Are you Bitter and Angry?

608280322/-1/ NEWS0206
"Beth: Vast majority of us now officially 'bitter and angry'By Beth Quinn
"August 28, 2006
"Times Herald-Record
"Who are these 35 percent of Americans who still approve of Bush's jobperformance? And why do they accuse us Bush critics of being "bitter and angry," as though our lack of complacency is some sort of character flaw?Their implication is that being bitter and angry is just so "so" unladylike. Do they imagine we're all at some 19th-century lawn party? That perhaps we're throwing an unseemly fit because a croquet ball went off in the wrong direction?Of course we're bitter and angry. The majority of Americans are. And if you're not, I can only ask, what planet are you living on? In fact, if you aren't bitter and angry at this dumb, smug president who's wrecking the country "well, then you're just not paying attention". Republicans should be bitter and angry because Bush has subverted all that's good in the Republican Party: fiscal responsibility and smaller government. Those who want to crush the terrorists should be bitter and angry becauseBush's disastrous war in Iraq has diverted attention, manpower and money from the real fight. Where, exactly, is Osama? Drivers should be bitter and angry every time they fill up at the gas pump. And if they're not bitter and angry now, just wait another couple of months when it's time to turn the furnace on. New Yorkers should be bitter and angry because lo and behold! it turns out we have no landmarks in town. No Homeland Security funds for us! That money's going to Indiana and all the other . . . states populated by Bush's Family Values Droids. Those with soldiers in Iraq should be bitter and angry because Support OurTroops is just a meaningless slogan created by Bush propagandists. As linguistNoam Chomsky points out, no one knows what it means because it doesn't mean anything.Meanwhile, Bush keeps sending soldiers into a war already lost so that those who already died haven't died in vain. What kind of stupid logic is that?Here's a bitter and angry slogan for you: A Slogan Can't Hide a Coffin. Parents and educators should be bitter and angry because Bush's No Child LeftBehind is just another slogan that doesn't mean anything as vapid and empty as saying Freedom is on the March. So here's another bitter and angry slogan for you: No Slogan Left Behind. Anyone with a loved one who has diabetes, Alzheimer's or Parkinson's should be bitter and angry at Bush for thwarting stem-cell research. Senior citizens should be bitter and angry because they've been sold a bill of goods with his useless Medicare prescription plan. Low-income college students should be bitter and angry because they can no longer qualify for government grants if they major in evolutionary biology. Goodbye, Age of Enlightenment! Those who love this beautiful planet should be bitter and angry because the White House is the only place on Earth where global warming doesn't exist. Goodbye, Venice. And oops! Goodbye, Florida, too. Venice, at least, will be missed.Those who value democracy should be bitter and angry as the government takes our freedoms from us, politically correct piece by politically correct piece in the name of another slogan The Patriot Act. No terrorist can take what some Americans so willingly give away as they accept this president's spying and lying and religious ideology as "the price we pay for democracy." Giving up democracy for the sake of democracy? That's lunacy. So, you bet I'm bitter and angry. And I can only ask, what would it take to make the bitterness and anger unanimous? I can't imagine, really, because what on earth is left for Bush to screw up? There are 870 days 'til Jan. 20, 2009. Hang in there, America."
"Beth's column appears on Monday."
Bitter and Angry, Vote for Stepp, vote the rascal out, next time vote Democratic in the Federal election in November.

October 9 Candidates' Debate on KET1

"Kentucky Educational Television is planning a series of candidate forums prior to the November 7, 2006 election and invites all candidates on the ballot in contested congressional races to participate.Additional information will be provided in the coming weeks but in the meantime, we offer the following schedule of forums to be broadcast live statewide on KET1.Election 2006: 2nd District CandidatesOctober 9 at 8:00 pm ET in LexingtonElection 2006: 5th District CandidatesOctober 9 following the 8:00 pm ET forum in Lexington" is an announcement I received in my email.

51% Democrats, 46% Republicans, 3% Other, Voter Registration for Kentucky Fifth District U.S. House.

The latest Kentucky Voter Registration Numbers are available if you click: http://elect.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/832ED4EB-C8F7-48AA-8787-00EB1090468D/0/augcong06.txt and for the Fifth Kentucky District the report from the Elections Division of the Kentucky Secretary of State's office (with my calculator per centage calculations) shows the total registered voters are 460,482 (100%); of that 236,859 (51%) are registered Democrats; 211,094 (46%) are registered Republicans; and 12,529 (3%) are registered other. If the Democrats vote for their own Federal candidate, and don't cross over and vote for the Republican Hal Rogers, the Fifth District will elect Kenneth Stepp to the U.S. Congress for the KY Fifth District in November. I heard three registered Republicans say that they plan to vote for Kenneth Stepp for U.S. House this November.

Thank you, Ned Pillersdorf. Thank you, Janet Stumbo.

Thank you, Ned Pillersdorf. Thank you, Janet Stumbo.

Thank you, Denzil Allen.

Thank you, Denzil Allen.

Thank you, Allen Price.

Thank you, Allen Price.

Thank you, Melvin Hardy.

Thank you, Melvin Hardy.

Another blogspot predicts a Democratic Majority in the U.S. House of Representatives this November election.

According to Bluegrassreport, another blogspot predicts a Democratic Majority in the U.S. House of Representatives after this November's election:
"Monday, August 28, 2006
"Forecast: A Look At 2006 House Seats In Play
"Chris Bowers over at MyDD just published a thoughtful and comprehensive look at the House seats in play this fall. He's got KY-4 in his "Tier 1" and KY-3 in "Tier 2." An excellent read.
"Last week he took a look at the 2006 Senate races. " Be a part of the emerging Democratic Majority, elect Kenneth Stepp to the U.S. House, KY-05 this November.

More predictions of a Democratic U.S. House majority in November elections.

Here are More predictions of a Democratic U.S. House majority in November elections which appeared on http://www.bluegrassreports.com and are passed on to you:
"Mann Projects Democratic Takeover
Brookings Institution scholar Thomas Mann "projects the Democrats to pickup 25-35 House seats, and four to five Senate seats with a chance to maybe hit six," according to Thomas Schaller. "Alternatively, Mann said the chance of Democrats capturing the House are two in three, and put the capture of the Senate at 50:50. One lunch attendee whose very close friend happens to be a Republican pollster told him that his internal GOP numbers point to 26 House pickups and six Senate gains for the Democrats."

"Rothenberg Predicts Democrats Will Take Control
Political Wire guest contributor Stuart Rothenberg raised his estimate of likely Democratic gains in the House of Representatives from 8-12 seats to 15-20 seats, which would translate to between 218 and 223 seats -- and a majority -- in the next House.
Add these assessments to the equally strong analysis of conservative commentator Bob Novak last week -- who believes Republican would lose 26 seats if the election were held today -- and you have quite a consensus of what is about to come.
Maybe the Democrats will sweep the Kentucky delegation to the U.S. House in November. Vote for Kenneth Stepp for U.S. House.

Kenneth Stepp and the Kentucky Democratic State Chairman speak to the Democratic Rally at Hazard Aug. 26.

The Hazard Aug. 26 Democratic Rally.

