Biden his time, denying Iranian threat

I guess Sen. Barack Obama is trying to balance out his ticket with a little gravitas -- or at least gray hair -- by adding Sen. Joe Biden on as Veep.

The Republican Jewish Coalition is not impressed:

"In 1998, Sen. Biden was one of only four senators to vote against the Iran Missile Proliferation Sanctions Act, a bill that punished foreign companies or other entities that sent Iran sensitive missile technology or expertise. Biden was one of the few senators to oppose the bipartisan 2007 Kyl-Lieberman Ammendment labeling the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. In a December 2007 debate, Biden said "Iran is not a nuclear threat to the United States of America." On MSNBC's "Hardball," Biden said he "never believed" Iran had a weapon system under production. "The Jewish community was already gravely concerned with Senator Obama's naïve understanding of the Iranian threat. An Obama-Biden ticket has proven that it is ill-equipped to deal with this threat. By selecting Senator Biden to join his ticket, voting for Senator Obama has now become an even greater risk," said (RJC Exec. Director Matt) Brooks."

Now here is an appropriate government function

Governor Steve Beshear says "don't try suicide."

Looking out for their own

Jessamine County Sheriff Kevin Corman has somehow managed to weather investigations for misappropriation of funds by Attorney General Jack Conway and Auditor of Public Accounts Crit Luallen.

Sources inside both offices report Corman is being given time to repay the funds while the public is kept in the dark.

Skippy jumps in water over his head, again

In his next column -- appearing soon online and in a fast-growing number of Kentucky newspapers -- Bluegrass Institute policy director Jim Waters blisters Finance and Administration Cabinet Secretary Skippy Miller for, well, being Skippy:

"When he was Democratic Party chairman and clawing his way up the bureaucratic food chain, Miller spoke as a partisan and thought as a partisan. But now that he serves as a cabinet secretary, he should file away his partisan ploys and focus on what best serves the public."

Skippy picked a fight with Waters for challenging Frankfort to get serious about spending transparency.

No one has to die for government transparency

While so much attention is focused on China because of the Olympics, it might be easy to miss the case of a bureaucrat there sentenced to death for taking bribes.

As tempting as it might seem to have Kentucky bureaucrats having each other killed for corruption, it's not hard to image that power being abused by the wrong person. (Greg Stumbo, anyone?)

Anyway, it seems the Chinese criminal is unlikely to actually suffer the death penalty for his crimes.

But the point from those of us who want less government corruption in Kentucky is that no one has to die. We just want government spending posted to the internet so we have a better idea of what is being done with our money.

Don't forget public employee benefits reform

While the Frankfort crowd is trying to work out a way to raise taxes before the end of the year, in Kalamazoo, Michigan they are getting serious about trimming back public employee benefits.

"Taking the first steps in overhauling its employee health-care coverage, the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved raising the age for retiring with full benefits to 65 from 60."

"However, the board delayed action until next year on the more contentious question of whether to stop offering health-care coverage for the dependents of future employees."

Despite the increasingly outlandish rhetoric from the Beshear Administration, a seventy cent tax increase on cigarettes isn't going to save the state. Revisiting public employee benefits would be a much more meaningful step in the right direction.

Since the public sector regulates private sector access to health insurance, we should bring public sector benefits more in line with ours. Putting them on the same side of the table with the rest of us may remove some of the resistance to market reforms to bring down costs.

Give me billions and I'll save $68 million, too

The Boston Globe is fired up about the Massachusetts universal healthcare mandate saving $68 million in its fund for uninsured people because the state is sucking up billions in tax dollars to buy them insurance:

"Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, the state's secretary of Health and Human Services, said that the latest enrollment figures should bolster the state's case with the federal government."

""It shows them that it's a good model for Massachusetts," Bigby said in an interview. "The intent of healthcare reform was that if people were getting coverage," then the number of patients relying on the state and hospitals to pick up the tab for their care would decline, she said."

"That appears to be happening. For example, from July through September 2007, the most recent period for which data is available, the number of visits to hospitals and community health centers by the uninsured declined by 37 percent, compared with the same period a year earlier, the report said. That drop translated to a $68 million savings in the pool of money the state sets aside to cover the uninsured."

"Massachusetts has requested more than $11 billion in federal support during the next three years to pay for dozens of healthcare programs, including its crown jewel, its nearly universal health coverage system. The federal payments, which are crucial to keeping the landmark program afloat, were set to expire June 30, but the state has received four extensions."

Another great government success. How long before Kentucky tries to emulate it?

This is what makes Drudge Report #1

And in other news, The Lexington Herald Leader is sinking like a rock with analysis like this from Larry Dale Keeling:

"Am I the only cynic who believes the recent decline in oil and gas prices is the oil industry's attempt to influence the November election by reducing the pain somewhat so Americans will feel less anger toward a Republican administration?"

Buh-bye Jody!

Rep. Greg Stumbo surprises no one by making clear that he wants to be the one getting Gov. Beshear's tax increases crammed down his throat by Senate President David Williams.

Should be an interesting special election to replace Richards in the House next year, too. And a question I would like to see Stumbo answer is who he will put in as Budget Chairman.

Exaggerating our way to bigger government

The MSM is all over the "report" claiming that children are dying in the streets for want of increased spending and policies that encourage welfare fraud:

"Jefferys says the number of uninsured children in Kentucky could easily drop if the state used mail-in and online applications."

