"Daily Kos Weekly State of the Nation Poll
Research 2000, Adults MoE 2.8%, May 17, 2010 - May 20, 2010 (last week's results in parentheses)
Full Crosstabs FAVORABLE UNFAVORABLE DON'T KNOW NET CHANGE
PRESIDENT OBAMA 54 (55) 42 (40) 4 (5) -3
PELOSI: 38 (39) 52 (51) 10 (10) -2
REID: 30 (31) 58 (57) 12 (12) -2
McCONNELL: 25 (26) 60 (61) 15 (13) 0
BOEHNER: 23 (23) 58 (56) 19 (21) -2
CONGRESSIONAL DEMS: 38 (40) 57 (56) 5 (4) -3
CONGRESSIONAL GOPS: 24 (24) 65 (64) 11 (12) -1
DEMOCRATIC PARTY: 40 (42) 53 (52) 7 (6) -3
REPUBLICAN PARTY: 31 (32) 62 (63) 7 (5) 0
DIRECTION OF COUNTRY"
Disapprove of the Republican shennigans? Elect More Democrats. Vote for Holbert (D) for U.S. House KY-05!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Unhappy about Bush Bailouts of big corporations? Then elect Holbert (D) to Congress KY-05!
"Conservatives Who Supported Bush's No-Strings-Attached Bailout Are Faring Badly
"There's been a lot of rumble lately about how angry teabaggers -- the GOP electoral base-- turned on Senate Robert Bennett (R-UT) and ended his political career because of his support for George W. Bush's no-strings-attached Wall Street bailout bill in the fall of 2008. But Bennett was hardly alone among Republican senators giving their Wall Street campaign donors a big fat wet kiss with our tax money. In fact, most Republican senators, 34 of them, voted for it. There's some speculation that the unprecedented drubbing inflicted on Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson Tuesday was largely -- and correctly -- because he was perceived as McConnell's boy and that the overwhelming anti-Grayson vote that saddled the GOP with the unelectable kook Rand Paul, was an anti-McConnell vote. Remember, McConnell didn't just vote for the bailout, he, along with Jon Kyl, Lamar Alexander and Richard Burr, made sure it passed.
Another race that played out badly for a Republican incumbent Tuesday, one who had taken massive -- if thinly veiled -- bribes from the financial sector ($6.4 million), was in Pennsylvania. There 29 year Republican Senator Arlen Specter had been driven out of the GOP after voting for Bush's bailout, tried to seek re-election as a Democrat and was soundly rejected by Democrats in every county in the Commonwealth save three. Among the Republicans who are into the most peril in the November general election are bailout supporters Richard Burr (NC), Chuck Grassley (IA) and John McCain (AZ). Several other bailout supporters -- George Voinovich (OH), Mel Martinez (FL), Kit Bond (MO), Chuck Hagel (NE), and Judd Gregg (NH) -- have retired or are retiring rather than face angry voters.
Things are even more dismal for Republicans bailout supporters in the House. Please recall that when the bill was first voted on, September 29, 2008, Bush was only able to muster 65 Republicans and the bill failed 228-205. Between bribes (called sweeteners) and brute force (applied by bailout advocates John Boehner, Eric Canter, Pete Sessions and Paul Ryan) when the bill was voted on the next week, it passed 263-171, with 91 Republicans voting in favor. Many have already retired or gone down to defeat.
The first Republican to see his career evaporate because of his support of the no-strings-bailout was Chris Cannon (R-UT), replaced by extreme teabagger Jason Chaffetz, almost immediately after the vote. But Cannon is far from the only Republican House member who lost his seat -- or retired or is retiring now -- after voting for the bailout. Others include:
Barbara Cubin (WY)
Tom Davis (VA)- defeated in a bid for higher office
Vern Ehlers (MI)- retiring this year, afraid to face the voters
Mike Ferguson (NJ)
Vito Fossella (NY)
Wayne Gilchrest (MD)
Dave Hobson (OH)
Joe Knollenberg (MI)
Randy Kuhl (NY)
Ray LaHood (IL)
Jim McCrery (LA)
John McHugh (NY)
Chip Pickering (MS)
Jon Porter (NV)
George Radanovich (CA) -retiring this year, afraid to face the voters
Jim Ramstad (MN)
Ralph Regula (OH)
Tom Reynolds (NY)
Jim Saxton (NJ)
John Shadegg (AZ) -retiring this year, afraid to face the voters
Chris Shays (CT)
Tom Tancredo (CO)- defeated in a bid for higher office
Jim Walsh (NY)
Dave Weldon (FL)
Jerry Weller (IL)
Heather Wilson (NM)- defeated in a bid for higher office
Going into the general election, there are a great many Republicans in a great deal of trouble. Bailout champions currently looking to go on to higher office who are getting blowback for putting their Wall Street cronies ahead of their constituents are Gresham Barrett (SC), Roy Blunt (MO), John Boozman (AR)-- who will really get pounded if anti-bail out Democrat Bill Halter is his opponent instead of bailout queen Blanche Lincoln-- Mike Castle (DE), Mary Fallin (OK), Vito Fossella (NY, on the comeback trail in his mind), Pete Hoekstra (MI), Mark Kirk (IL), Adam Putnam (FL), Paul Ryan (WI), Zach Wamp (TN). Kind of tough for the GOP to claim that they are the party against bailouts when the absolute worst bailout ever was supported by every single House member running for senator or governor or, in Putnam's case, state agriculture commissioner.
And then there are the one's who want to keep their seats. The five California Republican incumbents most likely to lose their seats are Mary Bono Mack, the hated nemesis of all West Coast teabaggers, Ken Calvert, David Dreier, John Campbell, and Dan Lungren, three bailout proponents going into an election cycle with contempt and fervent opposition from the Republican base. Bono Mack and perhaps Calvert will each be hard-pressed to survive their June 8th primaries. Of course, to be fair, it isn't only California Republican incumbents who sold out their constituents for their Wall Street benefactors. Blue Dog Jane Harman-- who calls herself "the best Republican in the Democratic Party" (although not so much this close to an election)-- is likely to lose her primary to Marcy Winograd June 8th. Last night I asked Marcy how she would have handled the request -- even pressure -- swirling around the financial sector problems that led to Bush's bailout. Noting that Harman, the wealthiest Democratic member of the House, didn't reveal -- let alone recuse herself when she voted for the bailout (of her own portfolio) -- that she owned millions of dollars in Goldman Sachs investments-- Marcy didn't back away from drawing the clear distinctions between herself and the incumbent from a policy perspective:
Before bailing out Wall Street, Congress should have bailed out the American people who were victimized by predatory lenders selling bad loans. Any bail out should have been tied to a moratorium on foreclosures and a 'First Right to Rent' rule, requiring banks to offer homeowners facing foreclosures a chance to rent their homes at market value.
Had the government included in the bail-out low interest loans for such homeowners, we would not be facing massive foreclosures, blighted neighborhoods, lower property values, and county coffers starved for money for social services. Instead, Washington politicians turned their backs on struggling homeowners and turned over the keys to our treasury to the same institutions that engineered our economic decline. All of this came at lightening speed, at a dizzying pace, with little time for thought or reflection or for demands that the recipients of the bail-outs funnel money back into local economies, into low-interest loans for small businesses, the most vulnerable to collapse.
It was a lousy deal, one with no strings attached, that was sealed overnight. When dawn came and we looked around, Wall Street was still an unregulated casino. Had I been in Congress, not only would I have taken to the floor to argue for a foreclosure freeze but also for a return to regulation and limits on how big banks could become. No bank should hold more than 10% of our national deposits.
Otherwise we're back to square one, with banks too big too fail calling the shots on Capitol Hill.
Of course, needless to say, this isn't just a California problem for conservatives like Ken Calvert, Dan Lungren and Jane Harman either. Charlie Dent in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley is almost surely going to lose his seat over his extremely inglorious role in the bailout, as will Bob Inglis in South Carolina.
But what about Boehner, the architect of the whole operation to pass the bill after it had failed on September 29? Blue America is backing a straight-arrow West Point grad who's running for the western Ohio seat Boehner has been occupying for almost two decades of intense golf playing, Justin Coussoule. He has a very different perspective than Boehner on Wall Street bailouts and his whole campaign is about giving a hand to regular working families instead of special interests. He's what you'd call a Main Street Democrat to Boehner's Wall Street Republican. Justin:
To those millions who are rightfully angered by the bail out of Wall Street banks and financial institutions who violated our trust and created an economic disaster for American families, they should be reminded that the bail out was George Bush's and John Boehner twisted arms to pass the bill for his friends on Wall Street.
Although a response while our nation stood at the edge of economic collapse may have been necessary, a bail out without transparency, accountability and safeguards for American families was inexcusable. But 'Bail Out Boehner' chose to protect his friends on Wall Street and stiff working families, leaving them to pick up the tab."
Both Justin Coussoule and Marcy Winograd have been endorsed by Blue America. Marcy is fighting a Democratic corporate shill, Jane Harman, and Justin is fighting a Republican one, the aforementioned John Boehner, who spent one day out of three last year golfing and who was handsomely paid for his services to the financial sector, which has lavished $3,533,714 towards advancing his political career. Please consider contributing what you can to both Marcy and Justin-- on the same ActBlue page.
Follow Howie Klein on Twitter: www.twitter.com/downwithtyranny"
Unhappy about Hal Rogers giving away your tax money to bail out the big banks and corporations during the G.W. Bush years? Then elect more Democrats. Vote for Jim Holbert for Congress KY-05!
"There's been a lot of rumble lately about how angry teabaggers -- the GOP electoral base-- turned on Senate Robert Bennett (R-UT) and ended his political career because of his support for George W. Bush's no-strings-attached Wall Street bailout bill in the fall of 2008. But Bennett was hardly alone among Republican senators giving their Wall Street campaign donors a big fat wet kiss with our tax money. In fact, most Republican senators, 34 of them, voted for it. There's some speculation that the unprecedented drubbing inflicted on Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson Tuesday was largely -- and correctly -- because he was perceived as McConnell's boy and that the overwhelming anti-Grayson vote that saddled the GOP with the unelectable kook Rand Paul, was an anti-McConnell vote. Remember, McConnell didn't just vote for the bailout, he, along with Jon Kyl, Lamar Alexander and Richard Burr, made sure it passed.
Another race that played out badly for a Republican incumbent Tuesday, one who had taken massive -- if thinly veiled -- bribes from the financial sector ($6.4 million), was in Pennsylvania. There 29 year Republican Senator Arlen Specter had been driven out of the GOP after voting for Bush's bailout, tried to seek re-election as a Democrat and was soundly rejected by Democrats in every county in the Commonwealth save three. Among the Republicans who are into the most peril in the November general election are bailout supporters Richard Burr (NC), Chuck Grassley (IA) and John McCain (AZ). Several other bailout supporters -- George Voinovich (OH), Mel Martinez (FL), Kit Bond (MO), Chuck Hagel (NE), and Judd Gregg (NH) -- have retired or are retiring rather than face angry voters.
Things are even more dismal for Republicans bailout supporters in the House. Please recall that when the bill was first voted on, September 29, 2008, Bush was only able to muster 65 Republicans and the bill failed 228-205. Between bribes (called sweeteners) and brute force (applied by bailout advocates John Boehner, Eric Canter, Pete Sessions and Paul Ryan) when the bill was voted on the next week, it passed 263-171, with 91 Republicans voting in favor. Many have already retired or gone down to defeat.
The first Republican to see his career evaporate because of his support of the no-strings-bailout was Chris Cannon (R-UT), replaced by extreme teabagger Jason Chaffetz, almost immediately after the vote. But Cannon is far from the only Republican House member who lost his seat -- or retired or is retiring now -- after voting for the bailout. Others include:
Barbara Cubin (WY)
Tom Davis (VA)- defeated in a bid for higher office
Vern Ehlers (MI)- retiring this year, afraid to face the voters
Mike Ferguson (NJ)
Vito Fossella (NY)
Wayne Gilchrest (MD)
Dave Hobson (OH)
Joe Knollenberg (MI)
Randy Kuhl (NY)
Ray LaHood (IL)
Jim McCrery (LA)
John McHugh (NY)
Chip Pickering (MS)
Jon Porter (NV)
George Radanovich (CA) -retiring this year, afraid to face the voters
Jim Ramstad (MN)
Ralph Regula (OH)
Tom Reynolds (NY)
Jim Saxton (NJ)
John Shadegg (AZ) -retiring this year, afraid to face the voters
Chris Shays (CT)
Tom Tancredo (CO)- defeated in a bid for higher office
Jim Walsh (NY)
Dave Weldon (FL)
Jerry Weller (IL)
Heather Wilson (NM)- defeated in a bid for higher office
Going into the general election, there are a great many Republicans in a great deal of trouble. Bailout champions currently looking to go on to higher office who are getting blowback for putting their Wall Street cronies ahead of their constituents are Gresham Barrett (SC), Roy Blunt (MO), John Boozman (AR)-- who will really get pounded if anti-bail out Democrat Bill Halter is his opponent instead of bailout queen Blanche Lincoln-- Mike Castle (DE), Mary Fallin (OK), Vito Fossella (NY, on the comeback trail in his mind), Pete Hoekstra (MI), Mark Kirk (IL), Adam Putnam (FL), Paul Ryan (WI), Zach Wamp (TN). Kind of tough for the GOP to claim that they are the party against bailouts when the absolute worst bailout ever was supported by every single House member running for senator or governor or, in Putnam's case, state agriculture commissioner.
And then there are the one's who want to keep their seats. The five California Republican incumbents most likely to lose their seats are Mary Bono Mack, the hated nemesis of all West Coast teabaggers, Ken Calvert, David Dreier, John Campbell, and Dan Lungren, three bailout proponents going into an election cycle with contempt and fervent opposition from the Republican base. Bono Mack and perhaps Calvert will each be hard-pressed to survive their June 8th primaries. Of course, to be fair, it isn't only California Republican incumbents who sold out their constituents for their Wall Street benefactors. Blue Dog Jane Harman-- who calls herself "the best Republican in the Democratic Party" (although not so much this close to an election)-- is likely to lose her primary to Marcy Winograd June 8th. Last night I asked Marcy how she would have handled the request -- even pressure -- swirling around the financial sector problems that led to Bush's bailout. Noting that Harman, the wealthiest Democratic member of the House, didn't reveal -- let alone recuse herself when she voted for the bailout (of her own portfolio) -- that she owned millions of dollars in Goldman Sachs investments-- Marcy didn't back away from drawing the clear distinctions between herself and the incumbent from a policy perspective:
Before bailing out Wall Street, Congress should have bailed out the American people who were victimized by predatory lenders selling bad loans. Any bail out should have been tied to a moratorium on foreclosures and a 'First Right to Rent' rule, requiring banks to offer homeowners facing foreclosures a chance to rent their homes at market value.
