Tag Archives: Dick Kelsey

Politics

Political celebrities stump for Anderson, Kelsey

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Recently two political celebrities visited Wichita to campaign for candidates for the Republican Party nomination for the United States House of Representatives from the fourth district of Kansas.

Joe the Plumber for Jim Anderson

Joe the Plumber, who gained national attention for his questioning of candidate Barack Obama, appeared in Wichita on January 28 at a town hall meeting on behalf of Jim Anderson.

Speaking before — should I refer to him as “Joe” or “Plumber”? — Anderson said he was born in Boise. After college, he started working for Eastern Airlines as a pilot, finishing his career with ATA Airlines. His job brought him to Wichita, but then his job was eliminated. Although offered a position in another town, he and his wife decided to stay in Wichita and raise their three children here.

Anderson said he has always wanted to make a contribution to government, and that’s why he’s running for Congress. He said he can’t take it anymore watching our country “slip down the slope into socialism.” When the fourth district position became open, he said this is the time to run for office.

Anderson said he is a Reagan Republican and believes in limited government based on the enumerated powers in the Constitution. Everything else, he said, is supposed to be relegated to the states, but that’s not the way it is right now. He said he supports the Fair Tax, which he said would be the best way to generate revenue for a limited government.

2010 is a turning point for our country, he said, and he told the audience that it’s crucial to stand up and speak loudly.

Joe the Plumber said he’s received many requests to campaign for candidates across the country, but he’s being selective in who he decides to campaign for. It’s about the individual, and not party politics, he said.

When he speaks across the country, often at tea parties, Joe said he speaks on four issues: individual responsibility, accountability, education, and the Constitution.

On individual responsibility, Joe said that our political leaders and celebrities are quick to lay blame elsewhere when caught doing something bad. “Freedom means responsibility,” he said, and Americans have accepted responsibility for a long time. The tea party movement is evidence of people taking responsibility, he said.

Joe said that parents need to take more responsibility for their children’s education.

Joe said that Jim Anderson truly wants to represent the fourth district. It’s a big job and responsibility, he said, being a public servant. He said that Anderson wants to serve his fellow man, and there’s no higher calling than that.

Answering a question from the audience, Anderson said that state’s rights are very important to him. He said that we should be running our own state, rather than tolerating so much federal government intervention. He said he supports term limits for federal elected officeholders. He said he will not vote for any earmarks.

Mick Huckabee for Dick Kelsey

Former Arkansas governor, presidential candidate, and winner of the 2008 Kansas Republican Caucus Mike Huckabee appeared in Wichita on February 24 on bahelf of candidate Dick Kelsey.

Before Huckabee’s appearance, Kelsey spoke about his campaign for Congress. “Leadership does make a difference,” he said, and our country is in need of leadership that is willing to take a stand and find solutions to tough problems. In the campaign there are four conservatives, and Kelsey said he is the only one who has a proven voting record. The type of experience he has gained, he said, will be necessary to be effective in Washington.

In his remarks, Huckabee told the audience of over 200 why it is important to elect Kelsey to Congress. He said he’s come to know Kelsey, and has talked to people who have served in the Kansas Legislature with him. Huckabee said Kelsey is a principled individual who has convictions. He’s not bull-headed, though, Huckabee said, as Kelsey knows that it is the responsibility of legislators to make things function.

Huckabee added that Kelsey brings experience to the race, and that he has a record that is consistent with what he’s campaigning on. “You will not find him saying things as a Congressional candidate that are polar opposite of the way he voted here in Kansas. … That alone is the best reason that I can possibly think of to elect him.”

Huckebee said that although times may be tough now, America will rebound. He said America will see a political and spiritual revival. Electing people like Dick Kelsey is part of making this happen.

He also said that those who value low taxes and those who are worried about the national debt should vote for Kelsey, as should those who believe in the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.

Answering a question, Huckabee said that Republicans will take back the House of Representatives in this year’s elections, and they have a good shot at taking back the Senate, or getting close. The Democrats are in a state of disarray, he added. Republicans need to have a clear and concise message, as they shouldn’t assume they’ll win just because voters are angry at Democrats. He added that third party conservative or libertarian candidates mean defeat for Republicans.

Huckabee said he hasn’t decided on another campaign for the presidency, saying he hasn’t ruled it out.

Politics

Mike Huckabee to appear in Wichita for Dick Kesley

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On Wednesday, February 24th, former Arkansas Governor, Republican Presidential Candidate, and winner of the Kansas Republican Caucus Mike Huckabee will be in Wichita in support of the Dick Kelsey for Congress campaign.

