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Who Hates Liberals More Than Republicans? Democratic Candidates

by: Yellow Dog

Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 06:53:40 AM EDT

Everybody's got a theory to explain national Democrats' inexplicable and infuriating insistence on caving to republicans and abandoning Democratic values to campaign as "centrists":  they've got battered-dem syndrome, they're just republicans at heart, they've been bought off or blackmailed, they're spineless cowards, they've got a Secret Plan to Win the Election, they're just pussies.

None of those theories explain why Democrats indulge in the most self-destructive tactic of all:  losing elections by running away from their base.

Digby explains why Democratic candidates hate Liberals.  

And that raises an important question: if these rich, pampered celebrities are spokesmen for the Everyman, then who are the elites? Well, they're us, the liberal base of the Democratic party. And that's what this "run to the center" is really all about --- putting as much distance between the politicians and us as they can. It's not about being "serious" on national security or crime or family values. It's not even about appealing to swing voters. It's about repudiating liberalism. You can have a right wing zealot on the team who is so out to lunch that he writes books recommending you beat your children like he beats his dog. But associations with anything remotely culturally liberal or politically progressive are considered poisonous if you care to be taken seriously by the likes of Target shopper Brian "Everyman"Williams or the policeman's daughter Maureen "Everywoman" Dowd.

(More after the jump.)
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Americans for Ryan: Independence from Exxon Eddie!!

by: RDemocrat

Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 15:11:33 PM EDT

Happy Independence Day everyone!! Today our nation celebrates it's Declaration of Independence from the British Empire. After much sacrifice from that generation, our nation would go on to become the first that was built upon the liberal ideals of the Enlightenment. Our nation would become a bastion of freedom, and the "city on the hill" for the world to aspire to.
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"Pomp, Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations

by: Yellow Dog

Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 15:04:46 PM EDT

I'm a sucker for the American Revolution. Stories of the doomed valor and inexcusable waste of the Civil War bore me to tears, but any dozen lines of debate about independence from the First Continental Congress always send shivers down my spine.

The quote in the headline is from Founder John Adams' letter to his wife Abigail after Congress voted to declare its independence from Great Britain.  The actual Declaration was signed and read out in public the first time two days later - on July 4.  Adams got the date wrong, but he knew an important holiday when he created one.

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations, as the great Anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp, shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever.

Do not miss the fireworks tonight.  However far you must drive to see them, do not miss them.  And as you watch them, remember that the last line of the Declaration:
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4th of July - Setting up the booth downtown

by: SarahG

Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 10:12:49 AM EDT

The two Davids discuss logistics.

More below the fold...

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Senator Williams' Vast Waste

by: Ben Carter

Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 10:00:00 AM EDT

Note: I will be hitting the surf and hunting monkeys in Anguar for the next week.  There is no internet there.

Recently, Senate President David Williams (R-Burkesville) backed down from his plan to spend half a million dollars renovating Senate offices. In a climate of fiscal restraint, the renovations appeared to the public to be exactly what they were: excessive. As a symbol of reason’s rare victory to Frankfort, Senator Williams’ decision is a victory for Kentuckians who recognize that the Senate ought to have other priorities beyond decorating its crib.

Unfortunately, such reasonableness ends at the doors of Senator Williams’ own Senate office. Inside, a sixty-inch plasma screen television hangs like a 14-point buck the Senator bagged while hunting in the pockets of Kentucky’s taxpayers. Bought with state funds last year while Republican Ernie Fletcher busied himself by running the state’s budget into a $454 million dollar ditch, Senator Williams’ television hangs as a monument to the arrogance of power.

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New Laws Take Effect July 15

by: Yellow Dog

Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 08:37:40 AM EDT

In this presidential election year, Fourth of July is a good time to remind ourselves that the laws that have the biggest impact on our daily lives are passed not in Congress and signed by the president, but are passed by the General Assembly and signed by the governor.

