BluegrassBulletin.com

McConnell's Great Commission

When Mitch McConnell becomes the next majority leader of the United States Senate he will have achieved a life long dream.  Not only will he deserve the job, but he should enjoy the credit for having created the majority that will elect him.

Mitch McConnell is a master of the political process.  It was he who made the 2014 mid-term elections a referendum on Barack Obama which ended up being the force beneath the ground swell of discontented voters who swept republicans into office in greater numbers than anytime since the reign of FDR converted so many to the democratic party where they have remained ever since.

Not only did Mitch substantially outperform the polls which nearly all predicted that a win in Kentucky, by either candidate, would be within the margin of error.  Not only did he exhibit great poise and leadership in his acceptance speech in contrast to what even liberal pundits are saying about how ungracious his opponent was in defeat.  But Mitch McConnell helped orchestrate the national conversation we all have been having for the last few years which conversation became the sentiment which was then mobilized into the movement that has now demanded that someone turn the direction we are heading around.  And as reward for all of those things Mitch McConnell won not only his race, but an incredible, historic obligation.

It is he who told America that there is a better way forward than the path our current president and his troops in the Senate and the House have been marching us down.  It is he, McConnell, who has promised to repeal Obamacare "root and branch".  It is he who has promised to get the Congress working again, to bring matters to a vote, to pass a budget and to improve the prosperity of our country.  These are huge tasks, and they are now his burden.

I once had the chance to meet Karl Rove when I was a candidate for office and asked his advice.  He actually grabbed me by my necktie, pulled me close and gave me his wise insight.  He looked me right in the eye and said, "remember, if you win this, you asked for it."  McConnell has really asked for it.

Not only will he have the burden of a victor on his shoulders as well as the burden of defining his own legacy on his mind, but the architect of the republican party in Kentucky will have the fate of the republican party of America in his hands.

It was McConnell who motivated and moved the electorate by his carefully planned campaign talking points which were repeated with great discipline by the candidates that he, the NRSC, and other influential republicans all working together helped to put into place by winning primaries for those candidates who they deemed could eventually and did win November.

To accomplish this these so-called mainstream republicans had to go out and defeat the kind of fringe candidates that had been buoyed through primaries by the seething discontent of many republicans who had left the fold, formed splinter groups and ran as much against the GOP as they said they would against the democrats.  That hadn't worked out so well and so the adults in the room had to bring order back to the process.  They did, and they won.

But that doesn't mean McConnell will get the unanimous support of every one of his republican members.  Grandstanders like Ted Cruz and presidential hopefuls like Rand Paul will certainly take shots at their own party and its leaders in order to get the kind of attention they crave and to appeal to those fragile parts of their own coalitions they perceive to be necessary to their own political survival.

And Mitch will have to weather the criticism of many others elected under the GOP banner who came to Congress just to be troublemakers and who will not be able to control their rhetoric because it has become indistiguishable from their identity.

But perhaps the greater battle Mitch has won is the obligation to direct the battle to save the republican party.  While Rand Paul goes about trying to build a new kind of GOP in much the same patchwork quilt manner that the democrats have done for years, Mitch can look out over the groundswell of support given to his candidates and see that a much more congruent mindset joins the republicans and democrats and independents alike who joined their votes to give the GOP the victory they achieved.

While many would be right to say that the outcome was a repudiation of Barack Obama and his agenda, it was also at the same time, and by virtue of that repudiation, a collective agreement that if the republicans say they really can turn the country around, now is their chance to put up, or shut up.

As crass as it is when LBJ pushed so hard to create his "great society" he admitted that he had a political motivation behind him when he stated "

“I’ll have those niggers voting Democratic for the next 200 years” as he confided with two like-minded governors on Air Force One regarding his underlying intentions for the “Great Society” programs. liveleak.com

What is really at stake for McConnell is nothing less than the future of and the relevance of the republican party.  Unless he and his fellow republicans deliver what the voters want, he may end us casting the GOP into the dark abyss for a century or more to come.

And those who know this is what is at stake and who want him to fail in that quest will bring incredible forces and resources to the battlefield in order to prevent him from succeeding.

Gridlock is not dead, it will be like the undead, nearly impossible to kill, raging out of control, incorrigible on all levels, defiant to a fault, relentless and vicious.  For McConnell to save the nation and the GOP he will face a battle on a scale not unlike a world war.  And I do not use that comparison lightly. 

