tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366229392024-02-28T12:53:27.672-05:00Kentucky PunditMy views on the often strange political occurrences in the Bluegrass State.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-92134392318500101842007-05-23T15:17:00.000-04:002007-05-23T15:41:47.540-04:00Kentucky voters choose status quo gubernatorial candidatesYesterday was a disappointing day in Kentucky politics. Voters overwhelmingly choose former Lt. Gov. Steve Beshear as the Democrat gubernatorial nominee and Incumbent Ernie Fletcher as the Republican nominee. Both are big spending liberals that like to go hog wild with Kentuckians' tax dollars. Why didn't more voters consider voting for candidates such as Billy Harper or Gatewood Galbraith in order to shake things up? I guess Kentuckians are complacent with having the hillbilly good old boy politician rather than a true reformer that could make the Commonwealth a better place.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-6717569175402940402007-05-20T08:40:00.000-04:002007-05-20T08:42:18.845-04:00Ernie Fletcher's most significant accomplishment as Governor<a href="http://www.kentucky.com/454/story/74725.html">"And we took the smiley face off the license plates," added Fletcher's running mate Robbie Rudolph at a Pikeville stop on Wednesday.</a><br /><br />What a maroon.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-42444364557078356842007-05-17T11:26:00.000-04:002007-05-17T11:34:17.621-04:00Time for Ernie Fletcher to release Legal Defense Fund Donors ListWhat does Gov. Ernie Fletcher have to hide? Fletcher refuses to release his Merit System legal defense fund donors list until after the election in November. His campaign's excuse is just plain silly and stupid. They say Attorney General Greg Stumbo might go after the donors if the list is released before he is out of office. <br /><br />There's speculation that the fund donors may be contractors that are getting preferential treatment because they donated money to Fletcher. I and others can only conclude that Fletcher has something to hide since he refuses to release the list until after the election. What an embarrassment to the GOP.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-47877455751518709902007-05-14T22:56:00.000-04:002007-05-14T22:58:39.411-04:00Words to RememberThis comes from a recent Rolling Stone magazine interview with Bob Dylan. Good words to remember during this election season in Kentucky.<br /><br /><blockquote>Jann: Do you worry about Global Warming?<br /><br />Bob: Where's the global warming? It's freezing here.<br /><br />Jann: It seems a pretty frightening outlook.<br /><br />Bob: I think what you're driving at, though, is we expect politicians to solve all our problems. I don't expect politicians to solve anybody's problems.<br /><br />Jann: Who is going to solve them?<br /><br />Bob: Our own selves. We've got to take the world by the horns and solve our own problems. The world owes us nothing, each and every one of us, the world owes us not one single thing. Politicans or whoever.</blockquote>kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-19361986838238611272007-05-14T22:29:00.000-04:002007-05-14T22:38:17.335-04:00Evidently there aren't many conservatives in KentuckyHow does someone that calls themselves a conservative Republican NOT vote for Billy Harper? Since when does polished saccharine rhetoric mean more than principled beliefs? Harper is the only honest candidate out there. He is not a primed politician, but, rather, a man with conservative ideas and beliefs that will move Kentucky out of the stone ages. Fletcher and Northup offer more of the same mediocre status quo. Anyone that calls themselves a Reagan Republican and casts his vote for Fletcher or Northup should should re-evaluate what he calls himself. Republican in Name Only would be a more fitting name.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-41800218148792158472007-05-14T20:50:00.000-04:002007-05-14T22:01:56.277-04:00Steve Beshear's gaming utopiaGubernatorial candidate Steve Beshear is tonight's Johnny one note on the KET debate. He believes if gaming is passed the Commonwealth with have a plethora of new government programs and projects. An excuse to spend even more tax dollars like crazy. This guy sounds like he's still stuck in lobbyist mode instead gubernatorial mode.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-44606681253007934322007-05-14T20:46:00.000-04:002007-05-14T20:57:15.655-04:00If elected Governor, Jody Richards will refuse to cut any type of spendingReporter Tom Loftus grilled Jody Richards what spending would be cut if the AMC was eliminated. Richards evidently believes money magically grows on trees. He says he believes that no spending will have to be cut. Give me a break.