What Part Of "Education Bureaucrats In Frankfort Are Screwing Up Our State" Don't You Understand?

It doesn't have to be this way.

Hot Ticket Next Thursday

The Keeneland Entertainment Center in Lexington will be the setting for next week's Interim Joint Appropriations and Revenue Committee meeting next week.

UK President Lee Todd will update members on the University of Kentucky's Top 20 Business Plan and Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry and World Equestrian Games 2010 President Jack Kelly will speak about the progress of the World Equestrian Games.

The meeting is set to start at 10:30.

Now This Is Tough

The Tax Foundation released its 2008 State Business Tax Climate Index yesterday, which shows Kentucky ranked #36 in the nation and our corporate tax index ranked #39.

Unfortunately, in 2004 Kentucky was ranked #30 overall with a corporate tax index of #22.

Readers may wonder why I would point something like this out when I am a Republican. My only answer to that is I support Republicans generally, but conservatives specifically. Not raising corporate taxes would be a great way to keep our state competitive for economic development.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Didn't "Save" America

Page One Kentucky had this video and comments that this is devastating for Ernie Fletcher. I'm not so sure it was.

What do you think?

Score One For Stan Lee

At the U.S. Supreme Court, no less.

Same-Sex Contribution Flap Is Sad

Liberal bloggers are red-hot mad because the Fletcher campaign dug up a Beshear contribution in which a man claimed his spouse is another man.

With so many more important issues that we could and should be discussing, it would be nice if we could just ignore this dust-up.

But, of course, we can't just ignore it. I wish the Fletcher campaign hadn't put this out as a press release. Whisper it to a blogger or two, maybe, but not an official campaign press release.

Sheesh...

They Won't Take Our Cell Phones Away Like This

Talking on a cell phone in the car is not a right Kentuckians will let slip away easily.

Especially not with a bill like this one.

Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Will Fletcher Lose To This Bozo?

The Beshear campaign is mailing out unsolicited "Support the troops, end the war" protest yard signs with requested Beshear/Mongiardo yard signs.

More Media

I will be on the Kruser and Krew radio program (590 AM WVLK) in Lexington this afternoon at 2 pm talking about pre-filed bill for the 2008 General Assembly.

You can listen online and you can call in on 859-253-5959.

Here Comes The Crisis

The actual "first Baby Boomer" will sign up for Social Security on Monday.

Ignoring the impending collapse of our nation's entitlement programs will then get a bit tougher.

Conservatives Of The Commonwealth, Unite!

The Kentucky Club for Growth will host a fundraiser Wednesday, October 24 with special guest Pat Toomey in Erlanger.

Toomey is the former Pennsylvania congressman who nearly toppled Sen. Arlen Specter in the 2004 GOP primary. He now heads the national Club for Growth.

The Club for Growth supports fiscally conservative candidates for public office.

Interested? Call 859-261-2582 for details.

How About Some Conservative Policies?

Never too early to start talking about tax cuts.

Google Search Follies

Noticed last week a google search for "Greg Stumbo Senate" brought up this Kentucky Progress post that speculated Stumbo was about to drop his bid to run against Sen. Mitch McConnell.

But now the top post for the same search brings up Stumbo's exploratory committee.

If he is sending money to Google, he must be serious...

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.