Hillary Clinton's Free Commercial On GMA

Hillary Clinton is on Good Morning America doing what feels an awful lot like an infomercial. The topic of the day is, of course, socialized medicine.

"I think we will move toward requiring employers to participate," Clinton said.

What this means is Hillary is going for RomneyCare as opposed to Medicare For Everyone. This approach ties individual health premium subsidies to income. The lower your income, the higher your subsidy. What we need to be considering is the impact this will have on our economy as a disincentive to productivity. What are you going to do if your climbing income is about to lower your subsidy by more than your increased income?

Kentucky Senate Republicans Adrift

Senate President David Williams has done well to address the looming pension crisis in Frankfort. But after watching the national GOP melt down into a rudderless tub of goo, one might think he would have the sense to quickly dispatch whoever tried to revive Harry Moberly's fascistic HB 184 by stuffing it into HB 228.

Wake up, President Williams, before you wreck your boat. The MSM will give Moberly a pass on his attempt to hijack the legislative process, but you will be drawn and quartered.

And you won't have any conservatives coming to your rescue just because you have an (R) next to your name.

Remove the committee substitute on HB 228. NOW!

The Morality Of Bad Public Policy

Steve Beshear says if we elect him governor, he will solve our fiscal problems with loads of casino gambling cash.

"At the end of the day, it was not a moral problem for me," Beshear, who grew up singing at church with his siblings, said of his advocacy for expanded gambling. "I know it is for some people."

The burden of proof should be on Singing Steve to demonstrate that the public costs of casino gambling are less than the windfall he keeps talking about. Getting the focus of this issue off morality -- which is a valid concern, but not a persuasive one -- and onto simple math -- which is valid and persuasive -- will lead us to the right decision.

Big Mistake: Stupid Anti-School Choice Law

At a time when Kentucky demonstrably needs to give parents and students more freedoms and less clumsy bureaucracy in public education, the General Assembly and Governor Fletcher have agreed to foist a new law upon us that, while having little real impact on the former, provides a boon to the latter.

HB 32 will succeed only in filling the courts with teenage high school dropouts seeking hardship exemptions from this do-over for the old no pass, no drive law.

Another Dumbass Move By The General Assembly

The General Assembly goes back to work Monday, so it is going to be a pretty good idea to hold on to your wallet.

A fine example of why we should stay on guard is what the Senate did to a decent House Bill 228 which, in its original form, just cut back a little on the ridiculous idea of prohibiting "price gouging."

Price gouging is, however, an argument for a different time.

Someone in the Senate came up with the bright idea to slip part of Rep. Harry Moberly's fascist HB 184 that we killed off last month into HB 228.

Whose stupid idea was this? Was it Damon Thayer? Does anyone know? When Harry got busted on this last month, he wound up taking a sick day when he couldn't take the heat.

It's time for a sneaky Senator to catch an early spring cold and to withdraw the Substitute from HB 228.

Blog Blocking Blah Blah Blah...

Most of the people who think Ernie Fletcher will pay a political price for his Administration blocking on-the-clock access to political blogs are merely blinded by partisan hatred.

And yes, reading employee emails falls under the same category.

The Northup campaign will NOT find any gain in trying to capitalize on this one.

Money Meets Mouth On D.C. Social Security Vote

Which way did your U.S. Senator vote on stopping the annual Social Security surplus squandering?

Jody Richards: I was against AMC tax before I was for it and now, doggone it, I'm against it again

The legislature could have repealed the AMC/LLET this year if Richards would have let it come up for a vote.

Now, more than anyone else running for Governor, he has had to tie himself up in knots on the issue:

When the Republican-sponsored AMC was proposed by Gov. Fletcher, I was the first and loudest voice to oppose it as unfair to small businesses. I was proud as House Speaker to lead the chamber that fixed its worst provisions during a special session last summer. I don't believe businesses operating in the red should have to pay income tax. As Governor, I will work to make the tax code much more business friendly. I want a system that is more effective; spurs growth; and does not unfairly burden one group over any other. We must do better to compete economically.

A stronger opponent would take Governor Fletcher out on this one. No candidate, no issue. Next...

Courier Journal Wakes Up To Pensions, Dresses Down ... Jody Richards!!!

Too funny; Williams spanks Richards, again! David's right arm must be getting tired from all the whupping.

Wake up and smell the mint julep, Jody. If your "campaign" makes it as far as the first Saturday in May it will be only because there are no real horses in your race.

Fletcher Caves In, Signs Wage Tax Increase

What a complete waste of time.

Northup Campaign To Unveil Policies Tomorrow

A press conference to discuss education policies and a health care plan? Count me in!

Anne Northup to outline
Education and Health Care Platforms

FRANKFORT----Anne Northup, candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in the May 22nd Primary, will outline her plan to improve education and Kentucky’s Health Care system Friday in Frankfort.

WHO: Anne Northup and Jeff Hoover

WHAT: Education and Health Care News Conference

WHEN: 10am, EDT, Friday, March 23rd.

WHERE: Frankfort Capital Plaza Hotel, Caucus Room, Wilkinson Boulevard

What do you think they should propose? What do you think they will say?

Harper Issues Another *Yawn* Press Release

Just received the following from Harper for Governor:

Harper statement on political endorsement:


"The endorsement is a reminder of why Kentuckians have grown tired of the political establishment. Too often politicians say one thing and then do another. We're going to continue talking about issues important to Kentuckians, such as education and economic development, rather than endorsements from politicians."

Come on, guys. You can do better than this. Most GOP primary voters may not be crazy about politicians doing business as usual, but bland derision is not going to get it done at this point.

How about something like this instead:

While we are bankrupting our state with pension and healthcare liabilities, while we are raising taxes and fees like there is no tomorrow, and under falling business and educational rankings it is more than a little uninspiring to watch our leading politicians standing around at press conferences endorsing each other for more of the same. It is past time for us to wake up and change course. We can't afford further delay. That is why I am running for Governor, to replace the political stunts with action.

Is Jody Richards Expecting To Need Judicial Intervention In Dem Primary?

Gubernatorial hopeful Jody Richards named Lexington Councilman Julian Beard as his Fayette county campaign chairman today.

Beard got 97 signatures on his petition to run for for his office last year when 100 signatures were required by law. He then got a local judge to rule that the law didn't really apply to him after all. Perhaps Richards thinks Beard's manipulative abilities will benefit him in his May primary.

