Sotomayor doesn’t believe in Church’s Views on Abortion
President Obama's Supreme Court nominee has made an astonishing admission -- she has never considered whether an unborn child has any rights. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) says he had a "good meeting" with Judge Sonia Sotomayor on Wednesday that covered a broad range of issues, but none of his concerns about the high court nominee were eased.? ?DeMint, chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, says he remains deeply disturbed with her view of the Second Amendment. "She was unwilling to say the Second Amendment protects a fundamental right that applies to all Americans, which raises serious questions about her view of the Bill of Rights," the senator offers. According to DeMint, Sotomayor -- a Catholic -- also indicated she does not share her church's commitment to protecting the unborn.? ?"When I asked if an unborn child has any rights whatsoever, I was surprised that she said she had never thought about it," he says.

Incredible! Obama orders Miranda Rights to Enemy on the Battlefield
The Obama Justice Department has quietly ordered FBI agents to read Miranda rights to high value detainees captured and held at U.S. detention facilities in Afghanistan, according a senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. “The administration has decided to change the focus to law enforcement. Here’s the problem. You have foreign fighters who are targeting US troops today – foreign fighters who go to another country to kill Americans. We capture them…and they’re reading them their rights – Mirandizing these foreign fighters,” says Representative Mike Rogers, who recently met with military, intelligence and law enforcement officials on a fact-finding trip to Afghanistan. Rogers, a former FBI special agent and U.S. Army officer, says the Obama administration has not briefed Congress on the new policy. “I was a little surprised to find it taking place when I showed up because we hadn’t been briefed on it, I didn’t know about it. We’re still trying to get to the bottom of it, but it is clearly a part of this new global justice initiative.”

AMA Officially Opposes Obama Government-Run Healthcare
As the health care debate heats up, the American Medical Association is letting Congress know that it will oppose creation of a government-sponsored insurance plan, which President Obama and many other Democrats see as an essential element of legislation to remake the health care system.

Holocaust Museum shooter suspect served time in prison
The suspect in Wednesday's shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Museum is an Annapolis resident who served time in prison in the 1980s for trying to kidnap members of the Federal Reserve Board and gave possible insight into his motivations on a personal Web site. James W. von Brunn - an elderly man who authorities say used a "long gun" to fire shots inside the museum Wednesday - espoused anti-Semitic ideology on a Web site, www.holywesternempire.org, and appears to have ties to white supremacists. He was arrested in 1981 for the Federal Reserve incident.

Rabbi: Obama Breeds Climate of Hate Against Jews
Our new president did not tell a virulent anti-Semite to travel to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington to kill Jews, but he is most certainly creating a climate of hate against us. It is no coincidence that we are witnessing this level of hatred toward Jews as President Barack Obama positions America against the Jewish state. Just days ago Obama traveled to Cairo, Egypt. It was his second trip in a short time to visit Muslim countries. He sent a clear message by not visiting Israel. In Cairo, Obama said things that pose a grave danger to Jews in Israel, in America and everywhere.

Obama Pastor Speaks Out Against Jews
In an interview on a liberal satellite radio show, Rev. Jeremiah Wright attempted to clarify his comments to the Newport News, Virginia. Daily-Press about “them Jews” preventing him from speaking to President Obama.

US government seeks to rein in executive pay
The Obama administration is taking a half-step toward taming U.S. executive pay. Some lawmakers prefer a fuller stride. Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee said Thursday the administration's efforts to hector the private sector into reining in executive pay might not go far enough.

Stop EPA Overreach
Last year we battled an EPA proposal to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, a proposal that would allow bureaucrats to control everything that emits carbon dioxide in our country, including: cars, trains, planes and even your lawnmower. Since the Obama Administration has taken hold, things have only gotten worse. The EPA is feeling emboldened and have submitted a proposal that would find carbon dioxide "endangers the public health and welfare." That's right; the essential gas that has always been a critical component of the planet's natural life cycle will now be officially labeled by the U.S. Government as a pollutant.

