KC Buzz Blog

Brownback, Roberts weigh in

  It's rare that Sunflower State senators Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts take a public stance on state politics, but Mark Parkinson's defection to the D's was enough to prompt a few soundbites Wednesday.

   Brownback said he felt "personally betrayed" by Parkinson.

   Roberts pointed out that party switches aren't that uncommon in Kansas. Still,  he was "surprised and perplexed" by Parkinson's decision.

  "I wish him well but not success."

Posted by David Klepper 6 p.m.

Homeland $ecurity

   The Department of Homeland Security has announced its hand-outs for state and local governments in the 2006 fiscal year.

   Missouri:  $42.8 million; last year: $47 million.

   Kansas:  $14.3 million; last year: $21.7 million.

The Kansas City region will get $9.24 million, a little more than St. Louis at $9.20 million.

   The complete list here.

   What'll it go for?  Training, education, preparedness -- and maybe biohazard suits for everyone.

Posted by Dave Helling 4:35 p.m.

We have a winner!

   Last week KC Buzz Blog opened a caption contest on this photo of British Prime Minister and President Bush at their press conference (click on it and it up pop up full sized). We had 15 entries, and the winner is...by Uncle Ted:

   British PM to Bush: "I don't know how to quit you."

   And an honorable mention goes to speters:

   U.S. President George W. Bush, right, attempts a not-so-subtle peek at British Prime Minister Tony Blair's paper in the opening round of the 1st Annual World Leader Intelligence competition.

   For a look at the rest of the entries, here's a link to the original post. Click on comments.

Posted by Keith Chrostowski 4:30 p.m. Note: In the first posting I had the incorrect names for the winner and honorable mention because I misread the comment list. My apologies, and thanks to jmart for pointing that out..

Thursday in The Star's Ed Pages

Editorials

• Kansas City School District patrons were most impressed by the former New Orleans superintendent. Sign him up.
• The new Treasury secretary comes with some important market credentials but could run into trouble over his compensation committee role with the ousted head of the New York Stock Exchange.
• Courting Johnson County voters seems popular -- especially with gubernatorial candidates. Both incumbent Kathleen Sebelius and challenger Robin Jennison tapped Johnson County men to join their tickets. The strategy makes sense for both.

Local columnist

• Yael Abouhalkah: Mayor Kay Barnes is understandably proud of the part she has played in bringing back downtown. But two of her predecessors deserve credit as well, and there's still plenty of work left for the next mayor to do.

A roundhouse right from Callahan

  Missouri state Sen. Victor Callahan, the bare-knuckle political brawler whose style combines equal parts Red-State populism, sarcasm and humor, flashed all those qualities in the closing days of the legislature.

  The Independence Democrat resumed his mocking of Gov. Matt Blunt -- referring to the governor as "his majesty," – and offered a rather pointed amendment that taunted Blunt over his biggest political defeat to date.

  Callahan had repeatedly expressed reservations about Gov. Matt Blunt’s plan to sell most of the assets of Missouri’s student loan agency to raise money for a building binge on college campuses. The $450 million plan was the biggest initiative of Blunt’s administration and a key to the governor’s hopes of improving his flagging popularity.

   The plan died early this month when House Republicans, led by Rep. Carl Bearden, a St. Charles Republican who is the speaker pro tem, refused to consider the plan until the Senate approved Bearden’s proposal to change the way higher education is funded.

  When it became apparent that Blunt’s plan was dead, Senate Majority Leader Charlie Shields, a St. Joseph Republican, offered condolences of a sort. He proposed a resolution boasting of the magnificence of Blunt’s plan and urging the governor to move ahead with the plan despite its failure in the legislature.

   Callahan responded by offering an amendment that rewrote the resolution with a more jaundiced view. You won’t find the amendment in the official Senate Journal because Callahan eventually withdrew his amendment. But in the interest of preserving the record, here is a summary of the original resolution as rewritten by Callahan.

   The strikethroughs are words Callahan would have removed, with Callahan’s additions underlined.

"Whereas Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt unveiled the Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative purportedly in order to enhance educational opportunities in the state…

"Whereas the governor’s progressive and visionary proposal seeks to purportedly obtain these goals through advancing aid to college students in the health care field, capital to universities for important building projects….

"Whereas the initiative will not only provide an excellent opportunity for helping students and universities but and will also not provide help to Missouri’s working families and the state’s economy by creating new jobs, spurring new economic activity and growth….

"Whereas, in addition to the governor’s bold plan, funds derived from the initiative should also be used to address the health care needs of Missouri’s citizens….

