In a search for examples of good government, Massachusetts is not usually going to provide much guidance. But one provision in a public employee pension reform bill their legislature passed unanimously Thursday could help Kentucky.
What they did was repeal a big pension enhancement for former legislators. Kentucky currently allows former legislators who go to work in a higher paying government job to switch their pension credit for time in the General Assembly so they get benefits as if they were in the higher paying job all along.
We're already $30 billion in the hole on Kentucky's public pensions. This would be a good place to stop digging.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Feds tell Kentucky to pass charter school law
Heading into a special session originally called to balance the budget, but that has quickly turned into a big mess with a wide variety of issues lacking consensus, Gov. Steve Beshear may be missing a signal from federal officials about another key topic.
Earlier this week, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said:
Kentucky's Senate Education Committee Chairman Ken Winters, a long-time school-choice advocate, expressed hope that strong federal support may help break resistance to such improvements in Frankfort.
"I think we are getting more momentum on this," Winters said.
House Education Committee Chairman Carl Rollins wasn't enthusiastic, but nevertheless suggested the time for real discussion of the issue may be at hand.
"I'm not a fan of charter schools, but it's worth a look and the money might make it worth a second look," Rollins said.
The expanded opportunities available to charter school students are currently only available to only a precious few:
Earlier this week, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said:
"States that do not have public charter laws or put artificial caps on the growth of charter schools will jeopardize their applications under the [$4.35 billion] Race to the Top Fund."
Kentucky's Senate Education Committee Chairman Ken Winters, a long-time school-choice advocate, expressed hope that strong federal support may help break resistance to such improvements in Frankfort.
"I think we are getting more momentum on this," Winters said.
House Education Committee Chairman Carl Rollins wasn't enthusiastic, but nevertheless suggested the time for real discussion of the issue may be at hand.
"I'm not a fan of charter schools, but it's worth a look and the money might make it worth a second look," Rollins said.
The expanded opportunities available to charter school students are currently only available to only a precious few:
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Socialized medicine death spiral
The Radical Left is taking aim at moderates who aren't ready to destroy the Democratic Party over President Obama's health insurance reform. This is a good thing.
Obama and a minority of Congressional radicals really think wiping out the private sector with a taxpayer subsidized "public option" is the way to lower healthcare costs. Wow. That just doesn't make any sense at all. The ironic thing is that if they would just set aside their hatred for capitalism long enough to restore some free market principles to the healthcare marketplace, they would get the lower costs they say they want.
Obama and a minority of Congressional radicals really think wiping out the private sector with a taxpayer subsidized "public option" is the way to lower healthcare costs. Wow. That just doesn't make any sense at all. The ironic thing is that if they would just set aside their hatred for capitalism long enough to restore some free market principles to the healthcare marketplace, they would get the lower costs they say they want.
My parties will be better
In a tribute to his own tone-deafness, Gov. Steve Beshear is going to throw a big party at the Mansion for his friends next Monday, the first day of his wasteful special session. The party is set to start as soon as the legislature adjourns for the day.
You probably aren't invited. But if it's any consolation, you get to pick up the tab.
That's okay, Governor. I'd rather come up to the Rotunda the following day (Tuesday) at noon for a taxpayer rally with my friends. And then I'll be back Wednesday at noon on the Capitol steps with more friends interested in providing a contrast to the continued waste, fraud, and abuse. Anyone who thinks the same way is welcome to join in.
Enjoy your party while it lasts, Governor.
You probably aren't invited. But if it's any consolation, you get to pick up the tab.
That's okay, Governor. I'd rather come up to the Rotunda the following day (Tuesday) at noon for a taxpayer rally with my friends. And then I'll be back Wednesday at noon on the Capitol steps with more friends interested in providing a contrast to the continued waste, fraud, and abuse. Anyone who thinks the same way is welcome to join in.
Enjoy your party while it lasts, Governor.
KY Road plan: more "spend, ready, aim!"
The Kentucky Club for Growth hits a trifecta in catching state government, Lexington, and the Herald Leader goofing on taxpayers again:
You can read the rest here.