 

As in all prior wars where the American people rallied in support it was in defense of liberty, human rights, freedom and western prosperity that was threatened by socialist movements, dictators and those that opposed our way of life.  That's just how the voters on Tuesday see the world today and McConnell has been elevated to be our supreme commander in that war.

 

He and the republicans must succeed and success will not be measured in small accomplishments.  The mindset of McConnell's generation does not resonate today.  The notion of working hard, saving a little, and watching progress come to your own life a little at a time isn't shared by many any more.

 

America today is filled with the "me generation", people convinced that they are the center of the universe, who refuse to accept that they can't have everything they want just for the asking, who through an ignorance taught to them for generations deeply believe that anything they want is a "right".

 

If McConnell believes that he can re-train America to accept incremental progress after six years of perceived decline he may lose his grip on the tiller before the ship of state crashes.  He must make big moves, bold moves and each and every one must succeed.

 

He should sponsor legislation immediately to create jobs in America while at the same time reducing corporate taxation, ending our dependence on foreign manufacturing as a national security measure and get America working again.  How?

 

Pass legislation giving not just a tax deduction, but a dollar for dollar tax credit for wages paid in America to companies that bring manufacturing jobs back from overseas.  Tie this commitment to a three year term of guaranteed American employment. 

 

Sure, our treasury would suffer the loss of corporate taxes, but the taxes on the incomes of workers would help to offset that.  In addition, those wages being paid to American workers will be spent in America boosting the economy, resulting in a better standard of living for every one.  As money circulates in America it too produces revenues to offset the corporate tax credits.

 

As manufacturing in America increases investment in buildings, equipment, housing and all sectors will improve.

 

On a political level this appeals to the corporate players, the out of work Americans, the housing, banking, manufacturing, tooling and other interests who are clamoring for bold initiatives.  It could end up, after more careful analysis than some lowly blogger in Kentucky has given it, as nearly revenue neutral, but because it is founded on such a strong nationalistic and patriotic core it could marginalize opposition.

 

How about being even bigger and bolder and legislate away the IRS?  Replace it with a fairer system eliminating the abusive power so many Americans perceive that this one private army of the government wields?

 

Big, bold moves include putting a bill to allow the Keystone XL pipeline on the president's desk but only AFTER other bold moves.  The people know when special interests jump line and get ahead of their own and this has been the criticism of the GOP for a long, long time.  Don't let that happen Senator.

 

Big bold moves include a total repeal of Obamacare being passed at the same time as a balanced budget.

 

These are the kinds of things people expect to see out of McConnell's party,  now in power.  And I predict they will accept nothing less.

 

Yes Mitch deserves great credit for what he has accomplished.  But in exchange he has also now received a great commission.  There is much riding on what he does.

 

And so Senator, as one who has backed you in all your races, let me at this moment while you are enjoying the after glow of your victory, remind you that you are standing on the threshold of an historic era.  And as you go forward let me repeat for you what Karl Rove once said to me, "remember, you asked for it."

One Week Out, Here Are My Endorsements

You hear it all the time from politicians known for hyperbole: "This is maybe the most important election of your lifetime."  But there is one difference, this time they would be right.

UNITED STATES SENATE

Most Kentuckians know that Barack Obama has done terrible damage to our nation.  And that majority knows that if he is not stopped from executing the rest of his agenda the damage may become irreversible.

Elections are about choices.  And the ONLY choice in this race for those who want to stop Barack Obama is Mitch McConnell.

It is clear that Barack Obama wants to bankrupt the coal industry, flood our nation with illegal workers competing for jobs with out of work Americans, to destroy national pride in favor of an international apology, and to fundamentally transform our nation built on faith in God into a nation that looks to government for blessings.

Alison Lundergan Grimes recently told reporters in Northern Kentucky that her election will "make history".  I can't believe she said that.

The Grimes campaign is a mirror image of Obama's: blame the predecessor, hide your true loyalties and get people to vote for making a dangerous change in direction by calling it "historic".

Here's the real history.  Mitch McConnell has nearly always had close races. It would not be surprising if this one was as close as the polls suggest.

So forget the polls and consider the real question of historic proportions: will Kentucky make history by electing the next majority leader of the United States Senate or make the mistake of repeating the errors of 2008 and 2012 to the detriment of our Commonwealth and our nation by electing an inexperienced upstart?

We need to put a stop TO Obama in the Senate, not a vote FOR Obama in place of one that works.

