F-35 - boon or boondoogle?

Here's the coverage of Goyle's Friday press conference going after Pompeo about the F-35 engine project. I tried to nail down just how sure people are that some work would be done locally if GE got this project, but it doesn't seem like anybody knows for sure.

It's an interesting issue, because this is the dilemma of the washington politician — do you stand up for companies and interests in your district, even if that contradict your general philosophy?

Todd Tiahrt, a crusader against government size, spending and influence, was for this project. Tiahrt was pretty adept, as a member of the House appropriations committee, at funding projects for his district while at the same time projecting a spend-thrift image.

Can you fault Pompeo for sticking to his conservative values on this, even thought it appears to run counter the interests of the district? Also, there appears to be a good argument that spending money on a competing engine now will save billions more in the long run.

Goyle has TV ads going that continue to attack Pompeo on outsourcing. As I've mentioned earlier, I'm not sure these attacks are fully justified. Did Pompeo actually take away a Kansas job and replace it with a job in a foreign country? Haven't seen evidence of that.

Abortion wars

A local man appears in the MSNBC documentary of Tiller's assassination, airing tonight. Here's the story. John Daulton, a local actor, kind of got a call of the blue and ended up playing a pastor that argues with assassin Scott Roeder in one scene of the show.

The story does not say how Daulton feels about being part of the this project. It's on MSNBC and narrated by Rachel Maddow, so you have to assume the pro-choice agenda will be on display.

Krusor v Lanning

Pretty interesting story on the judges race from yesterday's paper. There is a big contrast in identity here, with Mark Krusor kind of representing the old guard and the established way. He's the democrat but enjoys plenty of republican support and has built many relationships over his years as an attorney in Winfield. His experience, knowledge and temperment are not questioned. LaDonna Lanning is the spoiler here, having upset several others to win the GOP nomination and playing in a male dominated world. You hear a lot about her confrontation style, or inability to get along, but is that true, or meaningful, or is it because she doesn't play by the old guard's rules and gets characterized unfairly?

F-35 flap

Looks like Raj Goyle is going to make a deal out opponent Mike Pompeo not supporting the alternative F-35 engine made by General Electric. Pompeo wrote a letter to the editor at the Wichita Eagle in Sept. 2009 making the case, as many others have, that the engine is unnecessary and wastes taxpayer dollars. But it has managed to be funded year after year through Congressional support. Goyle plans a press conference for tomorrow here in Ark City, before a candidates forum sponsored by KSOK.

Here's Goyle's email press release:

State Rep. Raj Goyle to Hold Pre-Debate Press Conference at Cowley College
Pompeo’s Serial Outsourcing No Longer a Surprise, but New Anti-jobs Info. is Baffling

WICHITA, KS – Tomorrow at 4:30 P.M. State Rep. Raj Goyle, 4th District Congressional candidate, will discuss a baffling new addition to Mike Pompeo’s anti-jobs agenda. Standing in support of the F-35 Alternate Engine Project, Goyle will also talk about the importance of protecting 800 jobs in Cowley County. Following the press conference, Goyle will participate in a KSOK-sponsored 2010 Election debate at Cowley College.

The event is open to the press.

PRESS CONFERENCE DETAILS

WHAT: Press Conference - New details about Mike Pompeo’s anti-jobs agenda

WHEN: 4:30 P.M., Thursday, October 21st

WHERE: Wright Room in the Brown Center
Cowley College Campus
125 S. Second Street, Arkansas City, KS

WHO: State Rep. Raj Goyle, Kansas workers

Reality of repeal

My editorial in Saturday's paper about the folly of trying to real the new health care law. For the full version see the paper or e-edition.

Basically, there's no way the new law will be repealed as long as Obama is president. If the GOP wins the House and/or Senate, taking this on would sink us further into partisan malaise. GOP should push for CHANGES, but not full repeal - especially since there are pretty universally accepted things about what insurance companies should offer and how they should behave.

GOP gains

All candidates for statewide office hold decent leads at this point, according to the KWCH-Survey USA poll. The one surprise I think is the 16 point lead by Ron Estes over Dennis McKinney for Treasurer. The poll Web site says McKinney held a 21 point lead just three weeks ago. That sounds pretty odd.

Pompeo shows a 13 point lead over Goyle, which is up a bit from the last poll.

I think if Goyle comes within 10 points it can be consider a success on his part. No way a democrat wins in a conservative district in a GOP wave election, unless the candidate is horrible.

Justice for gays

It's always been the courts who have forced justice upon a reluctant society. A federal court in Californiaordered a ban on don't ask don't tell. Not sure how far this particular case is going, but I'll bet you in 20 years we'll be wondering how in the world we could have ever forced gay military men and women to stay in the closet. Those actively fighting against it will be seen as prejudice and backward.

