Something To Be Thankful For Every Day

Three hundred sixty five days a year, we should be grateful for the many Americans who could vote themselves money out of the state and federal treasuries, but choose not to.

These are the kind of patriots we need.

Keep America Red, Nominate Hillary

Talking head Dick Morris blames President Bush for going easy on the Clintons and opening the door for Hillary Clinton to be the Democratic party's front-runner for the 2008 nomination.

Then Bush let Clinton off the hook another time when the former president’s former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger was caught smuggling classified documents relating to 9/11 and the war on terror out of the National Archives in his pockets and socks. The Bush Justice Department accepted a plea deal with Berger which did not require him to say what documents he had taken and why he had swiped them. As a result, we never knew what aspect of the Clinton record on terrorism Berger was so anxious to cover up.

I'm not a big Hillary fan, but I'm also not afraid of her. Her nomination would probably be the best thing to ever happen to the right-of-center blogosphere, which could use the help.

I think Hillary loses to whoever the Republican nominee is.

Kentucky Blogger Informs On Steve Henry

Louisville's Jacob Payne states on his blog that he turned over incriminating evidence against Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Henry.

Is Damon Thayer Turning Into John McCain?

Sorry, but I can't sit here writing on a blog and have anything but disdain for more regulation of political speech. If a candidate can demonstrate claims are false, he or she can get media outlets to pull an ad. But in any case, what is more regulation really going to accomplish here? Straw man contributions got a lot of attention in the last election, but only because they were done so sloppily. In the next election, cheaters will just avoid running contributions through college students and hairdressers.

Senator Thayer says he is going to file the bill, but it isn't in yet. He should drop it.

Beshear's Chance For Change

Governor Ernie Fletcher gets thumped again by the Louisville Courier Journal this morning. But as usual, the CJ can't separate its fiction from fact.

Four years from now, Republicans are going to claim that they left Democrat Steve Beshear with a state government in sound fiscal shape.

Not true. And Mr. Beshear should say so, up front. He should make absolutely clear, without partisan carping or personal criticism, exactly what shape his predecessor left government finances in.

Clinging militantly to anti-tax dogma, Gov. Fletcher managed to create a mess, which Mr. Beshear will have to clean up.

Four years from now, Republicans are going to be as likely to bring up Ernie Fletcher's fiscal policies as Beshear will be on December 11 to devote his entire inaugural address to returning to the good old days of Paul Patton.

And this may be an opportune moment to remind Governor-elect Beshear of his October 26 promise to repeal Fletcher's LLET tax and to not raise any others.

Speaking Of The 2008 General Assembly

I will be on the Leland Conway show in Lexington this morning (630 WLAP) talking about bills coming up in Frankfort starting January 8.

Do We Really Need This?

The Lexington Herald Leader is sitting on evidence incoming Finance and Administration Cabinet Secretary Jonathan Miller illegally pre-selected someone named Michael Bates to a position in the Treasurer's office and arranged special pay raises for his Chief Of Staff Brooke Parker.

A Holiday Blogger Oddity

I'm off for a while to spend some time with family, but wanted to check the site. Part of that routine is checking to see where search engine traffic is coming from.

It isn't always directly related to Kentucky politics.

Last night someone in Portland, Oregon googled "whips that make marks" and wound up on Kentucky Progress looking at an article about Rep. Stan Lee getting elected to House leadership.

Didn't stay on the site long...

Eat Like A Conservative At 40

The Wall Street Journal's Health blog says pig out on brain food this Thanksgiving! (Probably not bad diet tips for you twenty year-old liberals, either.)

Governor Beshear, Pick 1,512 Connected Friends Who Don't Need State Jobs And Don't Hire Them

If Steve Beshear is serious about operating state government employment policy within the law, he should read this.

Should We Read His Lips?

A news story from a CNBC reporter's discussion with a Treasury official suggests the Bush administration is considering lowering corporate taxes and replacing the "lost" revenue by instituting a Value Added Tax.

This is not a good thing.

