Gas Price Graph = A Thousand Words

(Hint: the "Adjusted for Inflation" line is the one that really matters.)

Hope you didn't forget to thank the Bush administration for not freaking out about gas prices in 2006. They could have fixed prices, raised taxes, or emptied out the Strategic Petroleum Reserve but they didn't.

Remember this?

"Are You Kidding Me?" Global Warming Alert

It's warm outside, winter coats are on sale, and the New York Times is in the fetal position whimpering softly about how it is all George Bush's fault.

This has been the warmest December since Mastodon flatulence melted the last Ice Age -- er, since 2001 -- and the scientists and clothing designers are up in arms:

The real worry is that this holiday season will not be an anomaly. Retailers and clothing designers are generally the last to weigh in on scientific debates, but some fear that they are seeing hints of global warming.
“The warm weather this season is really bringing it home,” said Dana Buchman, who creates women’s clothing for high-end department stores “What is scary is that people are saying it’s nice. It’s not good news. It’s scary.”
Scientists are less sure. While they have concluded that the global climate is warming because of trapped greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, extremes in any one season cannot be firmly linked to an underlying trend.

Harper Needs To Speak Up About School Choice

Gubernatorial candidate Billy Harper has been all over the place on education. His ads promote his support of KERA, but his campaign says he favors school choice. Meanwhile, his name appears on a one year old letter from Prichard Committee for Academic excellence director Robert Sexton claiming school choice isn't worth discussing.

Harper's name doesn't appear on a current list of the Prichard organization's committee members, though. If he left the liberal group over school choice -- or some other education issue -- he might want to be talking about it. Republican primary voters will be looking for strong leadership on education policy in May. Continued silence on this issue only benefits the status quo.

Spending billions of dollars on "education" in Kentucky only to get beaten up for not spending billions more may be fun for a Republican governor who sees pretty weak opposition standing between himself and re-election, but Kentucky schoolchildren really could use the leadership.

Will Congress Cut Waste In 2007?

It is starting to really look like it.

What's Sen. Mitch McConnell going to do, obstruct earmark reform?

Real Estate Bubble Not Busting Fast Enough

... and even if it does, that presents excellent buying opportunities for most of us.

Bush's Legacy Won't Be Iraq

Whenever personal Social Security accounts are finally implemented in America, a lot of people will call them "Bush accounts" no matter whose signature makes them a reality.

Fighting in the Middle East has been going on for a long time and George W.'s successors in office will preside over more of the same. What will be different and memorable will be the liberally derided Ownership Society gaining steam just as its loudest opponents take power.

The Democratic Party can't survive a large-scale increase in stock ownership in this country. And the "There is no crisis in Social Security" crowd knows it.

Congressional Democrats know they must escape the surrender monkey chattering if they are to have any hope of warming the office furniture in their new leadership offices for long. But our liberal activist friends might want to google Sarbanes Oxley to get a good idea of what is coming next. This bad corporate regulation measure -- which Bush signed -- has been holding publicly traded companies back even as the Dow stalks 13,000. Sarbanes Oxley has to go. When it does, it will become far more difficult for Social Security reform opponents to get away with calling the stock market a "risky scheme."

President Bush deserves a ton of credit for staying strong on the War on Terror. And he will get it. But the Ownership Society will be what he is remembered for most. The war as an issue to bludgeon Republicans will disappear quickly. But deciding whether we want to really pursue greater prosperity in America or waste time legislating huge raises for middle-class teenagers will have the real lasting impact on our nation.

The Year Of The Dark Horse

Could a President Mark Sanford set things right in Washington D.C.?

It is a little late in the game, but shining the spotlight on tough fiscal conservatives like Governor Sanford won't hurt a bit.

Reigning In The Political Blogs

This will be about as effective as price controls, the war on poverty, campaign finance reform, stopping "global warming," taxing our way to prosperity, gambling our way to prosperity, trade protectionism, affirmative action, equal pay for equal work, and a whole host of solid ideas to make things right in this crazy world.

We Need Awareness, But Not New Voting Law

I like that Secretary of State Trey Grayson wants to encourage and expand early voting. Voters should know that courthouses are open prior to Election Day and they can go in and cast their votes if they need to.

One thing to keep in mind is that the early voting police aren't very likely to come knocking on your door and haul you away if you vote early and wind up being in town on Election Day. If you want to vote and think you might not be able to make it in on that one day, go to the courthouse and cast your vote when you can.

