Mike Shanin

What would Reagan really do?  That’s the provocative title of a story in a recent Newsweek magazine.  The article claims some Republicans want to impose a Reaganite purity test on candidates this year that Reagan himself would fail.  Andrew Romano claims conservatives and Republicans can still learn a great deal from the 40th president, but he says they’re learning the wrong lessons.  They should study, he suggests, the pragmatic Reagan.  The Ronald Reagan who was willing to compromise and even, on occasion, agree to tax increases.

The writer asserts that “Reagan was the most successful Republican president since Teddy Roosevelt and the only effective conservative leader of the last half century.  Republicans who think Reagan is truth (and truth Reagan) may be overdoing it.  But he’s still the GOP’s best model of how to win and how to lead.”

To which I would add only this:  Reagan’s enduring legacy is due in no small part to his ability to make Americans feel good about themselves and their country’s future.  Despite the economic woes of the time, Reagan’s promise was that America’s best days are still ahead.

I wish we had a leader today who could (and would) make that promise.  And that we could (and would) believe him or her!

You’ve likely heard the recent news that the Power and Light District downtown is not paying for itself.  That is, the tax revenues from the district–sales, earnings, property–all go toward  paying off the city’s bonds that financed the district.  When the plan was being presented to the public, it was “sold” as a self-sustaining project.

Now, the estimate is that money from the city’s general revenues that would normally help fund other projects will be diverted for bond payments.  It’s estimated the amount will range from 10-15 million annually for the next 20-plus years.  (Could go higher! Or lower.)

Mayor Mark Funkhouser warned of this before he ran for mayor when he was Kansas City Auditor.  Now, as mayor, he must have mixed emotions.  On the one hand, he can point to his prescience.  On the other, he knows that yet another portion of next year’s budget is removed from use on projects he proposes and promotes.

When the mayor joined Scott and me last Monday, I reminded him that most, maybe all, local pundits, are saying he can’t win a second term.  Funkhouser‘s retort:  “Those who claim I can’t win re-election are the same folks who said the P&L District would make money.”

Scott and I had the opportunity to visit with US Senator Jim DeMint last Friday, a man said to be among the most, if not THE most, conservative member of the US Senate.  Shockingly enough, after being told by some callers in recent weeks that I’m not a conservative, something I thought I’d been since the Goldwater era, I found that DeMint and I are in agreement on several key points.

First, DeMint says while he thinks Obama’s policies are ruinous, as do I, he does not believe Obama or his associates are evil people hell-bent on a mission to purposely destroy this nation.

Second, DeMint says you can’t—it would be impossible!–to just round up illegal immigrants and send them to whence they came.  He wants border security first and then some type of arrangement with illegal immigrant who are already here.  That arrangement would not include citizenship.

Finally, DeMint seemed to suggest that there are varying definitions of “Conservatism.”  One can be a conservative without agreeing on everything with every other conservative.

DeMint was an impressive guest.  He was in town campaigning on behalf of Congressman Moran’s bid to win the Kansas GOP Senate nomination.

Now when callers accuse me of being demented, I’ll take that positively to mean “DeMinted.”