Gore, Hair On Fire, With New Talking Points

Al Gore testified to Congress about global warming yesterday:

"The planet has a fever," Gore said. "If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don't say, `Well, I read a science fiction novel that told me it's not a problem.' If the crib's on fire, you don't speculate that the baby is flame retardant. You take action."

Thirty years from now, when another Gore is running for office by complaining about how economic activity is bringing on a new Ice Age, we will have to remember his "Flame retardant baby" speech.

Hey, someone call the NEA. They will want to get special ed money for that "retardant" kid.

Update From Evans-Novak Political Report

Evans-Novack weighs in on Kentucky's GOP primary

Governor 2007

Kentucky: Republicans here feel strongly that Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) has gotten a raw deal with respect to the scandal over hires he made outside the state's civil service system. However, they are equally convinced that he will not be re-inaugurated next January. The only question, therefore, is whether he loses the May 22 primary or the November 4 election.

Fletcher has alienated two key groups in Kentucky 's Republican Party -- first the grassroots organizers who got him elected in his close 2003 race, and second his Republican allies in the state legislature. To the former, he gave early impressions of ingratitude and neglect, and many of them have abandoned him by now. The latter complain that he has behaved in an aloof manner, not unlike the way President Bush dealt with the congressional majority when he still had it.
The business community has also been upset with much of Fletcher's work. Fletcher pushed through a so-called "tax modernization plan" that included one of the most hated of all taxes for small businessmen -- an alternative minimum tax for businesses based on gross revenues. As a result, the state is raising excessive revenues on the backs of low-margin small businesses, even those with bad balance sheets.
Despite promises during his 2003 election campaign to make Kentucky more business friendly, the state has dropped from the 29th to 36th most business-friendly state in the United States since 2004, according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses. The tax change played a significant role in that.
Former Rep. Anne Northup (R) is already nearly even with Fletcher in the polls, and she must be favored to win the primary. Despite what some view as a sluggish fundraising operation early on, she has hit her stride for the most part.
The winner of this Republican primary must take 40 percent to avoid a primary runoff. A third candidate, businessman Bill Harper (R) -- who served as Fletcher's finance chairman in his 2003 election -- will sop up a significant portion of the vote in his native Western Kentucky , the most Republican part of the state. This could make it difficult to get 40 percent.
Still, Fletcher's support lags even at a time when he is on television and Northup is not. The real state of play in the GOP primary should become clearer when Northup takes to the airwaves in April. Leaning Northup.

The Fat Lady Is Singing Kumbaya

Another press conference tomorrow promises to have another big-name Republican endorse Anne Northup for Governor. I'm guessing it will be former Commerce Secretary Jim Host, but it doesn't really matter. The Anyone But Ernie crowd has taken their shot, but it is about time to admit that it hasn't worked and that the conservative thing to do is get behind Governor Fletcher and push on through to November.

I say this as one who was sympathetic to the idea of changing horses in this primary. All the bonded projects and the AMC revenue-neutral tax increase were two big strikes against this administration, and the political miscues made it hard to watch and impossible to apologize for. But when it comes down to navigating the shark-infested waters as well as he has, Governor Fletcher has earned a chance to do better in his second term.

Look, even the Democrats agree. Any Dem candidates with real potential stayed out of the race. The leftovers who are figuring out now that they can't beat Steve Henry by going negative will all head for the hills after May. Whether Henry wins the primary or some other one makes it through, no one is going to want to listen to dredged up rumors about charges that didn't amount to anything on a scandal that by any measure isn't worth the ink it has received. The Dem candidate who builds a campaign on that will never get off the ground.

It's time to get used to the idea the Ernie Fletcher will very likely get a second term. Kentuckians need to get passed the our mostly inconsequential differences and work on improving our state together over the next four years.

Jody Richards Caught Pants-Down On Public Pensions, Whining About Senate's Desire For Action

The state Senate sent an open letter to Speaker Jody Richards asking for a dialogue on the public pension funding crisis.

Here is an exerpt:

House Leadership has now had HB 418 in its possession for fifteen (15) days since its Senate passage on Tuesday, March 6, 2007. I am hopeful that you and your staff have been doing your due diligence and have reviewed in detail the Senate Plan, along with the accompanying actuarial analyses prepared by the KERS's own actuary which has been in your possession since Friday, March 2, 2007 . Therefore, Senator Ed Worley and myself are offering to make ourselves available Friday afternoon, March 23, 2007, to discuss the Senate Plan with you and the entire membership of the Chamber. As Members of the General Assembly are already compensated at their regular rate during the Veto Recess, I believe this informal informational meeting will be a productive use of Member's time.

Unless Richards has secretly worked up some silly "There is no crisis" groups, he is going to have to provide some kind of answer to this. The Senate has left the door wide-open for the House to come back with a plan to fix the real problem -- the state health plan.

Public comments suggest the House is content to run out the clock on this ticking time bomb.

From the letter again:

Although our Leadership teams have not spoken publicly or privately regarding this matter since the General Assembly adjourned for the veto recess, I have determined through your remarks on the floor of the House and in the press and Representative Adkins' comments on KET Monday, March 19, 2007 that House Leadership continues to criticize the "timing" and "process" by which the bi-partisan Senate Plan was created. It is not however clear to me if you, or any Member of the House, have substantive questions pertaining to any of the policies contained in the bi-partisan Senate Pension Plan.

Come on, Speaker Richards. You are being handed a golden opportunity. Take it and revamp the health plan. The pension stuff can wait if you take that on, but we all pay if you sit on your hands complaining about how the Senate does business.

Trolling Through The High Schools For "Interns"

Just got an email with the daily announcements from my kids' high school and found this one:

Join Bruce Lunsford and Greg Stumbo in the fight for Universal Healthcare and Lower College Tuition as an intern in the Democratic Gubernatorial Primary. This internship offers students a structured experience working one-on-one with campaign staffers - the intern's staff mentor. Interns have the opportunity to work on a campaign where they learn about public interest issues, gain political knowledge, and see how the democratic process works. If your are interested please contact Matt Lydon @502-454-5553 or volunteer@lunsfordstumbo2007.com.

I don't know about you, but something about reading the words "Greg Stumbo," "one-on-one," and "mentor" in the same paragraph makes me more than a little uncomfortable about this solicitation.

Also, the notice was copied directly from the email. The proofreading errors are theirs, not mine.

Kentucky's Unbridled Tax Increases

As the General Assembly session draws to a close, it looks like our major legislative accomplishment is going to be raising the minimum wage.

