Mitch's fiscal cliff

From today's Courier-Journal:

Mitch McConnell believes the grown-ups in charge waited too long to find an alternative to the steep tax hikes and drastic cuts in government spending scheduled to take place Jan. 1 unless Congress does something.

"This is a conversation we should have had months ago," complained the leader of the Senate Republicans. "But here we are, once again, at the end of the year staring at a crisis we should have dealt with months ago."

...That’s pretty rich, coming from Mr. McConnell, who as the Senate’s top Republican, dedicated the last 24 months trying and failing to ensure President Obama was "a one-term president." Mr. McConnell’s other preoccupation, apart from raising money toward a sixth term in the Senate, appears to be filibustering almost anything proposed by Democrats.

Urgent case for Senate reform

Today's Herald-Leader makes the case for filibuster reform:

Sen. Mitch McConnell has only himself to blame for the growing sentiment to tame, if not kill, the filibuster.

In his four years as minority leader, McConnell and his fellow Republicans have made a mockery of the Senate by overusing and abusing the maneuver. They attained a historic level of absurdity last week when McConnell filibustered his own proposal.

...While this sounds comical, it's classic McConnell. He has been single-minded in his strategy to tie up the Senate with partisan tactics and procedural maneuvering, to the exclusion of almost any substantive debate.

Mitch McConnell cashing in on fiscal cliff

A great editorial in today's Courier-Journal:

The public might assume that Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Senate Republicans, would be among those working furiously to avoid the cliff by trying to resolve the faux budget crisis his party helped create. The public would be wrong.

...Having already stockpiled more than $7 million toward his re-election in 2014, Mr. McConnell is exploiting the current fiscal crisis as a fund-raising opportunity.

In an email blast to supporters — sent the day after he earned national ridicule for filibustering his own bill — “Team Mitch” cited the pending fiscal crisis as a reason for donors to give him even more money.

Daily Show covers Mitch McConnell's Self-Filibuster

Jon Stewart takes on Mitch McConnell's ridiculous partisan games in the US Senate. Classic!

Filibuster follies

Another good editorial from the Courier-Journal:

In an amazing display of insider maneuvering those outside Congress have come to know and hate, [Sen. Mitch] McConnell, the leader of the Senate Republicans, proposed a vote on a measure he first offered last year. It would allow the President to raise the nation’s debt ceiling without approval of Congress.

But Senate Democrats surprised him by actually offering to vote on it. Mr. McConnell then objected, thus invoking, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid put it, “a filibuster of his own bill.”

Classic example, Mr. Reid added, of “Republicans not taking yes for an answer.”

Extremists smack down the disabled

A good editorial from the Courier-Journal:

Now 89 and in frail health, Sen. (Bob) Dole made an unusual appearance Tuesday in his wheelchair on the Senate floor to support a United Nations treaty that would establish the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 as a non-binding international standard. That act was signed into law by Republican President George H.W. Bush.

...A few Republican senators with more sense and courage than their colleagues voted for the bill, including Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Dick Lugar of Indiana. They, sadly, did not include Kentucky senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, who both voted no.

Americans need to pay attention. The Republican Party has become hopelessly hostage to its most extreme members when someone as respected as Bob Dole can no longer appeal to reason.

Note to Mitch: Voters reject obstructionism

This editorial ran in the Herald-Leader on Nov 8:

(Mitch McConnell) signaled his intent to keep obstructing Obama unless the newly re-elected president moves to the "political center."

Obama just received more than 60 million votes and scored a 303-206 victory in the electoral college (pre-Florida), which raises obvious questions: Where does McConnell think the political center is? Isn't that what elections tell us?

If ever the Senate Republican leader should show some humility, it's now. Not only did McConnell fail to achieve his publicly stated "single most important" goal of making Obama a one-term president, he also presided over a loss of Republican seats in the Senate.

Senate needs new Republican leadership

The Courier-Journal ran this editorial on Nov 8:

“The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president,” Mr. McConnell, the Senate minority leader and Kentucky’s senior senator, told The National Journal.

He has failed utterly, a stunning failure driven home by Mr. Obama’s decisive win Tuesday over Republican Mitt Romney. One of the country’s top Republicans and leader of Senate Republicans, Mr. McConnell has crashed and burned in the single most important goal he set for himself and his party.

...Mr. McConnell needs to get out of the way and let someone with a true vision for this country take over.

Voters turn down Rand Paul's brew

A good editorial in today's Courier-Journal:

Mr. Paul spent time, money and political capital supporting five GOP candidates in U.S. Senate races ranging from a West Virginia election where the Democratic incumbent was never at risk to a Montana election where the Democratic incumbent never had a chance.

