Author Archive for John Cheves

Paul to offer $500 billion spending cut plan

By John Cheves – jcheves@herald-leader.com

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul on Friday said he plans to unveil his own version of the federal budget next week that would cut $500 billion a year, eliminating or consolidating the U.S. departments of Education and Energy and reducing many other agencies to 2008 spending levels.

“Pretty much everything is in it,” said Paul, R-Ky. On the Education Department, for example, Paul said he would close parts of it and return many of its responsibilities to local school districts. Some popular programs such as federal aid for college tuition would transfer to other federal agencies, he said.

Paul had just addressed Kentuckians for Better Transportation in Lexington in what was billed as his first public speech since taking office this month.

During his speech and afterward, talking to reporters, Paul said the federal government needs to make deep spending cuts in nearly every area, including Social Security and Medicare. Paul said Social Security needs to raise its eligibility age and Medicare should cost more for higher-income Americans.

“Nobody wants to deal with this,” Paul said. “But if you don’t approach it, then the alternative is maybe there’s no Social Security or maybe there’s no Medicare because we’ve destroyed the value of the dollar.”

Beshear defends donors, vacancies from job cuts

By John Cheves – jcheves@herald-leader.com

Of 81 political appointments that Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear has asked the state Personnel Board to save, 11 are vacant — two have been unoccupied since 2007 — and nearly 40 percent of the rest are held by campaign donors to Beshear, the Democratic Party or both.

The Personnel Board is scheduled to meet Friday to decide whether to allow the jobs to disappear on Dec. 31.

The appointees serve in management jobs across state government with an average salary of $74,457. A budget-cutting law the legislature passed this year caps the number of appointed mid-level managers unless Beshear wins exemptions from the Personnel Board.

Total salaries for the occupied positions are $5.2 million a year.

The Beshear administration said each job is essential to run state government. Nobody’s political activity was considered when deciding which jobs to defend, said Beshear spokeswoman Kerri Richardson.

“In reviewing these positions, we looked at positions, not people,” Richardson said. “These positions — not the individuals filling them — are important to the proper functioning of state agencies.”

State pension agency hires new investment chief

By John Cheves – jcheves@herald-leader.com

The Kentucky Retirement Systems is getting a new chief investment officer on Tuesday.

Timothy “T.J.” Carlson will oversee investments at the agency that handles $13 billion in assets to provide benefits for state and county retirees. Carlson replaces Adam Tosh, who resigned in July for a private sector job.

“I am excited about the wonderful opportunity to come to Kentucky, and I look forward to working with the seasoned KRS team to help navigate these interesting and challenging times for our pension and insurance programs,” Carlson said in a prepared statement.

Last year, Carlson was named a principal at investment consultant Ennis, Knupp & Associates in Chicago. Prior to that, he was chief investment officer and treasury director for the Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield, Wisc. He also worked for the West Virginia Investment Management Board and the Iowa Public Employees Retirement System.

In May, acting on behalf of Ennis, Knupp & Associates, Carlson defended higher management fees that were paid by the North Carolina Teachers and State Employees Retirement System to a firm, Relational Investors, that hired the state treasurer. Previously, the state treasurer had invested state funds with Relational Investors, according to Carolina Journal.

Official count shows Chandler defeating Barr by 649 votes

By John Cheves – jcheves@herald-leader.com

U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, leads Republican Andy Barr by 649 votes, according to official vote totals from all 16 counties in the 6th Congressional District.

The last of the county totals, which have been certified by county clerks but have not yet been given the final stamp of approval by the Kentucky Board of Elections, were submitted to the secretary of state’s office on Friday.

The official count is Chandler with 119,812 votes and Barr with 119,163 votes, said Les Fugate, spokesman for the secretary of state.

As county and state officials double-checked their math, there were slight adjustments to totals in Estill County, which Barr won, and Fayette and Franklin counties, which Chandler won.

Chandler declared victory on Tuesday night, but Barr, a Lexington lawyer, has not conceded and requested a recanvass, a machine-by-machine check of the vote totals. The recanvass is scheduled for Nov. 12.

Chandler gave a 45-second speech re-declaring victory at his campaign office in Lexington Friday.

“Today the county boards of elections certified their vote totals and sent them to the secretary of state, reconfirming our victory and showing that the people of Central Kentucky have again chosen me to be their voice in Congress,” Chandler said. “Andy Barr fought hard, and I commend his willingness to serve the people of Central Kentucky.”

Chandler did not take any questions directly from reporters, disappearing into a back office immediately after his statement.

Andy Barr not conceding, still considering next move

UPDATED AT 6:20 P.M.

By John Cheves – jcheves@herald-leader

It may be a while before Central Kentucky voters get the official word on who their congressman will be starting in January.

U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, claimed victory on Tuesday night with a 600-vote lead over Andy Barr, his Republican challenger, out of more than 239,000 votes cast in the 6th Congressional District.

With 640 of 640 precincts reporting, numbers from the Associated Press show Chandler leading Barr 119,845 to 119,245. The Kentucky Board of Elections’ Web site, which still lacks numbers from at least one precinct in the district, shows Chandler with a 644 vote lead.

Although an election-law expert said Wednesday it’s highly unlikely that Barr can overcome a 600-vote deficit, Barr on Wednesday would not concede defeat.

Lexington Democrats get mixed results

By Amy Wilson – awilson1@herald-leader.com

The number of people crowding into The Barrel House in Lexington’s Distillery District for the Democratic victory party was picking up by 8 p.m. Already, they were celebrating the election of Jim Gray as mayor of Lexington (officially a nonpartisan post) and lamenting the loss of Jack Conway in the U.S. Senate race.

