Home > Newsletter Archive  > Current Newsletter

 

LOUISVILLE /JEFFERSON COUNTY

DEMOCRATIC PARTY NEWSLETTER

Week of February 3, 2008

The link to this electronic newsletter is being e-mailed to 4,000+

Jefferson County Democrats 

We hope you will forward the link to your own e-mail list.

***********************************

CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT LIST OF EVENTS

Updated on a regular basis

The Louisville/Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee meets the 4th Wednesday of every month at 5:00 pm at Democratic Headquarters,           

640 Barret Avenue .

 

---

VOTERS, YOUR NEXT ASSIGNMENT

DITCH MITCH

---

  REMEMBER, CHECK TO DONATE TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

  ON YOUR STATE & FEDERAL TAX RETURNS

---

Thieneman and Francene Take on the Republican Party

The conversation is lively this morning on Francene’s radio show on WHAS, where the radio host tried to pin some prominent Republicans down on their recent actions:

Jack Richardson, chairman of Louisville’s Republican Party, called in to respond to Chris Thieneman’s charges that folks in the Anne Northup and Mitch McConnell camps discouraged him from running. Thieneman charged that some Republicans were telling him not to run for the 3rd District Congressional seat now occupied by Dem. Rep. John Yarmuth.

Richardson ran into a hailstorm of criticism from the radio show host when he said the party does indeed discourage some candidates from running in primaries. Francene, rightly, thinks that’s the wrong way to operate, that anyone who wants to run in a primary should not face opposition from the party hierarchy.

“You don’t know the political system that well, because you always want to put forth the best people,” Richardson said.

Hey Jack, a word of advice: Don’t insult the host when you’re on a radio program.

Francene pressed him on whether the party, in general, discourages certain people from running. She didn’t like what she heard.

“I don’t like the way you run the Republican Party, and I’m a Republican,” Francene told Richardson. “We don’t want your favorite, we want our favorite. Let us, the people, make that choice.”

“You may need to know more about what you’re talking about,” Richardson responded. Oops. A lecture ensued, and then she cut Richardson off.

Next up was Ted Jackson, an advisor to Northup. Jackson denied that Northup, or anyone associated with her camp, made calls to discourage Thieneman. “That is absolutely not happening,” he said, but added that someone could have made the call without instructions from the Northup camp. Just a political reality, he said.

Jackson confirmed that Northup will be running in the primary and filing paperwork for the office on Tuesday.

Earlier, Francene said McConnell’s office had sent a fax denying that aide Larry Cox discouraged Thieneman from running.

Somebody, Francene smartly surmised, was lying.

Francene’s next guest was state Sen. Dan Seum, who said he had talked with Northup recently. He said Northup was upset that she was going to get a primary opponent. He refused to take sides between his good friend Thieneman and Northup, and said he was a big fan of McConnell’s. And every other Republican officeholder and candidate, from Doug Hawkins to Mitt Romney.

The problem for McConnell and the Republicans is that their strong-arm tactics, the ones that bury dissent and assure a public face of party unity, don’t play with Thieneman.

Somebody’s lying, Francene keeps saying. She’s right.

UPDATE 11:20 A.M. — Thieneman called back to respond to the show’s comments — and confirm that he was threatened by Northup through Seum. “I called it a threat because that’s what it was, a threat.” He called the party leaders, in particular Jack Richardson, “unethical.” Republicas who deny their threats are “lying.”   SOURCE

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE AUDIO TAPE FROM THE TONY CRUISE SHOW THAT STARTED THIS CONVERSATION.

UPDATE 1/31/08

Thieneman quits race, becomes Democrat, endorses Yarmuth, By Joe Gerth, The Courier-Journal

Developer Chris Thieneman said this morning that he is dropping out of the 3rd District Congressional race, is becoming a Democrat and is endorsing Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth's reelection.

It capped a tumultuous week for Thieneman, in which he first abandoned a plan to run for the Louisville Metro Council, filed for another office, took on his own party's leaders and then walked away from it all.