This is, of course, nothing more than a tax increase. Labor costs get passed to consumers in the price of all goods and services. So lawmakers are busily congratulating themselves on taking more money out of your pocket. Great.

Meanwhile, politicians in both parties hope you don't remember how adamant they all were last year that we repeal the "un-American" Alternative Minimum Calculation tax on businesses. A bill that would do just that now languishes in Jody Richards' House.

This General Assembly has squandered multiple opportunities for improving the lives of Kentuckians in this short session. There is still time to pass HB 88. Governor Fletcher will sign the minimum wage tax increase. Surely, he would want to neutralize that tax increase by signing a repeal of the tax on unprofitable companies.

Nancy Pelosi Pre-Announces Her Own Butt-Kicking, Again

When is the MSM going to start calling Nancy Pelosi the worst Speaker of the House in history?

Mitt Romney Should Just Drop Out

I already wasn't a fan, but this latest miscue does me in. Go home Mitt.

Replacing The Most Dangerous Woman In America With A Harmless Rock Star Who Can't Win

I like this. A lot.

Will Ohio's Governor Send Education $$$ To KY?

Ohio's new Democrat Governor Ted Strickland has had a little time to find out what ails his state, and he has decided that it is the idea of giving parents a choice in where their children are educated. His response is to end the state's small school voucher program.

"To me, vouchers are inherently undemocratic because they allow public dollars to be used in ways and in settings where the public has little or no oversight," Strickland said.

What's funny is that he seems to be a little confused about what constitutes "public oversight." If he really wants to see public dollars disappear into a black hole of unaccountability, perhaps he should consider sending their money to Kentucky's education bureaucrats.

Update From The Campaign Trail

Usually outraged candidate Jonathan Miller says it is a "moral outrage" Kentucky hasn't totally destroyed its health insurance market and that we should finish the job as soon as humanly possible.

Don't Give Me Facts, Katie Couric Says We're Screwed

The latest on the economy...

Senior Judge Program Dead As A Doornail

Kentucky is about to save some money keeping retired judges retired.

Return Of HillaryCare

Other states are getting all weak-in-the-knees about schemes to spread health coverage to all corners with public-private partnerships.

But in Kentucky, even our liberals remember what happens when you force insurers to cover everyone regardless of health history.

Just Veto These Bad Bills

When the Berlin Wall was going up in 1961, it was called by the East Berliners in authority at the time the "Anti-Fascist Protective Rampart," as if its sole purpose was to keep us out of East Germany. Considering that the soldiers were on the inside of the wall with guns pointed at their own citizens, this was bold marketing indeed.

One of the legislative bills advancing to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law benefited from a little bold marketing as well. While nothing so threatening as machine guns or barbed wire was employed in its passage, this would-be law represents a loss of freedom and a waste of time and money worthy of a veto.

House Bill 32, passed unanimously by the House and Senate, seeks to lower the high school dropout rate by requiring the revocation of drivers licenses of sixteen and seventeen year-olds who drop out or fail to pass at least four classes.

We have been down this road before. A substantially similar law was found unconstitutional in 2003. No pass, no drive – as it was called – also was particularly ineffective at keeping teenagers in school. Past revokees under no pass, no drive found ignoring the penalty and, if caught driving, claiming hardship in court to be a successful strategy.

Under HB 32, the same will happen. In the best case, this bill threatens and then doesn’t follow through. At worst, it clogs classrooms with students who are there for the wrong reasons and clogs courtrooms with young defendants taking a free shot at gaming the system. Are these lessons we really want to be teaching our young people?

House Bill 305, the minimum wage increase bill, aims likewise to move people on to greater heights. It serves mainly, however, as a payroll tax raising device for local governments and as a disincentive to both employers and employees to expand beyond minimal productivity. In today’s competitive marketplace, motivated employees should be able to advance beyond $7.25 per hour by July 1, 2009 just by being more productive. With the new law, they won’t have to.

Senate Bill 10 creates a brand-new state bureaucracy for HVAC oversight. This is far better – and cheaper – if handled at the local level.

House Bill 50 makes all local school board members eligible for the state employee health plan. It passed both the House and Senate unanimously. In a time when more policymakers should be realizing that state employee health coverage is the biggest drain by far of our public benefit programs, we should know better than to be adding to the problem. Furthermore, creating career school board members – as the benefits are likely to do – does little to foster dynamic school boards at a time when we should be bringing out new ideas.

Senate Bill 23 is another that passed both chambers of the legislature without a single vote in opposition. This bill would subject a veterinarian to a fine of up to $1000 and a jail sentence of up to 30 days for refusing to treat an assistance dog without prior payment. Do we really want to subject our vets to jail time for this? As with most other unfair mandates, the best solution is to merely spread the cost among the good paying customers.

The Senators were afraid to oppose this bad bill and look like they were against sick dogs. Same thing in the House. Too bad none of them had the same fear of appearing to be in favor of jailing veterinarians for trying to run a business as they see fit. The Governor really should stand up to this one before it gets out of hand.

House Bill 509 would allow anyone with a commercial drivers license from Canada or Mexico to operate a commercial vehicle in Kentucky. One lone Senator voted against this. Terrorism concerns, anyone?

And House Bill 108 makes an appropriation to dole out tax credits for repairing rock fences. This bill passed unanimously through both chambers. Is it unreasonable to expect anyone to stack their own rocks without being paid government money to do it?

The bitter deadlock this year in Frankfort can be credited for us not having a great deal more bad legislation to grumble about. But all too often when the House and Senate find something they can agree on, it costs us money or risks our freedoms. While our lawmakers are huddled up figuring out their next move on last year’s vetoed projects and the current pension crisis, Governor Fletcher should be wielding his veto pen.

New Jersey's Pension Shortfall Triples

New accounting rules may bring similar troubles to Kentucky. Meanwhile, we are arguing about whether we have a problem or not. What a mess.

Billy Harper Nails Certificate of Need

You really don't have to say any more than Billy does here:

Drop NCLB And Focus On School Choice

It is getting to be too late to shift gears and still catch up with those who are eating our lunches in the classroom. Cal Thomas has a good column on this.

Spellings cited one major reason for underperformance I had not considered. When I was in school, she noted, I was taught mostly by bright and accomplished women. As opportunities for women in other professions opened up, many of the best and brightest teachers - and potential teachers - left or chose other professions because they paid more. "The teachers' unions," she said, "always negotiate the same pay raises for everybody and the superstars say 'forget this, I'm going where I will be recognized as a superstar.'"

