Kentucky Pundit

Kentucky voters choose status quo gubernatorial candidates

2007-05-23T15:17:00.000-04:00

Yesterday 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.

Ernie Fletcher's most significant accomplishment as Governor

2007-05-20T08:40:00.000-04:00

"And we took the smiley face off the license plates," added Fletcher's running mate Robbie Rudolph at a Pikeville stop on Wednesday.

What a maroon.

Time for Ernie Fletcher to release Legal Defense Fund Donors List

2007-05-17T11:26:00.000-04:00

What 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.

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.

Words to Remember

2007-05-14T22:56:00.000-04:00

This comes from a recent Rolling Stone magazine interview with Bob Dylan. Good words to remember during this election season in Kentucky.

Jann: Do you worry about Global Warming?

Bob: Where's the global warming? It's freezing here.

Jann: It seems a pretty frightening outlook.

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.

Jann: Who is going to solve them?

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.

Evidently there aren't many conservatives in Kentucky

2007-05-14T22:29:00.000-04:00

How 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.

Steve Beshear's gaming utopia

2007-05-14T20:50:00.000-04:00

Gubernatorial 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.

If elected Governor, Jody Richards will refuse to cut any type of spending

2007-05-14T20:46:00.000-04:00

Reporter 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.

Gatewood tears his Democrat opponents a new one

2007-05-14T20:38:00.000-04:00

Gatewood 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.

Bob Barr records campaign message for Ernie Fletcher

2007-05-13T00:55:00.000-04:00

Former 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.

I don't understand why Bob Barr has recorded a campaign message for Kentucky's esteemed spineless governor. Maybe they were buds in Congress?

Kentucky Club for Growth releases 2007 General Assembly Scorecard

2007-04-17T22:23:00.000-04:00

The Kentucky Club for Growth has just released its 2007 General Assembly scorecard. 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.

A vast right wing conspiracy in Kentucky?

2007-04-16T22:08:00.000-04:00

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.

Disappointing answers from Gubernatorial Candidates

2007-04-13T22:38:00.000-04:00

This week's Lexington Herald's weekly gubernatorial cyber debate 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?

Jody Richards: Friend of the KEA and Enemy of the Taxpayer

2007-04-12T19:40:00.000-04:00

The 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 "friend of the KEA."

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.

"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.

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.

KET GOP Debate: Where's Ernie Fletcher's balls?

2007-04-09T20:51:00.000-04:00

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?

Why is the state paying this guy a six-figure salary?

2007-04-07T12:10:00.000-04:00

According to the Courier-Journal, Bill Hanes, head of the Kentucky Retirement Systems, will retire June 1. 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?

"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."

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.

"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.

"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.

Good riddance, I guess. Hopefully they will hire someone that isn't afraid to tackle new ideas.

Unbridled Spending on Unbridled Spirit

2007-04-07T11:39:00.000-04:00

Every 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 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.

The Fletcherite Kentucky Progress blog dismisses the Auditor's report as a Democrat conspiracy and defends the Unbridled Spirit campaign. 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.

Lunford-Stumbo Report steals Bluegrass Institute Trademark

2007-04-06T16:34:00.000-04:00

The Bruce Lunsford-Greg Stumbo campaign has just released it's platform piece, Blueprint for Change. On pg. 21 of the document, the Bluegrass Institute's porky parody of Kentucky's Unbridled Spirit slogan, from the 2006 Kentucky Piglet Book, 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.

I'm still here

2007-04-02T11:56:00.000-04:00

I don't know what happened. Looks like blogger, for some reason, has lost all my posts for the past week of so.

Your tax dollars at work.

2007-04-01T15:59:00.000-04:00

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.

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.

By the way, in my opinion, the best book that shows the ineptitude of the postal service is Post Office by Charles Bukowski. Check it out sometime.

An amusing look at the Bullman

2007-03-28T23:01:00.000-04:00

Today's Courier-Journal has an interesting profile on long shot Democratic gubernatorial candidate Otis "Bullman" Hensley:

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.

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.

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."

Good Luck, Bullman, you'll need it.

Another session=Another waste of tax dollars

2007-03-28T22:08:00.000-04:00

Once 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.

