Anne Northup Concedes

Thanks, Mama Pelosi, For That 700 Point Stock Market Plunge!

We can thank House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's partisan rhetoric for the Wall Street legislation going down in flames today in the House. No doubt she was suffering from severe lack of sleep, but there really was no excuse for her standing up before the vote and trying to place the entire blame on Republicans -- and specifically President Bush -- for the financial market crisis.

Wasn't it the Democrats who just last week decried injecting "presidential politics" into the legislative debate? Well, that is exactly what Pelosi did today -- and House Republicans were understandably furious at her for trying to spin the vote even before it was taken.

So it's back to the drawing boards for the Administration and Congress to come up with Plan B. Here's one suggestion to get things started: gag the House Speaker.

If Congressman John Yarmuth is still "messaging" for Pelosi, he's got his work cut out for him. It's time for Anne Northup to run an ad hanging Pelosi around Yarmuth's neck.

Update: Make that a 777.68 point plunge.

Update: I guess Yarmuth has resigned his position on Pelosi's "messaging" team: he voted against the bill. So did Congressmen Ben Chandler, Geoff Davis and Ed Whitfield. Congressmen Ron Lewis and Harold “Hal” Rogers voted for it.

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

Pelosi's Money Talks For Yarmuth

The Democrats apparently are worried about Congressman John Yarmuth's losing his seat to challenger Anne Northup. According to the Associated Press, Yarmuth is one of only 31 members of Congress who are receiving funds from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for television advertising. No doubt this is payback for Yarmuth's "messaging" the far left agenda of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

Northup Rightly Goes On The Offensive Regarding New Oil Drilling

Anne Northup wrote an excellent op-ed piece in today's Courier-Journal highlighting what should be one of her strongest issues against Congressman John Yarmuth: the need for Congress to allow for more domestic oil drilling to reduce the price of gasoline.

Northup attacks Yarmuth for his opposition to drilling where there are proven reserves while he supports proposed legislation to tax oil companies into drilling in areas that are likely to be dry holes:

Just last week, our representative [Yarmuth] joined 10 Democrats who filed a "use it or lose it" bill which would force oil companies to use the federal leases they currently have or forfeit them. The truth is, oil companies have had very little success with these leased lands, with 52 percent of the leases turning up no oil. Many more were leased for the purpose of recovering natural gas only. Other areas are prohibitive in terms of the cost to drill and questionable in the amount of recoverable oil. It is hard to fathom the thinking of a person who would propose forcing companies to drill all over the continent in places with marginal or no reserves, but refuses to allow drilling where there are plentiful reserves.

Northup criticizes Yarmuth and fellow Democrats for cow-towing to the environmental lobby's opposition to drilling in ANWR and offshore at the expense of all of us at the gasoline pump:

We do not have to look overseas for our oil. Alaska's ANWR alone contains 10.4 billion barrels of oil. Likewise, the Outer Continental Shelf is estimated to contain 19 billion barrels of oil. There are other estimates that put our oil reserves in the hundreds of billions of barrels. When given the opportunity to tap these abundant resources, the House Democrats overwhelmingly opposed it while House Republicans overwhelmingly supported the increased production. Even when the Republicans were in the majority and passed it in the House, the Senate could not muster the 60 votes necessary to pass the bill and send it to the President because of Democratic opposition.

Recently, such large reserves of shale oil were discovered that some now refer the United States as the "Saudi Arabia of shale oil." Yet last year this Congress banned all new shale oil extraction. That's right: No matter where or how safely it could be extracted, this new reserve is now off limits nationwide.

We know where the major reserves of clean, light and easy-to-refine crude oil are located. Even though a majority of people in this country believe we can harvest our oil in an environmentally safe manner, this Congress seems to be too frightened of an environmental lobby that has become increasingly irrational.

Northup and other Republicans should continue to hit hard on this issue. To rephrase Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign theme, in 2008, the Republicans' motto should be "it's the price of gasoline, stupid!"

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

Bipartisan Baseball Blather

Congressman John Yarmuth and his Democratic colleagues on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform have wasted a lot of taxpayer money investigating the "he said, he said" dispute between Roger Clemens and his alleged steroids and human growth hormone injector, Brian McNamee. The grandstanding (and it wasn't in a ballpark) has thus far produced an "18-page memo compiled by majority staff and released by chairman Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat, on Feb. 27," according to the Associated Press.

Now the AP reports that Republican committee members have joined in the tree killing, with a "109-page report" that purportedly "'seeks to dispel conclusions that may have resulted from an incomplete consideration of the full record' and contains details Rep. Tom Davis believes could challenge the credibility of McNamee."

Who cares? The House committee shouldn't have conducted the hearings in the first place. Both Clemens and McNamee ought to be able to raise the defense of "irrelevant to the work of Congress" if either of them is ever prosecuted for alleged misstatements in their testimony.

Congressman Davis has opted not to run for reelection this year. Too bad Yarmuth will not do the same. Anne Northup should promise that, once she defeats Yarmuth, she will not participate in similar silly games that masquerade as congressional work.

