Kentucky's Democrats
by Sophia Muñoz-Bennett
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Located in the eastern-central region of the United States, Kentucky borders
the historical U.S. regions of the North and South. It is one of
the four States that carries the name commonwealth and is titled the commonwealth
of Kentucky. As the fifteenth State, the commonwealth of Kentucky
joined the Union on June 1, 1792 and is now the thirty-seventh largest
State with total square mileage of 40,411; in which 39,732 square miles
are land, and 679 square miles are water. The State Capital is Frankfort;
and the State population as of 1996 is 3,883,723 with a projected State
population of 4,314,000 in the year 2025.
Until the twentieth-century, Kentucky's main source of income was restricted to farming; manufacturing was limited to producing agricultural commodities. Today Kentucky has a Gross State Product of $86,4851 and the State's primary source of income is the manufacturing of metals and metal-related products, followed by service industries and retail trade; its leading agricultural commodity is tobacco, followed by horses/mules, cattle and corn. Kentucky's tobacco crop production ranks second among the nation and accounts for one-quarter of the nation's tobacco crop. It's economy remains dependent on the production of tobacco as well as the production of whisky and coal. Previously labeled as a Democratic State, Kentucky has a long history of voting Democratic with an ancestry that can be traced back to Jefferson. However, this was threatened by President Clinton's attack on the tobacco industry, which almost cost the Democratic vote in south central and western Kentucky. Today, Democrats hold a solid lead in the State House. The Office of the Governor is held by Paul E. Patton, with Steven Henry as Lieutenant Governor and Senator Wendell H. Ford. Kentucky is divided into six districts in which there are five Republican representatives and one Democratic representative. Kentucky has a State legislature that is divided into an upper and lower chamber. The upper chamber consists of thirty-eight members and the lower chamber consists of one hundred members both, of which holds a Democratic majority. Working towards a positive Democratic future, the remainder of Kentucky's key Democrats are Attorney General Ben Chandler, Agriculture Commissioner Billy Ray Smith, State Auditor Ed Hatchett, and Secretary of State John Y. Brown III. Running on a national platform, the majority of Kentucky's issues are addressed in the Democratic Party platform with minute localized issues. Foreign Policy and America's Global Role Defense Needs at Home and Abroad: on the national level, Democrats are committed to cut the production of American and Russian nuclear weapons. Democrats are committed to increasing American defense spending plans. This approach allows America to gain resources for diplomacy and strengthen security. Having a strong commitment to the American people's security as well as U.S. key interests abroad, Democrats believe in strengthening the military and exerting diplomatic power to reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction. This can be achieved by increasing defense funding. Military Intervention Abroad: dedicated to promoting peace and freedom by continuing to exert American leadership by means of humanitarian, diplomatic and military challenges across the globe and not surrendering to American adversaries, America earned the respect of their allies and partners. Equal Rights and Opportunity Affirmative Action: on the national level, Democrats are in support of the reform of affirmative action so that it promotes opportunity for minorities without accidentally shortchanging other groups, unlike the Republicans who are working towards ending affirmative action. Sexuality: On the national level, Democrats are in support of nondiscrimination against gays and lesbians, also, they support their full inclusion in the way of life of the nation; however, on the State level, Kentucky Democrats are in opposition to same-sex marriages. Gender and Disability Issues: as for gender equality, on the national and State level, Democrats are committed to ensuring full equality for men and women, and strongly enforces the Americans with Disabilities Act. Social Policy Healthcare: the Democratic Party is committed to giving American families access to quality and affordable healthcare. Democrats are working to further assist in the maintenance of premiums while individuals are out of work and looking for a job in order for them not to loose quality healthcare. Social Security: on this issue, Democrats support the preservation of Social Security so that present and future generations can benefit from it, as it has been benefited by past generations. Abortion: on the national and State level, Democrats respect the right of every woman to choose to have an abortion. They believe that it is an individual choice and not the government's choice to take the responsibility in personal decision making regarding reproduction. The goal of the Democrats is to make abortion less of a necessity and more rare; not to make it dangerous and difficult. Family planning, contraceptive research, and efforts to reduce unintended pregnancies through education are supported by the Democrat. As a result, these efforts will promote the decrease of abortion rates and unwanted pregnancies. Welfare: Democrats are generating a new welfare plan that will break the old cycle of dependency and give welfare recipients a chance for an independent and progressive future. This will be achieved on the State level and under the Patton/Henry Democratic administration of the State of Kentucky, the progression from welfare to work-fare has increased. There is a 38% decrease in welfare rolls in the State of Kentucky while childcare funding for low-income families has increased. The current administration will continue to dedicate to the increase and progression of work-fare, thus increasing the quality of life for past welfare recipients. On the national level, Democrats are committed to overseeing that this welfare plan succeeds and that states participate in moving people from being welfare recipients to being employed. Medicare and Medicaid: committed to securing Medicare and Medicaid, on the national and State level, Democrats support the effort to improve upon the quality and benefits that Medicare and Medicaid has to offer, as opposed to the Republican plan to overhaul these benefits while neglecting the fact that the quality of the benefits will be decreased. Education: the goals of the Democrats are to set high standards for teachers and students. Teachers should meet high standards for professional performance; students should undergo a series of competency and promotional testing prior to graduation. They believe that schools should be accounted for results. Schools that fail should be overhauled. The Democratic Party is working towards expanding school choice and strongly opposes taking American tax dollars from public schools and investing it into private schools. On the national level, Democrats believe that higher education should be accessible to all and their goal is to make the thirteenth and fourteenth years of education as universal as the first twelve years. Democrats, under the Patton/Henry Administration are successful in implementing a system that directs lottery revenues to fund college scholarships for Kentucky's students, thus providing additional funding for students to have a chance to attend college. Also, Kentucky's State Treasurer, John Miller is currently working towards establishing a pre-paid tuition program to make education costs easier on families. Economic Issues The Budget: on the national level, the Democratic Party has set an agenda to balance the budget by the year 2002 while simultaneously maintaining their commitment to increasing the spending of elderly and child care and working towards economic growth. On the State level, Kentucky's State Treasurer, Jonathan Miller, implemented a new strategy for better returns on State investments and under the Patton/Henry Administration secured over $1.4 billion in economic farm aid from tobacco companies. Taxes: Democrats believe that the working class should not be taxed into poverty unlike the Republican policy that raises taxes on working families. Democrats are committed to targeting tax cuts that will help the working class invest in their future and are working hard to strengthen the middle class family by providing a $500 tax cut for children. In the State of Kentucky, under the Patton/Henry administration, they are implementing seven different tax cuts, totaling $350 million including an automobile tax cut. The Environment: Democrats are committed to protect the environment and making decisions that are mutually beneficial to corporations and environmentalists. They also believe that the government has the responsibility to enforce laws that help to keep toxic chemicals from our water, pesticides from our food and smog from our air; also, Democrats believe that toxic waste clean up should be funded by those who are responsible for it and not to be burdened by the taxpayers. Campaign Finance Reform Campaign Finance Reform: committed to campaign finance reform, Democrats are working hard to limit campaign spending, and to curtail the influences of Political Action Committees (PACs) and lobbyists, and put an end to the soft money system. This will prevent big money influences in politics and allow the power of democracy to be restored to the hands of the American citizens. 1 As of 1994.
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