Goyle-Pompeo

I wrote this story and thought it was a very good forum/debate.

I think Pompeo was using some scare tactics about people's taxing going up. That's not going to happen unless you make $200-250,000 a year, and he certainly knows this. He also said health reform will "literally bankrupt Kansas." Presumably he's talking about new Medicaid responsibilities. Here's a Kansas City Star article that debunks that claim. Medicaid costs are rising anyway and the new law will funnel a bunch more federal dollars to states to help cover the added people. Not only that, but Kansas has three years to prepare for the changes.

Goyle, for his part, has distorted Pompeo's record of allegedly "outsourcing" of jobs as a business owner/executive. There appears to be no evidence that jobs were actually eliminated in Kansas to create them in Mexico or China. The general point of Pompeo having business interests in foreign countries and what he might do to protect them is valid, but the outsourcing seems seriously exaggerated.

Goff land buy

Here's my editorial in last night's traveler arguing the land buy is good but wishing the terms could be more simple so ACI and the city keep each other at arms length.

But there is too much paranoia about ACI and the city's effort to obtain land for economic development. This is proactive step, common among municipalities, to help spur growth.

Certainly there's good debate and arguments about how involved the city should be and what kind of development it should use incentives to attract.

But there's no evidence of some nefarious deal-making based on the self-interest of the landowners or the city commission. Be nice if we could stop the conspiracy theories and just debate the facts.

AYP

Sounds like school officials are all over the AYP problem. There will be big pressure to meet the standards next year. The district has for years done so well on AYP and other testing that this was a bit of a shocker, although apparently not to them.

I've long have mixed feelings about No Child Left Behind. On the one hand it has zeroed in on basic skills like math and reading that students were falling behind on. And it's mission to raise standards for all children, including those who have struggled in the past, is a noble.

But having a student in the system it is clear that testing does over take learning sometimes. There is SO much focus on math and reading that other subjects seem diminished. They also have much more homework at an early age than I can ever remember having.

Mike Morton

I hope this one turns out to not be what it appears. Kind of a shocker. Mike Morton has been a civic-minded citizen, although I suppose you can be that and do what he's accused of. My guess is that this isn't the end of this story.

Land deal

A split vote, but the city entered an agreement to buy a piece of Goff Industrial Park from AC Industries.

From the birds eye view, this is a good thing. Cities need to position themselves to attract development. Owning land prime for commercial development can facilitate that.
It would be nice to leave everything to the private sector, but municipalities that are proactive get more done when it comes to economic development, especially in a slow-growth area like ours.

But the details raise some questions. The contract seems to intertwine the city and ACI more than necessary. It's a 5 year deal where ACI keeps some say over what the land is used for, and has first right of refusal to buy land back if a developer wants to buy it.

Three years from now, the commission could be completely different and not want anything to do with a contract like this. Perhaps the commission majority wants to make the infrastructure improvements necessary to create development and doesn't care who owns it in the end?

And then you have the whole suspicion problem by locking arms with ACI. With a former ACI board member as a commissioner, the idea that the city is doing ACI's bidding can't be escaped.

It seems like the commission majority is pushing awfully hard to get this TIF/redevelopment thing going. Guess they hope a pro-TIF candidate gets elected this spring. But that's a big gamble. If this TIF campaign backfires, they could set back the redevelopment efforts for quite a while

I still think the city should look at redevelopment tools for south Ark City and perhaps west Madison.

Pine-scented sludge

The second half of this story (the part you'll have read in the paper or e-edition) reminds me of spraying the bathroom after somebody uses it. KanPak is trying to address ongoing problems of smell created by waste in their food processing/packaging. It's apparently gotten much better. We haven't heard too many complaints here at the paper lately.

KanPak is an interesting place. They have grown and become a major employer here in Ark City, yet they seem relatively obscure. It's good too see their waste issue get settled with the city. Their folks don't seem to sit on boards or civic committees much. They do make some donations here and there, but they are not too visible and I'd bet about 75 percent of the town doesn't know what they do.

According to their Web site, KanPak is a leader in "aseptic technology" to create mixes for specialty drinks and foods. Here's their Web site. http://www.kanpak.us/ They are very hard to contact regarding stories or information from the paper. Maybe that will change ....

ACI land buy?

Should the city enter into this complex agreement to buy land in Goff?

Two thoughts

Why is it so complicated? The land is bought over time with ACI getting the appraised value if it sells to a developer before totally payout. Why wouldn't the city just buy the thing outright instead of being entangled with a contract that could bring disagreement later on?

Also, it is not unusual for cities to own land for development prospecting. The fact is that that cities have to get proactive and engaged in being the economic development agent if we want to see growth, especially where so little growth occurs.