Political BLOG

Mark Hebert
May 2008
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March 2008 Archives


Chelsea Clinton In Town

12:56 PM Mon, Mar 31, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Chelsea Clinton will be in Lexington and Louisville this week, campaigning for her mother.

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Legislature Cancelled For Monday

12:38 PM Mon, Mar 31, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

House and Senate leaders are busy calling their colleagues at this hour to tell them the Monday session of the Kentucky legislature has been cancelled.

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Things To Keep In Mind As Budget Negotiations Continue

9:09 PM Sun, Mar 30, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Some random thoughts on budget negotiations, including the fact that they've gone back behind closed doors:

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Slot Machines Providing Jobs for Kentucky

5:09 PM Sun, Mar 30, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

A company that makes cabinets for slot machines and other gambling devices is preparing to open a plant in Kentucky.

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Back Behind Closed Doors

4:21 PM Sun, Mar 30, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

The House and Senate leaders who are trying to hammer out a compromise state budget are back behind closed doors. After saying the conference committee negotiations would be open to the public and KET, Senate President David Williams closed a meeting between 10 House and Senate leaders and Lottery President Arch Gleason on Friday. And according to the Lexington Herald-Leader and >> Continue reading: Back Behind Closed Doors



Clinton Interview

1:14 PM Sun, Mar 30, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Hillary Clinton did one-on-one interviews with TV reporters after her visit to Manual H.S. on Saturday. Here's the link for her interview with WHAS11 News' Gene Kang.

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Cig Tax Out of Budget?

6:47 PM Fri, Mar 28, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

House Speaker Jody Richards hinted today that budget negotiators think they'll be able to "adequately fund" education and social services without raising taxes.

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Hillary Trying To Prove Toughness on Eve of Kentucky Visit

6:33 PM Fri, Mar 28, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Hillary Clinton is trying to show she's got military folks on her side in the campaign for president. Meanwhile, Obama is opening his Kentucky HQ on the same day Clinton is coming to Louisville. Here's Clinton's e-mail, signed by former military officers followed by details of Obama's HQ opening:

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Northup Raising Money, Thieneman Uncertain

8:07 AM Fri, Mar 28, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Louisville developer Chris Thieneman's off and on run for Congress is still on hold. Thieneman's name will be on the May ballot as a republican candidate. But he says he's "still on the fence" about whether to run an all out campaign.

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Legislators Give Own Budget 5% Increases

8:57 PM Thu, Mar 27, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Kentucky lawmakers are telling the executive and judicial branches of government to tighten their belts in these tough budgetary times, but they're not doing the same.

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It's Official - Casino Bill Is Dead

8:49 PM Thu, Mar 27, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Governor Steve Beshear made official what we reported at 5 and 11 p.m. Wednesday, the casino bill is dead. Beshear told reporters today that he's pulled the plug on trying to pass any form of casino legislation because of lack of support in the House.

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Thousands of Kentuckians Have Blown Chance to Vote in Primary

8:41 PM Thu, Mar 27, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

About 9,000 who have changed their party registration since January 1st, won't be allowed to vote in the May primary election.

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Hillary Coming To Kentucky

8:32 PM Thu, Mar 27, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Her husband was here this week. Now Hillary Clinton is visiting the Bluegrass State this weekend. After a couple of stops in Indiana, Clinton will cross the river into Louisville then travel to Madisonville. Here's the itinerary from the Clinton campaign:

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Abortion Bill Dead

9:12 PM Wed, Mar 26, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

House Speaker Jody Richards said today that SB 40, which requires abortion providers to show pregnant women an ultrasound before they have an abortion, isn't going anywhere in the House.

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The Troops Are Coming!!!!

6:38 PM Wed, Mar 26, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Governor Beshear has set up a state panel to pull together all of the infrastructure and other improvements needed to successfully handle the future influx of soldiers and civilians at Ft. Knox.

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Veep Nominee Matters To Voters

6:32 PM Wed, Mar 26, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

About one-third of American voters apparently think the presidential candidate's selection of a running mate is important in deciding who they'll for. That's according to Survey USA.

