House Democrats Painting Selves Into Corner

House Labor and Industry Chairman J.R. Gray is expected to push an increase in the minimum wage through his committee today at noon. This comes only days after a resolution supporting socialized medicine was advanced by the same people.

Kentucky Democrats cling to a slim six seat advantage in the House of Representatives. They are expected to campaign this fall as being much more conservative than Washington D.C. Democrats who vote for fringe liberal issues like increasing the minimum wage and nationalizing our healthcare system.

Governor Fletcher Reaches Out To Teachers Union

... or maybe we should just call it "Brer Rabbit Says 'Howdy!' to the Tar Baby, Again."

Conceding the union talking point that teachers are underpaid in Kentucky will not earn Gov. Fletcher anything and will only leave him stuck in the tar. Fortunately, Speaker Jody Richards will come along soon to "knock his head clean off," so the Governor should be okay.

Ford Motor Cuts More Proof Old Ways Don't Work

The debate about big unions and money-losing defined benefit pensions took on a local dimension when Ford Motor Company said it would close fourteen U.S. plants by 2008.

Louisville's facilities weren't on the first list today, but the company said two more closings would be determined later this year.

This kind of thing will continue as more companies try to shift out of outmoded business practices.

And speaking of outmoded, Kentucky's House Democrats are joining the liberal bandwagon in thinking they are going to end poverty as we know it by forcing businesses to pay more than the federal minimum wage.

Proof The Left Is Killing "Civil Rights"

Days after the nationwide celebration of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., we have more evidence that liberal groups have bastardized King's movement.

Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, a socialist organization, has on their website a list of legislative priorities. Under "civil rights" at the bottom of the page, they promote "sexual orientation" laws and decry giving workers the right to opt out of paying onerous union dues.

Even worse, "Voting Rights" is now supposedly about restoring voting rights to convicted felons.

Here is the link.

Summing It Up Nicely

The Louisville Courier-Journal's John David Dyche got to the essence of what ails Kentucky Democrats with this description today:

Reactionary Democrats resist real change to inefficient, collectivist and financially unsustainable New Deal and Great Society relics like defined benefit pensions, monolithic Medicaid, and preferential treatment of labor unions.

Here is the whole column.

Worley Cheats Elderly Constituents

Senator Ed Worley left himself open to federal mail fraud charges during a Madison county land deal, a source with knowledge of the transaction said yesterday.

Worley currently faces a lawsuit in U.S. District Court over development of 27 acres of prime real estate previously owned by two of his own elderly constituents.

At issue is Worley's use of a dummy corporation he set up, an agreement with the two elderly victims to help develop their property, and a below-market offer from Worley's dummy corporation to purchase the property.

When Worley presented the offer as if it were from a third party -- and then recommended that his constituents accept the offer -- he was at least "pulling a fast one." When he used the U.S. Postal Service to consummate his ruse, he broke the law.

Here is the Herald-Leader coverage of this sorry episode. Expect to hear more about this fairly soon. If federal charges come down, Worley starts to look a lot like a ham sandwich.

Last Train From Clarksville, Indiana

Raising awareness about how unions hurt Kentucky got a boost last month when Colgate-Palmolive Co. announced they were closing their Clarksville, Indiana plant. Indiana's lack of a Right To Work law was said to be a factor then, and that was confirmed yesterday when Colgate leap-frogged over Kentucky and announced a move to RTW-state Tennessee.

Big Unions complain cost-cutting moves that limit bloated union wages are bad for America. The opposite is clearly true. As manufacturing jobs move to Mexico and China, employers who want to stay in this country can't compete in the marketplace while continuing to pay for union lobbying overhead.

The 220 jobs headed to Morristown, Tennessee would have come in handy in many places in Kentucky. A simple change to the law this year could make us more competitive next year.

No Teeth, No Problem!

Kentucky's House Education Committee has just passed HB 51, the No Pass, No Drive bill. This is merely a waste of time pretend education reform. Remember, this law was supposed to lower dropout rates. While it was in effect from 1990 to 2003, the dropout rate was unchanged. Students who saw their licenses suspended for dropping out kept driving in large numbers. When they were caught, they went to court to prove hardship required them to keep driving despite the law. There are real things we can do to improve our schools, like suspending the Carnegie unit. This foolishness shouldn't even be under consideration.

Big Labor Strikes Back Against Consumers

As union membership in Kentucky has fallen below one-tenth of the state's workforce, political theater has replaced reasonable discourse on the left.

