Voice For Liberty

Tag: Politics

  • College Republicans to present panel discussion

    On Friday March 26 at the Wichita Pachyderm Club, Wichita State University College Republicans Stacy Goss, Brandon Rudkin, and Craig Allen Harms will present a panel discussion, “Future of the Republican Party: The College Republicans.” This should be an interesting perspective from college Republicans.

    All are welcome to attend Pachyderm club meetings. The program costs $10, which includes a delicious buffet lunch including salad, soup, two main dishes, and ice tea and coffee. The meeting starts at noon, although it’s recommended to arrive fifteen minutes early to get your lunch before the program starts.

    The Wichita Petroleum Club is on the ninth floor of the Bank of America Building at 100 N. Broadway (north side of Douglas between Topeka and Broadway) in Wichita, Kansas (click for a map and directions). Park in the garage just across Broadway and use the sky walk to enter the Bank of America building. Bring your parking garage ticket to be stamped and your parking fee will be only $1.00. There is usually some metered and free street parking nearby.

  • Medical marijuana testimony presented in Kansas House committee

    This week the Kansas House of Representatives Health and Human Services Committee held an informational hearing on HB 2610. This bill would legalize the use of medical marijuana for certain debilitating medical conditions. Representative Gail Finney, a Democrat who represents parts of east Wichita, introduced the bill.

    An informational hearing means that the committee would take no action on the bill, so there would be no vote taken and no possibility that the bill would advance out of the committee to be considered by the entire House.

    There were two bills on the committee’s agenda before the marijuana measure. After these were dispatched, Representative Brenda Landwehr, a Wichita Republican and committee chairman, announced that she had to testify at another committee. Representative David Crum, the committee’s vice-char and an Augusta Republican, also had to attend a different committee meeting. In their absence, Representative Geraldine Flaharty, a Wichita Democrat, presided over the proceedings.

    Leading off the testimony, a woman from Augusta who suffers from multiple sclerosis said she wished for other drugs besides oxycodone and morphine to relieve her pain. In the past, marijuana gave her relief, she said, but now that she stopped using the drug, she has become worse, now barely able to walk. “But I’m too old to break the law,” she said.

    David Mulford of Hutchinson said he has suffered from both chronic pain and muscle spasms for 20 years. He said he has long-term experience with Marinol (a prescription pill form of the main psychoactive substance found in marijuana) and medicinal herbal cannabis.

    He quoted John Walters, former director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, who said in 2002 that “The Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research is currently conducting scientific studies to determine the efficacy of marijuana in treating various ailments. Until that research is concluded, however, most of what the public hears from marijuana activists is little more than a compilation of anecdotes.”

    Mulford said that this research is now available, referring to a recent report from the Center for Medical Cannabis Research at the University of California. He said that this study found that herbal cannabis has benefits for individuals that do not respond well to current therapies. Medicinal cannabis was found to safe and effective, he said the study found.

    Marinol, while an important part of his treatment plan, does not provide the same benefits as herbal cannabis. He said he finds it difficult to believe that anyone would consider him a “faker,” using his illness as an excuse to get high. He said he needs to manage his health, and only that. “We must place patients above politics,” he added.

    Anthony Buckland told of how in the days before his daughter died from cancer at the age of 16, there were no non-narcotic drugs available for her to use. Cannabis, he said, would have helped control her nausea and increase her appetite, as well as controlling pain. The daughter did not want to break the law, which would have been necessary in order to use cannabis.

    Brian Leininger, an attorney from Overland Park who has experience as a district attorney and city prosecutor, spoke on behalf of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an organization of former and current law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges who at one time had fought the war on drugs, but are now opposed to the prohibition of drugs. He said that marijuana is classified as a schedule 1 drug, meaning that it has no medical benefit, which he said is not true. Many far more dangerous and harmful drugs are not classified as schedule 1 drugs, and are prescribed regularly.

    He said that 14 states have approved cannabis for medical purposes. He urged the committee members to take a fair look at this legislation and vote for it when the times comes. “It’s the compassionate thing to do,” he added.

    Dan Dawdy presented information on the scientific aspects of cannabis and Marinol, the pill form of synthetic THC. One difference, he said, as that Marinol contains just one compound, while medical cannabis in herbal form contains 60 naturally-occurring cannabinoids. He told the committee that the fact that Marinol is ingested orally is a problem too, according to experts. Of the many cannabinoids in natural cannabis, several have been found to be medically useful.

