A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: TV networks slant Republican

Ever hear the old claim that the news media are in the pocket of liberal Democrats? Well apparently not ... at least not in every election from 1992 to 2004. That's the word from a new Indiana University study that analyzed coverage on ABC, NBC and CBS.

Republicans, deregulation, and the current financial mess

By Nancy Jane Moore

Has anybody else noticed that three major financial crises -- ones brought on by excess, greed, and, most importantly, insufficient oversight -- came during Republican administrations?

I'm speaking of the Great Depression, the savings and loan crash of the 1980s, and the current mess, which, according to what Kevin Phillips said on Bill Moyers Journal last night, might be worse than the Depression. (I'm paraphrasing from vague memory -- Phillips' pessimism scared me so much that I couldn't stand to watch and switched to a DVD of Battlestar Gallactica instead of listening to him as I should have.)

These three crises happened after years of administrations that opposed regulation, took steps to deregulate institutions that cry out for regulation, and appointed people as regulators who oppose the whole idea of oversight.

I know there have been other crises in recent times, but most of the others strike me more as the usual ups and downs of a market-based economy. These three, though, came about because the administrations did what they could to block regulation, allowing as so-called unfettered market.

As near as I can tell, all an unfettered market does is allow people to make money doing things that provide nothing to the economy as a whole -- such as creating hedge funds and other financial instruments most ordinary people can't comprehend -- and to get insanely rich, until the whole thing crashes, at which point we the taxpayers bail them out so that our economy doesn't go down with them.

The Depression came about after the corrupt years of Harding following by Silent Cal Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, neither of whom did anything to get in the way of their money-making pals. It took a long time to rebuild after that, but rebuild we did, with increased regulation and protection for ordinary citizens. There were ups and downs after that, but on the whole, the economy did pretty well.

And then Reagan came along with his deregulation ideas, which were followed by the crash of the high-flying, over-extended, deregulated savings and loans. As crashes go, this one may seem like a blip, except that it so exactly presaged what we're seeing now.

At least I understood what happened with the savings and loans. I don't really comprehend the financial side of how the investment banks got into all this trouble -- and I actually do know something about real estate financing. The most obvious thing to me -- especially given that the ratings organizations continued to rate investments in and by these firms at the highest levels -- is that everybody took care of everybody else and nobody paid attention to the fact that housing prices couldn't go up forever.

I'm currently reading Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine, in which she explains Milton Friedman and his argument for completely free markets, and points out how "shocks" -- both economic and political -- paved the way for other countries to try his methods. By rights, here in the land of Friedman, we shouldn't bail these companies out, but just let them fail and our economy with them. Supposedly our society would end up better off, never mind how many of us might suffer.

Of course, even Republicans don't do that. With luck, along with this massive bailout we'll get some revived and even improved regulation.

Though as Klein warns us, don't think you've seen the death knell of the "free market uber alles" argument. It'll be back as soon as we get things put back together and it could screw up the other things we need to deal with, like climate change for example.

Given the depth of the crisis, many of us may not live to see the next round.

Here's another suggestion for something we can do -- besides voting Democratic this time and making sure Congress actually passes some meaty regulatory schemes: Lobby the high schools to teach economics. Make it a required course, just like civics and history. Given the complexities of modern finance, everyone needs at least a basic grounding in how economic systems work.

Used to be everyone needed to know how to raise food, build houses, cook, and sew. These days, what everyone really needs to know is how to manage their own money -- and how to control those who manage vast amounts of it.

Today's Must Read: What Republicans know & Democrats don't get

This is a bit long, but it is well worth reading to learn What Makes People Vote Republican.

University of Virginia Psychology Professor Jonathan Haidt explores different approaches to morality and concludes that people don't vote Republican because they're duped. They simply view the world, and morality, differently than Democratic voters.

I'm not certain I agree with all the solutions he proposes for Democrats, but Haidt's piece offers a fascinating review of the psychology of morality and voting behavior.

Kansas Moments: Kline refuses to share, Sebelius moves forward & the GOP lurches further right

By Diane Silver

Here's a quick look around the news from the heartland this morning.

The Wichita Eagle's blog, WE Blog, asks a good question: If outgoing Attorney General Phill Kline is so hot to prosecute Dr. George Tiller, why won't Kline share his files with Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston? The local DA is the person with the authority to prosecute the Wichita abortion provider. What gives?

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius reveals her new $7 million economic development plan, help for the rural economy and keeps pushing for health care for children.

All signs point to the Kansas Republican Party continuing its rightward lurch when it picks a new chair. None of the announced candidates are moderate, which isn't a suprise given that ultra conservatives control the party apparatus. Announced candidates include such stalwarts of the religious right as state Sen. Tim Huelskamp of Fowler, law professor and former Congressional candidate Kris Kobach and Wichita businessman Mike Pompeo. Even Kline is rumored to be interested. The best way to understand the party race is to read Kansas GOP Insider, who really appears to be who he/she claims.

Meanwhile, the new moderate majority on the state Board of Education is moving quickly to search for a new education commissioner to replace recently resigned Bob Corkins, yet another darling of the religious right.