Kentucky AFL-CIO head Bill Londrigan said "I think we made our point emphatically, that when Governor Fletcher takes on the working families of the commonwealth, they're going to fight back."

Actually, it is the big unions that are taking on the working families of the commonwealth. When union wages get passed along to Kentucky consumers, it is the 90% of us who suffer because of the lobbyists who prop up the 10% who agitate.

Rep. J.R. Gray (D-Benton) is probably going to lose his House seat this year. His role in killing Right to Work in his Labor and Industry Committee will be part of the reason for his removal. Supporters of Right to Work legislation don't need to rent buses to go scream and yell at the Capitol. They need to send a few dollars to Gray's opponent Marvin Wilson, who lost narrowly to Gray in 2004.

Brilliant Sex Offender Bill

Rep. David Floyd(R-Bardstown) filed a bill Tuesday that would require drivers' licenses of sex offenders to identify them based on their crimes.

Nice job.

So Long And Thanks For All The Protestors

Those dust-covered politicians Governor Fletcher sees in his rearview mirror tonight are the ones who tried to scare him out of pushing for Right To Work and an end to prevailing wage.

And the union folks screaming in the hallway during the speech just killed public support for their cause.

Welcome Lexington Herald Leader Readers

Tune in to the Sue Wylie Show on 590 WVLK AM in Lexington this morning at 11:00. I will on there talking about why we should think twice before we pour more money into teacher pay.

KY Teacher Pay Update

Did you know that Kentucky's teachers don't pay into Social Security?

Just for fun, we should force them into the pool with the rest of us and see how quickly the teachers' union folks get religion about Social Security reform. Their "private accounts" have been exposed as a pretty sweet deal.

Kentucky Invaded: Isaac Admin Hiring Illegals

LFUCG insiders report the Lexington city government is currently employing dozens of undocumented aliens. Stay tuned for details...

Maybe We Should Pull Their Press Credentials

Has the Louisville Courier Journal done enough unbalanced reporting to show themselves to be not actual "journalists?" At what point do we consider them liberal bloggers with a print edition?

Judge for yourself.

Part of the fun of a partisan site is to run the occasional item with little redeeming value but smear. And when The Courier Journal throws together a completely one-sided "news story" about how Governor Fletcher isn't on the list of contributors to the Mansion restoration project he and his wife have championed across the state, they figuratively climb off their high horse and go step in his (the horse's) tangible work product.

Nashville Dumps "Book of Daniel"

Nashville's NBC affiliate has dropped "Book of Daniel" citing a torrent of viewer complaints.

Nashville, Tennessee is the nation's 30th largest television market.

Money Meets Mouth: A Book Of Daniel Update

Flipped over for three commercial breaks on the Book of Daniel television program on WLEX. Guess how many paid advertisements there were in three breaks?

ZERO.

The liberal media wants you to believe that the protest against this piece of trash was ineffective.

Zero commercials means no dollars. And that means a very short-lived attack on Christians by the Book of Daniel television program.

KY Democrats Bringing Higher Prices To Wal-Mart

Maryland Democrats yesterday struck a blow to consumers with a "Wal-Mart Health Care Bill." Kentucky Democrats may be about to follow suit.

The Wal-Mart bill in Maryland mandates that employers with more than 10,000 employees spend 8% of total employee wages on health benefits. This would double Wal-Mart's expenses in this category. Guess who gets to pick up the difference then. That's right. You do.

The good folks at the AFL-CIO are behind the Kentucky cut-and-paste version of the Maryland bill and Rep. Melvin Henley(D-Murray) is the lead sponsor.

This whacking of private businesses fits the union modus operandi and is just another fine reason why we need Right To Work in Kentucky.

Really Improving Education In Kentucky

This looks like a great bill.

Unfortunately in the Democrat House, it is unlikely to get out of committee.

Just yesterday, Rep. Harry Moberly made a statement about holding the education establishment accountable. This bill, presently before his A&R committee, presents an excellent opportunity for us to see if he was sincere about it.

Now They Are Calling Him BorkAlito

The liberal blogosphere is going bonkers with news that Sen. Joe Lieberman wants to filibuster Supreme Court justice nominee Sam Alito.

The only problem is that it isn't true. A group of Deaniacs went to Lieberman and asked him to not "stifle debate." He said he would think about it.

Doesn't take much to get them worked up.