    Dawdy explained: “We do not stop at one headache medicine or one cholesterol-lowering drug. Why not? It’s simple: one medicine doesn’t work for everyone, it doesn’t work in every situation, or for every need. … Even the best drugs don’t work for everyone.” He added that “I used to believe that cannabis was not medicine — it just made people not mind being sick.” But after seeing the medicine in action, he came to realize that medical cannabis has the ability to help many ill people improve their lives.

    Tom Ballard, who said he is a long-time resident of Kansas, spoke on the issue of cannabis dependency. He told the committee that “cannabis lacks the physical and psychological dependence liabilities associated with most other substances.” He said that only ten percent of those why try cannabis meet the clinical criteria for drug dependency, which is less than the 15 percent associated with alcohol use. He said that the majority of cannabis users who are in treatment programs are there as a condition of their probation, not their choice. “Prohibitionists disingenuously argue that these admissions to treatment justify the need to maintain cannabis’ illegal status when in reality it appears to be the policy and not the use that results in the commitment of cannabis users to treatment centers.”

    Ballard also addressed the effect of cannabis use on driving, saying that its effect on the ability to drive — compared to the effect of alcohol — is mild.

    Tyler Feeney said that we should be having hearings on this matter, not an informational session where the leadership of the committee — referring to Representatives Landwehr and Crum — is not present, saying that they “obviously don’t care.” The audience expressed its approval of this sentiment with applause and cheers. He said it’s a disconnect when legislators take money from the pharmaceutical industry, cigarette makers, and people who sell booze, but panic at the idea of marijuana. “14 other states have done this, and the apocalypse hasn’t hit yet.”

    He promoted medical marijuana as a way to help solve the state’s budget problem by earning revenue through its sale.

    Feeney urged the committee to hold a real hearing instead of this informational hearing, which he characterized as a waste of time. He thanked the committee members who were still present, as by this time, many committee members had left the room. Chairman Flaharty said that some members had other appointments, and that’s why they had left.

    Patrick Wilbur, Executive Director of Drug Policy Forum of Kansas, said it’s obvious that for some patients, cannabis is the best answer for them. Also, this bill does not endorse or legalize the recreational use of cannabis. He cited an ABC News/Washington Post poll that found that 81% of Americans endorsed the legalization of medical marijuana. “This is not a fringe issue. This is mainstream,” he said. The approval numbers are not as high in Kansas, he said, but there is still a solid majority of Kansans that support this.

    Cheryl Riley, founder and director of the Kansas Medical Cannabis Network, spoke about the evidence supporting the medical use of cannabis, stating: “Four decades of intensive research and clinical trials in Israel and elsewhere has proved beyond any doubt to rational minds that medical cannabis is indeed effective therapy for a wide array of medical conditions.” She noted that the American Medical Association has asked the DEA to reschedule cannabis so that clinical studies could be conducted.

    She also told the committee that many religious organizations have announced support for medical cannabis as a matter of human compassion.

    In written testimony supplied to the committee, Dr. Jon Hauxwell, a retired physician living in Hays, wrote: “Cannabis denialists rely on a derisive catch phrase, ‘medical excuse marijuana.’ Apparently we are to believe that the tens of thousands of people who can attest to the unique benefits of cannabis therapy when other drugs have failed, are simply deluded, or faking. This is cruel and cynical. One wonders how many of these patients the denialists have actually interviewed, and by what criteria they dismissed these affirmations as crazy or deceitful. These patients deserve compassion, not derision.”

    On the potential for abuse if Kansas legalizes medical cannabis, Hauxwell wrote to the committee: “As a licensed physician, I could legally prescribe or administer methamphetamine, cocaine, morphine, Oxy-Contin, and barbiturates. There are indeed some people who seek to divert these drugs for abuse. Doctors must be vigilant, and sometimes we get fooled. But we as a society have made a commitment: The abusers don’t get to call the shots. They will not be allowed to deprive legitimate patients of the right to the treatment they need.”

    Concluding his written testimony, Dr. Hauxwell explained that cannabis is safe, provides proven benefits, and is a valuable and necessary option for treatment:

    It is biologically plausible — and demonstrable — that cannabis safely offers a wide variety of benefits for health, benefits which have already been discovered and applied by patients across the world, and over centuries.

