The political fallout from Thursday’s blood-letting at City Hall?
A whole host of possibilities loom. Let’s rack ‘em up:
1. The City Council gets a rare shot at a fresh start. Could be good.
2. Council members are at each other’s throats again. Councilman Ed Ford is saying publicly that he’s lost faith in his colleagues because he was kept in the dark about the big move that resulted in the ouster of City Manager Wayne Cauthen until 90 minutes before Thursday’s meeting.
from washingtonpost.com
Growing discontent over the economy and frustration with efforts to speed its recovery boiled over Thursday on Capitol Hill in a wave of criticism and outright anger directed at the Obama administration.
Episodes in both houses of Congress exposed the raw nerves of lawmakers flooded with stories of unemployment and economic hardship back home. They also underscored the stiff headwinds that the administration faces as it pushes to enact sweeping changes to the financial regulatory system while also trying to create jobs for ordinary Americans.
President Obama's allies in the Congressional Black Caucus, exasperated by the administration's handling of the economy, unexpectedly blocked one of his top priorities, using a legislative maneuver to postpone the approval of financial reform legislation by a key House committee.
U.S. Senate candidate Todd Tiahrt said today it's time to halt TARP, otherwise known as the Wall Street bailout program.
All unobligated TARP funds remaining after Dec. 31 would be applied toward reducing the national debt, Tiahrt, a Republican, said. It is estimated that $200 billion in unspent TARP funds could be returned to the U.S. Treasury.
“All too often Washington is viewed as a national ATM for bailing out failed companies,” said Tiahrt. “We must end this unnecessary spending of taxpayer dollars on bailouts and failed so-called stimulus programs.
"In the past year, we have seen the federal government bailout Wall Street, the auto industry and insurance companies among others. And Democrats are now marching toward a federal takeover of the health care industry.
TOPEKA | Kansas unemployment rate went DOWN in October to 6.4 percent. Down?
Yes, but don’t get too excited. The state’s Department of Labor says the dip (September’s jobless number was 6.8 percent) is mostly due to seasonal factors.
The monthly job data was released this morning by the Department of Labor.
Kansas businesses have lost 57,700 jobs so far this year. Last year at this time the unemployment rate was 4.3 percent.
“Kansas continued to experience a weak labor market in October,” said Inayat Noormohmad of the Labor Department. “We have seen limited over-the-month growth, however, over-the-year job losses remain significant. While we’re seeing improvements in some economic indicators, we know recovery in the job markets remains uncertain for the near future.”
From Talking Points Memo:
The new national poll from Public Policy Polling (D) has an astonishing number about paranoia among the GOP base: Republicans do not think President Obama actually won the 2008 election -- instead, ACORN stole it.
Behind the scenes of the Cauthen suspension
Blogging the divide between U.S. and Cuba
A blogger contends that if we stop offering fair trials in the United States, then we have become terrorized, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill offers up a hand-drawn map of Missouri for National Geographic, and an assertion that Guantanamo Bay is just the first in a series of promises to be broken by President Barack Obama.
The Khalid Sheik Mohammed trial is the right course of action
Sen. Claire McCaskill yesterday twittered this:
"If we printed the health care bill in regular size font it would be same legnth as Sarah Palin's book, but with more meat on the bone."
Snappp!
Let the games begin early...
Updated to include email exchange with Stigall and mayor's office *.
For more years than he can remember, Bill Grigsby was the master of ceremonies at the Mayor’s Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at Crown Center.
Good ol’ Grigs. Smiling. Jovial. Kansas City’s biggest booster, and entirely non-controversial.
“I did it for a lot of mayors,” Grigsby said. “That is, until Funkhouser came in.”
Yep, Mark Funkhouser vowed to shake up the tree lighting ceremony the way he’d shake up everything else.
Which brings us to this year’s ceremony, a week from today. Funkhouser has for the second time in three years picked one of the most polarizing figures in town to ring in the holiday season.
Gov. Jay Nixon is at 42 percent approve, 25 percent disapprove.
Sen. Kit Bond: 41-34 percent.
Sen. Claire McCaskill: 42-45.
Don’t panic yet, Democrats. The 2010 elections are still a year away.
But the respected, nonpartisan Cook Political Report just lowered - slightly - the chances of Rep. Ike Skelton winning re-election for the 17th straight time.
