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.... Bathroom bill clears Senate hurdle Senate Bill 76, sponsored by Sen. C. B. Embrey, R-Morgantown, passed the Senate Friday with a 27 to 9 vote. The bill would require students to use the bathroom of the sex that they were born. Democratic opponents of the bill felt that the decision of what restroom a transgender child should use should be made at the local school level. “I don’t see anything wrong with letting our local school boards run their own school systems,” said Sen. Julian Carroll, D-Frankfort. Sen. Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, is fearful that the state is taking way...

“They are really against war because they want all of that money to go to food stamps for people here.” (AUDIO-AT-LINK)Former Republican Rep. Ron Paul, the father of potential presidential candidate Rand Paul and a former presidential candidate himself, said the Congressional Black Caucus does not support war because they want that money for food stamps. “I was always annoyed with it in Congress because we had an anti-war unofficial group, a few libertarian Republicans and generally the Black Caucus and others did not—they are really against war because they want all of that money to go to food stamps...

The Dem Congressmen Boycotting Netanyahu are the Same Old Hamas SupportersPosted By Daniel Greenfield On February 26, 2015 @ 6:02 pm In The Point | 12 Comments There are a lot of stories about the Dem members of Congress boycotting Netanyahu’s speech. But most of the names on the list are longtime opponents of the Jewish State.The boycott lists consists of two groups. Congressional Black Caucus members who are offended on Obama’s behalf and can smell racism anywhere.The other consists of opponents of Israel.It’s instructive to compare the list of boycotters to the 54 members of Congress who signed...

A full list of the Democrats who have confirmed they're missing the speech follows: SENATE - 4 members Sen. Tim Kaine (Va.) Sen. Patrick Leahy (Vt.) Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Sen. Brian Schatz (Hawaii) HOUSE - 26 members Rep. Earl Blumenauer (Ore.) Rep. G.K. Butterfield (N.C.) Rep. Andre Carson (Ind.) Rep. James Clyburn (S.C.) Rep. Steve Cohen (Tenn.) Rep. Peter DeFazio (Ore.) Rep. Diana DeGette (Colo.) Rep. Donna Edwards (Md.) Rep. Keith Ellison (Minn.) Rep. Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.) Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (Ill.) Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.) Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (Texas) Rep. Barbara Lee (Calif.) Rep. John Lewis (Ga.)...

As lawmakers head toward a likely conference committee to negotiate an agreement on anti-heroin legislation, Gov. Steve Beshear says a provision to allow local needle-exchange programs should be part of a final bill. Speaking to reporters outside his Capitol office just hours after the Senate Judiciary Committee heard discussion on the House version of the heroin legislation, Beshear said he was in favor of the House version of the bill but applauded both the House and Senate for their work on the issue. “I personally would like to see a needle exchange,” Beshear said. “Number one, I don’t think it...

By Alexander Bolton - 02/24/15 02:34 PM EST Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said the Senate may vote “very quickly” on a clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill.Days before a shutdown of the critical agency, McConnell said he would “be happy" to pass a clean DHS funding bill before the Senate considers a narrow measure overturning President Obama’s most recent executive actions on immigration. ADVERTISEMENT His plan, if accepted by Senate Democrats and House Republicans, would prevent Homeland Security from shutting down on Saturday.McConnell noted the Senate is scheduled to vote Friday on legislation he introduced this...

There were so many violations of election rules in last November's election for Magoffin County judge-executive that the results must be thrown out, a judge has ruled. Preston also concluded county workers acting under the direct supervision of Hardin illegally spread gravel on private driveways in at least four or five cases shortly before the election. Also, the decision cited evidence that a few people sold their votes. In one case, a man named Larry Douglas Perkins, who operates the Handi Mart at Falcon, said he saw Simon Marshall the day of the election. Marshall had a $50 bill and...

