Kentucky News by Trey Pollard

As expected, Kentucky's two U.S. Senators voted yesterday to halt progress on a $14 billion package of aid to domestic automakers. Both Jim Bunning (R-Southgate) and Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) voted against a cloture motion late last night that would have squashed filibuster efforts threatened against the bill by Senate Republicans.

Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R- Richwood) weighed in on Gov. Steve Beshear's (D-Lexington) proposed solutions for the $456 million budget shortfall, targeting the proposed cuts in spending.

"I am not sure that there are any other ways to articulate that we are going to experience severe pain due to these proposed cuts. This pain should send a clear message to the Governor and Legislature that we must find a bi-partisan, long-term solution to this problem, not just a quick fix," said Grayson in a statement.  

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) announced on the Senate floor this morning that the auto industry bailout package agreed to by Congressional Democratic leadership and the White House did not meet the requirements he said were necessary for the support of skeptical Republicans.

"We reviewed it closely to see if it meets the criteria that I have laid out repeatedly for taxpayer-protections and an effective strategy for securing the long-term viability of these companies," said McConnell. "In the end, I concluded that it does not."

With his bid for re-election to the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee finally official, Inez native Mike Duncan campaigned hard "through the evening" yesterday contacting voting members of the RNC, according to a spokesperson.

Duncan kicked off his campaign for a second-term at the RNC helm yesterday with the launch of a website and an e-mail to each of the 168 voting members of the national Committee.