Our politicians are going to come back after us for a Road Fund "deficit" of $80 million in the current fiscal year. They should have to answer for this waste way before that happens.
"Has either the state or the city actually analyzed the costs involved? No."
"So here's a $200,000 budget item that will balloon into more spending as these additional costs are encountered, all for a project the residents of the road frankly do not want."
"Not to mention $800,000 in state transportation funds that could also serve a better purpose."
You can read the rest here.
Our politicians are going to come back after us for a Road Fund "deficit" of $80 million in the current fiscal year. They should have to answer for this waste way before that happens.
Exactly!
The Louisville Courier Journal sums up nicely what is wrong with runaway government spending, if only unintentionally, in an editorial about local budget cuts.
Indeed, if we placed the same standard on all bureaucracies -- utilize fewer resources to get the same or even better results -- we would continue cutting, wouldn't we? Right-sizing government is something the big-government types will fight to the death for that very reason.
Indeed, if we placed the same standard on all bureaucracies -- utilize fewer resources to get the same or even better results -- we would continue cutting, wouldn't we? Right-sizing government is something the big-government types will fight to the death for that very reason.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The only number that matters
As Frankfort politicians often do, they have been throwing budget deficit/shortfall/overspending figures around enough to make our heads spin. Of course, that's the idea. When they are finished and before the next election, we are just supposed to remember how nice and smart they look on television.
The truth is that you only need to know one number to understand Kentucky's overspending problem. It's $1,508,494,000. That's the one-point-five billion dollars in new bonded debt our representatives authorized for themselves in the current budget bill.
Too much government costs us too much money. It's going to be very difficult to "reform" much of anything until we come to grips with that simple fact.
The truth is that you only need to know one number to understand Kentucky's overspending problem. It's $1,508,494,000. That's the one-point-five billion dollars in new bonded debt our representatives authorized for themselves in the current budget bill.
Too much government costs us too much money. It's going to be very difficult to "reform" much of anything until we come to grips with that simple fact.
Hoover warns of failed special session
Kentucky's House Minority Leader Jeff Hoover isn't crazy about the idea of going back to Frankfort for a June session of the legislature without properly planning their $60,000 a day activity.
Hoover said: "This is my thirteenth year (in the General Assembly.) We've had several special sessions. And the good special sessions are where we have at least a working agreement coming into the special session."
I like the part about spending cuts and no more tax increases, but it would be better if we could target the cuts toward waste instead of the across-the-board variety, leaving all the same players in place to come back next year for a bigger piece of the pie.
Hoover spoke Wednesday at the June meeting of the Women Republicans of Central Kentucky in Lexington.
Hoover said: "This is my thirteenth year (in the General Assembly.) We've had several special sessions. And the good special sessions are where we have at least a working agreement coming into the special session."
I like the part about spending cuts and no more tax increases, but it would be better if we could target the cuts toward waste instead of the across-the-board variety, leaving all the same players in place to come back next year for a bigger piece of the pie.
Hoover spoke Wednesday at the June meeting of the Women Republicans of Central Kentucky in Lexington.
We have lights and cameras, but no Skippy
Finance and Administration Cabinet Secretary Jonathan Miller should be eager to weigh in on Gov. Steve Beshear's scheduled butt-kicking on casino gambling coming up next week, shouldn't he?
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Lexington official lies under oath
Corporal John Vest's federal whistleblower lawsuit in the Lexington jail inmate abuse scandal took an interesting turn last week when FCDC Director Ron Bishop declared in his sworn testimony that he was "paralyzed" by the FBI investigation into the jail and determined not to find out anything or ask any questions about any wrongdoing that may have occurred.
The following conversation between Vest's attorney Bill Jacobs and Bishop will certainly be contradicted by other witnesses in court:
Jacobs: Did you ever learn that some of your officers went to Mr. Vest's wife's
workplace and intimidated her?
Bishop: No.
