Begging The Question: What Is A Right-Wing Extremist In Education?

When Education Commissioner Jon Draud was asked if he is a right-wing extremist "when it comes to education," he said that he has always supported public education, so he isn't one.

Here is audio of the quote.

I guess what we need is a definition of an education "right-wing extremist" so we can be on the lookout should one happen to come along.

Kenton County Candidate Conundrum

The 63rd House district special election will almost certainly be won by the Republican nominee. The Kenton county GOP executive committee gets to pick the nominee.

And they have been given their marching orders from what's left of the establishment in Frankfort.

But Will Terwort will be the fiscal conservative in the primary in May when the voters get to decide. RPK should stay out of this.

Here Come The Thompsons

Fred Thompson's wife, Jeri, will be in Louisville on Tuesday for a private get-together with supporters.

Are Polwatchers Boycotting Their Boss?

A full 24 hours after the Lexington Herald Leader joined Kentucky Progress and the Louisville Courier Journal in asking Budget Chairman Harry Moberly to rectify his conflict of interest by resigning, there is not one single word about it on the paper's political blog.

What's up guys, boycotting your own paper?

Here is an exerpt from Friday's Herald Leader:

Ethical government, it bears repeating, involves not just avoiding conflicts of interest but also avoiding their appearance or the potential for them.

For that reason, state Rep. Harry Moberly, D-Richmond, should give up his powerful legislative chairmanship if he continues serving as the top financial administrator at Eastern Kentucky University...
Moberly also should decide where his first loyalty lies and act accordingly.

This is a terrific opportunity for Kentucky's independent blogosphere to assert itself and give fellow Kentuckians reason to follow our lead, don't you agree?

Trading In RINOs

Will Terwort is running to replace Rep. Jon Draud in Frankfort, who has resigned to take a position as education commissioner.

Terwort's best position is his promise not to vote for any budget that increases the level of the state's bonded indebtedness.

Friday In Kentucky Blogdom

I'm curious this morning to hear from readers about what Kentucky political blogs you read and why you read them.

A little help?

Political Gimmickry Gone Wrong

Rep. Jim Glenn has dredged up the old "sales tax holiday" gimmick House Dems try to run up the flagpole every year. Special wrinkles in the bill remove some of the good from previous bills, namely computers, and add a bunch of junk retailers won't be happy with.

Other states attempt to hype these "sales tax holidays," which provide little or no real savings and serve mainly to shift, rather than create, economic activity. A real tax cut would be much, much better than this waste of time.

Call To Action For Kentucky Schools

I've been trying the last couple of years to drum up support for a simple school policy change I believe will have a positive impact on our schools.

My efforts have brought very limited success (Ernie Fletcher thought I was talking about mutual funds -- true story!).

But it appears the success of the policy here in Jessamine county is getting noticed. Spread the word to your local high schools!

Fayette Jail Behind-Closed-Door Panic

The brain trust running the Fayette County Detention Center is working on a contingency plan for when federal indictments start raining down on the facility. The funny thing is one of the people in the closed-door meetings is providing information for this site.

Courier Journal Nails Harry Moberly

It's nothing personal coming from your pals at the Louisville Courier Journal, Rep./Vice President Moberly, but they see the conflict of interest in your latest coup.

This is not, Speaker Jody Richards insists, a conflict of interest. He says, "Harry is a very fair-minded person," and that's true. For example, he was open to funding the University of Kentucky's "top 20" plan because it promised specific, quantifiable results on a schedule that makes UK accountable. He also seems to understand the concept of "mission differentiation," which in budget terms means recognizing that not all campuses can be all things to all people. He seems to understand that "mission sprint" at "comprehensive" institutions like EKU could jeopardize fidelity to their specific regional missions.

Still, it's difficult to see how the public is supposed to see his new dual roles as anything but a clear conflict. Maybe it's one he is qualified to ignore, but it's there, and it will justify even more scrutiny than his legislative decisions have been given in the past.

Past legislative decisions? Try this one. And some people think they really want him with more power?

Moberly should choose between serving as Executive Vice President at Eastern Kentucky University and serving in the state legislature. Failure to drop one or the other is a clear conflict of interest. Public protection laws were never intended to be applied on a case-by-case basis.

I especially appreciated the Courier's headline "A duck is a duck." Next time you see Harry waddling along, just say "quack, quack."

Sky-Diving Gucci-Clad Ex-Cops Any Day Now

Mark Hebert does a great job connecting some dots around Governor-elect Steve Beshear.

Quieter

Sometimes, silence is golden.

Here, too.

Do you really want to run illegals out of KY?

When the people in Arizona decided to chase off illegal immigrants, they did it a lot like this.

Mayor Abramson: Let Them Eat Granite Curbs

Louisville Councilman Doug Hawkins today called out Mayor Jerry Abramson's effort to raise taxes for additional spending while lavishly pouring public dollars into, of all things, granite curbs.

From a Hawkins news release:

Solid granite street curbs now replace the standard concrete curbs on 6th Street from River Road to West Jefferson Street. The granite street curb installation project calls into question the Mayor’s priorities. Councilman Doug Hawkins challenges the Mayor’s decision to use such an expensive material, at a time in which “it is imperative that we take steps now to reduce spending.”
“How can the Mayor say that there is no money for the libraries, when the Mayor has money to burn on his downtown street curbs?” Hawkins asks.

