And the one whom you refer to Mrs. Boyda is very much involved in our soldiers here and abroad. Her husband is a Vet and her son I believe is in Iraq or Afghanistan, I forget things And sometimes am to busy to recheck issues like this one thinking it would never be needed. I guess I was wrong.

The two GOP ers just give the party line at least she has thoughts and act on them. She is well liked here in KS. I think the other two need to go, they have been in Washington for over 22 years and do nothing except promote the elite.

This has to be the third or fourth attempth by the same clowns to do as they want. Makes me wonder what personnel gains they are getting for this. Reader comments included which say it like it should be said. If you would like to see the council in action at 6:00 PM centeral time use this link The Official Web Site of the City of Topeka

No matter the link works.
Attempt to override mayoral vetoes to come today: CJOnline Page Not Found
By Tim Hrenchir
The Capital-Journal
Published Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 2:30 p.m. CDT
Topeka Deputy Mayor Jeff Preisner said today he plans to try at this evening’s City Council meeting to override Mayor Bill Bunten’s vetoes of resolutions to reauthorize the purchases of a police helicopter and enterprise resource planning software system.

Much more at the site and the reader comments are great...

I like the reader comments as they inform and in ths cas eon Global warming.
SOme ideas and words I haven't used in my continued fight to say it is real no matter which or what the cause is.

Sebelius gets second coal plant bill: CJOnline - Sebelius gets second coal plant bill
The Associated Press
Published Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 11:29 a.m. CDT
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has received a second bill allowing two coal-fired power plants in southwest Kansas. She will have until April 24 to decide whether to sign it.

But legislators expect her to veto the measure, just as she rejected a similar bill last month.

Sunflower Electric Power Corp. wants to build the two plants outside Holcomb, in Finney County. Its $3.6 billion project has bipartisan legislative support.

The project has been blocked since October by Rod Bremby, the governor’s secretary of health and environment.

In denying an air-quality permit for Sunflower, Bremby cited the plants’ potential carbon dioxide emissions. Many scientists link man-made greenhouse gas emissions to global warming.

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Reader Comments
Posted by: barticus at Apr 15, 2008 at 01:04:59 PM
For a fair and balanced article, the last sentence should be rewritten. "There is no scientific consensus on the exact cause of any global warming that may be occurring." Read some of the current scientific literature in journals like Nature and Science. Note the number of articles describing the uncertainties in defining global climate. The link between hurricane intensity and global warming has been debunked. Recent articles show that cloud dynamics are not understood. The amount of CO2 released by vegetation has not been modeled properly. The list of uncertainties goes on and on. No, Virginia, CO2 has not been shown to cause any global warming.
In addition, Rod Bremby has degrees in psychology and public administration. This is a scientist?

Posted by: yardman at Apr 15, 2008 at 01:23:39 PM
You are right barticus; all of the other industrialized nations are wrong. Al Gore may be an idiot, but acid rain is just one example of what humans can cause to damage our environment.

Posted by: dougmauck at Apr 15, 2008 at 01:39:12 PM
The History Channel had a program about the history of concrete and how it's used. Part of the story involved a special acid-proof cement that is used on the inside of smoke stacks at coal fired power plants. They said if ordinary cement were used, the exhaust from the stacks would eat up the cement in a couple of weeks. The glaring fact for me was that this hideous exhaust was being released into the atmosphere! Other than that, there is a scientific consenus that mankind is causing global warming with greenhouse gases, including CO2. The pollution in China can be see from space satellites. Of course the big money industrialists want to confuse the issue so that they can continue to make money. They're perfectly willing to spend what it takes to get their hired researchers to issue conflicting reports. Those who are working to save the planet don't stand to make a dime from their efforts.

+ 1 Rating Posted by: vladamir at Apr 15, 2008 at 02:42:15 PM
Has anyone checked out the cows?

Posted by: buttongod at Apr 15, 2008 at 02:50:57 PM
I just had a burger...that cow was fine...except...it was dead...does that count ?