Jacobs: You never learned that? Did FBI instruct anybody at your place
to not do that, if you know?
Bishop: I'm not aware of any instructions.
Jacobs: Did you ever learn that McQueen chased Mr. Vest around New Circle Road?
Bishop: No, I'm not aware of that.
Jacobs: Never heard about it?
Bishop: No.
Jacobs: Did you, or anybody at your direction, ask officers after they went to the FBI, Department of Justice, or the Grand Jury, what was asked of them or what they said?
Bishop: No.
Jacobs: You never did that?
Bishop: No.
Jacobs: No to all of those?
Bishop: No to all of those.
Jacobs: Do you know if anybody did ask them what they were asked by the FBI?
Bishop: I'm not aware of anyone who did that.
Jacobs: Did you instruct your staff that you were supervising not to ask those questions?
Bishop: Yes.
Jacobs: Who did you tell?
Bishop: Jim Kammer, Todd Eades, Mary Hester, and the Majors, Majors Hill, Korb, White.
This easy to disprove lie will prove particularly ill-timed given that defendants are now cooperating with prosecutors.
The following conversation between Vest's attorney Bill Jacobs and Bishop will certainly be contradicted by other witnesses in court:
Jacobs: Did you ever learn that some of your officers went to Mr. Vest's wife's
workplace and intimidated her?
Bishop: No.
Jacobs: You never learned that? Did FBI instruct anybody at your place
to not do that, if you know?
Bishop: I'm not aware of any instructions.
Jacobs: Did you ever learn that McQueen chased Mr. Vest around New Circle Road?
Bishop: No, I'm not aware of that.
Jacobs: Never heard about it?
Bishop: No.
Jacobs: Did you, or anybody at your direction, ask officers after they went to the FBI, Department of Justice, or the Grand Jury, what was asked of them or what they said?
Bishop: No.
Jacobs: You never did that?
Bishop: No.
Jacobs: No to all of those?
Bishop: No to all of those.
Jacobs: Do you know if anybody did ask them what they were asked by the FBI?
Bishop: I'm not aware of anyone who did that.
Jacobs: Did you instruct your staff that you were supervising not to ask those questions?
Bishop: Yes.
Jacobs: Who did you tell?
Bishop: Jim Kammer, Todd Eades, Mary Hester, and the Majors, Majors Hill, Korb, White.
This easy to disprove lie will prove particularly ill-timed given that defendants are now cooperating with prosecutors.
No time for more stupid Frankfort budget tricks
Stateline.org reports Kentucky's corporate tax receipts are growing faster than those of any other state in the nation.
Where would they get such a silly idea? From the National Association of State Budget Officers. And where did they get their information? Gov. Steve Beshear.
There is nothing to this. Beshear is just using the fake revenue projections in order to show a higher "shortfall" next year.
Go here for the Stateline story and here for the NASBO report.
Where would they get such a silly idea? From the National Association of State Budget Officers. And where did they get their information? Gov. Steve Beshear.
There is nothing to this. Beshear is just using the fake revenue projections in order to show a higher "shortfall" next year.
Go here for the Stateline story and here for the NASBO report.
Jack Conway still mum on casinos
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission today voted in a resolution to express support for Gov. Steve Beshear's baby step to full-blown casinos in Kentucky. Attorney General Jack Conway's father is on the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.
Does this mean we now know where Senate candidate Jack Conway stands on casinos?
Does this mean we now know where Senate candidate Jack Conway stands on casinos?
Monday, June 08, 2009
Biden sees no economic critics
Speaking today on a media conference call, Vice President Joe Biden dodged several questions about the Administration's bogus claims of saving or creating millions of American jobs.
"No one is out there saying our administration has come up with a phony way of measuring jobs," Biden said.
Right. No one but Harvard economist Greg Mankiw. UC Berkeley economist Brad DeLong and Princeton economist Paul Krugman (both huge Obama fans, except when they criticize him for not being Left enough) have been strangely silent on the subject:
"No one is out there saying our administration has come up with a phony way of measuring jobs," Biden said.
