Path in Field
Pioneer Pathways 
Leavenworth County Republican Party Official NewsletterFebruary 2011
In This Issue
What's going on around town?
Connie's Corner
Brownback Honeymoon?
No True North
A Country Divided
Putting Things in Perspective
Who should I contact?
What's going on around town?

Feb 7
Town Hall Meeting
Lansing Community Center
7-9:00 pm

Feb 10
Sunflower Women's Club
Leavenworth Library
7-9:00 pm

Feb 14
Republican Women's Club Riverfront Community Center
11:30 am - 1:30 pm

Feb 17
Town Hall Meeting
High Noon Saloon, Leavenworth
6:30-8:30 pm

Feb 19
Lincoln Day Dinner
Riverfront Community Center
Leavenworth, KS
6:00 - 10:00 pm

Feb 25
The Child
Movie Screening
Grace Christian Fellowship
7-9 pm, KCK

Mar 1
The Child
Movie Screening
Riverfront Community  Ctr Leavenworth, KS
7-9:00 pm

Mar 7
Town Hall Meeting
Lansing Community Center
7-9:00 pm

Mar 17
Town Hall Meeting
High Noon Saloon
Leavenworth
6:30-8:30 pm

Mar 21
Republican Women's Club Riverfront Community Center
11:30 am - 1:30 pm

2011 Election Dates 

 

Feb 9  -  Advance Ballots and

              Voting

 

Feb 14 - Last day to Register

 

Feb 28 - Advance Voting ends

 

Mar 1-    PRIMARY ELECTION

 

Mar 16 - Advance Ballots and

               Voting

 

Mar 21-  Last day to Register

 

Apr 4 -    Advance Voting ends

 

Apr 5 -    GENERAL ELECTION 


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Comments from the ChairmanCandidate Training

  The year ahead is looking bright.  We have a new administration in control at the state level.   We should see significant changes coming from Topeka soon.  We have also added a new representative to our Leavenworth team.  Jana Goodman, 41st District took her seat at the swearing in ceremony in Topeka in mid-January. 

We have added a second town hall meeting each month to our agenda and we have started a second Republican Women's Club.  Active participation continues to expand as we continue to build the party from the grass roots outward.

On the 19th of February we will be celebrating our annual Lincoln Day Fundraising Dinner.  This event commemorates the birthday of the Republican Party and is named in honor of its founder, Abe Lincoln.  With the guest line-up we have, you will not want to miss this event.  Go to our website at www.LvnCountyGOP.com where you can both register and make payment by clicking on the link on the home page. 

Between now and April, it is once again campaign season.  We are very fortunate to have many good candidates running for city commission positions and for school board members.    These are very important elections and it is these elected officials who will have the most impact upon your day to day life.  Get involved and support the candidates of your choice.  All the details on the election to include dates and a complete listing of candidates can be found at www.LvnCountyGOP.com/Election.html.

Our next town hall meeting is the 7th of February.   I hope to see everyone there.

Connie's Corner                      by: Rep. Connie O'Brien

Connie Obrien

   
 
 The Kansas Legislature convened on January, 17th. This is the day that our nation and the Kansas Legislature took time out to remember and honor the life of Martin Luther King Jr.  On August 28th, 1963, King gave his "I Have A Dream" speech and those words still echo across this land.  His life and his words we dare not ever forget.  Martin said that all men must be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.  He understood that we are all God's children and he looked forward to the day when "All of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:  Free at last! Free at last!  Thank God Almighty, we are free at last"!  Our country and its citizens have been forever blessed by the lives of some very great people like Martin Luther King Jr.  He is just one of God's many gifts to the people of America.

 

Despite the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and stormy weather late in the week, significant progress was made during the second week of the Legislative Session.  So far fifty-four bills have been introduced in the House with more read in every day.  Our top order of business remains balancing the budget.  As outlined below, we are focused on cutting spending and supporting policies that will encourage job creation.

 

On Wednesday Governor Brownback addressed House members, laying out his plan for the long term re-structuring of Kansas government.  He specifically asked House members to define "suitability" as it refers to the Education Article of the Kansas Constitution.  This article provides that the legislature shall make suitable provisions for finance of the education interest of the State.  In the past this was always interpreted to mean that the legislature controlled education funding.  In the Montoy case, decided by the Kansas Supreme Court, the court disregarded the constitutional mandate that appropriations are to be determined exclusively by the Legislature.  Despite efforts by legislators to provide equitable distribution of school funds, the State will again have to defend a second round of litigation over school funding.  School children and taxpayers deserve a system that distributes school funds to the classroom, not the courtroom.