    Denialists maintain that even if cannabis does treat a variety of medical conditions, it is unnecessary because these conditions can be treated with currently available drugs.

    However, these drugs often have side-effects more disabling than cannabis, or don’t work well for some individuals. If these drugs are already adequate, we could make at least two predictions: One, no other new drugs will ever be introduced to treat the conditions cannabis can treat, because they too would be “unnecessary.” And two, no cancer patient will ever again tell her oncologist “I’m not going to take any more radiation and chemo. I know what that means, but I’d rather die than go through that again.”

    Written testimony presented at this hearing is available at Informational Presentations on Kansas Medical Marijuana Act. A USA Today article that references Representative Finney and the Kansas bill is Slowly, states are lessening limits on marijuana. A recent poll that shows support for medical marijuana in Kansas is Survey USA News Poll #16266.

  • The bamboozled public

    The intellectual arguments used by the State throughout history to “engineer consent” by the public can be classified into two parts: (1) that rule by the existing government is inevitable, absolutely necessary, and far better than the indescribable evils that would ensue upon its downfall; and (2) that the State rulers are especially great, wise, and altruistic men — far greater, wiser, and better than their simple subjects. In former times, the latter argument took the form of rule by “divine right’ or by the “divine ruler” himself, or by an “aristocracy” of men. In modern times, as we indicated earlier, this argument stresses not so much divine approval as rule by a wise guild of “scientific experts” especially endowed in knowledge of statesmanship and the arcane facts of the world. The increasing use of scientific jargon, especially in the social sciences, has permitted intellectuals to weave apologia for State rule which rival the ancient priestcraft in obscurantism. For example, a thief who presumed to justify his theft by saying that he was really helping his victims by his spending, thus giving retail trade a needed boost, would be hooted down without delay. But when this same theory is clothed in Keynesian mathematical equations and impressive references to the “multiplier effect,” it carries far more conviction with a bamboozled public.

    From Murray N. Rothbard, For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto, pages 59 – 60

  • Tea party leaders analysis released

    The Sam Adams Alliance, an organization that supports free market principles, has released a study that examines tea party leaders, their thoughts, and their motivations. It found that many tea party leaders are new to political activism, and having experienced empowerment, are ready to move to the next step of activism. “This is their time to act,” the report concludes.

    While it is often thought that the tea party movement might blossom into a third party, that wasn’t the sentiment of those surveyed: “A striking 85.7 percent said ‘No’ when asked if they were in favor of moving in the direction of a Third Party.” Eric O’Keefe, Chairman of the Sam Adams Alliance, wrote in his letter introducing the analysis: “We found a deep distrust of current political leaders and both political parties, but strong understanding that practical considerations argue against a third party.”

    Political party affiliation was largely Republican: “61.7 percent Republican, 27.7 percent Independent, and 10.6 percent Tea Party.”

    Social issues were not important to the respondents. Instead, fiscal and economic issues are the focus: “91.7 percent said ‘budget’ is “very important, followed by the ‘economy’ at 85.4 percent, and ‘defense’ at 79.6 percent.”

    The tea party leaders are relatively new to politics: “46.9% were uninvolved or rarely involved with politics prior to 2009.” Also: “Tea Party activists are for the most part new to this role. They are neither practiced nor polished in activism; but having experienced a taste of the empowerment that comes with action, they feel more than ever that this is their time to act.”

    But tea party leaders are self-aware and want to advance the movement: “They are also motivated to take this to the next level — and are actively preparing for a phase two.”

    Read the report and learn more about the Sam Adams Alliance at Activist Insights. A direct link to the report is The Early Adopters.

  • ‘Kansas Votes’ provides information on legislature, bills

    The website Kansas Votes provides information about pending legislation in Kansas as it works its way through the law-making process. This process, which can appear complicated to the average citizen, is explained in plain language on this website.

    Here are some features of Kansas Votes:

    • Concise, plain-language, objective and accurate descriptions of every bill, amendment, roll call vote and voice vote.
    • Ability to track all the votes of a particular legislator, or search by bill number, category or keyword.
    • Ability to view all the bills and amendments introduced by a particular legislator.
    • Ability to post a public comment, view others’ comments, and participate in citizen surveys on each bill.
    • Automatically e-mail legislators or others about a bill.
    • Ability to follow action in any one or more of 50 different categories of legislation (such as Education or Land Use or Taxes).
    • Ability to sign up for e-mail notifications of action on any bill or subject area of interest, including new bill introductions.