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Bridge Funding Battle Looms

6:23 PM Wed, Mar 26, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

It looks like future funding for the Ohio River bridges and other mega-projects may throw another boulder in the way of a negotiated state budget.

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Proffitt Interviews Hillary, Asks About "Misstatement"

10:45 PM Tue, Mar 25, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

WHAS 11 anchor Doug Proffitt had a satellite interview with Hillary Clinton today, asking her about her wrong claim that she landed in Bosnia in 1996 under sniper fire. Here's the full interview, which is only about 3 minutes long. Mrs. Clinton may be in Madisonville this weekend after canceling planning for a stop in Louisville last Friday.

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Thoughts on Bill Clinton's Visit To Frankfort

10:30 PM Tue, Mar 25, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Well, Bill Clinton certainly hasn't changed much. He was a little late for his first speech of the day, then talked for 55 minutes instead of the allotted 20. He glad handed and signed autographs for another 30 minutes before leaving Frankfort around 12:45 p.m. His next event, an hour away in Paris, was scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m.

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The Slow Burn Begins

10:26 PM Tue, Mar 25, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

The incredibly slow process of hammering a compromise state budget plan has begun, sort of. The budget conference committee couldn't agree on how to disagree so negotiations never really got off the ground today.

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Bad Guys Out To Get Me - McConnell, Davis

10:17 PM Tue, Mar 25, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

The Republicans do it too. It's those fear mongering e-mails to raise money for campaigns. Reporter Pat Crowley is reporting on the latest from the Mitch McConnell and Geoff Davis camps.

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College Republicans Have All-Star Cast For Dinner

10:08 PM Tue, Mar 25, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

The Louisville-area college republicans have managed to snare an all-star line up for their big dinner this weekend. Here's the details:

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Honeymoon's Over

12:31 AM Tue, Mar 25, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Governor Steve Beshear may be wondering why he ran for governor about now. His approval rating has dipped below 50% and more Kentuckians now disapprove than approve of the job he's doing as governor.

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Students Miss Classes For Clinton Political Event

12:20 AM Tue, Mar 25, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

All of the high school students in the Franklin County School District are getting a chance to see Bill Clinton at a campaign rally in Frankfort on Tuesday, with parental approval. But that's not sitting well with all parents.

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Senate Passes Budget. Shaughnessy Claims Louisville "Raped"

7:15 PM Mon, Mar 24, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

The Kentucky State Senate has passed a budget that, in total, doesn't look a whole lot different than the one passed by the House. But it has some interesting twists.

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Fischer Matching Campaign Contributions But Losing Consultant

6:44 PM Mon, Mar 24, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

U.S. Senate candidate Greg Fischer is e-mailing folks, hoping they'll pony up some cash before the end of the month financial reporting deadline. Fischer is telling potential givers that he'll match their donations dollar for dollar with his own money.

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Bill Clinton Itinerary - UPDATE Later

6:37 PM Mon, Mar 24, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Here's the Tuesday itinerary for Former President Bill Clinton from his wife's campaign:

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Upcoming Week

8:08 AM Mon, Mar 24, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Maysville may be the center of the Kentucky universe this week.....a boys' state basketball title for Mason County on Saturday, George Clooney in town tonight and Bill Clinton tomorrow.

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Casino Strategy Unveiled Monday

10:38 PM Fri, Mar 21, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Governor Beshear's office has scheduled a news conference for 2 p.m. Monday in the Capitol Rotunda to unveil the democrats' new strategy for passing a casino bill.

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Toppers Win!!!!

6:01 PM Fri, Mar 21, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

I told you Steve Beshear would finally get a win. He wins the bet with Iowa's governor over the outcome of the WKU-Drake game.

