News .

This week Mary Ann Murray-Simons sits in for Gwen.

TOPIC 1: OLD DEBATE RENEWED
The issue of gun control has arisen again following the shootings in Aurora, Colorado, last weekend. The Star has called for tighter controls. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is asking presidential candidates to say what they would do about this matter.

TOPIC 2: HOSPITAL HASSLE
St. Luke’s Health System is working on a plan to find savings of 100-million dollars. The project is necessitated by fears of financial problems that may follow full implementation of the new health care law. A major concern is “declining reimbursements” for Medicare and Medicaid. Was the Affordable Care Act expected to cause this type of problem?

TOPIC 3: WITH FRIENDS LIKE THIS …
Politico reports that Senator McCaskill is running commercials that indicate she believes Congressman Todd Akin would be her weakest opponent in November.

TOPIC 4: THE POLL TOLL
A new SurveyUSA poll shows Governor Brownback with only a 36 percent approval rating. When he was elected in 2010, he pulled 63 percent of the vote. The Wichita Eagle-Beacon newspaper says the upcoming election will be a referendum on Brownback’s agenda.

ROAST and TOAST

TOPIC 1: TRYING TO MAKE THE SALE TO YAEL
A Twitter conversation between Mayor James and Yael (detailed in last Thursday’s column) reveals Yael is undecided about supporting the August 7th sales tax proposal. At one point, the mayor asks Yael if has a better idea about how to get things done.

TOPIC 2: THE VOTE FRAUD SQUAD
The August 7th primary will be the first large-scale test of the photo I.d. law in Kansas. Critics claim there’s no need for the law and it’s simply a GOP ploy to suppress the votes of some Democratic constituencies.

TOPIC 3: EXTREME PUTDOWN!
The op-ed pages of the Star last Sunday were replete with pleas to Kansas voters to support “moderate” candidates on August 7th. In addition to the Star editorial, there was also a column by Steve Rose on a similar topic. Rose says electing moderates to the Kansas Senate is the only way to stop “extremism” by “radicals” in the Kansas House and supported by Governor Brownback.

TOPIC 4: POLL-ARIZED
A new Gallup Poll shows confidence in television news at its lowest point since 1993. And, the poll was taken before two major networks misreported the Supreme Court ruling on Obama care.