Grimes campaign is grounded in the firm belief that voters are dumb.  Dumb enough to let her get by without answering questions, dumb enough to not see that she is running the same kind of campaign Obama did, and dumb enough to expect different results.

McConnell is the only choice a chance for America has.

JUDICIAL RACES

Supreme Court

Michele Keller is currently filling the position left vacant by the passing of Wil Schroder.  Keller was elected to the Court of Appeals eight years ago.  Prior to that she was a relatively unknown lawyer.

As in many judicial elections in Kentucky people know very little about the opinions held by judicial candidates until they get elected.  Then their opinions become law.

Efforts to change the law so voters can learn more about candidates before they acquire the power to rule over life and liberty continue to be met with great resistance, particularly by those already on the bench.

Perhaps the most damning piece of information in any judicial race I have seen in years came out not long ago about Michele Keller.  It was her vote in favor of allowing a teenager from another state to travel out of state for an abortion without their parents ever knowing that has cut her campaign deeply.

Her opponent, Teresa Cunningham has gotten very little attention except from those who oppose Keller for her pro-choice opinion and her deep roots inside the democratic party operation in Campbell County.

Keller will likely win and her time on the Court of Appeals and Supreme court has been marked by mostly rather kind and well reasoned opinions, but for those who vote principle over personality, Cunningham will be their choice.

These are your options.  I make no recommendation.

COURT OF APPEALS

When Governor Steve Beshear appointed Allison Jones to the Court of Appeals to fill the seat left vacant after Keller got appointed to the Supreme Court, everyone knew exactly why.  Her husband was credited with raising tons of money for Beshear.  In other words, quid pro quo.

Jones will likely lose to Justin Sanders in large part because Sanders is from Northern Kentucky where most of the votes will be cast.  In addition Sanders has worked far harder on his campaign than Jones and has earned his votes.

But Sanders should win not because he worked hard but because he is clearly the better choice.  He has experience in the courtroom, experience handling both criminal and civil cases and he has the most important experience of all, he represents people.

This race has come down to voting for quality versus voting for quid pro quo.  I suggest you vote quality.

Sanders has the temperament, the knowledge and the compassion to make a great jurist and should receive your vote.

CIRCUIT COURT

Kenton County

In Kentucky our court system is divided into various levels of decision making.  Circuit court is the court of general jurisdiction.  It is also the first level of appeal from the District Court.  Within Circuit Courts there has been carved out the relatively new "Family Court" which combines some of the old functions of the District Courts regarding family issues and mixed them under a new umbrella.  In Kenton County one Circuit Court seat is on the ballot, two Family Court seats are on the ballot and one District Court seat is contested.

For the Circuit Court the choice should be Kathy Lape.  There are many reasons why her experience, her background and her commitment to family would make her the better choice, but there is a political reason as well.  

For judges to be truly independent they should have as few loyalties to court house politics as possible.  We lawyers have seen it far too many times in counties all across the Commonwealth.  A judge's impartiality is questioned by his close relationship with the prosecutor, the county judge, the sheriff, the police department or some other powerful political force in the community.  Few if any lawyers have the courage to speak out about such things, but the people we represent often express fear of them.

Distrust of the judiciary unravels the fabric of our nation of laws.  Kathy Lape is truly independent.  She is not part of the "courthouse crowd" and her service to the people of Kenton County will help restore trust in our judiciary.  I urge you to give her your vote.

For family court there are a couple of races pitting the current incumbents against lawyer challengers.  In both races the incumbents are doing a very good job and deserve to be re-elected.

Chris Mehling has had to run a harder race than necessary due to the last name of his opponent.  The Knochelman who challenges him is not the guy who just won the County Judge Executive's seat.  Clear out that confusion and you will be left with the clear choice, Chris Mehling for Family Court 2nd Division.

Incumbent Lisa Bushelman is being challenged for her seat in the 5th Division Family Court Race by Stephanie Dietz.  Lisa is doing a very good job and there has not been a compelling reason made to replace her.  Bushelman should get your vote.

In the only contested District Court race incumbent Ann Ruttle is being challenged by Chris Nordloh.  Ann enjoys a solid reputation for making good calls in hard cases.  Her challenger just wants the job.  You should vote for Ruttle.

Boone County

The single biggest race for Circuit Judge in Northern Kentucky is in Boone and Gallatin counties.  The clear choice is Rick Brueggemann.  Rick represents a break from lawyer driven politics on the bench, much like his predecessor Tony Frohlich has.  Both are men of extremely high character, solid legal backgrounds and courageously hard workers. 