Kenneth Stepp chats with State Democratic Chairman Jerry Lundergan and with Hazard's State Senator Daniel Mongiardo.

Pictures of the Aug. 26 Democratic Rally at Hazard, Kentucky National Guard Armory, taken by Wilma Stepp.

Hazard National Guard Armory Sat. Aug. 26 1:00-4:00

We all had a great time at the Hazard National Guard Armory Saturday August 26, 2006 at 1:00 P.M. until 4:00 P.M. for the Free State Congressional Democratic Fish Fry. The fish were "free". It was sponsored by the Fifth District Democratic Executive Committee and the Perry County Democratic Party. I was to be there. We had a table and a photographer (Wilma Stepp) there and another campaign worker (Dave Cazalet) with some posters. It was be a good chance for you to meet me and the other Democratic candidates that will be on the Perry County and Fifth Congressional District ballots in November. Speakers included Sen. (& Dr.) Dan Mongiardo, the State Democratic Party Chairman, the speaker and Democratic leader of the State House of Representatives, and Kenneth Stepp. By one count there were 289 people that attended that Democratic campaign rally. I spoke against the War in Iraq and the $3/gallon gasoline, both of which I blamed on the Republicans and that rubber-stamp Republican Congressman Hal Rogers. Vote for Kenneth Stepp for U.S. House KY-05 in November. Let's bring the troops home; let's bring Hal Rogers home. I hope to publish some pictures of the event on this web site soon.

The Bush-Cheney-Hal Rogers War Cuts Iraqi Christianity by Half.

How's the War going? How is it doing? Have we civilized the Iraqi's yet? Have the 2,500 American military deaths benefited anyone, yet? Will we suffer 58,000 American deaths in Iraq like we did in Viet Nam? Part of the disaster that the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Hal Rogers team has inflicted upon Iraq is explained in the following article published in The New American magazine:
"Iraq's Christian Population Cut by Half by William Norman Grigg August 19, 2006
Email this article Printer friendly page
"Prior to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, noted Chaldean Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Andreos Abouna of Baghdad in a recent address to British charitable groups, about 1.2 million Christians lived in the predominantly Muslim country. Since that time, roughly half of the Iraqi Christians have fled their homeland, driven out by persecution and sectarian violence. Three-quarters of Baghdad's Christians have left the Iraqi capital city.
“What we are hearing now is the alarm bell for Christianity in Iraq,” stated Bishop Abouna. “When so many are leaving from a small community like ours, you know that it is dangerous — dangerous for the future of the church in Iraq.” Many Iraqi expatriate Christians have taken up residence in Syria, Jordan and Turkey, and Bishop Abouna thinks it unlikely that many will ever return. Syria, it should be noted, is widely considered a future target of U.S. and/or Israeli military strikes."
Why do so many Christians support the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Hal Rogers Administration? Do the Republican Christians relish the thought of Christianity being wiped out in that part of the world controlled and militarily occupied in the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Hal Rogers New World Order? With half the Iraqi Christians gone from Iraq in three years, if we "stay the course" and the trends continue, Iraq will not have a Christian population by 2009. Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld and Hal Rogers all say "stay the course" and keep an American Army of Occupation to install the Shiite demogogues in a pro-Iranian Islamic Republic similar to Iran. Why the American foreign policy is always to destroy our friends and help our enemies, Kenneth Stepp does not understand. We have done enough damage in Iraq. Bring the troops home now. Oil production has been cut by one fourth in Iraq since the American invasion and military occupation, and gasoline is three dollars a gallon in many places in the U.S.A. The American people have suffered enough under the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Hal Rogers Administration, it's time to bring Hal Rogers home, and to bring home the American troops from Iraq. A vote for Kenneth Stepp is a vote to bring them home. Vote for Kenneth Stepp, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. House KY-05.

"Agreed Order" dismisses indictment of Governor Fletcher.

This just in from Bluegrassreports, an Agreed Order dismissed the indictment of Governor Fletcher. The District Judge
Melcher said the grand jury is to be commended for its "diligent service." However, the agreement essentially ends its investigation. The attorney general's office will not seek any additional e-mail or other documents for the grand jury and no further criminal prosecutions will be sought by prosecutors under terms of the agreement.
Courier-Journal:
The order calls for the resignation of Fletcher’s four appointees to the Personnel Board.
The resignation letters of Fletcher’s four appointees to the Personnel Board were attached to the order. The four members are: Chairman Jack C. Smith Jr., and members Rick W. Ifland, Timm M. Hurst and E. Patrick Moores.
The resignations of the board members were required “in order to remove any doubt with regard to a fair tribunal that will administratively review claims within the merit system."
The governor will fill the four vacancies from lists presented to him by the attorney general’s office, according to the order.
The Order
In case you missed it at the bottom of the previous post, click here for a copy of the order sealing the deal and dismissing the case against indicted Governor Fletcher (R).
Vote for Kenneth Stepp for U.S. House, KY-05 for a full investigation of the Bush Administration, if we have a Democratic majority in the U.S. House next January. Hal Rogers is just a Bush-Cheney rubber stamp Congressman, but Kenneth Stepp will vote for a full investigation of the Bush-Cheney-Hal Rogers Administration.

You can help.

The below-listed radio one minute advertisment is running on the Country Music radio station in London, Kentucky, twice a day, starting Thursday. It costs eight dollars for each broadcast. It reaches listeners in Manchester, London, and Somerset. For a hundred dollars, you can have the same message advertised on your favorite Fifth District of Kentucky radio station approx. sixteen times. We pay no consulting costs--just broadcasting charges. That would be a good way for you to participate in the Stepp Committee campaign. Mail in a check for $100 to the Stepp Committee, 104 Tinsley St., Barbourville, KY 40906 or contact Act Blue, find Stepp for Congress or Stepp Committee, and use your credit card or debit card to contribute. You can keep us on the air, and get us on more radio stations. Together we can win in November, get a Democratic Congress in November, bring Hal Rogers home, and bring the U.S. troops in Iraq home. Kenneth Stepp, the Democratic candidate, KY-05 U.S. House.

$7.25 Minumum Wage Law.

Kenneth Stepp supports the proposed $7.25 Minimum Wage Law.

Latest Generic Polls for Congress

We have a summary of the latest results from the Generic Polls for Congress nationwide. How that relates to the Kentucky Fifth District U.S. House, we will see in November.
" PollingReport.com
" GENERIC BALLOT – U.S. House of Representatives from recent nonpartisan and partisan national polls
" See also: Complete trend
"Survey
PollingReport.com

GENERIC BALLOT – U.S. House of Representatives from recent nonpartisan and partisan national polls
See also: Complete trend
Survey
RepublicanCandidate
DemocraticCandidate
Other/Unsure
REP or DEM
Dates
%
%
%
Lead
.
Pew RV
8/9-13/06
41
50
9
9 D
.
Newsweek RV
8/10-11/06
39
51
10
12 D
.
FOX/Opinion Dynamics RV
8/8-9/06
30
48
22
18 D
.
AP-Ipsos RV
8/7-9/06
37
55
8
18 D
.
ABC/Washington Post RV
8/3-6/06
39
52
8
13 D
.
CNN RV
8/2-3/06
40
53
7
13 D
.
USA Today/Gallup RV
7/28-30/06
40
51
8
11 D
.
CBS/New York Times RV
7/21-25/06
35
45
20
10 D
.
Diageo/Hotline RV
7/20-23/06
32
48
20
16 D
.
Anyway it shows that if you ask 1000 people who they plan to vote for in the November Congressional Election, the Republican or the Democrat, in nationwide polls, it's the Democrat that wins by 9%, 12%, 18%, 18%, 13%, 13%, 11%, 10%, and 16%. Who do you plan to vote for in your Congressional District, the Democrat or the Republican? I haven't taken any polls. I wonder if Hal Rogers has taken any polls. He hasn't told me of any poll results. Has he told you of any poll results? Kenneth Stepp.

