KTPS

I'm going on KPTS's Kansas Week today. Channel 8 around here. Show airs at 7:30. Topics are:

1. Parkinson's call to consider tax increases to balance the budget
Not gonna happen

2. Sarah Palin speaking at Salina Chamber of Commerce
Probably torque some members of the chamber but will draw huge crowd

3. Tea Party rally in Wichita this week
They're going to save us from communism, or is it socialism, or is it nazism? One of the isms

I'll try not to disappoint my liberal base
:)

Ashcroft heart Tiahrt

Below is a pretty good endorsement for Tiahrt, trying to ensure the conservative mantle from Moran in their battle for U.S. Senate. Ashcroft was one Bush administration official who managed to keep full integrity intact by refusing to reauthorize the domestic spying program.

I noticed that Tiahrt was not mentioned in the Eagle story about the Tea party stop in Wichita yesterday. Probably smart for him to avoid too direct contact with that group. He's using their rhetoric, though, and perhaps would have been there if things were not so busy in D.C.





TIAHRT SECURES HIGH PROFILE ENDORSEMENT FROM JOHN ASHCROFT

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Former Senator and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft (R-MO) today endorsed Congressman Todd Tiahrt (R-Goddard) in his bid for the U.S. Senate. As U.S. Attorney General, Ashcroft led the Department of Justice after the attacks of September 11, 2001 and under his leadership the Department was successful in the disruption of over 150 terrorist plots around the globe.

“Todd Tiahrt is a principled fiscal and social conservative who understands what it takes to keep this country safe,” said Ashcroft. “He fights for the conservative values he believes in and does not waver in the face of tough opposition.”

“Conservatives across this country are yearning for principled conservatives in Washington,” continued Ashcroft, “I feel strongly that Todd Tiahrt can help provide that common sense conservative leadership in the Senate.”

A staunch conservative, Ashcroft was elected Governor of Missouri by record breaking margins and remains the only Republican Governor to be re-elected to a second, consecutive term in the Show Me state.

Ashcroft joins the growing list of conservatives who have endorsed Tiahrt including Sen. Jim Inhofe, former Sen. Rick Santorum, Congressman Mike Rogers, former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, former Congressman Jim Ryun, and conservative talk radio icon Mark Levin. Tiahrt also has the support of groups such as; Concerned Women for America, Kansans for Life, Family Research Council PAC and Eagle Forum.

Tiahrt the tea partier

Todd Tiahrt has flipped his lid, and decided whole hog to join forces with the paranoid, tea party crowd, if these comments from Wichita Eagle editorial page are correct.

Since Obama was electd, Tiahrt has become a radical partisan, demagoguing about communism and socialism and betting on a revived conservative movement to win the GOP primary for U.S. Senate.

Is he right?

GOP rocks the vote

Republicans won big governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey. How the tide changes in just a year.

The most interesting race, though, was for Congress in upstate New York, which featured a "tea party" candidate who pushed out the moderate Republican, and then lost to the Democrat. What both Republicans, and to some degree Obama's Democratic Party, are failing to realize, is that politics is won and policy is made in the middle, where MOST people think and feel.

Compromise and practicality are GOOD things.

Palin to Salina

Wonder how much the chamber of commerce in Salina will pay to have at their annual banquet. Seems awfully political. Retired politicians makes sense, or perhaps even sitting politicians from your own city or state. But Palin is a lightening rod in American politics right now. Local chambers are usually pretty careful to avoid taking political sides.

On the other hand, she'll draw a big crowd.

Maybe Ark City can get Rush Limbaugh

Tax increases on the table?

Guess you can talk about tax increases if you aren't running for re-election. Some people are reflexively against raising taxes of any kind, but with the state in the budget hole its in, they should at least be part of the discussion. Gov. Parkinson is being a responsible elected official by stating this early on in the process.

Sidewalks rock

I think this is a great idea for north Summit. Glad to see the commission on board and pushing sidewalks for both sides of the street. That retail area was built for the car but you see people trying to walk to stores, crossing driveways and lawns with no safe path to help them. The street is surrounded by residential areas where people could walk from if sidewalks guided them. Sound also like a good opportunity to leverage funds from the state.