-1 Rating Posted by: OtherSignGuy at Apr 15, 2008 at 03:05:59 PM
This whole global warming myth sounds like the unfiltered emission of a young male bovine.

Posted by: dougmauck at Apr 15, 2008 at 05:16:03 PM
Two worse case scenarios: 1. Global warming is a myth and we clean up pollution and find alternate energy to replace oil for nothing. 2. Global warming is real and we keep on using coal and oil and ruin the planet forever. Hmmmmm. Which to choose? Which to choose?

McBush made a boo boo.

I delt with this same thing in Indiana now here. With the war taking more Federal Money form each state they find new ways to make it work.

Water rates to rise
Homeowners will see about a $14 monthly increase in their bills
By Tim Hrenchir
The Capital-Journal
Published Wednesday, April 16, 2008
The Topeka City Council voted 6-3 Tuesday evening to approve a rate hike that will mean about a $14 monthly increase in the average water, sewer and stormwater utility bill for a single-family home.

Council members Jack Woelfel, Bill Haynes, Deborah Swank, Brett Blackburn, Jeff Preisner and Richard Harmon voted in favor of the ordinance, while Lana Kennedy, John Alcala and Sylvia Ortiz voted against it.

Alcala said he couldn't support the increases because he thought they would substantially affect senior citizens and others on fixed incomes.

Blackburn responded that he thought the increases were needed. He said he viewed raising user fees as preferable to increasing property taxes because people paying user fees can cut costs by modifying their behavior, while those paying property taxes can't.

The council last raised utility rates in November 2003 when it approved increases that took effect on Jan. 1 of 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Public works director Mike Teply told council members Tuesday that those rate hikes hadn't generated expected revenue increases. He also said Topeka's water and sewer infrastructure is aging and deteriorating.

Teply said the latest rate hikes will be targeted at continuing to improve and replace the city's utility infrastructure, enabling Topeka to continue to comply with federal regulations and addressing cash flow concerns caused by insufficient revenues.

The new rates are to take place this May 1 and on Jan. 1 of 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Council members voted to raise the minimum water charge for single-family homes by $6.18 — from $8.82 to $15 — effective May 1, with the new charge remaining in effect through the end of 2011. The minimum charge includes the first 1,500 gallons of water used each month.

The city also will raise the minimum monthly wastewater, or sewer, charge for single-family homes by $3.54 — from $11.31 to $14.85 — for city residents beginning May 1 and running through the end of 2011. The minimum charge covers the first 1,500 gallons of wastewater discharged into the city's sanitary sewer system

The ordinance approved Tuesday also calls for the city to:

• Raise water volume rates per 1,000 gallons within city limits by 3 percent each year. For single-family homes, that would raise the rate per 1,000 gallons from the current $3.18 to $3.28 on May 1, to $3.38 in 2009, to $3.48 in 2010 and to $3.58 in 2011. The volume rate kicks in after the 1,500 gallons covered by the monthly minimum rate.

• Raise wastewater rates in the city by 4 percent annually from the current $3.30 per 1,000 gallons to $3.43 on May 1, to $3.57 in 2009, to $3.71 in 2010 and to $3.86 in 2011. Residential sewer rates are based on a calculated average water volume determined for water used in the months of December, January and February.

• Raise the stormwater runoff rate in Topeka by about 17 percent on May 1, with no further increases being planned through the end of 2011. The amount assessed for stormwater runoff depends on a property's amount of impervious surface areas that don't allow rainfall to soak into the ground, such as driveways, sidewalks and rooftops.

Except in the city's North Topeka drainage district, the runoff charge is to increase from $2.34 to $2.75 a month for a residence with less than 1,500 square feet of impervious surface; $3.62 to $4.25 a month for 1,500 to 3,500 square feet; $5.65 to $6.65 a month for more than 3,500 square feet; and $3.62 to $4.25 a month for apartments and duplexes.

