Pat Roberts Archives - Voice For Liberty

Jan

From Pachyderm: Martin Hawver

From the Wichita Pachyderm Club: Martin Hawver, dean of the Kansas Statehouse press corps. This was recorded January 4, 2019. Martin Hawver is the editor and publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report, the respected, non-partisan news service that reports on Kansas government and politics. He also is the dean of the Kansas Statehouse press corps, having covered the beat (36 years) longer than any current Statehouse reporter -- first for 17 years as a Statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal and since 1993 for Hawver’s Capitol Report. He is the primary reporter/writer for the news service. He also writes a column…

Oct

By Bob Weeks

Export-Import Bank threatens a revival

Last week members of the United States House of Representatives successfully executed a maneuver that will force a vote on the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. The method used, a discharge petition, was signed by well over a majority of House members, including perhaps 42 Republicans. If the petition signers vote the same way, the bill to reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank will pass the House. It will then move to the Senate for consideration. No members of the House of Representatives from Kansas signed the discharge petition. In July a vote on an amendment in favor…

Sep

By Bob Weeks

Does Kansas have its own Solyndra?

Does Kansas have its own version of Solyndra, the politically-connected firm that failed and cost taxpayers some $535 million? We don't know. But the Abengoa cellulosic ethanol plant near Hugoton received a $132.4 million loan guarantee under the same program that benefited Solyndra. In January I requested documents regarding the Abengoa loan guarantee and risk assessment from the United States Department of Energy. I had several conversations and emails with a records clerk. We came to agreement as to what I would receive, or at least what I am requesting to receive. But I’ve received nothing so far. I don’t…

Jul

By Bob Weeks

Kansas senators vote to advance Ex-Im Bank

In a procedural motion, Kansas Senators Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran voted to advance the revival of the Export-Import Bank. The vote was a procedural motion on an amendment to allow a floor vote (invoking cloture). The amendment passed by a vote of 67 to 26. Among Republicans the vote was 24 to 26 against the measure. All Democrats voted in favor. The Export-Import Bank failed to be reauthorized by a June 30 deadline. It has not been making new loans since. The current legislation that passed the senate would reauthorize the bank. Free market groups have long opposed the…

Huelskamp, Pompeo at top of Club for Growth scorecard

Mar

By Bob Weeks

Huelskamp, Pompeo at top of Club for Growth scorecard

Kansans Tim Huelskamp and Mike Pompeo are among the eight U.S. House Members who scored 100 percent for 2014 on Club for Growth's scorecard. Club for Growth describes itself as "a national network of over 100,000 pro-growth, limited government Americans who share in the belief that prosperity and opportunity come from economic freedom." On the scorecard for 2014, released today, Kansas Representatives Tim Huelskamp and Mike Pompeo voted with the Club for Growth's preferred position one hundred percent of the time. So did six other members of the House of Representatives. Kansans Lynn Jenkins and Kevin Yoder were tied at…

Aug

By Bob Weeks

Welcome back, Gidget

Gidget stepped away for a few months, but happily she is back writing about Kansas politics at Kansas GOP Insider (wannabe). One of the great things about the internet is it gives people an outlet for their writing and opinions that they probably would not have otherwise. I’d like to introduce you to someone whose writing I think you’d like to read. Well, I can’t really introduce you to her, because I don’t know who she is. On her blog she (?) goes by the name Gidget. It's titled Kansas GOP Insider (wannabe) at insideksgop.blogspot.com. Gidget writes anonymously, although I’m…

Aug

By Bob Weeks

Elections in Kansas: Federal offices

Kansas Republican primary voters made two good decisions this week. Kansas held primary elections this week. The primary election, of course, does not determine who wins the office; it only selects one Democratic and one Republican candidate to move forward to the November general election. But in many cases, the primary is the election, at least the one that really makes a difference. That's because in Kansas, often there may be no Democratic Party candidate. Or if there is a Democrat, that candidate may have little money available to campaign in a district with a large Republican voter registration advantage.…

Pat Roberts, senator for corporate welfare

Jul

By Bob Weeks

Pat Roberts, senator for corporate welfare

Two years ago United States Senator Pat Roberts voted in committee with liberals like John Kerry, Chuck Schumer, and Debbie Stabenow to pass a bill loaded with wasteful corporate welfare. The Wall Street Journal noticed a vote made by Senator Roberts in committee that lead to the fiscal cliff bill . The newspaper explained the harm of this bill in its editorial: The great joke here is that Washington pretends to want to pass "comprehensive tax reform," even as each year it adds more tax giveaways that distort the tax code and keep tax rates higher than they have to…

Jul

By Bob Weeks

Wolf investigation, political to the extreme

The investigation of a candidate for United States Senator by an appointed board in Kansas raises questions of propriety, and Senator Pat Roberts' use of it in advertising is shameful. If you've paid attention to television advertisements in Kansas, you probably are aware that United States Senate Candidate Dr. Milton Wolf has come under investigation by the Kansas Board of Healing Arts. His act that lead to this investigation was posting anonymous X-rays on Facebook. The campaign of Pat Roberts is spending mightily to make sure Kansans are aware of the investigation, which was launched just two seeks for an…

Roberts campaign manager was for debates until he was against them

Jul

By Bob Weeks

Roberts campaign manager was for debates until he was against them

For Pat Roberts executive campaign manager Leroy Towns, political debates are important. At least until your candidate doesn't want to debate. Are debates important to the political process? According to a former North Carolina University journalism professor, the answer is yes, debates are very important: Leroy Towns, political journalism professor at UNC, said debates are very important in the political process. “Debates give people a chance to look at candidates close up and see how they act under pressure situations,” Towns said. (Libertarian candidate Michael Beitler kept from debate, Daily Tarheel, September 13, 2010) Fast forward four years. As executive…