FRANKFORT – The discussion turned heated Friday as lawmakers argued on the floor of the Senate over the decision to call members of the chamber into session as the House closed shop the last two-days of the work week because of weather conditions. Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, defended his decision to bring the Senate back on Thursday saying that he had consulted with experts and decided that it would be safe for Senate members to travel to Frankfort. “We were on the phone with the state police, getting weather updates to see, were the roads capable and cleared for...

Gannet paper, link only: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/19/kent-sorenson-sentencing-iowa-caucus-2012-paul/23684721/

FRANKFORT – A bill which would have banned transgender students from using school restrooms that don’t correspond to their anatomical sex failed to receive enough votes to get out of the Senate Committee on Education Thursday. Senate Bill 76, known as the “Kentucky Student Privacy Act”, sponsored by Sen. C. B. Embry Jr., R-Morgantown, would have required students to use restrooms, locker rooms and showers of the sex that they were born. In addition, the bill would allow students to sue the school for $2,500 if they encounter a person of the opposite biological sex in the bathroom or locker...

Newton’s third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction — something House Democrats are finding out firsthand. In the first week of the legislative session House Democrats chose to underrepresent the minority party in committee assignments. That action has resulted in legislation leaving committees in a hurry, and often with unanimous consent, to be debated individually on the House floor as the House’s top Republican pushes back. House Minority Floor Leader Jeff Hoover is using procedural objections to pump the brakes and slow the flow of legislation to the House floor for...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is leading a delegation to Cuba on Tuesday while Congress is out on recess. It is the first official House delegation trip to Cuba since President Obama announced lifting certain restrictions on Cuba in December. The delegation, which is comprised of eight other Democratic lawmakers specializing in foreign affairs, trade and agriculture, will meet with Cuban government officials, local community leaders, American officials stationed in Cuba, and Cardinal Jaime Ortega y Alamino, the archbishop of Havana. Pelosi said the lawmakers will discuss potential changes in U.S. policies toward Cuba regarding agriculture and trade issues....

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday a federal court injunction against President Obama’s executive action on immigration should send a signal to Democrats to stop blocking legislation that would curb it. "This ruling underscores what the President has already acknowledged publicly 22 times,” McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement. “He doesn’t have the authority to take the kinds of actions he once referred to as 'ignoring the law' and 'unwise and unfair.' Senate Democrats, especially those who've voiced opposition to the President’s executive overreach, should end their partisan filibuster of Department of Homeland Security funding." A bill to fund...

CORBIN, Ky. (AP) — A 16-year-old boy killed in a shootout Saturday with police in Maryland, prompted the search of his home over 500 miles away in Kentucky, where authorities found the bodies of his parents and younger sister. Friends and relatives of Jason Hendrix were struggling to understand how the boy, a faithful churchgoer who was baptized just two months ago, could end up as the suspect in the slayings. Hendrix, a Kentucky high school ROTC student and active church member, was angry at his parents for taking away his computer privileges when he's suspected of killing his family...

en. Rand Paul (R-KY) re-introduced the Civil Rights Voting Restoration Act of 2015 on Friday, a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) that would restore federal voting rights for non-violent, “low-level” ex-offenders. Sen. Paul explained, “A criminal record is currently one of the biggest impediments to voting in federal elections. The Civil Rights Voting Restoration Act will reform existing federal law and give low-level ex-offenders another opportunity to vote.” Non-violent, so-called "low-level" crimes include: Theft, trespassing, arson, and other forms of property offensesFraud, bribery, and other forms of “white collar” offensesDrug possessionPublic intoxicationProstitution Whether a crime...

Paul studied biology (and English) at Baylor, but he didn’t earn a degree. There’s no excuse for resume-inflation, even when it’s jocular. We can’t quite say this is worthy of Four Pinocchios, but the senator should be more careful in the future.