The 2008 General Assembly session may not have gotten the big issues settled - no casino gambling, a budget on the verge of shutting the state down - but it still passed a shitload of new laws that mostly flew under the radar.

Starting July 15, here are some of the new rules:

(More after the jump.)

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Update: CentrePointe is still a bad idea

by: taylorshelton

Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 01:30:12 AM EDT

(Taylor keeps the heat on. Will you? Head down to the parade tomorrow and make yourself known... details in the comments.   - promoted by David M. F. Schankula)

editorial from the 7.3.2008 Kentucky Kernel. you can also check it out here

"CentrePointe gives students more reason to leave than stay"

by Taylor Shelton

Much has been written and much has been said about the so-called 'development' planned for downtown Lexington. While the CentrePointe tower surely is something, I would hesitate to call it "development." Usually, at least in economics, development implies a qualitative improvement over existing conditions. I can't see how CentrePointe will, in any way whatsoever, be better than what Lexington has already lost now that the block bounded by Limestone, Main, Upper, Vine streets has been approved for demolition. Instead, I propose that we begin to call this "development" a "growth." It seems much more fitting. But that's beside the point.

Because last week's Kernel had already been completed by the time of the Courthouse Area Design Review Board's meeting to discuss CentrePointe, there was no opportunity to express in a timely fashion the discontent that was felt at the meeting.

There had been plenty of talk about Wednesday's decision as a "tipping point" for our city - a time when we would choose to go in one direction or simply continue the status quo. But when Vice Major Jim Gray made this comment, I doubt he realized exactly how accurate his statement was.

The 4-0 vote in favor of demolishing the buildings on Morton's Row was a tipping point for our city. It was, however, a tip in the opposite direction of what many expected. The unanimous decision does not represent the status quo for our city - it instead represents a step backwards. The status quo would mean that Lexington's young people - whether students or alumni of UK or Transylvania - still had a popular and well-regarded venue, close to where they live, in which they could see music or dance with their friends. Lexington no longer has that. We may never get it back - and if we do, it will likely be quite some time before it happens.

While I could go on and on about the merits of historic preservation, downtown vitality and the sense of place that The Dame and Busters represented, there are more relevant issues to discuss. Like why nearly 300 people packing the council chamber and overflow room apparently aren't enough to show that the Lexington community doesn't want this kind of growth in our downtown. Or why UK?President Lee Todd's explicit support of the CentrePointe development hasn't been questioned further?

Does Todd actually believe that any UK students will hang out at CentrePointe? Or live there? Or work there? I don't believe I've met a single student who has said that they will intend to spend their weekend nights at the new development once it is completed. All you needed to see that the block was thriving previously was to walk past the intersection of Main and Upper on a Friday or Saturday night. The hundreds of people crowding into The Dame and Busters every weekend were evidence of these buildings importance.

Somehow, that was overlooked. I doubt, however, that Todd, Dudley Webb or Joe Rosenberg ever saw those businesses on a weekend evening. Somehow, the majority of students, young professionals and Lexingtonians at-large have been ignored in this equation - written off as a counter-culture not worth keeping around.

So as the demolition of the block began yesterday, we are forced to wonder, what reasons will young people have to stay in Lexington? Will we stick around because Lexington has the nation's largest carbon footprint? Or will we make our homes here because of a defunct entertainment district that was destroyed in favor of a 400-foot tall phallus whose plans were purchased from an Atlanta architecture firm that failed to get the structure built in their own city? Or will we in invest in Lexington, just to have to deal with a city government that is more concerned with pleasing the upper echelon of the Lexington community while forsaking its younger generation? I highly doubt it.

If anything, I would guess the only reason we'll stick around this town would be to fix all of the messes that are being made by the older generations in this city.

for the latest stuff on CentrePointe, check out Joe's coverage here, here, here, here and here.

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The Fine, Fine Wine of Home

by: Yellow Dog

Wed Jul 02, 2008 at 21:03:49 PM EDT

If you wine-drinking elite liberals have not yet discovered Kentucky's own home-grown vino, now you've got no excuse:  Four Kentucky wineries won Gold Medals at an international wine competition.

