In a commentary in the Washington Times, Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, characterized “God, the flag, mom and apple pie” as pillars “of the American paradigm for our patriotic, wholesome culture.” He claimed that “activist judges have already expelled faith from the public square” and “decriminalized burning the Stars and Stripes in public.” Huelskamp continued: “The first lady’s ‘Let’s Move!’ initiative and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s sugary-drink ban suggest the days of consuming apple pie might well be numbered. That leaves motherhood.” And that will be irreparably harmed, he wrote, if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns California’s Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act. “Redefining marriage to remove parents of both sexes from the equation would further the destruction of the family, the most fundamental building block of society,” he wrote.
After Complex magazine listed “The 40 Hottest Women in Tech,” Pando Daily responded with a less-serious “The 41 hottest guys in tech,” which included Jeff Bridges in “Tron” and “Al Gore’s beard (deceased).” Coming in at No. 34 was Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., accompanied by this comment: “Hottest advocate for high-skilled immigration that Capitol Hill has seen since John Adams.” Moran recently attended the South by Southwest Interactive event in Austin to promote his Startup Act 3.0, which would create visas to allow educated and entrepreneurial immigrants to stay in the country, accelerate the commercialization of university research and serve other high-tech goals.
A Boston Globe article last week on how Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, seems to accurately represent the views of his conservative “Big First” congressional district has garnered attention – but not for good reasons. The article focused on residents of Jetmore, many of whom are urging Huelskamp to continue refusing to compromise. “Just keep saying ‘no’ until people listen,” one man said. The residents have no interest in broadening the GOP base, as national party leaders want. The editor of the local newspaper joked about how Jetmore doesn’t have “the gay problem.” The local doctor complained that “this president is trying to destroy the country I grew up in.” But what really raised alarms was that two of the citizens interviewed (at different times) joked about needing Lee Harvey Oswald (the man who assassinated President Kennedy). “I keep donating to the Bring Back Lee Harvey Committee,” one man said. “It hasn’t worked yet.”
“I would gracefully bow out.” – Rep. Mike Pompeo (in photo), R-Wichita, joking about what he would do if WSU men’s basketball coach Gregg Marshall ran for Congress
“It is those who make the most noise that sometimes succeed. I thought I’d made a lot of noise.” – Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., in the Washington Post, lamenting his failure to exempt small air traffic control towers from the sequester cuts
“Yes, I’d like to appoint myself mayor.” – Wichita City Council member Paul Gray, joking during the board appointments agenda item at his last meeting Tuesday
The efforts of Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., to curb Federal Aviation Administration cuts under sequestration and keep 149 airport control towers open were highlighted in a Wall Street Journal editorial blasting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Moran “proposed replacing $50 million of FAA sequester cuts with savings from unspent balances, which are a kind of agency slush fund, and by reducing other low-priority spending. Great idea. How did the vote turn out? There wasn’t one. Majority Leader Reid blocked the amendment from ever getting to the Senate floor.” The editorial noted that “Moran also couldn’t get a vote to restore funding for White House tours by cutting $2.5 million for new uniforms for airport screeners.”
“This may be the absolute worst idea I have ever heard in my life.” – Sen. Les Donovan (in photo), R-Wichita, about a proposal that Kansas Turnpike fees be higher the faster you drive
“If I had my way, you’d have to pass a test to get out of high school.” – House Speaker Ray Merrick, R-Stilwell, while saying he’s “not for mandates” but supports the governor’s proposal to hold back slow-reading third-graders
“Universal truth: the phrase ‘with all due respect’ precedes a statement devoid of said respect.” – Rep. Stephanie Clayton, R-Overland Park, tweeting during a House debate
“Ten years ago, you’d have never heard of me again.” – U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, in Salina, crediting the Internet with giving him even greater influence since his ouster from House committees
“Roberts Racks Up GOP Endorsements, Thwarting Primary in 2014,” declared Roll Call, after Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., released a list of re-election endorsements Thursday from “every top Republican official in Kansas.” Roll Call noted that “the Sunflower State is safe GOP territory, and Republicans are expected to hold the seat in 2014. But earlier this cycle, some quietly wondered if Roberts would face a primary challenge.”
