Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Sen. Jim Bunning's example

There's a must-read editorial in today's Courier-Journal. Here's an excerpt:

Stoutly conservative politicians can be engaged in fruitful government action. Even Dan Quayle cooperated with Ted Kennedy to produce a landmark job training and partnership act, and Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah worked with Mr. Kennedy on national service legislation and on providing funds for health care coverage for uninsured children.

Sen. Bunning, however, leaves office with little in the way of substantive legislation to his credit. His contempt for those with differing perspectives left him unable to form constructive alliances, and his selective approach to government spending — trying to choke off money to help the uninsured, but willing to back two unfunded wars and budget-busting tax breaks for millionaires — failed for obvious reasons to command widespread respect.

His replacement, Rand Paul, will soon face a similar choice. Dr. Paul can continue providing red meat to the government-hating crowd, or he can seek to play a role in actually governing. It's a decision that will determine how relevant he will be.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

President Obama's weekly address

In this week’s address, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama wished families across the country a “Merry Christmas” and encouraged everyone to support the troops and their families this holiday season. Anyone can visit www.serve.gov to find ideas for what they can do to help our servicemen and women and their families.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Monday, December 20, 2010

Shame on Geoff Davis

Conor Williams at the Washington Post has the story:

In case you missed it, S. 987 (The International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act) failed to pass [on December 16]. Despite unanimously passing the Senate, it only garnered a 241-166 majority in the House. Since House rules were in suspension, the bill needed a two-thirds majority to pass.

...In the hours before the vote, Republicans circulated a memo to pro-life members of Congress alleging that the bill could fund abortions and use child marriage "to overturn pro-life laws." It also reiterated concerns over the bill's cost. When it came time for a vote, a number of the bill's pro-life supporters in both parties abandoned ship. Even co-sponsors of the corresponding House bill (H.R. 2103), like Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Lee Terry (R-Neb.), voted against it.

Time for the facts. First of all, S. 987 is short -- the body of the bill is around ten pages long -- and does not mention abortion ("family planning" isn't in there either). A quick read suffices to show that the bill is not dealing with abortion.

Sadly, our own Geoff Davis was among those who decided to play politics with the lives of millions of women and girls around the world. He should be ashamed of himself.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Editorial comic roundup

Rob Rogers
Mike Luckovich
Jeff Stahler
(Click for larger image)

Saturday, December 18, 2010

President Obama's weekly address

In this week’s address, President Obama called on members of Congress to come together to ratify the new START treaty just as they were able to come together to pass the essential economic package he signed into law on Friday. Ratifying a treaty like START is not about winning a victory for an administration or a political party, it is about the safety and security of the country. This is why it has been endorsed by both Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, every living Republican Secretary of State, our NATO allies, and the leadership of the military.

Biden to appear on 'Meet the Press' tomorrow

Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to appear on NBC's Meet the Press tomorrow, December 19. Locally, the show can be seen on Channel 5 at 10:00 am. Please tune in!

Geoff Davis and PolitiFact's Lie of the Year

The nonpartisan fact-checkers at PolitiFact have announced their 2010 Lie of the Year:

PolitiFact editors and reporters have chosen "government takeover of health care" as the 2010 Lie of the Year. Uttered by dozens of politicians and pundits, it played an important role in shaping public opinion about the health care plan and was a significant factor in the Democrats' shellacking in the November elections.

How many times was the lie repeated? And how did Republicans respond when challenged?

PolitiFact sought to count how often the phrase was used in 2010 but found an accurate tally was unfeasible because it had been repeated so frequently in so many places. It was used hundreds of times during the debate over the bill and then revived during the fall campaign.

...The phrase proliferated in the media even after Democrats dropped the public option. In 2010 alone, "government takeover” was mentioned 28 times in the Washington Post, 77 times in Politico and 79 times on CNN. A review of TV transcripts showed "government takeover" was primarily used as a catchy sound bite, not for discussions of policy details.

In most transcripts we examined, Republican leaders used the phrase without being challenged by interviewers. For example, during Boehner's Jan. 31 appearance on Meet the Press, Boehner said it five times. But not once was he challenged about it.

Our own Congressman Geoff Davis has used the phrase himself on numerous occasions. Here are a dozen examples:

  • "Congressman Davis Rejects Democrats' Trillion-Dollar Government Takeover of Healthcare" (Press release, 11/07/09 and also 3/21/10)

  • "House Passes Massive Government Takeover of Healthcare" (Weekly column, 11/10/09)

  • "Senate Democrats Press Forward with Government Takeover of Healthcare" (Press release, 12/21/09)

  • "Kentuckians Speak Out Against Washington Takeover of Healthcare and Ask for Action" (Weekly column, 8/31/10)

  • "Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid... have now enacted a government takeover of health care." (Weekly column, 4/6/10)

  • "The government takeover of our health care system will lead to... ultimately, I believe, the rationing of care." (Weekly column, 3/23/10)

  • "The Pledge to America offers a new way forward with solutions heard directly from Americans across the country to... repeal and replace the government takeover of health care." (Weekly column, 9/28/10)

  • "Take for example the Democrats’ government takeover of health care." (Weekly column, 6/28/10)

  • "President Barack Obama and the Democrat [sic] Majority in Congress have spent nearly a year entirely focused on one goal: a costly government takeover of health care." (Weekly column, 1/12/10)

  • "Thousands of Americans gathered today to voice their opposition to a government takeover of health care." (Press release, 11/05/09)

  • "Using (reconciliation) to execute a government takeover of health care against the will of the American people would be a travesty." (Weekly column, 3/02/10)

  • "Senate Democrats gave us the gift that no one wants for Christmas – a government takeover of health care." (Press release, 12/24/09)

(This is just a small sample. A quick Google search finds over 200 examples of the phrase "government takeover" on Geoff's website.)

Will the so-called "liberal media" hold Geoff Davis accountable for repeating this blatant lie over and over again? Click here to send a letter to the editors of the Enquirer, and let them know that you disapprove of Geoff's dishonest talking points.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Republican Earmark Hypocrisy

Senate Republicans took a lot of heat for stuffing a bill with millions of their own earmarks, then trying to claim they oppose earmarks. But Republicans' earmark hypocrisy is even starker when you compare what they are saying in Washington, DC to what they are saying to their constituents back home.

Will McConnell withdraw his earmarks?

Today the DSCC issued this press release:

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, would like Kentucky voters to believe that he hates earmarks. Last month, McConnell endorsed an earmark moratorium despite the fact that he’s been a prolific proponent of earmarks for years. Now, CNN is reporting that McConnell helped to put $86 million in earmarks in the 2011 Omnibus bill.

