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An endorsement from the Editors of Barefoot & Progressive

Congressman Ben Chandler eked out a victory over Garland Barr IV in the 2010 election by just one vote per precinct.

Redistricting has made Kentucky’s 6th District bluer on paper and in theory. Still, as all the advertisements on television and the radio indicate, this is a close race and every vote counts.

Because Chandler is busy campaigning, he was unable to respond to a questionnaire from public interest group Kentuckians for the Commonwealth — and thus the importance of his positions may need some clarification.

Presented here are the 10 undeniable reasons why every single Democrat and Independent voter in Central Kentucky must turn out to vote for Ben Chandler to ensure his victory.

10. THE CONTEMPT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER — The House GOP engineered a contempt vote on Eric Holder in relation to the ‘Fast & Furious’ mess. As the New York Times reported, “it was the first time in American history that Congress has imposed the sanction on a sitting member of a president’s cabinet.” [NYT]

Seventeen Democrats in Congress joined the Republican majority in voting for contempt. (Two Republicans voted against.) Ben Chandler was one of those seventeen [FOX News].

Over 100 Congressional Democrats walked off the House floor to boycott the vote, including Kentucky Congressman John Yarmuth. [WFPL]

But Ben Chandler stayed and Ben Chandler took a stand.

9. THE HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA — While some Democrats believe people have the right to marry each other, Ben Chandler does not.

When House Republicans added an amendment to the defense spending bill that reaffirms the Defense of Marriage Act, nineteen brave Democrats stood with the House GOP and voted for the amendment.

Ben Chandler was one of those brave Democrats willing to stand up to the homosexual agenda. [B&P]

Just last week, activist judges in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals became the second such court to rule DOMA a violation of equal protection by denying homosexuals the same rights as more capable of love Americans. [NYT]

The 2-to-1 ruling on Thursday came in the case of Edith Windsor, who married her partnerof more than 40 years, Thea Spyer, in Canada in 2007. Their marriage was recognized by New York State. Yet, when Mrs. Spyer died in 2009, Mrs. Windsor, now 83, was prevented by the act from claiming an exemption from the federal estate tax available for surviving spouses, and was required to pay $363,053 in estate taxes.

When so few Democrats were willing to stand up to the radical homosexual agenda, Ben Chandler took a brave position and voted to reaffirm the importance of this Defense of Marriage.

8. THE DREAM ACT – The DREAM Act was crafted to give a pathway to citizenship to kids — a lot of them Hispanic — who were brought to this country and raised here, who went to school and did the Pledge of Allegience and who have only ever called America home.

Ben Chandler took a stand for America and voted against the bill. [B&P, House Vote]

7. BIG OIL – When Big Oil dumped a couple milk gallons worth of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, a lot of weak-kneed Democrats and Independents and Environmentalists got scared and tried to shut down drilling.

But not Ben Chandler. He was one of a handful of Democrats willing to join the House GOP in a vote to open the gulfstream waters to more drilling. [B&P]

That vote might seem like an anomaly. But Ben Chandler also took a stand in defense of Big Oil as one of just 13 Democrats voting in favor of giving Big Oil $53 Billion in taxpayer subsidies. [B&P] Beacuse Big Oil needs it and Ben Chandler isn’t going to leave them behind.

Ben Chandler took a stand and now you must stand with Ben Chandler.

6. KING COAL – Andy Barr made big waves with his advertisement featuring a coal mine executive from outside the district dressed up as a coal miner and accusing Ben Chandler of trying to kill the coal industry.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

When King Coal wanted to defund the EPA’s coal ash regulations, Ben Chandler voted to defund. [B&P]

When House Republicans voted to “stop this out of control EPA,” Ben Chandler was one of just 19 Democrats who voted with the GOP on behalf of King Coal. [B&P]

When 169 members of Congress wrote to the EPA to oppose their efforts to enforce the Clean Water Act, Ben Chandler signed the letter. [B&P]

When House Republicans voted to block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases from power plants and enforcing the Clean Air Act, Ben Chandler voted with them. [B&P]

Ben Chandler took a stand for the coal lobby and now you must stand with Ben Chandler.