Had the government included in the bail-out low interest loans for such homeowners, we would not be facing massive foreclosures, blighted neighborhoods, lower property values, and county coffers starved for money for social services. Instead, Washington politicians turned their backs on struggling homeowners and turned over the keys to our treasury to the same institutions that engineered our economic decline. All of this came at lightening speed, at a dizzying pace, with little time for thought or reflection or for demands that the recipients of the bail-outs funnel money back into local economies, into low-interest loans for small businesses, the most vulnerable to collapse.
It was a lousy deal, one with no strings attached, that was sealed overnight. When dawn came and we looked around, Wall Street was still an unregulated casino. Had I been in Congress, not only would I have taken to the floor to argue for a foreclosure freeze but also for a return to regulation and limits on how big banks could become. No bank should hold more than 10% of our national deposits.
Otherwise we're back to square one, with banks too big too fail calling the shots on Capitol Hill.
Of course, needless to say, this isn't just a California problem for conservatives like Ken Calvert, Dan Lungren and Jane Harman either. Charlie Dent in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley is almost surely going to lose his seat over his extremely inglorious role in the bailout, as will Bob Inglis in South Carolina.
But what about Boehner, the architect of the whole operation to pass the bill after it had failed on September 29? Blue America is backing a straight-arrow West Point grad who's running for the western Ohio seat Boehner has been occupying for almost two decades of intense golf playing, Justin Coussoule. He has a very different perspective than Boehner on Wall Street bailouts and his whole campaign is about giving a hand to regular working families instead of special interests. He's what you'd call a Main Street Democrat to Boehner's Wall Street Republican. Justin:
To those millions who are rightfully angered by the bail out of Wall Street banks and financial institutions who violated our trust and created an economic disaster for American families, they should be reminded that the bail out was George Bush's and John Boehner twisted arms to pass the bill for his friends on Wall Street.
Although a response while our nation stood at the edge of economic collapse may have been necessary, a bail out without transparency, accountability and safeguards for American families was inexcusable. But 'Bail Out Boehner' chose to protect his friends on Wall Street and stiff working families, leaving them to pick up the tab."
Both Justin Coussoule and Marcy Winograd have been endorsed by Blue America. Marcy is fighting a Democratic corporate shill, Jane Harman, and Justin is fighting a Republican one, the aforementioned John Boehner, who spent one day out of three last year golfing and who was handsomely paid for his services to the financial sector, which has lavished $3,533,714 towards advancing his political career. Please consider contributing what you can to both Marcy and Justin-- on the same ActBlue page.
Follow Howie Klein on Twitter: www.twitter.com/downwithtyranny"
Unhappy about Hal Rogers giving away your tax money to bail out the big banks and corporations during the G.W. Bush years? Then elect more Democrats. Vote for Jim Holbert for Congress KY-05!
Friday, May 21, 2010
What'll it be Hal? Deficit Spending or End the War?
Ryan Grim ryan@huffingtonpost.com | HuffPost
GOP Wants War Funds Paid For But Not With Tax Hikes
First Posted: 05-21-10 02:26 PM | Updated: 05-21-10 02:27 PM
Senate Republicans, Tom Coburn, War Funding, Politics News 00
views Get Politics Alerts
Share Comments A Senate Republican is working to persuade his colleagues to vote against President Obama's war supplemental spending bill if it isn't paid for, threatening to rebuild a left-right coalition that nearly took down the last war funding measure Democrats pushed through Congress.
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has been meeting with GOP senators to press his case that the war-funding bill must be paid for with cuts in spending.
Republicans are persuaded that, in principle, the war should be paid for. But finding the money to do it is another question, pitting two traditional GOP positions - pro-military spending and anti-tax - against each other.
"We're trying to put together the right kind of packages to get people comfortable to vote and get rid of lower priority stuff," said Coburn, who is working to identify waste in government rather than raise tax revenue.
"The question is, how many people don't think we should pay for it? The American people think we should, by about a 2-1 margin," he told HuffPost.
Coburn has met with Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), whose position is reflective of the GOP dilemma. "It makes pretty good sense," Chambliss said of Coburn's proposal. "I've talked to Tom about it. We've got to start paying for these things some time. I told him I wanted to look at what his payfors were."
Payfor is congressional lingo for a spending offset--as in, cutting the Medicare budget by $50 billion would pay for some of the supplemental. The other way to offset the spending is to hike taxes, but many Republicans have signed a pledge never to support a new tax increase.
Story continues belowCoburn spokesman John Hart said that "the proposal for a so-called 'war tax' is a bland, unimaginative solution and a tacit endorsement of both the obscene amount of waste at the Pentagon and the earmark-industrial-complex. Congress could easily pay for these bills by reducing wasteful spending, beginning with the defense budget. Raising taxes is based on an assumption no one believes -- that the Department of Defense, and the rest of government, is operating at a peak efficiency, leaving tax increases as the only way to generate revenue."
The indecision on the vote from Coburn's colleagues is a stark contrast from the wars' early years, when President Bush's war supplementals flew through GOP-controlled Congresses and any opposition was portrayed as unpatriotic. Cries of "Support The Troops!" met any lawmaker who questioned the direction or the purpose of either the Iraq or Afghanistan war.
Coburn himself, in fact, has backed unfunded war bills in the past, but only twice. His three no votes on funding bills ties him with Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). (Coburns office provided this analysis.) "Congress' failure to pay for war spending in the past doesn't justify this practice in the present or the future," said Hart.
Antiwar progressives hope that Coburn can rally his colleagues to stay true to their fiscal philosophy, hoping to cobble together enough votes to block the supplemental.
"President Obama campaigned not only on curbing military spending, but accounting for it transparently within the budget. Instead he has requested increased defense spending each year, in addition to supplemental war funding that is not paid for," said Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake.com, who worked to pull together a coalition of opposition to the last supplemental spending bill. "I don't imagine anyone will seriously entertain recommendations by his Deficit Commission to reduce Social Security or Medicare benefits in the name of 'fiscal responsibility' until irresponsible defense spending practices are addressed. I'm glad to see Senator Coburn acknowledge the need to do that, and I hope members of both parties will join him."
In 2009, Republicans voted en masse against a supplemental because it also included money for the International Monetary Fund, and antiwar Democrats pulled away, as well, almost tanking the bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) later told progressive media that it was "the hardest vote I've had this year."
"That was the worst. Energy was a heavy lift. But you're talking substance. You're discussing issues with people. But we had never thought we'd have to do another supplemental. Not that we would have to vote for. But then the president brought home the IMF and Republicans all took a hike. Then we were stuck with it. Oh brother!" she said, throwing her hands in the air. "That was the hardest. Budget, stimulus, those were all heavy lifts. None of it is easy. But you get ready for things like energy, health, education, and budget. But the supplemental? That's where we have to do a heavy lift?"
In order to win support in the House, Pelosi pledged that this would really, really be the last time they had to vote for "emergency" war funding.
"We all said we were never, ever voting for this again. But in any event, I think the administration knows that that was it," she said last summer.
But that was not it. The administration is now coming back for more war funds and is attaching disaster relief for Haiti and the states hit by the still-gushing oil in the Gulf.
Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), who can often be counted on to buck his party, said he hasn't decided whether to back unfunded war money. "I haven't decided. I'm certainly very focused on trying to pay for things and not increasing the debt, but I haven't decided that specifically," he said.
On the House side, Republicans are negotiating the details of a final package and, said one GOP leadership aide, are okay with including disaster relief for Haiti and the Gulf states and have yet to draw a line in the sand on having the spending paid for.
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said he's still deliberating. "It has to be paid for," he said.
Would he vote against it if it's not?
"Most likely," he said. "I want to look at it on balance, but I want to see it paid for."
For a few Republicans, they're done with the war entirely. "I think we've been in Afghanistan far too long already," said Rep. John Duncan Jr., pledging to vote against funding.
Some Republicans have remained consistent in their support of war spending even if it's not paid for.
"I never would vote against troops, when we put people in harms way -- our sons and daughters. Even if we borrow money to support the troops," Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) told HuffPost. "We've borrowed money in every war, First World War... Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the War of 1812, we borrowed money."
If he can't persuade more of his colleagues, said Coburn, his effort is doomed - but he'll have made a statement. "I can't filibuster by myself," said Coburn. "I just made a plea to my colleagues and to several Democrats and said, 'We're now past the point of it being partisan. Look at Greece. You've got three years and that's going to happen to us. So if you want to be responsible for that, that's fine. I'm not going to be responsible for that.'"
Tired of Republican Wars? Jim Holbert for Congress KY-05!
GOP Wants War Funds Paid For But Not With Tax Hikes
First Posted: 05-21-10 02:26 PM | Updated: 05-21-10 02:27 PM
Senate Republicans, Tom Coburn, War Funding, Politics News 00
views Get Politics Alerts
Share Comments A Senate Republican is working to persuade his colleagues to vote against President Obama's war supplemental spending bill if it isn't paid for, threatening to rebuild a left-right coalition that nearly took down the last war funding measure Democrats pushed through Congress.
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has been meeting with GOP senators to press his case that the war-funding bill must be paid for with cuts in spending.
Republicans are persuaded that, in principle, the war should be paid for. But finding the money to do it is another question, pitting two traditional GOP positions - pro-military spending and anti-tax - against each other.
"We're trying to put together the right kind of packages to get people comfortable to vote and get rid of lower priority stuff," said Coburn, who is working to identify waste in government rather than raise tax revenue.
"The question is, how many people don't think we should pay for it? The American people think we should, by about a 2-1 margin," he told HuffPost.
Coburn has met with Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), whose position is reflective of the GOP dilemma. "It makes pretty good sense," Chambliss said of Coburn's proposal. "I've talked to Tom about it. We've got to start paying for these things some time. I told him I wanted to look at what his payfors were."
Payfor is congressional lingo for a spending offset--as in, cutting the Medicare budget by $50 billion would pay for some of the supplemental. The other way to offset the spending is to hike taxes, but many Republicans have signed a pledge never to support a new tax increase.
Story continues belowCoburn spokesman John Hart said that "the proposal for a so-called 'war tax' is a bland, unimaginative solution and a tacit endorsement of both the obscene amount of waste at the Pentagon and the earmark-industrial-complex. Congress could easily pay for these bills by reducing wasteful spending, beginning with the defense budget. Raising taxes is based on an assumption no one believes -- that the Department of Defense, and the rest of government, is operating at a peak efficiency, leaving tax increases as the only way to generate revenue."
The indecision on the vote from Coburn's colleagues is a stark contrast from the wars' early years, when President Bush's war supplementals flew through GOP-controlled Congresses and any opposition was portrayed as unpatriotic. Cries of "Support The Troops!" met any lawmaker who questioned the direction or the purpose of either the Iraq or Afghanistan war.
Coburn himself, in fact, has backed unfunded war bills in the past, but only twice. His three no votes on funding bills ties him with Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). (Coburns office provided this analysis.) "Congress' failure to pay for war spending in the past doesn't justify this practice in the present or the future," said Hart.
Antiwar progressives hope that Coburn can rally his colleagues to stay true to their fiscal philosophy, hoping to cobble together enough votes to block the supplemental.
"President Obama campaigned not only on curbing military spending, but accounting for it transparently within the budget. Instead he has requested increased defense spending each year, in addition to supplemental war funding that is not paid for," said Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake.com, who worked to pull together a coalition of opposition to the last supplemental spending bill. "I don't imagine anyone will seriously entertain recommendations by his Deficit Commission to reduce Social Security or Medicare benefits in the name of 'fiscal responsibility' until irresponsible defense spending practices are addressed. I'm glad to see Senator Coburn acknowledge the need to do that, and I hope members of both parties will join him."
In 2009, Republicans voted en masse against a supplemental because it also included money for the International Monetary Fund, and antiwar Democrats pulled away, as well, almost tanking the bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) later told progressive media that it was "the hardest vote I've had this year."
"That was the worst. Energy was a heavy lift. But you're talking substance. You're discussing issues with people. But we had never thought we'd have to do another supplemental. Not that we would have to vote for. But then the president brought home the IMF and Republicans all took a hike. Then we were stuck with it. Oh brother!" she said, throwing her hands in the air. "That was the hardest. Budget, stimulus, those were all heavy lifts. None of it is easy. But you get ready for things like energy, health, education, and budget. But the supplemental? That's where we have to do a heavy lift?"
In order to win support in the House, Pelosi pledged that this would really, really be the last time they had to vote for "emergency" war funding.
"We all said we were never, ever voting for this again. But in any event, I think the administration knows that that was it," she said last summer.
But that was not it. The administration is now coming back for more war funds and is attaching disaster relief for Haiti and the states hit by the still-gushing oil in the Gulf.
Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), who can often be counted on to buck his party, said he hasn't decided whether to back unfunded war money. "I haven't decided. I'm certainly very focused on trying to pay for things and not increasing the debt, but I haven't decided that specifically," he said.
On the House side, Republicans are negotiating the details of a final package and, said one GOP leadership aide, are okay with including disaster relief for Haiti and the Gulf states and have yet to draw a line in the sand on having the spending paid for.
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said he's still deliberating. "It has to be paid for," he said.
Would he vote against it if it's not?
"Most likely," he said. "I want to look at it on balance, but I want to see it paid for."
For a few Republicans, they're done with the war entirely. "I think we've been in Afghanistan far too long already," said Rep. John Duncan Jr., pledging to vote against funding.
Some Republicans have remained consistent in their support of war spending even if it's not paid for.
"I never would vote against troops, when we put people in harms way -- our sons and daughters. Even if we borrow money to support the troops," Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) told HuffPost. "We've borrowed money in every war, First World War... Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the War of 1812, we borrowed money."
