Jack Conway's predatory rhetoric

Gov. Steve Beshear and Attorney General Jack Conway had a big time last fall calling gasoline retailers nasty names when worldwide oil demand caused prices to increase.

Given real-world concerns over possible supply disruptions and shortages in the wake of this week's ice storm, Conway is at it again. While some hot air might do us a little good, Conway's is at least good for one laugh:

Someone please buy Jack Conway a thesaurus before he tries to run for the U.S. Senate. Predatory pricing occurs when retailers seek competitive advantage by lowering retail prices below cost.

I'm assuming that's not what he meant to say.

Prichard should get out of the kitchen

The last thing Kentucky can afford now is clinging to the status quo, especially in cases where it has proven to be ineffective and counterproductive.

Enter the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, the chief protector of failed bureaucratic education policies that have held Kentucky back for decades.

The Bluegrass Institute's education analyst Richard Innes congratulated the Prichard folks for coming out of hiding to debate their policy positions a week ago when they started their own blog.

But now they appear to not be posting his comments. Bad form, Prichard. Here is my attempt to smoke them out:

Withstanding criticism of your ideas is hard work. And what kind of watchdog organization prohibits comments about unethical conduct? Could it be that Prichard just isn't up to the task of defending its practices?

They really don't have a clue, do they?

The following email just arrived from someone trying to help Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) run us into the ground even faster.

Read it. They are actually giddy about the money they get to spend.

God bless Jim Bunning.

If Sen. Mitch McConnell is upset with Sen. Jim Bunning for being right about the federal bailouts, he should say so. From the Lexington Herald Leader:

Stick it in his ear, Jim!

Rightsizing Knoxville

One Knox County, Tennessee commissioner has the right idea.

Knox County and Knoxville are facing growing pension deficits and County Commissioner Paul Pinkston suggests the county should sell the nursing home it owns.

What is a county doing owning a nursing home, anyway?

This is terrific. I know this isn't an ideal time for anyone to be selling off assets, but the principle is more important here. Getting government tenacles out of people's lives is worth taking a bath on a few assets.

Kentucky and its cities and counties should be taking notes.

By the way, a great quote from Knoxville Mayor Mike Ragsdale:

"We're going to have to be creative and do things more differently than we have in the past."

More differently, indeed.

Why Beshear might make Obama mad

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich famously embarrassed President Barack Obama, so Obama had him written out of the state bailout plan. Here is the language from the "stimulus package" bill:

Some have interpreted this to mean that if Blago isn't ousted, Illinois doesn't get the money. But that is not correct. Maybe if the "or" were an "and," but the way this is written it simply means the legislature would control the spending decisions rather than Blago, if he is still around.

Given Gov. Steve Beshear's hesitancy to make decisions in a timely manner on most things, maybe he will tick off Obama and get the same deal for Kentucky. I sure don't want to see Greg Stumbo and David Williams fighting over how to spend borrowed federal tax dollars, but Beshear might find this a handy way to take the pressure off himself.

Can Edye Dabney dance?

Lexington's joint airport strippers and jail phone account scandals may be about to grow a third leg now that the Fayette County Detention Center is refusing to account for their "recreation" budget with the YMCA of Central Kentucky.

Meanwhile, jail officials are skirting the hiring freeze in Lexington as well as city job posting ordinances by sneaking Acting Assistant Director Edye Dabney into a permanent position.

I'm sure Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry's spokeswoman Susan Straub will tell any members of the media who call that none of this is true.

More proof Kentucky turning into France

This should help make the case for cutting out state welfare for Kentucky newspapers. Specifically, Kentucky must immediately stop forcing government agencies to buy newspaper advertising for public announcements. As a fine example of what this kind of cronyism can lead to, France is pulling out all the stops to bail out their dead tree media:

Thanks to Andy Roth at the national Club for Growth (not to be confused with the Kentucky Club) for passing this along.

Dead Chinese student roils Lexington jail

Federal investigators appear to be digging deeply into Fayette County Detention Center Corporal Charlotte Trotter's role in the suspicious death of a University of Kentucky doctoral student named Dong Zhang back on June 22, 2004 at the jail.

FCDC Director Ron Bishop doesn't want you to know about this. Neither, one assumes, does the Lexington Herald Leader.

(Also, I'd really like to know why college students all over the world are coming to this site via Google to read about Dong Zhang. Will someone please tell me?)

Are Beshear and Newberry on same page?

The World Equestrian Games is shaping up to be a massive taxpayer soaking.

Even if the 2010 event in Lexington goes well, it will be much more expensive than we are being lead to believe. If it gets ugly -- and it looks pretty ugly now -- it will be very embarrassing as well as costly.

We need some public assurances that organizers know what they are doing. Maybe we should get Gov. Steve Beshear and Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry in separate rooms and see who gives up the other one first.

Finally, an optimist!

Don't let them fool you: opportunities are plentiful in a recession. Fortunes will be made buying distressed assets from distressed owners. Stronger manufacturers and service providers will emerge as inefficient ones find other things to do better.

And, on the flip side, big-government politicians will use general feelings of uncertainty to increase their own power.