5. BUSH TAX CUTS — This image should tell you all you need to know:

If that doesn’t make Ben Chandler’s stance on the issue clear, consider that he is one of just three Democrats who signed Grover Norquist’s pledge to never raise taxes on the rich. [B&P]

When the House of Representatives voted to extend the Bush Tax Cuts, only one Kentucky representative voted against it. That one was John Yarmuth. Ben Chandler voted again in favor of the Bush Tax Cuts. [CN|2]

Ben Chandler took a principled and not at all politically motivated stand for the super rich and now you must stand with Ben Chandler again.

4. OBAMACARE – Again, Andy Barr runs advertisements insinuating Ben Chandler supported the attempt to rein in health insurance companies — forcing them to provide coverage to kids, provide coverage to people with “pre-existing conditions,” provide preventative care and cancer screenings and all sorts of other maybe or maybe not unconstitutional inhumanities.

But the facts are not on Garland’s side. Ben Chandler broke with the Democratic Party and voted AGAINST health care reform. [TPM]

Let’s be clear: Ben Chandler does not support health care reform.

Ben Chandler took a stand. Won’t you stand with Ben Chandler?

3. STUPAK AND ABORTION — Not only did Ben Chandler not support Obamacare, he worked actively to water it down.

Put another way, Ben Chandler voted to weaken the health care bill… and then once weakened, he still voted against it.

That’s how against Obamacare Ben Chandler is.

Feminists and women’s organizations view the Stupak Amendment as “a monumental setback for abortion access.” [ThinkProgress]

Ben Chandler voted against abortion access not once but twice… and the second time was so extreme, even Stupak didn’t support it. [B&P, B&P]

Ben Chandler opposes a woman’s right to choose and he’s okay with that. That’s political conviction and it’s worth supporting.

Ben Chandler took a stand and he’s not worried if you stand with him. But you have to.

2. WALL STREET REFORM – Ben Chandler voted against it.

After the economic collapse of 2008, some people thought that Wall Street needed more oversight and everyday consumers needed better protections against aggressive lenders.

Ben Chandler wasn’t one of them.

In fact, Chandler was one of just 27 Democrats to join every single Republican in Congress in voting against the Dodd-Frank bill. [B&P]

Again, Ben Chandler took a stand. He voted for you. Now you must vote for Ben Chandler.

1. HIV & 3rd World Humanitarian Aid – In 2011, a House Subcommittee voted to ban US aid to those working in third world nations to provide help to women infected with HIV and to their sick and starving children.

One Democrat voted for this ban. That Democrat was Ben Chandler. [LEO Weekly, B&P]

“The provision included in this bill is far more extreme than the Global Gag Rule policy that was implemented under Presidents Reagan, George Bush, or George W. Bush,” said Berman. “It bars ALL assistance to local health care providers in poor countries – including HIV/AIDS funding, water and sanitation, child survival, and education. In the name of ‘right to life,’ the majority is cutting off funds that are literally saving hundreds of thousands of lives.”

Ben Chandler took a stand. Now you must stand with Ben Chandler.

****

This is Ben Chandler’s record.

You must support it.

If you are a Democrat, you must vote for Ben Chandler.

If you are an Independent, you must vote for Ben Chandler.

If you are an environmentalist, if you are a feminist, if you support women’s rights, if you support health care reform or Wall Street reform… you must vote for Ben Chandler.

He needs every single vote.

Every single vote matters.

You vote for Ben Chandler because Ben Chandler votes for you.

He represents us and looking at Ben Chandler’s record, you can’t say he’s not doing a good job of it.

What is at stake here?

First and foremost, Ben Chandler’s place in Congress and history. Second of all, the balance of power in the House of Representatives.

If Ben Chandler loses, who will be there to cast the deciding vote on an issue that matters to the voters of Central Kentucky? He may never have done it in the past, but maybe he will in the future.

If Ben Chandler loses, then the Republicans will maintain control of the House. Sure, it may be the case that Republicans are pretty much guaranteed 226 seats and Democrats only have 183 and there are just 26 “toss-ups”… but one of those toss up seats is Chandler’s and if he loses then it will have no substantive affect on the balance of power especially since on some of the most important votes (see all 10 points above) Ben Chandler caucuses with the Republicans, but what if none of that were true and you accept the importance of Ben Chandler’s victory?

And that is why every single Democrat and every single Independent should vote for Ben Chandler.

Because what other choice do you have?