"USA TODAY" BLASTS BUSH/CHENEY/HAL ROGERS ILLEGAL WARRANTLESS WIRETAPS

The popular nationally-published newspaper USA TODAY blasted the Bush/Cheney/Hal Rogers illegal warrantless wiretaps on their editorial page. As you remember, when the matter was before Congress concerning the illegal warrantless wiretaps, Congressman Hal Rogers voted to "stay the course" and allow the President's men to keep on making illegal warrantless wiretaps of the phone conversations of American citizens. The editorial states:
"Editorial/Opinion
"Inside News
"Wiretap ruling affirms that presidents aren't monarchs
"Updated 8/17/2006 8:39 PM ET
"For the past five years, the Bush administration has operated as if the horrific events of 9/11 not only changed fundamental aspects of national security and public safety, but also changed the very nature of government. . . .
"President Bush has unilaterally declared what parts of new laws he wishes to enforce. He has created military tribunals unauthorized by Congress. And, perhaps most ominously, he has authorized eavesdropping on phone calls to and from the USA without court orders.
"Bush has done these things by simply asserting that the powers of the presidency enumerated in Article II of the Constitution — particularly the clause making him the "Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy" — are much more sweeping than previously imagined. In short, he has acted like a king.
"Fortunately, the courts have begun to rein in his royal ambitions. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the military tribunals. And on Thursday, federal Judge Anna Diggs Taylor struck down the warrantless surveillance program, finding it to be a violation of the First and Fourth Amendments and the principle of separation of powers. "There are no hereditary Kings in America," she wrote.
"The ruling by Taylor, who was appointed by President Carter, is far from the final word. The wiretapping program will continue while the administration appeals. It is not hard to see other courts ruling differently by saying that the plaintiffs, led by the American Civil Liberties Union, should not have been given standing to bring the case because they could not show they were harmed by the eavesdropping.
"But the ruling does undermine Bush's main argument — that the program is constitutional because the administration says it is constitutional. Taylor gives little credence to this argument, as one might expect from a representative of the judicial branch, the place where questions of constitutionality are properly resolved.
"Since the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was adopted in 1978, presidents have had an effective and constitutional way to speedy court approval for surveillance. FISA even allows for retroactive approval in urgent investigations.
"If this law is overly restrictive or somehow unequal to the task of combating today's global terror threat, the president can and should go to Congress to make the case for new legislation. Given the mood of the country and the continuing threat exemplified by the alleged airline bombing plot in Britain last week, Congress would surely make addressing the problem a priority.
"By ignoring the law, and making specious arguments that powers contained in Article II make the president virtually unaccountable to either the courts or Congress, the president shows contempt for the other branches and exposes his determination to concentrate power within his own — with no particular gain for the war on terrorism.
"Much has changed since terrorists rammed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. But one thing that has not is that America is a constitutional democracy with checks and balances. A ruling such as Thursday's is a useful and forceful affirmation of that."
Hal Rogers is nothing but a rubber stamp of the Bush/Cheney Administration. Don't let the United States Constitution be trampled upon. Kenneth Stepp believes in strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, and strict enforcement of it. Presidential powers are not "inherent", they are limited to what powers the U.S. Constitution specifically gives the President. The Republicans favor unlimited powers of the President and unlimited powers of the United States government. The editorial notes that the Republicans will ignore and defy the ruling of the Federal District Court while the matter is on appeal--if they appeal it. Not since Andrew Jackson, and the "Trail of Tears" has a United States President chosen to ignore the rulings of a Federal Court. Kenneth Stepp believes in a government of laws and not men. When I was a small child, my older brother, about age ten, told me that America is a dictatorship and that the President can do anything he wants to. I hope my older brother was wrong then, and I hope that statement that he made is still wrong. Under the F.I.S.A., of 19,000 wiretap warrants requested of the secret court, whose judges were appointed by the President, only four were denied; that is hardly an onerous burden for the President's men to overcome to get wiretaps in cases of suspected terror. Sure, we should wiretap the phone conversations of terrorists, but let's get warrants first. Vote for checks and balances in the United States government. Vote that "rubber stamp" Hal Rogers out of office. Elect Kenneth Stepp, the Democratic candidate to the U.S. House, KY Fifth District.

Health Insurance.

The Bluegrassreports blog spot reports that the percentage of Americans that have neither Medicaid nor health insurance is approx. fifteen per cent. Approx. 65% of Americans are covered by employer's health insurance programs. I don't see a need for a drastic change in the law. I favor Children's Medical Services, Veterans Administration clinics and hospitals, and other special programs to help keep people from falling in the cracks. I also favor increasing the eligibility for Medicaid, so we can further reduce the number of those who cannot get health care. Of course, those among the wealthy will always have a number of self-insurers. Another problem is under-insurance; some health insurance policies are not adequate to cover the higher costs of new medical procedures. The government should help to make health care more affordable, and more available.

Speech at Hyden, Kentucky

Kenneth Stepp gave a speech to approx. 120 people March 4, 2006 in Hyden, Kentucky slamming illegal warrantless wiretaps, holding prisoners indefinitely withut charges being brought against them, mistreatment of prisoners, and allegations of holding noncombatant women as hostages in the "War Against Terror". Stepp said that those tactics of the Republican administration are against "truth, justice, and the American way." Specifically, Stepp said that the Federal Government has created a special "wiretap court" of special judges [appointed by the President] who rule on nothing but wiretap applications, and that of approx. 19,000 applications for wiretaps,they have denied them only four times. Nevertheless, Stepp complained, the Republican administration has not been satisfied with that "rubber stamp court" and has been making illegal wiretaps without seeking nor getting any warrants for the wiretaps. Concerning the prisoners being held without charges brought against them at Guantanamo Bay, Stepp said that the government should either bring charges against them or release them. Concerning mistreatment of prisoners, Stepp applauded that there had been criminal prosecutions for mistreatment of prisoners by Americans, but added that we should be sure that we do not mistreat prisoners in the future. Concerning hostages, the Democrat added that it had been alleged that the U.S. government had taken as hostages the noncombatant wives of suspected enemy soldiers in Iraq, to make it easier to capture their husbands; Stepp said that taking hostages is contrary to "the American way" and should not be done.
The Democrat added that education is the way to prosperity both for the individual and for the nation. Stepp pledged to support more revenue sharing from the Federal government to the local school boards for education, and to support more Federal money for Pell grants to support higher education.

Illegal Unconstitutional Warrantless Wiretaps Outlawed.

