I find it difficult to recall the big news stories of any past year. I am involved in news reporting every day and frankly don’t take much time to look back and reflect on what has grabbed headlines over the past 12 months.

Generally speaking, this has been an interesting year in politics … as the new president settled in and some Americans began to show their impatience with him. Where is all this “change” he promised? Others believe he is pushing too hard for too much change, too quickly.

Here in Kansas, another ugly year for state government. Lawmakers cut millions from their budget … and slowed the flow of money to local school districts. They’d cut taxes in years past, maybe too much. Now, as we end one year and look ahead to the new one, the Kansas Legislature is anticipating cutting more spending … and maybe even raising some taxes.

In my world, a good year at home and in family matters. Our radio stations have out-performed most around the country … in spite of the Great Recession and thousands of lost jobs in this market.

I look forward to the new year with hope, optimism, and great anticipation.

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Our thought for today is from Colin Powell:

“Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.”

A recent Gallup Poll reveals that 78% of Americans identify with some form of Christian religion … 22% of them, Catholic. 13% claim no religious identity … a number that has been going up the past few years.

56% of those surveyed said religion is “very important” in their lives … 25% “fairly important” … and 19% “not very important”. Only 63% said they are a member of a church or synagogue … while 37% said they are not a church member.

Another Gallup Poll asked people to evaluate their lives and then divided them by professions … rating their perceived “well being”. Topping the list with a composite score of 71.7, teacher … followed by business owner at 71.5 … manager/executive/official at 69.3 … professional worker, 69.1 … and farming/fishing/forestry worker at 66.5. Sales ranked sixth on the list … followed by clerical or office worker.

The survey looked at access to resources needed to lead a healthy life, emotional health, and their likelihood of engaging in healthy behaviors.

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Our thought for today is from Juvenal:

“A healthy mind in a healthy body.”

The Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University has revised its employment forecast for the coming year in the Wichita area. The Center now says we’ll see about 16-hundred job losses … or five-tenths of a percent … about half what the Center predicted in October. The one-half percent compares to a 2.3 % job loss in 2009.

For the entire state, the Center expects a five-tenths percent job decrease … nearly 64-hundred jobs … in 2010. That compares to a 3.2 % job decrease this year.

It seems odd to proclaim job losses as “good news”. But this new prediction means the local job hemorrhage may be slowing to a nose bleed. After more than 15,000 local jobs have disappeared in the past year, the loss of 16-hundred more jobs doesn’t seem so bad … and may even be encouraging.

Of course, for those who are looking for work and those who hope for a general economic recovery, the prospect of actually beginning to add jobs would be the best news of all.

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Our thought for today is from Martin Luther:

“Every thing that is done in the world is done by hope.”

The Center for Responsive Politics reports that the five senators charged with overseeing floor debate count health interests among their biggest campaign contributors.

The top two contributors over the past five years to Democrat Max Baucus of Montana … chair of the Senate Finance Committee … are political action committees and employees of drug makers Shering-Plough and Amgen. In all, health care interests have donated more than $2.5 million to Baucus’s fund-raising committee since 2005 … second only to the finance, insurance, and real estate sectors.

Chuck Grassley of Iowa … top Republican on the Finance Committee … has received $1.3 million from health care interests since 2005 … reports U-S-A Today.

Others involved in floor debate and receiving big bucks from health care PAC’s and individuals include Democrat Chris Dodd of Connecticut … Democrat Tom Harkin of Iowa … and Republican Mike Enzi of Wyoming.

The senators’ spokes people deny that there is any connection between the campaign contributions and the content and direction of the health care debate.

Is anyone surprised by the campaign contributions … or the denials of any influence?

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Our thought for today is from Maury Amsterdam:

“Our Congressmen are the finest body of men money can buy.”

A person can pile up quite a few Christmas memories over six decades. My brothers and I thought we would never fall asleep that Christmas Eve so many years ago, incredibly excited about opening our gifts in a few hours … after Santa had come. We didn’t have many toys, so this was truly special.

A few years later we had a tough time at Christmas, after my dad had undergone surgery. I’ll never forget mom’s distress over the lack of presents under the tree. It’s a big reason why I like to give to as many charities as possible this time of year.

Another childhood memory … singing a solo during a Christmas program in front of a packed house at the old Kingman High School gymnasium. I’ve never gotten over the stage freight I experienced before I squeaked out that tune.

Flash ahead to my first Christmas with a beautiful woman who would be my bride within a few months. I gave her an expensive watch.

And a few years later … Christmas mornings with our children.

Now we have Christmas with our grandchildren.

God has been good to us.

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Our thought for today is from me and my family to you and yours:

“Merry Christmas.”

