The Anti-Sam Brownback Blog

While I missed this during the madness of last week’s final exams, I should note that Senator Sam Brownback’s broadcast indecency bill passed with unanimous consent.

This bill will mandate a tenfold inrease for fines levied by the FCC for indecent content broadcast by networks.

This bill still needs to be reconciled with a harsher House bill that would also levie fines on the performers or actors that made the indecent remark or act.

Anyone have any idea as to why Senator Sam Brownback would be introducing so many bills about shoe duties?

Late last week, Brownback introduced a total of 17 bills to suspend temporarily the duties on different types of footwear.

Among the offerings: S. 2847, to “reduce temporarily the duty on certain footwear with open toes or heels,” and the more catchall S. 2845, affecting “certain women’s footwear.” S. 2837, for the leather lover, would reduce the duty on “certain leather and textile footwear,” while S. 2838, affecting “certain rubber or plastic footwear,” keeps the pleather lover pleased.

Stay-at-home moms aren’t left out either: S. 2850 would “reduce temporarily the duty on certain house slippers.”

And on it goes, to cover certain footwear for men, certain other work footwear, certain athletic shoes and certain athletic footwear for men and boys.

We only got confused when it came to S. 2835, which would suspend the duty on “certain leather footwear for persons other than men or women.” Which leaves what, exactly? Humanoids? Extraterrestrials?

Thanks to The Hill for the heads up.

So says The Hill:

Sen. Sam Brownback, a conservative Republican from Kansas, told The Hill that he would vote for the immigration overhaul as long as no amendments are approved that would significantly expand the number of immigrants coming into the country or reduce the level of enforcement.

“I think good work has been done here in the Senate, and I would support it,” he said.

Notice Senator Brownback’s attempt at spin by focussing on enforcement. He has to find some way to placate angry conservatives who want to deport all 12 million illegal immigrants.

After President Bush’s speech which sought to appease the more vicsious anti-immigrant wing of the GOP, it seems that Senator Sam Brownback is also looking to hedge his bets with the minuteman caucus and now supports the use of troops on the border with Mexico:

Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said he too supports “temporary” use of the National Guard to strengthen border security. Brownback has been criticized in conservative circles for supporting legislation that would offer most of the nation’s illegal immigrants work permits and a route to citizenship.

“The potential deployment of National Guard troops to the Southern border underscores how we need a long-term fix for our broken immigration system,” the senator said in statement.

Don’t forget, just over a year ago Bush cut funding for more than 9,000 border guards from the budget.  Funny how priorities change with the poll numbers…

A dirty little secret of the republican party leadership is that many of them see Christian Conservatives as a distasteful, uneducated and uncouth constituency. The party leadership uses them during election season and then brushes them aside when it comes to making policy. The New York Times reports today that some Conservative Christian leaders are none too happy about this trend and are considering sitting out this fall’s midterm election:

“There is a growing feeling among conservatives that the only way to cure the problem is for Republicans to lose the Congressional elections this fall,” said Richard Viguerie, a conservative direct-mail pioneer.

“I can’t tell you how much anger there is at the Republican leadership,” Mr. Viguerie said. “I have never seen anything like it.”

What will the GOP leadership do? It’s anyone’s guess.

However, it is exactly this sort of anger and disaffection that Senator Sam Brownback is attempting to tap into for a presidential run in 2008. I may think Brownback is crazy and dangerous, but I have never doubted his religious convictions. Brownback is a true believer, and for better or worse, generally speaks his mind.

The Christian right could be looking for such a chosen son in 2008 if they are not sufficiently wooed by the GOP this cycle…

Even though the consensus in the state is Ken Canfield’s campaign for Governor is dead in the water, he bravely soldiered on and named a little known state legislator as his running mate:

[Kathe] Decker, 53, of Clay Center, has been the chairwoman of the House Education Committee for the past four years and chairwoman of the House Select Committee on School Finance for the past two years. She announced Wednesday at the close of the 2006 session that she would not seek another term, citing “a better offer that came through the door.”

“It’s a good opportunity to get a message out to the public,” Decker said Thursday. “We think there’s a lot of things Kansas can be doing for families.

“Ken Canfield is a visionary man. He and I have a lot of thought processes the same.”

Besides picking a sycophant for a running mate, reportedly Decker was not Ken Canfield’s first choice…

According to Broadcasting and Cable online, Senator Sam Brownback’s broadcast indecency bill could make it to the Senate floor this session:

….a source close to the issue [stated] that the committee intended to mark up the bill May 18.

Like the House version, the Brownback bill would boost FCC fines dramatically. Unlike the House bill, however, it would not put a TV station’s FCC licenses in jeopardy after three indecency violations and would not remove the first warning on performers that is in the current FCC rules.

While this bill is clearly throwing some red meat to the base, it has the potential to create actual harm if amendments are attached that increase the scope.  Right now there are rumors circulating that if this bill makes it to markup there will be an amendment added that will put cable and satelitte broadcasters under the same standards as traditional over-the-air broadcasters.  Say goodbye to a lot of Comedy Central late night TV if such an amendment passes.

Seems Human Events Magazine doesn’t appreciate Senator Sam Brownback’s position on immigration:

The immigration debate within the Senate has severely damaged the presidential chances among conservatives of two key Republican senators: Sam Brownback (R.-Kan.) and John McCain (R.-Ariz.).

Over the past few years, Brownback had won considerable favor among conservatives for his support of religious freedom worldwide and his strong position on moral issues, including his opposition to abortion. Brownback has also been an important voice fighting for human rights and religious freedom in Iran. Clearly, Brownback’s sympathy for illegal aliens stemmed from his concern about their human rights. The problem is that while most conservatives are willing to acknowledge the human rights of illegal aliens, there is widespread conviction that those “human rights” do not include a right to U.S. citizenship, especially as a reward for having immigrated here illegally in the first place.

From what I have recently heard, Brownback didn’t expect this much vitriol over his position on immigration reform. Obviously it is too late to change, and he will have to rely on his extreme conservative voting record in almost all other areas to woo primary voters. The best thing for Brownback at this juncture would be for this entire debate to blow over without significant reform and not see the light of day until 2009.

On a personal note, my absence was the result of finishing class and searching for a job. Blogging is entertaining, but doesn’t pay the bills. I’ll be posting more regularly from now on.