Crack To An Addict: More Money For "Education"?

Some things are just too far gone to fix. That is the case with Kentucky's government strategy for educating its population. It should be self-evident to everyone who doesn't depend directly on the status quo that blindly pouring more money into our state's public school bureaucracy is a bad idea.

And it is getting worse.

So that is why it was so curious to see "EDUCATION UNDERFUNDED" as the bold headline on the jump page in today's Herald Leader. The front page headline for the story was "State's job skills come up short" and the story was one of the typical agenda-driven factoid-laden pieces that gives the newspaper its bad reputation.

Seriously, look at who they interviewed. I count three Democrat politicians and one of them was Paul Patton! The didn't dare interview one single person who might have contradicted their premise. Our vaunted watchdogs serve so poorly when they shovel out this kind of stuff.

We continue to poor more money into public education, though the percentage of total spending decrease statistic that the paper tried to stick to Ernie Fletcher this summer was dutifully trotted out again.

Raising standards and average expectations at the primary and secondary level remains the only way to improve our education results. That doesn't take more money. Our legislators need to return disciplinary discretion to the teachers. We need to clean out the sham elements of the CATS testing and cut layers of education "management" at the county, district, and state levels.

But we already know this stuff.

The main idea of the news story today was that if we just put more money into secondary schools we wouldn't have to put state money into corporate worker training programs. But the same solution fits here. If teachers had more control in the classroom, dealing with disruptive children would not take up so much instruction time. If students had to meet higher standards to advance through school, more of them would be able to think more analytically as adults, making public financing of workplace remediation less necessary. Too much of our current focus is on the bottom tier students in our schools. If we took some simple steps to unshackle our top tier of students, they could excel with very minimal supervision at the secondary level. That would free up resources to push middle tier students toward their potential and past the point that such large numbers as at present graduate high school unable to survive either in the workplace or in freshman level college courses.

Our education bureaucrats are failing the challenge to increase productivity in the classroom. We should give more effort to helping them philosophically approach their jobs more effectively before acquiescing to their demands for more money.

Gatewood Galbraith First Dem Governor Candidate

Perennial candidate Gatewood Galbraith just announced on WVLK's Kruser and Krew program that he will register as a Democrat and run for Governor of Kentucky in 2007.

"The Democratic nominee will be the Governor in 2007," Galbraith said.

The "Last Free Man in America" isn't ready to totally buck his party boss, Jerry Lundergan, who is calling on Dem candidates to avoid expensive primary battles. Gatewood said he will meet with Rep. Ben Chandler soon and step aside if the Congressman wants to run himself.

The dynamics of a Gatewood campaign could be very interesting. If several Democrat opponents come forward, he should get lost in the crowd. An interesting possibility is that he could throw a Hail Mary attack against the eventual nominee and damage him (or her) for the fall. In a one-on-one battle for the nomination, this would have to be considered highly likely to occur.

Okay, guys. Who's next?

Meanwhile, as the Dem circus gets underway, Governor Fletcher announced penalties against Anthem Health Plans and ordered them to return $23.7 million to policyholders. Good job!

Iran's Parliament Urges Nuclear Reprisal Against Us

While the Worldwide Left is chattering about another memo (this one has President Bush bombing Al Jazeera, the Islamic media outlet), the Iranian Parliament voted to move ahead with the preparation of nuclear weapons if the UN persists in investigating Iran's preparation of nuclear weapons.

This is a much bigger story than Murtha/Sheehan. This is nuclear brinksmanship with a rogue fundamentalist regime is infinitely more serious than any coming out of the mouths out Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Howard Dean.

Incidentally, Iran has also jumped on the Murtha/Sheehan bandwagon and called for the United States to pull out of Iraq. Go figure.

Jim Gray On The Sue Wylie Show

Okay, so Lexington City Council candidate Jim Gray is just another liberal politician. What are we going to do about it?

Gray insists on continuing the long-dead issue of government theft of Kentucky American assets. Gray says he supports domestic partner benefits for city employees. And he doesn't recognize the private property rights of business owners who wish to allow smoking in their places of business. He fills in the rest of his speaking with psycho-babble about "good business practices."

There is still time for conservative candidates to emerge. When they do, they must not (and conservative activists must not) bring up the homosexual issue or anything close to it. There will be enough praise for his "courage" to run given his homosexuality to remind Mr. and Mrs. Voter of this controversy.

If handled correctly, having Gray on the ballot could benefit conservatives across the board in 2006. That means focusing on how domestic partner benefits makes it easier for unmarried heterosexual couples to live together, perpetuating an absence of personal responsibility that these heterosexuals pass on to their offspring. When conservatives make that case, and show the public how liberals want to shift personal responsibility away from the individual and toward the government, we win. Unfortunately, conservatives face a two-front battle because of Republican politicians who forget our values once they get elected.

Voter registration numbers continue to shift toward the GOP. As the Democrats try to battle their diminishing influence by stifling internal debate and shunning primary battles, Republicans are gaining greater strength and grow closer to the time that we in Kentucky can vote to "throw the bums out" from both parties.

"Bush Lied, My Brains Are Fried!"

Liberal blogger awaiting new signal from the Mother Ship.

Congressman Murtha, Your Fifteen Minutes Are Up

Democrats are destroying their own credibility on the Terror War.

Luckily, Rep. John Murtha continues to talk.

"The public turned against this war before I said it," Murtha whined about the backlash against his statement that we should pull out of Iraq immediately. Murtha was for the war before he was against it.

Democrats failed on Friday to support their own backseat driving on the war with actual votes. The resolution calling for a full surrender failed 403 to 3.

No amount of wishful thinking by liberal activists can keep support for the war from being the number one issue until we have a decisive victory. Seems like they would get on board with the war and get back to what is left of their domestic agenda. Sticking in the middle of the road on this one isn't going to do anything but give Republicans a pass on whatever they want to do. To be frank, America needs better from their opposition party.

Jim Gray For Lexington City Council

It is too early to make endorsements for Lexington's 2006 local races, but I think Jim Gray could make a very effective At-Large Councilman. His business experience is the main reason for my interest. Central Kentucky's largest city needs more serious leaders to compete in the years ahead.

Yes, Jim Gray is the man who publicly "came out of the closet" recently. And yes, I campaigned last year to define marriage as between one man and one woman. But with that battle won, I think we can look more to the qualifications for office. Jim Gray should be able to do the job very well. It will be very interesting to see how he puts his campaign together.

Another Day With No Democrat Plan On Iraq

Last night, Congressional Democrats refused to support the Cindy Sheehan Resolution and it failed by a 403 to 3 vote.

Rep. John Murtha, who made headlines earlier this week by calling for the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq, turned his back on the measure which would have given him what he said he wanted.

