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Wall Street and Big Coal corporations have no better friend than Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY), the "prince of pork" and powerful chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
Hailed as the most "corrupt member of Congress" by the non-profit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Rogers' 5th District in eastern and south-central Kentucky also ranks at the bottom of the nation in virtually every quality of life indicator.
After thirty years of his abysmal record, Rogers' constituents have had enough. This Friday, at 3pm, Oct. 14, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth will hold a peaceful demonstration at Rogers' Somerset office to ask a simple question: Doesn't Kentucky deserve better?
There might not be a better 99% vs. 1% scenario of political and corporate wanton abandon in the nation.
Bankrolled by the dirty coal and energy lobby, Rogers also oversees the Congressional district with the most reckless and devastating mountaintop removal operations in Appalachia.
According to the Kentuckians for the Commonwealth press release:
Over the last several months, he's pushed policies that would make college less affordable, cut access to child nutrition programs, reduce opportunities for energy efficiency jobs, and block safeguards for our water and air. He has no job creation proposal. His positions put many families further at risk, allow additional degradation of our land and water, and do nothing to improve the quality of life for Kentuckians.
Since Rogers first came in office in 1981, an estimated 300 mountains and nearly 600,000 acres of hardwood forests, and hundreds of miles of headwater streams, have been irreversibly destroyed by mountaintop removal strip mining. In the process, more than 60 percent of the coal miner jobs have been stripped by the heavily mechanized operations, leaving the local economies in ruin and without any hope of economic diversification. According to recent studies, less than four percent of any mountaintop removal reclamation operation has resulted in verifiable post-mining economic productivity excluding forestry and pasture.
Whether or not Rogers will greet his fellow Kentuckians is another question. The Congressman reportedly avoids meetings with his constituents, including nationally known KFTC activist and Harlan County-native Teri Blanton, who says she plans to ask: "Mr. Rogers, considering you have been in office for more than 30 years and your congressional district falls at 435th on the list of the unhealthiest, unhappiest and some of the poorest counties in the nation, aren't you just a bit embarrassed by this?"
Add a commentStates - Kentucky
Kentucky News
Progress Kentucky activists behind McConnell tape, Democrat alleges
Members of the Democratic group Progress Kentucky were behind a leaked recording of a private conversation among Sen. Mitch McConnell and his campaign staff about potential rivals, a local Democrat alleges. The tape was not made by bugging the Republican senator’s office but by standing in the hallway while the conversation occurred, Jacob Conway, a member of the executive committee of the Louisville/Jefferson County Democratic Party, told news organizations. told Louisville NPR affiliate WFPL that Shawn Reilly, Progress Kentucky’s executive director, and Curtis Morrison, a former spokesman for the group, had boasted to him about making...
Rachel Weiner | The Washington Post 12 Apr 2013 Hits:195 Kentucky
Read moreHow Kentucky Democrats Duped the MSM and Helped Elbow Out Ashley Judd
Judd adviser Jonathan Miller on the small coterie of state Democrats who duped the national press and helped nudge her out of the Senate race. “We’d like to have you join us this afternoon for a discussion on the Ashley Judd campaign,” the young national talk show producer chirped into my phone. ”We understand that she will be announcing her candidacy within the next 24 hours.” “I’d love to join you,” I responded. A recovering politician never turns down 15 minutes.) “But, uh, I’m pretty sure, uh, she’s not announcing.” I looked over to the left...
Jonathan Miller | Daily Beast 01 Apr 2013 Hits:299 Kentucky
Read moreSen. Ashley Judd? Not if history is any guide
Actress Ashley Judd is seriously looking at trying to unseat Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in 2014, according to a new report from Politico’s Manu Raju. But for Judd, the odds against her are massive. Indeed, if she ran and won, it would likely register as the biggest upset ever for a celebrity politician. A cursory look at the history of celebrities and athletes who run for political office reveals that most of them either (1) lose or (2) win lower-profile races like mayor or House...
Aaron Blake | The Washington Post 04 Dec 2012 Hits:735 Kentucky
Read moreA Year in Jail for Not Believing in God? How Kentucky Is Persecuting Atheists
In Kentucky, a homeland security law requires the state’s citizens to acknowledge the security provided by the Almighty God--or risk 12 months in prison. The law and its sponsor, state representative Tom Riner, have been the subject of controversy since the law first surfaced in 2006, yet the Kentucky state Supreme Court has refused to review its constitutionality, despite clearly violating the First Amendment’s separation of church and state. "This is one of the most egregiously and breathtakingly unconstitutional actions by a state legislature that I've ever...
