Bruce Lunsford doubles up on Mitch McConnell

The prediction market Intrade prices a Bruce Lunsford victory over Mitch McConnell at $38, one week after trading at $17.

A McConnell victory remains priced at $80.

Shock: new Kentucky ed numbers don't add up

Kentucky's education bureaucracy has an amazing ability to make schoolchildren disappear and then magically reappear when they are needed to calculate funding.

Take, for example, the following press release that was printed without question by the Lexington Herald Leader.

In the news story, we see a Kentucky graduation rate of 83%, a drop out rate of 3%, and a retention rate of 3%. Add that up and think about it just a little.

And, by all means, don't take my word for it. Ask Crit Luallen.

Now is a great time to talk about this

Sen. John McCain should promise to run for just one term as President.

Of course, doing so really puts the spotlight on who he picks for Veep.

Please, don't let it be Mike Huckabee.


Is getting someone who is conservative on both fiscal and social issues too much to ask?

Vote for me to elect the other guy?

Interesting post on Peach Pundit from the Libertarian Party convention provides an unusual approach to getting a presidential nomination:

Gravel has a hit piece on Barr up around the convention this morning. It reads, “Do you really think we will win the White House? If we run Bob Barr, he will take votes away from McCain, then Obama or Clinton will be president for 8 years with a Democratic Congress. If we run Mike Gravel, he will take votes away from the Democrat and McCain will be president for 4 years with a Democrat Congress. Mike Gravel is our only smart choice!”

If the candidates' best line this year is going to be "waste your vote on me," enthusiasm for the Libertarian Party must be pretty low. Perhaps not as bad as the Greenies, but probably pretty low.

Locking and loading for President Obama

I think it is pretty funny to see Hillary Clinton get creamed for not suggesting someone shoot Barack Obama so she can get the Democratic presidential nomination.

That said, it's interesting that, with Obama leading in national polls, a Missouri car dealership is offering gas coupons or handgun coupons to people who buy a car.

Most people are choosing to exercise their Second Amendment rights, by accepting the guns rather than the gas. Barack can't be happy about that.

Too bad car dealers can't offer properly regulated health insurance as an incentive. If Barry wins in November, people in the flyover states may be looking for some of that.

Conservative Edge coming back to life

If you have gotten out of the habit of checking out The Conservative Edge, now is a good time to go back.

And while you are at it, head over to Real Clear Politics and vote for Leland Conway's "I am not a racist" essay.

Who likes buying cars and gas for bureaucrats?

Glad to see Kentucky Education Commissioner Jon Draud catch a little grief for his fancy taxpayer-provided car. It's pretty hard to see how pimping his ride is going to help educate any children out of poverty here.

Of course, rewarding government employees for less than stellar results in Kentucky is hardly unprecedented. Take, for instance, the administrators at the Fayette County Detention Center who are zipping around at taxpayer expense.

I think we just found some missing state money

Jessamine County Sheriff Kevin Corman appears to have serious problems with the Kentucky State Police related to financial irregularities in his office.

Picking a bad decade to expand Medicaid

Remember when Kentucky figured out we overspent on Medicaid and needed more money to fill in the gap?

Ohio is now finding the same thing.

"State Budget Director J. Pari Sabety told legislators yesterday that the budget needs another $344 million ($122 million in state funds) to cover increased Medicaid costs because 66,000 more people than expected are using the state-federal health-insurance program for the poor and elderly."

And some folks want to sign everyone up for government health insurance. Sheesh...

Kentucky, circa 2020?

French bureaucrats are having a meltdown over public employee pension reform, a subject Kentucky politicians are striving mightily to ignore here.

A government employee revolt has to be considered inevitable in Kentucky, given what we are seeing in France and our limited ability to tax ourselves out of a Bluegrass version of the same mess here.

What are you waiting for, Monsieur Beshear?

If we don't teach our kids, people will forget

Kentucky educators are now busily putting together a curriculum on the Holocaust, as state law requires them to do.

And may we never forget the horrors perpetrated on innocent human beings in the name of an ideology.

While we are at it, though, perhaps we should remember even worse atrocities committed in the name of a much larger ideology: communism.

Kentucky legislators should start to work immediately on a bill for the 2009 General Assembly requiring schools to teach children about the millions of lives destroyed by communist leaders.

This little piggy ate subsidies...

After watching Republicans get creamed in elections and, subsequently, going to CPAC this year for the first time in his presidency, George W. Bush found the will to veto The Farm Bill.

The override is coming, but it was a worthy effort.

Health insurance changes headed your way

In comparing Sen. Barack Obama's health care plan against Sen. John McCain's health care plan, it may be helpful to consider whether someone would want to be a New Yorker buying health insurance in Kentucky or a Kentuckian buying health insurance in New York.

Read this.

Yet, she can't

Sen. Hillary Clinton can't shake the image that, even after winning Kentucky's battle last night, she is going to lose the war against Sen. Barack Obama.

Providing a sure sign Hillary is doomed, Mark Hebert reports Governor Steve Beshear is set to cast his superdelegate vote for her.

What is Steve Beshear hiding now?

Just learned this morning California is about to set up a website listing every government expenditure. Gov. Steve Beshear knows he is going to get himself sued on some of his executive orders, but instituting government transparency would merely make him look like he took one of his campaign promises seriously.

Why would he not want us to know what is happening to our money once we send it to Frankfort?

Anyone know a good First Amendment lawyer?

Fayette County Detention Center bagman Sgt. John McQueen is looking like the fall guy for Dr. Don Leach this morning.

Please place all angry anonymous responses below. And if you want to sue me for libel, you know where to find me.

63rd House primary shocker

Will Terwort appears to be about to beat Rep. Alecia Webb-Edgington in tomorrow's Republican primary.

Will you beat Mitch McConnell and not get paid?

If you really think Greg Fischer or Bruce Lunsford is going to beat Sen. Mitch McConnell in November, you might want to look at Intrade.com.

A more Democratic Senate might get you free government healthcare, or nationalized oil companies (free gas, anyone?), or whatever.

But at a last trade of $17 for a contract on "any Dem beats Mitch," the prediction market presents an excellent opportunity for you (if you really believe!) to put someone else's money in your mouth.

Kentucky's rigid political spoils system too costly

Tennessee is pushing for government spending transparency and Ohio is pushing for an end to back-slapping double-dippers.

Kentucky would do well to pursue both (or even just one) of these initiatives. But all we get is hot air.

Each day with no positive action is another day in which we draw closer to disaster.

What kind of Republican gets KEA's endorsement?