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-31026758333302733992007-05-14T20:38:00.000-04:002007-05-14T20:45:17.690-04:00Gatewood tears his Democrat opponents a new oneGatewood Galbraith is the star of the second Democrat Gubernatorial debate. We're not even halfway through the debate and Gatewood is clearly making the most sense. Best line so far: "Jody Richards is a mile wide and an inch deep." Status Quo Jody wasn't happy.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-57829027270468894082007-05-13T00:55:00.000-04:002007-05-13T00:59:59.493-04:00Bob Barr records campaign message for Ernie FletcherFormer Georgia Congressman Bob Barr has recorded a campaign phone message for Ernie Fletcher. In the message, Barr, a former Republican turned Libertarian, backs up Fletcher's claim that Anne Northup did not support voluntary prayer in schools while she was in Congress. <br /><br />I don't understand why Bob Barr has recorded a campaign message for Kentucky's esteemed spineless governor. Maybe they were buds in Congress?kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-9144532762218469182007-04-17T22:23:00.000-04:002007-04-17T22:30:40.551-04:00Kentucky Club for Growth releases 2007 General Assembly ScorecardThe Kentucky Club for Growth has just released its <a href="http://www.kyclubforgrowth.org/2007/04/2007_kentucky_club_for_growth.html">2007 General Assembly scorecard.</a> The scorecard ranks legislators based on their support of economic growth issues. Unfortunately, only two legislators, Stan Lee and Jim DeCesare, scored high enough to receive the Kentucky Defender of Economic Freedom Award. Hopefully, this scorecard will make Kentuckians more aware about how their Senators and Representatives vote on important fiscal issues.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-19380607537286893842007-04-16T22:08:00.000-04:002007-04-16T22:18:28.855-04:00A vast right wing conspiracy in Kentucky?During tonight's KET Democrat gubernatorial debate, Jody Richards dismissed the Senate's pension overhaul plan as a right wing ploy by Grover Norquist and ALEC. Ok, Speaker Richards, how exactly to you propose that the state reforms its pension system? I have heard no feasible solution whatsoever come out of Speaker Richards' mouth. Pumping more money into a overly generous pension system will not result in a better system. If something is not done soon, then, eventually all Kentuckians will have to pay higher taxes in order to pay for state employee and legislator pensions. Here's a fine question: How much do legislators receive in pensions? Unfortunately, no one knows the answer since those records are protected under the Kentucky Retirements System. That info should be public.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-280482675187233422007-04-13T22:38:00.000-04:002007-04-13T22:48:58.606-04:00Disappointing answers from Gubernatorial Candidates<a href="http://polwatchers.typepad.com/pol_watchers/2007/04/gubernatorial_d_3.html">This week's Lexington Herald's weekly gubernatorial cyber debate</a> focuses on the effectiveness of Kentucky's economic development incentives. Unfortunately, from what I can tell, none of the candidates propose that these economic incentives records to open to public scrutiny. Currently, the Economic Development Cabinet keeps such records under tight lock and key. Taxpayers should know how their money is being spent and how much of a return on investment they get when the money is spent on economic development. Taxpayers may be surprised to find out that their ROE is dismal. Currently, some other states allow these records to be public. What is Kentucky trying to hide?kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-5505465486997129662007-04-12T19:40:00.000-04:002007-04-12T19:48:20.958-04:00Jody Richards: Friend of the KEA and Enemy of the TaxpayerThe Lexington Herald-Leader's Pol Watchers blog reports that KEA President Frances Steenbergen has bestowed House Speaker and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jody Richards as a "<a href="http://polwatchers.typepad.com/pol_watchers/2007/04/richards_gets_e.html">friend of the KEA."</a><br /><br /><blockquote>KEA President Frances Steenbergen presented the award to Richards, citing him for his work in the legislature, specifically Richards' resistance to a plan offered by the state Senate that would have changed the state employees retirement system.