Right. No one but Harvard economist Greg Mankiw. UC Berkeley economist Brad DeLong and Princeton economist Paul Krugman (both huge Obama fans, except when they criticize him for not being Left enough) have been strangely silent on the subject:
When is a blog not a blog?
Why would Gov. Steve Beshear say he is starting a blog and then not allow comments on it?
And I'm a big UK basketball fan, too. But Gov. Beshear would do well to mix in to his inner circle some people who might help free Frankfort from its losing ways.
And I'm a big UK basketball fan, too. But Gov. Beshear would do well to mix in to his inner circle some people who might help free Frankfort from its losing ways.
Casino gambling not even a top five issue
Casino gambling is getting all the attention in Frankfort right now, but we have much bigger fish to fry.
Kentucky's unemployment benefits deficit of over $207 million is getting bigger every week. This isn't a smoke-and-mirrors "shortfall" game. This money will have to be paid back to the federal government in the next state budget.
Continuing to throw up across-the-board spending cuts as Gov. Steve Beshear does won't solve the persistent problems in jobless benefits, Medicaid, or public employee benefits.
Eliminating programs that don't work and improving spending accountability provide opportunities we can't continue to ignore. We should begin with stopping corporate welfare, repealing prevailing wage, ending certificate of need, and move quickly toward justifying every dollar of K-12 education spending. We are also still waiting for Gov. Steve Beshear's promised spending efficiency study, transparency web site, and a serious approach to the $30 billion public employee benefits underfunding.
Governor?
Kentucky's unemployment benefits deficit of over $207 million is getting bigger every week. This isn't a smoke-and-mirrors "shortfall" game. This money will have to be paid back to the federal government in the next state budget.
Continuing to throw up across-the-board spending cuts as Gov. Steve Beshear does won't solve the persistent problems in jobless benefits, Medicaid, or public employee benefits.
Eliminating programs that don't work and improving spending accountability provide opportunities we can't continue to ignore. We should begin with stopping corporate welfare, repealing prevailing wage, ending certificate of need, and move quickly toward justifying every dollar of K-12 education spending. We are also still waiting for Gov. Steve Beshear's promised spending efficiency study, transparency web site, and a serious approach to the $30 billion public employee benefits underfunding.
Governor?
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Karl Marx would love this
Ford Motor Company is about to pay the price for not bowing, scraping and begging to Obama.
ObamaCare weekend sales pitch
Put your boots on before venturing into Pres. Barack Obama's latest HopeyCam. Or just skip it; I picked out the highlights right here.
Obama said:
Given government's huge role in healthcare pricing in America, I'd like to see him point out what "unwarranted profiteering" he is talking about. If he means health insurers, he might urge Congress to allow people to buy health insurance across state lines before he kills off all the health insurers and forces us onto Medicare. Otherwise much of the variation in costs is caused by state certificate of need laws.
And then he started in on how he is going to "pay for" his big plans:
We've already seen how Obama does "rigorous spending reductions." And if you have seen any of his energy plans, you already have a good idea about how appropriate his "additional revenues" are going to be.
Here is the video if you want to see for yourself:
Obama said:
"We must attack the root causes of skyrocketing healthcare costs. Some of these costs are the result of unwarranted profiteering that has no place in our healthcare system."
Given government's huge role in healthcare pricing in America, I'd like to see him point out what "unwarranted profiteering" he is talking about. If he means health insurers, he might urge Congress to allow people to buy health insurance across state lines before he kills off all the health insurers and forces us onto Medicare. Otherwise much of the variation in costs is caused by state certificate of need laws.
And then he started in on how he is going to "pay for" his big plans:
"We must develop a plan that doesn't add to our budget deficit. My budget included a historic downpayment on reform and we'll work with Congress to fully cover the costs through rigorous spending reductions and appropriate additional revenues."
We've already seen how Obama does "rigorous spending reductions." And if you have seen any of his energy plans, you already have a good idea about how appropriate his "additional revenues" are going to be.
