Voice For Liberty

Tag: Politics

  • Kansas news digest

    News from alternative media around Kansas for November 9, 2009.

    Political involvement and Kansas smoking ban

    (State of the State Kansas) “This week we focus on two issues: the proposed smoking ban in public places and getting young people involved in the political process.”

    Districts Have Funds To Meet Projected $100 Million Shortfall

    (Kansas Watchdog) “Kansas school districts will fall about $100 million short of needed funds by the end of the current 2010 fiscal year according to Dale Dennis, Deputy Commissioner of the Kansas Department of Education. But school districts statewide had $175.7 million in their contingency reserve funds at the beginning of the current fiscal year. Dennis says those taxpayers’ dollars can be used to cover the shortfall, but once districts spend that money it’s gone.”

    Does not compute: Kansas to use “stimulus” debt to save future interest payments?

    (Kansas Watchdog) “So, we’re using $159.2 million in stimulus spending to realize interest savings on bonds? But that $159.2 million is new debt. We’re trading ‘saved interest’ for more debt? What we’re doing is only increasing the debt and the interest we owe.”

    Human services and school funding dragging state into a deep deficit

    (Kansas Liberty) “If Kansas maintains full funding for human-service caseloads and school financing — including the huge outlays for special education — the state’s budget will plummet into a deficit of $722.5 million within the next two years, according the state’s Consensus Estimating Group.”

    Roberts warns Democratic health plan may cost taxpayers $2.4 trillion

    (Kansas Liberty) “Kansas’ U.S. Senator Pat Roberts said Wednesday that the Democratic health care plan could result in a $2.4 trillion tax burden being placed on United States residents over the next decade. ‘The rushed health care reform proposals being debated behind closed doors could end up costing the taxpayer $2.4 trillion over ten years while doing nothing to lower the rising cost of care for patients and causing insurance premiums to rise,’ Roberts said in a statement. Roberts’ data comes from the Senate Budget Committee, a spokesperson said.”

    Proposed health insurance ‘exchanges’ worry Blue Cross

    (Kansas Liberty) “The Democratic health care plan’s creation of a ‘health insurance exchange’ brings up some concerns for private health insurance providers — and for Republicans who are opposed to an expansion of government. The exchange will create a marketplace, likely online, which will allow for businesses and individuals to select their health insurance on their own. This will differ from most current practices in which either health insurance brokers, or in-house employees work as facilitators to match businesses and individuals with health insurance plans, although it also duplicates existing private enterprise solutions. … ‘And what we do not need is an insurance version of Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac.’”

  • Alan Keyes to speak at events in Wichita

    Alan Keyes, former Reagan administration diplomat, National Security Council member, and presidential candidate, will speak at two events in Wichita supporting the Anderson for Congress campaign. Dr. Keyes will headline a public speech at the Beech Activity Center, 9710 E. Central, on Saturday November 21st at 7:15 pm titled “We the People”. General admittance is $10, children 16 and under are free. Special reserve seating and a pre-speech VIP reception with Dr. Keyes is available for $50.

    Dr. Keyes will host a fundraiser on Monday November 23rd, 7:00 pm at Larkspur restaurant and grill, 904 E. Douglas in Old Town. The cost is $100 per plate, $175 includes a private reception with Dr. Keyes prior to the dinner. All proceeds from both events benefit Anderson for Congress.

    For more information, call 316-636-9300 or info@anderson4congress.com.

  • Michelle Malkin delivers conservative message in Wichita

    Michelle Malkin in WichitaMichelle Malkin in Wichita

    At a fundraising event for Kansas Secretary of State candidate Kris Kobach, conservative author, journalist, and columnist Michelle Malkin delivered a message that appealed to conservatives, although not necessarily the Republican establishment. Her most recent book is Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies.

    In endorsing his candidacy, Malkin praised Kobach as a conservative intellectual and a conservative activist.

    On the national level, Malkin said that there’s a constant theme from the left: Don’t tell the truth about Obama, you’re a hater, you’re a racist, you’re divisive, you’re an extremist. This narrative is designed to keep conservatives quiet. But ordinary American people are pushing back, she said, without the sponsorship of national Republicans in Washington or any top-down group.

    This has the Obama administration and the “top-down Astroturfers on the left” in a tizzy. It’s not the way that ACORN and SEIU (Service Employees International Union) have organized its foot soldiers, she said. It’s why there’s been such a vicious and violent reaction from people like Obama Senior Advisor David Axelrod and ACORN chief Bertha Lewis.

