'Do you think this financial crisis was an ant?'

Rand Paul's Online Fundraising Stutters

Today the DSCC issued this press release:

A little over one month since he beat the establishment by winning the Republican nomination, Rand Paul’s campaign is losing momentum at a rapid clip. Since May 18th, Paul has flip-flopped on a number of long held positions including his views on the Constitution, his willingness to accept money from lawmakers who supported bank bailouts, and his statement that criticism of the Big Oil company British Petroleum is “un-American.” For a candidate who at one time prized accessibility and free speech, Rand Paul has shunned reporters and is now making journalists submit questions in writing. Finally, a new report today from the Associated Press shows that even Paul’s fundraising has taken a large hit. The report calls his fundraising operation “lukewarm” and a “pittance” compared to the money he raised during the primary.

“During his primary battle Rand Paul generated national headlines because of his extremist views, but now in the general election he’s proving to be just another establishment politician,” said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Communications Director Eric Schultz. “Voters in Kentucky who thought they were getting a principled candidate are now finding out they picked another politician willing to sway with the wind.”

Rand Paul continues to flip-flop and walk back his previously held convictions. 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.

President Obama's weekly address

With Congress having finalized a strong Wall Street reform bill to avert another crisis and end bailouts, the President urges Congress to finish the job and send the bill to his desk.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Serial Apologies, No Contrition

There's a great editorial in today's New York Times:

House Republicans had their chance to do the right thing and remove Joe Barton as the ranking Republican on the energy committee. Instead, they applauded him. Mr. Barton, you will recall, apologized to BP — saying it was a victim of a “shakedown” — after President Obama pressed the company to ante up a $20 billion compensation fund for all the people who have lost their jobs and businesses because of the oil spill.

After Mr. Barton tried apologizing again before his party’s private caucus, John Boehner, the Republican leader, said “the issue is closed.” Mr. Boehner showed his clear loyalties — protecting party hacks and the oil industry — when he decided that Mr. Barton should keep his central role in the Republican Party’s energy policy.

'Tough love' can't ignore realities

Yesterday's Herald-Leader included this excellent editorial:

Rand Paul, the Bowling Green ophthalmologist who wants to become a member of the Senate Republican caucus, agrees with the [unemployment benefits] filibuster in Washington...

In Paul's case, that is a particularly hypocritical stance to take. Federal tax dollars, in the form of Medicare and Medicaid payments account for 55 percent of his business income.

He's fine with feeding at the federal trough himself. He just doesn't want others, whether they be unemployed or the farmers whose subsidies he wants to end, feeding by his side.

Colbert discusses Rand Paul

Rand Paul was the topic of a funny segment on last night's Colbert Report. Check it out!

How Republicans Would Govern

Rand Paul is featured in the latest ad from the DNC:

President Obama's weekly address

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Top 10 Things Overheard at Limbaugh's Wedding

From The Late Show With David Letterman:

Kentucky's newspapers on Rand Paul

Today's Courier-Journal comments on the latest Rand Paul controversy:

[Paul's] certification by the rigorous American Board of Ophthalmologists lapsed at the end of 2005, and he says his current certification comes from the National Board of Ophthalmology, which he incorporated in 1999 and which he leads.

...this seems to be another example of Dr. Paul's disturbing hostility toward any regulation and oversight. He portrays his dispute with the American Board of Ophthalmologists as a principled one, because the board doesn't require recertification of doctors who were certified before 1992, but it does demand that of younger physicians. Perhaps he has a point. But is it really one that in his own mind supersedes the established American board's insistence that doctors keep current in a rapidly changing field by taking 30 hours of continuing medical education classes each year and reviewing 15 case files and passing proctored tests every 10 years?

This incident does not call into question Dr. Paul's competence as a physician. But now he is a candidate for the U.S. Senate, and in that context this episode does raise legitimate concerns about his candor, judgment and values.

The Herald-Leader adds:

It's only June, but collisions between reality and the ideals of Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul are lighting up the sky like bottle rockets on the third of July.