A recent news story from the Associated Press shows:
"Judge nixes warrantless surveillance
"By SARAH KARUSH, Associated Press Writer 14 minutes ago
"DETROIT - A federal judge ruled Thursday that the government's warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it.
"U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency's program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.
"Plaintiffs have prevailed, and the public interest is clear, in this matter. It is the upholding of our Constitution," Taylor wrote in her 43-page opinion."
Kenneth Stepp has constitently opposed the illegal, Unconstitutional warrantless wiretaps. Hal Rogers has voted to "stay the course" and keep on having illegal UnConstitutional warrantless wiretaps. A vote for Kenneth Stepp is a vote to restore civil liberties, and to restore the United States Constitution. Vote for Kenneth Stepp to the U.S. House of Representatives, KY-05.

Volunteer Lawyer for Appalachian Kentucky

Kenneth Stepp is shown receiving an award for donating ninety six hours of legal services to the poor people of the Fifth Congressional District of Kentucky, through VLAK, the Volunteer Lawyers of Appalachian Kentucky. Considering that Kenneth Stepp used to be paid one hundred fifty dollars per hour in probate and guardianship cases a few years ago, his one hundred hours he donated to the poor through VLAK last year may be worth fifteen thousand dollars. Anyway, it was worth an award plaque from VLAK. Despite the Congressional campaign, and despite working a full-time job as an attorney, Kenneth Stepp has resumed giving free legal services to the poor, through Volunteer Lawyers of Appalachian Kentucky. It is too bad that some people do not have enough money to pay attorney fees, but the doors of the Courthouses should not be slammed in the faces of our indigent Kentuckians. If I have to take time off from the Congressional campaign to give free legal services to the poor and indigent of Kentucky, then my campaign to be a Congressman will have to wait. It is a privilege to have a special skill that some would pay $90 to $150 per hour to hire, and to be able to donate the use of that special skill to indigent Kentuckians. Jimmy Carter donates his carpentry skills to the indigents through Habitat for Humanity. Bill Clinton has served soup to the homeless in soup lines. Free service to the poor is a Democratic tradition, a lawyers' tradition, and an American tradition. Mother Theresa, a Roman Catholic Nun, taught the doctrine that, "If you see a tramp on the street, you treat him like Jesus Christ." God always gives a special blessing to those who help the poor.

Snowy day in Clay County with Kenneth Stepp.

Kenneth Stepp in rural Clay County, in the Fifth Congressional District of Kentucky.

Stepp interview and contribute.

Kenneth Stepp, pictured, is the Democratic Candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, Fifth District of Kentucky. With your help, we will win in November. Today, the Lexington Herald-Leader repeated the substance of the scathing editorial concerning my Republican opponent Hal Rogers that had appeared in the National Review online. Hopefully, it will soon be available for you to view on www.kentucky.com Kenneth Stepp was recently interviewed and that interview was placed on http://kydem.bogspot.com which you can punch and read. It takes money to run a campaign. If you want to invest in the future of the Democratic Party, you can help the Kenneth Stepp campaign by punching http://www.actblue.com/page/stepp and punch the button for contributing. We also need volunteers in all counties of the Fifth District. Please contact me about that. Thank you. Kenneth Stepp.

Fifth District of Kentucky People: Kenneth Stepp's relatives living in the Fifth District.

Kenneth Stepp and some of his relatives, all residing in the Kentucky Fifth District of the U.S. House are pictured, from left, Denzil Smith, Kenneth Stepp, Cheryl Smith, Conrad Stepp, Carson Stepp, Daniel Smith, Gracie Smith, David Smith, and Curtis Smith (photo by Wilma Stepp).

Kenneth Stepp and his early family.

An early picture of Professor James M. Stepp and his three sons (left to right John Stepp, Jimmy Stepp and Kenneth Stepp) on the steps in front of Long Hall, Clemson Agricultural College (now Clemson University), in which building Professor Stepp taught Agricultural Economics for thirty years, until the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology was moved to a newer building across campus. The second picture shows Myrtle Stepp, John M. Stepp, Professor James Stepp and Kenneth Stepp in a picture by the family Christmas tree taken approx. Christmas 1949. John M. Stepp was the candidate's grandfather, and Myrtle Stepp was Kenneth Stepp's step-grandmother; they both resided at Marion, in the North Carolina mountains. Professor Stepp had attended Berea College in Kentucky before attending the University of Virginia Ph.D. program and teaching at Clemson.

Contact me.

Contact me at
Kenneth Stepp, Stepp Committee, 104 Tinsley Street, Barbourville, Kentucky Fifth District 40906, www.dccc.org or at www.kennethstepp.blogspot.com phone (606)545-7955; fax (606)598-0433; phone (606)598-2563;email kenneth_stepp@yahoo.com or steppcommittee@yahoo.com

Double Pay for Overtime!

Double Pay for Overtime is what Kenneth Stepp supports. When he worked as a polisher at the Singer Plant in Pickens, South Carolina in the 1960's, Kenneth Stepp got a lot of overtime work in the factory, polishing aluminum castings for Sears Craftsman tools on a polishing wheel. Double pay is reasonable for overtime. Kenneth Stepp will support or introduce Federal Legislation in 2007 amending the Fair Labor Standards Act to provide double pay for any overtime over 40 hours a week, and eliminating comp time exceptions.

Latest Newsweek Poll: 53% to 34%.

According to the latest Newsweek poll, 53% of the registered voters prefer the Democrats to win control of Congress, but only 34% of the registered voters prefer the Republicans to retain control of Congress.
Newsweek Online explains, "Of course, with 13 weeks before the midterms, there's plenty of time for the Republicans to increase that lead. But terrorism is the only issue they have going for them, according to the poll. Right now 53 percent of Americans would like to see the Democrats win control of Congress, compared to just 34 percent who want the Republicans to retain control. Most worrisome for the GOP? Almost one in 10 Republicans, 9 percent, hope the Democrats win. "
Vote with the new emerging majority, Elect Kenneth Stepp to the U.S. House of Representative, KY-05.

ABC News/Washington Post Poll shows 52% to 39%

Reuters News service had a poll result showing that 52% of the registered American voters would prefer to have a Democratic U.S. House Representative, but on ly 39% prefer a Republican U.S. House Representative. Reuters reports:
"Voters ready to dump incumbents in Congress: poll
"ReutersTuesday, August 8, 2006; 12:11 AM
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American voters are as ready to dump incumbent lawmakers as they were just before they handed control of Congress to Republicans in 1994, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Monday.
Republicans, who control both houses of Congress, stand to lose the most in the November elections because of strong anti-incumbent sentiment and they trail Democrats in support among registered voters, the poll showed.

