For Rep. Allen West, the skyrocketing price of gasoline is not just a policy matter, it's a personal pocketbook issue. The Florida tea-party Republican (who, of course, blames President Obama for the increase) recently posted a message on Facebook wailing that it's now costing him $70 to fill his Hummer H3.
It's hard to feel the pain of a whining, $174,000-a-year congress-critter, but millions of regular Americans really are feeling pain at the pump - especially truck drivers, cabbies, farmer, commuters and others whose livelihoods are tethered to the whims of Big Oil. It's an especially cynical political stunt, then, for congressional Republicans, GOP presidential wannabes and a chorus of right-wing mouthpieces to use gas price pain as a whip for lashing out at Obama's January decision to reject the infamous Keystone XL pipeline.
This friendly Canadian corporation, they cried, would send 700,000 barrels of "tar sands crude" oil per day through the 2,000-mile-long pipeline that it would build from Alberta, Canada, to Texas refineries on the Gulf Coast. "Less dependence on OPEC," they chant like a mantra, "more gasoline for America, lower prices for consumers." What's not to like?
Well, aside from inevitable environmental damage from pipeline leaks, and the fact that this foreign-owned corporation would use the autocratic power of eminent domain to take land from unwilling sellers along the 2,000 mile route, here's something not to like: The gasoline and diesel that would be made from this Canadian crude would not go to American gas pumps, but to foreign markets.
The dirty little secret that those pushing so urgently for building Keystone XL don't want you to know is that the tar sands oil producers are in cahoots with Texas refineries to move the product onto the lucrative global export market, selling it to buyers in Europe, Latin America and China - not to you and me.
The pipeline and the toxic crude it'll carry across six states would do absolutely nothing to shave even a penny off of the price we pay at the pump.
Already, U.S. refineries are exporting records amounts of the gasoline they make. For the first time in 62 years, America is now a net petroleum exporter. Valero Energy Corp., the largest U.S. exporter of refined petroleum products, is a major lobbyist for Keystone XL. Along with Motiva (an oil refiner jointly owned by Shell and Saudi Aramco) and Total (a French refinery), Valero has signed secret, long-term contracts with Keystone's owner (TransCanada Corp.) and several tar sands oil producers to bring this crude to Port Arthur, Texas. All three have upgraded their refineries there to process diesel for export.
Adding to Big Oil's enjoyment is the fact that the Port Arthur refineries of Valero, Motiva and Total are within a Foreign Trade Zone, giving them special tax breaks for shipping gasoline and diesel out of our country. And adding to the dismay of some U.S. consumers, TransCanada has quietly boasted that Keystone XL would cut gasoline supplies in our Midwestern states, thus raising prices at the pump and siphoning more billions of dollars a year from consumers pockets into the vaults of multinational oil interests.
So, lets tally the score in this Keystone pipeline deal: The American people's environment would be put at risk, foreign nations would get the fuel, pipeline and oil investors would get the tax-subsidized profits, and we'd all stay hooked on deadly polluting oil. Meanwhile, the financial speculators and supply manipulators who are artificially causing our gasoline prices to rise escape scrutiny, while self-serving politicians (tanked up on Big Oil's and Wall Street's campaign cash) divert attention to the bugaboo of Obama's pipeline decision.
And, yet again, our nation has an excuse to postpone the necessary investments in conservation, alternative fuels and mass transit that will actually solve the gas-gouging problem.
What's not to like?
http://www.creators.com/opinion/jim-hightower/the-keystone-xl-flim-flam.html
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
The High Price of Speculation
I’ve heard people disparage the increasing price of gasoline at the pump and blame this on availability of a publicly traded commodity, petroleum. It is a fallacy to claim we can drill our way to cheaper fuel. That is like saying we can solve the high price of gold by mining. A recent study shows that if we drilled every know oil reserve, we would lower gasoline prices by the fantastic sum of three cents a gallon. The real reason, we have high oil prices is market speculation, pure and simple.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Meet Mr. Immigration Law: Kris Kobach
Kris W. Kobach is the Secretary of State of Kansas.[1]He is also currently of counsel with the Immigration Law Reform Institute in Washington, D.C.[2]
He is a former chairman of Kansas Republican Party and city councilman in Overland Park, Kansas. He ran unsuccessfully for Kansas's 3rd congressional district in 2004. In May 2009, he announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State.[3] In August 2010, he won the Republican nomination for Secretary of State in a three-way race, carrying 50 percent of the vote, and was elected Secretary of State in the general election in a 59–37 percent vote
Kobach graduated from Washburn Rural High School in Topeka, Kansas in 1984. Four years later, he earned an A.B. (summa cum laude) in Government from Harvard College, graduating first in his class in the Government Department. Subsequently, the Court of St. James awarded him a Marshall Scholarship, which allowed him to earn M.A. and D.Phil. degrees in Politics from Oxford University (in 1990 and 1992, respectively). He then returned to the United States and attended the Yale Law School, where he earned his J.D. in 1995[1][4] and served as an editor on the Yale Law Journal. During this time, he published two books: The Referendum: Direct Democracy in Switzerland (Dartmouth, 1994), and Political Capital: The Motives, Tactics, and Goals of Politicized Businesses in South Africa (University Press of America, 1990).
