KANU News Retention; July 1996 Retention (3 of 3)

a recent new york times magazine cover story was titled recycling as garbage and the cover was a picture of recyclable materials with a headline saying what a waste the time of the peace comes across as cynical and mean spirited the author's orientation is that recycling has no value because it can be expensive and even when successful doesn't usually turn much of a profit for instance he says the newspaper and magazine publishers whose paper is a major component of landfills noble he led the campaign to recycle which he characterizes as informing customers that its own product is a menace to society that's a harsh assessment of the notion that paper is better off recycled and becoming trash he says americans became wracked with guilt in that recycling that some emotional meeting is an act of transcendental x iran's for us i don't think the sky is suited to be a psychoanalyst know recycling is just the right thing to do one more little chore cleaning up at yourself which we supposedly learned in kindergarten he proudly claims that back in the eighties businesses were already voluntarily and profitably recycling newsprint office paper cardboard aluminum and steel

that the amount was only about ten percent of the total when many state and city officials around the country set higher quotas for recycling the article says this produced a lot of paper glass and plastic that no one wanted to buy but the truth is that as with all commodities prices fluctuate over time this country's paper manufacturers have built or expanded forty five recycled mills in the nineties to me to me and recycled glass continues to sell steadily the problems with plastic one is petroleum based and so related to the extraction and burning of fossil fuels which many scientists consider the biggest ecological problems in the world to the plastic industry has resisted mightily most efforts to make it responsible for convenient recycling of its packaging products that hasn't stopped him from running television and radio ads with a soft voiced announcer reasonable explaining how wonderful and recyclable plastic chairs the article also says the recycling doesn't save trees because we're growing as many as we cut to make paper yes the tree farms are to real forests as

orphanages are to real families forests our home and the only place to live for many plants and animals are going extinct as our forests are cut down to be replaced by a neat row crops of trees it a natural and it is incredibly destructive to the biodiversity balance of the world the times magazine article did not contain a single quote from the recycling industry representative it had plenty of information from the competitive enterprise institute the cato institute and the waste policy center office that favor financially conservative corporate abuse of public policy issues its commonsense to see the nature is always recycling itself and wasting nothing our own body is constantly recycle food air and water to stay off of recycling are materials doesn't work very well in our system that we need to change the system and learn from nature and there's a lot of information in the world for us to sort through today the new york times didn't see fit to print a balanced been for us to sort our thoughts on recycling this is franklin

the first district of kansas is one of the largest congressional districts in the nation and it covers two thirds of the sunflower state stretching from the colorado border in the west to the city all the emporia in the east over the last few months for men have been working their way across osce that massive geographical expanse seeking the votes that will take them to washington state senate majority leader jerry moran a haze attorney is one of them i think i'm rather typical of folks who i would be representing i have children in school i have parents were an age in which it social security and medicare issues or important i'm a small town had been and really my interest in public policy has always been trying to do things that would allow the small towns of of the war a way of life to exist morale is considered by the political pundits as the odds on favorite to win the first district republican primary as an eight year veteran of the kansas legislature he certainly has the name recognition

he also has the money and backing of the gop establishment behind him and going for his district congressman pat roberts is stumping for moran so is governor bill graves despite the fact that you know in being helpful in my campaign are i'm not a clone of him graham is focusing on fiscal issues in his campaign he talks at length about balancing the budget lowering taxes and reducing federal regulations he never brings up social issues unless someone asks him about them first on the abortion question he says he favors more restrictions on the procedure but would not support a constitutional amendment banning abortions altogether on the issue of gun rights around stance is a little more nebulous i asked whether he would call for the repeal of the federal assault weapons ban if he were elected to congress i'm not sure i understand why anyone needs to own an assault weapon

but i also understand the concerns that we have with the with the second amendment and the curry many people believe that it is a complete guarantee but as for the assault weapon ban out voluntarily argument before reach a final conclusion iran's unwillingness to commit himself on such a hot button issue has been picked up by his opponents in this race was accused more on of waffling an america that fission is a thirty eight year old commodities trader from lions was running a low key low cost campaign against time they share accuses his opponent all purposely avoiding taking any firm stance on issues so as not to offend any prospective voters fisher says no one should be in doubt about where he stands on the issues he says he's running for congress for two main reasons for this link to use the office to promote sales and exports of products grown atlanta fractured