...Thankfully, voters in the five states where Mr. Paul tried hardest to influence the races rejected the extremist tea party candidates and chose instead to support moderate Democrats who will work to get things done in Washington.

We can only hope that Senators Paul and McConnell paid attention and realize that tea party extremism is not what this country needs or wants.

Ky. senators let down our vets

An excellent editorial from today's Herald-Leader:

Both Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul helped kill a plan that could have helped create jobs for the 3,000 unemployed Kentucky veterans who served their country in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The proposal fell short by just two votes of the 60 required to clear a procedural hurdle erected by Republicans in the Senate last week.

...The bill was supported by all 53 Democrats and five Republicans, including a couple who have tough re-election races. But the 58-40 vote wasn't quite enough to overcome the objection.

Rand's filibuster to deny foreign aid wrong tack

Today's Herald-Leader includes this editorial:

Sen. Rand Paul must have missed the Libyans who were demonstrating last week in support of the United States.

Paul has lumped the governments of Libya, Egypt and Pakistan together as enemies of the U.S., and he's vowing to hold the Senate hostage until it votes on his plan to end aid to all three countries. (The rest of the Senate wants to approve funding to keep our government running and go home to campaign.)

Paul's antics must be wearing thin even on his filibuster-happy fellow Republicans.

Rand Paul gets schooled on national TV

ThinkProgress has the details:

One of the least appreciated but easily-confirmed facts about the current state of the American economy is that the number of Americans employed by the government has gone down under President Obama. But apparently this is news to one the Republican Party’s most prominent tea party conservatives. During a roundtable discussion on ABC this morning over the size and adequacy of the 2009 stimulus, a flabbergasted Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) asked economist Paul Krugman if he was actually arguing that government employment had gone down under Obama:

PAUL: The thing I don’t understand is that your arguing that the government sector is struggling. Are you arguing that there are fewer government employees under Obama than there were under Bush?

KRUGMAN: Of course. That’s a fact. That’s a tremendous fact.

McConnell's tendency to hype

From the Herald-Leader:

13 guilty pleas (were) entered in federal court in Louisville Tuesday by the second and last of two Iraqi refugees who had settled in Bowling Green. An FBI sting caught them plotting to send aid and weapons to al-Qaida in Iraq.

When the charges were announced last year McConnell warned of "retaliatory attacks" and "disturbances and disruptions" unless the two were moved from Kentucky to a military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

...Despite McConnell's alarm, Kentucky appears to have escaped unscathed, unless the upcoming sentencings of Mohanad Hammadi and Waad Alwan attract an attack by Osama bin Laden (oh, wait, he's dead).

An ugly turn

A good editorial in today's Courier-Journal:

Things turned ugly at the tea party rally in Frankfort Tuesday and state Sen. Damon Thayer, a Georgetown Republican, deserves special credit.

...“We need you to help send Barack Obama back to Chicago or Hawaii or wherever he wants to go,” Thayer said, prompting some in the crowd to shout “Kenya!”

This astonishingly offensive response was met with a wink and a nod from Mr. Thayer, who instead of rebuking the speakers, encouraged them.

Yes, Senator, that is exactly the issue

Another excellent editorial from the Courier-Journal:

Asked on “Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace” what the Republican plan is to help some 30 million Americans without health insurance if the GOP is successful in repealing the Affordable Care Act, Sen. McConnell finally said what he had spent the first five minutes of the show trying not to say.

“That is not the issue,” he told Mr. Wallace, before launching back into his talking points.

...Senator, that is the issue.

A week in the life of Sen. Rand Paul

A great editorial in today's Courier-Journal:

For those who missed it in the buzz and flurry of major breaking news, (Rand Paul) weighed in on Thursday’s 5-4 decision (to uphold the Affordable Care Act) thusly: “Just because a couple people on the Supreme Court declare something to be ‘constitutional’ does not make it so. The whole thing remains unconstitutional.”

“Justice” Paul’s verdict flies in the face of more than ample precedent that reveals this usually is the way these things work, especially with majority opinions. It’s not called the highest court in the land for nothing.

While Mr. Paul’s take on what makes something constitutional generated some rubbernecking on the part of his constituents and fellow Americans, Kentuckians may have missed his role in two Senate dramas that affect people throughout the country and in Washington, D.C. And since he invoked “the people who elected me” in one of these episodes, Kentuckians — the people who did elect him — ought to know about this.

Rand Paul: 'Obamacare' is still unconstitutional

Via Politico:

Sen. Rand Paul doesn’t think the Supreme Court gets the last word on what’s constitutional.

