Hey, It's A Culture Of Corruption!

Unbelievable. Down in New Orleans, they just re-elected Rep. William "Bribe Money In My Freezer" Jefferson to another term in Congress.

These guys are really going to try to make this fun.

Might Ben Chandler Reconsider Gov Race?

Now that new House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is chatting up the idea of putting the House of Representatives back on a five day work week, I have to wonder if Rep. Ben Chandler might take another look at the Governor's Mansion in Frankfort.

When Ben went to Washington, he spoke openly of his appreciation for the three day work week that allowed him to be home in Versailles four or five nights a week. That left him sleeping in his D.C. office only two or three nights a week. That will be ending in January. Ben will be on the couch nearly full-time.

Frankly, I think one the best things Tom DeLay did as Majority Leader was cut back on the number of days the House was in session. Unwinding this reform just gives them more time to make more laws we could do without.

Don't Just End The War, WIN It

The incoming House Intelligence Committee Chairman, Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), said today "If the president is serious about the need for change in Iraq, he will find Democrats ready to work with him in a bipartisan fashion to find a way to end the war as quickly as possible."

I don't think it is just semantics to demand that our representatives stop talking about ending the war and start talking about winning it.

Meanwhile, the Ayn Rand Institute, provides this interesting essay which at least puts the focus where it belongs -- on defeating Islamic totalitarianism militarily.

Of course, ARI is wrong to suggest we should have left Iraq alone and bomb Iran instead. Hindsight and the Iraq Study Group provide political cover for the president's critics, but little else at this point.

Why People Don't Take Global Warming Seriously

Read about a Canadian wacko who crucified Santa in front of his own house to send a message about how materialistic people are destroying the world.

Harper To Attack Fletcher's Right Flank

GOP gubernatorial hopeful Billy Harper's campaign manager is preparing "to raise attention to issues" which Harper disagrees with Governor Ernie Fletcher on, such as spending too much money on public projects and raising taxes on Kentucky businesses.

Harper's campaign manager Stan Pulliam also said today Harper is in favor of school choice legislation.

It's Cold Outside

Yes, climate change is real.

But it has to be tough for even the most faithful adherent to the notion of mass death by greenhouse gas to get very excited when the morning temperature is nine degrees. One degree over the next century (maybe) with a cause we can do something about (maybe) just doesn't justify the hysteria.

If the moderate position on climate change is that we should cut down on pollution, then I'm a moderate on climate change. Buy long-lasting, low mercury, fluorescent bulbs for the energy savings. That's an easy thing we can all do that will help. Follow some of these tips as well.

Tax And Spend

For some insight into how Congressional Democrats are going to push tax increases, read this.

Borrow and Spend is not much better, but at least no one is trying to push it as a good for you.

I Wouldn't Have Told That

Tericka Dye is the Kentucky high school teacher who lost her job when it was discovered that she had appeared in a pornographic movie. Given that her skin flicks were a decade old when they were discovered, I'm not sure she should have been fired. And now that she is trying to get her old job back, I am sympathetic to her cause.

Or at least I was.

In this news story, she admits that she hasn't worked since she was fired and is, instead, living off child support payments paid to her four children. If that is the case, she has bigger problems than just not being able to get back into the classroom.

Right To Work Bill In Holding Pattern

No one thinks Employee Choice legislation will pass this year in Kentucky, but a bill may be filed anyway.

To his credit, Governor Ernie Fletcher has never backed down from his support of this important policy that three-quarters of voters support.

Gore Must Be Running For Dem Nomination

Remember when a rash of post office shootings by disgruntled mail workers gave rise to the saying "he went postal?"

Well, let's just say Former VP Al Gore went "global warming" yesterday in an obvious pander to the extreme Left.

What exactly do you mean by "worse than a civil war" Al?

And seriously, we all know Al just says things for effect these days, but when he said the Iraq War was the worst strategic mistake in the history of the United States it got me thinking about what was actually the worst strategic mistake in our nation's history.

I'd say slavery. Without this particular labor situation, the American South would have likely industrialized as fast as the North and we would be a much wealthier nation now.

So This Is What The Problem Is?

In a conference call today with reporters, Senator Jim Bunning explained why he is less than enthusiastic about Governor Ernie Fletcher.