"Mark Gong -- The Washington Post

"American voters are as ready to dump
incumbent lawmakers as they were just before they handed
control of Congress to Republicans in 1994, according to an ABC
News/Washington Post poll released on Monday.','') ;
"Fifty-three percent of those surveyed called themselves "anti-incumbent" -- nearly the same as the 54 percent who identified themselves as such in the summer of 1994 when Congress was still under the Democrats' control.
"While the percentage of anti-incumbent Republicans was lower in the poll than the percentage of anti-incumbent Democrats in 1994 (33 percent versus 46 percent), the share of anti-incumbent independents rose to 61 percent from 57 percent in 1994.
The telephone poll, which has a 3 percentage point margin of error, was taken between August 3 and August 6 among 1,002 adults.
Among registered voters, 52 percent said they would support the Democrat in their congressional district if the election were held today. Only 39 percent said they would vote for the Republican, the poll showed.
Republicans are being hurt by Americans' anti-war sentiment, the poll showed. Thirty-eight percent of those polled said they would be more likely to oppose a candidate who supports President George W. Bush's Iraq policy, compared with only 23 percent who would back such a candidate."
Show your anti-incumbent discontent; elect Kenneth Stepp to U.S. House KY-05, the Democratic Candidate.

U.S. Military Intervention in Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.

The following is the opinion of Kenneth Stepp, concerning further United States involvement in the Middle East, with full credit given to
"Escalating War by William F. Jasper, August 21, 2006, The New American, pp. 14-17.
"The dilemma of false alternatives -- and why Americans must not let our government entangle us further in the current Mideast mess.
* * *
"Is there no other way? Is minding one's own business not an option? George Washington, in his farewell address in 1796, articulated the moral and constitutional foundation for just such a foreign policy. "Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground?" he asked. "The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations," he said, "is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible." John Quincy Adams, our sixth president, endorsed this sensible policy thusly: "America goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own."
"When it comes to Lebanon and the surrounding vicinity, Americans have a right (nay, a duty) to ask just how many times we are going to allow this same crew of CFR [Council on Foreign Relations] "wise men" (yes, that's actually how they refer to themselves) to drag us into this monster hunt.
"Over the past five decades, one CFR-dominated administration after another (Republican and Democrat) has intervened in Lebanese affairs — always with disastrous results for America, Israel, Lebanon, and the entire Middle East.
"The age-old tribal, ethnic, political, ideological, and religious enmities that have been the source of so much strife and bloodshed in the region have been exacerbated over the past several decades by Moscow and Beijing, which have been working the Arab and Islamic "street" ever since the founding of Israel in 1948. That has not changed since the apparent demise of the Soviet Union; Russia continues to support the terror states, as does China. If Iran and Syria are the real powers behind Hezbollah and Hamas (and they are), then Russia and China just as certainly are the powers behind Iran and Syria. But the CFR policy cartel would have us believe that Presidents Vladimir Putin and Hu Jintao are our indispensable allies in the region, who will help us make nice with Iran, Syria, and their terror surrogates.
"For America to step into the Lebanon-Israel inferno would be utter folly, in even the most favorable circumstances. To do so with our Iraq and Afghanistan occupations already draining our military and economic resources, with our borders unprotected, with the knowledge that Hezbollah will respond by launching terror attacks against (and within) the U.S., and with the "solution" being crafted by those with a track record for stirring up the flames, is utter madness."

Hal Rogers has voted for "staying the course" of keeping U.S. troops fighting in the Middle East, and keeping the American Army of Occupation in Iraq; a vote for Kenneth Stepp is a vote to bring the American troops home from Iraq, and to keep them out of Iran, Syria, and Lebanon. Hal Rogers is a rubber stamp for the Bush CFR-dominated administration, and Hal Rogers will undoubtedly rubber-stamp any Bush Administration recommendation for further U.S. military intervention in Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Lebanon. Vote for Kenneth Stepp for U.S. House of Representatives, KY-05. A vote for Kenneth Stepp is a vote to bring the troops home.

Bettye, Anthony, McKenzie, Wilma, and Kenneth at the Law Offices.

At the Law Offices of Carl A. Short II are the office manager Bettye, the lawyer Anthony, student intern McKenzie, the photographer Wilma, and the other lawyer Kenneth Stepp.
Kenneth Stepp the lawyer looks up from a case file and his computer screen at the photographer Wilma Stepp, all at the Law Offices of Carl A. Short II in Manchester, Kentucky.
At 209-A Main Street, with ample parking on the left, are the Law Offices of Carl A. Short II where the candidate Kenneth Stepp works as a lawyer. The entrance to the law offices is on the left side of the building beside the parking lot. Like many streets in the Kentucky Fifth District for the U.S. House, Main Street in Manchester is steeply sloped from Richmond Road up to the new Clay County Courthouse at the top of the hill. The Law Offices of Carl A. Short II are about half way up the hill, and between other law offices on the steep slope.

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Times/Bloomberg Poll shows Democratic lead

Stepp for Congress here repeats the results of the Los Angeles Times Times/Bloomberg Poll as reported April 13, 2006.
"The poll contained ominous findings for Republican House and Senate majorities as the midterm elections approached.
" Although President Bush's job approval rating was essentially unchanged from his 38% showing last month, the new poll found Democrats opening double-digit leads on key measures of voters' early preferences for the November balloting.
"Democrats lead Republicans 49% to 35% among registered voters who were asked which party they intended to support in their congressional districts this fall. When registered voters were asked which party they hoped would control the House and Senate after the midterm election, 51% picked the Democrats and 38% the GOP.
"On both questions, independent voters preferred Democrats by ratios of about 3 to 1 or more."
"The nationwide Times/Bloomberg poll contacted 1,357 adults, including 1,234 registered voters, from Saturday through Tuesday. The survey, supervised by Times Polling Director Susan Pinkus, has a margin of sampling error for both groups of plus or minus 3 percentage points."
For the whole story, see http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-poll 13 apr13,0,

More on warrantless wiretaps.