There's the time that Paul, an eye doctor, wanted board certification but didn't like the new rules for earning it. So he created his own medical board. He's now certified by the National Board of Ophthalmology of which he's president, his wife is vice president and his father-in-law is secretary.

...The Tea Party movement, of which Paul is both a leader and beneficiary, feeds the comforting illusion that we can have all we've come to expect from government without paying for it. We buy into this illusion at our own peril.

Rand Paul abandoning his principles

Today the DSCC issued this press release:

In a major campaign flip-flop, politician Rand Paul has changed his tune on accepting campaign contributions from Senators who voted for the bank bailout according to a new report from the Lexington Herald-Leader. During the primary campaign, Rand Paul routinely criticized his Republican establishment opponent Trey Grayson for holding lavish DC fundraisers with the Republican establishment who supported the bailout. Now, as the Republican nominee, Rand Paul has committed a major flip-flop and is now declaring himself open for business and is gladly accepting bailout money. In fact, Paul will be feted by the same group of Republican lawmakers he criticized only months ago at a lavish DC fundraiser on June 24th.

“Rand Paul continues to abandon his principals in favor of political expediency and is quickly becoming just like every other Washington politician,” said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy. “Only months after publicly criticizing his opponent for holding Washington fundraisers with lawmakers who supported the bailout, Rand Paul will be doing the exact same thing this month. On primary night, Kentucky Republicans thought they were getting a principled candidate but it turns out they have nominated just another Washington politician.”

Rand Paul continues to flip-flop and walk back his previously held convictions. 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.”

Republicans say they want a clean energy future...

Mitch gets fact-checked

The folks at the nonpartisan fact-checking website PolitiFact looked into one of Mitch McConnell's recent statements. Here's what they found:

On June 9, 2010, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., used a floor speech to link BP and a climate-change bill sponsored by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.

"The problem for Democrats is that debating the Democrat cap-and-trade bill might not fit neatly into the White House messaging plan, since it’s been widely reported that a major part of the Kerry-Lieberman bill was essentially written by BP. This is clearly an inconvenient fact: an administration that seems to spend most of its time coming up with new ways to show how angry it is with BP is pushing a proposal that BP helped write."

...In fact, looking at three BP-pushed initiatives that have come to light shows that none were included in the current draft of the bill, which suggests that the senators and their aides were hardly captive to BP. It may be revealing that one day after the statement we're checking, McConnell had toned down his description of BP's role. In a floor speech on June 10, 2010, McConnell said, “Some favor the Kerry-Lieberman cap-and-trade bill, a significant portion of which, by the way, has been pushed by the oil company BP.”

If he'd simply said "pushed" the day before, he would have been pretty close to being accurate. But McConnell went much further when he said that BP had "essentially written" a "major part" of the bill. We rule that claim by McConnell False.

More hypocrisy from Rand Paul

The Herald-Leader has the story:

Rand Paul is building his U.S. Senate campaign around his opposition to big government — and especially the deficit spending that has led to a $13 trillion national debt. Costly programs must be slashed, Paul says.

But as a Bowling Green eye surgeon, Paul built his medical practice on payments from Medicare and Medicaid, the massive government health care programs considered to be leading contributors to the national debt.

...[Conway spokeswoman Allison] Haley said, "Rand Paul is once again displaying his hypocrisy by advocating cutting scholarships to our children, aid to farmers and nearly every other government program except the ones that line his own pocket."

President Obama's weekly address

With doctors facing deep cuts in their reimbursements from Medicare unless Congress acts to correct long-standing problems, the President calls on Senate Republicans to stop blocking the remedy and pledges to work toward a permanent solution.

Beshear announces funding for Kenton County

Yesterday, Governor Beshear issued this press release:

COVINGTON, Ky. — Gov. Steve Beshear, joined by local officials, today announced over $1.7 million in federal funding to various Kenton County communities. The funding is from two programs – Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) and Safe Routes to School (SRTS). Both programs go hand in hand with Gov. Beshear’s emphasis on investing in local communities.

