In June the Center for Responsive Politics, the organization behind OpenSecrets.org, published an article, Blue Dog Bark Backed by Insurers, which describes how the “Blue Dog” Democrats in the House compare to non-Blue Dog Democrats in their contribution receipts from various health-related sectors.
How does Blue Dog Congressman Dennis Moore from Kansas compare to other Blue Dogs given the data published by Open Secrets? Read the rest of this entry »
Many activists from both the political left and political right met in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania late last week to discuss political matters, and the way “new media” affects communicating with the public.
Last year the left started YearlyKos, later renamed NetRoots Nation, and had a convention in Austin, Texas in August 2008. The now 2nd annual NetRoots Nation 2009 was held last week in the David L. Lawrence convention center in downtown Pittsburgh. Portions of NetRoots Nation 2009 could be viewed online courtesy of SEIU TV and online or via cable TV on C-SPAN.
Following the left, the political right also started a convention last year and held it in Austin, Texas to discuss similar issues. The right called their convention RightOnline 2008. Following the left again, the right held their RightOnline 2009 convention on Thursday and Friday across the Monongahela river from downtown Pittsburgh and Netroots Nation. The two groups were separated only by a mile or so but there was little interaction between the groups.
The pictures, tweets, and comments below are from my visit to RightOnline. See the RightOnline agenda online for brief information about all the sessions. You could see parts of RightOnline on C-SPAN.
A group of concerned citizens met in a parking lot north of Johnson County Community College (JCCC) about 6:45 this morning and listened to Congressman Dennis Moore on KMBZ news radio before ‘greeting’ him upon his arrival at JCCC.
For months Congressman Dennis Moore has not been willing to meet with many of these constituents, who are frustrated with the huge stimulus spending, the House passing the “Cap and Trade” bill that will increase taxes, and more recently, health care reform that is being rushed through Congress. Those listening to Moore on the radio in the parking lot today feel Congressman Moore is not listening, and is not voting in Congress as the fiscally-responsible “blue dog” Democrat he claims to be.
On KMBZ Congressman Moore responded to questions from E.J. and Ellen on a number of issues. [See Moore: No public meetings with angry constituents for KMBZ audio.]
The E-mail below was sent to me in the last hour by a concerned citizen who is deeply troubled that Congressman Moore has violated privacy rights by sharing contact information with Organizing for America.
This concerned citizen called Congressman Moore’s office on several occasions asking to talk to the Congressman about this issue. This concerned citizen filled out the online form asking for dialog about health care reform. This citizen is now confused as to why Organizing for America from a web address baraackobama.com is now sending an invitation for a meeting when a direct request was ignored. This concerned citizen has never asked to receive E-mail from Organizing for America.
Recent video of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius with Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter in front of a group of concerned citizens in Philadelphia has been cited as “orchestrated outrage” by some such as Rachel Maddow on MSNBC.
Possibly to avoid any confrontation with concerned citizens who have read the proposed health care legislation in Congress, HHS Secretary Sebelius will hold a conference call on Friday with health care activists and SEIU members.
Yesterday L. Toni Lewis, MD from SEIU Health Care sent the following E-mail letter encouraging participation in this conference call:
Today in a special school board meeting in USD 473 in Chapman, the board voted over a month after the fact to approve the “retention bonuses” given in Chapman on June 30. Today’s vote to give out these checks on June 30th was 4 yes, 2 no, 1 abstention.
For additional info: Many questions about bonus checks and budget figures in Chapman USD 473 School District
The Superintendent and his wife received retention checks as large as anyone.
Why do teachers and staff in USD 473 get retention checks when there are so many budget problems with other Kansas schools?
Kansas schools need to be audited and the first audit should be USD 473.
Ever have a question about federal political campaigns, or the Federal Election Commission?
Next week the Federal Election Commission is having training classes in Kansas City for anyone interested in learning more about federal laws dealing with political campaigns, federal PACs, or party committees.
See the FEC flyer for this Kansas City event along with information about how to contact the FEC to participate in these free training classes. Check with the FEC to see if there is still space.
If you cannot attend but want to know what the class is about, see the PowerPoint slides below. (Of course the slides are subject to change.)
