In mid-February, the White House barred Associated Press journalists from presidential events for refusing to change the name of a body of water from “the Gulf of Mexico” to “the Gulf of America” in its reporting.
The term “common sense” is often evoked by President Trump, though his “common” sense can seem grotesquely solitary and unique, as for example when he cruelly shut down the USAID program, increasing disease, malnutrition and death for people in faraway places with desperate needs.
Who wins and who loses if the U.S. no longer can make change with pennies? Many folks assume that commerce will go on without any change aside from the nickel now being the smallest unit of payment. Proponents point to countries like Canada who likewise eliminated a low denomination coin and supposedly saw no inflation. Superficially, you just round up or round down and no one benefits.
As of last week, 26 bills related to elections had been introduced into the state legislature this session. Four of these bills have passed one of the houses — two in the Senate and two in the House.
Financially, making cents doesn’t make sense. A recent presidential directive to stop minting pennies aims to solve the problem that could only befall a government — losing money by making it.
My family has ranched in the Flint Hills for more than 100 years, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service has always been a part of my life. Hearing that 1,200 NRCS employees have been eliminated nationwide is heartbreaking.
Friday, March 7 marks Global Day of Unplugging, a day dedicated to stepping away from technology and embracing genuine human connection. Unplugging means different things to different people—whether it’s about finding time for yourself, being present with loved ones, or reconnecting with nature.
On January 20, President Trump reorganized the United State Digital Service into the Department of Government Efficiency and ordered it to begin “modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize efficiency and productivity.” The task list soon became much larger to include, in the President’s words, “dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cute wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal agencies.”
Not too long ago I had the privilege of representing Kansas Farm Bureau at the American Farm Bureau Federation Convention in San Antonio. For any of you who have never attended an annual meeting, it would be my hope that someday you might get that opportunity. If you do you should jump on it as fast as you can.
Consider this a wake-up call.