From 1995 to 1996, Kobach clerked for Judge Deanell Reece Tacha of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Lawrence, Kansas. He began his professorship at UMKC shortly thereafter.
In 2001, President George W. Bush awarded him a White House Fellowship to work for Attorney General John Ashcroft. At the end of the fellowship, he stayed on as Counsel to the Attorney General. Shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, he led a team of attorneys and researchers who formulated and established the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System. In addition, he took part in work to reshape the Board of Immigration Appeals in 2002. After his government service ended, he returned to UMKC, where he holds a chaired professorship
While running for Congress, Kobach represented out-of-state students (on behalf of Federation for American Immigration Reform) in a lawsuit against the state of Kansas, challenging a state law which grants in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. The suit was dismissed for lack of legal standing for the plaintiffs.[6]
In 2005, Kobach filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Immigration Reform Law Institute, challenging a similar law in California. In September 2008, the California Court of Appeal held that California's law granting in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens was preempted by federal law. (Martinez v. Regents, 166 Cal. App. 4th 1121 (2008)).
In November 2010, the California Supreme Court unanimously reversed, finding that the law was not preempted by federal law.[7]
In 2010, Kobach filed a third lawsuit, this time in Nebraska.[8][9] The case is still pending.
Kobach has also litigated several lawsuits defending cities and states that adopt laws to discourage illegal immigration. He served as lead lawyer defending the city of Valley Park, Missouri in a federal case concerning an ordinance that sanctioned employers who hire unauthorized aliens. The ordinance was upheld by Missouri federal judge E. Richard Webber on January 31, 2008 (Gray v. Valley Park, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7238).[4][5] The ACLU, representing the plaintiff, appealed the case to the Eighth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. Kobach prevailed in the appeal, and the Court allowed the Valley Park ordinance to stand (Gray v. Valley Park, 567 F.3d 976 (8th Cir. 2009)). The ordinance was upheld by Missouri federal judge E. Richard Webber on January 31, 2008 (Gray v. Valley Park, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7238).[4][5] The ACLU, representing the plaintiff, appealed the case to the Eighth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. Kobach prevailed in the appeal, and the Court allowed the Valley Park ordinance to stand (Gray v. Valley Park, 567 F.3d 976 (8th Cir. 2009)).
Kobach is also the lead attorney defending the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, whose anti-immigration ordinances had been struck down by a federal judge in Pennsylvania and again before the Third Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.[10]
He is currently involved with another lawsuit, involving a Farmers Branch, Texas ordinance that prevents landlords from renting to illegal immigrants.[4] That case is on appeal before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Kobach played a significant role in the drafting of Arizona SB1070, a state law that attracted national attention as the country's broadest and strictest—at the state level—anti-illegal immigration measure in a long time, and has assisted in defending the state during the ongoing legal battle over SB 1070's legality.[11][12][13] On February 7, 2008, Federal Judge Neil V. Wake ruled against a lawsuit filed by construction contractors and immigrant organizations who sought to halt a state law that imposes severe penalties on employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.[4][5] The plaintiffs appealed the ruling, but Arizona prevailed (with Kobach's assistance) in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (Chicanos por law Causa v. Napolitano, 558 F.3d 856 (2009)). The case is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Kobach was also credited as a primary author of Alabama HB 56, passed in 2010, which has been described as tougher than Arizona's controversial law. Alabama State Senator Scott Beason and Representative Micky Hammon met Kobach at an Eagle Forum of Alabama conference in Birmingham. They worked closely with Kobach to draft the bill so that it would survive judicial review.[14]
In the 2004 election cycle, Kobach was the Republican nominee for Congress in the 3rd District, besting primary opponents Adam Taff and Patricia Lightner (Taff had previously lost the 2002 election for the same office to Dennis Moore,[15] and Lightner was a six-year veteran state legislator).[15]
He lost to incumbent Dennis Moore, 55%–43%. The victory was the largest of Moore's congressional campaigns.
