By RP Staff, on Fri Feb 1, 2013 at 5:00 PM ET KET’s February 4 Kentucky Tonight program with host Bill Goodman will discuss industrial hemp.
Scheduled guests are:
– Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer
– Kentucky State Police Commissioner Rodney Brewer
– Former Kentucky State Treasurer Jonathan Miller, founder of The Recovering Politician
– Dan Smoot, vice president of Operation UNITE
The program is live on KET and at www.ket.org/live at 8:00 pm ET.
Viewers with questions and comments may send e-mail to kytonight@ket.org or use the message form at www.ket.org/kytonight. Viewers may also submit questions and comments on Twitter @BillKET, #kytonight, or on KET’s Facebook page. All messages should include first and last name and town or county. The phone number for viewer calls during the program is 1-800-494-7605.
Kentucky Tonight programs are archived online, made available via podcast, and rebroadcast on KET, KET KY, and radio. Archived programs, information about podcasts, and broadcast schedules are available at www.ket.org/kytonight.
By RP Staff, on Fri Feb 1, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET  Yesterday, the United States Senate passed No Budget, No Pay in addition to a three-month extension of the debt ceiling.
“For more than a year and a half, I’ve fought for ‘No Budget, No Pay,’ as a common-sense approach to hold Members of Congress accountable for passing a budget. Despite the odds, this idea has gained strong bipartisan support in Congress. Thank you to Representative Jim Cooper for spearheading this effort in the House, and to No Labels supporters from all over the country who wrote to their Members of Congress in support of this idea. With their help, No Budget, No Pay gained the momentum necessary to pass both chambers,” said Senator Dean Heller (R-NV).
 The original No Budget, No Pay bills were introduced by Senator Heller and Representative Jim Cooper (D-TN). With support from No Labels’ hundreds of thousands of supporters, No Budget, No Pay garnered more than 90 co-sponsors and a hearing in the Senate in the 112th Congress. Details of today’s Senate-passed version of No Budget, No Pay differ slightly from No Labels’ original proposal, but the underlying idea is the same: members of Congress shouldn’t be paid if they can’t pass a budget on time.
“No Budget, No Pay is a great example of the achievable and immediate reform that No Labels has been pushing since its inception,” said No Labels National Leader and Honorary Co-Chair Jon Huntsman. “Like the filibuster reform that just passed the Senate, No Budget, No Pay can help our government work better right now. Our country’s problems are urgent and we simply don’t have time to wait.”
“The passage of No Budget, No Pay by both chambers is unprecedented. Americans want Congress to be held accountable, and due to the fact that Senate leaders have indicated that they will pass a budget this year, it is clear that No Budget, No Pay has already had a behavioral effect. The No Labels grassroots supporters made this happen,” said No Labels co-founder and Brookings Institution Senior Fellow in Governance Studies, Bill Galston.
View No Labels’ No Budget, No Pay Timeline – How an Idea became a law
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Jan 31, 2013 at 4:43 PM ET From my No Labels co-founder, Bill Galston:
You’re not going to believe this! Thanks to you, we just made history. I just got word that No Budget, No Pay passed the Senate and now awaits the president’s signature.
Folks, this is huge. Your calls, your emails and your passion just shattered Washington gridlock and introduced real accountability in a way that seemed impossible just a few days ago. We’ve been calling for this for more than a year with Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Jim Cooper, and now we made it happen – we’ve shown our democracy can work.
This is a turning point for our nation. Our leaders worked together for progress and prosperity, and America is stronger for it.
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Jan 31, 2013 at 3:14 PM ET OK, OK, don’t worry, fellow progressives and Democrats. I haven’t gone over to the dark side. I will be enthusiastically supporting the Democratic nominee for Kentucky’s U.S. Senate seat in 2014.
However, I think it is very, very important to congratulate any public official who does the right thing, even when we might disagree with him/her on other major issues. And when it comes to industrial hemp, Senator Mitch McConnell made a statement that I believe will have long term, very positive implications for the struggling economy of the Bluegrass State, as well as potentially tremendous environmental benefits for the planet.
From the press release of Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Jamie Comer (who deserves plenty of kudos himself for his leadership on this issue:
MCCONNELL SUPPORTS INDUSTRIAL HEMP;
PAUL, YARMUTH, MASSIE TO TESTIFY WITH COMER;
NORTHERN KENTUCKY CHAMBER ENDORSES SB 50
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Today, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell issued a statement of support for Agriculture Commissioner James Comer and the effort to re-introduce industrial hemp into Kentucky agriculture. Leader McConnell’s office issued the following statement:
“After long discussions with Senator Rand Paul and Commissioner James Comer on the economic benefits of industrialized hemp, I am convinced that allowing its production will be a positive development for Kentucky’s farm families and economy. Commissioner Comer has assured me that his office is committed to pursuing industrialized hemp production in a way that does not compromise Kentucky law enforcement’s marijuana eradication efforts or in any way promote illegal drug use. The utilization of hemp to produce everything from clothing to paper is real, and if there is a capacity to center a new domestic industry in Kentucky that will create jobs in these difficult economic times, that sounds like a good thing to me.”
Comer expressed enormous gratitude for McConnell’s support:
“When the most powerful Republican in the country calls to discuss your issue, that’s a good day on the job,” Comer said.
“Leader McConnell’s support adds immeasurable strength to our efforts to bring good jobs to Kentucky.”
