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Obama or Clinton: Who would you want to answer the phone at 3 AM?
2008-03-01 17:09:00
Things are heating up in the Democratic presidential primary as we only have 4 days to before the showdown in Ohio and Texas; We might actually know by Tuesday who our Democratic nominee will be. A couple of "playing on your worse fears by showing little kids sleeping" hard hitting ads are being dubbed the 3 AM ads, or something like that. This level of politics is comical, to me, and while the job of President is very serious, these ads are the reason common people hate politics, but thats my opinion. Obama Clinton
More About: Phone , Answer

BlueGrassWiki: Now this is a good idea
2008-02-29 00:04:00
Everyone that reads this little blog please help these guys out and support this project. I am going to take a little break this weekend ,starting NOW!, and will leave this thread up all weekend to make sure everyone sees it. Unless something kick ass happens of course. BlueGrassRoots The immediate goal of BlueGrassWiki is to provide all the information Kentucky Democrats need to be involved in the party's reorganization process this April.  Essential to that goal is providing as much contact information we can for the individual counties.  After the party reorganization, we hope to use BlueGrassWiki to help the county parties and activists hoping to get involved find each other.  As a repository for collective knowledge and wisdom, many other potential uses exist for a wiki devoted to Kentucky Democratic politics--uses we will be exploring as BlueGrassWiki grows.But for now, WE NEED YOUR HELP!  Building a wiki is not a two-person effort—it takes a village....
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Bruce Lunsford may have to answer for this one
2008-02-28 15:24:00
UPDATE: Lunsford is a resident of everywhere and rich and thats why I did not get excited. I normally do not even consider sourcing from a rightwing extraordinaire like Brett Hall, but after Mark Hebert of WHAS11 in Louisville mentioned this, it is only appropriate. Hebert agrees that Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate Bruce Lunsford may have some splaining to do seeing that documents uncovered by Hall show Lunsford's actual place of residence to be Chicago, Illinois NOT Kentucky. So it can be argued, and I am sure some Republican somewhere is preparing to do so, that Bruce Lunsford's candidacy may be bogus or he lied on legal documents in Arizona, either way he could be screwed. But rich people always manage to squirm out of things like this, so I am not getting excited about this one quite yet.
More About: Answer

House Speaker Richards playing for the other side?
2008-02-28 01:10:00
I have just received an interesting email from a well placed source that reminded me of a very important fact; Jody Richards has never supported casino gaming until this year. If he indeed has, I can not find an example of it. And they had an interesting theory that Richards is actually playing up to the anti-casino lobby thus destroying the amendment by acting like a 3 year old who drank to much Pepsi yesterday. Larry Keeling's latest thread on the issue seems to support this ridiculous but intriguing theory. Ridiculous meaning; how could Richards expect to get away with it? Keeling says that Richards' Tuesday tirade will likely result in the previously pro-casino house headcount of 51 members to drop into the low to mid-40-s thus effectively destroying any possibility of the casino question hitting the ballot. I don't know if I buy this or not, but knowing how politicians sometimes operate, it would not surprise me.
More About: House , Speaker , Side , The Other Side

Alright Page One Smart Ass: You carry RPK poo times two
2008-02-28 00:43:00
And again Page One, who apparently dared us, to say they are, yet again, carrying the poo bucket, the chamber pot, the crap barrel, the piss bottle, the droopy diaper, and portal potty for the RPK by repeating Steve Robertson's stank on a so called left leaning weblog. But it is about the hits baby. Page One So, hop to it! Start calling us a Republican mouthpiece for publishing a political attack on our ineffective Speaker.
More About: Smart , Times , Alright , Carry

Documents reveal McCain campaign misleads on Kentucky ballot
2008-02-27 23:44:00
The shady world of public financing federal elections has apparently snagged a presidential candidate in Senator John McCain. The DNC filed a complaint with the FEC yesterday. Does this come back to haunt the probable Republican nominee? Throw in an unethical relationship with a lobbyist and it starts to add up. These hits hurt his chances and I suspect they will keep coming. Kentucky Democratic Party WASHINGTON, DC - Facing questions about whether the campaign leveraged eligibility for public matching funds to gain access to the ballot in several states, the McCain campaign yesterday sunk to a new low. For days the McCain campaign has been playing fast and loose with the facts surrounding McCain's FEC violations. On a call with reporters yesterday, the McCain campaign erroneously stated that the campaign was getting on the Kentucky ballot by collecting signatures. [Wall Street Journal, 2/27/08] The Democratic National Committee today released documents that show the McCain ca...
More About: Campaign , Documents , Ballot

