Category: Kansas

Nomination Update - Perez on hold

September 20, 2009 by admin

With the removal of holds by Kansas Senators Brownback and Roberts allowing the confirmations of Army Secretary John McHugh and others, one would hope this would end the nonsense holds on Obama nominations. Sadly, no.

The administration's nominee to head the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, Thomas Perez, has been held up for six months:

Perez is something of a progressive's dream appointment -- he's fought for minority and worker rights, stood up to the mortgage-lending industry when few others predicted how their unscrupulous practices would lead to economic disaster, and perhaps most important, he's a career civil-rights attorney who is familiar with how the civil-rights division is supposed to work -- with an emphasis on the expertise of career attorneys, not the agendas of the political appointees who supervise them.

Sounds pretty qualified, don't you think? So what's the problem?

Lynn Jenkins: Laughing All the Way to the Bankers

September 18, 2009 by EverydayCitizen.com

Representative Lynn Jenkins had, for lack of a better term, a rough August. She finally came back to Kansas to hold town hall meetings (which she failed to personally appear at months earlier). Lynn Jenkins, based on her robo calls, was expecting a largely supportive crowd for her stance as being a member of the party of “no.” What Rep. Jenkins discovered was that she could not get away with failures in judgment back home, such as her “Great White Hope” comment. Even more telling of Lynn Jenkins’ failure in representing the Second District was her incident in Ottawa where she laughed at an uninsured mother and her son. With such an atrocious trip back home in August, you would expect Rep. Jenkins to be ready to get back to work and actually serve her constituents in some attempt to save face. Unfortunately, this week Representative Jenkins continued her pattern of failure. This Wednesday Rep.

Stimulus Dollars at Work in Kansas to Prevent Healthcare Associated Infections

September 18, 2009 by EverydayCitizen.com

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment recently received a grant of $576,000 from the Centers for Disease Control to work toward eliminating infections patients receive while being cared for in our hospitals and other facilities such as doctors' offices and nursing homes. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allotted a total of $40 Million to help states combat this growing problem. This grant is particularly valuable as many infections acquired in this manner are increasingly resistant to conventional antibiotic therapy. Examples of these pathogens are vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and Clostridium difficlile (C-diff). These problematic infections can occur while patients have long-term indwelling urinary catheters, and may also affect surgical incisions post-operatively. These super bugs are particularly dangerous when the infection advances and enters the blood stream, potentially causing septic shock and death if prompt, aggressive action isn't taken. Appropriate isolation practices regarding infected patients and scrupulous hand hygiene are key in mitigating risks in health care settings.

Republicans Raise Money w/ Dated Unemployment Numbers

September 18, 2009 by EverydayCitizen.com

Seems like the Kansas Republican Party is a little desperate for cash these days because they're now trying to line their pockets with outdated unemployment numbers. It's really a shameless ask. A KDP supporter sent their fundraising message into us this morning. Here's some excerpts:

August not only brought high summer temperatures, it brought heated debate on the economy and loss of American jobs. Right here in Kansas, the unemployment rate hit a 26 year high of 7.4%2 in July. Since April 2009, the state lost 30,000 jobs meaning there will soon be over 100,000 unemployed Kansans... Your contribution of $100, $50, $25 or even $10 is essential to our efforts!

The Evolution of a Tomato

June 21, 2009 by natchezblog