The Anti-Sam Brownback Blog

Senator Sam Brownback is scheduled to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on February 10th. He will be on a panel with the topic, “Marriage in the States: Why Should the States Care About a U.S. Constitutional Amendment and What Can They Do?”

CPAC bills themselves as America’s premiere conservative event.  By participating in this event in the area heis strongest, Brownback continues to advance his stock with the religious right.

A expected, Senator Sam Brownback has cast his vote for Samuel Alito on the Senate floor.

Check C-Span for all the action.

Senator Sam Brownback expressed dismay at the party line vote to send the Alito nomination to the full senate and at the same time threatened to to do the same to a Democratic President’s nominee:

Republicans say Democrats are setting a dangerous precedent by turning Supreme Court appointments into partisan fights.

“It causes me to think that if these come up in the future, and if we have a Democratic president, then we’re going to have to look at partisanship on people going on the bench,” said Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2008.

How mature.  Either you think partisanship is honorable or not.  Senator Brownback needs to make up his mind.

I don’t have an opinion on what this means for Senator Sam Brownback’s presidential strategy, but I found it interesting.

Senator Brownback is normally a huge presence at the March for Life rally in Washington DC. Those are his most fervent supporters, his base. This year, however, he chose to be in Kansas with President Bush instead of attending the rally:

Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and Rep. Jim Ryun, R-Topeka, also usually speak at the rally, but both were in Manhattan on Monday for the president’s appearance there.

It is easy to say of course he would miss the rally, the President is a “real big deal”. However, Todd Tihart missed the President’s address in order to be present at the march. Is he more tied to the movement than Brownback? Additionally, Brownback does not need to shore up his support in Kansas by appearing with the President. He won’t be running again for Senate as per his many public declarations in 1996.

Does this mean Senator Brownback believes he has the anti-choice vote locked up? Maybe. However, I think it is a simple matter of being introduced by the president on national television. Five seconds of national TV is vital time for his name recognition. Plus, we all know he doesn’t need to worry too much about the anti-choice lobby. They love him anyway.

As I have previously mentioned, the issue of stem cell research is likely to become a major issue in 2006 and 2008. Frther evidence of this trend is Missouri Senate Candidate Claire McCaskill declairing her intent to protect stem cell research from restriction. From the KC Star:

Taking the wraps on what so far has been a quiet campaign, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill today pledged support for a November ballot initiative that would protect cutting-edge research on early human stem cells in Missouri.

Her opponent, Republican incumbent Jim Talent, is closely allied with the social conservatives on the issue. He is a co-sponsor of a bill by Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback that would ban human cloning, including embryonic therapeutic cloning that most researchers see as a key to effective early stem cell study.

This is one area that I think would destroy Brownback on the national stage.  Only the most extreme conservatives oppose stem cell research and even in Kansas the majority of voters support continued scientific inquiry.

All extreme republicans should be wary of this issue.  Standing in the way of curing horrible diseases is not a helpful political stand.

Yes, I know Brownback was in Manhattan yesterday with President Bush. For all of you that have been emailing me about Bush “slighting” Brownback in his speech, I’m not convinced. However, Brownback does get only a mention. Nothing like the fawning praise for Pat Roberts. Is it a slight to be refered to as “the other senator”? Check it out for yourself:

Pat Roberts is a good man. He’s got a great sense of humor. He loves the people of Kansas and he loves Kansas State and I’m proud to be with him on this stage. (Applause.) And I’m proud to be here, as well, with the other United States Senator, Senator Sam Brownback. (Applause.) Former president of the Kansas State student body. (Applause.)

I want to thank the Governor. Governor Sebelius, thanks for putting up with me, Roberts and Brownback as we drove from the airport to here. One hour with the three of us — it required a lot of patience. (Laughter.) I’m proud the Governor came with us, and I want to thank you. I want to thank Congressman Jim Ryun, right from this district. I appreciate you being here, Congressman. (Applause.) I’m not interested in jogging with you. (Laughter.)

I also thank Congressman Dennis Moore and Congressman Jerry Moran, both fine members of the United Stated Congress from the state of Kansas. Thank you all for coming. (Applause.)

Like I said, I’m not convinced it was a slight, but I figured I would post about it to stem the flood of emails. Thanks for the tips!