Recruitment Shooting Suspect Doesn't Think Killing Was Murder
A Muslim convert charged with fatally shooting an American soldier at a military recruiting center said Tuesday that he doesn't consider the killing a murder because U.S. military action in the Middle East made the killing justified. "I do feel I'm not guilty," Abdulhakim Muhammad told The Associated Press in a collect call from the Pulaski County jail. "I don't think it was murder, because murder is when a person kills another person without justified reason.

Shadegg Responds to Obama’s Muslim Speech
Rep. Shadegg: Obama Wrong in Speech Video: Reacting to President Obama's speech to the Muslim world, Rep. Shadegg says Obama makes little sense.

Rush: Obama destroying U.S. economy
Then came Gorbachev's prediction of "perhaps even greater upheaval down the road." "He is endorsing what Obama is doing, tearing apart the greatest economy in the history of the world. Mikhail Gorbachev, who presided over the collapse of his own economy, is essentially now endorsing the same steps taken by Barack Obama. I don't know about you, when I have a former communist totalitarian dictator articulating policies identical to those being enacted by a United States president, I get scared," he said.

Gingrich at Fundraiser Says Obama’s ‘Already Failed’
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said President Barack Obama’s plan to fix the economy through stimulus spending and government intervention to boost companies like General Motors Corp. has “already failed.”

Rupert Murdoch: Obama will ruin American business
Billionaire media businessman Rupert Murdoch says that Obama on wrong path and will ruin American business. He also indicated that unemployment will reach 11% in the near future.

Scarborough: Republicans Can Come Back in 2010 if they embrace Conservatism
Former U.S. Congressman Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," tells Newsmax that the "reckless" Republican Party betrayed core conservative values over the past eight years and will need to reform or die. But Scarborough, whose new book is "The Last Best Hope: Restoring Conservatism and America's Promise," also declared that President Barack Obama's "radical" economic policies could prove "disastrous.

Congresswomen: Obama Is Running A "Gangster" Government
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) speaking on the House floor today: "Now we've moved into the realm of gangster government. We have gangster government when the Federal Government has set up a new cartel and private businesses now have to go begging with their hand out to their local--hopefully well politically connected--Congressman or their Senator so they can buy a peace offering for that local business. Is that the kind of country we are going to have in the future?"

Jon Voight: “It’s time to bring an end to the false prophet Obama”
Jon Voight is no Daniel Hannan but he ain’t bad: Ten full minutes of rhetorical roundhouses here, from Obama’s fraudulent posturing as a “pragmatist” during the campaign to the perils of his Israel policy to the “oppression” of his economic blueprint to the pure polemic of referring to him as a “soft-spoken Julius Caesar.”

Barney Frank terminates interview due to tough questions
Liberal Congressman Barney Frank that is in charge of our money terminates interview because a reporter questions his financial decisions. Once again, the great tolerance of the left is displayed!

Obama's 'birth certificate' not acceptable in Hawaii?
The Hawaiian certification of live birth Barack Obama posted on his campaign website and distributed to select news organizations as proof he was a "natural born citizen" would not be accepted as a "birth certificate" even for some Hawaiian state government eligibility issues.

Conservative to take on Moderate GOP in Kentucky US Senate Election
Dr. Rand Paul, an eye surgeon and the son of Texas Congressman Dr Ron Paul, has established an exploratory committee and campaign website to look at securing the Republican nomination for Senate, anticipating the retirement of Kentucky sitting GOP senator, Jim Bunning, at the end of his current term. For the past 15 years, Dr. Paul has been the chairman of the Kentucky Taxpayers United, a group that monitors and rates the State Legislature, and has been active in his father's campaigns for even longer. Like his father, Rand Paul touts a strong commitment to Second Amendment gun rights, U.S. sovereignty, holding the Federal Reserve accountable and lower taxes.

Local businesses cry foul over stimulus projects
Across the nation, local firms can expect to lose billions of economic stimulus dollars to large multinational corporations, thanks to a government contracting scheme that puts paperwork speed ahead of community recovery. In Montana, that means qualified building firms are out of the loop, while many millions in federal construction funding will go to a California company that recently earned a stern rebuke for its failures in Iraq - a war-profits scandal that cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. "It's a farce," said Dewey Swank of Kalispell's Swank Enterprises. "It stinks of politics and big special interests."