KENTUCKY WINERIES EARN SIX GOLD MEDALS AT INDY INTERNATIONAL WINE COMPETITION

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Kentucky wineries struck gold six times at the Indy International Wine Competition June 26-28 in Indianapolis.

The haul for Kentucky winemakers included four concordance golds, meaning the judges who evaluated that wine unanimously agreed that it was worthy of a gold medal. Kentucky wineries also brought home seven silver medals and 15 bronze medals. Eight different Kentucky wineries earned medals, and four brought home gold.

The Indy International Wine Competition attracted more than 3,200 wines from 15 countries.

... Wight-Meyer Vineyard and Winery won two of the four concordance golds. The Shepherdsville winery was honored in American Blush/Rose for its Kentucky Rose and in White American Varietal for its Diamond wine. The other concordance golds went to Equus Run Vineyards of Midway for its cabernet sauvignon and Jean Farris Winery of Lexington for its Tempest wine in the Red Vinifera Blend category. Chrisman Mill Vineyard of Nicholasville struck gold in Red French-American Blend for its Sweet River Bend Red, and Jean Farris' Petite Syrah also earned a gold medal.


(More after the jump.)
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Musings on Statesmanship

by: Molly Matthews

Wed Jul 02, 2008 at 14:01:35 PM EDT

Being a Kentuckian abroad often requires explanation.  You need to explain where it is; that it does not, in fact, produce a prodigious number of chickens but rather is famous for a particular method of frying them; that it is famous for fast horses, beautiful women, and bourbon, which is different (and better) than Tennessee whisky.  Sometimes people will seek a historical context, and you’ll be asked what famous people hail from our fine state.

I proudly point to Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, and Daniel Boone.  

“Ah, ah, yes,” they say, “And in modern times?”

Well, in that case, I must invoke the likes of George Clooney, Johnny Depp, and Barbaro.  

Something smells…different.

Where are my Statesmen*? 

This essay is not a wholesale dismissal of our leaders – we’ve got some earnest, hard-working folks in both Frankfort and Washington.  But among them, I fail to see the caliber of leader that Kentucky was known for 100-150 years ago.  Now, I’ve got politicians coming out of  my ears – I’ve got the greasy and the mediocre; I’ve got the pork-lickers, the coal-kings, the Derby dandies; I’ve got good-old-boys and Hallelujah-shouters and tee-totalers.  Lord knows, what I cannot seem to find is a Statesman to remind me why I weep at Foster’s ballad.

Someone recently told me that all smart Kentucky politicians go to Transylvania or Centre or Georgetown and then to law school at the University of Kentucky.  I think this comment offers an important insight into the question of absent Statesmanship in Kentucky. 

This person’s claim is, in fact, overwhelmingly true.  Bert Combs, Ned Breathitt, Louie Nunn, Wendell Ford, Julian Carroll, John Brown, Martha Layne Collins, Wallace Wilkinson, Paul Patton, Ernie Fletcher, Steve Beshear, five of the seven members of Kentucky’s current delegation in Washington, have all graduated from Kentucky schools – the vast majority received both their bachelor’s and their J.D. from Kentucky schools.  A startling preponderance of them attended the University of Kentucky. 

In my biology classes, we talk about genetic diversity and how good it is.  I read in my textbooks and observe in the newspaper that limiting the gene pool through monocultures and incest is a lethal practice, and puts the species at a grave evolutionary disadvantage.  

Healthy species and ecosystems are a function of diversity.  This logic can be applied to intellectual and political communities as well.  The more perspectives and experiences represented within a community, the sounder and more vibrant its ideas and policies will be.  When a community stops encouraging intellectual and political ‘diversity’ – by insulating itself – it puts itself, in a manner of speaking, at a grave evolutionary disadvantage.  Ideas and policies become stale or even regressive, and at some point, the community is eclipsed by its neighbors (let’s be Darwinian and just say competitors), and finds itself living in the melancholy shadow of its former greatness.  It stops grooming Statesmen and starts breeding politicians.