There will be two events, both held at the Holiday Inn at Kellogg and Rock Road. At 8:15 am there is a V.I.P. Roundtable at a cost of $500/person, which also includes admission to the General Event. At 9:00 am is the General Event at a cost of $100/person. A press conference follows at 9:45. All funds go to support Senator Dick Kelsey for Congress. Call 316-771-7310 for tickets and more information.

Politics

At Kansas Days, the fourth district Congressional campaign is on

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At the annual Kansas Days festival in Topeka, the Kansas fourth district Republican candidates all hosted hospitality suites, looking to boost their chances with Kansas Republican voters. On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal ran an online piece titled Kansas GOP Could Be Its Own Worst Enemy, giving a run-down of the current political scene in Kansas.

Of particular interest to Kansas fourth district voters, the piece said this:

The Democrats’ best hope for retaining a seat in the Kansas delegation may be a two-term state legislator named Raj Goyle, who is running in the fourth district encompassing Wichita. On his Web site and in campaign literature, Mr. Goyle colors his first name blue and his last name red, emphasizes his concerns about the struggles facing businesses and avoids any mention of “Democrat.”

“I’m not a party label kind of guy,” said Mr. Goyle, a high-tech entrepreneur, Harvard-educated lawyer and Wichita native.

But his greatest advantage may be that he has no fewer than five Republicans campaigning for the chance to run against him — with more expected to enter the race by August.

(I looked at Goyle’s campaign site, and the article is correct: As far as I can tell, none of the material generated by the Goyle campaign mentions that he is a Democrat. You have to read a Wichita Eagle news story that the site reprints in order to learn his party affiliation.)

So on Saturday I individually asked the candidates about the article. Will a vigorously-contested Republican primary in August be an advantage for Goyle — assuming he is the Democratic nominee — in the November general election? Will Republicans spend all their money and energy in the primary?

In his hospitality suite Dick Kelsey said no, that the Republicans are committed to running a positive race. He said he’s running a positive campaign. Kelsey said that the Republicans will be broke after the primary, but that the party will be able to quickly raise the funds needed to run a campaign against Goyle, the likely Democratic nominee.

An operative from the Anderson campaign was spending time in the Kelsey hospitality room, and added that with a primary contest, the Republicans will be exercised. Kelsey added that Republicans will have made contacts and friendships.

At the Mike Pompeo hospitality suite, the candidate said we have a competitive primary, and that the winner will come out ready to go in the general election. He added that when Republicans start talking about Goyle and his liberal agenda, they’ll do fine in the election. Pompeo said he’s raised a lot of money, close to as much as Goyle, and the ability to raise funds is important.

In the Hartman suite, candidate Wink Hartman said it’s good for citizens to have an opportunity to select from five candidates, adding that it’s important to go through the political process to arrive at the best candidate. He mentioned the large amount of money that Goyle has raised from outside of Kansas, and that he believes that he is the only Republican candidate with the ability to raise the money necessary to win in the general election.

In the afternoon in the Jim Anderson hospitality suite, the candidate said the primary will energize and organize the Republicans. Besides the candidates, citizens are getting organized and are starting to pay attention to the issues. This will add to the strength of the candidate who wins the Republican primary.

Jean Schodorf said that a contested primary causes people to become more aware of the Republican candidates, because the Democratic candidate, not having an opponent to campaign against, doesn’t have a forum. She said that in the first debate, the Republican candidates stated publicly that they will all support the winner of the primary election in the general election. She thought that was very important, as she believes it is important to have a Republican follow Todd Tiahrt. Having five candidates makes it a healthy debate, she added.

Politics

Another Republican Congressional candidate forum

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This Friday, January 22nd, the Sumner County Republican Party sponsors a forum for candidates for the Republican Party nomination for the United States Congress from the fourth district of Kansas.

Due to a previous speaking engagement, candidate Wink Hartman will not appear at this event.

Doors open at 6:00 pm with the debate starting at 7:00 pm.
The location is Belle Plaine High School, 820 North Merchant Street in Belle Plain. Here’s a Google map of the location. Google says it’s 25 miles and a 33 minute drive from downtown Wichita.

Kansas state government

Resolution seeks to clarify role of Kansas courts, legislature

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Kansas House of Representatives member Pete DeGraaf, a Republican from Mulvane, will soon introduce a resolution “concerning the expenditure of public moneys to finance certain litigation against the Legislature or the State of Kansas.” Dick Kelsey will introduce the resolution in the Kansas Senate.

Language in the resolution clarifies the role and purpose of both courts and legislatures, noting that “Courts are concerned only with the legislative power to enact statutes and appropriate money, not with the wisdom behind those enactments or appropriations.”