If he can't persuade more of his colleagues, said Coburn, his effort is doomed - but he'll have made a statement. "I can't filibuster by myself," said Coburn. "I just made a plea to my colleagues and to several Democrats and said, 'We're now past the point of it being partisan. Look at Greece. You've got three years and that's going to happen to us. So if you want to be responsible for that, that's fine. I'm not going to be responsible for that.'"
Tired of Republican Wars? Jim Holbert for Congress KY-05!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Congratulations to Jim Holbert!
My congratulations go to Jim Holbert who won the Democratic Primary with 41% of the vote besting me and David Prince in a 3-way race. Let's elect more Democrats, and elect Jim Holbert to the U.S. House for KY-05 this November 2010. The following is an open letter (email) that I sent to Jim Holbert today:
Jim,
You have my best wishes. Congratulations on winning the Kentucky Democratic Primary for the KY-05 U.S. House seat. You are the Democratic Nominee to run against Hal Rogers, the Republican on November's ballot. I endorse you as the Democratic candidate against Hal Rogers this November, and you have my best wishes. I'm sure David Prince will support you also. Kenneth Stepp.
Monday, May 17, 2010
VOTE MAY 18! MAY 18, 2010 IS DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY ELECTION DAY IN KENTUCKY! VOTE ON MAY 18 TO ELECT KENNETH STEPP FOR U.S. HOUSE KY-08. ELECT STEPP.
VOTE MAY 18! MAY 18, 2010 IS DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY ELECTION DAY IN KENTUCKY! VOTE ON MAY 18 TO ELECT KENNETH STEPP FOR U.S. HOUSE KY-08. ELECT STEPP. ELECT MORE DEMOCRATS!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
U.S. May Follow Greece Into a Debt Crisis
"Sen. Gregg: U.S. May Follow Greece Into a Debt Crisis
By Frank McGuire
Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., says the United States is in danger of being in the same dire situation as Greece in seven years if the nation doesn't slash its debt and control spending.
“We are on a path which will go to where Greece is, there's no question about that, if we don't adjust our present financial house,” Gregg says.
“If we continue to spend much more than we take in," he says. "We'll double our debt in five years and triple it in 10 years and essentially be where Greece is in about seven years,” he said Monday night on the Fox Business Network.
Editor’s Note: Senator Gregg has warned the U.S. is heading for a financial “meltdown.” Dick Morris says investors must prepare to protect their wealth. He says you must read the new book “Aftershock” by the authors who predicted the last crash. Get this book at no cost – Go Here Now.
"So we know we are headed in that direction unless we do something about reducing the level of debt and reducing the level of our spending.”
The national debt of Greece is 113 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. The current U.S. debt amounts to roughly 50 percent of the gross domestic product.
Asked when he expects that the U.S. debt situation will reach the crisis level that Greece is currently facing, Gregg said, “we're looking at maybe the outside 10 years, probably closer to seven years before we hit the wall, so to say.”
The Republican senator said that the signs of a crisis are already here – pointing to recent downgraded ratings of U.S. debt.
Asked how Americans will know that the crisis has hit, Gregg responded: “Well, when people stop buying our bonds.”
“Basically, when they tell us that they don't have any confidence in our debt being repaid and they force us to pay a much higher interest rate, something that is unsustainable,” he said.
“They essentially say to those of us in the United States, just trying to sell debt to finance our daily operations of government, we do not believe you can repay the debt or can repay it in a way to make us buy your debt at a reasonable price.”
Editor’s Note: Senator Gregg has warned the U.S. is heading for a financial “meltdown.” Dick Morris says investors must prepare to protect their wealth. He says you must read the new book “Aftershock” by the authors who predicted the last crash. Get this book at no cost – Go Here Now. "
And who never saw a deficit Republican Budget that he didn't like? Hal Rogers. Hal Rogers voted "yes" on all the Republican budget blasting budgets over the past thirty years, and helped get us in the mess we're in now. Stepp will vote for you and for fiscal responsiblilty. Elect more Democrats! Elect Stepp for U.S. House KY--05!
By Frank McGuire
Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., says the United States is in danger of being in the same dire situation as Greece in seven years if the nation doesn't slash its debt and control spending.
“We are on a path which will go to where Greece is, there's no question about that, if we don't adjust our present financial house,” Gregg says.
“If we continue to spend much more than we take in," he says. "We'll double our debt in five years and triple it in 10 years and essentially be where Greece is in about seven years,” he said Monday night on the Fox Business Network.
Editor’s Note: Senator Gregg has warned the U.S. is heading for a financial “meltdown.” Dick Morris says investors must prepare to protect their wealth. He says you must read the new book “Aftershock” by the authors who predicted the last crash. Get this book at no cost – Go Here Now.
"So we know we are headed in that direction unless we do something about reducing the level of debt and reducing the level of our spending.”
The national debt of Greece is 113 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. The current U.S. debt amounts to roughly 50 percent of the gross domestic product.
Asked when he expects that the U.S. debt situation will reach the crisis level that Greece is currently facing, Gregg said, “we're looking at maybe the outside 10 years, probably closer to seven years before we hit the wall, so to say.”
The Republican senator said that the signs of a crisis are already here – pointing to recent downgraded ratings of U.S. debt.
Asked how Americans will know that the crisis has hit, Gregg responded: “Well, when people stop buying our bonds.”
“Basically, when they tell us that they don't have any confidence in our debt being repaid and they force us to pay a much higher interest rate, something that is unsustainable,” he said.
“They essentially say to those of us in the United States, just trying to sell debt to finance our daily operations of government, we do not believe you can repay the debt or can repay it in a way to make us buy your debt at a reasonable price.”
Editor’s Note: Senator Gregg has warned the U.S. is heading for a financial “meltdown.” Dick Morris says investors must prepare to protect their wealth. He says you must read the new book “Aftershock” by the authors who predicted the last crash. Get this book at no cost – Go Here Now. "
And who never saw a deficit Republican Budget that he didn't like? Hal Rogers. Hal Rogers voted "yes" on all the Republican budget blasting budgets over the past thirty years, and helped get us in the mess we're in now. Stepp will vote for you and for fiscal responsiblilty. Elect more Democrats! Elect Stepp for U.S. House KY--05!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Elect more Democrats for less lobbyist control of Congress.
The Big Banks Really Own it All
by mcjoan
Wed May 12, 2010 at 07:36:02 AM PDT
This new report from the Service Employees International Union, Campaign for America’s Future and the Public Accountability Initiative is profoundly disturbing, especially in the midst of the Wall Street reform debate.
Throughout the financial reform debate, the finance industry has waged an unprecedented assault on the democratic process, spending an estimated $1.4 million per day to influence Congress and hiring 70 members of Congress and 940 former federal employees to lobby on their behalf.
The six biggest banks—Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo—account for a disproportionate share of this activity. In the two years since the first federal bailout of a big bank (Bear Stearns), these banks and their principal trade associations have hired over 240 former government insiders as lobbyists and spent hundreds of millions of dollars on an influence game designed to thwart reform, shape bailout programs and maintain their status as “too-big-to-fail” institutions....
The lobbying spree is taxpayer-funded—it follows $160 billion in bailouts from Congress and trillions in cheap loans from the Federal Reserve. And as their influence has come to be viewed as increasingly toxic in Washington, the banks have shifted segments of their political activity to a “shadow lobby” that includes such front groups as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce....
Findings from the report
243 lobbyists for six big banks and their trade associations used to work in the federal government – 202 in Congress, the rest in the White House, Treasury, or at a relevant federal government agency. That’s equivalent to 40 revolving-door lobbyists per bank.iv
This includes 33 chiefs of staff, 54 staffers to the House Financial Services Committee and Senate Banking Committee (or a current member of that committee) and 28 legislative directors. Many of the revolving-door lobbyists were key architects of financial deregulatory legislation during their time as congressional staffers, including the Financial Services Modernization (Gramm-Leach-Bliley) Act of 1999 and the Commodity Futures Modernization Act.
The six big banks and their trade associations have spent close to $600 million since the first major federal bailout of Bear Stearns in March 2008 on lobbying, trade association activity and political contributions.
Citigroup employs 55 revolving-door lobbyists, more than any other big bank or financial industry trade association. The federal government was until recently Citigroup’s largest shareholder. Other banks are also employing huge lobbying armies: Goldman Sachs with 45, JPMorgan Chase with 32, Morgan Stanley with 19, Wells Fargo with 14, and Bank of America with 12. The top big-bank lobbies, the Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association and the American Bankers Association, have hired 84 revolving-door lobbyists.
The top big-bank lobbying firm in Washington is Elmendorf Strategies, founded by Steve Elmendorf, former chief of staff to Rep. Dick Gephardt. Elmendorf’s financial team includes former top staffers to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Maryland Sen. Paul Sarbanes, and Gephardt. The firm represents the most powerful Wall Street banks and associations, including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, the Financial Services Forum, and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. Other top lobbying firms include the Podesta Group and Porterfield, Lowenthal, & Fettig.
Senate Banking Committee chair Christopher Dodd (D-CT) leads all current members of Congress, with five former staffers now working as big bank lobbyists. Banking Committee ranking member Richard Shelby (R-AL) and members Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Tim Johnson (D-SD) each have four.
Big banks are hiding lobbying activities in a burgeoning shadow industry of generic business associations, ad hoc coalitions and front companies. Government bailouts and partial federal ownership have made it difficult for big banks to ramp up direct lobbying; instead, they are routing their dollars through this shadow lobby.
Sullivan & Cromwell, the firm defending Goldman Sachs in its Securities and Exchange Commission fraud suit, secured the most lucrative big bank lobbying contract in 2009, a $520,000 deal with Clearing House Payments Co. – a company owned by JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Bank of America, and several other banks. The firm also lobbied on behalf of Goldman Sachs during the same period. In a past financial reform fight, lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell lobbied on behalf of Enron, and appear to have helped craft the “Enron loophole.”
The money--$1.4 million a day is absolutely obscene, but in many ways, Ezra is right on this one, worrying "much more about the people than the money." That money is funding the more than 200 former members and more than a hundred former staffers to the key committees who are all working in concert with current members and staff. It's all about the connections--who has access and whose phone calls and e-mails will be answered. Those social networks can be far more effective at furthering the big banks' interests than the money would be otherwise."
The big banks and big lobbyists have Hal Rogers as their candidate for U.S. House KY-05. Don't take my work for it, look at his FEC reports. He got a hundred times the campaign finance money from them this last reporting period than his three Democratic opponents got combined. Elect more Democrats. End the lobbyist stranglehold on Congress. Elect Stepp for Congress, KY-05 Democrat.
by mcjoan
Wed May 12, 2010 at 07:36:02 AM PDT
This new report from the Service Employees International Union, Campaign for America’s Future and the Public Accountability Initiative is profoundly disturbing, especially in the midst of the Wall Street reform debate.
Throughout the financial reform debate, the finance industry has waged an unprecedented assault on the democratic process, spending an estimated $1.4 million per day to influence Congress and hiring 70 members of Congress and 940 former federal employees to lobby on their behalf.
The six biggest banks—Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo—account for a disproportionate share of this activity. In the two years since the first federal bailout of a big bank (Bear Stearns), these banks and their principal trade associations have hired over 240 former government insiders as lobbyists and spent hundreds of millions of dollars on an influence game designed to thwart reform, shape bailout programs and maintain their status as “too-big-to-fail” institutions....
The lobbying spree is taxpayer-funded—it follows $160 billion in bailouts from Congress and trillions in cheap loans from the Federal Reserve. And as their influence has come to be viewed as increasingly toxic in Washington, the banks have shifted segments of their political activity to a “shadow lobby” that includes such front groups as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce....
Findings from the report
243 lobbyists for six big banks and their trade associations used to work in the federal government – 202 in Congress, the rest in the White House, Treasury, or at a relevant federal government agency. That’s equivalent to 40 revolving-door lobbyists per bank.iv
This includes 33 chiefs of staff, 54 staffers to the House Financial Services Committee and Senate Banking Committee (or a current member of that committee) and 28 legislative directors. Many of the revolving-door lobbyists were key architects of financial deregulatory legislation during their time as congressional staffers, including the Financial Services Modernization (Gramm-Leach-Bliley) Act of 1999 and the Commodity Futures Modernization Act.
The six big banks and their trade associations have spent close to $600 million since the first major federal bailout of Bear Stearns in March 2008 on lobbying, trade association activity and political contributions.
Citigroup employs 55 revolving-door lobbyists, more than any other big bank or financial industry trade association. The federal government was until recently Citigroup’s largest shareholder. Other banks are also employing huge lobbying armies: Goldman Sachs with 45, JPMorgan Chase with 32, Morgan Stanley with 19, Wells Fargo with 14, and Bank of America with 12. The top big-bank lobbies, the Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association and the American Bankers Association, have hired 84 revolving-door lobbyists.
The top big-bank lobbying firm in Washington is Elmendorf Strategies, founded by Steve Elmendorf, former chief of staff to Rep. Dick Gephardt. Elmendorf’s financial team includes former top staffers to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Maryland Sen. Paul Sarbanes, and Gephardt. The firm represents the most powerful Wall Street banks and associations, including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, the Financial Services Forum, and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. Other top lobbying firms include the Podesta Group and Porterfield, Lowenthal, & Fettig.
Senate Banking Committee chair Christopher Dodd (D-CT) leads all current members of Congress, with five former staffers now working as big bank lobbyists. Banking Committee ranking member Richard Shelby (R-AL) and members Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Tim Johnson (D-SD) each have four.
Big banks are hiding lobbying activities in a burgeoning shadow industry of generic business associations, ad hoc coalitions and front companies. Government bailouts and partial federal ownership have made it difficult for big banks to ramp up direct lobbying; instead, they are routing their dollars through this shadow lobby.
Sullivan & Cromwell, the firm defending Goldman Sachs in its Securities and Exchange Commission fraud suit, secured the most lucrative big bank lobbying contract in 2009, a $520,000 deal with Clearing House Payments Co. – a company owned by JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Bank of America, and several other banks. The firm also lobbied on behalf of Goldman Sachs during the same period. In a past financial reform fight, lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell lobbied on behalf of Enron, and appear to have helped craft the “Enron loophole.”