The campaign thrust Kobach onto the national stage, mostly due to his stances illegal immigration issues and campaign contributions he received from groups reportedly tied to white supremacists.[5][16][17][18][19] He was given a speaking role on the opening day of the 2004 Republican National Convention and used his slot to call for the U.S. military to be sent to the Mexican border to block illegal immigration.[20]
On May 26, 2009, Kobach announced his candidacy for Kansas Secretary of State. His opponents in the Republican primary were Shawnee County Election Commissioner Elizabeth Ensley and J.R. Claeys, former president of the National Association of Government Contractors. Kobach won the Republican nomination with 50.6% of the vote. Ensley and Claeys finished with 27.0% and 22.4%, respectively.[24]
On November 2, 2010, Kobach defeated incumbent Democrat Chris Biggs, 59%–37%. Kobach was endorsed by former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson, as well as former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft (his former boss at the Dept. of Justice). Arizona's Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio campaigned for Kobach as well.[25]
Kobach's treasury secretary, Tom Aprke, was accused of hiding campaign contributions and expenditures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Kobach
References
1.^ a b c d "Kris W. Kobach". University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law. Retrieved July 20, 2009.[dead link]
2.^ "Immigration Law Reform Institute Attorney's Page". Immigration Law Reform Institute. Retrieved July 20, 2009.[dead link]
3.^ Carpenter, Tim (May 26, 2009). "GOP primary assured". Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
4.^ a b c d e Lawyer Leads an Immigration Fight ,Monday, July 20, 2009, Online edition http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/us/21lawyer.html?_r=1&hp
5.^ a b c d "The Nativists: Kris Kobach, 41 – Kansas City, MO". Southern Poverty Law Center. Spring, 2008. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
6.^ Maines, Sophia; Rothschild, Scott (September 28, 2006). "Immigrant tuition law on trial". Lawrence Journal and World News. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
7.^ California Supreme Court Upholds § 68130.5’s Resident Tuition Payment for Illegal Aliens; Deems Federal Immigration Statutes Non-Preemptive, November 15, 2010, accessed January 11, 2012
8.^ Don Walton, "Immigration lawyer says lawsuit isn't politics" Lincoln Journal Star, January 10, 2010, accessed February 23, 2010
9.^ Mary Sanchez, "Kobach is still at it on tuition crusade" The Kansas City Star, January 27, 2010, accessed February 23, 2010
10.^ New York Times, Sunday, February 10, 2008, p.(A)22
11.^ O'Leary, Kevin (April 16, 2010). "Arizona's Tough New Law Against Illegal Immigrants". Time.
12.^ Schwartz, John; Archibold, Randal C. (April 28, 2010). "A Law Facing a Tough Road Through the Courts". The New York Times: p. A17.
13.^ "Why Arizona Drew a Line" OpEd by Kobach, The New York Times, April 28, 2010 (April 29, 2010 p. A31 NY ed.). Retrieved April 29, 2010.
14.^ Talbot, George (16 October 2011). "Kris Kobach, the Kansas lawyer behind Alabama's immigration law". Mobile Press-Register.
15.^ a b Humphreys, Zachary; Kropf, Martha (May 2, 2005). "The Road to Congress 2004 – Ch 3: Hustle, Attention, And a Little Bit of Luck: Moore Defeats Kobach in Kansas Third Congressional District". Nova Science Publishers. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
16.^ Election 2004 Coverage, The Washington Post (November 4, 2004). "Election 2004 State Roundup – The Plains". Washington Post. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
17.^ Moon, Chris (October 24, 2004). "Iraq war, taxes and health care drive 3rd District race". Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
18.^ Zeskind, Leonard (September 23, 2004). "Kris Kobach loads up with anti-immigration ammo". Kansas City Pitch. Retrieved July 24, 2009.
19.^ Bulkeley, Deborah (February 25, 2006). "Foe of immigrant tuition denies supremacist links". Deseret News: pp. B.01. ISSN 07454724.
