Republicans begging for money while Boyda thanks supporters

Today's the last day of the first quarter FEC fundraing period for the good people running for federal office, and in about the last hour we've received e-mails from candidates all over the country begging for money- including Jim Ryun, who says he's only at 55% of his goal of raising $20,000 on the Internet!

Our heart goes out to him in this desperate time.

We've got nothin' new from Lynn Jenkins yet, but she did send out an e-mail last week sometime asking for little contributions ($10, $25, or $50), while Jim's e-mail pushes ya to give $2,300.

No real point, just thought it was interesting. Someone might be able to say something 'bout "small fries vs. big potatoes," but we certainly aren't sayin' it. Also, did anyone else notice in the CQ Politics article we posted earlier that when you call the Jenkins for Congress campaign the number on their web site takes you straight to her campaign manager's cell phone?

Nothing's quite as sad as running a congressional campaign out of your basement.

Nancy Boyda? She sent out an e-mail, too...but instead of begging on her knees for money, she thanked her supporters for helping her already reach her fundraising goal for the quarter.

Today is the final day of the first quarter of 2008, and you know what that means. Our campaign must soon file our quarterly FEC report, disclosing all of the contributions we've received in the last three months.

By long tradition, that means we should send you a high-pitched e-mail this morning, begging for last-minute contributions. Our opponents have already sent their panicked calls for support. One admitted to being $20,000 behind his fundraising goals; the other was $5,000 in the red.

But I have good news. Our campaign has already met our fundraising goal for the first quarter of 2008 -- and that's an enormous credit to your efforts.

You've hosted fundraisers, contributed what you can afford, and served as tireless advocates for our campaign. Thanks to your support, we're entering the second quarter of 2008 on very strong financial footing. Thank you very much!

Of course, our work is not done. A new quarter begins tomorrow, and we'll need your continuing support through Election Day. We'll need your help to share our message with voters and to stem the tide of attack ads. We've done extraordinary work so far, but we must not let up now!

So instead of seeing this e-mail as a final call for first-quarter contributions, consider it an opportunity to leap toward our second-quarter goals. Let's take this chance to show Kansans that our campaign has earned their faith and support.

If you can, please contribute $100, $50, or $25 to start the second quarter off right. Together we can repeat our tremendous success of the first quarter and carry our momentum through Election Day!

With warm thanks,

Nancy Boyda
Member of Congress

After these last ditch efforts (and thank yous for, you know, meeting goals), where will they all end up? Keep on making predictions.

Lynn Jenkins: A Glass Jaw on the Verge of Shattering

The primary battle between Lynn Jenkins and Jim Ryun has become one of the nastiest in recent memory in Kansas and has become particularly bloody at this point.

However shocking it might be, that has a lot more to do with Lynn Jenkins' inability to counter her opponents with measured, appropriate responses than it does dirty tricks from the Ryun campaign. Nope, from Lynn, it's always full tilt, guns blaring- in the wrong direction.

Yes, every single time she's been confronted with any criticism in this race, Lynn Jenkins has responded instantly, forcefully, and, without fail, wrongly.

Take, for instance, her response to the Club for Growth ad that was run attacking her (rightfully) for being a "proven tax-hiker" when she was in the state legislature.

How did she respond? First, she lied. Then she went all crazy all over Jim Ryun.

“Despite their slimy efforts, no false advertising funded by Jim Ryun’s Washington, D.C., friends will prevent the truth about Treasurer Jenkins’ fiscally conservative record from getting out to the voters of the 2nd District,” said Jenkins’ campaign manager, Pat Leopold.

[Leopold also said this in the press release Jenkins sent out:]

"Treasurer Jenkins was hopeful that Jim Ryun would agree [to run a clean campaign] and find at least one thing in his decade in Congress he was willing to run on instead of turning to the same attacks that got him fired in the first place."

But, Lynn...you did vote to increase taxes over and over again while you were in the legislature. Our fellow blue blog Blue Tide Rising had an excellent analysis of this whole mess at the time:

Lynn Jenkins overreacted. Immediately, she incorrectly accused Jim Ryun of being behind the attack. Because such coordination is prohibited by the FEC this is a serious allegation, she's accusing Jim Ryun of breaking the law. It begs the question, as a candidate is Lynn Jenkins experienced enough to win in a hyper-competitive General election? How many more "Clubbings" before her glass jaw breaks?

Call that "Lynn Flies of the Handle #1."

For "Lynn Flies off the Handle #2," we have a very recent, very public hissy fit that came when this blog and Jim Ryun's campaign, with just a little help from the KC Star, raked her over the coals for, oh, accepting political contributions from the CEO of a company to which she was about to give a multi million dollar state contract.

Illegal? Naw. Unethical? Depends on your point of view. Should she get as far away from the company as she can? You better betcha!

But did she? No, of course not, because they were planning on running TV commercials featuring her smiling face...in the district she's running for Congress in! How convenient!

So, Ryun called her out (as did this blog), and told her to tell the company to not run the ads featuring her gleaming grin as long as she was running for Congress. And how did Ms. Jenkins handle that? You win a shiny new quarter if you said, "She jumped the shark."

Lynn sent out an e-mail broadsiding Ryun for character assassination because he dared to question her ethical standards. In her e-mail, which we love, she returned the favor to Mr. Ryun.