in western kansas and secondly to recruit medium and small companies to the district in an effort to end what he says is the exodus of money and young people from rural kansas the show makes it clear he has no hidden social agenda he says while his opponent jerry moran is pro life he fervently supports a woman's right to choose fischer also makes it clear that he won't be taking any campaign contributions from political action committees that he says is in stark contrast to his more well known opponent jerry moran we accuses of being bought by special interests you've already fold out anybody you can imagine you know they represent a little guy little at cannes is already getting felt you know satirically letter back and the keys that he had two hundred thousand dollars and the four legged all that back more on campaign strongly denies fisher's assertion claiming of the two hundred and fifty eight thousand dollars that candidate has

raised so far less than fifteen percent comes from pacs run for congress campaign records filed with the kansas secretary of state's office in topeka confirms that fact the idea though that jerry moran takes even a small portion of his money from special interests is sure to be an issue in this campaign the third republican in this race is also refusing pac contributions on web ad is a retired construction company executive from goldman was using his own money to finance his campaign very little is known about him is not returned repeated calls from kansas public radio for an interview other news organizations report the same problem martin holder has been covering the first district race for the kansas political insider magazine all this capital report are w bridge reach a lot of the red boots with a tough way to run while media hasn't been talking with the media

he has been running quarter page ads in newspapers across the first district outlining his agenda in the yancey calls for an annual one percent across the board cut in all federal programs over the next ten years he talks about eliminating funding for the corporation for public broadcasting and the national endowment for the arts he also vows to clamp down on immigrants promising to end the policy of granting citizenship to children born in the us to non american parents where he stands on the social issues no one seems to know political commentator martin horton of hallways capitol report says it would be a mistake to rule out yay given his campaign while halter acknowledges that jerry moran is the favorite he says the political pundits may be overestimating his strength miranda's know if the party favorite but he's he's the one that everyone in the state thinks is going to run away with that race but if you get outside the southern county state senate district he represents not a whole lot of

people know who your that's fifty six county district and you think seven otherworldly but already his name from its current think that district and it turns into a lot of a crapshoot whoever wins the republican primary on august six will go on to face for us a line and then john divine a democrat in the general election to find a marketing executive with the ibm computer company faces no opposition for his party's nomination while he's been aggressively traveling around western kansas meeting with voters as aline a democrat has so far offered few indications or what his agenda would be if he were elected to congress in a ten minute interview with kansas public radio the best recent divine could give for why he should be sent to washington was that he would be willing to consider all issues carefully when he got there to be honest about their issues and to get on the table or to talk about some of the real critical issues too when i don't have hard answers today because a lot of it

is we have that additional the table and start discussing that divine sydney will face an uphill political struggle this november especially is no democrat has been elected to congress from the first district in more than forty years political commentator martin holder says he sees no indications why voters should want to change that traditionally republican loyalty used this time around whoever the gop ends up choosing as its nominee that is truly ghastly there's an old clean air of fertile reason the republican should have any problem with all of that district in the general election just it or behind your name is probably the most important credential democratic party activists in the state though aren't convinced they say with poll after poll showing voters turned off by what they described as the extremism of the new republican led congress the time is now ripe they contend for even western kansas to go democrat wishful thinking

on not only time will tell but kansas public radio this is mccain's reporting i think we must put our fiscal house in order what kinds of things do i think are out of balance in the looking into we have a lot of systems in america that when they were designed were wonderful the welfare system was desperately needed during the depression and there were pieces of that that would desperately needed during the nineteen sixties we needed to provide a safety net for those people that really didn't have the means to help themselves instead what it's become as a lifestyle that is not healthy for this country it is not healthy for the piece bolt who have been on welfare their whole lives and it's a generational livestock and it's not healthy for the children that grow up in that barman they have no mentoring and positive role models to look at how we reform welfare and still be humane i have some concerns about that as a mother but i think it's very important to do the reforming

