members of the Douglas County Republican Central Committee

Members of the Douglas County Republican Central Committee had good reason to be concerned about Templeton's involvement with the Mainstream Coalition. The group's political action committee had just mailed out 67,000 postcards of behalf of Dennis Moore, the Democrat who successfully defeated U.S. Rep. Vince Snowbarger, a Republican, in the campaign for the the 3rd District. However, Templeton was running to chair the Douglas County Republican Party as a moderate alternative to Jim Mullins, who had just finished one term as chair and narrowly defeated Templeton for a second term. Obviously, Templeton had a little explaining to do, and part of that explaining entailed saying that he made a mistake because the Mainstream Coalition was "heavily weighted to the left--too many Democrats for my taste." Templeton's perception of the group's Democratic Party bias was accurate, albeit a bit belated.

In fact, the Mainstream Coalition became a member organization of The Interfaith Alliance (TIA) during the 1990s. Meneilly served on that organization's board of directors. TIA was started in 1994 with $25,000 seed money from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which, of course, exists mainly to recruit and raise money for Democratic congressional candidates.

Jill Hanauer's served as TIA's executive director until 1997. As a student at the University of Colorado, Hanauer called in the American Civil Liberties Union to help her stop that school's football coach, Bill McCartney, from leading his team in a moment of silence before games. McCartney would later found Promise Keepers. After college, Hanauer raised more than $3 million for the Democratic National Committee and then joined the National Abortion Action League in 1990. She had also worked for liberal Democrats such as Tom Harkin, Gary Hart, and Patricia Schroeder.

Hanauer's anti-Christian and pro-abortion positions are also evident in the Mainstream Coalition. For example, in the October 1997 issue of Messenger, the official newsletter of the Mainstream Coalition, Meneilly attacked the Promise Keepers for using religion to promote political agendas. "[The Promise Keepers] claim only to be religious, but driving men to Washington (of all places) is an attempt to make more of a political statement than a religious witness!" Meneilly wrote. Of course, Meneilly failed to mention that the headquarters of his TIA was, and continues to be, located in (of all places) Washington, D.C.

Incidentally, the "raft of research" Templeton wrote about in his letter eventually became a 1999 report entitled "The Mainstream Coalition Exposed." You can download the report here.

Some might look at the dates of everything mentioned above and wonder if perhaps the Mainstream Coalition has become less of a left-wing extremist group during the past 15 years or so. Unfortunately, it remains as rabidly pro-abortion and anti-Christian as ever. Consider a letter to the editor that Michele Burger, the Mainstream Coalition's president, wrote to several Kansas newspapers after Gov, Sam Brownback proclaimed December 8, 2012 as "National Day of Restoration":

Gov. Sam Brownback proclaimed Dec. 8 as a “Day of Restoration,” exhorting all Kansans to “repent” and pray to a “Holy God.” This official proclamation by our sitting governor cannot go unchallenged, as our great constitutional republic is built on the foundation that religion and government should be separate. 

Some say that people who object to government displays of religious texts, symbols and proclamations shouldn’t take “offense” so easily. This has nothing to do with taking offense; it’s about a clear understanding of the fundamental dangers to our constitutional republic when religion and government are mixed. Our history is replete with examples of what happens when government and religion are not kept separate. 

Our society is and always has been pluralistic, and our founders made clear that respect for all religions, and no religion, would be the law of the land. If our founders could read Brownback’s religious proclamation, I am certain they would hang their heads in shame.

Would the Founders really hang their heads in shame? Consider that on September 25, 1789, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution calling on President George Washington to issue a proclamation designating a national day of prayer and thanksgiving. The Senate agreed to the resolution the next day. Washington issued that proclamation on October 3: “Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me ‘to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.’”

Interestingly, the House of Representatives passed the prayer and thanksgiving resolution on the very same day that they sent 12 amendments to President Washington to be transmitted to the states for ratification. Those amendments included what became the First Amendment. That would be the same First Amendment that Burger claimed laid the “foundation that religion and government should be separate,” and, hence, should have prohibited Brownback from issuing his proclamation. 

