Great article in Pratt Tribune

Wasinger gets back to Basics
By Gale Rose
The Pratt Tribune
Posted Mar 10, 2010 @ 04:56 PM
Pratt, Kan. — A Homestead Act to stop the out-migration from rural areas in Kansas and across the country is the corner stone for conservative Rob Wasinger, Republican candidate for Congress and the First District in Kansas. His drive is to get this country back to basics.
Wasinger spent several hours in Pratt Monday talking with people and listening to their concerns.
Wasinger learned much about Kansas and national politics through his years of working for former Gov. Bill Graves, Rep. Jerry Moran and Sen. Sam Brownback.
His Homestead Act will provide tax incentives and loans for small businesses to get good paying jobs and promote economic growth in rural areas, he said.
“That is my national vision for rural America,” Wasinger said. “That is the path to economic growth. This is our problem and not party specific.”
Rural areas are hemorrhaging population and something has to be done to stop it. By keeping more families in rural America it would extend the tax base and provide lower taxes and an even incentive to stay in rural areas. His Homestead Act would include forgiveness of loans for students in counties that have out-migration. That includes almost every county in Kansas First District.
The incentives would apply only to counties with out-migration so counties like Johnson County would not qualify, Wasinger said.
The problem of more jobs and economic growth are the most common themes as he travels across the 69 counties in the First District.
“At the end of the day it’s all about jobs and not just jobs but good paying jobs,” Wasinger said. “That’s the story all over the district.”
Congress needs to address high agriculture production costs. The Farm Bill morphed into a nutrition bill and doesn’t address the basic needs of the farmer including production costs for livestock and farming.
Some elements of the farm bill establish regulations on dust. It seems Congress has lost touch with what is really going on in rural America, Wasinger said.
“It’s amusing. We’d all be eating tofu and driving solar powered cars,” Wasinger said. “It’s ludicrous how disconnected they are in Washington. We’ve got to get back to basics.”
He also wants to get down to basics on health care. He has heard from people across Kansas that they don’t want President Barak Obama’s health care plan.
“It’s amazing to me that he (Obama) doesn’t get it and he clearly doesn’t,” Wasinger said.
Wasinger is very concerned about elements of the countries battle against terrorism. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano should resign because of her inability to protect the homeland, Wasinger said.
“We should take this seriously,” he said. “She is out of touch with reality and doesn’t understand the threat heading our way.”
America needs to keep its eyes on Al Qaeda because radical Islam doesn’t like us and they are not going to change. America needs to keep the battle away from her shores, Wasinger said.
He is a big supporter of Israel and said the U.S. has to stand firm behind Israel and the common enemy of radical Islam.
Wasinger lives in Cottonwood Falls with his wife Meghan and their nine children: Stephen, Sebastian, Carolina, August, Maddy, Basil, Paddy, Frankie and Anselm. They are expecting their tenth child.
He is a fourth generation Kansan. He attended an east coast boarding school on a full scholarship then attended Harvard University graduating with a degree in economics with help from grants and scholarships.
He returned to Kansas and worked for Gov. Bill Graves as a constituent services representative. He worked for Jerry Moran for a year when he was state senate minority leader. Wasinger then worked for Sen. Sam Brownback for 12 years as his legislative director and as chief of staff.

Copyright 2010 Pratt Tribune. Some rights reserved

Hays office grand opening!

Busy week preparing for Saint Paddy’s day

Blog update: Saint Paddys Day from Meghan Wasinger on Vimeo.

We are more than two weeks away and our house is already a bustle with thoughts of leprechauns and shamrocks.  The campaign staff and several wonderful and generous hosts have agreed to throw a huge party right here in Cottonwood Falls for the special occasion. I thought I would use my new camera to do some video blogging on our preparations.  In this scene the children are helping me make cut out standup figures out of boxes that we salvaged from a furniture store nearby.