Given last night's cut and run by the Dems, one might expect them to try again to find their voice on this or any other issue. Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer made statements at the end of this article which suggest in no uncertain terms that they still can't get it done.

Interesting that three Democrats put their money where their mouths were and voted to go ahead and surrender to the terrorist insurgency's base in Iraq. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia is a known Islamic terrorist supporter. Robert Wexler of Florida was the one Democrat courageous enough to admit their plan for Social Security is just massive tax increases. Jose Serrano of New York is an avid supporter of Communist dictator Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who is cooking up a proletarian revolt for Serrano's district in the Bronx.

The sorry spectacle of Democrats shrieking and tussling in the House chamber last night exposed to the world that they won't engage in serious consideration of vital issues until they have their precious power back. With behavior like they have exhibited recently, they could be in for a long wait.

Battle Lines Drawn On Spending In Washington

Don't let news stories that describe last night's vote on HR 4241 as one that "squeezes programs for the poor" or even as a "major budget cut bill" mislead you. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (or what was left of it) was a pitifully small reduction in the rate of growth of a few programs.

Democrats who try to make hay out of Republicans pushing homeless children on train tracks will only succeed to the extent that the media so shamelessly plays along with their gambit. Unfortunately, conservative media serves the public poorly as well by fostering the illusion that $50 Billion in actual cuts were created last night.

Budget "cuts" proposed for future years hold no weight whatsoever, so the $50 billion is, in reality, little more than a quiet suggestion. But in the political world, it is the line in the sand. All House Democrats plus Socialist Bernie Sanders voted against the bill, rejecting even a whiff of slowing down entitlement growth. So while taxpayers gained nothing from last night's vote, citizens gained a voter's guide for 2006 elections containing a list of the entire Democrat/Socialist caucus who stand in opposition to Republican spendthrifts in Congress only in the sense that they are worse.

A Crumbling Foundation: House Can't Muster Deficit Reduction

House Republicans in Washington are trying to pass the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 but weak Republicans are joining Democrats and killing it off.

This bill would merely reduce the growth rate of spending and provide straightforward reforms to Medicaid requested by the nation's governors.

Democrats are, as usual, charging that Republican cuts will leave poor people eating cat food. Sadly, Congressman Ron Lewis isn't taking a position on this commonsense legislation.

Omnibus Post Blasts Democrats And Republicans

If you haven't read Caleb Brown's takedown of omnibus bills, go ahead and read it now. These are the bills that combine many different policy initiatives in one bill. The example cited by Mr. Brown is Governor Fletcher's tax modernization bill. He has a point, of course, and small government Republicans in Frankfort who held their noses and voted for the "revenue neutral tax increase" know all too well. Most galling is that Brown quotes a Democrat lawmaker who complains that he didn't want to vote for the bill because of the tax increase on business, but had to because failure to support the whole thing would have cost his district dearly. He has a point and Democrats have already shown an eagerness to beat GOP candidates over the head with it next year.

And this happens on a day that a Dem Congressman from Pennsylvania urges us to go ahead and surrender in Iraq. Inconsistency among conservatives makes it pretty hard to keep Democrats in their little left-leaning box. In a time that even Hillary Clinton is trying to wear the conservative label, Republicans have to know that they are hurting conservatism itself when they seek to avoid issue-driven debate.

Another Transportation Cabinet Scandal Brewing?

Mark Hebert's story is online regarding an alleged bid-rigging scandal in the Transportation Cabinet. No smoking gun in last night's report, but sources indicate that the rest of the story might be a little more troublesome.

So far, though, I don't see much to this story. The evidence that I am familiar with seems to indicate that it doesn't go any higher than David Jones, though Jones suggests otherwise. But Mark Hebert says he is still working on it and thinks it goes higher up, so stay tuned.

Frankfort Rumors: Trouble in Transport?

Mark Hebert is promoting a "big story" for 5:00 on WHAS in Louisville. He says he has uncovered details related to contracts on Transportation Cabinet work. The KSP is investigating.

This doesn't look good.

Media Helps KY Public Schools Hurt Kids, Waste $

Kentucky's Education Industrial Complex rules most counties (where the public school system system is often the largest employer) and, unfortunately, holds sway over our intrepid media outlets across the Bluegrass as well.

The Bluegrass Institute issued a damning report on Monday about the state's fraudulent use of CATS testing to avoid accountability and waste countless hours and taxpayer dollars. Several advance copies of this report went out on Saturday. So how many of our mainstream talkers, news writers, or news readers have explored these findings in order to protect the taxpayers and the children of this state?

None.

That's pathetic. The Soviet Union was the gold standard of burying inconvenient bad news. Is that what you guys are up to? Apparent media complicity here is sickening.

If Governor Fletcher is looking for an issue to champion, this is it.

Councilman Bill Farmer Splits The Baby On Water?

Supporters for condemnation of Kentucky American Water Company were reduced at the end to appealing to a nebulous fear of outsiders. Mayoral candidate Bill Farmer veered dangerously close to joining them today when he said "I do not believe it is in the best interest of Lexington for anyone other than the community or a community-based group of investors to own the (water) system."

While condemnation for its own sake was never a good idea, bowing to the xenophobiacs by calling for "local ownership" is more likely to make sense politically than it does economically. I don't think it works either way, though. Every other municipality in the world views inflows of capital as a good thing. Farmer is already marked with a big "B" for business because of his anti-condemnation stance. Now is not the time to go wobbly, even if it is just posturing rhetoric.

Democrat Surrender Vote Fails

U.S. Senate Democrats today failed in their bid to force President Bush to set a "timetable" for removing troops from Iraq.

Thirty nine Dems and idiot Lincoln Chafee voted for the "surrender in advance." The people whose fanatical thirst for political power contrasts their meekness before terrorist murderers don't seem to understand the results of recent polls. Republican discontent with President Bush has more to do with his capitulation to the Left on such issues as tax and Social Security reform, education reform, and Medicare.

Louisville-bound Hillary Clinton, by the way, voted French on this one.

Thanks to Kentucky Senators Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning for standing strong.

Hey, Let's Dumb Down Our Colleges Too!

Rep. Rick Nelson (D-Middlesboro) has pre-filed a bill that would direct Kentucky legislative staff to "study" the cost of college textbooks. Maybe the Democrats are cooking up a plan to "fix" higher education expenses just like they "fixed" health insurance back in 1994.

Nice spin on the current "gouging at the pump" craze, but not any more realistic than that or the utopian health insurance mess Governor Jones (D-of course) gave us.

Those kids don't need no book learnin' !!!

Bad News Travels Fast

Campaign finance reports are in and Governor Fletcher has raised $218,165.00 and spent $86,973.93.

This is not good and the Dems will be crowing as soon as they see it.

KEA's Shame: Waste, Fraud, Abuse on CATS Test

The folks at Bluegrass Institute have done it again.

