Media Appearance

I will be on the Leland Conway show at 9:35 tomorrow morning on Lexington's WLAP 630 AM talking about the price-gouging lawsuit against Marathon Oil.

You can listen here.

"Big Ed" Fights Back Against School Choice

Caleb Brown skewers the Kentucky Department of Education for being difficult about fulfilling their legal responsibilities to our children.

If Lying To Taxpayers Were Football, U of L Would Be Back In Top 25

The University of Louisville claims that extending health insurance benefits to employees' roommates won't cost taxpayers any money because they make the roommate pay the premium.

We pledge that there will be no taxpayer dollars used for it," said university spokesman John Drees, who said employees were informed of the new plan Monday.

Despite the pledge though, the program is begging to become a magnet for sick, uninsurable people who would be delighted to wait a year and then pay premiums into the state-supported schools self insurance health plan.

After all, excessive losses to the plan simply get picked up by the taxpayers.

If you want more of state universities' gaming the system at your expense, Jack Conway is your man for Attorney General.

Bluegrass Policy Blog Goes Viral!

How about a link to a link of linked story on a national magazine's blog from little old me?

Hillary Clinton, Super Soaker

The John Edwards presidential campaign surely knows how to recognize pandering from personal experience. Nonetheless, they earn the Line of the Day Award for noting that Hillary Clinton punted her "$5000 for every baby" plan today:

"Apparently, new polling data seems to have pressured the Clinton campaign to throw out the baby bond with the bathwater," said Edwards spokesman Chris Kofinis.

Hillary has instead jumped into the deep "there is no crisis" Social Security waters, with a plan now to increase the death tax and fund an income-based federal match for a new retirement entitlement.

As for the retirement accounts, Clinton said during a campaign stop in small-town central Iowa, "They will begin to bring down this inequality that is eating away at our social contract." She said, "This is a major commitment to how I believe we can begin to right the balance again."

Her campaign said that for every $7 million estate that gets taxed, at least 5,000 families would receive the matching funds.

Clinton said she wants to create "American Retirement Accounts" in which each family could put up to $5,000 annually in a 401(k) plan. The federal government would provide a tax cut to match the first $1,000 for any household that brings in less than $60,000 a year and 50 percent of the first $1,000 for those that make $60,000-$100,000.

Of course, the devil will be in the details but like with her government health insurance scheme, there should be enough bath water getting dumped out to soak us all.

Kentucky, Caught In The Dark Ages

Red State blog shines a light on some of the education weirdness in the Bluegrass state.

Louisville Columnist Discounts Fletcher's Chances

John David Dyche may get attacked for detailing his version of the failures of the Fletcher campaign in today's Courier Journal. And he may get attacked for listing what he calls achievements of the Fletcher administration.

But it is hard to argue with his bottom-line analysis:

So, does Ernie Fletcher stand a chance? Perhaps the prevalence of the question provides its answer. Beshear is a big government liberal Kentuckians would ordinarily reject, but these are not ordinary times. Fletcher's best hope now may be a big mistake of the kind his foe is unlikely to make.

But mistakes do happen. For example, this pundit, ever prone to optimistically overestimating the rational self-interest of Republican voters, predicted they would prefer Anne Northup to Fletcher in the GOP primary.

The Fletcher campaign probably will turn in the final days of the campaign to promoting actions of the past four years or laying out a vision for the next four years. The public has a greater need for the latter, but the campaign probably will have to focus on the former.

The major untold story of the campaign is the severe damage the Fletcher campaign inflicted on itself recruiting over the summer against GOP House members who supported Northup in the primary. Seeking retribution has its place in politics, but that place is usually only after the general election.

Huckabee Cancels Danville

GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has cancelled a planned trip to Centre College in Danville on Wednesday.

His campaign said he will come to Danville in November.

Bluegrass Institute Invokes Mark Twain In Going After School Bureaucrat

It's almost automatic: say something stupid in the newspaper and it will get blogged. And if you say something stupid about Kentucky schools, the Bluegrass Institute will blog about you.