20.^ Blumenthal, Max (October 18, 2004). "Backlash on the border". Salon.com. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
21.^ http://cjonline.com/stories/073107/sta_188000024.shtml
22.^ http://cjonline.com/opinion/2010-06-16/letter_kobach_responds
23.^ http://www.hutchnews.com/Todaystop/C-1276048745-05
24.^ "2010 Kansas Republican Primary election results for Kansas Secretary of State", KMBC-TV Channel 9, Kansas City, August 4, 2010.
25.^ "Arizona sheriff Arpaio stumps for Kobach", Wichita Eagle and Kansas.com, July 14, 2010.
26.^ [kansas.watchdog.org/7620/kobachs-campaign-committee-to-face-ethics-civil-fine-hearing/ "Kobach's campaign committee to face ethics civil fines hearing"], KansasWatchdog.Org, September 29, 2011.
27.^ "Don MacRobert knows how to get ahead of the game", by Ronnie Apteker and John Vlismas, Business Report, May 25, 2007. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
28.^ "President Bush Appoints His First Class Of White House Fellows", White House Press Release, June 19, 2001. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
29.^ Campaign bio, Campaign Web site. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Kobach
[edit] External links
Secretary of State's website
UMKC Faculty Biography
Washburn Rural H.S. Alumni Hall of Fame
New York Times profile, 2009
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Kobach
He is a former chairman of Kansas Republican Party and city councilman in Overland Park, Kansas. He ran unsuccessfully for Kansas's 3rd congressional district in 2004. In May 2009, he announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State.[3] In August 2010, he won the Republican nomination for Secretary of State in a three-way race, carrying 50 percent of the vote, and was elected Secretary of State in the general election in a 59–37 percent vote
Kobach graduated from Washburn Rural High School in Topeka, Kansas in 1984. Four years later, he earned an A.B. (summa cum laude) in Government from Harvard College, graduating first in his class in the Government Department. Subsequently, the Court of St. James awarded him a Marshall Scholarship, which allowed him to earn M.A. and D.Phil. degrees in Politics from Oxford University (in 1990 and 1992, respectively). He then returned to the United States and attended the Yale Law School, where he earned his J.D. in 1995[1][4] and served as an editor on the Yale Law Journal. During this time, he published two books: The Referendum: Direct Democracy in Switzerland (Dartmouth, 1994), and Political Capital: The Motives, Tactics, and Goals of Politicized Businesses in South Africa (University Press of America, 1990).
From 1995 to 1996, Kobach clerked for Judge Deanell Reece Tacha of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Lawrence, Kansas. He began his professorship at UMKC shortly thereafter.
In 2001, President George W. Bush awarded him a White House Fellowship to work for Attorney General John Ashcroft. At the end of the fellowship, he stayed on as Counsel to the Attorney General. Shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, he led a team of attorneys and researchers who formulated and established the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System. In addition, he took part in work to reshape the Board of Immigration Appeals in 2002. After his government service ended, he returned to UMKC, where he holds a chaired professorship
While running for Congress, Kobach represented out-of-state students (on behalf of Federation for American Immigration Reform) in a lawsuit against the state of Kansas, challenging a state law which grants in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. The suit was dismissed for lack of legal standing for the plaintiffs.[6]
In 2005, Kobach filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Immigration Reform Law Institute, challenging a similar law in California. In September 2008, the California Court of Appeal held that California's law granting in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens was preempted by federal law. (Martinez v. Regents, 166 Cal. App. 4th 1121 (2008)).
In November 2010, the California Supreme Court unanimously reversed, finding that the law was not preempted by federal law.[7]
In 2010, Kobach filed a third lawsuit, this time in Nebraska.[8][9] The case is still pending.
Kobach has also litigated several lawsuits defending cities and states that adopt laws to discourage illegal immigration. He served as lead lawyer defending the city of Valley Park, Missouri in a federal case concerning an ordinance that sanctioned employers who hire unauthorized aliens. The ordinance was upheld by Missouri federal judge E. Richard Webber on January 31, 2008 (Gray v. Valley Park, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7238).[4][5] The ACLU, representing the plaintiff, appealed the case to the Eighth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. Kobach prevailed in the appeal, and the Court allowed the Valley Park ordinance to stand (Gray v. Valley Park, 567 F.3d 976 (8th Cir. 2009)). The ordinance was upheld by Missouri federal judge E. Richard Webber on January 31, 2008 (Gray v. Valley Park, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7238).[4][5] The ACLU, representing the plaintiff, appealed the case to the Eighth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. Kobach prevailed in the appeal, and the Court allowed the Valley Park ordinance to stand (Gray v. Valley Park, 567 F.3d 976 (8th Cir. 2009)).