The money--$1.4 million a day is absolutely obscene, but in many ways, Ezra is right on this one, worrying "much more about the people than the money." That money is funding the more than 200 former members and more than a hundred former staffers to the key committees who are all working in concert with current members and staff. It's all about the connections--who has access and whose phone calls and e-mails will be answered. Those social networks can be far more effective at furthering the big banks' interests than the money would be otherwise."
The big banks and big lobbyists have Hal Rogers as their candidate for U.S. House KY-05. Don't take my work for it, look at his FEC reports. He got a hundred times the campaign finance money from them this last reporting period than his three Democratic opponents got combined. Elect more Democrats. End the lobbyist stranglehold on Congress. Elect Stepp for Congress, KY-05 Democrat.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Kenneth Stepp's Answers to the Louisville Courier-Journal!
Welcome to The Courier-Journal’s new and improved e-Voter Guide.
(D) Kenneth Stepp (D) .Biographical Information
Age: 62
Street Address: PO Box 1271
City: Manchester
State: KY
Zip Code: 40962
Political Posts: Candidate for U.S. Congress, 1986 and 1988; Candidate for State Commissioner of Education 1990; Candidate for U.S. Congress KY-05 in Democratic Primary and General Election 2006; Candidate for U.S. Senate in Democratic Primary KY 2008.
Education: Juris Doctor Degree, University of Georgia School of Law, Georgia 1976; Masters Degree in Management, United States Naval Postgraduate School, California 1970; Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Management with a Minor in Economics, Clemson University, South Carolina, 1968.
Civic Involvement: Member Macedonia Baptist Church; Member Burning Springs School PTO; 2009 Member Clay County Optimists Club
Phone Number: (606) 596-0360
E-mail address: kenneth_stepp@yahoo.com
Web site: www.steppforcongress.blogspot.com
Youtube: ..
Why are you the most qualified candidate?
Kenneth Stepp: For the Democratic Primary, I am the most qualified candidate for several reasons. I was the 2006 Democratic nominee for U.S. House; was defeated in the general election by Hal Rogers (R-Ky5). Unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate seat held by "Mitch" McConnell R-Ky; defeated in Democratic Primary by Bruce Lunsford who lost to "Mitch" McConnell in the general election. I am married to Wilma Smith Stepp, and our two children Carson Stepp and Conrad Stepp live with us in Clay County, Kentucky in the Burning Springs Community. I am an attorney at law, a member of the Kentucky Bar since 1991, sole member of the law firm of KENNETH S. STEPP, PSC with office in Clay County, Kentucky, with a law degree from University of Georgia School of Law; Masters Degree in Management from the United States Naval Postgraduate School of Monterey, California; Bachelor of Science Degree from Clemson University in Industrial Management with a minor in Economics. I am a Navy veteran. ..
What are the most crucial issues, and how would you address them?
Kenneth Stepp: Poverty and education. We should spend more government money on education. Education is the key to overcoming poverty. Here, the fallacy of composition is not present. Generally a well-educated man is much wealthier than an illiterate man. Likewise, nations with well-educated citizenry, such as the United States, are able to run circles around nations of illiterates such as Afghanistan and Haiti. The ancient philosopher Confucius once said, “If you give a man a fish, you have fed him one meal; if you teach a man how to fish, you have fed him for a lifetime.” Another problem we have is the eroding middle class. The tax system should continue to be progressive so that it distributes benefits and entitlements to the poor and to the working poor. In addition to free public schooling extending into the college levels, poverty should be alleviated by extending our present poverty programs. ..
What would you do to speed the economic recovery and produce jobs needed to put Americans to work?
Kenneth Stepp: Our free enterprise economy has served America well for over two hundred years. Due to the spending binge by the last Republican Administration assisted by our Republican Congressman, the bubble burst and now we have 12 per cent unemployment and 12 per cent of the people seriously behind on their mortgage payments. Right now, we are on an upswing on the business cycle. There was a panic, people quit buying and businessmen sought to reduce their inventories. The panic is not over, but the inventories of durable goods have been reduced, and businesses are now ordering more production to keep their inventories from shrinking further. That puts people back to work. If we keep on the current Democratic policies, production should continue to expand and we will be approaching the relative full employment, expanding economy that we used to have during the Clinton Administration. We should keep following the Obama economic policies. ..
Would you prefer to raise taxes or cut services to help Congress reduce record budget deficits? What areas would you cut or tax?
Kenneth Stepp: "[Communist] China's hunger for natural resources also means that Beijing will take substantial risks to secure them. It is mining for copper south of Kabul, in war-torn Afghanistan, and has its eye on the region's iron, gold, uranium,and precious gems (the region has some of the world's last untapped deposits). Beijing hopes to build roads and energy pipelines through Afghanistan and Pakistan as well, linking up its budding Central Asian dominion to ports on the Indian Ocean. [Communist] China's strategic geography would be enhanced if the United States stabilized Afghanistan." Kaplan, Robert D., The Geography of Chinese Power How Far Can Beijing Reach on Land and at Sea?, "Foreign Affairs", May/June 2010, p. 26. We have troops fighting and dying in Afghanistan. Why? I don't see how that benefits the people of the Kentucky Fifth District. I would vote to cancel U.S. participation in the Wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq. That would help reduce the deficit. ..
Do you support the health-care reform package that passed, or would you vote to repeal some or all of it? What would you replace it with?
Kenneth Stepp: I would probably have voted with Representative Stupak in demanding health reform have due regard for right-to-life, and then supported the health care bill that he supported, and that the U.S. House passed, with no Republican support. There should be Federal regulation of health insurance. My health insurance increased 20% last year, and another 20% this year. The States tend to look the other way on health insurance regulation. I favor expanding the existing Federal health care plans to cover more people. The financial requirements for Medicaid could allow higher income per recipient. The financial requirements for Medicare could allow benefits received at a younger age. The Veterans Administration Medical Centers could have more bed space available so they can serve more veterans. Better policy is to give poor people more access to hospitals, doctors, and medication, both prescribed and natural medication. ..
Do you support America’s current military policy in Iraq and Afghanistan? How long should the United States keep troops in both countries?
Kenneth Stepp: We should withdraw our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan as quickly as possible. The goals we had announced were accomplished. Saddam Hussein was captured and hanged. The government of Iraq has a semblance of democracy. The rule of law has been upheld. Many of our reasons for our initial invasion of Iraq after 9/11 were invalid. No evidence was ever found to substantiate that Iraq intended to use “weapons of mass destruction” against us or her neighbors. We were angry over the attack on us on 9/11 in 2001, but the attach was carried out by citizens or subjects of the United Arab Emirates and of Saudi Arabia--none of which attackers was Iraqi. What we pay for defense and to finance our two Middle East wars, and for homeland security for one year could, and should, be used to finance the new Health Care law for ten years. ..
Do you support domestic and international efforts to curb global warming and reduce America’s reliance on fossil fuels such as coal?
Kenneth Stepp: Coal power is here to stay, and I oppose “cap and trade”. “Greenhouse gas” treatises are based on junk science. During the winter, less of our oxygen is created because the trees lose their leaves, and more of our carbon dioxide is created because the home fires are kept burning. It seems that if carbon dioxide were the culprit, Kentucky would have warmer winters and cooler summers than we had in the 1800’s, but there is no evidence that warmer winters followed by cooler summers have happened. I suspect that warmer weather is the result of human habitation, but I don’t buy the argument that carbon dioxide is a pollutant that is causing warmer weather. After all, humans exhale carbon dioxide. We should allow the free enterprise system the free use of coal and alternate forms of energy. Perhaps the free enterprise system will force coal to be edged out of place, as wood was edged out a hundred years ago, but I don't plan to vote for subsidizing alternate forms of energy ..
What guidelines or restrictions would you place on your earmark requests if you were elected?
Kenneth Stepp: "The latest tally of congressional pork barrel spending by Citizens Against Government Waste includes $4,481,000 for wood utilization research, $400,000 for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, $300,000 for Carnegie Hall in New York City, and $200,000 for the Washington National Opera in the District of Columbia. "All of the items in the annual “Congressional Pig Book” meet at least one of the group’s seven criteria: requested by only one chamber of Congress, not specifically authorized, not competitively awarded, not requested by the president, greatly exceeds the president’s budget request or the previous year’s funding, not the subject of congressional hearings, and serves only a local or special interest." Citizens Against Government Waste. Programs to benefit the working poor, the students, and the veterans should be expanded while pork barrel earmark spending should be reduced, with KY-05 to get its fair share of what pork barrel spending is done. ..James E. "Jim" Holbert: My college degree was in Education and I was certified as a High School teacher. I have over twenty years military experience as an officer in the Army and Coast Guard. I've worked as a professional pilot throughout the U.S. and overseas. Since 2005 I've served the people of southeast Kentucky as an Emergency Medical Service helicopter pilot. I understand first hand the serious problems facing our Country and our region. In Congress I will work diligently to cut through the distractions of party politics and provide real solutions for ending foreign wars, bringing back jobs to America, and putting in place a national plan to meet the America's future energy needs.
James E. "Jim" Holbert: First, we must end the foreign wars which grind down America's military and bankrupt our Country. Let's defend America wisely and well by better energy, trade, and economic policies...not endless and politically mismanaged warfare. Second, we must reverse the disastrous mistakes of "free trade," unrestricted foreign investment, and the scofflawing of illegal immigration, all of which have combined to eliminate millions of Americans jobs, ruin our middle class, and put many Americans in poverty. Additionally, we must have comprehensive re-regulation of our financial and banking institutions. Third, we must move forward now to liberate America from the Middle Eastern political involvement resulting from imported oil. America needs to fully develop its domestic coal, oil and natural gas resources as a bridge to the energy future which will include nuclear power, alternative energy, biofuels, and energy conservation and efficiency. "
(D) Kenneth Stepp (D) .Biographical Information
Age: 62
Street Address: PO Box 1271
City: Manchester
State: KY
Zip Code: 40962
Political Posts: Candidate for U.S. Congress, 1986 and 1988; Candidate for State Commissioner of Education 1990; Candidate for U.S. Congress KY-05 in Democratic Primary and General Election 2006; Candidate for U.S. Senate in Democratic Primary KY 2008.
Education: Juris Doctor Degree, University of Georgia School of Law, Georgia 1976; Masters Degree in Management, United States Naval Postgraduate School, California 1970; Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Management with a Minor in Economics, Clemson University, South Carolina, 1968.
Civic Involvement: Member Macedonia Baptist Church; Member Burning Springs School PTO; 2009 Member Clay County Optimists Club
Phone Number: (606) 596-0360
E-mail address: kenneth_stepp@yahoo.com
Web site: www.steppforcongress.blogspot.com
Youtube: ..
Why are you the most qualified candidate?
Kenneth Stepp: For the Democratic Primary, I am the most qualified candidate for several reasons. I was the 2006 Democratic nominee for U.S. House; was defeated in the general election by Hal Rogers (R-Ky5). Unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate seat held by "Mitch" McConnell R-Ky; defeated in Democratic Primary by Bruce Lunsford who lost to "Mitch" McConnell in the general election. I am married to Wilma Smith Stepp, and our two children Carson Stepp and Conrad Stepp live with us in Clay County, Kentucky in the Burning Springs Community. I am an attorney at law, a member of the Kentucky Bar since 1991, sole member of the law firm of KENNETH S. STEPP, PSC with office in Clay County, Kentucky, with a law degree from University of Georgia School of Law; Masters Degree in Management from the United States Naval Postgraduate School of Monterey, California; Bachelor of Science Degree from Clemson University in Industrial Management with a minor in Economics. I am a Navy veteran. ..
What are the most crucial issues, and how would you address them?
Kenneth Stepp: Poverty and education. We should spend more government money on education. Education is the key to overcoming poverty. Here, the fallacy of composition is not present. Generally a well-educated man is much wealthier than an illiterate man. Likewise, nations with well-educated citizenry, such as the United States, are able to run circles around nations of illiterates such as Afghanistan and Haiti. The ancient philosopher Confucius once said, “If you give a man a fish, you have fed him one meal; if you teach a man how to fish, you have fed him for a lifetime.” Another problem we have is the eroding middle class. The tax system should continue to be progressive so that it distributes benefits and entitlements to the poor and to the working poor. In addition to free public schooling extending into the college levels, poverty should be alleviated by extending our present poverty programs. ..
What would you do to speed the economic recovery and produce jobs needed to put Americans to work?
Kenneth Stepp: Our free enterprise economy has served America well for over two hundred years. Due to the spending binge by the last Republican Administration assisted by our Republican Congressman, the bubble burst and now we have 12 per cent unemployment and 12 per cent of the people seriously behind on their mortgage payments. Right now, we are on an upswing on the business cycle. There was a panic, people quit buying and businessmen sought to reduce their inventories. The panic is not over, but the inventories of durable goods have been reduced, and businesses are now ordering more production to keep their inventories from shrinking further. That puts people back to work. If we keep on the current Democratic policies, production should continue to expand and we will be approaching the relative full employment, expanding economy that we used to have during the Clinton Administration. We should keep following the Obama economic policies. ..
Would you prefer to raise taxes or cut services to help Congress reduce record budget deficits? What areas would you cut or tax?
Kenneth Stepp: "[Communist] China's hunger for natural resources also means that Beijing will take substantial risks to secure them. It is mining for copper south of Kabul, in war-torn Afghanistan, and has its eye on the region's iron, gold, uranium,and precious gems (the region has some of the world's last untapped deposits). Beijing hopes to build roads and energy pipelines through Afghanistan and Pakistan as well, linking up its budding Central Asian dominion to ports on the Indian Ocean. [Communist] China's strategic geography would be enhanced if the United States stabilized Afghanistan." Kaplan, Robert D., The Geography of Chinese Power How Far Can Beijing Reach on Land and at Sea?, "Foreign Affairs", May/June 2010, p. 26. We have troops fighting and dying in Afghanistan. Why? I don't see how that benefits the people of the Kentucky Fifth District. I would vote to cancel U.S. participation in the Wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq. That would help reduce the deficit. ..
Do you support the health-care reform package that passed, or would you vote to repeal some or all of it? What would you replace it with?