Water and wastewater rates for customers who use city water and sewer services but live outside of Topeka will amount to 175 percent of the city rates for all customer classes, including minimum charges and volume rates. The city doesn't assess stormwater runoff fees to anyone who lives outside of the city.

CJOnline / The Topeka Capital-Journal - Water rates to rise

Teply said the increase in the stormwater fees will provide the necessary funding for more than $6 million the city must pay for improvements to levees located on the Kansas River and Soldier Creek. The federal government is to pay most of the more than $17 million cost for the levee work, he said.

In other action, the council voted 9-0 to approve a joint city-county resolution expressing support for Amtrak's expansion of railroad service from Newton to Oklahoma City and asking Amtrak to provide a full line of customer service, including baggage handling, at its Topeka station at S.E. 5th and Holliday.

Tim Hrenchir can be reached at (785) 295-1184 or tim.hrenchir@cjonline.com.

Well now we see the move worked. Sure want the only software on the table for 4 million badly. Comments included.

CJOnline / The Topeka Capital-Journal - City employee e-mails helped change ERP vote

City employee e-mails helped change ERP vote
Workers happy veto override keeps new software system intact
By Tim Hrenchir
The Capital-Journal
Published Thursday, April 17, 2008
Topeka Police Department accountant Amanda Meyer feels certain the business software system the city is putting in place will enable its employees to work better and faster.

So when it became clear two weeks ago that Mayor Bill Bunten would try to void the purchase of that enterprise resource planning system, Meyer sent the city council an e-mail explaining why she thought the system was essential.



Anthony S. Bush / The Capital-Journal
Tina Loyd, city of Topeka accounting manager, practices on the new enterprise resource planning software system during a class Wednesday at City Hall. City employees lobbied the city council through e-mails to override the mayor and buy the Lawson system.
AT A GLANCE

Q: Has the cost for the city to acquire and implement an enterprise resource planning software system risen over the past seven months?

A: No. The resolution the council approved by overriding Mayor Bill Bunten's veto Tuesday arranges for the contract amount to be the same the council authorized last September, which was about $3.86 million, with $400,000 more coming from the city's general fund.

Q: Where is the city in terms of putting the ERP system in place?

A: City spokesman David Bevens said the city "has not missed a beat" in moving forward with implementing the ERP system and still plans to have it completely in place by March 31, 2009.

Q: What happens next regarding the police helicopter purchase?

A: Deputy Mayor Jeff Preisner has asked interim city attorney Braxton Copley to prepare a proposal for the council to consider that would void the purchase. Preisner said Copley had told him the council would need to approve such a measure to conclude the matter.
City spokesman David Bevens said Meyer's message was the first of many the council received from city employees before it voted 7-2 Tuesday evening to override Bunten's veto of a resolution reauthorizing the ERP purchase. The swing votes came from council members Lana Kennedy and Brett Blackburn, who opposed the purchase April 1 but voted in favor of it Tuesday.

Kennedy said Wednesday that a flood of e-mails from city workers expressing their heartfelt support for the ERP system convinced her to switch sides. She said employees reminded her of the system's importance and of how much time and effort the city has put into implementing it.

The council last September initially overrode Bunten's veto of the purchase of the ERP system, which the city began implementing in January. But that purchase was put back before the council after interim city attorney Braxton Copley recently suggested it needed to reauthorize the transaction because documents involved failed to meet requirements of the Kansas cash basis law.

The council on April 1 voted 5-4 — with Kennedy, Blackburn, John Alcala and Sylvia Ortiz dissenting — to reauthorize the ERP purchase. Bunten three days later vetoed the measure, with votes from seven council members being necessary to override.

If the city had voided the purchase, Meyer said, the three weeks she spent being trained to use the ERP system would have gone to waste. The city since Jan. 5 has been putting the system in place, with five Lawson employees currently working in Topeka to implement it and train city employees on how to use it. ERPs integrate, or try to integrate, all data and processes of an organization into a unified system.