Education in the United States continues to lag behind that of other nations. "When you go to China or India," Spellings said, "they don't sit around arguing about class size. They're starving to death and are motivated for education. We take all the advantages we have for granted." And while America focuses too much on nonacademic subjects - sex education, driver's education and the environment - and not enough on what employers are looking for, some other nations are graduating young people with real knowledge and skills of the kind we once produced.

Congressional Dems' Bright New Idea

Would you believe $2.1 Trillion in tax increases?

HillaryCare Without The Rats, Mold, Bureaucracy

From Scrappleface.

So This Is What We've Been Waiting For...

Governor Jody Richards finally has his campaign website up!

Check out those issue positions.

Billy Harper And The "V" Word

As public education has become an enormous bureaucratic entanglement, the battle for tax dollars today often trumps questions about what is best for individual children.

Allowing parents and their students to choose a better school -- and to direct the money to follow that child -- would make perfect sense if we were focused still on customer service rather than on perpetuating "The System."

That such a simple principle doesn't make sense to a lot of people speaks to the massive success of the Education Establishment at taking over the issue of school vouchers.

Given that environment, it is all the more admirable to see Billy Harper in today's Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer (paid subscription required) voice support for vouchers.

"I do advocate vouchers, I advocate school choice," Harper told members of the Republican Women's Club. "You should have the choice to move your child where you want."

I hope his campaign gathers enough momentum for his words to anger a lot of people.

"We don't need more money (for education), we need to refocus what we're spending," Harper said. Increasing education levels will promote economic development and will affect the state's health care system, he said.

"If you want to raise your standard of living, the only way to do that is through education," Harper said. People with higher educational attainment generally have lower health care costs than less educated people over the course of their lifetimes, Harper said.

Imagine That: Higher Standards, Better Results

Eminence, KY schools are going to start flunking kids who don't make B's.

This will work like gangbusters. Most students are quite capable of keeping up. Pushing the majority to take responsibility for themselves will free up resources to work with the minority who need extra help.

Repeal Corporate Taxes, See Renewed Growth

Is Canada about to figure out something we should already know here?

Hunting Down Bad Bills In Frankfort

SB 10, SB 23, HB 32, HB 50, HB 108, HB 305, HB 509, HB 536.

These bills passed both House and Senate. They each deserve a veto.

Shootout At Sunset On Pension Reform

The Senate has gone into recess until 6pm and when they come back they are supposed to get back to HB 418, the pension bill.

I want to be hopeful, but the most likely outcome is taxpayers get caught in the crossfire.

J.R. Gray Melts Down On Floor

I've never seen a legislator do such a poor job explaining a bill as Rep. J.R. Gray is doing right now on the House floor trying to sell SB 10.

Has he even read the bill?

Nuclear Energy: The Wave Of The Future

This is really exciting stuff. Much more promising than windmills and subsidizing our corn market into oblivion.

Anyone But Ernie Club Needs Help

No doubt they have a few more cards to play, but the GOP'ers hoping to oust Governor Fletcher are losing steam.

With the Dems in disarray, could Fletcher be headed for a cakewalk to four more years?

Opponents Sidetrack Pension Debacle

Kentucky policymakers have dawdled for decades as the state's public pensions have gone deeper and deeper into the tank.

So what does the Lexington Herald-Leader want you to focus on? Political style points, of course.

This dysfunctional duo represents both ends of the political power spectrum. Fletcher can't seem to stick to or push his own ideas, and Williams is addicted to raw demonstrations of power. Does either man remember that people voted for them, presumably to represent their interests, not just play power games in Frankfort?

Reform opponents would do well to set aside their hurt feelings start considering real proposals for helping us dig our way out of the mess. In a second term, Governor Fletcher would be emboldened to champion the politically unpopular but necessary changes. But there is no reason lawmakers can't get their heads together at least on bonding the actuarial shortfall.

Really Dumb Bill Passes Unanimously

Everyone talks about lowering high school dropout rates as a way to spread opportunity and cut poverty. The trick is how to get it done.

HB 32, which passed both House and Senate unanimously, attempts to cut dropout rates by putting bars on school windows and doors.

What the bill does is require school districts and the Transportation Cabinet to revoke the drivers license of sixteen and seventeen-year-old students who are failing, truant, or have dropped out of high school.

The first problem is the state is punishing young people for doing something that is legal in Kentucky. But, of course, the claim that this is for their own good is supposed to trump concerns like this. And we are also not supposed to ask for any evidence that such a carrot-and-stick approach to academic achievement might have the desired effect.

Given the rebellious nature of even the most level-headed teenagers, it makes no sense to assume a threat such as this would magically motivate at-risk kids to change established behaviors. And there is proof that this won't work. The bill allows appeals of revocations to district court. Just as happened last time, this will clog up the courts and the dropouts in large numbers will have their driving privileges restored. As happened last time this foolishness was the law, the law is simply ignored by the teenager, who then requests a hardship exemption in court.

Other than as a real-time lesson in how to game the legal system, HB 32 is a spectacular waste of time.

Bruce Lunsford Caught On Tape

Loose lips sink ships.

Conventional Wisdom On Its Head

Researching the public pension issue has lead me to a few conclusions I am working on. Very few people are paying attention to what is going on and how dire the situation is.

A major casuality in an informed discussion of pension reform is the conventional wisdom on immigration. As the state plans run out of money we are going to need a lot more immigrants, not fewer. We will find ourselves increasingly desperate for the tax revenue they can generate. Kentucky needs to incentivize educated professional immigrants from anywhere to come to our state and stay. And as we age and find basic menial service providers more expensive, we will need more of the under-educated people as well.

House GOP Forcing Vote On "AMT" Repeal

A discharge petition has been filed in the House to attempt to yank HB 88 out of Rep. Harry Moberly's tight little fist.

This could get interesting if we talk it up. Really, failure to sign the discharge petition is an endorsement of the tax increase.

Update: the petition failed and Jody Richards killed off his own gubernatorial campaign at the same time.

From Pol Watchers:

Just as the lawmakers were about to vote, Richards spoke up from the speaker's podium

"And by the way, it ain't my tax," he said, chuckling. "It's somebody else on another floor," he added, referring to Fletcher, a Republican.

"Mr. Speaker, I just want to remind you: you voted for it," Hoover piped up from the floor.