<br /><br />"At no other time in my tenure as president has another legislator been out on a limb for you and me and other employees," Steenbergen said. </blockquote><br /><br />Hello? The Senate's retirement overhaul plan WOULD NOT affect current or retired state employees. Shouldn't Frances and her fellow union cronies support an overhaul that would help secure their future retirement benefits? Speaker Richards proved that he is an enemy of the taxpayer because he refused to even sit down and discuss a proposed pension overhaul with Senate leaders. So, being a "friend of the KEA" isn't saying much.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-66300301267311275602007-04-09T20:51:00.000-04:002007-04-09T21:05:22.223-04:00KET GOP Debate: Where's Ernie Fletcher's balls?Tonight, the GOP gubernatorial candidate debate aired on KET. In my opinion, Anne Northup and Billy Harper had some decent ideas and weren't afraid to try cost saving options such as privatization. Incumbent Ernie Fletcher seemed to dodge a lot of questions. Fletcher's default response seemed to be "we spent money on this, we came up with a program for that." He wasn't even man enough to admit his some of his mistakes on tax modernization and call for a repeal of the AMC tax. Of course, some of these candidates' rhetoric may sound good, but there is no way of know how successful they will be until they take office. Fletcher had his chance and performed poorly. Why does anyone think he will be any better if he is in office for another four years?kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-25911720036059109672007-04-07T12:10:00.000-04:002007-04-07T12:18:23.398-04:00Why is the state paying this guy a six-figure salary?<a href="http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070407/NEWS01/704070460/">According to the Courier-Journal, Bill Hanes, head of the Kentucky Retirement Systems, will retire June 1.</a> He is currently making $170,000 a year and is estimated to draw an annual $127,000 pension when he retires. Hanes was an outspoken opponent of the Senate's plan to overhaul Kentucky's struggling pension system that is saddled with long-term debt. But, I guess it was time for him to leave. Hanes offered no solutions to the pensions system's woes, even though he is the head of KRS. Shouldn't he had been the one that researched a way to reform pensions? What was the state paying him for? <br /><blockquote>"I think it is appropriate we have some new leadership in that organization," Williams said yesterday. "He was not prepared to discuss the need to change the benefit structure. And rather than trying to advance the discussions early on, it appeared he tried to give the House cover on the issue."<br /><br />Hanes said the controversy had nothing to do with his decision to retire and that he felt obliged to urge lawmakers to take care in changing benefits.<br /><br />"I was going to retire six years ago when I took this job. But I stayed here to accommodate the board and because I've got a very strong interest in protecting (the retirement systems)," Hanes said.<br /><br />"I don't have any hard feelings against David Williams. I seem to be in the way, and I was raising issues of making sure when you make a dramatic change in our retirement plan that those issues are discussed in an open forum, that stakeholders have an opportunity to talk," Hanes said. </blockquote><br /><br />Good riddance, I guess. Hopefully they will hire someone that isn't afraid to tackle new ideas.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-51824873409809971572007-04-07T11:39:00.000-04:002007-04-07T11:55:07.883-04:00Unbridled Spending on Unbridled SpiritEvery time Kentucky gets a new governor the Commonwealth gets a new slogan. Before the current Unbridled Spirit slogan it was Education Pays. I don't understand why Kentucky needs a slogan to begin with because, in my opinion, it's just another waste of money. State Auditor Crit Luallen's <a href="http://news.kypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070404/NEWS02/704040348/1014">just released annual audit has found that $75,000 of federal money designated for things such as a summer food service program for children was spent on Unbridled Spirit.</a> <br /><br /><a href="http://kyprogress.blogspot.com/2007/04/charge-that-kentucky-misspent-fed-money.html">The Fletcherite Kentucky Progress blog dismisses the Auditor's report as a Democrat conspiracy and defends the Unbridled Spirit campaign.</a> However, Kentucky would be much better off if people demanded government stay out of the advertising business to begin with, that's what private tourism is for. No one if going to come to Kentucky just because they see "Unbridled Spirit" on a billboard.