Beshear's Chance For Change

Governor Ernie Fletcher gets thumped again by the Louisville Courier Journal this morning. But as usual, the CJ can't separate its fiction from fact.

Four years from now, Republicans are going to claim that they left Democrat Steve Beshear with a state government in sound fiscal shape.

Not true. And Mr. Beshear should say so, up front. He should make absolutely clear, without partisan carping or personal criticism, exactly what shape his predecessor left government finances in.

Clinging militantly to anti-tax dogma, Gov. Fletcher managed to create a mess, which Mr. Beshear will have to clean up.

Four years from now, Republicans are going to be as likely to bring up Ernie Fletcher's fiscal policies as Beshear will be on December 11 to devote his entire inaugural address to returning to the good old days of Paul Patton.

And this may be an opportune moment to remind Governor-elect Beshear of his October 26 promise to repeal Fletcher's LLET tax and to not raise any others.

Speaking Of The 2008 General Assembly

I will be on the Leland Conway show in Lexington this morning (630 WLAP) talking about bills coming up in Frankfort starting January 8.

Do We Really Need This?

The Lexington Herald Leader is sitting on evidence incoming Finance and Administration Cabinet Secretary Jonathan Miller illegally pre-selected someone named Michael Bates to a position in the Treasurer's office and arranged special pay raises for his Chief Of Staff Brooke Parker.

A Holiday Blogger Oddity

I'm off for a while to spend some time with family, but wanted to check the site. Part of that routine is checking to see where search engine traffic is coming from.

It isn't always directly related to Kentucky politics.

Last night someone in Portland, Oregon googled "whips that make marks" and wound up on Kentucky Progress looking at an article about Rep. Stan Lee getting elected to House leadership.

Didn't stay on the site long...

Eat Like A Conservative At 40

The Wall Street Journal's Health blog says pig out on brain food this Thanksgiving! (Probably not bad diet tips for you twenty year-old liberals, either.)

Governor Beshear, Pick 1,512 Connected Friends Who Don't Need State Jobs And Don't Hire Them

If Steve Beshear is serious about operating state government employment policy within the law, he should read this.

Should We Read His Lips?

A news story from a CNBC reporter's discussion with a Treasury official suggests the Bush administration is considering lowering corporate taxes and replacing the "lost" revenue by instituting a Value Added Tax.

This is not a good thing.

If we are going to lower taxes -- and we should -- we really don't need to be creating any new ones to make up the difference. Other than as another way to manipulate corporations with the tax code, what good would that do?

MitchBlog To Bloggers: Read It And Weep

Senator Mitch McConnell's campaign blog takes issue with critics who say he is running away from the Republican party.

Picking Your Candidate

The Republican Party of Kentucky(RPK) sent out a press release this morning announcing three upcoming fundraisers for presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. The events will be in Northern Kentucky, Louisville, and Lexington on December 5.

The Lexington event will be a joint fundraiser for Giuliani and RPK.

Personnel Really Matters

One thing seems certain: if the state can reverse course on firing certain social workers...

The state has reversed its preliminary decision to fire Hardin County-based social workers who were accused in an Inspector General’s report of falsifying records and inappropriate conduct as they removed children from their parents, the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services announced Tuesday.

...then surely they can reconsider botching the education commissioner hiring again.

Mutually Assured Casino Destruction

The Louisville Courier Journal calls Indiana "sleazy" and accuses its policymakers of "playing neighbors for suckers." In the same breath they deem the case for casinos in Kentucky "compelling."

Should Steve Beshear sign non-proliferation treaties with Tennessee, Ohio, and Virginia?

Raising The Curtain On Medicaid Miracle

Medicaid is $112 million underwater.

Not good. This hands Beshear his first big opportunity. Expect him to make the most of it.

The temptation is to think first about the role this will play in the casino debate, but it really just heightens the need for serious attention to the public employee pension mess. Also, Beshear should resist the urge to use this news as an excuse to break his campaign promise to repeal the LLET.

We can't reasonably expect Governor Beshear to recognize the need to cut government spending, but that would be his surest ticket out of this one.

Floppy Shoes, Red Nose, Grease Paint

Did Fayette County taxpayers have any doubt the FCDC guard busted last night for impersonating a police officer will be put on leave WITH pay?

Nope.

What could they possibly cook up next?

A Hidden Casino Cost I Hadn't Considered

The case of a Louisville woman caught embezzling $7 million from an Indiana credit union to spend in Indiana casinos -- math majors will note the money is gone -- is interesting mainly because of the size of the theft.

But what caught my eye in the press release was this:

As Head Teller she was responsible for ordering and accounting for all cash replenishments for the credit union. She was also responsible for reconciling and overseeing vault activity. She also was responsible for the general ledger and reconciling the vault cash account to the physical count of cash on hand.

Part of her job was to prevent herself from embezzling funds which she, of course, failed to do. The credit union needs another employee or two.

So not only are the customers of the credit union out millions, but they will be hit again as the credit union has to hire more people for oversight to prevent this kind of fraud in the future.

There are a lot of businesses that handle large amounts of cash. If each of them has to go out and hire another layer of bookkeeping support to prevent this kind of embezzlement, we are looking at significant added costs to be passed along to customers.

And while Patricia Sherman is a guest of federal taxpayers for the next few years, whatever benefit Indiana taxpayers get from casinos may get sliced if Kentucky or Ohio start to play the same game.

Great GOP House Pickup Opportunity

Bryan Beauman is running for the open 72nd district House seat.

Watch this.

Confirmed: McConnell For Giuliani

I saw the rumor yesterday, but just found out it is true.

NTU: Congressman Whitfield Breaks His Promise

The National Taxpayers Union chastised Rep. Ed Whitfield for voting to overturn a presidential veto on an appopriations bill after promising to sustain the veto.

That's Gonna Leave A Mark

The Louisville Courier-Journal has a great smackdown of Kentucky's state school board and the crummy way they have handled the hiring of an education commissioner.

Mr. Brothers also contended, "We have some responsibility to these people who have applied," to get on with the selection.

No, Mr. Brothers. That's not true, either.

The school board's responsibility is to the public. And if it goes ahead with an amateurish process, rolling right past the need for a credible national search, then the public will be justified in concluding the worst: that the board simply has failed to do its job.

But my favorite came in the comments section:

Stunning evidence: the Chairman of the Board says: "not just me but the entire board have heard" (sic, sic). No, Joe, the proper expression of your thought would be "not just I but the entire board has. . . ."

If the Chairman of the Board of Education can't string eight words together without making two grammatical errors, Kentucky deserves to be ranked in the very bottom tier of states.

Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 10:25 am

Governor Fletcher, there is still time to set this right.

Consider This

Recently, government agencies have been making news when they threatened bloggers with lawsuits for libel.

I've been writing for a year about the mess that is the Fayette County Detention Center. Google it and see what happens. The city of Lexington does, every day. I have proof that LFUCG computers are used every weekday to monitor this site to see what's up.

But I have yet to receive the first threat of a lawsuit.

Wonder why?

Starting To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Know any kids? Then you need to see this. Special deals for Kentucky Progress readers.