Clearly, I’m not saying that great leaders can’t come from Kentucky schools:  I’m saying that a Kentuckian shouldn’t be punished for having left the state for a season in pursuit of innovative ideas to one day bring back home.  Cassius Clay became an abolitionist while at Yale – he left for a season, and when he returned, he added an element of diversity that helped move Kentucky forward.  John Sherman Cooper transferred from Centre College to Yale, and he ended up being one of the first to call Senator McCarthy on his bullshit, opposing the erosion of the 5th Amendment and the Vietnam War, and championing Civil Rights.  

This is not because Mr. Cooper went to Yale.  He could have gone to the University of California at Santa Cruz or SUNY Stony Creek or the University of Ohio or on a cheap backpacking trip across the United States and Europe.  Any of those places would have challenged his assumptions about the way the world works in ways that a state school, where he would have been a Kentuckian among Kentuckians, could not have done.

To reiterate (because this is a point worth reiterating), I’m not saying that Kentucky schools can’t produce great leaders or that we should pay deference to the Ivy League and the Rhodes selection committee; that is absurd for different reasons.  I’m saying that I’m tired of my leaders being afraid, whether by choice or necessity, to cultivate and celebrate diversity both within and among themselves.  Mixing with ‘outsiders’ is healthy; experiencing minority-ship is healthy.  It makes a person physically and intellectually stronger.  This growth cannot happen if one never ventures out because he/she is afraid that leaving is going to compromise his/her political career.  

I’m tired of hearing that there is one way to become a leader in this State.  Get your bachelor’s here, get your J.D. there, lift your elbow, cock your eyebrow, sneeze three times, spin in a circle, jump through a hoop, and on and on it goes.  The astute politician, I am told, sounds like an Automaton – a genetically compromised Automaton.

To expect leaders to come from identical academic, religious, political (don’t give me bullshit – a Republican is a stones-throw away from a Democrat in the true range of political possibilities), and cultural traditions is to conscience intellectual incest.  Its spawn will be weak-willed, near-sighted politicians, not Lincolns, Clays, and Coopers. 

*Use of ‘Statesmen’ is exclusively a rhetorical devise used because of its historical significance.  I vehemently believe that we need more Stateswomen, but that is a different discussion for a different day.       

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Video of the Year

by: Yellow Dog

Wed Jul 02, 2008 at 18:47:32 PM EDT

Christopher Hitchens, apologist for the Iraq catastrophe and the Smirky/Darth maladministration in general, who has specifically pooh-poohed the idea that waterboarding could possibly be considered torture, recently got himself waterboarded for Vanity Fair.

No, I haven't watched it.  Much as I have pined for Hitchens to get his richly deserved comeuppance, based on the descriptions given by people who have actually experienced it, I wouldn't wish waterboarding on anyone - even Hitchens.

Spencer Ackerman's description of the video is harrowing enough.

It took bare seconds for a desperate Hitchens to give the signal to stop the torture.  But here's the real question:  how long is it going to take Hitchens to recant?

h/t TPM

Cross-posted at Watching Those We Chose.

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It's ON in the 2nd district!

by: CoolerKing

Tue Jul 01, 2008 at 18:01:22 PM EDT

Great news from Survey USA:

In an election for US House of Representatives in Kentucky's 2nd Congressional District today, 06/30/08, to fill the seat of retiring incumbent Republican Ron Lewis, Democrat David Boswell and Republican Brett Guthrie begin July effectively even, according to this exclusive WHAS-TV new poll conducted by SurveyUSA. Today, it's Boswell 47%, Guthrie 44%, within the survey's 4.3 percentage point margin of sampling error. Both candidates are state Senators. Among women, Boswell leads by 6 points; among men, the two candidates tie.

Boswell can obviously win this race.  And his chances will be even better if we can get the DCCC to spend some money in the district.  So click here and throw a little support Boswell's way.  We need to send the DCCC a signal that we're behind our candidate.