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

Demo-blogs Misquote McConnell

Several of the Demo-blogs have been claiming this week that Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell described Anne Northup and Ernie Fletcher as "casualties of the Iraq war" because they lost elections last year.

The McConnell website released the audio from the event at which the senator supposedly made the statement, and it confirms that he said no such thing. Listen to the audio and verify this for yourself.

What's fascinating is how the story "evolved" once the Demo-blogs got hold of it. Bob White, a reporter at the News-Enterprise wrote:

Describing the party’s 2006 loss of Congressional District Rep. Anne Northup and last year’s loss of Republican Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher as casualties of the Iraq war, McConnell said he’s optimistic Republicans will hold the 2nd congressional district seat left up for grabs with the announcement of Rep. Ron Lewis’, R-Cecilia, retirement.

Note that White purports to paraphrase McConnell (albeit erroneously). He does not quote McConnell as characterizing Northup and Fletcher as casualties of the Iraq war.

But when Demo-blogs Bluegrass Roots and DitchMitch report the story, they give the impression that the supposed remark about the war was a direct quote from McConnell. Note in particular the headline:

McConnell: Northup, Fletcher are "casualties of the Iraq War"

by: MediaCzech
Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 09:56:31 AM EST

McConnell's done it again.

In an appearance at Elizabethtown this weekend, Mitch McConnell showed how deeply out of touch he is with the sacrifice our armed forces have given in Bush's folly of the Iraq War. Who are the real victims and "casualties" of the Iraq War? His poor little Republican friends who lost their office.

Describing the party’s 2006 loss of Congressional District Rep. Anne Northup and last year’s loss of Republican Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher as casualties of the Iraq war, McConnell said he’s optimistic Republicans will hold the 2nd congressional district seat left up for grabs with the announcement of Rep. Ron Lewis’, R-Cecilia, retirement.

Yes, poor Anne Northup, one of Bush's biggest enablers in the House, is a casualty of the Iraq War.

It is possible, maybe even probable, that Bob White simply made a mistake in good faith in his piece for the News-Enterprise. But as the very headlines on DitchMitch and Bluegrass Roots make clear, these sites are so desperate to send a liberal -- excuse me, "progressive" -- senator to D.C. that they will lie to do so.

Crybaby

Can you believe Chris Thieneman's meltdown? He files to run for Congress in the 3rd district, then, claiming that party bosses have pressured him to drop out because of Anne's announcement, he quits and says that he is throwing his support behind Yarmuth! Wow, there's maturity. Can you spell C-R-Y-B-A-B-Y!

Eleventh Commandment Applies To Republicans Not Democrats

The filing deadline has come and gone. The biggest names who filed today are, of course, Anne Northup and Bruce Lunsford.

We now have enough for a basketball team among the Democratic contenders challenging Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell: Michael Cassaro, Greg Fischer, Andrew Horne, Lunsford and David Williams. There's no clear big man, and none is a scholarship player from what we can tell.

And in the race to challenge U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, we would imagine that Chris Thieneman is disappointed that Northup has decided to seek to regain her congressional seat. Hopefully Thieneman and Northup -- going forward at least -- will adhere to Ronald Reagan's "Eleventh Commandment": "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican."

As for the Democrats, any liberal theologan will tell you that the Commandments are not to be read literally, particularly when they are preached to the other party. So the players on the "Ditch Mitch" team should be free to foul as much as they would like during the Democratic primary. That contest should be a fun one to watch. We will have courtside seats -- as good as Lunsford's at U of L games.

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

Run, Anne, Run!

It's unfortunate that Erwin Roberts has been called up to active military duty and will therefore have to put his plans to run for Congress on hold. We wish him and his family all the best as they await final word of his deployment, and thank him for his willingness to serve -- both in Congress and in the military.

But what a blessing that we have such a talented leader as Anne Northup available to jump in the void. She brings substantial experience and name ID as well as an ability to bring together broad segments of our community. She is a formidable campaigner.

Anne's political instincts were correct when she predicted last year that Ernie Fletcher could not be reelected. It stung to see her prophecy vindicated, because it stuck us with a Governor Beshear.

In a turn of events that I could never have forecast, however, things have worked out for the best. Preliminary polling shows that Anne Northup -- without having done a lick of campaigning -- would start the race essentially tied with John Yarmuth.

Yarmuth, moreover, has lost the one issue that propelled him into office: the perception that America could not win the war in Iraq. In addition, Yarmuth now has a real record, as opposed to his psychedelic musings from the Leo. Indeed, he is part of Nancy Pelosi's advisory group to help with "messaging" her "progressive" agenda.

Notwithstanding that Democrats have the registration edge in this district, Yarmuth is way to the left of many Kentucky Democrats and probably most independents. He has aligned himself with the Moveon.org fringe of his party: he refused to condemn the Moveon.org advertisement in the New York Times that called General David Petraeus -- a national hero -- General Betrayus.

He sponsors earmarks for Kentucky and then votes against them. He votes to honor Ramadan and Diwali, but not Christmas. These are votes that Anne Northup would never have made.

John Yarmuth is an embarrassment to this district, and Anne Northup is just the candidate to send him packing. If you know Anne or her family, urge her to run. Then write her a check.