Kentucky Casinos Alive
2008-02-27 23:17:00
The House Speaker Jody Richards version of a constitutional amendment that would allow casino gaming in Kentucky has passed the Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee. It is a good thing that the legislation made it out of committee, but what kind of reaction does this legislation receive on the house floor? Hopefully it is received in a positive manner and gets off the house floor quickly because the Republican controlled Senate will likely be a hoot of a show once it gets there. I am waiting on some new poll results in regards to voting and allowing casinos in Kentucky, I have yet to see new data in a while. Why? The Richards version of the proosal allows up to 9 casinos and MAY allow a few at racetracks. Certainly no gaurantee for the tracks. Do they oppose this or support it? Looks like they will MAY oppose it. Pol Watchers approved a version that calls for nine casinos, of which as many as five “may” be at horse racetracks. The horse indus...
More About: Casinos , Alive

House Speaker Jody Richards Stacks the Deck
2008-02-26 23:53:00
House Speaker Jody Richards (D) has stacked the proverbial deck on the Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee as he has booted Rep. Dottie Sims (D) off the committee for voting for the other faction's proposal, she responded to her dismissal as "move akin to "communism.". Richards replaced Sims with two key allies. Rep. Rob Wilkey (D) and Rep. Larry Clark (D) kicked Richards' in the teeth earlier in the day by getting their, horse track friendly, casino proposal brought o the committee for a vote. Now Richards is making a move that can be considered cheap and childish, but he is the House Speaker and seeing that Richards is really trying to muscle the horse tracks out of the casino business, it is not surprising he would stoop to this level. Now that Richards has managed to alienate many in the house, I expect Stumbo to begin maneuvering. He has drawn a line in the sand with the horsie bunch and that might not be such a good idea. ...
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Governor Beshear tell House Leaders "to get their act together"
2008-02-26 18:39:00
Lifted from Pol Watchers. Statement from Governor Steve Beshear (D) "The entire leadership of the House of Representatives has on numerous occasions publicly and privately committed to me to work in a unified manner in passing a Constitutional Amendment allowing the issue of limited expanded gaming to be placed on the ballot. Today's actions, as well as inactions evidenced in the Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee, very clearly demonstrate that House leadership remains deeply divided. House Leaders hip should remember that more than 80% of Kentucky voters want the right to express themselves on this amendment. Such a disagreement also seriously threatens the people's right to decide for themselves whether or not they favor capturing the hundreds of millions of new dollars now being lost to other states. These are dollars that could be available to us for education, health care and other vital services. I publically call on them to get their act together quickly. Only...

Casino Amendment Feared Dead?
2008-02-26 16:16:00
Rep. Rob Wilkey and Rep. Larry Clark stomped on the so called House Speaker this morning and managed to get their version of a casino amendment to the committee for a vote. And it failed in the Constitutional Amendment s and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee. Does this destroy the possibility of a casino amendment making it to the ballot? Richards and others clearly do not want the horse tracks to have any perceived power of casino gaming in Kentucky. Seeing the horse tracks already have establish gaming, it seems a bit foolish to attempt to cut them out or add any additional restrictions. I guess the meeting at the mansion failed to bring together the splintered Democratic house leadership.
More About: Casino , Dead

Will a Casino ReWrite - Right the Ship?
2008-02-26 14:17:00
Alessi has some good coverage in regards to the meeting at the mansion between key Democratic house leaders and the governor. Beshear announced last night that the constitutional amendment will get a face lift. He went on to say that the Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee will submit a do over of his original legislation. Does this take the ball away from the governor and clearly shift the bully pulpit to the house chambers? The Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee is a divided bunch and it will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes out of this committee meeting. Now the politics of this whole thing has changed forever. The house faction that pushes through their proposal will be the fathers and mothers of that legislation. Does that hurt or help the possibility of it passing?
More About: Casino , Ship

Definition of a Native American?
2008-02-26 03:13:00
Rep. Meeks (D) may need to check his sources for his legislation. I think he may have got this one from a couple of ..people at the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission, but it could be a sneak job. I don't think you can plagiarize legislation, but I know a state law law can not invalidate a federal law. This legislation passed today in the House. AN ACT relating to the definition of American Indian. Amend KRS 446.010 to define "American Indian" to mean a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment to the tribe of origin; make conforming amendments. This is from the U.S. Census Bureau American Indian and Alaska Native. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment. But look at the last set of words in Meeks' legislation, to the tribe of origin, that is...
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Governor Beshear calls House Leadership to meeting
2008-02-26 00:03:00
Governor Steve Beshear (D) has called, from what I am gathering, an emergency meeting with Democratic house leaders. House Speaker Jody Richards has already told the press what he prefers and rumors suggest that a real division among house leaders exist, instead of the flaky political stuff. Governor Beshear is showing leadership after a couple of weeks of criticism from the press and progressive bloggers. Hopefully the situation in the house is salvageable and the Governor can glue this sinking ship back together. What do you think will happen; a melt down? Or a consensus?
More About: Leadership , Calls , Governor , Meeting

