Bill Straub: Massie making name for himself in D.C. but at the expense of his NKy district


WASHINGTON – Rep. Thomas Massie is quickly making a name for himself here in the nation’s capital. Of course, the name being bestowed upon him by House Speaker John Boehner and other members of the House Republican leadership is one that obviously is not suitable for this space or any place else wishing to maintain a modicum of propriety, even New Jersey.

Beginning his second term representing the Fourth Congressional District, which runs east from Northern Kentucky to Ashland along the Ohio River, Massie has twice been presented with the opportunity to support Boehner, an Ohio Republican who this week successfully navigated his way to a third term as leader of the all-too-often rambunctious legislative chamber.

Thomas Massie
Thomas Massie

Twice Massie has tossed his vote for speaker to some other candidate – individuals who had as much of a chance of ascending to the speaker’s chair as a camel has of passing through the eye of a needle.

“For years I watched Washington from afar and suspected that something was broken,’’ said Massie, a Republican from Lewis County. “Why is it that so many people approve of their congressman, yet they consistently disapprove of Congress? During my first two years as a congressman I discovered a significant source of the dysfunction.’’

That source, in Massie’s view, is a House leadership that, he said, created a fiscal crisis out of whole cloth, has purposely misled its members and doesn’t even afford its members the time necessary to read the bills they’re being asked to vote on.

The folks in the Fourth District, Massie said, “expect better and America deserves better.’’

“I will vote for a new speaker who will consistently articulate a constitutional vision for America and facilitate an inclusive and orderly legislative process that allows Congress to truly reflect the will of the people,’’ Massie said.

With that, according to Reason magazine, a libertarian monthly, Massie emerged as, “the de facto ringleader of today’s revolt against the leadership of House Speaker John Boehner’’ after little more than two years in the House of Representatives.

The entire scenario proved to be an annoyance for Boehner – not a your-car-breaking-down-in-the-middle-of-a-narrow-bridge-at-rush-hour sort of annoyance, but rather a gnat-buzzing-around-your-face type. Ultimately 25 members of the 247-member Republican caucus defied Boehner, the biggest challenge to the chamber’s top dog since at least 1923.

But he also attracted the support of more than 200 of his GOP colleagues, which ain’t half bad.

Massie’s choice was Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Florida, who also is entering his second term and has really failed to display any of the sort of qualities that one might look for in a speaker. Yoho has been quoted as saying only landowners should vote, that he would support legislation to “investigate’’ the circumstances surrounding President Obama’s birth certificate and that the Civil Rights Act may not be constitutional.

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[Massie] has turned weak tea into lukewarm water and Northern Kentucky leaders, already concerned that Massie seems more interested in claiming a space on the national stage than serving the region’s parochial interests, have additional frets to address.

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So said Massie’s preferred candidate. Of course Massie himself told WFPL-FM in Louisville that the government shutdown in 2013 wasn’t a big deal, ignoring for a moment that it cost the economy $24 billion, according to Standard & Poor’s and that it affected programs ranging from Head Start to the Veterans Administration.

Now Massie and the others who staged the rebellion are learning the hard lesson offered by Omar Little on The Wire, the best show ever broadcast on American television: “You come at the king, you best not miss.’’ Boehner already has ousted two members of the cabal from the powerful House Rules Committee – although there are rumors they may be reinstated – representing a shot over the bow of the most conservative members of his caucus, warning them to get in line.

Ultimately, Massie’s quixotic actions accomplished nothing and served little purpose, other than to further dilute Northern Kentucky’s voice in the House of Representatives. He has turned weak tea into lukewarm water and Northern Kentucky leaders, already concerned that Massie seems more interested in claiming a space on the national stage than serving the region’s parochial interests, have additional frets to address.

Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-South Carolina, said the effort spawned by Massie was “driven as much by talk radio as by a thoughtful and principled effort to make a change. It was poorly considered and poorly executed and I learned firsthand that is no way to fight a battle.”

“I am all for fighting, but I am more interested in fighting and winning than I am fighting an unwinnable battle,” Mulvaney said.