Discuss :: (1 Comments)

Obama Should Do What Bush Did

by: Yellow Dog

Tue Jul 01, 2008 at 18:42:47 PM EDT

Here's hoping Obama follows George Bush's example as President.

Campaign as a centrist, moderate, new kind of politican, then turn around and govern to the far extreme of his own party.

(Although what the MSM labels "extreme left" is actually the real "center" because it's what the majority of Americans have been telling pollsters they want for a couple of decades now.)

I'm fine with Obama playing nice with the DINOs and Blue Dogs right up through November 4, as long as first thing in the morning November 5, he tells them:

"Thanks for your votes, bitches; now sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up."

(More after the jump.)

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Ice Cap Melting? Make a run to SuperAmerica!

by: SarahG

Tue Jul 01, 2008 at 13:05:00 PM EDT

Recent reports that the North Pole may be ice-free this summer has environmentalists up in arms. GOP supporters... not so much.

James Pence brings us this video, where attendees at a Louisville GOP $1000 per plate fundraiser are first confronted about the war in Iraq and then the global warming worsened by Bush/Cheney/Mitch's policies. One of the supporters has an interesting suggestion for solving the problem of an overheated North Pole:



Of course, SuperAmerica's main sales are oil and gas. Hmmm.... Leave it to Republicans to find a new way to turn a buck while feeding a global crisis!

And why should they care about homeless polar bears or the increase of heat-related deaths worldwide? There's a silver lining to this soggy cloud:

"There's also, or course, oil at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean," he (Mark Serreze, senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center) said. "Now, the irony of that is kind of clear, but the fact that we are opening up the Arctic Ocean does make it more accessible."

Does this at least mean that they'll leave Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico alone?

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Respect the Service; Confront the Man

by: Yellow Dog

Tue Jul 01, 2008 at 06:52:02 AM EDT

Quick way to explain the difference between what the Swift-Boat Liars did to John Kerry and what Gen. Wesley Clark is saying about John McCain:

"Swift-boating" attacks the man by lying about the service.  Clark respects the service, but questions its relevance to the office sought by the man.

Salon has the video of Clark making his case, and Steve Benen comments:

Perhaps because of the four stars on his shoulder, retired Gen. Wesley Clark is bolder than most when it comes to criticizing John McCain's efforts to connect his military experience with his presidential qualifications. Indeed, Clark has been tougher than most in pushing back against the Republican nominee's pitch.

SNIP

It's not especially surprising that Clark's remarks aren't going over well on the right. Several conservative bloggers have the outrage meter turned up to 11, and the McCain campaign issued a statement accusing the Obama campaign of wanting to "question John McCain's military service," and allowing Obama's campaign surrogates "to demean and attack John McCain's military service record."


(More after the jump.)
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Talk radio gets Sirius

by: republicans4voldemort

Tue Jul 01, 2008 at 02:02:02 AM EDT

This morning NPR on Sirius dragged out an old audio clip of President Jimmy Carter's fuel conservation speech from 1979.  Some historians call it the "Malaise" speech.  You remember: the one where Carter said "Our neck is stretched over the fence and OPEC has a knife".   His address went out to the American public via television and radio, the exahusted sounding Carter told Americans to carpool, drive the speed limit, use public transit, and park the car one day a week, all in hopes of reducing the nation's fuel usage.  I wasn't alive when this speach was delivered but people often remember it as the last nail in Carter's re-election coffin.  He spoke with a solemn voice telling listeners to turn down the thermostat in their homes, and all but begged Americans to not take useless trips.  He went on to proclaim government offices had already implemented his strict consumption policies, and more cutbacks were coming. 

  Somewhere in the address he planned to mandate alternative energy sources to break America's dependency on foreign oil (sound familiar ?) He hoped by the year 2000 the country would rely on 20% solar energy. That was the new promising technology back then, much like biofuels are today.  The problem most people didn't see coming with biofuels was the increased demand for grain, which has subsequently driven crop prices higher and consumers foot the bill the the grocery store.    

