Why do we let this stupidity persist?

Kentucky's practice of providing health insurance benefits for retired state and local government workers under 65 has to go.

Kentucky's $8.9 billion in unfunded health insurance liabilities for public retirees can't be made to go away quickly, but the practice of offering these benefits should be phased out as soon as possible.

The Commonwealth ranks 8th in the nation in per capita unfunded health insurance liabilities for public retirees. That is especially bad when it is considered that we are 42nd in per capita income and that all of the states with higher unfunded liabilities have more money than we do.

In other words, we are the single most unprepared state in the nation in terms of ability to dole out overly rich benefits to public employees. But we are doing it anyway.

Funny neither of the major newspapers in the state picked up on this story this week right after we raided the same fund of $50 million. But I guess we should be used to it by now.

SC Governor calls a spade a spade

Here's yet another reason to wish Kentucky had another state's governor.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is the reason Pres. Barack Obama's bailout of the cities and states included a provision essentially prohibiting governors from refusing to accept the "stimulus" money. South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn slipped that into the bill when Sanford was trying to explain that it was a bad deal for everyone.

Now, Clyburn says Sanford is against wasteful spending because he hates black people:

""The governor of Louisiana expressed opposition. Has the highest African-American population in the country. Governor of Mississippi expressed opposition. The governor of Texas, and the governor of South Carolina. These four governor's represent states that are in the black belt. I was insulted by that," Clyburn said. "All of this was a slap in the face of African-Americans. It had nothing to do with Governor Sanford.""

Sanford's response, through a spokesman, was fantastic:

""Representative Clyburn is no stranger to playing the race card, because he has no defense for the runaway spending and the deficits contained in this so-called stimulus bil that will hurt our economy. Spending money at the federal level that we do not have represents a future tax increase on all South Carolinians, regardless of their color - and in the process of doing so, he's ripping off everyone he claims to represent.""

Our own Gov. Beshear is eagerly awaiting the money with no apparent concern for the future.

Uh, no

It's not hard to blame Republicans in power since 2000 for giving us Democrats who make insane stuff like this our new reality.

What a dying political career looks like

Someone in Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry's office wanted to see if his recent Fox News appearance garnered any good press.

Google says no.
Newberry still hasn't announced his plans for re-election. Hope this helps. Then he can concentrate on fending off a certain lawsuit.

Where is Ben Chandler today?

Rep. Ben Chandler doesn't want you to know he is quietly urging Speaker Nancy Pelosi not to call up a bill that would force unionization on private businesses.

President Barack Obama campaigned hard for so-called card check legislation, his ACORN buddies are on board, and the union officials who fund Chandler's campaigns are counting on his support.

Everyone else? Not so much.

Here is video from a card check debate between Kentucky AFL-CIO President Bill Londrigan and Kentucky Club for Growth Chairman Warren Rogers.



In other news, Chandler was against the bailouts before he was for them.

Someone has to say it

"Kentucky isn't like California."

How many times has a Bluegrass state native heard that? It used to be a putdown of Kentucky since, years ago, everything cool happened in California first and then we got it about ten years later.

But then California started going for every new left-wing crackpot idea under the sun. They have greened themselves, and taxed themselves, and spent themselves to the edge of fiscal disaster. Being unlike California has become a badge of honor.

Maybe, just maybe, circumstances are about to put us in a position where we go back to looking up to California again.

Now the only thing standing between Californians and the largest state tax increase in history ($14 billion and counting, tax increases are never "enough") is the state's small group of Senate Republicans.

We had a similar opportunity come up in Kentucky last week, but we aren't like California.

And now, California Senate Republicans have ousted their caucus leader for going along with the tax increasers. California big spenders are going to have to get with the cost-cutting program, it appears. And the sooner they do, the better. But we aren't like California.

Indeed, we aren't. More of our Senate Republicans went for the tax increases and the pension raid last week than went against them. Whisperings of efforts to run primary opponents against Republican taxers and raiders are starting to be heard.

Stay tuned...

Kiss that money goodbye!

The Louisville Courier Journal reports the Kentucky Department of Education will receive a $305 million federal bailout.

The schools' MUNIS accounting system is such a mess no one is going to be able to account for this money. That should stimulate someone to action in Frankfort or Washington D.C., but I'm not holding my breath.

"More bail, please"

Automotive News reports that Chrysler wants another $2 billion of your money. I sense a recurring theme here.

And, of course, our politicians are watching.

UNBELIEVABLE update: make that $2 billion for March. And another $2.6 billion in April. Up to a total of $30 billion. Nancy Pelosi says she is hopeful.

Words fail me...

Here is a link to a video in which the GM CEO talks about returning the company to profitability.

Watching California, thinking Kentucky

The budget fireworks in California took a positive turn Tuesday as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has started the major downsizing of government he should have done months ago.

One single Republican vote in the state Senate is all that stands between the nation's biggest state and the nation's biggest tax increase. Should that resistance hold, spending cuts and Obama bailout funds will have to make up huge deficits.