If McConnell is truly against earmarks as he would have Kentucky voters believe, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is challenging McConnell to withdraw all his earmarks from the budget bill. Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah has already done just this, and asked Senate appropriators to strip his earmarks from the bill.

“Senator McConnell is trying to pull a fast one on Kentucky voters. If Senator McConnell is truly against earmarks as he would have Kentucky voters believe, he should follow the lead of his Republican colleague Senator Hatch and ask for his earmarks to be stripped from the budget bill,” said DSCC National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

President Obama's weekly address

In this week’s address, President Obama strongly urged both houses of Congress to pass the framework agreement on middle class tax cuts. This is a good deal for the American people, and they are counting on Washington to get this done. A failure to do so would not only result in tax hikes on middle class families and a loss of unemployment insurance for those hardest hit by this recession, but it would also risk weakening our economic recovery.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Republicans play games with jobless benefits

Today's column by DeWayne Wickham highlights one example of Republican nonsense:

Shortly before the Labor Department reported the unemployment rate rose from 9.6% in October to 9.8% in November, MSNBC commentator Mike Barnicle asked [Republican John] Shadegg, a leading member of the right-wing Republican Study Committee, whether extending the unemployment payments that were about to expire would produce a more immediate benefit to the economy than extending a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans?

..."The truth is the unemployed will spend as little of (their jobless checks) as they possibly can," he said. That's right, Shadegg, who comes from a state that pays the second-lowest unemployment benefits in the nation, said that. He thinks the nearly 2 million jobless Americans who will lose their benefits by Christmas if Congress doesn't extend those payments are more likely to squirrel away that money than spend it.

I think that's nonsense. Marc Morial thinks it's "hocus pocus" economics. "The marginal propensity for the unemployed to spend their unemployment compensation is very high," the National Urban League president told me. "It's pre-K economics that people will spend unemployment compensation payments on the necessities of life."

Monday, December 6, 2010

Mitch gets fact-checked

The nonpartisan fact-checkers at FactCheck.org are calling Mitch McConnell out for his "small-business bunk":

On "Meet the Press," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell repeated a claim about the expiring tax cuts and small businesses that we’ve seen, and shot holes in, before.
McConnell: Over 700,000 small businesses pay taxes as individuals. They would be hit by raising the top rate above $250,000; 700,000 of our most productive and effective small businesses. That’s 50 percent of small business income and 25 percent of the work force in the middle of a recession.
...[The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation] says that not all of these taxpayers are entities that would be considered "small" businesses. The committee doesn’t know how many fall under that rubric; neither does McConnell.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Editorial comic roundup

Bill Day
Ed Stein
Steve Sack
(Click for larger image)

Saturday, December 4, 2010

The White House's weekly address

With President Obama visiting troops in Afghanistan, Vice President Biden delivered this week’s address, in which he said Congress must extend both the middle class tax cuts and unemployment insurance this year. The combined economic blow of raising taxes on the middle class and cutting two million Americans off of unemployment insurance would wind up costing the country hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Richie Farmer's employees get raises

The Herald-Leader has the story:

Eleven Department of Agriculture employees have received merit-based pay raises this fiscal year, a time when most of the state’s nearly 34,000 employees will receive no cost-of-living pay increase and must take six unpaid days off from work.

A review of state personnel records by the Herald-Leader showed that no other agency in state government has given merit-based pay raises in fiscal year 2011, which began July 1. In the previous fiscal year, only nine employees from across state government received such awards.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Republicans' ban on earmarks short-lived

The Associated Press has the story:

Only three days after GOP senators and senators-elect renounced earmarks, Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the No. 2 Senate Republican, got himself a whopping $200 million to settle an Arizona Indian tribe's water rights claim against the government.

Kyl slipped the measure into a larger bill sought by President Barack Obama and passed by the Senate on Friday to settle claims by black farmers and American Indians against the federal government. Kyl's office insists the measure is not an earmark, and the House didn't deem it one when it considered a version earlier this year.

But it meets the know-it-when-you-see-it test, critics say. Under Senate rules, an earmark is a spending item inserted "primarily at the request of a senator" that goes "to an entity, or (is) targeted to a specific state."

Monday, November 22, 2010

There Will Be Blood

Today's column by Paul Krugman is excellent:

These days, national security experts are tearing their hair out over the decision of Senate Republicans to block a desperately needed new strategic arms treaty. And everyone knows that these Republicans oppose the treaty, not because of legitimate objections, but simply because it’s an Obama administration initiative; if sabotaging the president endangers the nation, so be it.

How does this end? Mr. Obama is still talking about bipartisan outreach, and maybe if he caves in sufficiently he can avoid a federal shutdown this spring. But any respite would be only temporary; again, the G.O.P. is just not interested in helping a Democrat govern.

My sense is that most Americans still don’t understand this reality. They still imagine that when push comes to shove, our politicians will come together to do what’s necessary. But that was another country.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Mitch gets fact-checked

The folks at FactCheck.org bust Mitch McConnell for distorting the truth:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell misrepresented public opinion about the Bush tax cuts, which are due to expire at the end of the year. In his weekly remarks Nov. 20, he made this unequivocal statement:
McConnell, Nov. 20: Americans don’t think we should be raising taxes on anybody, especially in the middle of a recession.
But American opinion on the Bush tax cuts is not as clear as McConnell portrays it. Of five recent polls, only one shows a majority favored extending the tax cut for all Americans.

Editorial comic roundup

Steve Sack
Ed Stein
Bill Day
(Click for larger image)

Saturday, November 20, 2010

President Obama's weekly address

In this week’s address, President Obama called ratifying New START this year “fundamental” to America’s national security. Failure to ratify the treaty this year not only would mean losing our nuclear inspectors in Russia, but also it would undermine the international coalition pressuring Iran, put to risk the transit routes used to equip our troops in Afghanistan, and undo decades of American leadership and bipartisanship on nuclear security. After six months, 18 hearings, and nearly one thousand questions answered and with the support of several Republicans including Colin Powell, George Schultz, Jim Baker, and Henry Kissinger, it is time for the Senate to act.

Friday, November 19, 2010

McConnell's lack of respect

The New York Times weighs in on Mitch McConnell's arrogance:

There was supposed to be a bipartisan summit at the White House on Thursday, but only the Democrats showed up. The Republican leadership of the House and Senate somehow couldn’t find any time in their schedules to meet with the president of the United States. If this is what cooperation and mutual respect is going to look like over the next two years, then settle in for more trench warfare and far less progress.

It has been more than two weeks since President Obama issued a postelection invitation for Congressional leaders to join him for dinner on Nov. 18 to discuss “how we can move the American people’s agenda forward.” Republicans left him hanging, refusing to commit to a date even as the office of Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, said he was encouraged that the president wanted to discuss areas of agreement.

