New resource for Barnett campaign

I've noticed lately that the Barnett campaign has been confused about which congressional district they're in, so I thought I'd put up a helpful resource for them, a first congressional district map. Just as a reminder to the Barnett campaign, you're running in the first district, highlighted in yellow below.

Feel free to check this page as much as you need to see where you need to go.

Barnett forms coalition, but where are the solutions?

Jim Barnett continues to travel across the state promoting his "health care coalition" which so far seems to have produced very few "health care solutions."

Barnett held a press conference in Wichita with a group of health care professionals saying they would produce ideas for his campaign to promote. I was certainly confused by the whole situation since Barnett has worked in health care all his life and has failed many times in the past to "fix" it. Perhaps that the reasoning behind his "coalition." Maybe he really needs the ideas.

When his campaign consultant spoke to Kansas Liberty, he seemed to have a healthy helping of criticism for Huelskamp and little to no plan for Barnett.

Barnett’s campaign consultant, Jeff Roe, didn't comment on Weber's statement other than to say the Barnett campaign was “anxiously awaiting” Huelskamp’s own plan to provide health-care solutions.

Roe said there was no current timeline of when Barnett’s reform plan would surface.

Even though Barnett isn't able to annouce a plan just yet, it's certainly interesting to examine his previous plans. The Kansas Liberty article focused on many different plans of Barnett's over the years, but the one that caught my eye was the 21 point plan produced by the Kansas Health Policy Authority and marketed by both Barnett and current HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

The report really speaks for itself:

Aggressive targeting and enrollment of children eligible for Medicaid and HealthWave. Include specific targets and timelines for improved enrollment. Inability to meet targets will “trigger” additional action by the KHPA, to include the consideration of mandating that all children in Kansas have health insurance.

Barnett says he doesn't agree with Obama's health plan, and yet just over a year ago he supported government action that is nearly identical to Obama's plan; government mandated care for every child.

Barnett says he favors market solutions for our health problems, but just like any other issue Barnett discusses, his current opinion certainly doesn't match with his previous actions.

Is new Barnett health plan really Sebelius-care II?

Jim Barnett hit the campaign trail today to unveil his new health plan. Unfortunately he didn't get the memo that Wichita is in the fourth district, not the first which he says he wants to represent. Maybe he should have called campaign headquarters in Missouri for directions.

A press release today from the Huelskamp campaign beautifully highlights the misplaced priorities of Jim Barnett.

"We are disappointed to see the Wichita Eagle reporting that Senator Barnett has chosen to unveil his first major issue coalition outside The Big First District. We hope this story is not accurate."

"Fundraising outside the district is one thing -- but I've never seen a candidate campaign outside the district before. Ultimately, citizens of The Big First deserve a Congressman who will think of them first, not merely as an afterthought. We are curious to see if this decision means he may be considering another run for governor instead of Congress."

Maybe he should have checked in with his old rival/buddy Sebelius for some instructions on where he should go and what he should say.

Nothing yet on what exactly was in the plan announced at 1pm today in Wichita other than other "health care professionals to help advise his campaign" on what to say and do. I have a feeling there's going to be an awful lot of Sebelius-care redux in his plan, along with a healthy helping of government intervention and funding.

Health plan aside, somebody needs to send Barnett a memo that 1) Wichita isn't in his district and 2) Area code 816 is Kansas City, Missouri, not Kansas. It's usually not such a brilliant idea to have your campaign headquarters in Missouri when you're running for a western Kansas district.

However I would have expected nothing less from the Barnett campaign. It's about the power, not the people, when Jim Barnett is running.