More on the Farm Bill

Another article today from the Wall Street Journal talking about why the Farm Bill found veto proof success, even though the President and the Republican leadership in the House instructed members to vote against it (which bleary-eyed lapdogs Todd Tiahrt & Jerry Moran dutifully did).

Last time around, Republicans were pretty generous when it came to larding up the farm bill.

This year, though, some of them had a change of attitude.

President Bush directed his party to get back to its fiscally conservative roots. He said he would prefer no new farm bill to the one written by Democrats.

The elected leader of the House Republicans, John Boehner from a corn-growing district in western Ohio, called the bill “a great example of what’s wrong in Washington.”

But half of Rep. Boehner’s caucus didn’t see it that way – 100 Republicans voted for the bill, which racked up such a large victory margin – 318-106 – that overriding a veto shouldn’t pose much of a problem, if it comes to that.

It’s a testament to the power of an important constituency in both congressional and presidential contests: the rural vote.

Yep, the rural vote, and the deep necessity to protect our farmers. Democrats and Republicans expressed the same reason for voting as they did: "I was voting my district."

That's what Nancy Boyda did. Dennis Moore, who's district has almost no farmers (if any) voted the way he knew Kansas farmers needed him to vote. Even Senators Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback voted with a veto-proof majority in the Senate to pass the bill (though they both expressed the same hesitations Boyda did- that the bill wasn't perfect, but it was certainly better than nothing). Heck, Farm Bureau back the dang bill.

Only Tiahrt & Moran seemed to forget they represent a state of farmers and not San Francisco. Luckily Nancy Boyda was looking out for their constituents.

Boyda Secures $404 Million for Ft. Riley

Congresswoman Nancy Boyda announced in a press release today that the Emergency Supplemental Budget the House acted on today included $404 million for a new hospital at Ft. Riley.

Congresswoman Boyda said "This funding is a huge step in the right direction. The new hospital will improve the quality of life for our soldiers and their families by providing them with the best and most modern care available."

The bill, which was broken up into three parts, also includes $50 million for the Transitioning Warrior Support Complex at the fort, which will provide better housing for wounded soldiers residing at the fort.

Additionally:

The Supplemental Act also contains the new GI Bill, in honor of the hard work and sacrifices of our brave men and women in uniform, and recognizes the debt America owes them for their service. The new GI Bill expands the education benefits veterans receive under the GI bill to restore the promise of a full, four-year college education, and make the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan part of an American economic recovery, just like the veterans of World War II were.

Also included, are extended unemployment benefits for workers who have exhausted their benefits by up to 13 weeks. The number of Americans looking for work has grown by 800,000 over the last year, and the number of American jobs has declined by 260,000 since the beginning of 2008.

The portions of the bill that contained those deeply needed programs and construction requests passed the House, but the bill that contained funding for the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan drew a Republican protest vote and failed to pass.

The House failed to pass a measure funding the war in Iraq on Thursday afternoon by a vote of 141 to 149, with 132 Republicans voting “present” to protest what they see as unfair treatment by the Democratic majority.

[...]

The measure would have provided $163 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Boyda's $404 million for Kansas, however, did pass- with Kansas Republican Representatives Todd Tiahrt and Jerry Moran voting against their own state. Moore, of course, joined Boyda in investing in Kansas.

Moran and Tiahrt also voted against the new GI Bill...just for those of you keeping score. Another day to be glad you live in eastern Kansas (and a day to pity your friends with sub-par representation).

Happy Mother's Day, but just from the Democrats

All of us here at BoydaBloc, Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, Congressman Dennis Moore, and 235 other members of the United States House of Representatives would like to wish you and your mothers a very happy Mother's Day.

Kansas Republican Representatives Todd Tiahrt and Jerry Moran and 169 House Republicans would rather just play politics in the House.

On Wednesday afternoon, the House had just voted, 412 to 0, to pass H. Res. 1113, "Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day," when Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), rose in protest.

"Mr. Speaker, I move to reconsider the vote," he announced.

Yeah, of course, Tiahrt had just voted in favor of the resolution, and, in this recommit, but then joined 177 other Republicans (just Repubilcans) in voting against it. This was an effort, you see, to prevent the House from accomplishing a singularly important goal:

As House Democrats tried to pass legislation to ease the mortgage crisis on Wednesday, Republicans served up hours of procedural delays, demanding a score of roll call votes: 10 motions to adjourn, half a dozen motions to reconsider, various and sundry amendments, a motion to approve the daily journal, a motion to instruct and a "motion to rise."

The high point came just after 6 p.m., when, after one of the motions to adjourn, 61 members lined up to change their votes, one by one. Forty-six went from aye to no, while 15 changed from no to aye. The maneuver ate up 28 minutes in all -- and caused an eruption by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who accused the minority of a "filibuster by vote changing."

The Mother's Day resolution wasn't a big deal, and, really, most of America's mothers are probably just fine today knowing folks like Tiahrt and Moran would rather play politics than honor them, but this sort of obstruction, this sort of rank partisanship, is ridiculous when people all around the nation are losing their homes.

File this one under "Callous, and they don't care."

(By the way, if you needed any more evidence this was just a game, Tiahrt's spokesman has affirmed that Todd does indeed still love his mother).

Boyda & Moore lead on earmark transparency; Moran and Tiahrt MIA

Following Congresswoman Nancy Boyda's lead, Congressman Dennis Moore from the Kansas 3rd District has released a list of the federal funding he has requested for FY2009.

