Good Riddance

Barbara Erwin is not going to be Kentucky's education commissioner.

A statement from the state Department of Education said that Erwin cited "overwhelming and acute scrutiny" as her reason for declining the job. She told the school board of her decision Friday.

Only because it is Friday will I point out she quit one day after I said she should be fired.

Destroying Government Property Is A Crime

England is starting to get serious about instituting a "fat tax" to lower healthcare costs.

One thought about this is that since the government "pays for" healthcare, that people who sit around gorging themselves on ice cream and potato chips are really destroying government property.

Fighting against Michael Moore health reform is pretty important to the future of our nation. Pointing out that the government rightly owns what it pays for may cause a few more people to think about turning their bodies over to Hillary Clinton or Steve Beshear.

Beshear Takes The Bait On Casinos

As long as the gubernatorial race is about Steve Beshear's shilling for casinos, Governor Fletcher's poll numbers are just going to get better.

Today, Beshear played it Ernie's way.

And here's the thing: Beshear is not only adamant about casinos being the best and only way to go, he just doesn't have anything else.

Congressional Dems To Terrorists: We Quit In '08

A lot of us aren't happy with the war, but this isn't the answer.

David Williams To Jody Richards: Pound Sand

Senate President David Williams sent a letter to House Speaker Jody Richards refusing Richards' offer of a junket to St. Louis to talk to Peabody Energy:

I do not understand why you need to fly to St. Louis, unless you are trying to create cover for the House failing to act on this important measure when it unconstitutionally attempted to adjourn Sine Die and left town while the Senate remained and worked on this important incentive package.

Only your use of leadership to summon your members back to Frankfort to act on this bill, which has passed the Senate, will make you and the House relevant in accomplishing the important goal of developing Kentucky's coal assets and creating thousands of jobs.

These guys will put on their bipartisan hats again in January when it is time to spend your money and re-elect their members. But until November, this is what you get. Can't wait to see Richards' response.

Yalies For Steve Beshear

A post on this site yesterday which didn't even directly mention Steve Beshear's really bad ideas like collective bargaining for all state employees or more government-run health insurance for all Kentuckians has gotten some folks worked up in, of all places, New Haven, Connecticut.

Visitors to the site from New Haven this morning include several from Yale University web addresses, including some that came through an admin page for a website dedicated to getting someone like Greg Stumbo to run against Sen. Mitch McConnell.

A Walking, Talking Education Scandal

We've all seen politicians who seem to think they are above the law.

They could take lessons from Barbara Erwin, whose prior fraudulent acts could all be forgiven if she hadn't said this:

"I believe the Commonwealth truly will be the first state that reaches proficiency for all of its children," Erwin said.

She probably says that to all the states she screws out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Erwin is best remembered as the Education Commissioner candidate who, after being offered the job as Kentucky's top school official dismissed several factual misstatements on her resume as mere typographical errors.

What kind of person has the balls to say such a thing and do we really want her setting policy for our children? This is the kind of thing for which the blogosphere claims to have been created.

Conservative political bloggers should speak up against this on principle. Liberals should too. Bipartisan grassroots agreement can be a very powerful thing.

Kentucky should get rid of Barbara Erwin.

Beshear's First Big Mistake

Now we're talking.

And talking is something that won't be good for Steve Beshear.

Take your pick -- here, or here.

The Fletcher campaign has already jumped on some of the energy stuff, but this is a target rich environment.

Primping For Poverty, Coifing For Quitters

Just noticed John Edwards' campaign slogan is "Road to One America" and can't help wondering if the one he wants involves men requiring men to get dolled up like this.

Universal hair care, perhaps?

Where Are Conservatives On Healthcare?

The left is having all the fun arguing among themselves the finer points of how to make our healthcare system better.

RomneyCare doesn't count. It just doesn't.

We are going to have to do more than just borrow ideas from Hillary Clinton.

Free-market reforms are compelling. In fact, for us to have a chance we are going to have to dramatically reduce government's role in health care.

That is the story we need to tell.

The Other Crappy News: Kentucky Education

Now that the special session has been flushed down the toilet, it's time to flush Barbara Erwin.

And the latest news on Erwin is just plain awful. I wonder how hard we would find it to dig up someone worse than her to be in charge of our state's public schools.

Nice Going, Nattering Nabobs!

There is again plenty of blame to go around, but it is ironic that after the effort to save taxpayer money by aborting the special session we now get to sit around for three weeks with no session, but the same amount of money going out every day.

That's right, the legislators are getting paid for doing nothing. And you are paying them!

Are We Talking Green As In Environmental, Or Is It Green As In Government Money?

Amid rising suspicion the global warming and eco-fatalism movements are mere politically motivated tripe comes a report from California (free subscription required) that having a state fleet of alternative fuel vehicles actually raises greenhouse gas emissions.

So it should come as no surprise that still-born SB 1 here in Kentucky had a similar plan tucked into page 48 of the bill.

House Dems Support Boyfriend Benefits

House members who voted to adjourn without doing anything must be content to let our major universities sell out to the taxpayer-supported domestic partner benefit crowd.