Palin: Told Ya So!
Sarah Palin hits FOXNEWS tonight for the big 'Told Ya So' interview, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. As President Obama vows to spend the 'stimulus' faster, Governor Palin tells host Sean Hannity: 'You gotta quit digging that hole!'

Obama Tells American Businesses to Drop Dead
I’ve finally figured out the Obama economic strategy. President Barack Obama and his team have been having so much fun wielding dictatorial power while rescuing “failed” firms, that they have developed a scheme to gain the same power over every business. The plan is to enact policies that are so anticompetitive that every firm needs a bailout.

Young Jews 'Feel the hate' for Obama
A new video posted on the Internet featuring inebriated American Jewish youth in a Jerusalem bar spouting hate-filled sentiments has garnered massive exposure and caused a firestorm in the media and the Jewish world. In the video, filmed on June 3 and titled "Feeling the Hate in Jerusalem on the Eve of Obama's Cairo Address," the visitors to Israel are asked their opinions on President Barack Obama and his relationship to the Jewish state.

Pennsylvania Trooper Killed in Shootout
A man who kidnapped his 9-year-old son in northeastern Pennsylvania led police on a 40-mile chase that ended in an exchange of gunfire that killed him and a state trooper, state police said Monday. Another trooper was wounded and hospitalized.

Republicans take control of New York State Senate
Due to Obama’s and Gov. Patterson’s liberal policies, Republicans have apparently regained control, and without an election! The GOP power play involves two Democrats and an independent billionaire businessman that have switched parties. What happened Monday night in Albany, a coup in the state Senate five weeks in the making, made for a unique kind of drama, pitting Senate Democrats against Republicans.

ACLU threatens, students still recite prayer
Despite threats from the ACLU, 400 students in Florida broke protocol during a graduation ceremony. During a recent graduation ceremony at Pace High School in Santa Rosa County, Florida, nearly 400 graduating seniors stood and recited the Lord's Prayer. The American Civil Liberties Union had previously filed a lawsuit against the school because they allege that the principal asked the athletic director to bless a meal at an awards ceremony. The graduation prayer was recited in protest of the lawsuit.

Bishop jailed for ringing church bells
A Phoenix bishop has been sentenced to jail for ringing church bells. For years, the bells at the Cathedral of Christ the King have rung hourly from eight in the morning until eight at night. That was until recently, when Bishop Rick Painter was sentenced to a suspended sentence of ten days in jail and three years probation for violating a city noise ordinance. Neighbors complained the bells are too loud and ring too often. But Dale Schowengerdt of the Alliance Defense Fund says a local television station conducted an independent test to see how loud the bells were. "A local TV station did a story on it, checked the level, said it was barely above road noise, the sound of road noise -- so we're talking about just normal church bells," he points out. Schowengerdt admits the sentence surprised him. "The judge let them ring the bells twice on Sunday and certain other religious days, like Easter and Christmas," hr notes. "[But] if somebody makes a mistake and the church bells go off at some other time, he'll spend the ten days in jail."

King Family Member Upset my Tiller Comparison
The niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on Tuesday condemned the remarks of late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart in comparing the recent murder of abortionist George Tiller to King’s assassination.

FAA Official Charged $3,700 Eye Surgery to His Government Credit Card
An employee of the Federal Aviation Administration charged a $3,700 eye surgery on his government credit card, according to a report on government credit card usage completed last month by the Congressional Research Service. This FAA official may have been outdone, however, by a Defense Department official who sought and received reimbursement for thirteen airline tickets worth almost $10,000 that he never purchased, or the State Department official who bought an unauthorized first-class ticket to Hawaii on his government charge card.

Canada's ObamaCare Precedent
Congressional Democrats will soon put forward their legislative proposals for reforming health care. Should they succeed, tens of millions of Americans will potentially be joining a new public insurance program and the federal government will increasingly be involved in treatment decisions. Not long ago, I would have applauded this type of government expansion. Born and raised in Canada, I once believed that government health care is compassionate and equitable. It is neither. My views changed in medical school. Yes, everyone in Canada is covered by a "single payer" -- the government. But Canadians wait for practically any procedure or diagnostic test or specialist consultation in the public system.

