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Bob Weeks at the Voice for Liberty in Wichita posted an interesting article a few days ago where he took the legislative vote ratings for both Sens. Tim Huelskamp and Jim Barnett and graphed them over time. It was so interesting to me that I went back to the vote ratings and created my own graph, but with a few events highlighted in Jim Barnett's political career. The result showed a politician who clearly has no moral or philosophical compass by which he governs.
As you can see below, Barnett's fiscal track record improves and declines dramatically depending on the year and what kind of election he's likely to face. In 2004 for example, he faced his first re-election to the Senate and improved his score with the Kansas Taxpayer's Network from 11% to 50% accordingly. Then in 2006, he scored a 100% rating for the first time. This, of course, coincided with his campaign against several other candidates for the Republican governor's nomination.
But in 2008, facing little opposition for his Senate seat and coming off a good amount of name recognition, the old Jim comes back with his liberal ways.
And now that election day 2010 is upon us, we once again see an upswing in his scores.
When put this way, the say anything, do anything Barnett that I know shines through. Anything to get elected, anything for more power.
And Tim Huelskamp? A record to run to, not from.
Click on the image to enlarge it.
New but not at all surprising, Americans for Prosperity-Kansas gave Sen. Tim Huelskamp's record this past session in the Senate as 100% perfect. Huelskamp was one of only seven Senators to receive a perfect score from AFP. Until the Kansas Taxpayers Network merged with AFP-Kansas, Huelskamp also had the highest lifetime rating of any sitting State Senator as well.
Clearly when it comes to advocating for the taxpayer, Sen. Huelskamp has the record to back up the rhetoric.
"It's always an honor to be recognized by AFP as one of the conservative leaders in the state senate," Huelskamp said. "As a state senator, I have always been willing to take up the cause of fighting for lower taxes and limited government, and that is something I will continue as Congressman for the Big First."
Jim Barnett didn't even come close to scoring 100% in the key limited government test. As of 2007, Barnett had a lifetime taxpayer rating of 44.7% from the Kansas Taxpayer's Network. That's lower than Democrat David Haley.
Barnett's voting record and thus his numbers, have improved as his aspirations for higher office has been made more clear."Conservatives would be hard-pressed to find a stronger and more consistent voice in the Kansas Senate than Sen. Tim Huelskamp," Derrick Sontag, the state director for AFP-Kansas, said. "We want to thank Tim for his hard work on behalf of limited government, lower taxes and less wasteful spending."
Congratulations Senator! It's certainly no surprise to anyone familiar with Kansas politics, but we thank you for your efforts just the same.