Craig Templeton eventually learned that the Mainstream Coalition was heavily weight to the left and was dominated by Democrats. As of this writing, Morgan has about 12 hours to realize the same thing and cancel his appearance at the MainPAC Candidate Rally and reject the group's endorsement. Failure to do so would only add to the growing perception that he is far too liberal to be a Republican candidate for any office in the state of Kansas.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2012/12/16/2604226/letters-to-the-editor-on-school.html#storylink=cpy

Has Sen. Pat Roberts moved to the right in recent years?

In the July 7 issue of The Kansas City Star, reporter Steve Kraske wrote about how Republican "moderates" in Kansas are frustrated because they have the choice between two conservatives in the U.S. Senate primary race, i.e., Pat Roberts, the incumbent, and Milton Wolf, a Tea Party favorite.

"Dick Bond, the onetime president of the Kansas Senate from Johnson County, considers three-term incumbent Sen. Pat Roberts and finds him too far right'" Kraske wrote. "Roberts’ most serious challenger, tea party favorite Milton Wolf? Much the same.

"'I don’t even have a horse to ride,' Bond said."

"I’ll be doing something that I am not pleased with," said former Republican state Rep. Nancy Brown, a moderate. “I simply do not (plan to) vote for either one."

"[Roberts'] been a longtime friend, and obviously he has totally changed,” Bond said. “He drank some Kool-Aid or something."

Kraske reinforced Bond's claim that Roberts has changed by noting that "In 2013, the nonpartisan National Journal ranked Roberts as the eighth-most conservative senator. In 2005, he came in as the 38th-most conservative."

Of course, the National Journal is the same publication that ranked Barack Obama as the most liberal senator in 2007. At that time, many of Kraske's fellow liberals dismissed the ranking as ridiculous. In any case, note that Kraske cherry-picked two years out of the many years Roberts has served in the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. What happens if you consider all of Roberts' 18 years in the Senate?

The American Conservative Union ranks U.S. senators and representatives every year, with 100 being a perfect conservative score. ACU's website has Roberts' scores for every year he has been in the Senate except for 1997 and 2011. I have taken his scores for the available years and put together a chart, which you can view below:

As you can see, Roberts' ACU scores have been fairly consistent since 1998, with an 84 in 1998 and an 84 in 2013. In fact, he has appeared to have gotten slightly less conservative during recent years. His ACU lifetime rating was 87.05 in 2001, while it dropped to 86.40 in 2013.

According to Kraske, two of Roberts' actions "caused considerable angst among moderates":

One was his call last October for Kathleen Sebelius, then the secretary of Health and Human Services, to resign for “gross incompetence” in connection with the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. The demand came just days after Wolf entered the race. Roberts and Sebelius had been friends, and Roberts spent 12 years as the top aide to 1st District U.S. Rep. Keith Sebelius, the father-in-law of the woman who went on to become governor and HHS secretary. 

“I know that made me uncomfortable,” Jones said. “I know the relationship between Pat and the Sebelius family.” 

The other action was Roberts’ opposition to a personal plea in 2012 from his mentor, former Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas, to back a United Nations treaty on the rights of people with disabilities. Dole said the treaty would require nothing of Americans but would spur help for disabled people around the globe. Even with Dole making a dramatic appearance on the floor of the Senate in a wheelchair, Roberts voted no.

The moderates often look back at Dole as a model senator. However, Dole's ACU scores would suggest that he is the Kansas senator who "totally changed" during his years in Washington. ACU does not have all of Dole's years available online, however Dole received a 53 in 1975, a 67 in 1980, a 76 in 1981, a 60 in 1982, and a 64 and in 1983. Dole's lowest score after 1983 was a 77 in 1987. During the 1990s, his lowest score was 83 (1990). His subsequent scores were 86 in 1991, 93 in 1992, 88 in 1993, 100 in 1994, and 90 in 1996.