In this race Brueggemann isn't just another lawyer turned judge.  He is a true constitutionalist.  We live in times when the law and the Constitution are being challenged not so much by cases but by lethargy on the bench.

Defense of the Constitution has cost millions of American lives.  Rick Brueggemann will honor those sacrifices by his own courage, in his own time, as Circuit Court Judge.

Owen, Grant, Carroll Counties

Two lawyers, John Brent Threlkeld and Leslie Knight, are competing for the seat now held by retiring Circuit Court Judge Stepehen Bates.  Developments in the last couple of weeks have made this a tough race.

Leslie Knight won handily in a mult-candidate primary and looked to be the favorite.  But Threlkeld has out worked her by a large measure and has been helped by a recent scandal surrounding Knight.

Knight, it is being said, advocated for giving heroin addicts clean needles during a recent debate.  Then her brother was recently charged with manufacturing methamphetamine.

This coupled with a lawsuit foreclosing on unpaid tax bills she has accumulated and another lawsuit in which the address she listed as her residence on her campaign filing papers is being challenged as false has tainted her suddenly in the waning days of the campaign.

Knight is presumably the choice of the "courthouse crowd" but that isn't as much a positive as it once was.  These negative stories swirling around her and her campaign raise real questions about her trustworthiness.  It would be helpful to voters to have them resolved before their votes are cast, but considering that they might not be resolved leaves much to be concerned with.

A hearing over her qualifications to serve in the seat will be held in front of Judge Bartlett in Kenton County this week.  I will update with an endorsement after that hearing.

Endorsement: United States Senate

Mitch McConnell is being challenged for the Republican Party nomination by Matt Bevin, at least on paper.  In reality this race and the one scheduled for November between what clearly looks like Mitch vs. Alison Lundergan Grimes have one thing in common.  Both contests have a single issue, that it's time for Mitch to go.  And a lot of people share that sentiment.

While Mitch McConnell is credited with being the architect of the Kentucky GOP, he really deserves a lot of credit for helping build the Kentucky TEA party.  Those folks recite over and over any number of votes, statements, cave ins and deals Mitch has made which do not fit their narrow view of "principled politics". Their criticisms of Mitch are vigorous, vociferous and sometimes downright vicious.  It is Mitch who represents in their eyes all that is wrong with Washington, and politics in general and opposition to Mitch is the single biggest rallying point for many republicans who now call the TEA party home.

Agreeing with them that it is time for Mitch to go are a number of steadfast Jim Bunning supporters in Northern Kentucky who will never forgive Mitch for what he did to get Jim to step down.  Nor will they ever get over the disrespect they got when many close Mitch supporters claimed that it was he who saved Bunning's butt in one close race after another giving little if any credit to the hardworking Bunning folks who toiled in the sun while Mitch stole the credit.

And around the Commonwealth plenty of people who don't know the whole story, still can't get over what Mitch did to Ernie Fletcher and Ann Northup both at the same time.  The word "traitor" comes easily to many as their seething dislike for Mitch fills the air.

And how many candidates out there can count the number of times Mitch has thrown one of them under the bus, including good solid republicans who gave their life to the party, gave money to Mitch, stood up and spoke for him time and time again only to be treated like lepers when they needed his help and hoped their support would have earned his in return?

Yes, the number of people who would dance and sing and cheer the day Mitch got his comeuppance is not an insignificant number.  And so both Bevin and Grimes have tried to capture that momentum and use it to oust McConnell in what they hope would be tar and feathers.  But that isn't what an election is really all about.

Elections are about choices.  And if you happen to be one of the people who can't stand Mitch McConnell, the question you should be asking yourself isn't whether you can play a part in seeing him lose, but rather what do you get if the other guy wins?

For all the criticism against McConnell from both republicans with hurt feelings and democrats who hope to help Barack Obama by removing the biggest obstacle to the success of his progressive agenda and replace it instead with a firmly reliable vote in his column, take time to remember history.

Today conservatives want something very different from Washington than what they wanted just a few years ago.  Today they want a leaner budget, not long ago we wanted our Senators to bring home the bacon.  We wanted prosperity to be fueled by government grants, special tax treatment and celebrated with ribbon cuttings, not budget cuts.

Today conservatives are impatient and demanding and insist upon symbolic sacrifice for principles most of them really don't even understand.  Not long ago we seemed to have a more tolerant approach, understood how laws were made and how majorities controlled and how winners made policy while losers go home.