As a parent of public school students, I have learned that demanding more gets good results. We learned last week that the teachers' union demands for more pay is another false alarm. Now we see that our program for testing accountability is a complete sham.

I don't see any need to send our kids to school on CATS testing days to prop up this garbage.

Such abuse of underpriviledged children should be the kind of thing the media would jump all over. Where are they?

Purge The Mergers: Danville Mayor Goes Wild

Mayor John Bowling will hold a press conference Monday at 5pm at Danville city hall to discuss creating a single government for Boyle County.

Small government advocates may view this as a way to create fewer politicians. The problem is that the remaining office holders have more power and are less accountable to the people they represent.

If Danvillians really want to do something good, they should change their city government from a commissioner form of government to one represented by a city council. Commissioners serve the same purpose as a council, but are all elected citywide and oversee different areas of city government. This makes them accountable primarily to the city workers. A city councilman represents a specific geographic region and is accountable primarily to the people in that district.

Mike (Nancy Pelosi) Weaver Talks Smack

Rep. Mike Weaver is running for Congress against Ron Lewis. His official announcement is coming next week, but the DCCC has been blowing in his ear for months now. It is going to happen.

Interviewed recently, Weaver was bragging about how sticking him with the liberal label wouldn't work. That may be so when he is running for his safe little seat in Frankfort, but this is the big leagues. In a narrowly divided House, a vote for any Democrat is a vote for San Francisco freak Nancy Pelosi for Speaker of the House.

Exposed: KY Teachers 5th Highest Paid In Nation

State legislators buckled last year under agonizing pleas from the teachers' union that its members could not afford to feed their families if they were forced to absorb higher health care costs. Kentucky's education "reformers" have claimed for years that education nirvana could be found on the other side of higher pay for teachers.

We have been duped.

A study from the Raleigh, North Carolina-based John Locke Foundation has ranked the total compensation for public school teachers by state. Kentucky has long been listed at the bottom of educational achievement surveys and it is ranked 34th in terms of teacher salary. But when total compensation and cost-of-living are considered, Kentucky is ranked number five in the nation.

Here is the report.

The folks at the Bluegrass Institute told me about this one. They work on some very interesting things to improve education in Kentucky and are finding surprisingly little support from "conservative" and "family-friendly" legislators of both parties. Their plan is to take their information directly to parents. God help the politicians who stand in the way of this train when it gets moving.

With Republicans Like This, Who Needs Democrats?

Let me get this straight: the GOP in Washington is killing off tax cuts as unaffordable, spending cuts as unpopular, energy independence as unfriendly to moosekind, and Medicaid reform as unfair.

Meanwhile here at home, the big press conference of the day is another weak (and failed) attempt to redirect the merit hiring debacle. The gathering conservative storm may not play out as some elected Republicans are hoping.

What continues to happen is that elected Republicans leave their right flank exposed for Democrats to out-conservative them. The only saving grace is the national Democrats. I certainly understand the strategy of reduced expectations, but aren't we making it a little easy for the lefties, their utter lack of workable ideas intact, to build support at our expense?

Bluegrass Institute Takes The Lead

It's a good day when the folks at BIPPS speak up. Today is looking like a very good day, indeed.

FALSE ALARM UPDATE: While today is shaping up to be a pretty good day at BIPPS, I'm told their explosive report on education in Kentucky will not be released until Monday. Kentucky Progress will have the first complete synopsis available ASAP.

Another Liberal Senator Coming To Louisville

The Louisville Courier Journal reports that Sen. John McCain is coming to Louisville December 14 to sell his book.

Democrats Cast Blame, Eat Fish in Danville

The Danville (KY) Advocate Messenger reports on a political rally in which Democrat officials attacked Republicans.

The money quote was from House Speaker Jody Richards who said "I'm proud to be a Democrat, proud to live up to the Democrats' message."

Which message is that, exactly, Speaker Richards?

Maybe we can ask him December 2 in Louisville at the Hillary Clinton fundraisers. Clinton will be in town to raise money for her pro-abortion, higher taxes, and nationalized health care Senate campaign in New York and, presumably, to benefit this same "message" for Democrat candidates in Kentucky. No word yet on how they are going to handle the Democrats' surrender-first foreign policy message or their special rights for gay adoptive parents message.

Grassroots Support Only For Good Republicans

Tall tales about a national Democrat resurrection in 2006 notwithstanding, individual donors continue to pour comparatively more money into GOP organization coffers. The notable exception is the National Republican Senatorial Committee, likely because of the "moderate" GOP group in that body.

In other words, a Dem takeover looks very unlikely unless they can figure out a way to be more conservative than the Republicans. Meanwhile, we have some breathing room to demand some more accountability from our Republican elected officials. That is a good thing.

Democrats Still Hiding Policy Positions

Roll Call reports that national Democrats have given up their efforts to express any specific agenda for America for now. This latest failure comes as Kentucky Democrats celebrate the far-out liberal achievements of Sen. Hillary Clinton (like her 8% rating by Citizens Against Government Waste; worse even than John Kerry's 25% failing grade and Ben Chandler's 15%).

What could they be trying to hide?

Typical Politician: On Both Sides Of The Issue

Ben Chandler supports his liberal friends' efforts to condemn Kentucky American Water, but now has a press release urging "strong safeguards to protect private property owners from having their property seized by the government." His distinction is that now he is talking about the U.S. Supreme Court's Kelo decision, but the difference in principle is non-existent.

Go Figure: Tax Reform Panel Speaks; We Yawn

For all of President Bush's talk about spending his political capital in his second term, the conservative revolution has misfired badly with him at the helm these last ten months.

Or has it?

Social Security Reform was bludgeoned nearly to death, but the Democrats with their hammers came off looking a little like the Arabs dancing in the streets on 9/11. Sure, they won. But the red ink that Social Security is drowning in will soon have voters wondering what all the celebrating in 2005 was all about.

The end runs around the crazed enviro-fascists will soon have us drilling for oil in the ANWR wilderness. This will clearly open the way to more domestic exploration that will substantially reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

The revolt by the most fiscally conservative House Republicans will likely result in reduced pork spending. A similar mutiny by conservative Senate Republicans will certainly result in the confirmation of a solid Supreme Court justice.

So now the President's own Advisory Panel on Tax Reform has issued its ideas for simplifying our tax system and everyone is waiting to see what the vox populi declares.

When President Reagan left the White House in 1989, the conservative movement suffered from the loss of a great champion. Could it be that President Bush will leave us stronger in his absence because of the way he has drawn out our liberal opponents from their fortifications with their arguments pulled down around their ankles?

I think so, yes.