If we are going to lower taxes -- and we should -- we really don't need to be creating any new ones to make up the difference. Other than as another way to manipulate corporations with the tax code, what good would that do?

MitchBlog To Bloggers: Read It And Weep

Senator Mitch McConnell's campaign blog takes issue with critics who say he is running away from the Republican party.

Picking Your Candidate

The Republican Party of Kentucky(RPK) sent out a press release this morning announcing three upcoming fundraisers for presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. The events will be in Northern Kentucky, Louisville, and Lexington on December 5.

The Lexington event will be a joint fundraiser for Giuliani and RPK.

Personnel Really Matters

One thing seems certain: if the state can reverse course on firing certain social workers...

The state has reversed its preliminary decision to fire Hardin County-based social workers who were accused in an Inspector General’s report of falsifying records and inappropriate conduct as they removed children from their parents, the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services announced Tuesday.

...then surely they can reconsider botching the education commissioner hiring again.

Mutually Assured Casino Destruction

The Louisville Courier Journal calls Indiana "sleazy" and accuses its policymakers of "playing neighbors for suckers." In the same breath they deem the case for casinos in Kentucky "compelling."

Should Steve Beshear sign non-proliferation treaties with Tennessee, Ohio, and Virginia?

Raising The Curtain On Medicaid Miracle

Medicaid is $112 million underwater.

Not good. This hands Beshear his first big opportunity. Expect him to make the most of it.

The temptation is to think first about the role this will play in the casino debate, but it really just heightens the need for serious attention to the public employee pension mess. Also, Beshear should resist the urge to use this news as an excuse to break his campaign promise to repeal the LLET.

We can't reasonably expect Governor Beshear to recognize the need to cut government spending, but that would be his surest ticket out of this one.

Floppy Shoes, Red Nose, Grease Paint

Did Fayette County taxpayers have any doubt the FCDC guard busted last night for impersonating a police officer will be put on leave WITH pay?

Nope.

What could they possibly cook up next?

A Hidden Casino Cost I Hadn't Considered

The case of a Louisville woman caught embezzling $7 million from an Indiana credit union to spend in Indiana casinos -- math majors will note the money is gone -- is interesting mainly because of the size of the theft.

But what caught my eye in the press release was this:

As Head Teller she was responsible for ordering and accounting for all cash replenishments for the credit union. She was also responsible for reconciling and overseeing vault activity. She also was responsible for the general ledger and reconciling the vault cash account to the physical count of cash on hand.

Part of her job was to prevent herself from embezzling funds which she, of course, failed to do. The credit union needs another employee or two.

So not only are the customers of the credit union out millions, but they will be hit again as the credit union has to hire more people for oversight to prevent this kind of fraud in the future.

There are a lot of businesses that handle large amounts of cash. If each of them has to go out and hire another layer of bookkeeping support to prevent this kind of embezzlement, we are looking at significant added costs to be passed along to customers.

And while Patricia Sherman is a guest of federal taxpayers for the next few years, whatever benefit Indiana taxpayers get from casinos may get sliced if Kentucky or Ohio start to play the same game.

Great GOP House Pickup Opportunity

Bryan Beauman is running for the open 72nd district House seat.

Watch this.

Confirmed: McConnell For Giuliani

I saw the rumor yesterday, but just found out it is true.

NTU: Congressman Whitfield Breaks His Promise

The National Taxpayers Union chastised Rep. Ed Whitfield for voting to overturn a presidential veto on an appopriations bill after promising to sustain the veto.

That's Gonna Leave A Mark

The Louisville Courier-Journal has a great smackdown of Kentucky's state school board and the crummy way they have handled the hiring of an education commissioner.

Mr. Brothers also contended, "We have some responsibility to these people who have applied," to get on with the selection.

No, Mr. Brothers. That's not true, either.

The school board's responsibility is to the public. And if it goes ahead with an amateurish process, rolling right past the need for a credible national search, then the public will be justified in concluding the worst: that the board simply has failed to do its job.

But my favorite came in the comments section:

Stunning evidence: the Chairman of the Board says: "not just me but the entire board have heard" (sic, sic). No, Joe, the proper expression of your thought would be "not just I but the entire board has. . . ."

