Kentucky

The Jewish Members Of The 113th Congress

Ronald 4 Comments

In the 113th Congress, due to meet on January 3, there will be a total of 34 people of Jewish heritage serving over the two years of that Congress.

There will be 12 Senators and 22 House members, with the only Republican being House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia.

The 12 Senators include newly appointed Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, just appointed and sworn in yesterday for a two year term, before Schatz has to run for the remaining two years of the term of former Senator Daniel Inouye.

The other eleven Jewish Senators include:

Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein of California
Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut
Michael Bennet of Colorado
Ben Cardin of Maryland
Carl Levin of Michigan
Al Franken of Minnesota
Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey
Charles Schumer of New York
Ron Wyden of Oregon
Bernie Sanders of Vermont

Among the House members are:

Henry Waxman of California
Ted Deutch, Lois Frankel, Alan Grayson and Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida
Jan Schakowsky of Illinois
Sander Levin of Michigan
Eliot Engel, Steve Israel, Nita Lowey and Jerrold Nadler of New York

Jewish members of the two houses of Congress come from:

California
Connecticut
Colorado
Florida
Illinois
Kentucky
Maryland
Michigan
Minnesota
New Jersey
New York
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Tennessee
Virginia
Vermont

Advice To Senator Marco Rubio: Separate Yourself From Christian Right Wing “Know Nothings”, Or Your Presidential Future Is Over!

Ronald 6 Comments

Florida Senator Marco Rubio is an attractive, intelligent, 41 year old Senator with a theoretically bright future, who will make an impact on American politics with a long career in the Senate.

But since he has Presidential ambitions, and has already visited Iowa, the first caucus state and earliest Presidential vote in 2016, he will be watched with a microscope and fine tooth comb, and he is, sadly, on the way to self destruction in his quest for the Presidency.

At this point, it is not an issue of whether one believes in all of the viewpoints of Marco Rubio.

Rather, it is a question of his basic acceptance of the validity of Science, and one does have to be, personally, a scientist, to reject the craziness and looniness of evangelical Christians who believe in what they call Creationism!

Marco Rubio told GQ Magazine in an interview that he was not a scientist, and that there is debate among scientists over the age of the Earth!

Come on, Marco, there is NO such debate at all, and scientists agree that the Earth is 4.5 billion years old, and the study of our earth by geologists and astronomers and others, all brilliant men and women, is that the age of the Earth is extremely accurate.

Sure, it is hard to conceptualize 4.5 billion years, but that does not mean that, therefore, it is not accurate.

But instead, the religious right wing says that the Earth is 6,000 years old, and that dinosaurs walked the Earth alongside mankind!

What a stupid, inane idea that is, but it is portrayed as such in a museum in Kentucky, backed by public funds, not far from the Cincinnati, Ohio airport!

We KNOW that Dinosaurs were exterminated some 65 million years ago by an event called The Big Bang, and there is no debate about that!

Study of dinosaur bones and other fossils confirm their age as way earlier than 6,000 years ago!

History, written records, begin about 6,000 years ago, and mankind had evolved to the form of organized societies by the time when “History” began.

We know that different breeds of man developed from earlier cave man times, and this is all connected to evolution and Charles Darwin, but of course, the religious right denies all of this!

The Christian Right is also refusing to believe that Global Warming and Climate Change exist, a detriment to our future on this Earth.

It comes down to the reality that Religion is based on Faith, but with no factual basis, while Science is based on Observation, Research, and Fact, and the two should not be mixed.

So, Senator Rubio, if you continue to deny that the Earth is older than 6,000 years old; if you continue to deny Global Warming and Climate Change; if you continue to deny Evolution; if you continue to question Science and favor evangelical Christianity over Science; if you continue to come across as ignorant, stupid, and a “Know Nothing”, you may continue your career in the Senate, and might even be a leading figure in the Senate, but you will NOT be a future President of the United States, as the vast majority of intelligent, knowledgeable people in this country will repudiate you, and your decision to permit Christian extremists to attempt to propagandize their desire to advocate mind control over the educated Americans.

Educated and intelligent Americans will not allow the narrow mindedness of Christian extremists to stop the advancement of Science!

Great Idea: Susan Collins As Senate Minority Leader In Next Congress!

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It is time, as a result of the elections, to push Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky out of the leadership of the Republican minority in the US Senate!

The person to replace him, and to give the GOP hope for change in image and substance, is Senator Susan Collins of Maine.

A rare moderate, a woman who has never missed a vote, who is a truly principled, but also rational and reasonable Republican, and of course a woman, there is no better choice for the Republican future than Susan Collins as the spokeswoman for Republican Senators.

She would be able to work with the White House, and negotiate in a fair, balanced way, and she would engender great respect on both sides of the aisle.

The old, tired leadership of Mitch McConnell is ripe for retirement, from leadership now, and hopefully from the Senate when McConnell comes up for reelection in 2014. He represents the past, not the future!