IRS to tax cell phones
The use of company-issued mobile phones could trigger new federal income taxes on millions of Americans as a "fringe benefit," spurring efforts by the wireless industry and others to kill the idea. The Internal Revenue Service proposed employers assign 25% of an employee's annual phone expenses as a taxable benefit.

State Sen. defeats recent Democrat Chairman Terry McAuliffe in Va. primary for governor
State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds dominated Virginia's three-way Democratic primary for governor Tuesday, defeating a much better financed Clinton White House insider and a recent Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe. McAuliffe was supported by Obama and both Clintons.

Komen for the Cure Joins Idaho Abortion Business for Breast Cancer Screening
The Komen for the Cure organization that sponsors events to combat breast cancer has teamed up with a business that does abortions, which have been proven to increase a woman's risk for contracting the disease. The move in Idaho is the latest in the link between Komen and Planned Parenthood.

Gunman, guard shot at Holocaust museum
An elderly gunman exchanged fire with security guards inside the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday. One security guard and the gunman were taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Clinic Offers Free Abortions in Remembrance of Tiller
An abortion business in Pennsylvania is drawing criticism for giving away free abortions on Tuesday in honor of slain late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller. The Philadelphia Women's Center said the free abortions were meant to show appreciation for Tiller.

New from Government Motors!
The car of your future! Words and video: iowahawk.typepad.com Sound from Officer Vic, KSFO San Francisco.

Rush shows president's similarities, differences with God
What does God has in common with Obama, Limbaugh said, "Neither has a birth certificate." "How do they differ?" Limbaugh continued. "God does not think he's Obama. And there's another difference. Liberals love Obama." Limbaugh repeated the punch lines several times throughout his show and noted, "another difference is that Obama gets better press. ... Another difference is that God only demands to be worshipped once a week." Later, he sprinkled in other differences, including: God asks for only 10 percent of your money. God gives you freedom to live your life as you choose. God's plan to save us is actually written down for you to read.

DC Awash in Money
At least there's one place in America that's wearing like Teflon through the recession: Washington, D.C. Most corners of the economy may be struggling, but in the nation's capital it's boom times, baby. With unemployment for all government workers about half the private sector's rate, the Beltway has been spared the tightening elsewhere. The federal government is the second largest job sector in the area, making up 11.6% of jobs, while state and local government workers add another 10.4%. According to a February survey by the Greater Washington Initiative, Washington area business executives were also "significantly more positive" about their own companies and the region's prospects than about the national economy. Translation: It's good to be close to Uncle Sam when stimulus funds start flying.

New Government Motors CEO: “I don’t know anything about cars”
Edward E. Whitacre Jr. built AT&T Inc. into the biggest U.S. provider of telephone service over a 43-year-career. By his own admission, he becomes chairman of General Motors Corp. knowing nothing about the auto industry. “I don’t know anything about cars,” Whitacre, 67, said yesterday in an interview after his appointment.

Climate laws add to police workload
Police will be forced to become "carbon cops" under the Government's blueprint to cut greenhouse emissions. The Herald Sun can reveal Australian Federal Police agents will have to prosecute a new range of climate offences. But they are yet to be offered extra resources, stretching the thin blue line to breaking point. "The Government is effectively saying to us, 'Ignore other crime types'," Australian Federal Police Association chief Jim Torr said.

Letterman’s Pathetic Top Ten
While reading his top ten list Monday night, "Late Show" host David Letterman said Gov. Sarah Palin bought makeup from Bloomingdale's to update her "slutty flight attendant" look. Palin was in New York over the weekend. Letterman also said her daughter should not visit a Yankees Game because she might get “knocked up” by ARod during the 7th Inning Stretch.