    Now citizens have a valuable tool to help them follow the action in the statehouse. This is especially important as traditional media such as newspapers devote less coverage to news like this.

    And did I mention it’s free?

    To use Kansas Votes, click on Kansas Votes.

  • Organizing for a free America summits

    American Majority is a national non-profit, non-partisan political training institute whose mission is to train and equip a national network of leaders committed to individual freedom through limited government and the free market. To support this goal, American Majority is offering a number of post party summits across the country. The goal of these summits, according to American Majority, is to “highlight and emphasize real tools that an organization, campaign, and individual activist can implement immediately.”

    American Majority also says: “It is not enough to stand on the sideline and it is not enough to protest — conservatives must learn how to implement freedom and liberty on the ground in their communities. With the right tools and training, conservative activists can be successful in taking their community back to the principles of limited government, individual freedom and the free market.”

    For those in Kansas, the closest event is on Friday and Saturday May 7 and 8, at the Embassy Suites KC – International Airport in Kansas City, Missouri. The cost for the event is reasonable, as is the special hotel rate.

    To learn more about the event and register, click on summit.americanmajority.org.

  • Why I’m not a great fan of the Constitution

    One of the reasons that I’m not as much of a fan of the Constitution as some are is that the Constitution means what the courts, particularly the Supreme Court, say it means. The courts say the Constitution means some pretty crazy things, while at the same time, the idea of the Constitution limiting government has morphed into a tool for promoting the growth of government.

    I quote at length from Murray N. Rothbard’s book For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto. Perhaps this will help explain why I am a libertarian and not a conservative.

    First, from page 48. A constitution must be interpreted and enforced by men:

    It is true that, in the United States, at least, we have a constitution that imposes strict limits on some powers of government. But, as we have discovered in the past century, no constitution can interpret or enforce itself; it must be interpreted by men. And if the ultimate power to interpret a constitution is given to the government’s own Supreme Court, then the inevitable tendency is for the Court to continue to place its imprimatur on ever-broader powers for its own government. Furthermore, the highly touted “checks and balances” and “separation of powers” in the American government are flimsy indeed, since in the final analysis all of these divisions are part of the same government and are governed by the same set of rulers.

    Then from page 66. Instead of limiting government, courts use the Constitution to legitimize growing government:

    Certainly, the most ambitious attempt in history to impose limits on the State was the Bill of Rights and other restrictive parts of the United States Constitution. Here, written limits on government became the fundamental law, to be interpreted by a judiciary supposedly independent of the other branches of government. All Americans are familiar with the process by which John C. Calhoun’s prophetic analysis has been vindicated; the State’s own monopoly judiciary has inexorably broadened the construction of State power over the last century and a half. But few have been as keen as liberal Professor Charles Black — who hails the process — in seeing that the State has been able to transform judicial review itself from a limiting device into a powerful instrument for gaining legitimacy for its actions in the minds of the public. If a judicial decree of “unconstitutional” is a mighty check on governmental power, so too a verdict of “constitutional” is an equally mighty weapon for fostering public acceptance of ever greater governmental power.

    From page 69, the solution is given:

    Thus, even in the United States, unique among governments in having a constitution, parts of which at least were meant to impose strict and solemn limits upon its actions, even here the Constitution has proved to be an instrument for ratifying the expansion of State power rather than the opposite. As Calhoun saw, any written limits that leave it to government to interpret its own powers are bound to be interpreted as sanctions for expanding and not binding those powers. In a profound sense, the idea of binding down power with the chains of a written constitution has proved to be a noble experiment that failed. The idea of a strictly limited government has proved to be utopian; some other, more radical means must be found to prevent the growth of the aggressive State. The libertarian system would meet this problem by scrapping the entire notion of creating a government — an institution with a coercive monopoly of force over a given territory — and then hoping to find ways to keep that government from expanding. The libertarian alternative is to abstain from such a monopoly government to begin with.