The question then becomes "Can we do the same thing here in Kentucky?" Can the ground troops of the Bluegrass conservative movement wrest control of the Republican party and the social objectives that drew us to it from those who would use it for self-aggrandizement? Can we force discipline on a state government that raised our taxes last year, and continues to this day to keep us mired in an upward spiral of health insurance costs that could be alleviated with the stroke of a pen, just as the downward spiral of our public education system could be stopped dead in its tracks with a simple reform of higher standards and fewer layers of administration?

I think so, yes.

I don't know how much credit history will give President Bush for advancing conservative principles, but I fear that Kentucky will squander its opportunity for advancement without stronger conservative leadership. A few good men and women are working to change our course. I believe that 2006 will be their year.

Socialized Medicine: HillaryCare Coming To KY

We have confirmed with Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign that she is making plans to come to Louisville in December. It will be a beautiful thing to watch the "conservative" gaggle of Kentucky Democrats flit about in and out of her majesty's limelight like moths fascinated by a Bug Zapper.

Please, let this happen!

Another Inexplicable Hiring Move In Frankfort

When the Fletcher Administration set up the Office for Merit System Referrals in October, we complained that it seemed a poor use of state resources. That the office was soon scrapped may have had more to do with its director dissing Democrats on his website, but the taxpayers dodged a bullet either way.

Now we have word that the Personnel Cabinet will be expanded by 35 jobs costing $72,000 each. What in the name of fiscal insanity is going on here?

Conservatives who rose up in opposition to the Harriet Miers nomination have to be emboldened by the President's subsequent about-face. Is it time for Kentucky Republicans to take a similar approach?

Like Rush Limbaugh said, not a crack-up but a crack-down. I think the time is right.

Media Hound Strikes Again!!

I will be a guest on The Sue Wylie Show this morning at 11:00 to talk about the President's Advisory Panel on Tax Reform. Their consensus plan doesn't do nearly enough, but that is the next thing on the table. Tune in to 590 AM and call in to 859-253-5959.

Racist, Homophobic Republican Plot Uncovered!!!

Rep. Brad Montell (R-Shelbyville) must really hate people of color and members of other disadvantaged groups, a Frankfort citizen alleged today.

Rep. Montell filed a bill (BR 272) that would require citizens registering to vote to obtain a signature from a witness on their voter registration card. It is not clear how much of a burden this will place on dead voters on Election Day, but vote merchants complain that involving one extra person in the registration process would unfairly spread the legal liability for generating excess registrations.

"It would have a chilling effect, that's for sure," said a vote merchant named Tony.

Rep. Montell could not immediately be reached to comment on his bill, but liberal groups agreed that his intent was clearly racist and anti-human rights.

Back On Track: Alito Nomination Suggests Revival

Harry Reid is babbling about President Bush's Supreme Court nomination being outside the mainstream. All is well in the universe again.

Tomorrow, the President's Tax Reform Commission is to announce its final recommendations at 10:00 AM. This is Bush's big opportunity to move the ball forward. I think it would be wise to point out that Republicans gave Social Security reform a good try only to be shut down by Democrats, RINO's, and the mainstream media. If we get no action this year, we can campaign on it in 2006. And it would be lots of fun if the Dems try to filibuster Alito. Stay tuned.

Sen. Joey Pendleton Is From Mars -- And Venus

Some Democrats are still upset about Rep. James Carr switching to the Republican Party earlier this month. Senator Joey Pendleton is so hysterical his statements might lead voters to believe that he will be the next elected Dem to come on over to the right.

Pendleton (D-Hopkinsville) shrieks about "Democrats in the state House and Senate who are overwhelmingly anti-abortion and strongly supported the constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage."

Bluegrass liberals must be despondent now that one of their own "leaders" is re-writing history (and his party's platform) to paper over not only Democrats' fascination with abortion-on-demand, but also the shining moments in last year's Kentucky General Assembly session when Democrats sought repeatedly in broad daylight to kill SB 245, succeeding once. Ultimately, the majority house Democrats turned to tapioca in the face of thousands of citizens marching on the Capitol in support of the bill. It was only then, as a last resort, that they started this "strongly support" business.

Someone should send press clippings of last spring's doings to Pendleton as well as a copy of the Democrat Platform. If he is as "conservative" as most elected Democrats now claim to be, he will switch his registration. Failing that, he will look at the hero's welcome given to Jumpin' Jim Jeffords when he jumped right to left in the U.S. Senate. Liberals then praised the "act of conscience" and didn't bother with any of this hand-wringing, bed-wetting sophistry we hear from them now.

Moron State Hiring Investigation

If you read the Lexington Herald Leader online, you know that at the bottom of every story about the merit hiring scandal, they have a link to all the related stories going back to the beginning. The label for this link is "More on the state hiring investigation." We are well past the point that any Republican who publicly demands the immediate end of the grand jury investigation deserves the title "MORON." Even when his other title is "President."

David Williams: assuming that you really said "It will put legislators in a bad mood" in calling for a halt to the festivities, you are a moron.

I've seen all the talking points, speeches, etc. The window of opportunity to salvage anything from this trainwreck is closing quickly. We must stop all the "noodling" BS and the attacks on the Attorney General.

Is Exxon Getting Roved?

While Karl Rove is, for the time being, not under indictment for an action that is not a crime, ExxonMobil Inc. is under attack for doing its job.

What is so hard to understand? Exxon makes money pulling black, sticky stuff out of the ground and selling it. The price of said sticky stuff jumps and you are surprised that profits climbed as well?

Where were all the people now so concerned over the oil business inner workings the last few years when Exxon was providing petroleum products at lower margins?

While Greg Stumbo wouldn't shock anyone if he started suing petro companies, it is sad to see Washington D.C. Republicans getting in on the act. Maybe they didn't understand what conservatives did to Harriet Miers.

Incumbent Protection Act Filed In Frankfort

Rep. Bill Farmer (R-Lexington) has pre-filed a bill that would criminalize the use of a person's name or picture in advertising without consent. I guess this could be defended as an effort to eliminate negative campaign ads. If that is the idea, then it is a stupid one.

If there is a problem with an incumbent, a challenger's ability to point that out is severely hampered under this bill. Saying "Ben Chandler votes like an anti-capitalist tree-hugging enviromaniac" might impress upon voters the need to explore Rep. Chandler's sorry track record. But having to say "The current occupant of the Sixth Congressional district seat votes like an anti-capitalist tree-hugging enviromaniac" shackles the opponent and forces the voter to figure out who is being outed for bad votes in Congress on oil exploration issues that could help lower prices at the gas pump.

UPDATE: I spoke to Rep. Farmer. He said that he didn't mean for the bill to come out so broad in its scope, but I'm not sure I feel much better about the explanation for what he did intend. He said the bill was in response to a local Fred "God Hates Fags" Phelps clone who put pictures of a dead Marine on his website. Rep. Farmer says that an Oklahoma bill in a related case caused a similar picture to be removed from a website produced there. Rep. Farmer said the bill will be re-written so that it doesn't affect political candidates. I remain concerned about the apparent abridgement of Free Speech.