We need greater awareness of existing flexibility for voters, not a new law with new procedures and greater expense.

President Gilmore?

Tom DeLay says former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore is the latest "I'm the next Reagan" candidate running for the 2008 GOP nomination.

We'll see.

Herald Leader's Favorite Republican

Now that former Transportation cabinet official Dan Druen is "spilling the beans" on Gov. Ernie Fletcher, the Lexington Herald Leader finds Druen suddenly credible.

Misplaced Economic Pessimism On Trade

It is terribly unfashionable to express optimism out loud these days, but when Newsweek's Robert Samuelson runs with the "trade imbalance disaster looms" nonsense, I can't let it go.

The people who insist the sky is falling on the U.S. economy count on readers quivering in fear and ignorance at terms like "real-estate bust," "steep gas prices," and worst of all "skewed trade."

The fact that mankind has survived and thrived through every housing cycle since the Adam and Eve were evicted from the Garden of Eden mystifies those who whisper this time could be different. If gas prices were too high, demand would have slowed by now.

And the trade deficit merely represents foreign entities sending goods and services to America in exchange for little pieces of paper. The panic wasted over this would be better spent on our broken tax system.

But even if we don't fix the tax system, we can easily overcome any hardship caused by these other bugaboos.

Left Still Blithering About "Marriage"

Rep. J.R. Gray (D-Benton) has created a bill that would establish a new type of marriage called a "covenant marriage." It looks like an end-run around no-fault divorce in Kentucky, but it has the moonbats barking at their own shadows. Again.

Surely if we can have regular marriages, and super "covenant" marriages, can it be very long before we throw in "drive-by" marriages so everyone gets to play?

Kind of reminds me of the look on Angelina Jolie's face when she tries to explain how she is going to continue to to let Brad Pitt use and abuse her and their children until "everyone can get married."

Mrs. Henry Piles On Miss USA

Miss USA Tara Conner of Russell Springs, Kentucky is expected to lose her crown today.

Yesterday, former Miss America Heather French Henry couldn't resist sticking a knife in Conner by suggesting the Miss America pageant has higher standards than the Miss USA pageant in an interview with WVLK AM in Lexington.

Such a misplaced display of arrogance at a time like this tells me she has been hanging around Steve Henry long enough for it to rub off on her.

Al Gore Speaks To Harvard...

... and gets a little freaky talking about overpopulation of the planet, America signing on to something worse than Kyoto, and global warming representing the "greatest source of business opportunity in the history of the world.

Dems Clobber Each Other Over Casinos

Sen. David Boswell (D-Owensboro) jumped on Speaker Jody Richards for his shifting position on casino gambling, saying he "kind of danced around the issue depending on where he is."

This Isn't Going To Work

Labor Unions continue to claim workers who don't pay union dues are somehow less qualified to make things like tires.

Bipartisan Tax Reform A False Hope?

U.S. News & World Report inadvertently suggests why horse trading to get out from under our bad federal tax system may be tough to pull off.

The article states a consumption-based tax code could come about as some kind of a trade involving raising the cap on the Social Security payroll tax.

Ugghhhh...

These people really need to familiarize themselves with the FairTax before they try to discuss real tax reform. The FairTax would replace all income-based taxes and taxes on savings and investments, including the Social Security payroll tax. Democrats are establishing a solid track record of lying about the FairTax rather than addressing it.

Franken Missed Boat, Ready For A Swim

The Drudge Report says Al Franken is about to leave Air America and announce a 2008 run for the U.S. Senate. This should be fun.

His chances may have been better this year. After two more years of this, getting a moonbat like Franken elected to anything will be much more like swimming against the tide than it was for Democrats sailing with the wind at their backs -- and no need to discuss specific ideas -- in 2006.

Herald Leader: Tax Increase Bad, But Let's Keep It

The one thing that surprised me in this editorial was the first mention of the enormous shortfall in the state's public pensions I have seen in the MSM. They say it is $16 billion and I say it is $17 billion, but why quibble over the difference? We can't pay either amount.

We need to repeal the Alternative Minimum Calculation, but what we really need is state leadership willing to change expectations on government dramatically so we can cut spending enough to afford future pension liabilities. Raising new taxes -- or keeping bad ones like AMC -- won't be enough to stop the unfunded liability train from running over Kentucky.

We can't tax our way out of this.