so i think it may cost is a little bit extra to make sure the moms have daycare what i think we must do is provide day care for these children get these folks off the welfare rolls re train them and they get them back to work and at some point somebody has to make some difficult decisions about the fact that we mustn't others you must go back to work now your training the children are and wonderful day care programs and it is now time for you to get off the welfare rolls not have another baby and go back to work that's one of the sisters i think we need to look at social security is another system i believe we need to look at as a stockbroker i'll tell you that the numbers don't work good i have looked at all the financial numbers on the social security system in order to sustain the system for the next generation it must change does change need to be scary and bad no but it sure needs to be creative inconsistent one of the proposals i have seen that i think is something we must look at is allowing baby boomers to take a piece of their social

security and invested in variable growth accounts we have to keep the contract with people currently on social security and close to social security the same but we have to get to people who were my age were forty years old that the system will not work for this generation and that we need to do some changing not only do we need to change in the options that we're allowed to contribute baby boomers but we have to look at perhaps growing social security trust you know if you look at any pension program in the united states of america a piece of that is invested in the market let's invest in america folks and take a piece of the program and throw it so that at least the next generation coming up as a fair chance again social security what we don't need any more professional politicians what i bring to this table is not a professional politician background and just like everybody in this audience of a mom i'm a wife i'm a businesswoman my training as a business i believe that the best way to run government is to get the

talent from the private sector to get in and help create good policy decisions that make good common sense they may not fit into any partisan politic world but they make good common sense for future garry green this is one republican who is tired of hearing nothing but the abortion issue is the republican national convention approaches anyone who doesn't think there is a litmus test for the vast majority of delegates at the convention as recently fallen off the turnip truck it is little wonder that there's been virtually no change in the balls of dough and clinton in spite of the fact that over fifty percent of the people believe that president clinton did something illegal he still leads poll by a large margin the republicans need to gear review certainly

abortion is an important issue but debates the future of a political party on one issue alone is asinine and we've forgotten that there are other human needs that need to be dealt with by the political establishment in addition to caring about the unborn is the time to focus on medicare for the elderly on education on caring for children on defeating devastating illness is a disease is such a scam it's or multiple sclerosis muscular dystrophy and dave it is no wonder that the majority of the american people believe that the republican party cares little about diversity and the issue is that determine the quality of our lives the tragic political mess the republican party now finds itself in obscures the desire of political leaders like bob dole to deal with the many relevant issues that matter to the american people the meat and potato concerns cover all aspects of the formula to a

safe healthy and comfortable life if people think they don't care and you know him being an ideal energy source but it will only ensure the defeat of bob dole in november if it is the prevailing voice of the republican party it's not too late to show by deeds that the republican party has a big umbrella where different views are dealt with respect and courtesy my suggestion is that if you want to be a part of a political party and have a litmus test to determine admission you should form your own and hold your meetings in a cause that not at the republican national convention this is morning edition i'm jay shafer like many other primary races in kansas the campaign to capture the state's second congressional district is shaping up to be a fight between the moderate center of the republican party

and the religious right three candidates are vying for the gop nomination one of them will face the only democratic candidate in november the oddly shaped second congressional district is geographically the second largest district in the state covering a good section of northeast essential in southeast kansas including the major cities of topeka manhattan junction city leavenworth in pittsburgh democrats have laid claim to the seat for twenty of the past twenty six years but for the last two years the second district seat has been held by republican congressman sam brownback earlier this year when brownback announced that he would be leaving his post to run for the us senate four candidates stepped forward to run for the open seat on the republican side are three contenders doug wright jim ryan and cheryl brown henderson doug wright is a former mayor of businessman and attorney he describes himself as a fiscal conservative who won to reduce the national debt and balance the federal budget the forty seven year old right doesn't have

widespread name recognition throughout the second district but his name should at least be familiar to voters in northeast kansas that's because right served as mayor of topeka for six years he was elected to lead the capital city in nineteen eighty three but lost a reelection bid in nineteen eighty nine that was seventy years ago still he's banking on that experience plus his skills as a lawyer to set him apart from the rest of the republican pack i can't say it any better than the iowa register so that when they endorse mike enzi the headline said the right stand out from the crowd in the republican primary and then in the editorial which they endorsed me they indicated that it was my experience i as a mayor that it was important for this i it was my involvement in the community with regard to might bring to them where they indicated that because washington is scaling back on their involvement returning more permanent decision states that it was important

