Trying To Stop The Bleeding

Kentucky's long-term fiscal woes are going to get pretty scary if we don't do something about our pubic employee pension plans soon.

Rep. Bill Farmer (R-Lexington) deserves a ton of credit for trying to do something before it is too late.

The Dow Is Setting Records, Do You Know Where Your Social Security Is?

Personal accounts in Social Security are inevitable as stock ownership in America continues to climb.

The scare tactics just aren't going to last that much longer.

And when we start them, no matter who the president is, we will have to call them Bush Accounts.

What Kind Of A Sick Joke Is This?

We are wasting our time talking about a bullying bill for schools when we keep getting these yahoos who want to force unwilling older teenagers to hang around.

Hell Hath No Fury...

Abortion Showdown In Kentucky 2007

Will Governor Jody Richards allow Judiciary Chair Kathy Stein to kill all the pro-life bills that come her way? We are likely to find out soon as an "informed consent" bill is in the works.

Living Poor In Jim Wayne's World

Rep. Jim Wayne (D-Louisville) writes a State of the Commonwealth address from the perspective of a single mother in Kentucky in today's Herald Leader. I have three suggestions for her. File for the Earned Income Tax Credit to ease your tax burden, file FAFSA and go back to school, and talk to your kids every day about how education will allow them to change their destiny. The liberal worldview holds that people are stuck like medieval serfs in the life they are born into. This is quite often not so in America. A woman in Wayne's scenario will have to go to extraordinary lengths to improve her life. In Liberal Land, however, it never happens. But unsung American heroines do it every day. I know. My mom did.

Freshman GOP'er Starts Off Right

After freshman Rep. Adam Koenig's tough primary win last May, he is going to have to be diligent on fiscal issues to avoid another GOP challenge in 2008. Handling crime issues with bills to toughen restrictions on perverts should buy him some good will.

Two Really Stupid Ideas At Front And Center

You work hard to provide health coverage for your family and John Edwards wants you to pay more so others don't have to work quite so hard.

The other one is global warming, of course. George Will does a nice job straightening this out. And a Canadian climatologist knocks it out of the park.

The welfare mentality and junk government-financed science are luxuries we should be able to dispense with in this enlightened information age. Getting from here to there really just involves enduring a few ridiculous personal attacks. It's worth the effort.

Will Utah Embrace Real School Choice First?

Utah's House of Representatives passed a universal school voucher bill Friday.

Hilary's Macaca Moment

"I Will Make It Legal"

Some in the General Assembly are trying to cover their tracks from recent budget bill shenanigans. Harry Moberly's HB 184 even violates Section 55 of the Kentucky Constitution, which prohibits making laws effective retroactively.

RPK Lincoln Day 2007

Gov. Mitt Romney spoke Saturday night. His theme for the presidential run seems to be "America is the hope of the world." He was well received and word was circulating that he would be back for the 5th district Lincoln dinner in March. The focus was on the gubernatorial candidates, though. Senator McConnell had the best line of the night when he said he was going to state clearly who he was supporting. After a perfect pause that had a lot of people on the edge of their seats, he announced that he was for -- the Indianapolis Colts. Very funny.

What follows in the next three posts are some notes I made while the three candidates were speaking. The key to this primary will be the various factions coming together after the primary and working together to win the general election. I haven't seen much to give me confidence that we are moving in that direction. Hope that changes.

Anne Northup Speaks

This is clearly Anne's crowd in her hometown. Hardcore supporters of the Governor were conspicuous in not standing when she was introduced. There may be meaningful policy differences between the candidates, but on this first night of head-to-head speechmaking, it appears the campaign will be about other things. Among the three, Governor Fletcher spoke with the most energy. Northup's speech sounds much less like a campaign speech, but her theme is her background and her conservatism and principles. It seems like she is going out of her way not to throw red meat to what is clearly her crowd. No applause lines. One subtle swipe she has made twice is that Republicans must hold onto the Governor's Mansion or risk being overcome by big spending, over-regulating and over-taxing Democrats.

Billy Harper Speaks

Candidate Billy Harper's campaign workers have passed out "positive campaign" stickers to a few attendees. As he rose to speak, he received polite applause. After starting by quoting Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment, he moved on to education, saying that we need to expect more from our children. He says despite small improvements, we are failing in educating our children.

His call to end the AMC/LLET received polite applause. His campaign is based on his being an outsider, but on a night of accomplished speakers Billy Harper stands out as an unpolished speaker. He has no traction with this crowd at all.

Ernie Fletcher Speaks To RPK

Governor Fletcher was the first gubernatorial candidate to speak tonight. As he rose to address the Lincoln Day gathering of 1500 Republicans, he was greeted warmly by all and vigorously by some. The people at one table in the back started a chant of "Four more years" that was not picked up around the room. At various applause lines, those who stood and cheered seemed pretty sparse. The Governor took one shot at Northup, saying the race shouldn't be about electability but ideas.

Northup In Fletcher Country

Gubernatorial candidate Anne Northup came to Jessamine county to speak to a few active Republicans. She said she has nothing against Governor Fletcher and agrees with him on most issues -- except she is for repeal of the 'Alternative Minimum Tax' -- but she believes daily polling data from before last year's election and results received this week prove he just can't be re-elected. She said if the fall election is about scandals and pardons, Republicans lose.

Can the Louisville candidate put together enough of a statewide network to win in barely three and a half months? Does the 'he is good, but he can't win' approach pull enough primary voters to unseat the incumbent in May? As important as these questions are, the real one is can the primary winner pull the other camp in for the necessary support to win in November?

Assuming my technology holds up, I'll be live blogging the Lincoln dinner tonight in Louisville.

Feeding A Dead Dog: Kentucky Jails

Governor Fletcher says he plans to increase state funding for local jails.

Rather than continuing to pour too many tax dollars into incarceration, we really should have a serious discussion about privatizing jails.

Still Not Getting The Trouble With Social Security

A liberal Kentucky blogger this morning displays maddening devotion to the goofy bureaucratic idea that governments can take in tax money, spend it, count it as a loan to itself -- and therefore an asset -- and that none of this carried on at a rapid pace for years and years represents a crisis. And these are the same people who extrapolate a warm month or two into boiling oceans and Canadian tropics.

All this reminds me of gubernatorial wannabe Jonathan Miller and the moribund KAPT program. Keep swinging, guys.

As baby boomers and their children -- with their vast sums of stock market funds -- grow older, the inevitability of private accounts in Social Security scares them silly.

"The Vision Thing"

Swept Under The Rug

The federal case surrounding the Fayette County Detention Center isn't getting headlines these days, but it is only getting worse. The liability for taxpayers will eventually be substantial. The biggest surprise is that Mayor Newberry isn't publicly addressing the problem.

It's not like he doesn't know about it.