Audit the Fed bill is in federal budget

Sen. Jim Bunning said Senate Democrats so far have not removed his "Audit the Fed" bill from the budget bill which could get a vote this week.

On his weekly conference call this morning, he talked about the importance of the bill:

"It says to the Fed, 'it's time to be held accountable for your actions.'"

Bunning also challenged reporters who repeated questions about his campaign and about his health. Bunning responded to The Lexington Herald Leader's John Stamper, who asked him about releasing his medical records, by saying he was up for any kind of physical challenge the reporter chose and asked him how big he was.

Stamper responded "I wouldn't want to arm wrestle you, Senator."

Bunning also called Sen. Mitch McConnell a "control freak" who "doesn't like anyone who tells him no."

Better talk about this now

A weekend debate between South Carolina's two Republican U.S. Senators, as described in The State newspaper, should begin an important dialogue for Kentucky Republicans:

"Ron Paul is not the leader of this party," (U.S. Sen. Lindsey) Graham said, prompting a few jeers. Some people yelled, "Yes, he is!"

"I’m not going to give this party over to people who can’t win," Graham finished, drawing most of the crowd to its feet.

But U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, who followed Graham, said he’d rather have 30 senators who stand on principle than 60 who have none.

The increasingly-likely primary battle between Dr. Rand Paul and Sec. of State Trey Grayson would open similar divisions in Kentucky that both candidates would do well to start closing right away.

Sitting next to Mica, I feel older and balder

I like the sound of this

In Tennessee, they are setting up Tea Parties for one of their Congressional representatives to remind him that he "works for Tennesseans, not Nancy Pelosi!"



Might a round of these by Kentuckians help focus Congressman Ben Chandler? I think so.

Obamathon for socialized medicine

Call it a tax-me-more fund for Canadian-style health care. Pres. Barack Obama wants you to send in money so he can run commercials to promote a total government takeover of the American health care industry.



Go fish, Mr. President.

Let's make some news

I'll be on Newsmakers Saturday morning at 11 am with Mica Sims talking about where the resistance to bloated government movement goes from here.

Next stop is the Frankfort Freedom Rally next Saturday May 23 at 1 pm at Juniper Hill park.

Food for thought for Appalachia

Add one to the "no comment" brigade

It's worth pointing out that the federal investigation into the Lexington jail inmate abuse scandal still has not been closed.

As the scandal prepares to blow up all over Lexington taxpayers, former Mayor Teresa Isaac and current Mayor Jim Newberry have been conspicuously silent.

I just reached Director Ron Bishop on his LFUCG-issued cell phone to ask if he had a comment about the three guilty pleas issued so far.

"I have no comment, Mr. Adams," he said.

Ronald Reagan on ObamaCare

The politicians are the real story here

Wonder what former Mayor Teresa Isaac has to say about the Fayette jail inmate abuse scandal now that three of the five indicted officers have filed guilty pleas.

Newberry will not comment. We know that. TI should face some tough questions.

Surely the MSM will wake up to this story now.

Birds of a feather...

In 2011, when Gov. Steve Beshear is pretending he never heard of Pres. Barack Obama, remember that just as Obama was breaking his transparency promise, Beshear was cynically doing something very similar.

Begging for a lightning strike, Jennifer?

Funniest news item of the day: Michigan's Governor Jennifer Granholm is going to speak in a church about how great the Obama stimulus plan is for her state.



That would sure get the Tea Party crowd stirred up in Kentucky if Gov. Steve Beshear tried to spread some fiscal hokum from the pulpit. To his credit, Beshear has kept his nonsense out of houses of worship.

And speaking of Tea Parties, I'll be on Bill Bryant's WKYT Newsmakers program with Mica Sims Saturday at 11am talking about what is next for the small-government movement.

A full schedule

I'm in meetings much of today and will host a tax reform forum tonight at 6:30 pm at The Inn on Broadway. Check back for updates.

Fayette jail pucker factor update

Ahead of next month's federal trial in the Fayette County Detention Center inmate abuse trial, sources report three of the five defendants have worked out plea bargains with prosecutors.

This is really bad news for those at the jail who haven't been indicted yet and horrible timing for a couple of politicians (here and here) who really want it all to go away.

Senate race update

I'm headed to Lexington for a meeting of the Women Republicans of Central Kentucky. The speaker today is Secretary of State Trey Grayson.

Check back for updates and, probably, video.

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Here you go:

A little skepticism would go a long way here

As the political effort to ram through a total federal takeover of the healthcare system marches on, Kentucky's big-spenders are using similar tactics to force acceptance of casino gambling.

The up-tempo campaign style is designed to limit careful thinking and the doomsday predictions of billion dollar shortfalls are laid out to shock the electorate into submission.

Cooler heads may want to turn their attention to Maryland, where the plan isn't fairing so well. From Governing Magazine:

Meanwhile, the need for a Kentucky horsing bailout may be overblown. You should read this.

The "fix" is in

The radical left now suggests going to socialized medicine will "fix" health care, "fix" the economy, and create 3.5 million jobs.

This would be a bad Saturday Night Live skit if it weren't true.



These utopian schemes always cost way more than they are supposed to and create more problems than they solve. "Conservative" and "Moderate" Democrats are the ones who will be blamed the most for this nonsense going through.

In related news, Social Security trustees reported today their estimate that the program will go into the tank in 2016. That's when we start to realize that the Social Security Trust Fund really doesn't have any money in it.

Media reports that Medicare Hospital Insurance costs will exceed program revenues until 2017 ignore the fact that Medicare Supplementary Medical Insurance is already pulling general revenue dollars and is only getting worse. Very convenient to leave out the more expensive part.

Remember how much fun we had with the "There is no crisis" gang just four short years ago, when Rep. Ben Chandler was claiming Socials Security could go for "generations" without reform?

And these are the people who are going to create our new health care system.

For stabilizing the art market?

It's a whole lot less taxpayer money than we are pouring into, say, bad real estate investments, but it seems that if we are going to ever prioritize government spending that now would be a good time to start. And this would be a good thing to cut.

Bunning in Lexington in June

Sen. Jim Bunning said on his weekly media conference call that he has a Lexington fundraiser scheduled for the first week of June. He declined to say who will host the event.

Going around again on "home" economics

Gov. Steve Beshear has a big cardboard $2 million novelty check for Bowling Green today for your children to redeem later.

A quick check of my state and federal constitutions shows nothing about a government role in anything like his claim to "stem the decline in surrounding property values..." and, while my economics texts mention propping up aggregate demand, they contain nothing to suggest borrowing public money to give to low income people to make them homeowners will work any better than reducing credit standards did.