Crossposted from Hillbilly Report.
It is an enigma I have long struggled to understand. Anyone in the state of Kentucky voting Republican. For a while now we have had mostly Republican representation in the Congress except for the mixed bag voting record of Blue Dog Ben Chandler. Only with the inclusion of Congressman Awesome John Yarmuth from the Third District have working Kentucky families had a solid voice in the Congress on all issues. Now the price of voting against our own interests is catching up with us.
Gov. Steve Beshear of Kentucky laid out just how Mitch McConnell and his minions of corrupt Kentucky Republicans use their idiocy to hurt their own state as they rake in Corporate money:
Gov. Steve Beshear says the state could come up nearly $240 million short early next year if a federal spending bill defeated by a Senate Republican filibuster doesn’t pass.
Beshear said Friday that Kentucky is relying on the spending measure for a six-month extension of a higher federal Medicaid match that is to last until year’s end. Medicaid is the state-federal health insurance program that covers about 790,000 low-income and disabled Kentuckians.
Beshear said that having to re-balance the budget to offset the loss of nearly $240 million would be a "horrendous" task. He said virtually every state program would face significant reductions.
http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.co...
Republicans led by Kentucky's Senator to Communist China Mitch McConnell. Along with Hal Rogers, Geoff Davis, Brett Guthrie and Ed Whitfield. They have gutted our state of jobs and opportunities with their Corporate policies and we watch as a new generation of young people is forced to leave our state to seek opportunity elsewhere. I challenge anyone to take a good look at the record compiled by our Republican representation and conclude anything but the fact that McConnell and his disciples have been an ungodly disaster for this state.
It does not have to be this way however. Up and down Kentucky's Democratic ticket this year there are some very fine candidates who will be able to compete and at least tie up national Republican money here. However, I think a few of them have a real shot at winning too.
Of course our Senate race has been making news for a long time now. First the drama with Bunning and McConnell, then the tea-bag sweetheart Rand Pauul beating McConnell's golden-boy, and now the newfound lovefest between Paul and McConnell who as it turns out are simply peas in a pod. All along Democrats had two strong candidates who could have both won in Daniel Mongiardo and Jack Conway. Although I did not take sides in that primary Conway won and has my support fully against tea-party zealot Rand Paul. His ideology is so fringe it is dangerous.
Conway has actually remained ahead of everyone in fundraising and is a fine candidate in his own right:
Go here and support Jack Conway for United States Senate:
http://www.actblue.com/...
In the Second Congressional District we find Ed Marksberry, no stranger to us here at Hillbilly Report. Here he is in a video captured by Jim Pence:
Go here to check out all to do with the Marksbery campaign. He could definitely win this race with support from Progressives:
http://www.edmarksberry.com/
Now we come to the Fourth Congressional District and another challenger in John Waltz. Waltz is mounting an impressive campaign and is burning up ActBlue. Waltz has a new website and is proud to carry the real Progressive torch in Kentucky. He has some great ideas on reducing our debt:
I will support the Control Spending Now Act, proposed by Senator Feingold, which will reduce our deficit by over $500 billion. Some of these measures include:
* Ending the Wall Street bailout and saving the additional funds left over will save $244.5 billion;
* Ending automatic pay raises for Congress, which will save $80 million over 10 years;
* Lowering the cost of prescription drugs through drug re-importation will save $50 billion over 10 years;
* Redirecting Medicare prescription drug assistance to those who need it the most will save $10 billion over 10 years;
* Eliminating taxpayer subsidies for exporters will save $3.35 billion over 10 years;
* Helping small to mid-sized farmers by getting rid of farm subsidies for individuals with high incomes will save $1.036 billion over 10 years;
* Eliminating wasteful spending on the C-17 not needed by the Department of Defense and finding an alternative to the unsafe V-22 Osprey will save over $14 billion.
http://www.johnwaltz.com/...
Waltz has had some great success on ActBlue and really could mount a serious challenge to Geoff Davis with some more help from Progressives. Go here to do just that:
http://www.actblue.com/...
Finally the Fifth Congressional District has a fine candidate running to challenge incumbent Hal Rogers. His name is Jim Holbert and just looking at his ideas on healthcare show you what Jim Holbert believes in fighting for:
* America has an excellent system of health care facilities and providers, but millions of American citizens lack access to health care because they are uninsured or under-insured.
* The time has come to enact a national, single-payer government funded health care system such as the proposed United States National Health Insurance Act (HR 676).
http://www.holbertforcongress.com/...
Jim needs our help to fight in the Congress to make real reforms like HR 676 a reality. Lord knows too many Democrats already there were too weak too. Go here and help him win his race:
http://www.actblue.com/...
With the huge sprawling Congressional Districts in Kentucky and the Right-Wing media, candidates here simply must have the funds to run T.V. and when they do they show up quite nicely. Consider investing in these fine Kentucky Democrats and you may see some real return on your investment in the Congress next year. Kentucky Republicans have compiled such a dismal record it merely needs to be pointed out to our voters. Here is hoping we get the resources we need to take a few of these seats back.