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.

Porkmeister Ernie Fletcher keeps handing out the checks

2007-03-28T21:45:00.000-04:00

Gov. Ernie Fletcher seems good at one thing: Handing out checks. Fletcher gave a $100,000 check to Lexington mayor Jim Newberry for funding of the 2007 Bluegrass Games, an annual athletic competition. Fletcher and his staff definitely do not seem to be "idea people." Fletcher's main function as governor seems to be head porkmeister. Too bad Fletcher doesn't pay attention to what Indiana Governor Mitch "The Blade" Daniels how cut wasteful spending in the Hoosier State:

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.

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.

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.

Representatives of "Cadillac Pension System" want to Bankrupt the Commonwealth

2007-03-27T16:02:00.000-04:00

According to the Herald-Leader, 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.

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.

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.

Is Larry Dale Keeling's grip on reality loosening?

2007-03-27T13:44:00.000-04:00

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,Is Williams' grip on legislature loosening, Keeling dismisses the pension overhaul plan as ineffective.

Could Senate President David Williams be losing his stranglehold on the throat of the Kentucky General Assembly?

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.

Hello? Mr. Keeling? Did you even consider Sen. Williams' response to the KRS bureaucrat's testimony?

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.”

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.

Old Man Carroll blows another Gasket

2007-03-27T13:32:00.000-04:00

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that older than dirt Sen. Julian Carroll is on once again on the rampage. Targeting Lt. Gov. Pence in his latest tirade:

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.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Carroll questioned Pence's use of a "new Chevy Tahoe" and communication equipment provided by the state.

"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."

Carroll also alleged that Pence is transported by Kentucky State Police in a limousine.

Pence says that Carroll is merely "out of touch."

"Perhaps he forgot that he gave this speech once already," Pence said.

As lieutenant governor, Pence said his loyalties lie with the voters and the state Constitution, not Fletcher.

"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.

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.

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.

Earlier this month, Old Man Carroll introduced his own state pensions solution. Here's what the State Journal reported:

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.
"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."
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.

Maybe Old Man Carroll should consider putting in the papers for his own retirement.

My take on the Gubernatorial Candidates

2007-03-26T22:41:00.000-04:00

It's times like these that make me ashamed to be in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. We've got a bunch of clowns running for headmaster politician. I thought I'd tell you all what I think of these characters.

On the Republican side:

Billy Harper: Seems like a nice guy that has some decent ideas. He needs to get the marbles out of his mouth.

Anne Northup: Commie Liberal masquerading as a Republican. She's beginning to sound like a broken record. Why not talk about some ideas rather than talking about our wonderful Governator Ernie.

Ernie Fletcher: What happened? His whole campaign strategy is basically, "I will roll over and die if anyone tries to criticize me." His TV campaign commercial is terrible. He's not even trying anymore.

Democrat side:

Otis Hensley Jr: When he becomes governor I hope he hires his plastic bull to be his communications director.

Bruce Lunsford: Wealthy businessman wants to bankrupt Kentucky by implementing Universal Health Care.

Jonathan Miller: Also wants to bankrupt Kentucky. He was the brainchild of the ill-conceived KAPT.

Jody Richards: Wimpy wishy washy Jody has no chance of becoming Governor. One of the most least inspiring candidates to run for governor. Will not take a hard-line stance on any important issues. Needs to invest in better hair dye.. hair club for men dye isn't cutting it.

Steve Beshear: A loser with no innovative ideas.

Gatewood Galbraith: Machine gun toting, weed smoking, magic mushroom ingesting candidate has better ideas than the rest of the Democrap field.

Steve Henry: Husband of Miss America believes that his omnipotent powers from being a former doctor is better than the free-market. He plans to fix health care much like Ky Kare fixed the Commonwealth's insurance problems.

There you have it. Quite an lackluster field. I should have stayed on the road instead of coming back to this great Commonwealth of Kentucky.

I'm Back

2007-03-26T22:38:00.000-04:00

I've been ridin' the rails across the country this past winter. Just got back into town cause I got tired of being chased by bulls and brakemen. Just read the newspaper after being outta touch with Kentucky for months. Who are these bozos running for Governor?