Meyer said she told council members in an e-mail two weeks ago about how the ERP system will improve city operations in such areas as sharing of information.

The council got e-mails from other city employees, including human resources director Jacque Russell, who said she was familiar with Lawson ERP software from having worked with it at a job in the private sector. Bevens said employees and their supervisors notified city manager Norton Bonaparte of all messages they sent to council members on the matter.

Bevens said Bonaparte doesn't have a problem with employees who are at work expressing their opinions on matters of city business to council members. Bonaparte sees that as being no different than a city employee responding to a council member's request for information on a matter of city business, which isn't uncommon, Bevens said.

Bonaparte, who doesn't usually take sides on political issues, spoke publicly in favor of the ERP purchase at Tuesday's council meeting.

After the council overrode Bunten's veto that evening, Bonaparte sent its members a message thanking them on behalf of city workers.

"As noted in the e-mails you received from employees, we see the implementation of the Lawson ERP system as critical in our efforts to make the city government more effective and more efficient," Bonaparte wrote.

Tim Hrenchir can be reached at (785) 295-1184 or tim.hrenchir@cjonline.com.

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Reader Comments
Posted by: kansasman101 at Apr 17, 2008 at 03:31:22 AM
So, city employees are the ones who "overrode" the veto?

I would venture to say there are many, many thousands more city residents who did not support this endeavor.

Back door politics again by the council and Bonaparte.

Posted by: mlurp at Apr 17, 2008 at 06:25:51 AM
City spokesman David Bevens and he admits his suggestion to the city employees to e-mail the council And I thought yesterday Mr Plishener, (sorry if I mis-spelled it) took credit also, would have made it a done deal. Sure they gave up one, but to many comments, he, he. But they have to decide enough.
have the others city tax rise and the water rates climb. while everything we use dialy increases. More duty than our elected state reps do! Waht our we paying for? These people to charge us more on a lot of stuff to make up for the costs of this war which costs each state Federal $. Kansas is going to lose 40.6 million. Sure hope they don't want the city to make that up! Even all of Kansas That is about what 2 million a person in Kansas. That makes the Fair Tax seem right.But! Is it Fair really?
Nothing but questions and bad news.

No comments but if you would like to get the feel of the people who voiced their remarks go to: CJOnline - Sebelius vetoes second energy bill

Sebelius vetoes second energy bill
The Associated Press
Published Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 2:08 p.m. CDT
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has vetoed a second bill allowing two coal-fired power plants in southwest Kansas.

Like a measure she rejected last month, the bill would permit Sunflower Electric Power Corp. to build the two plants in Finney County.

It also would strip the secretary of health and environment of some of his power.

In October, Secretary Rod Bremby denied an air-quality permit for Sunflower's $3.6 billion project. He cited the plants' potential carbon dioxide emissions.

But bipartisan majorities in both houses support the project.

In her veto message, Sebelius criticized the bill's supporters for not working toward a compromise.

Supporters need two-thirds majorities in both chambers to override her veto.

I understand that in a vote the legislature had its say today. Business and the politicians= not good for the many but the few get $$$$$$. Things need to change in the way this system operates from top to bottom. You can't run th egovt. like it is a corporation and we need to rework the way the few have most of the wealth. Nothing drastic and have business get back to service and not the bottom line.

Some truths about neighborhood crime in any city.

Crime in Topeka — Fight goes on: CJOnline / The Topeka Capital-Journal - Crime in Topeka Fight goes on

Statistics show crime is down, but chief is right in saying there is still work to be done
The Capital-Journal Editorial Board
Published Friday, April 18, 2008
Two crime-related stories in recent editions of The Capital-Journal left very different impressions about public safety in Topeka.

In one of the articles, Topeka Police Chief Ron Miller announced that crime was down 23 percent in the first quarter of 2008 compared with the same period in 2007. That figure is remarkable, especially since it came after a year in which crime dropped 9.8 percent compared to 2006.