Kenneth Stepp: I would probably have voted with Representative Stupak in demanding health reform have due regard for right-to-life, and then supported the health care bill that he supported, and that the U.S. House passed, with no Republican support. There should be Federal regulation of health insurance. My health insurance increased 20% last year, and another 20% this year. The States tend to look the other way on health insurance regulation. I favor expanding the existing Federal health care plans to cover more people. The financial requirements for Medicaid could allow higher income per recipient. The financial requirements for Medicare could allow benefits received at a younger age. The Veterans Administration Medical Centers could have more bed space available so they can serve more veterans. Better policy is to give poor people more access to hospitals, doctors, and medication, both prescribed and natural medication. ..
Do you support America’s current military policy in Iraq and Afghanistan? How long should the United States keep troops in both countries?
Kenneth Stepp: We should withdraw our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan as quickly as possible. The goals we had announced were accomplished. Saddam Hussein was captured and hanged. The government of Iraq has a semblance of democracy. The rule of law has been upheld. Many of our reasons for our initial invasion of Iraq after 9/11 were invalid. No evidence was ever found to substantiate that Iraq intended to use “weapons of mass destruction” against us or her neighbors. We were angry over the attack on us on 9/11 in 2001, but the attach was carried out by citizens or subjects of the United Arab Emirates and of Saudi Arabia--none of which attackers was Iraqi. What we pay for defense and to finance our two Middle East wars, and for homeland security for one year could, and should, be used to finance the new Health Care law for ten years. ..
Do you support domestic and international efforts to curb global warming and reduce America’s reliance on fossil fuels such as coal?
Kenneth Stepp: Coal power is here to stay, and I oppose “cap and trade”. “Greenhouse gas” treatises are based on junk science. During the winter, less of our oxygen is created because the trees lose their leaves, and more of our carbon dioxide is created because the home fires are kept burning. It seems that if carbon dioxide were the culprit, Kentucky would have warmer winters and cooler summers than we had in the 1800’s, but there is no evidence that warmer winters followed by cooler summers have happened. I suspect that warmer weather is the result of human habitation, but I don’t buy the argument that carbon dioxide is a pollutant that is causing warmer weather. After all, humans exhale carbon dioxide. We should allow the free enterprise system the free use of coal and alternate forms of energy. Perhaps the free enterprise system will force coal to be edged out of place, as wood was edged out a hundred years ago, but I don't plan to vote for subsidizing alternate forms of energy ..
What guidelines or restrictions would you place on your earmark requests if you were elected?
Kenneth Stepp: "The latest tally of congressional pork barrel spending by Citizens Against Government Waste includes $4,481,000 for wood utilization research, $400,000 for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, $300,000 for Carnegie Hall in New York City, and $200,000 for the Washington National Opera in the District of Columbia. "All of the items in the annual “Congressional Pig Book” meet at least one of the group’s seven criteria: requested by only one chamber of Congress, not specifically authorized, not competitively awarded, not requested by the president, greatly exceeds the president’s budget request or the previous year’s funding, not the subject of congressional hearings, and serves only a local or special interest." Citizens Against Government Waste. Programs to benefit the working poor, the students, and the veterans should be expanded while pork barrel earmark spending should be reduced, with KY-05 to get its fair share of what pork barrel spending is done. ..James E. "Jim" Holbert: My college degree was in Education and I was certified as a High School teacher. I have over twenty years military experience as an officer in the Army and Coast Guard. I've worked as a professional pilot throughout the U.S. and overseas. Since 2005 I've served the people of southeast Kentucky as an Emergency Medical Service helicopter pilot. I understand first hand the serious problems facing our Country and our region. In Congress I will work diligently to cut through the distractions of party politics and provide real solutions for ending foreign wars, bringing back jobs to America, and putting in place a national plan to meet the America's future energy needs.
James E. "Jim" Holbert: First, we must end the foreign wars which grind down America's military and bankrupt our Country. Let's defend America wisely and well by better energy, trade, and economic policies...not endless and politically mismanaged warfare. Second, we must reverse the disastrous mistakes of "free trade," unrestricted foreign investment, and the scofflawing of illegal immigration, all of which have combined to eliminate millions of Americans jobs, ruin our middle class, and put many Americans in poverty. Additionally, we must have comprehensive re-regulation of our financial and banking institutions. Third, we must move forward now to liberate America from the Middle Eastern political involvement resulting from imported oil. America needs to fully develop its domestic coal, oil and natural gas resources as a bridge to the energy future which will include nuclear power, alternative energy, biofuels, and energy conservation and efficiency. "
The new Washington Post poll.
"Q. All in all, considering the costs to the United States versus the benefits to the United States, do you think the war in Afghanistan has been worth fighting, or not? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
-- Worth it -- -Not worth it-
NET Strongly NET Strongly
4/25/10 45 26 52 38
12/13/09 52 33 44 35
11/15/09 44 30 52 38
10/18/09* 47 28 49 36
9/12/09 46 28 51 37
8/17/09 47 31 51 41
7/18/09 51 34 45 34
3/29/09 56 37 41 28
2/22/09 50 34 47 37
12/14/08 55 NA 39 NA
7/13/08 51 NA 45 NA
2/25/07 56 NA 41 NA
*10/18/09 "was" and "has been" wording half sampled. Previous "was"."
What this means that the Afghanistan War's "favorable" rating since 2007 has fallen from 56% down to 45%, and the Afghanistan War's "unfavorable" rating since 2007 has risen from 41% to 52%. American participation in the Afghanistan War is still more popular than "Mitch" McConnell nationally, but both have higher "unfavorable" ratings than "favorable" ratings. "Mitch is in the U.S. Senate for another four years, but we could pull out of the War in Afghanistan tonight! Elect more Democrats. Kenneth Stepp for U.S. House KY-05!
-- Worth it -- -Not worth it-
NET Strongly NET Strongly
4/25/10 45 26 52 38
12/13/09 52 33 44 35
11/15/09 44 30 52 38
10/18/09* 47 28 49 36
9/12/09 46 28 51 37
8/17/09 47 31 51 41
7/18/09 51 34 45 34
3/29/09 56 37 41 28
2/22/09 50 34 47 37
12/14/08 55 NA 39 NA
7/13/08 51 NA 45 NA
2/25/07 56 NA 41 NA
*10/18/09 "was" and "has been" wording half sampled. Previous "was"."
What this means that the Afghanistan War's "favorable" rating since 2007 has fallen from 56% down to 45%, and the Afghanistan War's "unfavorable" rating since 2007 has risen from 41% to 52%. American participation in the Afghanistan War is still more popular than "Mitch" McConnell nationally, but both have higher "unfavorable" ratings than "favorable" ratings. "Mitch is in the U.S. Senate for another four years, but we could pull out of the War in Afghanistan tonight! Elect more Democrats. Kenneth Stepp for U.S. House KY-05!
"Mitch" McConnell "unfavorable" national rating shrinks to 60%!
"Daily Kos Weekly State of the Nation Poll
Research 2000, Adults MoE 2.8%, May 03, 2010 - May 06, 2010 (last week's results in parentheses)
Full Crosstabs FAVORABLE UNFAVORABLE DON'T KNOW NET CHANGE
PRESIDENT OBAMA 55 (55) 41 (42) 4 (3) 1
PELOSI: 40 (39) 51 (50) 9 (11) 0
REID: 30 (29) 58 (59) 12 (12) 2
McCONNELL: 25 (24) 60 (61) 15 (15) 2
BOEHNER: 23 (22) 57 (58) 20 (20) 2
CONGRESSIONAL DEMS: 39 (38) 57 (57) 4 (5) 1
CONGRESSIONAL GOPS: 23 (22) 65 (66) 12 (12) 2
DEMOCRATIC PARTY: 42 (41) 53 (53) 5 (6) 1
REPUBLICAN PARTY: 33 (32) 64 (65) 3 (3) 2"
Let's elect more Democrats and get a Congress we can think favorable of! Stepp for U.S. House KY-05!
Research 2000, Adults MoE 2.8%, May 03, 2010 - May 06, 2010 (last week's results in parentheses)
Full Crosstabs FAVORABLE UNFAVORABLE DON'T KNOW NET CHANGE
PRESIDENT OBAMA 55 (55) 41 (42) 4 (3) 1
PELOSI: 40 (39) 51 (50) 9 (11) 0
REID: 30 (29) 58 (59) 12 (12) 2
McCONNELL: 25 (24) 60 (61) 15 (15) 2
BOEHNER: 23 (22) 57 (58) 20 (20) 2
CONGRESSIONAL DEMS: 39 (38) 57 (57) 4 (5) 1
CONGRESSIONAL GOPS: 23 (22) 65 (66) 12 (12) 2
DEMOCRATIC PARTY: 42 (41) 53 (53) 5 (6) 1
REPUBLICAN PARTY: 33 (32) 64 (65) 3 (3) 2"
Let's elect more Democrats and get a Congress we can think favorable of! Stepp for U.S. House KY-05!
Call 202-224-3121.
This month, Congress will decide whether to fund continued escalation of the war when they consider a $33 billion appropriation, even as confidence in the Obama administration strategy in Afghanistan diminishes.
I urge you to be part of national call-in days being organized by a coalition of anti-war organizations. Please call your senators and representative in the House and ask them to vote against escalating the Afghanistan war. Call 202-224-3121. Tell them it is time to reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan, not increase them. It is time to stop pouring billions of borrowed dollars into a failed and unecessary war - dollars the U.S. needs to borrow at a time of record debt.
Also ask your elected representatives to support H.R. 5015, Redeployment of U.S. Troops from Afghanistan, and its sister bill in the Senate, S. 3197. These bills would require the President to provide a plan and timetable for "the safe, orderly, and expeditious redeployment of US troops from Afghanistan."
We want this war to end as soon as possible. These bills are critical first steps for the U.S. withdrawal effort. Sen. Russ Feingold and Representatives Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Walter Jones (R-NC) are leading this legislative effort. You can see the list of co-sponsors, now more than 80 in the House, by clicking here.
President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan will be in Washington May 10-13. He seeks U.S. permission to negotiate with the Taliban and other armed participants in the war. When you talk with the staff members of your elected representatives, urge them to support negotiations to end the war now.
This summer the U.S. plans to fight in Kandahar, a city of one million people. This will be a deadly attack that will result in the loss of both American and Afghani lives. The administration is hoping to put itself in a stronger negotiating position with this attack. In fact, it will create more enemies in Afghanistan just as similar attacks in other parts of the country have done.
Please take action today and call your elected representatives in Washington. Call 202-224-3121.
And let's elect more Democrats! Stepp for Congress KY-05!
I urge you to be part of national call-in days being organized by a coalition of anti-war organizations. Please call your senators and representative in the House and ask them to vote against escalating the Afghanistan war. Call 202-224-3121. Tell them it is time to reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan, not increase them. It is time to stop pouring billions of borrowed dollars into a failed and unecessary war - dollars the U.S. needs to borrow at a time of record debt.
Also ask your elected representatives to support H.R. 5015, Redeployment of U.S. Troops from Afghanistan, and its sister bill in the Senate, S. 3197. These bills would require the President to provide a plan and timetable for "the safe, orderly, and expeditious redeployment of US troops from Afghanistan."
We want this war to end as soon as possible. These bills are critical first steps for the U.S. withdrawal effort. Sen. Russ Feingold and Representatives Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Walter Jones (R-NC) are leading this legislative effort. You can see the list of co-sponsors, now more than 80 in the House, by clicking here.
President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan will be in Washington May 10-13. He seeks U.S. permission to negotiate with the Taliban and other armed participants in the war. When you talk with the staff members of your elected representatives, urge them to support negotiations to end the war now.
This summer the U.S. plans to fight in Kandahar, a city of one million people. This will be a deadly attack that will result in the loss of both American and Afghani lives. The administration is hoping to put itself in a stronger negotiating position with this attack. In fact, it will create more enemies in Afghanistan just as similar attacks in other parts of the country have done.
Please take action today and call your elected representatives in Washington. Call 202-224-3121.
And let's elect more Democrats! Stepp for Congress KY-05!
Saturday, May 08, 2010
Obama says health care law already helps millions
"Obama says health care law already helps millions
"By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer Charles Babington, Associated Press Writer – 44 mins ago
"WASHINGTON – The new health care law already is helping millions of people through tax breaks for small businesses and assistance for families with young adults, President Barack Obama said Saturday.
"In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama promoted his top domestic priority, which passed Congress with no Republican votes and continues to stir strong emotions nationwide. He acknowledged that many provisions will not take effect for years. But he said others are doing some families good now.
"Some 4 million small-business owners and organizations have been told of a possible health care tax cut this year, Obama said. On June 15, some older people with high prescription drug costs will receive $250 to help fill a gap in Medicare's pharmaceutical benefits.
""Already we are seeing a health care system that holds insurance companies more accountable and gives consumers more control," the president said.
"Obama said Anthem Blue Cross dropped a proposed 39 percent premium increase on Californians after his administration demanded an explanation. He said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote to all states "urging them to investigate other rate hikes and stop insurance companies from gaming the system."
"A new federal agency will provide grants to states with the best oversight programs, Obama said.
"His administration also is drafting a "patients' bill of rights" to give consumers information about their health care choices and rights, he said.
"As of September, Obama said, "the new health care law prohibits insurance companies from dropping people's coverage when they get sick and need it most."
"He said his administration will urge large employers to follow several insurance companies' example of allowing people under 26 to stay on their parents' employer-provided health insurance plans starting this summer, rather than having to wait until September or later.
""Ultimately, we'll have a system that provides more control for consumers, more accountability for insurance companies and more affordable choices for uninsured Americans," Obama said.
"Republicans continue to attack the new law as too costly and ineffective. They vow to make it a major issue in the November congressional elections.
"A new Gallup poll found that the law's enactment has not lessened Americans' concerns about health care costs. The poll found that 61 percent worry about the costs of a serious illness or accident and 48 percent worry about normal health care costs."
Keep the health care bill from being cancelled by the Republicans. Elect More Democrats.
"By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer Charles Babington, Associated Press Writer – 44 mins ago
"WASHINGTON – The new health care law already is helping millions of people through tax breaks for small businesses and assistance for families with young adults, President Barack Obama said Saturday.