Autoerotic Asphyxiation appears to be reason behind Carradine Death
Carradine, 72, was found dead in a Bangkok hotel room one week ago today, hanging naked in a closet with ropes tied around his hands, neck and genitals. Two of Carradine's ex-wives have since revealed that the "Kung Fu" star got his kicks with bondage and kinky sex. One theory is that Carradine died from accidental asphyxiation. "[Baden is] familiar with autoerotic asphyxiation," said colleague Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky, chairman of the Department of Forensic Sciences at John Jay.

Actress: Middle America is white-trash Bible-beating hillbillies
The “Transformers” bombshell-cum-uninhibited philosophizer also contemplates — reluctantly — what she would say to Megatron to keep him from destroying the world. “I’d barter with him,” she muses to the July issue Total Film UK, “and say instead of the entire planet, can you just take out all of the white trash, hillbilly, anti-gay, super bible-beating people in Middle America?”

This week TKF will focus on violent crime just in a few days in the Kansas City area:

Man who was barricaded in Shawnee house is found dead
A 34-year-old man who barricaded himself in a Shawnee house early this morning and fired shots apparently killed himself, police said.

Murder in Fairway
Fairway Police arrived at the scene of the shooting in the 6200 block of Glenfield Drive about 10:30 a.m. and found the woman shot in the head. The victim later died. Police are asking for the public’s help in finding Franklin L. Grammer Jr., 53, who was last known to be driving a blue 2000 Dodge Dakota pickup with Oklahoma license 522-MTH and ladder racks. He is the estranged husband of the victim, police said.

Murder in KCK
Kansas City, Kan., police this morning are investigating the city’s latest homicide after finding a man, believed to be in his 30s, dead from an apparent gunshot wound.

Shootout in KC
One young man died and two others were hurt in a shootout about 7:30 p.m. Monday near 26th Street and Jackson Avenue. The shooting probably stemmed from a feud between young men who lived on adjacent blocks, Kansas City Police Officer Darin Snapp said.

Shawnee Homeowner Scare Off Masked Burglars
A homeowner surprised two burglars when she walked in them during a burglary at her Shawnee home. The woman told police she walked into her house on Constance Street near the Lake Quivira Country Club and found two men with bandanas covering their faces, ransacking the house.

Mass Murder in Cole Camp
Authorities say three people found dead in their west-central Missouri home were shot to death. The bodies of 64-year-old Donnie Luetjen, his wife, Sharon Luetjen, and their 15-year-old granddaughter, Taron Luetjen, were found in their Cole Camp home Tuesday. Sgt. Scott Meyer of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said Thursday that all three died of a gunshot wound. He would not say what type of gun was used or if there was an apparent break-in at the home.

Suspected leader of human-trafficking ring had document to allow him to flee U.S.
Just one day before his arrest for allegedly leading a Kansas City human-trafficking ring, Abrorkhodja Askarkhodjaev obtained a document that would have allowed him to flee the country. That temporary travel document, prepared by diplomats in New York, was dated May 25 and was valid for a month for return travel to Uzbekistan, ac

Church Vandalized in Shawnee
An employee at a Shawnee church says he caught two would-be burglars in the act, but they insist they are church volunteers. Jerry Williams, the facility manager at Hope Lutheran Church, 6308 Quivira, says he walked into the church to find office windows broken, a desk broken into and church property stuffed into crates ready to be taken.

Justice Department Takes Tiller Investigation
The Justice department announced late Friday afternoon that it is launching an investigation to see who else may have been involved in the murder of abortionist George Tiller. Here is how the press release reads : "The Department of Justice will work tirelessly to determine the full involvement of any and all actors in this horrible crime, and to ensure that anyone who played a role in the offense is prosecuted to the full extent of federal law," said Loretta King, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "We will conduct a thorough investigation that will complement and build upon the fine work of the Sedgwick County District Attorney and other state and local law enforcement agencies."

