A message from Chairman Larry Gates:

We woke up this morning to a different country. We now live in a country where we have said no to failed policies of the last eight years.

Today we can hold our heads high. The hard work and dedication that you have shown over the past eighteen months has brought real change not just to Kansas but to the entire United States.

So thank you. Thank you for your tireless effort. Thank you for making phone calls, knocking on doors, helping out in our offices, talking to your friends and family and encouraging them to vote. Thank you.

Regardless of who won or lost, Kansas Democrats are better organized and more inspired then ever before. You are responsible for this achievement.

Thank you,

Larry Gates Chairman Kansas Democratic Party

You can join us in making history by volunteering to help out on election day. Also, checkout this new web ad from Barack Obama.

SEVEN DAYS until George W. Bush comes to Kansas. SEVEN WAYS Lynn Jenkins offers same leadership as Bush. #7: Recklessly Spending Our Tax Dollars

Lynn Jenkins is recklessly spending taxpayers dollars to host her private party with George W. Bush, just like Bush recklessly spent taxpayers dollars for eight years and left us with the largest deficit in our nation's history.

If Bush's latest trips are any indication, Jenkins' little soirée with the President could end up costing Kansas families BIG time.

Bush Visit Cost Arizona Taxpayers nearly $100K: "President Bush's visit to Tucson last month cost local taxpayers nearly $100,000, and, despite criticism, the congressional campaign he came to raise money for — Republican Tim Bee's — has no plans to pick up those costs." [Arizona Daily Star, 8/19/08]

Cops, Sheriff Spend $99K on Bush Visit: "The cost to the city to staff the president's visit was about $57,000 and the county's expenses totaled $42,000, officials from the agencies said. [Tucson Citizen, 8/18/08]

GOP Candidate Would Not Disclose How Much Taxpayers Paid: Bush was in town last month to help raise money for Republican Congressional candidate Tim Bee. Bee's campaign says it helped defray the cost of the visit but Bee spokesman Tom Dunn would not disclose how much the campaign has paid. [Associated Press, 8/18/08]

Last week, Lt. Governor Mark Parkinson introduced a Budget Efficiency Savings Team (BEST) II, a program to continue the work started by Governor Sebelius to cut wasteful spending, identify savings and make Kansas government more efficient. (The Governor's program has already saved Kansas taxpayers $1 billion.)

On Monday, Republican Senator Derek Schmidt thought he'd take a stab a fiscal responsibility, proposing a "Government Efficiency Commission."

He sent a press release...

On his fancy stationary with royal blue ink and shiny gold leaf...

And a subtle, yet stately water mark...

And we hear his release was only available in printed form. No digital releases for him!

We called the Lt. Governor's office to see if their press release was equally beautiful. It turns out, they send all press releases by email, and any hard copies are printed on a black and white copier using recycled copy paper.

I hope Schmidt gets his Efficiency Commission so they can investigate how much his expensive stationary is costing Kansas taxpayers.

There is a reason the 3rd District of Kansas keeps sending Dennis Moore back to Washington...

Every few weeks, usually after the last vote is cast on a Monday night, members of the Center Aisle Caucus head to Hunan Dynasty — “one of the few things people can agree on in Washington is Chinese food,” says the group’s founder — to practice their radically civil ways.

There, they ponder and debate the big issues of the day, including war and peace, far from the cameras that prompt so much division two blocks away on the House floor..

The Center Aisle Caucus has equal membership from each party and four co-chairs - one of whom is our very own Democratic Rep. Dennis Moore of Kansas.

The caucus got a kick start in suburban Kansas City in the summer of 2005, when Israel joined Emerson and Moore for an event on congressional civility at Johnson County Community College. When hundreds turned out, organizers knew they had struck a chord.

"I think people in this country are just really fed up with all the partisanship they see on television and they read about in the papers," Moore said.