Big in Japan?

2006-11-10T18:22:00.000-05:00

Gov. Ernie Fletcher and Economic Development Secretary Gene Stong are hightailing it to Japan this weekend on the KY taxpayers' dime. Wonder how much this trip will cost?

Aftermath

2006-11-10T17:41:00.000-05:00

It should be no surprise that Democrats will take control of Congress next year. Scandals, outlandish earmarks and the Iraq war have been a thorn in the side of the GOP. However, the main question is: Will things be any different?

A couple of days ago President Bush gave a lackluster speech which seemed to indicate that he may cave in to the Democrats' demands. Alarmingly, Bush even conceded that he would work together with Democrats to come up with a compromise to the minimum wage issue. So far, Bush has only vetoed one bill during his tenure at the White House. It's time to ink up the pen, Mr. President.

In Louisville, underdog John Yarmuth upset incumbent Rep. Anne Northup. Yarmuth wisely hammered Northup on the Iraq war issue. No big deal. Northup was just a RINO anyway.

Moving on to Kentucky state politics, the Democrats also made a considerable gain in the legislature. Thankfully, voters finally sent left-winger Steve Nunn home.

This year's elections should be a wakeup call to the Republican party. The Republican Revolution is over.

Throw the bum out

2006-11-06T21:11:00.000-05:00

Rep. Hal Rogers tries to defend his pork in today's Lexington Herald-Leader:

The Herald-Leader's article about my activity in support of the Eastern Kentucky Rural Information Highway System, commonly known as 511, was highly derogatory.

Because the program's true nature and success were conveniently ignored, it is necessary to set the record straight and offer an accurate picture of the program and its manager, the Southern and Eastern Kentucky Tourism Development Association.

The association, formed in 1987, serves 47 counties, covering parts of five of Kentucky's six congressional districts. The phenomenally successful organization provides tremendous resources for expanding and marketing tourism, encouraging economic development and boosting the overall quality of life in southern and Eastern Kentucky.

The association ensures that the 20,000 tourism-related jobs in my region not only exist but also thrive and grow through strategic planning, creative marketing and regional collaboration. Case in point is the 511 tourism information system.

Rogers singles out the Herald-Leader, but does not even mention State Auditor Crit Luallen's report that questioned Hal's awarding of contracts.

Government does not drive the majority of tourism. Private business does. From the first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant to the Shaker Village, these attraction thrive without government intervention. I question how many out of state tourists have even heard of the 511 system and I wouldn't be surprised if a majority of Kentuckians do not use the system for traffic related information. 511 has been around for a number of years. Who knows what these numbers Hal cites really mean?

The system is working and paying huge dividends to local economies. To date, 51,000 calls have been received, and 13 million users have logged on to the Web site. In recent surveys, more than 80 percent of users indicated that they were spending additional days in Kentucky because of information received through the system.

As a result, tourism receipts are way up in my region -- from $794 million to more than $1 billion in just a few short years. Now other states are looking at installing their own 511 tourism system.

How dare Hal takes credit for an increase in tourism business. What about the ingenuity of businesspeople in his district? It's doubtful that 511 is directly correlated with the increase in tourism business in E. Ky. Too bad Hal doesn't have a viable opponent in the election tomorrow. It's time to throw this bum out.

Kentucky may end fiscal year with $279 million surplus

2006-11-03T00:53:00.000-05:00

Here's a bit of good news:

Kentucky is on pace to finish this fiscal year with an extra $278.9 million, and Gov. Ernie Fletcher already has ideas on how to spend it.

Those ideas, Fletcher said Thursday at a news conference in the Capitol, include beefing up the state’s rainy-day fund for emergencies, providing more money for state retirement systems, revisiting some of the building projects he vetoed in this year’s legislative session, shoring up need-based tuition assistance to college students, and looking at more tax relief for Kentuckians.

Ernie: Please lower taxes and store the money away in a rainy-day fund. Forget about your other ideas because they're bad.