Jim Ryun is running a character assassination smear campaign against Lynn Jenkins and he is launching ridiculous claims against Lynn targeting her as "unethical". Ethics and Ryun's business dealings with convicted felon Jack Abramoff was, of course, a major issue for Jim when he lost to Nancy Boyda in 2006, so he's trying a trick out of Hillary Clinton's playbook and trying to drag Lynn down with him. Well, it didn't work for Hillary Clinton and it won't work for Jim Ryun either! We need your help to stop him now!

Like we said at the time....she actually compared Jim Ryun to Hillary Clinton, which is the funniest thing anyone has said in Kansas politics since Speaker Melvin Neufeld last talked about carbon dioxide. 'Course, she was right on with the part about Jim Ryun being unethical, too...but we digress.

All comes down to that this is just another episode that paints a pretty clear picture of Lynn Jenkins as a woman who couldn't find a measured political response with the help of a Dixon Ticonderoga No. 2 pencil and an adding machine

(Accountant humor...we thought it was funny...).

By the way, with a jaw as brittle as it appears to be, Jenkins would be wise to not throw stones. She's not wise, of course, and was quoted hurling a big ol' rock in the July 7, 2007 issue of the Wichita Eagle when talking about Jim Ryun's campaign to win his old seat back:

"Most of the comments I've heard is that it smacks of a desperate attempt to regain his DC lifestyle, and Kansans rejected that in November of 2006."

She also lied to her hometown newspaper about where Ryun is currently living.

That's a dangerous game, Lynn. A word of advice, from us straight to you: Don't throw elbows unless you can handle them, too, ma'am.

So, when will Lynn "Glass Jaw" Jenkins finally crack? With only $90,000 raised last quarter and every last bit of momentum going toward her Republican opponent, we can't see that she's got much time left in her increasingly desperate quixotic quest for Congress.

CQPolitics: Republican In-Fighting "Hobbles" Chances to Beat Boyda

Congressional Quarterly Politics took a very balanced look at the battle for the 2nd Congressional district in Kansas today, reminding us all that the longer Jim Ryun and Lynn Jenkins bloody themselves the better Congresswoman Nancy Boyda's re-election prospects look.

The article paints a fair picture of the heated battle raging within the Republican ranks currently, mentioning Ryun's strong support within the conservative faction of the party, while Jenkins finds her support coming from the "moderate" wing of the state GOP.

As a side note, Burdett Loomis, Professor of Political Science at KU, has a good quote about "moderate" Republicans in Kansas:

“[S]he’s no moderate in the sense of New York or Connecticut moderates,” Loomis said. “The word ‘moderate’ out here . . . you end up using it, but you almost want to put quotation marks around it.” [Good point! We'll follow your lead!]

We appreciate CQ Politics for saying Ryun was kicked out on his duff for being a disconnected and miserable excuse for a Congressman, and that Jenkins has already been smacked around by outside groups.

Ryun, though, has already seen his personal efforts supplemented by those of ideologically compatible outside groups that support him. The political action committee of the Club for Growth, a national group that emphasizes conservative views on economic issues, ran ads as early as last summer calling Jenkins a “tax hiker.”

The piece concludes with some good "while the Republican's bloody themselves" content about what Congresswoman Boyda is doing to stay above the fray- occupying herself by doing her job.

While the Republicans duke it out, Boyda is trying to buff up an image, in the words of press secretary Thomas Seay, as a moderate leader in the Democratic Party who “stepped up to the challenge.”

Boyda, who only switched from the Republican Party herself in 2003, has a substantial presence in the district, returning nearly every weekend to host “Congress on Your Corner” events across the district. Seay said a recent “Congress on Your Corner” event lasted six and a half hours.

And Boyda, though she faces a very difficult challenge in holding her seat, enters her re-election campaign with the benefit of resurgent Democratic organizing efforts in Washington, D.C. — where the “50-State” strategy instituted by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has led to an infusion of funds and support staff in Republican strongholds long overlooked by the national party — and in Kansas, where the popularity of two-term Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has given her party a boost.

“Sebelius and the Democratic Party have put together, particularly in the 2nd and 3rd districts, a tremendous fundraising, get out the vote operation,” Loomis said. “It’s really one of the real success stories of Dean’s 50-state strategy. Boyda benefits from that substantially.”

The race is going to be tight, and regardless of who manages to claw their way out of the bloodbath that is the Republican primary, Nancy Boyda's going to have to work hard on the campaign trail to get sent back to Washington.

But, just like CQ Politics notes, the job Boyda has done has a Member of Congress has successfully defined her as an independent, moderate voice for district, and her on-the-ground appeal is going to make it harder to knock her off than the Republicans would like.

Tongue-in-Cheek Day: McCain-Boyda for a Stronger America

Just two quick funny/interesting posts involving Congresswoman Nancy Boyda.

First, for some reason, Republican presidential nominee John McCain is advertising his campaign on Nancy Boyda's MySpace page. Mike Connery talks about it here, and our good friend Ally Klimkoski talks about it here.

Generally, both of them point out it's 1) strange he's advertising on a Democrat's MySpace page, and 2) that it might be a sign, as Ally puts it, that he "has found the Internets."

We just thought it was entertaining.

Next, a post from months ago that we just found again- interestingly, also involving Nancy Boyda and John McCain. The post mentions Congresswoman Boyda has a potential Secretary of State in a potential McCain administration.

