The Washington Independent » Lynn Jenkins

GOP Rep Laughs at Uninsured Constituent

David Weigel — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:59:02 +0000

Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kans.), fresh off the “Great White Hope” controversy of last week, can be seen in this video talking down a woman named Elizabeth Smith who, according to The Associated Press, couldn’t afford insurance for her son. At 1:47, Jenkins takes her question and, sort of jarringly, laughs at it.

SMITH: I want an option that I can pay for. I work. I pay my bills. I’m not a burden on the state. I pay my taxes. So why can’t I get an affordable option. Why are you against that?

JENKINS: A government run program is going to subsidize not only yours but everybody in this room. So I’m not sure what we’re talking about.

Later she quiets the crowd and tells Smith that “people should be given the opportunity to take care of themselves with a refund, or an advanceable tax credit, to go be a grown-up and go buy the insurance.” Hat tip: Mike Nellis.

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An Obama Birther for Kansas Secretary of State?

David Weigel — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:43:12 +0000

At a Saturday barbecue for the Leavenworth County, Kans., Republican Party, former Bush administration lawyer and current secretary of state candidate Kris Kobach made the case for stricter voter ID laws by questioning the citizenship of President Obama.

A professor of law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kobach kept the mood light with a political joke. He asked what President Obama and God had in common, with the punchline being neither has a birth certificate.

Other Kansas politicians spoke at the event, including Sen. Sam Brownback, Rep. Lynn Jenkins, and Rep. Todd Tiahrt. Kobach, a Marshall scholar and Yale Law grad who was chairman of the state GOP until earlier this year, is considered a frontrunner for the job with jurisdiction over elections in Kansas.

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Admitting Defeat (Sort Of)

David Weigel — Fri, 01 May 2009 22:03:55 +0000

Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kans.) gets to deliver this week’s Republican weekly address, which includes this line:

While, like most of you, I like the President personally, I think the Democrats’ first 100 days running Washington can be summed up in three words: spending, taxing, and borrowing.

It’s really something for the opposition party to admit that voters like the president. This isn’t exactly a high-profile statement, but it cuts against the daily Republican argument that President Obama is stumbling on something or other and is surely about to be brought down lower.