The Kentucky Republican belittled the high court’s health care decision as the flawed opinion of just a “couple people.”

“Just because a couple people on the Supreme Court declare something to be ‘constitutional’ does not make it so. The whole thing remains unconstitutional,” the freshman lawmaker said in a statement.

Sen. McConnell's disgraceful drive for secrecy

An excellent editorial from today's Courier-Journal:

(In Sen. McConnell's view,) money is speech and people who have it are entitled to speak freely under the First Amendment. The rich just happen to have more “speech” to spend on political causes. A lot more.

Sen. McConnell is working to ensure the rich spend that extra “speech” in secret, cloaking his campaign in a disingenuous First Amendment argument. In doing so, he is emerging as the chief defender of Super Pac donors, protecting those who might otherwise suffer “bullying and intimidation.”

...Sen. McConnell’s single-minded drive for secrecy is the true threat in this debate. Congress and the public should not be fooled by his supposed passion for the First Amendment and take steps to shine light on the dark money.

McConnell flip-flops on campaign finance disclosure

A good editorial in today's Herald-Leader:

Time after time in the 20 years after this commentary appeared in the Herald-Leader, McConnell reiterated his support for public disclosure of campaign contributions.

...However, speaking to the conservative American Enterprise Institute Friday, just two days before the 40th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, Senate Minority Leader McConnell denounced "government-compelled disclosure of contributions to all grass-roots groups" as "nothing less than an effort by the government itself to expose its critics to harassment and intimidation, either by government authorities or through third-party allies," according to The Washington Post's coverage of the speech.

What changed? The Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision. Now that corporations (and other organizations) are people, too, and can spend unlimited amounts of money on political causes, McConnell wants to shield the super PACs his boardroom buddies are creating from disclosure rules proposed by congressional Democrats.

Conway Leads For-Profit College Investigation

Via California Watch:

Attorneys general in 15 states are investigating QuinStreet, a Foster City-based Internet marketing company that connects its for-profit college clients with service members and veterans looking to spend their military education benefits.

In their inquiry, the investigators expressed concerns that QuinStreet's marketing websites, such as www.GIBill.com and www.ArmyStudyGuide.com, mislead consumers into believing that the sites are affiliated with the government or that the for-profit colleges recommended by the sites are the only ones that accept subsidies such as the GI Bill or Tuition Assistance, which is for service members on active duty.

According to QuinStreet's most recent quarterly report filed May 8, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway is leading the multi-state inquiry into the company, with attorneys general in Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina and Tennessee joining the investigation.

Ap-Paul-ing

From today's Courier-Journal:

Kentucky’s horse racing season is well under way so it seems only fitting that U.S. Sen. Rand Paul hit a sort of political trifecta this week with this comment about President Barack Obama’s support for same-sex marriage: “Call me cynical, but I wasn’t sure his views on marriage could get any gayer.”

In one unfortunate laugh-line in a speech, the Kentucky Republican managed to offend: 1. Fellow Republicans 2. Liberal gay rights activists and 3. Conservative opponents of gay marriage.

Rand Paul’s Disrespectful Anti-Gay Joke

Via ThinkProgress:

Speaking at a Christian conservative group in Iowa on Friday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) made an anti-gay joke at President Obama’s expense: “Call me cynical, but I wasn’t sure his views on marriage could get any gayer.” On Face the Nation this morning, anti-gay activist Tony Perkins was asked to comment on Paul’s joke, and he practically leaped out of his skin to distance himself from the senator...

I don’t think it’s a laughing matter. I don’t think this is something we should joke about. Ah, we’re talking about individuals who feel very strongly one way or the other, and I think we should be civil, respectful, allowing all sides to have the debate… but I think this is not something to laugh about, to poke fun of other people about.

On Meet the Press, RNC Chair Reince Priebus similarly refused to defend Paul. “I don’t know what he meant by that,” Priebus said.

Mitch Wants to Double Down on Citizens United

ThinkProgress has the story:

The Supreme Court is currently considering whether to hear a case that will enable it to correct its error in Citizens United and overrule its indefensible decision to allow unlimited corporate and other wealthy donor money to influence elections. Neither the corporate lobby nor the Senate’s top Republican (Mitch McConnell) are eager to see this occur, however. Both of them filed briefs in the Supreme Court yesterday urging the justices to not only reaffirm Citizens United, but to do so without even hearing argument in the case.

One Chance

Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul just say 'no'

From today's Courier-Journal:

Something rather remarkable happened in the U.S. Senate this week. Democrats and Republicans came together to pass an extension of the Violence Against Women Act, which provides resources to help victims of domestic violence.