Western Kansas continues to struggle under the snow, and we wish them all the best and all the help they need. The problems include power outages and a desperate struggle for ranchers who are trying to keep their cattle alive.

Finally, please look again at a story that is receiving too little play in Kansas: Who is Phill Kline's special prosecutor?

Kansas Moments: Serious questions, Phill Kline, a tainted special prosecutor & the state of the GOP

By Diane Silver

Here are a few Kansas political moments that popped up in news coverage recently.

The Wichita Eagle asks an important question about outgoing Attorney General Phill Kline's Ahab-like pursuit of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller: Has anyone thought about the children mentioned in those medical records Kline got from Tiller's clinic? Apparently the records show that children as young as 10 and 13 received abortions.

I am as pro-choice as you can be, but I also believe that pregnant youngsters are a sign that something is very wrong. Despite Kline's claim that he went after the records to investigate sexual crimes against children, Kline has publicly shown no interest in actually investigating crimes against these kids. Instead, Kline seems to only care about prosecuting Tiller. What gives and what really happened to those kids?

Andy Wollen, chairman of the moderate Kansas Traditional Republican Majority, starts off a recent Kansas City Star op-ed with a bang.

For Johnson County residents wondering who in the world elected the unqualified Phill Kline as our new district attorney, there’s an uncomfortable answer — you did.

Wollen notes that the precinct representatives who elected Kline were themselves elected in the Aug. 1 primary where only 15 percent of county voters participated. His point? Stop complaining and vote in the next primary.

Wollen also noted some important details about Kline's qualifications to be district attorney.

Kline claims to care passionately about the law, but he has allowed his law license to lapse three separate times since he was admitted to the Kansas Bar Association in 1987. He has already started to hire his ideological cronies to fill out the office, and career prosecutors have started finding employment elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the special prosecutor Kline appointed to go after Tiller has filed a motion to have the misdemeanors charges reinstated. A Sedgwick County judge has already thrown them out once and held a hearing where he refused to reinstate them.

Topping off this week's news is a report from Talk To Action that Kline's special prosecutor, Donald McKinney, is linked to, or at least an admirer of, the Army of God, an extremist and allegedly violent anti-abortion group. The tone of the Talk To Action story is so frothing at the mouth that it would be easy to discount it, but the information appears to be valid.

The Kansas Republican Party isn't dead yet, despite what national observers say

By Diane Silver

I would love to declare that the November election swept progressives into power in Kansas and left the state GOP in "tatters" on the floor. I would love to shout that story from the rooftops. Unfortunately, it isn't true, at least not in the way people on the coasts appear to believe.

Despite the glee of national observers like AMERICAblog.com, occasional commentators at Daily Kos and today's story in The Washington Post, I am sad to say that reports of the party's demise are a tad premature.

The view from Kansas is of a state where even in a watershed year for Democrats, Republicans held onto 78 seats in the Kansas House of Representatives, and Democrats won only 47. In the Kansas Senate, a mere 10 Democrats hold seats, while 30 are in the hands of Republicans.

It is true that Nov. 7 marked an important turning point in Kansas.

Moderates took over the state Board of Education and threw out the anti-evolution members who turned their back on science. However, moderates only hold a one-seat majority. If the past repeats itself, the majority on the board could swing back to the religious right in the next election.

Democrat Kathleen Sebelius won re-election as governor, and she is a talented politician and a good governor. However, the significance of her election remains to be seen.

Kansas has a history of staying thoroughly Republican while electing Democratic governors. In the last 20 years, Kansas has elected a total of five governors -- three Democrats, including Sebelius, and two Republicans.

The Kansas electorate's disgust at the rightwing antics of Attorney General Phill Kline and the fact that they booted him out of office is good news, as is the election of newly minted Democrat Paul Morrison. It is too early to tell, though, whether this was a vote against the Republican Party as much as a vote for an attorney general who will do the job he was elected to do.

The fact that Morrison and a handful of other Republican politicians switched parties is good news, but the number is still small and only a few of them won their campaigns.

For me the most heartening November victory was Democrat Nancy Boyda's win over Republican incumbent Jim Ryun. That came in a moderate to conservative district.

However, the meaning of the vote remains to be seen. Did voters turn their back on Ryun's social and political conservatism or simply get fed up with a Congressman who did a poor job of constituent service and ran a bad campaign?

The Washington Post story focused on the anger over the Johnson County Republican Party's recent election of Kline as county district attorney. He won the vote 316-291.

Here is the real money quote from the story.

"The moment Phill Kline got the nomination, half the room got up and walked out," said Scott Schwab, the county GOP chairman. "It wasn't so much yelling or cussing. They threw up their arms and said, 'What do we do now?' "

That quote, by the way, is from a Kline supporter, and it clearly shows the divide. But the true meaning of the moderates' anger won't be known until we see what else they do.

Reading tea leaves and telling the future is an uncertain task, but here are some signs that might show when a real change has occurred in Kansas.

