Danedri Herbert: The Senate needs a firefighter

If my house were on fire, I’d hope the firefighter who shows up at the door has experience hooking up the fire hose and battling flames. If he’s just there to rescue a kitten trapped in a tree, then of course, I want the firefighter who starred in the annual sexy first responders calendar.

Kansans are being asked to pick our firefighter in the U.S. Senate. The wiring in the U.S. is sparking, and a blaze is festering.

I’m not overly enthused about sending Sen. Pat Roberts back to Washington, D.C., for six more years, but the U.S. Senate isn’t going to be rescuing kittens in the waning years of the Obama administration. Lawmakers are going to be putting out fires.

I know there are plenty of people who hope President Barack Obama is able to accomplish all of his goals in the next two years. I’m not one of them, and neither are most Kansans. His approval rating in Kansas was 35 percent last January, according to Gallup. It’s probably lower now.

Roberts’ challenger, Greg Orman, has said he’ll caucus with whichever party wins the majority of the Senate. It’s going to be close, and Orman could be the tie-breaker.

Normal people don’t sit around worrying about which party will have control of the U.S. Senate, and I count myself among the normal. This is a little bit inside baseball, but it matters in this election more than it ever has, so bear with me.

Two things have slowed the Obama agenda in the last two years — the upcoming midterm elections and in a limited way, the Republican-controlled U.S. House.

Once the midterm elections are over, I think the president will attempt to implement his plans with or without the help of the U.S. Congress.

As the president has said in the past, he has a pen and a phone.

Today, there are reports that the president will offer widespread amnesty to millions of people who have entered the country illegally. He will attempt to do it through executive action — or the swipe of his pen.

Most Republicans think that action requires congressional approval, but that hasn’t stopped Obama in the past. Many think the president should have sought congressional approval before launching airstrikes in Syria.

I’m not a constitutional scholar, but I want a U.S. Senate that has the experience and fortitude to ask questions and raise a ruckus about presidential authority and the separation of powers.

I do not think a Democratic-led Senate would even bother to ask the questions. It is critical that the Republicans win the Senate, and a Roberts’ win helps make that happen.

We need a Senate filled with experienced, educated firefighters to throw water on some of Obama’s plans, particularly amnesty.

I’m being kind in suggesting that Orman, Roberts’ opponent, will actually attempt to douse the flames of the Obama administration. It’s more likely Orman would pack gasoline rather than a fire extinguisher if he’s sent to the Capitol.

He says he’s an independent, but he’s given more than $100,000 to Democrats, including Obama’s PAC. Since 2008, Orman has given to exactly one Republican since 2008 — Republican Scott Brown.

Orman supports amnesty.

“It’s just not practical to say that we’re going to find and send back to other countries 11 million undocumented people,” Orman says on his website.

I believe we can certainly send some of them home.

He’s wishy-washy on Obamacare, saying it expanded a broken system, but he doesn’t say which parts are broken. Instead, Orman talks about ensuring that the government “as the largest purchaser of health care in the country is prudent with the dollars it spends.”

Sorry, Orman, but government as the largest purchaser of health care is the source of the problem.

Amnesty and Obamacare aren’t kittens in trees. They are sparks in the attic threatening to transform the foundation of this country. Amnesty is a threat to our sovereignty, while Obamacare with its socialistic bent is a threat to our liberty.

It is imperative that Republicans take control of the U.S. Senate, and that means sending Roberts back to Washington.

This story was originally published September 30, 2014 at 4:48 PM with the headline "Danedri Herbert: The Senate needs a firefighter."