...Beyond the practical implications of this rudeness, there is an increasingly obvious lack of respect for the president and the presidency, with Republicans interpreting their electoral victory as a mandate to act with hubris. Steny Hoyer, the outgoing House majority leader, noted Thursday that he couldn’t remember a single instance when Democrats did not change their schedule to accommodate a request to meet with President George W. Bush. Mr. McConnell has already made it clear that defeating Mr. Obama is more important than negotiating on legislation. Apparently, that also goes for snubbing Mr. Obama.

McConnell's priorities in view

There's a must-read editorial in today's Herald-Leader:

...according to former President George W. Bush's memoir, McConnell [in September 2006] asked the commander in chief to draw down the number of troops in Iraq to help Republicans survive in that November's elections. (Through a spokesman, McConnell declined to comment on "any advice he may have given the president on improving his political standing.")

This incident, the subject of a story in The Courier-Journal last week, may be the most telling — and stunning — example of the hypocritical and cynical methods McConnell has employed throughout his lengthy political career.

...Indeed, cynical may be too nice a word to describe McConnell's proposal.

Despicable sounds like a better fit for someone willing to sacrifice American lives in the pursuit of winning and keeping political power.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Recovery Act added 2.7% to 3rd quarter GDP

Today the White House issued this press release:

WASHINGTON, DC – The Council of Economic Advisers today released its latest quarterly report on the economic impact of the Recovery Act. The report shows that the Act played a key role in changing the trajectory of the economy. Specifically, the Recovery Act added 2.7 percent to third quarter GDP growth and by some measures has exceeded the original goal of creating or saving 3.5 million jobs by the end of 2010.

The report also shows that the third quarter was the biggest yet for public investment spending, with more than $33 billion outlaid for clean energy, transportation and other infrastructure projects. According to CEA’s analysis, public investment spending was responsible for over 1 million jobs nationwide through the third quarter of 2010.

This is the fifth quarterly report the Council of Economic Advisers has submitted to Congress on the employment and economic impact of the Recovery Act. The report can be viewed in full HERE.


The Council of Economic Advisers Fifth Quarterly Report on the Economic Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Key Findings
  • As of the third quarter of 2010, the Recovery Act has raised employment by 2.7 to 3.7 million jobs.
  • The Recovery Act has raised the level of GDP as of the second quarter of 2010 by 2.7 percent.
  • Public investment spending increased significantly in the third quarter with more than $33 billion paid out to support projects in areas like health IT, building construction and transportation infrastructure.
  • Public investment spending was responsible for more than 1 million jobs in the third quarter.
  • Clean energy investments were responsible for nearly a quarter of the 1 million public investment jobs – or 224,500 clean energy jobs.
  • Less than $20 billion of discretionary program funding remains “unobligated” – and the majority of those funds have already been awarded.
  • Eight states – California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas – have now seen an impact of over 100,000 Recovery Act jobs.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Kentucky newspapers on Mitch's earmark flip-flop

Kentucky's two major newspapers published editorials today regarding Mitch McConnell's flip-flop on earmarks. The Herald-Leader had this to say:

...voters are demanding change. But tax cuts and anything-goes regulation of business, as Republicans want, is not change. If tax cuts and deregulation produced prosperity, the economy would have been soaring, not crashing, two years ago at the end of Bush's term.

It's great news if rejecting earmarks is a sign Republicans are ready to make the hard choices that will be needed to put the economy and federal budget on better footing.

But if, as we suspect, it's just more political posturing, well, Americans should demand more than mere symbolism.

The Courier-Journal added:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's about-face this week on congressional earmarks isn't some sort of revised policy position reached through consideration of new facts or arguments. It's a 180-degree turn on how Kentucky's senior senator has done business, an abandonment of a practice that is at the core of who he is and what he believes his tenure means to this state.

...Earmarks are a mostly symbolic issue. Their most strident foes describe them in terms of spending billions of dollars. Even if all such expenditures were wasteful — and they aren't — prohibiting them would hardly make a dent in dealing with problems that are measured in the trillions. Consider: Simply extending all the Bush-era tax cuts, as most Republicans want to do, would cost about $4 trillion over 10 years.

Symbolic gestures, such as a halt to earmarks, have popular appeal, and they can force the political elite of Sen. McConnell's stature to scurry for cover. But they don't solve big challenges.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Why the Senate should ratify New START

The US secretary of state and secretary of defense penned a joint op-ed for today's Washington Post explaining why the Senate should ratify the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Here's an excerpt:

For decades, American inspectors have monitored Russian nuclear forces, putting into practice President Ronald Reagan's favorite maxim, "Trust, but verify." But since the old START Treaty expired last December, we have relied on trust alone. Until a new treaty comes into force, our inspectors will not have access to Russian missile silos and the world's two largest nuclear arsenals will lack the stability that comes with a rigorous inspection regime.

Before this session of Congress ends, we urge senators to approve an arms control treaty that would again allow U.S. inspectors access to Russian strategic sites and reduce the number of nuclear weapons held by both nations to a level not seen since the 1950s.

The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), signed by President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in April, builds on foundations laid by American leaders from both political parties over the past four decades. It has broad bipartisan backing. Six former secretaries of state, five former secretaries of defense and three former national security advisers have endorsed ratification, along with seven former commanders of U.S. Strategic Command and the entire current U.S. military leadership. They understand that nuclear dangers did not disappear with the Soviet Union and that we have a responsibility - to Americans and our allies - to keep our eyes on the world's other major strategic nuclear arsenal.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Editorial comic roundup

Signe Wilkinson
Matt Bors
Ed Stein
(Click for larger image)

Saturday, November 13, 2010

President Obama's weekly address

In this week’s address, President Obama calls for Congress to address the issue of earmarks -- items inserted into spending bills without adequate review. The President has time and again called for new limitations on earmarks, and the Obama Administration has put in place higher standards of transparency, including www.earmarks.gov. This week, the Administration updated www.earmarks.gov with more information about where last year’s earmarks were actually spent, and made it easier to look up members of Congress and the earmarks they fought for. In these challenging times, working across the aisle to address this issue will signal the government’s commitment to fiscal responsibility, shine a light on a Washington habit that wastes billions of taxpayer dollars, and take a step towards restoring public trust.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Thursday, November 11, 2010

PolitiFact: We rate Rand Paul's statement 'False'


The folks at PolitiFact have debunked the latest talking point from Rand Paul:

Paul said [on this weekend's edition of This Week with Christiane Amanpour] that the "average federal employee makes $120,000 a year. The average private employee makes $60,000 a year." Most people hearing that would assume he was talking about salary alone, but he was talking about total compensation, including benefits such as retirement pay and paid holidays. Although studies show federal employees typically earn more than their private-sector counterparts, the difference is nowhere near as much as the doubling Paul says. So we rate his statement False.