The move comes as Thieneman said on WHAS Radio this morning that he has been pressured by people associated with U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and former U.S. Rep. Anne Northup to abandon his bid.

Both Northup and McConnell have denied that they tried to influence Thieneman.

As proof of that coercion, Thieneman played a voice-mail message on the radio from Larry Cox, McConnell's top aide in Kentucky, in which Cox urged him to call him.

That call came Monday afternoon, after Thieneman first appeared on WHAS radio and made similar claims about McConnell and Northup, who has since filed to run for her old House seat against Yarmuth.

"Obviously I have some concerns about this foolishness that went on this morning," Cox said in the voice mail. "I don't know who is stirring this pot and providing this misinformation. I'm pretty darn sure it's not you but I would really like to have a conversation with you."

Thieneman said he regarded that message as pressure from McConnell.

It capped a tumultuous week for Thieneman, in which first abandoned a plan to run for the Louisville Metro Council, filed for another office, took on his own party's leaders and then walked away from it all.

---

Monday night, Governor Steve Beshear spoke strong, honest words to the General Assembly and to the people of Kentucky concerning the state's financial health and his plans for a responsible budget.

In spite of an unprecedented financial situation inherited by Governor Beshear, he has been able to create new opportunities for Kentucky - north, south, east and west.

• He protected from budget cuts Kindergarten through the 12th grade for all public schools.
• He protected the 722,000 Kentuckians who receive Medicaid coverage.
• He maintained the coal severance tax for coal counties.
• He protected the tobacco settlement fund.
• He added $50 million for higher education's "Bucks for Brains," which by law goes primarily to the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville but also goes to all other state universities in Kentucky.
• He provided funds for expansion of the Little Sandy Corrections Complex.
• He is funding restoration of the Glasgow State Nursing Facility.

In some areas of the budget, Gov. Beshear is pushing to restore programs the previous Governor vetoed:  For example:

• Lake Malone State Park
• Louisville Zoo
• Pikeville Medical Center
• Animal shelters in many sections of the state
• Brooklawn Child and Family Services
• Murray State University Chemistry Building
• Carrollton Campus  of Jefferson Community Technical College
• Licking Valley Campus of Maysville CTC
• Advanced technology center of Owensboro CTC
• Rowan County Campus CTC planning/design

Other projects have been opened up by Gov. Beshear for Western Kentucky University, the University of Kentucky, Eastern State University, the Council of Postsecondary Education, Department of Parks and the Kentucky River Authority.

Despite hundreds of millions of dollars unavailable as had been expected for the next two years, Gov. Beshear gave the General Assembly a budget that continues essential services and programs. To compensate for anticipated losses in revenues he has ordered belt tightening for all state agencies.

As he said, "When families get into financial trouble, they buy less, cut up their credit cards and balance their checkbooks.  State government must do no less."

Jennifer A. Moore, Chair
Kentucky Democratic Party

---

Smirk This: Oil Giants Profit, Working Families Struggle to Pay the Bills by Tula Connell

The Campaign for America’s Future website captured the essence of last night’s State of the Union (SOTU) address when the progressive organization titled its package of SOTU articles: Smirk of the Union. Indeed, while working families face the loss of their homes, lack of health care on their jobs, skyrocketing debt and low-wage jobs, President Bush figuratively—and literally—smirks.  

When Bush recognized individual audience members in the Capitol during his speech last night, he somehow missed the 9/11 workers who sacrificed their health in the minutes and weeks after the terrorist attacks, and yet who can’t get health care coverage for the often debilitating conditions that ensued. The 9/11 workers, attending the State of the Union address as guests of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, held a press conference on Capitol Hill yesterday to ask: “Is the state of our union strong enough to provide for the health needs of 9/11 workers?” 

Bush didn’t acknowledge the 9/11 workers and didn’t mention their plight. He also left out a lot of other issues that are breaking the economic foundations of America’s middle class and working class. So, in the spirit of SOTU, smirk this: 

• A recession this year would likely raise the unemployment rate between 2.1 and 3.8 percentage points, increasing the number of unemployed Americans by between 3.2 million and 5.8 million, according to a report released today by the Center for Economic and Policy Research. The report predicts the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed would continue to increase through 2010 or 2011 and would range between 6.7 percent and 8.4 percent. Black unemployment would increase to between 11.3 percent and 15.5 percent.