Stimulus to be used to pave Kansas highway twice!
Vice President Joe Biden will be in Kansas today to praise the use of federal economic stimulus funds on the U.S. 69 highway project. In a letter to the vice president on the eve of his trip to Overland Park, Roberts wrote, "There is a serious situation occurring 140 miles further south on U.S. 69 in Cherokee County, Ks., that is an absolute abuse of taxpayer money and needs your urgent attention." The problem, Roberts said, is that the work might have to be done all over again next year. That's because another nearby stimulus-funded project, costing up to $25 million, could damage the repair work on 96. "I am sure you can see the irony," Roberts said in the letter. "Using stimulus funding to pave this road twice is clearly not in the best interest of American taxpayers, and it does not pass the Kansas common sense test."

OP Mayor Thanks Biden for the Pork
Among those greeting Biden were Overland Park Mayor Carl Gerlach, Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson and Kansas Transportation Secretary Deb Miller. Gerlach indicated that the city has been trying to get this job done for many years.

Archbishop Naumann: Pro-life movement is about saving lives, not taking them
The pro-life movement is about saving lives, not taking them. It is about providing housing, medical care, educational opportunities and financial help to pregnant women who feel overwhelmed by the circumstances of their pregnancy. It is about providing counseling and support to those who have had an abortion and now deeply regret their past choices. It is about a profound respect for the law, as evidenced by many laboring arduously and perseveringly to reform our present public policy in order to restore legal protection for the lives of unborn children. It is about a belief in the sanctity of each and every human life.

‘Callings’ documentary about work as a vocation features Mike Sweeney
An hour-long documentary about work as a vocation will be released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and made available for NBC stations and affiliates. It features a major league baseball player, a Catholic Charities social worker, a marine biologist and others who describe how their work is more a religious calling than a job. The documentary “Callings,” was produced by the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, a USCCB press release says. Seattle Mariners first baseman and former Royals great Mike Sweeney, dancer Francie Huber and Catholic Charities social worker Rita Flynn are among the ten people profiled. In the film, Sweeney says “I don’t play for the fans, or to please my coaches. I play to please my Lord.”

Tiahrt calls Obama stimulus plan "miserable failure," demands repeal
Kansas Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Todd Tiahrt today offered an amendment to rescind unobligated money in the stimulus bill. The move, during a House Appropriations Committee hearing, was defeated on a party-line vote. Tiahrt, a Republican from Wichita, called the stimulus package a miserable failure. The Tiahrt amendment could save taxpayers from borrowing an estimated $600 billion. Tiahrt said he was determined to continue leading the fight to put an end to out-of-control borrowing and spending that has plagued Washington.

July 4th Teaparty
RSVP now for the KC July 4th Rally for Responsibility!
Where: Both sides of 45 Hwy from Cosby to 9 Hwy.
When: 10am-12pm
Bring: Signs that are focused on fiscal responsibility

Boulevard Beer: A Kansas City Success Story
Founded in 1989, Boulevard Brewing Company has grown to become the largest specialty brewer in the Midwest. Our mission is simple: to produce fresh, flavorful beers using the finest traditional ingredients and the best of both old and new brewing techniques. The Boulevard story begins in 1988, when founder John McDonald started construction of the brewery in a turn-of-the-century brick building on Kansas City’s historic Southwest Boulevard. A vintage Bavarian brewhouse was installed, and the first batches of beer were produced in the fall of 1989. That November, the first keg of Boulevard Pale Ale was delivered—in the back of John's pickup truck—to a restaurant just a few blocks away.

Brownback Opposes Increasing Debt for Clunkers
U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today removed his support from the Cash for Clunkers legislation. He was the primary Republican sponsor of one of the Senate versions of this bill which was budget neutral. "I can no longer support Cash for Clunkers because the House has decided to fund the legislation through deficit spending and has attached it to the war funding supplemental," Brownback said. "Our bill was a good plan and Senator Stabenow and I worked hard on the Drive America Forward Act to craft a bill that would be truly stimulative, directly benefit consumers, help a critical industry and dealers while not creating more spending but using existing stimulus funds. I will not support the plan if it creates new spending and increases the deficit to do it. I cannot understand why House leadership can't find a way to use any of the $455 billion left in stimulus funds to pay for the program."

