Free Republic

The Department of Health and Human Services has states spooked. At least, legislators in Kansas cited the administration's contraception mandate as a reason to expedite passage of a bill to protect religious freedoms: Supporters of a proposal in Kansas that’s described as an attempt to protect religious freedoms told state legislators Tuesday that President Obama’s ill-fated mandate for insurance coverage of birth control is a compelling example of why the measure is needed. …The state House Judiciary Committee had a hearing on the proposed Preservation of Religious Freedom Act and is expected to vote on it by Monday. State Rep....

The elections committee in the Kansas House just passed a an eligibility bill requiring state and federal candidates to show a certified copy of their birth certificate as proof of citizenship. This coincides with a similar effort in Kansas on voter identification. "A House committee approved a bill Wednesday requiring candidates for state and federal office to provide proof of citizenship, a reflection of the "birther" movement raising questions of President Barack Obama's status as a U.S. citizen." - - - "The objective of the bill, he said, should be to require proof of citizenship for state and federal candidates...

Topeka — Several homemade bombs were found Wednesday in a pickup truck parked near the Kansas Statehouse that had specialty license plates issued only to U.S. military paratroopers, and police said they arrested the owner inside an underground tunnel connecting the Capitol to an office building. Capitol Police spokesman Patrick Saleh said the incident was not connected to another arrest Wednesday of a man who allegedly phoned in a threat to Gov. Sam Brownback’s office from a Topeka motel. “Neither one of them was armed, and neither of them offered any resistance,” Saleh said. Saleh said officers went to investigate...

TOPEKA — With protesters chanting and pounding drums outside the Capitol, Secretary of State Kris Kobach, one of the nation’s most prominent advocates of illegal immigration crackdowns, urged lawmakers Wednesday to force employers and law enforcement officers to help chase off illegal immigrants. “There’s no question that if a state passes laws to discourage illegal immigration … then you will see some self-deportation,” Kobach told the House State and Federal Affairs Committee. The protesters outside said those laws are more likely to produce discrimination, worker shortages and costly lawsuits. “If Mr. Kobach, who is promoting, not only here in Kansas...

A memorial to Dwight D. Eisenhower is scheduled to be unveiled on the Washington Mall in 2015, but first a thorny dispute needs to be resolved between Eisenhower's family and renowned architect Frank Gehry. Ike's relatives think Gehry's design—which features a statue of Eisenhower as boy in Kansas looking out on vistas of his future accomplishments—as a country bumpkin. They are demanding changes before the project moves forward, and Gehry has yet to comment publicly, notes the New York Times. (The AP had a similar story last month.) “He was chief of staff of the Army; he was a two-term...

TOPEKA, KS (KCTV) - A Kansas board that denied a licensed doctor of osteopathic medicine a license was primarily concerned about the man's political views. The Kansas State Board of Healing Arts is a 15-member panel appointed by the governor and decides the fate of doctors in Kansas. Terrence Lee Lakin rose to the ranks of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. He served on the front lines in Afghanistan and the war zone in Bosnia as well as a medical mission to Honduras. He saved lives around the world and received a Bronze Star for his service. "I like...

A little-known provision in Kansas law that allows the blind and other people with serious physical infirmities to carry concealed weapons in public places likely will not get reviewed by state lawmakers this session. Kansas legislators are expected to debate a proposal that would allow concealed carry permit holders to bring their guns onto college campuses and into many public buildings. But the chief proponent of that bill said Wednesday he has no plans to introduce legislation that would clarify a 2010 law change that removed the ability of the Kansas Attorney General to deny a concealed carry license based...

Duck if you’re headed into the state of Kansas. Mixed signals are flying fast. On the subject of undocumented immigrants, officials are all over the place. The secretary of agriculture wants to put them to work. The secretary of state wants to deport them. The governor vows to eradicate child poverty while taking food aid from the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants. Are we confused yet? Let’s start with the simplest piece. That would be Secretary of State Kris Kobach, whose position on illegal immigrants never changes. He wants them gone, period. The legal eagle is always very busy helping...

Kansas Agriculture Secretary Dale Rodman gets an earful from farmers and ranchers struggling to fill job vacancies. It is an economic calling, he said, worthy of thinking outside of the box. The cry of desperation from large dairies and feedlots is that loud. "You've got to listen to your customers," said Rodman, a veteran corporate agriculture executive comfortable wearing a cowboy hat in the Statehouse. He has traveled as secretary to the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico in an attempt to recruit people interested in agriculture careers in Kansas. That shows promise, but the payoff would be slow. He also...

A bill in the Kansas House of Federal and State Affairs Committee would allow concealed carry permit holders to bring firearms onto college and university campuses. The committee heard testimony Wednesday and Thursday on House Bill 2353, introduced by Rep. Forrest Knox, R-Altoona. Under the current law, public and private buildings may prohibit entry of permit holders’ firearms with signs posted at every entrance, which the University currently does. According to the new bill, public places would not be able to prohibit firearms by licensed carriers unless it had “adequate security measures,” including security guards and metal detectors at all...