 

• The median price of homes in the United States last month dropped 10 percent from December 2006, the biggest 12-month decline in 37 years. Home sales decreased 4.7 percent to an annual pace of 604,000, the fewest since February 1995, from a 634,000 rate the prior month, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.

 

• Credit card debt increasingly is replacing home mortgage loans as the essential financial cushion for working families. As journalist Barbara Ehrenreich has pointed out, working families rely on credit cards because they can’t afford health care, education and other basics on the low-wage salaries that increasingly are becoming the American norm. The U.S. public now holds $915 billion in consumer debt, with the average borrower owing more than $9,000, according to Cardtrak.com, a financial information website. A new article in In These Times documents how the credit card industry has devised a Byzantine network of legal landmines that most of us could not begin to understand—and yet which trap us into an ever downward spiral of debt.

And finally, news that will make that presidential smirk into a broad grin: Texas-based ExxonMobil, the world’s largest privately owned oil company, is expected to improve on its previous record on Friday by reporting earnings of $39.6 billion, the biggest annual profits that the U.S. has ever seen. 

{[There is something we all can do now. Click here to tell your Senator to extend unemployment benefits in the economic stimulus package the House passed. Working families need a real economic stimulus.)

---

Comments to the Editor:  

---

DAILY GRILL        

“It is unrealistic to expect that this Congress is going to take on such big problems this year. ... Remember, 2007 was labeled the 'do-nothing Congress.'" -- White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, 1/25/08

VERSUS

"In terms of both the number and significance of new public laws, however, last year's Democratic majority significantly outperformed that Republican Congress." -- Brookings Institution scholars Thomas E. Mann and Molly Reynolds, 1/19/08 

***********************

"This means that if you do not act by Friday, our ability to track terrorist threats would be weakened and our citizens will be in greater danger. The Congress must ensure the flow of vital intelligence is not disrupted." -- President Bush's State of the Union address, 1/28/08 on a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act extension

VERSUS

"Kenneth L. Wainstein, assistant attorney general for national security, said in an interview that if the August bill was allowed to expire in 10 days, intelligence officials would still be able to continue eavesdropping on already approved targets for another year under the law." -- New York Times, 1/23/08

**********************

"[A] nation that was once a safe haven for al Qaeda is now a young democracy where boys and girls are going to school, new roads and hospitals are being built, and people are looking to the future with new hope." -- President Bush, 1/28/08, on Afghanistan

VERSUS

"[Bush] didn't mention the violence that has killed 147 students and teachers, and closed 590 schools in the last year -- almost as many as the 680 the U.S. has built." -- AP, 1/30/08

---

Quotes of the Day      

 “I don’t like the way you run the Republican Party, and I’m a Republican,” Francene told Richardson.

TOP     

Recent Senate Votes 

 

National Defense Authorization Act, FY2008 - Vote Passed (91-3, 6 Not Voting)

The Senate approved a modified version of the defense authorization bill, which addressed concerns that caused President Bush to unexpectedly veto the original bill last month.

Sen. Mitch McConnell voted YES

Sen. Jim Bunning voted YES

---

Recent House Votes 

 

Veto Override on Children’s Health Insurance Program Extension and Improvement - Vote Failed (260-152, 19 Not Voting)

The House fell 15 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to override President Bush’s veto of this bill reauthorizing and expanding the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Rep. Ron Lewis voted NO

Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES

---

TOP

HUMOR      

 "Last night was President Bush's last State of the Union address. ... He said what he'll miss most about the State of the Union address are the fake standing ovations. He and I have that in common." --David Letterman

"The experts are saying the State of the Union address was very ambitious. President Bush said he plans to introduce dozens of bold, new mispronunciations." --David Letterman