Kansas man convicted of Craigslist rape found dead
A man facing nearly 30 years in prison for raping three women who had advertised on Craigslist's former "erotic services" section apparently committed suicide in his Kansas jail cell, sheriff's officials said Tuesday. David Lee Gage, 52, of Wichita, was found dead at the Sedgwick County Jail early Monday after another inmate who was headed to breakfast looked through the window to Gage's cell and saw his motionless body, said Maj. Glenn Kurtz of the county sheriff's office.

Johnson County holds line on property taxes
Johnson County government has proposed a $798 million budget for next year that holds the line on property taxes by spending down cash reserves by $4.6 million and cutting expenditures. The property tax rate, which dropped slightly this year, would stay the same.

Overland Park Spends $1 million for Art
Opportunities to appreciate these details abound in Overland Park, which has invested more than $1 million into 193 pieces of public art at street intersections, parks and community centers. But the works often go unnoticed.

New KU Chancellor to make $425K a year!
The University of Kansas’ new chancellor will be paid nearly 25 percent more than retiring chancellor Robert Hemenway. The Kansas Board of Regents announced this week that Bernadette Gray-Little will be paid $425,000 a year, compared with Hemenway’s $340,352. Like Hemenway, Gray-Little also gets a car, a country club membership, and she’ll live in the chancellor’s house. “The salary increase was simply a reflection of the competitive national market,” said Donna Shank, Regents chairwoman.

Pompeo get key endorsement in Congressional Race
For months, politicos in Kansas' Republican Party have expected a crowded field of contenders for the seat Rep. Todd Tiahrt is leaving. Monday, two people took their names off the list of potential candidates. Matt Schlapp, a former political aide to President Bush, and his mother, Wichita City Council member Sue Schlapp, endorsed Mike Pompeo. Pompeo and state Sen. Dick Kelsey -- both conservative Republicans -- are the only candidates who have filed for the District 4 congressional seat thus far.

KCMO to spend $47M on Performing Arts Parking Garage
Nearly seven years after Kansas City government leaders pledged to help pay for the Performing Arts parking garage, the city is finally poised to issue the bonds. The Kansas City Council’s Finance and Audit committee endorsed the plan Wednesday to issue about $53 million in bonds, which would cover the $47 million garage construction costs plus a debt service reserve fund and other costs. The money will come from gambling revenues.

Lenexa Company Lays off 170 Employees
The struggling economy is forcing a Lenexa call center to lay off 170 employees. Intercall representatives said the job cuts are necessary to help the company streamline its profits. The company offers web, audio and video conference services.

New archbishop of St. Louis vows to fight secular culture
The Cathedral of Saint Louis was packed on Wednesday afternoon as Archbishop Robert J. Carlson was installed as the Archbishop of Saint Louis. In his homily, the new archbishop pledged to oppose the prevailing secular culture.

"I voted against the Democrats' stimulus bill, and now I am leading the effort to repeal it. Kansans are fed up with the broken promises of a better economy, and all taxpayers deserve to get their hard-earned money back. True economic stimulus puts money back in the pockets of Americans, not bigger government programs. That way we can grow the economy from the ground up instead of pursuing the incompetent idea of growing the economy from the government down.”

– Congress Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) US Senate Candidate

From Proverbs 16:12
The king takes delight in honest lips, and the man who speaks what is right he loves.

Gospel according to St. Matthew 5:20-26

20 For I tell you, that unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 21 You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. 22 But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And whosoever shall say, Thou Fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath any thing against thee; 24 Leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother: and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift. 25 Be at agreement with thy adversary betimes, whilst thou art in the way with him: lest perhaps the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 26 Amen I say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing.

49 MILLION TO FIVE

In the wake of the shooting of late-term abortionist George Tiller, President Barack Obama sent out a welcome message that this nation would not tolerate attacks on pro-lifers or any other Americans because of their religion or beliefs.

Ha ha! Just kidding. That was the lead sentence -- with minor edits -- of a New York Times editorial warning about theoretical hate crimes against Muslims published eight months after 9/11. Can pro-lifers get a hate crimes bill passed and oceans of ink devoted to assuring Americans that "most pro-lifers are peaceful"?