Conservatives today rail against bailouts and the national debt, spurred on by self proclaimed rodeo clowns like Glenn Beck and well reasoned loud mouths like Mark Levin who make plenty of money feeding the masses what they want to hear.  But it all reminds me of a skit on the late night show of Jimmy Kimmel.

Kimmel went out on the street and asked people if they were in favor of food that was gluten free.  Of course it is very popular to say yes to that question.  Then he asked them "what is gluten".  The dumb looks, dumb answers and dumb people illustrated how easy it is to get people on board with pop culture even if they don't know what they are doing.

How many people who buy into Glenn Beck's doomsday predictions over the national debt even know what it is?  Who owes what to whom?  How many people know what the bailouts were, what they did and who got what?  Not long ago we were less gullible, less inclined to be led like lemmings into a mindset without thinking, and more inclined to trust our elected officials than today.

And who can really look back over McConnell's record and say that in context, at the time he was performing, that he wasn't really doing what the people of Kentucky asked him to do, expected him to do and rewarded him for doing?

So if you are critical of McConnell for being a political brute, fine.  But if your reasons are based upon pop culture and current trends and somebody has convinced you that his record of performance in the Senate didn't really represent what the majority of Kentuckians wanted, you are delusional.  They returned him to office over and over and will do so again this year.

And since elections are not about punishing people for your hurt feelings but doing what is best for the Commonwealth (no, my TEA party friends, it's not about "the nation" it's about Kentucky) then ask yourself who has been proven better able to get things done in Washington DC, oppose the march of Obama's agenda, lend prestige to Kentucky and will become the majority leader in January?  And who is an afterthought candidate who had to be pulled and pushed into running just so Mitch would have opposition, who if he could survive May and win in November (not a chance on either count) would end up a back bencher at best or more likely just another voice in the dwindling crowd of malcontents vying for fame and claiming principles but getting nothing done?

And considering the race in November who is better able to raise the money, fight the fight, stand up and make the case why a vote for Obama would be a mistake for Kentucky?

Hold your nose if you have to, look for the opportunity for this to be a teachable moment for Mitch, see the chance to tell him this is your last term buddy, do any of those things you want, but when it comes to seeing this race for what it really is, a choice between two candidates, that choice is clear.  The choice, YOUR choice must be Mitch McConnell.

 (sorry, there is a commercial first)

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Update On Obama's Reaction To State Sovereignty

Yesterday I commented upon the Obama administration's request for over $1 Billion to impose gun control.  Today I was alerted to this development:

The National Guard is following a direct order — but it’s not happy with it.

All of the Guard’s AH-64 Apache helicopters are scheduled to go to the active Army, and there’s nothing its top brass can do about it. [Washington Times]

Some have interpreted this move by the POTUS to have more sinister implications.

As if the Obama administration's purchase of more than 2 billion rounds of ammunition, and nearly 3,000 urban tanks, along with their unprecedented (and highly illegal) domestic spying program was not enough to convince you that the federal government is about to suspend the Constitution once and for all, the man who once vowed to run "the most transparent administration in history" has just rather inexplicably, ordered the U.S. Army to seize every Apache attack helicopter currently in use by the National Guard.

In all, the Defense Department will confiscate 192 Apaches from National Guard units around the country and give them to the active duty Army.

In exchange for the heavily armed and highly maneuverable choppers, Guard units will receive 111 UH-60 Blackhawktransport helicopters from the Army, Defense One reports.

Last week, U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, claiming that the measure will save taxpayers $12 billion, over the next three years.

So, what could be another, more reasonable explanation?

The Apache, which began service in 1986, is armed with a 30 mm M230E1 Chain Gun (with 1,200 rounds), Hellfire anti-tank missiles, and 70 general-purpose 70 mm rockets. In short, it is capable of fending-off any enemy, foreign or domestic.

Obviously, these helicopters could pose a substantial obstacle to say, a tyrant drunk on his own power, with an army at his disposal. [Washington Examiner]

Time and time again this administration gives the impression that something is afoot which has bad written all over it.

According to one group the BLM agents at the Bundy ranch were in fact supposed to engage in violence in order to incite a larger scale crackdown centered around the expected death of some of the agents after a shootout.