 

Governor Brownback also proposed reorganizing the Kansas Arts Commission.  Under his proposal it will become the Kansas Arts Council, a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization.  The state will provide $200.000 in funding through a Kansas Historical Society grant.  This restructuring would save the state $500,000 in Fiscal Year 2012.  Restructuring of the Arts Council will not jeopardize the matching funds from the National Endowment of the Arts.

 

On Wednesday, House Judiciary Chair Lance Kinzer introduced legislation that updates the Kansas partial-birth abortion ban.  It also requires stricter abortion reporting and parental notification for a minor seeking an abortion.  Parental notification will definitely discourage sexual predators from covering up their crime by aborting the evidence. This bill is similar to the one passed by both the House and Senate last session only to be vetoed by the previous governor.  Our newly elected Governor, Sam Brownback, has said he will sign the legislation when it hits his desk.  The bill currently has sixty three co-sponsors, including me.

 

Friday, I attended the Topeka Rally for Life and listened to the rally's keynote speaker, Governor Sam Brownback.  At least 1,000 people braved the cold and snow to show their support for life, our new Governor, and the pro-life legislators who were attending.

 

My office phone number is 785-296-7671.  In the event I'm not in my office, call the legislative hotline at 1-800-432-3924 to leave a message.  You can also contact me by e-mail: [email protected] .

 

My intern will be posting weekly updates at my web site www.connieobrien.net  

Brownback Honeymoon?

 

Brownback Honeymoon? Certainly the people of Kansas, in the November elections, moved state government way to the right. But, the different branches of government are, by design, balancing each other. I believe this to be healthy. Checks and balances work well.

I am apprehensive about this session, with good reason - the $500 million deficit that state government must deal with. We have a big job to do and it will not be easy finding this amount of money to cut, without hurting needed services. But, in his first week, the Governor has given me reason to be encouraged. I'll tell you why.

First, we now have a governor who is willing to look inside his bureaucracy for waste and inefficiencies. He has already proposed the elimination of six state agencies by consolidating their functions with other agencies. Though the legislature budgets the money, we do not have the needed knowledge or ability to actually reach into executive branch agencies to make such major changes. The governor does. And, he is.

Second, the governor has gathered much of his cabinet from the real world, business and industry leaders, rather than choosing government bureaucrats, who lack real world experience. The governor has an attitude of cutting, rather than growing, the size of Kansas government and he's gathered people that have done this in their own private businesses, and I'm not talking just small businesses.

Third, Governor Brownback is approachable; he is a "real" person. He is open and honest about the task ahead. He doesn't act like he has all the answers. He is seeking ideas and advice from any and all. The governor is actually seen out meeting, talking, and interacting with ordinary people in and around the Capitol. One day he walked, unaccompanied and unplanned, to the Docking State Office Building where he had lunch in the cafeteria with the state employees there. Another day his staff couldn't find him and later learned that he had walked across the street and had eaten at Wendy's.

Fourth, the governor is smart about the task ahead. He is expressing solid ideas that have come from much consultation with experts. He is willing to take political risks to do the right thing; to do what is necessary in these difficult economic times. But, his approach, as we've just seen in his proposed budget, is conservative in that it is not too big of a bite. For this reason some in the legislature feel that he has not done enough and they are questioning parts of the budget. That's what legislators do. But I've learned that if you take too big of a bite, you choke.

Finally, the governor's attitude toward the legislature is conciliatory. He has made it clear that he is willing to work together with the legislature and accept "improvements" to his proposed budget. This attitude of working together to accomplish a common goal is quite refreshing and it is my hope that it will spread through all of government.

The task ahead is formidable but, with persistence, the potential gains for the state of Kansas are great.

 

Forrest Knox, 13th Dist. State Rep.

January 17, 2011 

 Double Minded With No True North

 

Has it ever struck you as odd that the same worldview that brings tens of thousands of rioters to the streets in Lebanon and Pakistan is on the rise with Progressives protesting for peace in London and Paris?

 Doesn't it seem curious that the ideology that subjugates women to second tier status in Saudi Arabia and Sudan is held in high regard in San Francisco and Seattle?  

 Ever stopped to ask why the same seculars who argue for the separation of Church and State now claim that those who argue against Sharia Law are guilty of hate?   

 How odd is it that the West - a culture that gave the world racial equality, human rights, women's suffrage, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of expression - A culture that arguably gave the world Freedom - How odd is it that this culture's leaders now speak in egalitarian tones of countries that still openly traffic in slaves, behead blasphemers (i.e. Christians), and stone "unfaithful" women.

 Or how about this - How much sense does it make that NPR - the paragon of tolerance - fired Juan Williams (a noted liberal) for exercising his liberties of speech and ideological expression while FOX News - (labeled by some as too conservative) retained Williams and let him continue to say whatever he wanted to say?