Laura Gottesdiener | AlterNet 27 Nov 2012 Hits:933 Kentucky
Read moreUnfair for State to Take My Right to Vote Away
I'm a veteran of nine years in the U.S. Army infantry. My dad was in the military and I grew up on army bases. Both my grandfathers served in the military, too. But despite my service and more, I do not have the right to vote here in Kentucky, one of just four states that take away voting rights from all former felons even after they've served their debt to society. I pay taxes, but I'm not represented. Effectively, I'm not a citizen because citizenship ...
James Snyder, Jr. | Lexington Herald Leader 17 Mar 2012 Hits:733 Kentucky
Read moreNew study shows diversifying into clean energy can create 28,000 jobs and save Kentuckians…
Berea, KY--A new study estimates that in 10 years Kentucky could create over 28,000 jobs while lessening the growth of electricity bills by passing clean energy legislation currently in front of the General Assembly. Synapse Energy Economics produced the study, which is an analysis of the Clean Energy Opportunity Act (HB 167) introduced by Representative Mary Lou Marzian. “This study confirms that legislation to diversify our electricity portfolio would be economically beneficial to Kentucky,” said Justin Maxson, President of the Mountain...
Kristin Tracz | Mountain Association for Community Economic Development 12 Jan 2012 Hits:453 Kentucky
Read moreOccupy Big Coal: Kentuckians to Protest Most Corrupt Member of Congress on Friday
Wall Street and Big Coal corporations have no better friend than Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY), the "prince of pork" and powerful chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Hailed as the most "corrupt member of Congress" by the non-profit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Rogers' 5th District in eastern and south-central Kentucky also ranks at the bottom of the nation in virtually every quality of life indicator. After thirty years of his abysmal record, Rogers' constituents have had enough. This Friday, at 3pm, Oct. 14, Kentuckians...
Jff Biggers | CommonDreams 13 Oct 2011 Hits:235 Kentucky
Read moreOccupy Wall Street movement comes to Lexington, Ky
They're a long way from Wall Street, but some people in Lexington are continuing to show their solidarity with protesters in New York who have been demonstrating in the Financial District for more than two weeks. The Occupy Lexington Kentucky movement, modeled after Occupy Wall Street, started on Thursday, and Monday night saw a group still occupying the area outside Chase Tower on Main Street. "We're here 'til the grievances are addressed," said Mike Davis, who was among about 30 people gathered in downtown Monday...
Karla Ward | Lexington Herald Leader 07 Oct 2011 Hits:239 Kentucky
Read moreOne Love: The Nation Should Watch the Kentucky Rising Sit-in on Valentine's Day
Day 4 of the historic sit-in: Valentine's Day in the Kentucky governor's office. As thousands of protesters descend on the Kentucky capitol in Frankfort today for the "I Love Mountains" march today to end mountaintop removal mining, the 14 sit-in Kentucky Rising protesters inside the governor's office have electrified the clean energy movement across the nation with an unflinching and inspiring valentine for the country: This is the year to end mountaintop removal mining. Talk about "one love." Across the 48 states that rely on coal-fired electricity, we are all...
Jeff Biggers | Common Dreams 17 Mar 2011 Hits:247 Kentucky
Read moreKentucky Protest Ends with Rally
The protesters joined several hundred people on the Capitol steps for the “I Love Mountains” rally, an annual event held to promote “stream saver” legislation that effectively would end mountaintop removal coal mining in Eastern Kentucky. Previous bills died for lack of action; similarly, this year’s bills are languishing in committee. “We came because the land, its forests and its streams are being destroyed by the surface mining of coal; because the people are suffering intolerable harm to their homes, their health and...
Ken Ward 09 Mar 2011 Hits:207 Kentucky
Read moreWendell Berry Joins Retired Coal Miners and Residents in Kentucky Rising Capitol Sit-in
For Live Updates Visit | Alternet Over six years after Kentucky became the first state in the nation to introduce a bill that would halt the dumping of toxic coal mining wastes into headwater streams and effectively rein in the devastating fall-out of mountaintop removal operations, a group of affected coalfield residents, retired coal miners and bestselling authors have launched a sit-in in the office of Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear this morning. UPDATE: 8am EST: The Tempest in the Capitol: “Misery acquaints a man...