McConnell's true colors

There's an excellent editorial in today's Courier-Journal regarding Mitch McConnell's astonishing hypocrisy:

In [George W Bush's] new memoir, Decision Points, the former president tells of a meeting he held in September 2006 with Mr. McConnell, then the Republican whip in the Senate. The occupation of Iraq was going horribly, American and Iraqi casualties were rising sharply, costs had mushroomed into the hundreds of billions of dollars, and Iraq was teetering on the brink of full-scale sectarian civil war. Mr. McConnell was concerned, and he gave the president his advice.

But why was he concerned? It wasn't because of bloodshed, destruction, a hemorrhaging budget or a slide toward disaster. He was fearful that the morass in Iraq would cause the Republican Party to take a beating in the approaching mid-term elections. And what was his advice? He urged the president to “bring some troops home from Iraq” to lessen the political risks, Mr. Bush writes.

...At the time that Sen. McConnell was privately advising Mr. Bush to reduce troop levels in Iraq, he was elsewhere excoriating congressional Democrats who had urged the same thing. “The Democrat[ic] leadership finally agrees on something — unfortunately it's retreat,” Sen. McConnell had said in a statement on Sept. 5, 2006, about a Democratic letter to Mr. Bush appealing for cuts in troop levels. Sen. McConnell, who publicly was a stout defender of the war and Mr. Bush's conduct of the conflict, accused the Democrats of advocating a position that would endanger Americans and leave Iraqis at the mercy of al-Qaida.

McConnell's attack on health reform is 'absurd'

From Greg Sargent of the Washington Post:

As you may have heard, Mitch McConnell has thrown in his lot with states suing to overturn Obamacare, filing a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that the individual mandate is unconstitutional.

I just checked in with a constitutional law professor -- this seemed like a good hook to ask an expert to take a look at this claim, since it's so widespread -- and he dismissed McConnell's argument as "absurd."

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Mitch McConnell World

Today's Courier-Journal includes this must-read editorial:

What the public is getting now from Sen. McConnell is warmed-over campaign trail bombast about the “left-wing agenda” of the Democrats. He and other GOP congressional leaders prattle on, for example, that an overwhelming majority of the American people want this year's health care reform bill repealed. Actually, public opinion surveys show the country almost evenly divided on that point. Given that Democrats can easily block repeal in the next Congress, the question becomes whether voters two years from now will genuinely want to return their health care coverage back to the tender mercies of the insurance companies. Whatever the answer at that time, the country will not be well served now during continuing economic misery by a distracting argument over an issue that has already been addressed and cannot in the short term be undone.

The first showdown, beginning with the convening next week of a lame-duck congressional session, will be over the Bush-era tax cuts. Republicans benefited in the most recent election from voters' unease over rising deficits, a serious long-range challenge but not the most urgent economic issue at the moment. Yet, the Republicans want to make the tax cuts permanent, which would cost a ruinous sum of almost $4 trillion — that's trillion — over the next 10 years, with no conceivable source of spending cuts to offset such recklessness. A far saner approach would be to end the cuts for the top 2 percent of American households now — saving $700 billion — and to extend the middle-class cuts for just one year or three (but not two years, which would put this political football into play in the next federal election year) in order to pump more money now into an ailing retail economy.

By insisting on permanent cuts for even the wealthiest taxpayers, the Republicans, and Sen. McConnell, make clear whose interests they are really in Washington to serve. The issue now becomes whether Mr. Obama and the Democrats have the will and political courage — using offices American voters entrusted to them — to fight back.

Stephen Colbert on Rand Paul

Great stuff from The Colbert Report.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Mitch gets fact-checked

FactCheck.org looks into some statements that Mitch McConnell made on Face the Nation this weekend:

Mitch McConnell equated letting the Bush tax cuts expire for upper-income earners with raising "taxes on small businesses." But that’s misleading.

...McConnell also claimed, wrongly, that the "vast majority of Americans feel very, very uncomfortable" with the new health care law. According to Pollster.com’s weighted average of polls, 49.4 percent of those surveyed oppose the law while 42.1 percent favor it. The Real Clear Politics average produced a slightly larger split with 51.3 percent opposing the law and 40.1 percent favoring it. But 49 percent isn’t a majority at all, and 51 percent barely is, though certainly isn’t "vast."

McConnell also continued to incorrectly cast the health care law as a government takeover.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Editorial comic roundup

Bill Day
(Th)ink
Mike Luckovich
(Click for larger image)

Saturday, November 6, 2010

President Obama's weekly address

As Congress prepares to focus on taxes when it returns to work later this month, President Obama calls on both parties to work together and focus on the areas where all sides agree. First, the President underscores that middle-class families need permanent tax relief, so Congress should permanently extend tax cuts for all families making less than $250,000 a year – 98 percent of the American people. And second, he notes that, with the nation’s challenging fiscal situation, the country simply cannot afford to borrow another $700 billion on permanent tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Medicare and the Republicans

There's an excellent editorial in today's New York Times:

John Boehner, the likely next House speaker, tipped his hand in late September, telling an audience at the American Enterprise Institute that he would push to “repeal the $550 billion worth of Medicare cuts; and let’s see how many votes that bill gets in the House and Senate.”

What Mr. Boehner has yet to explain is how he would pay for that $550 billion. Those savings are a major reason why health care reform is projected to reduce the deficit over the next two decades and to extend the life of Medicare’s trust fund for hospital insurance by 12 years, thus shoring up the very program that Republicans say they want to save.

...Now that the campaign is over, Americans should demand that Mr. Boehner explain his plan for Medicare. Specifically: What will he do to “rescue” Medicare, without driving up the deficit or weakening the trust fund?

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Saturday, October 30, 2010

President Obama's weekly address

Ahead of the elections, the President says no matter what happens both parties must work together to boost the economy, and expresses concern about statements to the contrary from Republican Leaders.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

President Obama on 'The Daily Show'

President Obama was interviewed by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show last night. Here, for your viewing pleasure, is the video:

Part 1



Part 2



Part 3

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Rand Paul flip-flops on returning stomper's cash

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post has the story on Rand Paul's latest flip-flop:

The Louisville Courier Journal reported today that the Rand Paul campaign says it won't be returning nearly $2000 in campaign contributions chipped in by Tim Profitt, the former Bourbon County coordinator who admitted to stomping MoveOn's Lauren Valle.

But last night, less than 24 hours ago, the Paul campaign told Fox News that they would be returning the money, according to video the Jack Conway campaign sent my way:



The Fox anchor noted last night that the Paul campaign said they were disassociating themselves from the stomper, and added: "That disassociation includes returning any campaign donations he made." Seems that's no longer operative. Honestly, should this one really be a tough call?