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-11661707736511242852007-04-06T16:34:00.000-04:002007-04-06T17:03:09.130-04:00Lunford-Stumbo Report steals Bluegrass Institute Trademark<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bipps.org/media/piglet150TM.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px;" src="http://www.bipps.org/media/piglet150TM.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The Bruce Lunsford-Greg Stumbo campaign has just released it's platform piece, <a href="http://www.lunsfordstumbo2007.com/Blueprint-for-Change.pdf">Blueprint for Change.</a> On pg. 21 of the document, the Bluegrass Institute's porky parody of Kentucky's Unbridled Spirit slogan, from the <a href="http://bipps.org/ARTICLE.ASP?ID=480">2006 Kentucky Piglet Book,</a> makes an appearance without any type of attribution to the Bluegrass Institute. This doesn't exactly bode well because Stumbo is currently Attorney General of Kentucky. Stumbo, of all people, should know that stealing other organizations' trademarks is illegal.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-44148258210624588082007-04-02T11:56:00.000-04:002007-04-02T11:58:05.270-04:00I'm still hereI don't know what happened. Looks like blogger, for some reason, has lost all my posts for the past week of so.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-1175458271435674382007-04-01T15:59:00.000-04:002007-04-01T16:11:11.443-04:00Your tax dollars at work.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://gizmodo.com/assets/resources/2007/03/r2d2_mailboxes.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://gizmodo.com/assets/resources/2007/03/r2d2_mailboxes.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />The USPS is going hog wild with their Star Wars promotion. Just go to www.usps.gov and you'll understand. Maybe they think that it'll make us all feel better when first-class postage stamps rise to 41 cents a couple of weeks before the unveiling of the Star Wars stamps. But, why does the USPS need to spend millions on marketing campaigns? They're a government monopoly. <br /><br />USPS was a good idea to begin with, however, why not open up the mail business to competition? Businesses now have the assets and technology available to deliver mail better than the USPS.<br /><br />By the way, in my opinion, the best book that shows the ineptitude of the postal service is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Post-Office-Charles-Bukowski/dp/0876850867">Post Office by Charles Bukowski.</a> Check it out sometime.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-1175133953722303882007-03-28T23:01:00.000-04:002007-03-28T23:14:28.503-04:00An amusing look at the Bullman<a href="http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070328/NEWS01/703281206/1008&GID=cDeB/ZSQtRksriIxrP7n/1em6x50PpA3Cm1Rgeia84k%3D">Today's Courier-Journal has an interesting profile on long shot Democratic gubernatorial candidate Otis "Bullman" Hensley:</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Hensley wears suits to campaign events but needs someone to tie his neckties because, he said, he doesn't know how, and as soon as he can, he changes back to jeans and T-shirts.<br /><br />He never wears a seat belt -- even though state law requires it -- because they're too constraining. But he does strap in his three teddy bears, Huey, Dewey and Louie, in back of his limousine when he drives with his wife to explore different counties on long Sunday trips.<br /><br />Hensley takes his nickname from the 12-foot-tall, 3,000-pound model of a bull that he totes to campaign events, along with a slogan, "Control the bull in Frankfort and put people first." <br /><br /></blockquote><br /><br />Good Luck, Bullman, you'll need it.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-1175131645618640482007-03-28T22:08:00.000-04:002007-03-28T22:27:25.626-04:00Another session=Another waste of tax dollarsOnce again, the Kentucky General Assembly has ended another session and accomplished little. Many bills died because of gridlock between the House and the Senate. Actually, gridlock is good because that means many bad bills will never be enacted into law. However, once again, pansy Gov. Ernie Fletcher is threatening to call a special session. As you may recall, a few years ago there was a constitutional amendment on the ballot that was touted by House Speaker Jody Richards as a way to eliminate special sessions. The amendment called for the implementation of odd year short sessions. In a move that still leaves me scratching my head, Kentucky voters approved this measure. Yet, our ever-wise politicians still can't get their act together and insist on special sessions that cost KY taxpayers $60,000 a day.