"After you made me do it," Richards said back, laughing. "You told me it was good."

Pension Reform Weenies Strike Again

I've talked a lot about the $600 billion we lose each year by not reforming Social Security. While the $260 million Kentucky will lose this year by not reforming its public pension plans seems like a pittance in comparison, we have much more to lose by inaction in Frankfort. By 2022, the state pension fund will run dry and we will have to start paying out $2 Billion each year to retirees.

It would take one heck of a tax increase to fill that hole.

Raising full-retirement eligibility from 27 to 32 years is also a good thing and not too much to ask from folks who are far better paid than their union reps want you to know.

Can't imagine the unions letting the House go along with the hybrid retirement plan for new retirees, but they must go along with bonding the $538 million shortfall.

We have to move fast on this because the real problem is in the public employee health plans. And reform weenies beware: we are just getting started on this.

KEA Political Battle At High Noon

Gubernatorial candidate Jody Richards can't let the Senate education initiatives SB 1 and SB 2 get through or the KEA won't endorse him.

But Budget Chairman Harry Moberly isn't running for governor. His A&R committee will hear the bills today at noon.

Brother Can You Spare Some Corn?

Spenders of federal tax dollars are going hog-wild on corn trying to make ethanol. This is all wrong and Kentucky would do well to stay out of this -- as far as our tax dollars are concerned.

Corn has nearly doubled in price in the last year. Farmland prices are escalating as more people scramble to join the parade. This mania will doubtless lead to a cornflation we don't need. Meanwhile, the science behind the panic to run our economy on ethanol makes man-made global warming look like a round earth, gravity happens dead certainty.

Seriously, follow the smart money. If we were really going to replace oil with ethanol, Exxon would have already bought South America and turned the entire continent into sugar cane.

Is Anne Northup For School Choice?

Gubernatorial candidate Anne Northup appears to be supporting school choice in her campaign's education policy statement:

When another school, either public or private, is available with a specific curriculum or educational program which would benefit a special needs student, some or all of the state and federal money that’s allocated for that student should be allowed to follow him or her to a school where those needs can be met. We should not view such schools as a threat to our public schools but as assets that can provide interventions with a proven record of success.

Sounds like an endorsement of Rep. Stan Lee's special needs scholarship bill.

House Tax Increase Hits Senate Wall

The minimum wage tax increase was set for a vote in the Kentucky Senate today, but got passed over instead.

If raising the minimum wage was really going to help lessen poverty, it would be hard to justify the screaming this move will bring.

It won't. It isn't. Next.

It's About Time; General Assembly Takes Up Public Pension Reform

Senate Republican leadership is going to speak to the A&R committee this morning about overhauling the public pension system.

This is a very good thing and something that should have been done a long time ago, but I'll take it now.

UPDATE: I've seen the Senate plan and, while it is better than the House plan, it doesn't really fix much. We have a lot of work to do.

"Hey, What About My Liberal Values?"

Pretty funny quote in a Courier Journal article about Jonathan Miller:

"I was in the hollers with substandard housing and outdoor plumbing," recalled Miller, 39. "I wanted to talk to them about affordable health care, about jobs, about improving the educational system. Invariably when I got to that door, the first question I was asked … was, 'What's your position on gay marriage?' "

If by affordable health care, jobs, and education you mean socialized medicine, minimum wage hikes, and funneling billions of more taxpayer dollars to unaccountable bureaucrats, I'd say talking about gay marriage would be pretty productive by comparison.

Bipartisanship In Frankfort

As the General Assembly draws toward a close, only one symbolic bill has passed both the House and Senate. Whether anything else happens may depend on three others -- the Minimum Wage Tax Increase in the House and Senate leadership's education initiatives (here and here).

It's looking like the tax increase will pass and the education bills will get killed by Speaker Jody Richards.

Carry Your Baggage, Sir?

Al Cross has a very good column today covering the Dem candidates for governor.

"I made a mistake with Ernie Fletcher and I'm sorry I did that," Lunsford told the Democrats, who applauded. "I supported one Republican governor in my life. I will never support another one."

Lunsford said zip about the money he continued to give Northup and other Republicans, but the money on the mind of many Democrats is the virtually unlimited cash that Lunsford can put into his campaign. After losing a host of elections to better-financed Republicans, Kentucky Democrats are preoccupied with money, and Lunsford appealed to that fear, saying, "We can spend the money to be in the race with them."

Henry spoke last and did worst, taking credit for accomplishments of the Paul Patton administration for which he had little or no responsibility, such as higher-education reform and appointment of women to judgeships, boards and commissions, even going so far as to say, "We appointed more women. …" He did not. Outrageous.

But in a multi-opponent primary, what candidate will hold Henry to the truth? Otis Hensley? Gatewood Galbraith? Party chairman Jerry Lundergan said all candidates have signed a pledge "not to negatively campaign personally." That appears to help the slates with the most baggage, and to whom he is closest -- Henry's and Lunsford's.

Now This Is A Real Threat To The Commonwealth

We get some pretty meaningless bills from the General Assembly each year, but I just can't imagine anyone thinking we really need to prohibit primary losers from filing as write-in candidates in general elections.

Does Rep. Brent Yonts want to show just how much he hates Sen. Joe Lieberman or what?

Minimum Wage Tax Gets A Boost

Looks like the Kentucky Senate wants to go along with the minimum wage bill.

What a waste.

How Cool Is That?

Billy Harper shreds the prevailing wage law, in a sharp suit, ON THE BUS.

Smile Billy! You are stylin'!

The Political Star No One Knows

A great political story that needs to be told is that of celebrity candidate turned accomplished Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer.

More on this next week...

Hello Mary Lou, Goodbye Truth

Watched a little KET coverage of the General Assembly and was shocked and dismayed to see Rep. Mary Lou Marzian claim that the University of Louisville said that its domestic partner scheme wouldn't cost taxpayers any money.

Well, that kind of depends on who you are talking to at U of L. The people who run the agenda say there will be no cost. The people who run the numbers say $600,000 a year and up.

Did They Run Out Of Bridges To Rename?

Why in the world are we wasting time fixing wages for anyone, much less waiters?

HB 206 comes up for a vote tomorrow.

Another Myth-Busting Study Of The Political Middle

The Washington Post has a column about how divided we are on the issues and debunks the idea that what we all want to is just get along now that Democrats are back in control of Congress.

