Trousers ablaze

Congressman Ben Chandler promised the citizens of Kentucky's Sixth district in 2004 he would never vote for a tax increase if they honored him by sending him to Congress.

Today he broke his promise for the fifth time in the current session.

Does Senator Barack Obama condone such blatant chicanery?

Louisville Metro Council race heats up

See if you can spot any problems with this mailer in the ongoing battle between Jon Ackerson and Ellen Reitmeyer:

Playing Fayette Jail Twister

The federal grand jury investigating the Fayette County Detention Center has extended its term one month into June, fueling speculation one or more targets in the inmate beatings scandal has provided new information necessitating a delay in the proceedings.

Also getting some interesting details in about the city's investigation into possible embezzlement at FCDC.

Will Hillary out-Nader Nader?

The Drudge Report suggests this morning Sen. Hillary Clinton could shift to an independent run for POTUS after she sees the handwriting on the Democratic Party wall.

Apparently, 29% of Democrats want her to go indy after Sen. Barack Obama clinches their party's nomination.

Why we can't all just get along

Recent polling suggests widespread disgust with Kentucky's legislature, much of it for good reason.

But the real problem is the finding that, despite our rapidly expanding entitlement spending, bonded indebtedness, and unfunded fringe benefits, 58% of Kentuckians don't think state government is spending enough money.

Black Wednesday open thread

I'm not expecting any official announcements tomorrow regarding the federal investigation into the Fayette County Detention Center.

So if you know anything, please put it in the comments section below.

Busy morning

House Speaker Jody Richards had to fend off two Legislative Ethics Commission complaints this morning in Frankfort.

He was successful at shutting down one of them.

The Republican Party of Kentucky filed a complaint against Richards, Rep. Joni Jenkins, and Rep. Tim Firkins. That complaint was dismissed.

A complaint by Amy Mischler was heard and found worthy of further discussion at the Commission's next meeting in June. Mischler's complaint is against Richards, Rep. Greg Stumbo, and Rep. Kathy Stein.

RINO hunter bags a sign stealer

Louisville metro council candidate Ellen Reitmeyer was caught by police this morning stealing signs from opponent Jon Ackerson.

Thanks for the tip, Corley Everett.

Changing your underwear times two

Yeah, you're just going to have to read this.

Obama runs home to blow up local governments

The Obama campaign has just announced cancellation of tomorrow's campaign event in Lexington so he can go back to Washington D.C. to force unionization of fire fighters and police officers nationwide and stop contributions to the strategic petroleum reserve so politicians can claim to be doing something about gas prices.

Hebert: Beshear should apologize

WHAS reporter Mark Hebert suggests Governor Steve Beshear should apologize for urging Vice President Dick Cheney to assassinate President George W. Bush.

Might be a good opportunity to poll the Democratic presidential candidates to see if Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama condone the actions of this undecided superdelegate.

Also, if disgraced former Governor Paul "Beshear should have shot David Williams" Patton had been able to keep his pistol in his pocket five years ago, Congressman Ben Chandler would now be a disgraced former Governor himself.

Chandler: bomb North Carolina and Virginia

Rep. Ben Chandler has 142 co-sponsors on his bill requiring the expansion of prevailing wage laws to states like North Carolina and Virginia that currently save millions of dollars by not saddling their school building projects with added prevailing wage costs.

Technical difficulties on Bluegrass Blog

The Bluegrass Policy Blog is off-line right now and we are working on getting it back up.

If you go to the site now, it looks like you are back in 2006. Should be fixed pretty soon.

Deck chairs

Kentucky's two largest newspapers can't agree on which candidate should lose to Senator Mitch McConnell in November.

Some interesting choices for Veep

Help pick a VP candidate for John McCain, single-elimination tournament-style.

Courier Journal catches Obama fever

It's not unusual to see Louisville Courier Journal writers get light-headed and sniffly in support of a Democratic party presidential nominee, but when they start convulsing, their eyes roll back in their heads and white foam starts gathering at the corner of their mouths, it's a little hard to ignore.

Especially for someone who had friends who lost their businesses after Kentucky tried in 1994 what is essentially Barack Obama's healthcare plan, it is a little much to see the CJ proclaim, unattributed to anyone, that it would "cut the medical cost for all families."

You can read the whole plan here, but if you know anything about healthcare finance you will probably want to do it on an empty stomach.

Beshear earning his first lawsuit

When you get a letter from an attorney that says "Hopefully, we can work together to resolve this within the law and without unnecessary legal expense," you should know you are about to get sued.

Governor Steve Beshear is about to get sued.

The letter is from Senate President David Williams. It should be clear to the Governor, after he reads this, that he won't be in court arguing about stopping the clock or if ten days really means eleven days. This will be a lawsuit Governor Ernie Fletcher already fought and lost about gubernatorial spending authority.

Bipartisan discussion on Kentucky pension reform

House Speaker Jody Richards went off his meds before he wrote a letter to the editor of the Danville Advocate Messenger:

Today, Senator Dick Roeding responds by setting the record straight some and then finishes off Richards by agreeing with House Democrats who called Richards a liar:

I'm glad we have everyone, save our MIA Governor Steve Beshear, talking about our fiscal future and I'm glad we have all agreed Jody Richards is full of it. But we need more than just political points on public employee benefit reform. Kentucky needs to get our political class off the gravy train now, before we bankrupt the state.

Mitch McConnell is a Club for Growth guy

The Club for Growth put out its Congressional Scorecard last night and it is good news for Senator Mitch McConnell. McConnell actually edged out Senator Jim Bunning, 84% to 82%. On the House side Rep. Geoff Davis and Rep. Ron Lewis managed to get 85%, followed by Rep. Hal Rogers, who turned in a 68%, and Rep. Ed Whitfield, who got a 58%.

Rep. Ben Chandler scored a Sen. Barack Obama-like 7% by voting for tax increases, bloated spending bills, the Death Tax, and bills to expand the power and reach of the federal government into citizens' lives. Rep. John Yarmuth earned a 1%.

Oh, did I mention Rep. Chandler is now really, really close to Sen. Barack Obama?

(Thanks to Mark Hebert for pointing out the video)

Kentucky watches while Ohio walks into the light

State government officials in Kentucky are wasting our time talking about being fiscally responsible until they start putting government expenditures online so citizens can keep track of what is going on with our money.

Now even Ohio is ahead of us on this.