<br /><br />Hopefully, when these clowns in the House and Senate are up for re-election Kentuckians will do the right thing. Let's throw the bums out and give some new people a chance. In fact, let's implement a one term limit so we don't have idiots like Jody Richards in office for decades. Let's see if any politician has the guts to put that type of constitutional amendment on the ballot. People should be sick and tired of Kentucky's old, bloated and sometimes senile politicians.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-1175129943213836762007-03-28T21:45:00.000-04:002007-03-28T21:59:03.220-04:00Porkmeister Ernie Fletcher keeps handing out the checksGov. Ernie Fletcher seems good at one thing: Handing out checks. <a href="http://www.kentucky.com/181/story/28490.html">Fletcher gave a $100,000 check to Lexington mayor Jim Newberry for funding of the 2007 Bluegrass Games, an annual athletic competition.</a> Fletcher and his staff definitely do not seem to be "idea people." Fletcher's main function as governor seems to be head porkmeister. <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/nrof_comment/swanson200603280801.asp">Too bad Fletcher doesn't pay attention to what Indiana Governor Mitch "The Blade" Daniels how cut wasteful spending in the Hoosier State:</a><br /><br /><blockquote>The chief architect of the boom is the state’s decisive Governor Mitch Daniels, President Bush’s former budget director. In Washington, Daniels drew scorn from congressional big spenders, acquiring the nickname “the blade” for his cost-cutting and privatizing ways. (The moniker could just as easily apply to his sharp wit and intellect.) The spenders in Washington, however, won those battles — big time — swallowing the blade and earning today’s enmity from the Republican base. But now Daniels is back home and in charge, and he is engineering a turnaround of an entire state with sophistication.<br /><br />In the state’s [2006] short legislative session, just completed, Daniels achieved two sweeping victories. The first is the nation’s most aggressive telecommunications deregulation, which will spur hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in invisible infrastructure — the “fibers and frequencies” of the digital age, as Daniels describes it. The second is a $4 billion privatization lease of the Indiana Toll Road and the new I-69 interstate. This will fund the largest-ever upgrade of Indiana’s visible infrastructure: its antique roads and bridges.</blockquote><br /><br />Kentucky never has accomplished anything like this during a short legislative session, much less a long session. Let's hope whoever becomes the next Governor of Kentucky can be follow our neighbor's lead.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-1175023134412830002007-03-27T16:02:00.000-04:002007-03-27T16:27:40.106-04:00Representatives of "Cadillac Pension System" want to Bankrupt the Commonwealth<a href="http://polwatchers.typepad.com/pol_watchers/2007/03/labor_groups_to.html">According to the Herald-Leader</a>, tomorrow, representatives from the Kentucky Education Association, Kentucky Association of State Employees, KY AFL-CIO and the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees will be holding a press conference to discuss the Legislature's pension overhaul plan.<br /><br />The usual socialist suspects are scheduled to speak, super teacher Frances Steenbergen and robber baron conspiracy theorist Charles Wells. I expect there will be much whining, moaning and complaining about how terrible state employees are treated and how they need to keep a defined benefit Cadillac pension plan in place, hence effectively bankrupting the state, resulting in a huge tax increase that will fund the state worker minority. <br /><br />Conservative columnist Jim Waters wrote a fine piece that ran in several state newspapers recently that outlined the coming pension train wreck. (I will link to it if it becomes available online.) Many state employees don't know just how good they have it. Something has to be done to help the Commonwealth avert pension disaster. This new pension system will not even affect retired state employees and employees already in the system. What's the big deal. We'll never get anything solved if we keep listening to the blabbermouth idiots like Steenbergen and Wells, who have nothing but their own groups interests in mind.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-1175014729367434562007-03-27T13:44:00.000-04:002007-03-27T13:59:34.403-04:00Is Larry Dale Keeling's grip on reality loosening?Currently, the Lexington-Herald Leader's lefty political columnist Larry Dale Keeling's KYKurmudgeon blog is entirely devoted to slamming Sen. David Williams' pension overhaul plan. In his latest entry,<a href="http://kykurmudgeon.typepad.com/kykurmudgeon/2007/03/is_williams_gri.html">Is Williams' grip on legislature loosening</a>, Keeling dismisses the pension overhaul plan as ineffective.