The CCES survey asked about 14 national issues: the war in Iraq (the invasion and the troops), abortion (and partial birth abortion), stem cell research, global warming, health insurance, immigration, the minimum wage, liberalism and conservatism, same-sex marriage, privatizing Social Security, affirmative action, and capital gains taxes. Not surprisingly, some of the largest differences between Democrats and Republicans were over the Iraq war. Fully 85 percent of those who voted for Democratic House candidates felt that it had been a mistake to invade Iraq, compared with only 18 percent of voters who cast ballots for Republicans.

But the divisions between the parties weren't limited to Iraq. They extended to every issue in the survey. For example, 69 percent of Democratic voters chose the most strongly pro-choice position on the issue of abortion, compared with 20 percent of Republican voters; only 16 percent of Democratic voters supported a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, while 80 percent of Republican voters did; and 91 percent of Democratic voters favored governmental action to reduce global warming, compared with 27 percent of Republican voters.

The study found a similar split on single-payer health care. So if Bruce Lunsford and Greg Stumbo -- who have already alienated most of the primary-voting Democrats in the state -- really want to push socialized medicine, I hope they really have a good time doing it.

Also noticed they are advocating universal pre-kindergarten. After watching two of the top education bureaucrats in the state go on Kentucky Tonight and state clearly their belief that teachers know what's best for children better than parents do, I can't see this idea getting them very far either.

Taxpayer Group Gives Northup a "C"

The National Taxpayers Union has issued its 2006 Congressional Scorecard. Here's how Kentucky's delegation did:

Chandler, F, 16%
Davis, B-, 59%
Lewis, B, 62%
Northup, C+, 54%
Rogers, C+, 54%
Whitfield, C, 50%

Brian Goettl Strikes Back On Pardons

Here.

Another Phony Issue Drags On In Frankfort

Frankfort Dems have been talking smack about "pay equity" but their own guys in the House won't put their bill up for a vote.

Hey, somebody get Nancy Pelosi and Hillary! in here to shake these boys up!

Pence Hits Fletcher Really Hard

Here.

Legislature Shirking Duties On Public Pensions

Emperor Nero has earned enduring scorn for not putting out the fire that burned Rome when it was small enough to handle. Kentucky governors and legislators have done similarly in recent years with the public employee pension plans and the growing threat could burn up our state's bank account.

House Bill 418, passed by the House of Representatives unanimously on Monday, addresses the pension shortfall but does so ineffectively. Kentucky's elected officials aren't exactly fiddling like Nero while the crisis bears down on us, but HB 418 will be a short-lived band-aid approach. The end result may well be about the same.

HB 418 would extend for one year the practice of calculating public employee pensions based on the three highest years of an employee's salary. The good this bill does is to hold off, in theory, the expected tidal wave of government retirees whose pensions we will have great difficulty paying. With the "high three" extended, the hope is that those employees of retirement age will keep working and drawing only one paycheck rather than retiring and coming back to work to draw two checks.

We would like to hope that HB 418 will help as it is intended to do, but far more needs to be done. Here is why: Kentucky's pension problem is not just about investments falling short of future liabilities, it involves how our entire public employee system works. We must end the often-abused system of double-dipping if we are to have any hope of averting disaster with our public pensions. When government employes retire, they should be thanked for the years of service and paid promised pension checks. But we must stop bringing them back at anywhere near their last salary. That practice is breaking the bank.

Rather than nibbling at the edges of the pension situation, Kentucky needs to either encourage would-be retirees to go ahead and leave en masse or to stay around a few more years and -- most importantly -- to train their replacements. In either case, the lack of systematic succession training in government offices is hurting our state financially and will get worse as our population of public retirees swells to unprecedented levels. Instead of hiring back recent retirees at or near their last salary in addition to their pension, we should make training of new employees part of their job before they go.

The reason this will help is that we would be replacing our highest-salaried employees with younger new employees at significantly lower cost. The savings could then be applied to the pension plans.

Continued failure to end double-dipping and to institute effective employee succession planning will result in the public pension plans being unable to meet their obligations. The only solution at that point will be massive tax increases.

McCain Drain 2008

Can't ignore this.

Or this.

Is Ford Motor Pretending To Be Retarded?

As we rush to incentivize Ford Motor Company, Navistar International is rushing the other way.

Kind of reminds me of some good folks in Tacoma, Washington.

It's far from a perfect analogy, but that's the best you are going to get on the fly this morning. I just had to find a way to work that Tacoma story into something. Others will do better, I'm sure.

SB 143: A Good Fiscally Conservative Bill

There sure has been a lot to complain about in this General Assembly session. But SB 143 is the proverbial horse of a different color.

The bill would require accountability in the spending of state tax dollars on local projects. It mandates regular reports during the course of a project and a final report when the work is completed. With every dollar accounted for, it then requires any left over funds to be returned to the state.

It's amazing to think this hasn't been done long before now, but why quibble? I'll take it.

Another Poor Attempt To Keep Kids In School

The House is expected to take up HB 32 today. Let's just call it the "Make School More Like Jail Act of 2007."

The bill would pull the drivers license of anyone under eighteen who drops out of school. I can understand an argument that we don't want teenage dropouts driving around all day, but I really don't want my kids to have to go to school with any additional kids who don't want to be there and might be looking for creative ways to "express" themselves.

Besides, we have been here before and what the law really does is teach drop-outs how to go through the legal system to apply for a hardship exemption.

Drive a truck through this loophole in the statute:

In order for the student to have his license reinstated, the court shall be satisfied that the license is needed to meet family obligations or family economic considerations which if unsatisfied would create an undue hardship or that the student is the only licensed driver in the household or the student is not considered a dropout or academically deficient pursuant to this section. If the student satisfies the court, the court shall notify the cabinet to reinstate the student's license at no cost. The student, if aggrieved by a decision of the court issued pursuant to this section, may appeal the decision within thirty (30) days to the Circuit Court of appropriate venue. A student who is being schooled at home shall be considered to be enrolled in school.

Fox News In Kentucky For Race Coverage

Fox News' Brit Hume is in Frankfort covering what has been billed as a major announcement by the Anne Northup campaign. A press conference at the Holiday Inn on Wilkinson Blvd at 12:30 will start off a day in which the campaign will travel to Bowling Green and Owensboro to continue discussion on this same announcement.

Fox News was already going to be in the state just working on a story of the race and the Northup campaign suggested it would be worth their while to stick around for today's lunchtime announcement.

