Beshear makes move to behead Draud

Gov. Steve Beshear's first action after his election last November was to try to get rid of Education Commissioner Jon Draud.

Looks like he has found his man.

Not that Draud has been any kind of change agent at the Department of Education, but if Beshear plans to replace him with Rep. Frank Rasche, he is not exactly moving us forward.

It's the stupid out-of-control spending

Congress is getting ready to misspend another billion dollars of your money:

"The federal government doesn’t need to spend more money on infrastructure. The 2005 highway bill, for example, increased funding by 42 percent – to a record $286.5 billion. This isn’t to say that Congress can’t reevaluate where existing funds are allocated. If bridge inspection is a priority, tax dollars should be shifted from less pressing projects. If just 1/25 of the funds that went to the 2005 highway bill’s 6,500 earmarks (totaling 9 percent of the total cost) were devoted to bridge repair, the new spending in H.R. 3999 would be more than offset. Taxpayers shouldn’t have to shell out another dollar until Congress gets its transportation spending priorities straight."

"Roll call votes against H.R. 3999 will be significantly weighted in our 2008 Rating of Congress."

It's the same story all over again. Taxpayers tighten their belts at home while politicians whip out the credit card.

Landmark lawsuit rocks sanctuary city

Americans who value our freedoms are genuinely proud to see people from around the world risk everything they have to come here for the opportunity to enjoy what we often take for granted.

Few of us, however, include in our definitions of freedom the unfettered ability to live off the efforts of others through welfare and public benefits. Unfortunately, too many of those few who do are elected officials.

For the rest of us, Jenean McBrearty of Danville comes to the rescue today as the author of a lawsuit in federal district court in Lexington. You can get details of the lawsuit here.

McBrearty said inaction by Lexington officials left no choice but to file the lawsuit:

Dr. David Duncan has been a high-profile voice for fiscal responsibility and public safety. He blasted Mayor Jim Newberry for falling short of his public duties in these areas.

The importance of this case will become apparent as citizens come forward and file similar suits in other cities across the state and nation.

Al and me in Austin

Al Gore is across town talking to Netroots Nation. Americans for Prosperity has a hilarious Al Gore video:

Why not just spend less on stupid stuff?

From the Associated Press:

"Among other revenue-raising possibilities, the commission recommended gradually increasing the current federal fuel taxes to 40 cents a gallon.

The American Road & Transportation Builders Association is calling for a 10-cent-a-gallon raise and indexing the tax to inflation. With construction costs soaring because of competition for building materials from China and other developing nations, the tax rate would have to be about 29 cents a gallon to achieve the same purchasing power as the 18.4-cent rate imposed in 1993, the association says.

Including state and local levies, people in the U.S. pay about 47 cents on average in taxes for a gallon of gasoline. Fuel in many European countries costs $8 to $9 a gallon, with half or more of that going to taxes."

We just love tax increases, don't we? Sure would like to see public spending restraint emerge as a silver lining of the gas price cloudiness.

Live blogging Americans for Prosperity

I'm at the Americans for Prosperity conference in Austin, Texas. Robert Novak is the keynote speaker.

I'll cover his remarks on the Bluegrass Policy Blog.

UPDATE: the post is up on Bluegrass Policy blog including comments about Senator Mitch McConnell. (Hint: Novak said he is not a big fan of McConnell, but that he expects him to be Minority Leader next year.)

Few hail the hero's return

A couple of years ago, Ben Chandler's campaign consultant Mark Nickolas caught lightning in a bottle when he started a blog called Bluegrass Report. He frequently received fawning coverage in the mainstream media and claimed traffic rivalling that of many weekly newspapers in the state.

BGR 2.0, with a new writer, isn't off to a very good start. In fact, it's dreadful:

It is impossible to deny the devastating impact Bluegrass Report had on Ernie Fletcher's administration. Seeing it reduced to putting a happy face on Steve Beshear should maybe be a worth a little laugh. Instead, it is just sad.

Will Jim Ramsey get a pass?

Louisville Business First looks pretty silly congratulating University of Louisville President Jim Ramsey for not taking a $113,000 bonus earlier this month.

The hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent grants doled out under his watch dwarf that amount.

There is going to be much more on this ahead.

Another scalp so soon?

There are unconfirmed reports this morning Fayette jail Assistant Director of Operations Jim Kammer is being forced to retire at the end of August.

He would join Don Leach in getting a long overdue kicking to the curb.

The timing of these high level retirements is significant because they will cost both men dearly in terms of lost pension money.

