MAINdigest

Hi everyone! I'm going to try and start doing a daily digest of articles of interest that folks might want to know more about. With more sources for information we can all count on getting closer to the real story.


McCain needs to take his memory pills

"There are fundamental differences," McCain told Politico. "He creates a new bureaucracy and new rules. His bill offers the same benefits whether you stay three years or longer. We want to have a sliding scale to increase retention. I haven't been in Washington, but my staff there said that his has not been eager to negotiate."

"He's so full of it," Webb said in response. "I have personally talked to John three times. I made a personal call to [McCain aide] Mark Salter months ago asking that they look at this."

Bill would throw up road blocks for servicemen applying for the GI Bill.

Newsweek: the McCain plan has too many details.


Heartland Institute caught in a lie about the 500 scientists they had that dispute global warming



Elizabeth Edwards calls John McCain out saying that if he honestly thinks that a family can buy a comparable health policy for $5,000 he is out of touch with regular Americans. In reality a family health plan is about $12k a year and most companies pay for them for their workers. I'd like to join many Americans in welcoming Elizabeth Edwards back to TV - her voice has been missed.

McCain Health Plan here

Some say the solution to cheaper health care is getting married ... Brings a whole new meaning to matchmaker... What happens when family values are dependent on pre-existing conditions?

Roberts Senate Race upgraded from safe republican to just republican favored

Economic growth weakest since 2002

Finally - in good news. President Bush has helped move a lot of new voters away from him.

BREAKING: Voting Rights Under Assault

UPDATE 2: Rock the Vote recently released statement calling it "supremely wrong."

UPDATE 1: Politico has also reported on the topic

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The US Supreme Court just voted to disproportionately disenfranchise our rights to cast a ballot. Remember that whole thing about democracy and everyone having the right to vote - HA! I bet you thought that was real, right??

According to a press release from Common Cause

“In a year in which millions of people have registered to vote in the presidential primaries, including thousands for Indiana’s primary next week, it’s disheartening to see the Supreme Court uphold a measure that will deter and prevent Americans from participating in the electoral process and having their votes count,” said Tova Wang, Common Cause’s vice president for research. Although the court left open the possibility of future “as applied” challenges to voter ID laws, this will do nothing for the citizens of Indiana in this crucial election year, Wang added."

According to the CNN report

"The 6-3 vote allows Indiana to require the identification when it holds its statewide primary next week. It also will give most state legislatures time to revise their voter laws for the November elections.

At issue was whether state laws designed to stem voter fraud end up disenfranchising large numbers of Americans who might lack proper documents to prove their voting eligibility. The case raised important constitutional questions, but also involved race and partisan politics."

What this piece leaves out is that the cases of voter fraud are literally slim to none. In many places like New York City or Chicago most people use public transportation and don't have driver's licenses. Older voters, particularly those in senior centers or nursing homes, don't always have access to an ID that has the address of their assisted living center on it, and young voters, who often move around or who vote from school but have a driver's license with their home address on it will all be told that they cannot vote or are no allowed to vote.

While AARP or other senior lobbying groups have yet to comment on this ruling the Young Democrats of America released a press comment

“Young voters will feel the effects of these disenfranchising laws just at the time when turnout among turnout among young people is on the rise,” said David Hardt, President of the Young Democrats of America. “Make no mistake. These laws are a voter suppression tool, with young voters – who have been voting overwhelmingly for Democrats in recent elections – in the crosshairs.”

“Voter identification laws are simply a partisan tool used by Republicans to intentionally disenfranchise voters who are less likely to support their extreme agenda,” said Alexandra Acker, Executive Director of the Young Democrats of America. “The Young Democrats of America will work to incorporate voter education into all aspects of our campaign programs this Fall to help young voters, among those most impacted by this law, bring proper ID to the polls and make their voices heard through the ballot box.”

Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi also released a statement with a similar regard

"The right to vote is a foundation of our democracy. American citizens who wish to vote must be able to do so.”

And representatives of the US PIRG's also agree in a recent statement released

"The ruling comes on the heels of youth vote surges throughout the country in the presidential primary contest to date. "Today's ruling sends a chilling message to young voters who are more energized and excited than ever."

U.S. PIRG assailed the majority decision saying it will create real problems in order to address perceived ones. A majority of justices accepted Indiana's argument despite the fact that no evidence of voter fraud in the state's history was presented."

I will work to keep you updated as the story unfolds, but more states are working to continue this trend in voter suppression tactics - chances are its coming to a state near you soon.