"I've had a good relationship before he became Governor and it became strained because of his chief of staff," Bunning said.

Who, Stan Cave? No, Bunning explained.

"The first one," Bunning said.

Oh.

Bullying By Another Name Is Menacing

Senator Julian Carroll made a big deal earlier this year about schools lacking a "policy" on bullying by students.

The Senate paid no attention to him or his silly bill.

That has turned out to be a good thing. When kids go too far at school, we don't need another set of regulations for teachers and administrators to fool with. Menacing is already against the law.

Geographical Shift In House Leadership

In January, the Kentucky House Republicans appear very likely to elect Rep. Dwight Butler (R-Harned) their new Minority Whip.

Butler's district is out toward the western part of the state. Current Whip Ken Upchurch's district lies next to Minority Leader Jeff Hoover's district along the Tennessee border.

Fayette GOP Looks To Lee For AG

In advance of tonight's Fayette County Republican Christmas party, insiders report a full-court press effort to enlist Rep. Stan Lee in next year's Attorney General's race.

When Do We Lose If We Don't Surrender?

The Washington Post is excited to get Defense Secretary nominee Robert Gates on the record answering "no" to the question "Are we winning in Iraq?"

This exchange is particularly exciting for them because we have President Bush on the record from October 25 saying "absolutely, we're winning."

I'm glad these people weren't around in the dark days of the Civil War. Any optimism from President Lincoln would have quickly been hung around his neck.

The same nabobs who say Al Qaeda wasn't in Iraq before the war now expect them to stay there and blow each other up if we just leave.

A Last Ditch Effort To Restrain Spending

Fiscally conservative U.S. House members sent a letter to Speaker Hastert encouraging passage of a Continuing Resolution to restrain the new leadership coming in January from raising spending at least until February.

If they succeed, we will save billions of dollars.

Pretty important stuff.

Tis The Season For Income Redistribution

It's interesting that since the study came out about how liberals tend to be generous with other people's money and conservative's tend to be generous with their own, no liberals have tried to defend themselves against the easy charges of hypocrisy.

Come on libs, where are you?

Hating Walmart Full-time A Dem Shakedown

Presidential hopeful and anti-Walmart candidate John Edwards got caught recently turning up his nose at Walmart for a book signing and opting for Barnes & Noble instead.

The Walmart store he snubbed, who he criticizes for their labor practices, pays their employees $7.50 per hour to start. The bookstore he preferred to attend pays only $7.00.

Once an ambulance chaser, always an ambulance chaser; Edwards knows to go for the deeper pockets regardless of the facts.

Similar Democrat wars against the people who make our gasoline and the people who make our life-saving medicines suggest we may be in for a bumpy ride with this new Congress.

A Compromise With Social Security Bennies

We don't have much agreement about what to do with Social Security. In fact, a hard-core group of Democrats continues to insist there is no insolvency crisis looming on the horizon. That being the case, I thought we might look at one area of easy agreement and a free market solution that will only make the really hard core folks mad.

When you die, Social Security will pay a $255 death benefit to your survivors, presumably so they can make a down payment on a 1986 Chevy Nova.

Why don't we allow use a small portion of Social Security funds so workers can choose to purchase a life insurance policy?

If we are going to burn up all their money on a doomed redistribution scheme that will be out of surplus funds however you count them by 2040, shouldn't we at least allow taxpayers to withdraw a few dollars a month to protect their families when they die?

Hugo Chavez/Hillary Clinton Joined At Hip

Communist dictator Hugo Chavez of Venezuela won re-election -- notably, without any MSM charges of voter fraud -- over the weekend and promised to continue an "expansion of the revolution."

At the end of this AP story, Chavez insists he isn't really a communist and that he respects property rights. In the same breath, he suggests nationalizing utilities.

Sounds just like Sen. Hillary Clinton, who would vehemently deny being a communist but nonetheless supports nationalizing healthcare services.

Brian Goettl Considering Run For AG

Saying Kentucky needs a non-partisan Attorney General, Jessamine County Attorney Brian Goettl tonight announced his interest in running for the office next year.

"The Attorney General's office needs someone who can serve in a non-partisan manner," Goettl said. "We haven't had that in Kentucky and that is why I am looking at the race."

Goettl was elected last month to his second term as County Attorney in Jessamine, a county with over 2500 more registered Democrats than Republicans. He didn't draw an opponent for his re-election bid in this year's race.