"In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama promoted his top domestic priority, which passed Congress with no Republican votes and continues to stir strong emotions nationwide. He acknowledged that many provisions will not take effect for years. But he said others are doing some families good now.
"Some 4 million small-business owners and organizations have been told of a possible health care tax cut this year, Obama said. On June 15, some older people with high prescription drug costs will receive $250 to help fill a gap in Medicare's pharmaceutical benefits.
""Already we are seeing a health care system that holds insurance companies more accountable and gives consumers more control," the president said.
"Obama said Anthem Blue Cross dropped a proposed 39 percent premium increase on Californians after his administration demanded an explanation. He said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote to all states "urging them to investigate other rate hikes and stop insurance companies from gaming the system."
"A new federal agency will provide grants to states with the best oversight programs, Obama said.
"His administration also is drafting a "patients' bill of rights" to give consumers information about their health care choices and rights, he said.
"As of September, Obama said, "the new health care law prohibits insurance companies from dropping people's coverage when they get sick and need it most."
"He said his administration will urge large employers to follow several insurance companies' example of allowing people under 26 to stay on their parents' employer-provided health insurance plans starting this summer, rather than having to wait until September or later.
""Ultimately, we'll have a system that provides more control for consumers, more accountability for insurance companies and more affordable choices for uninsured Americans," Obama said.
"Republicans continue to attack the new law as too costly and ineffective. They vow to make it a major issue in the November congressional elections.
"A new Gallup poll found that the law's enactment has not lessened Americans' concerns about health care costs. The poll found that 61 percent worry about the costs of a serious illness or accident and 48 percent worry about normal health care costs."
Keep the health care bill from being cancelled by the Republicans. Elect More Democrats.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Elect More Democrats for Better Mine Safety!
"April 30, 2010
"Ky. mine where 2 died had roof support problems
"By BRETT BARROUQUERE and ROGER ALFORD
"Associated Press Writer
"The underground coal mine where two workers were killed in a roof collapse has been cited at least six times this year for using too few supporting bolts in the roof, state records show.
"The rock fall that killed the men happened late Wednesday about four miles inside the Dotiki Mine and instability in the roof hampered rescue efforts, mining officials said Thursday.
"Rescuers were "within an arm's length" of the body of a miner trapped under rock when the roof became unstable and they had to retreat, said Gov. Steve Beshear, who traveled to the mine and met with families of the victims.
"About that time, the roof started moving again," he said. "Rocks started falling again. And they had to pull back."
"Beshear identified the two men who died as Justin Travis, 27, and Michael Carter, 28.
"Family members had gathered at the nearby Nebo Baptist Church awaiting news. One woman had to be taken from the church by stretcher into an ambulance when word of the second death came Thursday afternoon.
"The families left soon after without speaking to reporters.
"At least six times since January, state inspectors ordered portions of the mine closed because roof bolts were too far apart, according to written citations The Associated Press obtained from the Office of Mine Safety and Licensing through an open records request.
"Roof bolts are metal rods drilled into overhead rock layers to help prevent roof falls. According to the citations, inspectors allowed the mine sections to reopen after additional roof bolts were inserted in each of the locations.
"Some of the roof bolts had been placed some 6 feet apart, in violation of a roof control plan MSHA had approved for the mine.
"In all, state inspectors have issued 31 orders to close sections of the mine or to shut down equipment because of safety violations since January 2009. Those records also show an additional 44 citations for safety violations that didn't result in closure orders.
"U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration records show the mine was cited 840 times by federal inspectors for safety violations since January 2009, and 11 times closure orders were issued.
"The records show 214 of the citations were issued in the first four months of this year, and twice inspectors issued closure orders this year.
"The accident happened while the miners were operating what's known as a continuous miner, a toothy machine that digs coal for transport to the surface.
"Carl Boone, MSHA district supervisor, said crews were able to remove Carter's body from the mine but were still working to retrieve the body of Travis.
"Boone said the mine rescue team was made of men who still work in the mines or had done so recently.
""It's like one big family. A situation like this, it's hard on all of them," Boone said.
"Scott Townsend, owner of Townsend's Food Store in Travis' hometown of Hanson, said he played golf with the miner.
"The two talked about playing in a charity golf game when Townsend saw Travis as he was heading to work on Wednesday.
""Justin was a really good guy. He was in the store just about every day. We will always remember Justin," Townsend said.
"The mine is owned by Alliance Resource Partners, based in Tulsa, Okla., and operates under the name of Webster County Coal.
"Company officials said in a statement that "an isolated portion of the mine roof fell unexpectedly," and they are "deeply saddened" by the workers' deaths.
"Charlie Wesley, an executive vice president for the coal company, said the last fatality inside the mine was in 1988. Alliance purchased the mine in 1971.
"Alliance's vice president of operations is Mine Safety and Health Administration veteran Kenneth A. Murray, a former district manager for the agency in eastern Kentucky who headed the investigation of a January 2006 fire that killed two men at a Massey Energy mine in West Virginia.
"The Dotiki mine was at least partially idled in 2004 when a supply tractor caught fire and spread flames to the coal, timbers and other equipment. The 70 miners who were underground were all safely evacuated and the mine returned to full production in about a month.
"A worker died outside the mine in 1995 when the bulldozer he was operating fell into a cavity in a coal stock pile. He was buried and suffocated.
"Alliance primarily sells coal to electric utilities. It reported 3,090 full-time employees, $1.1 billion in assets and $1.2 billion in total revenues at the end of 2009.
"The nation's worst coal mine disaster in 40 years happened this month in West Virginia, where 29 men died in an explosion inside a mine owned by Massey Energy Co.
"Kentucky has had one miner killed this year in a roof fall at a mine in southeastern Kentucky. Kentucky led the nation in mining deaths last year with six in coal mines and one in a limestone quarry.
"Beshear said Wednesday that a budget impasse in Frankfort could force a partial government shutdown that could halt, at least temporarily, mine inspections and idle mine rescue teams unless lawmakers reach an agreement on a spending plan before July 1.
"Steve Earl, a regional vice president of United Mine Workers of America. called that unacceptable.
""This is not the time for the state of Kentucky to be cutting back on safety inspections and ending mine rescue teams," he said. "They need to find the money somewhere."
""Lexington attorney Tony Oppegard, a mine safety advocate and former regulator, called the Dotiki rock fall tragic.
""The reality is that most miners die one at a time or a few at a time," he said. "But it's just as devastating to the families as when 29 miners die."
* * *
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear answers questions after visiting family members of miners at Nebo Baptist Church in Nebo, Ky., Thursday, April 29, 2010. One miner died and another was missing after a roof collapse at an underground coal mine with a long history of safety problems, officials said Thursday."
The Democrats are the friends of the working men and women, and demand safe workplaces. Elect more Democrats. Stepp for U.S. House D-KY-05!
"Ky. mine where 2 died had roof support problems
"By BRETT BARROUQUERE and ROGER ALFORD
"Associated Press Writer
"The underground coal mine where two workers were killed in a roof collapse has been cited at least six times this year for using too few supporting bolts in the roof, state records show.
"The rock fall that killed the men happened late Wednesday about four miles inside the Dotiki Mine and instability in the roof hampered rescue efforts, mining officials said Thursday.
"Rescuers were "within an arm's length" of the body of a miner trapped under rock when the roof became unstable and they had to retreat, said Gov. Steve Beshear, who traveled to the mine and met with families of the victims.
"About that time, the roof started moving again," he said. "Rocks started falling again. And they had to pull back."
"Beshear identified the two men who died as Justin Travis, 27, and Michael Carter, 28.
"Family members had gathered at the nearby Nebo Baptist Church awaiting news. One woman had to be taken from the church by stretcher into an ambulance when word of the second death came Thursday afternoon.
"The families left soon after without speaking to reporters.
"At least six times since January, state inspectors ordered portions of the mine closed because roof bolts were too far apart, according to written citations The Associated Press obtained from the Office of Mine Safety and Licensing through an open records request.
"Roof bolts are metal rods drilled into overhead rock layers to help prevent roof falls. According to the citations, inspectors allowed the mine sections to reopen after additional roof bolts were inserted in each of the locations.
"Some of the roof bolts had been placed some 6 feet apart, in violation of a roof control plan MSHA had approved for the mine.
"In all, state inspectors have issued 31 orders to close sections of the mine or to shut down equipment because of safety violations since January 2009. Those records also show an additional 44 citations for safety violations that didn't result in closure orders.
"U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration records show the mine was cited 840 times by federal inspectors for safety violations since January 2009, and 11 times closure orders were issued.
"The records show 214 of the citations were issued in the first four months of this year, and twice inspectors issued closure orders this year.
"The accident happened while the miners were operating what's known as a continuous miner, a toothy machine that digs coal for transport to the surface.
"Carl Boone, MSHA district supervisor, said crews were able to remove Carter's body from the mine but were still working to retrieve the body of Travis.
"Boone said the mine rescue team was made of men who still work in the mines or had done so recently.
""It's like one big family. A situation like this, it's hard on all of them," Boone said.
"Scott Townsend, owner of Townsend's Food Store in Travis' hometown of Hanson, said he played golf with the miner.
"The two talked about playing in a charity golf game when Townsend saw Travis as he was heading to work on Wednesday.
""Justin was a really good guy. He was in the store just about every day. We will always remember Justin," Townsend said.
"The mine is owned by Alliance Resource Partners, based in Tulsa, Okla., and operates under the name of Webster County Coal.
"Company officials said in a statement that "an isolated portion of the mine roof fell unexpectedly," and they are "deeply saddened" by the workers' deaths.
"Charlie Wesley, an executive vice president for the coal company, said the last fatality inside the mine was in 1988. Alliance purchased the mine in 1971.
"Alliance's vice president of operations is Mine Safety and Health Administration veteran Kenneth A. Murray, a former district manager for the agency in eastern Kentucky who headed the investigation of a January 2006 fire that killed two men at a Massey Energy mine in West Virginia.
"The Dotiki mine was at least partially idled in 2004 when a supply tractor caught fire and spread flames to the coal, timbers and other equipment. The 70 miners who were underground were all safely evacuated and the mine returned to full production in about a month.
"A worker died outside the mine in 1995 when the bulldozer he was operating fell into a cavity in a coal stock pile. He was buried and suffocated.
"Alliance primarily sells coal to electric utilities. It reported 3,090 full-time employees, $1.1 billion in assets and $1.2 billion in total revenues at the end of 2009.
"The nation's worst coal mine disaster in 40 years happened this month in West Virginia, where 29 men died in an explosion inside a mine owned by Massey Energy Co.
"Kentucky has had one miner killed this year in a roof fall at a mine in southeastern Kentucky. Kentucky led the nation in mining deaths last year with six in coal mines and one in a limestone quarry.
"Beshear said Wednesday that a budget impasse in Frankfort could force a partial government shutdown that could halt, at least temporarily, mine inspections and idle mine rescue teams unless lawmakers reach an agreement on a spending plan before July 1.
"Steve Earl, a regional vice president of United Mine Workers of America. called that unacceptable.
""This is not the time for the state of Kentucky to be cutting back on safety inspections and ending mine rescue teams," he said. "They need to find the money somewhere."
""Lexington attorney Tony Oppegard, a mine safety advocate and former regulator, called the Dotiki rock fall tragic.
""The reality is that most miners die one at a time or a few at a time," he said. "But it's just as devastating to the families as when 29 miners die."
* * *
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear answers questions after visiting family members of miners at Nebo Baptist Church in Nebo, Ky., Thursday, April 29, 2010. One miner died and another was missing after a roof collapse at an underground coal mine with a long history of safety problems, officials said Thursday."
The Democrats are the friends of the working men and women, and demand safe workplaces. Elect more Democrats. Stepp for U.S. House D-KY-05!
"Mitch" McConnell national "Unfavorable" rating jumps to 61%!
"Daily Kos Weekly State of the Nation Poll
Research 2000, Adults MoE 2.8%, Apr 26, 2010 - Apr 29, 2010 (last week's results in parentheses)
Full Crosstabs FAVORABLE UNFAVORABLE DON'T KNOW NET CHANGE
PRESIDENT OBAMA 55 (54) 42 (41) 3 (5) 0
PELOSI: 39 (38) 50 (51) 11 (11) 2
REID: 29 (27) 59 (60) 12 (13) 3
McCONNELL: 24 (25) 61 (60) 15 (15) -2
BOEHNER: 22 (23) 58 (59) 20 (18) 0
CONGRESSIONAL DEMS: 38 (37) 57 (58) 5 (5) 2
CONGRESSIONAL GOPS: 22 (23) 66 (67) 12 (10) 0
DEMOCRATIC PARTY: 41 (40) 53 (54) 6 (6) 2
REPUBLICAN PARTY: 32 (32) 65 (64) 3 (4) -1"
Vote for the political party with the higest favorable rating, and the lowest unfavorable rating. Electmore Democrats. Elect Kenneth Stepp to the U.S. House KY-05!
Research 2000, Adults MoE 2.8%, Apr 26, 2010 - Apr 29, 2010 (last week's results in parentheses)
Full Crosstabs FAVORABLE UNFAVORABLE DON'T KNOW NET CHANGE
PRESIDENT OBAMA 55 (54) 42 (41) 3 (5) 0
PELOSI: 39 (38) 50 (51) 11 (11) 2
REID: 29 (27) 59 (60) 12 (13) 3
McCONNELL: 24 (25) 61 (60) 15 (15) -2
BOEHNER: 22 (23) 58 (59) 20 (18) 0
CONGRESSIONAL DEMS: 38 (37) 57 (58) 5 (5) 2
CONGRESSIONAL GOPS: 22 (23) 66 (67) 12 (10) 0
DEMOCRATIC PARTY: 41 (40) 53 (54) 6 (6) 2
REPUBLICAN PARTY: 32 (32) 65 (64) 3 (4) -1"
Vote for the political party with the higest favorable rating, and the lowest unfavorable rating. Electmore Democrats. Elect Kenneth Stepp to the U.S. House KY-05!
Hal Rogers is a big-government-Republican!
"Bob CescaPolitical Writer, Blogger, and New Media Producer
"Posted: May 5, 2010 04:18 PM BIO Become a Fan Get Email Alerts Bloggers' Index
"Republicans and Teabaggers Finally Embrace Big Government
"For more than a year now, we've been hearing from Republicans, tea party people and Glenn Beck's chalkboard about how big government is destroying American liberty and freedom. Much of the shrieking is literally accompanied by the yellow Revolutionary War "Don't Tread on Me" flag.