The New Your Times Online Edition had the following Editorial it published protesting the Republicans' abuse of Presidential Power allowed by the rubber-stamp Republican Congress and rubber-stamp Republican Congressmen such as Hal Rogers:
"Editorial
"The Death of the Intelligence Panel
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"Published: March 9, 2006
"The wrenching debate in the 1970's over the abuse of presidential power produced two groundbreaking reforms aimed at preventing a president from using war or broader claims of national security to trample Americans' rights.
"One was the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which struck the proper balance between national security and bedrock civil liberties, and the other was the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, a symbol of bipartisan leadership. They endured for a quarter of a century — until George W. Bush and Dick Cheney left FISA in tatters and the Senate Select Committee on its deathbed in just five years.
"The Senate panel has become so paralyzingly partisan that it could not even manage to do its basic job this week and look into President Bush's warrantless spying on Americans' international e-mail and phone calls. Senator Pat Roberts, the chairman, said Tuesday that there would be no investigation. Instead, the committee's Republicans voted to create a subcommittee that is supposed to get reports from the White House on any future warrantless surveillance.
"It's breathtakingly cynical. Faced with a president who is almost certainly breaking the law, the Senate sets up a panel to watch him do it and calls that control. This new Senate plan is being presented as a way to increase the supervision of intelligence gathering while giving the spies needed flexibility. But it does no such thing.
"The Republicans' idea of supervision involves saying the White House should get a warrant for spying whenever possible. Currently a warrant is needed, period. And that's the right law. The White House has not offered a scrap of evidence that it interferes with antiterrorist operations. Mr. Bush simply decided the law did not apply to him.
"It was no surprise that Mr. Roberts led this retreat. He's been blocking an investigation into the domestic spying operation for weeks, just as he has been stonewalling a promised investigation into how the White House hyped the intelligence on Iraq. But it was disappointing to see a principled Republican like Senator Olympia Snowe go along. The Democrats are not blameless, either. Too often, their positions seem like campaign tactics, and Senator John Rockefeller IV fumbled by not consulting Ms. Snowe, who is up for re-election and under intense White House pressure.
"But the Republicans deserve the lion's share of the blame. It was Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney who hyped the intelligence on Iraq — and the Senate Republicans who helped them evade accountability. And it was Mr. Bush who approved the warrantless wiretapping, which is part of Mr. Cheney's crusade to expand presidential powers. (Unlike the rest of us, Mr. Cheney thought the lesson of Watergate was that the president was not strong enough.)
"Ms. Snowe said she would still support an investigation if the new panel uncovered more wrongdoing. But that's hardly likely to happen because the Republicans on the panel are Mr. Roberts, Orrin Hatch, Mike DeWine and Christopher Bond, who march in lock step with the White House.
"The Senate Judiciary Committee is still looking into the wiretapping. That committee should have plenty of incentive to go forward — its chairman, Senator Arlen Specter, was righteously angry when he received a letter in which Attorney General Alberto Gonzales implied that there was more warrantless spying we don't know about. Mr. Gonzales won't even say that Mr. Bush understands it is blatantly illegal to spy on communications within the United States without a warrant. Nevertheless, there's not much cause for hope: Mr. Specter has a sad habit of bowing to the right wing when the chips are down.
"There are moments when leaders simply have to take a stand. It seems to us that one of them is when Americans are in danger of the kind of unchecked surveillance that they thought had died with J. Edgar Hoover, Watergate and spying on Vietnam protesters and civil rights leaders. "
Hal Rogers voted to "stay the course" on the Federal government keeping on doing warrantless wiretaps; Kenneth Stepp opposes warrantless wiretaps. Elect Kenneth Stepp to the U.S. House K-05, and that is a vote to end the illegal Federal warrantless wiretaps.

Polls show Democrats lead in generic U.S. House races.

More good news for Democrats from Bluegrassreport.com:
"Thursday, August 10, 2006
"Fox News Poll: Dems Lead By 18 Over GOP In Generic Congressional Ballot
"This must be so difficult for Fox News to report, but in polling released today, Democrats hold a staggering 18-point lead over Republicans in the generic congressional ballot, 48% to 30%. The Democratic number is at its all-time high during the Bush administration and the Republican number is at an all-time low. In July, Democrats led 42% to 34%.
Other highlights in the Fox News-commissioned poll shows:
In terms of overall favorability, the Democratic Party is rated 47% favorable versus 37% unfavorable, for a net +10. The Republican Party is viewed favorably by 38% and unfavorably by 51%, a net -13;
"Independents prefer Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D) as the next Speaker of the House by a 26% to 12% margin over current Speaker Dennis Hastert (R);
Independents prefer the Democrat over the Republican on a generic congressional ballot by a 38% to 14% margin.
"Not good numbers for the GOP.
"Hat tip: Political Wire."
Be sure and vote for the Demcratic candidate for U.S. House, KY-05 Kenneth Stepp.

Rural Clay County Kentucky

Stepp Committee gets money from ActBlue Federal PAC

The Stepp Committee got money from ActBlue Federal Political Action Committee. You can make contributions to Democratic candidates through the ActBlue Federal Political Action Committee web site at www.actblue.com/campaign Kenneth Stepp.

More about the Abramoff Republican forced abortions scandal

Paradise Lost Greed, Sex Slavery, Forced Abortions and Right-Wing Moralists
by Rebecca Clarrenphotos by Martin Von Krogh
(Editor's Note: This article is excerpted from the spring 2006 issue of Ms. Magazine.)
"That expensive blouse you’re wearing? It may have been sewn by a Filipina garment worker laboring in a factory owned by a Hong Kong mogul on a western Pacific island. The Northern Mariana Islands, a territory of the United States, offers the possibility of an American label — Made in Saipan (USA), Made in Northern Mariana Islands (USA), or simply Made in USA — to garment manufacturers, and throws in a unique exemption from U.S. minimum-wage and immigration laws.
"Anti-sweatshop leaders and some members of Congress have long sought to increase wages and protect the islands’ garment workers, most of whom are women, from what amounts to indentured servitude. But their efforts were repeatedly stalled in Congress. And who was among the biggest opponents of reform? None other than the notorious lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whose tentacles reached deep into House Republican leadership. And who was one of the loudest congressional cheerleaders against reform? Tom DeLay, who praised the islands as “a petri dish of capitalism.”
"Most Saipan prostitutes are former garment workers.
"In the midst of what could be the largest congressional scandal in history, Ms. sent an investigative team to the Northern Marianas to examine firsthand the consequences of these lobbying efforts and congressional inaction on real women’s lives. Plus, we wanted to track down reports of forced abortions on the islands. Could it be that virulent opponents of abortion, such as DeLay, were contributing to conditions where desperate pregnant workers had no choice but to have an abortion? "

Hal Rogers, $32,000 and Abramoff's Casino Clients.

The following story ran January 4, 2006 in the Kentucky Herald-Leader concerning Hal Rogers, the Jack Abramoff scandal, and what he was doing with the $32,000 he has collected from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff's Indian casino clients.
"January 4th, 2006 6:16 pm
"Rogers to give away $32,000 from Abramoff's casino clients
By John Cheves / Kentucky Herald-Leader
"FRANKFORT - U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers said last night he will give away $32,000 in campaign donations he had accepted from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff's Indian casino clients.
"The money should not be allowed to become a problem, said Rogers, a Republican who represents Southeast Kentucky's 5th Congressional District. It will go to the UNITE Foundation, a non-profit group he helped organize in his district to fight drug trafficking and treat addiction.
"Although these contributions were lawfully made and properly reported, out of an abundance of caution, so as to avoid any appearance of impropriety, I am donating these funds to the UNITE Foundation," Rogers said after a query from the Herald-Leader.
"Among their millions of dollars in campaign contributions, Abramoff and his clients have given $63,500 to Kentucky's congressional delegation and the Kentucky Republican Party since 1999, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan Washington group that tracks money in politics.
"Most of the money went to Rogers, a senior member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, who received $18,500. The state Republican Party took $10,000.
"McConnell's office did not respond to questions yesterday about his plans for the money. Neither did officials at GOP headquarters in Frankfort.
"Federal prosecutors appear to be building a corruption case around Abramoff, who pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud.
"Around the country, politicians who once welcomed Abramoff's money are nervously rushing to return it or give it to charity.
"Jack Abramoff is radioactive now," said Mary Boyle, spokeswoman for Common Cause, a political watchdog. "You know something big must be going on when you see politicians actually giving up money."
"Only one Kentucky politician took a donation directly from Abramoff: U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, a Republican, who accepted $1,000 in 2003. Bunning's office did not return a call yesterday.
"The rest of the money came from Indian tribes in Louisiana, Mississippi, Michigan and California who lobbied Congress on gambling issues. Their desires for Kentucky lawmakers are unknown. None of the politicians would respond to questions about the tribes yesterday, and none of the tribal governments returned calls.
"At this point, it's unclear whether Abramoff controlled the Indians' campaign donations, but he certainly led much of their political activity, said Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics.
"He has admitted to manipulating the Indian tribes for his own benefit, to make friends and advance his own agenda in Washington," Noble said. "Abramoff was directing them to give money to people he said could be helpful to them -- people who could vote their way, or write letters or make calls on their behalf."
"One of the problems the Indians are going to face after all this is that they still want to be able to make campaign donations, but I don't know who is going to be willing to take a check from them any time soon," Noble said."
Vote for Kenneth Stepp, the Democratic candidate for U.S. House, KY District 5, and let's put the Abramoff scandal behind us.

