Incumbent Protection Act Filed In Frankfort

Rep. Bill Farmer (R-Lexington) has pre-filed a bill that would criminalize the use of a person's name or picture in advertising without consent. I guess this could be defended as an effort to eliminate negative campaign ads. If that is the idea, then it is a stupid one.

If there is a problem with an incumbent, a challenger's ability to point that out is severely hampered under this bill. Saying "Ben Chandler votes like an anti-capitalist tree-hugging enviromaniac" might impress upon voters the need to explore Rep. Chandler's sorry track record. But having to say "The current occupant of the Sixth Congressional district seat votes like an anti-capitalist tree-hugging enviromaniac" shackles the opponent and forces the voter to figure out who is being outed for bad votes in Congress on oil exploration issues that could help lower prices at the gas pump.

UPDATE: I spoke to Rep. Farmer. He said that he didn't mean for the bill to come out so broad in its scope, but I'm not sure I feel much better about the explanation for what he did intend. He said the bill was in response to a local Fred "God Hates Fags" Phelps clone who put pictures of a dead Marine on his website. Rep. Farmer says that an Oklahoma bill in a related case caused a similar picture to be removed from a website produced there. Rep. Farmer said the bill will be re-written so that it doesn't affect political candidates. I remain concerned about the apparent abridgement of Free Speech.

By the way, I would have missed this one without the good work of Caleb Brown at www.kentuckyvotes.org. His site is terrific.

Democrats Meet To Develop Slogan

This story made the front page of The Hill newspaper.

Hilarious. They are working on something like "Together, We Can Do Better." Given their recent record of failure, I know they hope so. More importantly, one might hope this indicates a willingness to rethink their obstinate resistance to reform of America's military, tax system, and social policies. We doubt it, though.

Kentucky's Democrats are always talking about how they are different than national Dems. So what should their slogan look like?

How about a few suggestions:

"We're different, but we still need union thugs."

"Kentucky Democrats: All The Rhetoric, Fewer Calories"

"You're All Right With Republican Lite"

"We're Not Liberals, But We Do Like Socialized Medicine, Higher Taxes, And Surrendering Like The French"

GOP Fighting GOP Good For America

Remember the line from Peter Pan about a fairy dropping dead when anyone said "I don't believe in fairies"? Even though he stirs up the fighting spirit among liberal stalwarts, every time Howard Dean says "I hate Republicans" another "D" voter drops into the "R" column.

It may not really work out that neatly, but the Democrats' failure to capitalize on Republican woes can only be attributable to the actions of the official "D's" themselves.

So that is why I think it is a good thing that Republicans are fighting against each other. Democracy thrives on friction and the opposition party can't muster anything but limp histrionics. So the fight goes on between Right and Center-Right and their various combinations.

Here is an interesting take on this fight. Ryan Sager dismisses the Left's hopeful comparisons of 2006 to 1994, saying that it is shaping up to look more like 1998.

Ben Chandler Plays Dumb

In the 2004 races, when Democrats faced a pro-Fair Tax opponent the strategy was simple: lie.

If Rep. Ben Chandler (D-Higher Taxes) is connected to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (and we know he is) then the new strategy is simple as well: play dumb.

This morning on the WVLK Jack Pattie Show, Chandler was asked specifically about his position on HR 25, the Fair Tax Bill. He said he had no position because he didn't know anything about it. That would be interesting news to the Fair Tax supporters who have spoken to him face-to-face, repeatedly, to urge support for this critical issue.

People concerned about the outsourcing of jobs would do well to consider the impact of the Fair Tax on American companies who now shift their workforce overseas.

Godzilla Versus The Water Zombie

Read all about it.

It Must Be Good: Democrats Oppose Right To Work

Big Labor Unions are scared to death of losing their power -- and they are losing it fast.

In January, Kentucky will have the opportunity to pass a Right to Work bill, which simply gives workers the freedom to not have to join a union and pay "protection money" in the form of dues as a condition of employment. The bill is BR 199, pre-filed by Rep. Stan Lee (R-Lexington).

House Democrats vow to kill the bill. That might be a big mistake.

An organization called the Commonwealth Progress Council is ramping up its non-partisan effort in support of this bill. They will have a website up in the next couple of weeks and are seeking grassroots support now for the fight ahead. Economic development efforts across Kentucky can only go so far when we continue to be held hostage by the big labor unions.

The Right To Work could well be the biggest issue for Kentucky's future facing the General Assmembly in 2006.

Liberal Kentucky Website's Upcoming Story

Expect the liberal Bluegrass Report site to be crowing very soon about difficulty that the Governor's Mansion Preservation Foundation is having with its fundraising.

Irresponsible: Ben Chandler v. Ronald McDonald

Not only did Rep. Ben Chandler vote against the bill to keep fast food junkies from suing the restaurants who "make them do it," he voted for an amendment to exempt youngsters under nine years old from the bill.

