Unbridled excess

The Courier-Journal is reporting that the state may have overpaid New West for Unbridled Spirit contracts.

A statement from Stumbo’s office said that an audit by the Fletcher administration’s Finance and Administration Cabinet documented improprieties reported by Stumbo’s office last summer in the administration of the contract with New West, LLC, of Louisville.

Stumbo’s report of last summer said that excessive and improper billing under the contract resulted in overpayments to New West totaling more than $1.4 million.

Kentucky's new brand-name is quite expensive. How much business does a dinky state slogan actually attract to Kentucky? Why did the state spend millions on something so insignificant? When Gov. Fletcher starts campaigning for his re-election I hope one of his heralded accomplishments isn't "I introduced the Unbridled Spirit brand and got rid of the smiley license plate."

Most people prefer less government

According to a new CNN opinion poll, most people think government is doing too much

The poll released Friday also showed that an overwhelming majority of Americans perceive, correctly, that the size and cost of government have gone up in the past four years, when Republicans have had a grip on the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House.

Discretionary spending grew from $649 billion in fiscal year 2001 to $968 billion in fiscal year 2005, an increase of $319 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Queried about their views on the role of government, 54 percent of the 1,013 adults polled said they thought it was trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses. Only 37 percent said they thought the government should do more to solve the country's problems.

People are sick and tired of the out of control spending that the Republican controlled Congress and President Bush have helped sustain. The Republican Revolution may soon be over because pork prevailed over principle.

Sign up for the Kentucky Club for Growth Newsletter

I encourage everyone to sign up for the Kentucky Club for Growth newsletter. I'm sure that they will be sending out some good info about how Kentucky legislators are performing fiscally sometime soon.

"We will do that when you put us in Congress."

So says Col. Mike Weaver in this video. Col. Mike wants to limit spending and denounces the so-called evil tax cuts for the wealthiest of the wealthy. Col. Mike puts the blame of the out of control federal spending on his incumbent opponent Rep. Ron Lewis. However, Lewis is Kentucky's most fiscally conservative member of the House of Representatives, according to the Club for Growth Congressional Scorecard. (Lewis receives a score of 70 percent) Maybe the Col. should check out his colleague Rep. Ben Chandler's score.. a dismal 21 percent.

So, Col. Mike, I probably wouldn't like what you plan to do if you get in Congress.

School Vouchers: Spawned from Beelzebub?

The mere utterance of the word "voucher" seems to spawn a fear deep down in the hearts of militant teachers union members. If one listened to members of the Kentucky Education Association he might conclude that voucher proponents dabbled in the occult. For instance, the KEA recently retracted their endorsement of 1oth district Senator Elizabeth Tori because Tori simply said that she supported a pilot project that would explore to use of school vouchers. The basic reason that the KEA is scared of vouchers is because of competition. More competition means that poorly performing teachers would be more likely to lose their jobs.

The KEA's tactics of demonizing supporters of vouchers are usually backed by strong emotions rather than hard facts or common sense. Think about it. Competition makes our lives better in every aspect. Because of competition we are able to receive goods and services at a lower cost and of better quality. How is the field of education any different?

One day I hope that the liver-lilied politicians in Kentucky will pass school choice legislation. Give it a shot. See what happens.

Why?

Kentucky state officials plan to run advertisements on various national TV stations and in national magazines using the Unbridled Spirit slogan. Officials are hoping such ads would drive tourists to Kentucky. Riddle me this. Why should government be in the business of advertising in the first place? Government should uphold the rule of law, provide schools and build roads. Government should not build and run amusement parks. Private businesses in Kentucky are the ones responsible for attracting tourists to Kentucky, not some pencil-necked bureaucrats in Frankfort.

Shady Hal Strikes Again

Last year the Washington Post chronicled Congressman Hal Rogers' shady homeland security contracts. Now, a new report from Auditor Crit Luallen criticizes Rogers for yet another fishy contacting deal through the Southern and Eastern Kentucky Tourism Development Association. According to the Associated Press:

A company employing the son of U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers received some of the $2.9 million in funding the congressman steered to a nonprofit tourism group in his district that employs one of his staff members, according to a state audit.

The 2004 contract awarded through the state Transportation Cabinet didn't appear to violate any Kentucky laws, but state Auditor Crit Luallen said the transaction was unique among the 57 sample contracts her office reviewed for the 100-page report.

"This one pointed out some unique problems we didn't see elsewhere," Luallen said.

In a written statement, Rogers, a Somerset Republican, said he is proud to have secured funds for projects for the 5th District in southeastern Kentucky, including $2.9 million for a tourism information service. Rogers said prior outside audits show the contract has been managed "prudently and effectively."

Earlier this year Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake sponsored an amendment to eliminate a $1 million earmark designated for SEKTDA. Unfortunately the amendment failed. Here's the opinion Kentucky's esteemed congressman offered PBS when asked his opinion about Flake's amendment:

REP. HAROLD ROGERS (R), Kentucky: I would support today the earmarks over the years for the Central Arizona Water Project that enabled Arizona to grow and prosper and boom as it is now in providing jobs for people. But I would hope the gentleman would realize there are other parts of the country with much, much smaller needs, but equally as important to the people that live there.

Sorry Hal, this is not an apples to apples comparison. At least a large water project would have results that would benefit more than a few select people. In fact, I wonder where the millions upon millions of federal dollars that are funneled into the many non-profits located in Southeastern Kentucy end up. For example: SEKTDA, SEKRI, Center for Rural Development, UNITE, PRIDE, SKED, KHIC, etc. How have these organizations truly benefited the average Kentuckian? We can only hope that more light shines upon the dealings of Hal Rogers so taxpayers will know how their money is being spent.

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