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Jack Conway debates Rand Paul on KET

Did you miss last night's debate between Jack Conway and Rand Paul? Here's a link to watch it via KET's website.

Paul's prescriptions are wrong for Kentucky

Deirdre Murphy, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee National Press Secretary, released the following statement on last night's Kentucky Senate debate:

Kentuckians saw tonight why Attorney General Jack Conway is the only candidate in the race who can be trusted to look out for their interests in Washington. Conway clearly laid out his positive plan for growing the Kentucky economy, getting Kentuckians back to work, and standing up for Kentucky values. Conway showed why he can be counted on to protect Social Security and Medicare for Kentucky senior citizens, safety protections for Kentucky coal miners, programs and benefits for Kentucky veterans, and Pell Grants and Stafford Loans for Kentucky’s future generations.

Conway’s opponent Rand Paul demonstrated once and for all that he doesn’t understand Kentucky and can’t be trusted to represent Kentuckians. Paul reiterated his support for a $2,000 Medicare deductible for Kentucky’s senior citizens, his support for a massive 23% national sales tax on nearly everything Kentuckians buy, and his support for eliminating the Department of Education. The more Kentuckians hear from Rand Paul, the more they realize Rand Paul’s reckless policy prescriptions are wrong for Kentucky.

Mitch McConnell’s Destructive Partisanship

In an interview with the National Journal published this week, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” In response, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine released the following statement:

Taking bold steps to repair America’s economy, create jobs, reform health care, improve educational opportunities, and support the middle class through tax cuts and other measures, as Democrats have done – that’s an achievement.

Mitch McConnell’s idea of "achievement" illustrates everything that’s wrong with the Republican Party. For Republicans, it’s not about creating jobs; not about economic recovery or security; not about creating better educational opportunities.

For Republicans, it’s about partisanship over solutions -- obstructing progress to do the bidding of moneyed special interests in the hopes of winning electoral victories. That’s not achievement. That’s exactly what Americans hate about Washington. Republicans’ cynical approach isn’t just hurting the political process, it has had a direct impact on families across America, whose jobs, health care, and unemployment benefits were held in limbo by Republican obstructionism.

Now, the Republican Leader in the Senate – the very man who set his Republican colleagues on a course of politically motivated obstruction even before the President was sworn into office – is promising two more years of politics as usual. Republicans continue to put their party’s interests ahead of solving the important issues facing the country and the American people, and that’s just plain wrong. On November 2, let’s tell them so.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Conway makes NKY campaign stop

NKY.com has the story:

At a campaign stop in Covington Monday, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jack Conway said the momentum is on his side as the race draws to a close.

“A lot of people say to me, ‘Jack, it seems like you’re feisty and you’re fighting.’ The answer is, heck yeah I’m fighting,” he told supporters. “I’m fighting for seniors, I’m fighting for students, I’m fighting for veterans, I’m fighting for working people. The question I have for the people of Northern Kentucky is, will you fight with me in the next eight days?”

After trailing Republican Rand Paul for much of the race, most independent polls now show Conway within 5 points of Paul, just a week before the Nov. 2 election.

Herald-Leader: RPK's smear on Conway is 'false'


The Herald-Leader fact-checks the latest claim from the Republican Party of Kentucky:

The statement: “Liberal Jack Conway supports Obama’s cap-and-trade plan which will cost Kentuckians jobs.”

— Republican Party of Kentucky, in a mailing against Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Jack Conway

The ruling: False

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Rand Paul: Wrong for Kentucky

Courier-Journal endorses Jack Conway

Today, the Courier-Journal endorsed Jack Conway for US Senate:

Unlike Dr. Paul, who has never held a government office, Mr. Conway already has a strong record of public service. As a senior adviser and a legal counsel under Gov. Paul Patton, Mr. Conway played a key policy-making role, including as an architect of the nationally acclaimed higher education reform law of 1997. In almost three years as attorney general, Mr. Conway has saved the state's taxpayers several hundred millions of dollars, fighting high Medicaid drug costs, unjustified utility rate hikes and price gouging by oil companies. He also saved money by not joining the right-wing lawsuit against health care reform, noting that it also could open legal challenges to Social Security and Medicare.

...Dr. Paul's campaign, on the other hand, has been a loopy journey of bizarre positions, often followed by reversals or clarifications. At various times, he has questioned the government's right to prevent racial discrimination by businesses, brushed off the need for the Americans with Disabilities Act (there are at least 12,000 disabled veterans alone in Kentucky) and tough mine-safety regulations, suggested federal anti-drug programs aren't essential in this state, floated the idea of a $2,000 deductible for Medicare and briefly seemed to endorse a regressive 23 percent sales tax to replace income taxes.

...Kentuckians should not gamble on a candidate far out of the political mainstream. They should send Mr. Conway to the Senate.

Editorial comic roundup

Ed Stein
Robert Ariail
Signe Wilkinson
(Click for larger image)

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Jack Conway coming to Kenton County

Jack Conway will be making an appearance in Kenton County on Monday, October 25. The location is Otto's on Main, at 521 Main Street in Covington. Jack will be there from noon to 1:00. Please attend if you can, and show your support for Jack Conway!

Here's a map to Otto's:


View Larger Map

President Obama's weekly address

The President hones in on the passage of Wall Street Reform over the ferocious lobbying of Wall Street banks as a pivotal moment in the last two years, and condemns Republicans in Congress for vowing to repeal it.

Jon Draud's history of wasting tax dollars

On November 2, Kenton County will choose between Tom Elfers and Jon Draud for County Commissioner. The Kenton County Democratic Party proudly supports Tom Elfers, who has experience in creating jobs, finding creative solutions to problems, and living within a budget.

His opponent Jon Draud has a history of wasting taxpayer money. This is what Draud was up to in May 2008:
At a time when Kentucky faces serious budget problems and even more serious cuts and restrictions in the realm of education– we’re spending THOUSANDS of dollars for Jon Draud to drive a fancy new 2008 Chrysler 300. A Chrysler 300 with more than $13,000 in options added to its base price.

All while teachers from Georgetown to Glasgow are forced to forfeit classroom funds that were raised by students just to pay utility bills.

The choice is clear. Please vote for Tom Elfers for County Commissioner on November 2!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Rand's Sales Tax

Rand Paul's 'How to Perform a Backflip'

Today the DSCC issued this press release on Rand Paul:

Five months after running an insurgent campaign and knocking off Mitch McConnell’s handpicked candidate in the Republican primary, Rand Paul has performed so many flip-flops and backflips, he’s turned into the very worst kind of politician who can’t be trusted to represent the Kentucky’s families.