Wing Nuts Of 2010, And Now Of 2012–Lost Republican Opportunities In The Senate Then, And Possibly, Now!

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The Republican Party is infamous for running wing nuts for the Senate, and as a result, lost the chance for control of the US Senate in 2010.

They ran such characters as Christine O’Donnell in Delaware; Ken Buck in Colorado; Sharron Angle in Nevada; and Joe Miller in Alaska.

The first three were so whacky that the Democrats held on to the seats, and kept control of the Senate, with Harry Reid of Nevada remaining Senate Majority Leader. Lisa Murkowski won a miraculous victory in Alaska over Tea Party favored Joe Miller, keeping that seat sane and sensible, while Republican.

At the same time, Rand Paul and Mike Lee won in Kentucky and Utah, respectively, and Marco Rubio was also backed by the Tea Party, and now Paul and Rubio are likely leaders of the party in the near future, no matter how right wing they are!

Now we have in 2012 the following: Ted Cruz in Texas, backed by the Tea Party and likely to win a Senate seat; Debbie Fischer in Nebraska, who faces former Democratic Senator and Presidential seeker Bob Kerrey, who faces a tough battle; Richard Murdock, who defeated respectable conservative Richard Lugar in Indiana; and now, Todd Akin, challenging Senator Claire McCaskell in Missouri.

With the likelihood of Cruz, Fischer, and Murdock victories for the Tea Party and the right wing of the social conservatives, the only thing that may stop GOP control of the US Senate is the Todd Akin controversy, but in theory, Akin could win that race too, and with only three or four seats gain needed to win control of the Senate for the Republicans, the future makeup of the Senate is disturbing!

It should be pointed out that the Texas and Indiana seats coming up for election are already GOP seats, so only Nebraska and maybe Missouri would be gains for the Tea Party element as things stand now! But going from Kay Bailey Hutchison and Richard Lugar to Ted Cruz and Richard Murdock is a major step backward toward further deadlock, confrontation, and paralysis in a Senate already with a terrible reputation

If Mitt Romney Wins Presidency, A Likely Challenge From Day One By Senator Rand Paul Of Kentucky!

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If Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney somehow wins the Presidency this November, he should be forewarned that he will not automatically be the GOP nominee for re-election in 2016.

There is great discontent within the Republican Party with Mitt Romney, and what is happening now is a “shotgun marriage”, as Republicans realize he is their only hope to dislodge Barack Obama from the White House.

But with Romney’s history of moderation until recently; with his alliance with neoconservatives on foreign policy; with the evangelical Christian right uncomfortable with a Mormon nominee, and distrustful of his social conservatism being real; with his close alliance with Wall Street big banks and corporations; and with his refutation of the libertarianistic views of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, it is certain that a President Romney would have rivals in 2016, most notably the highly ambitious Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ron Paul’s heir.

Paul running would set up a new civil war in the GOP, as the Wall Street Republicans would shun him; the foreign policy neoconservatives would look on him with trepidation; and the question would arise if the social conservatives would be able to accept some of his libertarian views.

Let’s just say that Rand Paul is a nightmare to many in the national political scene, including his fellow Kentucky Senator and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who will not be able to count on Paul’s support to be Minority Leader or Majority Leader of the Senate in the 113th Congress.

Like it or not, the impact of Ron Paul, and his son Rand Paul, will haunt the Republican Party for a long time to come!

Pockets Of Opposition To Barack Obama In Democratic Presidential Primaries: What Does It Mean?

Ronald 2 Comments

Barack Obama may be popular among most Democrats, and is ahead in many polls nationally against Mitt Romney, but there certainly are areas where he is extremely unpopular, a lot of it based on his race, but also on cultural issues affected by religious beliefs, including gay marriage, abortion rights, and the role of women, and also based on backing of gun rights in the hinterland of the nation, with fear that Obama is out to take away one’s guns.

So we saw Oklahoma and West Virginia strongly against him earlier, and last night, we witnessed Arkansas and Kentucky also having strong opposition against him.

However, this must all be seen in perspective, as the lowest percentage Obama has received is the 57 percent in Oklahoma. Obama gained 58 percent in Arkansas and Kentucky and 59 percent in West Virginia.

If anyone running for any office gains between 57% and 59% of the vote, that is considered a landslide by any measure. The fact that the next lowest percentage was 76 percent in Louisiana, 79 percent in North Carolina, and 80 percent in Alabama tells us Obama has nothing to be worried about.

With only seven states yet to vote in Presidential primaries, the likelihood of any of those states voting lower percentages than these seven states mentioned above is extremely low.

So, yes, Barack Obama is opposed in portions of the country, primarily the South and Appalachia, but that is not a measurement of his overall popularity nationwide!

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul’s Loony Budget Proposal: A “Clear And Present Danger”!

Ronald 1 Comment

One of the worst results of the midterm Congressional elections of 2010 was the election of Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, the son of Texas Congressman and Presidential candidate Ron Paul.

