Kudos to Kentucky's doctors for joining the effort to repeal Certificate of Need laws that limit the number of healthcare providers and the services they can provide. The status quo gives us prices that are too high.
Combining this issue with medical malpractice reform will turn up the heat on both, but could help get action on both as well.
Friday, September 22, 2006
Rumor On A Stick
Idle speculation has Steve Pence picking Bruce Lunsford as a running mate.
Lunsford spent eight million dollars of his own money to run for governor in 2003. He finished third in the three-way Democratic primary.
Lunsford spent eight million dollars of his own money to run for governor in 2003. He finished third in the three-way Democratic primary.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Can't Please Everyone
George Bush's approval rating continues to climb in Kentucky. It is up to 44%.
That's high enough for now. As frustrating as it is that "the Dems are worse" is about the best the national GOP can do for a campaign slogan this year, it is working.
That's high enough for now. As frustrating as it is that "the Dems are worse" is about the best the national GOP can do for a campaign slogan this year, it is working.
Yarmuth Getting Desperate
Isn't it just about time for John Yarmuth to melt down like Clooney did?
This doesn't look good for him.
This doesn't look good for him.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Democrats Versus Cars
California's Attorney General is suing carmakers for causing global warming.
Maybe we could get our left-wingers to push Greg Stumbo to do the same. That would be fun to watch. In fact, you can call the Sierra Club of Kentucky in Lexington at (859) 296-4335 and tell them to get on the stick and call their Democrats before we all burn up in our fossil fuels!
Maybe we could get our left-wingers to push Greg Stumbo to do the same. That would be fun to watch. In fact, you can call the Sierra Club of Kentucky in Lexington at (859) 296-4335 and tell them to get on the stick and call their Democrats before we all burn up in our fossil fuels!
Dem House Candidate Can't Be Fired
Nothing in the Lexington Herald Leader yesterday or today about the East Lake neighborhood forum at the Eagle Creek Public Library Monday night.
The low point was when House candidate Chris Frost, a UK law professor, answered a question about how he would deal with University of Kentucky President Lee Todd if Frost were elected to the legislature.
Frost stunned listeners by saying "I'm a tenured professor. He can't fire me."
That's the kind of attitude we like in our government employees.
The low point was when House candidate Chris Frost, a UK law professor, answered a question about how he would deal with University of Kentucky President Lee Todd if Frost were elected to the legislature.
Frost stunned listeners by saying "I'm a tenured professor. He can't fire me."
That's the kind of attitude we like in our government employees.
Ensuring "Clean" Judicial Elections?
As election day draws closer, judicial races are heating up all over Kentucky.
My approach to such races has been to pick the more conservative candidate -- so far as I could determine -- and hope for the best. Higher court justices often come up through the ranks, so it stands to reason that sober district court judges are necessary if we are to have good appellate justices down the road.
I've seen a few efforts to improve voter knowledge for judicial elections, but generally they range from the mundane to the absurd.
The Kentucky Judicial Campaign Conduct Committee is at least bipartisan. But their website, if you read it, offers precious little other than finger-wagging about avoiding conflicts and ignoring voters.
Voters should choose candidates on the basis of their complete records, and remember that the best judges are those who aren’t afraid to make decisions that might be unpopular. The judges’ code of conduct says “a judge shall not be swayed by partisan interests, public clamor or fear of criticism.” The public doesn’t need, and shouldn’t want, judges who make decisions with the next election in mind.
Seriously, what does any of this mean? Interestingly, I found most of the above passage attributed to Al Cross in a Richmond Register news story. Al is out of pocket today, but I will try to get some comment from him about which unpopular decisions we want our judges to embrace and which partisan interests we want them to reject. If we are supposed to pick judges who make decisions we don't like, why are we bothering to have elections?
My approach to such races has been to pick the more conservative candidate -- so far as I could determine -- and hope for the best. Higher court justices often come up through the ranks, so it stands to reason that sober district court judges are necessary if we are to have good appellate justices down the road.