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Williams - Moberly Lobbing Bombs At Each Other

5:50 PM Fri, Mar 21, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

The David Williams vs. Harry Moberly mudslinging stepped up a notch on Friday, just as the two of them get ready to join the other House and Senate leaders for negotiations on the budget bill

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Judiciary Chairman Pulls Plug on Abortion, Immigration Bills

5:39 PM Fri, Mar 21, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee were fuming today after sticking around for two hours after adjournment for a committee meeting that produced nothing.

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Bill Clinton In Ky. On Tuesday

5:34 PM Fri, Mar 21, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Bill Clinton will be a traveling fool on Tuesday, making three stops in Kentucky on behalf of his wife's campaign for President.

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Hawkins Takes Credit, Wells State Job

8:11 AM Fri, Mar 21, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

The C-J political blog is still as hard to find as mine but there are a couple of good stories on there today.

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Audit Finds CATS Writing Scores Inflated

9:01 PM Thu, Mar 20, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

An audit of the 2006-07 portfolio scores on the CATS test has found nearly half of the scores were inflated, giving critics of the CATS test ammunition to abolish the test or at least the written portion of it.

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House Committee Kills Ban on Domestic Partner Benefits. New Poll on Kyians' Views

8:42 PM Thu, Mar 20, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

The House Health and Welfare Committee voted down a bill that would bar state agencies, including state universities, from offering health insurance benefits to the partners of gay, lesbian and single employees. But the vote didn't come until bill sponsor Sen. Vernie McGaha was berated by Rep. David Watkins.

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Louisville Teens Get Civics Lesson

8:25 PM Thu, Mar 20, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

A group of Louisville teenagers is getting lesson in civics, the hard way. They're finding plenty of roadblocks as they try to get lawmakers to pass a resolution recommending Kentucky schools provide the study of the Holocaust in their coursework.

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House Passes Payday Loan Bill

8:20 PM Thu, Mar 20, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

The Kentucky House of Representatives has passed the payday loan bill that's not quite as tough as many consumer groups wanted.

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First Lady Wants to Meet Hunky Clooney

8:16 PM Thu, Mar 20, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Kentucky's First Couple will be attending the opening of George Clooney's new movie in Maysville and Jane Beshear tells Jack Brammer she's really looking forward to it.

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The Dickster is Coming to Lexington

6:06 PM Thu, Mar 20, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Vice President Dick Cheney will be in Lexington raising money for 2nd District Congressional candidate Brett Guthrie.

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Welcome Back State Workers!!!!

9:53 PM Wed, Mar 19, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

State government employees will once again be able to read this political blog and others courtesy of the new governor.

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Beshear, Dems Promise Last Push on Casinos

9:21 PM Wed, Mar 19, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Governor Steve Beshear and Democratic House leaders are promising one final push to get a casino bill through the House early next week.

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Louisville Lawyers Rate Judicial Candidates

9:07 PM Wed, Mar 19, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

The Louisville Bar Association has polled its members and come up with rankings for the candidates in the Jefferson County judicial races. It appears former state legislator Louis Guenthner is the only candidate who had more lawyers rate him "unqualified" than "qualified."

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Obama Drops In Kentucky Poll

6:33 PM Wed, Mar 19, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

In a head-to-head matchup with Republican John McCain, Barack Obama would get killed according to the latest SurveyUSA/WHAS11 Poll.

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Yarmuth Gets Reprimand For Button Wearing

6:26 PM Wed, Mar 19, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Congressman John Yarmuth has been ordered not to wear his "Article One" button when he speaks on the House floor. The button police have also warned other congressman to avoid wearing the "Article One" buttons. And Yarmuth isn't happy. The Washington Post has the funny story.....funny to everyone but Yarmuth apparently. Hat tip to a reader for finding this one.

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Senate Passes Ethics Bill Within Hours of Committee Vote

5:16 PM Wed, Mar 19, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

The Kentucky Senate continued its pattern of voting on controversial legislation on the same day they're approved by a senate committee. Today, it's the ethics bill which was quickly peddled through a senate committee and full senate within hours of each other.

