Northup For Congress?

http://pitchmitchinaditch.blogspot.com

Anne Northup's most recent ad for the Republican primary touts "all of Kentucky's largest newspapers unanimously endorse Anne Northup for Governor."

It'd be great if it weren't a lie. The paper she plays up most, the Advocate Messenger, is a Danville paper with a circulation of 10,506 daily and 11,561 Sunday. She fails to mention the LEO, which has a circulation of 38,000, which endorsed Billy Harper. The LEO stated, "We seriously considered endorsing Anne Northup, primarily because of her experience in government and, well, she’s not the scandal-plagued, mildly bigoted compulsive liar that Fletcher is. But she declined our invitation for a sit-down, not just once but throughout three weeks of daily phone and e-mail prodding. Her people finally decided she could give us an interview after we had already put two issues of governor’s race coverage out there."

It should be noted that the Courier Journal also received no response from her, but endorsed her anyway.

Anne Northup has conceded the race. Despite the best smear efforts of her campaign and the Republican machine, and tons more money, John's message got out and he won the campaign.

Congratulations to John and to Louisville for picking someone who thinks for himself.

Year after year people complain that they don't like who is running and because of that, they don't vote.

Well, if you don't like the way things are going these days, vote out the incumbents. and vote for change.

Vote Yarmuth for Congress. Or vote the candidate of your choice.

Just vote!

Someone named Jim Dicken seems to take issue with comments made on this website. I'll attempt to address those.

John Kerry is an elitist? Perhaps. But let's not forget that George Bush comes from the same sort of background as Kerry and from a mother who seemed to think Katrina victims were doing pretty well for themselves in the Astrodome.

It seems as though there are questions about Kerry and Bush's discharges. Kerry served and got shot at. Bush served and did shots. There is a difference.

Osama didn't make the war in Iraq. George Bush did, and he failed. You can't spin it any other way. We've been lied to and his own comments are often in conflict with what his people on the ground have said. Bush can't even remember the dozens of times he said, "Stay the Course", and then blames the media for having the audacity for finding them and playing them.

As for 9/11, yes.... we fear death. Our enemy does not. That means that you can't win the war by picking them off one by one. You need different tactics. Bush doesn't understand this.

The fact is, Bush cut and ran from the real war on terror post 9/11. Rather than commit to Afghanistan, even when he had Osama Bin Laden surrounded, he got distracted with a war in Iraq whose real motives have YET to be made clear.

As for your criticisms about John Yarmuth, I would argue that these same accusations could be leveled at your beloved George Bush. His entire career was built on his family name and fortune, and his own business career was checkered with failures. John Yarmuth started a successful FREE newspaper, which isn't easy to do, and has an active and fertile mind, something that Anne Northup doesn't appear to have.

He also has been noted by people with completely opposite views to be a man of honesty and integrity. Given the smears that Anne goes to every campaign, I can't help but think Anne's own honesty and integrity is less important to her than winning.

It's time for a change. I'm voting for Yarmuth.

Republicans, looking for any scrap of dirt they can hurl at candidates this election, chose to pick John Kerry's comments to some college students and blow it completely out of proportion, knowing that if they bitch long enough and loud enough, the So Called Liberal Media will help them run with the ball.

Does ANYONE really think that Kerry's comments were more than a botched joke?

After all, John Kerry, despite the vicious smear campaign leveled against him by Swift Boat Captains For Slander, served in the military with distinction, getting wounded, and winning medals. He served his country and understood what it was like to fight in a pointless war.

George Bush served his country valiantly too, keeping Texas safe from the Viet Cong and ensuring that bars were able to stay in business during that difficult time. He even ensured our safety by not showing up for duty for awhile.

Kerry's joke was a stretch. But let's face it, John Kerry is to humor what Mark Foley is to the Boy Scouts.

What Kerry said appears to me to be in direct reference to George Bush's own embracing of his own poor track record as a student. This is the guy who said, "To those of you who've recieved honors, awards and distinctions, I say well done, and to the C students... I say, you too can be President of the United States."

If I were the Democrats, I would admonish Kerry for the joke, but point out that this administration, made up of NUMEROUS PEOPLE WHO NEVER SAW BATTLE, waves the flag at the same time they're cutting benefits for troops, sending them into battle with inadequate supplies and troop counts, and went into Iraq without paying any attention to the numerous experts who HAD served who told them it was a mistake, including George Bush's own father. Who is more disrespectful? A guy who botched a joke, or a guy who is responsible for misleading us into a war that killed thousands of our troops and maimed thousands more?