I've seen a few efforts to improve voter knowledge for judicial elections, but generally they range from the mundane to the absurd.
The Kentucky Judicial Campaign Conduct Committee is at least bipartisan. But their website, if you read it, offers precious little other than finger-wagging about avoiding conflicts and ignoring voters.
Voters should choose candidates on the basis of their complete records, and remember that the best judges are those who aren’t afraid to make decisions that might be unpopular. The judges’ code of conduct says “a judge shall not be swayed by partisan interests, public clamor or fear of criticism.” The public doesn’t need, and shouldn’t want, judges who make decisions with the next election in mind.
Seriously, what does any of this mean? Interestingly, I found most of the above passage attributed to Al Cross in a Richmond Register news story. Al is out of pocket today, but I will try to get some comment from him about which unpopular decisions we want our judges to embrace and which partisan interests we want them to reject. If we are supposed to pick judges who make decisions we don't like, why are we bothering to have elections?
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Like Garlic To A Vampire: Liberals Hate Special Ed School Choice Bill
It was no surprise to see the Lexington Herald Leader editorial page wax poetic about trapping special education children in schools that won't help them.
Here is a different perspective. And you probably didn't see this either.
Here is a different perspective. And you probably didn't see this either.
Chris Frost: Too Little, Too Late
State House candidate Chris Frost, a Democrat running against 88th district Rep. Bill Farmer (R-Lexington) must be ready to start his campaign. He sent a letter to his opponent dated September 14, in which he challenged the incumbent to three debates.
Go fish, Mr. Frost. The time for scheduling debates would have been in May.
Go fish, Mr. Frost. The time for scheduling debates would have been in May.
Another Candidate For Governor?
General John G. Coburn has a website up for Kentucky Governor in 2007. It doesn't mention his party affiliation, but I found this article from 2001 in which then-Congressman Ernie Fletcher called him a good friend and suggested that if he ran in 2003, he would run as a Republican.
Monday, September 18, 2006
More KY Casino Ugliness
If Attorney General Greg Stumbo is Dr. Frankenstein, trying to breathe life into the ugly mishmash of big government charades we call casino gambling, Senate Democrat Leader Ed Worley (D-Richmond) is his Igor.
The worst kept secret in Frankfort is that Worley is carrying the water for casinos whenever he can. "To maintain state government at the level we're spending, the answer is expanded gaming," Worley told Bloodhorse.com in May. He told gambling supporters at the same meeting to "keep spending your money to educate people and this will all work out in time."
What's funny is that people in Worley's Senate district aren't so hot on casino gambling and he knows it. So while he tells The Kentucky Enquirer "Unquestionably there is $450 million lying on the table. This is an option the people of Kentucky ought to have as opposed to having their taxes raised," he tells ministers in his district -- in a letter dated 9/6/06 -- First, before there can be any expanded form of gambling, whether it is casinos, slot machines, poker or any other gambling not currently legal in the Commonwealth, there must be a constitutional vote by the majority of the voters of Kentucky.
The little problem with this is Worley knows what he has said is not true. Senator Ed Worley requested of AG Stumbo the opinion that stated a constitutional amendment is not necessary to expand gambling in Kentucky.
Sloppy, reckless behavior in recent months has caused Senator Worley to get caught lying in federal court to cover up fraud, and now he is lying about a Kentucky law opinion with his own name on it.
Wow.
Casino Gambling In 2007
The Paducah Sun's Bill Bartleman spoke at the KEMPAC meeting last Thursday in Louisville. He said casino gambling would decide the 2007 gubernatorial election.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
More Education Whining Won't Help
The Lexington Herald Leader this morning wastes valuable ink bellyaching about the high cost of higher education for low-income families. This is the kind of politically motivated fantasy that risks accomplishing the opposite of what it says it wants to.
The truth is poor families in America are pretty well-situated to send their children to college. In fact, an alarming number of low-income families aren't even applying for aid they would qualify for. Editorials claiming all hope is lost, rich get richer/poor get poorer, and poor people are dropping dead for lack of legislative concern benefit only professional complainers and not the constituency they purport to support.