Schwab elected

OLATHE—Former State Rep. and current Johnson County GOP Chairman Scott Schwab of Olathe was elected to succeed Rep. Ben Hodge, R-Overland Park.


As reported, Hodge has resigned his 49th House District seat effective with the end of the legislative session this year. Schwab held the seat for two terms before an ill-fated run for 3rd District U.S. Congress in 2006. Schwab will see election to a full term in the Kansas House later this year.

Wimmer to challenge Julia Lynn for Kansas Senate seat

Former Olathe school superintendent Ron Wimmer will kick off his campaign for the Kansas Senate on Tuesday, April 29, at the Ball Conference Center, 21350 W. 153rd St., Olathe at 6:30pm.

This is one of Johnson County's most interesting and anticipated elections. Wimmer will be trying to take the Senate seat away from Sen. Julia Lynn, an Olathe Republican who was the hand-picked successor to Kay O'Connor. Lynn was elected by GOP precinct committeemen and committeewomen. This will be Lynn's first general election.

MAINstream has many members in Olathe and will be keeping our eyes on this exciting race.

The Whole Package

Crossposted from WiretapMag
I remember working in the 2004 Election about as fondly as those who attend boot camp. It was a conservative state, in a conservative district, and more than once a day (when I was in the field with the candidate) I encounter someone asking me where the candidate was on "abortion." I wanted to shout! Hoping desperately that people of faith would see the whole package. Guess what. This year, younger people of faith actually do get it.

This month's cover story in C&E Magazine is about the "new evangelical divide."

"It is generational; the way we view the Gospel is more well-rounded-or we see it that way," laughs Ginny, 33. . . But pro-life for us is more holistic, more all of life and all of the environment-endangered species, and not just the human species."

I feel like many people of faith have been trying to advocate this kind of thinking since they were hoodwinked in the 2004 election by fear and clever marketing on behalf of power-hungry pastors. To put it in perspective check out these charts from a CBS poll done right after November 7, 2004.

"In the years since, white evangelicals between the ages of 18 and 29 "have become increasingly dissatisfied with Bush and are moving away from the GOP," according to Cox. Just since 2005, Republican affiliation among young evangelicals has slipped from 55 percent to 40 percent..."

The most beneficial of those numbers are issues specifically. Values voters who look outside the single issue box are now seen fighting causes previously ignored by these groups a few years ago. For example, as part of a series of blogs, Bid for Green has begun posting Unexplored Connections in dealing with the climate crisis.

C&E sees similar trends.

"Another factor is that so many Christian college students have been changed by their experience helping victims of poverty and natural catastrophe. For some, it was volunteering in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. For others, it was a spring break trip to a Third World country, now a common rite of passage for evangelical youth."

On campuses that trend continues. More and more students are becoming active in community outreach, causes that give back, preserve, clean up, or help those who need it most. In just a few short years we've managed to create a culture of compassion beyond the marketing ploys and focus groups.

"On Christian campuses, academics have for a decade been moving away from "the either/or mindset of either fundamentalism or the Social Gospel," says Lisa Sharon Harper, author of the forthcoming Evangelical Does Not Equal Republican...or Democrat. But it's just in the last couple of years, she says, that "evangelicals en masse are beginning to realize that the Good News encompasses both." For her book, Harper interviewed 67 evangelical leaders across the country and found that "almost everybody said yes, absolutely there is a shift happening that's prevalent in this new generation."

I like the conversations now. Enhancing compassion and moving even beyond "tolerance" instead to appreciation and grace is something I find the Millennial Generation is eager to embrace. And I say Amen to that!

Unexpected Connections: Creation Care

The following blog appeared as part of a series for Bid For Green an organization that fights to stop the climate crisis through alternative fuels.

Early this year I traveled to some of the early primary states to learn more about different groups involved in the presidential primary elections. One was South Carolina, where I drive from Charleston to Columbia and everywhere in between and back again asking different kinds of people what mattered most to them.

I interviewed Rev. Don Flowers, head pastor of Providence Baptist Church just outside of Charleston on Daniel Island. The good Rev and his family treated me to lunch and told me about a series of sermons he had done called Faith at the Ballot Box, and his first addressed the climate crisis and as Christians how we can care better for God's creation.

