Tag: Kentucky Elections

The First districts of Louisiana and Kentucky both have great Democratic women running to win their seats. Heather Ryan in Kentucky’s first, and Gilda Reed in Louisiana’s first are definately what our party need in Washington. They deserve the support of grassroots Democrats in the blogosphere. I just want to look at some of the reasons why.

First, from Gilda Reed, down in Louisiana:

“I am running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District to make a powerful difference in the quality of life for the working middle class and the poor, to put an end to the War in Iraq, bringing our troops home safely, and to work on environmental issues vital to the health and well being of all of our citizens.”

“I am a strong Louisiana Democrat and I embody hard-headed determination. Early on, I learned how to say what needs to be said, even when unpopular. We all need to get involved and put our District and our Nation back on the right track, for the benefit of our families and fellow citizens.”

http://www.gildareed.com/ct-Gi…

Sounds like to me this is one Democrat we need in the Congress. Sounds like to me she would bring strong ethics with her:

Ethics rather than corruption should be expected and demanded.  The great state of Louisiana has been looked down upon too long.  It is no longer acceptable for the nation to view us as corrupt.  I want better documented funding at all levels-local, state and federal.  Business as usual is over.

Fiscal responsibility demands that the U.S. pays as it goes.  We are deeply mired in debt and we need to pull out by not charging any more.  This does not mean cutting programs for the defenseless among us.  It means managing our funds in a more equitable way and denying the tax breaks to those most able to afford more.  I disagree with a federal flat tax.  People who earn more should be required to pay more according to a progressive rate system.

I find it an ethical violation for Congress members to vote for their own pay raise and  against a minimum wage increase for working Americans.  Congress members should also be required to pay for their own retirement plans like everyone else does.

http://www.gildareed.com/page….

Hear Gilda in her own words here:

http://gildareed.com/page.php?…

Better yet, show her some love here:

http://www.gildareed.com/Call-…

Then we have my home of the First District of Kentucky, and another outstanding lady, Heather Ryan. Catch the first installment of her video diary:

There will be more to come from Heather, as soon she will be online answering questions from the blogosphere. As a veteran, she has a strong opinion on Iraq, and the treatment of our troops:

As a veteran of the United States Navy, and an active member of the American Legion, my

dedication to the men and women in uniform is unyielding.  The current service member is

highly skilled, highly trained and highly ignored by this administration.  The American people

were duped into an ill-conceived war under false pretenses and the administration continues

to over utilize a national guard system which was never intended to be used for sustained

combat missions.  Congress must insist that an exit strategy be planned and implemented

immediately.  By the Bush Administration’s own account, the nation will be forced to

reinstate the draft system again should we continue to over-tax our National Guard with

sustained combat.  I am not a supporter of reinstating the draft for as history clearly shows

us, the draft is merely for those of us who are not wealthy enough to buy our way out of

active duty.  We must not allow this ill planned and ill executed war to continue to destroy the

brave men and women in our armed forces while simultaneously placing our nation at a

heightened risk with a limited national guard.

http://www.ryanforkentucky.com…

She is facing Ed Whitfield of the powerful McConnell machine in Kentucky. She is the only Democrat that filed to challenge him. She will need our help to win.

With that in mind I started a fundraising page for her and am trying to raise $1500 for her online before the Kentucky primary she is unopposed in on May 20. Please consider helping me in that goal here:

http://www.actblue.com/page/am…

Lets support two great ladies in two races to expand our majorities!!!!!  

 

I believe we are going to elect a Democratic President this year. Voter turnouts in the primaries and caucuses so far have shown that America is simply fired up about our great Presidential candidates. Why shouldn’t they be? I mean, our party should look at pride at the candidates we put forth this year.  

I mean, men like Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, and even Mike Gravel are far superior to ANY candidate put forth by the other side. AND THAT WAS OUR SECOND TIER IN THIS PRIMARY!!! Then we you look at our final three, Obama, Clinton, and Edwards, you begin to realize why our party is so much more superior to the Republicans.

Our final three candidates offered hope to millions in there own way. Obama with his ability to reach out and bring new, young voters into the process and fire them up, Clinton with her toughness and resolve and determination, and Edwards with his ability to appeal to our better angels, yes ALL our candidates are far superior to anything the Republicans offered. And the voters have proven it.

Now, we are down to two awesome candidates. I think either one would be a vast improvement over the last eight years. I think too, that either one will need more than just the slim majority of seats offered in both chambers of Congress to get Progressive change enacted. We have seen that when you count Democrats that don’t always support us, we actually have a slim MINORITY for enacting Progressive Change.

We are putting a lot of stock in our Presidential candidates. The support that has been shown them is staggering. However, lets not forget the fact that even if we do succeed in electing one of these fine Democrats, which I believe we will, if we do not expand their majorities in both chambers of Congress with the kind of Democrats they will need, Democrats that will fight, their hands will be tied. We must not only give them a mandate at the polls, we must give them a mandate of expanded majorities of committed Democrats in the House and Senate to achieve the progress we want. Otherwise, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment even with a Democrat in the White House.