Poverty of ideas

2006-11-02T18:43:00.000-05:00

The Bluegrass Institute's Chris Derry has a rather cold and callous solution to easing Kentucky's poverty problem:

Actually, I suggested that perhaps Frankfort (a synonym for Kentucky's General Assembly) could help opportunistic individuals – those who want the chance to improve their lives – by offering them one-way bus tickets to Lexington or Louisville.

For an organization that offers "best practices for a better Kentucky" this is a rather nonsensical and perplexing idea.

There are plenty of opportunities available for most people in Kentucky. While, at times, finances may be tight for many Kentuckians, many people can work their way up as long as they hold onto a full-time job.

Here's what a Heritage Foundation report has to say about poverty:

But the living conditions of the average poor person should not be taken to mean that all poor Americans live without hardship. There is a wide range of living conditions among the poor. Roughly a third of poor households do face material hardships such as overcrowding, intermittent food shortages, or difficulty obtaining medical care. However, even these households would be judged to have high living standards in comparison to most other people in the world.

Perhaps the best news is that the United States can readily reduce its remaining poverty, especially among children. The main causes of child poverty in the United States are low levels of parental work and high numbers of single-parent families. By increasing work and marriage, our nation can virtually eliminate remaining child poverty.

Perhaps the best solution to poverty legislators in Kentucky could come up with is the introduction of competition into the Commonwealth's public schools. School choice would force lagging public schools to improve. The better education Kentucky's children receive, the less likely they will live in poverty when they become an adult.

While there is probably no end-all solution to poverty, I know that herding a bunch of people like cattle and shipping them off somewhere else definitely won't be a public policy we will ever see.

Billy Harper's campaign doesn't stand a chance

2006-11-01T22:40:00.000-05:00

Paducah millionaire Billy Harper recently announced that he was throwing his hat in ring for the next year's gubernatorial race. Harper has already spent a load of money on a couple of vauge mush-mouthed TV ads that have aired across Kentucky.

Harper seems to be running on one issue: Education. However, it's hard to figure out how exactly he plans to improve schools in Kentucky. Just look at some of the ideas listed on his website:

Funding for full-day kindergarten.
Advocate for higher certification requirements for teachers.
Reward teacher leaders.
Require every high school to show its graduates have necessary skills and knowledge for the workplace and for success on the job.
Hold teachers, principals, school councils, students and superintendents personally accountable for student achievement.

Very unimpressive. Harper should donate his greenbacks to Kentucky's school kids. He could help education in Kentucky if he pushed for tuition tax credits. Individuals and corporations could donate funds to individual students so they can choose a school that best fits their needs. Harper's millions could be used for something good rather than being wasted on a poorly run campaign.

RINOs work to oust South Carolina Governor

2006-11-01T22:03:00.000-05:00

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford is one of the most impressive gubernators in the nation. Stanford is a staunch supporter of school choice and firm fiscal conservative. However, some so-called Republicans think Stanford is too conservative and wish to replace him with his Democratic challenger:

“South Carolina can’t afford four more years of Mark Sanford’s inept leadership,” said Columbia attorney and former U.S. ambassador Weston Adams, chairman of Republicans for Moore. “The Sanford administration has been an abysmal failure and is irretrievably broke.

”

Just take a look at these planks from SC Democrat candidate Tommy Moore's "on the issues" page. He doesn't exactly stand for the all important Republican principles of limited government:

Establish a statewide quality preschool program so every child has the best start

Adamantly oppose any attempt to take money out of public schools and give it to our wealthiest families to help them pay for private schools

Re-establish our Commerce Department as a formidable economic development tool

Provide nearly 150,000 more adults with health insurance by helping small businesses afford health insurance for their employees

Why do people like Mr. Adams even bother going by the name Republican anymore? Too bad Kentucky doesn't have a governor like South Carolina's.

Unbridled excess

2006-10-31T12:49:00.000-05:00

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

2006-10-30T16:06:00.000-05:00

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

2006-10-27T01:41:00.000-04:00

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."

2006-10-26T23:36:00.000-04:00

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?

2006-10-26T23:03:00.000-04:00

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?

2006-10-26T02:36:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-26T01:27:00.000-04:00

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.

Welcome

2006-10-26T01:22:00.000-04:00

Congratulations! You have made it to my new blog.