Next, they had to watch the television screens and await news of U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, locked in a tight contest with Republican Andy Barr.

As WLEX-TV flashed the numbers, people did the math: 400 votes separating Chandler and Barr, then 150 votes.

Rick Bryant of Lexington says it’s what people expected. “I know there’s a disgruntled America out there,” he said, “but Chandler has a better chance because he’s more mainline than most Democrats.” Still, few supporters were leaving as the 9 o’clock hour wore on.

Also at the party were supporters of Democrat Don Blevins, who fell behind Republican incumbent Alice Forgy Kerr of Lexington in a state Senate race, and Democrat Carl Rollins of Midway, running for re-election as state representative.

Andy Barr supporters watch with anticipation

By Scott Sloan – ssloan@herald-leader.com

Campaign volunteers for Republican Andy Barr watched the election results with anticipation Tuesday night as Barr and U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, were locked in a tight contest.

William Ditto was among those who drove Barr to campaign stops. Gathered with other Barr supporters in Lexington, Ditto spoke of a particular stop at a Harrodsburg hardware store on a windy day.

“There were incredible wind gusts that kept turning over the podium,” Ditto said. “We had to tell Andy to keep a tight grip on it.”

Michael Thornberry, a Lexington native, came from Washington, D.C., for the final three days of the campaign to knock on doors and make phone calls. Thornberry said he believes job creation will be the issue that propels Barr to victory over Chandler, a four-term incumbent.

“He’s going to focus on getting us back to work,” Thornberry said.

Campaign Watchdog: Claim about Barr’s money from coal operators ‘true’

READ PREVIOUS CAMPAIGN WATCHDOG STORIES

CORRECTION: An Oct. 27 “Campaign Watchdog” item was incomplete in its description of a report by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration and its findings regarding International Coal Group and the 2006 Sago mine disaster in West Virginia. In its investigation, MSHA cited 149 violations of mandatory mine safety and health regulations at the mine. However, MSHA investigators found that none of those violations caused the accident or contributed to the deaths of 12 miners. The MSHA report concluded that a lightning strike caused the Sago mine explosion. The report cited additional “root causes” in the disaster — including a build-up of methane in a sealed portion of the mine and mine seals that were built to an MSHA standard that could not withstand the force of the explosion. The MSHA report did not state that the company was at fault in either case.

By John Cheves – jcheves@herald-leader.com

The statement: “Barr’s campaign is funded by coal operators responsible for mine disasters.”

– U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, in a television ad criticizing Andy Barr, his Republican challenger

The ruling: True

The facts: Barr’s campaign has reported more than $31,000 in coal industry donations. About 40 percent of that money came from top executives at two companies — International Coal Group of Scott Depot, W.Va., and Massey Energy of Richmond, Va. — that have a history of fatal accidents and citations by government safety and health inspectors.

To cite two prominent recent examples, ICG owns the Sago mine in West Virginia where 12 miners died in 2006 and Massey owns the Upper Big Branch mine, also in West Virginia, where 29 miners died in April.

Campaign Watchdog: Claim that Barr wants to abolish Medicare ‘false’

READ PREVIOUS CAMPAIGN WATCHDOG STORIES

By John Cheves – jcheves@herald-leader.com

The statements: “Andy Barr is trying to trick you to hide a radical agenda: abolishing Medicare for seniors, even putting your Social Security in the hands of Wall Street.”

— U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, in a television commercial attacking Barr, his Republican challenger

The ruling: False

The facts: Barr hasn’t said he plans to abolish Medicare or privatize Social Security. In campaign speeches, Barr says he will defend Medicare and Social Security.

The Chandler campaign is referring to the budget plan of another Republican, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who is the ranking GOP member of the House Budget Committee. In January, Ryan released a lengthy proposal to reduce deficit spending, including the partial privatization of Social Security and Medicare.

Chandler’s campaign cites a July 7 report from the liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which said Ryan’s proposal, if enacted, effectively would end Medicare and divert Social Security funds into private investment accounts.

To connect Barr to Ryan’s plan, the Chandler campaign cites a July 15 interview with Barr on WVLK-AM in Lexington. Barr was asked by a caller if he would support Ryan’s budget proposal. Medicare and Social Security were not mentioned in the question.

“Yeah, I mean absolutely. I’m not in Congress now, of course, and I don’t have an opportunity to support a particular budget,” Barr replied. “But that budget, a leaner budget, is certainly preferable to the ones that have been offered by the president and the speaker of the House.”

While it’s true that Barr favorably remarked on Paul’s plan that day, he has not endorsed specific items in the plan, and he frequently has said that he would oppose efforts to privatize Social Security or end Medicare.

Outside groups jump into 6th District House race

By John Cheves – jcheves@herald-leader.com

Outside groups with undisclosed donors are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to influence Central Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District race between U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, and Andy Barr, his Republican challenger.

The Center for Individual Freedom reports spending $136,797 on commercials attacking Chandler because of the federal government’s deficit spending while he served in Congress.

The Center for Individual Freedom is a politically conservative non-profit organization based in Alexandria, Va., just outside Washington, D.C., and organized under federal tax laws as a 501(c)4. That tax designation means it — unlike a candidate or political party — can accept unlimited donations and it does not have to reveal the identity of its donors.

The Center was founded in 1998 when several tobacco company executives pooled their resources to fight government regulations on tobacco products, but not much more information is publicly known. Its 2008 tax filing, the most recent available, showed more than $5.7 million that year in donations.