Give taxpayers a seat at the table

Congress battling over the shape of the $700 billion bailout means some want to add in executive pay restrictions and large-scale mortgage renegotiations for troubled homeowners.

While my opposition to limiting CEO pay is melting as the promise of more federal taxpayer bailouts makes more CEOs de facto government employees, I don't see much sense in propping up the last vestiges of the housing bubble by continuing to compensate those who can't afford their mortgages.

If anyone in Washington D.C. is interested in treating taxpayers as more than ATMs, they would repeal automatic deduction of payroll taxes. Let's go back to having Americans make their own tax payments. Congress should make this a part of the bailout bill.

Wow, that was quick!

More than a month ago, you read here that the Fayette County Detention Center had fired the four indicted and suspended officers in the inmate abuse scandal. There were more details provided here last week.

The Lexington Herald Leader is on the case today, talking to the union president I got the same information from in mid-August.

What's odd is that the four indicted former officers appealing to get their jobs back even merits a news story now. All this amounts to is the defendants trying to keep themselves busy before their November 12 pre-trial conference by acting like they aren't going to prison.

What the Herald Leader should be reporting on is why Cpl. John Vest, who the city has been trying to malign for two years, still has his badge, ID card, uniforms, and keys to the jail but isn't allowed back to work. His slander and civil rights violation lawsuit is getting stronger every day.

Another issue Mayor Jim Newberry ignores

Increased federal enforcement of immigration laws will have an impact on Lexington and other areas of Kentucky sooner or later. Given security concerns about the World Equestrian Games in 2010, it might be sooner.

And it could get ugly.

Tears -- and sand -- in their ears

Just wondering if the Fannie Mae debacle might have some of the "There is no crisis in Social Security" crowd rethinking their not-so-long-ago positions.

Perhaps I'm not the only one:

"But the Fannie fiasco matters for a less-obvious reason. There are other accidents waiting to happen in the social entitlements whose costs also will jeopardize U.S. long-term growth. Social Security and Fannie aren't often spoken of in the same breath – as programs go, we associate Social Security with the swinging-and-60-plus crowd, not the Swinging '60s."

"What Social Security and Fannie have in common is that both have lived important segments of their lives off-budget. Tax increases are likely to pay for Fannie and Freddie. These increases will remind voters that being off-budget doesn't mean a program won't eventually penalize the taxpayer. Burned by Fannie, voters may get ready for entitlement reform."

It's past time to stop the whining against Social Security reform and get on with it.

Funny money at Fayette jail no laughing matter

Sources with information about the City of Lexington's internal auditing say that a damaging report about Don Leach, former Administrative Officer at the Fayette jail, will be released as soon as Monday.

At issue is financial improprieties related to Leach's consulting business and misuse of city property.

Despite rumors to the contrary, the final audit report is not likely to include information about Director Ron Bishop and Edye Dabney.

Other than being indicative of very poor judgement by officials at the jail and the city, this mess appears to be unrelated to the criminal abuse of inmates at the Lexington jail.

David Boswell is running the wrong way

The Republican Party of Kentucky is having a field day with a fundraiser for 2nd district congressional candidate Sen. David Boswell going to Washington D.C. for a fundraiser with California Congressman George Miller.

"David Boswell raised so little money in Kentucky that he’s been forced to turn to Nancy Pelosi’s closest friends to bail him out. There is no doubt where his loyalty would be in Congress,” said Republican Party of Kentucky Chairman Steve Robertson.

Rep. Miller has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for President and scores 0% on tax issues and 21% on responsible spending. He also rates an F from the National Rifle Association and a 100% from the ACLU.

Thanks Nancy, Ben, and John

The U.S. House of Representatives last night gave the advantage on energy production back to Republicans.

"House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today put the Democrats in charge of Congress on notice that the House GOP will not stop fighting until a comprehensive energy reform bill is signed into law. Boehner’s speech comes a day after House Democrats rejected a bipartisan plan – authored by Reps. John Peterson (R-PA) and Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) – to take the first critical steps toward lower energy costs. Democrats instead passed yet another sham “no energy” bill, continuing Speaker’s Pelosi’s stated purpose of attempting to give vulnerable Democrats political cover by encouraging them to tell their constituents they will vote for real energy reform without actually doing so."

Now the sham bill goes to the Senate where Sen. Mitch McConnell gets to be the hero by killing it. And even if that doesn't work, it is sure to get a veto from President Bush.

Your vacation is over, boys and girls. Time to get to work. And all that really means now is to get yourselves out of the way so Americans can produce their own energy.

Rep. Ben Chandler and Rep. John Yarmuth, both of Kentucky's Dems, voted for the sham.

Newt's tri-partisan big ideas

Newt Gingrich is putting together an event September 27 to explore ways to fix what ails the country. Could be interesting.


Go here for more.

Crass politicization aside, casinos still dead

Sen. Jack Westwood has decided he now wants a vote on casinos.

Maybe it will get him a few votes or campaign contributions, but it still won't get Gov. Steve Beshear any casinos.

If you want more money, guys, repeal prevailing wage and certificate of need.

New media staying on top of stories that matter

If you have been reading this site for information about the Fayette County Detention Center scandals that you can't get elsewhere, then you may also want to read Page One Kentucky for details about a big financial scandal at the University of Louisville that others have been strangely incurious about.

Hey McCain, tell us about this!

If Sen. Barack Obama were to win this November and bring a Democratic Congress with him to Washington D.C., we know government involvement in healthcare would increase.