Yes, we laughed, too, but not in the mean way all of you Republicans are. :-)

All of us, Democrat and Republican, Boyda supporters and Boyda haters, can probably all come together and say the same thing: "That ain't gonna happen." But, it's nice to know someone out there thinks that highly of her.

(Become Nancy Boyda's friend on MySpace today!)

FEC deadline fast approaches...who will come out on top?

The weekend is always a slow time here at Boyda Bloc, but it's a perfect time to post ya'll with a question: With the FEC filing deadline coming on Monday, March 31, what do you think we should expect to see in terms of money raised and on-hand from Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, Jim Ryun and Lynn Jenkins?

Just as a refresher, this is where they all started this quarter (listed in "Cash on Hand order):

Congresswoman Nancy Boyda
4th Quarter raised: $218,054.81
Cycle-to-Date: $771,305.76
Cash on Hand: $654,229.18

Lynn Jenkins
4Q raised: $90,376.52
Cycle to Date: $406,377.37
Cash on hand: $416,241.73 (it's higher than contributions because of some pesky "other receipts."

Jim Ryun
4Q raised: 198,454.18
Cycle-to-Date: $960,127.85
Cash on Hand: $364,789.19

So, who's gonna raise what? Will Congresswoman Boyda continue to win the cash-on-hand battle? Will Jim continue to blow his wad on stamps? And will Lynn even manage to break $100K? Give us your guess as to amount raised and CoH.

StayRedKansas lies...shocking, we know

What is quickly becoming a nearly impossible to read mess of spelling and grammatical errors, the right-wing radical blog StayRedKansas reminded us all this afternoon of another of their significantly more upsetting traits- LYING.

They post today that 1). Nancy Boyda has received $94,000 from unions this election cycle, 2) that this is very, very bad, and 3) that "Jim Ryun and Lynn Jenkins have largely turned to donors within the State of Kansas for financial help."

All of those things, particularly the first and third things are out-and-out lies. Blatant lies, so clearly lies we can show you they are with three mouse clicks.

First, please notice that Nancy Boyda hasn't even received $94,000 from PACs this election cycle, let alone specifically pro-labor PACs. Second, reflect back to our post from yesterday that showed Jim Ryun only raised 32% of his total campaign haul in the 4th quarter from Kansas- and only 14% from the 2nd Congressional District. Here, see his FEC report for yourself!

Come on, seriously? Seriously? Lies to easy to verify as lies it only took a few minutes to do it?

The bit we can quibble on is whether or not taking money from pro-labor organizations is good or not. Wait...no, no we can't- it is of course a good thing to have a pro-labor member of Congress. They all should be.

And someday you labor-hating anti-union right-wing hacks will realize HB 800 was a pro-workers bill. We don't expect that anytime soon, but hopefully, someday, the light will come on over your little pea heads.

This should serve as an example, readers, of what we all should expect this Fall. When Republicans know they're losing, they do the one thing that comes naturally to them- they lie.

Right Now 2008

A new video- not from us and not exclusively about Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, but it does talk about our little blog and Nancy, too, so, heck, we'll post it!

Jim Ryun Photo Caption Contest #3

Yet another installment of our popular Friday game. Please, poke fun along with the rest of us (Jenkins supporters invited, too, of course. We'll get to your candidate eventually). ;-)

My name's Jim Ryun, and I'm running full-time to represent Texas in Congress

We need to squeeze in another report on a campaign stop for Jim Ryun even before he finds himself in California in April, because the former Member of Congress was in Texas on Wednesday campaigning hard for the right to represent all of us back here in Kansas.

It's unfortunate for Ryun that the article we found smashes the silly charade he's been carrying on for months- that his little trips around the country have just been nothing more than displays of a washed-up celebrity trying to get some ego stroking.

No, Jim wasn't at the track meet in Midland just to be at the track meet, he was in there for a fundraiser and just couldn't resist a little self-aggrandizing.

In Texas.

In Midland for a fundraiser at the home of Congressman Mike Conaway and his wife Suzanne, [Ryun] faces Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins in the Aug. 5 primary and hopes to take on Democratic incumbent Nancy Boyda, who beat him two years ago, in the Nov. 4 general election.

So, there you go. Jim's little flits around the country have been probably just what we expected: Fundraising visits camouflaged as desperate attempts to relive the glory days of his athletic career. While that makes us feel better for Jim's mental health (the alternative was just so sad...), it does make us wonder: After Jim travels the country raising money, who is it he's going to feel beholden to if he were to win? Kansas? Or California and Texas?

On that subject, the Conaways aren't the first Texans to go to the mat for Jim. In July of 2007, Gov. Perry promised Jim he'd do whatever he would to put him back in Congress.

That leg-up from Gov. Perry shows. Ryun's last FEC filing shows the almost exactly the same number of donations from Texas as it does from the Kansas 2nd Congressional District. Texas doesn't win, though- Jim did have 6 more people he would actually be representing give him money than he did Texans.

Perry wrote in an invitation letter that Ryun will support “our views in Congress.”

[...]

“His vote is a national vote."

So national, in fact, only 14% of this itemized contributions listed in his 4th Quarter FEC filing are from the 2nd District of Kansas- and only 32% are from Kansas at all.

Yes, Governor Perry, Jim Ryun's a national candidate- and might represent Texas values very well. He has support from everywhere.

Everywhere except Kansas.

