Huelskamp Worries About Family After Voting Against Boehner January 8, 2013

Ks-1 Congressman Tim Huelskamp
Huffington Post:
Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) blasted out a fundraising email to supporters on Monday, telling them that he was effectively a wanted man following his vote last week against Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) for speaker of the House.
“But voting against a sitting Speaker of the House was a great risk. They will punish me. They will attack my family. But America is too important to be lost to overspending, high taxes, and big government. I refuse to stand by and allow our country to be destroyed,” the email said, according to The Hill. “For my principled vote, Washington insiders are coming after me. I need your help and the help of 100 fellow conservatives immediately. If you are tired of Republicans who campaign as conservatives — but vote like Democrats — stand with me and make your contribution of $35 here.”
Huelskamp, an outspoken conservative known for bucking the establishment, has been a loud critic of Boehner, especially after being stripped of a key committee post in early December. He remains on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and was recently assigned to the Small Business Committee.
During the speaker vote last Thursday, Huelskamp became one of the most visible faces of the coup against Boehner when Politico posted a picture of his iPadshowing that he and other conservative House Republicans had conspired to topple the speaker. Huelskamp cast a vote for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as speaker, but Boehner was eventually reelected after the opposing coalitionreportedly fell apart.
While Huelskamp appears convinced that GOP leaders will be seeking retribution for his stand against them, Boehner met with House Republicans late last week and promised that he wasn’t out for blood.
“I don’t hold grudges, and my door is always open to you,” the newly reelected speaker told defectors, according to Roll Call.

Pat Roberts Bumped From Top GOP Spot on Ag Committee January 4, 2013

Roberts

Kansas Senator Pat Roberts is losing his post as the highest Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
It’s the second hard blow to the farm state’s agri-industry in a matter of weeks.
West Kansas Congressman Tim Huelskamp was kicked on the House Agriculture Committee last month after a dispute with House Speaker John Boehner and other GOP House Leaders.
Roberts says Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran has decided to take the top slot. Based on the senate’s Senority system, says Roberts, that’s Cochran’s right.
“No matter whether I hold the gavel, or whether I am the ranking member or whether I am a senior member, agriculture has always been a top priority of my efforts in public service. Nothing will change that,” Roberts said.
The Kansas Senator says he’ll keep a seat on the Ag panel. He also is a member of the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Ethics Committee.
Roberts says he’ll remain the highest Republican on the Senate’s Rules Committee. He expects that committee to have an even more important role in the new Congress that was sworn in Thursday.
“This committee will become increasingly important as I expect to play a very vigorous role in defense of minority rights, which are under attack by the Democrat Majority Leader, as well as top line issues like campaign finance reform and federal election law,” Roberts said.

Kansas Congressman Casts “No Confidence” Vote Against House Speaker Boehner January 4, 2013

The ongoing feud between Kansas Congressman Tim Huelskamp and House Speaker John Boehner continues into the new Congress.
Huelskamp was one of a handful of Republican lawmakers who did not vote Thursday for Boehner’s re-election as House Speaker.
Huelskamp told the New York Times there were more Republicans who wanted to vote against Boehner but the House leadership leaned on Members not to do it.
Boehner kicked Huelskamp off the House Agriculture and Budget Committees last month.
Huelskamp claims it is because he was not loyal enough to the House leadership on key votes last year.
Huelskamp says the Boehner leadership team is not conservative enough for him or his 700,000 Kansans in his district, which covers the western half of the state.
“While I congratulate Speaker John Boehner on his re-election, I fear that — unless the House begins to stand as a beacon of conservatism and offers Americans a true alternative to the ideology of Big Government — these next two years may very well be our last in the majority,” Huelskamp said.

Kansas Congressional Rebel Huelskamp Claims “Victory” in Boehner Plan B Failure December 23, 2012

src=”https://20poundsofheadlines.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/20121223-081122.jpg” alt=”20121223-081122.jpg” class=”alignnone size-full” />Kansas Congressman Tim Huelskamp claimed victory last week when House Speaker John Boehner’s ‘Plan B’ failed to make it to a House vote late Thursday night.
Huelskamp is one of four Republican House Members stripped of plum committee assignments ( Agriculture & Budget Committees) by the GOP Leadership.. Huelskamp says he was punished for not being loyal enough to Speaker Boehner.
A news release from his office State’s Huelskamp “led the the efforts” to block the bill coming up for a vote. He called it a ” Victory for Republican Principles”.
” Republican leadership thought they could silence conservatives when they kicked us off our Committees. I’m glad that enough of my colleagues refused to back down after the threats and intimidation, thus preventing the Conference from abandoning our principles,” Huelskamp said in a statement.
The Speaker pulled the Plan B option to deal with the fiscal cliff when it became apparent he didn’t have the needed GOP votes.
Huelskamp, and other House Republicans thought the Plan B deal broke the view to end as many taxes as possible and improve the economic climate to create jobs.
“‘Plan B’ abandons those goals – and our convictions right alongside them. For the last two years, ‘the job creator’ has been a priority; ‘Plan B’ kicks him to the curb,” according to Huelskamp.
The Kansas Republican says the 700,000 voters of the big Ks- district, which covers the western half of the whole state, have told him to stick to his principles.
Huelskamp says he still doesn’t know what his new committee assignments will be when the 113th Congress begins next month.

Huelskamp & Scarborough Spar on Air Over Gun Control December 21, 2012

Politco:
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough confronted Kansas Rep. Tim Huelskamp on-air Friday, after the Republican lawmaker charged that President Barack Obama and his allies were politicizing the Newtown massacre by pushing for additional gun control.
“Will that solve the problem?” Huelskamp said when asked about an assault weapons ban. “I don’t believe so. It’s not a gun problem, it’s a people problem. It’s a cultural problem.”
CoHuelskamp said “this president and his people” were politicizing the tragedy.
Scarborough, a former Republican House member from Florida who had opened his show on Monday with an impassioned plea for gun control, said that refusing to change gun laws after Newtown was akin to not changing American policy after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“Let’s talk about September 11th, congressman,” Scarborough said. “Were there some changes made in this country because of the tragedy of September 11th? Was that just using a tragedy, 3,000 deaths, to try to make Americans safer? Do you dare come on my show and say I am using the slaughter of 20 little six and seven-year-old children, I’m using that for political purposes, Tim?”
“Joe, how many children do you have?” Huelskamp asked.
“I’ve got four children, Tim,” Scarborough retorted. “Answer my question.
“So do I,” the Kansan said. “And I refuse to let you say that because you have children, or anybody else, that we need to actually politicize this.”
Huelskamp said he wasn’t trying to insult Scarborough, but said politicians were jumping to conclusions.
“I didn’t say it was you politicizing it,” Huelskamp responded. “You’re not even a politician anymore, and I understand that. You look around this town, you look within 24 hours, folks running on and saying ‘Hey, we need to change the laws’ when they don’t even know the situation.”
The congressman also said the White House was using Newtown as an excuse to push a long-standing agenda.
“All I’m saying is let’s spend time looking at that, but not to use the tragedy,” Huelskamp said. “As a very famous political strategist from Chicago said, ‘Don’t let any crisis go unused.’ I do not want to politicize this.”
“Wow, wow,” can be heard on the set by uttered by someone as the show went to commercial break after the tense exchanges.
Mika Brzezinski, Scarborough’s “Morning Joe” co-host, had a succinct reaction on Twitter.
”wooooooooooow!” she wrote. “That was disturbing. There is the problem for the Republican party right there. Woooooooooooooooow!!!!!!!!!!”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/huelskamp-scarborough-spar-on-air-85399.html#ixzz2FhDFk3eg