A state constitutional amendment ballot initiative in Sen. John McCain's home state of Arizona, however, would limit the expansion of government-run health programs and infringements on individual rights.

Here it is:

Free market reforms to the healthcare industry aren't even on the table, really, because so much of the national conversation is about increasing the role of government. A policy such as this one from Arizona could allow states to get serious about looking at ways to make the system work better instead of just more expensive.

Can we get a running mate for Mitch McConnell?

From Polwatchers:

"McConnell's campaign manager Justin Brasell also countered that McConnell has "voted 29 times against congressional pay raises and ten times since 1996 for minimum wage increases.""

Yikes!

I will say this, though: before you get all wobbly on the Senate Minority Leader, watch the video below of his opponent Bruce Lunsford a couple of times and you will be okay.

Let's stick Obama's campaign in a closet to die

Kentucky reform works when it is evidence-based

Kentucky has gotten some well-deserved, if minor, kudos for responding to reality and doing away with most of its 1994 flirtation with HillaryCare.

"The coverage guarantee is not a new concept. But it has had a troubled history in several states that tried it for people seeking coverage through the insurance market. Some states, such as Kentucky and South Dakota, eventually dropped the guarantee after insurers left. In the few states where guaranteed coverage continues, monthly premiums generally are much higher for younger, healthier people than in nearby states."

Too bad we are not yet ready to take a similar approach to what the real world is telling us about our two decades-old educational reforms.

"Grossly excessive" Steve Beshear pandering

Fortunately, it appears the hurricane winds weren't enough to cause a gasoline supply disruption for Kentucky.

But we got enough hot air from Gov. Steve Beshear to last us for a long time. The way our "price gouging" law is written only encourages him and politicians like him to go around calling gasoline suppliers dirty names.

The standard for violation of the Kentucky "price gouging" statute is too vague for anyone but a trial attorney or a politician trying to boost his approval ratings to appreciate. The bill subjects anyone to prosecution for selling goods and services during a called emergency for a price that is "grossly in excess" of the normal price.

In fact, the law is so vague Beshear and Attorney General Jack Conway might just fine retailers around the state until they pile up the extra $500 million they want to tax you for.

Does anyone need to be reminded who those extra costs will be passed along to?

It would be much cheaper for all of us to simply repeal this awful law.

Kathy Stein: rape is in the eye of the beholder

I thought I had heard it all when Gov. Steve Beshear said that Kentucky gasoline retailers were trying to eat us, but now he says they want to have forcible sexual relations with us first.

My question is: which gas stations is he talking about, and which stations are non-violent? I really want to know.

And as much as I love a good non-apology apology, I have to wonder how many milliseconds it would take for a Republican to be crucified for making similar comments and then apologizing only "if I offended anyone."

And the best part is seeing Rep. Kathy Stein ride in to the rescue.

"Reactions to Beshear’s initial comment varied. State Rep. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, called Beshear’s analogy of rape “tough, but perhaps appropriate.”"

"“Sometimes situations call for brutally descriptive language,” Stein said in an interview yesterday."

Stein's opponent in this November's Senate race should ask Stein to tone down the rhetoric about sexual crime she now condones. I'd like to hear more about Stein's philosophy of the state's role in price regulation. And perhaps she could suggest a less invasive sexual crime for her ridiculous analogies.

Or maybe she could tell us that if high gas prices are rape, what sexual crime is it when bad public policy causes gasoline supplies to dry up?

Did you 'seethe' this?

Here is a video to get the Panic-crats really upset.

Senator Mitch McConnell spoke in Lexington today, pointing out the wasted opportunities in the Congress these last two years. He mentioned the dozens of meaningless Iraq votes taken since Democrats took control in the 2006 election. He criticized them for "continuing the 2006 election" instead of working toward resolution of problems like unfunded liabilities in Medicare and Social Security.

Don't be surprised if stations run out of gas

Economically literate Kentuckians are really missing the boat if they pass up the opportunity to ridicule Gov. Steve Beshear and Attorney General Jack Conway for jumping on the gasoline price controls express today.

Here is my shot at them.

And then there is the timeless classic from Dr. Walter Williams:

"Economic ignorance, misconceptions and superstition drive us toward totalitarianism because they make us more willing to hand over greater control of our lives to politicians. That results in a diminution of our liberties. Think back to the gasoline price controls during the 1970s."

"The price controls caused shortages. To deal with the shortages, restrictions were imposed on purchases. Then national highway speed limits were enacted. Then there were more calls for smaller and less crashworthy cars. With the recent gasoline supply shocks, we didn't experience the shortages, long lines and closed gas stations seen during the 1970s. Why?"

"Prices were allowed to perform their allocative function -- get people to use less gas and get suppliers to supply more. Economic ignorance is to politicians what idle hands are to the devil. Both provide the workshop for the creation of evil."

The current "gouging law" is the worst kind of price control. If the law merely said $8.01 a gallon is too much, that would be one thing. But the current law merely prohibits setting a price at a level "grossly in excess of the price prior to the declaration and unrelated to any increased cost to the seller." That's no law; that's an open invitation to the government to make up the rules as it goes.

Busted: ABC's Charlie Gibson

If you had a vague feeling watching Charlie Gibson's interview with Sarah Palin that he went much easier on Sen. Barack Obama, you would be right.

Thoughtful critique of Gov. Sarah Palin

Hey, didn't you used to be Pamela Anderson?