The Boston Globe did an autopsy of the U.S. Senate’s December vote failing to ratify an international treaty on the rights of individuals with disabilities – a measure championed by former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, who appeared in the chamber in a wheelchair for the vote. “The deepest wound – some considered it betrayal – came from a Republican senator from Dole’s home state of Kansas. That senator, Jerry Moran (in photo), had announced he supported the treaty and would be ‘standing up for the rights of those with disabilities,’” the Globe noted. Asked why he voted against it, Moran told the Globe: “I tried to help (the treaty) come to the floor, and had never made a conclusion as to whether I was for or against it, and concluded that it was a bad idea to have the United Nations involved in this.” Dole told the Globe: “The home-schoolers thought the U.N. would be involved in how they dealt with their children. I don’t know how they got there, but once the stampede starts, they notify their leaders to start ringing the phones, sending the e-mails. It’s really effective.”
Sen. Rob Portman (in photo), R-Ohio, created a buzz by announcing a change of heart on same-sex marriage, a decision that followed a son’s announcement that he is gay. But according to ThinkProgress, Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, was dismissive, calling Portman “a senator who couldn’t deliver his own home state in the presidential election” and complaining that “somehow we’re supposed to believe that if we abandon traditional marriage that liberals are going to flock to us.” Speaking at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference, Huelskamp also said, “The principle is, traditional marriage and family is the foundation of society.” Asked whether he would re-examine his own position if he had a gay son, the Kansan said: “I support traditional marriage.”
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., was characteristically vivid in describing the meeting that he and other Senate Republicans had last week with President Obama. “He’s smothering us with the milk of human kindness and hoping it doesn’t curdle,” Roberts said. The Kansan also said that Republicans “tried to stress that it’s extremely helpful for the president to weigh in on some of these big-time issues. We have to have him if we’re going to get anything done.” After Obama’s previous visit to the Senate GOP caucus in 2010, Roberts famously told reporters that the president needed “to take a Valium” and had some “pretty thin-skinned” moments.
A Reuters article examines the impact on Wichita of President Obama’s bad-mouthing of business jets and push for a seven-year depreciation schedule for private-plane buyers. “I’m certainly disappointed that he would do something of this nature. As long as you’re doing something to threaten my aviation industry … I’ll continue to speak out against it,” Mayor Carl Brewer told Reuters, which noted Brewer is a Democrat who has Obama’s portrait on his wall. Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita, said: “It’s so frustrating. All the aviation manufacturers want is for him to stop talking down their industry. Don’t write them a check, don’t give them a tax credit, don’t hand them a subsidy. Stop bashing them.”
A week after participating in the Senate filibuster on drones, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., announced that Kansas is one of the top 10 states predicted to benefit the most as production of unmanned aerial systems increases. Moran, who is a member of a Senate UAS caucus (who knew that existed?), cited a new report estimating a projected economic impact in Kansas of $2.9 billion and an estimated 3,716 new jobs between 2015 and 2025. “Kansas already boasts the necessary attributes to manage UAS activities: airspace for UAS operations; multiple airport support facilities; university research and development on sensors, airframes and engines; university flight and operations training; and avionics development and manufacturing capabilities,” Moran said in a statement, adding that “the future for UAS in Kansas – the Air Capital of the World – is bright.” Meanwhile, a bill in the Legislature, House Bill 2394, would prohibit the operation of drones in Kansas while carrying a lethal payload and prohibit law enforcement agencies from using drones to collect evidence.
