THIS IS A CALL TO ACTION!
Are you outraged by the arrogance
and corruption of the Bush administration?
Are you concerned that our country
is headed in the wrong direction? |
Speak Out and
Take a Stand!
Protest the policies of the Bush
Administration and the RNC while
former President George H.W. Bush speaks in Wichita.
Thursday, December 1, 2005
5:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m.
Protest will take place in front of
the
Century II Convention Center, 225 W. Douglas |
Trickle-down economics have left our economy
in shambles…
The middle class is shrinking, while the federal deficit is ballooning
…
No Child Left Behind has made our education system a mess…
The war in Iraq rages on with continuing violence and mounting
causalities…
The Federal Judiciary is being stacked with right wing ideologues…
Civil liberties are being eroded daily…
The Party of Bush has failed America on
every issue!
Whatever your matter of
concern, now is your chance to
voice opposition to the Bush administration!!
TIME Magazine
Names Governor Sebelius
one of Nation's Best 5 Governors
Governor Sebelius has been recognized as one of the top five
hardest working governors in the United States by TIME magazine.
Joining Sebelius on Time's list are Kenny Guinn, of Nevada, Mike
Huckabee, of Arkansas, Janet Napolitano, of Arizona, and Mark
Warner, of Virginia.
The following article appears in the November 14 issue of TIME
Magazine.
For Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, the problem was simple.
"There were too many cars in the parking lot," she says.
Right after the Democrat surprised political experts in 2002
by winning the Governor's race in a state where Republicans outnumber
Democrats almost 2 to 1, she needed to erase a budget deficit
estimated at $1.1 billion. A commission that Sebelius appointed
to find government waste discovered that the state owned hundreds
of cars it didn't use. So she sold 700 of them and forbade state
agencies to buy more. The money earned from the car sale was small,
but it showed that the new Governor was determined to find savings
anywhere she could, from having all state agencies join together
to bid for computers to asking state housekeeping workers to wear
their own pants instead of government-issued ones. Through spending
cuts, fee increases and some borrowing, Sebelius was able to balance
Kansas' budget in her first year in office without raising taxes
or cutting funding for education.
Republicans dominate both houses of the Kansas legislature, but
the divide between the party's conservatives and its moderates
is so stark that Kansas effectively has three political parties.
Sebelius, 57, has deftly exploited that. After a court ordered
the state to increase its spending on education by about $150
million this year, she persuaded moderates to join her in a compromise
plan to comply with the decision. That deal left conservatives
without the votes to push through a constitutional amendment they
sought to effectively overrule the court's edict. To get g.o.p.
backing for her proposals, she has appointed several Republicans
to her cabinet, including former Governor Mike Hayden, who serves
as secretary of wildlife and parks.
Her bipartisan credentials have long been burnished by her relationship
with Keith Sebelius, a veteran Kansas Republican Congressman;
she is married to his son Gary, a federal magistrate judge. Her
father John Gilligan was Governor of Ohio in the 1970s, making
the pair the first ever father-daughter combination of Governors.
But it was her married name that helped Sebelius rise from state
legislator to insurance commissioner and then Governor. With an
approval rating near 60%, she is now popular in her own right—so
popular that a number of high-profile Kansas Republicans have
decided against challenging her when she runs for re-election
next year.
—By Perry Bacon Jr. with reporting by Karen Tumulty (TIME
Magazine)
Democrats
Win Elections in New Jersey and Virginia
By ROBERT TANNER, AP National WriterWed Nov 9,12:07 PM ET
Democrats cleaned up big in off-year elections from New Jersey
to California, sinking the candidate who embraced President Bush
in the final days of the Virginia governor's campaign. They also
turned back all four of GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's efforts
to reshape state government.
Democratic Sen. Jon Corzine (news, bio, voting record) easily
won the New Jersey governor's seat after an expensive, mudslinging
campaign, trouncing Republican Doug Forrester by 10 percentage
points. Polls in the last week had forecast a much closer race.
Democratic Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine won a solid victory in GOP-leaning
Virginia, beating Republican Jerry Kilgore by more than 5 percentage
points. Democrats crowed that Bush's election-eve rally for the
former state attorney general only spurred more Kaine supporters
to the polls.
In California, Schwarzenegger failed in his push to rein in
the Democrat-controlled Assembly. All four of his ballot measures
flopped: Capping spending, removing legislators' redistricting
powers, making teachers work five years instead of two to pass
probation, and restricting political spending by public employee
unions.
Elsewhere, Texas voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional
ban on gay marriage, Maine voted to preserve the state's new gay-rights
law, and GOP Mayor Michael Bloomberg easily clinched a second
term in heavily Democratic New York.
Democrats said the results were the first steps toward bigger
victories next year — when control of Congress and 36 governors
seats are at stake — and for the 2008 presidential race.