The Wed. Aug 5 class is only for Republicans and the Thur. Aug 6 class is only for Democrats. (For whatever reason, the party order was reversed when a similar class was held in Tallahassee, FL in June).
Question for Ben Bernanke at “Audit the Fed” Rally at Congressman Dennis’s Moore office yesterday
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will being taking questions in a forum at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City on Sunday, July 26 from an audience of 40 people.
From the News Hour’s web page:
On July 26, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will join Jim Lehrer in Kansas City, Mo., for an on-the-record forum about how the central bank has responded to the financial crisis and its changing role on the road to economic recovery. The forum will air on the NewsHour during the week of July 27.
A media alert from The News Hour said
… the audience is being gathered with the help of Kansas City public television station KCPT and other local community organizations.
E-mails to both Anne Bell at The News Hour and Nick Haines at KCPT in Kansas City have not been answered about how this audience was chosen, and in particular, what “other local community organizations” means. This question also has not been answered:
What attempts were made to ensure there will be a diversity of opinions among the invited guests that will ask questions?
Organizers of an “Audit the Fed” rally held yesterday at Congressman Dennis Moore’s office in Overland Park were asked if they knew anyone who was invited to the event on Sunday at the nearby Kansas City Federal Reserve.
About 115 attended a late afternoon “Audit the Fed” rally today outside Kansas Congressman Dennis Moore’s office in Overland Park. The rally was organized by the Johnson County Campaign for Liberty group.
With fairly tight Overland Park police security on the grounds, a smaller group entered Dennis Moore’s office and delivered 1100 petitions asking him to join the three others in the U.S. House from Kansas in supporting the “Audit the Fed” bill (H.R. 1207, Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009).
Michael from Moore’s staff accepted the petitions and listened to concerns from the smaller group about why Moore should become a cosponsor for the bill. “I’ll certainly pass the concerns along.” One member of the group asked for a video response by Congressman Moore.
Michael thanked the group for their civility and respect for the office since “we have an increasing number of angry people that come through the office.”
See the video below:
Kris Van Meteren (left) watches attorney Ryan Kriegshauser (right) present $17,500 claim to Ethics Commission
Frustrated that the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission took no action on a complaint, last August Kris Van Meteren talked to the press explaining some details in his complaint. But, Kansas law currently gags someone after filing an ethics complaint — even after the Commission fails to act — and Van Meteren was fined $7500 for his “free speech” in February.
The Kansas Attorney General opined in May that the Kansas law was unconstitutional, but Van Meteren had spent $17,500 in attorney fees defending his first amendment right.
Today, Van Meteren presented a claim for $17,500 to the Ethics commission for his legal fees, but the commission said it did not have the authority to grant or deny the request. Van Meteren may now take his case to Federal Court to seek relief for defending himself against an unconstitutional law in the Ethics Commission hearing.
The five minute video below shows attorney Ryan Kriegshauser give background information on the case, followed by the actual discussion by the Ethics Commission on whether it had legal authority to accept or reject Van Meteren’s claim. The video ends with several local press members discussing the case with Krieghauser.
See front pages below from both the morning Topeka Daily Capital and the evening Kansas City Star reporting the first lunar landing on July 21, 1969 — 40 years ago today.
What was the other “big” front page story on the front page of the Kansas City Star that day? The Chappaquiddick incident.
Richard Nadler was a political activist, author, commentator, TV personality in the Kansas City area for the last twenty years. Nadler unexpectedly died on May 30, 2009.
Jack Cashill gave a tribute to Rich at the Olathe Republican Party picnic on June 27, 2009. Cashill described Nadler as the “defiantly inappropriate Republican.”
Cashill presented the first Rich Nadler Freedom Fighter Award to Rich’s wife, Barb LeClerq, for not only putting up with and helping Rich, but for the political work she had done on her own.
See Cashill’s tribute and the award presentation in the video below.
About 150 rallied outside Congressman Dennis Moore’s (D-KS) office in Overland Park late yesterday afternoon to express opposition to the current health care reform bill being hastily pushed through Congress by Democrats.The protesters were mostly from various Culture of Life groups, including Life 4 All and KFL, but many signs also focused on the fiscal issues related to health care and other government spending.
