An Analysis of the Ideas of Sam Brownback

This article was originally published on GrasstopsUSA.com.

To further educate voters about Republican contenders for the presidency, it is fitting to examine the ideas of Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, a generally reliable social and economic conservative, many of whose suggested policies are in accord with the principles of limited government. Here, I will examine the strong points of Brownback's platform, as well as the positions where his vagueness hurts him and hinders voters' understanding of his true intentions.

Brownback has strong conservative positions in the areas of marriage, abortion, and tax reform. His support for the traditional definition of marriage as an institution between one man and one woman is unambiguous. Brownback's official position on the subject declares: "Make no mistake, a society that undermines marriage and the family is undermining itself, and a government that attempts to supplant rather than to support the family and marriage is bent on its own destruction." Senator Brownback thus vigorously opposes any efforts to give government support to the oxymoronic idea of "gay marriage."

Brownback has also firmly denounced legalized abortion, calling the murder of millions of fetuses in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade a "holocaust." He staunchly opposes any further tax increases, advocating a flat tax and a simplification of the tax code; he has even suggested using Washington, D. C., as a flat tax laboratory to see how the proposal might work in practice before implementing it nationwide.

A prominent opponent of judicial activism, Senator Brownback believes that the objective of judges ought to be "to interpret the law, not to create it." He has expressed vocal opposition to the federal judges redefining the laws of the country and the meaning of words in the Constitution to suit their own political biases.