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.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article687490.html#storylink=cpy

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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.

Anti-Hobby Lobby protest a bust in Lawrence

On the Facebook page "We Support Birth Control and We Vote," more than 120 people said they would participate in the anti-Hobby Lobby protest in Lawrence, while another 54 said "maybe" to going. As you can see from the photo above, which was taken just before 11 a.m. today, just about 30 people showed up (those on the far left of the photo are members of the media). They barely mustered enough demonstrators to rival a Phelps family protest.

Vanessa Sanburn, Lawrence school board member and former "educator" for Planned Parenthood in Wichita, was one of the few to show up today. Her sign reads "People Too" with arrows pointing to her and her younger daughter. I'm not aware of anyone who has said they are not people, so I'm not sure what message she is attempting to convey here.

The messages on these signs are a bit more clear. The one on the far left reads, "Your Bible Doesn't Belong in my Vagina." Again, I am not aware of anyone making the argument that a Bible belongs in anyone's vagina. That sounds unsanitary and uncomfortable.

After taking a few pictures, I went inside Hobby Lobby to buy a few drinking cups for a conservative event this evening and a $50 gift certificate for my daughters to use later. If you support Hobby Lobby, please consider stopping by today to spend a little money with them.

UPDATE: Giles Bruce's article in the Journal-World is fairly accurate. However, he could have been more clear when he wrote, "Last Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that the government could not require closely held corporations to pay for insurance coverage for contraceptives because it violated federal protections for freedom of religion." Hobby Lobby actually supports 16 forms of contraceptives, including: male condoms; female condoms; diaphragms with spermicide; sponges with spermicide; cervical caps with spermicide; spermicide alone; birth-control pills with estrogen and progestin; birth-control pills with progestin alone; birth control pills, extended or continuous use; contraceptive patches; contraceptive rings; progestin injections; implantable rods; vasectomies; female sterilization surgeries; female sterilization implants.

The Supreme Court ruled that Hobby Lobby should not be forced to provide coverage for just four types of contraceptives that prevent implantation of the embryo.

And, for the record, my t-shirt does not say "Obama Lies." It is a parody of the Shepard Fairey "Hope" poster and merely says "Liar." I also was not a "motorist" while I was taking photos. I was outside of my vehicle and just a few feet from the protesters.

Lawrence School Board members to take part in anti-Hobby Lobby protest

Local liberals, including the Douglas County Democratic Party, announced via the Facebook page "We Support Birth Control and We Vote" that they will be protesting the Hobby Lobby store in Lawrence on Monday, July 7, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Scanning through the comments on this page, I noticed the names Kris Adair and Vanessa Sanburn. "I am putting myself as maybe so I can invite friends," Adair wrote. "We will be out of town. For sure I will never shop there again." Sanburn noted that she will be at the protest.

Adair and Sanburn are both members of the Lawrence School board. In an earlier item, I noted that the Lawrence School Board has approved the spending of more than $300,000 with Glenn Singleton's Pacific Educational Group (PEG) and his "Courageous Conversations" program. Ostensibly, the program's goal is to narrow the achievement gap between white and minority children. However, a perusal of PEG's classroom materials makes it clear that the program's actual objective is to promote socialism in government schools.

If Adair and Sanburn's support of "Courageous Conversartions" is not enough to convince you that they are left-wing radicals, their political activism regarding the Hobby Lobby case should seal the deal for you.

This shows why it is important for conservatives to get involved locally. We need to have representation on the school board. We may not be able to stop radical programs like "Courageous Conversations." However, with a voice on the school board at least we can make the public aware of them. I would estimate that at least 95% of Lawrencians know anything about "Courageous Conversations."

Don't think you're qualified to serve on the school board? Sanburn lived in Lawrence for less than a year before running for the school board in 2009 at the age of 27. She hadn't been a teacher in the classroom, although she did work as "a health educator for Planned Parenthood in Wichita." Her bio on the USD 497 website doesn't mention that, but Sanburn does mention her priorities include a "Focus on improving achievement for all students" (that's straight out of "Courageous Conversations") and "Make decisions based on facts and sound scientific data, not on ideology." She would have been more accurate if she had said "not on ideologies other than mine."

One last note: Adair says she is boycotting Hobby Lobby. That's her prerogative. Personally, I'm not a big fan of boycotts. However, those who support Hobby Lobby's position on religious freedom should keep in mind that Adair and her husband, Joshua Montgomery, own Wicked Broadband in Lawrence. According to the Lawrence Journal-World in May 2014, "Wicked was seeking a $500,000 economic development grant from the city, plus the waiver of multiple city fees, in exchange for undertaking a $1 million pilot project that would bring 1 gigabit broadband service to downtown and much of East Lawrence." Further, "Wicked now is asking the city to also underwrite its $500,000 loan it will need to build the pilot project."

Journal-World columnist suffers from amnesia

Trudy Rubin, foreign affairs columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, has a column in today's Lawrence Journal-World in which she accuses former Vice President Dick Cheney of having amnesia. However, it appears that it is Rubin herself who has suffered memory loss.