that we have someone who had actually administer these programs and even a simple level or be involved in that process right made those comments during a recent televised debate in topeka the moderate republican views offered by rights are seen by many as an alternative to the more conservative pro family views held by former olympian jim ryan the only pro life candidate in the race and i think ever present the values of a conservative point of view out of one point of the family strong families that a strong nation and right now are under the old if you will one point and making it gave me a lot of or at a woman and more i'm older than that income the forty nine year old ryan is the perceived front

runner in the race but that's largely because of a statewide name recognition as a former track star for the university of kansas and as an olympic silver medalist and many voters in the second district still remember the younger jim ryan a teenage athletes from wichita who became the first high school student to break the four minute mile ryan also held the world record in the mile events for nine years these days ryan lizza a farm north of lawrence he also operates sports camps and gives motivational speeches this is ryan's first run for political office and yet his candidacy has been welcomed by many state republican leaders who see him as a perfect replacement for conservative congressman sam brownback ryan's even picked up the endorsement of us house speaker newt gingrich in part because of his strong anti abortion views but also because of his belief in a smaller less intrusive federal government the shrink government money to bring money back to that they were brought back to the people at effective and make it much more fiscally sound and then look at is back in washington they can either

be privatized wards of actually eliminated some political pundits view the conservative bryan as a single issue candidate lacking the credentials and experience necessary to serve in congress ryan denies this and considers his outsider image to be a plus in a world full of professional politicians still many say they have yet to hear from ryan on a number of issues we know it's against abortion we know litigants euthanasia beyond that much or what we know what's cool about the banjo was a view about the replay burdett loomis is a political science professor at the university of kansas ryan's two gop candidates have also taken him to task for opting out of the televised debate which was broadcast earlier this month on topeka station katie kay lewis says missing the debate could prove to be a risky move given the unit will be any

community you can get but they had an you know a lot of tactical advantage but it strikes me that the political parties appear until it in any of analysts believe is ryan will need to do a better job of taking his message out to the people if he hopes to connect with voters ryan nobles and the former mayor as far as the debate is concerned ryan defended himself saying he couldn't attend because of the scheduling conflict well quite get them out of the water and the only debate that i met were due to a previous commitment i am unable to make a change at the verge talk about commitment and felt like i needed to complete that commitment because of the economy but that explanation didn't satisfy opponent doug wright and he made that

clear during the debates and became a candidate for office not taking advantage of this opportunity i will say this that i have traveled extensively throughout the state and i think there have been a number of forums that and held a number of republican get together a number of events where oh where is the president the other gop candidates who did take part in the debate cheryl brown henderson said it was regrettable that ryan has the opportunity to present his views she also questioned whether ryan has the background and the qualifications to be a congressman jim lyons experience has been primarily in track and feel i'm not sure how that equates to political success and that their concerns me is a very nice man but i think that the war has to come with it if you're going to represent effectively people as a condition of kansas cheryl brown henderson is a former to be cagey cater and small business woman but she's perhaps best known for her family's historic tradition of civil rights activism

round anderson's father was a plaintiff in the landmark brown versus topeka board of education case that resulted in a nationwide end to school segregation in the early nineteen fifties she says she offers voters the kind of experience or to republican rivals don't remember the process that the other two candidates touted his experience with capitol hill for for over forty years as a systematic and i worked with capitol hill with respect to write legislation with respect to testify before the us senate and the house with respect to working with agencies like the parliamentarian department labor department education coalition support as stated national trainer teaching people how to the grass roots level you could affect national policy and federal legislation i think those restraints that the opponents don't have a lot of things that i could bring to the process for me like her republican challengers brown henderson says attacking the federal deficit is her number one goal but improving education and reducing crime are also high on her list as a staunch advocate of abortion

rights and she's also pledged to give women a voice in congress whoever wins the republican primary next tuesday will face jon friedman a wealthy topeka attorney and the lone democratic contender for the second district seat because he has no primary opponent frieden has so far received fairly little media attention is perhaps best known as the attorney who has successfully sued the state of kansas on behalf of military veterans his retirement benefits were being illegally taxed like all three gop candidates frieden says his number one goal in congress would be to reduce the national debt and balance the federal budget but not at the expense of the poor and elderly it was like a grandparent and that group was good and i felt very little about the budget but was being done to hurt a lot of people and we will win