  • Wink Hartman meets with voters in Kingman

    Today, Wichita businessman and candidate for the Republican Party nomination for the United States House of Representatives from the fourth district of Kansas Wink Hartman kicked off his “Back to Work” tour by meeting with a group of about 15 citizens in a downtown Kingman cafe.

    In brief opening remarks, Hartman expressed concern over the direction this country and our state — even families — is going. He said he is a third generation Kansan, born in Wichita, graduating from Southeast High School and Wichita State University. He has five children and six grandsons.

    Hartman said he is a businessman, not a politician, and is currently involved in 44 small businesses, with the largest of these having 25 employees. He said people ask him “why are you running for Congress?” Hartman replies by saying he brings a multitude of benefits to the people of the fourth district. He said his business background is important, having taught him how to balance a budget, gave him experience providing health care for his employees, and let him experience and understand the stress of making a payroll continuously. He added that he’s never asked the government to bail him out of anything.

    Most people know him for the Hartman Arena, he said. He built it for many reason, but partly because he was told he couldn’t build it. He said he didn’t ask for any government assistance in building the arena, and paid taxes on the money he used to build the arena.

    He said “I’m not going to Congress because of what Wink Hartman needs or wants … what it’s all about is what you need and want. Your elected representatives should represent you … not what Wink Hartman wants.”

    He said he is the only independent candidate in the fourth district that “does not have a lobbyist on my shoulder.” He said that such people will eventually ask for a favor. His friends, he said, say “Wink doesn’t have a reverse gear.”

    In the first question from the audience, a woman asked if there was any way we could get government to start pulling out of the private sector. Hartman replied that government has become intrusive, with increasing regulation and size. He said that the only way to get government out of your life is through the people you elect to send to Congress. A new direction requires new people, he added.

    What about members of Congress who have ethical problems? Hartman said that Washington has a herd mentality, and that fresh blood and new thinking is needed in Washington to clean up the mess.

    A gentleman remarked that our nation’s troubles started when we took God out of our lives. Hartman agreed. He said that he was raised in the Episcopal church, and that his walk with the Lord “got a little bit strained and frayed in my mid-years.” At Central Christian Church, which he attends now, a recent sermon impressed upon him that “believers need to turn into disciples.” The difference, he explained, is that disciples are 24/7 believers.

    He added that he is on the board of directors of the Jesus prom. This event allows students with disabilities to attend an event like a high school prom. Last year he said 543 people attended.

    On funded abortions, Hartman said he is totally against this.

    A question asked about the differences between Hartman and Mike Pompeo, another Wichita businessman and candidate for the fourth district Republican nomination. Hartman said that he does not have a law degree, as does Pompeo.

    As a second area of difference, Hartman said that he has truly created businesses from the ground up, and Pompeo has not. In his stump speech and on his website, however, Pompeo notes his accomplishment in founding Thayer Aerospace, a major aviation contractor that grew to over 500 employees.

    On national energy policy, Hartman said that the Obama administration has sent $2 billion to Brazil so that country can drill offshore for oil hat will be sold to China. Of what benefit is that to American taxpayers, he asked? He said that the United States and North America has huge oil and oil shale reserves that we could tap. He also said that although he is in the oil business, he believes in “all of the above,” meaning that we should seek diversified sources of energy, including nuclear power, which he said is a good short-term answer. Wind energy has a place, he said, but a problem is our aging electrical power grid.

    On national priorities, Hartman said that our first responsibility is national security, with our blooming national debt in second place.

    Hartman said we have a serious problem with illegal immigration, noting that there are legal ways to immigrate to the United States. Referring to a case about an ill woman who is in the United States illegally, Hartman said that she could return to her original country to receive medical care.

    Speaking about his process for making decisions, Hartman said that he doesn’t have the answers to all questions and problems. What he does in business is to gather people who have knowledge and experience, and together they make decisions.

    On education, Hartman said that education needs to be administered locally by the community and parents. Also, not everyone needs to have a college degree. Vocational and technical education has a stigma, he said, but children should be educated so they can provide for themselves. Many trades pay well, he added.

  • KPTS’s Kansas Week now online

    Wichita public television station KPTS has produced the weekly public affairs program Kansas Week since 1989. Tim Brown has been the host since 2006.

    Now many of KPTS’s shows are available online through the station’s website. There’s a link on the main page, or click on watch.kpts.org. Both Kansas Week and the Sunday afternoon show Ask Your Legislator are available.