"This morning we finished our prayer ... thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. ... Thy Kingdom come, oh God. It is a reminder to us this morning that we pay our allegiance not to the Republican party or the Democratic party or the United States of America. We come here professing that our primary citizenship is in the Kingdom of God.... that should form the very core of who we are as persons, who we are as citizens, and who we are as voters. We will hear plenty of partisan answers to issues, but what about biblical answers? What about faith answers. What does our faith our scriptures, our Bible, have to say about the issues we face in this election."

Rev. Flowers goes on to discuss a drive he made to Atlanta to pick up his daughter at the airport. She had been overseas for a time and when he dropped her off he remembered people water-skiing on a local lake, but as he drove by months later the lake had only small pools of water surrounded by mud flats. He brings up a story he heard about Bangkok, Thailand which was build originally on marsh lands - much like the city of New Orleans. The city is now rapidly sinking at a rate of 4 inches a year while the outside waters rise around them. In just 15 years - the entire city will be gone.

And of course we all know why. As Rev. Flowers says "we are cooking our planet."

The Evangelical Environmental Network a state away from Rev. Flower's Church addresses specifically what the Lord's word says about creation care and being good stewards of our lands.

"The environment is actually a part of God's creation - of which humanity is also a part. . . As many of the scriptures below will demonstrate, the Bible teaches that both "nature" or "the environment" and humanity are part of creation.

Both are inextricably linked to one another, have been ever since God formed us from the earth (Gen. 2:7; 3:19; Ps. 104:27-30), and will continue to be in God's future when we will exist as resurrected bodies on a new earth (I Cor. 15:35-44; Rom. 8:19-23; Isa. 65:17; Rev. 21:1).

In other words, humanity and the rest of creation are part of all of creation. Therefore, creation-care does not just mean caring for "nature," nor does it just mean caring for humanity; it means caring for both. A biblical creation-care ethic is a holistic ethic. "

I Cor. 10:26 similarly says "'The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it," and yet today we disrespect the Lord our God by trashing that which he has created and blessed us with. The President mocks and ignores the suffering of our earth calling it "climate change." As if global warming was merely an inconvenience that a public relations firm can make go away.

With those waters depleted in rivers and lakes we see the warming continue as it melts and displaces those waters rising higher and higher. Which means the entire city of Bangkok, over 9 million people, will need to be relocated. Where do they go? How do we help 9 million of our brothers and sisters? Surly, this task cannot be single handily taken on by one episode of American Idol Gives Back.

Rev. Flowers says this is the question of stewardship and to whom does our world really belong.

"Is it our plaything to be used as we want it to? For too long we have treated it that way. We have done with the earth what we want because it belong to us, but scripture lessons this morning give us a different answer. 'In the beginning God created the heaves and the earth.' In the beginning God created. . . this was His world. We are merely the stewards... the caretakers."

He began his sermon by reminding us how important this election is for our country, for our world, and for us. I would add that it is important for all people of faith to accept our short comings in caring for the gifts we were given and instead embrace those who offer us solutions. And in saving our world we ourselves shall also be saved.

Peace be with you.

Ben Hodge to resign at end of session

Prime Buzz Blog is reporting that Ben Hodge is going to resign form the Kansas House at the end of the veto session.


Rep. Ben Hodge, an Overland Park Republican whose district includes part of east Olathe, announced Tuesday he will resign from the Legislature next month.

Hodge, a member of the Johnson County Community College Board, said he's planning to move to northeast Johnson County where he grew up.

He said his resignation from the Kansas House will become official at the end of the Legislature's upcoming wrap-up or veto session, which begins April 30 and will last six or seven days.

Reports have been circulating for weeks that Hodge was planning to run for a higher office in the northeast part of the county. Mentioned was a possible run for the state Senate in either Sen. Barbara Allen's or Sen. David Wysong's district.

In a letter stating his intention to resign, he did not indicate whether he would seek a different public office.

Hodge was elected to the Kansas House in 2006 when former Rep. Scott Schwab, currently county GOP chairman, ran unsuccessfully for the Congress.

According to state law, Republican Party officials have 21 days to hold a convention to replace Hodge. The clock started Tuesday when the secretary of state's office received Hodge's resignation letter.

The convention will be made up of committeemen and committee women from Hodge's 49th District.

The person they elect will then fill out the rest of Hodge's two-year term in the House. That term runs out this coming January.

Schwab said he might be interesting in seeking his old House seat but needed to discuss it with his family before making that decision.

Hodge's district is east of Interstate 35 and goes as far east as Quivira Road in Overland Park. About one fourth of the district is in Overland Park and the rest is in Olathe.