“My administration is working to help communities thrive,” said Gov. Beshear. “This funding will help provide the citizens of Kenton County with projects that promote community pride and enhance quality of life.”

The projects announced today include:

• City of Ludlow – $40,000, SRTS
  This funding will allow construction of a new sidewalk and improve pedestrian crossing at two intersections to provide safe travel for students of Ludlow High School, Ludlow Middle School and Mary A. Goetz Elementary School. The Ludlow Independent School District serves an urban community, has only limited bus service, and the majority of students must walk to school.


• City of Crescent Springs – $163,840, SRTS
  The city of Crescent Springs will now be able to construct a quarter of a mile of sidewalks along Western Reserve Road from the Nordman Drive intersection to the Anderson Road intersection. Students of St. Joseph School will gain a safe route to and from school from the surrounding neighborhoods.


• Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky $1,521,328, CMAQ
  The Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky will purchase five full-size, fixed route replacement buses with these funds. The buses are 40-foot, low-floor buses equipped with bike racks, security cameras and wheelchair lifts. The current fleet includes 101 fixed route buses, which are set on a 12-year replacement cycle averaging eight new buses per year to maintain a safe, reliable fleet. This transportation improvement will greatly benefit the economic development of Northern Kentucky by continuing to connect employers with employees and by improving the overall efficiency of the transportation network.

CMAQ provides a flexible funding source for state and local governments to fund transportation projects and programs to help meet the requirements of the Clean Air Act and its amendments. The CMAQ Program supports two important goals of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet: improving air quality and relieving congestion.

CMAQ funds support transportation projects that reduce mobile source emissions in areas designated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as in nonattainment or maintenance of National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

Safe Routes to School projects are designed to encourage students in kindergarten through eighth grade to walk or ride bicycles to school – getting exercise and reducing motor vehicle traffic at the same time. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet administers the program in Kentucky.

The cabinet’s Office of Local Programs administers the grants and will contact recipient communities within a couple of weeks. More information about the federal programs are available at http://tea21.ky.gov/.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Rand Paul continues defense of BP

The Affordable Care Act

Today The White House issued this press release:

The Affordable Care Act passed by Congress and signed by President Obama this year will provide seniors and their families with greater savings and increased quality health care. It will also ensure accountability throughout the health care system so patients and their doctor - not insurance companies - have greater control over their own care.

On Tuesday, June 8, President Barack Obama – in a national tele-town hall meeting answering questions directly from seniors across the country – launched an unprecedented national campaign to combat fraud and misinformation and deliver the facts to America’s seniors about Medicare and the Affordable Care Act. The campaign includes a series of steps to protect seniors by ensuring they have clear and accurate information about the new law and implementing stronger tools to fight waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare program. Administration officials attended neighborhood meetings where seniors gathered to participate in the tele-town hall to answer additional questions from seniors. More than 100 events were held across the country.

The Affordable Care Act: Important Benefits for Seniors

Medicare is a sacred trust between America and its seniors - the Affordable Care Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Obama this year, guarantees that trust is never broken. The Affordable Care Act will provide greater savings and increased quality care to America’s seniors, and by ensuring increased accountability throughout the health care system it puts seniors and their doctors, not insurance companies, in control of their health care. These are needed improvements that will keep Medicare strong and solvent. America’s seniors will see new benefits, new cost savings, and an increased focus on quality - all to guarantee they get the care they need. You can learn more about the new law here. Some of the new benefits in the Affordable Care Act include:

• A one-time, tax free $250 rebate check for seniors who hit the prescription drug “donut hole” who are not already receiving Medicare Extra Help. These checks will begin mailing on June 10 and will continue monthly throughout the year as beneficiaries enter the coverage gap.


• Free preventive care services like colorectal cancer screening and mammograms and a free annual wellness visit.