Harper Versus Pork

Just as I am hearing from more serious GOP primary voters who say they will vote for Billy Harper for governor, Mr. Harper seems to be improving his message.

The MSM didn't cover it, but Harper was the only GOP candidate to stand up with Rep. Stan Lee last week and support the HB 30 special needs student school choice bill.

The soft underbelly of the education bureaucracy is its poor return on investment and continued clamoring for more money. Mr. Harper did himself no favors in his early commercials when he linked himself to KERA, but seems to be hitting his stride with this:

The notion that we need increased taxes and more government spending to transform our schools is not only misguided, but reads right from the outdated playbook of the politicians in Frankfort.

An unfortunate example of this approach is the Covington Independent School District, which spent $13,166 on each student during the 2005-06 school year Ð the second highest rate in Kentucky Ð yet ranked last among the state's 175 school districts for its performance on the annual CATS assessment.

Spending per-pupil in that district has risen 121 percent since 1989, but student achievement has failed to keep pace. The funding is there, but the approach clearly is not working.

In fact, average per pupil spending in Kentucky has risen every year since the KERA reforms, but student performance as measured by a variety of standards is not on the same track.

Now that he is properly indentifying the problem, it is time to hammer home some of the solutions. One of them is empowering parents with school choice. With Mr. Harper deciding to take a stand like this on real education reform, he may want to take a good look at this bill too.

U.S. Senate 2008 Kentucky Race

Louisville Democrats are putting pressure on Rep. John Yarmuth to take on Sen. Mitch McConnell next year.

That could open up several interesting scenarios, don't you think?

Health Care And Education, Governor

This morning David Hawpe suggests Governor Fletcher should be "bold" and work up a universal healthcare plan for Kentucky.

Yesterday in Richmond, Governor Fletcher made comments that sounded to me like he may be planning to do something like that in both healthcare and higher education.

I'm still waiting for a call back from the Governor's office to clarify what I thought I heard. Didn't see any mention of it in the MSM. More on this later.

Who Will Be The Kumbaya Party Of 2007?

After two hotly contested primaries in May, the fall election will largely come down to which party can pull combatant camps back together better. There are other variables, of course, but this is the big one.

GOP Gubernatorial Update

Take a look at this online forum at The Conservative Edge.

Money, Big Money, And Public Education

The multi-billion dollar lawsuit between education bureaucrats and taxpayers took another nasty turn yesterday with the Council for Better Education -- love that name -- requesting a trial.

The Lexington Herald Leader, in a news story, has this nugget:

The legislature has spent $487,000 defending the lawsuit while the CBE has spent $391,000 on the case filed in 2003.

And as we waste a million and counting on this lawsuit, two bills in the General Assembly would add tens of millions more to the same rat hole. Kentucky law now requires children to stay in school until age sixteen. HB 221 and HB 279 provide an end-run around the lawsuit by requiring the state to pay school systems to warehouse thousands of teenagers who don't want to be in school.

The great thing about this scheme, from the CBE's perspective, is that if you add in the test scores of the would-be dropouts, they will have a built in excuse to lobby for more money still to combat the lower test scores.

What we need is an incentive for education bureaucrats to think as creatively about educating students as they do about ways to game the system for more tax dollars.

We really, really need to break up the school monopoly and inspire these folks by having them deal with the competition brought on by school choice.

Taped Phone Calls? What Taped Phone Calls?

Just saw this post on another thread:

Weatherman said...
This all pales in comparison to the spending and other habits of Ernie the Drunken Sailor. And wait until the phone tapes are released on Ernie's efforts to stop Trey Grayson's fundraiser last summer.

From what I have heard, many phone calls were made to stop a Louisville fundraiser for Secretary of State Trey Grayson after he mentioned at Fancy Farm the possibility of running for governor himself.

If there are tapes out there, it would obviously make front page news.

We Don't Need Senior Judge Program

The best justification for making the senior judge program permanent is that it lightens the workload on our judges and helps move cases faster. While that may be true, it comes at a heavy price. The family courts were created for the same purpose and are now a permanent institution.

We have an opportunity to cut loose some double-dippers in state government and we should jump at the chance. Tell your state representative to vote against Welfare for Judges, HB 465.

Would We Resent Illegals Less If They Paid Their Fair Share?

One good reason for scrapping state income taxes and replacing them with consumption taxes is that doing so puts the underground economy back on the books.

The states which currently have no income tax are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. Additionally, New Hampshire and Tennessee limit their state income taxes to dividends and interest income only.

We should seriously consider joining them.

Utah Sets Example On School Choice

If you read nothing else today, read this.

Northup Goes After Fletcher Defense Fund

In an e-mail statement today, Anne Northup called on Governor Ernie Fletcher to divulge information about his legal defense fund.

Great.

Now, how about giving us some ideas to empower students and their parents in the public education process? What about a plan to help lower the cost of health care? Any ideas about taxes or what to do with the public employee pension crisis?

Just curious.

Time For Another Sick Day, Harry

It was great Tuesday when Rep. Harry Moberly called in sick. I'm guessing his physical condition was fine, but he didn't want to show up to see his Secrecy Bill roll over and die.

It's time for another sick day, Harry.

Moberly is bottling up the AMC repeal bills. One man shouldn't have the power to hurt businesses like this.

2007 Dem Update: Capitalism Doesn't Work

The floor debate in the House yesterday on the minimum wage was a little contentious and sprinkled with memorable quotes. The Lexington Herald Leader got several of them, but missed this goody from Rep. Jim Wayne (D-Louisville):

"Raw capitalism does not work for vulnerable people."

That's pretty rich coming in the middle of a state ravaged still by the War on Poverty, in which a generational cycle of dependency created by a misguided hope to ameliorate the shortcomings of capitalism has held us back for decades.

Jody Richards: Germane Means What I Say It Does

Speaker Jody Richards needs a dictionary, not the additional power he seeks.

House rules require an amendment to a bill be related to the original bill, or germane. Rep. Brad Montell's amendment to exempt part-time workers from the minimum wage increase was judged not germane to HB 305, the bill that raises the minimum wage in Kentucky.

The bill and the amendment are by any definition except Richards' completely germane.

If Richards can't follow a simple House rule like this in front of everyone, what would he do to the merit hiring laws behind closed doors?

Sending Veterinarians To Jail For Being Mean

The Kentucky Senate just unanimously passed a bill (SB 23) that would fine up to $1000 or jail up to 30 days a veterinarian who refuses to treat assistance dogs without prior payment of the dog's owner.