    She said she embraces the epithets the left throws at her: “I am the angry mob,” she said to applause from the audience.

    Malkin said that within the first month of the Obama administration, important campaign pledges of transparency, openness, ethics, and lobbyist bans were broken. Now there is widespread buyer’s remorse.

    Malkin quoted Bess Myerson: “The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference.” The mainstream media is not only indifferent to the corruption of the Obama campaign, but “an active participant in whitewashing that culture of corruption out of all coverage of this man … not just of Barack Obama, but Michelle Obama as well.”

    Michelle Malkin in WichitaMichelle Malkin and Kris Kobach

    “Sunlight is the best disinfectant,” she said, naming her book, Fox News, conservative talk radio, and alternative media on the Internet as examples of media that are getting out the message.

    Holding up a copy of the Constitution, she said “by the way, this is my teleprompter.”

    She said the partisan goal of ACORN and its satellite organizations is to elect a Democratic majority and keep it there. Referring to internal scandals in ACORN, the New York Times kept the news quiet in the weeks before the 2008 election because it was a “game-changer.” “They weren’t going to rig the game against Barack Obama.”

    Besides an idealogical investment in Obama, there is a financial investment too, as the Times admitted that it sold over a million dollars of “Obama swag” on its website — a conflict of interest, Malkin said.

    These organizations have tried to stifle the political expression of conservatives. SEIU president Andy Stern said “We will use the power of persuasion, but when that doesn’t work, we will use the persuasion of power.” When the leftist status quo is faced with change, they respond with violence, as exemplified by the SEIU.

    Malkin said that while the Obama administration is trying to control mainstream news media through a czar and a revival of the fairness doctrine, she worries more about what they’re trying to do to ordinary citizens.

    “We need to educate, agitate, and organize,” she said. Those in the Republican establishment who advocate toning down the message are unwise. She said we need to fight the capitulationist forces in Washington, as not only are there “Republicans in name only,” there are “conservatives in name only.”

    Malkin said that the best place for activists to start is right in their own back yards.

    Answering a question about Newt Gingrich and his endorsement of a liberal Republican congressional candidate, Malkin said that Gingrich made an obviously bad decision. He’s made other bad decisions lately too, she said, appearing with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in an ad sponsored by Al Gore that argues for global warming hysteria, and also campaigning with Al Sharpton on education issues.

    Another question asked about the viability of a third party in America. Malkin revealed that she voted for the Libertarian presidential candidate Harry Browne in 1996. Kobach added that given the way our electoral system is structured, it is very difficult to displace a party. The Republicans replacing the Whigs is the last such example.

    Speaking about the tea party protests, Malkin said that from the start it was never only an anti-Obama phenomenon, despite all the mainstream media spin.

    Asked what George Soros is really after, Malkin answered “The destruction of our pillars of capitalism and individual liberty and truly deliberative democracy.”

  • Tea Party Express in Wichita a success

    Related content: Wichita’s tea party critics examined.

    Today a large crowd — some people estimated the crowd at 1,500 to 1,700 — gathered on a beautiful fall day in Wichita for a stop of the Tea Party Express. The crowd enjoyed speeches and music. About 30 motorcyclists escorted the bus to Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.

    My photos are here, or click here for a slideshow.

  • Tea Party Express in Wichita

    Wednesday, November 4, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, in the parking lot of Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, Sycamore and Maple Streets in Wichita. This is a stop on the nationwide tour of the bus and speakers.

    “At each stop the tour will highlight some of the worst offenders in Congress who have voted for higher spending, higher taxes, and government intervention in the lives of American families and businesses. These Members of Congress have infringed upon the freedom of the individual in this great nation, and its time for us to say: ‘Enough is Enough!’ The ‘Tea Party Express’ tour will feature leaders in the anti-tax, conservative, tea party movement along with musical performances of ‘American Tea Party Anthem’ and ‘A Bailout Song’ at each tea party event.”

    Visit the Tea Party Express website for more information.

  • Michelle Malkin to headline Kobach fundraiser

    On Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 6:00 pm Michelle Malkin appears in Wichita (Andover, actually) in a fundraising event for the Kris Kobach campaign. He’s running for the Republican nomination for Kansas Secretary of State. “Come spend an evening with one of the conservative movement’s greatest voices, Michelle Malkin. Michelle is a regular commentator on FOX News, a nationally-syndicated columnist, a blogger at michellemalkin.com, and author of numerous best sellers. Her most recent book, Culture of Corruption, was #1 on the NY Times list for five weeks and remains in the top ten.”