Chad Berry 12 Feb 2011 Hits:235 Kentucky
Read moreKay Tillow: Civil Rights, Union Organizing Mark Decades of Activism
Kay Tillow, a veteran union activist from Louisville, can inspire us all as we start the New Year. “Set a stout heart to a steep hillside” is an old Scottish proverb that reminds me of Tillow, who’s executive director of the Nurses Professional Organization. She and the NPO have spent 21 years battling to organize nurses who work for Louisville-based Norton Healthcare, Kentucky’s largest health care system. Says Tillow: “The [National Labor Relations Board] has ruled in our favor time and again. But management has...
Berry Craig | AFL-CIO Blog News 01 Jan 2011 Hits:296 Kentucky
Read moreDirect from Barefoot and Progressive
Happy 5-year anniversary, CentrePointe!
On this day five years ago, a great man and a great mayor came together to announce a very great hotel that would sweep away the rabble and shower Lexington with jobs, prosperity, pride and a Hard Rock Cafe. Not so much, eh? But seriously, who...
Progress Kentucky’s Wake
Lets have one last post mortem for Progress Kentucky and then put them to bed. The other day, Progress Kentucky put out a racist tweet attacking Mitch McConnells wife. This caused some serious backlash (as it should) and a slew of national...
Gun Control Dictator?
So I woke up this morning to find a picture posted to Facebook, of a stylized US Constitution that asked me to share if I opposed Obamas unilateral anti-gun executive action that would circumvent Congress and reminded me that the US was not...
Ending The Moment of Silence: On Guns, Grief, and Changing the Subject
Let’s begin with a moment of silence for those who died and those were wounded in the shooting. … … … I’m kidding, kind of. Unless you are Sarah Palin or think putting tea bags on your ears is a political statement, you probably...
Another look at the extravaganza of opportunity in KY-6 2014
Lets do this again, by category. If weve left anybody out, or think we got something wrong, let us know. (Oh, and feel free to vote here on the B&P Facebook page poll for your favorite candidate(s), as well.) Would be awesome, but not going...
The End of Conservatism (is a wildly misleading headline for this, my more tempered reaction to the 2012 election)
My first point is my favorite: we kicked the shit out of the Republicans. Actually, that felt so good that I’m going to make that point again using the exact same language. We kicked the shit out the Republicans. Still feels good, so...
PDA In Your State
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Issue Team Calls
| Tue May 21, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM Healthcare for All Issue Team Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 733525# |
| Wed May 22, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM End Corporate Rule IOT Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 754227# |
| Mon May 27, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM PDA ERA 3 State Strategy Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 787085# |
| Tue May 28, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM Clean, Fair, Transparent Elections IOT Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 314363# |
| Wed Jun 05, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM Economic and Social Justice Issue Team Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 781761# |
| Mon Jun 10, 2013 @ 8:30PM - 09:30PM End Mass Criminalizations IOT Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 331473# |
| Tue Jun 11, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM End Wars and Occupations Issue Team Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 952870# |
| Tue Jun 18, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM Healthcare for All Issue Team Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 733525# |
| Wed Jun 19, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM Stop Global Warming Issue Team Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 661274# |
| Mon Jun 24, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM PDA ERA 3 State Strategy Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 787085# |
PDA Issues
PDA is organized around several core issues. These issues include:
- End Corporate Rule
- Healthcare for All/Single Payer
- ERA 3 State Strategy
- Economic and Social Justice
- End Wars and Occupations
- Stop Global Warming
- End Mass Criminalization
- Clean, Fair, Transparent Elections
- Stop Voter Suppression
Each team hosts a monthly conference call. Calls feature legislators, staffers and other policy experts. On these calls we determine PDA legislation to support as well as actions and future events.
Kentucky Leadership
For support in organizing within your state, contact:
 |
|||
| Jeanie Embry |
State Leadership
Jeanie Embry
Email us at: kentucky@pdamerica.org
Chapters
Lexington (CD06)
Western Kentucky
Want to bring progressive change to Kentucky? Start a PDA chapter; send us an email and we'll get you started.
