Lynn Jenkins spokesman little Joshie Hersh and this blog has agreed on so very little these many months, but his statements, made to AP reporter John Hanna yesterday, are right on the money regarding Jim Ryun's new "not only did it save all the military bases in Kansas from certain closure, but I also single-handedly beat the Russians" campaign ad.
In 2005, Kansas did well compared with other states as the federal government picked military installations to be shut down, even gaining an estimated 3,600 military and civilian jobs as changes were made. Only the Parsons Army Ammunition Plant was targeted for closing.
Jenkins spokesman Josh Hersh said the work of others, including Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts and 1st District Rep. Jerry Moran, was crucial.
"The whole Kansas delegation had a big part in that process," he said. "No one of them single-handedly saved those bases."
Absolutely right- every member of the Kansas delegation was insturmental to keeping the bases open in Kansas, and it's disingenuious of Ryun to claim he was any more important than any other member.
But Mr. Hersh wasn't done:
Hersh also said the ad raises questions about Ryun's true position on earmarks because in it, the colonel praises Ryun for "setting up the infrastructure" at Forbes Field and Fort Riley and an unidentified supporter adds, "Jim came through for us."
Ryun has said previously that he will not support new funding earmarks in the budget. Jenkins has pledged to support reforms of the budgeting process so that earmarks are limited to projects of national interest.
Hersh said Ryun is being inconsistent.
"That would kind of raise the question of what that is going to mean for the district," Hersh said.
Ah, indeed it does. When Jim Ryun did "deliver" for the military bases in his district when he used to be in Congress, he did it via earmarks. When Congresswoman Nancy Boyda has delivered, she's used earmarks, and, one would assume, Lynn Jenkins would indeed attempt to do the same thing. With Ryun's new found aversion to earmarks, he's going to be up a creek without a paddle.
And, of course, there's that whole disasterous vote Ryun cast to defund $300 million worth of BRAC projects in Kanas right after the 2006 election, too. Thank God Nancy Boyda was able to get the money reinstated, because Ryun obviously didn't care about the people of the district very much after they voted him out of office. All comes together to show a man who probably shouldn't be trusted to actually be in that position again.
Lynn Jenkins, you say? By her own admission, her training as a CPA has prepared her for many things (like straightening out the federal books...such a mess...let's pray we dont' get audited...), but the one thing she doesn't know a damned thing about our armed forces and the needs of our men and women in uniform. Trusting her with protecting our bases would be a lot like trusting Jim Ryun to rein in federal spending...
Oh, by the way- 'member the retired colonel Ryun features so prominently in his ad? As far as we can find, he's never ever served in Kansas and, now, he's a lobbyist in Virginia. We aren't questioning his previous service to our nation, but you would have though Ryun would have found someone from or who had served in, say, Kansas, to back up his story.