"I couldn't be effective in my job if I let party labels get in the way. That no one ran against me this time indicates I have been effective at that."

"The Attorney General is more than just a prosecutor. You represent Kentucky in a number of ways like civil matters and providing legal opinions. My record shows I can do that effectively."

Kentucky Governor 2007

Ted Jackson's unfortunate comparison of Ernie Fletcher to David Koresh yesterday benefits no one. The May primary for Governor can only be a positive for Kentucky if the race is about bettering the state and not what some smartass says to get his name in the newspaper.

There will be enough pettiness in next year's race to go around. What's burning down our house is our public pension system, healthcare regulation, corporate taxation, and government spending.

Keep it on the issues. There is plenty there.

Hottest Rumor Of The Day

Anne Northup is going to announce for Governor tomorrow.

Max Cleland's Head Games

Turns out Ben Chandler wasn't the only Dem to step back from a rematch yesterday. Former U.S. Senator from Georgia Max Cleland also announced he will not take on the Republican who beat him in 2002.

But Cleland's excuse was really good.

From the AP story, Cleland "has acknowledged battling depression and said recently he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, possibly prompted by violence in Iraq triggering memories of Vietnam."

These people have no shame.

Which Cheap Dem Will It Be?

Rep. Ben Chandler was quoted widely yesterday saying the Governor's office was "cheapened" so he didn't want it.

One interesting thing is that Steve Henry has been excoriated in the MSM for his inability to land a running mate, while no such attacks have been launched against AG Greg Stumbo who is so "cheapened" already he not only can't find a running mate, he has party leaders in Frankfort very actively trying to talk him out of running.

I-CARE Giveaway Greeted With A Yawn

Earlier this year the General Assembly put $20 million in the budget to subsidize purchase of health insurance for small business. It was a glimpse into what socialized healthcare will look like in this country: you pay for your own health coverage and your tax dollars go to pay for everyone else.

The good news is that we aren't going to wind up spending much of the money. Less than 500 individuals are in the program now after a month of accepting applications and six months of promotion prior to that.

Applications for the subsidy are trickling in, but it is very likely that when the program sunsets at the end of the biennium, much of the $20 million will remain unspent. Good.

We still have a screaming need for real insurance reform in this state. Regulation should be reduced to three words: follow your contract. If we stopped telling insurance companies how to write their contracts and focused oversight on ensuring that companies kept whatever promises they made in their contracts, costs would go down and we wouldn't need $20 million for subsidies that are too small for people to bother signing up for.

It's Hot In The Kitchen

The race for Governor gets stirred up today and the candidates will be frying each other very soon.

Casinos will be a hot-button issue. What else do you want to hear them talking about?

Make Legislators More Accountable, Not Less

We need to look at ways to make our legislators more accountable for their actions. Instead, we keep trying to go in the other direction.

Before extending the terms of Reps. from two years to four and Senators from four years to six, let's at least cut down or eliminate legislative pensions, put limits on bonding for projects, make the entire budget meetings process open to public view, and make committee votes available on-line the day they take place.

In fact, let's do all these good things and then leave the length of terms where they are.

Minimum Wage Math Made Easy

The current proposal to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 represents a liability for a business owner of $84 a week per employee or $4200 for a 50 week year.

Imagine you have a small store with ten minimum wage employees and your government is telling you that your labor expenses for the same people doing the same work is about to go up nearly $50,000 -- don't forget about the Social Security taxes.

What are you going to do? How many more hamburgers are you going to have to sell just to break even? Remember that you don't just need to make $50,000 more, you will need to make $80,000 more because you have to pay taxes yourself.

Maybe you don't own a small business.

If you depend on a small business with minimum wage employees for anything, are you willing to absorb the higher prices they will be forced to pass along? If you cut back on your spending even a little bit to compensate for the increases, the business owner's math gets even harder to justify.

Fortunately for the economy, not too many businesses rely on workers right at the minimum wage. Those who do usually hire teenagers or people who don't have a family depending on their income. Pricing those people out of the economy will also not have a terribly huge negative impact on the economy.

But this does absolutely nothing to alleviate the ravages of poverty. Nothing at all. It's just a tax increase on small business and a small-time job destroying initiative. And it is the top item on the agenda for our new Congress.

