Bonaparte's scores kept secret | CJOnline.com

Bonaparte's scores kept secret CJOnline.com

The net results of Topeka city manager Norton Bonaparte’s recent evaluation were better than those of his last review, Deputy Mayor Jeff Preisner said Friday.

Preisner said he and the city manager had a “very constructive” meeting Thursday to discuss Bonaparte’s evaluation.

But the Topeka City Council continued the practice it has followed since 2007 of keeping Bonaparte’s numerical scores secret, with Preisner saying he wouldn’t release any more information about the review because it was a personnel matter. State law enables governmental agencies to keep information regarding personnel matters confidential.

I have to admit I have mixed feelings about this story. On the one hand, I understand why you would want to keep personnel issues confidential. On the other hand, the city manager does work for the residents of Topeka. Doesn't that make his job evaluation an public matter? What do you think?

D.A. offers explanation | CJOnline.com

D.A. offers explanation CJOnline.com

Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor said he didn’t request a special prosecutor from Johnson County to handle the shooting case against Topeka police officer Jason Judd because he wanted the case to be dismissed.

Rather, he sought assistance to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest since his office works closely with law enforcement.

“I brought in a special prosecutor because the conflict exists when the district attorney’s office is prosecuting people it works with on a daily basis on thousands of pending investigations and prosecutions,” Taylor said. “Appointing a special prosecutor is the best means to cure any potential conflict in a criminal case. The appointment of a nonconflicted, competent third-party to oversee the case removes any conflict or appearance of conflict.

“I entered into the reciprocal special prosecutor agreement with the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office because doing so is in the interest of justice and the agreement removes any politics from prosecutions in my office, now and in the future.”

Most of you know, I supported Eric Rucker in the DA's race. So I have no reason to be anything but objective in this case. I believe Mr. Taylor did exactly the right thing in bringing in an outside prosecutor. And in all likelihood, the end result is the right one. I firmly believe that Taylor's only motivation was to see justice done.

Sebelius: Everyone should have health insurance - KTKA.com

Sebelius: Everyone should have health insurance - KTKA.com

Health secretary nominee Kathleen Sebelius says everyone should have health coverage but she avoided endorsing the idea of making individuals legally responsible for seeing that they're insured.

Sebelius was responding to questions from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, who proposed a so-called individual mandate in his own health overhaul plan.

Watch out. The mandate is coming, to be followed by the government "solution" to the problem.

National (US) Poll * April 1, 2009 * U.S. Should Limit Pay At Baile - Quinnipiac University – Hamden, Connecticut

National (US) Poll * April 1, 2009 * U.S. Should Limit Pay At Baile - Quinnipiac University – Hamden, Connecticut

American voters say 81 - 16 percent that the government should limit executive compensation at companies receiving federal help, and say 47 - 44 percent that boards of directors and top managers at these companies should be forced to resign, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.

Support for income limits is strong among Democrats, Republicans and independent voters and in all income groups, but the call for forced resignations drops as income rises.

It scares me a bit that so many Americans are ready to have the government take so much control of private companies. Can't you just smell the socialism?

Sebelius admits errors, pays $7,000 in back taxes

Sebelius admits errors, pays $7,000 in back taxes

WASHINGTON (AP) - Health and Human Services nominee Kathleen Sebelius recently corrected three years of tax returns and paid more than $7,000 in back taxes after finding "unintentional errors"—the latest tax troubles for an Obama administration nominee.

The Kansas governor explained the changes to senators in a letter dated Tuesday that the administration released. She said they involved charitable contributions, the sale of a home and business expenses.

Sebelius said she filed the amended returns as soon as the errors were discovered by an accountant she hired to scrub her taxes in preparation for her confirmation hearings. She and her husband, Gary, a federal magistrate judge in Kansas, paid a total of $7,040 in back taxes and $878 in interest to amend returns from 2005-2007.

Is it my imagination, or does this seem to be a requirement for someone to serve in the Obama administration. I didn't put this on to condemn Sebelius. But if so many nominees have this problem, could it be that the tax code really is too complicated? Maybe the answer would be to scrap the current system, and go with some kind of flat tax?

Beyond AIG: A bill to let Big Government set your salary

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Beyond-AIG-A-Bill-to-let-Big-Government-Set-Your-Salary-42158597.html

It was nearly two weeks ago that the House of Representatives, acting in a near-frenzy after the disclosure of bonuses paid to executives of AIG, passed a bill that would impose a 90 percent retroactive tax on those bonuses. Despite the overwhelming 328-93 vote, support for the measure began to collapse almost immediately. Within days, the Obama White House backed away from it, as did the Senate Democratic leadership. The bill stalled, and the populist storm that spawned it seemed to pass.

But now, in a little-noticed move, the House Financial Services Committee, led by chairman Barney Frank, has approved a measure that would, in some key ways, go beyond the most draconian features of the original AIG bill. The new legislation, the "Pay for Performance Act of 2009," would impose government controls on the pay of all employees -- not just top executives -- of companies that have received a capital investment from the U.S. government. It would, like the tax measure, be retroactive, changing the terms of compensation agreements already in place. And it would give Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner extraordinary power to determine the pay of thousands of employees of American companies.

Just how much control do YOU want the government to have? It seems they will take whatever power they can. The moral of this story is, there is no such thing as "free" government money.

Sales spike at Kuwait Payless | CJOnline.com

Sales spike at Kuwait Payless CJOnline.com

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Payless ShoeSource has opened its first locations in the Middle East as the retailer expands overseas despite a challenging economy at home.

The Topeka, Kan.-based chain said Tuesday its Middle East franchisee opened two stores this weekend in Kuwait City, Kuwait, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to overwhelming consumer demand.

"The opening exceeded any (financial) stretch plan that anyone had," said Matt Rubel, chief executive of Collective Brands Inc., which operates the Payless and Stride Rite chains.

Collective Brands announced in September a partnership with retail franchisee M.H. Alshaya to open stores in United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.

It is nice to see a locally based company doing well. Considering their market position, they ought to be doing better than most shoe stores at home as well.