Kansas Republican: Obama giving Kansans ‘a rough ride’

{mosads}In the speech, Obama also emphasized his own family connections to Kansas. “My Kansas roots run deep,” he said. “I like to say that I got my name from my father, but I got my accent – and my values – from my mother.  She was born in Wichita.”

Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) and several of his House Republican colleagues live-tweeted the speech.

Yoder tweeted: “Today The President speaking in KS – so far during his speech, fed gov’t spent approx $326,880,900.” He also promoted the hashtags #listentoKS and #jobsnotspeeches.

“We appreciate the President being in Kansas today, but speeches don’t create jobs,” he said in a statement following the speech.

Obama brought Health and Human Services Sec. Kathleen Sebelius, the former Democratic governor of Kansas, with him to the speech. Her introduction by Obama received loud applause from the high school crowd.

Current GOP Gov. Sam Brownback, a former senator, did not attend the speech due to a scheduling conflict.

“It is always an honor to have the president in Kansas,” Brownback said, according to Kansas paper the Lawrence Journal World. “I regret that because of a long-standing commitment with Wichita State University, I cannot greet President Obama personally.”