• Community health teams will provide patient-centered care so seniors won’t have to see multiple doctors who don’t work together. The new law also helps seniors who are hospitalized return home successfully - and avoid going back - by helping to coordinate care and ensure they have access to support in their community.


• Medicare pays Medicare Advantage insurance companies over $1,000 more per person on average than traditional Medicare. These additional payments are paid for in part by increased premiums for all Medicare beneficiaries - including the 77% of seniors not enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan. The new law levels the playing field by gradually eliminating Medicare Advantage overpayments to insurance companies while protecting guaranteed Medicare benefits. Instead of overpayments similar to the last several years to insurance companies, the new law will base payments on the local cost of providing guaranteed Medicare services. Medicare Advantage plans will also receive new bonus payments based on performance (e.g., for providing care based on preventing diseases before they start, and care that stops diseases from getting worse). Participating health plans will also be prohibited from charging higher out-of-pocket costs to seniors than traditional Medicare for similar services.


• Over the next 20 years, Medicare spending will grow at a slower rate, as a result of eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. This will extend the life of the Medicare Trust Fund by 12 years and provide cost savings to Medicare beneficiaries. In 2018, seniors can expect to save, on average, almost $200 per year in premiums and over $200 per year in co-insurance compared to what they would have paid without the Affordable Care Act. Upper-income beneficiaries ($85,000 of annual income for individuals or $170,000 for married couples filing jointly) will pay higher premiums. This will impact about 2% of Medicare beneficiaries.

Fighting Waste, Fraud and Abuse

Stopping misinformation means keeping seniors safe from fraud and scam artists who seek to take advantage of the new law and steal from seniors and taxpayers. The Administration has taken a series of steps to fight fraud:

• The President has directed HHS to cut the improper payment rate, which tracks fraud, waste and abuse in the Medicare Fee for Services program, in half by 2012.


• The Administration has helped support a renewed partnership between the federal government and state Attorneys General. Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder today sent a letter to state Attorneys General urging them to vigorously prosecute criminals who seek to steal from seniors and taxpayers and pledged the support of federal officials for state efforts.


• A nationwide series of anti-fraud summits hosted by the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services will bring federal, state and local officials together with representatives from the private sector to discuss tactics to fight fraud. The first summit will be held in Miami with additional summits in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Detroit, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.


• A redoubling of efforts by U.S. Attorneys nationwide to coordinate with state and local law enforcement to prevent and prosecute fraud. Today, Attorney General Holder called on U.S. Attorneys to hold regular forums with local officials to discuss how to better crack down on criminals who commit fraud.

Reaching Out to Medicare Beneficiaries

In recent weeks, Medicare beneficiaries have received important new information in the mail regarding the Affordable Care Act that answers many questions Administration officials have received from the American people. When seniors hit the prescription drug gap known as the donut hole, they will receive additional details along with a $250 rebate check to help cover the cost of their prescription drugs. The mailers follow Medicare’s long-standing practice of communicating with beneficiaries and provide important information about how seniors can take advantage of their new Medicare benefits.

Communicating Over the Airwaves

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in conjunction with the Administration on Aging, will be launching an educational media campaign this summer to educate Medicare beneficiaries about the importance of staying vigilant with their personal Medicare information and getting the facts about the new law to seniors so that scam artists are not able to prey on them.

The first phase of the outreach campaign will be a series of radio ads that will run in key areas of the country where there are a large number of seniors who fall in the coverage gap and who could be eligible for the $250 one-time tax free rebate check.

KY's Open Door site again rated best in the nation

Today Governor Beshear issued this press release:

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Gov. Steve Beshear’s groundbreaking e-transparency website, Kentucky’s Open Door, has again earned recognition from a national taxpayer watchdog group for being one of the best e-transparency sites in the nation. Kentucky’s Open Door, online at www.OpenDoor.KY.gov, is an easy-to-use, searchable website with a wide range of spending information.