    In Wichita, her topic will be “Obama’s Culture of Corruption.”

    Visit the Kobach campaign page for more information.

  • Kansas news digest

    News from alternative media around Kansas for October 19, 2009.

    Letter from the Newsroom: National Security Edition

    This week State of the State Kansas takes an in-depth look at national security, with interviews of Mike Pompeo, Bob Beatty, Dennis Farnsworth, and news stories as well.

    Film and Mike Smith Debunk Global Warming

    (Kansas Watchdog) Coverage of “Not Evil Just Wrong” and the presentation before the film. “A 50-minute presentation by atmospheric scientist Mike Smith of Wichita preceded the presentation. Smith, CEO and Founder of WeatherData Inc., talked about the science and opinion behind manmade global warming theory. Smith, like the film that followed his presentation, debunked many claims of global warming theorists who are calling for major changes in environmental and economic policy.”

    Eye on the Stimulus: 209 New Jobs in Kansas

    (Kansas Watchdog) “On Thursday Recovery.gov released its first hard data on stimulus jobs.”

    CPA Steve Anderson talks about Performance Review of Johnson County Government

    (Kansas Watchdog) “At the October meeting in Overland Park of the Sunflower Republican Club,which was open to the public, CPA Steve Anderson talked about the Performance Review he conducted of Johnson County Kansas government for Americans for Prosperity Kansas. … Anderson said a standard performance review was a look at a single point in time, where his ‘enhanced finanical reporting’ attempted to look at trends in five-years of data and added cost-benefit analysis. Anderson pointed out several issues he had with Johnson County Government, and suggested a ‘second set’ of books detailing true cost and benefits would give better government transparency and accountability.”

    Roberts: Baucus plan would raise taxes and cut benefits for seniors

    (Kansas Liberty) “Before the vote, Roberts cautioned his fellow committee members that the ‘so-called moderate’ Baucus plan would become ‘radically’ different once it was voted out of the committee.”

    Report recommends changing the way schools can spend special-ed funds

    (Kansas Liberty) “So-called ‘catastrophic’ funding to be made more flexible. One big question: How did Shawnee Mission schools go from zero claims to 333 — in one single year?”

    State Financial Mess; Please Not the Same Old Thinking

    (Kansas Free Press) The case for more taxes in Kansas is made: “I believe we must look at tax fairness. Make sure everyone is paying their fair share. This will mean some who have received tax breaks in the past will need to step up.”

    Cerner-Kansas City Wizards Development in Village West Advances

    (Forward Kansas) “Great first step in bringing new jobs to Kansas! This a great opportunity for Wyandotte County and Kansas as a whole!”

  • Leonard Pitts vs. Fox News

    A guest commentary.

    I was reading Leonard Pitts’ editorial attack on Fox News while I was watching a news report about the fed’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) October 5 while eating breakfast. Pitts’ assault on Fox News made me reach for my flipper and check the two high rated broadcast news programs in the morning on NBC and ABC. I can’t remember which I turned to first but the broadcast news was reporting more details about the tawdry breakup of the Gosselin marriage (John & Kate plus eight) as this family dissolves. I then flipped to the other channel which had a report about the salacious peeping Tom arrest in the Andrews hotel videotape arrest. Tiring of tabloid trash from the coastal elite media I turned back to Fox News.

    While Fox News will also slip down to tabloid celebrity journalism on occasion there is a real effort to cover real news. That is quite a contrast from the elite, coastal news media that has been publishing fraudulent stories for years. I remember the disgrace that fell upon the Washington Post concerning the Janet Cooke reporting that turned out to be pure fiction years ago.

    The New York Times topped this years later with the Jayson Blair fiction that was published in the paper that the times itself called “… fabricated statements,” in this “reporting.” The New York Times has repeated this disgraceful journalism since then by using omission, distortion, falsification, and emphasis to distort the truth in Bob Kohn’s book “Journalistic Fraud.” Kohn’s 2003 book could be updated with a big slab of new material since that time listing additional disgraceful misbehaviors. In last year’s presidential election the times ran a story alleging improper ties between John McCain and a female beltway lobbyist. This story lacked a source and should have never been published.

    All of these abuses were topped in 2004 when Dan Rather tried to change the outcome of the presidential election by reporting a fraudulent story about George W. Bush’s National Guard service during the Vietnam War. This journalistic disgrace destroyed Rather’s career with the final blow occurring with the dismissal of his pathetic lawsuit just a few days ago.