Its latest assessment of the race shifted Missouri’s 4th Congressional District from a “likely” Democratic seat to one that only “leans” Democratic.
“We continue to see Skelton as the favorite, but our rating reflects the belief that this race will be much more competitive than races Skelton has had to face in the past,” said Cook political analyst David Wasserman.
Barry GrissomCongressman Dennis Moore's office has confirmed that it will submit the name of Overland Park attorney Barry Grissom to be the next U.S. attorney for Kansas.
Lawrence lawyer Dan Watkins had been in the running for the state's highest law enforcement position, but withdrew from consideration last month.
Grissom, 55, has his own practice and specializes in civil litigation with a focus on employment discrimination.
The next step: Official nomination by President Obama, then Senate confirmation.
"It would be an honor to have a job like this," Grissom told Prime Buzz. "It'd be an opportunity to serve and serving under this administration would be a double honor."
The Power & Light District just announced the makeup of a new board designed to quell the dress-code controversy in the Downtown Entertainment District.
From a District news release:
In follow-up to Monday’s announcement and invitation, Zed Smith, the Managing Partner of the Power & Light District and Kansas City Live!, and Kevin Battle, its Chief Operating Officer, are pleased to announce that the following diverse group of leading Kansas City community groups and organizations have agreed to have representatives join the Dress Code Oversight Board for Kansas City Live!:
Mayor Mark Funkhouser has apparently suspended city manager Wayne Cauthen.
Details to follow.
The letter:
Dear City Council Members:
As you know, I believe we need new leadership for the city. As of today, I am exercising the authority given to me as the Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, to suspend the City Manager, effective immediately.
In the interim, the City Manager has been asked to vacate these premises immediately.
The Charter:
The City Manager may be suspended with or without pay or removed from office by the Mayor subject to ratification by a vote of at least six additional members of the Council at the next scheduled meeting of the Council. During the period between Council consideration of the suspension or removal by the Mayor, the City Manager shall be suspended with or without pay as designated by the Mayor. (First reports were he fired Cauthen; now, it appears, it's a suspension only.)
Democratic Senate candidate Charles Schollenberger says he wants a federally-created "wind authority" to oversee and promote construction of wind power in Kansas and other states.
In a speech Thursday -- and a news release -- the Kansas Senate hopeful said:
"We need a new government authority like the Tennessee Valley Authority that will have the power and funding to cut through red-tape and build the high-voltage transmission lines needed to get our budding wind energy industry up and running.”
Schollenberger also wants the feds to have the power to decide where wind farms are built.
A Kansas City political club, the Citizens Association, has sent an "open letter to the citizens of Kansas City, Missouri," blasting the calibre of leadership in city government. Among the highlights:
_ "The public interest of Kansas City is not being represented at City Hall. The lack of leadership exhibited by our elected officials and City Manager, coupled with their unwillingness to find common ground, causes a complete inability to build effective coalitions...."
_ "So far, Mayor Funkhouser has proven to be a one-man-show who seeks to advance his own agenda by running city government in isolation and with little or no input requested or accepted from the council."
_ "The City Manager, also operating in isolation, is likewise failing to effectively fulfill his role under the Charter....This divisive style of management is counter-productive and has no place in our council-manager form of government."
Friday's almost here. Let's pretend it is. Enjoy...
TOPEKA | Former Kansas State University President Jon Wefald gave too much power to deputies who operated with too little oversight, according to a final review of financial irregularities identified in a recent audit.
“It was clear there was an awful lot of power invested in too few people,” current President Kirk Schulz told the Kansas Board of Regents today.
Schulz briefed the Regents on what actions have been taken in response to the June audit, which revealed undisclosed payments, conflicts of interest and accounting irregularities and potential tax problems at KSU and its Athletics Department.
It looks like Rep. Todd Tiahrt's campaign for the Senate in Kansas is borrowing strategy from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, of all places.
Specifically, the song, "Let's Do the Time Warp Again."
The Wichita Republican made a not-so-veiled allusion to fellow congressman Jerry Moran, who's also seeking the GOP nod for the 2010 Senate seat, having ties to - yep - the Communist Party.
Click here for the story by Dion Lefler of The Wichita Eagle.