"I believe national Republican politics ... really had
an effect in Virginia and California," said Democratic Party
Chairman Howard Dean. Voters "don't like the abuse of power,
they don't like the culture of corruption. They want the nation
to go in a different way."
Republicans warned against reading too much into two governorships
that started the day in Democratic hands and ended that way. Virginia
Gov. Mark Warner was barred by law from seeking a second term,
and New Jersey acting Gov. Richard J. Codey opted not to run.
"It's not some type of trend," said GOP Gov. Mike
Huckabee of Arkansas, noting that both seats were won by Democrats
in 2001 when Bush's popularity was high. Still, he acknowledged
the defeats — and said they could help rally the GOP base
next year. "I don't think anybody will be complacent now."
Both governors' races were marked by record-breaking spending
and vicious personal attacks.
In Virginia, Kilgore's campaign ran an ad claiming Kaine, a
death penalty opponent, would have refused to execute Adolf Hitler,
while Forrester quoted Corzine's ex-wife as saying he had let
down his family and he would let down New Jersey. In his concession
speech, Forrester urged Corzine to bring the state together. Corzine
acknowledged that the campaign had been painful.
"Sometimes, innocent bystanders are hurt in politics. ...
Some seen, some unseen. And I hope we can push beyond this,"
he said, appearing with his three grown children.
Warner — who had campaigned hard for Kaine — declared:
"Tonight, Virginians from one end of our commonwealth to
the other said no to negative campaigning." Kaine's victory
was likely to boost Warner's profile as a possible 2008 presidential
candidate.
Corzine and Forrester, both multimillionaires, spent upward
of $70 million to succeed Codey, who assumed the office last year
when Democratic incumbent Jim McGreevey resigned over a homosexual
affair.
A voter survey in New Jersey found women favored Corzine by
more than 20 points while men narrowly preferred Forrester. Two-thirds
of Hispanics and nearly all blacks favored the U.S. senator, while
whites and wealthier people split their votes between the candidates.
Self-described independents favored Corzine narrowly over Forrester.
Most
voters said President Bush was not a factor in their choices Tuesday,
according to the survey conducted Tuesday by the AP and its polling
partner, Ipsos. The survey was based on interviews with 1,280
adults throughout New Jersey who said they voted in the governor's
election.
Survey results were weighted to age, race, sex, education, region
and 2004 vote. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus
2.5 percentage points.
Corzine, as governor, will have the power to choose a successor
to fill his unexpired Senate term. The seat will be up for election
in a year, but whoever Corzine appoints will likely have a big
advantage in that election.
In California, where Schwarzenegger faces re-election next year,
the special election was seen as a referendum on his leadership.
His prospects for a second term darkened as all four of his ballot
measures failed.
Sebelius
calls on Kansas businesses to “Hire a Veteran”
Governor proclaims November “Hire a Veteran Month”;
will mark Veterans Day with a ceremony at the State Capitol
There
are roughly 250,000 military veterans living in our state, and
Governor Kathleen Sebelius is calling on Kansas businesses to
honor their service by hiring a veteran. The Governor has proclaimed
November “Hire a Veteran Month” and also announced
details of this year’s Veterans’ Day ceremony at the
Capitol.
“Our fellow Kansans put their lives on the line to defend
our freedoms. We must support them during their service, and honor
them when that service is completed. Just the simple act of saying
‘thank you’ to a veteran shows that we appreciate
what they’ve done for us. But we can do more, such as providing
quality health care and good jobs,” Governor Sebelius said.
In 1944, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the G. I.
Bill, he observed that more than anything else American service
men and women wanted the “assurance of satisfactory employment
upon their return to civilian life.”
“I’m proclaiming November as ‘Hire a Veteran
Month’ in honor of all Kansas veterans who have served,
and those who are currently serving in the military. The skills
and discipline learned in the military are attractive to employers,
so I encourage all Kansas businesses to provide employment opportunities
to our veterans,” Governor Sebelius continued.
The public is also invited to attend a Veterans’ Day Ceremony
at the State Capitol on Friday, November 11. It will be held at
9:00 a.m. in the 2nd Floor Rotunda of the Capitol.
The ceremony will feature remarks and recognition of veterans
by Governor Sebelius, who also serves as Commander in Chief of
the Kansas National Guard, Adjutant General Tod Bunting, and Jack
Fowler, Chairman of the Kansas Commission on Veterans’ Affairs.
The Reverend James Akers, National Chaplain for the American Legion,
will deliver the invocation and benediction.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of Kansas Color Guard
will provide the posting and retirement of the colors, and the
Capital City Chorus, Topeka’s own men’s barbershop
chorus, will also perform.
Past News
October 2005
September
2005
August
2005
July 2005
June 2005