Kobach is also the lead attorney defending the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, whose anti-immigration ordinances had been struck down by a federal judge in Pennsylvania and again before the Third Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.[10]
He is currently involved with another lawsuit, involving a Farmers Branch, Texas ordinance that prevents landlords from renting to illegal immigrants.[4] That case is on appeal before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Kobach played a significant role in the drafting of Arizona SB1070, a state law that attracted national attention as the country's broadest and strictest—at the state level—anti-illegal immigration measure in a long time, and has assisted in defending the state during the ongoing legal battle over SB 1070's legality.[11][12][13] On February 7, 2008, Federal Judge Neil V. Wake ruled against a lawsuit filed by construction contractors and immigrant organizations who sought to halt a state law that imposes severe penalties on employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.[4][5] The plaintiffs appealed the ruling, but Arizona prevailed (with Kobach's assistance) in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (Chicanos por law Causa v. Napolitano, 558 F.3d 856 (2009)). The case is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Kobach was also credited as a primary author of Alabama HB 56, passed in 2010, which has been described as tougher than Arizona's controversial law. Alabama State Senator Scott Beason and Representative Micky Hammon met Kobach at an Eagle Forum of Alabama conference in Birmingham. They worked closely with Kobach to draft the bill so that it would survive judicial review.[14]
In the 2004 election cycle, Kobach was the Republican nominee for Congress in the 3rd District, besting primary opponents Adam Taff and Patricia Lightner (Taff had previously lost the 2002 election for the same office to Dennis Moore,[15] and Lightner was a six-year veteran state legislator).[15]
He lost to incumbent Dennis Moore, 55%–43%. The victory was the largest of Moore's congressional campaigns.
The campaign thrust Kobach onto the national stage, mostly due to his stances illegal immigration issues and campaign contributions he received from groups reportedly tied to white supremacists.[5][16][17][18][19] He was given a speaking role on the opening day of the 2004 Republican National Convention and used his slot to call for the U.S. military to be sent to the Mexican border to block illegal immigration.[20]
On May 26, 2009, Kobach announced his candidacy for Kansas Secretary of State. His opponents in the Republican primary were Shawnee County Election Commissioner Elizabeth Ensley and J.R. Claeys, former president of the National Association of Government Contractors. Kobach won the Republican nomination with 50.6% of the vote. Ensley and Claeys finished with 27.0% and 22.4%, respectively.[24]
On November 2, 2010, Kobach defeated incumbent Democrat Chris Biggs, 59%–37%. Kobach was endorsed by former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson, as well as former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft (his former boss at the Dept. of Justice). Arizona's Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio campaigned for Kobach as well.[25]
Kobach's treasury secretary, Tom Aprke, was accused of hiding campaign contributions and expenditures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Kobach
References
1.^ a b c d "Kris W. Kobach". University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law. Retrieved July 20, 2009.[dead link]
2.^ "Immigration Law Reform Institute Attorney's Page". Immigration Law Reform Institute. Retrieved July 20, 2009.[dead link]
3.^ Carpenter, Tim (May 26, 2009). "GOP primary assured". Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
4.^ a b c d e Lawyer Leads an Immigration Fight ,Monday, July 20, 2009, Online edition http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/us/21lawyer.html?_r=1&hp
5.^ a b c d "The Nativists: Kris Kobach, 41 – Kansas City, MO". Southern Poverty Law Center. Spring, 2008. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
6.^ Maines, Sophia; Rothschild, Scott (September 28, 2006). "Immigrant tuition law on trial". Lawrence Journal and World News. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
7.^ California Supreme Court Upholds § 68130.5’s Resident Tuition Payment for Illegal Aliens; Deems Federal Immigration Statutes Non-Preemptive, November 15, 2010, accessed January 11, 2012
8.^ Don Walton, "Immigration lawyer says lawsuit isn't politics" Lincoln Journal Star, January 10, 2010, accessed February 23, 2010
9.^ Mary Sanchez, "Kobach is still at it on tuition crusade" The Kansas City Star, January 27, 2010, accessed February 23, 2010
10.^ New York Times, Sunday, February 10, 2008, p.(A)22
11.^ O'Leary, Kevin (April 16, 2010). "Arizona's Tough New Law Against Illegal Immigrants". Time.
