Georgia, Kentucky | October 14, 2021
Democrats fret as longshot candidates pull money, attention
Georgia, Kentucky | October 14, 2021
Longshot challengers to Democrats’ most reviled Republican foes are starting to be seen as threats by some in their own party who fear they are distracting from midterm efforts to protect the majority. Just over a year out from what will be a referendum on President Biden’s first two years in office, Democratic strategists are expressing frustration that a handful of candidates looking to oust some of the GOP’s most high-profile incumbents – Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) among them – in deep red areas are using valuable resources that could otherwise be used to strengthen the party’s hand in more competitive races…. (Excerpts from The Hill)
Kentucky | September 22, 2021
New R.1 COVID-19 Variant With ‘Unique Mutations’ Discovered at Kentucky Nursing Home
Kentucky | September 22, 2021
A new variant of the COVID-19 virus has been discovered at a Kentucky nursing home, where it reportedly infected 45 residents and health care personnel, according to scientist William A. Haseltine.
The variant, called R.1, originated in Japan and infected many residents and workers in the nursing home who were fully vaccinated, Haseltine said.
R.1 now received over 10,000 entries in the GISAID SARS-CoV-2 database, the world’s largest database that researchers use to track and record genomic data.
“The variant contains five mutations previously noted in variants of concern or interest … It also contains many unique mutations,” Haseltine wrote for Forbes…. (Excerpts from the Epoch Times)
Kentucky | August 22, 2021
Kentucky Supreme Court: New Laws Limiting Governor’s Emergency Powers Can Go Into Effect
Kentucky | August 22, 2021
Laws passed by the Kentucky legislature shouldn’t have been blocked from going into effect earlier this year, the state’s highest court ruled on Aug. 21.
A judge in March blocked three bills that were passed to curtail Gov. Andy Beshear’s executive powers, including a bill that let certain businesses remain open if ordered to close by the governor under certain conditions.
Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd said in his ruling at the time that the legislature may have “crossed the line distinguishing prescribing policy, limitations and safeguards into micro-managing the executive’s implementation of the legislature’s grant of authority.”
The Kentucky Supreme Court, in its new decision, said Shepherd erred in blocking the bills from taking effect.
“We find that this matter presents a justiciable case or controversy but that the Franklin Circuit Court abused its discretion in issuing the temporary injunction. Accordingly, we remand this case to the trial court with instructions to dissolve the injunction,” Justice Laurance VanMeter wrote, representing the unanimous decision…. (Excerpts from the Epoch Times)
Kentucky | August 20, 2021
GOP lawmaker aims to block Taliban from accessing international funds
Kentucky | August 20, 2021
A Republican congressman on Friday introduced legislation aimed at blocking the Taliban in Afghanistan from accessing the International Monetary Fund.
Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), the ranking member of the House Financial Services subcommittee on national security, authored the bill as an effort to build on early steps that seek to cut off the Taliban from accessing the international financial institution.
World powers have yet to recognize the Taliban’s self-declared state of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, following the insurgent group’s lightning-fast takeover of the country and ousting on Sunday of the Western-backed Afghan government in Kabul.
The Biden administration, which is coming under intense criticism for Afghanistan’s collapse, has sought to manage the fallout of the Taliban’s takeover by working to freeze the country’s assets in the U.S. and abroad.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday froze $450 million in Special Drawing Rights (SDR) that was scheduled to be dispersed to Afghanistan next week. SDR is a financial asset of the IMF that is lent out to countries so they can access cash based on current market value.
The IMF made the move reportedly under pressure from the Biden administration, which also reportedly acted to freeze Afghan assets in U.S. central banks and the Federal Reserve in an effort to block access by the Taliban…. (Excerpts from the Hill)
District of Columbia, Kentucky | July 21, 2021
McConnell warns GOP won’t vote to raise debt ceiling
District of Columbia, Kentucky | July 21, 2021
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is warning that Republicans won’t help raise the debt ceiling and is urging Democrats to include the spending hike in an infrastructure bill that they can pass along party lines.
“I can’t imagine there will be a single Republican voting to raise the debt ceiling after what we’ve been experiencing,” McConnell told Punchbowl News.
McConnell — whose office confirmed his remarks to The Hill — added that Democrats should include the hike in reconciliation, the process they are using to pass a $3.5 trillion spending package by a simple majority in the Senate.
Under a 2019 deal during the Trump administration, Congress agreed to let the government borrow through July 31.
To raise the debt ceiling outside of reconciliation, Democrats would need 10 GOP votes in addition to all 50 members of their own caucus.
But top Republicans have been sending warning signs for months that they won’t agree to a “clean” increase of the debt limit. …
(Excerpts from the Hill)
District of Columbia, Kentucky | July 11, 2021
Sen. Rand Paul to Introduce Bill to Bar ‘Farce’ Mask Mandate on Planes
District of Columbia, Kentucky | July 11, 2021
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said that he will reintroduce legislation that would bar the public transportation mask mandates on airplanes that were implemented earlier this year by the federal government.
“When the Senate returns to session, I will be introducing an immediate repeal of the mask mandate on planes. Enough! Time to stop this farce and let people travel in peace!” he wrote last week on Twitter.
On his second day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order requiring that face coverings be worn when using all forms of public transportation, including inside airports and on airplanes.
His order directed several federal agencies to “immediately take action, to the extent appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to require masks to be worn in compliance with” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on airplanes, trains, buses, ferries, and other forms of public transportation….
(Excerpts from the Epoch Times)