The resolution also recognizes “The determination of the amounts, sources and objectives of expenditures of public moneys, especially at the state level, presents issues of enormous practical and political complexity, and resolution appropriately is largely left to the interplay of the interests and forces directly involved and indirectly affected in the arenas of legislative and executive activity.”

The resolution specifically states that any ruling by a court regarding a specific level of funding is to be considered advisory only, not binding. It also forbids tax money from being used to “finance or support litigation challenging the constitutionality of the amount of any legislative appropriation.”

The full text of the resolution is available here. Coverage from State of the State Kansas is at Senator Kelsey Introduces Resolution Preventing Public Funds To Sue the State.

Politics

Kansas news digest

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News from alternative media around Kansas for December 14, 2009.

EPA threatens more gov regs and pushes ‘global warming’

(Kansas Liberty) “The Environmental Protection Agency issued a ruling today in which it determined that greenhouses gasses, such as carbon dioxide, are harmful to public health. … Derrick Sontag, Americans for Prosperity-Kansas state director, said he disagreed with Jackson’s statement that business leaders had requested additional government regulation of their carbon emissions.”

Will Copenhagen global-warming fiction influence Kansas?

(Kansas Liberty) “World leaders and climate experts commenced their environmental discussion at the Copenhagen climate conference today, leaving global warming skeptics to wonder whether the recent ‘Climategate’ scandal would be acknowledged during the significant meeting.”

Cutting KNEA involvement could cut costs to schools

(Kansas Liberty) Do Kansas school spending advocates consider all sources of funding when discussing school spending? “Stephen Iliff, a member of the 2010 Commission, which studies education issues in Kansas, said that during his time as a commissioner, he has noticed that school officials, school lobbyists and the mainstream media generally only cite the amount of aid schools receive from the state, while leaving out federal and local funding sources.”

Board of Education member fights reprimand

(Kansas Reporter) “Kansas State Board of Education member Walt Chappell, who last month was formally reprimanded by board chairwoman Janet Waugh for comments he made in a TV interview, claimed today that Waugh and other board members are trying to stifle his First Amendment rights to speak freely.”

Fiscal woes may intensify budget debate next year

(Kansas Reporter) “Recession is drilling deeper into Kansas’ state budget. And the pain is a long way from over, state executives say.”

Kansas Educators Question Reprimand and Free Speech

(Kansas Watchdog) “KSBOE member Walt Chappell questions the validity of a reprimand he received from Board Chair Janet Waugh. The reprimand chastised Chappell for speaking about education issues outside of Board meetings and not being in agreement with other board members. Chappell pointed out that other Board members who speak out but agree with the Board have not been reprimanded.”

More Questions — and Answers — on School Funding

(Kansas Watchdog) “In Sunday’s online edition of the Wichita Eagle an opinion piece by Rhonda Holman attempts to address statements by KSBOE member Walt Chappel and reporting by Kansas Policy Institute on school funding. The article barely scratched the surface.”

Sedgwick County Commission Asks Legislature for Taxpayer Protection

(Kansas Watchdog) “In a 3-2 vote the Sedgwick County Commission has asked the state Legislature for voter approval before any future property tax increases that raise the mill levy. The request is part of the county’s annual legislative platform or wish list. The platform specifically requests: ‘Tax Equity — Part 2. All local sales tax increases must be approved by voters under Kansas law. All property tax increases that raise the mill levy should also be required to receive voter approval.'”

State Sen. Julia Lynn grills SRS Secretary about contracting irregularities: ‘It just smells bad’

(Kansas Watchdog) “State Senator Julia Lynn (R-Olathe) grilled SRS Secretary Don Jordan at the second day of recent hearings on children’s issue about contracting irregularities in his agency. Lynn questioned Jordan’s decision in Oct 2008 to send an extra $712,000 to Community Living Opportunities in Lenexa, after Kansas Democratic Party Chair, Larry Gates, who was a CLO board member, acted as a “private citizen” in requesting additional funding.”

Letter From The Newsroom — Energy Efficiency

(State of the State, Kansas) “This week we look at the possibilities for making Kansas energy efficient. With the first cold blast over the last couple weeks, winter is here and heating bills will jump.”

Kelsey Brings Economic Development Plan To Wichita

(State of the State, Kansas) “Several Kansas Legislators were on hand as 4th Congressional District Candidate Dick Kelsey unveiled his economic development plan in Wichita on Tuesday.”

No Change in Kansas Uninsured Rate

(Kansas Health Institute) “New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that the percentage of Kansans without health insurance remained relatively steady in 2007-2008 at 12.4 percent. However, the percentage of Kansas children without coverage increased to 9.6 percent from 7.8 percent in 2006-2007. This KHI Fact Sheet provides a summary of the most recent data on the uninsured in Kansas.”