The Hill newspaper checked in with Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, and other congressmen who were stripped of key committee assignments for not toeing the GOP leadership’s line. How is Huelskamp doing three months later? “One of my colleagues put it interestingly. He said, ‘Well, Tim, they’ve given you a platform that you’ve never had before,’” the Kansan told the Hill, noting he also has been in demand on cable-news shows. Being stripped of committee assignments, he said, “had the opposite effect (of) trying to silence myself and a few others. It’s actually enhanced our ability to speak out and impact the process.” An unidentified lawmaker close to leadership told the Hill that Huelskamp “is just not trustworthy, and if he wants to be up here and a lone wolf and cause problems, he’ll never have any legislative accomplishments.”
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., was among the lawmakers who met with President Obama this week, as the White House tried to ease the partisanship that has paralyzed Capitol Hill. Moran told Politico there was agreement between Obama and Senate Republicans that “there might by an opportunity for common ground” on corporate tax reform, but that when entitlement reform came up, “the president responded with the need for revenues.” Overall, Moran said, “I really think it was rather a bland conversation. No fireworks on either tone. This wasn’t memorable; it was the opposite of that.”
Kansas Sens. Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran and Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita, deserve credit for tenacity in protesting the Air Force’s recent decision to pass over Wichita-based Beechcraft and instead give a $427.5 million light-air support contract to Sierra Nevada Corp. and Brazil-based Embraer. That order, which will supply 20 airplanes to Afghanistan’s air force, would have given Beechcraft a big boost post-bankruptcy. The Kansans sent a letter Friday to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel requesting a “thorough, compelling explanation for your decision” and saying the award “raises significant concerns for the entire U.S. defense industrial base.” It’s awkward, however, that just two weeks ago the two Kansas senators voted against Hagel’s confirmation as defense secretary.
“I think that would be discussed during Celebrate Freedom Week.” – Wichita superintendent John Allison (in photo), on whether legislators discuss governmental checks and balances as they pass meddling education bills such as the Celebrate Freedom Week mandate (via The Eagle’s Suzanne Perez Tobias)
“This whole #ksleg gig is like college. Except everyone hates booze. And strip clubs.” – freshman state Rep. J.R. Claeys, R-Salina, on Twitter
“Most of the nation will wake up Friday morning and yawn.” – U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, before the sequestration cuts kicked in March 1
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., helped relieve Sen. Rand Paul (in photo), R-Ky., during his nearly 13-hour filibuster this week against John Brennan’s nomination as CIA director. The senators were challenging whether the United States could conduct drone strikes against U.S. citizens on American soil (which isn’t happening). Moran pondered how far such a policy might extend. “Most Americans would find it repulsive, unconstitutional, a terrible violation of public duty if a military officer on the streets of Wichita, Kan., pulled a gun and shot an American citizen,” Moran said on the Senate floor. “And, really, is that not the logical extension of the idea that a drone strike from above results in the death of a U.S. citizen without due process?” Others weren’t impressed by the filibuster. A Wall Street Journal editorial said that if Paul “wants to be taken seriously he needs to do more than pull political stunts that fire up impressionable libertarian kids in their college dorms. He needs to know what he’s talking about.” UPDATE: Attorney General Eric Holder sent Paul a letter Thursday assuring him that the president doesn’t have authority to use a drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on U.S. soil. Paul said he was happy with the answer.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., blasted the announcement this week by the U.S. Secret Service and the National Park Service that because of staffing reductions resulting from sequestration, public tours of the White House will be canceled beginning Saturday. “This is perception politics run amok,” Roberts said in a statement. “The White House spends tens of thousands of dollars each year on Christmas decorations and elaborate events, but when asked to trim its budget they opt to close the White House gate to the American people.”
Explaining in a speech last week in Washington, D.C., why he took the job as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., told a story about being approached on the Senate floor shortly after his 2010 election by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. As quoted by the Hill newspaper, Moran said: “Sen. Reid that day, in a casual conversation, asked me, ‘Jerry, how do you like the Senate?’ My response was that I’m very grateful for the opportunity that I’ve been given. But, Leader, we’re not doing anything. Sen. Reid’s response was, ‘Jerry, you need to understand that we’re not going to do anything until after the election.’” Moran also said: “To be told at that stage – almost two years before the next election – that nothing was going to be done, was an eye-opening experience to me and was very troublesome.” Reid’s office did not respond to the Hill’s request for comment.