Oh, and then there was this:

"When these kids don't have health coverage, nothing else matters. They can't go to school and learn, they can't focus on their learning environment if they're not healthy."
--Patrick Jefferys, Project Director

Rather than focus on the hyperbole, we could enact better policies to lower healthcare costs for everyone. Letting Americans buy health insurance policies across state lines would be a great start.

Gov. Steve Beshear, are you for safety?

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has weighed in on the idea of teachers carrying guns in schools.

He is in favor of it.

No word, though, from Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear.

Governor?

Not just an abortion issue any more

You may have heard that Barack Obama doesn't like talking about babies. Watch this and you will know why.

And another 90 million suffer bouts of sadness

Congressman John Conyers (D-Michigan) had another socialized medicine photo-op today in his district.

Nothing unusual about that, but this Crain's Detroit Business coverage added a new element to the spin:

"With nearly 50 million people uninsured and another 25 million underinsured, the need for universal health coverage has..."

Are you kidding me? Now, in addition to the bogus uninsured statistic we are throwing up an "underinsured" figure to generate big-government hysteria?

With high-deductible coverage for my family, I guess I am one of the underinsured. But no government program is going to shake me off of my philosophical -- and mathematical -- opposition to buying insurance for something I can afford to pay for myself.

Conyers and company are really counting on Americans not understanding much of anything about insurance.

Warren Rogers spanks Ben Chandler

A pro-employee choice blog spanks Rep. Ben Chandler for tailoring his position on union tactics to various audiences:

"Chandler knows that while speaking in front of the pro-business community, voicing his support for the Employee Free Choice Act might not go over so well. It’s a shame that he can vote for a bill in Washington D.C. one day and dismiss his actions the next depending on who’s in the audience."

Read the whole post here. And thanks to Warren Rogers for shining light on Chandler's actions.

Speaking too soon, again

Just as soon as the Bluegrass Institute mentioned there had been no "economic development" giveaway deals in Kentucky in August, we came up with a very questionable one.

Newberry racks up more legal fees for his law firm

Fayette County Detention Center Director Ron Bishop admitted from his home in Louisville, with his City of Lexington car in the driveway, that he has fired Rashel Coatney.

The move is clearly attributable to Coatney's son developing a rare form of cancer costing hundreds of thousands of dollars to treat. Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry might want to weigh in on this one, especially after considering the millions of dollars in civil lawsuits the city's taxpayers already face for keeping Bishop employed.

It would still be cheaper for Lexington taxpayers if they demanded Newberry give Coatney her job back and, instead, get rid of Bishop. Otherwise, Newberry is just providing support to his critics who say he is in office only to enrich himself with legal fees defending his own actions.

Is McCain already affecting policy?

A North Carolina think tank rips Sen. Elizabeth Dole for supporting Sen. Mitch McConnell's Gas Price Reduction Act of 2008 because the bill doesn't open up ANWR and it limits off-shore drilling to beyond fifty miles from the coast.

The John Locke Foundation says:

"Clearly, this legislation is meant to appease the eco-alarmist John McCain, who has always opposed exploration in the ANWR and continues to do so. That is easily explained by his (and Senator Dole's) support for the massive energy tax known as "Cap and Trade," which exposes his real feelings about actually using more oil."

While The Maverick and Sen. McConnell have everyone's attention and most of us agree that we need to agressively pursue our own energy resource, perhaps they should explain to us why this bill leaves so much undone.

Starting to fight back against citizen-paid bennies

Kentucky still hasn't decided to face reality on our too-rich public employee fringe benefits. We would do well to look at what is happening in Nevada and Indiana for a little insight into what we should do before any more time passes.

Nevada is phasing out paid health insurance for some government retirees.

"The state has offered the retiree health benefits for decades. But with rising medical costs and people living longer, the cost to the state has ballooned. Currently, it has a $4 billion unfunded liability, Johnstone said."

Interesting that here in Kentucky we still aren't motivated to act when our unfunded liability is nearly $30 billion.

And in Indiana, lawmakers last year got rid of the richest pension matching program I've ever seen:

"According to a file leaked to The Indianapolis Star and verified by state officials, lawmakers have contributed $3.6 million to their pension accounts since 1992, when they put the finishing touches on the system. During that same time period, taxpayers contributed $14.2 million to the lawmakers' accounts. (You can go to IndyStar.com to search a database showing how much the state has contributed to each lawmaker's account.)"

"The pension plan is among a set of perks that drew widespread criticism in recent years. In response to the criticism, the legislature voted last year to do away with the 4-to-1 pension match come 2009."

Meanwhile, Kentucky is content to hand parachutes to some lawmakers that are worth more than gold. We really need some more leadership on this.

Shhhhh... be vewwy, vewwy quiet!

The Fayette County Detention Center is trying to keep quiet the fact that they have fired the four indicted employees in the Fayette jail inmate abuse scandal.

Funny thing on the way to high tax Nirvana

Gov. Steve Beshear really doesn't want you to read this blog post, comment on it, or to tell your friends about it.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Beshear needs to stop talking about raising taxes and get serious about making better spending decisions. Tax increases aren't going to save him and they won't help any of us.