That is why I am pleading with you now. Here in Kentucky’s First Congressional District we have a chance to replace an established Republican from the McConnell machine with an awesome Democrat who will fight with a backbone for the policies of our new President. Heather Ryan can win this race with your support, and send a clear message to the Republican establisment that Kentucky is no longer stomping grounds, and that they will no longer impede progress in this state.

Just read why she decided to run for this seat:

I was propelled into this race when I became the victim of

a corrupt politician.  

It was after my experience that I realized that the Republican Representation

Kentucky has in Washington, D.C. is part of the “Culture of Corruption” from which

our communities are currently reeling.  

Ed Whitfield, KY-01’s current representative, is no exception.  He consistently votes

for his own financial interests, has only introduced one piece of legislation in 13 years

as Representative

(a ban on eating horse meat) and opposed SCHIP legislation which would have

increased health care benefits for poor children!

I refuse to allow a powerful few to bully me and the First Congressional District.  We

need someone who is not afraid to stand up for the rights of their constituents – not

another puppet of the rich and power hungry.

I will be a TRUE Representative for the people of Kentucky’s First District!  Not a

No-Show like “Exxon Eddie Whitfield”

Read some of the issues that matter to her:

As a veteran of the United States Navy, and an active member of the American Legion, my

dedication to the men and women in uniform is unyielding.  The current service member is

highly skilled, highly trained and highly ignored by this administration.  The American people

were duped into an ill-conceived war under false pretenses and the administration continues

to over utilize a national guard system which was never intended to be used for sustained

combat missions.  Congress must insist that an exit strategy be planned and implemented

immediately.  By the Bush Administration’s own account, the nation will be forced to

reinstate the draft system again should we continue to over-tax our National Guard with

sustained combat.  I am not a supporter of reinstating the draft for as history clearly shows

us, the draft is merely for those of us who are not wealthy enough to buy our way out of

active duty.  We must not allow this ill planned and ill executed war to continue to destroy the

brave men and women in our armed forces while simultaneously placing our nation at a

heightened risk with a limited national guard.

http://www.ryanforkentucky.com…

As a veteran, Heather will fight endlessly for real respect for our troops with more than talking points.

She also will fight for good jobs here in Western Kentucky and all over the nation, something that is sorely needed:

It is not hard to figure out that outsourcing American jobs to third world countries is

destroying our middle class.  We must stop rewarding companies who send our jobs

oversees with tax cuts and begin rewarding companies who invest in our nations future.  

As a member of a staunch union family, and a former union member myself, I understand first

hand the need for a living wage as well as benefits and training programs.  I will work

tirelessly to fight for the rights of the working person.  For far too long, the citizens of

Kentucky have been victimized by the million dollar boy’s club.  It is time for change!

http://www.ryanforkentucky.com…

Just listening to her announcment to run for Congress tells you a lot about what kind of a Congresswoman Mrs. Ryan would be:

I have lived in Kentucky’s First District my whole life. I can attest to the fact that we need someone in Congress, someone like Heather Ryan. However, as one of the poorest Congressional districts in the nation, we need help from Democrats everywhere that want to fight for the Progress expanded Congressional majorities would bring.

That is why I personally am asking for your help. I have started an ActBlue fundraising page to benefit Heather in her run for Congress. I hope to raise $1500 dollars online for her by the time our primary comes in May. She is already on the ballot in the fall since she is the only Democrat that filed in the first by the deadline.

Investing in Heather is an investment in expanded Congressional majorities. For former Edwards supporters such as myself that want to continue to fight for the ideals he presented, this is a chance to support a candidate who will embrace many of the policies of One America in the Congress, and for the supporters of Obama and Hillary this is a chance to invest in them having a Congress that will allow either one of them to achieve their agenda when elected. Folks, this young lady will fight for all of us that support the Democratic Party!!!

Please go to my page and help me to raise $1500 during the primary for an awesome candidate that is already running in the fall against an established Republican. We won’t be recieving a million dollars in special interest money like Exxon Ed Whitield, so we have to rely on fellow grassroots Democrats like all of you to win, please go here and help me towards my goal of $1500 by May 20!!!:

http://www.actblue.com/page/am…

Watch in the coming days for our first installment of Ask Heather Ryan, where Heather answers questions on video directly to the grassroots Democrats who ask them!!

Also, be sure to visit her site and sign up for email updates from the campaign here:

http://www.ryanforkentucky.com…

Please show the power that grassroots Democrats can have when they stand up together for candidates that will fight for us!! Please help me to support Heather Ryan and give her the funding she needs!!

Best wishes fellow Democrats!!