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Beshear Surprised By Bumpy Beginning

5:12 PM Wed, Mar 19, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Lexington Herald-Leader political writer Ryan Alessi chats with Governor Beshear about the rough first three months for his administration.

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Fischer Campaigns in N. Ky.

5:09 PM Wed, Mar 19, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Reporter Pat Crowley was with U.S. Senate candidate as he campaigned in Northern Kentucky.

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Beshear Gets One Form of Gambling

5:00 PM Wed, Mar 19, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Governor Steve Beshear is having a tough time winning anything in the 2008 Legislative Session, much less a casino gambling amendment. But he's going to get a win on Friday.

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Ban On Blogs Bombed By Beshear???

3:47 PM Wed, Mar 19, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

PageOneKentucky is reporting that Gov. Beshear is in the process of lifting the ban on access to political blogs from state government computers.

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Hillary Backers Expecting Visit Next Week

9:58 PM Tue, Mar 18, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Hillary Clinton supporters in Kentucky were all a-twitter on Tuesday afternoon with news that the New York senator would be campaigning in Louisville on Friday.

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Payday Loan Bill Getting Amended

9:45 PM Tue, Mar 18, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

One of the most heavily lobbied bills of the 2008 Legislative Session will have a new look when it hits the House floor later this week.

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Belcher Gets Reelection Help

9:30 PM Tue, Mar 18, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Rep. Larry Belcher was treated like a conquering king by his fellow democrats during a committee meeting on Tuesday.

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Campaign Finance Bill Sent to Full House

8:09 PM Tue, Mar 18, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

The campaign finance bill that was passed by the Senate is now on its way to the 100 member House.

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Ky. Is Rolling In Dough

6:46 PM Tue, Mar 18, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

The House Appropriations and Revenue Committee surprised everyone on Tuesday by approving a bill to give tax breaks to military families.

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Beshear Admin. Reinstates Fletcherite Who Was Fired

8:36 PM Mon, Mar 17, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

The Governor's office employee who claims he was illegally fired after returning from National Guard training, has been rehired by the Beshear administration.

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Council Begins Look At Justice System

8:25 PM Mon, Mar 17, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

The Kentucky Criminal Justice Council was pulled out of mothballs today to begin looking for ways to keep folks out of prison.

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Senate Gets Ready to Pass Beshear's Original Budget

8:20 PM Mon, Mar 17, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

You can write this one down: The state senate is about to pass a state budget that looks an awful lot like the original budget plan proposed by Gov. Steve Beshear.

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Tolls Ain't My Choice - Baron Hill

8:18 PM Mon, Mar 17, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Indiana Congressman Baron Hill says he doesn't support using tolls to pay for the Ohio River bridges between Louisville and his district.

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Alexander Outspent Smith 2:1 Ouch!!!!

8:16 PM Mon, Mar 17, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Democrat Scott Alexander outspent Brandon Smith by a 2 to 1 margin in losing the race to replace Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo in the state senate.

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More Lunsford Haters Turn Other Cheek

6:32 PM Mon, Mar 17, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Another big labor organization has endorsed Bruce Lunsford's campaign for U.S. Senate. Yes, it's another coalition that worked against Lunsford in his 2007 race for governor.

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Metrosafe Gets Federal Cash

6:29 PM Mon, Mar 17, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Ah, it's spring and the Homeland Security grants are flowing:

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Cig Tax, Social Workers Rallies This Week

9:57 AM Mon, Mar 17, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Even though his plan for a 70 cent increase in the cigarette tax is getting the cold shoulder from state lawmakers, Governor Beshear obviously isn't giving up.

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Some Governors Fighting Disclosure of E-mails

7:40 PM Sun, Mar 16, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

It appears some governors are fighting their own state's open records laws and trying to keep their e-mails, which they wrote on government blackberries or computers, secret.

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Thieneman May Jump Back In To Congressional Race

10:18 PM Sat, Mar 15, 2008 |
Mark Hebert

Louisville developer Chris Thieneman tells WHAS11 News he's reconsidering his decision to quit campaigning for the republican nomination for Congress.

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