Aren't you proud?

Drooling, Forgetful Richmond Register

The Richmond Register is pretty excited to hear Sen. Ed Worley might be running for higher office.

Maybe they forgot about Worley getting caught lying on tape in his ongoing fraud lawsuit.

Mitch Caves On Minimum Wage

We've been listening all year to politicians telling us raising the minimum wage will help combat poverty, yet there is no evidence to suggest that it actually will. In fact, the evidence suggests real poor people are harmed by government price-fixing of wages.

Apparently that is enough to convince Senator Mitch McConnell to go ahead with the plan to raise the minimum wage anyway.

How are we ever going to improve the direction of our nation if we continue to give in on feel-good, sound-good nonsense like this?

Bush Likes Estonia Flat Tax

With Congress looking to position itself as an agent of change, could implementing a flat tax be the ticket to a positive bipartisanship?

I would take it.

Keeps Going, And Going, And Going, And ...

Are you really surprised to see the merit hiring fiasco isn't dead yet?

"I Don't Pay Taxes, My Husband Does"

Talking to a large number of people one-by-one can be very interesting. That's why Jay Leno's "Jay Walking" feature is so popular. A lot of people know very little about a wide variety of topics. Put them on the spot and they say funny things.

Such was the case when a FairTax volunteer spoke to passers-by at the Oklahoma State Fair. The most commonly expressed thought was "That would be great but it will never happen."

That sentiment is understandable. Most people who honestly consider the Fair Tax agree it would be a huge improvement over the current system. Doing it right requires amending the Constitution to repeal all income taxes, which is a tall order.

But apathy is a luxury we can hardly afford on the subject of taxation in America. Nonetheless, apathy and ignorance explain why we are talking about "fixing" our economy with a minimum wage increase when there are real issues begging for attention.

Anyway, the best line from the Oklahoma State Fair came from a lady who blissfully turned away from the FairTaxers saying "I don't pay taxes, my husband does."

The more you understand about the Fair Tax, the funnier that is.

Courier Journal Gets Safety Right

Some Kentucky social workers are hot on the idea that tragedy among their ranks should lead directly to money in their pockets.

In a pleasant surprise, the Louisville Courier-Journal understands that safety measures represent a more effective solution to safety concerns than piles of borrowed pension cash.

Eight More Years Of Nothing

While the world seemingly waits for Rep. Ben Chandler to announce he would like to spend more time with his family, some people are actually speculating about Treasurer Jonathan Miller running for Governor. Looking at the last eight years in the Treasurer's office, I am reminded that the best thing we can do for the next eight years and beyond is to fold that office into the Finance and Administration Cabinet where it belongs and where its limited duties can be performed for less money.

Providing do-nothing jobs for politicians seems to be a major role of the modern-day taxpayer, but if we can knock this one down, perhaps we can find a few others worthy of elimination.

Bush Screws Up Hurricane Season

In a terrible blow to Al Gore's presidential aspirations, the end of the world has failed to materialize this fall. Still waiting for the New York Times to find a way to attack the President, though, in the face of the mildest hurricane season since 1997.

Another Good Health Reform Idea

The only people who deny the efficacy of Health Savings Accounts anymore are those who hunger for HillaryCare.

If you are healthy enough and can afford to fund one, they are terrific. If your health prevents you from qualifying, help may be on the way.

Here is a good suggestion for expanding HSA's.

Good Job By WaPo On Medicare Drug Story

The Washington Post sheds welcome light on the Medicare prescription drug story. The Bush administration deserves all the blame for not selling the "success" of the plan. Democrats' will fix it by making it worse, as the story suggests. As much as I wish the new benefit had coincided with some benefit cuts in the rest of Medicare, now is the time to support the current plan rather than the Al Gore plan they want to stick us with now.

Bluegrass Institute Takes Swipe At Fletcher

All the states surrounding Kentucky have better business tax climates than we do, according to The Tax Foundation. West Virginia is next-to-last.

The Bluegrass Institute points out West Virginia is at least moving in the right direction.

Seniors Shacking Up For The Money

The looming crisis in Social Security should not necessitate the current policy that reduces payments to recipients who get married.

Selling Socialized Medicine As Corporate Welfare

It looks like what is left of America's Big Three automakers wants to build support in Washington D.C. for a scheme that would shift a chunk of their health insurance costs to taxpayers.