Here is the video if you want to see for yourself:
KY GOP needs Virginia's guts on schools
Kentucky could take a lesson from Virginia GOP gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell, who is pushing hard for school choice freedoms in his state. From his campaign web site:
Kentucky Democrats have been hesitant to cross the KEA on public charters. Our Republicans have nothing to lose and much to gain.
"Speaking about Virginia’s educational challenges, McDonnell said, "Our goal in Virginia must be to ensure equal opportunity for a quality education. But for thousands of students in the Commonwealth these opportunities are inadequate - limited by the zip code in which they live, or limited by decisions of local school systems. We will not tolerate failing or underperforming schools in a McDonnell administration."
"I agree with President Obama: we need more charter schools in America. That need is particularly pressing in Virginia, where we currently only have four charter schools, one of the lowest numbers in the country."
Kentucky Democrats have been hesitant to cross the KEA on public charters. Our Republicans have nothing to lose and much to gain.
Putting a real governor on Frankfort
The Wall Street Journal's Paris and Berlin writers quote themselves this weekend spreading the silly idea that their countries should be jettisoning "unchecked capitalism" during recession. Europeans are, instead, showing impatience for the problem that is actually occurring: unchecked socialism.
Meanwhile, Frankfort's fixers are coming together starting June 15 in special session purportedly to "nurture" business growth. Instead, the beneficiary is most likely to be big government.
Lunchtime citizen demonstrations Tuesday (6/16) in the Rotunda and Wednesday (6/17) on the Capitol front steps will seek to check our unchecked overspending and government growth.
Meanwhile, Frankfort's fixers are coming together starting June 15 in special session purportedly to "nurture" business growth. Instead, the beneficiary is most likely to be big government.
Lunchtime citizen demonstrations Tuesday (6/16) in the Rotunda and Wednesday (6/17) on the Capitol front steps will seek to check our unchecked overspending and government growth.
Mitch McConnell involved in primary again
Just pulled this comment off a message board for purposes of discussion:
How will Sen. McConnell's actions impact your vote in the 2010 U.S. Senate GOP primary?
"I received the same email from the Trey Grayson campaign."
"I had also read that Trey Grayson was a Bill Clinton delegate, and that does give me pause, but maybe that was a "youthful indiscretion". Clinton smoked but didn't inhale. Maybe Grayson was a Clinton delegate but didn't vote for Clinton. :-)"
"I have a more current issue with Trey Grayson."
"I think what's happening is Senator Mitch McConnell was twisting arms back in the Fall to get Republicans to vote for the TARP-1 bailout and while he was successful in that effort (and we still elected him!), Senator Jim Bunning went on TV and called the TARP-1 bailout what it was... SOCIALISM. That made McConnell mad, so McConnell has withdrawn the Republican Party of Kentucky support and the funds that Bunning needs to run have dried up. McConnell is forcing Bunning out of the Senate because he wouldn't fall in line and vote for the Republican flavor of Big Government socialism, and now McConnell has anointed Trey Grayson as his hand picked replacement for Bunning. Reading between the lines, I think that means that Trey Grayson is almost certainly going to vote the way McConnell tells him to, even if that means voting for socialist bailouts like TARP-1. Most Kentuckians did not want the socialist bailout. 93% of calls to Chandler's office opposed the TARP-1 bailout, but Mitch McConnell and Diane Feinstein convinced their parties to vote contrary to the will of their constituents. Mitch McConnell received $163,300 from commercial banks, including $17,500 from Goldman Sachs."
"I'm working on a radical new concept and in the words of Trey Grayson, I'd like your advice. Instead of party politicians telling us who we'll vote for, would anyone else like to overthrow the oligarchy and vote for the candidates who represent US for a change?"
"I hope my opinion on Trey Grayson is based on principle and I'm not just being petty, but I'm going to be against anyone who is picked by Mitch McConnell. I don't think party bosses should pick our candidates. I think we should pick our candidates."
How will Sen. McConnell's actions impact your vote in the 2010 U.S. Senate GOP primary?
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