“I’m very proud of my administration’s efforts to make government more accountable and transparent to the public,” said Gov. Beshear. “Our continued commitment to run an open government is evident as we continue to earn national recognition for e-transparency. In these extraordinary economic times, it is more important than ever that taxpayers know how their tax dollars are being spent.”

In a report published on June 2, 2010 by The Center for Study of Responsive Law, a nonprofit organization that researches government and corporate accountability, Kentucky was recognized as a national leader for transparency in state contracts for publishing the full text of state contracts. Kentucky, Arizona and Massachusetts were all cited for elevating their efforts to “best practices.”

The report noted that, “Kentucky has made the most significant progress in online disclosure and transparency through its online portal.” This is a dramatic improvement from a similar report issued by the same organization a year ago, which said that, at that time, Kentucky did not have contracts available through the Internet.

Patrick Benton, author of the report, said “Kentucky went from a worst performer to one of the best full transparency states all in one year. This remarkable progress demonstrates the ease and speed with which all states could open their books to their citizens.”

Kentucky is a leader in its transparency efforts for the reporting of both distribution of stimulus funds and state government spending. In April 2010, Kentucky was the only state in the nation to receive an ‘A’ rating for openness in government spending in a report issued by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, making it one of the most comprehensive sites of its kind in the country.

Similar to Open Door, the Commonwealth’s stimulus spending site, Kentucky at Work, online at http://kentuckyatwork.ky.gov, received national attention in January 2009. In a report issued by Good Jobs First, a national policy resource center, Kentucky was recognized for receiving the second highest rating nationally for accountability to taxpayers.

In the spring of 2008, Gov. Beshear issued an Executive Order establishing the e-Transparency Task Force; a 14-member bipartisan panel charged with providing a more transparent, accountable state government. On Jan. 1, 2009, Kentucky’s Open Door was launched after a concerted, multi-agency effort, led by officials of the Finance and Administration Cabinet.

“While we are thrilled by the national recognition of our efforts, we are hardly going to pause to rest on these laurels,” stated Finance and Administration Secretary Jonathan Miller, who chaired the Governor’s e-Transparency Task Force. “We’ve been listening to public recommendations, and are continuing efforts to make the site even more thorough and user friendly.”

Since first being launched, the site has continued to improve. Significant upgrades included improving user-friendliness and adding significant new categories of information, such as comprehensive detail on state contracts, and up-to-date data on state employee salaries. In January 2010, Gov. Beshear and Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. announced that the state’s judicial branch would join the e-Transparency website. Open Door currently hosts information from both executive and judicial branches, and all of Kentucky’s constitutional officers.

To access The Center for Study of Responsive Law’s full report, State Government Contract Assessment 2010, go to http://csrl.org/reports/Contracts2010.pdf.

President Obama's weekly address

Speaking from Grand Isle, Louisiana, the President discusses the hardships local residents and small business owners are facing as a result of the BP oil spill.

Road to Recovery

The Recovery Act is working to cushion the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, and an economy that was in free fall is now on the road to recovery.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Paul inconsistent on Constitution

Today's Herald-Leader makes some great points about Rand Paul:

For Paul and the Tea Party movement that has made him its darling, the Constitution represents something of a political/governmental Bible and should be adhered to strictly when they're talking about shrinking the size and power of the federal government — but not so strictly when they don't like what it says.

And Paul really doesn't like what the 14th Amendment says about "persons born ... in the United States" become citizens of this great American melting pot.

...We'll just note that this candidate who proudly bears the "constitutionalist" banner seems to practice that particular religion only when it's politically convenient for him.

Rand Paul strikes again

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

Clearly, there is something about the pivotal 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that eludes the understanding of Republican Senate nominee Rand Paul.

...Dr. Paul told an English-language television station in Russia that he opposes citizenship for children born in the United States to parents who are in this country illegally.

...There is a problem, however. The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, specifically states: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." Period. It's a critically important part of the Constitution -- one with which Dr. Paul really should become more familiar.

Editorial comic roundup

(Click for larger image)