Some folks in Louisville want to run a $40 million a year tax increase through on the ballot November 6 in order to raise $23.5 million to spend on the city's public library system. As part of the deal, they also want to remove library operations from local government oversight.
Many voters were falling for the idea of paying more money if the library system needed it. But this is quickly turning into a sordid mess as more facts are uncovered about what is really going on.
A good question to ask is "Why does Mayor Jerry Abramson need a $40 million tax increase to give the libraries $23.5 million and what is he doing with the extra $16.5 million?"
Mayor Abramson ran last year on funding the libraries without any tax increases. The big-taxers are very well funded for this fight. Spread the word to stop them.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Mitt Romney Keeps Endorsing HillaryCare
Mitt Romney spoke to the Club for Growth yesterday and positively mentioned the Fair Tax, which is good. Then he started on healthcare, which turned bad when he repeated the questionable statistic that there are fourty seven million people without health insurance, suggesting that we might do the same thing in America he did in Massachusetts.
No. We can afford to pay for those who can't pay for themselves if we would only let the market reduce the costs for those of us paying our own way.
Further, Romney often tries to separate himself from some of the worst parts of the Massachusetts health mess by blaming it on his Democratic legislature.
Hello? What is going to be different in Washington D.C.? I sure don't want to elect a Republican president who signs socialized medicine and then goes out and claims it isn't his fault.
"We have to see fundamental reform of healthcare overall ... Fourty seven million people without insurance means the cost of fourty seven million people is being borne by everybody else. That can't happen. You gotta get everybody in the system paying their own fair share."
No. We can afford to pay for those who can't pay for themselves if we would only let the market reduce the costs for those of us paying our own way.
Further, Romney often tries to separate himself from some of the worst parts of the Massachusetts health mess by blaming it on his Democratic legislature.
Hello? What is going to be different in Washington D.C.? I sure don't want to elect a Republican president who signs socialized medicine and then goes out and claims it isn't his fault.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Some Rumors Are More Fun Than Others
There is some internet chatter about Treasurer Jonathan Miller that I hope isn't true. We hear this kind of stuff way too often and I wouldn't wish it on anyone's family.
But the one I just got from a Democratic friend is that Miller may have spent Treasurer's office money to pay Mark Nickolas to run his blog.
Now that would be fun.
But the one I just got from a Democratic friend is that Miller may have spent Treasurer's office money to pay Mark Nickolas to run his blog.
Now that would be fun.
No Liberal Scheme Left Behind
Reps. Ben Chandler and John Yarmuth both voted this afternoon to override President Bush's veto of the Dems' rapid SCHIP expansion.
Fortunately, though, they failed.
Fortunately, though, they failed.
Courier Journal's Hate Speech
The Louisville Courier-Journal's vitriolic partisanship is nothing new. But it is interesting how amateurish today's installment is:
This stuff would be barely passable as a diary entry on a liberal blog. And this is supposed to convince us that only evil people don't want to buy houses for poor people?
Every time you hear Republicans brag about being the party of fiscal restraint and family values, remember what they really mean: They'll lavish money on the machinery of war but won't do what's necessary to make sure that hard-pressed American families can meet basic needs like health care and shelter.
This stuff would be barely passable as a diary entry on a liberal blog. And this is supposed to convince us that only evil people don't want to buy houses for poor people?
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Steve Beshear's Kentucky Circa 2050
Casinos have been fixing all the problems in New Jersey for fourty years. Today, half the people who live there want to move out of the state.
My favorite line from the story:
My favorite line from the story:
"Where do all the funds go from all the other taxable sources — the casino, the lottery, the tolls?" Cella asked. "Nobody seems to know, and yet we have a Legislature that's talking about raising taxes all the time."
McConnell's Macaca Moment?
Good grief. This is the kind of nonsense that happens to Republicans who don't stick to correct principles.
If we were arguing against the worthiness of the SCHIP program itself, the issue of one boy's eligibility and some effort to dig into his background would never come up.
You have to read the entire Courier-Journal story to see Sen. McConnell wasn't lying about anything, but if all the senator's statements were about the program's counterproductivity this stupid stuff would never be an issue.
If we were arguing against the worthiness of the SCHIP program itself, the issue of one boy's eligibility and some effort to dig into his background would never come up.
You have to read the entire Courier-Journal story to see Sen. McConnell wasn't lying about anything, but if all the senator's statements were about the program's counterproductivity this stupid stuff would never be an issue.
Kentucky's Health Insurance Success
Kentucky has one of the best individual/family health insurance markets in the country. Limited mandates have a lot to do with this, as does the fact more states are edging toward HillaryCare-type setups a lot faster than we are.
Electing Steve Beshear governor would be a near-certain way to screw this up.
Check it out for yourself:
Electing Steve Beshear governor would be a near-certain way to screw this up.
Check it out for yourself:
Bloodhound Alert: In Search Of Hillary Clinton
No, Hillary Clinton isn't missing. But her Ivy League-acquired math skills appear to be failing her so badly, we should probably get the dogs out anyway.
If she keeps leading in the polls, we will need them soon enough.
