John Yarmuth

Attorney General Jack Conway (D-Louisville) announces his investigation into Louisville's gas prices on Thursday: Politicker photo

LOUISVILLE -- At a joint press conference in Louisville today - where gas costs up to 30 cents more per gallon than in the rest of the Commonwealth - U.S. Rep John Yarmuth (D-Louisville) and state Attorney General Jack Conway (D-Louisville) elaborated on their newest proposals for confronting the energy dilemma.

In front of reporters gathered in a cul-de-sac near a noisy highway on-ramp, Yarmuth said he was pressuring President Bush to permit the usage of emergency provisions he argued would decrease speculation in the oil market. Conway, on the other hand, announced an investigation into potential anti-competitive activity by gas retailers and wholesalers leading to the price disparities between Louisville and other parts of the state.

Touting a letter he sent to President Bush on Wednesday, Yarmuth said a provision enacted by Congress in 2000 - termed the "Enron loophole" - exempted energy speculators from federal regulation and allowed speculators in the oil market to drive prices up.

"We are in the mode where the fundamentals of supply and demand don't really drive the price," said Yarmuth.

Several weeks after launching a first batch of robocalls against U.S. Rep John Yarmuth (D-Louisville), the conservative public policy group Freedom's Watch is again hitting Yarmuth on gas prices with a new round of calls into Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District.

The robocall buy in the Louisville-based district was described as "substantial" by a Freedom's Watch spokesperson, though specific numbers and targeted recipients of the call were not released.

The call bills itself as a "gas price alert," and charges that Yarmuth voted "five times against domestic energy production."

Former U.S. Rep. Anne Northrup: Northrup for CongressFormer U.S. Rep Anne Northup (R-Louisville) will get the support of the Business Industry Political Action Committee in her bid to regain the 3rd Congressional District seat she lost in 2006 to U.S. Rep John Yarmuth (D-Louisville). Roll Call reports BIPAC included Northup among three endorsed candidates announced.

This is not the first time BIPAC has supported Northup. The group - which bills itself as enabling "more effective business participation in the political process" - contributed $16,585 to Northup between 1998 and 2004, during her tenure in Congress.

In 2006, the organization provided nearly $130,000 to candidates for federal office. 85 percent of that amount went to Republican candidates.

Reaction to the United States Supreme Court's decision in the D.C. v. Heller case emanated from prominent Republicans in Kentucky quickly today, after the high court overturned a Washington, D.C., law banning handgun ownership in a 5-4 decision.

"Today the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects the individual right of law-abiding citizens of the District of Colombia to protect themselves in their own homes," U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) said in a statement. "This landmark ruling will ensure that regardless of where citizens reside, the government will respect their rights that are guaranteed by the Second Amendment."

In the court's majority opinion, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia concluded "the District's ban on handgun possession in the home violates the Second Amendment, as does its prohibition against rendering any lawful firearm in the home operable for the purpose of immediate self-defense.

U.S. Rep. John YarmuthIn the next hour, U.S. Rep John Yarmuth (D-Louisville) is set to speak on the floor of the U.S. House in favor of legislation requiring oil companies to drill on leased public land.

The bill - termed the "use it or lose it" bill - was introduced by Natural Resources Committee Chair Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.). Formally calledThe Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act of 2008, it would impose fines on oil companies not drilling on federal lands currently leased to them.

Yarmuth and other supporters of the bill contend 68 million acres of land under lease, yet not currently drilled, could produce 4.8 million barrels of oil and 44.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif), left rear, and U.S. Rep John Yarmuth (D-Louisville) check out a plug-in hybrid: Politicker photo

LOUISVILLE -- A Saturday afternoon closed-door meeting in Louisville between U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), U.S. Rep John Yarmuth (D-Louisville), officials from Ford Motor Company, the United Auto Workers, and state government officials touched on Ford's efforts to develop "gasoline-independent" technologies for new automobile designs.

"What I think was impressive to me and the Speaker is that they are taking a very broad look at all the possible technological answers to our crisis," said Yarmuth of the meeting, during a brief press conference held at Ford's Louisville Assembly plant after the meeting.

"This issue of reducing our dependence on foreign oil and addressing the climate crisis is a flagship issue of our speakership. For me this is an educational visit," said Pelosi. "I hope that what we get out of this today also is better public policy."

Former U.S. Rep Anne Northup (R-Louisville) continues to push her position on energy policy from a variety of platforms. After laying out her continued support for a policy centering on increased domestic drilling during a Tuesday press conference, Northup brought her message to constituents on Thursday in the form of a "tele-town hall" meeting and the launch of a new website.

Yesterday evening, Northup hosted a telephone-based "town hall" meeting on energy policy for residents of the 3rd Congressional District. Northup briefly outlined her position on drilling and accepted questions from those on the call.

Many of the questions gave Northup the chance to reiterate points she had earlier made about drilling, including her assertion that opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to exploration would immediately lower gas prices, despite predictions that production times would be at least seven to ten years.

Arguing "it would be like robbing a bank only to return later and open a checking account," the Jefferson County Republican Party has taken aim at the forthcoming visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and U.S. Rep John Yarmuth (D-Louisville) to Ford's Louisville Assembly plant.

"We are truly shocked that Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Yarmuth would have the audacity to step foot into that plant after passing an SUV tax earlier this year, only adding to Ford's current problems and further threatening their workers," Jefferson County Republican Chair Brad Cummings said in a statement dispatched today. "It's the height of hypocrisy to pretend they care about these dedicated people."

Yarmuth and Pelosi are scheduled to hold a closed-door roundtable discussion at the Ford plant tomorrow afternoon.

Congressional candidate Anne NorthupLOUISVILLE -- Former U.S. Rep. Anne Northup (R-Louisville) echoed the keynote speaker at her campaign's Wednesday afternoon fundraiser, arguing that the electoral picture for Republicans is brighter this year than in 2006 - when she lost the 3rd Congressional District seat she is again seeking to current incumbent U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Louisville).

"You can almost not imagine a worst climate than 2 years ago," Northup told PolitickerKY.com yesterday. "A lot has changed."

Earlier in the afternoon, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele told a crowd at the Seelbach Hilton in downtown Louisville that many Republicans who did not "deserve" to lose in 2006 were caught up in losses caused by general anti-Republican sentiment.

Former Lt. Governor Michael Steele (R-Maryland) greets supporters of former U.S. Rep Anne Northup (R-Louisville) on Wednesday: Politicker photo

LOUISVILLE -- GOPAC Chair and former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele told around 100 assembled supporters of former U.S. Rep Anne Northup (R-Louisville) that Northup was the victim of circumstance during her 2006 loss to current incumbent U.S. Rep John Yarmuth (D-Louisville).

"It wasn't that her opponent had better ideas, a better vision, a better gameplan," said Steele. "It was that he took advantage of the opportunity to score the political points he needed to score against an incumbent who was running in a very tough cycle with an unpopular war, an unpopular president, and an unpopular party."

"Caught in those crosswinds at that turbulent moment were a lot of good individuals like Anne, who , but for that cycle and but for that ugliness, would have survived the storm," added Steele. "And sometime in politics there isn't enough to survive the storm and you take the hit."