Republicans voice support for Netanyahu congressional speech Top Republican leaders took to public and private channels Thursday to expose a coordinated campaign by the Obama administration to attack Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his acceptance of an invitation to speak before Congress, according to conversations with multiple lawmakers and leading pro-Israel insiders. The statements, many of which were obtained by the Washington Free Beacon in conversations with leaders in Congress, come in the aftermath of a widely cited New York Times report in which Obama administration officials accused Netanyahu of breaking diplomatic protocol by agreeing to speak before receiving...

The Kentucky House has endorsed a statewide smoking ban in public buildings and most workplaces in a landmark vote in a state with historic ties to tobacco. Lawmakers on Friday debated individuals' right to light up versus public health concerns in a state with some of the nation's highest smoking, cancer and heart disease rates. The lead sponsor, Rep. Susan Westrom, said about 950 people die every year in Kentucky due to secondhand smoke exposure. The measure passed the Democratic-led House, 51-46. It now goes to the Republican-run Senate, where it faces tougher odds. Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer has...

FRANKFORT – A bill which would have made Kentucky a right-to-work state, which would essentially end closed union shops, was soundly defeated on Thursday before a packed pro-union crowd during the House Committee on Labor and Industry. Senate Bill 1 sponsored by Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, would have enabled workers to choose not to join a labor union at their place of employment if they elected not to. Stivers feels that right-to-work is a “tool” that can be used for economic development. “We’ve had a pretty good year in the creation of jobs,” Stivers said. “But what I think...

Gov. Steve Beshear's office is standing behind a decision to expand the state's Medicaid program after the release of a new report from Deloitte Consulting LLC and the University of Louisville's Urban Studies Institute. The report said the expansion will add 40,000 health care jobs and $30 billion to the state's economy through 2021. Expansion also will generate a net positive impact of nearly $820 million to state and local government budgets. State budget director Jane Driskell said in a news release that the analysis shows expansion creates both savings and new revenue, totaling more than double the amount the...

Requesting help to avoid a "costly and time-consuming legal challenge," U.S. Sen. Rand Paul is asking members of the Republican Party of Kentucky's central committee to create a presidential caucus in 2016. In a letter dated Feb. 9, Paul told GOP leaders that an earlier presidential preference vote would give Kentuckians "more leverage to be relevant." "As you may have heard, you, as a member of the Kentucky Republican Central Committee, will be the one to decide if you want to help me get an equal chance at the nomination," Paul wrote. The letter went out to hundreds of other...

A pair of GOP senators implored House Republicans Thursday to soften their stance in the intra-party dispute over funding the Department of Homeland Security. Sens. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who both formerly served in the lower chamber, stressed to the House GOP conference behind closed doors that the Senate can’t get the 60 votes it needs to advance the House-passed DHS funding bill that includes language to reverse President Obama's executive actions on immigration. "They lamented the frustration they're having getting up to 60 votes. But apparently that is the strategy now with the Democrat minority...

There’s a lot of attention given to the art of explicating the motivations of Rand Paul, and the disparate coalition he’s attempting to bring together in his fledgling 2016 campaign. The latest is from the New York Times, which adopts the classic understanding of Paul, the politician: “As he works to build a broad national following, Mr. Paul is trying to stitch together very disparate worlds. There are those who are young, more affluent and likely to vote Democratic. There are the establishment, center-right elements of the Republican Party. And there are his most ardent libertarian fans who are...

State legislators around the country have introduced more than 200 bills aiming to nullify regulations and laws coming out of Washington, D.C., as they look to rein in the federal government. The legislative onslaught, which includes bills targeting federal restrictions on firearms, experimental treatments and hemp, reflects growing discord between the states and Washington, state officials say. “You have a choice,” said Kentucky state Rep. Diane St. Onge (R). “To sit back and not do anything or say anything and let overregulation continue — or you have the alternative choice to speak up about it and say, ‘We know what...