Politics

Former Congressman McEwen endorses Kelsey, talks about economics

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This week former Ohio Representative Bob McEwen appeared in Wichita on behalf of Kansas Senator Dick Kelsey and his campaign for the Republican nomination for the United States House of Representatives from the fourth district of Kansas.

At a breakfast meeting, McEwen said that his state — Ohio — needs Dick Kelsey in Congress, and we in Kansas would be doing Ohio a favor by electing him.

McEwen said in Washington, there are those who are good politicians, but not necessarily effective at government. Then there are those not skilled at politicking, but good at providing leadership in government. The fact that Kelsey was chosen by his colleagues to be head of the caucus shows that he is skilled in both politics and leadership.

McEwen added that the time to have an impact in government is early on, in the primary. People ask in the fall elections: why can’t we do any better than these two candidates? The answer, he said, is to get involved now and take an interest.

The United States has just four percent of the world’s population, but we produce more books, plays, symphonies, copyrights, and inventions than the rest of the world combined. It’s competition that makes the difference.

Politics, McEwen said, equals integrity plus economics. Integrity is trust and reliability. It’s composed of morality, which means not doing what’s wrong, and also of character, which is doing what is right.

On economics, McEwen said that when someone takes away some portion of your money, you have fewer choices, or less freedom. There are only two classes of people who can take money from you. One has a gun, and is a criminal. The other — government — also has a gun, and the impact is the same. America is the richest and most powerful nation in the world because we are the most free. But as more freedom is taken away from us, the nation becomes poorer.

How does a nation become poorer because government takes its citizens’ money? McEwen explained that when you buy something for yourself, you care about both the price and the quality of the item. But when one or both of these factors — quality and price — are in the hands of someone else, less than optimal results appear.

When you’re buying something for someone else, you’re concerned about the price — you are the one paying, after all — but the quality may not be quite as important as when buying something for yourself.

Or when you’re going to consume something but not pay for it yourself: quality is important — you are the consumer, after all — but price is not important. Someone else is paying the bill.

The really bad situation is when you are neither the consumer nor the payer. In this case there’s not much incentive to be concerned about either quality or price. This, McEwen said, describes government purchases. “When we run [a dollar] through a third-party system called government, we’re in the process of making the nation poorer.” Because we do less of this than any other nation is why we’re the richest nation.

Much of the health care that’s purchased in the U.S. is purchased on behalf of people who are not paying for it, so it suffers from the problems of third-party purchases. When health care is paid for by those who are consuming it, as is the case with laser eye surgery for vision correction, price goes down and quality goes up. “It only works every time,” McEwen said.

So why do people get elected to office and make their country poorer, McEwen asked? Some people believe that government can make people wealthy, but he said that’s never happened in history and never will. But they’re still determined to try this course. Others believe that free people create wealth.

In public policy, one side always wants more government. The other wants to limit government.

The starting point is “We hold these truths to be self-evident” — which McEwen said “is a gracious way of saying any idiot ought to understand this” — “that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator” — right there, he said, is the distinction between us and other countries.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — these are the ideals of the American Revolution. The French, in their revolution, had the Enlightenment, which didn’t rely upon God, McEwen said. Liberty, equality, and fraternity — the theme of the French Revolution — eliminates God and relies on groups for the source of power and equality. But since government cannot create — it can only take from one and give to another — people object. Therefore, the symbol of the French Revolution was the guillotine.

The source of rights in America, however, was God, who gave us life and liberty. This explains the drive by liberals to remove God from public life: “They know that if you can separate a nation from God, then there is no protection for life, and for liberty.”

Politics

McEwen to present seminars in Wichita

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Former U.S. Congressman Bob McEwen will be in Wichita next week to present two seminars. McEwen, an advocate for pro-family interests and free-market economics, is sponsored by the Senator Dick Kelsey for Congresscampaign.

The two seminars McEwen will present are titled “Renewing American Leadership” and “Enhancing Local Economic Development”

These events are on Tuesday, December 8, 2009, at the Holiday Inn at
549 South Rock Road in Wichita.

The “Renewing American Leadership” seminar is from 7:30 am to 10:15 am, and includes a breakfast. The cost is $30.

“Enhancing Local Economic Development” is from 9:00 to 10:15 and costs $10.

McEwen was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio for six terms. Currently he is the Chairman of Renewing American Leadership, “an organization recently launched by Newt Gingrich that is devoted to bringing conservative evangelicals and Catholics into the political process and to strengthening the alliance between economic and religious conservatives.”

The local economic development seminar will feature McEwen discussing how to sustain growth during the current economic conditions.

A brochure with more information, including how to order tickets and contact information is at Bob McEwen Wichita Seminar Brochure.