Tag: Mike Pompeo

  • Pompeo responds to Washington’s attacks on Koch Industries

    From the office of U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo.

    Statement from Congressman Mike Pompeo on Washington’s Attacks on Koch Industries

    WASHINGTON — Congressman Mike Pompeo issued the following statement on the unwarranted attacks on Koch Industries in light of the efforts to reform the Internal Revenue Service:

    “The IRS’s targeting of individuals demonstrates the administration’s lawlessness at its worst. Public officials have a responsibility to uphold the Constitution and use their office to protect the rights of Americans, rather than attack them for their political advocacy. Silencing critics through government muscle, as the IRS has done, runs counter to every founding principle of the United States of America.

    “Yet opponents of the House’s effort to hold the IRS accountable have doubled down and continued to attack two private citizens, Charles and David Koch, as deserving of such government abuse. Senator Reid’s attacks today from the Senate floor are reprehensible.  This cannot be tolerated — not for these two great men or for any individual who disagrees with those in power.

    “The Kochs’ Wichita-based company employs close to 60,000 people in manufacturing jobs. These predominantly middle-class employees live in nearly all 50 states and are a benefit to the communities they work and live in. They are good people and good neighbors, my neighbors, and deserve protection under the law that is equal to those lawmakers who seek to marginalize them.

    “The jobs created by this company are a far greater benefit to the middle class than any wasteful Washington program. We should be taking lessons from hardworking Americans in the private sector instead of continuing to play politics with people’s lives.”

    Earlier today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid accused the Kochs of funding ads critical of the Affordable Care Act’s disastrous implementation that he claims are “completely untrue,” a claim that contradicts the thrust of most news coverage of the rollout.

    For more information, contact:
    JP Freire | Director of Communications and Speechwriter
    Office of Congressman Mike Pompeo (R-Kansas)
    107 Cannon HOB| Washington, D.C. 20515
    Office (202) 225-6216 | Fax (202) 225-3489
    JP.Freire@mail.house.gov

  • Voice for Liberty Radio: Mike Pompeo

    Voice for Liberty Radio: Mike Pompeo

    Voice for Liberty logo with microphone 150In this episode of WichitaLiberty Radio: U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo of Kansas spoke at a meeting of the Wichita Pachyderm Club. Some of the topics and questions Pompeo answered included:

    The size of the defense budget, the threats to our nation, and the importance of the National Security Agency in keeping the country safe. He addressed privacy concerns.

    What about tension between the Speaker of the House and tea party and conservatives?

    What’s wrong the the just-passed farm bill, and how did it pass?

    Attitudes towards and respect for Congress and the President.

    The arrest of a suspect in an attack on the Wichita Airport.

    The presentation started with a video of Rep. Pompeo questioning Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

    This recording contains Pompeo’s prepared remarks in full and selected responses to questions at the Wichita Pachyderm Club on February 7, 2014.

    Shownotes

    Mike Pompeo Congressional office.
    Campaign website: pompeoforcongress.com
    Twitter at @RepMikePompeo
    Wichita Pachyderm Club

  • Pompeo votes against debt ceiling increase

    From the office of U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo, a Republican who represents the Kansas fourth district.

    Pompeo Votes Against Unlimited Government Spending
    “We can’t keep raising the debt ceiling without addressing the drivers of our debt.”

    Washington — Congressman Mike Pompeo released the following statement following his vote on the debt ceiling:

    Washington has once more kicked the can down the road by raising the limit on the government credit card without dealing with the drivers our national debt. This means fewer jobs, higher taxes, and ordinary Kansans suffering under the ever-increasing, costly burden of Obamacare that will achieve few, if any, of its goals. We cannot afford this new entitlement and the President is now on track to double the national debt. Every American family has to live within its means, and Washington should do the same. Today’s legislation may well have averted the “crisis of the moment,” but it did nothing to avert the much greater crisis that is inevitable with our current rate of spending that we must fix immediately.

  • Pompeo addresses ObamaCare, debt ceiling, government accountability

    Today U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo, a Republican who represents the Kansas fourth district addressed the Wichita Rotary Club.

    He told the audience that despite is not just about what we’ll do next week or even in 2014. The challenge, he said, is changing the nation’s long-term financial trajectory.

    On the rollout of ObamaCare, he said that he tried to enroll but failed. He said he was sympathetic with the challenges in rolling out the information technology that implements ObamaCare, but it’s a challenge that should never have been undertaken.

    [powerpress url=”http://wichitaliberty.org/audio/mike-pompeo-wichita-rotary2013-10-07.mp3″]Mike Pompeo, October 7, 2013.

    He said he recognizes the risks to the economy that the debt ceiling issue poses. He said we have to take on the obligations of the next 10 to 15 years and we have to do it now.