"During the speech, President Bush was optimistic and upbeat about Iraq and the economy. So, apparently, he's drinking again." --David Letterman

"The Florida primaries were today. This makes perfect sense. To accommodate the senior citizens voting, the polls are staying open late -- 5 p.m. ... This is kind of sad. Moments ago, Al Gore demanded a recount." --David Letterman

"It's frightening to be alive, walking around this planet in 2008. Listen to this. A 20,000-pound satellite has burned out. ... It's going to crash into us. It's already starting to plummet and soon it will explode. There's going to be a fire. Oh, no, wait a minute. I'm sorry, I'm thinking about the Giuliani campaign" --David Letterman

"President Bush said the State of the Union was good, not as good as his buddies at Exxon, but still pretty good." --Jay Leno

"President Bush also promoted his stimulus package, where each American will get $600. This is part of the 'You Got Screwed, But Here's Cab Fare Plan.'" --Jay Leno

"Did you see Hillary Clinton watching President Bush? Oh, my God. I mean, she was giving him the same look she gives Bill when he comes home after midnight with some lame excuse." --Jay Leno

"You know what I thought was interesting? While the president was speaking last night, they had an online translation of the speech in Arabic, Vietnamese, Mandarin Chinese, Farsi and Spanish. So, I guess President Bush really is trying to reach out to the people of California." --Jay Leno

"Barack Obama got a big boost with that Kennedy family endorsement. Did you see that? The Kennedys came out for Barack Obama. Yeah, yeah. Now, the next big party endorsement is Al Gore. And both Barack and Hillary are going all out to try and avoid that one." --Jay Leno

"Bill Clinton's starting to lose his cool out on the campaign trail. You see him on the news the other day? He's waving his finger at reporters. Oh, man, he was mad! You ever notice when Bill Clinton gets mad, his face turns that red -- he looks like he robbed a bank and the dye pack in the money blew off in his face." --Jay Leno

"In fact, Al Sharpton was on 'The View' yesterday, urging President Clinton to shut up with the race comments. But unfortunately, since Al was on 'The View,' he couldn't get a word in." --Jay Leno

"Despite everything, John Edwards' poll numbers have not moved, have not moved at all. It's like his hair, it has not moved." --Jay Leno

"Edwards said the other day, 'There are three people here, not two.' The bad news, it was at his campaign rally." --Jay Leno

"Faith is playing a big part in this year's election. You have Huckabee, the evangelical guy. See, these fellas get a lot of people concerned about the separation of church and state. Do you know how that came about? Anybody know? See, the separation of church and state was made very clear by our founding fathers. See, what they did is they looked at the Ten Commandments. 'Thou shall not steal. Thou shall not bear false witness. Thou shall not commit adultery.' Then they looked at Congress and realized these two could never come together, we have to separate them" --Jay Leno

"(Bush) gave his last State of the Union address last night. There aren't too many people who will tell you that President Bush was a great president. And if there are, they probably work for Fox News. Fox News on Sunday night, they had a one-hour tribute special called 'George W. Bush, Fighting To The Finish.' They said a lot of silly things, but this might have been the silliest [on screen: FNC's Bret Baier saying, 'From the beginning, George W. Bush has been frequently ridiculed for his speaking style. Now, seven years later, he's credited with some of the most eloquent speeches delivered by a president']. He is? Come on" --Jimmy Kimmel

---

TOP

        
ADMINISTRATION -- WHITE HOUSE CONSIDERS INDUSTRY SHILL FOR CONSUMER SAFETY POST: On Saturday, the Washington Post reported that the White House was considering Gail Charnley to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Charnley appears to be cut from the same cloth as her anti-regulation predecessors, who have severely weakened the commission. She was a consultant for the tobacco industry, and in 2006, she "wrote an op-ed article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch opposing tougher restrictions on power-plant emissions...on behalf of Americans for Balanced Energy Choices," a coal-industry front group. As The Pump Handle notes, "for the last two years, Dr. Charnley has been traveling around the country on behalf of the Center for Energy and Economic Development (CEED), a coal industry group fighting for looser environmental controls." Charnley did not disclose her relationship with CEED when she wrote a March 2006 paper on the risk of mercury emissions from coal power plants. In that report, she dismissed mercury as "a global problem," concluding that "limiting US power plant emissions alone will have little impact." She also wrote a study that "states there is little evidence that environmental exposures play a significant role in childhood disease and government agencies do not know which environmental exposures actually pose risks to children," suggesting government regulation was ineffective and pointless.