Will Republicans Mutiny Against McConnell?

No, I'm not talking about Larry Forgy.

National blogger RedState suggests Sen. Mitch McConnell might face a challenge to his leadership position from Senate Republicans:

After 2008, McConnell either wins or loses. If he loses, John Kyl will probably become Minority Leader, moving up from Whip. If McConnell wins, he might still face a coup if the GOP Senate conference feels the need to go in a new, more conservative direction after a disastrous 2008 election cycle. If the GOP does get slaughtered at the polls, it will likely be moderate Senators bearing the brunt of the voters anger, making the remaining GOP caucus more conservative and more willing to vote their own into leadership. So, Kyl might take the reins then too.

With Kyl as leader, Cornyn will run for Whip, with a reduced number of Republican Senators, but a more conservative group. Sessions will get to Policy, which is what he wants, and that leaves DeMint available to be the Party's message guy in Conference Chair. That'll leave open a slot as VP for Conference, which a good conservative could fill.

Imagine, post 2008, having the top Senate Republicans be, in order: Kyl, Cornyn, DeMint, Sessions, and an as yet to be determined conservative.

One note, just so I don't get accused of anything I don't mean -- I'm not hoping that the GOP gets wiped out in 2008. I hope, in fact, that it doesn't. But I can see the writing on the wall. And sometimes, it takes hitting rock bottom for addicts to want recovery -- especially when they're addicted to earmarks. Let's just pray to God that if we do get slaughtered that we don't fall under 41.

Covering The News For You

Can't find anything this morning about Rep. Rick Nelson's (D-Middlesboro) illegal immigration bills, pre-filed yesterday, in the state MSM. The national blogosphere is on the story.

Mayor Newberry, Call Your Office

Thursday morning in Lexington, federal court proceedings include five sentencings that look suspiciously like a handful of Fayette County Detention Center guards who have flipped on their friends.

Can't tell for sure, but what other case in Lexington would involve five same-day sentencings with hidden defendents and the United States of America as plaintiff?

In any case, we are getting closer to the time Lexington taxpayers have to pay up for Newberry's jail fiasco.

Another Legislator Goes To Big Ed

House Budget Chairman Harry Moberly has been appointed Executive Vice President for Administration at Eastern Kentucky University, according to a memo from EKU President Doug Whitlock.

Legislative ethics rules do not prohibit a legislator from working for a state university, but there is this little goody:

KRS 6.731 General standards of conduct -- Penalties.
A legislator, by himself or through others, shall not intentionally:
(1) Use or attempt to use his influence as a member of the General Assembly in any
matter which involves a substantial conflict between his personal interest and his
duties in the public interest. Violation of this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor;

Moberly has made no secret of his desire to become President of EKU and this is no small step in that direction. Given that Whitlock's memo specifically points out Moberly's position in the legislature as justification for giving him the new job and calls Moberly a "significantly underutilized administrative resource" of the University, I'd say Harry is already dancing dangerously close to the line.

Moberly has clearly shown a predilection for trying to slip dangerous legislation past an unsuspecting public. In order to avoid any more conflicts of interest, he should resign from the legislature now.

This Should Be Part Of Illegal Immigration Fight

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a San Diego policy of conducting home searches of welfare recipients.

The procedure is simple. If the search turns up evidence the welfare recipients don't qualify for benefits, they lose the benefits.

Here's one thought worthy of discussion, though, from a federal judge who sided with the ACLU against the policy:

"This case is nothing less than an attack on the poor," said Judge Harry Pregerson, writing for the dissenters. "This is especially atrocious in light of the fact that we do not require similar intrusions into the homes and lives of others who receive government entitlements. The government does not search through the closets and medicine cabinets of farmers receiving subsidies."

Now would be a great time to crack down on all kinds of people who apply for government checks.

Comparing Global Warming To AIDS

If you read just one thing in the Lexington Herald Leader this year, read this:

My presentation to state legislators on climate change was based on more than 300 peer-reviewed articles in the learned journals. Gore's movie was based on just two.

I made one central point: The U.N. climate change panel, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has exaggerated the effect of greenhouse gases on temperature at least fourfold. Correcting the panel's flawed math has an effect equivalent to cutting man-made greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent overnight.

The IPCC says the "radiative forcing" from CO2 rose by 20 percent between 1995 and 2005. Yet in that period the atmospheric concentration of CO2 rose from 360 to 378 parts per million -- just 5 percent. The radiative forcing effect -- which causes temperature change -- rose by only 1 percent. That's a 20-fold exaggeration by the IPCC.

Yes, the world is warming, we have made a small contribution to it and we can expect a little more oof it. But Gooch speaks for Kentucky's working miners and for everyone who uses the electricity their labor provides, when he agrees with me that we need to get the science right or -- as with HIV -- we will get the policy wrong.

If we get the policy wrong, it is the poorest people in Kentucky and elsewhere in the world who will suffer most. They will die in the tens of millions for want of the light and heat and power and medical care that we are lucky enough to take for granted.