From the State’s News Service comes word of Brownback supporting a tax credit for E-85 fuel:

The demand for greater access to alternative fuels such as E-85 ethanol and biodiesel has increased significantly among the American public in recent months. Given that this tax credit became effective for properties placed into service January 1, 2006, we urge you to issue preliminary guidance or rulemaking on this new provision as soon as possible. Many stakeholders, including fuel station owners and feedstock suppliers, require certainty for business planning purposes and will benefit from expedited guidance from the Internal Revenue Service regarding this tax credit, the letter states.

Sens. Evan Bayh (D-IN), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Mark Dayton (D-MN), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Barack Obama (D-IL), Ken Salazar (D-CO), and Jim Talent (R-MO) joined Lugar in signing the letter. (from lexis-nexis)

First, let me applaud Senator Brownback for supporting research into alternative fuels. We need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and if we are smart we will engineer our own solutions and then seel them to the rest of the world. That being said, Ethanol increasingly appears to be a pork-barrel handout to states like Iowa which just happens to be the first in the nation for 2008 presidential caucuses.

The main problem with ethanol as a fuel is that it takes more energy to produce it that it gives.

The total fossil energy expended to produce 1 liter of ethanol from corn is 10,200 kcal, but note that 1 liter of ethanol has an energy value of only 5130 kcal. Thus, there is an energy imbalance causing a net energy loss. Approximately 53% of the total cost (55¢ per liter) of producing ethanol in a large, modern plant is for the corn raw material (Pimentel 1991). The total energy inputs for producing ethanol using corn can be partially offset when the dried distillers grain produced is fed to livestock. Although the feed value of the dried distillers grain reduces the total energy inputs by 8 % to 24%, the energy budget remains negative.

Not that I blame Brownback for playing this game. All candidates for President have to at one time or another. If they don’t, they run the risk of ending up like Gen. Wes Clark. I wanted to point this out only as a further indicator that Senator Brownback is still preparing to run for president.

The Heritage Foundation reports on Senator Sam Brownback and US Beef:

Seoul will soon import boneless U.S. beef from cattle less than 30 months old. Although he made it clear that “more needs to be done,” Senator Sam Brownback (R-KA) applauded South Korea’s beef decision, saying that “their decision to allow imports from cattle under 30 months of age is especially appreciated, given that neighboring Japan has ignored science and set its limit at 20 months.”

Now I’ll be the first to admit what I know about the beef industry could fit between two buns, but the Brownback quote jumped out at me for other reasons. Brownback has the audacity to claim someone else ignores science? Let me jump onto my stem cells soapbox.

If he truly believed in science, he would support stem cell research. If he wasn’t blinded by religious dogma he would push exploration into therapies that could help so many people live better lives. You really have to wonder about a person who would let people die long deaths of Alzheimer’s disease in order to prevent cells that were going to be thrown out anyway from being used for science. What principle! What compassion! What a crock of shit.
Always remember: Senator Sam Brownback Hates Children With Diabetes

There is not too much Brownback news today, so I wanted to highlight an article over at DailyKos that addresses one of Senator Brownback’s central beliefs. We all know that he is an opponent of Gay Marriage. From his support of a constitutional ban on gay marriage to his threats against Washington DC, his impact is wide ranging. His intolerance not only covers actual marriage, it also extends to any construction that would give legal rights to same sex couples. A diarist named lowkell took the time to write up a list of 9 Arguments Against Gay Marriage and preceded to demolish them. You should read the entire article, but here is a taste:

8) That marriage is about procreation and ensuring the continuation of Homo…Sapiens, and gays don’t procreate.
Ha ha ha hahahahahaha. OK, besides the fact that world is wildly overpopulated - 6 billion, 7 billion, do I hear 8 billion people - the last time I checked, just because you’re gay doesn’t mean your sex organs don’t work. Breaking news! Breaking news! Gays can (and do) procreate! Video at 11! Oh, and not only can (and do) the procreate - via artificial insemination, for instance - they also are perfectly capable of adopting orphaned and abandoned children who desperately need homes. I know, I know, it’s a horrible thing to tear a child out of a perfectly lovely Romanian hellhole…er, orphanage and plunk him or her down with a couple of rich, highly educated, doting (gay) parents. But you know what? It happens, and from what I can gather, the children do just fine for themselves, thank you.

Like I said, the entire article is great. Why Senator Sam Brownback continues to oppose equality baffles me.

Plus, he did make a prominent appearance in Brownback Mountain…