Powerful State School Board Association Support Casinos on the Ballot
2008-02-25 19:16:00
This could be the shot in the arm this legislation needs to make it to the ballot. The Kentucky School Board Association in backing legislation that would allow Kentuckians the right to vote if they want or do not want casinos. This is the single most important part of the casino question; do we want or do we not want casinos in Kentucky? This is not an endorsement for casino gaming, this is an endorsement for our right to vote on the issue. Does this change things in the Kentucky General Assembly? You bet it SHOULD and hopefully the factions within the Democratic controlled house can come together and get this legislation passed.
More About: Support , State

Did Mark Hebert find fraud or is this a bunch of nothing
2008-02-25 02:33:00
The red side of the blogosphere is beginning to light up with allegations of extortion in the Democratic controlled State House. Mark Hebert from WHAS11 in Louisville said on the KET program Comment on Kentucky that the horse racing industry is suggesting that a faction in the house is holding them hostage in regards to the proposed enabling casino legislation. Hostage meaning, some Democratic house members are suggesting that the horsie set pony up some cash for Democratic house races this spring and fall. After Hebert's remarks, Al Cross beeped in that "in some places that is called extortion", and everyone on the panel had a good healthy laugh. Anything going on here? Or this just a smart aleck remark from a respected journalist?
More About: Fraud , Find

Northern Kentuckians Want Casino Gaming and We All Want to Vote
2008-02-24 21:24:00
Northern Kentuckians want casino gaming and their voices are growing louder and louder. A recent Survey USA poll (HERE) shows that a clear majority of Northern Kentuckians favor casino gaming, 69% to 28%. The surprising result from this recent polling is the fact that the majority of Republicans and conservatives support casino gaming. Conservatives - 51% Yes - 47% No - 2% undecided Republican - 58% Yes - 38% No - 4% undecided Now with the faction system alive and well in the State House, will those factions simply destroy the possibility of a ballot question and the enabling legislation? I warned everyone as to my analysis that we in Kentucky have three choices; (HERE)  casino gaming, higher taxes and or massive cuts in services and in higher education. Now it appears higher taxes will be in our future. Now with the dysfunctional leadership in the House rearing its ugly head, it looks like the possibility of a tax increase may become reality (HERE). Northern Kentucky repre...
More About: Gaming , Casino , Vote , Northern

KDP Vice-Chair Smith meets with Clinton
2008-02-24 03:44:00
Co-Chair person of the Kentucky Democratic Party Nathan Smith had a sit down with Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) today at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. Clinton had Smith front row at a campaign speech. Cincinnati lawyer Stan Chesley, Clinton staffer and a party money guy, attended the event.
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Here Comes the Tax Increase!
2008-02-23 20:40:00
I support a higher cigarette tax, so lets get that out of the way. But I do not support any other tax increases, no way and no how. Now with the massive cuts proposed by Governor Beshear, The State House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Harry Moberly (D) is working a comprehensive tax increase package. Included is the higher cigarette tax, a 25 to 35 cent increase. I think it should be much higher, say 60 cents. Moberly said that he is also looking at the corporate income tax and ,here it comes, wait for it....he is looking at the individual income tax. With massive cuts to programs that some believe, as I, are too important just to slash, comes the inevitable tax increase. I believe in a ballast government, a ballast tank or system is designed to shift water from one tank to another to control certain functions of a sub and or surface ship. I am sure if we had a governor's commission that's sole purpose in life is to review every single dime of state cash, we could save or shif...

Superdelegates are Shifting Toward Obama
2008-02-23 18:15:00
It certainly appears that a costly and divisive Democratic National Convention may be avoided as it appears the superdelegates are shifting toward the candidate that has the populous vote, Barack Obama . Clinton still has a 241 to 181 superdelegate lead but with Obama's 11 straight victories, some that have already committed to Clinton are now undecided. Superdelegates are not locked and can change their minds. Obama now leads 1,362 to 1,266 in overall delegates and some pundits are saying Clinton is beginning to see the light, she gave a speech that amazingly resembled a pre-concession speech, but I don't think she is conceding anything, yet. Hillary Clinton has one hope left and that is the fact that she is set up in Ohio for a major victory. Her lead guy in Ohio is none other than Governor Ted Strickland (D). But will the Governor's backing translate into victory? I don't think so. Obama's current winning streak is the fact that America is buying into his "Hope" ...