There are problems with our public higher education system, but using it as a hitching post for left-wing talking points about how terrible America is for poor people is a shameful waste.
If you are facing higher education costs you really can not afford, take heart. You can get the help you need. Don't pay any attention the sob sisters at the Herald Leader. Start here. And then to search private scholarships go here.
The truth is poor families in America are pretty well-situated to send their children to college. In fact, an alarming number of low-income families aren't even applying for aid they would qualify for. Editorials claiming all hope is lost, rich get richer/poor get poorer, and poor people are dropping dead for lack of legislative concern benefit only professional complainers and not the constituency they purport to support.
There are problems with our public higher education system, but using it as a hitching post for left-wing talking points about how terrible America is for poor people is a shameful waste.
If you are facing higher education costs you really can not afford, take heart. You can get the help you need. Don't pay any attention the sob sisters at the Herald Leader. Start here. And then to search private scholarships go here.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
On Drug Abuse And Children
Today The Louisville Courier-Journal addressed the heartbreaking issue of the state's role in protecting child welfare in the case of abusive parents.
The problem is predominantly one of drug abusing parents becoming an unacceptable risk to their children. I struggle with competing libertarian laissez faire principles and activist pro-child interventionalist tendencies on this one. But really, I wonder how much good the government actually does intervening in any but the very worst of these cases. Do we really want to encourage the government to to do more judging of child neglect and acting on those judgement calls? My experiences with parents who lost their children to the government for what I believe to be good reason, and those who I know were victims themselves of bureacratic malfeasance lead me to believe we should be much slower to remove children from their parents' custody. However, once removed from the home, I would be much more likely to make those worst cases permanent and to prosecute the parents vigorously.
Too often, I think, we open a file on a situation that involves less than ideal financial circumstances but no real abuse and make bad situations worse while spreading social service resources too thin to really help the desperate cases. This gives us a government crisis that risks lives needlessly.
The problem is predominantly one of drug abusing parents becoming an unacceptable risk to their children. I struggle with competing libertarian laissez faire principles and activist pro-child interventionalist tendencies on this one. But really, I wonder how much good the government actually does intervening in any but the very worst of these cases. Do we really want to encourage the government to to do more judging of child neglect and acting on those judgement calls? My experiences with parents who lost their children to the government for what I believe to be good reason, and those who I know were victims themselves of bureacratic malfeasance lead me to believe we should be much slower to remove children from their parents' custody. However, once removed from the home, I would be much more likely to make those worst cases permanent and to prosecute the parents vigorously.
Too often, I think, we open a file on a situation that involves less than ideal financial circumstances but no real abuse and make bad situations worse while spreading social service resources too thin to really help the desperate cases. This gives us a government crisis that risks lives needlessly.
The Faith Of Evolutionists
Having put four children in the public school system in Kentucky -- including two who are soon to graduate -- I have found several ways to deal with extreme political correctness in the classroom. It hasn't been hard.
So I have paid little attention to the "debate" over teaching evolution in science class. As a grand theory, there is some real value. The science of genetics emerged from this primordial slime, and we have yet to scratch the surface of the many uses of genetic engineering.
But the People For the American Way have been paying close attention. They are quite secure in their doctrine: Every living species—palm trees, eagles, and even humans—has evolved over billions of years, from single-celled organisms.
If that is what they are so hot on teaching our kids, I am no longer worried about it. Our children aren't so gullible as to believe that. I understand the problems with allowing liberal groups to get too far into their sermons with our kids, but this is ridiculous. It takes much less blind faith to believe in a God as Creator than it does to believe there is no "legitimate scientific evidence" refuting the doctrine of evolution.
Have a nice Saturday my fellow humans -- and palm trees!
So I have paid little attention to the "debate" over teaching evolution in science class. As a grand theory, there is some real value. The science of genetics emerged from this primordial slime, and we have yet to scratch the surface of the many uses of genetic engineering.