Hello? Congressman Chandler? These kids would need a parent to think of filing a lawsuit. The same parent who can't avoid eating crap shouldn't be able to seek damages for feeding it to his child. We don't need Congress underwriting more personal irresponsibility and stupidity.

Fortunately, as is usually the case with Chandler's silliness, he was on the short end of both votes.

An Example Of What Is Wrong With Public Schools

Today the Kentucky High School Athletic Association's Delegate Assembly voted to have separate sports championships for public and private schools. This outrageous act of cowardice was intended to benefit the public schools.

It will do the opposite.

Or it would, if this foolishness were to stand. Cooler heads are sure to prevail. But this was the act of school superintendents. It is this kind of thinking that will eventually sink the public schools in America. If you have to change the rules to make it look like you are improving, you aren't really fooling anyone but yourself.

KY Medicaid Reform: Just Follow Florida

The only way to diminish the devastating impact of the Merit Hiring scandal is to positively (and publicly) address some of the real problems facing Kentucky.

We don't have to re-invent the wheel on Medicaid.

Check this out. We may need to open up the market to more insurance companies first, by dropping some of the mandated coverages. But we do need to act.

The big problem with Kentucky's health insurance legislation is that it treats people like idiots. Give us some choices and we may surprise some in their ivory towers with our decision-making ability.

Protect Your Children; Legalize Drugs Now

The War on Drugs has only caused the price of drugs to go higher and the violent crime rate to go up higher still. Think of the huge number of robberies and burglaries committed by drug addicts. They need your money to buy their drugs and they need your money again when they face treatment or incarceration.

Do you agree that drugs would be cheaper if people didn't have to risk their lives to buy or sell them?

Does it make sense to you that if law enforcement resources were removed from trying to stop the drug trade, then we could deal more effectively with the bad effects of the drug trade?

When we put the cart before the horse, we get no gain from either the cart or the horse. Drug criminalization is no different than alcohol prohibition. Ending the 1920's prohibition didn't cause the end of the world. In fact, by lowering the risk premium attached to making and selling alcohol, we reduced significantly the collateral damage caused by those evading that law. Ending the real quagmire, the War on Drugs, will give us a different looking world. Watching someone walk quietly down the street smoking a joint will take some getting used to. But the result would undeniably be safer cities and neighborhoods in which to raise our children. Don't you agree?

Conservative Revolution in Kentucky Coming To Web

Idea #1: Rather than spending time giving away refurbished state computers to kids, Frankfort's leaders would do well to eliminate state income taxes.

The No Child Left Offline initiative doesn't even sound like a good idea. There is no magic involved in giving a child a computer. Give him a fish and he eats for a day. Give him a computer and guarantee easy access to porn (and a learning tool of very limited value). Give him a stack of worn-out paperback classic novels and if he doesn't read them, they will do him more good than an expensive word processor/game box. The smallest public libraries offer online access for free.

We clearly need some fresh ideas. Bringing health insurance companies back into the state could be done and the ideological battle to make it happen would be extremely healthy in the current environment. Balancing the Medicaid budget could work the same way. Instead we are screwing around helping Lexmark market printer cartridges and ISPs expand their reach with a stunt like this.

Conservative Magazine Lists Favorite Legislators

Conservative weekly mag Human Events has issued a list of its ten favorite Senators and House members.

Kentucky got no mention on the Senate side, but freshman Congressman Geoff Davis came in at number nine on the House list.

Rep. Davis' strong support for the war and for making the Bush tax cuts permanent make up for his opposition to Social Security personal accounts. As of our last conversation he was not committed to a particular tax reform plan. At the age of 46, Davis will likely be smacking the left down for a long time.

One suggestion, though: Rep. Davis would do well to join Reps. Northup and Lewis on the Republican Study Committee, the group seeking to cut wasteful government spending to finance the Katrina bailout.

Grayson's Star Keeps Rising

Secretary of State Trey Grayson hits another home run with his proposal to allow gubernatorial hopefuls to hold off on naming a running mate until after the primary. Expect him to get bi-partisan kudos for this. Might such a move benefit the Dems in 2007? Sure, maybe. But it just might help the GOP at the same time.

Kentucky Democrats' Next Line of Attack

Wondering where the next attack on Gov. Ernie Fletcher is going to come from? Think Governor's Mansion renovation. The effort to fix up the poorly maintained Frankfort residence obviously requires a lot of money. That means fundraising. And clearly that means charges of shakedown and influence peddling. How the Governor's political team handles this hanging curveball will show quickly if any lessons have been learned during the merit hiring debacle.

Here's hoping...

$172,500 A Year?!?!

Any time a newspaper story has the byline John Cheves, you know that any Republican in the story is going to be portrayed in a negative light.

Jerry Lundergan and Charles Wells get paid to say bad things about Republicans and they have a field day on this one.

The problem is that they have a point about the new Office of Merit System Referrals and the Fletcher Administration is just going to look worse the more they try to spin this back the other way.

Has anyone talked to Hal Rogers since that story about which members of Congress support the Governor? The Louisville Arena, another dime on the cigarette tax, and now this.

