Media Appearance

I will be weighing in on the goofy, pointless, and ultimately harmful liberal efforts to rewrite the First Amendment on tomorrow's Lexington Herald Leader editorial page.

Speaking of the First Amendment, here it is:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Nothing in there about state employees not having to bring a laptop to work so they can read blogs all day long.

The low point of today's update on this ridiculous "scandal" was in this quote: "The government is not a private employer, the government cannot decide what content they want to ban," said Mark Nickolas, U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler's former campaign manager and operator of a Web log. "It's not constitutional."

While the libs are distracting with this stuff and the Fletcher Driving-Not-Walking scandal, the General Assembly is getting away with tweaking the AMC when they should be repealing it.

Required Reading in AP Economics

While Kentucky politicos are irrationally consumed with what can or can't be read in the state Capitol, one Georgia high school has the right idea.

An Advanced Placement Economics course at Northview High School in Duluth is requiring students to have read The Fair Tax Book before classes start in the fall.

That should get Nancy Pelosi worked up since she won't let her minions talk about the Fair Tax, but it is good news for the future that these kids will be learning about it now.

Yarmuth Won't Get Warner Nod

Kentucky's 3rd district U.S. House challenger John Yarmuth can't catch a break.

Yarmuth's frustration with his inability to draw support in the district will be compounded this week when he fails in his bid to get an endorsement from presidential wannabe Mark Warner.

If you look at the list of names who applied for Warner's endorsement, you will see he did succeed in making it to the second round in the selection process. Maybe Yarmuth's campaign should be called the "Close But No Cigar Tour."

Don't Go Easy On Sex Offenders Now

The Pandora's Box opened by the new Georgia law which prohibits convicted sex offenders from living within 1000 feet of areas where children congregate can't cause us to give in to criminals' convenience just because the ACLU types want us to.

Georgia's law is probably the toughest in the nation. Despite the activist whining, the result of this policy will be a mass exodus of sex criminals from that state. Kentucky would do very well to ignore the bellyaching and further stiffen its own restrictions.

Repeal AMC Now!

Joe Fischer(R-Ft. Thomas) did the right thing this week when he filed an amendment in the House to repeal the Alternative Minimum Calculation and the limited liability entity tax.

The debate shouldn't be about how much we will tax unprofitable Kentucky corporations, but whether we should tax their business activity at all.

As Rep. Bob Damron(D-Nicholasville) said back in March, there is something un-American about taxing companies that aren't making a profit.

It Gets Worse For Yarmuth

John Yarmuth wants Anne Northup's job in Congress. He has set up some pretty rough roadblocks for himself, like pushing to double payroll taxes, surrendering Iraq, and resurrecting public financing of national political campaigns -- welfare for politicians again!!

Now we see that Yarmuth has picked up a major endorsement that he isn't exactly promoting on his website or crowing to the media about: Los Angeles shock-jock John Ziegler hopes Louisvillians will lurch leftward for Yarmuth in November.

It's no surprise Yarmuth isn't trumpeting this one: Ziegler was run out of Louisville in August 2003 in the midst of a sex scandal.

Sixty Five Cent Solution

We are always hearing about how Kentucky's schoolchildren need more money. This is a great way to increase classroom spending $174.5 million each year without raising taxes.

All the Sixty Five Cent Solution folks (including Ohio gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell) want is to cut down on the administrative waste in our public school system.

Blog Blockergate A Pathetic Scandal

I don't blame liberal bloggers for trying to make Blockergate into some kind of constitutional crisis. If conservatives didn't have any ideas, we would probably be doing the same type of thing. (As it is, we can let them yammer about censorship. We need to continue working for tax reform, school choice, and fiscal responsibility in Kentucky.)

But my scorn for all this hubbub does have its limits. The Bluegrass Institute adds to policy debates in a way the partisan blogs don't. If anything, state workers need to be encouraged to read www.bipps.org and to check www.kentuckyvotes.org to keep tabs on the legislature.

Now that people can surf the web on their cell phones, or download software to get around "blocks" on sites, and when rumor, innuendo, and hearsay zooms through Capitol offices faster than a T1 modem, I think we will survive this just fine.

While the Lefties are going gonzo on this, it might be a great time for the Fletcher Administration to start to work on a solid conservative initiative for the next session. Repealing Certificate of Need restrictions on medical care would be a good one.

Welcome Lexington Herald Leader Readers!

Despite persistent rumors to the contrary, conservatism isn't dead in Kentucky. It just needs a little cold water splashed in its face. Welcome to Kentucky Progress.

Kentucky is a conservative state, but our politics lag behind our people. And I am talking about fiscal conservatism. Though there is more work to be done, social conservatives rule the roost in the Bluegrass. Sadly, they have veered hard to the left on fiscal issues. If you are ready to push ahead, we have to demand repeal of the Alternative Minimum Calculation. Also, we need to go after the soft liberal underbelly of our state -- the education bureaucracy. This is the largest portion of our state budget and the mismanagement is undeniable. Step one there is for parents to demand school choice.

This would make a great start. Call your state legislators and demand total repeal of AMC during the special session that begins today. They won't do it, but they should know we are out here. Education reform has been a liberal bugaboo for decades and our progress has been stunted as a result. It is time for conservatives to stand up and lead our children. There are some great things afoot for the conservative cause in Kentucky. Please come back often to the Kentucky Progress for updates.

YOU Pay Corporate Income Taxes

Revenue-raising politicians love to pile on "big business."

That's how we got the Alternative Minimum Calculation tax with Tax Modernization. The AMC forces businesses with no profit to pay taxes on their gross receipts. When possible, those costs to the business are passed on to consumers. When that isn't possible, employees take the hit. Either way, new businesses get the brunt of this and it accomplishes nothing so much as to restrain economic growth.