touting his experience as a successful businessman and a churning in the fifty four year old democrat says he has a lot to offer the second district including a broad background involving agriculture and other interests freedom's campaign will certainly draw more media attention in the coming weeks after voters have decided which republican he'll be facing in the november general election for kansas public radio i'm j schafer basically the man inside a quick shop in philadelphia's smile helpfully inwardly i cringed i knew what was coming he gestured with a pudgy finger you go through three dicier for nutria pretty sure they turn right for about a mile and then we'll shoot listening to this trio well doesn't matter is a hardee's on the corner well not exactly on the quarterback put away my pencil thanks i muttered heading out the door into pennsylvania's humid summer has forced all of me as i climbed in by blue rental car you can't miss that he called my side that's exactly what the last nights at five miles back

in the months after falling for my divorce seemed even easier than ever to lose my way or maybe it just feels that way at the officer pulled away from the philadelphia quick chop the amnesia of grief i've heard it called i took another look like of what instructions when people give directions along the route they know well that likely to forget one essential detail it slips our minds because for them is like refrigerator noise so automatic they don't notice it sure enough before i made it my philadelphia hotel i had to ask for directions again as business meaning that week i turned off the turnpike onto a four lane highway tollbooth lady told me to exit the second right turn only she forgot to mention the roadway construction had partially blocked the exit sign i spied it too late to turn let's i muttered cars moved at a crawl on both sides of temporary construction barriers ten miles we grow fifteen finally has a speedometer click twenty miles of ice on except quick swing right across the overpass twenty miles back the way i come still to call another right

exit from the throat clears the hotel at a gas station and gum chewing woman pencil behind one ear eye glasses hanging from chains and helpfully no problem honey you can't miss it just go across the bridge and the road under directions got into my car drove across the drew jen are all left turn right she forgot to stay behind your car to honk ok ok quick swing left over now was merging onto the highway again unbelievable e forty minutes later i was still on that highway at last i spied in other accents when my car right not caring whether wrote took me it led to a residential area stopped at the first house with lights and a woman went to the doorbell i stuttered and standard please last holiday and i can't find looking at me in my crazed age might call the cops but instead she hollered your husband harry annually this lady don't tell she's having problems hare a balding with glasses strolled from her family room his most friendly sure i know what it's like to be lost follow me

ten minutes later we reach the hotel is the construction said harry normally you can't visit i smiled gratefully and shook his hand later soaking in the hot tub guy that how easy it is to get lost when we're traveling road we haven't traveled before whether it's an unknown highway or major life change the truth is you can't miss it that's why we need good directions we need friends will pause long enough to recall their own journeys and pass along some crucial details yes you'll go crazy with rage that don't cut up all your photos just because your expenses and then store them out of sight in the basement for a while down the road when someone asks me for help i'll try to remember that and maybe like harry hole even take the time to leave a lost traveler along the way four years ago the democrats in the kansas statehouse were on top of the world they hold the majority in the house for only the second time this century and before the nineteen ninety

four midterm elections the political pundits were saying that democrats had a chance to strengthen their hold but the so called you're the republican quickly changed the face of kansas politics and swept away but gop lawmakers a new brand of socially conservative republican who had enough votes to be a strong voice in the statehouse to push their anti abortion message that was two years ago today that voice on the edge of becoming much louder or losing its young foothold in the statehouse martin hover has covered kansas politics for the past twenty years and is publisher of harper's capitol report he says this election comes down to one thing abortion is just the issue that splits apart as it has been for last ten twelve years but hopefully continue to be i guess the best reason for suspecting that there's not going to be some big meeting world of middle ground is going to be determined is that within this building

pro life and pro choice lobbyists in particular it's like one of the only the only job i can think of where the lobby is still talk to each other however says that illustrates how deep rooted kansas politics has become recently and this election carries plenty of significant considering the nearly twenty percent of the seats will be won by newcomers who are filling positions given up by incumbents quietly political insiders say they're not expecting the social conservative faction of the kansas legislature to get much stronger and the selection but it is becoming a bigger force to contend with especially this year state representative ritch becker ahmad reflects a republican is running for the ninth district senate seat he's facing conservative newcomer and abortion opponent michael baldwin becker the former lenexa mayor says campaigning against what he calls the religious right is a challenge most people aren't that probably took over the republican party in arizona