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Senate has passed a bill aimed at requiring doctors to perform ultrasounds prior to abortions and describe what the procedure shows to pregnant women. The measure cleared the Republican-led Senate on a 31-5 vote Thursday. The vote came hours after the bill was approved by a Senate committee. Similar proposals passed the Senate in past years but died in the Democratic-led House. Republican Sen. Julie Raque Adams of Louisville said Thursday the bill deals with an important women's health issue.

In last June’s Mississippi GOP runoff, liberal Republican Thad Cochran engaged in mass election fraud to defeat conservative primary challenger Chris McDaniel. Team Cochran paid thousands of African-Americans $15 per vote, and planted stories in liberal media outlets alleging McDaniel of having ties to the KKK. Cochran narrowly defeated McDaniel in the primary, and went on to win the general election. On Monday, Rand Paul urged conservatives to “get over” any hard feelings… “There are still some hard feelings…have to get over it. It’s hard when you run a race and you don’t win. Ahead of Paul’s visit, Mississippi Tea...

Anti-union forces claim UAW ‘stuffed’ ballot box. Workers in Alabama are staging a fourth attempt to kick the United Auto Workers (UAW) out of their plant following claims that stuffed ballot boxes derailed their last vote. Employees at the NTN-Bower Corporation, a ball bearings manufacturer, have unsuccessfully tried to boot the labor giant out of their factory for two years. Workers voted to decertify the UAW in an earlier election, but an Obama-appointed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) panel threw out the election. Another election was held in January of this year. The UAW prevailed, but it was later revealed...

<p>FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Gun owners in Kentucky can get permits to carry concealed weapons under a new online application process.</p> <p>The Courier-Journal reports that the process requires state police to either issue or deny a license within 15 days of receiving an electronic application. That's quicker than the 60-day processing period allowed for paper applications.</p>

Note: The following news brief is a quote: - In cooperation with various other countries, Dutch authorities have rounded up a big cocaine gang that had links with Hezbollah. Seventeen suspects were arrested on Curacao, the biggest island of the Netherlands Antilles, the Public Prosecutor's Office (OM) has revealed. International cooperation between police and judicial services of the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles, Belgium, Colombia, Venezuela and the US led to the arrest of the 17 suspects by the Curacao police. They are believed to be part of a drugs and money-laundering organisation with international branches, thought to be responsible...

She’ll have to wait at least one election cycle if she decides to run, but Hollywood actress Ashley Judd is still flirting with Kentucky politics, telling Larry King a governorship sounds “interesting.” Judd, who came within a breath of challenging Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell in last year’s election, told talk show host Larry King that she is intrigued by the position of governor in Kentucky — laying out a potential platform. “Governor seems like an interesting position too, particularly in Kentucky, where we have a mono-economy, really abusive mineral extraction, pervasive poverty, low educational attainment,” Judd said on King’s...

Say what you will about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, but the man can deliver a joke. Speaking at Washington’s tony Alfalfa Club dinner on Saturday night, the Republican spared few targets, the New York Times reports. McConnell poked fun at himself, new inductee Mitt Romney, and fellow members of the U.S. Senate, including a particularly incendiary Tea Party Republican from Texas. McConnell noted that Cruz — the anti-Obamacare crusader who spearheaded the 2013 government shutdown, thereby earning the enmity of many fellow Republicans — had once proclaimed that he would throw himself in front of a moving train, if...

A leading American political strategist with deep ties to the Republican party was hired by the ruling Likud party and will serve as its media consultant ahead of the upcoming March 17 elections, Army Radio reported. Vincent Harris, the CEO of the Austin-based firm Harris Media, currently serves as Chief Digital Strategist to Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, and was highly active in the 2012 US presidential elections, where he handled online campaigning for candidates Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich. Harris also worked in digital campaigning alongside Senator Ted Cruz in 2012 and Senator Mitch McConnell in 2014, significantly advancing social...