Today's Connecticut Referendum on "Staying the Course" in the Iraq War.

Today the Democratic voters in Connecticut are having a referendum on "staying the course" in the Iraqi War. Senator Lieberman wants to "stay the course" and keep American troops fighting in that war. Ned LaMont (and Kenneth Stepp) say "Pull the U.S. troops out of Iraq." Ned LaMont is basically a one-issue candidate. The Connecticut voters will decide today if they will oust an otherwise liberal Democratic Senator because he wants to "stay the course" and keep American troops in Iraq. The following is an email that I received today concerning that Connecticut Democratic primary vote today between incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Lieberman and Ned Lamont:
"Dear Kenneth,
"I'm here on the ground in Connecticut today, working with local Democracy for America groups in support of Ned Lamont. You should be proud of your DFA colleagues in Connecticut. Everyone is working incredibly hard to get out the vote.
"This race has changed the political landscape.
"It boils down to this: We have a powerful three-term incumbent Senator on the ropes because he won't question the Republican mess in Iraq. We've shown that Democrats can't be a rubber stamp for President Bush's "stay the course" approach.
"The Iraq war is the defining issue of this year's elections. It's that simple.
"This isn't about left or right, and it's bigger than any one political party. This is about honesty and reality in the American conversation. Right now, in Iraq, we're spending billions of dollars and destroying lives because of a failed policy. Honest politicians have already acknowledged that Iraq is a disaster, and have been speaking out for months and even years. From Republican Chuck Hagel to Democrat Jack Murtha to Independent Bernie Sanders, serious people of all political stripes have stood up and spoken a simple truth. "Staying the course" will only lead America and Iraq into deeper disaster. This election in Connecticut shows that President Bush's failed policies in Iraq are not only harmful for our country -- they're absolutely poison for campaigns. As you know, the landscape didn't change overnight. Ned's insurgent campaign was powered by support from thousands of DFA members across Connecticut and around the country. Together, DFA members put Washington on notice that the war in Iraq is the defining issue for Democrats and for our country.
"Our job is far from over, but we've already come a long way. Please forward this message to your friends and ask them to join the fight:
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/tell-a-friend Thank you,Tom Tom HughesExecutive DirectorDemocracy for America "

Hal Rogers and Tom Delay.

The Opposition: Kenneth Stepp is challenging GOP incumbent Hal Rogers.
Here are some facts about Hal Rogers and how tied up Rep. Rogers is with Tom DeLay. . .
--Hal Rogers voted with Tom DeLay 90% of the time.
--Hal Rogers voted to weaken the ethics rules in a move that many say served only to protect DeLay.
--When Republicans realized it was "impossible to win the communications battle" over the gutted rules, Rogers flip-flopped and voted to put the old rules back into place.
--When Democrats offered a solution to clean up the House by strengthening ethics rules, Hal Rogers voted twice to make sure it never even came to an up or down vote.
--Tom DeLay has been admonished three times for his unethical behavior, yet Hal Rogers gave the Tom DeLay legal fund $5,000 to help defend him.
1. Voting percentage with DeLay: calculated through: www.cq.com 90%
2. Vote to weaken ethics rules: H.Res.5, Roll Call #6, 1/4/05 YES
3. Vote to repeal weakened ethics rules:
H.Res.241, Roll Call #145, 4/27/05 YES
4. Vote to table Democratic solution:
H.Res.153, Roll Call #70, 3/15/05 YES
H.Res.213, Roll Call #106, 4/14/05 YES
5. Donations to DeLay's Legal Defense Fund:
www.citizen.org , www.tray.com $5,000

Copyright Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee www.dccc.org

National Security and "The Prince of Pork".

To read more about how your National Security is handled by your "Prince of Pork" Hal Rogers, click: https://www.sunlightfoundation.com/taxonomy/term/327

The Abramoff Scandal

How has the Abramoff scandal affected national government?
Sadly, most Americans view the Abramoff scandal as an indictment of Congress, and not just of Republican politicians like our Congressman. After the Abramoff scandal broke, our Congressman Rogers, who had received several thousand dollars from super lobbyist and confessed felon Jack Abramoff, said he gave the money he had received from Abramoff to Unite, the Federal police force operating in our Congressional District. As a result of Abramoff’s influence on Congress, on Saipan Island on United States territory, in buildings ringed with barbed wire and patrolled by armed guards, impoverished Asian women toiled for 80 hours a week making brand-name apparel for export to the mainland United States; this designer clothing is labeled “Made in the USA”. These factories on Saipan Island, U.S.A. are owned primarily by Communist Chinese industrialists from Hong Kong, Communist China, who brought in Chinese material, and the Chinese workers who lived there were surrounded by barbed wire. They were taken in the backs of trucks to these factories. Communist Chinese law prevailed at those factories. They worked 10, 12 hours a day, then were brought back to their camps. It was an ugly scene there, one that was defended effectively by the garment manufacturers and by the government of Saipan and by the Republican majority in Congress at the time with the distribution of millions of dollars by Jack Abramoff. There should be a full Congressional investigation of the Abramoff scandal, and of the allegations of slave labor and forced abortion on Saipan Island, U.S.A. protected by Jack Abramoff and his Republican cronies; and there should not be just another Republican cover-up. As Congressman, Kenneth Stepp would vote for a full Congressional investigation of the Abramoff scandal, and any appropriate remedies.

Kenneth Stepp invited to campaign for Ned Lamont.

As you know, the main plank of my campaign election platform states that we should pull all American troops out of Iraq by January 8, 2007. For that reason, and because some people think highly of me, I got invited to campaign in Connecticut in the following email August 4:
"Dear Kenneth,
"There are just three days to go before the showdown in Connecticut between Senator Joe Lieberman and DFA-List candidate Ned Lamont. We have the momentum, but anything can happen, even in the last few days. Senator Lieberman is spending millions on a last-minute TV campaign. That's why scores of DFA activists from all over the Northeast will be working hard for Ned Lamont on the ground. If you can make it to Connecticut this weekend, will you join us?
http://nedlamont.com/page/s/finalpushct " click.
Because of my heavy schedule, I won't be able to make it to Connecticut to campaign in the Lamont campaign in Connecticut this weekend, although Ned Lamont and I both agree that the United States should withdraw our troops from Iraq quickly. The Lamont/Lieberman race seems to be a referendum on whether to "stay the course" in keeping U.S. troops in Iraq, or to withdraw the American army of occupation from Iraq. The nation will be watching the results of the Connecticut Democratic Primary this next Tuesday evening to see if voters in an American state will vote to oust an incumbent who prefers to "stay the course" in Iraq, and install a candidate as their Democratic nominee who favors withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.
I plan to bring my same campaign message, to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq, to stop warrantless wiretaps, to avoid torture and "rendition" by the United States, to promote "College for Everybody", and to reduce the Federal deficit, to the Freedom Fest in Louisa, Kentucky, at the park near the Courthouse this Saturday evening August 5, from 6:00 to approx. 9:00. The general public is invited to this Democratic rally.