Harlan County Fiscal Court Opposing 84th House District Special Election
2008-02-22 23:25:00
The Harlan County Fiscal Court unanimously passed a resolution opposing the March 18th special election for the vacant 84th House District seat. The seat was vacated when Brandon Smith (R) defeated former state Rep.Scott Alexander (D) in the state Senate District 30 special election earlier this month. Alexander was nominated to be the Democratic candidate for the March 18th special election, but Alexander is unopposed, the Republican Party of Kentucky opted not to field a candidate. According to the Harlan County Fiscal Court, the county will still be required to hold an election and still have to spend money doing it. This is just about the dumbest thing I have ever heard, Alexander will be the only candidate on the ballot, this is why our counties are broke, stupid stuff like this is just cash down the crapper. Harlan Daily Enterprise The Harlan County Fiscal Court unanimously passed a resolution during their monthly meeting Wednesday opposing the election. The court expressed...
More About: Election , Special

Will Governor Beshear's Pension Reform Plan Lead Kentucky Out of the Red
2008-02-22 00:53:00
I am trying to get a grasp on the different reactions in regards to the governor's newly released pension reform plan. First, its good to have a plan and it is good that Governor Beshear has made it a priority. The pathetic Kentucky Retirement System is $26.5 billion in dept and still sinking. Any plan that slows the bleeding should be accepted at first. WAVE Beshear says poor returns on investments and soaring health care costs got the retirement system in this mess. He's proposing a plan that would save about 335-million dollars a year. But with a plan comes some pain.... affecting mostly future state workers. Double dipping is gone, the cost of living increase will go from 3% to 1.5%, news hires will have to work 5 years loner and contribute 1% more to the system and limited hazard duty pay to people who actually deserve it. Beshear says his plan will begin by saving the Commonwealth $335 million in the first year. I think it is a good start but I am not a potential stat...
More About: Reform , Pension , Plan

How Will The County Judges React to No Immediate Jail Relief?
2008-02-22 00:26:00
I am curious how our County Judge Executives will react to the announcement that Governor Beshear is choosing a path blazed by previous governors in regards to the dilapidated county jail systems, a path that ends with a stack of papers called a report? Non-funded mandates are breaking our county coffers and this issue is up there on the "we need help now" scale. I can't see how the Judges will accept waiting until 2011 or 2012.    From Pol Watchers Beshear announced his desire for a "Criminal Justice Task Force" earlier this month when he unveiled his two-year budget proposal. Rather than address prison and jail crowding anytime soon, Beshear said he would name a committee to study the problem -- much as two other committees already have in recent years, with reports issued in 2002 and 2006. Both reports were largely ignored.
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Politicking and Horse Whipping
2008-02-21 15:56:00
It seems the forces behind the scenes are giving the horsie set a little taste of their own equestrian whip. Mark Hebert put together some political pieces of the puzzle that may show that the House Speaker and Rep. Joni Jenkins are giving the horse racing boys a little slap with delaying the casino bill, taking away some race track casinos and forcing more restrictions on horse track casino approval. So where is Governor Beshear? Where is the bully pulpit? It sounds like it may be in the speaker's chair. It is far fetched to believe that Rep. Richards is out politicking TWO governors, KEEP head honcho Governor Brereton Jones (D) and Governor Steve Beshear (D), but it certainly appears that way. Hebert even goes so far as to suggest that this casino legislation is a "rudderless bill that appears to be lacking a captain". We know the maneuvering is ongoing behind the scenes, but almost always, a taste of that maneuvering leaks out to the press or to the bloggers, but the lips are se...
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Lunar Eclipse and Saturn
2008-02-21 04:50:00
I finally had a chance to blow the dust off the telescope and grab some pics of the lunar eclipse and a bonus pic. Saturn is, I think about 800 million miles away from Earth tonight, extremely close and I managed to grab an extremely fuzzy pic using my Palm Treo through the telescope. If I would have thought I could have done better.
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Governor Beshear Uses Grace Instead of Mace
2008-02-20 23:27:00
Everyone knew this casino legislation would be difficult to pass and the discussion in regards to the legislation would be heated at times. Now we may be in a full fledged language battle over the enabling legislation for casino gaming, that could be a battle that may never end. From Pol Watchers Rep. Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said he didn't think the latest set-back would derail the bill's chances. But he said it does show that many House Democrats have a slew of concerns about the major proposal. "It will be the largest issue that I’ve seen the General Assembly deal with in my legislative experience," said Stumbo, a former Democratic floor leader. "It’s complicated, a lot of competing interests, a lot of money at stake. And I would speculate that the vote this morning was an indication that some of the members really haven’t gotten comfortable with this language yet." After Beshear's legislation got the chop yesterday, (HERE) many was champing at the bit wanting t...
More About: Grace , Governor , Mace