Wichita’s Toys for Tots is not the only charity hit by Christmas “Grinches”. Someone swiped more than a thousand toys the other day, which were quickly replaced by so many new donations that the Marine Corps Reserve now has the beginnings of a stock pile for next Christmas.

In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina someone stole $2,000 in toys collected by the motorcycle group ABATE. They received dozens of calls from people who wanted to donate more toys.

28 Christmas trees were stolen from a Lions Club lot in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. People paid $5 extra for a tree or gave cash.

150 gifts for needy children were stolen from the Church of the Little Flower in Springfield, Illinois. After that, donations “quadrupled”.

Hundreds of gifts were stolen from the Salvation Army of Ithaca, New York … but new donations have covered the losses.

There is an obvious pattern here. The responses of the good people have overwhelmed the bad deeds of the “Grinches”. Seems appropriate during the season when we celebrate what many believe is the greatest gift of all.

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Our thought for today is from Benjamin Franklin:

“A good conscience is a continual Christmas.”

Last week the Wichita City Council changed its rules on granting tax abatements to retain and attract businesses to the city. The old rules said companies had to prove they met their job-creation projections, spent what they promised on facilities and equipment, and maintained a ratio of $1.3 in estimated economic activity for every $1 of tax abated. Under the new rules, companies would only have to meet two of those three criteria.

The council also changed its policy on job creation. A business must show that it has met its job-creation promise at any point in the process, even if workers have since been laid off.

The council used the new rules to extend property tax breaks for a year to three companies that would not have qualified under the old rules; Coleman, Big Dog Motorcycles, and Dean & DeLuca.

Kansas Revenue Secretary Joan Wagnon has said state and local tax abatements drain a billion dollars a year from the state’s bank account. But local officials say Wichita is in competition with other cities and states to attract and retain business … and the abatements are necessary.

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Our thought for today is from David Rockefeller:

“Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you’re not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were.”

Economists tell us the Great Recession has ended … and recovery is on the way … and it’s likely to come very slowly. We’re told that backing up big banks with billions of federal dollars quite possibly prevented a world-wide depression.

President Obama has held meetings aimed at finding ways the government can assist in job creation. Is he listening to the concerns of small business, where most jobs are created and lost? What can be done to bring back the thousands of lost high-paying manufacturing jobs in our aircraft industry? That will go a long way toward reviving the entire Kansas economy.

I ask President Obama to resist the temptation to toss more billions in debt at attempted job creation. Instead, he should gather business experts, get their unvarnished input, and look at changing federal rules and laws that stifle competition and entrepreneurship. What can be done to loosen the bonds that may be holding back creative business genius in the United States?

When new and better products and services are rolled out … and folks start buying and selling again … the great American business machine will begin to look for workers.

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Our thought for today is from Frank Zappa:

“Communism doesn’t work because people like to own stuff.”

The Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots campaign has been popular at Christmas time for many years. It was a huge blow last weekend when police reported that someone had broken into the Toys for Tots warehouse in east Wichita and stole a thousand toys that had been collected for needy children.

The reaction was amazing. After the initial disgust over such a twisted, ugly crime, people pulled out their checkbooks. Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson and his wife donated a thousand dollars … Wichita businessman Wink Hartman, $5,000 … the employees of Spirit AeroSystems, $15,000. In addition, Fugate Enterprises … Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Blockbuster Video … guaranteed any “difference” in what was needed.

So Wichitans rescued this year’s Toys for Tots campaign.

I’m saddened and angry that anyone would commit such a despicable crime. I want these crooks caught and prosecuted. At the same time, it’s so nice to see the way people have responded to make sure those kids get the toys. Outstanding!

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Our thought for today is a German proverb:

 “Charity sees the need not the cause.”

My first thought was, “Hey, this looks pretty good to me”. Why not allow Americans to buy Medicare health insurance as young as the age of 55? I enjoy health care coverage at work, but my wife works for a small company that doesn’t offer health insurance to its employees. She is part of my contract.

If I lose this job, she and I are in a tough spot. One of us will have to find a job that carries health care coverage or we’ll have to buy it on our own. That may be impossible for two people with “pre existing conditions”. And if we can get coverage, it will be very expensive. Medicare might be a nice option.

But I see problems, including the higher cost to the U-S Treasury. Also, as I understand how insurance works, insuring only older, high-risk people doesn’t help lower the cost. The “pool” must include many healthy people who don’t file many claims. The “pool” must include younger people who pay premiums but don’t get sick.

It’s a tough call for people in our situation. My wife and I simply cannot get fired … and we cannot get sick.

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Our thought for today is from General Douglas MacArthur:

“There is no security on this earth, there is only opportunity.”