Articles of Interest

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Wichita TIF development, Kansas coal, Carl Brewer on downtown, Dick Coe on crash and recovery, Fox’s Glenn Beck

Parkstone hits milestone: Building almost complete on four townhouses (Wichita Eagle) Describes progress and plans for a Wichita real estate development project. Let’s hope this project sells well and quickly, as the taxpayers of Wichita are on the hook, due to this project’s use of tax increment financing.

Parkinson firm against coal (Tim Carpenter in the Topeka Capital-Journal) Kansas Lieutenant Governor Mark Parkinson has promised to veto a bill that authorizes a coal-fired power plant if he is governor. The Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives says he has enough votes to override a veto by either Parkinson or present governor Kathleen Sebelius. Sources in the House and Senate tell me that few members — Democrats or Republicans — trust Parkinson.

Mayor asks Wichitans to dream about downtown’s future (Bill Wilson in the Wichita Eagle) Says Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer: “I want to provide everything you want to possibly imagine.” More evidence of local government’s desire to plan everything for us. I’m really surprised that young people are in favor of this.

J. Richard Coe: U.S. Paying Price for Overindulging (Wichita Eagle) The head of a Wichita financial services firm provides analysis of how the United States got in its current mess, and what must happen to recover. What happened? “Largely as a result of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates too low for too long, there was a huge increase in borrowing (credit). Individuals, businesses and governments responded to an incentive to borrow, but the incentive was a temporary illusion.” Coe sees problems with the measures the administration is taking: “Massive government spending and increased regulation will make it more difficult for the private sector to recover.” He gives free markets their due: “Markets are more reliable than governments, and markets are in the process of correcting for government-incentivized excessive borrowing.”

Fox News’s Mad, Apocalyptic, Tearful Rising Star (New York Times) A profile of new Fox News television show host Glenn Beck. “Mr. Beck presents himself as a revivalist in a troubled land.” Some see “sinister meanings in his commentaries” and say he’s “stirring up a revolution.” “Let me be clear,” Mr. Beck said. “If someone tries to harm another person in the name of the Constitution or the ‘truth’ behind 9/11 or anything else, they are just as dangerous and crazy as those we don’t seem to recognize anymore, who kill in the name of Allah.”