On primary night, Rand Paul bragged that he would not “weave and dodge,” he would not “become a moderate” or “give up” his Tea Party message. Yet since he made that pledge, Rand Paul has changed his position on at least 15 issues:

After…
  • Receiving sustained criticism for his opposition to civil rights, Rand Paul is now claiming he supports them.
  • Questioning the Federal Fair Housing Act, he now says he doesn’t want to repeal the law.
  • Repeatedly opposing the Americans with Disabilities Act, Rand Paul now claims that never was the case.
  • Defending BP’s disastrous behavior in the Gulf of Mexico by claiming “accidents happen,” Rand Paul now says we need more regulations for offshore oil drilling.
  • Claiming he was a board certified Ophthalmologist, Rand Paul now acknowledges he isn’t board certified.
  • Railing against government spending, Rand Paul says he won’t cut reimbursements for doctors.
  • Pledging to not take money from the senators who backed the bailout, Rand Paul now claims that was only a primary pledge.
  • Comparing a southern border fence to the Berlin Wall and repeatedly campaigning on building an “underground electric fence,” Rand Paul now supports building a physical fence along the U.S.-Mexican border, blaming his previous stance on “whoever is writing for our Web site.”
  • Favoring abolishing the U.S. Department of Agriculture, he now claims he doesn’t favor eliminating the USDA.
  • Opposing farm subsidies, Rand Paul now claims he doesn’t support eliminating all subsidies.
  • After posting on his website he supported closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, he later said that was not his position and blamed the mistake on a staffer.
  • Repeatedly opposing and arguing that Congress has no business regulating mines. Now he claims he just never said that.
  • Advocating cutting veterans benefits, Rand Paul immediately claimed he never supported such a position.
  • Repeatedly stating his opposition to federal government involvement in drug enforcement, Rand Paul now says he supports ongoing efforts.
  • After signaling his support for the FairTax, Paul then claimed he never said he supported the FairTax, even though he was caught on tape professing support for the FairTax.

“Kentucky middle class families cannot trust Rand Paul to represent them in the U.S. Senate. After spending the last five months trying to run from his extreme record, Rand Paul has quickly turned into the very worst kind of politician,” said DSCC National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy. “Far from endearing himself to Kentuckians, Paul’s backflips have reminded voters that no matter how hard he tries, he’ll never understand Kentucky.”

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

More Republican hypocrisy

Today's column by Derrick Z Jackson is a must-read:

[Massachusetts Senator Scott] Brown is one of a host of prominent Republicans who has trashed the stimulus and fanned a toxic anti-government fervor among Americans and groups such as the Tea Party. Yet they made it their private business to net jobs out of the stimulus.

The Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan, nonprofit investigative journalism organization, reported this week that it has obtained about 2,000 letters from members of Congress supporting stimulus grant applications, primarily for the departments of transportation, energy, and commerce. One was from Brown in support of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute's effort to expand broadband access, particularly in Western Massachusetts. Despite his declarations that stimulus funds create no new jobs, Brown wrote, "Broadband coverage is essential to the economic well-being and recovery of Western Massachusetts... Broadband coverage is also crucial in bringing together educators and students at our community colleges in order to help prepare our next generation of entrepreneurs and job creators."

This was repeated all over the nation by stimulus naysayers. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said the stimulus was going to "squander an enormous amount of money on things that won’t make much of a difference." Yet he wrote five letters to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood supporting various projects that sounded downright Democrat, including bike paths in the Bowling Green area. In a letter supporting funding to rehab rail lines, McConnell wrote, "supporting Appalachian railroads has the potential to attract industry, create jobs and move goods through areas underserved by national highways."

Tom Elfers on one-party rule in Kenton County

Kenton County Commissioner candidate Tom Elfers discusses running in Kenton County as a Democrat, and discusses how he is the more fiscally responsible candidate in this race.



Please vote for Tom Elfers on November 2! And if you're able, donate or volunteer for his campaign.

Aqua Buddha prank victim: Conway ad is accurate

Greg Sargent of The Washington Post has the low-down on Conway's Aqua Buddha ad:

Dem Jack Conway's new ad hammering Rand Paul over his college excesses is accurate on the facts, and it's legit to raise questions about his past views as a way of probing whether his current posture as a conservative Christian is genuine, the victim of Paul's Aqua Buddha prank just told me in an interview.

...She confirmed the ad's accuracy, and wondered aloud why Paul doesn't just admit what occured and move on.

"Yes, he was in a secret society, yes, he mocked religion, yes, the whole Aqua Buddha thing happened," she said. "There was a different side to him at one time and he's pretending that it never existed. If he would just acknowledge it, it would all go away and it wouldn't matter anymore."

Monday, October 18, 2010

Rand Paul's crocodile tears

Today, the DSCC issued this press release about Rand Paul:

As Rand Paul creates a diversionary spectacle, one key point remains: he has yet to deny the charges against him. Today, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is calling on Paul to answer the two questions still on the table. Despite a 60-minute nationally televised debate, and countless news stories, Rand Paul has yet to deny any charge regarding his membership in an anti-Christian society, and/or his activities as part of the group.

1. Why were you a member of a secret society that called the Holy Bible “a hoax,” and was banned for mocking Christianity?
2. Under what circumstances is it acceptable to tie-up a woman and tell her to bow down before a false idol and say your god was an “Aqua Buddha”?

“Rand Paul’s theatrical performances may be distractions, but they are not substitutes for answers,” said DSCC Communications Director Eric Schultz. “The bottom line is Paul still hasn’t denied the charges against him. Paul should take time today to finally answer the two questions he has yet to address. To accommodate his strict restrictions for the press, we’ve even put the questions into writing.”

According to Paul’s fellow NoZe brother, Paul “would have been involved” in the production of the NoZe’s newsletter, which “often had a specifically anti-Christian tone” and would have been “familiar with its stance toward religion, including ‘a strong subversive anti-Christian strain.’” According to the brother, “Randy smoked pot” and “he made fun of Baptists.”

“We aspired to blasphemy,” said the brother, one of two alumni who confirmed Paul's membership, “and he flourished in it.”