CONGRESS -- PERINO BASELESSLY CLAIMS 2007 WAS YEAR OF 'DO-NOTHING CONGRESS': During the White House press briefing on Friday, a reporter asked spokeswoman Dana Perino if the reason President Bush's final State of the Union will not be addressing Social Security or immigration is because such bold proposals would be "politically not possible." Saying the President had shown "very bold leadership" in the past, Perino argued that Bush is avoiding "big ideas" because "it is unrealistic to expect" Congress to take them on this year. Placing blame solely on the legislative branch, Perino continued, "Remember, 2007 was labeled the 'do-nothing Congress.' Hopefully in 2008, there are some things that we can get done." Despite Perino's rhetoric, a recent New York Times op-ed by Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Thomas Mann showed that "the 110th Congress does deserve some praise" because "in 2007, the level of energy and activity on Capitol Hill picked up markedly." Mann also stated that last year's Congress outperformed the Newt Gingrich "Contract for America" Congress in 1995, the closest historical analogue. 

KATRINA-- FEMA SILENCED CONCERNS OVER SAFETY RISKS OF TOXIC TRAILERS: Democratic leaders of the House Subcommittee on Science and Technology released a study yesterday that found that FEMA "ignored, hid and manipulated government research on the potential impact of long-term exposure to formaldehyde" on Katrina and Rita victims now living in FEMA trailers. "The lawmakers said the CDC's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry ignored one of its experts...after he informed FEMA there was no 'safe level' of long-term exposure. They said FEMA bypassed that opinion and 'shopped' the agency for its desired recommendation to study only short-term exposure." Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC), co-chairman of the subcommittee, said, "Honest scientific studies don't start with the conclusion, and then work backwards from there." Last year, a report found that 94 percent of the emergency housing trailers contained "hazardous levels of  formaldehyde." In November, it was reported that FEMA was prohibiting its staff from entering the trailers, even as 500,000 families were still living in them. 

THE POWER TO PROTECT CONTRACTORS: Among the other provisions in the Defense Authorization Act that Bush asserted an unfounded right to ignore were two accountability measures aimed at private security firms accused of wartime abuses. One of these provisions would establish an independent, bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting. The Pentagon's inspector general, whose office conducts internal investigations, endorsed the commission's proposal, telling lawmakers in a November meeting, "We're leaning forward in the saddle, we're committed to this." Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) said, "The idea that the president would stand in the way of a non-partisan, independent committee to look into waste and fraud by companies like Blackwater and Halliburton in Iraq is inexcusable and it's irresponsible, and it ought to ruffle a lot of feathers across the country." The other provision Bush waived would extend whistleblower protections to employees of defense contractors. "The president doesn't have the authority to cancel these rights," said Tom Devine, legal director at the non-profit Government Accountability Project, "unless he sends in troops to stop a jury from hearing whistleblower cases." 

ADMINISTRATION -- METHODIST MINISTERS TRY 'LAST DITCH EFFORT' TO BLOCK BUSH LIBRARY: In Nov. 2006, the New York Daily News reported that President Bush and "his truest believers" were launching "an eye-popping half-billion-dollar drive" to secure Southern Methodist University (SMU) as the home for the Bush presidential library and policy think tank. The idea was met with protests from SMU students, faculty, and staff, who wrote that they would "regret to see SMU enshrine attitudes and actions widely deemed as ethically outrageous." Now Methodist ministers "are mounting a last-ditch effort to block" the project. They argue that "church rules require that an agreement be submitted to the 290 elected delegates of the church's South Central Jurisdiction"; one minister predicted that about 35 percent of the delegates would oppose the library. A Methodist petition opposing the library boasts after only two weeks the signatures of 14 bishops, more than 600 United Methodist clergy, and more than 9,000 members of Methodist churches in the United States and Canada. The ministers object to Bush's "pre-emptive, first- strike war," his policies that "reward the rich, while punishing the poor," and "the torture of prisoners."