The video below shows ten protesters explain the meaning of their signs as well as express their frustrations with and fears of recent government actions:
The election process is confusing enough to voters without intentional misrepresentation via new media on Twitter and blogs.
Yesterday, someone used Kris Kobach’s name to setup a fake Twitter account, which could be used to send out Tweets that appear to be from the Kansas Secretary of State candidate. Obviously such messages could be used to embarrass Kobach or confuse voters at times that are unpredictable.
Do we really want voters or the press being mislead like this in our statewide elections? Twitter should allow removal of such Twitter accounts. If they do not, perhaps Twitter may be subject to law suits about facilitating identity theft.
SEIU Headquarters, Washington, DC
Last week the Wichita Eagle’s blog speculated about a Tiahrt-Glickman rematch in a senatorial bid in 2010.
The Eagle’s blog posting mentioned that former U.S. Congressman Dan Glickman from Wichita admitted he was not a great fundraiser. So where might Glickman get money to run for U.S. Senate in Kansas?
Today, Andy Stern, the head of the 2-million member SEIU union that spent perhaps as much as $60 million to help elect President Obama, tweeted about his lunch meeting:
A week ago I followed the example of fellow blogger Maggie Thurber from Ohio in submitting a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to my representative in Congress. We wanted to discover the count of calls for and against the “Cap and Trade” bill voted on by our members in Congress on June 26.
Both Maggie and I were aware of a number of callers against this bill and wondered how many called in favor and how many called opposing the bill. We knew many opposed the bill because of the increased taxes and regulations the bill would impose, especially in a time of a depressed economy.
Many feared the bill would kill jobs and result in a loss of freedom. For example, do you want to be forced by Congress to make changes to your house before you can sell it? Do you want Congress trying to limit how much time you can spend in the shower?
Why would Congressman Moore from Kansas and Congresswoman Kaptur from Ohio vote for a bill if a large majority of their constituents opposed the bill? Read the rest of this entry »
RNC Chair Michael Steele and Kansas Republican Party Chair Amanda Adkins
Yesterday Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele met with about 70 county, district and state Republican “grass roots” Republican leaders in Overland Park. Some traveled from as far away as Wichita and Salina to attend the event.
Steele introduced himself: “I am from you. I am grassroots. I started out licking stamps, knocking on doors, stuffing envelopes, and getting doors slammed in my face, and mail returned, getting cussed out on the phone.”
See some of Steele’s other remarks in the video below.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu and President Barack Obama
At a White House press conference today President Obama and Energy Secretary Chu revealed several actions they claimed would promote energy efficiency while saving Americans billions of dollars annually.
Some of the mandates include forced changes on energy conservation standards for household and commercial lighting and forced changes on incandescent and fluorescent lamps.
My wife has already made me replace some of the compact fluorescent lights (CFL) in some parts of our house, so I’m not sure she’ll be happy with these lighting changes mandated for 2012.
Do common citizens understand today’s light bulb mandates? Will common citizens only find out when some light bulbs may no longer be available for purchase in 2012, or only at a much higher price then?
President Obama’s statement about the California economy to justify the energy changes seems incredible:
Free Market Health Care Rally at KMBC Channel 9 in Kansas City
A group of more than 60 protesters met outside the KMBC’s studios in Kansas City to promote free market health care, and protest the ABC special “Prescription for America” being aired tonight
The group was made up of modern day patriots from the Kansas City Tea Party and the Kansas City Area 9.12 Project.
General manager Wayne Godsey and KMBC were kind to the protesters by providing water for those in the hot sun and 90+ degree temperatures.
KMBC reporter Jim Flink made a humorous comment about the news coming to them today, since KMBC could report on this event from the perimeter of their studios. [Jim said his was more common when their studios were downtown.]
See the three videos below made at this event, as well as the video from KMBC reported during their 5 PM newscast by Jim Flink.
Last Friday Congresswoman Candice Miller (R-Michigan) attempted to make an amendment to H.R. 2868, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009, to minimize the impact of new regulations on agriculture and farmers. The Democratically controlled committee voted “no” on her amendment with a vote along party lines. Farmers may now suffer increased regulations on any chemical product related to agriculture and farming.
