Yael T. Abouhalkah

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill's mischievous streak showed again Tuesday as she made fun of Missouri's state lawmakers, primarily Republicans.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Toyota announced Tuesday it will do the right thin and recall thousands of its Prius model cars. It's another black eye for the automaker.

This one stings, because the Prius is almost universally loved by its buyers as a model of what a "green" car should be: quiet and clean.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

The public still doesn't know why Karen Pletz was fired as president and CEO of the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences.

But we do know that both Pletz and the university's board made plenty of mistakes the past few years.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

The Super Bowl ads were a dull bunch in 2010, with a surprising commercial for Google standing out as the best one broadcast Sunday night.

Yes, Google.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

The Tim/Pam Tebow Super Bowl ad was broadcast in the first quarter Sunday. It was a winner.

It didn't contain the hard-sell for the Tebows' pro-life position. So much for all the concerns by the National Organization for Women, which wanted CBS to pull the spot.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Sarah Palin didn't say much new during her appearances Saturday at the Tea Party Convention.
But that's all right.

Palin made a news splash simply by showing up for a keynote speech, and burnishing her ultra-conservative credentials.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

The recent Daily KOS/Research 2000 poll of Republicans contains some, shall we say, interesting answers.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Mayor Mark Funkhouser's ears were obviously burning.

He was the object of scorn, ridicule and criticism from several business and civic leaders I talked to for missing Wednesday's annual Governors' Summit, which focused on improving regional cooperation.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Maybe we've been paying attention to the wrong Palin.

It turns out that Todd Palin was heavily involved in all kinds of activities when his wife, Sarah Palin, was governor of Alaska.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

The controversy over Tim Tebow's pro-life Super Bowl ad will attract even more eyeballs to Sunday's highly watched commercials.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

The nation's unemployment rate fell to 9.7 percent in January, down from the high of 10.2 percent in October. Headed in the right direction right? Good news, right?

Not for Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

To kick off the Tea Party convention in Nashville, former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo blasted President "Barack Hussein Obama," John McCain, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and, well, that's enough for now.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

To much of the country, Tea Party supporters look like a bunch of whiners -- over taxes, health care, the federal government, America's future.

So that's why it's important for the people attending the ongoing Tea Party convention in Nashville to establish a more positive direction for their fledgling movement.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Republican Scott Brown vowed on the campaign trail that he was no ideologue. Then on Thursday, when he was sworn in as a U.S. senator from Massachusetts, Brown quickly showed that, well, yeah, he's an ideologue.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Toyota's suddenly tarnished reputation will damage its ability to sell cars and make money in the short term. But what about the long run?

I'm not bullish there, at all.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Wednesday's report about the activities of climate change expert Michael Mann are starkly clear: He was not guilty of three major charges against him.

Sorry this isn't what the global warming deniers wanted to hear. (And yes, as noted below, there's one more investigation still under way about Mann.)

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Despite its good intentions, the Governors' Summit Wednesday in Kansas City was an exercise in "been there, done that" for several hundred business, civic and political leaders. From the wise-cracking governors, to the hollow calls for action, the summit was a failure.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Maybe the courts can sort out the mess surrounding the proposed Citadel Plaza shopping center at 63rd and Prospect in KC.

After years of footdragging on the stalled project by all parties, here's the headline on The Star's Web site Thursday morning:

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Those sneaky Democrats. It appears they aren't going to try to deny Republican Scott Brown's demand to be seated as a U.S. senator on Thursday.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

The global warming deniers out there won't like this, but a big part of the Climategate conspiracy just melted away.

A Penn State academic board of inquiry has cleared Michael Mann of scientific misconduct.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Kansas City faces plenty of challenges. You know the drill: Crime’s too high, schools are struggling, basic services aren’t up to suburban standards.

But sometimes it pays to dig a little deeper into these stereotypes, to focus on answers to this question:

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Americans got a good look today at why it's really bad news for the government to own large parts of General Motors and Chrysler.

Think about what U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood did with his congressional testimony.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser was not mentioned by name one time in the two-plus hours I spent at the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Governors' Summit today at Liberty Memorial. However...

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

There was plenty of blather (and, yes, some insightful comments) at the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Governors' Summit this morning at Liberty Memorial.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

No doubt about it now: Former House Speaker Rod Jetton looks to be the prime target of the FBI probe of Missouri politics.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Could U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk turn into another Scott Brown for the Republican Party?

GOP believers certainly hope so, and Kirk took the first needed step Tuesday night in easily winning the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat in Illinois.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Count on it: Even many of Sarah Palin's critics will be watching her speech to the Tea Party convention scheduled later this week in Nashville.

By The Kansas City Star Editorial Board

Mayor Mark Funkhouser frequently cites a sobering fact while discussing the challenges facing Kansas City: The urban core has lost more than 100,000 people.

The mayor repeated the figure Monday, telling a radio audience that the state of the city was “fragile.”

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

The movers and shakers behind the Academy Awards got it right by deciding to name 10 nominees for the Best Picture Oscar this spring.

Didn't think I'd be writing those words a few months ago, when I thought it was ridiculous to switch from the longtime approach of naming just five potential Best Picture nominees.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

In a screed ripping Rahm Emanuel, Sarah Palin has called on President Barack Obama to immediately fire his chief of staff.

Palin didn't mince words -- and she made a good point.