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Thursday, January 31, 2008

Boyda helps towns, connects with constituents

Congresswoman Nancy Boyda has made a name for herself with the residents of eastern Kansas by bringing home federal money for her district- including almost a half million dollars for the city of Iola for a new water treatment plant.

It isn't just Iola, of course, it's cities all over her district, and the money goes to fund deeply important projects that will directly benefit thousands of her constituents.

Iola went so far as to hire a firm to help them secure their money, and while that might be needed when dealing with the offices of our Senators, Nancy Boyda doesn't need anyone to help her connect with her voters- look at the millions of dollars she got for her constituents with no one other than regular Kansans lobbying on their behalf.

But saying Iola had a "lobbyist" goes a little far, though- it was Kansans who had a passion for improving their community:

A dozen residents of Iola, including one who had never been on an airplane, met in Washington, D.C., with U.S. Rep. Nancy Boyda to discuss federal funding for three community projects.

"We're not talking about well-heeled lobbyists," said Iola city manager Judy Brigham, who was in the delegation. "It was 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.' "

This novice delegation urged the Kansas Democrat to support a $1.5 million sewer system upgrade, $750,000 community center renovation and $500,000 public library program expansion.

Boyda was persuaded by the presentation and included at least partial funding for all three on a list of 64 projects she recommended to receive support in the federal government's new budget.
Stories like that tell you things can be better in Washington when you have the right kind of people representing you. For the most part, though, the system in Washington is broken, and special interests and big money have too much power. It's refreshing to have someone like Nancy Boyda representing us, because she does what's best for her district regardless of what K Street says.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

The system in Washington is broken, and special interests and big money have too much power. It's refreshing to have someone like Nancy Boyda representing us, because she does what's best for her district regardless of what K Street says.
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Interesting ..... since few people other than Washington lobbyists or political staff would know what K Street is.

Sounds like the Washington staff wrote this story.

Anonymous said...

Like in Iola ..... help from Congresswoman Boyda is just a fundraiser away.

Anonymous said...

anyone who paid any attention to the 2006 election knows what K Street is

or who watches premium cable.

Anonymous said...

Of course K Street is where Congresswoman Boyda had her fundraiser ..... funded by the lobbyist for Iola.

Anonymous said...

boyda secured millions of dollars for the district....millions that had no lobbyists and no fundraisers at all.

stick that in your pipe

Anonymous said...

I know what K street is cause I watched the show on HBO and because I'm not an idiot - anyone who is reading a political blog in the first place needs to know what K Street is or you're simply not informed

Anonymous said...

Thank you for insulting the intelligence of many of the readers on this blog. I am sure those who are not aware of "K Street" appreciate your superiority.

Anonymous said...

wow...the one thing people care about is that the post says "K Street?"

i think it's pretty clear USA Today was just after a sensational story that didn't look at the facts

iola got an earmark from the congresswoman because the city's in the district, not because they had a lobbyist.

Anonymous said...

Well then I guess Congresswoman Boyda could have also just told the lobbying firm NO on hosting a fundraiser for her.

The changing Washington line doesn't fly when you are doing the same activities with lobbyists as everyone else there.

Anonymous said...

the problem with lobbyists is they buy influence.

they bought no influence here because Boyda had decided to support the earmark MONTHS before they hosted the fundraiser.

look at the time line and look at the article from the cap-j...the fundraiser was MONTHS after the fact, and didn't result in an earmark.

Anonymous said...

If you insist ..... maybe it was the other way around .... the earmark resulted in a fundraiser.

Anonymous said...

i don't have a problem with the earmark resulting in a fundraiser 6 months later.

Anonymous said...

i am sure you don't. ..washington as usual.

Anonymous said...

she got money for her constituents...are you saying that was a bad thing? no, of course, not. you're being a hypocritical republican.

Anonymous said...

You know, not all earmarks are bad things. This earmark sounds like a good one. It brought money into Boyda's district to repair a public utility. It's not like she snuck in an earmark for a defense contractor for some equipment that the military doesn't want or need...but I guess that those are the only kind of earmarks that republicans appreciate.

Anonymous said...

lol...the person right above me makes a great point- if this had been for a fighter jet the R's wouldn't be complaining!

This blog is not affiliated in any way with the Kansas Democratic Party, the Democratic National Committee, Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, the Office of Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, or the campaign to re-elected Congresswoman Nancy Boyda. All commentary herein not directly attributed must be considered the opinion of the authors of this blog and not of any other individual, including Congresswoman Nancy Boyda.