More on Boyda's effort to save taxpayer money, free up space at Forbes Field

We posted on Monday about Congresswoman Nancy Boyda's efforts to save Kansas taxpapers $1.1 million by allowing the Air Force to retire unused tankers at Forbes Field. We have more today from a piece from the Topeka Capital-Journal.

The aircraft have been parked on the ramp at Topeka's Forbes Field since last fall as the Kansas Air National Guard moves toward using only new versions of the tankers, KC-135Rs. Ground crews have been keeping the old planes, KC-135Es, in a federally mandated "warm ready" state in case of emergency, even though the Kansas Guard has no one certified to fly them.

[...]

The 190th Air Refueling Wing based at Forbes flies 12 of the newer KC-135s, making space limited for operations, said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, adjutant general for Kansas.

"We want to keep it as open as possible," said Bunting, who approached Rep. Nancy Boyda about accelerating the retirement of tankers.

Boyda, a Democrat representing Kansas' 2nd District, said the decision to keep obsolete tankers made no sense and was wasting resources.

"It has a nationwide impact," Boyda said. "It's time to put them to bed. They've had a very good life."

[...]

Bunting and Boyda said clearing space at Forbes would create more room for current operations or to bring another air mission to Kansas, such as an airlift wing flying cargo planes.

Congresswoman Boyda has worked since she was elected to do what's right for her district, and this is another example of her hearing the needs from people on the ground and creating legislation to help. Not only do Boyda's efforts free up space at Forbes Field, retiring planes no one can fly, she also saves us $1.1 million in Topeka alone.

Boyda puts in requests for Kansas, Ryun reminds us he wouldn't

Congresswoman Nancy Boyda followed her own example and again released her full list of earmark requests- while challenging every single other member of the Kansas delegation to do the same thing.

These aren't the projects Boyda has received funding for- these are just the projects that local governments and police departments all over the district have asked her to ask for in the federal budget.

The full list can be found here.

The other side is going to scream "pork-barrel projects," but Kansans know the truth: these aren't fluff, these aren't some pie-in-the-sky project, these are deeply necessary, gravely important funding issues that many of these city's have no other way to obtain.

Boyda, who is running for re-election this year, seeks $2.5 million for planning a new section of the Interstate 70 viaduct through Topeka. The Kansas Department of Transportation is interested in options to a curved 45 mile per hour zone that has recorded 122 crashes, including 44 injury accidents, in the past dozen years.

Boyda also recommended $1.6 million to buy land and design a redevelopment project on the Kansas River near the Great Overland Station and $1.5 million for water and sewer improvements near Heartland Park Topeka.

Smaller Topeka projects are: $834,000 to restore Constitution Hall, $500,000 for a Children's Discovery Center in Gage Park and $250,000 to study restoration of the former Wanamaker wetlands.

Thousands for local police forces, thousands for infrastructure improvements- the list is filled with all the sorts of things Congress should be paying for and the sorts of things that could benefit tens of thousands of Kansans everyday.

Jim Ryun is quoted in this same article, and the juxtaposition is just devastating- for him. Boyda has just announced the works she is doing on behalf of the district- and the work she is doing on earmark reform, and Ryun is quoted saying he'll not ask for a dime- even though he always used to- because we're in an earmark "crisis."

A crisis he let happen on his watch. He always leaves that part out.

Congresswoman Boyda didn't this time- and good for her for saying something.

Boyda said local communities support the earmarking process. She received a joint letter from the city of Topeka and the Topeka Chamber of Commerce urging her to oppose an earmark moratorium.

She said Ryun was a member of the Republican-led Congress that increased earmarks 285 percent from 1994 to 2005, climbing to 15,877 from 4,126. She said Congress last year cut earmarked funding by one-third below the previous year.

"I have been a strong advocate for transparency," Boyda said. "It was the lack of transparency that created the crisis that Mr. Ryun pointed to."

Boyda announced she is proposing a bill that would require every member of Congress to follow her lead and make all earmark requests public. It will probably fail. Why? Because we have too many members of Congress like Jim Ryun, who talk the talk, but when pencil comes to paper, they refuse to actually do the right thing.

For more witty analysis on this very subject , visit our friends over at Left Brain Kansas.

KS AFP's Alan Cobb doesn't like us much

We've spent much of last Friday e-mailing back and forth with Alan Cobb, Executive Director of the Kansas branch of Americans for Prosperity.

He doesn't like us much.

Why? Because he doesn't like the way we represented his organization in our post about the AFP meeting of anti-government hacks in Topeka- at which Jim Ryun & Lynn Jenkins spoke.

Mr. Cobb demanded we issue a retraction- heck, take the whole post down- because we were "knowingly making a false statement(s)" about AFP.

We, very politely, told him we had done no such thing.

He, generally, didn't like that we had said AFP's stated goal was devastating cuts to government programs. We tried to explain to him that, well, his own mission statement says the goal of the organization is to cut taxes and reduce the size of the budget, which, at the federal and state level would lead to cuts in something. We just guessed as to where those cuts would be.

He didn't like that.

Excerpts of said e-mail exchanges follow. :-)

From Alan Cobb:

You have intentionally and deliberately posted false information on your blog. You have yet to provide any evidence or source for your statements about budget cuts we advocate.

No, no we haven't posted anything false- and, certainly the Americans for Prosperity web site serves as a beautiful source. He is right to say, though, that they don't lobby for specific cuts, just great big general ones. We'll get back to that in a moment.