Rob has been busy on the campaign trail as always. He was in Salina last week and tomorrow out to Hays for the grand opening of our second campaign field office.

Lincoln Days Video

Rob, took some of the children to Lincoln for the annual Lincoln Days Celebration.  Augustine was pleased to be part of the soldier training camp – He sure was hungry afterward and had 2 servings of Buffalo Stew.

Maddalena’s 8th birthday

Encouraging endorsement

Rob and I wanted to share with you this great article about our race. It is an endorsement that really means a lot to both of us. Please check out the other terrific and thought provoking articles on his site. This is one Kansas blog you might want to add to your feedburner.

http://ksreaganite.blogtownhall.com

A Reagan Conservative for Kansas First District
Posted by KsReaganite on Sunday, January 31, 2010 5:01:17 PM

I am going to break precedent by backing out of a previous endorsement and, now that a new and better candidate is in the race, endorsing another. This weekend at the party’s confab in Topeka, I had a chance to observe closely several candidates for Kansas’ very GOP first Congressional District. My tremendous respect for Dr. Huelskamp remains intact; he was first out of the door to run when the seat became open and he remains the front runner.
Nonetheless, another candidate has joined since my last post on the issue. Harvard alum Rob Wasinger, the youngish former chief of staff to Senator Sam Brownback, is also running for the seat. Earlier in the week, at a coffee, I had asked Rob some tough questions. Some of his answers (like on the desirability to gut the current monstrosity of a tax code) I liked; some I did not. What impressed me subtly was his refusal to be condescending or use clichés like ‘to put it in perspective’ and ‘I have to study this further’. Nor did he appear to be slick like a regular politico; I guess having a growing family of nine kids and one on the way does not leave you much time to have false affectations. It was a privilege to meet rob’s wife Meghan as well; again I was impressed by the normal down to earth demeanor that is not common amongst the spouses of aspiring politicians.
Nobody but God knows what’s in the hearts of men. I cannot predict what kind of Congressman Rob will turn out to be. What I can say is that this guy seems thoughtful, down to earth, and beholden to no clique so far. Beyond that, the very outlook exuded by this candidate is one of optimism, hope, and growth which contrasts starkly with the gloom and doom of some his peers. In the party of Reagan, we need some of tat sunshine of the city on the hill!
Rob is definitely the underdog in a race with two sitting members of the state senate, both wealthy in their own right and both strongly supported by the usual players in the state’s Republican politics. It is without hesitation that KsReaganite is backing Rob Wasinger for Congress in Kansas Big First district. I have linked his webpage in the blogroll to the right for you to get more information and help him out. He needs the help of regular conservatives like you and me, because groups with nice offices and big staff salaries are backing his career politician opponents.

Francesca’s Birthday and March for Life

If you ever see a box like the one that my daughters castle came in , run far, far away! If I had bought the castle to be a puzzle.. a life size puzzle, that would be one thing. But I kindof  expected it to be just pop out of the box assembled. An hour and a half  later, we were still engaged in a massive  architectural nightmare. I mean the thing came in about 50 parts that all had to be put together. Shouldn’t they be required to disclose that on the box?! Fortunately, I have older sons who were up to the challenge ( see, some things do  get easier with older children:-) Francesca loved it though and she had a wonderful 3rd birthday. Special thanks to her Godmother, Polly and Auntie Laura for sending presents and to Paddy who helped me make the cake. She was so happy that all her present came in pink this year! We ended the day watching “Cloudy with a Chance of  Meatballs.”  

Rob is off at the March for Life this weekend in D.C. We spent the day trying to find him on T.V. Not an easy task when you you are watching a parade with over 200, 000 people! He called tonight  and said Kansas was very well represented at the March and he ran into many friends and supporters.

Dodge City Web Ad

New Dodge City Web Ad went live today.