    Pompeo also spoke about government accountability. “It is so easy to spend your money,” he said. “You can be a hero, you can go to ribbon cuttings, … but I have to tell you that when politicians do that in today’s financial situation, they are doing nothing short of lying to you. I use that term intentionally, and with malice aforethought. Because to say they’re misleading you would imply there’s some chance they don’t know that. And they do. This is not politics. This is math.”

    On Syria, Pompeo said he’s heard Republicans say we should stay out of the Middle East. But Pompeo said there are from 10,000 to 30,000 soldiers there today. When politicians imply that if we don’t launch some missiles into Syria we’ll be “out” of the Middle East, that is untrue, he said, and “perpetrated with malice aforethought.”

  • Pompeo votes to delay Obamacare, keep government open

    From the office of U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo:

    Pompeo Votes To Delay Obamacare, Keep Government Open

    Washington –- Congressman Mike Pompeo, R-Kansas, is voting tonight to delay Obamacare for ordinary citizens, pay the armed services, ensure that the government continues running. He released the following statement:

    “Well-connected friends of President Obama shouldn’t be the only Americans spared from the looming health care law — delaying Obamacare for businesses and not for individuals is irresponsible and reckless. This continuing resolution would also provide the hard-earned funding for our amazing armed forces and that the government is still providing services to the American people.

    “The President has shown his willingness to delay Obamacare unilaterally in some instances, we are simply urging him to do so on a broader scale. I hope that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will also vote to keep the government open.”

  • Wichita performs a reference check, the video

    Citizens of Wichita are rightly concerned about whether our elected officials and bureaucrats are looking out for their interests, or only for the interests and welfare of a small group of city hall insiders. The video below explains, or click here to view in HD on YouTube. For an article on this topic, see Wichita performs a reference check, sort of.

  • Wichita performs a reference check, sort of

    Wichita city hall logoFor a video presentation of this material, click on Wichita performs a reference check, the video.

    Citizens of Wichita are rightly concerned about whether our elected officials and bureaucrats are looking out for their interests, or only for the interests and welfare of a small group of city hall insiders. Cronies, if you will.

    A recent application filed with Wichita City Hall regarding the West Bank Development Project raises two questions: Did the government officials listed as references give their permission, and were any of the references contacted to learn what they knew about the applicants?

    The application filed by the River Vista development team shows this: The team, consisting of George Laham, Dave Wells, Dave Burk, and Bill Warren listed numerous local, state, and federal officials as references. Here’s the list of officials that appeared one or more times:

    Wichita city manager Robert Layton
    Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer
    Wichita City Council Member Jeff Longwell (district 5, west and northwest Wichita)
    Wichita City Council Member and Vice Mayor Pete Meitzner (district 2, east Wichita)
    Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett
    Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter
    Sedgwick County Commissioner Dave Unruh
    Sedgwick County Commissioner Tim Norton
    Kansas Governor Sam Brownback
    U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo

    Except for Jeff Easter, none of these officials gave permission for their names to be used in this way. (We didn’t get a response regarding Tim Norton.)

    Furthermore, none of these officials were contacted by the evaluation committee whose job it is to vet these potential city partners.

    A few questions: First, do you think it is appropriate for the city manager to be listed as a reference, given that anyone who reads this document would take it as an endorsement? No, of course it is not appropriate.

    Related: Do you think it’s appropriate for the city manager to endorse one of the applicants? We don’t know if the presence of the city manager’s name as a reference implies an endorsement, because George Laham did not ask the city manager if he could be listed as a reference. We know this because we asked.

    Further, the committee that evaluated the development teams did not call the city manager to inquire about George Laham. We asked about this, too. But making inquiries of references: Isn’t that what an evaluation committee or vetting team should do? But we know that the evaluation committee did not contact even one of these officials that were listed as references.

    These applicants likely knew that the evaluation committee would not contact these references. Therefore, they freely listed these government officials. Which makes us wonder — what is the point of having an evaluation committee?

    Even further: Is it appropriate for the city to partner with people who think it’s proper to list the city manager as a reference without asking if that was permissible, knowing that the manager wouldn’t be contacted? Same question regarding the mayor, governor, our U.S. Congressman, and district attorney?

    In light of this — numerous government officials listed as references without their permission or knowledge, an evaluation committee that never contacted these officials, and the information that these references could have provided: Do you think the evaluation committee fulfilled its duty to perform due diligence on behalf of the interests of the people of Wichita?

    What the evaluation committee might have learned

    If the evaluation committee had contacted these references, here’s what might have been learned.

    Dave Wells: Wells is president of Key Construction. Last year the Wichita Eagle reported on “city-financed downtown parking garages that spiraled well over budget.” Noting the cost overruns, reporter Bill Wilson wrote: “The most recent, the 2008 WaterWalk Place garage built by Key Construction, an original partner in the WaterWalk project, came in $1.5 million over budget at almost $8.5 million. That’s the biggest parking garage miss, according to figures from the city’s office of urban development, although the 2004 Old Town Cinema garage built by Key Construction came in almost $1 million over budget at $5.225 million.” (Wichita city manager proposes eliminating no-bid construction projects.)

