Kentucky: Chandler

November 18, 2009 - 06:24 pm

10am EST liveblogging of the HCFA hearing on "Is it Time to Lift the Travel Ban to Cuba?"

Dear readers,

Tomorrow morning I will be liveblogging the much anticipated full, open HCFA hearing on "Is it Time to Lift the Travel Ban to Cuba?"... and I am pretty excited about it - it is GUARANTEED to be full of fireworks from all kinds of interesting characters.

For those of us in the KY-06, who feel so far removed from Cuba, why do we care?

Well, there are 4 simple answers to that one:

1 - Cuba is the only country in the world from which our government restricts our travel - that is a restriction of our rights as Americans.

2 - US citizen travel to Cuba would greatly increase the amount of agricultural sales needed to feed the influx of tourists - and the best, most reliable place to acquire those goods are right here in the heartland of America (i.

November 13, 2009 - 04:26 pm

Send Ben Chandler a coat hanger

Just follow this link, and you can mail a coat hanger to the 20 "pro-choice" Democrats who voted for the Stupak Amendment, which will lead to the end of private coverage of abortion in America (which includes Spineless Ben Chandler):
Did 20 pro-choice Democrats forget what happens when women are denied access to abortion?

Why did pro-choice Democrats vote to approve the Stupak Amendment, the most serious assault on abortion rights in a generation?

According to FiveThirtyEight.com, 20 of the 64 Democrats who joined Republicans to pass the measure are nominally pro-choice. We're telling these 20 Democrats -- all of them men -- to reconsider their vote and urge Congressional leadership to do everything they can to ensure the health care bill that comes out of committee does not take us back to an era of coat hangers and back alley abortions.

November 13, 2009 - 03:21 pm

I wish Obama had more LBJ in him

And his handling of Ben Chandler on his health care vote is a perfect example of why:
He told the students that President Barack Obama urged him to vote in favor of a piece of legislation last week.

“I ended up not being able to vote the way he wanted me to, but he was OK with it because I had supported him on lots of other things,” he said.Can you imagine what LBJ would have done to Chandler? Especially since Chandler cowers at the slightest criticism or pressure?

Instead, President Obama, Mr. Nice Guy, just gives him a hug and says we're still buddies, don't worry about it. Not exactly how you handle the vote on the #1 issue that you campaigned on.

Nice guys finish last, and they don't pass health care reform, either. We'll see...

November 13, 2009 - 03:02 pm

Joel Pett takes on the anti-choicers

This one goes out to Chandler, Mongiardo, Paul, Grayson, and every other politician that wants to take away or chip away at a woman's right to choose.

November 13, 2009 - 02:00 pm

Ben Chandler lies about his Stupak vote

Blatantly.
“I support a woman’s right to choose, I support Roe v. Wade – I’m not for repealing that,” Chandler said.

“But I have been fairly consistent on the expenditure of public money for abortions, and I have generally been against that.”

The amendment’s proponents say the goal is to ensure that a longstanding ban on using federal dollars for elective abortions continues under the new health care legislation.

Abortion-rights advocates say it would make it harder for millions of women to have health insurance that covers abortion. They depict it as an assault on American women’s reproductive rights.

“There is a dispute about the effect of it, and I think that’s still being disputed by both sides,” Chandler said, adding that some say it goes further than the current ban on federally funded abortions.

November 11, 2009 - 09:14 am

Spineless Ben spins and spins and spins...

Ben Chandler finally talked to the media about his shameful votes on health care reform.

Or should I say "vote", because apparently neither Jim Carroll or Halimah Abdullah felt that it was called for to ask him about voting for the biggest setback to women's reproductive rights in over 30 years. Which is.... odd, no?

Anyway, here's Ben Chandler's spin about being stuck in SUCH a conservative district full of pitchfork wielding teabaggers who hate people having affordable health care.
“We’ve got an older district, and here in central Kentucky, particularly in rural areas of the district, there was an enormous amount of opposition to the health care bill,” Chandler said in the interview.

November 10, 2009 - 08:27 am

LHL and CJ unload on spineless Ben Chandler

From his hometown Herald-Leader's editorial:
Chandler's disappointing vote

We're not sure what Chandler hoped to accomplish politically with his vote. He endorsed Obama and voted for a cap-and-trade allowance system to reduce the heat-trapping gases that are causing climate change. The energy vote, opposed by coal interests, was probably more politically risky than this one. And he's not going to get right with the tea baggers no matter what he does.

This is no time to let the perfect become the enemy of the good. We would have rather seen Chandler stand up for positive change rather than hunker down with Kentucky's House Republicans who reflexively vote against anything Obama wants, even Rep.

November 8, 2009 - 11:23 am

Ben Chandler is on his own


Ben Chandler is all on his own versus the Teabaggers next year, because we're not apologizing for him anymore.

Not only did Ben Chandler vote for the Stupak amendment to end private insurance coverage of abortion in America last night, he voted against the entire health care reform bill.

This is the last straw, and we're done with him.

He honestly thinks that we'll actually care enough to vote for him. He honestly thinks that voting against health care and against women's rights will win him votes from teabaggers. Such are the delusional thoughts of the spineless. And here are the delusional words of the spineless:
“I voted against the bill because I do not believe it is the best course of action for the people of Central Kentucky, specifically our working families, small businesses, and seniors.

November 7, 2009 - 10:46 pm

Ben Chandler just voted to end private coverage of abortion in America

Thanks Ben.

Btw, sometimes you have to break a few eggs, and I don't really give a shit if you get beat next year. In fact, I think I'd really get a kick out of that.

Love, Joe.

November 6, 2009 - 12:53 pm

Calling Ben Chandler...

The Democrats' health care reform bill is being voted on tomorrow (Saturday).

Ben Chandler is still publicly on the fence.

Call him, and tell your friends and family to do the same:

DC office: Phone: (202) 225-4706 | FAX: (202) 225-2122

Lexington office: Phone: (859) 219-1366 | FAX: (859) 219-3437

Ben can either have folks willing to volunteer for him, or he'll be on his own with himself and the insurance industry. His choice....