The Blue Dot Podcast
The podcast making sense of Kentucky politics for working families.
Get past the political soundbites and dive into the kitchen table issues shaping the Commonwealth—from protecting public education and expanding healthcare to economic growth and good-paying jobs. We bring you straightforward Democratic commentary, local candidate insights, and raw analysis on the decisions that actually impact your daily life.
Brought to you by the Kenton County Democratic Executive Committee.
Hit subscribe so you never miss an episode, and join the conversation shaping Kentucky’s future.
The Blue Dot Podcast
Bourbon, Ballots & Billion-Dollar Boondoggles
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
This week on the Blue Dot Podcast, Natalie and Brian tackle a whirlwind of political headlines, from Mitch McConnell's continued disappearance from the public eye and the drama surrounding Fancy Farm, to Governor Andy Beshear's last-minute move to save Kentucky Medicaid funding. They also dig into the ever-growing price tag of Trump's luxury Air Force One project, new fights over mail-in voting, and questions about transparency in military casualty reporting.
On the lighter side, they raise a glass to an 82-year-old Minnesota grandmother who successfully lobbied for retirement-home happy hours, and discuss a potential bourbon-industry blockbuster as Sazerac pursues Jack Daniel's maker Brown-Forman. As always, the episode wraps with local news, community events, and a reminder that democracy works best when everyday people show up and get involved.
Welcome to the Blue Dot, Northern Kentucky's premier political podcast, brought to you by the Kent County Democratic Executive Committee. Welcome back to the Blue Dot Podcast for our weekly roundup where we deliver you all the news you need to know in 10-ish minutes or less. Thanks so much for joining. I'm Natalie McDonald.
SPEAKER_00And I'm Brian Cale. What a week it's been. We've got Medicaid fights, bourbon battles, and an 82-year-old grandmother who accomplished more legislatively than half of the people in Washington.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh. Where do we start with all of that?
SPEAKER_00Oh boy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, let's start in Kentucky, where we have a few pros and cons this week. Uh Senator Mitch McConnell released a new picture of himself to let everyone know that everything's fine. It's just fine. Everything's fine.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. It's all fine except for the fact that the general public has not actually heard from him in six weeks, leading Governor Andy Bashir to issue an ultimatum for the Senator to prove he can serve or resign.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and you know, we talk a lot about transparency on the blue dot. And if the senator would just say, you know, I'm I fell, I'm in rehab, I'm gonna be out for six weeks, I think that people would understand. But instead, he's completely abandoned his job and the job that we hired him to do. So if this were any other common Kentuckian, we would lose our job.
SPEAKER_00Right. And as of right now, Kentuckians are not being represented in Congress, and the only way to fill a vacancy is a death, resignation, or an act of Congress, and Governor Bashir is asking Congress to do their job and step up.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, one of the things that McConnell did mention in his last statement was that he would not be attending the Fancy Farm political picnic. For those not familiar with Fancy Farm, it's officially known as the St. Jerome Fancy Farm Picnic. It's existed since 1880.
SPEAKER_00Hey, that's almost as long as Mitch has been alive. I think he attended the first one.
SPEAKER_01I think he probably did. Well, that's the point. This is like this huge community fundraiser. It's this political Super Bowl of the state. And it's held every year on the first Saturday of August. It's in this little town called Fancy Farm down there in western Kentucky. And it's this big old-fashioned barbecue, rowdy political stump speeches. It's uh it's just a whole lot of fun for you know geeks like me.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, yeah. I mean, and this is gonna be the first time in more than 40 years that Mitch has not attended this event. He's been a regular there since his 1984 election to the Senate. Fancy Farm without Mitch is kind of like uh the Kentucky Derby without horses. I mean, sure, the event still happens, but it's pretty evident to everyone that something significant is missing.