<br /><br /><blockquote>Could Senate President David Williams be losing his stranglehold on the throat of the Kentucky General Assembly?<br /><br />After a Kentucky Retirement Systems actuary shot down most of Williams' claims about his pension proposal during a video conference with the House State Government Committee this morning, House Democrats seem even more adamant today about letting a blue ribbon task force do its work before the legislature addresses state pension plans unfunded liability problem.</blockquote><br /><br />Hello? Mr. Keeling? <a href="http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070326/NEWS0101/70326025">Did you even consider Sen. Williams' response to the KRS bureaucrat's testimony?</a><br /><br /><blockquote>But Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, who sat in the audience during the meeting, said later, “They didn’t ask him if that was in immediate years or out years. We never have said that it did save a lot in immediate years. Where you make your savings are in the out years.”</blockquote><br /><br />The savings of a defined contribution system will NOT be immediate. Savings probably won't be realized until all of the people on a defined benefit system are gone, i.e. dead. Mr. Keeling would rather have the General Assembly not take action even though with each delay the cost of Kentucky's broken pension system will increase. I'm starting to wonder if Mr. Keeling is losing his grip on reality.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36622939.post-1175013695302853642007-03-27T13:32:00.000-04:002007-03-27T13:43:05.176-04:00Old Man Carroll blows another Gasket<a href="http://polwatchers.typepad.com/pol_watchers/2007/03/carroll_questio.html">The Lexington Herald-Leader reports</a> that older than dirt Sen. Julian Carroll is on once again on the rampage. Targeting Lt. Gov. Pence in his latest tirade:<br /><br /><blockquote>For the second time this legislative session, state Sen. Julian Carroll, D-Frankfort, railed against Lt. Gov. Steve Pence for his "disloyalty" to Gov. Ernie Fletcher and challenged him to repay taxpayers for his salary and expenses.<br /><br />In a speech on the Senate floor, Carroll questioned Pence's use of a "new Chevy Tahoe" and communication equipment provided by the state.<br /><br />"Where is he driving that Tahoe?" Carroll asked. "I want to know whether or not he's using it for political purposes around the state."<br /><br />Carroll also alleged that Pence is transported by Kentucky State Police in a limousine.</blockquote><br /><br />Pence says that Carroll is merely "out of touch."<br /><br /><blockquote>"Perhaps he forgot that he gave this speech once already," Pence said.<br /><br />As lieutenant governor, Pence said his loyalties lie with the voters and the state Constitution, not Fletcher.<br /><br />"I was not indicted. I did not take the 5th. I didn't pardon anybody. I don't have a secret legal defense fund," he said.<br /><br />Pence has said Fletcher pardoned his administration from any charges related to an investigation of state hiring practices in an effort to cover up actions taken by workers in the governor's office.<br /><br />Pence said he has driven the same Chevy Tahoe for more than two years. He said he drives himself to events and has no limousine. Pence said he uses a private cell phone and has not made a call from his state-provided Blackberry in several months.<br /></blockquote><br /><br />Earlier this month, Old Man Carroll introduced his own state pensions solution. <a href="http://www.state-journal.com/news/article/1750312">Here's what the State Journal reported:</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Carroll says under his compromise, implementation of the new benefit structure could be delayed until 2009. The changes would only affect new hires, and not current state employees or retirees.<br />"Id like more time to study this myself," Carroll said. "This would give us nearly a year to study what the new provisions should be."<br />In addition, Carroll proposes that new hybrid benefit system would "sunset" in 2012 and revert to the current system if no legislative action is taken. It would require both chambers of the legislature to work together to perfect the benefit system. </blockquote><br /><br />Maybe Old Man Carroll should consider putting in the papers for his own retirement.kypundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218180147763269972noreply@blogger.com0