United States government

Trump-supporting QAnon seen as public security threat
17
Jan
By Bob Weeks

Trump-supporting QAnon seen as public security threat

QAnon, a conspiracy theory group mentioned favorably by President Donald J. Trump and embraced by other Republican leaders, represents a public security threat, according to the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. Originally published August 23, 2020. In light of recent events, it seems the authors were prescient. (more…)
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Proceed with the presidential transition
21
Nov
By Bob Weeks

Proceed with the presidential transition

Further delay in starting the transition to the Biden administration harms Americans. Kansas Republican leaders, please get started. I sincerely hope that the Republican federal officeholders who represent me, or who will soon represent me and my state, recognize that the presidential election is over, that Joe Biden won, and they encourage and help with a peaceful and effective transition to the new presidential administration. While none of these leaders -- Senator Pat Roberts, Senator Jerry Moran, Representative Ron Estes, Representative Roger Marshall, Representative-elect Jake LaTurner, and Representative-elect Tracey Mann -- have the power to compel the transition to start,…
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Trump and Russia sanctions
14
Oct
By Bob Weeks

Trump and Russia sanctions

President Donald J. Trump presents himself as tough on Russia, but he opposed and complained about almost all sanctions. This year, John Bolton published The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir. It covers his time as National Security Advisor for the Trump Administration, which was from April 9, 2018 to September 10, 2019. When the book was published, the editors of the conservative National Review questioned the timing of the book, but wrote: "Bolton is a longtime friend of this publication and we take his honesty as a given. Any credibility contest between him and Donald Trump is…
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Presidential approval
03
Oct
By Bob Weeks

Presidential approval

Explore and compare the approval ratings of presidents in this interactive visualization. I've gathered presidential approval poll data and present it in an interactive visualization. I present data in a table and a timeline. Then, I present several views based on the poll date as the number of days from the start of each presidential term. To learn more about the data and access the interactive visualization, click here.
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Border wall procedures criticized
25
Aug
By Bob Weeks

Border wall procedures criticized

A government watchdog says the procedures for acquiring the southern border wall are inadequate, and the ability to maintain complete operational control is diminished. A report by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security finds that U.S. Customs and Border Protection found the procedures for procuring the southern border wall inadequate for the task. Specifically, the IG found that CBP did not attempt to identify "the most effective, appropriate, and affordable solutions to obtain operational control of the southern border as directed." Instead, the IG described the methods as "outdated." The report found other deficiencies and…
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Trump-supporting QAnon seen as public security threat
23
Aug
By Bob Weeks

Trump-supporting QAnon seen as public security threat

QAnon, a conspiracy theory group mentioned favorably by President Donald J. Trump and embraced by other Republican leaders, represents a public security threat, according to the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. President Donald J. Trump has mentioned favorably the conspiracy theory group QAnon. [1. Q During the pandemic, the QAnon movement has been — appears to be gaining a lot of followers. Can you talk about what you think about that and what you have to say to people who are following this movement right now? THE PRESIDENT: Well, I don’t know much about the movement, other than I…
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Relations with North Korea
08
Jul
By Bob Weeks

Relations with North Korea

The Congressional Research Service has produced a summary and timeline of recent events pertaining to the United States and North Korea relationship. In May the Congressional Research Service published a timeline of events relating to the relationship between the United States and North Korea. The document is available here: North Korea: A Chronology of Events from 2016 to 2020. Here is a portion of the report's introduction, with footnote references removed: Since Kim and President Trump’s first summit in Singapore in June 2018, however, little progress has been made on denuclearization, despite two more Kim-Trump meetings (a February 2019 summit…
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Electoral College math
27
Jan
By Bob Weeks

Electoral College math

In the Electoral College, residents of different states have widely varying influence. When thinking about the desirability of the Electoral College for electing a president, the arithmetic should be considered. I have performed a few calculations, gathering state populations and the number of Electoral College votes. Here are the two extremes: In Wyoming, there are 192,579 people for each Electoral College vote (577,737 / 3). In Texas, the number is 755,312. That's a difference of 3.92, which is a lot, I would say. For Kansas, the number is 485,251. The average value for a state (weighting all states equally) is…
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In Wichita, more tax increment financing
07
Oct
By Bob Weeks

In Wichita, more tax increment financing

The Wichita city council will consider expanding an existing TIF, or tax increment financing district. Tomorrow the Wichita City Council will consider expanding the boundaries of an existing tax increment financing district in downtown Wichita. [1. City of Wichita City Council Agenda for October 8, 2019. Agenda Item No. V-1, Public Hearings Considering an Expansion of the Union Station Tax Increment Financing District and Considering a Development Agreement for the Union Station Project Area 3 Plan (District I)] According to city documents for this agenda item, Expanding the District would allow the Developer to capture the additional increment generated by…
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