SPEAKER_01My goodness, that's right. That's so yes, exactly. But we do have some good news for Kentucky. You know, we've been talking about these massive cuts to Medicaid that threatened Kentucky's most vulnerable uh populations, but Governor Bashir successfully filled the Medicaid shortfall for the current fiscal year by using $255 million in unexpected state surplus fund.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Bashir redirected that $255 million from a late fiscal year economic surge and massive, unanticipated corporate tax payments to shore up Kentucky's Medicaid program rather than sending the entirety of the money to Kentucky's Rainy Day Fund. The governor's move completely cancels the 4% reduction to Medicaid funding identified in this year's budget and means that health care clinics, hospitals, and disability waiver programs will receive their full reimbursement rates through June 30th, 2027.
SPEAKER_01And that's great, and that covers us for one year, but we'll be battling this again next year. But while us commoners deal with this uncertainty and barely scrape by week after week, the Trump Epstein class continues to live quite comfortably. Remember that bribe? I I mean that that plane that Trump was gifted from Qatar.
SPEAKER_00Uh, you you mean the one that was free? The U.S. didn't have to pay a dime for it, and only stupid people refuse something that is free.
SPEAKER_01Exactly that one. Well, it ends up it's not exactly free. I mean, this is no surprise. It's not exactly free. In fact, it's a money pit that continues to get deeper. The initial cost to upgrade the Boeing 747 luxury jet was initially set at $400 million. However, now it looks like that's going to be near $1 billion. Experts also estimate that the work to upgrade the plane to Air Force One standards would take several years. So this little upgrade even got more expensive as Trump rushed the job so he could have it flying by the 4th of July. And this acceleration of the schedule cost even more. What a absolute waste of time, talent, and treasure.
SPEAKER_00Uh yeah, and about that complete the project part. After only a couple of weeks of the plane being in service, it was grounded for additional work to be done. Uh, it seems that in the rush to get it completed, a few key security functions were bypassed, uh like its anti-missile defense system.
SPEAKER_01Yes, and this restart of the upgrade work only adds to the overall cost of the project. Sections of the aircraft will need to be dismantled. Work that was being done will need to be undone and altered. And again, all of this at the taxpayer's expense.
SPEAKER_00Yep. And this incompetence is maddening and the cost staggering. But allow me to make it even worse. When Trump leaves office, he gets to keep the plane. So not only are we, the American taxpayer, paying for this mess, our dollars eventually end up in Trump's pocket in the form of it becoming his private jet.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's it's just one more vanity project. The plane in the ballroom, the arch, the reflecting pool, the claw, the UFC fights, the East Potomac golf course, the Garden of Heroes, the mystery at Lafayette Park, and then there's gold everywhere. We painted the gold horses. It just we could go on and on and on. So while while he has earned $2.4 billion in his first year as president, my Duke Bill was almost $500 this month, no lie. And scores of Americans are facing the same increases in their cost of living.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and and all the Trump administration's time and energy is going into making his vanity projects a reality and conducting retaliation campaigns against his enemies. Meanwhile, there's a war raging in Iran with no end in sight, food and gas prices have skyrocketed, and people are losing their health care and food benefits.
SPEAKER_01And the Republicans and Congress just continue to play along with this. I don't know what else that they could possibly do to make it more clear that they absolutely do not care about their constituents.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, we here at the Blue Dot, as well as most Americans, if you believe the polls have had enough, the Republicans who are enabling this criminal organization in the executive branch are in trouble come November. And nowhere is this more apparent than right here in Northern Kentucky, where we have a ton of great Democratic candidates running for office. So from the Republicans' perspective, what is a leader to do to address the multitude of serious issues we face? Try listening to the people? Take affordability seriously? Champion policies that help the working class of America? That sounds great. It's kind of like what the Democrats are doing, right? No, Natalie, why would Trump do that when he can just ask the Supreme Court to allow new limits on mail-in ballots? Stop people from voting, or should I say, stop the people I don't like from voting? That's the solution. The mail-in voting proposal from the Trump administration would require states to create lists of eligible voters, and only those individuals would receive mail-in ballots.