Faced with a shortage of hired hands, Kansas ranchers and farmers are appealing to their state’s secretary of agriculture for a solution. And he says he has one: hiring illegal immigrants. It’s an idea that’s unorthodox enough to turn heads but practical enough to justify a series of meetings with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — a meeting which Kansas Agriculture Secretary Dale Rodman told the Topeka Capital-Journal he has attended. His goal is for the state government to organize a network of illegal immigrants and willing employers into a hiring network. No such arrangement, of course, can go...

Former Senate Majority Leader — and 1996 GOP Presidential nominee – Bob Dole just tore into Newt Gingrich with an open letter that violates Reagan’s 11th Commandment so many times, Bob Dole will be in the confessional until Easter. ... .. Hardly anyone who served with Newt in Congress has endorsed him and that fact speaks for itself. He was a one-man-band who rarely took advice. It was his way or the highway. ... Gingrich had a new idea every minute and most of them were off the wall. He loved picking a fight with Bill Clinton because he knew...

Pedro moved to the Kansas City area about 13 years ago and has held the same job for 11. Though he sometimes struggles to pay bills, he knows most people think he should receive no public aid. He’s an illegal immigrant. He doesn’t deserve handouts. He understands that. “I’ve never asked for anything for myself,” said Pedro, who didn’t want his last name used to protect his family. “Never. I just work. Work hard.” A new debate swirling around Kansas, though, isn’t about Pedro. It’s about two of his three children. They were born here, and one day they will...

5 Unusual Sales Taxes You Need To Avoid With the economy still struggling, states are getting fairly crafty with how they charge consumers via sales taxes. It's no secret that dubious, yet all-too enforceable government laws have been with us since the dawn of the civilized world. In ancient Egypt, the pharaohs taxed cooking oil – of course, the main seller of cooking oil was the pharaoh. During the first century AD, the Roman empire taxed urine – a popular source of ammonia for common tasks like tanning hides and cleaning clothes. Then at the height of the Dark Ages...

An unlikely trio of House members has introduced an eclectic trio of gun-rights bills — one of which is a direct challenge to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other big-city mayors. With the support and aid of the Kansas State Rifle Association, Reps. Jana Goodman, Connie O'Brien and Jim Kelly came into the session locked and loaded, on a mission to make Kansas legally safer for gun sellers, gun manufacturers and corrections officers who want to conceal and carry. “It’s in the Constitution, and that right should be defended for self-protection,” Goodman said when asked why she is...

Four years ago, Larry Hall purchased an abandoned Atlas F missile silo in central Kansas. Today he is turning it into a doomsday survival condominium complex.

Topeka — Gov. Sam Brownback on Wednesday called for a cut in the state personal income tax and minimal budget increases, saying that will put Kansas in the fast lane on the road to economic growth. "Let's put our 'lost decade' … in the rear view mirror and speed ahead — at 75 miles per hour — to make this decade the decade of growth and job creation," Brownback, a Republican, said in the State of the State address. But his plan hit immediate bumps from legislators. Brownback's proposal would cancel a scheduled decrease in the state sales tax rate,...

Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal apologized Thursday for forwarding an email poking fun at first lady Michelle Obama and referring to her as “Mrs. YoMama.” The Lawrence Journal-World reported Thursday that O’Neal, a Hutchinson Republican, sent the email from his personal account. The email also had a photo comparing Mrs. Obama to the Grinch and the subject line, “Twins separated at birth?” The photo has been circulating on the Internet and shows Mrs. Obama’s hair being swept by the wind, recalling a drawing of the fictional Dr. Seuss character from the classic Christmas cartoon. In forwarding the email, O’Neal joked...

So, tired of high taxes? Want to see big federal budget cuts? Congratulations. You're getting your wish. And you just cost 2,160 people in Kansas their jobs. [snip] Welcome to "living within our means," which means you don't necessarily have any means to live with. You can argue that cutting the defense budget has to be done, but those are some nice, well-paying jobs that are being lost. Jobs that the local Wal-Mart probably won't match. I suppose the real lesson, though, is that we can't have our cake and eat it too. You can't shrink government without cutting jobs....

A-29 Super Tucano Wins Air Force Bid for Light Air Support Mission SPARKS, Nev., Dec. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION and EMBRAER DEFENSE & SECURITY to supply aircraft, training and support to the Light Air Support program. A-29 Super Tucano to be built in Jacksonville, FL; over 70 U.S. companies to supply parts and services Eren Ozmen, President, Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), and Luiz Carlos Aguiar, CEO, Embraer Defense and Security (Embraer), today announced that the U.S. Air Force has selected SNC, partnered with Embraer, to supply Light Air Support (LAS) aircraft to be used as...