The special session starts tomorrow and the Bluegrass Institute is encouraging business owners to tell legislators to scrap the AMC. Amen to that. If you patronize small businesses or work for one, you would do well to raise your voice also.

Welcome Liberal Time Wasters!

If you have been directed to this site because you read on the net about Kentucky state government blocking liberal Bluegrass Report, you might have a little too much time on your hands.

Kentucky Progress is a conservative site and, as such, I have no problem with being blocked from state employee computers -- especially during work hours. I'm glad to have liberal readers who disagree with everything I write -- and I do get a kick out of angry liberal legislators who accost me in Frankfort because of what I write about them on this site -- but I value my tax dollars as well. If you are reading this site and would like to comment via email or post a comment here, go right ahead. But if you are stealing from your employer in order to be here, I hope your conscience bothers you.

KY Pension Collapse: Will Money Meet Mouth?

The Delta Airlines Pilot Pension collapse isn't going to get as much run in the media as anything potentially embarrassing to Republicans. The reason is defined-benefit pensions are designed much like Social Security.

Remember the "there is no crisis" rants from the left last year? By now, all honest economists agree that was an expensive distortion then and it is only getting worse.

Well I have an idea how to get past the smokescreen on this. Kentucky's public employee pensions are headed for a Delta-like disaster. If we gave all employees in the system the opportunity to opt out in favor of a defined contribution plan, we could wait and see just how many were willing to gamble their retirement security on what is left of the old economic ideology.

Now that would be a sight to behold...

New York Times As Contrary Indicator

When the New York Times puts its political prognostications on the front page, it is usually best to expect things to go the other way. Such is the case with today's bit about the impending doom of the Republican Party of Kentucky.

Almost as bad as Daily Kos' conspiracy theory yesterday about Dubai "still controlling" U.S. Ports.

Murtha Initiates 'Culture of Compunction'

Memo to Democrats: you wanted John Murtha to be your spokesman on national defense and you got him.

Enjoy!

Quick, somebody ask Julian Carroll for a comment...

What's Holding Back Kentucky Health Care

Democrats in Frankfort have to be worried about Gross Lindsay's primary loss because the doctor who beat him is in favor of common sense medical malpractice reform.

Senator Ed Worley (D-Richmond) faces a stiff challenge this fall in large part because of his own support of ambulance chasers on the same issue.

Reforming tort policy will help quite a bit. Even more helpful would be to drum up support in favor of repealing Kentucky's Certificate of Need laws.

Read up.

Make Timelines Not War!!

Apparently U.S. Senate Democrats are pushing again (still?) to quit fighting the war and hope the terrorists back off the IED's and stick to their prayer rugs.

Kos has the story.

Lib Judges Can Run, Can't Hide

Marcus Carey's effort to bring ideological accountability to judicial races is causing his opponent to say dumb things.

This is going to get good. Thanks to Trey Walker for passing this along from San Diego.

Iraq, Iraq, Iraq

Here is President Bush's radio address he gave today.

As I read it, what occurred to me is the President's political opponents here at home can take no pleasure in any good things that happen in Iraq -- ever. No doubt they will face a white-hot panic if continued progress mounts as fall draws closer.

What I see happening is both national parties running on Iraq this November.

UPDATE: Kentucky's Democrat opponents for Congress don't have Ben Chandler's advantage of being able to vote this way and that way on this issue. But such flip-floppery won't help him run for Governor.

I Just Joined Unity '08, You Should Too!

Unity '08 is a political organization whose purpose is to bring people together to move America forward. Let me hasten to add I have not left the Republican party and you don't have to leave your party either in order to get involved with Unity '08. The point is to work with people from all political perspectives who are tired of the status quo.

You might think that Unity '08 is a little late to the two-party party to actually have an impact in 2008. And you would be wrong.

Actually, Republicans and Democrats will be behind in the spring of 2008 when they hold their precinct elections and start the process of rewriting their state and national platforms. Their advantage is they already have people, but the same people show up and propose the same platforms so little changes. What Unity '08 lacks in sheer numbers, in another two years it could make up for in energy and by working the same process in a fresh way. They are bringing the people together first and then working out the ideas.

We all know the environment is ripe for a new movement. It is even okay that partisans like me will be looking for a way to manipulate Unity '08. If it becomes anything like a forum where we can hash out philosophical differences honestly, it will have significantly more power per capita than the Dems and Republicans telling themselves the same things.

I suspect things will get pretty dicey with Unity '08 when the time comes to pick a slate for President. But the most interesting point of a political discussion is where the strength of ideas change open minds. Based on that, Unity '08 is worth a hard look.

Chandler Joins Bill To Raise College Costs

Ben Chandler's latest move in Washington D.C. deserves a lot of scrutiny.

He has added his name to a bill called "Reverse the Raid on Student Aid" HR 5150, which would cut by half interest rates on student loans for higher education.

In his two short years inside the beltway, Chandler has learned the value of sound-good, feel-good legislation. What the sponsors of this bill want you to believe is that cutting student loan interest rates lowers college costs and helps the poor, struggling college student and his/her family afford higher education.

It isn't that simple.

It would be that simple, I guess, if the Education Fairy paid lending institutions the difference in the costs of the loan and the government-set rate. After centuries of data have demonstrated to everyone else that price-fixing combined with taxpayer subsidies cause artificially high demand and actually increase costs -- a side benefit is creating waste! --, the sponsors of this bill want to clap their hands and believe it won't work that way this time.

The Republican leadership in the House has done a lot worthy scorn lately, but the coming showdown on this -- and the unceremonious death of this bad bill -- will underscore once again that as bad as the GOP might have been, the Democrats are worse. It's hardly a campaign slogan, but cutting off our noses to spite our faces is a luxury we can not afford now.