He went on to say:

I understand you and other bloggers need to be politically provocative, but it is certainly intellectually weak, and illegal, to knowingly post untruths about groups with whom you disagree. Is the actual truth not good enough to get your folks riled up?

Gosh, tossing out insults certainly is the sign of an intellectual giants, of course. As to the "illegal" part, he supports his point by quoting for us a definition of libel.

li·bel

1. A false publication, as in writing, print, signs, or pictures, that damages a person's reputation.
2. The act of presenting such material to the public.

I suggest you change your statements to more accurately and truthfully reflect our organizations specific goals, and ideas.

Tossing out scary legal terms in an effort to strong-arm a poor, defenseless blogger into doing what you want certainly isn't very nice. Neither is knowingly misrepresenting the law in an effort to do the same thing.

Everyone, please read the definition provided by Mr. Cobb. Note the word "person's."

A plain text reading of the Kansas statute that happens to be applicable (K.S.A. @ 21-4004 for those few, few who care) and even to Mr. Cobb's definition, says libel is an offense against a person. Americans for Prosperity is a group, not a person, and, thus, would have some pretty significant hurdles to jump before they could even attempt to bring a defamation suit. We believe Mr. Cobb is an attorney, and knows that full well- which makes it that much more unfortunate that he'd threaten us so.

But all of that is silly to discuss (as we told Mr. Cobb), because nothing we've posted anywhere on this blog ever even approaches the Kansas statutory definition of defamation (which, of course, isn't nearly as simple as the cute little quote Mr. Cobb lobbed at us in his e-mail). In the end, all we've done is offered a perspective Mr. Cobb doesn't like. Unfortunately for him, that's just not illegal.

Anyway, we responded thusly:

From: Boyda Bloc
To: Alan Cobb
Subject: RE: your blog

Mr. Cobb, we will have to continue to disagree. This blog posted nothing false about your organization, we merely correctly stated your organization leads the charge for reduced federal/state spending- reduced spending equals reductions in services. The two cannot be separated.

Your STATED goal is budget reduction, lowered taxes. Your STATED goal results in massive budget cuts and the slashing of social services. Nothing we've said is false, unless you live in a world where actions have no consequences. We, sir, do not.

We've published opinion & fact & logical extensions of AFP's mission statement, and you don't like our take on it. That doesn't make it libelous, sir.

We'll gladly do one thing for you: We'll clarify. We'll be happy to point out it isn't Social Security and Education you want to see cut. It's everything- literally all programs- that could see devastating cuts due to your efforts. It wasn't precise of us to limit it to the social programs we listed, and we apologize.

We should have been more broad.

And we should also say you don't care what gets cut, who gets hurt, and what kind of havoc you cause- as long as taxes go down, and budgets don't grow. The people of Colorado thank you, I'm sure.

-BoydaBloc

In the end, Alan's right- we misspoke. We didn't commit libel, we merely didn't expound enough. They aren't calling for specific cuts in anything. They're championing cuts- ridiculous cuts- to pay for irresponsible tax policy. It might not be social programs, it might be Defense, or infrastructure maintenance- something will get cut if you cut the monies available.

So, yes, Mr. Cobb, you were right. We weren't clear. We put limits on the real damage you and your organization could do. We're dreadfully sorry- and thank you so much for giving us the chance to clarify that fact.

By the way...Mr. Cobb e-mailed us a several more times- finally saying he was asking "one more time" for us to make the changes he demanded. Hopefully this post will placate him- though, for some reason, we don't see that as a likely outcome.

And, just for giggles- here are a half dozen stories about exactly what could happen if Alan Cobb gets his way...and, wow- cuts to social services, education- even public safety as Colorado Springs is in such awful shape 55% of the city's budget is generated by sales tax..and can't afford enough people to answer 911 calls.

A Taxing Debate, BEWARE: TABOR is coming; After devastating government services in Colorado, the "Taxpayer Bill of Rights" threatens to spread, Commission's Revenue Cap Proposal Would Require Cuts in Education, Health, and Safety, and Harm Business Climate, Springs' 911 callers give up, Business leaders learn Colo. is still short on money for critical services, Fund our higher education.

(Credit where credit is due: The above picture was taken from the Americans for Prosperity web site. What on Earth are they doing to those children?)

Boyda saves taxpayers $1.1 million

Great news from Congresswoman Nancy Boyda via the Kansas Democratic Party blog:

On Wednesday, Congresswoman Boyda will join Kansas Adjutant General Todd Bunting to announce the planned retirement of Forbes Field's 12 obsolete KC-135E refueling tankers.

Until this year, the National Guard was required by law to maintain the aircraft, even though they no longer serve any national security purpose. Now, under a provision of the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act requested by Congresswoman Boyda, the planes are scheduled for retirement.

The move is expected to save taxpayers at least $1.1 million per year.

We covered this story once before when it was just in the very beginning stages, and we're glad to have the chance to announce now that Boyda's plan has been approved.

As we said in our previous post:

According to the article, eight of those KC-135Es are currently located at Forbes Field in Topeka, with four more expected to arrive soon. The planes are no longer needed, but current federal law requires the planes to be kept at "warm-ready" status- resulting in an expenditure of $1.1 million annually in Topeka alone.

And, just so no one says anything about this bring "anti-military," the Guard thinks it's a good idea, too.

Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas National Guard, said the act should result in freed-up space and money at Forbes.

"We have a number of planes stored at 190th Air Refueling Wing that would be impossible to retire given the former legislation," she said. "We're very pleased to see this bill pass."

