Charles Booker wins Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Kentucky primary

Charles Booker has won the Democratic primary election for the U.S. Senate in his bid to stop a decadeslong winning streak by Kentucky Republicans.

Booker defeated three opponents in the Democratic primary. He will challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul in the November election.

Booker promotes social programs such as Medicare for All and a basic universal income. Booker says such proposals would uplift people across the Bluegrass State, including poor urban neighborhoods and struggling Appalachian towns.

My name is Charles Booker and I am the Democratic nominee for United States Senate in Kentucky.

— Charles Booker (@Booker4KY) May 17, 2022

Rand Paul holds up anti-lynching legislation

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said Wednesday he is holding up popular bipartisan legislation to make lynching a federal crime, a long-sought goal of supporters that is acutely relevant now against the backdrop of nationwide protests against police mistreatment of African Americans.

"We want the bill to be stronger," Paul told reporters on Capitol Hill. "We think that lynching is an awful thing that should be roundly condemned and should be universally condemned."

We want the bill to be stronger. We think that lynching is an awful thing that should be roundly condemned and should be universally condemned. I don't think it's a good idea to conflate someone who has an altercation where they had minor bruises with lynching," Paul said.

"The bill as written would allow altercations resulting in a cut, abrasion, bruise, or any other injury no matter how temporary to be subject to a 10-year penalty. My amendment would simply apply a serious bodily injury standard, which would ensure crimes resulting in substantial risk of death and extreme physical pain be prosecuted as a lynching," Paul explained further in a statement from his office later Wednesday.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer criticized Paul over the move on Wednesday, tweeting, "It is shameful that one GOP Senator is standing in the way of seeing this bill become law."

SOURCE: CNN

Rand Paul's great answer to question about African Americans and policing?

I don't support any of the republican candidates but I found this interesting, especially since very few if any issues that affect African Americans have been discussed during the republican debates. Just as an aside I also found it interesting that a question about African Americans and policing was directed to Paul and not Ben Carson. (Yes he was on stage last night). George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.com.

During Thursday night's republican debate Rand Paul was asked a question by YouTube star Mark Watson about African Americans and policing with regard to body cameras. Paul took the question as an opportunity to point out inequities in the American justice system.

RAND PAUL:

One thing I discovered in Ferguson was that a third of the budget for the city of Ferguson was being reaped by civil fines. People were just being fined to death. Now you and I and many of the people in this audience, if we get a $100 fine, we can survive it. If you're living on the edge of poverty and you get a $100 fine or your car towed, a lot of times you lose your job.

I also think the war on drugs has disproportionately affected our African-American community. What we need to do is make sure that the war on drugs is equal protection under the law and we don't unfairly incarcerate another generation of young African-American males. In Ferguson, for every 100 African-American women, there are only 60 African-American men. Drug use is about equal between white and black, but our prisons, three out of four people in prison are black or brown.

I think something has to change. I think it's a big thing that our party needs to be part of. And I've been a leader in Congress on trying to bring about criminal justice reform.

White supremacist donated to GOP presidential candidates

The leader of a rightwing group that Dylann Roof allegedly credits with helping to radicalise him against black people before the Charleston church massacre has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Republicans such as presidential candidates Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Rick Santorum.

Earl Holt has given $65,000 to Republican campaign funds in recent years while inflammatory remarks – including that black people were “the laziest, stupidest and most criminally-inclined race in the history of the world” – were posted online in his name.

After being approached by the Guardian on Sunday, Cruz’s presidential campaign said it would be returning all money the senator had received from Holt.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/21/dylann-roof-manifesto-charlston-shootings-republicans

Sen. Rand Paul talks to black leaders in Ferguson.

After meeting with NAACP leaders in Ferguson, Missouri, Sen. Rand Paul told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that the Republicans Party's biggest mistake in recent decades has been not reaching out to African-American voters. Watch that segment of the interview below:

Rand Paul backtracks on Voter ID comments

Whew! Rand Paul scared me over the weekend. It sounded as if he was having a rationale discussion over voter ID laws. But never fear Paul reverted back to his party's disenfranchising ways today! George Cook AfricanAmericanReports.com

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) continues to believe voter identification laws should be left up to individual states, an adviser to the senator said Monday.

Paul's senior adviser, Doug Stafford, downplayed remarks Paul made Friday when he advised Republicans not to go "too crazy" about voter identification laws because they are "offending people."

Stafford signaled that Paul's comments to The New York Times did not mark a change in view and said it is a point he has made many times before.

"In the course of that discussion, he reiterated a point he has made before that while there may be some instances of voter fraud, it should not be a defining issue of the Republican Party, as it is an issue that is perhaps perceived in a way it is not intended,” Stafford said in a statement Monday. “In terms of the specifics of voter ID laws, Senator Paul believes it's up to each state to decide that type of issue.”

Read more: Paul's office clarifies voter ID remarks

NAACP Invites Rand Paul to Speak on Economic Plan

The NAACP has offered Sen. Rand Paul the chance to speak to the organization about his plan for economic freedom zones to revive many of the nation's depressed urban areas.

"We’d love to have him," Lorraine Miller, the organization's interim president, told C-SPAN in an interview for its "Newsmakers" program that will air on Sunday. "We’d love to talk with him about it and work with him on it."
Doug Stafford, a senior adviser to Paul, said the senator welcomed the opportunity.

"Sen. Paul is pleased to hear that the NAACP would like to work with him on reforms like economic freedom zones and he would be honored to address the organization," Stafford told Politico.