U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder should embrace his nobler, bipartisan side
Voters in Johnson and Wyandotte counties should return Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder to Washington for a fourth term. Yoder has staked out some unfortunate positions over the past few years, but he also has delivered enough constituent service, independence and thoughtfulness to earn another term.
By and large, Yoder is a reliable Republican voice in Congress, but just when one is tempted to write him off, he proves that he can work across the aisle on bipartisan measures that will serve the nation well.
In 2015, Yoder was one of the driving forces behind a bipartisan bill to increase funding for medical research. He persuaded reluctant conservatives to support the bill, rightly arguing that the upfront investment in finding cures and treatments would pay off in the future. The bill ultimately passed the House with overwhelming support.
Yoder received accolades from both sides of the aisle for his Email Privacy Act earlier this year. It wasn’t a perfect bill, but it went a long way to protecting Americans’ right to digital lives free of intrusive government snooping. That bill was one of the precious few that received unanimous support in the House in recent years and was endorsed by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Yoder also deserves credit for superior constituent services. Residents of the district can reach out to his office and actually receive a response. He also proactively works for people to ensure they have access to resources. This month, he is hosting two free Medicare open enrollment assistance events for seniors, for example.
The Kevin Yoder who embraces his nobler, bipartisan side, is the one we endorse today. We hope he does it more frequently in the future and ignores his baser instincts that align with payday lenders to the detriment of the people of his district, would relax banking rules, and too often support Republican obstructionism.
Voters elected Yoder three times by double-digit margins. Recent polls point to a much closer race and highlight the independent streak of the district. Yoder is running only a few points ahead of Democrat Jay Sidie, while Democrat Hillary Clinton polls ahead of Republican Donald Trump, whom Yoder has endorsed despite Trump’s incidents of racism and sexism that should disqualify him from the highest office.
Sidie has never held elected public office. That’s not a disqualifier, but his inexperience shows with his sometimes-naive approach to issues. For example, he cites as one of his chief goals balancing the federal budget. At the same time, he opposes any changes to Medicare and Social Security to save money from these increasingly expensive entitlement programs. Balancing the budget will be impossible without somehow constraining entitlements … or raising taxes significantly, not something Sidie is campaigning for.
A third candidate in the race, Libertarian Steve Hohe, if anything is running to the right of Yoder on several issues. He does not offer a credible platform or vision for the district or Kansas.
Yoder’s sparks of bipartisanship are something Congress desperately needs in a bitterly partisan era. Voters should give him a chance to fan them into something more.
This story was originally published November 4, 2016 at 3:02 PM with the headline "U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder should embrace his nobler, bipartisan side."