 Does any of this bother you?  Does any of this make your head spin as you watch our ideological compass whirl aimlessly?  Does any of this make you suspect that the laws of nature and nature's God are the only true "moral" north and that without these self-evident truths we are like the double-minded men spoken of in James: unstable in all our ways and cast about with every waive of public fancy and political fad.

 

Dr. Everett Piper

President, Oklahoma Wesleyan University

The Child 

America's Battle for the Next Generation 

 

Attend A Screening Near You 

 

February 25, 2011                                 March 1, 2011

Grace Christian Fellowship church          Riverfront Community Center

9200 Parellel Parkway                            123 S. Esplanade

Kansas City, KS  66112                           Leavenworth, KS  66048

 

Admission is Free 

 

Visit www.ParentalRight.org for more information. 

         

THE TRUTH FACTOR

"A Country Divided"

 

Never before, in my entire life, have I witnessed such division in our country.  People seem perplexed by this notion and cannot understand why we can't just "get along".  The main reason is because the division represents two completely different ideologies.  Some of the folks want a huge government that will completely control and take care of them and make decisions for them. The power hungry politicians are more than happy to do that.    The rest of us want a limited government that will protect and defend but mostly butt out!  We would like to have the freedom to make our own choices because we believe we know better than anyone how to live our own lives.   That is pretty much it in a nutshell.

 

Our forefathers, devout men of faith with brilliant minds, established our Republic based on individual freedom. Somewhere in the last 100 or so years, our country has gotten off track and the "Elitists" have decided they are smarter than the people who have elected them. Political correctness has reared its ugly head and the result is that common sense has gone out the window.  People are afraid to disagree or even have a discussion on just about any topic because they do not want to be chastised.  We tiptoe around topics so as not to offend anyone. If you disagree with someone's opinion, you are labeled a hate monger or a racist, all simply because you do not agree with them.  What ever happened to our First Amendment and freedom of speech?  What ever happened to civil discourse?

 

We really need to start paying close attention to what is happening in our government.  Those of us who voted last November know that the people gave Congress a wake up call.  It is really not so much about Democrats or Republicans or Independents-it is more about the arrogant attitude of those in Washington DC.  They pass laws even though they are fully aware the majority of the people don't want them or agree with them.  They don't care.  Why? They are more interested in power and control. The attitude is appalling and "We the People" have finally had enough. 

 

Not only is Congress out of control, the current administration is passing regulations through agencies such as the FCC and the EPA.  They are completely circumventing Congress, which means they don't need Congress to pass legislation.  They will just do it through Executive Orders or changing regulations through the government agencies.  They too are spitting in our faces.  So far, the FCC has decided they will control the Internet.  Really?!  Also, since the administration could not get the Cap and Trade bill passed through Congress, the EPA passed regulations to control carbon emissions from power plants and refineries. 

 

Sadly enough, we won't hear about most of this from the mainstream media.  They have an agenda that parallels that of the current administration.  We will have to find information from other places by researching websites and programs that will tell us both sides of the story.  Then we will have to choose-either stand up and fight for our freedoms and the Republic or watch this great nation continue down the path to Socialism.  I, for one, am standing up and fighting.  My freedoms are too precious to me, and too many people have shed their blood so that we could be free.  I believe it was by the grace of God we were born in this country.  I pray all of you will join me and become more involved.   Power to the people!

 

Mauri Kelley

Putting Things in Perspective 

Dennis Prager - Q & A at the University of Denver
 
"We the People" is the mantra of the people.
The Party Platform is the voice of the Party in action.
Politicians are instruments to be used to effect policy and change.
 
 



An Anonymous Observation
"The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."
Who should I contact?

Leavenworth County Republican Party Leadership
John Bradford...............................Chair
Connie O'Brien........................Vice Chair
Barbara Paulus...........................Secretary
Linda Flanagan.........................Treasurer

First District
Robert (Bob) Holland..............913-772-2221

Second District
Clyde Graeber......................913-682-4514

Third District & Board Chair
John C. Flower.....................913-634-0061


State Representatives
Kansas House of Representatives, 39th District
Owen Donohoe.....................913-484-1152

Kansas House of Representatives, 41st District
Jana Goodman..................... 913-785-2577

Kansas House of Representatives, 42nd District
Connie O'Brien......................913-369-2933

National Representatives
U.S. House of Representatives - 2nd District
Lynn Jenkins.........................785-234-5966

U.S. Senate
Jerry Moran..........................202-224-6521
 
Pat Roberts..........................202-456-1414

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