Union leaders called strikes on Sunday at nine U.S. refineries in a bid to pressure oil companies to agree to a new national contract covering workers at 63 plants. The walkouts, the first held in support of a nationwide pact since 1980, target plants that together account for more than 10 percent of U.S. refining capacity. The discord comes as plunging crude prices force oil companies to slash spending. Royal Dutch Shell, the lead industry negotiator, indicated talks had broken down. ... Shell activated a strike contingency plan at its sprawling joint venture refinery in Deer Park, Texas, to keep...

In what has been described as a new front in the battle over same-sex marriage, legislators in several states under judicial orders to confer marital status on same-sex couples have introduced bills to forbid state or local officials from issuing marriage licenses to couples of the same gender. The bills would also strip the salaries of employees who issued the licenses, the New York Times reported Thursday.The bills have been introduced in the legislatures of Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas, with South Carolina also considering a bill that would allow officials to opt out of issuing such licenses if it...

HOUSTON — Rand Paul wants to lead the United States. On Saturday in Texas, his father was speaking at a conference about how to leave it. “A lot of times people think secession, they paint it as an absolute negative,” said former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul. After all, Paul said, the American Revolution was a kind of secession. “You mean we should have been obedient to the king forever? So it’s all in the way you look at it.” This weekend was a crucial one for Rand Paul, the Republican senator from Kentucky and un­declared candidate for the presidency. He...

Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz might end up running against each other for the Republican presidential nomination, but they can agree on one thing: their distrust of the Federal Reserve. On Wednesday, the two Republican senators introduced the Federal Reserve Transparency Act which Mr. Paul has been pushing for some time.Republicans have questioned the Fed’s moves to stimulate the economy since the financial crisis, arguing that the expansion of its balance sheet will create economic instability. In 2011, Gov. Rick Perry called the Fed’s monetary policies potentially “treasonous” and said that Ben S. Bernanke, the Fed chairman at the...

Partial Transcript Courtesy of ABC News of Sunday’s Freedom Partners 2016 Presidential Forum with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Sen Marco Rubio (R-FL), moderated by ABC’s Jonathan Karl, on the issue of Iran sanctions.

LEXINGTON — Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes ended months of speculation Monday, telling a crowd of about 70 supporters that she will seek re-election this year rather than mount bids of governor or attorney general. Grimes had been linked to nearly every constitutional office as the filing deadline approached, but she officially launched her re-election campaign at the Lyric Theatre and Cultural Arts Center, the same place she jumpstarted her 2011 run for secretary of state. The 36-year-old Democrat had kept a low profile since her 15-point loss to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell last fall, and she listed...

With Republicans in Congress split over the best approach to Obama's executive amnesty - and with many establishment Republicans splitting form grassroots Republicans on the issue of illegal immigration more generally - it's clear that immigration will be a hot-button primary issue in 2016. ... So where do the potential candidates stand? Here's a rundown: ...

Washington (CNN)Senators worked till midnight on Thursday moving through a series of amendments to a bill that would green-light construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, but Senate Democrats wanted to stay longer. At least, they were frustrated with what they said was a double standard from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who moved to end debate on the bill and set up a final vote next week after tabling a number of Democratic amendments. The Senate had already voted on 15 amendments, 10 of which were offered by Democrats and another five from Republicans. But Democrats cried foul at...

<p>President Barack Obama will not meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he travels to Washington in March, the White House said Thursday, one day after being caught off-guard by Republicans' invitation for the Israeli leader to address a joint session of Congress.</p>

After collecting endorsements from various labor groups throughout his gubernatorial campaign, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway received the Kentucky State AFL-CIO’s backing on Tuesday. The AFL-CIO represents a number of labor organizations, some of which have already endorsed Conway’s gubernatorial bid. Still, the group’s support brings the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, United Steelworkers and United Association of Pipefitters, among others, to the fold. Conway and his running mate, House Majority Caucus Chairwoman Sannie Overly of Paris, remain the only prominent Democratic ticket in the race with a week until the Jan. 27 filing deadline. The 45-year-old,...