12.^ Schwartz, John; Archibold, Randal C. (April 28, 2010). "A Law Facing a Tough Road Through the Courts". The New York Times: p. A17.
13.^ "Why Arizona Drew a Line" OpEd by Kobach, The New York Times, April 28, 2010 (April 29, 2010 p. A31 NY ed.). Retrieved April 29, 2010.
14.^ Talbot, George (16 October 2011). "Kris Kobach, the Kansas lawyer behind Alabama's immigration law". Mobile Press-Register.
15.^ a b Humphreys, Zachary; Kropf, Martha (May 2, 2005). "The Road to Congress 2004 – Ch 3: Hustle, Attention, And a Little Bit of Luck: Moore Defeats Kobach in Kansas Third Congressional District". Nova Science Publishers. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
16.^ Election 2004 Coverage, The Washington Post (November 4, 2004). "Election 2004 State Roundup – The Plains". Washington Post. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
17.^ Moon, Chris (October 24, 2004). "Iraq war, taxes and health care drive 3rd District race". Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
18.^ Zeskind, Leonard (September 23, 2004). "Kris Kobach loads up with anti-immigration ammo". Kansas City Pitch. Retrieved July 24, 2009.
19.^ Bulkeley, Deborah (February 25, 2006). "Foe of immigrant tuition denies supremacist links". Deseret News: pp. B.01. ISSN 07454724.
20.^ Blumenthal, Max (October 18, 2004). "Backlash on the border". Salon.com. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
21.^ http://cjonline.com/stories/073107/sta_188000024.shtml
22.^ http://cjonline.com/opinion/2010-06-16/letter_kobach_responds
23.^ http://www.hutchnews.com/Todaystop/C-1276048745-05
24.^ "2010 Kansas Republican Primary election results for Kansas Secretary of State", KMBC-TV Channel 9, Kansas City, August 4, 2010.
25.^ "Arizona sheriff Arpaio stumps for Kobach", Wichita Eagle and Kansas.com, July 14, 2010.
26.^ [kansas.watchdog.org/7620/kobachs-campaign-committee-to-face-ethics-civil-fine-hearing/ "Kobach's campaign committee to face ethics civil fines hearing"], KansasWatchdog.Org, September 29, 2011.
27.^ "Don MacRobert knows how to get ahead of the game", by Ronnie Apteker and John Vlismas, Business Report, May 25, 2007. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
28.^ "President Bush Appoints His First Class Of White House Fellows", White House Press Release, June 19, 2001. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
29.^ Campaign bio, Campaign Web site. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Kobach
[edit] External links
Secretary of State's website
UMKC Faculty Biography
Washburn Rural H.S. Alumni Hall of Fame
New York Times profile, 2009
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Kobach
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Perry claimed retirement to collect extra state benefits on top of salary
By CHRISTY HOPPE and TERRENCE STUTZ
Austin Bureau of Dallas Morning News: 16 December 2011
AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry claimed his retirement benefit from the state last January and has padded his salary with an additional $92,000 in taxpayer funds, financial disclosures filed in the presidential race show.
Under state law, Perry, 61, is eligible for retirement through his 25 years in public office coupled with his five years of military service. The supplemental pay boosted his state-paid gross income to $242,000 annually.
He was able to retire and continue in office through a quirk in state law provided for statewide elected officials. And while the double-dip benefit is available for other state employees, Perry has signed laws as governor that make it more difficult for others, especially teachers, to take advantage.
The revelation Friday immediately provoked rebukes from Democrats and teacher groups.
Texas Democratic Party spokesman Anthony Gutierrez pointed out that Perry claimed the benefit as the Legislature was slashing state spending to resolve a $23 billion shortfall. The brunt of the cuts was to public education, and school districts have laid off thousands of teachers.
“Somehow this Republican budget doesn’t have room to pay teachers, but they can give Rick Perry a $100,000 pay raise,” Gutierrez said. “If Perry wants retirement benefits, he should do us all a favor and actually retire.”
Perry was asked about the retirement benefits while campaigning in Iowa, where he has made cutting congressional pay part of his presidential agenda. He defended the “double-dipping,” of drawing full retirement and a full state salary as a common-sense decision that lies within state rules that have “been in place for decades.”
“As you reach that age you become eligible for it, so I don’t find that to be, you know, out of the ordinary,” Perry told ABC News. “It’d be rather foolish to not access what you’ve earned.”