Carter's former press secretary Jody Powell was asked if he believed the conservation speech cost Carter the re-election, to which he replied: "I've never heard anyone say that, because its not true."  Then came the uncomfortable moment of silence that lasted at least five seconds, during which most listeners were screaming at their radio like I was.  The station's host replied with "OOOkay, well you must at LEAST think it was a contributing factor"  And Powell went on a tangent about how Reagan had better financing, etc.  Well, if Carter's fuel crisis didn't cost him the election perhaps it was that mysterious killer rabbit.

Later on during the drive home the Patriot channel was broadcasting Mark Levin's syndicated conservative talk show.  Levin had the same audio clip of Carter's speech and was taking calls from weak liberals who claimed Carter was the best president ever, to fascisist conservatives blasting away at who Reagan was elected to replace.  Levin was comparing today's fuel crisis to the 1970's and ranting that Marxist liberals like Obama will want to use big government to control oil regulation.  Then he became excited in the moment and went on to say that if elected the Marxist liberals will turn the country into a socialized state.  Using words like Marxist, socialist, communist, and liberal all interchangeably, thus he commits the conservative talk radio fallacy - shittalk.  

Where did common sense and rational judgment go?  Just because every idiot with a blog (HA!) or a talk show can get an audience they automatically become idealogues and an expert on public policy.  Al Gore's internet aka Ted Steven's series of tubes would allow the general public to learn about the issues at hand, providing they dont get clogged up with so much porn being downloaded.  In the meantime Sirius satellite radio offers several talk stations suited for any political viewpoint.  Personally I believe Fox Talk and Patriot radio are funnier than any of the comedy channels.     

 

 

 

 

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Lexington Pride 2008

by: SarahG

Mon Jun 30, 2008 at 21:04:01 PM EDT

(X-posted at the Rainbow Wind Blog)

This past Saturday, Lexington had its first downtown Pride Festival. Sunday morning, I'm sure videos like this were shown in fundie churches everywhere:

Other videos can be seen here, here, and here.

The Pride Festival, despite the predictable complaints, was a huge success. The festival was held on the lawn of the old courthouse. Meanwhile, a block or two away, the annual Diversity Festival (which presents food and music from countries all over the world) was taking place on the lawn of the new courthouse. Rather than 'stealing' people from each other, the two celebrations benefited from the crowd of over 1000 people that wandered back and forth between them.

Several openly gay politicians spoke at the event: Jim Gray, Lexington's vice mayor, Ernesto Scorsone, state senator, and Diane Lawless, candidate for city council. For the non-political types, there was a silent art auction, booths with pride gear, a Pride Idol competition, and several drag performers to hold their interest.

A rumor that Fred Phelps and clan would drive in for the event did not manifest. They were probably too busy announcing that they would picket George Carlin's funeral. This looks like it may have been a rumor, too - or the press didn't care to mention them.

An even larger celebration is planned for next year:

Pride Festival chairwoman Ginger Moore-Minder was almost beside herself at the larger-than-expected crowd.

"I am amazed and awed by this day. The response is outstanding. ... We've already raised over $9,000 that will go towards local LGBT causes. And we've started planning for next year - it'll blow this year's festival out of the water."

Discuss :: (2 Comments)

State Pension "Fix" Not Worth a Tinker's Dam*

by: Yellow Dog

Mon Jun 30, 2008 at 19:50:13 PM EDT

Ralph Long exposes the empty, crossed-finger promises in the state employee retirement bill.

You know, the one that General Assembly members are breaking their arms patting themselves on the back over.  The one that allows Governor Steve Beshear to claim that his first legislative session was not the complete catastrophe it actually was.

The one that kicks a $42 billion - that's Billion, boys and girls - pension deficit down the budget road for our children to pay out of their hides.

The bill was loaded with weasel words that allow the legislature to back out of any commitment.