Here in the First District of Kentucky we have an awesome candidate to unseat Exxon Ed Whitfield. Whitfield is a McConnell clone who can’t wait to vote his stock options, and rubber-stamp every failed policy of McConnell and Bush. He doesn’t own a home in our district, and is essentially a carpet-bagger.

Heather wants to earn your support in her run against Exxon Ed Whitfield. The defeat of Whitfield would be a huge blow to the McConnell machine here in Kentucky. That is not the only good thing about supporting this race however.

Heather is an awesome grassroots Democrat that supports the ideals of our party. She will have the strength and courage to stand up with something our party seems to be lacking in Congress, a backbone!! She will fight for Democratic ideals and won’t run from them.

But why not meet Heather, and listen to what she has to say in her own words? Here is the first installment of her video diary:

Please help us in this race. I know Heather personally and have seen her dedication to her family, our country, our party, and the people of the First District of Kentucky first hand. As the fiasco with Andrew Horne has shown us all, we simply can’t depend on our national party to fight for Kentucky. We can win this seat with help, and we are already in the General election against Ed Whitfield this fall.

Please go to Heather’s site and sign up for email updates to watch this race. While there, read up on Heather and the issues she cares about:

http://www.ryanforkentucky.com…

While there, please consider supporting fellow grassroots Democrats in Kentucky that are determined to fight against Mitch McConnell and his well-oiled, well-funded machine. We are a mouse fighting a gorilla and need your support!!! You will not be disappointed in your investment in this race. We will put it to work immediately to fight the McConnell machine. We are grassroots Democrats just like yourself. Please, invest in us here:

http://www.actblue.com/page/ry…

We can and will win this race with the help of grassroots Democrats everywhere!!!

I will be keeping you updated on the newest installments of her video diary, as well as keeping you up on the hypocrisy of Ed Whitfield in the coming days. Please, join our campaign of grassroots Democrats fighting against established Repug money!!

We all remember the chaos of Hurricane Katrina. We all remember watching our fellow citizens that desperately needed a competent response to this disaster as they were left behind. This was a huge disaster, but the fact of the matter is that it could have been handled better. The fact of the matter is that it was a disgrace that it wasn’t.  

Just look at this quote from Wikipedia:

Within the United States and as delineated in the National Response Plan, disaster response and planning is first and foremost a local government responsibility. When local government exhausts its resources, it then requests specific additional resources from the county level. The request process proceeds similarly from the county to the state to the federal government as additional resource needs are identified. Many of the problems that arose developed from inadequate planning and back-up communications systems at various levels.

This way of doing things in regards to disasters was proven a complete and total failure. What if we are hit again soon with a disaster on the scale of Hurricane Katrina? Have our leaders done anything to change a fundamentally flawed system that leaves our citizens such as the ones in New Orleans behind? Are they even trying?

One candidate in Kentucky’s First District is speaking on this. Heather Ryan, Democratic candidate for Congress is calling for a National Emergency Plan:

National Preparedness:  Where would you go if there was a national, state or local emergency?  What would you do if severe weather hit your area?  What if you lived in a mobile home or had no transportation to get to higher ground?  These are serious issues that the Republican party has had 7 years to think about and plan around since the War on Terror began.  

When Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast, thousands of low income people were without a plan and were abandoned by the Bush administration.  When tornadoes hit Kentucky and the south on February 5th, 2008 my family and I found ourselves in the same situation.  A low income family, living in a mobile home park with nowhere to go.  The people who died in those storms were largely like us, they knew they were in danger but they had no plan.  WE NEED A NATIONAL EMERGENCY PLAN!  

Every life in our nation is precious and deserves protection against the elements and terrorist threats; not just the lives of the Republican Party’s rich donors deserve to have shelter in times of crisis.  As your congressional representative, I will immediately begin work on a national emergency plan.  Unlike the Republicans, who want you to be afraid, I do not believe that Fear Mongering is a plan, instead it is a tool for their re-election campaigns.  I will be part of the solution – not the problem!

http://www.ryanforkentucky.com…

Mrs. Ryan is exactly right on this issue. We need more people in Congress that are in touch with the problems that face Americans on Main St., not just Wall St. We need to elect leaders like Heather to the Congress who will make sure that we develop a national emergency plan that doesn’t leave citizens and states behind when tragedy strikes.

Heather Ryan is an awesome, grassroots Democrat that is already running in the fall against Exxon Ed Whitfield in Kentucky’s First. An investment in her is an investment in increasing our Congressional majority for the next President. Won’t you make an investment in grassroots Democrats who want to fight for our party? Please, help us by going here and investing in fighting Democrats:

http://actblue.com/page/ryanfo…

We are already facing over a million dollars of special interest money in one of the poorest Congressional Districts in America. Won’t you chip in to help grassroots Democrats pull an upset in Kentucky?

Heather Ryan for Kentucky!!