She's campaigning on restoring fiscal responsibility to Washington D.C. and yet champions a $100 billion health insurance program and a new $20 billion retirement entitlement. And now she is denying that Social Security has any kind of problem. That line worked well enough when her party was in the minority, just trying to stop a president they don't like from fixing a daunting problem.
But Hillary seems to be stuck on last year's talking point. At the same time, she is ignoring the slightly more distant past in which her own husband outlined the very real crisis in Social Security almost a decade ago.
The long-standing intellectual slipperiness we have come to expect from politicians named Clinton suggests we are going to need some serious help tracking Hillary down on anything that matters.
If she keeps leading in the polls, we will need them soon enough.
She's campaigning on restoring fiscal responsibility to Washington D.C. and yet champions a $100 billion health insurance program and a new $20 billion retirement entitlement. And now she is denying that Social Security has any kind of problem. That line worked well enough when her party was in the minority, just trying to stop a president they don't like from fixing a daunting problem.
But Hillary seems to be stuck on last year's talking point. At the same time, she is ignoring the slightly more distant past in which her own husband outlined the very real crisis in Social Security almost a decade ago.
The long-standing intellectual slipperiness we have come to expect from politicians named Clinton suggests we are going to need some serious help tracking Hillary down on anything that matters.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Taxing The Sinner, Not The Sin
Steve Beshear has backed off his support for the Democrats' SCHIP expansion since Governor Fletcher called him on the $1 a pack cigarette tax in that bill.
Beshear should have to explain what tax he wants to go up to pay for the entitlement.
Could this be a precursor for the failure of casino gambling in the legislature next year?
Beshear should have to explain what tax he wants to go up to pay for the entitlement.
Could this be a precursor for the failure of casino gambling in the legislature next year?
Cut Government Waste, Send Politicians Home
Kentucky can put two constitutional amendments on the ballot in any year. Next year, we need to repeal the Treasurer's office and eliminate even-year "long sessions" of the General Assembly.
The gubernatorial candidates should be asked their position on this.
The gubernatorial candidates should be asked their position on this.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Debate
Governor Fletcher just hinted that some energy projects will be announced soon. I'm assuming he is talking about coal-to-liquid fuel projects.
Mayor Isaac Knew And When She Knew It
An outside consultant to the LFUCG told then-Mayor Teresa Isaac about abuse in the Fayette County Detention Center several months before she went on television a year ago and said no such abuse occurred.
Kentucky's Healthy Health Insurance Market?
I'm working on an analysis of the health insurance markets in the states. I'll post my findings on The Bluegrass Policy Blog when I'm finished, but after looking at plans in all fifty states I have to say Kentucky is a lot closer to the top than I thought they would be.
"Build 48 More Casinos, Governor"
New Jersey's Governor Jon Corzine has a problem for which Kentucky's Steve Beshear would have a quick answer.
New Jersey has a $3 billion hole in its budget. Corzine has avoided the problem as long as possible with other types of flimflammery:
Meanwhile, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley gave us a preview of what Year Three in the Beshear administration would look like:
New Jersey has a $3 billion hole in its budget. Corzine has avoided the problem as long as possible with other types of flimflammery:
One challenge will be to replace $1.9 billion in "one-shot" cash that will be gone after the current budget year. The administration this year tapped a $940 million surplus to help balance the books. The current budget also used $650 million stashed away from last year to pay for rebates. And Corzine won't be able to duplicate about $340 million in raids he made on funds dedicated to specific programs like disability insurance.
Meanwhile, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley gave us a preview of what Year Three in the Beshear administration would look like:
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) on Monday plans to call a special session of the General Assembly with the hope of securing quick action on his plan to close a $1.7 billion budget shortfall by raising several taxes and legalizing slot-machine gambling, his office said yesterday.
Jail Birds Singing
I'm working this morning on what might be a major break in the prisoner abuse scandal at the Lexington jail.
There are currently more than half a billion dollars worth of lawsuits against the taxpayers of Lexington directly related to the actions of a few people at the facility.
It is about to get much worse.
Stay tuned...
There are currently more than half a billion dollars worth of lawsuits against the taxpayers of Lexington directly related to the actions of a few people at the facility.
It is about to get much worse.
Stay tuned...
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Leading Meteorologist Predicts Global Cooling
Just as Al Gore was being handed his Nobel Peace prize for stirring environmentalists' wildest fantasies, another leading scientist, Dr. William Gray, explained part of what is happening:
My favorite part, though, was this:
Sure hope Gore's prize winning junk science runs its course that soon, if not sooner.
"It bothers me that my fellow scientists are not speaking out against something they know is wrong," he said. "But they also know that they'd never get any grants if they spoke out. I don't care about grants."
My favorite part, though, was this:
But Dr Gray, whose annual forecasts of the number of tropical storms and hurricanes are widely publicised, said a natural cycle of ocean water temperatures - related to the amount of salt in ocean water - was responsible for the global warming that he acknowledges has taken place.
However, he said, that same cycle meant a period of cooling would begin soon and last for several years.
"We'll look back on all of this in 10 or 15 years and realise how foolish it was," Dr Gray said.
Sure hope Gore's prize winning junk science runs its course that soon, if not sooner.
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