Miller attributed the decrease partly to community involvement through initiatives such as the Safest Capital City Campaign, in which a coalition of law enforcement authorities and community partners meet regularly to develop ways to prevent crimes and beef up enforcement. Miller said new enforcement programs also have spurred the drop in crime.

That was terrific news.

Then came a story in Sunday's editions showing there's still a great deal of work to be done to make Topeka safe.

That story focused on a shooting early Saturday outside the Mahogany Lounge in central Topeka.

It was saddening to learn that a 30-year-old Topeka man, Albert L. Conley, lost his life in the shooting. What made the story even harder to bear was a comment from a passer-by.

The woman told a reporter she had paid little attention to the commotion surrounding the incident because it was common to hear gunfire and police sirens in the neighborhood.

"You just stay indoors," she said.

Granted, the source was unidentified and the comment possibly was offhand, but it shouldn't be dismissed.

A recent story on The Capital-Journal's Daily Dose page showed that about a third of the city's homicides over the past six years occurred between S.W. 17th and the Kansas River and S.W. Washburn to about S. Kansas Avenue.

So maybe the passer-by was exaggerating.

But considering the numbers, maybe not.

In any case, if Topekans feel it's unsafe to go outside of their homes, then the community has work to do.

The crime statistics released by the police department last week suggest Topeka can reduce crime.

But numbers are numbers. In fact, Topekans saw a large statistical drop in crime several years ago — during a previous police administration — only to later found out that the decrease came after the department adopted a new way of counting crime that no longer included incidents at Washburn University and in Topeka Unified School District 501.

We're told that's not happening this time, which is good news.

Miller has vowed not to let up in the department's efforts to reduce crime.

"It is critical that we continue to work together as a community to decrease crime," he said. "We encourage everyone to get involved — whether it's taking items out of your vehicle, joining your neighborhood improvement association or attending a Safest Capital City Meeting, get involved and take a stand against crime."

The shooting outside the Mahogany Lounge, and the sentiment expressed by the passer-by, underscore Miller's point.

The addresses aren't the important issue the crime is...

Police and fire calls: CJOnline / The Topeka Capital-Journal - Police and fire calls
The Capital-Journal
Published Friday, April 18, 2008
Police calls

Felony cases reported to the Topeka Police Department.

Dist. Address, Crime, Time, Day

424 5200 blk. S.W. West Dr., making false information, noon 4/1-1:30 p.m. 4/12

433 300 blk. S.E. Hancock, agg. burglary, crim. damage, 9-9:15 a.m. 4/15

1400 blk. S.W. Lane, burglary, theft, 1-8:30 a.m. 4/15

434 800 blk. N.E. Wabash, theft, 4 p.m. 4/15-noon 4/16

3600 blk. S.E. 6th, burglary, theft from vehicle, 1-11 a.m. 4/13

443 5700 blk. S.W. 21st, burglary, theft, 4:30-9:30 p.m. 4/15

444 5800 blk. S.W. 25th, burglary, theft, 8 a.m. 4/14-5:30 p.m. 4/15

2100 blk. S.W. Wanamaker, theft, 4:30 p.m. 4/9-4:30 p.m. 4/10

453 1500 blk. S.W. 21st, crim. damage, 8:15-8:30 p.m. 4/14

454 1800 blk. S.W. 36th Terr., burglary, theft, 6 p.m. 4/15-1:15 a.m. 4/16

463 2300 blk. S.E. Maryland, burglary, theft, noon 4/5-7 a.m. 4/10

464 2400 blk. S.E. Indiana, burglary, theft from vehicle, 5:15-5:20 a.m. 4/16

2900 blk. S.E. Croco, agg. battery, 1:30-1:55 a.m. 4/16 3300 blk. S.W. Topeka Blvd., agg. robbery, 11:12-11:30 p.m. 4/15

3100 blk. S.E. Humboldt, burglary, theft, 8-10 a.m. 4/15

Felony cases reported to the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office.