---

Think Fast         

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told a crowd of supporters on Sunday, "It's a tough war we're in. It's not going to be over right away. There's going to be other wars." 

The former CEO of Countrywide Financial, Angelo Mozilo, is giving up $37.5 million of severance pay "in the face of pressure from politicians who have berated him for continuing to collect large sums from the mortgage lender even as millions of Americans face the threat of foreclosure."

Reflecting "growing recognition that the United States risks further setbacks, if not deepening conflict or even defeat, in Afghanistan," the Bush administration is seeking to "re-energize its terrorism-fighting war efforts" in the country while also "refocusing on Pakistan, where a regenerating al-Qaida is posing fresh threats."

Private security contractors operating in Iraq are recruiting heavily from the needy in Latin America. For Latin American recruits, the pay is the major lure. "It's a hard-to-match deal for ex-soldiers and cops with little education. Some returnees even describe the postings nostalgically as a kind of dream job."

Watch out for the State of the Union (SOTU) squatters. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), a regular squatter, will be arriving at the House chamber more than five hours before tonight's SOTU address in order to score an aisle seat "so her constituents, friends and family can see her whisper into the president's ear before he addresses the nation." Ros-Lehtinen plans to bring a "mountain of paperwork" to pass the time waiting. Other famous squatters include Reps. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) and Michelle Bachmann (R-MN).

After failing to force the passage of a White House bill, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) relented yesterday "and said he would offer a short-term extension of an anti-terror surveillance law, set to expire this week." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has sought such an extension, but President Bush issued a veto threat. 

Some 9/11 responders were on-hand last night to listen to Bush's State of the Union. "I'm fed up with how we're treated," said  Queens paramedic Marvin Bethea. Ground Zero volunteer John Feal added, "You got $3 billion a month to kill people, you got $3 billion a year for health care."

A new report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction found that eight of 11 rebuilding projects assigned to embattled American contracting company Parsons "were terminated by the United States before they were completed."

Democrats were "elated" last night to listen to President Bush's final State of the Union speech. "I think everybody is ready to turn the page," said Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO). "Next year we'll have a different president, which I look forward to," added Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) "unveiled a rival plan to stimulate the economy, offering a $500 check to virtually every American — including low-income seniors and rich financiers — in a direct challenge to the bipartisan deal reached last week by President Bush and House leaders."

"Weapons the U.S. provides to Iraqi security forces may still be ending up in the hands of terrorists, insurgents and criminals," Defense Department Inspector General Claude Kicklighter told Congress yesterday. A GAO report in July said the Pentagon could not account for 110,000 rifles and 80,000 pistols meant for Iraqi troops. 

A new poll finds that Americans have "a decidedly dour view of how things are going in the country" and "great expectations for the next president's ability to get things done." "Fully three-quarters" of the public believe the president has influence over health care costs, and "two-thirds of those under age 35 believe it's still possible to change the way Washington works."

Next week, President Bush is expected to call for deep cuts in Medicare and Medicaid in this year's budget, as lawmakers will have to work to "spare doctors from a 10 percent cut in Medicare fees that would otherwise take effect on July 1."

Yesterday, Reps. John Conyers (D-MI) and Linda Sanchez (D-CA) demanded that former attorney general John Ashcroft testify "about his appointment to oversee a Justice Department corporate settlement." Their letter asks Ashcroft to appear at a Feb. 26 hearing, noting that he had ignored previous requests.

---

TOP  

INTERESTING      

In Orlando, Firefighters Chase Giuliani With 16-Foot Rat

New York City firefighters (and families of those killed on 9/11) continue to hound Rudy Giuliani (R) in Florida for what they call the "9/11 Myth," this time using a 16-foot inflatable rat to make their point:

Families of firefighters killed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center rallied in Orlando alongside a 16-foot rat Tuesday, urging Floridians to vote against Republican Rudy Giuliani for president.