The New Farmer's Almanac?

Fashion designers are predicting there will be no more winters:

"The fashion system must adapt to the reality that there is no strong difference between summer and winter any more… You can't have everyone showing four times a year to present the same thing. People are not prepared to invest in these clothes that, from one season to the other, use the same fabrics at the same weight."

Source: Drudge

Kentucky Already Losing $500 Million A Year To State-Sponsored Gambling

Gubernatorial candidate Steve Beshear keeps talking about bringing in $500 million a year with casino gambling.

A chart in today's New York Times about state lotteries falling short of expectations suggests the surest way to inject $500 million back into the economy would be to get rid of the Kentucky Lottery.

($742 million in sales minus $204 million in profits equals $538 million in losses last year alone.)

GOP, Dems Missing Point Of SCHIP Failure

The Lexington Herald Leader's editorial page has a funny idea of what constitutes failure of a government entitlement:

In Kentucky, 50,000 children eligible for the Children's Health Insurance Program (KCHIP) are not covered.

Resisting dependence of government programs used to be considered a good thing.

Of course their idea of a solution to this "problem" is spending more money pushing people who don't want it to take the government entitlement.

The vetoed bill provides incentives for states to enroll the poorest of the poor, kids who are eligible but not in Medicaid.

Republicans will wind up caving in on this and dramatically expanding SCHIP. This is a shame, because we should be making the case for scrapping the whole thing.

What Beshear Knew

From the "secret report" page 34 of this section:

During the period May 5 - June 14, 1993, Beshear had general knowledge that work was being done on behalf of Bank of Louisville with respect to the Bond Powers. Neither Beshear, nor any other Stites & Harbison attorney, informed or disclosed to the Rehabilitator that Stites & Harbison was undertaking this effort on behalf, and for the benefit, of the Bank of Louisville. The failure to disclose this conduct contravened the commitment in the Engagement Letter not to represent Bank of Louisville in "that transaction," and, in addition, violated Stites & Harbison's commitment to disclose conflicts discovered or arising after the date of the Engagement Letter.

McConnell Spanks Chandler, Yarmuth For Bad SCHIP Expansion Bill

Sen. Mitch McConnell's criticism of the Democrats' failed SCHIP expansion is on point and highlights who Kentucky's two liberal Congressmen side with when Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants them to go against the interests of Kentucky taxpayers and poor children:

In my home state of Kentucky, the Democrats’ vetoed bill would provide less coverage for kids’ health care in 2008 than our Kids First plan. Kentuckians would pay $600 million more in new taxes than they would receive in new benefits under the Democrats’ plan — a $600 million wealth transfer from Kentucky to states like New York and New Jersey. Kentuckians don’t want the money they’ve targeted for poor children going to adults and middle class families who live in other states and can afford insurance on their own.

Subsidizing Success

The Fletcher campaign is touting the I-CARE health insurance subsidy program as one of the major successes of the administration.

I wish they would stop.

Tomorrow Is D-Day For Beshear's Legal Scandal

The Conservative Edge has the latest on Steve Beshear's shoddy legal work on the Kentucky Central debacle.

We Might Want To File This Away For Gov. Beshear

Michigan has wrecked itself with profligate unions and tax-raising politicians.

The Americans for Tax Reform has the scoop and the effort to fight back.

Romney's Charade Is Over

One thing is clear from the presidential campaign finance reports: Mitt Romney is wasting his money and our time.

Shameless Self-Promotion

I just got my first post up on The Bluegrass Policy Blog, which will be a regular, full-time gig.

Please check it out if you will and leave a comment if you want. Links will be greatly appreciated.

Market Solution Saves Kentucky Health Dollars

Walmart's wildly successful $4 prescription drug program has been great for Kentucky consumers, who have saved more per capita than consumers in all but four states.

We are waiting around for Hillary Clinton to come to our rescue when we should really be getting government out of the way.