Kansas State Senator Dick Kelsey will make an announcement today “about running for the congressional seat being given up by Todd Tiahrt,” as he wrote in an email message to me.
I don’t know what he’ll say, but at Kansas Days he passed out “Dick Kelsey for Congress” pens.
The announcement will be at 2:00 pm at the Wichita Independent Business Association (WIBA) office, located at 445 N. Waco in Wichita.
A sad email appeared in my inbox yesterday. Its title — ENPR: FINAL EDITION — gave me cause to think the worst had happened. Fortunately it hasn’t, but the news is sad nonetheless.
ENPR is the Evans-Novak Political Report, a fascinating report compiled since 1967. Last year, Bob Novak (Rowland Evans died in 2001) was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and this is what has lead to the stoppage of this newsletter.
Last summer in Austin, Texas I attended an event where Bob Novak was the featured dinner speaker. He took many questions from the audience, and didn’t seem to shy away from expressing forceful opinions. I spoke briefly to him afterwards and told him how I enjoyed his autobiography The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington. It was just a week later when news of Novak’s tumor was reported.
Hopefully, Mr. Novak’s health will improve.
The final edition is at ENPR: FINAL EDITION.
At the general meeting at Kansas Days on January 31, Kansas first district congressman Jerry Moran sought to clarify or recast the impression a news story left in the minds of attendees.
A Wichita Eagle news story headlined Moran: Obama easier to work with than Bush starts with the sentence “The day after filing to run for U.S. Senate, Rep. Jerry Moran told a Wichita audience that President Obama may be easier to work with than President George W. Bush was.” Referring to this story, Moran said these words:
I will tell you that I don’t think that’s the case, despite the headline, although I will tell you that time and time again I thought that Republican leadership and sometimes the White House failed to remember what Republicans were about. All my life growing up, what I knew about Republicans were that we were the party of fiscal responsibility. We were the ones who had the ability to say no, we can’t afford that. Now don’t you wish we had that in the banking world today? For all those loans the banker said “I’m sorry, I can’t make that loan, you can’t afford that house?”
That’s what we need in Congress. That’s what we need in Washington, is someone who has the ability to say no. So when President Bush and Republican leaders proposed that we expand Medicare in ways that, in my opinion, we couldn’t afford, in ways that, in my opinion, were developed to advance the causes of the pharmaceutical companies as compared to seniors in Kansas, we said no.
And when we decided that the number one priority of the Bush Administration was No Child Left Behind, and we wanted to engage the federal government in the classrooms of Kansas, I said no.
So yes, there are times in which when we as Republicans don’t agree. I guess I disagree with our administration, particularly the Secretary of the Treasury, who thought we could afford $700 billion to bailout Wall Street. The problems with that are many. But once you start down that path, how do I, as a Member of Congress, have the moral standing, the wisdom, to decide your business succeeds and your business fails.
When the automobile manufacturers came back asking for money I heard Members of Congress say “But you gave $700 billion to Wall Street. Surely you can afford $34 billion for the automobile manufacturers.” Well, I don’t know if I disagree with that logic, but the fault is we couldn’t afford the $700 billion in the first place.
That’s not how the story is written. But I did say to the folks at an agricultural business meeting in Wichita yesterday that when it comes to our ability to sell Kansas agricultural products to Cuba, the Obama Administration may be easier to work with than the Bush Administration was.
I didn’t intend to have that conversation with you this afternoon, but I will tell you my position in regard to the Obama Administration is one of concern.
On Friday February 6, 2009, United States Congressman for the fourth district of Kansas Todd Tiahrt will speak at a meeting of the Wichita Pachyderm Club.
Rep. Tiahrt is a candidate for the United States Senate. His congressional district includes Wichita and most of south-central Kansas.
The club meets at the Whiskey Creek Steakhouse in Old Town, at 230 N. Mosely. The meeting starts at noon, but it is suggested to arrive early.
The hypocrisy of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation came in for heavy criticism. His Secretary of State William Seward said, “We show our sympathy with slavery by emancipating slaves where we cannot reach them and holding them in bondage where we can set them free.” … President Obama can be forgiven for celebrating the hypocrisy of Abraham Lincoln because the victors of wars write their history and glorify the winners. The recognition that slavery is a despicable institution does not require hero worship of a president who made the largest contribution to the unraveling of our Constitution.
Walter E. Williams‘ column President Obama’s Inauguration holds some interesting observations of Abraham Lincoln and his legacy. It’s not what is taught in most school textbooks.
I am not entirely sure it is not, but my personal impression is that nothing makes people more cynical about government than working for it. I have never heard a libertarian speak about the futility of most government departments the way American and foreign officials often do in restaurants or bars on Capitol Hill, on K Street — the center of the lobbying industry — in Georgetown or even at the Fish Wharf.
From Welcome to Washington, by Alvaro Vargas Llosa of the Center on Global Prosperity at The Independent Institute.
Today’s Wichita Eagle editorial is typical of many that wish our new president success — for the good of the nation, of course.
What, however, does success for President Obama mean? There are two (or more) ways that success might be realized.
One definition of success is that President Obama is able to lead our nation into a long period of peace and prosperity.
A second definition is that he is able to implement the items and programs on his agenda. This agenda includes things like quick implementation of an economic stimulus program, but also longer-term goals such as nationalization of health care and cap-and-trade to reduce carbon emissions. The problem is that these things, I believe, will be harmful to our country.
So how can we wish President Obama success in implementing harmful programs?
The Competitive Enterprise Institute, an important organization dedicated to advancing the principles of free enterprise and limited government, has a short (one minute) video that does a little arithmetic and arrives at the price of President-elect Obama’s plans for economic stimulus. Hint: it’s a pretty big number.
By Warner Todd Huston
Washington — In this current economic climate, bailouts for industries in the private sector are quickly becoming the chief form of reform and stability. From newspapers to the financial sector to the auto industry, Congress is infusing life saving money into the bloodstream of the country’s economy.
But one sector is finding itself over burdened at an alarming rate. Critics say that much more strain will find the CPA’s and accountants of America buckle and something needs to be done before it’s too late.
Click here to read the entire article.