By the way, I would have missed this one without the good work of Caleb Brown at www.kentuckyvotes.org. His site is terrific.

Democrats Meet To Develop Slogan

This story made the front page of The Hill newspaper.

Hilarious. They are working on something like "Together, We Can Do Better." Given their recent record of failure, I know they hope so. More importantly, one might hope this indicates a willingness to rethink their obstinate resistance to reform of America's military, tax system, and social policies. We doubt it, though.

Kentucky's Democrats are always talking about how they are different than national Dems. So what should their slogan look like?

How about a few suggestions:

"We're different, but we still need union thugs."

"Kentucky Democrats: All The Rhetoric, Fewer Calories"

"You're All Right With Republican Lite"

"We're Not Liberals, But We Do Like Socialized Medicine, Higher Taxes, And Surrendering Like The French"

GOP Fighting GOP Good For America

Remember the line from Peter Pan about a fairy dropping dead when anyone said "I don't believe in fairies"? Even though he stirs up the fighting spirit among liberal stalwarts, every time Howard Dean says "I hate Republicans" another "D" voter drops into the "R" column.

It may not really work out that neatly, but the Democrats' failure to capitalize on Republican woes can only be attributable to the actions of the official "D's" themselves.

So that is why I think it is a good thing that Republicans are fighting against each other. Democracy thrives on friction and the opposition party can't muster anything but limp histrionics. So the fight goes on between Right and Center-Right and their various combinations.

Here is an interesting take on this fight. Ryan Sager dismisses the Left's hopeful comparisons of 2006 to 1994, saying that it is shaping up to look more like 1998.

Ben Chandler Plays Dumb

In the 2004 races, when Democrats faced a pro-Fair Tax opponent the strategy was simple: lie.

If Rep. Ben Chandler (D-Higher Taxes) is connected to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (and we know he is) then the new strategy is simple as well: play dumb.

This morning on the WVLK Jack Pattie Show, Chandler was asked specifically about his position on HR 25, the Fair Tax Bill. He said he had no position because he didn't know anything about it. That would be interesting news to the Fair Tax supporters who have spoken to him face-to-face, repeatedly, to urge support for this critical issue.

People concerned about the outsourcing of jobs would do well to consider the impact of the Fair Tax on American companies who now shift their workforce overseas.

Godzilla Versus The Water Zombie

Read all about it.

It Must Be Good: Democrats Oppose Right To Work

Big Labor Unions are scared to death of losing their power -- and they are losing it fast.

In January, Kentucky will have the opportunity to pass a Right to Work bill, which simply gives workers the freedom to not have to join a union and pay "protection money" in the form of dues as a condition of employment. The bill is BR 199, pre-filed by Rep. Stan Lee (R-Lexington).

House Democrats vow to kill the bill. That might be a big mistake.

An organization called the Commonwealth Progress Council is ramping up its non-partisan effort in support of this bill. They will have a website up in the next couple of weeks and are seeking grassroots support now for the fight ahead. Economic development efforts across Kentucky can only go so far when we continue to be held hostage by the big labor unions.

The Right To Work could well be the biggest issue for Kentucky's future facing the General Assmembly in 2006.

Liberal Kentucky Website's Upcoming Story

Expect the liberal Bluegrass Report site to be crowing very soon about difficulty that the Governor's Mansion Preservation Foundation is having with its fundraising.

Irresponsible: Ben Chandler v. Ronald McDonald

Not only did Rep. Ben Chandler vote against the bill to keep fast food junkies from suing the restaurants who "make them do it," he voted for an amendment to exempt youngsters under nine years old from the bill.

Hello? Congressman Chandler? These kids would need a parent to think of filing a lawsuit. The same parent who can't avoid eating crap shouldn't be able to seek damages for feeding it to his child. We don't need Congress underwriting more personal irresponsibility and stupidity.

Fortunately, as is usually the case with Chandler's silliness, he was on the short end of both votes.

An Example Of What Is Wrong With Public Schools

Today the Kentucky High School Athletic Association's Delegate Assembly voted to have separate sports championships for public and private schools. This outrageous act of cowardice was intended to benefit the public schools.

It will do the opposite.

Or it would, if this foolishness were to stand. Cooler heads are sure to prevail. But this was the act of school superintendents. It is this kind of thinking that will eventually sink the public schools in America. If you have to change the rules to make it look like you are improving, you aren't really fooling anyone but yourself.

KY Medicaid Reform: Just Follow Florida

The only way to diminish the devastating impact of the Merit Hiring scandal is to positively (and publicly) address some of the real problems facing Kentucky.

We don't have to re-invent the wheel on Medicaid.

Check this out. We may need to open up the market to more insurance companies first, by dropping some of the mandated coverages. But we do need to act.

The big problem with Kentucky's health insurance legislation is that it treats people like idiots. Give us some choices and we may surprise some in their ivory towers with our decision-making ability.

Protect Your Children; Legalize Drugs Now

The War on Drugs has only caused the price of drugs to go higher and the violent crime rate to go up higher still. Think of the huge number of robberies and burglaries committed by drug addicts. They need your money to buy their drugs and they need your money again when they face treatment or incarceration.

Do you agree that drugs would be cheaper if people didn't have to risk their lives to buy or sell them?

Does it make sense to you that if law enforcement resources were removed from trying to stop the drug trade, then we could deal more effectively with the bad effects of the drug trade?

When we put the cart before the horse, we get no gain from either the cart or the horse. Drug criminalization is no different than alcohol prohibition. Ending the 1920's prohibition didn't cause the end of the world. In fact, by lowering the risk premium attached to making and selling alcohol, we reduced significantly the collateral damage caused by those evading that law. Ending the real quagmire, the War on Drugs, will give us a different looking world. Watching someone walk quietly down the street smoking a joint will take some getting used to. But the result would undeniably be safer cities and neighborhoods in which to raise our children. Don't you agree?

Conservative Revolution in Kentucky Coming To Web

Idea #1: Rather than spending time giving away refurbished state computers to kids, Frankfort's leaders would do well to eliminate state income taxes.

The No Child Left Offline initiative doesn't even sound like a good idea. There is no magic involved in giving a child a computer. Give him a fish and he eats for a day. Give him a computer and guarantee easy access to porn (and a learning tool of very limited value). Give him a stack of worn-out paperback classic novels and if he doesn't read them, they will do him more good than an expensive word processor/game box. The smallest public libraries offer online access for free.