Rand Paul, an optometrist who is not certified by the national organization in the field of optometry, but instead by his own self created association, and who was ranked as the worst Senator in oral discourse in Congress, with an average of only 8.0, eighth grade language, has been seeking to raise his libertarian image within the Republican Party, and is clearly looking to run for President in the future, based on his father’s reputation, and his own,. even more loony, ideas.

Like his father, Rand Paul is an isolationist and a small government man, and he has no concern about the effects of massive cuts in the federal budget.

So last week, he proposed a budget that would totally destroy the whole direction of the nation in an extremist way. absolutely nuts!

What did Paul propose?

A cut in the Social Security payments of 40 percent to all recipients.
End the Medicare program as we know it in two years.
Reduce defense spending by $100 billion below a level considered “devastating” by the Pentagon.
Eliminate the Education, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, and Commerce Departments.
Dramatically cut the Homeland Security Department.
Cut programs for the poor in a radical fashion.
Give tax cuts to the wealthy, lowering rates to 17 percent, and eliminate all taxes on capital gains and dividends.

The vote in the Senate was 83-16 against this radical, crazy plan of Rand Paul. The fact that fifteen Senators joined Paul in backing this most reckless plan is scary beyond belief.

It is clear that Rand Paul is a “clear and present danger” to our future, and must be resisted in every way possible to prevent any chance of him being a serious factor in future Congressional leadership battles and Presidential ambitions.

Paul makes other right wing Republicans look sane by comparison, which makes any intelligent person totally terrified of what this crazy libertarian stands for, sadly backed by many who have no concept of how dangerous this Kentucky Senator has the potential to be in the future!

The “Old South” A Century And A Half After The Civil War: Still The Poorest Section Of America!

Ronald 6 Comments

Here we are 150 years after the Civil War era, and still, the “Old South” remains the poorest section of America.

It is astounding to realize that seven of the top ten poorest states are from the “Old South”–in ranked order from poorest forward being Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, and North Carolina, with two Borders states (West Virginia number 4 and Kentucky number 8) also on the list, along with the western state of Montana (number 6 on the list).

The only “Old South” states that are prosperous are Virginia, Georgia, Florida and Texas. Virginia (at least in the Northern part) is part of the Washington DC suburbs; Georgia has Atlanta as its major modernization motivation; Florida has the Northeastern influence in its Southern section; and Texas has major cities in Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin, and is, of course, a major oil state. But even all four of these states have major areas of poverty that are unacceptable!

It is a sad state of affairs that the South remains an area way behind the rest of the nation, and that race prejudice and anti-Yankee sentiment remains so strong, major factors in their continued inferiority!

Presidential Debate Dates Announced For Colorado, Kentucky, New York And Florida

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The Commission on Presidential Debates has announced the dates and locations for the Presidential debates of 2012.

The first debate will be at the University of Denver in Colorado, on Wednesday, October 3, just about five weeks before the election.

On Thursday, October 11, the Vice Presidential debate will take place at Centre College In Danville, Kentucky, where an earlier debate was held.

Then on Tuesday, October 16, a second Presidential debate will be held at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, also a previous debate location.

Finally, on Monday, October 22, the final debate will be held at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, just fifteen days before the election.

The fact that two of the debates are in “swing states”, the first and the last, is noteworthy, based on the concept of “first impressions” and “last licks or opportunity”!

A planned backup site, in case for some reason one of the debates cannot for some reason be held, is Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, the ultimate “swing” state, which was won by John McCain over Barack Obama by just a few thousand votes, with it taking many days before McCain could be declared the winner in that state.

One should point out that since 1900, only TWICE has the winner of the Presidency lost Missouri, and both times just by a few thousand votes–Dwight D. Eisenhower losing to Adlai Stevenson in 1956, and Barack Obama losing to John McCain in 2008!

The only candidates to be allowed in the debates will be those who have 15 percent support in the polls, with Ross Perot in 1992 being the only third party candidate to have the opportunity to debate the Republican and Democratic nominees. It is highly unlikely that any third party movement will have any chance to reach that threshold!

Ohio (John Boehner) And Kentucky (Mitch McConnell): Ground Zero Of Fight For Infrastructure Projects To Fight Poverty And Joblessness

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The Republican leaders of Congress come from states that border each other–Ohio (Speaker of the House John Boehner) and Kentucky (Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell).

Both states have lots of poverty, particularly Kentucky, and lots of joblessness, and lots of infrastructure projects that need to be funded!

President Obama was in Cincinnati (southern Ohio near Kentucky) today, emphasizing the need for the rebuilding of the Brent Spence bridge which connects Cincinnati to northern Kentucky, as an example of what the American Jobs Act would do to create jobs and improve infrastructure of the nation.

Of course, both Boehner and McConnell are very irritated that Obama is pushing this issue into their faces, but this is the precisely proper thing to do, as it is despicable that both GOP leaders have done NOTHING to promote jobs to help their OWN constituents, let alone others around the nation!

This is a strategy that is a winning strategy for the Democrats, and the more that it is protested by the Republicans, the more it should be utilized!