Tiahrt, Moran and Boyda all opposed bailout. Moore was the lone supporter.

Moore reaps bonanza from financial industry donations

Democratic Congressman Dennis Moore, the only member of Kansas’ House delegation to support last week's controversial $700 billion bail-out package, wasn't the biggest recipient of donations from financial institutions - but he has collected more in donations this election cycle from the financial services industry than Kansas’ three other House members combined.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Moore, a Lenexa Democrat, has received $472,780 from the financial sector so far. Republicans Jerry Moran and Todd Tiahrt received $132,994 and $86,770 respectively, and Democrat Nancy Boyda collected $83,100.

Moran, Tiahrt and Boyda all voted against the package. [ Read more...]

Door-to-door volunteer: 'About the only time we get a negative response is when we run into an attorney.'

Johnson County group says voters, not lawyers, should select judges

A Johnson County citizens group says the current system for appointing county judges - in which closed-door committees dominated by lawyers nominate judges without any citizen review process - gives attorneys too much power and should be changed in favor of direct elections.

But supporters of the current system say switching to direct elections would force prospective judges to raise money to mount effective campaigns, and that would lead to potential conflicts of interest.

Voters in Johnson County will decide the issue Nov. 4. [ Read more...]

Democratic party says candidates worked hard to communicate their positions to constituents in other ways.

Congressional candidates duck 'Vote Smart' test

Not one of Kansas’ current congressional delegates filled out a survey offered by Project Vote Smart, a non-partisan group dedicated to helping voters become more educated on the positions taken by candidates in upcoming elections.

According to a September Vote Smart report, 45 percent of congressional candidates across America, along with 79 percent of state legislative candidates, refused to provide answers to the group’s “Political Courage Test," an extensive survey that samples a candidate’s perspective on issues such as taxes, health care and immigration. The majority of the respondents were from a third party.

This response rate is up from the 2006 rate when only 25 percent of the congressional candidates responded. [ Read more...]

Communications activist: 'It may be a case of not wanting to seem ill-informed.'

Are candidates playing safe on immigration positions?

With elections just around the corner, local political figures are working tirelessly to secure votes.

But according to some citizens, these politicians are doing a poor job of being clear on what their position is on one of the most controversial issues in Kansas today - immigration.

Richard Fry, director of field operations for the November Patriots, a non-partisan grassroots group of citizens dedicated to improving communication between representatives and their constituents, said he felt candidates sometimes do a worse job articulating their position on immigration than on any of the other issues. [ Read more...]

Government watchdog group says state government spending will make recovery more difficult

Kansas businesses hit in Wall Street collapse

Publicly-traded companies headquartered in Kansas took it on the chin Monday when the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted by 800 points before recovering some value late in the afternoon.

A basket of 10 Kansas stocks declined an average of 6.22 percent as the gloom on Wall Street spread across the country and around the world.

If some experts are right, finding a way out may be blocked by the one area of growth Kansans need least: more state government expansion. [ Read more...]

But critics say the tax subsidy supports an inefficient power source

Proponents finally win extension of tax credit on wind power

A tax credit on wind energy was extended for one year as Congress rushed to adjourn last week.

Wind-energy advocates, including Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, applauded the congressional action and said extension of the tax credit would act as a catalyst for the development of additional wind farms in Kansas and the U.S.

Though wind energy supporters cheered, some critics said, in the long run, consumers will be less than enthusiastic about a form of heavily-subsidized energy that will lead to a spike in their electricity bills. [ Read more...]

Oil and gas production down sharply

Traditional energy sources declining in Kansas

Oil and gas production has decreased in Kansas in the last 12 years, with the biggest drop in gas production occurring between 1995 and 1998.

According to the Kansas Geological Survey, 36,592,200 barrels of oil were produced in 2007, a decrease from the 45,381,023 barrels of oil produced in 1995. Natural gas experienced an even greater natural gas decrease of 734,002,315 thousand cubic feet in 1995 to a production of 372,190,804 cubic feet in 2008.

Despite the decrease in production, the amount of gas wells in Kansas increased by almost 10,000 wells between 1995 and 2007. There has been a small decrease in oil wells since 1995. [ Read more...]

High-rolling company finds pulling out of Cherokee County deal is risky

Proposed operator of casino in southeast Kansas faces second lawsuit

Penn National Gaming Inc. had high hopes when it sought authorization to operate a state-owned casino in southeast Kansas.

Company officials pledged to invest $225 million for a gaming facility whose 900 slot machines and 30 table games would have generated an estimated $36 million in gaming revenue in its first year of operation.

Now, since announcing it was pulling out of the deal, the New York-based gaming company is on the business side of a federal lawsuit filed by a property owner who had agreed to sell Penn National a 200 acre parcel of land in Cherokee County for $37.5 million. [ Read more...]

Olathe widow seeks damages from past employers, others after doctor found asbestos in husband's lungs

Kansas woman sues 192 businesses for asbestos exposure

An Olathe, Kan. resident has filed a lawsuit against 192 corporations on behalf of her husband who died of lung cancer in August.

Rosie Mae Solze Rankin said when her husband Jack had part of his lung removed because of lung cancer the doctor found asbestos, which she argues he was exposed to while working as a boilermaker and pipe fitter at various industrial plants. [ Read more...]

Kansas officials cry foul when Texas tries to up their bid; feds agree.

Texas blocked in effort to lure Homeland Security facility

Federal officials today sided with Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and the Kansas congressional delegation and will not allow Texas to sweeten an incentives package the state submitted in an attempt to lure the $451 million National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility to San Antonio.

Kansas is among five states vying for the facility, which would be the main Department of Homeland Security laboratory for studying pathogens that could threaten humans, livestock and crops.

The current federal facility is in Plum Island, N.Y. [ Read more...]

Comment: Usually, the scary part is when the monster jumps out. As Matthew Hisrich explains, the monster in 'I.O.U.S.A.' is in plain sight. Maybe it's time to feel a little fear.

A real horror story

Something seems to be missing from all the bailout discussions and presidential debates. It could be called a dirty little secret, except that it is not at all little. In fact, it is so big that it has serious implications for how the federal government will be able to function in the future, and whether states such as Kansas can continue to expect federal funds to fuel their budget growth.

What’s the secret? It’s the massive debt our nation is piling up. It should call into question the wisdom of huge increases in spending, especially given that the crisis on Wall Street pales by comparison.

Fortunately, there is a new documentary hitting screens around the country that deals with exactly this topic. The film, “I.O.U.S.A.,” takes a hard look at the state of America’s finances. The documentary follows former U.S. Comptroller-Gen. David Walker on a "Fiscal Wake-Up Tour."

Walker, who is now president and CEO of the non-profit Peter G. Peterson Foundation, resigned from his General Accounting Office post in February. His goal is to devote himself to the task of educating Americans about the nature of the real economic crisis they face. [Read more...]

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