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford will have none of that, though. He says he is actually having fun right-sizing government in the current environment.

From Stateline.org:

Changing the world one tweet at a time

People keep telling me twitter.com is the next big thing on the internet and I'm not at all sure they are wrong.

If you twitter, you can follow me here. Or at least you can click on the links. You might want to follow this one as well.

Will media miss this story, too?

If someone affiliated with free markets, smaller government, or conservative causes like lower taxes and less government spending provided evidence that supported an opposing point of view, the mainstream media would be all over it.

But what would happen if a University of Kentucky professor concluded from an academic study that school choice innovations such as private school vouchers, charter schools, and special needs scholarships would improve education in the state?

See for yourself.

Where's outrage for gun gouging?

In today's Frankfort State-Journal, Mike Sloan, the owner of Mike's Guns, Archery, and Pawn, is quoted saying that as the threat of an Obama presidency became increasingly likely gun sales skyrocketed and prices of weapons and ammunition increased.

This news comes on the same day Attorney General Jack Conway announced the results of his ridiculous gasoline price gouging investigation.

Unsurprisingly, the laws of supply and demand for gasoline -- and the subsequent government saber-rattling -- get all the attention.

Go figure.

As Minnesota zigs, Kentucky should zag

Politicos in Minnesota are talking about a bill likely to be filed in coming days that would automatically provide public assistance recipients moving to that state from other states the same benefits they received in their previous home.

Sounds like a great way to speed up the financial destruction of a state, doesn't it?

With the growing possibility of Californians on the dole fleeing a state unable to make cash assistance payments, doesn't it make sense that Kentucky should do something to protect itself from another influx of people with their hands out?

I mean, if we try to fit too many people on a life raft, we risk drowning everyone, don't we?

Another weak excuse goes down the drain

Can't find a job? Then you might want to go ahead and start a business.

Secretary of State Trey Grayson just made getting started a little easier by allowing new business owners to file state paperwork for a new business on the internet.

"This new service will save companies time and money," Grayson said. "By tearing down the bureaucratic red tape of state government, we hope this will encourage other entrepreneurs to start their businesses in Kentucky."

All you have to do is come up with a great idea for a new business, click the "FastTrack" button on here, and get to work.

That way, eventually, you won't have to worry so much about the state blowing up its unemployment fund or the welfare recipients escaping California or Illinois to come raid your state tax dollars.

Cover your own Newberry, please

A link to this post has been burning up the email circuit. It sparked an interesting conversation last night. First, this came in from a Lexington television reporter:

Minutes later came this response from a reader in San Diego some central Kentuckians will recognize (click the image to expand it):

Are we ready for school vouchers?

As Frankfort politicians play their high-stakes game of chicken between spending cuts and tax increases, it's at least worth mentioning that school vouchers could save a lot of money.

And vouchers would likely improve educational outcomes in Kentucky more than just about any policy change.

Here's the latest from The Manhattan Institute:

Read the rest here. I'm open to better ideas. Anyone?

Still throwing rocks at government watchdogs

House Speaker Greg Stumbo has expressed openness to killing the Kentucky Department of Education's discredited CATS program.

This would put him on the same side of the issue as Senate President David Williams.

But protectors of the status quo have, instead of making a case for the efficacy of their programs, made a habit of taking potshots at The Bluegrass Institute and anyone else who dares to threaten their base of power.

Take, for instance, this anonymous jab at The Institute on The Prichard Committee's new blog.

The Bluegrass Institute has tried for years to engage KDE sycophants like Prichard Committee in a meaningful debate.

Rip Van Bishop: "Thanks for wake-up call!"

Fayette County Detention Center Director Ron Bishop knows that when you put yourself in hot water and the heat gets turned up, it's time to dance.

He's dancing. Bishop said:

"In 2004, shortly after I became Director, I requested the audit of all three accounts covered by this audit report in order to ensure that all assets were accounted for and to identify practices and policies that needed improvement. The Prisoner Account Fund and Community Alternative Progam accounts were audited but the Phone Account was not. Therefore, I welcome the recommendations contained in the current audit report."

Guess where all the problems were found? The one area, Phone Account, that wasn't audited. Anyone else wondering why he didn't bother to check into that for five years rather than apparently sleeping on it? If you know the answer, call the FBI. That's one of the things they are trying to figure out.

The audit report Bishop mentions touches on financial mismanagement issues at the heart of an ongoing federal investigation into the activities of former Senior Administrative Officer Don Leach. Bishop might be setting himself up for some follow-up conversations.

"We have not seen any evidence that funds were spent for inappropriate purchases during the audit period or that assets were misused," Bishop said.

The audit, however, states:

"We noted several Memorandums of Agreement between Cottrell Consulting and Community Corrections were executed by the Director of Community Corrections. The LFUCG Charter specifically states that the Mayor shall sign all written contracts or obligations of LFUCG. In addition, interviews with Community Corrections personnel indicate that Community Corrections did not follow the Request for Proposal process when a $120,000 project was awarded to Cottrell via Memorandum of Agreement in October 2005. This is a violation of CAO Policy #1."

Didn't see that in The Lexington Herald Leader.

Expect to hear more about the jail's "phone account."