We clearly need some fresh ideas. Bringing health insurance companies back into the state could be done and the ideological battle to make it happen would be extremely healthy in the current environment. Balancing the Medicaid budget could work the same way. Instead we are screwing around helping Lexmark market printer cartridges and ISPs expand their reach with a stunt like this.

Conservative Magazine Lists Favorite Legislators

Conservative weekly mag Human Events has issued a list of its ten favorite Senators and House members.

Kentucky got no mention on the Senate side, but freshman Congressman Geoff Davis came in at number nine on the House list.

Rep. Davis' strong support for the war and for making the Bush tax cuts permanent make up for his opposition to Social Security personal accounts. As of our last conversation he was not committed to a particular tax reform plan. At the age of 46, Davis will likely be smacking the left down for a long time.

One suggestion, though: Rep. Davis would do well to join Reps. Northup and Lewis on the Republican Study Committee, the group seeking to cut wasteful government spending to finance the Katrina bailout.

Grayson's Star Keeps Rising

Secretary of State Trey Grayson hits another home run with his proposal to allow gubernatorial hopefuls to hold off on naming a running mate until after the primary. Expect him to get bi-partisan kudos for this. Might such a move benefit the Dems in 2007? Sure, maybe. But it just might help the GOP at the same time.

Kentucky Democrats' Next Line of Attack

Wondering where the next attack on Gov. Ernie Fletcher is going to come from? Think Governor's Mansion renovation. The effort to fix up the poorly maintained Frankfort residence obviously requires a lot of money. That means fundraising. And clearly that means charges of shakedown and influence peddling. How the Governor's political team handles this hanging curveball will show quickly if any lessons have been learned during the merit hiring debacle.

Here's hoping...

$172,500 A Year?!?!

Any time a newspaper story has the byline John Cheves, you know that any Republican in the story is going to be portrayed in a negative light.

Jerry Lundergan and Charles Wells get paid to say bad things about Republicans and they have a field day on this one.

The problem is that they have a point about the new Office of Merit System Referrals and the Fletcher Administration is just going to look worse the more they try to spin this back the other way.

Has anyone talked to Hal Rogers since that story about which members of Congress support the Governor? The Louisville Arena, another dime on the cigarette tax, and now this.

What's next? I hate to even think about it.

LexTran Taxer Running For City Council

Local tax bills are hitting mailboxes this week and they include a line for the "LexTran Tax." Fayette county voters passed a referendum last year to hit themselves with this one and the time has come to pay up.

The good news is that the manager of the campaign to hit you with this tax is running for the Lexington City Council's 7th district. His name is Justin Dobbs. Conservatives in the District have a candidate to beat him. (Not ready to go public with the name yet, though.) When she does announce though, conservatives from all over the state would do well to send her a few dollars.

Whither the Conservative Movement?

I'm not too upset about the Harriet Miers nomination. I think too many conservative pundits are forgetting that a half dozen Republican U.S. Senators are admittedly pro-abortion and not part of the conservative movement. That leaves the President with the challenge of getting Supreme Court nominees through a chamber ruled by liberals.

I was eager for a fight over a serious conservative jurist as well, but Miers will get confirmed. Better to get a so-so candidate through than to see the perfect nominee squashed by our own Judiciary Committee Chairman.

More important is the work going on behind the scenes at the President's Advisory Panel on Tax Reform. Yesterday, the panel voted to discard the Fair Tax from consideration. Short-sighted partisanship has so far prevented elected Democrats from getting on board with this, but a lot of normal people registered as Democrats (and are less interested in empowering liberal politicians than in getting government off the backs of the middle class) are climbing on board.

The 2004 election cycle saw a lot of Democrat "leaders" lie about the Fair Tax. The interesting thing to me is that as we watch the President's people coming up short on another issue, we have the prospect of a Reaganesque conservative revolution seemingly building up a head of steam as a revolt against a Republican administration.

That Karl Rove really is a genius, isn't he?

A Fight Worth Fighting

You thought 2005 was not going to be an election year in Kentucky. You may still be right, but if the KY Supreme Court caves in to some kooky Lexington xenophobics' desire to steal Kentucky American Water Company, Fayette county voters will head to the polls November 8.

It probably won't happen. The elected city council already decided early this year to end the condemnation effort of a handful of sclerotic leftists and their dutiful supporters. The Supreme Court should be able to quash their kibitzing based solely on this fact.

But the overreaching power grab of a dangerous opponent must be addressed quickly and decisively. This latest outrage by the people who call themselves Let Us Vote Lexington deserves swift retribution whether or not this issue comes to a vote four weeks from today.

Cuddly little muddle-headed Kentucky liberals have tried feebly for years to prop up their brand of public policy initiatives through judicial fiat. Their current day media-savvy comrades draw blood with bare knuckles, snappy slogans, and tight-fisted media control.

Their brand of persuasion works when most people aren't paying attention and get off the main issue.

The main issue here is that eminent domain abusers on the left have sought to overturn the 2004 Lexington city council races with an unconstitutional court battle to spend more public dollars for an unneccesary extra election to promote their political careers. Teresa Isaac and Ben Chandler are the two heads of this monster.

If you live in Lexington, go here and learn how you can help turn these people back. And if you don't live in Lexington but do live in Kentucky's Sixth district, call Ben Chandler and tell him to tell the FLOW people to quit crying and try to promote their government takings during election years. He won't do it, but he should be forced to talk about why he is on the unconstitutional side of this issue.

The Republican Opportunity For 2006

Primaries aren't a lot of fun, but they can help a truly dominant political party reload for future victories. Before its rapid decline, the Kentucky Democratic Party understood this. The old line about fighting like cats in May and having more cats by November has been told over and over as the reason for a nearly unbroken string of Democrat electoral wins.

KDP Chairman Jerry Lundergan doesn't want to play it that way any more. Lundergan told the Courier Journal that he is encouraging potential 2006 Democrat candidates not to engage in primaries. That sounds good to me.

I'm not saying that the GOP should actively seek primaries. We will be better off when widespread Republican primaries are more the rule than the exception, but it will have to develop on its own. I am just enjoying the fact that Democrats are having to come to grips with their erosion of support that is causing them to admit to fixing primaries. Your county clerk may still tell new voters that they have to register Democrat to vote in the primaries, but the reality is that those days are over.

The simple fact remains that the far-left segment of our society is propped up by the more sane Democrats. We can rage against Ernesto Scorsone and Mary Lou Marzian all we want to, but their districts keep sending them back. The Republican party will only reach majority status in Kentucky by pointing out that "conservative" Democrats are the real problem. Continuing to take those of sensible middle-American values out of the Democratic Party causes the anti-war, anti-capitalist goons lose their voice and their influence.