Can we really assume anything else?

"I'll Gladly Build Your Road Next Year In Exchange For Your Vote This November"

Sources around the state report Steve Beshear is promising state money for roads in exchange for campaign contributions.

Just a small reminder, along with the casino/spending scam and socialized medicine, that electing Steve Beshear is hardly the solution to Kentucky's problems.

Mr. Edwards, Tear Down This Wall!

While Kentuckians are talking about corporate give-aways to attract companies, presidential aspirant John Edwards wants to build a Berlin Wall to keep employers from leaving the country.

"No American corporation should be able to lift up, go overseas, and hire children or slave labor to do their work," Edwards said.

Somehow, I don't think President Edwards would open his barbed-wire fence to corporations who pledge to only hire consenting adults. Again, we just need better policies to attract companies to our state and make staying in the country more efficacious to them.

That most likely means switching away from income taxation and toward just taxing consumption.

Where's Jody And What's He Doing For Fun?

The talk of House Democrats possibly coming back in for the special session took a big hit earlier today when the announcement went out that this Wednesday's monthly meeting of the Legislative Research Commission -- which includes leaders from both the House and Senate -- has been cancelled and won't be rescheduled.

Is It News Or Just Bad Grammar?

WKYT.com (the CBS television affiliate in Lexington) reports the following:

Scorsone says pressure by airport officials may be a favor to Governor Fletcher - who is seeking reelection- and is urging House democrats to return so the session can decide on the airport matter and some 66 others items on the agenda.

Here is the whole story, but I don't think Scorsone is crossing the picket line or encouraging his comrades in the House to do so either.

For the record, in the sentence above "Governor Fletcher" is not the one urging House Democrats, Scorsone is. If the author meant to say Fletcher was the one doing the urging he might have done it like this:

Scorsone says pressure by airport officials may be an election year favor to Governor Fletcher, who is urging House Democrats to return so legislators can decide on the airport matter and some 66 other items on the agenda.

Raising Your Taxes While "Soaking The Rich"

You will soon be hearing about federal tax bills to put a damper on private equity investors as if it is no big deal, just getting after the evil rich people.

Well, think again.

From Americans for Tax Reform:

• There are three main arguments against these related measures:

1. Assault on Pensions and Charities. This is a direct assault on every firefighter’s, cop’s, nurse’s, and teacher’s pension in America. It’s an assault on the nest egg of every local college. It’s an attack on the resources charities have to do work in their communities.

2. Assault on Savings and Growth. Since the 2003 tax cut that lowered the capital gains and dividends rate to 15%, the S&P 500 Index has increased by over 13% a year. Household net worth has grown by over $12 trillion, or 27%. The Democrat plan to raise the tax rate on savings from 15% to 40% will wreck the economy. This is just the first assault on the lower rates that have given us such undeniable prosperity.

3. “Liberal Tax Hike of the Week.”. This is just the latest money-grab from Congressional Democrats this year. They want to raise taxes on energy, raise taxes on businesses that sell U.S. goods overseas, raise taxes on Americans abroad, raise taxes on smokers, and now they want to raise taxes on every pension, college and charity in America.

Here is the whole article.

While the MSM makes such a big deal about President Bush's low approval numbers, they don't mention so much that Congress is even less respected. This is one reason why.

Always remember that income taxes have a nasty way of rolling downhill.

Why Have Good State Tax Policy When Targeted Tax Incentives Are So Much Fun For Politicians?

There is little doubt that most of the legislative opponents to energy company tax incentives in July will have a miraculous change of heart in January.

In fact, the letter Jody Richards' handlers intended for him to wave around dramatically during his floor speech Thursday promises Peabody's Rick Bowen they will:

As you know from the ongoing representations, both individually and collectively, of the undersigned there is a demonstrated record in the Kentucky House of Representatives of our desire to foster a favorable atmosphere for projects that will reduce our nation's dependence on foreign oil while taking advantage of Kentucky's unique abundance of the requisite natural resources. In the spirit of that desire and given the uncertainty of the specifics or feasibility of your project as referenced in your July 3, '07 letter, each of us wish to assure you of our willingness to enact appropriate financial incentives during the January 08' regular session of the Kentucky General Assembly that will facilitate your project; make KY a leader in this promising new industry; and be in the best interest of the people of the Commonwealth.

The letter was signed by the Democratic Party leaders in the House of Representatives. I typed it exactly as the letter was written.

What is lost in all this mess is that if we just set corporate tax policy that would work for everyone, we wouldn't have to engage in these counterproductive incentive programs.

The Tax Foundation sums it up pretty well in one sentence:

Tax preferences designed to boost corporate investment may provide short-term advantages to some companies—and allow lawmakers to take credit for new jobs in campaign speeches—but in the long run they add enormous complexity to the code, and ultimately transform the tax system into an economic minefield of narrow bases and punitively high rates.

It is clear that what House Dems are waiting for is a new governor, but we should embrace the opportunity to reform our tax code for everyone and not just for individual out-of-state companies on a case-by-case basis.