Great job, Congresswoman Boyda!

Where's Jim? Getting ready for a trip to California!

First Hawaii. Then Florida.

Now, Jim "Campaigning Full-time" Ryun as found a campaign trail in Kansas that somehow leads him to sunny California.

This time, though, it isn't a running event, so he isn't trotting out that old celebrity. Instead, he's tossing out a title he doesn't have anymore as takes up the prestigious honor as the headliner at the The 23rd annual Community Leaders Prayer Breakfast for the Christian Business Men's Connection on April 11 in Redding, California.

The special guest speaker will be Jim Ryun, a Republican congressman from Kansas. Ryun received national acclaim as a track and field star and won a silver medal in the 1500 meter run in the 1968 Olympics.

So, they did trot out the "he's a track star!" line, but the bit that's more upsetting is that they call him a "Republican congressman from Kansas."

He used to be a Republican congressman from Kansas. The voters of Kansas made it pretty clear they didn't want him to have that title when they handed him a defeat just as stunning as the one he suffered in the '68 Olympics.

And don't even get us started on how icky is it he's speaking at a "men's only" event...

Jim Ryun Photo Caption Contest #2

Blue Tide Rising has Friday Funnies....BoydaBloc has Photo Caption Contest.

This week we'd like you to come up with a good slogan for the Ryun campaign to go along with this picture:

Recycled Congressman for everyone!

10,000 hits!

Just a quick purely self-indulgent post: We're on the verge of our 10,000 hit, and we'd just like to thank all of our readers- Boyda fans and otherwise- for making this blog such a stunning success.

Keep coming back for more- we promise to remain the very best source for news, gossip, and rumors about the hottest congressional race in the country!

Where was all this "leadership by example" when you were still in office, Jim?

Former Congressman Jim Ryun just sent out an e-mail to supporters, and we gotta say, it's stunning he's still pretending he's got a foot to stand on when it comes to addressing earmark reform.

He said, in his campaign e-mail today:

As I travel across the District, a common theme of distrust in Washington has surfaced, especially with regard to spending and the earmarking process. Well, I have listened to you and I agree, the system is broken and we need real earmark reform.

[...]

The earmark crisis has gotten out of control.

Talk about a Jimmy- Come- Lately. The "earmark crisis" has gotten out of control?

We've asked before, and we'll ask another hundred times as Jim continues to peddle this cheap misdirection: Where were you, Mr. Ryun, and where was your "moral leadership" for the last 10 years when earmarks jumped to record heights?

We'll put it a different way. How in the world can you claim to be "leading by example" when, under your watch, earmarks exploded in cost and in number?

Ryun's being disingenuous- again- and fanning flames rather than being honest.

He should be telling the truth, that the Democratic Congress and Nancy Boyda have passed far-reaching earmark reform and have actually led by example: Earmarks have gone down since Democrats took back control.

More of the same from a man who voters know is simply flapping in the wind.

[The above chart came from a report produced by Harvard Law. The complete report can be found here.]

Jenkins & Ryun: "We promise to cut funding to Social Security, Medicare, Education"

Today, Americans for Prosperity, one of the most radical anti-governement organizations active in America today, held a rally in Topeka, and two of the featured speakers were the two Republicans vying to replace Congresswoman Nancy Boyda. Characteristically, they ripped each other limb-from-limb.

You know, actually, it's funny that AFP wanted Lynn Jenkins and Jim Ryun to speak at their event. Neither one of them are what you'd call paragons of fiscal responsibility. Much to our glee, they both pointed that out.

We're just partisan bloggers, so we understand if you don't want to take our word for it. Would you prefer, instead, to take it straight from Jenkins & Ryun themselves?

[Jenkins] also blasted Ryun, accusing him of being part of the former Republican majority that ratcheted up pork-barrel spending.

"Republicans like our own Jim Ryun, voted yes and sat back and watched as our spending and debt skyrocketed," Jenkins said.

[...]

[Ryun] also criticized Jenkins for supporting what he called "irresponsible" tax hikes and for failing to commit herself to rejecting tax increases while in the Legislature. His comments echo criticisms lodged by a national anti-tax-hike group that attacked Jenkins' record last year.

Those things are so true! Club for Growth has indeed already run TV commericals in Kansas reminding voters Lynn Jenkins voted to increase taxes again and again when she was in the state legislature.

And, well, like this blog pointed out only a few weeks ago, Jim Ryun certainly never shied away from requesting earmarks when he was in Congress- and he was content to watch the number of earmarks increase 10 fold while he was in office (they've gone down since Boyda took the seat, by the way).

In the end, we shouldn't be surprised. This was just another display of two desperate politicians looking for any constituent group they can sell themselves to in order to win the nomination of their party- even if they have to deny their own realities to get it done.

Honestly, while all that wallowing in Fantasyland is beneath a federal candidate, it's actually horrifying Jim Ryun and Lynn Jenkins would even be willing to speak to an organization as radical as AFP (who, if they got their way, would eliminate ALL funding for social programs- that includes Social Security, Medicare, student loans- the list goes on and on). It's shocking to see anyone running for office tie themselves to a group who are actually dedicated to making people's lives harder.

Luckily, we have a better option in November, and while Jim Ryun and Lynn Jenkins side with radical groups who want to make all of our lives worse, we can be sure Nancy Boyda will do her best to prevent ridiculous cuts to social programs, and that she will do everything in her power to make sure the sort of irresponsible policies being proposed by Jenkins & Ryun, Inc. will never go into effect.