• The religious right and ultraconservative Republicans cannot win without the collusion of moderate Republicans. Look for more moderates to either switch parties or to take control of the state Republican Party. That isn't even close to happening yet.
• Watch the next primary where precinct representatives are elected, particularly in Johnson County. If moderates can't take control of the precinct seats after the Kline debacle, then moderates will never have the power to succeed.
• Watch the 2008 legislative elections in Kansas. If Democrats cannot win more seats in the Legislature, then the party will never be revived in this state.
  

Kansas: Phill Kline debacle prompts another Republican to switch parties

By Diane Silver

Yet another prominent Republican has said he just can't take it anymore. Lifelong GOPer Rev. Bob Meneilly has told the KC Buzz Blog that he is bolting to the Democratic Party.

The tipping point was the Religious Right's annointing of ousted Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline as Johnson County's new district attorney.

Meneilly told the Buzz Blog that "the way they did it was kind of a slap in the face to the community."

Both Meneilly and his wife are becoming Democrats. Meneilly is in his 80's and is pastor emeritus of Village Presbyterian Church and chairman emeritus of the moderate MAINstream Coalition.

I had a chance to talk with Meneilly during the 2005 campaign to defeat the anti-marriage amendment to the Kansas Constitution. I have a lot of respect for all he has accomplished in his life. He has always stood up for what he believes.

When a couragous, principled and religious person like Meneilly leaves your party, you know you're in trouble.

Kansas House Republicans: Electing the old white guy's team

By Diane Silver

I have been around Kansas politics far too long. I can't believe that I missed the fact that the entire leadership team recently elected by Kansas House Republicans is all-male and all-white. And just in case a little diversity might have crept in, House Republicans also made certain that their leaders were all-rural and all 60 or older.

I did notice the conservative slant, but didn't even think about the bland sameness of it all until the Lawrence Journal World pointed it out and noted that Kansas Democrats were "snickering at the makeup of the House Republican leadership team."

I missed the significance because, well, it's not exactly a new thing for the Republicans leading the House to be all white and all male. However, when I was covering the Legislature I don't remember them all being so close to cashing in their Social Security.

By the way, the GOP members of the Kansas House include females as well as males. I haven't looked up the ages, but I'd be willing to bet the voters let a few young folk take the oath of office. Does anyone know if there are any black Republicans among the group?

The Journal-World notes:

The GOP leadership team includes Speaker Melvin Neufeld, 66, a farmer from Ingalls; Majority Leader Ray Merrick, 67, a business owner from Stilwell; Speaker Pro Tem Don Dahl, 61, retired of the Navy from Hillsboro; and caucus chairman Dick Kelsey, 60, of Goddard. The two youngest members of the team are Majority Whip Rob Olson, 37, of Olathe, and assistant Majority Leader Jene Vickrey, 47, of Louisburg.

Those candidates were elected by the 78-member House Republican caucus Monday. The only woman to run for a leadership job was Lana Gordon, of Topeka, and she was defeated by Vickrey, 59-18, with one not voting....

Meanwhile, the 47-member House Democratic caucus returned all of its previous leaders, which includes three men and two women, and one of those women, Lawrence Democrat Barbara Ballard, is black. In addition, a new member of the House Democratic leadership team is Paul Davis, of Lawrence, who was elected unopposed as policy chairman to replace Nancy Kirk, who retired from the Legislature. Geographically, the Democratic leaders hail from Greensburg, Wichita, Hays, Lawrence and Leavenworth.

The Kansas House ignores moderates & turns hard right

By Diane Silver

[updated 5:45 pm]

Well, this is interesting. Republicans in the Kansas House of Representatives have just thumbed their collective noses at voters by electing arch-conservative Melvin Neufeld as speaker.

Neufeld, a farmer from western Kansas and the current chair of the House Appropriations Committee, is a longtime member of the farthest right wing of the Kansas Legislature. His election yesterday to the 2nd most powerful post in state government is a bad sign for the forces of moderation. It took two ballots for the majority Republican caucus to elect Neufeld, but in the end he won.

I remember Neufeld well from my work as a reporter in the Statehouse. At that time, he was a friendly but powerless back-bencher known to all as simply "Melvin." My most vivid memory of him involved a speech he gave pushing an anti-abortion proposal.

As he stood speaking on the floor of the House, the chamber emptied, particularly of what was then the moderate Republican leadership of the House. They all went back to the then-speaker's office behind the podium and laughed at him. I know this happened because I was standing in their midst at the time.

I guess Neufeld gets the last laugh now. The question, though, is what will he do with his new power?

Will he have grown from the inconsequential person I knew more than a decade ago? Will he have matured beyond the soul who was once accused of trying to blackmail another lawmaker into voting his way? Will he remember that as speaker his job involves the whole state and not just those few who share his beliefs?

The fact that conservatives took over all the majority Republican leadership posts in the House is frightening and frustrating. It's as if the people under the Statehouse dome didn't hear, or perhaps even notice, what the voters did on Nov. 7.

The Kansas City Star provides more detailed coverage of Neufeld's elevation to power. The Lawrence Journal-World has the most complete and interesting story on the speaker's election.

UPDATE: Hat tip to Thoughts From Kansas for providing a link to Kansas RINO's post and details on the Kansas Supreme Court decision involving the blackmail allegations. The decision gives blow-by-blow detail of the accusations against Neufeld.