Brilliant. A Detroit bail-out is just what we need right now.

In fact, what we really need is for newly empowered Congressional Democrats to be cramming this stuff down our throats as some kind of compromise between market-based reforms and Canadian-style government health insurance.

Shifting health insurance costs to taxpayers as a way to somehow magically save money just doesn't make sense at all.

Hybrid Scholarships A Bad Idea

Merit scholarships go to students with certain accomplishments. Need-based scholarships go to students with limited means. Some people in Minnesota want to set up a taxpayer-funded merit scholarship that will direct $50 million a year to pay low income students to get good grades in college prep high school courses.

It's a recipe for college tuition inflation. They might just save the $50 million and print up a graph depicting how much more money college graduates make than those who fail to earn degrees. Show the graph repeatedly to middle school kids.

Save the money. Inspire some kids. Call it a day.

Three Years Of Spinning Iraq Into Vietnam

If you care about the truth in Iraq, here it is.

Taxpayer-Backed Borrowing To Buy Cable TV

Here is one thing government really shouldn't be involved in.

Let's Be Clear About One Thing

The Washington Post picks up the story today that Social Security is "on the table" for discussion again. The Democrats scored their points this time by yammering about how horrible and risky our nation's financial markets are, while propping up an out-dated entitlement program whose collapse will make Black Monday look like a Sunday walk in the park.

The article states as fact about Democrats and personal Social Security accounts "many of them oppose such accounts on the grounds that they would weaken Social Security overall."

As more and more Americans invest in the markets and see good results for doing so, we should continue to ask them how better investment returns would weaken Social Security.

That case will only get harder and harder to make. Watching them continue to try will be fun and, ultimately, rewarding for those who stick to the facts about this key issue.

Improving Health Care In Kentucky

Expensive mandated coverages contribute to high health insurance premiums in Kentucky. There is insufficient sentiment in Frankfort to change this for us.

The answer is to allow Kentuckians to choose policies from different states that offer less expensive policies. A bill that has been in Congress for a while would do that.

The key to successful health care reform is to allow the private sector to help as many people as possible. State regulation may be necessary to provide consumer protections, but the legislature has expanded that regulation dangerously -- and expensively. If state regulators policed the market to protect against fraud but federal law were changed to enhance consumer choice with regard to policy benefit structure, family budgets would be less strained by coverages that don't fit their needs and uninsured people would find the market less expensive to participate in.

Kentuckians would benefit from Arizona Congressman John Shadegg's Health Care Choice Act.

Dyche Gambles With Libertarianism

The libertarian case for casino gambling in Kentucky demands the kind of opaqueness John David Dyche utilizes in promoting it in his Louisville Courier-Journal column:

The debate about expanded gambling divides each party and produces some unusual bi-partisan constituencies. Among Republicans, libertarians focused on freedom generally favor it, but social conservatives concerned primarily with virtue generally oppose it.

That's generally true, but the conventional wisdom on this doesn't square with the facts and shouldn't survive greater scrutiny. Casino gambling is a boon primarily to out-of-state casino owners and secondarily to big-government politicians. Those who come up short are both the gamblers who choose to impoverish themselves and the taxpayers who wind up picking up the public tab for those bad choices. Where this becomes problematic is that the public costs greatly exceed the promised revenue that comes into the state coffers to be spent quickly on politician-enhancing projects.

This recipe for disaster is by no means worthy of dreamy libertarian ballads.

Lexington's Urge To Purge

Lexington voters did a lot when they turned back the ill-considered condemnation effort against Kentucky American Water Company on election day. But does the wide margin of the vote tally suggest a desire to move forward in turning back the ever-increasing growth of government?

Maybe not, but it makes sense for voters to reject tax increases from a government that holds assets whose sale would not only generate revenue for now, but would also decrease government size and improve individual freedom. Follow me on this: why should any city or town raise taxes when they could sell off a utility or contract out a service like garbage collection?

How Is Your Financial Security Looking?

Fluctuation happens. And that works out to being a very good thing when it comes to your money.

Just today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined for the first time in seven trading sessions. The Dow closed at 12,316.54. That's up nearly 15% for the year and nearly double where it was four years ago.

How is your Social Security doing?