Speaker Jody Richards just started off today's House A&R meeting by stating his position that we don't need a special session.
I agree with him.
Update: Dr. Jim Bartis of the Rand Institute said if we do this we should also build a carbon sequestration facility because that will be necessary to attract potential federal subsidies in the future.
This is a reason not to do it.
Bill Caylor of the Kentucky Coal Association said he was in favor of anything that involved mining more coal but that the energy pork would have no impact on gasoline prices.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Unfinished Business
Am I the only one who sees a momentum shift as the effort to give away the farm to illegal immigrants wanes? By the way, if you are still stuck on the Senate cloture vote, you may find solace among the House Republicans.
After Amnesty dies again, we need to push back by cutting off entitlements for illegals. I don't have a problem with them competing for our jobs, but there should be no incentive whatsoever for them to come here and draw welfare.
Meanwhile, as a column in today's Herald-Leader correctly notes, Kentucky is held back by the Alternative Minimum Calculation.
Governor Fletcher has shifted on casinos. Now is the time for him to shift on this bad tax. The primary vote in his race split down the middle with his two opponents promoting repeal. The conservative base has only two choices on election day: vote Fletcher or stay home. Giving us this one should make sense to Team Fletcher.
After Amnesty dies again, we need to push back by cutting off entitlements for illegals. I don't have a problem with them competing for our jobs, but there should be no incentive whatsoever for them to come here and draw welfare.
Meanwhile, as a column in today's Herald-Leader correctly notes, Kentucky is held back by the Alternative Minimum Calculation.
Governor Fletcher has shifted on casinos. Now is the time for him to shift on this bad tax. The primary vote in his race split down the middle with his two opponents promoting repeal. The conservative base has only two choices on election day: vote Fletcher or stay home. Giving us this one should make sense to Team Fletcher.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Governor Fletcher Steps Up Against Casinos
Finally.
Governor Fletcher announced today through his campaign manager that he doesn't support putting casinos on the ballot in Kentucky.
Good move. A little late in the day, but a good move nonetheless.
Casinos cost states more than they benefit them and putting the issue on the ballot only allows the casinos -- and their pathetic mouthpiece surrogates like KEEP -- to pour millions of dollars in slick advertising onto the airwaves.
While it would have been satisfying to see Team Fletcher jump on this earlier, they were right to hold onto it for a while. Beshear has no place to go on casinos, except maybe to bid higher.
Can we get $600 million a year, Steve?
Governor Fletcher announced today through his campaign manager that he doesn't support putting casinos on the ballot in Kentucky.
Good move. A little late in the day, but a good move nonetheless.
Casinos cost states more than they benefit them and putting the issue on the ballot only allows the casinos -- and their pathetic mouthpiece surrogates like KEEP -- to pour millions of dollars in slick advertising onto the airwaves.
While it would have been satisfying to see Team Fletcher jump on this earlier, they were right to hold onto it for a while. Beshear has no place to go on casinos, except maybe to bid higher.
Can we get $600 million a year, Steve?
... And West Virginia Surely Wants Us To Elect Steve Beshear As Our Governor, Too
I'm delighted to see Canadians want to see Hillary Clinton elected President of the United States.
RPK Launches Salvos, But No Explosions Yet
It has been mildly funny to watch Democrats go apoplectic because RPK Chairman Steve Robertson questioned the judgement of their Attorney General and the effete character they picked to replace him.
It has been more enjoyable to watch the Lexington Herald-Leader scramble to come up with a coherent answer to campaign contributions to liberal extremist candidates from their own staffers. You can almost see the wheels spinning in their heads as it occurs to them that money really is speech.
But if they really want to see the opposition squirm in their own little painted corner, the Republican party should go after the teachers unions. Kentucky desperately needs school choice and Democrats aren't going to give it to us. Republicans should.
In these dog days with relatively few people paying attention, now is the time to start explaining how everyone wins with school choice. Well, everyone except those addicted to the status quo.
It has been more enjoyable to watch the Lexington Herald-Leader scramble to come up with a coherent answer to campaign contributions to liberal extremist candidates from their own staffers. You can almost see the wheels spinning in their heads as it occurs to them that money really is speech.
But if they really want to see the opposition squirm in their own little painted corner, the Republican party should go after the teachers unions. Kentucky desperately needs school choice and Democrats aren't going to give it to us. Republicans should.