Your Republican Leadership picture

You ought to click http://www.bluegrassreport.org/ for a Republican unity picture. It's too bad that they didn't get Hal Rogers and Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld in the picture, too, as thay are all part of the same team.

Stepp for Congress, Opening Remarks.

KENNETH STEPP FOR CONGRESS, KENTUCKY FIFTH DISTRICT

Kenneth Stepp is a Democratic candidate for the United States House of Representatives, Kentucky Fifth District.

Kenneth Stepp, a Barbourville, Kentucky Democrat, has filed papers to run for the Kentucky Fifth District U.S. House Congressional seat currently held by Hal Rogers, a Republican. The Republicans maintain control of the U.S. House by a narrow, approx. 32 vote margin. Most political forecasters agree that the Democratic Party will close or overtake the Republicans during the next round of House Elections. Stepp is associated with the Manchester, Kentucky Law Offices of Carl A. Short II at (606) 598-2563, at P. O. Box 463, Manchester, Kentucky 40962. Kenneth Stepp is married to the former Wilma Smith, who was born and raised in Clay County, Kentucky, and they have two sons, Carson and Conrad. Stepp graduated from Clemson University in South Carolina, the United States Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, California, and the University of Georgia School of Law. Stepp has practiced law for nearly thirty years. Kenneth Stepp maintains a private law practice in Manchester, Kentucky.

CONTACT KENNETH STEPP

KENNETH STEPP, a Democratic candidate for U.S. House of Representatives, Kentucky Fifth District, can be contacted during normal working hours at his work at Law Offices of Carl A. Short II at phone (606) 598-2563; or fax (606) 598-0433; or 209-A Main Street, P.O. Box 463, Manchester, Kentucky 40962, email shortlawoffice@yahoo.com; or, during the evenings and weekends at his home at phone or fax (606) 545-7955; or 104 Tinsley Street, Barbourville, Kentucky 40906; or email kenneth_stepp@yahoo.com. Kenneth Stepp enjoys discussing the issues of the campaign with the voters from the Kentucky Fifth District for the United States House of Representatives. Any campaign contributions should be mailed to Stepp Committee, 104 Tinsley Street, Barbourville, Kentucky 40906-1631, and should state your name (first m.i. and last), mailing address, name of employer, occupation, and your FEC ID number if you are a contributing federal political committee. Additional contact for volunteer work can be made with Stepp Committee at 104 Tinsley Street, Barbourville, Kentucky 40906 with email steppcommittee@yahoo.com and all help, volunteers, and contributions are appreciated. Please help Kenneth Stepp with this campaign. Please help make Kenneth Stepp Congressman for the United States House of Representatives, Fifth District of Kentucky.

The family of Kenneth Stepp are his wife Wilma Stepp, his son Carson Stepp, and his son Conrad Stepp that live with him in Barbourville, Kentucky. Kenneth Stepp also has a son Brian Stepp that lives with his wife Janean Stepp in South Carolina.

Bankruptcy Law Changes.

Hal Rogers Voted YES on Bankruptcy Overhaul requiring partial debt repayment. (Mar 2001); Kenneth Stepp would have voted NO. The Bankruptcy Law was not broken in 2001, and it did not need fixed. What happened in 2001 was that Hal Rogers and his Republican cohorts passed a creditors' bill change of the Bankruptcy Law, making it hard on consumers. The new Bankruptcy Law requires consumer debtors to attend debt counselling before declaring bankruptcy. It also states that people making above their State's average income cannot declare straight (Chapter 7) bankruptcy, but must agree to make a partial debt repayment in a wage-earner's plan (Chapter 13) Bankruptcy. Kenneth Stepp would restore the Bankruptcy Law back to it's status before 2001. Kenneth Stepp is not a tool of big corporations, and lending corporations, like Hal Rogers and the Republicans are.
Vote for Kenneth Stepp to the U.S. House of Representives, KY-05 and restore the rights of consumers to go through a Chapter 7 "straight" Bankruptcy without debt counselling.

Thursday, August 3, Somerset.

Kenneth Stepp plans to attend the meeting of the Pulaski County Democratic Executive Committee meeting, to be held at 6:00, Thursday August 3, 2006 at Democratic Headquarters near the Courthouse in Somerset.

The Harlan County Democratic Executive Committee.

Kenneth Stepp spoke to the Harlan County Democratic Executive Committee at their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, August 1, in the meeting room on the ground floor of the old Courthouse. Present during the meeting were the Jailer and the Judge Executive in addition to regular members of the Democratic Executive Committee. Discussed by the Committee was the Harlan Democratic Party Election Rally scheduled in Harlan, Kentucky at the Convention Center from 6:00 to 9:00 P.M., and all Democratic Party candidates running as Democrats are invited to be speakers. Kenneth Stepp hopes to be there and speak. It is a good opportunity for the general public to meet the Democratic Party's candidates for County, State, and Federal office. Kenneth Stepp also gave a talk to the Committee. Stepp explained support for withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq by January 8, 2007. Stepp explained that the Iraq war is different from any of the wars involving the United States in the twentieth century: Iraq was a small country at peace with its neighbors when it was invaded by American troops--this is in stark contrast to World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Viet Nam War, where those wars were all in progress when the United States joined in. Stepp added that no evidence was produced linking Iraq to the 9/11 attack on the United States, and that no evidence was ever produced showing Iraq had significant Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) before they were invaded. As an explanation for the American invasion and military occupation of Iraq, Stepp explained that, as early as 2000, a think-tank called the Project for the New American Century ( an organization that included Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Carl Rove) had called for the United States to invade and militarily occupy Iraq, and establish permanent military bases in the Middle East. After they joined the new George W. Bush administration in 2001, those goals of theirs were accomplished. Stepp also lashed out at warrantless wiretaps, pointing out that a secret court had been established to rule on wiretaps, with all of its judges appointed by the President, that they had 19,000 applications for Federal wiretaps, and that they had only denied four of the applications. He added that, under the law, the Federal agents could go ahead with the wiretaps and eavesdropping for approx. ten (10) days while the wiretap warrant applications were pending, even if they were later denied. Nevertheless, President Bush had felt that was not good enough, so his administration had been doing warrantless wiretaps, and had been eavesdropping on citizens' telephone conversations and emails without any kind of Court approval. When asked, Stepp added that he supports raising the Minimum Wage, and the Minimum Wage Law. Stepp added that he supports the interests of the working people and the labor unions and the disabled veterans, adding that Hal Rogers has "zero" voting record ratings from some labor unions, and from the Disabled American Veterans.

Ken Lucas leads Geoff Davis.

Ken Lucas leads Geoff Davis. See the poll results graph yourself, click: http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReportPopup.aspx?g=83bb4e4a-a727-42b1-96ef-8c6c956b2031&q=29938 and that is good for Kentucky Democrats.