The target for 2006 in Kentucky must be disaffected conservative Democrat-registered voters. The message is that the middle-of-the-road Democrat office holders are lending credibility to those with the worst ideas. Giving so-called "conservative" Democrats a pass because they "aren't so bad" misses the point and stands as the major roadblock to real progress in our state. Problematic Republicans will become much easier to deal with in a single-front effort.

KDP is holding the door open for us. We just have to bust on through.

Go Ahead: Overturn Roe V. Wade

Maybe you have heard the liberal talking point that conservatives don't really want to overturn Roe V. Wade because we would then no longer have the "abortion issue" to campaign on.

That's bunk.

While I don't doubt that some Republicans may subscribe to this line of reasoning, it couldn't be further from reality.

Overturning Roe, first of all, won't make abortion illegal everywhere. It would just return the decision to the states. Secondly, the phantom "privacy rights" used to interpret abortion on demand into the Constitution could just as easily be interpreted back in if a conservative Supreme Court were to one day be reversed. The battle would rage on unabated.

President Bush may well get a third Supreme Court nominee. After out-flanking the Democrats again with the Miers nomination, we may well see some progress on this front. I hope we embrace it.

Capitol Hill sources say that the President's initiatives will pop up in rapid-fire succession just after the middle of this month. Conservatism itself faces a put up or shut up moment. Do not flinch.

The Rep. Carr party switch is nice, but little more. Saying that the Democratic Party is no place for a conservative Christian is true, but it is merely stating the obvious. Now is not the time to take our eye of the ball by cheering a minor victory. Social Security reform, Medicaid reform, and federal tax reform are coming very soon. Democrats will be out to wreck the 2006 Ky. General Assembly session just as their Washington counterparts have done on the federal level. These are historic times. May we take full advantage of them.

Is The Lexington Herald Leader A Racist Paper?

Two Lexington H-L articles jumped out at me today. One was a news story based on an African American state legislator's concerns about increasing academic standards and the resulting decrease in the admission of black freshmen. The other was an editorial that criticized the University of Kentucky for not graduating a sufficient number of African American students.

I knew in college several African American students who benefitted from special admissions preferences. They got help getting in the door, but those who got degrees earned them.

Community colleges, private schools, and online courses make higher education available to just about anyone. I think that a case can be made, however, for racial preferences in the admissions process at public universities. In any event, I'm not much interested in that fight here.

What is astounding to me is that the Lexington Herald Leader would, in 2005, suggest that UK President Lee Todd deserves punishment for not handing out more degrees to African American students.

Another fine example of the "soft bigotry of low expectations" indeed.

Rare Bipartisanship Shines Light On Frankfort

A raging battle between the Bowling Green think tank Bluegrass Institute (the Courier Journal called them a "conservative propaganda mill") and Frankfort's Legislative Research Commission over online publication of legislators' voting records seems to have broken in favor of the public interest.

Legislators who have hidden behind phony labels for years will soon have to face greater scrutiny for their official actions.

The LRC today agreed to make complete voting records publicly available on their website January 3, 2006. This action comes after weeks of LRC intransigence in the face of repeated requests from the Bluegrass Institute to make the records available electronically. BI has put up a website at www.KentuckyVotes.org that will give citizens unprecedented ability to analyze their representatives' actions.

It took both Senate President David Williams and House Speaker Jody Richards to get this done. Kudos to both of them.

Bringing Delaware To Kentucky

The Kentucky Democratic Party is bringing in Senator Joe "Howard Dean does not speak for me" Biden to the Bluegrass State October 22 to raise money.

So it's official. Republican-lite is in and Smash-mouth Deaniac ranting is out. While that is welcome progress for a state party that refused to renounce Dean's screams this summer, bringing in America's most famous plagiarist surely won't do anything to inspire the party's "Surrender Now To Terrorists Abroad And Raise Taxes At Home" base.

The slogan for next year can be "Vote Democrat: We're Like Little Republicans."

Kentucky's GOP must not miss this great opportunity to bounce these bozos to permanent minority party status.

Socialized Medicine Goes For Smoke

These are ugly times for those who want to drain taxpayers to fund a government takeover of the healthcare industry.

Federal legislators from both parties are getting the message from constituents that government spending has gone too far. That would make it a bad time to try to sell HillaryCare to a public who knows better.

So here comes Plan B.

A group called Tobacco Free Alliance is pushing a scheme to get states to mandate coverage of smoking cessation products by health insurers.

The mandated coverages that have been forced on Kentucky's health insurers have kept premiums high here. This one is being sold as a cost-saver because of the social costs of smoking that, proponents assume, would decrease if only non-smokers are forced to pay for smokers' patches and nicotine gum. It's just another half-step toward a Canadian-style healthcare system.

No thanks. We need fewer mandates, not more.

There is a bill before Congress that would allow Kentuckians to buy health insurance from other states. That is what we really need. The slim Democrat House majority we are stuck with through the 2006 General Assembly session will cling to what remains of their disastrous 1994 reforms that destroyed the Kentucky health insurance market.

Time To Act On Merit Hiring Scandal

If you are not sick of hearing about the Merit Hiring Scandal, you haven't been paying attention.

The developments in this episode have reached a critical mass; news stories are writing themselves nearly every day and political opponents get to look smart by saying nothing.

And while the best legal defense strategy may well be underway, denying that there are serious problems with the political strategy is getting to be a little tough.

I know that the public hasn't been fully engrossed in this debacle yet, but the Governor's own people have already written the Democrats' fundraising letters, speeches, and campaign commercials for them. Under normal circumstances, I'm all for waiting for the pendulum to reverse course, but this isn't your garden variety failure to communicate.

Lots of people are whispering about what might happen next. Here's a likely scenario: the 2006 legislative session is going to include several bills on merit hiring. Public discussion of each will dredge back up the whole thing. The environment for the 2006 elections can be saved, but not at the rate and in the direction we are going now. The scene in 2007 could be even worse.

The governor's race for 2007 has indeed started. The '06 House and Senate races will be impacted by all this too. Actually, it has already happened. GOP candidate recruitment is way down from this time in the last cycle, when first-time candidates were jumping up to get involved in the conservative revolution in Kentucky.

Making a clean break from recent events is looking more imperative every day.

I worked hard to help get Governor Fletcher elected. I would do it again. In fact, if he is the nominee in 2007, I will support him again. But I would be hoping for a very weak Democrat nominee. Governor Fletcher was very brave to attempt a fumigation of Frankfort. Smoking out the insurgents left over from previous administrations and set on destroying his was a battle he could have won, perhaps, but didn't.

Clumsiness and overeagerness may have been the primary culprits in this scandal. Maybe it was worse than that. I don't know. But it really doesn't matter much anymore, does it? The damage has been done and repairing it must begin immediately.

Maybe Governor Fletcher thrives on the chaos. Maybe he can cobble together enough of a list of accomplishments to garner support and win re-election. Maybe.