Communications director Ray Sullivan said that the decision, first reported Friday by the Texas Tribune, was part of “his standard financial planning,” and that “the annuity is consistent with Texas state law and Employee Retirement System rules.”
Sullivan pointed out that the governor still has 6.5 percent of his $150,000 salary withheld to pay into the retirement system.
A recent study by Bloomberg News of states that allow employees to draw full retirement benefits while earning a full salary showed that at least 6,100 Texas employees are double-dipping at a cost of about $400 million in combined payments.
The costs have prompted new laws to make it harder for regular state employees and teachers to draw both a salary and a pension, all of which were signed by Perry.
In 2005, Perry signed a Teacher Retirement System bill that financially penalizes school districts that hire retired teachers receiving pension benefits. Basically, the law requires school districts — instead of the state — to pay pension and health care contributions for each retired teacher who is hired. That’s estimated to be about $5,100 a year.
School districts are also free to reduce the salaries of those teachers by that amount.
“The goal was to make it less attractive for school districts to hire retired teachers — and it has certainly worked,” said Ted Molina Raab of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, noting that school districts are hiring fewer retirees and many teachers are waiting longer to retire.
Clay Robison of the Texas State Teachers Association said the 2005 law and another law passed this year make it far more difficult for teachers to double-dip.
“We have a governor who is using government to stuff his pockets while demanding that everyone else make sacrifices,” Robison said.
This year, Perry signed another bill that will require teachers who retire to sit out for a year before they can return full time to the classroom, or else surrender their retirement checks. The restriction applies only to teachers who retire this year or in future years.
In addition, two years ago the governor signed another law that requires any retired state employee — not just teachers — to leave state work for 90 days before becoming eligible for rehire.
The law also requires the state agency hiring a retired employee to pay a monthly financial surcharge to the state’s Employee Retirement System. The restrictions apply only if the retiree returns in the same employee class.
The governor meets that exception because he is receiving his pension as a retired state employee. State elected officials are a different class of employee in the retirement system, and he continues to pay into the system as an elected official.
Before his decade as governor, Perry served six years in the state House, eight more as agriculture commissioner, and two as lieutenant governor.
“It certainly looks like he’s taking advantage of a legal loophole that allows him to truly double-dip, collecting a retirement check and paycheck from the state, while other state and school employees don’t have the same opportunity,” Raab said.
choppe@dallasnews.com;
tstutz@dallasnews.com
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/perry-watch/headlines/20111216-perry-claimed-retirement-to-collect-extra-state-benefits-on-top-of-salary.ece
Austin Bureau of Dallas Morning News: 16 December 2011
AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry claimed his retirement benefit from the state last January and has padded his salary with an additional $92,000 in taxpayer funds, financial disclosures filed in the presidential race show.
Under state law, Perry, 61, is eligible for retirement through his 25 years in public office coupled with his five years of military service. The supplemental pay boosted his state-paid gross income to $242,000 annually.
He was able to retire and continue in office through a quirk in state law provided for statewide elected officials. And while the double-dip benefit is available for other state employees, Perry has signed laws as governor that make it more difficult for others, especially teachers, to take advantage.
The revelation Friday immediately provoked rebukes from Democrats and teacher groups.
Texas Democratic Party spokesman Anthony Gutierrez pointed out that Perry claimed the benefit as the Legislature was slashing state spending to resolve a $23 billion shortfall. The brunt of the cuts was to public education, and school districts have laid off thousands of teachers.
“Somehow this Republican budget doesn’t have room to pay teachers, but they can give Rick Perry a $100,000 pay raise,” Gutierrez said. “If Perry wants retirement benefits, he should do us all a favor and actually retire.”
Perry was asked about the retirement benefits while campaigning in Iowa, where he has made cutting congressional pay part of his presidential agenda. He defended the “double-dipping,” of drawing full retirement and a full state salary as a common-sense decision that lies within state rules that have “been in place for decades.”
“As you reach that age you become eligible for it, so I don’t find that to be, you know, out of the ordinary,” Perry told ABC News. “It’d be rather foolish to not access what you’ve earned.”
Communications director Ray Sullivan said that the decision, first reported Friday by the Texas Tribune, was part of “his standard financial planning,” and that “the annuity is consistent with Texas state law and Employee Retirement System rules.”
Sullivan pointed out that the governor still has 6.5 percent of his $150,000 salary withheld to pay into the retirement system.