If the Chairman of the Board of Education can't string eight words together without making two grammatical errors, Kentucky deserves to be ranked in the very bottom tier of states.

Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 10:25 am

Governor Fletcher, there is still time to set this right.

Consider This

Recently, government agencies have been making news when they threatened bloggers with lawsuits for libel.

I've been writing for a year about the mess that is the Fayette County Detention Center. Google it and see what happens. The city of Lexington does, every day. I have proof that LFUCG computers are used every weekday to monitor this site to see what's up.

But I have yet to receive the first threat of a lawsuit.

Wonder why?

Starting To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Know any kids? Then you need to see this. Special deals for Kentucky Progress readers.

Silberman Scandal Update

The more I get into Stu Silberman's handling of Booker T. Washington Academy, the fishier it looks.

Go here for an update from Richard Day. Raises a lot more questions, but Friday afternoon is a heck of a time to try to reach people. I'll keep working on this.

Stay tuned through the weekend...

Is This The Worst Principal In Kentucky?

I sure hope so.

Restaurateur to Fletcher Democrats: No Soup For You!

Rick Paul, owner of White Light Diner in Frankfort, is well-known around town for his political views. Today he is offering a 10% discount for anyone who brings in proof of voter registration as a Republican.

In an email he sent out this morning:

What else for this morning---um, oh I know---in the interest of being kind and forgiving for what has happened in this state over the last four years, I am giving 10% off to all republicans today to help them get into the flow of the new administration. I cannot give the discount on the specials, pies or BBQ by the pound, however all other menu items are in! All republicans come join us at the White Light Diner today! Bring proof of party registration!!

"Turn Off TV, Spend More Money, And Vote For Me"

Barack Obama has an "education" ad on the air in Iowa.

Fayette School Superintendent's Actions Hard To Justify

Kentucky policymakers scramble to advance education in science and mathematics, hoping to compete in the world economy. Educators scramble to reduce achievement gaps found along economic and racial lines.

When Fayette County merged its two worst-performing elementary schools into Booker T. Washington Academy in 2005, district leaders knew they needed a special person to create success where there had been mostly failure.

They brought in Peggy Petrelli and she cracked the code. Under Petrelli, fourth grade science scores accelerated at a blistering pace. Learning surged with a military precision. Students entered class to immediately face a short quiz over information from prior lessons. Breaking into thirds, the class cycled orderly through laboratory stations for a systematic, hands-on approach found to be remarkably compelling to the kids. An end of class quiz tested mastery of the day's curriculum. And children who needed extra help got it immediately.

Peggy Petrelli should be doing seminars about her techniques. Instead she is unemployed.

Inexplicably, Petrelli was forced out of Booker T. Washington Academy this fall by Superintendent Stu Silberman, whose actions then and subsequently seem more than a little suspicious. Silberman's unprofessionalism reached a crescendo Tuesday when he announced to the cameras at a public, televised event that Booker T. Washington is "under investigation for its test scores."

The Kentucky Department of Education as of Wednesday had no official record of any complaint.

A spokeswoman for the school district couldn't specify today when the "investigation" started, what it involves, or who initiated it.

Digging deeper into this controversy seems to generate a lot of questions Silberman can't, or won't, answer.

Stu Silberman Blogburst

Don't know when the mainstream media will start to catch up on the Stu Silberman scandal, but some local bloggers are on the case.

The Principal proclaims:

Bluegrass Institute says Silberman is conducting a "secret investigation" of Perelli

And Page One Kentucky sums it up nicely:

Corruption in Lexington schools. Superintendent Stu Silberman ran a high-performance principal off, lied about it, tried to cover up his tracks and then made up a secret “investigation” that no one knows about. What the heck is going on in Lex Vegas these days? First the jail and now the schools? Seriously, people. Em-bar-ass-ing.

...Waiting To See Steve Beshear's Health Plan

Today Massachusetts starts fining people who haven't signed up for their government health insurance.

Happy Coercion Day!

