All Entries in the "Ben Chandler" Category

Chandler urges support for Obama’s jobs plan

By John Cheves
jcheves@herald-leader.com

U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler said Wednesday that he supports President Barack Obama’s $447 billion jobs plan, although the Republican-led House is not expected to vote on the plan soon, if ever.

Chandler, D-Versailles, said he approves of the plan’s mix of payroll tax cuts for businesses, infrastructure spending and aid to local governments to avert the layoffs of teachers and emergency workers. He said the plan would offer $1,330 in tax relief to a typical Kentucky household and save or create 12,000 jobs in the state.

“There is no time to waste,” Chandler said in a prepared statement. “Congress must act now to create jobs, strengthen our middle class and expand our economy.”

Chandler, who is expected to face a tough re-election battle in 2012, did not return calls seeking comment.

Chandler, Barr raise big money for 2012 U.S. House race

FRANKFORT – Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler raised $228,727 in the last three months for his re-election campaign while a Republican challenger, Andy Barr, reported taking in $197,213 in the first three weeks of his campaign.

The candidates for Central Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District have filed their campaign finance reports for April 1 through June 30 with the Federal Elections Commission.

Barr, a Lexington attorney, announced his candidacy for next year’s race on June 9 and started his fundraising then. He narrowly lost to Chandler in last year’s race.

The latest campaign finance reports show Chandler, a Woodford County attorney who has been in the U.S. House since February 2004, with $561,419 on hand.

Barr reported $202,988 on hand. He said he had “a little left over from the 2010 campaign” to add to his latest fundraising.

The Barr campaign said the report exceeded his fundraising for any quarter during the 2010 primary election. He had not yet declared his candidacy in June 2009.

– Jack Brammer

Chandler blasts GOP Medicare plan favored by Barr

By Jack Brammer – jbrammer@herald-leader.com

U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler told a group of senior citizens Friday that he opposes “dismantling” the $500 billion-a-year program as he claimed some Republicans have proposed.

“I feel some in Congress want to basically give our seniors a discount coupon and a get-well card,” Chandler said in a speech to about 120 at the Lexington Senior Center on the 45th anniversary of Medicare.

Chandler, a Versailles Democrat who probably faces a tough re-election race next year, took aim at a proposal by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, dismissing it as a voucher system.

Republican Andy Barr, a Lexington attorney who lost to Chandler in last year’s 6th Congressional District election by only 648 votes, has already announced his candidacy for next year’s race.

Barr said in a phone interview that Chandler’s campaign strategy “is to scare senior citizens.”

Andy Barr announces 2012 campaign for Congress

FRANKFORT — Lexington attorney Andy Barr, who fell short just 648 votes last year in representing Central Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District, announced Thursday that he will seek the same seat in 2012.

Barr, a Republican, said in a statement that his “top priority will be to stop Washington’s reckless spending spree and work to avert a national debt crisis.”

The congressional seat is now held by Democrat Ben Chandler of Woodford County.

Ben Chandler says ‘gruesome’ bin Laden photos should be released

By Halimah Abdullah and Michael Doyle — habdullah@mcclatchydc.com

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, is among a select group of lawmakers who have viewed the graphic photos of Osama bin Laden’s body, and he believes they should be released to the public.

“They were gruesome, quite gruesome,” said Chandler, who sits on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and who saw the photos Thursday morning. “Some were clearly taken shortly after the event and others that were taken before burial after his body had been washed. They showed him from several different angles. The striking thing was the size of the wound on his head.”

Chandler described a large wound that spread over most of bin Laden’s head, severe bruising, swelling and brain matter. The level of specific detail depicted in the photos, coupled with DNA evidence provided, should serve as proof of bin Laden’s death, Chandler said.

However, he’s aware that conspiracy theories will continue to swirl on the Internet. Chandler said he feels strongly that President Barack Obama should release the photos to help quell rumors and serve as a deterrent to would-be terrorists.

“The truth is there are going to be some people who either believe in conspiracy theories or push propagandas for their own purposes,” Chandler said. “History suggests it is a good idea to show the body or pictures to put at ease as many people as you can.”

Beshear, Chandler are bettin’ on the Cats over Connecticut

FRANKFORT — The fate of Gov. Steve Beshear’s and U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler’s appetites is hanging in the balance on bets with their Connecticut Democratic colleagues on this weekend’s Final Four game between the University of Kentucky Wildcats and the University of Connecticut Huskies.

Beshear has placed a friendly wager with Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy on the game’s outcome, Beshear spokeswoman Kerri Richardson said Wednesday.

Chandler, meanwhile, has a bet on the game with Connecticut Congressman Joe Courntey.

All the bets involve food.

Census: A lot of Kentuckians will get a new congressman

By Bill Estep – bestep@herald-leader.com

A lot of Kentuckians are going to get new representatives in the U.S. House because of significant shifts in the state’s population.

The eastern and western ends of the state lost population between 2000 and 2010 while the middle third grew, according to U.S. Census figures released this week.

Three of the state’s six congressional districts fall short of the necessary population, while the other three are over it.

The national average for a U.S. House District will be 710,767.

However, the target number will vary by state; dividing Kentucky’s population of 4.3 million by six seats means a population target for each district of about 723,000.

Chandler gets appointed to House Intelligence Committee

U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, who recently lost his seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, has landed on the House Select Committee on Intelligence.

“I’m honored and humbled to be part of the Intelligence Committee,” Chandler, D-Woodford County, said in a statement.
“This committee is charged with the difficult task of keeping Americans safe from threats to our national security. We have a long, hard road ahead in our fight against terrorism, and ensuring a solid intelligence infrastructure is crucial to that fight.”

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer congratulated Chandler on the appointment and said the committee “has some of the biggest and most important responsibilities in Congress” dealing with national security.

In addition to the Intelligence Committee, Chandler will also serve on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Chandler removed from House spending panel

By John Cheves – jcheves@herald-leader.com

U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, has lost his seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, at least for the foreseeable future in the 112th Congress.

On Friday, Chandler said he was squeezed off the committee — which decides all federal spending — when Republicans took over the House this week and claimed the majority of seats on the panel. Congressional committees reflect the makeup of their respective chambers when it comes to party lines.

“I was No. 25 in seniority out of the 37 Democrats, so I was probably going to make the cut when they redid it,” Chandler said. “Then (House Speaker John) Boehner decided to downsize the committee from 60 to 50 members. So everyone got fewer seats. You can see how that panned out.”

Chandler blames Obama, Pelosi for Democrats’ losses in election

By Halimah Abdullah – habdullah@herald-leader.com

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler said last week he partially blames the Obama administration and U.S. House leadership for Democrats’ election losses and his extremely narrow re-election.

“If not there, where else does the responsibility lie?” said Chandler, D-Versailles, who had endorsed Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election. “You’re talking about the loss of 60 or something seats held by capable public servants. There had to be something going on at a level above them. If that isn’t the lesson, I don’t know what is.”

In a wide-ranging Herald-Leader interview last week, Chandler said Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should have focused on the economy before attempting to reform health care.

“I think it was a serious strategic error on the part of the administration to take on health care when the public was agitated about the economy,” he said.