Where does your state stand on the growing tension between "The People" and the Federal Government?  And perhaps to my fellow Kentuckians, which candidate for the US Senate has been tapped by none other than the First Lady as a reliable vote in favor of her husband's gun control efforts?

Grimes Continues To Duck Issues While Thowing Mud

It's 2014 and people have grow wise to the ways of slick politicians who abuse issues like race, gender and social status for political gain.  So it is quite insulting to hear Alison Lundergan Grimes time and time again try to use the gender of her birth as if it gives her special qualifications to claim the female vote.

But what is even more insulting is her absolute refusal to address real life assaults on women's rights such as those in Frankfort, where she has her office.

Likely Democratic Senate nominee Alison Lundergan Grimes told about 150 Fayette County Democrats Tuesday night that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has "yesterday’s view of women." Then she declined to answer questions about a former Democratic lawmaker accused of sexual harassment. [Kentucky.com]

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/04/08/3186466/grimes-declines-to-take-questions.html?sp=/99/322/&ihp=1#storylink=cpy

March Madness Political Spillover

It's madness I say!

Mitch McConnell put up an ad that wanted to showcase UK men's basketball celebrating a victory.  Ooops!  The 'vendor' used the wrong footage.  It was Duke players celebrating.

So Mitch's vendor quickly substituted footage of UK's Julius Randle.  Ooops!  UK sent him a cease and desist letter.  Seems that they did not have Randle's permission to use his image in a commercial AND the use of a college player in such fashion violates university rules.  The ad was taken down.

Oh, and while we are on the Ooops, how about the Ali-Ooops, as in the Ali Lundergan Grimes oops of having picked Wichita State to beat Kentucky Sunday (Kentucky won) and picking Florida to beat Louisville in the championship game?

It's madness I say!

Could McConnell Lose In November?

Mitch McConnell seems poised to defeat Matt Bevin pretty handily in the May primary, but the growing question around the coffee cups is whether he can survive November.

Alison Lundergan Grimes is out raising some pretty serious cash, and she isn't spending much of it foolishly.  She has gathered a star studded group of supporters to add Hollywood pizazz to her campaign and, sorry ladies, her gender is a bit of an advantage in today's political climate.

Add to that the fact that those with seething hate for McConnell among the Bevin crowd will not mend fences and vote for Mitch.  And among the GOP in general there is none of the old guard party loyalty that at one time kept guys like Mitch in power.

Mitch may very well have a November strategy in mind and if history is any kind of teacher at all it will likely be a combination of touting his accomplishments and slamming Alison pretty hard.  But what he needs after May is something he needs to be working on now.

Mitch needs more than a few allies out there forming an echo chamber for him.  He needs his ground game in place early this time, reminding folks why keeping Mitch is better for Kentucky.

So many of today's political observers want to couch every discussion in terms of what is good for the nation.  They see the huge political picture but not the local one.

Mitch needs to be working his network and have them out working for him, talking him up, using the local angle as the key to winning in November.

As many national observers are now beginning to admit, it looks like the GOP is going to capture the Senate majority.  Wouldn't it be a shame if we made that happen and Kentucky lost Mitch as the majority leader, instead replacing him with an Obama loyalist, back bencher and rookie public servant?

It could happen if Mitch forgets to warm up his engine before the race gets up to full speed.

1200 Fools Gather In Louisville

1200 people gathered in Louisville yesterday to be fooled into believing that a man who sexually violated his 20 year old intern and disgraced the Oval office was worthy of their time.  And what is worse, it appears that they were conned into giving money to Obama's next "reliable vote" by the cad.

Bill Clinton helped Alison Grimes rake together what in the final analysis could be just short of a million dollars, according to one democratic insider.  In addition, Clinton convinced the assembled "marks" that Alison has all the momentum in this race.

As time goes on the entire campaign of both Grimes and Matt Bevin boils down to a hatred of Mitch McConnell.  And for what?

He was hired to do a job, a specific job, and that was to serve as a check on the runaway liberal agenda, see that Kentucky was front and center when it came time for federal budget consideration and to enhance the image of a state which everywhere else in the nation is considered to be home to a bunch of corrupt backwoods politicians, barefoot hillbillies and black faced coal miners living in shacks on stilts in muddy snake infested mountains.

And McConnell has achieved everything we sent him to Washington to do, and more.

He is now the most prominent and powerful republican in our Commonwealth's history.  He has continued to see that Kentucky is a receiving state, that is we get back from Washington more money than we send there in taxes.