Gov. Beshear Should End Corporate Welfare

The argument that we must keep subsidizing a select few companies because other states do doesn't hold water.

A North Carolina public policy group has done some good work on this that could just as easily apply to Kentucky.

Stu Silberman's Big, Big Mistake

Cross-posted on Bluegrass Policy Blog:

When Lexington school district superintendent Stu Silberman first came to town, he had a slogan to focus central office employee efforts: it's about kids. But after a comment he made yesterday at an all-day seminar, some are left to wonder if "it" may actually be about limiting legal liability for his bad personnel moves.

If what happened at Booker T. Washington Academy in the city's downtown is any indication, Mr. Silberman's tactics may bear some scrutiny.

Peggy Petrelli took over as principal at Booker T. in the fall of 2005. In two short years, test scores shot up 67% at the school. Then, three months ago, Petrelli was forced to resign.

Yesterday, in answer to a question at a Long-Term Policy Research Center public meeting, Silberman may have inadvertently shed light on what surely wasn't one of his finest moments.

Asked to explain what happened to the Academy to cause such dramatic improvement while Petrelli was principal, Silberman stated that it was a bad example. He said the school is "currently under investigation."

That was news to the Kentucky Department of Education. Spokeswoman Lisa Gross said this morning that no complaints had been presented to the Department.

Silberman's "secret investigation" smells a lot like trying to cover his tracks after running off a high-performing principal. Petrelli declined to comment about persistent rumors that she intends to sue Silberman. And Silberman's office did not return a phone call this afternoon.

Don't Go Out Like This, Governor Fletcher

Governor Fletcher presented another golden opportunity to the Lexington Herald-Leader today. And they took it.

The Kentucky Board of Education is in dire danger of failing some basic management and economics courses.

The legal spitting contest it has gotten into with the firm that conducted the ill-fated search for a new education commissioner will waste money and shine light on the board's own failure in the search process.

It is outrageous that Governor Fletcher's appointees to the state school board have put on a slapstick act that would shame Larry, Moe, and Curly when all they really needed to do was hire an education commissioner.

Governor Fletcher must step up and demand the Board pay the bill to the crappy search firm whose advice they took despite repeated citizen warnings. Then he must ask himself why we are trusting them on this search when they have given us so little reason to expect them to get it right.

Call off the search, Governor Fletcher.

Should We Pray For Education Accountability?

Last night, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue prayed for rain.

And by tomorrow, rain is what they shall receive.

We really don't need divine intervention in Kentucky to open the skies and pour a little common sense on our education bureaucrats, do we?

Mother Of All Conflicts Of Interest

The Kentucky Department of Education is the worst example of a government agency that regulates -- and grades -- itself.

If we do nothing else, we should eliminate this situation right now.

The Lawyers Are In Charge Now

Rep. Rob Wilkey filed a bill today to shift up to $1.2 million in general fund dollars every month into a fund to pay law school student loan debt for attorneys working in the Attorney General's office and other government-related agencies.

Each lawyer will get up to $6000 a year in state taxpayer money if the bill passes.

On The Air

I will be on the Leland Conway show this morning at 11:15. You can listen here.

Grading The Kentucky Education Reform Act

Education bureaucrats take to the stage and the airwaves tomorrow to answer charges of exaggerating Kentucky's educational improvement under KERA.

Click here and here for the dueling reports at the heart of the controversy.

Ringling Brothers And Barnum & Bailey Was Never This Much Fun To Watch

The lawyers marching into the Fayette County Detention Center today were there to rake jail employees over the coals for various misdeeds. Must have been a treat for the inmates to see the guards running around crying like babies.

Mayor Jim Newberry's office, of course, had no comment.

Dems Loaded For Bear, Right About Ed Commish

Exactly how many headlines do future Republican candidates want about GOP intransigence in favor of a mediocre education commissioner?

Governor Fletcher can call off the hiring process now. He should.

The Soft Underbelly Of Mediocrity In Kentucky

If Governor-elect Steve Beshear really wants to improve efficiency in Kentucky's government, he will rip school accountability out of the hands of the Kentucky Department of Education.

