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Why I’m a Democrat
I find it really easy to explain why I have never been a member of the Republican Party — even before Donald J. Trump went down that escalator in 2015 and turned what once the Grand Old Party into the Grand-Dragon QAnon Party (GQP). It’s because I think common...
Susan Weston analyzes the House budget bill against Pritchard Committee’s Big Bold ask
The House of Representatives has released House Bill 6, its initial budget proposal for the next two fiscal years. Here, I’ll summarize the major education elements, including action on the Prichard Committee’s Big Bold Ask and some continuing questions about how the limited step up for child care will work for children and the workforce. Readers can also download our more detailed looks at three parts of HB 6, one each for early childhood, P-12 learning, and postsecondary education.
The KY GOP’s Dr. MLK Hypocrisy
Aaron, Kimberly & Nema break down a couple of horrible bills being advanced by the GOP supermajority - criminalizing homelessness and rejecting anti-racism efforts - and then reality check some GOP hypocrisy on MLK day. The crew then interviews friend of the show, Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson - who in addition to representing the mighty 88th district is also in House leadership - as the Minority Caucus Chair - she shares her priorities and looming fights in Frankfort.
Under Republican bill, voters would elect Kentucky Board of Education members in partisan races
After a string of attempts by politicians to tinker with the KBE, Senate Bill 8 would completely overhaul the 15-member board that governs the state’s public schools. Under current law, the 11 voting members of the KBE are appointed by the governor. SB 8 would shift the decision to voters who would choose 14 members of the board in partisan elections — two members for each of Kentucky’s Supreme Court districts.
Does voting really matter anymore?
Someone asked me recently why I end many of these columns with a statement warning that our democratic system is under attack and encouraging people to vote Democratic to preserve it. What difference will voting really make anyway, some say, when leaders of our new political party, the GOT (Grand...
Ulysses S. Grant’s 1875 speech nails it
President Ulysses S. Grant’s 1875 speech deserves more attention because of its amazing prescience, given the state of our country today. Grant gave the speech at the Annual Reunion of the Army of the Tennessee in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sept. 29, 1875. The bolded and italicized text is my emphasis of some of Grant’s words.
Democrats need Real Republicans to help save the Republic
Some weeks ago, I toyed with the idea of writing a column suggesting a Biden-Liz Cheney unity ticket for the 2024 election. I gave up the idea because both the Dems and the GOP would reject the idea. Also, such Unity governments are generally found only in countries with parliamentary governments and in time of crisis, such as in England during World War I and now in Israel during the war with Hamas.
Kentucky abortion ban: State abortion advocates say exceptions aren’t enough
Kentucky lawmakers are expected to consider adding exceptions for rape and incest to the state’s near-total abortion ban during the current 2024 legislative session in Frankfort. But abortion rights advocates say exemptions alone aren’t enough. Health providers in Kentucky and other states that already have limited exceptions to...
First Opioid Abatement Settlement Commission meeting under new leader draws big crowd, largely to support ibogaine study
Nearly 130 people attended the first Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission meeting under the group’s new executive director – by all indications in support of the former director’s plan to fund research to help legalize a psychedelic drug as a possible treatment for opioid addiction. “This is very...
Anti-DEI bill seeks to remove ‘trauma-informed approach’ for Kentucky schools from state law
A bill aimed at preventing education funding to go to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging frameworks in K-12 schools would also remove language protecting “trauma-informed” methods in Kentucky schools if the bill remains unchanged as it makes its way through the General Assembly. Part of recently-filed Senate Bill...
Andy Beshear, the Mel Ott of Kentucky
“Nice guys finish last,” Leo Durocher, manager of the first place Brooklyn Dodgers, said of player-manager Mel Ott and his last-place New York Giants in 1946. In Kentucky, Nov. 7 proved that nice guys can finish first in politics. Gov. Andy Beshear, a moderate Democrat, won a second term...
Tax dollars are wasted in states with school vouchers
Like salmon swimming home to spawn, lobbyists are again roaming the hallways of the Kentucky State Capitol. This year, big-dollar lobbyists representing corporate-run private schools and churches are pushing House Bill 208 to change the state’s constitution to allow politicians to throw billions of tax dollars into private and religious schools.
A Fever in the Heartland: the Ku Klux Klan’s plot to take over America, and the woman who stopped them
It has become common to hear politicians and pundits compare Donald Trump to Adolph Hitler and other high-ranking Nazis. But if there is anyone who reminds me of Trump, it’s not the Führer, who, while a homicidal demon, was restrained and clever. No, the best comparison to Trump is D.C. “Steve” Stephenson, the Imperial Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1920s. Pulitzer-Prize winning author Timothy Egan has written the definitive account of Stephenson’s rise and fall in A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them.
Housing: Who has the privilege?
If you are reading this article, it’s probably safe to assume you have the privilege of having a roof over your head. You might even own your own home or can afford to pay the rent. As I walked to the Kroger’s near my home on this blustery, cold day, I passed three human beings who do not share that same privilege. What are we doing as a community, as a state, and as individuals to make it easier for those who are unhoused to receive the assistance they need?
This is a circus, dear readers, and Gomer Comer lies and flirts with pornography
Besides the fact that they are both proud sons of the old Commonwealth sod, what do Rep. Jamie Comer, wherever he claims to hale from these days, and the late magazine publisher Larry Flynt, of Salyersville, have in common?. Both men promoted pornography. That revelation leapt to the fore on...
When it comes to MLK, they only know one line
This weekend you will see tweet after tweet from Republicans saluting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on his holiday. And the vast majority of them know only one line that the slain civil-rights leader ever said in his life: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
SOS Adams opposes bill to eliminate early voting
A bill to do away early voting in Kentucky has been proposed by a Northern Kentucky senator despite opposition from the commonwealth’s Republican secretary of state. Sen. John Schickel (R-Union) sponsored and filed Senate Bill 61 on Jan. 4. The measure was assigned to the Senate State and Local Government committee this week. On the Senate floor Friday, Schickel framed early voting as a COVID-era holdover that is not beneficial to the election process.
Democratic Senator’s bill ending tax on diapers earns bipartisan cheers
It’s not often that Republicans in Frankfort cheer on a Democrat-sponsored bill. But such was the case Monday when the Senate Clerk announced the filing of Senate Bill 97 from Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong (D-Louisville) to exempt diapers from the state’s 6% sales tax. Amid an otherwise quiet...
Lexington lawmaker files three bills he says will improve Kentucky elections
A state lawmaker from Lexington has filed three bills he says would improve elections for Kentucky voters. Democratic Representative Chad Aull said one would do away with straight-ticket voting and another would keep polls open until 7 p.m. “I think it’s, you know, our responsibility to provide the citizens of...
Weddle blames Beshear fundraiser for letting him make illegal political contributions
London Mayor Randall Weddle says he told a fundraiser for Gov. Andy Beshear’s reelection in late 2022 that he planned to make political contributions of others on his credit card, but instead of being warned that such a move would be illegal, the fundraiser told Weddle, “Okay sounds great.”
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