state highway took over the state republican party is just health organization they got that agenda only talk about a month of scotland and hardworking it on it on the poster that wonderful with a get out and get the vote do you think it's possible for the religious right to gain a lot more power than it has known this next election it i really don't know and i really don't have a feel for even in my own memory i'm doing everything i can possibly do i plan to win it's not like dealing with a republican you're dealing with churches and you're dealing with competitors and different situation than you are dealing with in a general election with mckinney from the other party that infighting in the republican party is worrisome to some gop leaders however for johnson county senator dick bond who's the leading favored to become the next senate president it's not much of an issue i really expect that three republican control of the house and senate in nineteen ninety seven will

have a very similar point of view on it and it freaked legislature i don't see a major philosophical change bonnie knows that conservatives are watching the state senate very carefully although moderates hold about twenty two of the twenty seven gop seats the senate leadership is up for grabs and a few seats either way it will mean a stronger voice for one republican faction or the other kansas republican party treasurer paul rosella self labeled conservative hopes the swelling will go the social conservative way but he says the bottom line is not who wins but what ideas are carried forward you know with everything when you were doing it

rosetta was expecting the social conservative republican wayne to pick up a half dozen seats in the house but in the senate he's reluctant to make a prediction while the social conservative wing of the gop is confident they can make at least modest gains this election year legislative democrats are equally optimistic they can do the same you know i like to equate it to when you put the bush and you could the bush went back to get new growth but it takes a while for telecom full flower bob martin is the chief of staff for the senate democratic caucus he believes the democrats are the unknown factor this year he's confident the democrats will have a better showing than people think that will mainly because the republican party is split on the abortion issue a collection of the games in the state senate this time if people make gains in the state house but we're probably two senate cycles away from taking the state senate so that the eight years yeah i mean it's what you do when you get swept away like we

were in ninety four it does take a while to rebuild but i found when we were starting to recruiting state senate candidates around the state that the party is very healthy they were little discouraged right after the ninety four elections but there's their a lot of the democrats around the state and i think the split in the republican party helps us build we are the democratic party is the party of the moderate group in the state anymore as the republican party because more marched for him bob martin admits however it won't be an easy task for the democrats to capture the senate within the next two terms the last time they control the upper chamber was nineteen twelve political commentator martin harvard has ever see the kansas house become a little more socially conservative police in the primary all that looks to believe that the primary races are shaping up to this point the candidates are campaigning clearly as moderate or more conservative and i think there's at least one more

shot of pro life social conservatism out there are monkeys as voters i'm russell lewis at the statehouse i believe that my expertise in taxes and finances are in being an entrepreneur is a very valuable tool that i could use in the senate because what we talking about we're talking about the episode we are talking about balancing a budget and why i am talking about is reducing our taxes reducing the taxes five percent of a middle income and lower income people and this is something that has to be done because i do tax returns and i can see the amount of money being paid by people that really do not have that money to pay it what i'm suggesting is that we have a bill and just simply cut all spending straight across the board ed team percent i don't know why can't be done it's very simple it's common sense

the second motive that i have or are running for the office is the fact that i we have a special interest that is threatening our democracy a special interest money is money given to the candidates with the realization that that candidate will vote for them when avi hbo comes up saber subsidies and it will get to the point where outsiders aren't even going to try to run because their base with special interest i'd be much history is going to be threatened and the very back there someday only the incumbents will be running for office they're the ones that will be had accumulated a special interest money the other thing that i am my one of my priorities is violence and sex on tv and movies and how are we going to the eiffel tower at this our children's brains being brainwashed but that things are wrong things are seeing on tv one of the ways that

we could do that is by refusing to buy any product that has been is behind any program that we do not approve where also been circulating petitions i guess balance insects that will be sent to washington dc and hopefully they will do something with that with those petitions again this is christina campbell klein spelled with three cities please vote for the three c's and i thank you