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Which Party is Controlled by Extremists?

Sarah Palin called for the impeachment of Barack Obama this week. Steve Kraske of the Kansas City Star reacts to Palin in today's The Buzz:

Palin cited the influx of young illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border as that “last straw.” The thinking in some quarters is that talk like this could wind up hurting Republicans in a year that shapes up as a good one for them. Why? It suggests that the GOP is run by extremists.

Liberals in the media are always suggesting that the GOP is run by extremists. However, they never suggest that the Democratic Party is run by extremists. Consider that about 80 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives belong to the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC). The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) helped then-Rep. Bernie Sanders, a self-described "democratic socialist," and others set up CPC during the early 1990s. DSA even hosted CPC's webpage until the late Balint Vazsonyi exposed that fact during the late 1990s. DSA and CPC continue to work together today, as demonstrated by this question and answer on DSA's website:

Q: Aren’t you a party that’s in competition with the Democratic Party for votes and support?
 No, we are not a separate party. Like our friends and allies in the feminist, labor, civil rights, religious, and community organizing movements, many of us have been active in the Democratic Party. We work with those movements to strengthen the party’s left wing, represented by the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
 The process and structure of American elections seriously hurts third party efforts. Winner-take-all elections instead of proportional representation, rigorous party qualification requirements that vary from state to state, a presidential instead of a parliamentary system, and the two-party monopoly on political power have doomed third party efforts. We hope that at some point in the future, in coalition with our allies, an alternative national party will be viable. For now, we will continue to support progressives who have a real chance at winning elections, which usually means left-wing Democrats.

Note that DSA is an arm of the Socialist International, which, according to Michael Harrington, who chaired DSA until his death in 1989, claims “direct descent from Marx’s International Workingmen’s Association.”

Given this, which major political party is actually run by extremists?

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article693288.html#storylink=cpy

More Hokum from Hoeflich

Two months ago, Lawrence Journal-World columnist Mike Hoeflich wrote an opinion piece entitled "Something's wrong in Kansas." Hoeflich was not happy with the direction Governor Sam Brownback and his fellow "radical" Republicans are taking Kansas, and he wanted readers to know that he is darn angry about it. Hoeflich is still upset.

In his July 2 column, Hoeflich wrote the following:

The announcement of the June tax receipts, $28 million below the estimates, and the final total tax receipts for the just closed fiscal year, $338 million below the estimates, makes it absolutely clear that Brownback, members of the Kansas Legislature who hastily and intemperately voted for the draconian tax cuts, and anyone else who supported these cuts, have betrayed one of the principal tenets of traditional American conservative thought: "fiscal responsibility."

There is currently a debate concerning what has caused the failure of tax receipts to meet estimates. Hoeflich, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Paul Davis, and numerous editorial pages throughout Kansas blame the tax cuts. Brownback and many Republicans blame other factors, including tax increases implemented by the Obama administration.

In Missouri, Governor Jay Nixon, a Democrat, vetoed a tax-cut bill in 2013, and the Republican-dominated legislature failed to override his veto. "It’s a defining moment,” Nixon said at a news conference after his veto on the tax-cut bill was upheld. “Today was about protecting our economy, our communities and, especially, our schools from this costly and misguided bill."

However, on the same day that Hoeflich wrote that "draconian" tax cuts are responsible for the $338 million shortfall in Kansas, KMBC reported that Missouri's tax revenues for fiscal year 2014 fell $308 million short of Governor Jay Nixon's projections. Apparently, something is also wrong in Missouri.

So the Republican Brownback signed "draconian" tax cuts into law in 2013 and now tax receipts in his state are now $338 million below projections. The Democrat Nixon prevented "draconian" tax cuts to be enacted in his state in 2013 and tax receipts are now $308 million below projections. Given that two very different approaches towards tax cuts resulted in very similar shortfalls would appear to suggest that Brownback is correct when he blames external factors for the shortfalls. In other words, there is something wrong in Washington, D.C.