Rubin claims that Cheney used "deliberately distorted intelligence ... to justify the invasion." Apparently, Rubin has forgotten that the Clinton administration as late of January 2001 claimed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and, therefore, was a "clear and present danger at all times." She also appears to have forgotten that, after the invasion of Iraq, then-Sen. Hillary Clinton said, "The intelligence from Bush 1 to Clinton to Bush 2 was consistent," and "The consensus was the same, from the Clinton administration to the Bush administration. It was the same intelligence belief that our allies and friends around the world shared."

Rubin also writes that Cheney "swallowed the claims of Ahmed Chalabi, his favorite Iraqi expat." Rubin seems to have forgotten that, like the intelligence regarding Iraq's WMD, Bush and Cheney inherited Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress (INC) from Clinton and Gore. U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met with the INC on September 14, 2000 and noted the Clinton administration’s support for Chalabi and the Iraqi opposition. “The United States salutes the courage of Iraqis everywhere in the Opposition,” Albright said. “I wish them success in presenting to the world the true hopes and needs of the Iraqi people, and ultimately in bringing democracy and the rule of law to their country."

Albright’s meeting with the INC was not the first time a Clinton administration official met with the opposition group in 2000. According to the BBC, a Clinton administration official met with a nine-man INC delegation led by Chalabi in June 2000 and “reiterated the administration’s view that the Iraqi leader should be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

The article also noted, “The Clinton administration is trying to beef up the INC after nearly 10 years of sanctions on Iraq have brought the world no closer to bringing down the Iraqi leader.” Part of beefing up the INC included a pledge from the Clinton administration to provide the INC with $8 million.

Who was the member of the Clinton administration who met with Chalabi and the INC? Why, it was none other than Vice President Al Gore, the same man who in 2004 criticized the Bush administration for putting its trust in Chalabi, a man who “had been convicted of fraud and embezzling 70 million dollars in public funds from a Jordanian bank” eight years before Gore met with him. Gore also must have been suffering from amnesia.

Rubin claims that American troops who "died because the Pentagon failed to provide body armor or up-armored humvees in Cheney’s time." She has forgotten that after American troops entered Baghdad after just a few days, Democrats claimed that Bill Clinton deserved credit for the speedy victory. Reportedly, Al Franken, who is now a U.S. senator, approached Paul Wolfowitz and said, “Clinton's military did pretty well in Iraq, huh?" Fred Kaplan of Slate.com made a similar argument. “Weapons systems and war strategies often take years, even decades, to evolve,” Kaplan wrote. Further, “[T]he wonder weapons of Gulf War II—the weapons that allowed for ‘a combination of precision, speed, and boldness the enemy did not expect and the world had not seen before,’ as the second President Bush put it in his victory speech last night onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln—were developed and built during the presidency of Bill Clinton.” Of course, after our troops started being killed by improvised explosive devices, no Democrat would acknowledge that the Clinton administration failed to develop and build defense systems to protect our troops from those weapons.

Unfortunately, Bush (and Cheney) Derangement Syndrome appears to affect one's memory.

Journal-World reporter throws hissy fit after his liberal bias is exposed

Lawrence Journal-World reporter/liberal activist Peter Hancock didn't care much for Douglas County Conservative's item about his biased reporting two months ago. Here is what Hancock wrote to Douglas County Conservative in an email:

Dear Douglas County Conservative: Yes, I put my name on my stories. And you are free to quote me and attribute information in my stories to me. But if you're so opposed to the use of anonymous sources, why don't you put your name on your stories? Or is that a standard you only apply to other people? 

Your information about Public Citizen's contributors is a matter of public record. And you can thank Public Citizen for that, since they are the ones who, in 1974, lobbied hard for Congress to pass - over President Gerald Ford's veto - a certain "radical liberal" law known as the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), which is basically why you were able to access to that information in the first place. Don't worry. You can thank them later. 

It might be worth noting, though, that you left off a few other major contributors, like the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation, just to name a few. And that's not counting the 300,000-plus individuals who freely contribute because they support Public Citizen's mission. 

Meanwhile, just out of curiosity, where is your financial disclosure list? Or do you even have one? I only ask because when I click on the link to your Blogspot Profile, I see that you only have one follower, which I assume to be yourself. 

Peter Hancock
Reporter | Lawrence Journal-World
phancock@ljworld.com | (785) 832-7259645 New Hampshire, Lawrence, KS 66044

Hancock seems to believe that those Foundations balance out the liberals and socialists who sit on Public Citizens boards. However, the Capital Research Center reports "Since the 1960s, [the] Ford [Foundation] has funded many radical social experiments and it remains a major donor to liberal causes, especially the defense of racial preference programs." Martin Morse Wooster, senior fellow at Capital Research Center, describes the Rockefeller Brothers Fund as “a second-tier member of the liberal philanthropic establishment.” Regarding the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation, Wooster characterizes it as a "bastion of liberalism."

Hancock's history is off a bit regarding the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). He claims that President Gerald Ford vetoed the act. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed FOIA into law on July 4, 1966, eight years before Ford became president. Also, Hancock says we should thank Public Citizen for lobbying hard for Congress to pass FOIA. Public Citizen was founded in 1971, five years AFTER Johnson signed FOIA into law.

By the way, before Hancock joined the Journal-World, he wrote an opinion column from the liberal perspective for the Topeka Metro News. In that capacity he lied about Phill Kline running a racist ad in 2006. You can read about that here.