Boyda backs changes to credit card rules

Congresswoman Nancy Boyda is backing changes to the Truth in Lending Act that would make signing up for a credit card more transparent and fair for consumers.

As reported by WIBW TV in Topeka, Boyda's co-sponsoring the bill, which is now on its way to the United States Senate.

Boyda says she believes credit card companies have all the power and consumers "don't even have a fighting chance a lot of the time."

The proposal would also require a credit card bill be sent 25 days before payment is due.. and for the company to give 45 days notice before changing your interest rate.

Video of the interview can be found here.

Boyda does what's right on energy policy, reduces subsidies for Big Oil

As the economy continues to sour, Congress's response to energy policy becomes more and more vital, and Nancy Boyda has been at the forefront of the struggle to response with this massive problem.

In yet another clip of her remarks to at the Kansas Democratic Party State Convention, Boyda asks a simple question: "Do you think that you and I should be subsidizing the big five integrated oil companies?"


Like she says- that shouldn't be a hard question.

Boyda joined a bipartisan majority in late February to pass the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Act, which invested millions of dollars into ending our dependence on foreign oil.

Boyda said, "Renewable energy offers tremendous promise for our state's economy. Kansas has the soil to grow crops to be converted to biofuels, the skies to harvest wind energy, and the research base to nurture new technology. Now all we need is a national commitment to energy independence. That's what today's bill is all about. It should be called the 'Kansas Economic Development Act' – that's how important it is to our businesses and communities."

Nancy Boyda's stand on energy is clear: We've got to break our dependence on foreign oil and other nonrenewable fuels and that we've got invest in alternatives- the greener, the better.

*Note- The timing on the video is a little off, we be uploading a better version ASAP.

KS Republican legislator sides with Boyda on NAFTA & Superhighway

As reported by the Kansas City Star, conservative Republican member of the Kansas State House of Representatives Judy Morrison has introduced a resolution seeking to express the opinion of the entire Kansas State Legislature that the United States should withdraw from NAFTA and oppose construction of the NAFTA Superhighway.

At a hearing Monday, Morrison, a Republican, said powerful financial interests are working to create a new super highway and trade corridor from Mexico to Canada through several states, including Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

During recorded testimony played before the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, Oklahoma Sen. Randy Brogdon said the corridor would be subject not to U.S. laws but international law.

“The super corridor will cause the largest confiscation of private property ever seen in the United States,” he said.

Morrison’s resolution is supported by the Teamsters Union and U.S. Reps. Nancy Boyda of Topeka, a Democrat, and Jerry Moran of Hays, a Republican.

[UPDATE: Congressman Moran's office contacted this blog, directing us to an update to this quote story, which clarifies that Moran doesn't support withdrawal from NAFTA, but does not support construction of a NAFTA Superhighway.]

Jim Ryun's campaign screamed in 2006 that Boyda was just trying to scare voters into supporting her. We wonder what he says to people like Rep. Judy Morrison and Rep. Jerry Moran.

Or to former constituents like Richard Oates of Topeka, who sent in a letter to the Topeka Capital-Journal thanking Boyda for her dedication to opposing a NAFTA supercorridor.

Take it from me as a truck driver: Mrs. Boyda deserves enormous credit for her efforts to prevent the NAFTA superhighway and improve our road safety.

The superhighway is a rotten idea for many reasons. It threatens highway safety by allowing uninspected, poorly built Mexican trucks on American highways. It threatens the American trucking industry by allowing low-paid, undertrained Mexican drivers to take our jobs. It threatens our immigration laws by weakening our border with Mexico. And it threatens the American economy with limitless, runaway trade.

Mrs. Boyda has fought to address all of these problems. She wrote the Safe American Roads Act, which blocked funding for a program to allow Mexican trucks onto American roads. Her bill passed the House of Representatives last year. She has also introduced a bill to renegotiate NAFTA to improve America's trade imbalance.

We agree with Mr. Oates, who concludes by saying he's thankful Rep. Boyda is protecting the border. It's just another issue that is deeply important to our national security and to her constituents that she has already shown more leadership on than Jim Ryun did in his whole career.

KS GOP blog objects to Boyda's speech on FISA, calls her "profane"

After being viewed more than 6,000 times in 48 hours, we're pretty comfortable saying Nancy Boyda's speech on FISA is a runaway success.

And, with a runaway success for a Democrat in Kansas, we were also equally comfortable saying it would be met by the screeching sound of Kansas Republican bloggers dragging their fingernails across computer monitors all over the state in an effort to eviscerate Congresswoman Boyda for her position.

We waited all day Saturday. Maybe they were researching the history of FISA- you know, that it was established to prevent another Nixon of spying on American citizens again. We waited all day Sunday. Maybe it was going to a point-by-point response with charts and graphs. We waited through nearly the whole day Monday before, finally, one of our comrades on the Right finally put finger to keyboard and posted a response.

What, after three days of preparation, did they say?

"Nancy Boyda's a potty mouth and doo-doo head!" And then they misquoted her.

Yes, that's right, the attack that seems to be the one the Republicans are going with is that Nancy Boyda is just a foul-mouthed sailor-of-a-woman who dared to say the word "damn" in public, which, apparently, is all you have to do to be "profane" nowadays. At least she's in good company, since, you know, she was quoting Mark Twain.

