Here are today’s headlines from the Kansas congressional delegation:Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R) !(Wichita Eagle commentary) Congress focused too much on Bush, Tiahrt said: “The level of anger with the president has sidetracked Congress,” Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, told The Eagle editorial board recently. He said that the left has so pressed Democratic members of Congress that they’re having trouble making progress. “We’re not focused on getting good policy done,” he said. Tiahrt disagreed that the GOP failed to oversee the Bush administration when it was in charge of Congress. “A lot of the things were done out of the public eye to try to avoid bad press, but there was oversight,” he said. But Tiahrt agrees with some concerns by Democrats about the power and privileges claimed by the executive branch, such as President Bush’s use of signing statements to negate legislation. “There is some truth to that,” he said.Sen. Pat Roberts (R)!(Pueblo Chieftain) Bill would lift estate tax from farms and ranches: Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar has teamed up with Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts to offer legislation this week that would exempt family operated farms and ranches from the federal estate tax. Salazar, a Democrat, said the legislation would prevent heirs from having to sell the farm or ranch to pay the inheritance taxes on the land. Roberts, a Republican, said, “This legislation will go a long way to keep our young people in farming into the future, preserving our rural way of life and our rural communities.”Rep. Dennis Moore (D) !(Reverse Mortgage blog) House Financial Services Committee Passes Comprehensive FHA Reform: The House Financial Services Committee today passed H.R. 1852, the “Expanding American Homeownership Act of 2007” introduced by Representative Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, and Barney Frank, Chairman of the Financial Services Committee. The bill would revitalize the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to restore its historical role in ensuring critically needed mortgage loans for low and middle income families by authorizing zero down payment loans, directing the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to serve higher risk borrowers who would otherwise turn to predatory and high priced mortgage loan alternatives, and by raising loan limits so that FHA can serve high cost housing markets. … During committee consideration of the bill, the members agreed to amend the bill in the following ways: An amendment by Rep. Dennis Moore to prohibit FHA from unnecessarily raising loan fees, by conditioning any fee increase on a need to keep that particular FHA program from running a deficit.Rep. Jerry Moran (R) !(Salina Journal) Rep. Moran strikes chord with applauding teachers: The crowd of teachers and administrators listened politely as Rep. Jerry Moran spoke Tuesday morning, saying things such as “I am a believer that teachers matter,” that there’s “no more important profession” and that what “what I can do in Washington is next to nothing” compared to a teacher’s ability to change lives. But it was his statement “I voted against No Child Left Behind” that drew a standing ovation at the Salina School District’s annual back to school breakfast at Salina Central High School.