Bowling Green Daily News - McConnell Clear Choice for Senate

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The choice in the U.S. Senate race in Kentucky couldn't be more clear.

In U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., you have a proven leader who puts our state's interest and needs first. McConnell fights day after day in the Senate against President Barack Obama's agenda of higher tax rates, his war on coal, punitive estate tax rates, cap and trade, an anti-gun agenda, and a commander in chief who too often ignores the separation of powers our Constitution requires.

On the other hand, you have Obama's candidate, Democrat and Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, who supports the majority of Obama's policies.

One only has to look at the records and actions of both candidates to see who deserves to be our next U.S. senator.

McConnell has a long list of accomplishments and actions while serving as our senior senator and as Senate minority leader.

In Bowling Green and surrounding areas, McConnell has been instrumental in securing money for roads, schools and many other projects.

He has delivered $69 million for Western Kentucky University. McConnell fought for $5.5 million for the Bowling Green riverfront and Greenways development. He obtained $2.1 million to enhance flight safety at the Glasgow Municipal Airport through a specialized approach system. He was instrumental in delivering $13.5 million to accelerate the widening of U.S. 231.

Sen. McConnell secured $3 million for the Logan and Todd County Regional Water Commission to make water system improvements in the two counties.

When it comes to our military, McConnell has always been a staunch supporter, making sure service members have everything they need whether in combat or here at home. McConnell secured $225 million to improve facilities at Fort Campbell for service members and families, including family housing, a physical fitness center and a new chapel.

In the spring, Sen.McConnell worked to ensure Lake Cumberland's water level was restored to 723 feet by mid-May for the summer tourism season after the Interior Department and the Army Corps of Engineers threatened to keep water levels low because of the presence of a minnow-like fish called the Duskytail Darter.

McConnell pushed the Interior Department and the corps to return water levels to full capacity -- levels adequate to support robust tourism on which local communities, businesses and individuals depend.

McConnell also has been a staunch supporter of the coal industry since he has been in the Senate.

In 2013 and 2014, Sen. McConnell helped the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program secure over $11 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Labor to help displaced Kentucky coal miners find new jobs and receive job training through the Helping Our Miners Everyday initiative.

As of May, some 2,000 Kentuckians had participated in H.O.M.E. and nearly 900 laid-off miners already had gained employment through this program.

His campaign to protect coal has been fought tooth and nail by Obama's Environmental Protection Agency and the chief obstructionist in the U.S. Senate, Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Kentucky Coal Association President Bill Bissett has said on the record there is no bigger advocate for the coal industry in Kentucky than Sen. McConnell.

Bissett is correct.

Sen. McConnell tried to get a bill passed this year that would have blocked the EPA's carbon regulations, but Reid blocked McConnell from passing his Coal Country Protection Act. McConnell asked unanimous consent to pass his bill, S. 2414, which would require the administration to meet benchmarks before the Environmental Protection Agency implements a carbon reduction plan for power plants, but Reid objected.

McConnell also has a history of supporting and bringing funds home to Kentucky farmers.

In the early hours of the new year in 2012, the Senate passed "fiscal cliff-avoiding" legislation brokered by McConnell and Vice President Joe Biden that included a Farm Bill extension. I

n 2004, McConnell was a key player of the tobacco buyout.

The $12 billion, 10-year program aided tobacco growers struggling for survival in light of lower prices resulting from less smoking and increased imports at no cost to taxpayers.

McConnell, through negotiations with Biden, helped deliver estate tax relief for farmers and other small businesses so their families weren't be burdened by huge tax payments when a family member died.

"I was able to negotiate a permanent reduction in the death tax to provide family farmers and owners of small businesses the ability to pass their life's work down to the next generation," the senator noted.

The fiscal cliff deal struck by McConnell also protected 99.7 percent of Kentuckians from an income tax increase.

The Washington Post editorialized that, "McConnell's fingerprints are on every big bipartisan deal and every key spending bill to emerge from Congress in recent years."

McConnell also was instrumental in battling the Corps of Engineers in its efforts to put up barricades and armed guards in the tailwaters below Lake Barkley, where for generations people have gone for fishing and recreation.

He also has been a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, fighting the Obama administration's anti-gun agenda tooth and nail. His continued support of the Second Amendment earned him the endorsement of the National Rifle Association.

In McConnell you have a U.S. senator you can count on to fight for Kentuckians day after day, whether it is standing up for the coal industry, fighting Obamacare, protecting for our Second Amendment rights, fighting against activist judge nominees or looking out for the farmers of this state.

On the other hand, you have his opponent, Grimes.

It's kind of hard to list accomplishments for Grimes or tell where she stands on the issues, because throughout this whole campaign she has avoided simple questions.

We do know Grimes was a 2012 delegate for Obama at the Democratic National Convention.

Grimes tries to say she is a staunch supporter of coal, but nothing could be further from the truth. As a proud Obama delegate in 2012, Grimes knew then and now that Obama had been waging a war on coal, but still stood in the crowd and backed his candidacy.

This is not indicative of someone who sticks to their beliefs and principles and looks out for Kentucky's coal industry. This is a clear sign of an opportunist who two years ago said she would complete her full term as Kentucky's secretary of state.

We recall another person who said he would complete his full term as a U.S. senator, and his name is Barack Obama.

We know from Grimes' own lips that she talks to Reid on a regular basis. This is the same man who says "coal makes us sick."

It is also very telling about Grimes that her campaign operatives, staffers and volunteers were caught on camera saying Grimes was only supporting coal out of political expediency.

As we've stated before, Grimes' first vote, if elected, would be to keep Reid as the Senate majority leader, which is effectively a vote for the Obama/Reid anti-coal agenda.

Most disturbing to many Kentuckians about Grimes is that after being asked several times if she voted for Obama in 2012, she wouldn't even answer.

McConnell had no problem telling the voters of this state who he voted for in 2008, U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and former Massachusetts Gov. and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 2012.

Grimes cited the "sanctity" of the ballot box as her reasoning for not revealing who she voted for. But she could proudly boast that she voted for Clinton in 2008. Apparently, some votes have more sanctity than others.

The diversion this response received may have been a factor in the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee pulling their money out of the Senate race in Kentucky several days ago.

How can she ask Kentuckians to vote her into the U.S. Senate when she can't even answer who she voted for as president in 2012?

How can she be expected to take controversial votes were she to be elected?

Sen. McConnell can be expected to make tough votes and look out for Kentuckians' best interests. His plan to address the debt crisis incurred the anger of some in his own party.

McConnell has represented this state well, looked out for Kentuckians' interest and will continue fighting for us day after day during the next six years by getting this country going in a better direction, hopefully as Senate majority leader.

That is why we proudly endorse Mitch McConnell for re-election to the U.S. Senate on Nov. 4.

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