"Whereas enhancing health care ensures a brighter future for Missouri’s citizens…..

"Now, therefore, be it resolved that the members of the Missouri Senate… hereby urge the governor to continue to work with the board of the Missouri higher Education Loan Authority to implement the Lewis and Clark Discovery initiative so that moneys derived from the initiative be used to advance aid to college students, for capital to universities for necessary building projects to fund endowed scholarships and for the Missouri Discovery Alliance provide aid to college students.

"Be it further resolved that the secretary of the Missouri Senate be instructed to prepare properly inscribed copies of this resolution to the speaker of the House of Representatives, the speaker pro tem of the House of Representatives and the governor of Missouri."

Posted by Kit Wagar 2:40 p.m.

You said duty

   Mommy's Helper has a Senate helper in Sam Brownback. The senior Republican senator from Kansas introduced three bills to suspend the duties on a variety of toddler toilet-training seats, reported the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill: "padded potty seats," "traveler padded-potty seats," and "contoured padded-infant potty seats."

   The tariff suspensions will benefit Wichita-based potty-seat maker Mommy's Helper Inc. Last week, Brownback introduced similar measures for shoes, to help Topeka-based Payless ShoeSource. Such suspensions are used to help out local businesses if the tariffs in question don't raise a lot of money, quoth Brownback spokesman Brian Hart.

   Still: Duty. Potty seats. Heh-heh.

Posted by Matt Stearns 2:05 p.m

Republicans: Parkinson=Dean

The Kansas Republican Assembly passed out fliers and a press release at the Sebelius-Parkinson announcement.

  "Mr. Parkinson has abandoned the beliefs which made the GOP America's majority party," the statement said.

  A flier pictured Howard Dean with the line:  "Welcome Home, Mark!  Yeeeaaaaaahhh!!!!!"

  Also: someone flew over the announcement site trailing an anti-abortion banner.

Posted by Dave Helling 11:20 a.m.

It's official: Parkinson Sebelius' Pick

   Former state GOP chief Mark Parkinson officially joined the ticket of Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius this morning.

   Parkinson is Sebelius’ pick to be lieutenant governor should she be re-elected in November. Current Lt. Gov. John Moore will retire at the end of his term.

   Before heading out on a two-day tour of the state, Sebelius announced the selection at the University of Kansas Edwards Campus in Johnson County. “What we’re trying to do is bring Kansas together,” she said.

   Parkinson, a former state House and Senate member from Olathe, served as chairman of the state Republican Party. A political moderate, he said he was increasingly alienated from his own party after conservatives increasingly focused on “wedge issues” rather than solutions to the state’s problems.

   He said Sebelius has proven that she can lead the state, and not just a partisan faction within it: “Great ideas don’t come with a party label.”

  Sebelius faces no primary opponent. The three leading Republican challengers are state Sen. Jim Barnett, of Emporia; fatherhood advocate Ken Canfield of Johnson County; and former House Speaker Robin Jennison, of Healy.

  Sebelius' release on the event is on her election website.

Posted by David Klepper 11:10 a.m.

Sebelius-Parkinson video

   Mark Parkinson is on the Sebelius ticket.

   Dave Klepper will have more on the official announcement later this morning.

   For now, here are video excerpts.

Posted by Dave Helling 11:05 a.m.

Battle of the blogs?

   Jeff Roe, a former aide to Missouri GOP Rep. Sam Graves and now a heavyweight political consultant, has started a new blog on Missouri politics called The Source. This could be the long-awaited Republican counterweight to FiredUp! Missouri, the vigorous blog run by former Carnahan aide Roy Temple. We guess it won't be too long before some fireworks start.

  From the (somewhat overheated?) press release announcing its debut:

As the first independently operated Republican blog in the state, The Source will provide an alternative philosophy to the current crop of political blogs. The source will take political blogging to the next level as it will provide inside scoops, tough investigative reporting, and unique, well thought-out opinions. Combined with hard hitting breaking news and unrivaled perspective, The Source is bound to become the most popular blog in Missouri.

The source is being published under the leadership of Jeff Roe and will contain a regular contingent of writers. The Source is being published under the belief that the real truth should be told. The Source vows to dedicate itself to the demanding and selfless job of informing all Missourians.

   But it may already be living up to its hype. One of its first posts reports that Sen. Kit Bond apparently wants Department of Homeland Security chief of staff John Wood appointed U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri. Wood is also Bond's cousin.

Posted by Keith Chrostowski 10:45 a.m.