But the People For the American Way have been paying close attention. They are quite secure in their doctrine: Every living species—palm trees, eagles, and even humans—has evolved over billions of years, from single-celled organisms.
If that is what they are so hot on teaching our kids, I am no longer worried about it. Our children aren't so gullible as to believe that. I understand the problems with allowing liberal groups to get too far into their sermons with our kids, but this is ridiculous. It takes much less blind faith to believe in a God as Creator than it does to believe there is no "legitimate scientific evidence" refuting the doctrine of evolution.
Have a nice Saturday my fellow humans -- and palm trees!
Spicoli Update
Here's a hint: if you find your world-view matching very closely with actor Sean Penn, you might need a little help.
There are a few gems in his interview with Larry King, such as when he says no Democrat who doesn't promote surrender in Iraq should get any votes, but really the only thing funnier than the White Flag Democrats are those who blamed President Bush for gas prices going up and are now twice as mad when they are going down.
Amazing that such a bumbling President can wield precise control over world commodity markets and get the entire world to move on his electoral strategy.
There are a few gems in his interview with Larry King, such as when he says no Democrat who doesn't promote surrender in Iraq should get any votes, but really the only thing funnier than the White Flag Democrats are those who blamed President Bush for gas prices going up and are now twice as mad when they are going down.
Amazing that such a bumbling President can wield precise control over world commodity markets and get the entire world to move on his electoral strategy.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Worley Fraud Case Changes Courts
U.S. District Judge Joseph Hood says jurisdiction of the Ed Worley fraud case belongs to state courts. The mainstream media finally mentions Sen. Ed Worley's (D-Richmond) perjury caught on tape.
The really funny part is when Worley blames his political opponent, Barry Metcalf (R) who appreciates the free mention in the Herald Leader story:
"My opponent wants to make this a political argument when it's a legal argument," Worley said, referring to Barry Metcalf, a Republican who is running for Worley's seat in November.
Senator Worley has to admit that getting caught in perjury on tape has a bit of a Monica Lewinsky ring to it, though.
The really funny part is when Worley blames his political opponent, Barry Metcalf (R) who appreciates the free mention in the Herald Leader story:
"My opponent wants to make this a political argument when it's a legal argument," Worley said, referring to Barry Metcalf, a Republican who is running for Worley's seat in November.
Senator Worley has to admit that getting caught in perjury on tape has a bit of a Monica Lewinsky ring to it, though.
Rise Of Fiscal Conservatives In KY
Finally, some help is coming for those who have grown tired of government overspending.
As the Republican party has gained prominence in Kentucky, little has frustrated conservatives more than the missed opportunities to exercise fiscal restraint.
Help is on the way as the Club for Growth of Kentucky establishes itself on the political landscape. Interesting that Sen. Jim Bunning would refer to the Kentucky Club as a "very fringe group."
I think he will be surprised.
As the Republican party has gained prominence in Kentucky, little has frustrated conservatives more than the missed opportunities to exercise fiscal restraint.
Help is on the way as the Club for Growth of Kentucky establishes itself on the political landscape. Interesting that Sen. Jim Bunning would refer to the Kentucky Club as a "very fringe group."
I think he will be surprised.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
How Not To Do A Candidate Blog
Lexington City Council candidate Justin Dobbs is promoting his candidacy on infamous child-predator website hangout myspace.com.
I won't let my kids on this site and, from the looks of things, Justin's mom probably shouldn't have either. Just a few tidbits from the site: Justin lies about his fundraising, polling, his opponent's fundraising goal, his opponent's husband's sex life, and lists his occupation as "city council candidate" and has a special message from the college kid who got caught trying to infiltrate Rep. Anne Northup's campaign for her opponent John Yarmuth.
I won't let my kids on this site and, from the looks of things, Justin's mom probably shouldn't have either. Just a few tidbits from the site: Justin lies about his fundraising, polling, his opponent's fundraising goal, his opponent's husband's sex life, and lists his occupation as "city council candidate" and has a special message from the college kid who got caught trying to infiltrate Rep. Anne Northup's campaign for her opponent John Yarmuth.
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