Don't believe the hype. A stupid comment by John Kerry is nothing more than a stupid comment by John Kerry. Republicans got us into the mess in Iraq and they're not going to do anything to get us out.

Vote Democrat!

Okay, I realize picking a winner in a debate is like picking a winner in your nose. It's all in the eye of the beholder.

Here are my thoughts....

Yes it's rude, but the camera was not kind to Ms. Northup, who looked like she just stepped out of a Mary Kay free trial.

Yarmuth could use an eyebrow trimming.

W Ed Parker could use a specific or two.

Donna Mancini looks like she's been using a bud or two of the marijuana.

In watching the debate I have to say that Anne lost handily. Her criticisms of Yarmuth were easily batted aside (because they were patently false). She was so nervous or ill prepared that she kept referring to her notes, screwing up the main points she was trying to make, referring to the attacks of November 11th and talking about John Yarmuth's wanting to take the phrase "under God" out of the Constitution, which of course is not true. She broke the debate rules in her closing. She said "we have two bridges that are right on the verge of being in full construction". Wow, that's like almost pregnant, isn't it? "We have a VA hospital that we're about to purchase land. We're about to go forward." Running again on two incomplete projects.

Yarmuth was nervous as well, but stayed on message and looked at the camera when speaking, not his notes.

What I find most telling about the debate is that Anne Northup, when she had the chance to question any candidate, chose Donna Mancini, who spent the entire debate looking like a sedated deer in headlights. If she's got so many issues with John Yarmuth, why not address him, since he's your main opponent. The reason? She knows that she can't win a debate one on one and that her issues with him are all things she took out of context to try and use against him.

The article below appeared in the CJ today. It appears that there are a few people upset with Annie taking credit for Waterfront Park.

To help Anne, let me find 10 more things she can take credit for:

10) Stimulated the local film and video community by shooting numerous commercials for myself.
9) Promoted free speech, no matter how vile, by brining attention to that awful liberal rag, LEO weekly.
8) Unwittingly revived the career of Diffrent Strokes actor Todd Bridges by saying bridges 13,289 times during my campaign.
7) Allowed that annoyingly partisan group the NAACP to garner some attention for itself by not showing up at their debate.
6) Came back strong after a difficult time recently. By that, I mean my inability to fundraise.
5) Never once pointed out that my opponent isn't a Christian.
4) Showed the value of hard work by always showing myself with my head buried in papers. Signing those special interest checks can wear a person out, but it's worth it.
3) Helped accelerate the funding of the VA hospital in Louisville by making sure there were enough soldiers getting maimed in Iraq to support the need.
2) I never took any campaign contributions from John Mark Karr, Saddam Hussein, Michael Jackson, or Charles Manson. I think. Those contributor databases are huge. Let me get back to you.
1) Demonstrated that in America, it is truly possible for ANYONE to get elected.

Northup ad 'undercutting' non-profit 'success story'

We object to Rep. Anne Northup's use of Waterfront Park to score political points. By posting self-serving billboards proclaiming her "support" for Waterfront Park, she is undercutting this remarkable non-profit and non-partisan community success story. This wonderful park is not her creation, but rather the product of a 20-year coalition that has engaged countless generous corporations, foundations and individuals in making what was once a dream a reality.

Anne Northup tastelessly tries to take election year advantage of Waterfront Park. To the extent that federal dollars have helped the project, we should recognize that these come not from Northup but from all of us who are taxpayers, regardless of political party. Numerous other dedicated public servants and civic leaders, including state and local officials, have played vital roles in building Waterfront Park. Although many have run for election -- including Mayor Jerry Abramson and former Mayor David Armstrong -- none has had the audacity to post billboards seeking political gain from Waterfront Park.

By politicizing this extraordinary community project, Northup shows disrespect for all those donors of every political persuasion and from every walk of life who have contributed so selflessly to Waterfront Park.

ORME WILSON

OWSLEY BROWN II

CHRISTINA LEE BROWN

ELEANOR BINGHAM MILLER

WADE HOUSTON

NANA LAMPTON

Louisville

Below is an article about the wealth of both candidates running for the 3rd district. As Anne attacks Yarmuth's making big bucks on his restaurants, maybe we should consider the fact that Anne and her husband are worth even MORE money than John. And I'm guessing that some of those investments she has are in companies that pay at least a few employees $5.15 an hour.



Northup's, Yarmuth's wealth reflects trend
Candidates outline financial assets
By Kay Stewart
kstewart@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal


By Kay Stewart
kstewart@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal



Third District congressional candidates Anne Northup and John Yarmuth disagree on most issues, but they have at least one thing in common: They are among the richest 1 percent of Americans.