In these dog days with relatively few people paying attention, now is the time to start explaining how everyone wins with school choice. Well, everyone except those addicted to the status quo.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Where Immigration Reform Should Start
President Lyndon Johnson's words about transforming America into a Great Society can be instructive to our current immigration debate, but not in any way he would have anticipated or that his ideological progeny now appreciate. When he said "it is a place where men are more concerned with the quality of their goals than with the quantity of their goods," he invoked the socialist bugaboo "materialism" to justify entitlement spending. Today, we hear pejoratives such as "racism" and "nationalism" tossed about to justify an invasion on American soil attacking the soft underbelly of our society: our entitlement system. The quality of our goal to enhance life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness most widely will be tested as we wrestle with illegal immigration, but this healthy discussion will present great opportunity for advancement.
America is turning the corner on immigration and entitlements with the current unrest over the proposed granting of wholesale amnesty to illegal immigrants. Politicians who fail to see the coming events in time will pay a heavy price. I believe what we are experiencing is a return to the path that made America great and the one that will make our nation greater still. That path involves more freedom in our free enterprise and less entitling in our entitlement system. We will accomplish this by expelling illegals from our communities without using massive police action or by building miles and miles of walls along our southern border. We will accomplish a renaissance in America by dismantling our welfare system and it will rightly begin by cutting off those in this country illegally.
As the least productive among them either choose to become more productive or choose to leave, the lights will start to come on across America. We don't need a guest worker program, we need Americans to see foreigners come here and truly risk everything to gain what we take for granted. That doesn't happen when the newcomers live far better here on welfare than they do at home.
The cold fact is that we can easily afford illegal immigration. Any new person who is even minimally productive is a net positive to our economy, even on all kinds of welfare. This is why we have survived so well despite granting socialist advances beyond Karl Marx's dreams. But the more important fact is that we can do even better for everyone without the Great Society bluster and largesse. It is time we gave this a shot. And the first blow will be struck when we clamp down on government benefits given to those who are here illegally.
America is turning the corner on immigration and entitlements with the current unrest over the proposed granting of wholesale amnesty to illegal immigrants. Politicians who fail to see the coming events in time will pay a heavy price. I believe what we are experiencing is a return to the path that made America great and the one that will make our nation greater still. That path involves more freedom in our free enterprise and less entitling in our entitlement system. We will accomplish this by expelling illegals from our communities without using massive police action or by building miles and miles of walls along our southern border. We will accomplish a renaissance in America by dismantling our welfare system and it will rightly begin by cutting off those in this country illegally.
As the least productive among them either choose to become more productive or choose to leave, the lights will start to come on across America. We don't need a guest worker program, we need Americans to see foreigners come here and truly risk everything to gain what we take for granted. That doesn't happen when the newcomers live far better here on welfare than they do at home.
The cold fact is that we can easily afford illegal immigration. Any new person who is even minimally productive is a net positive to our economy, even on all kinds of welfare. This is why we have survived so well despite granting socialist advances beyond Karl Marx's dreams. But the more important fact is that we can do even better for everyone without the Great Society bluster and largesse. It is time we gave this a shot. And the first blow will be struck when we clamp down on government benefits given to those who are here illegally.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Why Didn't Kentucky Lawyers Think Of This?
Lawyers in Dallas are really getting ramped up to handle global warming lawsuits.
Given our subsidy-for-coal plans, when this stuff hits Kentucky it will get messy fast and doubly expensive for consumers.
Given our subsidy-for-coal plans, when this stuff hits Kentucky it will get messy fast and doubly expensive for consumers.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Expensive Bipartisan Inaction On KY Pensions
It would be difficult to overstate the risk to Kentucky taxpayers of doing nothing about public pensions.
Here is a good editorial.
We have waited too long to trim the pension benefits of politically-connected Kentuckians paid for by the rest of us.
The blue ribbon meetings on this aren't going to accomplish anything. So far, Kentucky's Senate majority is the only group who has done anything productive on this. We need leadership on this issue now.
Here is a good editorial.
We have waited too long to trim the pension benefits of politically-connected Kentuckians paid for by the rest of us.
The blue ribbon meetings on this aren't going to accomplish anything. So far, Kentucky's Senate majority is the only group who has done anything productive on this. We need leadership on this issue now.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
McConnell Steps Up Against Gouging Bill
Thanks to both Kentucky Senators for voting against a bad bill to tighten "price gouging" restrictions.
Newberry Jail Scandal Indictments Coming Soon
Multiple inside sources are reporting the first federal indictments in the Fayette County Detention Center mess will be coming down in early July and that there will be one to three dozen of them initially.
Mayor Jim Newberry won't be able to keep this quiet much longer.
Mayor Jim Newberry won't be able to keep this quiet much longer.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Kentucky Needs Nuclear Power
If you look at the economic development statistics, it becomes clear that a nuclear power plant or two would work wonders in Kentucky.
And yes, I think Jessamine county would be a great place to build one. All we need is community support throughout the state and the private utilities will do the work with their own money.
Then we can quit screwing around with all this subsidy garbage.