The Bluegrass Institute today proves that our school assessment program, CATS, has been systematically manipulated to show phony educational improvement since 1999.

As an unreliable gauge of progress, the CATS assessment needs to be replaced by more credible tests. In hindsight, it was a mistake to charge the Kentucky Department of Education to both assist school systems in making improvements and be the sole administrator of the assessment system to determine if that effort was successful. A separate agency should be created to manage the assessment of educational progress in Kentucky’s schools.

There is no more important issue for the future of our state than getting a handle on how we manage the education of our children. This battle is not one for the faint of heart.

A Teacher Says It

Gary Yaden, a teacher at North Laurel High School, said a mouthful in a Lexington Herald Leader column:

And nothing will change as long as people don't realize that it is possible to educate only part of the public. The rest are dead weight, placing a huge burden on the schools and preventing other students from achieving their full potential.

We are, instead, hung up on artificially lowering dropout rates by either trying to force the least interested students to stay in school or by actually faking the dropout statistics.

Cowardly Blogger, Go Home

Some anonymous pinhead keeps pushing Larry Forgy to run for the U.S. Senate against Mitch McConnell. That's fine as far as wasting time goes, but while he is busily speaking for himself (and, until we hear differently, Larry) he should leave the Club for Growth out of it.

The half-hearted effort to shoot the wounded Ernie Fletcher in this year's primary should serve as somewhat of a cautionary tale for those who now want to shoot McConnell. Mitch has his flaws, certainly, but a state that just elected Steve Beshear its governor isn't going to do better than McConnell next year.

Let The Senate President Decide

The Louisville Courier-Journal went to the trouble of surveying all the state Senators about a casino gambling bill when they really only needed to talk to one.

David Williams, R-Burkesville: "I'm not going to vote for a bill that will put the casino gaming issue on the ballot."

That really is the end of the story, except to point out how misleading the headline is. "Beshear has shot at casinos in Senate" does not an accurately assess the situation. Besides the "let the people decide" slogan could be more accurately stated "let the Las Vegas casino owners decide." Hardly a populist slogan worthy of a Kentucky governor.

A casino bill in the House would force Speaker Jody Richards to weigh in on the issue against Governor Beshear as well.

School Board Burning, Fletcher Can Put Out Fire

Just when Kentucky's education commissioner hiring debacle looked like it couldn't get any worse, it did.

There is no reason for the outgoing Republican administration to die on this hill. The four finalists in the current search have a combined state leadership experience of exactly zero days. Backing a school board who is now being dragged into court for botching their previous candidate search is not something that is going to benefit the conservative movement in any way.

The Kentucky Department of Education has made a huge mess of our assessment program. That is the battle we should be fighting now and will still be the battle we should be fighting six months from now. The commissioner search can wait. Sticking our necks out now for an under-qualified education commissioner serves no valid purpose whatsoever.

Governor Fletcher, please ask the school board to suspend the hiring process right now.

McConnell: What Fails In Paris, Stays In Paris

Speaking to the Republican State Central Committee meeting this morning, Sen. Mitch McConnell spoke about French President Nicolas Sarkozy. McConnell described him as a French-speaking Ronald Reagan.

McConnell quipped that Sarkozy is now trying to convince the French people that working is good.

And then he said the French are now rejecting the policies American Democrats are trying to implement.

Did I mention the U.S. House just passed a big tax increase yesterday?

Fletcher: Larry, Don't Run

Speaking to the Republican State Central Committee meeting this morning in Lexington, Governor Fletcher publicly stated that no one should run in a primary against Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Good.

Where Was Bill While Hillary Ate "Loose-Meat?"

An Ohio waitress says Hillary Clinton stiffed her and Hillary says she left a tip.

Who do you believe?

ATR: Ben Chandler A Three Time Liar

Ben Chandler promised on January 8, 2004 never to vote for a tax increase if central Kentuckians sent him to represent them in Congress.

Today, Americans for Tax Reform called Rep. Chandler out after breaking his promise the third time.