He has studied and mastered the rules of political engagement using them to advance the interests of Kentucky and stem the bleeding which would occur at the hands of an unchecked liberal president.

He voted the way Kentucky wanted him to vote until in the most recent days people started saying "No more spending."  In all the years he has been in office voters clearly wanted money for roads, bridges, factories, schools, universities and other government programs that helped the people of Kentucky.  The pop culture trend to despise those who spend federal money is a sea change from the world of just a few years ago.  To hate Mitch now for doing what we asked him to do then is just plain ignorant.

And clearly his class and calm demeanor has helped the image of Kentucky around the world.  The kind of snake handling, back slapping, tobacco spitting hick that most of the people of this country envision when they hear of Kentucky politicians dissolves when the success of Mitch McConnell is mentioned as a real life example in contrast to the fictional images they carry in their heads.

So, for all you who were fooled in Louisville to follow the lead of man who dishonored our country, cheated on his wife in public office, was impeached by Congress, disbarred as an attorney and has been accused of rape like conduct by many women, admit to your debauchery.

And to you republicans out there who still think that Mitch has to go because ......well......he voted for spending, put down the bong and back away.  We sent him there and told him what we wanted.  He delivered what we wanted.  The fact that you now want something else doesn't support your argument that he has to go.

In fact, if you were honest about it, looking for example at his support for the hemp initiative and other measures supported by Rand Paul, it looks like Mitch is more than willing to listen to what you want and to use his superior skills to deliver it to you, something Bevin could never offer.

And to the rest of you conservatives who think that somehow not supporting Mitch shows how truly conservative you are, consider this, once again.

Michelle Obama took the stage at 12:42 p.m. inside a softly lit ballroom at the Sheraton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan for a women-themed fund-raiser benefitting the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

The ballroom had about 25 tables, with several female senators and three Senate candidates in attendance. Candidates included Michelle Nunn in Georgia, Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky and Natalie Tennant in West Virginia.

Obama spoke about the importance of electing a Congress to support her husband, alluded to the government shutdown, and invoked the narrow margin in the Senate to encourage the crowd to "max out."

"And let's not forget about that common-sense gun legislation, that so many of us feel so strongly about. Sadly as you know, that bill failed. Anyone know by how many votes? It failed by just six votes in the Senate. Six. So make no mistake about it: the midterm elections, they matter. They matter."

Obama said there was something the crowd could do to make a "huge difference."

"And it's simple, you can write a big ol' fat check," she said. [Capitol New York]

Read that over and over to everyone who will listen. 

Michelle Obama has singled out Alison Lundergan Grimes as a reliable vote for Barack Obama's agenda, including gun legislation.

It's just what our former adulterer in chief told people in Louisville.  "Follow me.  Write a check so Alison can help Obama."

Don't be fooled by disgusting Bill Clinton who left semen on a young female employees dress.  And don't be fooled by his "Scarlet Letter Tour". 

What he is up to is helping Obama get more votes in Congress and removing the most effective check on that runaway power Kentucky has ever sent to Washington DC.

I ain't fooled, are you?

Making The Case For Mitch

The American Spectator has an interesting angle on why our votes should be for Mitch McConnell, and it's just what I've been saying.  McConnell is effective, experienced and shows a significant interest in pursuing a more conservative agenda.  Bevin would be, at best, a back bencher in the fight.

All I’m trying to remind my comrades is that making the Republican Party a true small-government party requires two things: replacing big-government Republicans, which candidates like Bevin are striving to do, and changing other Republicans’ minds (or behavior in office).

McConnell is the member of the Republican leadership team who has been most swayed by Paul’s rise.

Reid suggests that the moves McConnell has made in recognition of this new political reality are unprincipled. I’d remind him of an observation by Milton Friedman. “People have a great misconception in this way, they think the way you solve things is by electing the right people,” Friedman once said. “It’s nice to elect the right people, but that isn’t the way you solve things. The way you solve things is by making it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right things.”

It’s nice to envision a Senate filled with Rand Pauls. But the way you solve things is to have the Mitch McConnells and John Cornyns think it’s a “no-brainer” politically to stand with Rand on various issues.

[L]ibertarians and small-government conservatives should at least be willing to entertain the following question: Is there any benefit we can derive from a Senate majority leader who takes Paul seriously, even if only out of political calculation, that we can’t get from a freshman trouble-maker?

Good question.