"Every tea party lawn concert and misspelled sign regatta features people dressed in colonial drag with tea bags dangling from their tri-corner hats, waving banners in support of tax cuts, liberty and freedom and against the allegedly tyrannical Obama government. They're really scared and they want their country back from the (somehow) black liberal Nazi.
"We've heard about how the "czars" are unconstitutional, even though the name "czars" was invented by the press as clever pseudonym for "advisers."
"We've heard about how the Recovery Act, which has created hundreds of thousands of jobs and cut taxes for 95 percent of working families, is unconstitutional and an attack on states' rights and individual liberty. We've heard about how it's "generational theft" for the government to spend money to solve an economic crisis. We've heard about how the tax cuts in the Recovery Act are just a scam and should be returned to the government in protest.
"We've heard about the crazy conspiracy theories involving the IRS invading our neighborhoods with armed goon squads -- rounding up anyone who purchased one of Glenn Beck's dozens of McBooks. Of course this meme turned out to be entirely untrue as there is no enforcement mechanism in the health care reform law should you simply choose not to pay the tax penalty for not buying insurance.
"Republican attorneys general across the nation are challenging the health care law in court because, they say, it's unconstitutional. House minority leader John Boehner once called the bill "Armageddon" because of the tax penalty for Americans who choose not to buy insurance. Armageddon!
"Throughout all of the misinformed and contradictory right-wing antics of the past year, I've been wondering how post-Bush Republicans and conservatives can possibly square all of their newly found affinity for freedom, liberty and the Constitution considering their eight year support for Bush era policies. Policies like illegal wiretaps of American citizens, the USA Patriot Act, suspension of habeas corpus (it's in the Constitution) and all the rest of it.
"Have they at long last abandoned their support for these obvious trespasses against liberty and the Constitution? In fact, Glenn Beck said recently that he failed to speak out back then but, "It doesn't matter. I'm here now." Convenient timing. History appears to have skipped the first decade of the 21st century.
"Put another way, are the Republicans suddenly joining up with civil libertarians to denounce policies that infringe upon basic constitutional rights? Maybe Rush Limbaugh teaming up with the ACLU during his drug case was a sign of things to come. A civil liberties-oriented conservative movement, eh?
"Not a chance in hell.
"This week, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said about the failed Times Square car bomb suspect, "Did they Mirandize him? I know he's an American citizen but still."
"I know he's an American citizen but still. This easily catapults to the top of the list of awful, creepy, dangerous things Republicans have said in the context of terrorism since 9/11 -- the same list that includes: "None of your civil liberties matter much if you're dead," and, "I have had it with members of your party undermining our troops, undermining a commander in chief while we are at war."
"Republicans from King to John McCain to John Cornyn and Jon Kyl are engaged in some sort of weird penis-measuring contest over the Faisal Shahzad case, each attempting to prove how quickly they can subvert the basic rights of American citizenship in order to appear "tough" on terrorism.
"Marco Rubio, who is the tea party favorite for the U.S. Senate from Florida, said, "If this individual has information that could help us prevent future attacks and loss of life, nothing should stand in the way of that, including Miranda."
"So nothing except, again, the basic rights of American citizenship.
"Pseudo-Republican Joe Lieberman wants to change the law in order to strip would-be terrorists of their American citizenship. Hey, why not expand that to encompass all violent crime. Before long, we're not going to need Amendments Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight and Fourteen.
"Liberty! Freedom! Constitution! Except when we're scared.
"At the same time, a new poll from the New York Times and CBS shows that a narrow majority of Americans support the Arizona anti-immigration law even though a wide majority also believes that it will involve racial profiling. Concurrent to this poll, a Gallup survey shows that 75 percent of Republicans support the Arizona law with only 17 percent opposed.
"Knowing full well that American citizens who happen to be brown will be swept up in the law enforcement dragnet, regardless of whether or not they've actually broken the law and regardless of whether or not they've lived in Arizona longer than many of the white people there, the Republicans and tea party people appear to be perfectly comfortable with the idea of government overreaching and engaging in a clear violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, among other things.
"Liberty! Freedom! Constitution! Except if you're brown.
"And finally, as the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico rapidly buries any previous records for oil spills, dumping perhaps as much as 25,000 barrels of oil per day into the sea -- dooming jobs, wildlife and natural resources for decades to come, suddenly big government spending and "redistribution of wealth" isn't so bad after all.
"Republican lawmakers are quickly stashing their "Don't Tread on Me" banners and tea bag hats in the nearest closet and demanding that the federal government come to the rescue of the Gulf States.
"As documented by Dana Milbank this week, Republican David Vitter worried that BP couldn't do the job alone and that "federal and state" government agencies pitch in.
"Talk radio and Fox News, meanwhile, lied about the administration's allegedly slow response, implying that the government should be doing more -- even though we've been told by everyone of Ayn Rand to Sarah Palin that the free market ought to be able to handle these things on its own. (For the record, the administration has been on the ground and at sea since day one of the BP crisis.)
"The governors of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, all run by small-government Republicans demanded more support from the National Guard. Small government senators Shelby and Sessions promised the full support of the federal government.
"Bobby Jindal, who famously joked about federal spending for volcano monitoring and tried to stop any Recovery Act money from entering Louisiana, isn't so concerned about federal spending now. He issued a statement demanding "critical" federal government resources.
"I think you get the idea.
"But maybe we should just slow things down. Before we spend any government money, before we spread the wealth around and engage in generational theft, maybe we should start over. I know there's a crisis here, sort of like the one in which the economy was rapidly sinking into another Great Depression or the one in which American families are filing for medical bankruptcies every 30 seconds or the one in which there are 9/11-level deaths every month due to a lack of health insurance, but let's just slow down and start over.
"In his University of Michigan commencement address in front of 92,000 people last weekend, President Obama made a rational, reasonable case for government. It was a far cry from Reaganomics and President Clinton's declaration about the end of big government. He said, "There are some things we can only do together, as one nation... So what we should be asking is not whether we need a 'big government' or a 'small government,' but how we can create a smarter, better government."
"Perhaps, despite the inchoate rage of the tea parties and the posturing of the Republicans, they really do understand that we live in an era of unprecedented national crises and that with many of these problems only the federal government is adequately suited to repair the damage. If we could all meet up on these terms, on the terms of "smarter government," I think we'd be able to accomplish anything and mitigate any crisis.
"After all, how bad can it be. The grandfather of the tea party movement, libertarian Ron Paul, receives government Medicare benefits."
Hal Rogers is a big-government-Republican. ELECT KENNETH STEPP D-KY-05 TO THE U.S. HOUSE. ELECT MORE DEMOCRATS!
"Posted: May 5, 2010 04:18 PM BIO Become a Fan Get Email Alerts Bloggers' Index
"Republicans and Teabaggers Finally Embrace Big Government
"For more than a year now, we've been hearing from Republicans, tea party people and Glenn Beck's chalkboard about how big government is destroying American liberty and freedom. Much of the shrieking is literally accompanied by the yellow Revolutionary War "Don't Tread on Me" flag.
"Every tea party lawn concert and misspelled sign regatta features people dressed in colonial drag with tea bags dangling from their tri-corner hats, waving banners in support of tax cuts, liberty and freedom and against the allegedly tyrannical Obama government. They're really scared and they want their country back from the (somehow) black liberal Nazi.
"We've heard about how the "czars" are unconstitutional, even though the name "czars" was invented by the press as clever pseudonym for "advisers."
"We've heard about how the Recovery Act, which has created hundreds of thousands of jobs and cut taxes for 95 percent of working families, is unconstitutional and an attack on states' rights and individual liberty. We've heard about how it's "generational theft" for the government to spend money to solve an economic crisis. We've heard about how the tax cuts in the Recovery Act are just a scam and should be returned to the government in protest.
"We've heard about the crazy conspiracy theories involving the IRS invading our neighborhoods with armed goon squads -- rounding up anyone who purchased one of Glenn Beck's dozens of McBooks. Of course this meme turned out to be entirely untrue as there is no enforcement mechanism in the health care reform law should you simply choose not to pay the tax penalty for not buying insurance.
"Republican attorneys general across the nation are challenging the health care law in court because, they say, it's unconstitutional. House minority leader John Boehner once called the bill "Armageddon" because of the tax penalty for Americans who choose not to buy insurance. Armageddon!
"Throughout all of the misinformed and contradictory right-wing antics of the past year, I've been wondering how post-Bush Republicans and conservatives can possibly square all of their newly found affinity for freedom, liberty and the Constitution considering their eight year support for Bush era policies. Policies like illegal wiretaps of American citizens, the USA Patriot Act, suspension of habeas corpus (it's in the Constitution) and all the rest of it.
"Have they at long last abandoned their support for these obvious trespasses against liberty and the Constitution? In fact, Glenn Beck said recently that he failed to speak out back then but, "It doesn't matter. I'm here now." Convenient timing. History appears to have skipped the first decade of the 21st century.
"Put another way, are the Republicans suddenly joining up with civil libertarians to denounce policies that infringe upon basic constitutional rights? Maybe Rush Limbaugh teaming up with the ACLU during his drug case was a sign of things to come. A civil liberties-oriented conservative movement, eh?
"Not a chance in hell.
"This week, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said about the failed Times Square car bomb suspect, "Did they Mirandize him? I know he's an American citizen but still."
"I know he's an American citizen but still. This easily catapults to the top of the list of awful, creepy, dangerous things Republicans have said in the context of terrorism since 9/11 -- the same list that includes: "None of your civil liberties matter much if you're dead," and, "I have had it with members of your party undermining our troops, undermining a commander in chief while we are at war."
"Republicans from King to John McCain to John Cornyn and Jon Kyl are engaged in some sort of weird penis-measuring contest over the Faisal Shahzad case, each attempting to prove how quickly they can subvert the basic rights of American citizenship in order to appear "tough" on terrorism.
"Marco Rubio, who is the tea party favorite for the U.S. Senate from Florida, said, "If this individual has information that could help us prevent future attacks and loss of life, nothing should stand in the way of that, including Miranda."
"So nothing except, again, the basic rights of American citizenship.
"Pseudo-Republican Joe Lieberman wants to change the law in order to strip would-be terrorists of their American citizenship. Hey, why not expand that to encompass all violent crime. Before long, we're not going to need Amendments Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight and Fourteen.
"Liberty! Freedom! Constitution! Except when we're scared.
"At the same time, a new poll from the New York Times and CBS shows that a narrow majority of Americans support the Arizona anti-immigration law even though a wide majority also believes that it will involve racial profiling. Concurrent to this poll, a Gallup survey shows that 75 percent of Republicans support the Arizona law with only 17 percent opposed.
"Knowing full well that American citizens who happen to be brown will be swept up in the law enforcement dragnet, regardless of whether or not they've actually broken the law and regardless of whether or not they've lived in Arizona longer than many of the white people there, the Republicans and tea party people appear to be perfectly comfortable with the idea of government overreaching and engaging in a clear violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, among other things.
"Liberty! Freedom! Constitution! Except if you're brown.
"And finally, as the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico rapidly buries any previous records for oil spills, dumping perhaps as much as 25,000 barrels of oil per day into the sea -- dooming jobs, wildlife and natural resources for decades to come, suddenly big government spending and "redistribution of wealth" isn't so bad after all.
"Republican lawmakers are quickly stashing their "Don't Tread on Me" banners and tea bag hats in the nearest closet and demanding that the federal government come to the rescue of the Gulf States.
"As documented by Dana Milbank this week, Republican David Vitter worried that BP couldn't do the job alone and that "federal and state" government agencies pitch in.
"Talk radio and Fox News, meanwhile, lied about the administration's allegedly slow response, implying that the government should be doing more -- even though we've been told by everyone of Ayn Rand to Sarah Palin that the free market ought to be able to handle these things on its own. (For the record, the administration has been on the ground and at sea since day one of the BP crisis.)
"The governors of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, all run by small-government Republicans demanded more support from the National Guard. Small government senators Shelby and Sessions promised the full support of the federal government.
"Bobby Jindal, who famously joked about federal spending for volcano monitoring and tried to stop any Recovery Act money from entering Louisiana, isn't so concerned about federal spending now. He issued a statement demanding "critical" federal government resources.
"I think you get the idea.
"But maybe we should just slow things down. Before we spend any government money, before we spread the wealth around and engage in generational theft, maybe we should start over. I know there's a crisis here, sort of like the one in which the economy was rapidly sinking into another Great Depression or the one in which American families are filing for medical bankruptcies every 30 seconds or the one in which there are 9/11-level deaths every month due to a lack of health insurance, but let's just slow down and start over.
"In his University of Michigan commencement address in front of 92,000 people last weekend, President Obama made a rational, reasonable case for government. It was a far cry from Reaganomics and President Clinton's declaration about the end of big government. He said, "There are some things we can only do together, as one nation... So what we should be asking is not whether we need a 'big government' or a 'small government,' but how we can create a smarter, better government."
"Perhaps, despite the inchoate rage of the tea parties and the posturing of the Republicans, they really do understand that we live in an era of unprecedented national crises and that with many of these problems only the federal government is adequately suited to repair the damage. If we could all meet up on these terms, on the terms of "smarter government," I think we'd be able to accomplish anything and mitigate any crisis.
"After all, how bad can it be. The grandfather of the tea party movement, libertarian Ron Paul, receives government Medicare benefits."
Hal Rogers is a big-government-Republican. ELECT KENNETH STEPP D-KY-05 TO THE U.S. HOUSE. ELECT MORE DEMOCRATS!
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Rogers endorses Grayson in Republican Senate race
"Rogers endorses Grayson in Republican Senate race
The Associated Press FRANFORT, Ky. --
"U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, a revered political figure in heavily Republican southeastern Kentucky, has endorsed Trey Grayson in the U.S. Senate race.
Grayson is among five Republicans seeking to replace retiring Sen. Jim Bunning, the 78-year-old sports icon who opted not to seek a third term.
The mountain region that Rogers represents is a key battleground in the May 18 Republican primary. Rogers said Grayson would "fight for our values and priorities" alongside the rest of Kentucky's federal delegation.
