What else for this morning---um, oh I know---in the interest of being kind and forgiving for what has happened in this state over the last four years, I am giving 10% off to all republicans today to help them get into the flow of the new administration. I cannot give the discount on the specials, pies or BBQ by the pound, however all other menu items are in! All republicans come join us at the White Light Diner today! Bring proof of party registration!!
Bluegrass Institute says Silberman is conducting a "secret investigation" of Perelli
Corruption in Lexington schools. Superintendent Stu Silberman ran a high-performance principal off, lied about it, tried to cover up his tracks and then made up a secret “investigation” that no one knows about. What the heck is going on in Lex Vegas these days? First the jail and now the schools? Seriously, people. Em-bar-ass-ing.
The Kentucky Board of Education is in dire danger of failing some basic management and economics courses.
The legal spitting contest it has gotten into with the firm that conducted the ill-fated search for a new education commissioner will waste money and shine light on the board's own failure in the search process.
As an unreliable gauge of progress, the CATS assessment needs to be replaced by more credible tests. In hindsight, it was a mistake to charge the Kentucky Department of Education to both assist school systems in making improvements and be the sole administrator of the assessment system to determine if that effort was successful. A separate agency should be created to manage the assessment of educational progress in Kentucky’s schools.
And nothing will change as long as people don't realize that it is possible to educate only part of the public. The rest are dead weight, placing a huge burden on the schools and preventing other students from achieving their full potential.
David Williams, R-Burkesville: "I'm not going to vote for a bill that will put the casino gaming issue on the ballot."
This election is almost entirely about Fletcher and his record, so Beshear should be careful about claiming any sort of mandate.
But critics say McConnell is propping up a company that apparently can't compete without him. While it sounds good for a senator to defend jobs, "we should be spending federal money where and as we need to, not to keep the lights on in someone's district," said David Williams, vice president of Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington watchdog group.
"I want to know when Sen. McConnell became the secretary of defense," Williams said. "The Pentagon has to sit down every year, draw up its priorities and budget its money accordingly. Who is Mitch McConnell to insist that we fund these projects?"
A high-profile documentary, Sony Pictures Classics' "Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains," had a poor debut, taking in just $10,573 at seven theaters. The film from director Jonathan Demme ("The Silence of the Lambs") follows the former president during a tour to promote his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid."
What makes the C-J's point is BGI's criticism that "cheerleading for the education establishment when it is undeserving is what undermines our public school system." In BGI's hands, it can seem that the public schools are always undeserving. That's just not a true and accurate picture.
He described the Fletcher administration as "immoral" for failing to support thousands of Kentucky children without health insurance and seniors who must choose between buying food or prescription medication.
Embroiled in an ethics arms race with the Fletcher administration, Beshear has been accused of engaging in unethical conduct when serving as an attorney during the liquidation of Kentucky Central Life Insurance Co. He has also endured criticism for his support of expanded gambling.
Beshear needs to clarify sooner rather than later that expanded gambling will not result in a massive giveaway to Churchill Downs or other tracks.
Some proponents of licensing casinos at racetracks claim that the horse industry needs financial help. Even if we take that dubious assertion at face value -- horses constitute a billion dollar industry in Kentucky -- giving a free casino license to Churchill Downs won't do much for the parts of the industry not owned by Churchill Downs, Inc.
If Beshear would like to remain free of accusations that he's a pawn of a large corporate interest, he should instead pledge to use some revenues raised through the auction of casino licenses to eliminate pari-mutuel taxes and burdensome levies associated with horse breeding and farming.
"As I scan the room, I see many people wearing FairTax stickers. I see them everywhere I go. FairTax has a better campaign going on than any of the candidates!"
We already have government-run health care.
"I would have voted to override it. I don't like the funding mechanism they have in terms of raising the cigarette tax, but I'm gonna tell you something. We could fund this program if we just saved a few million dollars from Iraq instead of spending it over there on a war we're never going to win."
...child care assistance, EITC, Food Stamps, housing assistance (Section 8 and public housing), Medicaid/SCHIP and TANF. While helpful for those who receive them, they find more needs to be done to ensure that hard work pays.
Conway, in an interview, said he's not faulting Lee for defending Jones. And he said it's not his intent to drag Hufnagel into the race.
"I didn't mean to cause them any additional consternation," Conway said. "If I have, I apologize. I just think it's important to point out the hypocrisy."
"He is taking the position that ... who lost his 8-month-old viable fetus -- should not be compensated for the loss of love and affection for that 8-month-old fetus," said Conway, 38.
"We have to see fundamental reform of healthcare overall ... Fourty seven million people without insurance means the cost of fourty seven million people is being borne by everybody else. That can't happen. You gotta get everybody in the system paying their own fair share."
Every time you hear Republicans brag about being the party of fiscal restraint and family values, remember what they really mean: They'll lavish money on the machinery of war but won't do what's necessary to make sure that hard-pressed American families can meet basic needs like health care and shelter.
"Where do all the funds go from all the other taxable sources — the casino, the lottery, the tolls?" Cella asked. "Nobody seems to know, and yet we have a Legislature that's talking about raising taxes all the time."