Kansas Meadowlark

Today I drove by the Jeffrey Energy Center in Pottawatomie County north of St. Marys. I noticed the plumes from the coal plants showed the wind was almost still (see below). The two windmills at the Jeffrey Energy Center (left) were not moving at all so they were not generating any of the 1.5 megawatts they might.

What good is wind energy as a major solution to our energy policy, when the wind doesn’t blow some days like today?

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Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh (left) was quoted in the Kansas City Star yesterday that “we threw a party, and nobody came” about no voters showing up to vote at Fort Riley precincts in Tuesday’s primary election.

Geary County Clerk Rebecca Bossemeyer was quoted in the Topeka Capital-Journal that this “isn’t unusual in a primary election.”

“Out of 569 registered voters living at Fort Riley, none - zero - cast a ballot on the post Tuesday in Geary County, either by going to a polling place or by advance or absentee ballot.”

But there’s a bigger story here, about problems in Kansas’ voter registration records. (more…)

On Saturday the Harris News Service published an article, Fundraising gap grows between parties, in which Chris Green commented about recent contribution reports filed by Kansas Democrats and Republicans:

“The Democrats’ state party reported raising and spending about 15 times more than the state’s GOP apparatus in reports submitted to the state this past week. It also led the state GOP in cash leftover, $120,335 to $2,340.”

While the Kansas Democratic Party itself has more cash than Republicans, another significant source of funds for Kansas Democrats is Gov. Sebelius’ Blue Stem Fund Political Action Committee (PAC). In her July report, Gov. Sebelius reported raising $246,450, spending $73,862, with $207,271 in the bank for use in the November elections: (more…)

Kansas Democrats in July 2007 mocked Kansas Republicans for forming a “Loyalty Committee.” The KDP claimed then “Kansans are tired of having their political beliefs questioned,” and then invited the disillusioned to join the Kansas Democratic Party.

The Kansas press had a field day making fun of Republicans over party loyalty, while ignoring long-term Democratic facades such as the “Republicans for Moore” in the Third Congressional District.

But what do Kansas Democrats do when they face a loyalty problem? Democrats don’t bother with a loyalty oath or loyalty committee. Democrats attempt to “take out” any offenders at the polls. So much for “Kansans are tired of having their political beliefs questioned”?

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Last week Jesse Waters from The O’Reilly Factor confronted Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on the streets of Philadelphia.

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On Monday the National Institute on Money in State Politics issued a report “No Small Change: Unitemized Contributions Add Little to Campaign Coffers”. This report said state-level candidate, party and ballot measure committees are reporting a small percentage of donations as unitemized lump sums.

But what about unitemized contributions to Political Action Committees? In the last few years the Kansas National Education Association PAC received over $500,000 in unitemized contributions — nearly 95% of all their contributions! (more…)

Thursday’s Kansas Register announced Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ appointment of Katherine Taylor DeBruce, a Democrat from Mission Hills, to the Supreme Court Nominating Commission.

Did the $13,000 contributed to Gov. Sebelius by Katherine DeBruce, her husband Paul DeBruce, and his DeBruce Grain company, have any influence on Sebelius’s appointment to the Supreme Court Nominating Commission? And what about the $5000+ DeBruce Grain gave to the Kansas Democratic Party in 2006 for “plane travel”? (more…)

A variety of Internet sources say Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius attended the 2008 Bilderberg meeting in Chantilly, VA on June 5-8, 2008. No mention of Gov. Sebelius attending this meeting can be found in the Kansas press.

In 2007 Gov. Sebelius attended the Bilderberg meeting in June in Istanbul, Turkey and the Kansas City Star reported the story on Sept 2, 2007:

Sebelius in June attended a gathering of the Bilderberg Group in Istanbul, Turkey. Bilderberg is an exclusive group of international business leaders, top politicians and academics from around the globe that meets once a year at top resorts. The enigmatic group is the frequent subject of New World Order conspiracy theories. (more…)

People in the Kansas City area can move across the state line and re-register to vote, and unknowingly become registered voters in both Kansas and Missouri. Such folks vote in their “new” state and are likely not even aware they are still registered in their “old” state. Legally, a voter cannot vote twice in both states, but it’s unclear whether such a voter accidentally registered in both states could vote in either their “old” state or their “new” state. And who would know if they did?

A prominent member of the Kansas City Star’s staff moved across the state line from Kansas to Missouri and re-registered to vote in Missouri, but is still an “active” registered voter in Kansas — more than 10 years later. (more…)

Today, Governor Kathleen Sebelius appointed one of her political contributors to be a new Johnson County District judge. Sebelius appointed David Wesley Hauber, a Democrat from Shawnee to be the replacement for Judge Janice D. Russell, who retired. Hauber was picked by Sebelius from a list of three Democrats nominated by the 10th District Judicial Nominating Committee.

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