Should be a given, right? Wrong.

...Thirty-one Senate Republicans — including, to what should be Kentucky’s shame, Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul; and Indiana’s Richard Lugar — voted against this.

Rand Paul Comes to Big Oil's Defense

Via ThinkProgress:

The top five oil companies in the United States have already made $5.8 billion in windfall profits from spiking gasoline prices this year. Yesterday, Senate Republicans agreed to debate a bill that repeals $2 billion in annual tax breaks for these super-wealthy oil giants. The move was purely a political calculation — don’t expect the GOP to end taxpayer welfare for their Big Oil allies. GOP senators like Rand Paul (R-KY) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) have used their time on the Senate floor today to push error-riddled arguments coming straight from their oil industry donors.

Paul argued Big Oil deserves even more favors from government, because they’re doing such a good job extracting wealth from American families.

...Meanwhile, the oil industry is not using its profits to hire more people. Paul falsely claimed the oil companies employ 9.2 million people — in fact, there are only 2.2 million jobs in the entire oil industry, and 40 percent of those jobs are minimum-wage work at gas stations. Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell, and BP have shed their U.S. workforce by 11,200 between 2005 to 2010, according to a report last year. Big Oil isn’t investing in renewable energy or in reducing oil spills, either.

Senate mischief

The Courier-Journal addresses Katie Stine's latest stunt:

The Kentucky Senate continues down its merry path of irrelevancy and partisan mischief-making. On Wednesday the Republican majority approved a terrible piece of spite legislation that would make the office of attorney general non-partisan.

When Sen. Katie Stine, R-Southgate, introduced the legislation a few weeks ago, she lamely suggested that because of the importance of the job — the state’s chief legal officer — making the post non-partisan would eliminate any taint of partisanship. What Sen. Stine failed to say is that Republicans have been singularly unsuccessful in electing attorneys general in modern times. Even under Republican governors, the state has elected Democrats as attorney general. And the last time that happened, Attorney General (now House Speaker) Greg Stumbo made life miserable for Gov. Ernie Fletcher, as well he should have.

...No state in America has a non-partisan elected attorney general. And there is good reason for that. Politics is not bad, and neither are political parties. Particularly in these times, when the cleavage between Democrats and Republicans is so striking, voters want and need to know how their candidates line up.

McConnell Flip-Flops on Highway Bill

ThinkProgress has the details:

McConnell’s staff claimed, “Senator McConnell has been working to pass the highway bill in the U.S. Senate, which is currently slated for a vote on final passage next week.” A McConnell spokesman also told a Louisville, Kentucky radio station that the minority leader was working with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to pass the highway bill.

...McConnell joined 21 other Republicans — and no Democrats — in voting against the bill.

McConnell’s office did not respond to a request for comment on why he voted against a bill he’d pledged to support and no explanations were apparent on his senate or campaign websites.

Beshear Breaks Ground for DHL Express in NKY

Today Governor Beshear issued this press release:

Gov. Beshear, Lt. Gov. Abramson Break Ground for DHL Express in Northern Kentucky
International logistics leader to create 120 jobs, invest $47 million

ERLANGER, Ky.– Governor Steve Beshear and Lieutenant Governor Jerry Abramson today joined community leaders and officials from DHL Express to celebrate the groundbreaking for a new 193,000-square-foot sorting facility in Erlanger. The expansion brings 120 full-time jobs and an investment of $47 million.

DHL officials anticipate the new facility will be operational by November. Upgrades are also planned for an existing 520,000-square-foot facility.

“DHL is a global leader in the shipping industry, and we’re thrilled to have them make this substantial investment in northern Kentucky,” Gov. Beshear said. “Millions of packages are processed at its current facility each month, and now that amount will continue to grow.”

The expansion demonstrates Kentucky’s ability to provide an efficient infrastructure to meet the needs of such a significant international company, Gov. Beshear said, adding the expansion will also help Kentucky companies get products and packages into the global stream of commerce.

“DHL already employs about 2,000 people in this area, and now, 120 more Kentuckians will have jobs thanks to DHL,” said Lt. Gov. Abramson. “This reflects the high quality of Kentucky’s workforce and the ability of the Commonwealth to attract first-class companies such as DHL.”

DHL Express was founded in 1969 when three friends personally shipped papers by airplane from San Francisco to Honolulu so the customs clearance for a ship’s cargo could begin before the ship’s arrivals. The company has grown to become a world leader in the international express, air and ocean freight, road and rail transportation, logistics and international mail services. Today, DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL, headquartered in Bonn, Germany. The company’s global network covers more than 220 countries and territories worldwide.