GQ: Paul In College Was A Member Of Secret Society That Tormented School Officials And Mocked Religious Aspects. In August 2010, GQ reported: “According to several of his former Baylor classmates, he became a member of a secret society called the NoZe Brotherhood, which was a refuge for atypical Baylor students. […] Sort of a cross between Yale’s Skull & Bones and Harvard's Lampoon, the NoZe existed to torment the Baylor administration, which it accomplished through pranks and its satirical newspaper The Rope. The group especially enjoyed tweaking the school's religiosity.” [GQ, 8/09/10]

Paul’s Secret Society Was Involved In Anti-Religious And “Lewd” Pranks. “The NoZe Brothers would perform ‘Christian’ songs like ‘Rock Around the Cross’; they'd parade around campus carrying a giant picture of Anita Bryant with a large hole cut out of her mouth after the former beauty queen proclaimed oral sex sinful; and they'd run ads for a Waco strip club on the back page of The Rope. In 1978, the Baylor administration became so fed up with the NoZe that it suspended the group from campus for being, in the words of Baylor's president at the time, ‘lewd, crude, and grossly sacrilegious.’ During Paul's three years at Baylor, according to former NoZe Brothers, if the administration discovered a student was a member of the NoZe, the punishment was automatic expulsion.” [GQ, 8/09/10]

Paul Took Woman, Blindfolded Her, Told Her To Smoke Pot And Made Her Worship “Aqua Buddha.” Around 1983, Paul and a fellow NoZe brother visited a female student who was one of Paul’s teammates on the Baylor swim team. According to this woman, who requested anonymity because of her current job as a clinical psychologist: “He and Randy came to my house, they knocked on my door, and then they blindfolded me, tied me up, and put me in their car. They took me to their apartment and tried to force me to take bong hits. They'd been smoking pot.” She continued: “They told me their god was ‘Aqua Buddha’ and that I needed to bow down and worship him,” the woman recalls. “They blindfolded me and made me bow down to ‘Aqua Buddha’ in the creek. I had to say, ‘I worship you Aqua Buddha, I worship you.’ At Baylor, there were people actively going around trying to save you and we had to go to chapel, so worshiping idols was a big no-no.” [GQ, 8/09/10]

GQ: We Gave Paul The Chance To Refute The Story – And He Hasn’t. Politico wrote that GQ’s editor said that Paul had never denied that night had occurred. Jim Nelson, GQ's editor in chief, defended the story in a statement: “We’ve vetted, researched, and exhaustively fact-checked Jason Zengerle’s reporting on Rand Paul’s college days, we stand by the story, and we gave the Paul campaign every opportunity to refute it. We notice that they have not, in fact, refuted it.” [Politico, 8/09/10]

Politico: Paul’s Camp Repeated “Non-Denial Denial” Of GQ Story. After GQ published allegations Paul kidnapped a friend and made her smoke pot, Politico’s Ben Smith reached out to Paul’s campaign for comment. Smith said they offered another “non-denial denial.” Smith wrote: “Paul spokesman Jesse Benton didn't respond directly to Zengerle's question about the incident; I've e-mailed him to ask whether that story is true, and am also trying to reach the accuser. UPDATE: Benton repeated his non-denial to me in an e-mail, adding: ‘We'll leave National Enquirer-type stories about his teenage years to the tabloids where they belong.’” [Politico, 8/10/10]

Paul’s College Group Insulted Christianity And Was Eventually Banned. In October 2010, Politico reported: “Issues of the newsletter published by Paul's secret society, the NoZe Brotherhood, during his time at Baylor reveal a more specific political problem for the Kentucky Republican: The group's work often had a specifically anti-Christian tone, as it made fun of the Baptist college's faith-based orientation. […] The NoZe Brotherhood, as the group was called, was formally banned by Baylor two years before Paul arrived on the grounds of ‘sacrilege,’ the university president said at the time. ‘They had 'made fun of not only the Baptist religion, but Christianity and Christ,'’ President Herbert Reynolds told the student newspaper, ‘The Lariat.’” [Politico, 10/12/10]

Paul Did Not Deny the Story. Paul's spokesman, Jesse Benton, responded to the report by assailing Paul's Democratic foe – but did not deny the story. "So now the Democrats are shopping stories about 30-year-old college articles that aren't even attributed to Rand?" [Politico, 10/12/10]

Jack Conway debates Rand Paul in Louisville

Here's the video of last night's debate between Democrat Jack Conway and Republican Rand Paul:

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Editorial comic roundup

Bill Day
Ed Stein
Mike Luckovich
Nick Anderson
(Click for larger image)

Richie Farmer wastes taxpayer dollars

The Herald-Leader has the latest news on Richie Farmer:

This summer, as the state government readied another round of budget cuts, including worker furloughs and Medicaid reductions, Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer and three top aides took an eight-day trip to a Caribbean luxury resort that cost taxpayers more than $10,000, according to a review of state travel records.

...Next year, when [David] Williams and Farmer run on a Republican ticket for governor and lieutenant governor, their campaign's call for "a smaller, leaner government" might lose some credibility if they're not sharing in the same austerity as the rest of the state, said Don Gross, a University of Kentucky political scientist.

In August, the Herald-Leader reported that Farmer had spent about $445,000 buying 19 new vehicles for his department — including a $35,340 car for his own use, replacing a 2-year-old vehicle — while the rest of state government dramatically cut back on such purchases.

Conway right choice for U.S. Senate

The Herald-Leader has endorsed Jack Conway for US Senate. Here's an excerpt from their endorsement:

A stark contrast in choices faces Kentucky voters in this year's U.S. Senate campaign between Attorney General Jack Conway and Bowling Green ophthalmologist Rand Paul — both of whom the Herald-Leader endorsed in the primary.

...the stark choice for Kentucky voters is this: a moderate Democrat who understands Kentucky's problems and needs and has a plan for creating jobs versus an ideologue Republican/Tea Partier with no record, no understanding of the state and a chain saw for a plan.

By far, Jack Conway stands as the better prepared candidate to serve the best interests of Kentucky in the U.S. Senate.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Top Ten signs there's trouble at Fox News

President Obama's weekly address

The President lays out his agenda to foster investment here at home. He vows to close the tax loopholes for sending jobs and profits overseas the Congressional Republicans have tried to protect.

Jack Conway debates Rand Paul in Paducah

Here's the video of Thursday's debate between Democrat Jack Conway and Republican Rand Paul:

Friday, October 15, 2010

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Another reason not to trust Rand Paul

Today The DSCC issued this press release:

In a stunning backtrack, Rand Paul is now saying he never called for a nationwide 23% sales tax, only one day after he did advocate for a 23% sales tax. On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that Paul said “I would vote for the FairTax to get rid of the Sixteenth Amendment.” However, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported that yesterday Paul said in regards to abolishing the 16th Amendment and putting into place the FairTax “I really haven’t been saying anything like that.”

In fact, Paul has advocated for the FairTax on at least five separate occasions in the past (see bullets below), which raises major questions regarding Paul’s trustworthiness, honesty, and integrity.

Paul’s so-called “FairTax,” would replace the income tax with a 23% sales tax on almost everything Kentuckians buy, including groceries, prescription drugs, doctors visits and gasoline. Paul’s reckless tax scheme would even eliminate corporate income taxes and deductions on which middle class Kentuckians rely, like the mortgage deduction.