Republican Congressmen Todd Tiahrt & Jerry Moran have not (typical from the party of "fiscal responsibility). Neither have either of our US Senators.

As we've said before, Boyda has taken the lead on earmark reform, and, hopefully, will succeed in passing legislation to force her Kansas colleagues who are lagging behind to catch up to her.

Under these new, more transparent rules, the total cost of earmarks in the 2008 federal budget dropped by 42% – the first decline in a decade.

Calls for further reform are quickly gaining momentum. One proposal would require Congress to list all earmarks within the text of a bill, rather than in legislative committee reports (as has been a common practice in the past). The idea is worth considering, but it seems to me that shifting earmarks from one venue to another is not enough to end corruption. Instead, we must make the entire budget process more transparent.

That's why I'm sponsoring legislation to require all Member of Congress to post their earmark requests online – not just the earmarks they receive, but every earmark they request. Taxpayers have the right to know how Congress wants to spend their money.

I began holding myself to this standard of accountability last June, when I posted my 2007 earmark requests to my Congressional website. This was a sharp break from the traditional secrecy of the budget process: CNN went so far as to call me a "maverick." Maverick or not, it just makes sense that greater transparency will lead to a more efficient, more effective federal budget.

No one called him a maverick, but CongressmanTiahrt did get a particularly auspicious bit of recognition recently- Citizens Against Government Waste listed him the 34th biggest "porker" in their annual "Congressional Pig Book, " which ranks Members of Congress based on the dollar amount of earmarks they've secured for their district.

This blog doesn't have a problem with earmarks, but we don't mind providing perspective. Tiahrt was 34th, followed by Jerry Moran at 103rd, Congresswoman Boyda at 114th, and Dennis Moore at 367th.

Hopefully Kansas Republicans (and their online minions on the blogs) will remember Boyda and Moore are both out passed in "pork barrel spending" by our two Republican members.

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). ;-)

Boyda one of the "best" for America's children

Getting a 100% rating from a special interest group isn't something that always plays really well for members of Congress- it because all too easy for critics to say, "Who's interests are you really representing, mine or that group's?"

Congresswoman Nancy Boyda is in that kind of pickle right now... but, actually, we're not sure anyone would have a problem if she said she was indeed representing this particular special interest group with all her heart: She's been given a 100% rating by the Children's Defense Fund and has been listed as one of the best representatives on children issues in the entire United States Congress.

She joins Congressman Dennis Moore on the "Best" list, while fellow Kansas delegation member Congressman Todd Tiahrt is at the other end of the spectrum, finding himself listed- again- on the "Worst" list.

You can find the complete list and the votes used to create the ranking in this PDF.

Boyda: US security should not be outsourced

The FISA debates has kind of side tracked everyone in the rest of the county from other important national security related problems we're facing, but the people of Kansas are deeply aware of a recent decision made by the Air Force.

If you aren't aware, the United States Air Force has decided to award a $3.5 billion contract for the construction of new tankers to the French company Airbus, instead of US (and Kansas) company Boeing.

Congresswoman Nancy Boyda was quoted in the Topeka Capital-Journal article:

"It just makes no sense for America to outsource our ability to defend a nation," she said.

Boyda also released a press statement that went into some additional detail:

Boyda said, "This is just wrong in so many ways. By sending the tanker contract to France, the Pentagon has effectively jeopardized 44,000 American jobs. It's a very real loss to the industrial base." EADS-Northrop will use American workers only for assembly. "And let's not forget that Boeing has experience building tankers. Airbus has none. This is about more than keeping jobs in Kansas. It's about relying on a company with the proven ability to do the job."

"In addition to the economic blow," said Boyda, "it is an issue of national security. EADS is subsidized by a number of European governments. How can we guarantee that supplies from EADS will continue to flow to the United States if those countries do not agree with America's foreign policy?"

[...]

Said Boyda, "It just makes no sense for America to outsource our ability to defend a nation. In World War II, our nation's manufacturers turned on a dime to produce the planes and trucks we need to keep America safe. With every contract we send overseas, we lose our capacity to build for our own military."

"Please know," added Boyda, "I will fight to help protect jobs in Kansas and our nation's security when it comes to awarding military contracts."

You know, it's funny, because both of our US Senators have released press releases and have been quoted in the papers bemoaning the situtation, too, but that's an awfully strange position for them to be taking, since they, along with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain voted to make it easier for this very disaster to happen.

In 2003 Senators Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback voted for a John McCain amendment that encouraged the Department of Defense to buy military equipment from foreign countries. And yet, since the Air Force announced their intent to bypass Boeing Co. for the second largest defense contract in history, the two Kansas Senators have been among the most vocal dissenters.

[...]

"We've seen a lot of 'Buy American' talk from Sen. Roberts and Sen. Brownback in the days following the Air Force's decision, but their record doesn't back them up," said Kansas Democratic Party Executive Director Mike Gaughan. "Where has this concern been as members of the Senate?"

We agree totally with what Sen. Pat Roberts said in the Topeka Capital-Journal:

"If this decision holds, it will be at the cost of American jobs and American dollars, if not our national security," said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas.

We only wish he would have voted with those considerations in mind before this was allowed to happen. Hopefully the other members of the delegation, including Congresswoman Boyda, and help correct the mistakes made by the previous Republican majority on this issue before too many Kansans have to go without work.