“This region is important for DHL as we continue to grow our international trade routes,” said DHL Express Regional CEO Stephen Fenwick. “Our multi-million dollar expansion at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport builds upon our commitment to the U.S. market and our global clientele. DHL has made a significant investment in both the facility as well as the community that supports it. We are grateful to Gov. Beshear and to our local teams for helping us to ensure that we continue to provide the best possible service to our customers.”

DHL is one of more than 170 European companies that have a presence in the Commonwealth. Collectively, those companies employ more than 26,000 people.

To encourage the investment and job growth in Northern Kentucky, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) preliminarily approved the company for tax incentives up to $1.5 million through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of its investment over the term of the agreement through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.

KEDFA also approved DHL Express for tax benefits up to $500,000 through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act that allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development and electronic processing equipment.

“I am pleased to hear DHL recognizes the solid work ethic and excellent quality of life in Boone County,” said Sen. John Schickel, of Union. “These new jobs will provide a boost to our economy and offer new opportunities for our workforce.”

“Today’s groundbreaking is further proof that Boone County as well as Northern Kentucky as a whole serves as an important economic hub for the entire Commonwealth,” said Rep. Addia Wuchner, of Florence. “DHL’s decision to locate and expand in our region is also a testament to the outstanding business climate, availability of our workforce, and the quality of life we offer.”

“DHL continues to impress Northern Kentucky Tri-ED with its aggressive growth at CVG (Cincinnati/ Northern Kentucky International Airport),” said Steve Arlinghaus, Kenton County Judge-Executive and chairman of Northern Kentucky Tri-ED. “We are blessed with ample acreage on the south side of the airport for DHL’s growth and our workforce continues to deliver for DHL.”

“The resurgence of DHL in Northern Kentucky has been phenomenal,” added Boone County Judge-Executive Gary Moore. “The county has established a strong working relationship with DHL and applauds DHL on its seventh project in our area resulting in more than 2,000 total jobs.”

For more information on DHL, visit www.dhl.com.

Information on Kentucky’s economic development efforts and programs is available at www.ThinkKentucky.com. Fans of the Cabinet for Economic Development can also join the discussion on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ThinkKentucky or follow on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/ThinkKentucky.

For more about the Northern Kentucky Tri-ED, visit www.NorthernKentuckyusa.com. Northern Kentucky Tri-ED can also be followed through social media channels via Facebook , LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

A detailed community profile for Northern Kentucky can be viewed at www.thinkkentucky.com/EDIS/cmnty/index.aspx?cw=049.

McConnell Filibusters 17 Judges Out of Spite

A great catch by ThinkProgress:

In an exchange that seems designed to prove why fewer Americans approve of Congress than approve of communism or the BP oil spill, Senate Leaders Harry Reid (D-NV) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) engaged in a long debate this morning over why Reid is currently trying to break seventeen filibusters of President Obama’s judicial nominees. The exchange culminated with McConnell admitting that, even though all these judges will be confirmed eventually, he is blocking them now because he is upset that Reid’s making him look bad.

...If this is truly McConnell’s reason for blocking these judges, then he just made an absolutely shocking admission. Thanks to excessive judicial vacancies, America’s courts are increasingly unable to function. In some courts, judges are so overburdened they have to rush major felony cases through as if they involved minor traffic violations. In one court, felony caseloads nearly doubled in just two years. Every court that is unable to handle its caseload means wrongly fired workers waiting months or years for justice and businesses that must delay making new hires until they are sure they won’t be hit with an unwarranted legal judgment. And yet McConnell says he is willing to punish all of these workers and businesses because he is upset that Reid has made him look bad. America can ill afford this kind of tantrum.

Spiteful legislation

Today's Courier-Journal included this editorial on NKY's own Katie Stine:

Throughout modern history, the [attorney general] post (an elective one) has been held by Democrats. Even when Republicans Louie Nunn and Ernie Fletcher captured the governor’s office, they were served by Democratic attorneys general (John B. Breckinridge and Greg Stumbo, respectively).

However, the fact that voters have been consistent in electing Democrats doesn’t justify approval of a bill now before the General Assembly. State Sen. Katie Stine, R-Southgate, wants to make the office non-partisan. “So it’s a very important job and its one that frankly there should never even be a concern that ‘oh, could there be political motivation for whatever is being done?’ This makes sure if they’re nonpartisan that they run as a person who will be a servant of the people,” Ms. Stine told Louisville’s WFPL-FM.

...Sen. Stine’s bill is not about improving government. It’s about spite.