"We're not telling anybody who to vote for. We're telling you not to vote for Rudy Giuliani -- he is no hero of 9-11," said Sally Regenhard, whose son, firefighter Christian Regenhard, died in the towers' collapse.

The firefighters' national labor union and a group of Sept. 11 families brought the rally to Florida because the state figures prominently in Giuliani's primary strategy. Firefighters and their families vowed to dog the former New York mayor at all of his Florida campaign stops.

The rally started at the Orlando union hall, where participants posed with a 16-foot inflatable rat meant to represent Giuliani, and continued in front of Orlando City Hall with a mix of local firefighters, New York firefighters and families that had lost loved ones.

---

Kentucky Young Democrats hold their Annual State-wide Convention

On January 18 and 19 the Kentucky Young Democrats held their annual statewide convention in Frankfort at the Kentucky Democratic Party headquarters.  Over 150 members from across the state were in attendance. 

The convention kicked-off on Friday night with three of the U.S. Senate candidates (Dr. Michael Cassaro, Greg Fisher, and Lt. Colonel Andrew Horne) addressing those in attendance. 

Saturday’s convention highlights included speakers, an annual awards ceremony, and the election of new officers. 

Saturday’s speakers included: State Auditor Crit Luallen, Governor Steve Beshear, Congressman John Yarmuth, and State Representative Reggie Meeks. 

Annual Awards were presented to the following:  Lyon County for High School Chapter of the Year, University of Louisville for College Chapter of the Year, Muhlenberg County for over-all chapter of the year, and Hillary Bullock (Lexington, KY) was named the John F. Kennedy Kentucky Young Democrat Member of the year. 

Election of new officer included:  Chad Aull, (Lexington) President, Jamie Jameson (Independence) V.P. of Recruitment and Expansion, Lisa Tanner (Louisville) V.P. of Programming, Ericka Cannaday (Frankfort) National Committee Women, Colmon Elridge (Lexington) National Committee Man, Lauren Ingram (Louisville) Secretary, and Eugene Sisco (Pikeville) Treasurer.

For more information, please contact:  Chad Aull at (270) 779-3231 or kydpresident@gmail.com. 

---

 

 

The new National Defense Authorization Act "ensures unions keep their collective bargaining rights and that employees retain their civil service rights to appeal major disciplinary actions...the end of a four-year effort by a coalition of federal unions to fend off the department's plan to curtail their bargaining rights."  

---

VIDEOS      

 None this week

---

NEED COMPUTER ASSISTANCE?? 

Democrat Activist Mike Bailey is now providing “Professional Computer Support.”  He can be contacted at 502-558-4026, or mikebailey2000@usa.net. 

---

---

Notice to our Readers &  2008 Primary Election Candidates:

This newsletter will carry, in this space, any Democratic candidates' notice of events or communications (250 words or less) to our readers that the candidate provides to the editor at rcrider@insightbb.com

---

TOP     

                

 

CLICK HERE FOR LATEST ISSUE OF THE "FRIDAY ALERT"

TOP

 

If you plan to change your e-mail address, please let me know at rcrider@louisvilledem.com

Your contributions of news, comments and/or events are invited. Please e-mail such items to

Ray Crider at rcrider@louisvilledem.com . If you know someone who would like to be on the newsletter e-mail list, please have him or her supply the following information to the same

e-mail address: Name, address, phone numbers ( home , work, fax, cell), and e-mail address.  

 

Publication of Louisville/Jefferson County Democratic Party Tim Longmeyer, Chairman Ray Crider, Editor 640 Barret Ave Louisville, Ky  40202 502-582-1999   Paid for by the Louisville/Jefferson Co Democratic Party Charlie Horton, Treasurer Produced & Printed In-House

TOP

Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Contributions or gifts to the Louisville/Jefferson County Democratic Party

are not tax deductible.