What's next? I hate to even think about it.

LexTran Taxer Running For City Council

Local tax bills are hitting mailboxes this week and they include a line for the "LexTran Tax." Fayette county voters passed a referendum last year to hit themselves with this one and the time has come to pay up.

The good news is that the manager of the campaign to hit you with this tax is running for the Lexington City Council's 7th district. His name is Justin Dobbs. Conservatives in the District have a candidate to beat him. (Not ready to go public with the name yet, though.) When she does announce though, conservatives from all over the state would do well to send her a few dollars.

Whither the Conservative Movement?

I'm not too upset about the Harriet Miers nomination. I think too many conservative pundits are forgetting that a half dozen Republican U.S. Senators are admittedly pro-abortion and not part of the conservative movement. That leaves the President with the challenge of getting Supreme Court nominees through a chamber ruled by liberals.

I was eager for a fight over a serious conservative jurist as well, but Miers will get confirmed. Better to get a so-so candidate through than to see the perfect nominee squashed by our own Judiciary Committee Chairman.

More important is the work going on behind the scenes at the President's Advisory Panel on Tax Reform. Yesterday, the panel voted to discard the Fair Tax from consideration. Short-sighted partisanship has so far prevented elected Democrats from getting on board with this, but a lot of normal people registered as Democrats (and are less interested in empowering liberal politicians than in getting government off the backs of the middle class) are climbing on board.

The 2004 election cycle saw a lot of Democrat "leaders" lie about the Fair Tax. The interesting thing to me is that as we watch the President's people coming up short on another issue, we have the prospect of a Reaganesque conservative revolution seemingly building up a head of steam as a revolt against a Republican administration.

That Karl Rove really is a genius, isn't he?

A Fight Worth Fighting

You thought 2005 was not going to be an election year in Kentucky. You may still be right, but if the KY Supreme Court caves in to some kooky Lexington xenophobics' desire to steal Kentucky American Water Company, Fayette county voters will head to the polls November 8.

It probably won't happen. The elected city council already decided early this year to end the condemnation effort of a handful of sclerotic leftists and their dutiful supporters. The Supreme Court should be able to quash their kibitzing based solely on this fact.

But the overreaching power grab of a dangerous opponent must be addressed quickly and decisively. This latest outrage by the people who call themselves Let Us Vote Lexington deserves swift retribution whether or not this issue comes to a vote four weeks from today.

Cuddly little muddle-headed Kentucky liberals have tried feebly for years to prop up their brand of public policy initiatives through judicial fiat. Their current day media-savvy comrades draw blood with bare knuckles, snappy slogans, and tight-fisted media control.

Their brand of persuasion works when most people aren't paying attention and get off the main issue.

The main issue here is that eminent domain abusers on the left have sought to overturn the 2004 Lexington city council races with an unconstitutional court battle to spend more public dollars for an unneccesary extra election to promote their political careers. Teresa Isaac and Ben Chandler are the two heads of this monster.

If you live in Lexington, go here and learn how you can help turn these people back. And if you don't live in Lexington but do live in Kentucky's Sixth district, call Ben Chandler and tell him to tell the FLOW people to quit crying and try to promote their government takings during election years. He won't do it, but he should be forced to talk about why he is on the unconstitutional side of this issue.

The Republican Opportunity For 2006

Primaries aren't a lot of fun, but they can help a truly dominant political party reload for future victories. Before its rapid decline, the Kentucky Democratic Party understood this. The old line about fighting like cats in May and having more cats by November has been told over and over as the reason for a nearly unbroken string of Democrat electoral wins.

KDP Chairman Jerry Lundergan doesn't want to play it that way any more. Lundergan told the Courier Journal that he is encouraging potential 2006 Democrat candidates not to engage in primaries. That sounds good to me.

I'm not saying that the GOP should actively seek primaries. We will be better off when widespread Republican primaries are more the rule than the exception, but it will have to develop on its own. I am just enjoying the fact that Democrats are having to come to grips with their erosion of support that is causing them to admit to fixing primaries. Your county clerk may still tell new voters that they have to register Democrat to vote in the primaries, but the reality is that those days are over.

The simple fact remains that the far-left segment of our society is propped up by the more sane Democrats. We can rage against Ernesto Scorsone and Mary Lou Marzian all we want to, but their districts keep sending them back. The Republican party will only reach majority status in Kentucky by pointing out that "conservative" Democrats are the real problem. Continuing to take those of sensible middle-American values out of the Democratic Party causes the anti-war, anti-capitalist goons lose their voice and their influence.

The target for 2006 in Kentucky must be disaffected conservative Democrat-registered voters. The message is that the middle-of-the-road Democrat office holders are lending credibility to those with the worst ideas. Giving so-called "conservative" Democrats a pass because they "aren't so bad" misses the point and stands as the major roadblock to real progress in our state. Problematic Republicans will become much easier to deal with in a single-front effort.

KDP is holding the door open for us. We just have to bust on through.