SPEAKER_01Yes. And so this is just another chapter in the ongoing battle over who gets to vote and how easy or how difficult that process should be. But what's really silly in all of this is that mail-in voting, not only did Trump did a mail-in vote, but it helps Republican candidates. I mean, hell it helps everyone.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, right. Uh what Trump is ultimately trying to do is federalize elections, which is blatantly unconstitutional. But with this Supreme Court, following the Constitution seems to be somewhat optional. Or let's just say we should all be skeptical when any of the extreme right justices claim to be textualists.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. I don't see a scenario where they would actually prove this, but six of them are Trump sycophants. So I don't know what to expect. You know, they should refuse to take up the case. But like you said, you know, what this court should do and what they actually do are two completely different things.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And and another serious story this week involves four U.S. troop deaths that were initially listed under casualties connected to Operation Epic Fury before later being reclassified as deaths during, quote, overseas operations.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I actually talked to a couple of people who served in the military, and they were just absolutely horrified by this. You know, and this reclassification has raised questions about military reporting and public transparency. Once again, transparency. Um, but regardless of the terminology, Americans deserve clear answers whenever service members lose their lives. It's terrible.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, this whole Iran debacle is so tragic. Not only the cost in taxpayer dollars and damage to the reputation of the United States worldwide, but mostly in the completely preventable loss of life of our troops. I mean, the other stuff can be muddied in the waters of politics, but the loss of human life, especially of our young patriots, all for the ego and power lust of one man? I mean, that's unforgivable. It's no wonder we drink.
SPEAKER_01That's that's right. Uh, but but we can have a drink after our ten minutes are up, and we are not the only ones who need a drink in these trying times. Did you hear about the 82-year-old grandma in Minnesota who took to the streets for her right to happy hour?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I mean, we talk about power of the people, and this grandma took on the state. Anita LeBrun was a regular at her facility's happy hours, but thought it was ridiculous that Minnesota law prohibited retirement homes from serving alcohol without an additional license. I looked at a YouTube clip and it said she had to sit there and sip seven up. Wasn't happy about it. She started a campaign to change the law, garnering over two million views of her speech to the Minnesota State Senate on Instagram. The quote, grandparents' happy hour bill, LeBrune championed, was recently signed into law by Tim Walls, governor of Minnesota, with LeBrun standing by, witnessing his signature. Cheers to Anita and her perseverance.
SPEAKER_01Yes, cheers to that. And Kentucky wanted in on the booze news this week as well. Kentucky's Sazerac, the owner of Buffalo Trace, is still trying to buy Louisville-based Brown Foreman, the company behind Jack Daniels, despite being told no more than once. Brown Foreman is one of Kentucky's most recognizable corporate names and a major player in the global whiskey business, and they are currently rejecting a $15 billion takeover.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, these industries have suffered due to the tariffs. Brown Foreman announced a closure of its long-standing Louisville Cooperage and cited decreases in net sales. So we'll have to keep an eye on all uh how this one all turns out.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that that will be interesting to see what happens there. And finally, closure to home, the Kenton County Democratic Party will be at the Old Timers Celebration this Saturday at Randolph Park in Covington from 11 to 2 o'clock.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I had to look this one up as a non-Kenton County native. I wasn't familiar with this event, but the Old Timers Celebration is a long-running community reunion that has been around for 35 years. It's a cultural festival that began as a gathering for alumni of Lincoln Grant High School, Covington's historic segregated African-American high school, and has grown into one of northern Kentucky's largest black community events.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's a really great event, and there are plenty of canvassing opportunities coming up for Aaron Curren, local commissioner candidates Sarah Fralich, Ben Bach, and Jordan Baldridge as well. And the Kenton County Democratic Women's Club will be hosting a brunch on August 16th to support all of our local campaigns.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, these and a lot more events are posted at Kenton County Democrats.org as well as all of the Kenton Dam socials. There are plenty of ways to get involved. Remember, democracy isn't built from the top down, it's built from the bottom up, and that framework starts with neighbors showing up for each other.
SPEAKER_01Heck yeah, it does. And we'll be showing up again next week because our 10 minutes are up. Until next time, stay curious, keep the facts in focus, never stop fighting for what matters. Peace out, everybody.