It’s a matter of curiosity that Massie came to represent the Fourth in the first place. For years Northern Kentucky really didn’t have a congressional district it could call its own. The region was split into two separate districts – the Fourth and the Sixth – looking as if Lizzie Bordon had taken her axe to the region and hacked out the district lines after she had addressed her family concerns.

During most of this time period — the 1960s and 1970s – the suburbs outside of Louisville dominated the Fourth with Gene Snyder, a Republican from Brownsboro Farms, holding the seat for 20 years. Meanwhile, the Sixth was centered in Lexington, which produced John Breckinridge, a Democrat, and a bit later Larry Hopkins, a Republican.

The district lines restricted the potential clout of Kenton, Campbell and Boone counties in Washington for at least two decades, While Snyder proved reasonably competent representing the region’s interests, the boys from the Bluegrass definitely proved to be attuned almost solely to the interests of their hometown.

All that began to change with redistricting resulting from the 1980 Census. While regional representation was weak in Washington, Northern Kentucky’s influence was growing in Frankfort thanks in large measure to local leaders and then-Gov. John Y. Brown Jr, who saw significant promise in the three large counties along the Ohio River.

Once the horse-trading was completed, Northern Kentucky emerged from the 1982 legislative session with a congressional district it could embrace. Of course, Northern Kentucky being what it is, voters promptly returned Snyder to Washington for two additional two-year terms before his retirement.

Republican Jim Bunning, the Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher who later served two terms in the U.S. Senate, became the first Northern Kentuckian to claim the seat as a result of the 1986 elections. He was followed by Democrat Ken Lucas and Republican Geoff Davis, who resigned in July 2012 after more than seven years in Washington because of a family health issue.

So Northern Kentucky was well represented for a span of 25 years and it’s fair to say the region flourished, although there were reasons other than having a representative in Washington to call on. A special election was held to replace Davis and the GOP leaders in the Fourth District’s counties chose Massie who, at the time, had served less than two years as Lewis County judge-executive, his first elected office.

Now, anyone who’s visited Lewis County, which usually means you’re travelling on the AA Highway, knows it is a pretty spot in the road, rolling hills and beautiful landscape. It is not usually thought of as a launching pad for a congressional career. It is the 80th largest county in a state with 120 to cull from, and more than 40 percent of the county’s residents receive some sort of government benefit. While lovely and undoubtedly a nice place to live, it is no one’s idea of an economic powerhouse. Massie barely had time to pick a desk chair as judge-executive before flying off to Washington.

Lewis County has slightly fewer than 14,000 residents. Kenton, Campbell and Boone counties are each listed among the state’s eight largest counties. And Lewis County (extra points for naming the county seat…it’s Vanceburg) is certainly closer to Ashland’s sphere of influence than to Northern Kentucky’s.

All of this is to pose a question – How and why did Northern Kentucky let its hard-won congressional seat slip through its fingers after 25 years? Massie is a smart guy. In fact, he’s more than smart – anyone who graduates with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and “invented a technology that enabled people to interact with computers using their sense of touch’’ is no dope.

But it’s fair to say Kenton, Campbell and Boone counties have witnessed their influence ebb at a time when it could use a few friends – traveled over the Brent Spence Bridge lately?

The GOP bench in Northern Kentucky must have been weaker than anyone suspected.

KyForward Washington correspondent Bill Straub served 11 years as the Frankfort 1-bill-straub-mug-1Bureau chief for The Kentucky Post. He also is the former White House/political correspondent for Scripps Howard News Service. He currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland, and writes frequently about the federal government and politics. Email him at williamgstraub@gmail.com.


One thought on “Bill Straub: Massie making name for himself in D.C. but at the expense of his NKy district

  1. I would disagree with Bill Straub that Northern Kentucky has had its representation slip through it’s fingers, or that it has been well-represented for 25 years. I feel that some of the representation, particularly that of Jim Bunning and Mitch McConnell, was seldom in the interest of the area, but rather in the interest of the GOP alone. It’s now refreshing to have a representative, regardless of party, who can think and vote for himself instead of just towing the party line as others have done so many times before. Many of us agree that Washington can use some leadership, and Thomas Massey is at least a thought-leader in that respect.

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