Though only 42 percent of Kansas Republicans said they would vote to renominate Pat Roberts for the U.S. Senate, and 34 percent said they would prefer someone “more conservative,” Roberts has a big lead in hypothetical primary matchups with other conservative Republicans, according to a Public Policy Polling survey. Roberts leads former Rep. Todd Tiahrt 47 to 26 percent; Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, 53 to 22 percent; and Secretary of State Kris Kobach 55 to 19 percent.
The four members of the Kansas congressional delegation who previously served in the Legislature are supportive of Gov. Sam Brownback’s push to cut state income taxes and reduce government, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said that Kansas needed to be more like Texas. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Topeka, said that Kansas also has to compete with low-cost countries. Reps. Kevin Yoder, R-Overland Park, and Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, contrasted Brownback’s approach to President Obama’s call for higher taxes. “Kansas has a better pathway,” Yoder said.
In addition to asking political questions, a new Public Policy Polling survey asked Kansans about some of their college coaches. University of Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self (in photo) had the highest favorability rating, with 62 percent of those surveyed having a favorable opinion of him. He was closely followed by Kansas State University football coach Bill Snyder (58 percent favorable), then KSU basketball coach Bruce Weber (34 percent) and KU football coach Charlie Weis (28 percent). Former KU basketball coach Roy Williams still had a 48 percent favorability rating. As the survey noted, Williams was more well-liked than the state’s politicians (though not former Sen. Bob Dole, who had a 69 percent favorability rating).
The Kansas delegation split evenly on the Violence Against Women Act, which was reauthorized in the House Thursday and sent to the president’s desk. Reps. Lynn Jenkins, R-Topeka, and Kevin Yoder, R-Overland Park, voted with 85 other Republicans to pass it in the House, while Reps. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita, and Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, voted “no.” Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., supported reauthorization last month in the Senate, while Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., did not. Huelskamp has said the federal government “should not be in the business of handing out grants conditioned on how states do or do not prosecute criminals.”
Kansas Sens. Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran were among the 27 lawmakers who were part of a losing attempt Tuesday to filibuster the confirmation of Chuck Hagel (in photo) as defense secretary. The Senate went on to confirm Hagel (with Roberts and Moran voting “no” again). Roberts had said that he didn’t want to filibuster. “It is a choice that could lead to a lot more problems,” he told Politico. The senators also went against the advice of former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, who endorsed Hagel last week and said his “wisdom and courage make him uniquely qualified to be secretary of defense and lead the men and women of our armed forces.”
Though he would rather they be distributed differently, U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita, is OK with the automatic spending cuts scheduled to go into effect Friday, he told The Eagle recently. He thinks the federal government, including the military, can withstand the cuts. In fact, he wishes that sequestration, which he called a “home run,” would mandate deeper cuts, the Lawrence Journal-World reported. “That’s why it’s only a home run and not a grand slam,” he said. Responding Tuesday to White House criticism of his comments, Pompeo said that “the sequester is a home run not because it is good politics, but because it begins to put America back on the right fiscal track.”
In a commentary in the Washington Times, Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, characterized “God, the flag, mom and apple pie” as pillars “of the American paradigm for our patriotic, wholesome culture.” He claimed that “activist judges have already expelled faith from the public square” and “decriminalized burning the Stars and Stripes in public.” Huelskamp continued: “The first lady’s ‘Let’s Move!’ initiative and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s sugary-drink ban suggest the days of consuming apple pie might well be numbered. That leaves motherhood.” And that will be irreparably harmed, he wrote, if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns California’s Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act. “Redefining marriage to remove parents of both sexes from the equation would further the destruction of the family, the most fundamental building block of society,” he wrote.