For years, we've had to hear about the grave threat that Americans might overreact to a terrorist attack committed by 19 Muslims shouting "Allahu akbar" as they flew commercial jets into American skyscrapers. That would be the equivalent of 19 pro-lifers shouting "Abortion kills a beating heart!" as they gunned down thousands of innocent citizens in Wichita, Kan.

Why aren't liberals rushing to assure us this time that "most pro-lifers are peaceful"? Unlike Muslims, pro-lifers actually are peaceful.

According to recent polling, a majority of Americans oppose abortion -- which is consistent with liberals' hysterical refusal to allow us to vote on the subject. In a country with approximately 150 million pro-lifers, five abortionists have been killed since Roe v. Wade.

In that same 36 years, more than 49 million babies have been killed by abortionists. Let's recap that halftime score, sports fans: 49 million to five.

Meanwhile, fewer than 2 million Muslims live in America and, while Muslims are less murderous than abortionists, I'm fairly certain they've killed more than five people in the United States in the last 36 years. For some reason, the number "3,000" keeps popping into my head.

So in a country that is more than 50 percent pro-life -- and 80 percent opposed to the late-term abortions of the sort performed by Tiller -- only five abortionists have been killed. And in a country that is less than 0.5 percent Muslim, several dozen Muslims have killed thousands of Americans.

But the killing of about one abortionist per decade leads liberals to condemn the entire pro-life movement as "domestic terrorists." At least liberals have finally found some terrorists they'd like to send to Guantanamo.

Tiller bragged about performing 60,000 abortions, including abortions of viable babies, able to survive outside the mother's womb. He made millions of dollars performing late-term abortions so gruesome that only two other abortionists -- not a squeamish bunch -- in the entire country would perform them.

Kansas law allows late-term abortions only to save the mother's life or to prevent "irreversible physical damage" to the mother. But Tiller was more than happy to kill viable babies, provided the mothers: (1) forked over $5,000; and (2) mentioned "substantial and irreversible conditions," which, in Tiller's view, apparently included not being able to go to concerts or rodeos or being "temporarily depressed" on account of their pregnancies.

In return for blood money from Tiller's profitable abattoir, Democrats ran a political protection racket for the late-term abortionist.

In 1997, The Washington Post reported that Tiller attended one of Bill Clinton's White House coffees for major campaign contributors. In addition to a $25,000 donation to Clinton, Tiller wanted to thank him personally for 30 months of U.S. Marshals' protection paid for by the U.S. taxpayer.

Kansas Democrats who received hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars from Tiller repeatedly intervened to block any interference with Tiller's abortion mill.

Kathleen Sebelius, who was the governor of Kansas until Obama made her Health and Human Services Secretary, received hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars from Tiller. Sebelius vetoed one bill restricting late-term abortions and another one that would have required Tiller to turn over his records pertaining to "substantial and irreversible conditions" justifying his late-term abortions.

Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison also got elected with the help of Tiller's blood money, replacing a Republican attorney general who was in the middle of an investigation of Tiller for various crimes including his failure to report statutory rapes, despite performing abortions on pregnant girls as young as 11.

But soon after Morrison replaced the Republican attorney general, the charges against Tiller were reduced and, in short order, he was acquitted of a few misdemeanors. In what is a not uncommon cost of doing business with Democrats, Morrison is now gone, having been forced to resign when his mistress charged him with sexual harassment and corruption.

Tiller was protected not only by a praetorian guard of elected Democrats, but also by the protective coloration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America -- coincidentally, the same church belonged to by Tiller's fellow Wichita executioner, the BTK killer.

The official Web page of the ELCA instructs: "A developing life in the womb does not have an absolute right to be born." As long as we're deciding who does and doesn't have an "absolute right to be born," who's to say late-term abortionists have an "absolute right" to live?

I wouldn't kill an abortionist myself, but I wouldn't want to impose my moral values on others. No one is for shooting abortionists. But how will criminalizing men making difficult, often tragic, decisions be an effective means of achieving the goal of reducing the shootings of abortionists?

Following the moral precepts of liberals, I believe the correct position is: If you don't believe in shooting abortionists, then don't shoot one.

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