And yes, I think Jessamine county would be a great place to build one. All we need is community support throughout the state and the private utilities will do the work with their own money.
Then we can quit screwing around with all this subsidy garbage.
Jack Conway Has A Cow, Again
I couldn't care less if Jack Conway is gay or not, but it is pretty funny watching him protest:
If Jack gets so bitchy because a Republican official refers to him as part of a centuries-old fairy tale that has nothing to do with homosexuality or anything of the sort, what's he going to do when he doesn't like the poll results coming out right before the election?
Personally, I'm more concerned about his anti-family, anti-small business, anti-taxpayer opinions than I am about who Jack Conway wants to have sex with. What is offensive to me is to see him posing as the moderate candidate in the race for Attorney General.
"They are hate-mongers and fear-mongers that owe my wife an apology."
If Jack gets so bitchy because a Republican official refers to him as part of a centuries-old fairy tale that has nothing to do with homosexuality or anything of the sort, what's he going to do when he doesn't like the poll results coming out right before the election?
Personally, I'm more concerned about his anti-family, anti-small business, anti-taxpayer opinions than I am about who Jack Conway wants to have sex with. What is offensive to me is to see him posing as the moderate candidate in the race for Attorney General.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
A Much Better Answer On Immigration
Yeah, I'm glad to see Sen. McConnell drop back from full support for the unfinished immigration bill.
Unions Have Destroyed Themselves With Their Wacky Political Activity; Now They Blame Us
Bill Londrigan is making up dumb stuff to try to keep unions alive:
If spending your hard-earned money to elect people who want the government to take more from you because it knows better what you need floats your boat, go ahead. But don't force me to do the same thing because, again, you think it is good for me.
America's working people are struggling to make ends meet, and our middle class is shrinking. So it's important to remember that the best opportunity for working men and women to get ahead economically is by uniting with co-workers to bargain with their employers for better wages and benefits.
If spending your hard-earned money to elect people who want the government to take more from you because it knows better what you need floats your boat, go ahead. But don't force me to do the same thing because, again, you think it is good for me.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Lee To Get A Big Boost
The Kentucky Club For Growth is going to put a significant portion of its resources toward helping Rep. Stan Lee get elected Attorney General. Help from the national Club For Growth organization could make it very interesting.
Extreme liberal Jack Conway already has the labor unions and far-left interest groups sewn up tightly. This should help even the playing field significantly in what will be possibly the most important race in the nation this year.
Extreme liberal Jack Conway already has the labor unions and far-left interest groups sewn up tightly. This should help even the playing field significantly in what will be possibly the most important race in the nation this year.
From Coal Country To Oil Country, And I Didn't Even Get A Subsidy To Pave My Way
I drove to Dallas, Texas today and now I find out we are going to have a special session to cobble together a half-baked corporate welfare program.
The Senate has the votes to pass whatever they are going to cook up. The battle is in the House, of course.
Just wish we were fighting over something worth fighting for.
The Senate has the votes to pass whatever they are going to cook up. The battle is in the House, of course.
Just wish we were fighting over something worth fighting for.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Fred Thompson 2008 Update
Insiders report Fred Thompson will announce his candidacy for President on July 2. Speculation will then quickly turn to Thompson's selection of a running mate.
How about J.C. Watts?
How about J.C. Watts?
Lack Of Income Doesn't Cause Poverty
The liberal Brookings Institution has decided that Kentucky needs new laws to keep poor people from being charged more for goods and services.
This fabulous idea, if enacted, would work just like HB 250 in 1994 that ran off dozens of health insurance companies with the ridiculous mandate that the companies stop charging market rates. That too, was a left-wing scheme to improve on market forces.
The Brookings study was good to the extent that it recognized poverty isn't just about income. What it missed is that any able-bodied person with average intelligence and an absence of mental illness can improve his circumstances by working more and spending less.
If public policy were focused more on helping those who fall through more narrowly defined cracks, more people would figure out how to thrive.
Then we wouldn't have to depend on left-wing think tanks to tell us to change zoning laws to "weed out" high-cost businesses. Ugh...
This fabulous idea, if enacted, would work just like HB 250 in 1994 that ran off dozens of health insurance companies with the ridiculous mandate that the companies stop charging market rates. That too, was a left-wing scheme to improve on market forces.
The Brookings study was good to the extent that it recognized poverty isn't just about income. What it missed is that any able-bodied person with average intelligence and an absence of mental illness can improve his circumstances by working more and spending less.
If public policy were focused more on helping those who fall through more narrowly defined cracks, more people would figure out how to thrive.
Then we wouldn't have to depend on left-wing think tanks to tell us to change zoning laws to "weed out" high-cost businesses. Ugh...
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