We've seen Roberts put the interests of giant drug companies before Kansans before...but this one takes the cake.

On April 19, despite the support of a majority of the U.S. Senate and nearly 90 percent of voting-age Americans, Senate bill 3, which would have given Medicare the authority to negotiate prescription drug prices with drug companies, was blocked from coming up for a vote on the Senate floor. Sixty votes were necessary for the bill to pass, but it only received 57. A minority of senators, including Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, prevented a vote on legislation that could have lowered prescription drug costs for millions of Medicare beneficiaries.

So, the Senate was only three votes away from having a cure for the outrageous drug prices our seniors face today - and Mr. Roberts can take credit for that.

(Well, Sam Brownback didn't show up to vote, I guess...but he already told us he was "very sorry" for missing important votes like these. So, what can you do?)

I promise. This hasn't turned into a "Punt Pat Roberts" blog, folks...the guy just can't seem to do anything right this week!

When the Democratic-led Congress started debating a big Food and Drug Administration bill earlier this year, pharmaceutical companies worried that it would sharply restrict one of their most powerful sales-boosting tools -- drug ads. But in the final bill, which passed the House overwhelmingly on Wednesday and the Senate last night, such marketing is largely spared. One major reason: the drug industry found powerful allies among media and advertising firms who were determined to protect one of their biggest and fastest-growing advertising categories. ...

So who was the "hero" that put the checkbooks of Big Drug Companies over those of Kansas families?

In the Senate, Kansas Republican Pat Roberts fought against the moratorium and won when his amendment was added to the bill.

All in a days work for Pat...

Well, Pat Roberts again turned his back on our troops, and this time Sam Brownback decided to show up to work and do the same.

"This amendment would provide a safety net to our men and women in uniform by providing a minimum and more predictable time for them to rest and retrain," Webb said. "Our troops are spending more time in Iraq than they're spending at home," when traditional Pentagon guidelines say they should be given home stays twice as long as their deployments, he said.

When will Roberts put Kansans - especially Kansans who are sacrificing every single day to fight for our country - before Bush and his failed policies in Iraq?

Does Roberts owe controversy-prone Ted Stevens (R-AK) a favor? The LJWorld reports:

Well, he doled out $95,000 to colleagues in the first half of the year, including $5,000 to Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), who is up for re-election and just happens to sit on the Senate Ethics Committee. That's the panel that could be called into review Stevens conduct at a later date in the controversy over his Alaska home renovations and relationship with an oil services company called VECO.

President Bush is heading to Wichita next week. He plans to attend a fundraiser for Pat Roberts, who continues to show his loyalty to the Bush White House despite plummeting approval ratings:

And the political climate shows little sign of improving. Bush's approval rating is in the 30s. Most Americans oppose the war in Iraq and more members of his own party are expressing doubts. The president also continues to be dogged by the scandal surrounding Attorney General Alberto Gonzales over the selection of U.S. attorneys.

Jennifer Duffy, a Senate analyst for the nonpartisan "Cook Political Report," said Roberts appears to be one of the few incumbents so far who've agreed to have Bush campaign for them.

Roberts has suddenly been spotted all over the state, launching an early campaign effort to hold onto his seat. It's great to see him actually visiting the state which he supposedly represents in Congress. We wish he would have done it more often in the last ten years he's been in office...

"We don't intend to let that (seat) go unchallenged," Gates said. "The guy hasn't lived in Kansas for 50 years. I think it's starting to show."