KY Legislators with ALEC Ties
House of Representatives
- Rep. Tom Riner (D-41) [21]
- Rep. Mike Harmon (R-54)[20], State Chairman[24][23]
- Rep. Sal Santoro (R-60); Public Safety and Elections Task Force
- Rep. Joseph M. Fischer (R-68); Public Safety and Elections Task Force
- Rep. Ruth Palumbo (D-76); Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force
- Rep. David Osborne (R-59); Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force
- Rep. John D. Westwood (R-23); Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force
- Rep. Jill York (R-96); Education Task Force
- Rep. Addia K. Wuchner (R-66)[20]; Education Task Force and International Relations Task Force
- Rep. Jim DeCesare (R-21); Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force
- Rep. Brad Montell (R-58); Education Task Force
- Rep. Ron Crimm (R-33); Public Safety and Elections Task Force
- Rep. Robert R. Damron (D-39); Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force; quoted in an August 2011 Bloomberg interview as saying he no longer attends ALEC meetings because ALEC has “become, in the last few years, so partisan. . . The last meeting I went to, they spent all their time bashing Democrats. I don’t particularly care for an organization that’s so partisan.”[77]
- Rep. Dorsey Ridley (D-4); Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force
- Rep. Ruth Ann Palumbo (D-76); Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force
- Rep. Brent Housman (R-3); Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force
Senate
- Sen. Tom Buford (R-22)[20], State Chairman[24][23]
- Sen. Brandon Smith (R-30); Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force
- Sen. Carroll Gibson (R-5); Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force
- Sen. Jimmy Higdon (R-14); Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force
- Sen. Kathy W. Stein (D-13); Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force - Sen. Stein told KPR-Frankfort in May 2012 that she had requested to leave ALEC.[78] See Legislators Who Have Cut Ties to ALEC for more.
- Sen. Ray S. Jones, II (D-31); Civil Justice Task Force - Sen. Jones told KPR-Frankfort in May 2012 that he had requested to leave ALEC.[78] See Legislators Who Have Cut Ties to ALEC for more.
- Sen. Robert Stivers (R-25); Civil Justice Task Force
- Sen. Julian M. Carroll (D-7); Public Safety and Elections Task Force
- Sen. John Schickel (R-11); International Relations Task Force
- Sen. Kenneth W. Winters (R-1); Education Task Force
- Sen. Ernie Harris (R-26); Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force
- Sen. Tom Jensen (R-21), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force member, spoke on "Saving Dollars and Protecting Communities: State Successes in Corrections Policy" at the 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[79]
- Sen. Joey Pendleton (D-3); Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force and Health and Human Services Task Force
- Sen. Alice Kerr (R-12); Health and Human Services Task Force
- Sen. Julie Denton (R-36)[20]; Health and Human Services Task Force
- Sen. Tim Shaughnessy (D-19); Health and Human Services Task Force - Sen. Shaughnessy told KPR-Frankfort in May 2012 that he had requested to leave ALEC.[78] See Legislators Who Have Cut Ties to ALEC for more.
- Sen. Walter Blevins, Jr (D-27).; Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force and Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force
- Sen. Gerald A. Neal (D-33); Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force
- Sen. Denise Harper-Angel (D-35); Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force - Sen. Harper-Angel told KPR-Frankfort in May 2012 that she had requested to leave ALEC.[78] See Legislators Who Have Cut Ties to ALEC for more.
- Sen. David P. Givens (R-9); Education Task Force
- Sen. Vernie D. McGaha (R-15); Education Task Force
- Sen. Daniel Seum (R-38); Public Safety and Elections Task Force
- Sen. Jack Westwood (R-23)[20]
Former Legislators
Legislators Who Have Cut Ties With ALEC
- Sen. Denise Harper-Angel (D-35) - Harper-Angel told told KPR-Frankfort in May 2012 that she had requested to leave ALEC.[5]
- Sen. Ray Jones - Jones told KPR-Frankfort in May 2012 that he had requested to leave ALEC.[5]
- Sen. Tim Shaughnessy - Shaughnessy told KPR-Frankfort in May 2012 that he had requested to leave ALEC.[5]
- Sen. Kathy Stein - Stein told KPR-Frankfort in May 2012 that she had requested to leave ALEC.[5]
Information from Sourcewatch: