Democrats Cast Blame, Eat Fish in Danville

The Danville (KY) Advocate Messenger reports on a political rally in which Democrat officials attacked Republicans.

The money quote was from House Speaker Jody Richards who said "I'm proud to be a Democrat, proud to live up to the Democrats' message."

Which message is that, exactly, Speaker Richards?

Maybe we can ask him December 2 in Louisville at the Hillary Clinton fundraisers. Clinton will be in town to raise money for her pro-abortion, higher taxes, and nationalized health care Senate campaign in New York and, presumably, to benefit this same "message" for Democrat candidates in Kentucky. No word yet on how they are going to handle the Democrats' surrender-first foreign policy message or their special rights for gay adoptive parents message.

Grassroots Support Only For Good Republicans

Tall tales about a national Democrat resurrection in 2006 notwithstanding, individual donors continue to pour comparatively more money into GOP organization coffers. The notable exception is the National Republican Senatorial Committee, likely because of the "moderate" GOP group in that body.

In other words, a Dem takeover looks very unlikely unless they can figure out a way to be more conservative than the Republicans. Meanwhile, we have some breathing room to demand some more accountability from our Republican elected officials. That is a good thing.

Democrats Still Hiding Policy Positions

Roll Call reports that national Democrats have given up their efforts to express any specific agenda for America for now. This latest failure comes as Kentucky Democrats celebrate the far-out liberal achievements of Sen. Hillary Clinton (like her 8% rating by Citizens Against Government Waste; worse even than John Kerry's 25% failing grade and Ben Chandler's 15%).

What could they be trying to hide?

Typical Politician: On Both Sides Of The Issue

Ben Chandler supports his liberal friends' efforts to condemn Kentucky American Water, but now has a press release urging "strong safeguards to protect private property owners from having their property seized by the government." His distinction is that now he is talking about the U.S. Supreme Court's Kelo decision, but the difference in principle is non-existent.

Go Figure: Tax Reform Panel Speaks; We Yawn

For all of President Bush's talk about spending his political capital in his second term, the conservative revolution has misfired badly with him at the helm these last ten months.

Or has it?

Social Security Reform was bludgeoned nearly to death, but the Democrats with their hammers came off looking a little like the Arabs dancing in the streets on 9/11. Sure, they won. But the red ink that Social Security is drowning in will soon have voters wondering what all the celebrating in 2005 was all about.

The end runs around the crazed enviro-fascists will soon have us drilling for oil in the ANWR wilderness. This will clearly open the way to more domestic exploration that will substantially reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

The revolt by the most fiscally conservative House Republicans will likely result in reduced pork spending. A similar mutiny by conservative Senate Republicans will certainly result in the confirmation of a solid Supreme Court justice.

So now the President's own Advisory Panel on Tax Reform has issued its ideas for simplifying our tax system and everyone is waiting to see what the vox populi declares.

When President Reagan left the White House in 1989, the conservative movement suffered from the loss of a great champion. Could it be that President Bush will leave us stronger in his absence because of the way he has drawn out our liberal opponents from their fortifications with their arguments pulled down around their ankles?

I think so, yes.

The question then becomes "Can we do the same thing here in Kentucky?" Can the ground troops of the Bluegrass conservative movement wrest control of the Republican party and the social objectives that drew us to it from those who would use it for self-aggrandizement? Can we force discipline on a state government that raised our taxes last year, and continues to this day to keep us mired in an upward spiral of health insurance costs that could be alleviated with the stroke of a pen, just as the downward spiral of our public education system could be stopped dead in its tracks with a simple reform of higher standards and fewer layers of administration?

I think so, yes.

I don't know how much credit history will give President Bush for advancing conservative principles, but I fear that Kentucky will squander its opportunity for advancement without stronger conservative leadership. A few good men and women are working to change our course. I believe that 2006 will be their year.

Socialized Medicine: HillaryCare Coming To KY

We have confirmed with Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign that she is making plans to come to Louisville in December. It will be a beautiful thing to watch the "conservative" gaggle of Kentucky Democrats flit about in and out of her majesty's limelight like moths fascinated by a Bug Zapper.

Please, let this happen!

Another Inexplicable Hiring Move In Frankfort

When the Fletcher Administration set up the Office for Merit System Referrals in October, we complained that it seemed a poor use of state resources. That the office was soon scrapped may have had more to do with its director dissing Democrats on his website, but the taxpayers dodged a bullet either way.

Now we have word that the Personnel Cabinet will be expanded by 35 jobs costing $72,000 each. What in the name of fiscal insanity is going on here?

Conservatives who rose up in opposition to the Harriet Miers nomination have to be emboldened by the President's subsequent about-face. Is it time for Kentucky Republicans to take a similar approach?

Like Rush Limbaugh said, not a crack-up but a crack-down. I think the time is right.

Media Hound Strikes Again!!

I will be a guest on The Sue Wylie Show this morning at 11:00 to talk about the President's Advisory Panel on Tax Reform. Their consensus plan doesn't do nearly enough, but that is the next thing on the table. Tune in to 590 AM and call in to 859-253-5959.

Racist, Homophobic Republican Plot Uncovered!!!

Rep. Brad Montell (R-Shelbyville) must really hate people of color and members of other disadvantaged groups, a Frankfort citizen alleged today.

Rep. Montell filed a bill (BR 272) that would require citizens registering to vote to obtain a signature from a witness on their voter registration card. It is not clear how much of a burden this will place on dead voters on Election Day, but vote merchants complain that involving one extra person in the registration process would unfairly spread the legal liability for generating excess registrations.

"It would have a chilling effect, that's for sure," said a vote merchant named Tony.

Rep. Montell could not immediately be reached to comment on his bill, but liberal groups agreed that his intent was clearly racist and anti-human rights.

Back On Track: Alito Nomination Suggests Revival

Harry Reid is babbling about President Bush's Supreme Court nomination being outside the mainstream. All is well in the universe again.

Tomorrow, the President's Tax Reform Commission is to announce its final recommendations at 10:00 AM. This is Bush's big opportunity to move the ball forward. I think it would be wise to point out that Republicans gave Social Security reform a good try only to be shut down by Democrats, RINO's, and the mainstream media. If we get no action this year, we can campaign on it in 2006. And it would be lots of fun if the Dems try to filibuster Alito. Stay tuned.

Sen. Joey Pendleton Is From Mars -- And Venus

Some Democrats are still upset about Rep. James Carr switching to the Republican Party earlier this month. Senator Joey Pendleton is so hysterical his statements might lead voters to believe that he will be the next elected Dem to come on over to the right.

Pendleton (D-Hopkinsville) shrieks about "Democrats in the state House and Senate who are overwhelmingly anti-abortion and strongly supported the constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage."

Bluegrass liberals must be despondent now that one of their own "leaders" is re-writing history (and his party's platform) to paper over not only Democrats' fascination with abortion-on-demand, but also the shining moments in last year's Kentucky General Assembly session when Democrats sought repeatedly in broad daylight to kill SB 245, succeeding once. Ultimately, the majority house Democrats turned to tapioca in the face of thousands of citizens marching on the Capitol in support of the bill. It was only then, as a last resort, that they started this "strongly support" business.

Someone should send press clippings of last spring's doings to Pendleton as well as a copy of the Democrat Platform. If he is as "conservative" as most elected Democrats now claim to be, he will switch his registration. Failing that, he will look at the hero's welcome given to Jumpin' Jim Jeffords when he jumped right to left in the U.S. Senate. Liberals then praised the "act of conscience" and didn't bother with any of this hand-wringing, bed-wetting sophistry we hear from them now.

Moron State Hiring Investigation

If you read the Lexington Herald Leader online, you know that at the bottom of every story about the merit hiring scandal, they have a link to all the related stories going back to the beginning. The label for this link is "More on the state hiring investigation." We are well past the point that any Republican who publicly demands the immediate end of the grand jury investigation deserves the title "MORON." Even when his other title is "President."

David Williams: assuming that you really said "It will put legislators in a bad mood" in calling for a halt to the festivities, you are a moron.

I've seen all the talking points, speeches, etc. The window of opportunity to salvage anything from this trainwreck is closing quickly. We must stop all the "noodling" BS and the attacks on the Attorney General.

Is Exxon Getting Roved?

While Karl Rove is, for the time being, not under indictment for an action that is not a crime, ExxonMobil Inc. is under attack for doing its job.

What is so hard to understand? Exxon makes money pulling black, sticky stuff out of the ground and selling it. The price of said sticky stuff jumps and you are surprised that profits climbed as well?

Where were all the people now so concerned over the oil business inner workings the last few years when Exxon was providing petroleum products at lower margins?

While Greg Stumbo wouldn't shock anyone if he started suing petro companies, it is sad to see Washington D.C. Republicans getting in on the act. Maybe they didn't understand what conservatives did to Harriet Miers.

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.