Federal bailout funds prevent much of the forced spending discipline that would do California a world of good. To a much lesser extent, that ship has already sailed for us in Kentucky.

Of course, we will be back having this same argument again very soon in Frankfort. Will it be deja vu all over again, perhaps? Hope not.

Let them eat stock certificates

General Motors is expected to announce Tuesday that their survival plan includes taking more taxpayer money, making fewer cars, and paying off their bonds with soon-to-be worthless stock.
From Automotive News:

Real progress won't begin until after the deal involves paying off union officials with blank pieces of paper.

I have a question, Mr. President!

Just got my invitation in the mail for the Jessamine County Republican Party Lincoln Day dinner at 6 pm February 28 at Equestrian Woods in Nicholasville.

Senate President David Williams is the featured speaker.

After last week's votes to raise taxes and raid the state employee health fund of $50 million, this could be a very interesting event indeed.

Admission is $30 per person.

Up with hemp, down with Mountain Dew?

The most popular post on Bluegrass Policy Blog is about a bill to make hemp production legal in Kentucky.

Check out the action in the post's comments section.

At the same time, the most popular post on Kentucky Progress is about making Mountain Dew illegal in Kentucky.

Lexington's own "Trial of the Century"

This summer, Lexington will endure an unusually long federal criminal trial city officials don't want you to know anything about.

The Lexington jail inmate abuse trial starts June 8 and is scheduled to last three weeks.

This suggests former Mayor Teresa Isaac and current jail Director Ron Bishop may have been mistaken when they said on television that there was nothing to this story.

Presidential irony

I wish it were funnier that America has a president whose name and image inspires spam email scam artists.

This isn't even the first time. Won't be the last, either.

Beshear gives Kentucky an Obama

Gov. Steve Beshear borrowed the rhetoric of Pres. Barack Obama yesterday in congratulating himself for his smoke-and-mirrors fix of Kentucky's government spending problem:

Just last Saturday, Obama was saying the same thing about his bailout of the cities and states:

This is what Republican leaders in the Kentucky House and Senate have signed up with? Unbelievable.

If you liked Tax Jam 2009, just wait

The Kentucky Senate voted this morning to raise taxes and to raid the public employees' health fund of $50 million.

Can't imagine where the raid idea came from, since a mere seven months ago the Senate majority seemed to have a pretty good handle on the dire situation in public employee benefits. But the tax increase train never had to leave the station.

If the people behind the tobacco and alcohol industries had only realized that this wasn't about being unfair to the people who make, distribute, and consume their products, their opposition may have been more effective.

These tax increases and the health fund raid won't provide "enough" money to hold back future tax increases and smoke-and-mirrors transfers. Too bad the tobacco and alcohol folks never seemed to realize that the issue wasn't about just them, but was about the size of government all along.

Text messaging is best

Tax raisers in the state Senate are currently one vote short on HB 144. Will your Senator fall into the big government trap?

9:37 AM Update: They just came back in. Wonder who folded?

Senate, don't be as cynical as the House

The theme for this week in Frankfort has been politicians saying one thing and meaning another. A bipartisan Gang of 11 House members betrayed a pledge to their constituents to never support a tax increase. That same Gang also joined 54 fellow House members in tossing aside their seven month old promise to stop making the public employee benefits debacle worse.

Then it was House Budget Chairman Rick Rand's turn.

"We felt it was important that we let the citizens of Kentucky know," he told his Budget Committee, "that everything would be on the table: all cuts, any potential revenue measures, and anything we could do to bring this budget into balance."

Then, presented a commonsense amendment by Rep. Joe Fischer to stop forcing Kentucky taxpayers to pay excessive union wages for public construction projects, Rand spit the bit. Fischer's measure didn't even get a vote. Others tried the same thing on the tax increase bill with the same result.

Unless the Senate's intention is to simply join their friends in the House in raising taxes, they should restore Fischer's amendment and remove the Health Fund raid in HB 143. It also hardly makes sense to allow Beshear to restore funds to prior spending cuts as the bill does with borrowed money. You remember how overextending got us into this mess, right?

Come on, guys. This is ridiculous.

Barack Obama wants us to trust him

Kentuckian in exile Caleb Brown of the Cato Institute wonders why Pres. Barack Obama is playing "hide the details" with his big bailout bill:

"If this legislation is such a good idea, why don’t we get to look at it?"

Seems Obama is disappointing some who thought he was serious when he promised to, you know, not be so secretive about important stuff.

Will Kentucky rob Peter and Paul both?

Federal governments all over the world are printing "stimulus" money faster than grass runs through a Kentucky Derby champion. In Frankfort, politicians are breaking promises just as fast.

It's about to get worse.

Part of the deal to "raise revenues" for the state is, apparently, agreement to allow Gov. Steve Beshear to raid the public employee fringe benefits accounts of $50 million.

Just to get us through this temporary problem. Until the next one, of course.

Whatever happened to this guy?