They also are apparently the two wealthiest candidates for a U.S. House seat in Kentucky.

The five-term Republican congresswoman and her Democratic challenger each had more than $1 million in family income last year, according to their personal financial-disclosure reports.

Their wealth reflects a growing trend of millionaire House members and candidates, said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

Millionaires in Congress are "not unusual at all," he said, adding, "People don't care." He said voters focus instead on issues important to them, such as the Iraq war and the economy.

Northup, 58, listed assets of at least $4.4 million, including her husband's radio supply business, by far the biggest source of the family's income.

Yarmuth, 58, who sold his 40 percent ownership in the weekly newspaper LEO in 2003, reported at least $2.68 million in assets, primarily in two businesses operated by his brothers, including a chain of barbecue restaurants that provided him with nearly all of his income.

Northup and Yarmuth will face each other in the Nov. 7 election to represent nearly all of Jefferson County, where median household income is $46,755.

Mary Gant, a retired teacher and board member of the Kentucky and Louisville chapters of the League of Women Voters, said it's unfortunate if a lack of money keeps talented people from office, but she added that candidates shouldn't be judged on their financial status.

"Integrity is more important," she said.

But Alex Knott, a political editor at the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington-based watchdog organization, argues that the trend is troubling because as the number of millionaires in Congress increases, "what you get at the end of the day is a lot of rich people who are out of touch with the financial needs of most Americans."

Yarmuth acknowledges that he would have a tougher time launching a campaign if he did not have personal wealth. He said he will lend up to $350,000 of his own money to his campaign. Campaign laws stipulate that if he exceeds that amount, Northup could accept individual contributions of $4,200, double the federal limit of $2,100.

Northup, who raised $3.3 million two years ago, and her husband, Robert "Woody" Northup, each will donate the individual limit of $2,100 to her campaign, said Terry Carmack, her chief of staff.

Different views on money
While the two candidates have similar financial standing, Yarmuth said they are far apart on issues related to wealth, from personal investment ethics to tax cuts.

Northup supports making tax cuts permanent, Yarmuth said, while he opposes tax cuts for the richest Americans. She opposes raising the $5.15-an-hour minimum wage; he favors an increase. And while she favors eliminating estate taxes, he says estates valued from $3 million to $5 million and up should be taxed because of the record national debt.

"She votes for every tax policy that favors herself, and I vote for ones that don't favor me," said Yarmuth, who spent $40,000 in tax cut benefits he received on his sale of LEO three years ago running television ads denouncing the tax cuts.

If he wins the election, Yarmuth has pledged to donate his congressional salary -- which would be $168,500 next year -- to local charity.

Northup declined to be interviewed about her personal financial statement, but Carmack said the candidates' disagreement over taxes and other economic issues reflects their backgrounds.

"What the Northups have is the result of years and years of hard work, and what John Yarmuth has appears to be the result of a multimillion-dollar inheritance. That's a big difference," Carmack said.

Northup believes the way to cut the national debt and to grow the economy is through lower taxes, Carmack said, adding that "voters will have a clear choice."

Yarmuth declined to say how much money he inherited after the 1975 death of his father, Stanley Yarmuth, a founder of the conglomerate National Industries, which was later sold.

He said his grandfather, Samuel Klein, a civic leader and wealthy banker, and his mother bequeathed bank stock to him over the years -- it's now BB&T stock valued from $500,000 up to $1 million on his report.

Yarmuth said the vast majority of his wealth comes from three businesses -- LEO, and the two others operated by his brothers. "My two brothers and I worked very hard to build successful companies that had nothing to do with inheritance," he said.

His two largest assets, listed in the financial report as being valued from $1 million to $5 million each, are a 150-restaurant chain, Sonny's, based in Orlando, Fla., and operated by Robert Yarmuth, and Almost Family, a home-health-care company based in Louisville and headed by William Yarmuth.

John Yarmuth reported income of at least $1 million from the restaurant chain and a total of $6,600 in earned income from television commentary.

Northup's earned income last year was $155,709, her congressional salary, while dividends from her husband's company, Radio Sound Inc., which supplies radios to Harley-Davidson Motorcycles, brought in at least $1 million. His salary was not required or listed in the report.

She listed stocks in some 70 diverse companies, including oil companies Exxon Mobil and Chevron Texaco, pharmaceutical giants Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, and Pfizer; and communications corporations Time Warner and Viacom.