UPDATE 3:11 P.M.: Copenhaver has also opposed the Pledge of Allegiance because it was “developed by Francis Bellamy, a socialist” as a way to “sell more issues of [the] magazine Youth’s Companion.” “The pledge was conceived as a way to promote nationalism in order to sell flags to schools as a premium to solicit subscriptions,” says an image she posted to her Facebook page. “I posted a picture and story explaining this when I first started my page but this sums it up beautifully,” wrote Copenhaver. In another post, she wrote, “The pledge of allegiance and the ‘roman salute’ was...

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Democratic Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes says she will run for statewide office this year. The former Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate said she has been encouraged to run for governor, attorney general and to seek re-election as Secretary of State. Grimes said she has not decided what she will do yet but that she will file for office before the Jan. 27 deadline. On Monday, Grimes attended the Alpha Phi Alpha Unity Breakfast in Lexington with former state Sen. Georgia Davis Powers. With a campaign photographer in tow, Grimes worked the room of about...

The Obama administration is stepping up its push to stave off a bipartisan congressional effort to enact new economic sanctions on Iran as the United States tries to secure a permanent deal to wind down the country’s nuclear program. At a University of Louisville event alongside new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whose chamber is expected to pursue new sanctions in the coming weeks, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power argued that new congressional sanctions will upset ongoing negotiations with Iran and turn off a multilateral international coalition that has worked together to isolate Iran politically and...

The state Senate passed an abortion-related measure by a 30-5 vote today. Senate Bill 4, introduced by Sen. Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville, calls for a face-to-face meeting between the pregnant woman and a healthcare provider at least 24-hours before an abortion takes place. Adams said current law states a physician, licensed nurse, physician assistant or social worker must verbally inform the woman of the medical risks and abortion alternatives at least 24-hours before an abortion, but it does not specify that the information be given in a face-to face meeting. She said it is sometimes done via a recorded telephone...

At the start of the last Congress, John Cornyn wrote an editorial titled “Partial Government Shutdown May Be Needed to Restore Fiscal Sanity.” He’s singing a different tune today. “I’ve evolved,” the Texas Republican and newly minted Senate majority whip said in an interview last week with CQ Roll Call. For starters, the memory of the 2013 shutdown over Obamacare instigated by his fellow Texas senator, Ted Cruz, remains fresh. “Part of wisdom is to learn from your experiences, and I think we learned the hard way that shutdowns are not well received by the American people,” Cornyn said. “And...

Democrats launched the first filibuster of the new Congress on Thursday, objecting to the GOP’s effort to try to bring the Keystone XL pipeline bill to the floor early next week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to schedule action early next week on the bill, and promised an open process, including allowing both sides to offer amendments to the bill — an attempt to break with the previous few years, when Democrats controlled the floor and kept a tight lid on amendments. But Democrats objected to Mr. McConnell’s request, forcing him to begin the procedure for breaking a filibuster.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush appears poised for a presidential run and is currently leading the polls among potential Republican candidates for 2016, but the comments he made in 1994 during his first run for Florida’s highest office may come back to haunt him.The Associated Press reports that Bush described himself then as a “head-banging conservative” and used fiery rhetoric — such as claiming he would do “probably nothing” for African-Americans if he became governor — in his ultimately unsuccessful bid. Bush made that statement in response to a question on what he would for African-Americans if elected to office.“It’s time...

The House on Friday passed a bill to approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline hours after a Nebraska court ruled in favor of the proposed route. The legislation now goes to the Senate, where it is expected to be approves. The White House has warned President Obama would veto the legislation. Passage fell largely along party lines, 266-153, with 28 Democrats joining nearly all Republicans in favor. Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) voted "present." That is short of the necessary two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. The vote marked the 10th time the House has voted to authorize the...