N.W. 6300 blk. N.W. 17th, burglary, theft, 4:30 p.m. 4/14-8 a.m. 4/15

5200 blk. N.W. 17th, theft, 4:30 p.m.-7 a.m., 4/10 6500 blk. N.W. 86th, theft, 9 a.m.-10 a.m., 3/7-4/11

S.W. 2100 blk. S.W. 70th Terr., burglary, theft, 6 p.m. 4/12-1:30 p.m. 4/14

2300 blk. S.W. 65th, theft, 8:45 p.m., 4/12

S.E. 10100 blk. S.W. Berryton, burglary, theft, 5:30 p.m.-6:20 p.m., 4/13

3400 blk. S.E. Lake Court, burglary, 10 p.m. 4/13-6 a.m. 4/14

N.E. 4600 blk. N.E. Widigan, identity theft, 8 a.m.-4:26 p.m., 3/30-4/8

3600 blk. N.W. 46th, forgery, 9:23 a.m.-9:40 a.m., 4/11

People booked into the Shawnee County Jail in connection with felonies.

4:29 a.m. 4/12, James N. Epps Jr., 24, in connection with attempted murder, criminal possession of a firearm by a person with a felony conviction and drug crime.

8:03 a.m. 4/12, Alex L. Williams, 22, in connection with aggravated battery.

2:06 p.m. 4/12, Erick J. Lopez-Flores, 26, in connection with forgery.

10:54 p.m. 4/12, Rigo Villalba-Silva, 40, in connection with theft.

11:04 p.m. 4/12, Juan M. Medina-Ramirez, 29, in connection with theft.

12:28 a.m. 4/13, Robert G. Weess, 69, in connection with felony driving while intoxicated.

10:55 p.m. 4/13, James M. Scholle, 69, in connection with felony driving while intoxicated.

6:28 p.m. 4/14, Tyler K. Bayless, 21, in connection with burglary and theft.

9:30 p.m. 4/14, Karl C. Kreipe, 26, in connection with felony criminal damage to property.

11 a.m. 4/15, Diana L. Rella, 56, in connection with theft and making a false writing.

8 p.m. 4/15, David L. Craig, 28, on a warrant charging him with burglary and theft.

8:32 p.m. 4/15, Nicholas G. Bales, 27, on a warrant charging him with aggravated indecent liberties with a child younger than 16.

2:05 p.m. 4/16, Kevin D. Henley, 37, on a warrant charging him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

2:12 p.m. 4/16, Timothy L. McCarty, 29, on a warrant charging him with theft.

11:06 p.m. 4/17, Francis S. Lamar, 20, in connection with forgery.

Fire calls

Time Day Address Action

Soldier Township Fire Department

11:26 a.m. Sun. 3400 blk. N.W. Brickyard Illegal burn.

Mission Township Fire Department

One medical call between 3 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.

Yesterday: This from my local paper on the Constitution, with locals comments. CJOnline

Letter: Constitution in peril: CJOnline / The Topeka Capital-Journal - Letter: Constitution in peril
Published Thursday, April 17, 2008
The Constitution is more fragile than people realize, and only the people of the United States can protect it.

The Constitution exists only so long as our government respects it and is held accountable by the people. The Articles of Confederation used to be our highest authority, and the process used to replace it with the Constitution was illegitimate under the Articles of Confederation. In other words, powerful men decided it should be replaced, and the majority bought into it.

The lesson is that our form of government can change whenever the people give our leaders the power. Our government has been eroding the meaning and function of the Constitution during the Bush administration so that one day it may be a meaningless piece of paper.

This threat to our Constitution isn't a partisan issue. It should concern every American. The Constitution is all that preserves our government "of the people" against a government that rules a people. We must protect our constitutional rights for future generations.

JASON LANTZ, Lawrence

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Reader Comments
+ 2 Rating Posted by: topekavoter at Apr 17, 2008 at 04:20:11 AM
What he said. Go Jason!