To win the nomination, Grayson will have to overcome front-runner Rand Paul, a Bowling Green eye surgeon who is running as a political outsider.
Paul won an endorsement Monday from evangelical leader James Dobson, founder of the Colorado-based Christian organization Focus on the Family."
Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/05/03/1249847/rogers-endorses-grayson-in-republican.html#ixzz0mz7gq6e3"
Hal Rogers is a pro-war candidate. Ron Paul and Kenneth Stepp are anti-war candidates that believe the U.S. troops should be pulled out of Iraq. Elect More Democrats! Elect Kenneth Stepp to the U.S. House KY-05!
The Associated Press FRANFORT, Ky. --
"U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, a revered political figure in heavily Republican southeastern Kentucky, has endorsed Trey Grayson in the U.S. Senate race.
Grayson is among five Republicans seeking to replace retiring Sen. Jim Bunning, the 78-year-old sports icon who opted not to seek a third term.
The mountain region that Rogers represents is a key battleground in the May 18 Republican primary. Rogers said Grayson would "fight for our values and priorities" alongside the rest of Kentucky's federal delegation.
To win the nomination, Grayson will have to overcome front-runner Rand Paul, a Bowling Green eye surgeon who is running as a political outsider.
Paul won an endorsement Monday from evangelical leader James Dobson, founder of the Colorado-based Christian organization Focus on the Family."
Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/05/03/1249847/rogers-endorses-grayson-in-republican.html#ixzz0mz7gq6e3"
Hal Rogers is a pro-war candidate. Ron Paul and Kenneth Stepp are anti-war candidates that believe the U.S. troops should be pulled out of Iraq. Elect More Democrats! Elect Kenneth Stepp to the U.S. House KY-05!
Monday, May 03, 2010
Goldman Sachs and Hal Rogers.
Goldman Sachs Political Contributions Turn Toxic
Paul Barton, CNC News | 03 May 2010
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http://www.capitolnewsconnection.org/node/14568
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Campaign contributions from Goldman Sachs, a company under fire in the courts and on Capitol Hill for its derivatives practices, have suddenly become radioactive for many congressional candidates, several political observers contend.
"Tainted and poisonous"
For those in competitive races, “it’s not only tainted, it can be poisonous,” said Larry Sabato, political scientist at the University of Virginia.
“Tainted” was also a description used by Craig Holman, legislative representative for the watchdog group Public Citizen. “Goldman Sachs has run our economy into the ground,” he added.
"Goldman Sachs executives spent an difficult day last week defending themselves against such charges before a Senate committee.
"Sabato said in every region except possibly the northeast, Goldman Sachs contributions are going to make easy fodder for attack television ads, the kind that could matter if Wall Street’s reputation continues to be sullied.
"Legendary for political contributions
"For decades, Goldman Sachs, with its reputation in tact, has enjoyed legendary status as source of political contributions in Washington. But now contributions linked to the company are becoming political issues coast to coast.
"“They are the connected of the connected. It’s money that’s been hard for politicians to turn down,” said Meredith McGehee, policy director for the Campaign Legal Institute.
"The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan campaign research organization, ranks Goldman Sachs No. 6 on its all-time “heavy hitters” list. That's the companies, unions and other organizations whose employees and political action committees have given the most to federal candidates since 1989.
"$31.61 million to politicos
"During that time the company has donated $31.61 million, the Center for Responsive Politics says. The only institutions ranking above it are labor unions and the American Association for Justice, the trial lawyers lobby - and then just barely. The fourth and fifth-ranked heavy hitters have given just a few hundred thousand more than Goldman.
"For the 2010 elections alone, Goldman Sachs-connected contributions so-far total $520,275, the Center for Responsive Politics reports.
"Top takers
"Leading recipients include: Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., $15,500; Florida governor and Republican Senate candidate Charles Christ, $10,100; embattled Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, $8,800; Republican Senate candidate Roy Blunt of Missouri, $6,200; House Majority Leader Stenny Hoyer of Maryland, $5,000; Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., $4,800; California Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, $4,800; and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.
"Dodd and fellow Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman also rank among leaders in Goldman Sachs contributions since 1989, Dodd receiving $273,466 and Lieberman $123,700.
"Other career leaders in Goldman contributions include House Minority Leader John Boehner with $28,600; Blunt with $56,800; Hoyer with $32,800; and Himes with $170,248.
"Lawmakers' personal money in Goldman
"Not only do lawmakers take contributions from Goldman Sachs, several entrust the financial giant with the management of large portions of their personal wealth, research by the Center for Responsive Politics also shows.
"Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, leads with between $350,000 and $700,000 handled by the firm, according to 2008 financial disclosure reports, followed by Himes with $250,001 to $500,000. Another prominent member, Rep. Jane Harmon, D-Calif., had between $18,001 and $95,000 invested; Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., both with between $15,001 and $50,000; Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., $1,372; Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, $1,001 to $15,000; and Rep. Ron Klein, R-Florida, with less than $1,000 invested. The congressional disclosure reports only require assets to be reported in broad ranges.
"Watchdog groups say both forms of involvement with Goldman Sachs raise conflict of interest questions for lawmakers.
"Relaxed conflict of interest rules
“It’s scary,” Holman said. Because of relaxed conflict of interest rules, he said, members are constantly overseeing and voting policies affecting companies they either receive contributions from or have a personal stake in.
"But Himes spokesperson Elizabeth Kerr said Himes’ 2009 financial disclosure, due to be filed next month, will tell a different story. She said he divested himself of assets in Wall Street firms after landing a seat on the House Financial Services Committee last year.
"Neugebauer’s press secretary, Beth Breeding, said: “Congressman Neugebauer is, and has been, a client of Goldman Sachs for several years. He has a brokerage account and pays them for their services. He does not currently, nor has he in the past, own any stock in Goldman Sachs. Congressman Neugebauer voted against all of the bailouts, and also voted against the House version of financial regulatory reform because it created a permanent bailout fund.”
"Unaware of transaction details
"And a Harmon spokesman said: "The managers of funds in which the Congresswoman and her family are invested make investment decisions (both buy and sell) without consulting them. All investments are fully disclosed. Rep. Harman recused herself from the ongoing Toyota investigation because that company has a major supplier relationship with the firm founded by her husband. There is no comparable relationship between the Harmans and Goldman Sachs."
"As for Goldman Sachs contributions influencing votes, the Himes spokesperson said the House member “makes each decision based on the merits of the bill.” And Himes supports financial regulatory reform that would be tough on Wall Street, Kerr added.
"The claim of no influence is typical of many lawmakers’ response to such questions.
"Dodd: "System is deeply troubled"
"On a recent NBC “Meet the Press," Dodd said: “As someone who's a strong supporter of public financing of federal elections, I think the system is deeply troubled. But I also happen to believe that most members of Congress that I know don't sell their votes for contributions.”
"But Holman said of such claims, “They know where the money comes from.”
"Melanie Sloan, head of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, joins Sabato in saying that candidates are likely to think twice before accepting any further contributions from the Wall Street powerhouse in 2010.
"But she also doubts “many will give it back.”
Enough of Hal Rogers. Elect Kenneth Stepp to U.S. House, KY-05 in 2010!
Paul Barton, CNC News | 03 May 2010
ShareEmbed Ask a Question
http://www.capitolnewsconnection.org/node/14568
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Campaign contributions from Goldman Sachs, a company under fire in the courts and on Capitol Hill for its derivatives practices, have suddenly become radioactive for many congressional candidates, several political observers contend.
"Tainted and poisonous"
For those in competitive races, “it’s not only tainted, it can be poisonous,” said Larry Sabato, political scientist at the University of Virginia.
“Tainted” was also a description used by Craig Holman, legislative representative for the watchdog group Public Citizen. “Goldman Sachs has run our economy into the ground,” he added.
"Goldman Sachs executives spent an difficult day last week defending themselves against such charges before a Senate committee.
"Sabato said in every region except possibly the northeast, Goldman Sachs contributions are going to make easy fodder for attack television ads, the kind that could matter if Wall Street’s reputation continues to be sullied.
"Legendary for political contributions
"For decades, Goldman Sachs, with its reputation in tact, has enjoyed legendary status as source of political contributions in Washington. But now contributions linked to the company are becoming political issues coast to coast.
"“They are the connected of the connected. It’s money that’s been hard for politicians to turn down,” said Meredith McGehee, policy director for the Campaign Legal Institute.
"The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan campaign research organization, ranks Goldman Sachs No. 6 on its all-time “heavy hitters” list. That's the companies, unions and other organizations whose employees and political action committees have given the most to federal candidates since 1989.
"$31.61 million to politicos
"During that time the company has donated $31.61 million, the Center for Responsive Politics says. The only institutions ranking above it are labor unions and the American Association for Justice, the trial lawyers lobby - and then just barely. The fourth and fifth-ranked heavy hitters have given just a few hundred thousand more than Goldman.
"For the 2010 elections alone, Goldman Sachs-connected contributions so-far total $520,275, the Center for Responsive Politics reports.
"Top takers
"Leading recipients include: Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., $15,500; Florida governor and Republican Senate candidate Charles Christ, $10,100; embattled Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, $8,800; Republican Senate candidate Roy Blunt of Missouri, $6,200; House Majority Leader Stenny Hoyer of Maryland, $5,000; Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., $4,800; California Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, $4,800; and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.
"Dodd and fellow Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman also rank among leaders in Goldman Sachs contributions since 1989, Dodd receiving $273,466 and Lieberman $123,700.
"Other career leaders in Goldman contributions include House Minority Leader John Boehner with $28,600; Blunt with $56,800; Hoyer with $32,800; and Himes with $170,248.
"Lawmakers' personal money in Goldman
"Not only do lawmakers take contributions from Goldman Sachs, several entrust the financial giant with the management of large portions of their personal wealth, research by the Center for Responsive Politics also shows.
"Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, leads with between $350,000 and $700,000 handled by the firm, according to 2008 financial disclosure reports, followed by Himes with $250,001 to $500,000. Another prominent member, Rep. Jane Harmon, D-Calif., had between $18,001 and $95,000 invested; Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., both with between $15,001 and $50,000; Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., $1,372; Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, $1,001 to $15,000; and Rep. Ron Klein, R-Florida, with less than $1,000 invested. The congressional disclosure reports only require assets to be reported in broad ranges.
"Watchdog groups say both forms of involvement with Goldman Sachs raise conflict of interest questions for lawmakers.
"Relaxed conflict of interest rules
“It’s scary,” Holman said. Because of relaxed conflict of interest rules, he said, members are constantly overseeing and voting policies affecting companies they either receive contributions from or have a personal stake in.
"But Himes spokesperson Elizabeth Kerr said Himes’ 2009 financial disclosure, due to be filed next month, will tell a different story. She said he divested himself of assets in Wall Street firms after landing a seat on the House Financial Services Committee last year.
"Neugebauer’s press secretary, Beth Breeding, said: “Congressman Neugebauer is, and has been, a client of Goldman Sachs for several years. He has a brokerage account and pays them for their services. He does not currently, nor has he in the past, own any stock in Goldman Sachs. Congressman Neugebauer voted against all of the bailouts, and also voted against the House version of financial regulatory reform because it created a permanent bailout fund.”
"Unaware of transaction details
"And a Harmon spokesman said: "The managers of funds in which the Congresswoman and her family are invested make investment decisions (both buy and sell) without consulting them. All investments are fully disclosed. Rep. Harman recused herself from the ongoing Toyota investigation because that company has a major supplier relationship with the firm founded by her husband. There is no comparable relationship between the Harmans and Goldman Sachs."
"As for Goldman Sachs contributions influencing votes, the Himes spokesperson said the House member “makes each decision based on the merits of the bill.” And Himes supports financial regulatory reform that would be tough on Wall Street, Kerr added.
"The claim of no influence is typical of many lawmakers’ response to such questions.
"Dodd: "System is deeply troubled"
"On a recent NBC “Meet the Press," Dodd said: “As someone who's a strong supporter of public financing of federal elections, I think the system is deeply troubled. But I also happen to believe that most members of Congress that I know don't sell their votes for contributions.”
"But Holman said of such claims, “They know where the money comes from.”
"Melanie Sloan, head of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, joins Sabato in saying that candidates are likely to think twice before accepting any further contributions from the Wall Street powerhouse in 2010.
"But she also doubts “many will give it back.”
Enough of Hal Rogers. Elect Kenneth Stepp to U.S. House, KY-05 in 2010!
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Kenneth Stepp saddened by Kentucky Coal Miners' deaths.
"Obama saddened by Kentucky mine deaths
"The Associated Press WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama says mining accidents like the latest one in Kentucky that claimed two lives must be prevented.
"Obama issued a statement Friday saying he was deeply saddened by the incident where two miners were killed when a roof collapsed in the Dotiki Mine late Wednesday. It happened only weeks after an explosion at a mine in West Virginia killed 29, the nation's worst coal mine disaster in decades .
"After the West Virginia incident Obama ordered a review of mine safety procedures. He said Friday that it was the responsibility of everyone from mine operators to the federal government to prevent such tragedies from happening."
"Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/04/30/1246103/obama-saddened-by-kentucky-mine.html#ixzz0mgO8kc8E"
Kenneth Stepp is also saddened by the recent Kentucky coal mine deaths. The Democrats are for better mine safety. Vote for the coal miners and elect more Democrats. Stepp for U.S. House KY-05!
"The Associated Press WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama says mining accidents like the latest one in Kentucky that claimed two lives must be prevented.
"Obama issued a statement Friday saying he was deeply saddened by the incident where two miners were killed when a roof collapsed in the Dotiki Mine late Wednesday. It happened only weeks after an explosion at a mine in West Virginia killed 29, the nation's worst coal mine disaster in decades .
"After the West Virginia incident Obama ordered a review of mine safety procedures. He said Friday that it was the responsibility of everyone from mine operators to the federal government to prevent such tragedies from happening."
"Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/04/30/1246103/obama-saddened-by-kentucky-mine.html#ixzz0mgO8kc8E"
Kenneth Stepp is also saddened by the recent Kentucky coal mine deaths. The Democrats are for better mine safety. Vote for the coal miners and elect more Democrats. Stepp for U.S. House KY-05!
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