    Also, two years ago Key Construction proposed — and was awarded by the city council — a no-bid contract for a parking garage. But the city later put the contract to competitive bid. Key, which first bid $6 million, later bid $4.7 million. If the desire of the majority of the city council, including Mayor Carl Brewer, had been realized, Wichita taxpayers would have sent an extra — and unnecessary — $1.3 million to a politically-connected construction company.

    By the way, the mayor’s relationship with Wells means he should not have voted on this matter.

    Dave Burk, Dave Wells: These two were original partners in WaterWalk, which has received over $40 million in subsidy, with little to show for results.

    Dave Burk: He’s received many millions from many levels of government, but still thinks he doesn’t get enough. This is what we can conclude by his appeal of property taxes in a TIF district. Those taxes, even though they are rerouted back to him for his benefit, were still too high for his taste, and he appealed. The Wichita Eagle reported in the article (Developer appealed taxes on city-owned property): “Downtown Wichita’s leading developer, David Burk, represented himself as an agent of the city — without the city’s knowledge or consent — to cut his taxes on publicly owned property he leases in the Old Town Cinema Plaza, according to court records and the city attorney.”

    rebenstorf-quote-dave-burkA number of Wichita city hall officials were not pleased with Burk’s act. According to the Eagle reporting, Burk was not authorized to do what he did: “Officials in the city legal department said that while Burk was within his rights to appeal taxes on another city-supported building in the Cinema Plaza, he did not have authorization to file an appeal on the city-owned parking/retail space he leases. … As for Burk signing documents as the city’s representative, ‘I do have a problem with it,’ said City Attorney Gary Rebenstorf, adding that he intends to investigate further.”

    Council member Jeff Longwell was quoted by the Eagle: “‘We should take issue with that,’ he said. ‘If anyone is going to represent the city they obviously have to have, one, the city’s endorsement and … two, someone at the city should have been more aware of what was going on. And if they were, shame on them for not bringing this to the public’s attention.’”

    In a separate article by the Eagle on this issue, Wichita city manager Robert Layton said that anyone has the right to appeal their taxes, but he added that ‘no doubt that defeats the purpose of the TIF.’”

    The manager’s quote is most directly damaging. In a tax increment financing (TIF) district, the city borrows money to pay for things that directly enrich the developers, in this case Burk and possibly his partners. Then their increased property taxes — taxes they have to pay anyway — are used to repay the borrowed funds. In essence, a TIF district allows developers to benefit exclusively from their property taxes. For everyone else, their property taxes go to fund the city, county, school district, state, fire district, etc. But not so for property in a TIF district.

    This is what is most astonishing about Burk’s action: Having been placed in a rarefied position of receiving many millions in benefits, he still thinks his own taxes are too high. Now he wants more city taxpayer subsidy.

    warren-bailout-poses-dilemma

    Bill Warren: In 2008 the Old Town Warren Theater was failing and its owners — Bill Warren being one — threatened to close it and leave the city with a huge loss on a tax increment financing (TIF) district formed for the theater’s benefit. Faced with this threat, the city made a no-interest and low-interest loan to the theater. Reported the Wichita Eagle: “Wichita taxpayers will give up as much as $1.2 million if the City Council approves a $6 million loan to bail out the troubled Old Town Warren Theatre this week. That’s because that $6 million, which would pay off the theater’s debt and make it the only fully digital movie theater in Kansas, would otherwise be invested and draw about 3 percent interest a year.”

    Besides Warren, you may — or may not — be surprised to learn that the theater’s partners included Dave Wells and Dave Burk, the same two men mentioned above. Also, Mayor Brewer’s relationship with Warren means he should not have voted on this matter.

  • Pompeo on Syria

    On today’s episode of KAKE TV This Week in Kansas, U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo discusses Syria. View below, or click here to view on YouTube.

  • Pompeo on Syria intervention

    This morning U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo appeared on Fox News Network to talk about Syria. Video follows.

    Also, KFDI reported this today:

    Kansas Fourth District Representative Mike Pompeo has just returned from a week in the Middle East in which he met with national security figures from the United States and its allies.

    Pompeo said there is a broad concensus that American foreign policy in the Middle East has been weak and feckless.

    The congressman called for a strong response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, who Pompeo called a war criminal.

    “We’ve got to make sure that those who control Syria and big pockets of the Middle East are not beholden to the Ayatollahs in Iran and to Hezbollah and to Russia,” he said.

    Pompeo said if the U.S. does nothing in response to Syrian actions, we will ultimately have risk to the American homeland.

    “We don’t need 20,000 soldiers on the ground,” Pompeo said. “But we need an enormous effort to make sure that, in a post-Assad world, we do not have Iran in control.”

    Pompeo said he hopes the president will do more than he has outlined so far, adding that a “shot across the bow” is not enough.