(More after the jump.)
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Kentucky Republicans keep pushing liquid coal

by: taylorshelton

Sun Jun 29, 2008 at 14:15:38 PM EDT

cross-posted at GreenKY:

From the Herald-Leader:

Word on the street is that Kentucky's congressional Republicans are pushing coal-to-liquid fuels once again. When will these guys learn? Senators McConnell and Bunning, along with Congressman 'Exxon Ed' Whitfield (R-1st District) have propsed a $7.6 billion coal-to-liquid facility in Paducah. I guess it's the plan of Kentucky's Republican legislators to turn Paducah into the nation's largest Superfund site - first a nuclear plant, now liquid coal, too. I wonder how people in Paducah would feel about such a dubious distinction? As for the typical taxbreaks for these types of projects, Kentuckians only have to worry about losing a collective $550 million thanks to the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority's support of the plant. I'm tempted to stop paying my taxes if this is what they're going to...

I have to applaud McClatchy writer Halimah Abdullah for actually giving the whole story behind coal-to-liquids in this piece. She writes:

such efforts are highly dependent on two things: developing a way to safely capture carbon emissions from coal-burning plants, and the public's willingness to accept the high costs and environmental risks.

I think this is the first time I've seen a journalist actually say that this could be a bad idea outside of the editorial page. Thank you!

But the high initial costs of building coal-to-liquid fuel plants, lagging technology and opposition from environmental groups who say ”clean coal“ is a risky misnomer, have slowed efforts.

Again, thank you! Clean coal isn't real. It isn't. Someone finally said it (well...sort of)!

But the process produces a significant amount of carbon dioxide. Many coal companies and environmentalists see a possible solution in capturing carbon emissions and storing them underground, where they can't trap heat in the atmosphere.

Exactly. Too bad noone knows how to capture and sequester carbon underground on the sort of large or commercial scale that these projects would be operating at. That means carbon emissions - lots of them.

Environmentalists say that burning a gallon of coal-to-liquid fuel produces twice the amount of greenhouse gases as petroleum-based gasoline. The groups also worry that in Appalachia the destructive technique of mountaintop removal mining would spike if production of coal-to-liquid fuels increased.

Need I say more? I like Ms. Abdullah, she's good.

During last week's congressional hearing on energy and air quality, Whitfield defended the push. ”Far too often when we talk about climate change, coal becomes the punching bag with the presumption that this vital energy source is dirty,“ Whitfield said. ”The development of clean coal technologies is at the forefront of reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil.“

Ha! More like 'the development of clean coal technologies represents the antithesis of reality and creating a cleaner environment for all to live in'. Sometimes people just don't know when to quit...

Discuss :: (3 Comments)

Bad week for Lexington

by: taylorshelton

Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 15:02:33 PM EDT

This has been a bad week for Lexington. Whether you're Lexington, Massachusetts or Lexington, Kentucky - it's been a bad, bad week.

First, John McCain decided to name his idiotic plan for energy independence the "Lexington Project" (I know of a much cooler Lexington Project) as an ode to those who first declared independence for the United States in Lexington, Mass. Largely, McCain's plan for energy independence would mean offshore drilling and nuclear power for everyone. Good idea - not.

And then all residents of Lexington, KY were disgraced by their city's government on Wednesday with the unanimous approval for demolition of some of the city's most historic buildings and vibrant businesses. For more on the downfall of our fair city, go here, here, here, and here.

Today, Lexingtonians of the world can be ashamed together. 

Discuss :: (1 Comments)

KY-01: Exxon Eddie's Skewed Priorities

by: RDemocrat

Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 22:06:35 PM EDT

Exxon Ed Whitfield has had this seat for a long time and made a lot of votes. During his tenure, he has been a constant rubber-stamp for the failed policies of the Bush Administration. Despite his election year "Renaisance" Exxon Eddie can't hide from his real record. He has consistenty gotten it wrong time and time again.
There's More... :: (4 Comments, 1229 words in story)
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