Obama Makes it 9 in a Row
2008-02-20 03:51:00
UPDATED 11:20PM: With 75% of the Wisconsin precincts reporting, Obama is thumping Clinton by 15%. Could this be the start of Hillary's version of TAPS? Illinois Senator Barack Obama has won 9 states in a row over, the sinking fast, New York Senator Hillary Clinton. The Clinton people made light of the fact that they may lose the Wisconsin Democratic primary early today, so Obama's victory in the cheese state is not surprising. Obama will certainly make it 10 in a row later on early tomorrow morning as he is very likely to obtain a victory in Hawaii's Democratic primary. Does this clearly put Obama in a position to deliver a death blow to Clinton on Tuesday March 4? If Clinton loses Texas and Ohio she is done and should think about possibly conceding the race to Obama to spare the Democratic party a divisive convention in August. If Clinton continues if she loses Ohio and Texas, does she even have a chance with the superdelegates? It appears the party bigshots and elected off...

Jim Cauley Slammed in Connecticut Student Newspaper
2008-02-20 03:05:00
With tempers beginning to flare over the distinct possibility that the Democratic Presidential primary will be decided by party insiders and Democratic elected officials, many in the press are not holding back. The Trinity Tripod, a Trinity College Student Newspaper , must read Kentucky newspapers and or blogs because comments made by Governor Beshear's Chief of Staff Jim Cauley in regards to the superdelegate system was used as an example why the superdelegate system is tearing the Democratic Party apart. From the Trinity Tripod We can already see this power is starting to inflate delegates' egos. Responding to why superdelegates will participate in this process, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear's Chief of Staff said "Why? Because we would be kingmakers." Clearly, visions of cabinet positions have blinded this delegate from seeing the ethical decision. I for one see a possible revolt within the Democratic Party and a possible emergence of a new 3rd party or a massive defectio...
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Jenkins Pencil Whips Beshear's Legislation
2008-02-20 00:04:00
As predicted here months ago and as recently as a week or so ago (HERE), a showdown appears likely between Governor Steve Beshear (D) and Rep. Joni Jenkins (D) over the Governor's proposal for legislation that would allow 12 casino operations in Kentucky. Jenkins took the good old General Assembly pencil eraser to Beshear's legislation and erased 3 of the 12 casinos that would be created under Beshear's plan. The point of the change seems to be aimed at the horse racing industry as Jenkins made it a point to limit race tracks to 5 casinos, Beshear's plan would have allowed 7. The move could cost Kentucky a possible $100 million or more a year in tax revenue. Seeing that most people are considering Kentucky's relatively small population as a bench mark for the number of casinos in Kentucky and not weighing out-of-state possibilities as effectively as they should, the number of proposed casinos was bound to have dropped. With less than a month to go in this year's regular se...
More About: Whips , Legislation , Pencil

Kentucky Native American Rights Group
2008-02-19 23:28:00
A newly formed Native American organization called the Kentucky Native American Rights Group is announcing formation. I am directly involved with this organization and our mission is to fight for, of course, Native American rights in Kentucky through political awareness, advertising and activism. It is a bit of a shift for the people involved in this group as we have traditionally chosen to use education as our activist tool. Things sometime change for the better and certain things happen for a reason. Please visit our temporary homepage (HERE) and join the mailing list. 

Until the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission is Re-Organized; STO
2008-02-19 04:32:00
Rep. Reginald Meeks (D) is moving along with his annual dose of Native American legislation. Meeks should be commended for his past work for Native Americans in Kentucky but this year I will fight to stop him and his legislation. House Bill 429, would allow the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission , KNAHC the power to approve Indian Tribes for official state recognition. That can not happen this year. Meeks is a member of the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission, KNAHC. Chairperson Bruce Brading is under threat of major legal troubles and is currently under a civil action in Laurel County. Rumors of more legal troubles are on the way, but I stop at that. If this legislation passes and is signed by the Governor it will give Brading and his cronies awesome power over the Native American people of Kentucky. I am amazed that Brading is still a appointed Commissioner. Before his dismissal for supporting Steve Beshear and Daniel Mongiardo, former KNAHC Chairman Tom ...