Very few veterinarians are going to turn away a disabled person who needs help with his dog, but do we really want to throw them in jail for exercising the freedom the rest of us take for granted to tell a non-paying client to get lost?

Improving Health Care Options

The biggest thing holding back health insurance reform in Kentucky is an unholy alliance between corporate lackeys beholden to the status quo on one hand and big-government throw-the-baby-out-with-the-bath-water types who will only be happy when we go all the way to socialized medicine.

A commonsense bill which would open the door to greater consumer choice in the state is being shut down in the Senate. SB 135 would simply lower the mandate on insurance companies' coverage of pre-existing medical conditions. It wouldn't require any coverage to be lessened and would have no impact on anyone who already has coverage. What it would do is bring four companies back into the state and provide some much needed competition in the marketplace.

Can you think of any reason such a bill does not deserve our full-fledged support?

"Lifetime Employment Of K-12 Teachers Is Off-The-Charts Crazy"

Steve Jobs of Apple Computer risks a big chunk of his business by speaking up for education.

Read it here.

Victory!!!

HB 184 has been withdrawn by the sponsor Rep. Harry Moberly.

This Should Be The Easiest Thing To Pass In KY

Giving Kentucky parents the right to choose how the tax dollars allocated to educate their children are spent should be very easy to implement. That is school choice. Call it vouchers if you want to.

Taking the power from the teachers union and giving it to parents makes a lot of sense in terms of creating competition for our struggling schools. Competition will make our education process stronger and it can be done without any additional costs to the taxpayers.

All we need is a little leadership. Billy Harper was the only gubernatorial candidate to show up at the school choice rally today in the Capitol. His staff worked vigorously to get him a speaking role in the event and deserves a ton of credit for their efforts. Harper's words in support of school choice set him apart in the Republican primary. I know Governor Fletcher and Anne Northup had other events scheduled this morning, but where are they on school choice now?

Back in 2003 while in Congress, both Northup and Fletcher voted for parents and children in Washington D.C. to have access to a pilot charter school program. The program has been so successful, the worst thing critics can say about it is too many families want in.

Surely Fletcher and Northup don't want to deny Kentucky families the same thing they saw fit to grant families who live in Washington D.C.

HB 184 Scuttlebutt

Looks like Rep. Harry Moberly has called in sick today so his noxious HB 184 should be sidelined for this afternoon's session. May he have a speedy recovery and may his bill die a painful death.

Major Endorsement For Northup Coming

The Northup campaign is set to announce a major endorsement next Monday.

Speculative Update: Congress is not in session next week. I'm guessing it will be Rep. Geoff Davis.

Teaching Tuesday

Rep. Stan Lee's HB 30 Special Needs Scholarship bill will be the focus of a 10 AM press conference this morning in the Capitol Rotunda.

The Bluegrass Institute has an interesting article about why education bureaucrats are all twisted up because some people want to improve choices for families with kids who need extra help in school.

Republican candidates for Governor would do well to weigh in on this subject.

Jonathan Miller On Board Against HB 184

I have to admit I thought it was great in 2005 when the budget negotiators in Frankfort secretly returned $13.7 million to the General Fund that had been taken to fill the actuarial hole in the money-losing KAPT program. And seeing that Treasurer Jonathan Miller is still chapped about it did cause me to giggle just a little bit:

We saw how harmful this practice could be when this procedure was used to try to raid $14 million from the KAPT (Kentucky's Affordable Prepaid Tuition) program, a trust fund we established to help Kentucky families save for their children's higher education. Even though 95% of the legislature supported KAPT and would have opposed this attempt to rob the KAPT families of their hard-earned savings, they were misled by a few of their leaders and were forced to vote on this huge budget bill that they had not had a chance to digest completely.

Despite the fact he is nearly $300k off in his telling of the story -- only a rounding error for our not-so-precise state Treasurer -- Jonathan Miller deserves credit for expressing opposition to HB 184 the day before it comes up for a vote in the House.

This should serve as a lesson to those complacent souls who plan to sit quietly by while our General Assembly shuts us out of the legislative process. The sneakiness they seek to legitimize tomorrow won't always go your way.

The Junk In Steve Beshear's Trunk

John Stamper has the story of Steve Beshear's economic development press conference from earlier today. While I can agree that making corporate tax credit information public is a good idea, if that is the centerpiece of Beshear's campaign, he has trouble. And then he pops this one out:

"We need a governor who understands that Kentucky's economic growth will come from Kentucky-based businesses," Beshear said.

This would have to come as an unpleasant surprise to employees, suppliers, and customers of Toyota, UPS, Walmart, Ford, Amazon, ACS, IBM, Kroger, and all the other companies without which Kentucky's economy might make xenophobics happy but would be pretty rough on the rest of us.

And since Beshear's foundation seems to be casino gambling, I can't imagine he did himself any favors by showing up today.

"AMT" Repeal Languishing In A&R

Three bills to repeal the limited liability entity tax (HB 87, HB 88, and HB 119) are dying a slow and painful death in the House Appropriations & Revenue Committee.

Another bill designed to lessen the impact of the LLET (more commonly known as AMC or AMT, it's the income tax for businesses who are losing money) is HB 480. Just filed last week, it may have a chance.

If you want to see this bad tax repealed, you should probably call your legislator. Before he or she gets completely shut out of the process, that is.

HB 184 Media Appearance

I will be on Lexington's Kruser program today (590 AM at 12:30) talking about why we should all oppose HB 184.

By the way, thanks to Rural Democrat for taking a good look at the bill and making up his own mind to oppose it.

Another Really Stupid Idea To Emulate

A lot of the "Eureka!" moments legislators have are actually ideas that they picked up from other states. We can only hope that New Mexico's talking urinal cakes don't join that parade.

The state recently paid $21 each for about 500 talking urinal-deodorizer cakes and has put them in men's rooms in bars and restaurants across the state.

When a man steps up, the motion-sensitive plastic device says, in a woman's voice that is flirty, then stern: "Hey, big guy. Having a few drinks? Think you had one too many? Then it's time to call a cab or call a sober friend for a ride home."

The recorded message ends: "Remember, your future is in your hand."

It is amazing to me that we are still telling people it is a bad idea to get drunk and hit the road. It would be really easy to establish a national database of drivers licenses and permanently revoke driving privileges in any state for anyone driving with a Blood Alcohol Content of .20 or higher. And if the BAC is just .08 to .19, then revoke it for that state only.