Anniversary Of Stimulus Smells Like A Bust

From the Wall Street Journal:

Five years ago today, President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law. The $830 billion spending blowout was sold by the White House as a way to keep unemployment from rising above 8%. But the stimulus would fail on its own terms. 2009 marked the first of four straight years when unemployment averaged more than 8%. And of course the unemployment rate would have been even worse in those years and still today if so many people had not quit the labor force, driving labor-participation rates to 1970s levels.

It might seem like old news since everybody knows the recovery act was a terrible failure, but what needs to be remembered is that the money actually went somewhere, it's just that it went to well connected cronies and into the pockets of the wealthy.

 

But what is perhaps worse than all of that is the reality that no one, and I mean no one seems to have a plan or an idea that will save us from catastrophe.  I have a plan, and a good one, but damned if anybody ever wants to listen to reason.

Right now we are an economy of consumers with most of our products being made overseas.  That means the money you spend on foreign made goods is going out of this country and not coming back.

Our economy is a "circulatory system".  When a manufacturer sells a product he pays his workers, distributes his profits to his shareholders and sets aside a certain amount to be spent on improvements or business expansion.  The workers then take their paychecks and spend them in our economy.  That in turn pools money into the local grocery store, the local car dealership or that money pays the local carpenter to add a deck onto the worker's house.  In turn the grocer has money to spend on new flooring, on advertising, on parking lot expansion.  The car dealer makes money which he in turn spends on a new house.  The carpenter buys lumber from the local lumber yard improving the bottom line of the lumber dealer and on and on and on the money in circulation in our nation passes through any number of hands and improves the life and the prosperity of us all.

But when the money made by a foreign manufacturer comes in, it gets spent in that country, not ours.  The workers may be subjected to near slave labor conditions in that country and thereby unable to improve their own economy, but regardless, the money leaves America and does not come back, except as a loan to us, a debt we are required to pay.

The solution to our economic problems may lie in a very simple policy change, one that doesn't increase taxes at first but will in the end increase revenues thus alleviating our dependence on borrowed money.

Not all foreign manufacturing is being done by foreign owned companies.  Many of the jobs which have gone "off shore" are jobs in foreign plants working under contract to supply goods to American importers.  And in some cases, the companies that used to make goods in America are now making them elsewhere.

If the Federal Government would give a tax credit to any company equal to 100% of the wages paid to workers for every job now being done overseas if that job was brought home to America, think what that would do.

First, the foreign companies are not paying taxes here anyway, so giving them a tax credit is a net zero impact on revenue.

Second, the tax credit could be phased in over a five year period and tied to the requirement that the jobs be maintained for five years in order to get the credit.

For every job brought into the USA a worker would get a paycheck that is now going to somebody in another country.  That paycheck would be taxed as always and thus the government would be receiving revenue from a source that currently does not exist.

In addition the earnings would be put into circulation in our country.  Those earnings would not only improve the prosperity of the workers, but as they spent that money in our own economy, they would lift all boats along the way.  And as things currently exist, as that money circulated and became income to more and more people as it traveled around in our economy, it would generate revenue at many stages along the way.

Over a short period of time a large number of people could return to work.  This would lessen the economic burden on the government at the same time as revenues were increasing from the growing prosperity.  Because manufacturers would be free from heavy corporate taxes this would provide an incentive for companies to find America a friendly environment in which to do business.  In addition, free from heavy taxes due to the tax credits, companies could keep prices competitive with foreign produced goods particularly adding to our nation's awareness of how despite our current racial tensions, we are still supporting slavery around the world.

With more and more jobs being created, with prices more competitive due to the favorable tax environment, with more revenue pouring in at the same time as entitlement costs are going down, an aggressive Congress might see enough light at the end of the tunnel to begin a serious plan to balance the budget.

Over time as the notion of tax cut incentives improving the overall economy caught on the opportunity for more people from other countries to come here and participate in our prosperity could add many more people to our consuming public all living here rather than in some other nation, spending money there.

The plans for fixing our nation's bleak outlook isn't as hard as some might like you to think.  But it is very difficult when you have Barack Obama, Harry Reid and their democrat friends in power who are pulling us in the opposite direction, increasing the cost of government, increasing unemployment and incorrigible when it comes to talking about any form of tax cut or credit.

Is my idea workable?  Might it succeed?  Others can make that decision on their own.  But one thing is clear.

We are not going to get out of this rut until we remove Barack Obama, Harry Reid and the progressive liberal democrats from power and the start of that juggernaut begins this year.

God help us.