In unprecedented bi-partisan cooperation, U.S. Reps. John Yarmuth and Thomas Massie are confirmed to testify alongside U.S. Senator Rand Paul and Commissioner Comer in support of Senate Bill 50, state Senator Paul Hornback’s legislation on industrial hemp.
“Our federal delegation is showing tremendous leadership,” Comer said. “They recognize this is not a partisan issue. It’s about jobs. And we will continue to push forward to make sure Kentucky is first in line for them.”
Adding to this momentum, the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce today voted unanimously to support SB 50 after hearing arguments on its behalf from state Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer and Senator Hornback. The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council is also expected to pass a resolution endorsing the industrial hemp initiative today.
SB 50 will be heard in the Senate Agriculture Committee on Feb. 11, 2013 at 11 a.m. EST.
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Jan 31, 2013 at 10:00 AM ET
By Jonathan Miller, on Wed Jan 30, 2013 at 9:00 AM ET 
It’s now time for your favorite contest, “Guess the Jew-Fro!”
Today’s entry, at left, comes to us from a loyal reader, who apparently is using this as a blackmail attempt against the picture’s subject.
The winning guess in the comments section below wins a FREE SUBSCRIPTION to The RP’s KY Political Brief, an email wrap-up of the day’s Kentucky political news, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.
(OK, anybody subscribe to The RP’s KY Political Brief for free. Just click here to sign up.)
To get you started on the contest, here are 3 hints:
1. The picture is 40 years old.
2. The owner is not really a Member of the Tribe; BUT
3. From his neurotic sense of humor, he is certainly classifiable as Jew-ish. Click here to read why.
By Jonathan Miller, on Tue Jan 29, 2013 at 1:22 PM ET Pure awesomeness. h/t Joe Sonka and Erik Hungerbuhler
Creep from Matthijs_Vlot on Vimeo.
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Jan 28, 2013 at 3:00 PM ET
By Jonathan Miller, on Sun Jan 27, 2013 at 12:30 PM ET 
Sign up for The RP’s KY Political Brief — a FREE email wrap-up of the day’s Kentucky political news, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning:
PLEASE NOTE: Signup is a 2 step process: After completing the signup form above, check your inbox (or Spam folder) for a confirmation e-mail. Click the link in that e-mail to confirm your sign-up.
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I’m very excited to announce The Recovering Politician’s wonderful service to our loyal RP Nation: The RP’s KY Political Brief — a FREE email delivered every weekday morning, straight to your inbox, that provides you with a complete wrap-up of the latest political news and notes from the Bluegrass State.
You don’t have to be a Frankfort statehouse junkie to appreciate this free service — The RP’s KY Political Brief provides you with a one-stop shop for all of the latest news, commentary and analysis about what could be the hottest 2014 campaign in the country: the re-election attempt by U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — who looks like he will face the challenge of his career from Ky. Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes. And The RP’s KY Political Brief is your best place to find all of the latest stories about Tea Party favorite (and potential 2016 presidential candidate) Rand Paul.
Best yet, we offer this service with no political biases; much as in the No Labels style of The Recovering Politician, we provide links to the state’s and nation’s best journalists, as well as opinion pieces by writers from all over the political spectrum.
 Your tour director is former editor of The Kentucky Enquirer, Kakie Urch, who took over for founding editor Bradford Queen. She is currently an assistant professor of multimedia at University of Kentucky in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications. Kakie also served as assistant managing editor of The Kentucky Post and as assistant managing editor at The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif. In 2011, Kakie served as a professor-in-residence on “The Caucuses” site of the Des Moines Register for coverage of the Iowa Caucuses.
In these roles, she had the honor of editing some of the best political reporters in Kentucky and had responsibility for Washington, Frankfort and Sacramento bureau coverage for the newspapers and their Web sites. Her favorite political ad of all time is the Kentucky radio spot from an 1980s campaign that said “Just because you sit in the garage for 10 years, that don’t make you a Buick.”
Kakie is up every weekday morning at the crack of dawn to compile the latest and best news about Kentucky politics.
Want to try it out?
Click here to read the debut entry of The RP’s KY Political Brief.
And if you’d like to have this service delivered to your email inbox every weekday morning FOR FREE, simply sign up at the top or here below:
The Recovering Politician will not sell, trade, or rent your personal identification information to others. We may share generic aggregated demographic information not linked to any personal identification information regarding visitors and users with our business partners, trusted affiliates and advertisers.
By RP Staff, on Thu Jan 24, 2013 at 3:22 PM ET National Public Radio’s On Point with Tom Ashbook presents: Hard Times And Polarized Politics:
From Tom Ashbrook:
Why are American politics and American policy so stuck? So stuck that what should be a dynamic economy is now seen as maybe the biggest threat to the world economy… because of Washington.
Economist Benjamin Friedman says we’re in a trap. A bad economy is prompting bad policy from Washington, he says. Good times, good policy. Bad times, bad policy. And we’re in a world of bad right now.
We need to break the cycle. But how?
Guests
Benjamin Friedman, economist and professor of political economy at Harvard University. Author of “The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth.” You can read an excerpt here.
Jonathan Miller, co-founder of No Labels, a political non-profit made up of Democrats, Republicans and Independents, dedicated to problem solving. Former state treasurer of Kentucky. (@recoveringpol)
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