Kathleen Sebelius

01
Aug
By Guest Author

Huelskamp: Kansas needs Health Care Freedom Amendment

An open letter from Congressman Tim Huelskamp of the Kansas first district to Republican Kansas State Senators Pete Brungardt, Jay Emler, Terrie Huntington, Jeff Longbine, Carolyn McGinn, Steve Morris, Tim Owens, Roger Reitz, Vicki Schmidt, Jean Schodorf, Ruth Teichman, Dwayne Umbarger, and John Vratil. These are the "traditional," "reasonable," "moderate" Kansan Republicans. July 31, 2012 Dear Senator: While all Republicans in Washington are working hard to fulfill Kansans' wishes to stop ObamaCare from destroying our liberties, I am disappointed that you and many other Topeka politicians are actually hindering our efforts. The reasons to undo ObamaCare are countless. It carries…
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02
Jul
By Guest Author

Looking for Senator Reasonable

Below, Alan Cobb of Americans for Prosperity Foundation provides rebuttal to a recent op-ed by H. Edward Flentje of the Hugo Wall School of Urban and Public Affairs at Wichita State University. In his op-ed (Senate elections will shape state’s future, June 24, 2012 Wichita Eagle) Flentje explains his interpretation of the importance of eight Kansas Senate races where Republican incumbents have conservative challengers. These races will likely determine balance of power in the Senate, which has been controlled by a coalition of Democrats and left-leaning Republicans, usually called "moderate" Republicans. A version of this appeared in the Wichita Eagle.…
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16
Jan
By Bob Weeks

Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Monday January 16, 2012

Tax cuts = extra income? Commenting on Kansas tax reform, Wichita Business Journal editor Bill Roy said "Certainly for business people, it's the elimination of the income tax on business income. ... They'll appreciate having that extra income that they can use on other things in their business." I don't know how much thought Roy gave to these remarks, but his easy likening of lower taxes to extra income is symptomatic of the problem: We have become accustomed to government having a claim on our income. In the rare instances where government gives up part of that claim, we taxpayers…
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02
Nov
By Bob Weeks

Huelskamp on spending, health information database, and Buffett

Addressing members and guests of the Wichita Pachyderm Club last Friday, U.S. Representative Tim Huelskamp of the Kansas first district updated the audience on national spending and debt, a health information database that poses privacy risks, and Warren Buffett's taxes. On being a new member of Congress, Huelskamp said people ask me "is Washington everything you thought it would be?" And I answer yes -- and much worse. He told the audience that the Washington Post newspaper has identified him as a member of the "Apocalypse Caucus," a group of twenty lawmakers that have voted no for almost everything, including…
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10
Aug
By Bob Weeks

Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Wednesday August 10, 2011

Kansas House Appropriations Chair to speak. This Friday's meeting (August 12th) of the Wichita Pachyderm Club Kansas Representative Marc Rhoades, Chair of the Kansas House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, speaking on the topic "The impact of the freshman legislators on the 2011 House budgetary process." The public is welcome and encouraged to attend Wichita Pachyderm meetings. For more information click on Wichita Pachyderm Club ... Upcoming speakers: On August 19, Jay M. Price, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director of the public history program at Wichita State University, speaking on "Clashes of Values in Kansas History." His recent Wichita Eagle…
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11
Jul
By Bob Weeks

KDHE, Sunflower Electric, Earthjustice, Center for Climate Strategies: different peas in the same pod

Evidence that a business seeking regulatory approval of its project enjoyed an apparently close relationship with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment should not be surprising. Reporting in the Kansas City Star leads with "Hundreds of emails document that officials of a Kansas power plant enjoyed a cozy relationship with the Kansas regulators who issued them a building permit in December." (Kansas agency, utility worked closely on permit for plant) A press release from Earthjustice, the legal advocacy arm of the Sierra Club, proclaimed "A new report reveals Sunflower Electric (Sunflower) enjoyed a cozy relationship with Kansas regulators during…
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04
Aug
By Bob Weeks

Kansas primary election analysis

At State of the State KS, Fort Hays State University Political Science Professor Chapman Rackaway contributes analysis of the statewide and Congressional races. Rackaway notes that the Kansas first and fourth Congressional districts were expected to be very close races, but both Tim Huelskamp and Mike Pompeo won going away with large margins. The big message of the night, he writes, is this: "[Jerry] Moran’s win in the Senate primary suggests that the Kansas GOP prefers a more centrist message. But Moran’s win was an anomaly. Kobach, Pompeo, Brownback, and Huelskamp suggest that the state has taken a turn to…
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01
Aug
By Bob Weeks

Kansas coal plant public hearings

This week the Kansas Department of Health and Environment will hold public hearings on the expansion of the coal-fired steam electricity generating unit at Holcomb. This plant became controversial when KDHE Secretary Rod Bremby denied a permit on the basis of the plant's carbon dioxide emissions. That was the first time a permit had been denied for that reason. While former Governor Kathleen Sebelius opposed the plant, one of the first things new Governor Mark Parkinson did last year was to negotiate a permit for a smaller plant than had been originally requested. According to a KDHE news release, here…
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