But, remember friends, the folk at The Kansas Republican are from a different era...just like the leadership of their party.

"My land, she cursed! Carrie, quick, get the smelling salts, I do believe Wild Bill is going to faint! Oh, he's been overcome with the vapors! Call Doc Holliday on the party line!"

Next they'll be after her for wearing pants in public. And what on Earth will we do about her driving- and voting! Just- goodness!

While the response is unfortunately pathetic (we waited so long for it!), we can't ignore the fact they decided to misquote Boyda's speech, even though the transcript is published in full right here at BoydaBloc. They're lying when they say Nancy said these two things:

“Republicans Are Damn Liars… they should be ashamed”

and

Boyda felt comfortable calling Republicans peddlers of “lies, damn lies.. who should be ashamed of themselves.”

Take a look at the first post from today, which contains the whole transcript of Boyda's remarks, and you can see for yourself that she never, once, said either of those things.

She was, indeed, very specific that the Kansas Republican Party, not Kansas Republicans, should be ashamed of its ad suggesting that she is on the side of terrorists.

We might be going out on a limb here, but we think ads like that one already make Kansas Republicans ashamed of their party leaders. What kind of person with any sense about them could ask if a sitting Member of Congress is on the side of the terrorists? She right, that's a stupid question, an unpatriotic question, and we'd guess the vast majority of Kansas Republicans agree with her on those two points.

In the end, this was a pathetic attempt to redirect discussion away from the fact Nancy Boyda's position on FISA is right, the people of Kansas agree with her, and that they simply can't get any traction out of criticizing her for what she actually said- so, instead of talking about that, they make up quotes, attribute them to her, and then spew righteous indignation about her swearing.

'Course, it would be too much to expect of any of the Republican blogs in Kansas to actually talk about the issues when they have character assassination and misdirection to use instead. That's fine, because if they tried to engage Boyda on the issues they'd lose.

Nancy Boyda's FISA speech transcript

The following is the transcript of the video of Congresswoman Nancy Boyda's speech on FISA.

You've heard that there are three kinds of lies? Lies, damned lies, and statistics?

... If that's the lies, then you know what's coming next. Well, we're talking about damned lies, and when it comes to damned lies, we're talking about the debate that right is going on, and that's on FISA. This is a hundred times more sinister, it's a hundred times more frightening, and I believe a hundred times more shameful.

You've probably seen the TV ads that are attacking me right now. Ominous pictures and scary, scary music. Here's their line. "Midnight. February 16th. The law that lets intelligence agencies intercept al-Qaeda communications expires."

Well, in case you're wondering, that would be what is called a damned lie.

(laughter)

It's such a damned lie that Newsweek ran a fact check piece – you saw it last week – and it just tore [the ad] to shreds.

These are not my words, these are Newsweek's: "misleading," "a play to fear" – come on, we didn't need Newsweek to tell us that this was a play to fear – and "simply not true." These are Newsweek's words, not mine.

So let's talk about what's really going on, because this is the very core, the very core of our democracy. The main law used to wiretap terrorists is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act – that's called FISA. Make no mistake: It is in full force today. Intelligence agencies have every right and today they are wiretapping any terrorist in the world at any time, anywhere. And I personally thank God for that. My number one priority is keeping your family and my family safe.

Nobody, nobody disagrees that we should aggressively wiretap terrorists. Here's the question – and let's reframe this argument. It's not about wiretapping terrorists. Here's the question: Do we want the United States government wiretapping Americans without a warrant? Ladies and gentlemen, that is the issue that is at stake here. I say absolutely no. We do not want the United States government spying on Americans without a warrant.

But President Bush says that's OK, and right now, this is right down party lines. And the Republicans in Congress are sticking with him. In fact, he has threatened to veto any FISA bill that requires meaningful court oversight. "Get rid of the annoying judicial branch. Get rid of that annoying Congressional branch. All we need is oversight within the executive branch."

Folks, the reason that we have the FISA bill in the first place – who knows? Thank you: Richard Milhous Nixon. Watergate. Nixon was caught spying on Americans, and that's where this bill came from in the first place. If we forget history, we are doomed to repeat it. This is something that we don't need to be told; we don't need our mothers to remind us that if we forget our history, we will be doomed to repeat it.

The FISA court must be flexible enough to deal with emergencies. And I strongly support a bill that would allow the executive branch to wiretap anyone, including Americans – to wiretap anyone, anywhere in the world, and even without waiting for judicial approval. Here's the policy: Wiretap first, ask permission later. But here's where we differ. We give 14 days – that's two weeks – for the intelligence agencies to go back to a court, to make sure that we have two branches of government.

Wiretap first, ask permission later. It's a good strategy, and it will keep America safe. But unfortunately, the damned lies just continue.

Yesterday, you probably heard, the Kansas Republican Party launched a new radio ad attacking my stance on FISA. If you haven't heard it, they're telling listeners to call my office, and – this is so unbelievable. You're supposed to ask the question, which side am I on?

Am I with America, or am I with the terrorists?

You know, they say there's no such thing as a stupid question.

(laughter)

That would be a stupid question. But it's ultimately not a stupid question as much as it is a deeply, deeply unpatriotic question. And the Kansas Republican Party ought to be ashamed of themselves.

Our democracy depends on open and honest debate, and this is nothing of the sort. What it is, I believe, is just a transparent attempt to cha