The constitution is intended to protect the rights of all citizens not deny them.

Kansas Equality Coalition - Welcome

Posted by: markzlatnik at Apr 17, 2008 at 07:40:18 AM
I don't think you can point the finger only at the Bush administration. Individual freedoms have been under attack by bureaucrats that don't have to answer to the voter, activist judges with an agenda regardless of the constition, and the democratic party by trying to say that the 2nd amendment is not an individual right even though all of the other amendments deal with personal rights.

+ 3 Rating Posted by: michaeljamison at Apr 17, 2008 at 07:49:47 AM
Perhaps we need a "Constitution Party" that would restore the losses inflicted by both the republicans and the democrats?

Posted by: chasss at Apr 17, 2008 at 10:20:33 AM
Jason
What about Pres. Clinton selling secrets to the chinese on missles during his admin.. What about lying under oath. The constitution is brittle. Think of the rights a person has lost in the last 20 to 30 years. Think about it a moment..........Now where would we be with out losing these rights.

Posted by: nobody at Apr 17, 2008 at 10:20:43 AM
The 2nd amendment is the right that allows all others to exist. The intent behind it was so that the government would live in fear/respect of "We the people." That right, and therefore all others, began to be infringed in 1919 with the imposition of an excise tax on handguns as part of the "War Revenue Act". This was the beginning of the trip down the slippery slope that has brought us to today, where crime is rampant and law-abiding, upstanding citizens are unable to protect themselves from the dregs of society without paying unreasonable fees and having their privacy invaded by being fingerprinted and entered into a database. It is a citizen's duty and obligation in a free society to be armed and prepared to prevent themselves and those around them from being victims. Responsibility goes hand in hand with freedom, and if you are unwilling to shoulder some responsibility, you don't deserve any freedom.

Posted by: topekavoter at Apr 17, 2008 at 11:30:14 AM
Marklantnik, I know this is called the opinion section but...
One person's "activist judge" is another person's judge interpreting the constitution. It would seem that to label a judge "activist" depends upon whether or not one agrees with the ruling. Many of the rulings made by the judges are not popular. Judicial oversight is a part of the system of checks and balances. Without a strong judicial branch, the legislative and executive branch will and have take over.

Posted by: NUMBER1EAGLE at Apr 17, 2008 at 12:11:19 PM
Remember the words of William Penn;
"Those who will not be governed by God, will be ruled by tyrants".

+ 1 Rating Posted by: NUMBER1EAGLE at Apr 17, 2008 at 12:48:09 PM
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered why, if both Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits?
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices -- 545 human beings out of the 300 million -- are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party.
She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses -- provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees. (These comments by Charlie Reese, a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel)


+ 1 Rating Posted by: CrazyLarry at Apr 17, 2008 at 02:21:26 PM
The republicrats and democans are one in the same...bought and paid for by big business. We the people, need to shake up this system...a country of 300-million people is to be represented by only TWO parties--what a joke. This system is totally corrupted and some day the people will realize that and take the government back.

Posted by: heidis at Apr 17, 2008 at 04:11:55 PM
I'm voting for Obama mostly for the fact that he is a constitutional law teacher. It'd be wonderful to have someone in the White House who doesn't use our Bill of Rights and such as toilet paper

Posted by: erviltnec at Apr 17, 2008 at 07:29:53 PM
While you were watching the play-offs or "Survivor" the country was sold to the "Military Industrial Complex." We have a corporate Congress, corporate candidates and a corporate media to promote the corporate agenda. Forget about freedom and the Constitution, those are things of the past. Americans will keep paying outrageous gasoline prices and *****, but do nothing else. They will keep electing special interest puppets and wonder why nothing is getting done. They will keep seeing big business getting perks and tax credits while they keep living paycheck to paycheck. A national strike and election boycott would be the only way to stop this corporate fascism from continuing to rule.