Unfinished business remains.

The city of Lexington probably has no comment.

Bad numbers in Whitley county

The Corbin News Journal reports today that the Whitley County School Board "voted to provide a free breakfast for all students."

Setting aside for now the argument about whether that is a necessary and proper government expenditure right now, the numbers just don't make sense.

According to the newspaper, the school superintendent said the cost would be $50,000 a year. It also says the cost per breakfast is $1.15.

In a district with ten schools, that just doesn't add up.

Of course, we are talking about Kentucky schools. The numbers often don't add up.

Aim for their heads, Jim Bunning

Sen. Jim Bunning did a quick interview with Larry Kudlow about how our Republican administration is screwing us fiscally.

Gonna get another scalp soon

With Fayette County Detention Center schemer Don Leach forced out this week, we turn our attention to which domino falls next.

Some say Jim Kammer. Others guess Ron Bishop.

Getting both of them off the public payroll -- and a few more, too -- can't happen fast enough.

Getting McCain right on education reform

Sen. John McCain was in Cincinnati this morning talking up school choice. That's a good thing, says the Cato Institute, as long as he doesn't try to do it on a national level.

"...the Constitution mentions neither the word “education” nor the word “school.” Congress and the president simply do not have a mandate to create such a program. More than that, a national private school choice program risks extending pervasive government regulation over private schools from the Potomac to the Pacific, homogenizing the options available to families and thus defeating the entire point of school choice. It is far better and safer for presidential candidates to tout the merits of school choice and encourage their state-level counterparts to put these programs into place."

Kentucky should start with special needs scholarships because official abuse is so bad against students with special needs in Kentucky public schools.

Four minutes of smaller government whoopass

Just as Massachusetts is asking for another $100 million for their socialized medicine program, the people who are pushing to repeal their state income tax are now asking for government spending transparency.

Awesome:

Hillary Clinton STILL not dead?

They are switching superdelegates away from Barack Obama.


And my favorite quote from a Fox News interview (linked here) with a Hillary supporter is "we all know that politicians say things to leave them room to maneuver." Sounds like a great Clinton campaign motto for the fall campaign.

Second favorite quote: "the Democratic party is right now in a crisis. They have tried to create a sense of faux unity and it isn't working. And it doesn't take a genius to see that it isn't working."

Replacing Ernesto

Lots of behind-the scenes action on the Republican side in the effort to keep Rep. Kathy Stein out of the state Senate.

From the Lexington City Council, At-Large member Linda Gorton is having her name tossed around as a possibility.

Will there be another study group?

Talk radio host Leland Conway made Gov. Steve Beshear say this morning he would consider a plan to eliminate Kentucky's income tax. Rep. Stan Lee then came on the show and said he would get started on a bill.

Leland has been out front on this effort for a while now.

Beshear sets up a website without a study group

Gov. Steve Beshear announced today an interactive website to allow state employees to arrange carpool rides to work. Apparently he did this without the aid of a task force or study group.

That's probably a good thing because his government transparency task force he started with much fanfare a month ago (and under pressure from Secretary of State Trey Grayson) appears to have ground to a halt.

Perhaps he thinks we have forgotten all about that "people's right to know" stuff.

2:39 pm UPDATE: Finance and Administration Cabinet spokeswoman Jill Midkiff just confirmed that no meeting of Beshear's task force is currently scheduled.

One down

Under intense pressure for his role in multiple scandals at the Fayette County Detention Center, Don Leach is resigning August 1.

He leaves a Lexington jail that, under his de facto leadership, has become embroiled in a massive federal investigation, lawsuits Fayette county taxpayers will be paying off for decades to come, and a gathering storm of the type of political scandal Lexington has in the past been able to sweep under the rug.

Mayor Jim Newberry probably has no comment.

Cutting off Medicaid's nose to spite KY's face

The Lexington Herald Leader takes a swipe at the drug problem this morning by suggesting we burden our drowning Medicaid entitlement with paying for drug treatment.

"County jails are particularly ill-equipped to provide treatment or deal with addiction. And Kentucky Medicaid does not pay for drug treatment.
The legislature and Gov. Steve Beshear are taking smart steps by diverting more non-violent criminals from prison and increasing treatment, though modestly.
But Kentucky, which has the fastest-growing prison population in the nation, will need the cooperation and ideas of everyone, from Main Street and the courthouse to the statehouse, to beat this beast."

I can't imagine a quicker way to bankrupt the state, can you?

Since they asked, there is a much better way. Welfare reform.