    If Mr. Pitts was really interested in media bias he would check out Bernie Goldberg’s numerous books about CBS, Dan Rather, and the disgraceful story told in A Slobbering Love Affair: The True (And Pathetic) Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media, a book about the appalling news media coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign. The elite coastal news media’s behavior since Obama’s inauguration has been almost as sycophantic in its coverage as Pravda was in Moscow during Soviet times.

    These were the “news” organization that Mr. Pitts finds credible. Mr. Pitts attacks Fox News commentators and alleges that their mistakes are more egregious than the disgraceful misbehaviors listed above. Recently I heard Glenn Beck, who seems to be the main target for Mr. Pitts’ editorial ire, state a correction at the beginning of his broadcast. This is a huge contrast with Dan Rather who is unrepentant.

    Mr. Pitts was unable to issue a single example of any error from Fox News’ broadcasts in his rant. Let me state that Fox News has made errors. I have heard them acknowledge and correct these mistakes on the air. Mr. Pitts ignored this fact.

    Now a left winger like Mr. Pitts will oppose Mr. Beck, Bill O’Reilly, and Sean Hannity’s politics. Mr. Pitts is upset about their expose of the left wing ballot stuffing group ACORN. That is fine. That is his opinion. Unfortunately, Mr. Pitts will not extend the same First Amendment privilege to folks who disagree with him. Beck, Hannity, and O’Reilly are all opinion commentators who are not engaged in reporting news. Like Mr. Pitts they do engage in commentary on the news. However, the effort by Mr. Pitts to denigrate and through their alleged mistakes according to Mr. Pitts, this column implies we need to muzzle the only network that provides both sides in U.S. television news coverage. This is an insult to the First Amendment and to the disgraceful journalistic malfeasance generated by the elite news media in this country.

    Sadly, since Mr. Pitts attack on Fox News in the Wichita Eagle, it now appears that a Wichita Presbyterian Church will be bringing Mr. Pitts in to speak here. The KNSS radio ads for his speech make him sound like some kind of conservative. Mr. Pitts fraudulent attack will now be combined with a fraudulent misrepresentation in these ads. With this kind of record, will Mr. Pitts end up in a prime media posting in NY or in Washington next?

    Editor’s note: The program announcement for Pitts’ appearance in Wichita gives this information about him: “For Pitts, the gospel is about personal salvation and seeing the end of social injustices around us, including racism and economic disparity. Using John 13:1-17 where Jesus washes the disciples’ feet as his model, Pitts speaks about not “doing church” but “being church.” He will talk for about 45 minutes at the Town Hall event, followed by a conversation with Eastminster’s senior pastor, the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh, incorporating written questions from the audience.”

  • Kansas news digest

    News from around Kansas for October 12, 2009

    Professors, university officials flunk ethics homework assignment

    (Kansas Watchdog) Many State of Kansas officials, including university professors, are required by law to file conflict of interest statements, called “statements of substantial interest (SSIs),” with their institutions and the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission. But 33 university employees are simply ignoring their legal requirements.

    Star Parker in Wichita

    (Kansas Watchdog) Star Parker, founder and president of the Coalition for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE), told the Wichita Rotary Club during a Monday luncheon that freedom and personal responsibility, though under attack from Washington, are the cure for poverty. She went on to say that poverty in the black community was made worse by government dependency

    What we learned after school about the KNEA

    (Kansas Liberty) But in fact the state’s teachers’ union is a key partner in a coalition of far-left groups — including ACORN — who are demanding a ‘public option’ in health care.

    The National Education Association has a reputation for supporting a liberal agenda, from its advocacy of gay marriage to its most recent position, supporting the health care plan being pushed by Democrats, including a public insurance option.

    Letter from the Newsroom — Ethanol Edition

    (State of the State Kansas) This week we focus on ethanol. It seems strange that something as simple as a kernel of corn is where farming, science, money and politics intersect. Over the course of the week, someone told me that it all came down to Iowa Primary politics. Iowa is in the corn belt and as the first state to cast the primary vote with their December caucus, the speaker speculated that no aspiring politician would ever cross a corn farmer.

    Interview with the Kansas Libertarian Party

    (State of the State Kansas) Andrew Gray, President of the Kansas Libertarian Party discusses the party goals for 2010.

    Kansas 2010 Budget in Crisis

    (Kansas Watchdog) The Kansas 2010 budget is headed for a serious shortfall with two of the three most important revenue sources down significantly through September and the third poised to come up short in the coming months.