Yarmuth said he believes her holdings present conflicts "when she is casting votes that directly affect companies she has substantial interests in." Citing her listing of Exxon Mobil stock valued at a minimum of $50,000, he said that she voted for an energy bill that provided subsidies and tax breaks for oil companies.

Yarmuth said if he's elected he would divest himself of holdings that could mean a personal gain for him if he voted on an issue, including his 70,000 shares of Almost Family stock. The restaurant chain is privately owned, but he said he would consider ways to avoid conflicts, including a blind trust.

Carmack said stocks listed on Northup's report, the vast majority of which are owned by her husband or by the couple jointly, have not influenced her votes or violated ethics rules. He said that she has opposed legislation favored by banking and pharmaceutical interests, among holdings on her report.

And he said Yarmuth can't completely distance himself from his family's home-health-care business, which is affected by federal legislation. "That's impossible," Carmack said.

A 'unique' benefit
Under House ethics rules, members of Congress are to recuse themselves from voting on legislation if it provides them with a "unique" benefit, said Jan Witold Baron, a Washington, D.C., election law and ethics lawyer.

But he said that since legislation that affects companies typically affects all shareholders, members of Congress aren't required to recuse themselves when their votes could affect their own stock values -- and rarely do.

The recently filed reports do not list residential real estate holdings or mortgages, but Northup's home on Lexington Road is assessed for tax purposes at $302,260, and Yarmuth's home on Nitta Yuma Drive is assessed at $666,230, according to county property tax records.

Northup's husband also owns a home on a golf course near Naples, Fla., that he purchased four years ago for $2.35 million, according to Collier County, Fla., property tax records.

And Yarmuth said he has deposited $300,000 on residential investment property on a golf course in Ireland. He declined to give the purchase price but said he will have a mortgage after the sale is completed.

Reporter Kay Stewart can be reached at (502) 582-4114.

Anne Northup's second favorite guy feels that it's okay to torture suspects to get information. Here's a quote from his interview with Scott Hennen.

Q Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: It's a no-brainer for me, but for a while there, I was criticized as being the Vice President "for torture." We don't torture. That's not what we're involved in. We live up to our obligations in international treaties that we're party to and so forth. But the fact is, you can have a fairly robust interrogation program without torture, and we need to be able to do that.

And thanks to the leadership of the President now, and the action of the Congress, we have that authority, and we are able to continue to program.

It's nice to hear torture turned into a euphemism of "robust interrogation", as though it were some really good Folgers coffee. It's obvious that for Bush, Dick, and supporters like Annie Northup, the real goal of our "War on Terror" is not to get information to stop attacks, but to enact a global version of the movie Death Wish where we beat the crap out of anyone who may threaten us and have the believe that they'll gave under pressure and tell us everything we need to know. Now I love the show 24 like the next guy, but experts will tell you that a lamp wire to the privates or a simulated drowning is just as likely to get someone to tell you anything to make the torture stop as it is to give you information you can use.

We should be looking for intelligence. But I guess that if we can't find any in Washington, we sure aren't going to be able to find it in other parts of the world.

This is why Anne Northup, Bush, Cheney, and the rest of the corrupt "Stay the Course" bums need to be kicked out and we need to bring in fresh people who actually WILL work toward national security.

Some are calling Anne Northup's request for Rumsfeld to resign a shameless political move to pander to some votes she might be losing and to show she isn't always in Bush's corner.

Personally, I like to hope she sees what many of us have seen for years. Rumsfeld is an arrogant, small minded man with an ego fourteen times the size of his intellect who cares nothing about the men and women who are dying in Iraq. He got us into a war that cannot be won. He is the most vile person in an administration full of them. He ignored intelligence, he ignored advice from people with much more experience and savvy than him, and he continues to ignore reality.

So I agree with Anne. He should be tossed out on his butt, and soon, before 100s more soldiers die and we still find ourselves having to leave Iraq with nothing "won".

That fat, drug addicted, mouthpiece for Anne Northup and George Bush, Rush Limbaugh decides to attack Michael J Fox over yet another Republican non-issue in stem cell research. Because Republicans feel that it is better to toss embryos than let research happen on them, they feel it's okay to attack a beloved actor and champion for a cure to a horrible disease. Is this what Jesus would do?

This is the guy that these ultra conservatives love: a bloated sad sack windbag who apparently was so troubled with his own rhetoric that he got addicted to hillbilly heroin.

Enough is enough. It's time for real discussion of issues and concern for people by politicians with IQ's higher than their waist size.