Wasinger Slams Hays Daily News

Wasinger Slams Hays Daily over
Napolitano Op-Ed

In case you missed it, Rob demanded the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, saying that she has “failed miserably” as secretary, spending her time waging war on Obama’s political opponents instead of protecting America from terrorists who seek to destroy our way of life.

This past weekend, Hays Daily Editor Patrick Lowry accused Rob of “partisan maneuvering” and “finger-pointing” in an op-ed titled, “Underwear isn’t always fun to wear.”

Below is Rob’s response, which was published in Tuesday’s paper.

If you support Rob’s position, letters to the editor are encouraged. They can be submitted to plowry@dailynews.net.

No Games
by Rob Wasinger

Patrick Lowry’s decision to misconstrue my statements was both unfortunate and irresponsible.  Rather than arguing as to why Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano should remain in office despite presiding over significant and disastrous failures, he chooses instead to accuse me of playing politics. On the contrary, it is his deliberate attempt to avoid having a frank discussion of Secretary Napolitano’s record that smacks of political gamesmanship.

Lowry’s other claim — that I have asserted as a credential for Congress my witnessing Flight 77 moments before it hit the Pentagon — strains credibility. I have never made such a claim, and for the editor of The Hays Daily News to assert that I did is a gross distortion, at best.  The attacks of 9/11, a small part of which I witnessed, are directly relevant to the critical and ongoing discussion of how to secure our homeland.   9/11 reminds all Americans of the stakes in this war against violent Islamic extremists who, as the attempted Christmas attack shows, continue to target us. Their gruesome obsession with taking innocent life has not diminished; nor should our resolve to secure for our children a safer and more peaceful world diminish.

In choosing to distort rather than to editorialize, the editor glossed over the key issue: that our security is too important to leave in the hands of a secretary who has failed in her duty to protect us. The American people should be able to demand account/ability of their officials without being accused of playing politics.

Paid for by Wasinger for

Baby #10, already making headlines!

http://www.hutchnews.com/Localregional/bidder

Of course, I’m  flattered  that the article was done and to know at least someone is reading my blog. I am also VERY relieved to know that tidbit at the end. Good thing Rob and I did not plan our family size based on popular political opinion ’cause that would’ve been a BIG , and I mean HUGE, mistake. Imagine if Rob and I were thinking  all along we were going to win this election by having babies, only to find out that all that planning , work  and sacrifice did not even win us any votes!. That would be a real  bummer! It is good thing we value each of our children as  unrepeatable gifts from God, all on their own! =-)

Baby on way for House bidder
By Mary Clarkin – The Hutchinson News – mclarkin@hutchnews.com Congressional candidate Rob Wasinger is expanding his home base.

Wasinger and his wife, Meghan Wasinger, are expecting their tenth child. The due date is May 28. She posted the announcement – accompanied by an ultrasound image – on a blog on the robwasinger.com campaign Web site.

Wasinger, Cottonwood Falls, is a 1st District Republican running in the Aug. 3 primary for U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran’s seat in Congress. Moran opted to pursue the open U.S. Senate seat in 2010, and seven Republicans are actively campaigning. Alan Jilka is the lone Democrat in the race. The general election is Nov. 2.

One Wasinger campaign Web commercial begins: “Rob Wasinger has nine good reasons why he wants to be in Congress: His nine kids.” The children have joined him on the campaign trail, and campaign literature features them: Stephen, 15; Sebastian, 12; Carolina, 10; August, 9; Maddy, 7; Basil, 6; Paddy, 4; Frankie, 2; and Anselm, 1.

The candidate said he and his wife are very excited about the tenth child.

“We don’t know whether we are expecting a girl or a boy; we always like to leave that a surprise,” he wrote in an e-mail.

Wasinger is the former chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and the family moved from Washington to Kansas after he launched his bid for Congress.

Joe Aistrup, political science professor and interim associate dean of Arts and Sciences at Kansas State University, did not know of any systematic evidence that suggests having a baby helps a candidate win votes.