A recent study by Bloomberg News of states that allow employees to draw full retirement benefits while earning a full salary showed that at least 6,100 Texas employees are double-dipping at a cost of about $400 million in combined payments.
The costs have prompted new laws to make it harder for regular state employees and teachers to draw both a salary and a pension, all of which were signed by Perry.
In 2005, Perry signed a Teacher Retirement System bill that financially penalizes school districts that hire retired teachers receiving pension benefits. Basically, the law requires school districts — instead of the state — to pay pension and health care contributions for each retired teacher who is hired. That’s estimated to be about $5,100 a year.
School districts are also free to reduce the salaries of those teachers by that amount.
“The goal was to make it less attractive for school districts to hire retired teachers — and it has certainly worked,” said Ted Molina Raab of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, noting that school districts are hiring fewer retirees and many teachers are waiting longer to retire.
Clay Robison of the Texas State Teachers Association said the 2005 law and another law passed this year make it far more difficult for teachers to double-dip.
“We have a governor who is using government to stuff his pockets while demanding that everyone else make sacrifices,” Robison said.
This year, Perry signed another bill that will require teachers who retire to sit out for a year before they can return full time to the classroom, or else surrender their retirement checks. The restriction applies only to teachers who retire this year or in future years.
In addition, two years ago the governor signed another law that requires any retired state employee — not just teachers — to leave state work for 90 days before becoming eligible for rehire.
The law also requires the state agency hiring a retired employee to pay a monthly financial surcharge to the state’s Employee Retirement System. The restrictions apply only if the retiree returns in the same employee class.
The governor meets that exception because he is receiving his pension as a retired state employee. State elected officials are a different class of employee in the retirement system, and he continues to pay into the system as an elected official.
Before his decade as governor, Perry served six years in the state House, eight more as agriculture commissioner, and two as lieutenant governor.
“It certainly looks like he’s taking advantage of a legal loophole that allows him to truly double-dip, collecting a retirement check and paycheck from the state, while other state and school employees don’t have the same opportunity,” Raab said.
choppe@dallasnews.com;
tstutz@dallasnews.com
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/perry-watch/headlines/20111216-perry-claimed-retirement-to-collect-extra-state-benefits-on-top-of-salary.ece
Friday, September 2, 2011
JOBS JOBS JOBS
How great would it be if we had a united Congress dedicated to creating jobs for America, instead of quarling congressmen beholden to their campaign donors with deep pockets?
Sunday, August 14, 2011
While You Were Sleeping II*
While you were sleeping, Texas Governor James Richard Perry declared for the Presidency in Charleston, SC in the shadow of Fort Sumter. No one told him he was 150 years too late to be President of the Confederacy and that a man who thinks he’s Abraham Lincoln is already in the White House. Perry’s alma mater, Texas A & M is also planning to secede from the Big XII Conference.
The Pentagon released the names of 36 soldiers killed in Afghanistan and most were Navy Elite Seals killed in a helicopter crash on a rescue mission.
The new movie about angry primates attacking the system and gaining control of government heads up the Box Office, subtitled, “The Tea Party Wins in The House”.
Republicans also have a plan to save Social Security. We are going to save Social Security by destroying it. We are going to prepare for our old age by allowing fund investors to churn Social Security funds into big paychecks for someone’s future.
* I just thought you might like to know what happened while you were sleeping. Now you can go back to sleep.
Thomas P. Love
The Pentagon released the names of 36 soldiers killed in Afghanistan and most were Navy Elite Seals killed in a helicopter crash on a rescue mission.
The new movie about angry primates attacking the system and gaining control of government heads up the Box Office, subtitled, “The Tea Party Wins in The House”.
Republicans also have a plan to save Social Security. We are going to save Social Security by destroying it. We are going to prepare for our old age by allowing fund investors to churn Social Security funds into big paychecks for someone’s future.
* I just thought you might like to know what happened while you were sleeping. Now you can go back to sleep.
Thomas P. Love
Saturday, August 13, 2011
How We Got Here in the Financial Crisis
The problem is this, the country had a surplus under Clinton. Bush gave tax cuts to the wealthy in a disportunate way. Bush initiated two wars in response to 911, without paying for either of them with taxes. The debt ballooned, and we had a financial crisis because of greed and lax regulation. Obama ended no wars and piled on additional spending in an inadequite stimulus and the crap hit the fan. There is enough blame for everybody, we need to fix the problem.
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