Eric Jenkins

“On the Shawnee City Council, I have consistently fought against unnecessary new spending, and I will do the same in Washington. If we can't get our arms around government growth, it is the taxpayers who are left holding the bag.”

“Lack of strong, visionary leadership. Johnson County has been transitioned into a purple county. The county government and city governments have migrated to liberal rule. Taxation is becoming almost unbearable for many residents who are struggling to pay their property taxes. Long time residents are being priced out of their homes. School districts achievement standards have been significantly deteriorated despite large increases in expenditure per student. Local governments spend beyond their means increasing the debt that will likely require even greater tax increases. Affordable housing for our young people is a big problem. Average people are unable to purchase a home until their forties. Our bright, educated young people leave the area to find better career opportunities. Why aren't we generating those opportunities here? We need leadership with vision and strength to address these intrenched issues.”

“I get the impression that people are feeling that their political leaders aren't listening to them. They feel that not enough emphasis is being placed on kitchen table issues, i.e., boosting their purchasing power, career opportunities, heavy tax burden, cost of housing and childcare, quality schools and ability to access health care, gas prices and more. Of course, they care about national defense, election fraud, government fraud, waste and abuse, wars, international relations and so on, but being able to meet the requirements of cost of living is the priority for most. They want to be heard, and they want to actually see something being done to address their issues. In all fairness, the current administration is doing many things to address these affordability issues that became so pronounced under the last administration, but sometimes fixing a mess takes time. Better messaging would be beneficial in improving the outlook by many that nothing is being done.”