“Kentuckians are finding out they can’t trust anything that comes out of Rand Paul’s mouth,” said DSCC National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy. “As much as Paul may want to distance himself from his disastrous plan to place a 23% sales tax on nearly everything Kentuckians buy, he’s been advocating for it for years. Kentucky middle-class families can’t afford Paul and his gigantic sales tax hike.”

Rand Paul of Kentucky has spent months walking away from his record and who he really is. A month after saying the Civil Rights Act shouldn’t apply to private business and refusing to say he would have voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act, Paul backtracked on his positions, saying the federal government was right to impose civil rights on private business. Paul committed the same politically expedient move after he defended BP after the oil spill, calling criticism of the company “Un-American.” Under fire for his remarks, Paul went back on his comments, saying government regulations of offshore drilling were not adequate. Paul has also gone into hiding with the media, refusing to conduct interviews and forcing journalists to submit all questions in writing despite “offering detailed answers on just about any topic during his primary campaign.” Paul recently held a fundraiser in Washington DC with the same establishment Republicans he railed against on the campaign trail and has said the drug problem in eastern Kentucky is “not a real pressing issue.”

Paul Preferred A Sales Tax To An Income Tax. In an interview on Kentucky Tonight, Paul stated, “You have to look at the numbers and crunch the numbers. But I like a sales tax better than an income tax.” [Kentucky Tonight, 11/24/08]

Paul Admits The Consensus Is The Fair Tax Would Burden The Poor, But He Supports It Anyway. At a meeting of the Kentucky Federation of College Republicans, Paul said: The fair tax is an idea of going to a national sales tax instead of an income tax. I would always favor a sales tax over an income tax. But here, I'll tell you what I think the problem is, is that it will never pass. Because the general consensus says it's a regressive tax, meaning that poor people will pay a greater share than they do now, and rich people or people from middle to upper income will pay less. But I do like the sales tax better than the income tax.” [Remarks at Western Kentucky University, uploaded 4/08/09]

Paul Favored Eliminating The Income Tax In Favor Of A Sales Tax. In a Paducah Rally in Gazebo, Paul stated, “Would I prefer to pay a sales tax over an income tax? Yes. I probably would at almost every level. If I were even at the lower end of the economic spectrum, I would because I’d want to be able to have the ability to get ahead in life, and I’d get ahead without an income tax. Yes, ultimately.” [Remarks at Paducah Rally, 5/08/09]

Paul Said He Favored Fair Tax, Eliminating IRS. Speaking at an event in McCracken County, KY in April 2010, Paul said he favored the Fair Tax. Paul said: “Where do I stand on the Fair Tax? The fairest tax would be replacing the income tax with a sales tax and getting rid of the IRS and that would be great.” [Remarks in McCracken County, 4/10/10]

Paul Would Support “Anything” That Simplified the Tax Code. In July 2010, on the day Steve Forbes was to hold a $1,000-a-seat fundraiser for Paul, Paul’s campaign manager told CNN that Paul supported a flat tax, something Forbes had long supported. “Benton says that Paul supports fundamental tax reform and would vote for anything that simplified and/or cut the tax burden, including a flat tax,” CNN reported. [CNN, 7/12/10]

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Another Rand Waffle


Rand Paul is once again talking out of both sides of his mouth. It was reported just yesterday that Rand has a radical plan to replace the income tax with a national sales tax:
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul of Kentucky said Tuesday the federal tax code is a “disaster,” and he wants to replace the income tax with a retail sales tax.

Paul said that he would support changing the federal tax code to get rid of the Internal Revenue Service, and he would vote to repeal the Sixteenth Amendment that created the federal income tax.

Fast-forward to today:
But when reporters asked Paul Wednesday why he thought the tax should be abolished, he said, “I really haven’t been saying anything like that.”

So what is Rand's position on this idea? Is he for it, or is he against it? What does Rand Paul actually believe? It's time for Rand to get off the fence and tell us what he wants to do.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

How out of touch can Rand Paul get?

Today The DSCC issued this press release:

Rand Paul, already under fire for not understanding Kentucky, just gave even more proof why he’s too risky for Kentucky by endorsing a 23% national sales tax on Kentuckians, a policy advocated for by a Texas-based group. According to the Associated Press, Paul would vote for the “FairTax,” which would replace the income tax with a 23% sales tax on almost everything Kentuckians buy, including groceries, prescription drugs, doctors visits and gasoline. Paul’s reckless tax scheme would even eliminate corporate income taxes and deductions on which middle class Kentuckians rely, like the mortgage deduction.

As the AP notes, “The proposal has been championed by the Texas-based group Americans for Fair Taxation and a newly formed affiliate, FairTax America Support Team. Paul's former campaign manager, David Adams, is a member of the affiliate's governing board.”

“Could Rand Paul be more out of touch with Kentucky?” said DSCC National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy. “At a time when middle-class Kentuckians are already struggling to make ends meet and pay the bills, forcing them to pay a 23% sales tax on nearly everything they buy is not only reckless and risky, it’s downright wrong. Once again, Paul has shown he has absolutely no clue what challenges Kentucky families face every day.”

Rand Paul has proven that he just doesn’t understand Kentucky. Since he beat Mitch McConnell’s handpicked candidate in the Republican primary, Paul has come under fire from Democrats and Republicans for calling for the elimination of the Department of Education, disbanding the Federal Reserve, and calling into question the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Paul also called criticism of BP “un-American,” has said the drug problem in eastern Kentucky is “not a real pressing issue,” and thinks Kentucky seniors should pay a $2,000 Medicare deductible.

Rand Paul: No respect for Kentucky

Jack Conway debates Rand Paul at NKU

Did you miss last night's debate between Jack Conway and Rand Paul? Here's the video:

Monday, October 11, 2010

Shadowy players in a new class war

Today's column by E.J. Dionne is great. Here's an excerpt:

...corporations and affluent individuals are pouring tens of millions of dollars into attack ads aimed almost exclusively at Democrats. One of the biggest political players, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, accepts money from foreign sources.

The chamber piously insists that none of the cash from abroad is going into its ad campaigns. But without full disclosure, there's no way of knowing if that's true or simply an accounting trick. And the chamber is just one of many groups engaged in an election-year spending spree.

This extraordinary state of affairs was facilitated by the U.S. Supreme Court's scandalous Citizens United decision, which swept away decades of restrictions on corporate spending to influence elections. The Republicans' success in blocking legislation that would at least have required the big spenders to disclose the sources of their money means voters have to operate in the dark.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Editorial comic roundup

Mike Luckovich
Rob Rogers
Bill Day
(Click for larger image)