The Kentucky GOP Executive Committee did the right thing in refusing to throw Darrell Brock overboard when Governor Fletcher asked them to. It didn't take a great deal of insight to see that coming. Too many active Republicans are too disgusted over this whole mess to play along when given the opportunity to express discontent. Not that Darrell has cause to rest easy. But this isn't about him yet.

Kentucky Republicans' greatest strength right now is that Democrats have no coherent vision and no ideas. That may help Republicans win an election or two more, but it doesn't help us regain the moral authority to govern. Only Ernie Fletcher's resignation can do that.

Louie Nunn couldn't run for re-election, but the aftermath of his term was thirty two years of Democrat domination. The current situation is much more applicable to Richard Nixon. He resigned before his troubles destroyed his party. Ernie Fletcher should do the same.

Or... quit fighting Greg Stumbo and start fighting for Kentuckians. The widespread perception that this isn't happening is the real reason for the depth of the current mess. The Governor may have one last chance, but the window is closing very quickly.

Senate's Top Democrat Stuck On No

Harry Reid's threat to vote against John Roberts for the Supreme Court is merely the first shot in the battle for the next nominee. As it becomes increasingly likely that Chief Justice Rehnquist will be replaced by another conservative, the left has to hope that they can force President Bush to nominate a moderate next.

Bush won't play Reid's game. The fireworks that result from this clash will likely bring back up the filibuster. And that re-opens the door for his second term agenda to go into high gear. That's Social Security reform and Tax reform, folks.

And now that Tom Delay has everyone talking about cutting spending, expect some big news on that front very soon as well.

Who Is Bill Thomas?

Kentuckians who cheered passage of the tobacco buyout owe it all to a quiet policy wonk from Bakersfield California. As Republican Chairman of the House Ways And Means Committee, Rep. Bill Thomas used his favorite strategy of working outside of the limelight to draft important legislation. He combined it with unrelated initiatives to cobble together sufficient support.

The bad news for liberal interest groups is that he is working on Social Security reform now.

Expect to hear a lot more about this. And remember that Ted Kennedy railed against the tobacco buyout.

Don't underestimate Bill Thomas.

What We Stand For

The left is going to have a ball with Saturday's events at the Republican Party of Kentucky. They should enjoy it while it lasts.

Governor Fletcher had asked the GOP Executive Committee to fire Chairman Darrell Brock. The fact that the Committee didn't comply on Saturday is ultimately meaningless, but that won't stop the crowing from Democrats counting their unearned good fortune.

Governor Fletcher had his reasons for asking for Brock's head and party leadership had good reason not to go along with that plan. Much will be made of the "divide" or "internal friction" but that is just noise that real people don't care anything about. A governor is an elected official, not a royal figure whose every decree must be quickly obeyed. There is meaning, however, in what happens next. The onus is on both men to produce positive results and to do it quickly and publicly. Brock's job is to raise money. If he is successful there, little else matters. As the Democrats understand by now, no one is going to change party allegiance because of fuzzy ethical concerns about a party chairman. Governor Fletcher is a different story, but he can still be effective. Remember that the 2006 legislative session requires a budget agreement. How that shakes out will far surpass the admitted seriousness of the merit system situation.

Rank and file conservative people care about having a government that functions efficiently and will not insert itself where it doesn't belong. The Republican party is far from perfect. It should come as no surprise that its candidates and elected officials aren't either. Fortunately for the GOP, like the old story about the two hunters running from a bear when one stops to change into his running shoes, we don't have to outrun the bear, just the Democrats. Compare the two party platforms. That should make it abundantly clear why the Dems will be unable to capitalize on this opportunity.

Political conventional wisdom states that you ignore your base and spend your efforts wooing the persuadable portion of your opponents' base. Governor Fletcher needs to turn that old saw upside down and tend to the issues of the people who want to support him the most. Remember what we stand for, Governor. The rest may, in time, take care of itself.

Make the hard choices on Medicaid. Those who will blast you for stemming the tide of red ink would blast you anyway.

Left Still Out To Destroy Healthcare

Liberals know that the only way to force socialized medicine onto American citizens is to obliterate the current system.

Senator Denise Harper Angel (D-Louisville) yesterday pre-filed a bill that would force the governor to demand re-importation of drugs from Canada.

Last year was one in which every Democrat primary candidate for President campaigned in favor of some form of HillaryCare. I think Kentucky Democrats really believe that attempting to extract capitalism from our system of health care will present them with some kind of wedge issue in the 2006 elections.

They are counting on voters' inattention to details.

In this particular case, Senator Harper Angel's bill would, if fully enacted, allow the state of Kentucky to order drugs for Medicaid recipients, at least on paper. To date, re-importation of prescription drugs from Canada has been a way for some individuals to purchase drugs at lower Canadian prices. This has long been illegal, but the Bush Administration made a point of not enforcing that law until last year. Now individuals can try to purchase Canadians drugs, but they are somewhat likely to be confiscated in transit. The Canadian government has yet to intervene in the process because ordering from the U.S. hasn't been substantial enough to noticably impact Canadian supplies. If we encouraged large-scale ordering like this and it caused shortages in Canada, then the Canadian government would quickly shut the process down by making exporting illegal. This gumming up of the works would ensure renewed calls for pricing regulation on American drug makers. With a citizenry becoming increasingly dependent on the life-saving qualities of drugs made in the last bastion of pharmaceutical innovation (the United States), we should understand that more socialism is one thing our healthcare system cannot afford.

But the Democrats don't expect this to get that far. They just want to paint Republicans as protecting the interests of the evil drug companies over the little grandmothers who need their purple pills. That will be fairly easy to do after Republican Senators kill Senator Harper Angel's little piece of socialist utopian dreaming.

Fletcher Versus Brock

Darrell Brock isn't going to lose this one.

KY Supreme Court Justices ELECTED By The People

Anyone watching the confirmation process of John Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court has to supremely underwhelmed by the lack of intelligence shown by liberal Senators. In Kentucky, we elect our state Supreme Court justices and that is a good thing.

Justice John Roach goes before the voters next year. Two things are already known: he is a conservative and will face liberal opposition.

We MUST support strong conservative candidates to our state's highest court.

Any questions?

Steve Henry in 2007: Can't Help Being Typical Dem

The Democratic Party's highest profile candidate for 2007 could well be former LG Steve Henry. In an interview over the weekend, Henry pointed to "cuts" in education and health care by the Fletcher administration as major causes for getting him into the race.

That is where this thing is headed.

Spending more money on education isn't going to get us anywhere. That we can't get beyond this simple fact is a testament only to the vast resources that we waste empowering the teachers' union.

And if what Henry really wants to do is dump more and more money into Medicaid without reforming the program, he needs to come clean on whose taxes he wants to raise and by how much.

Henry had his chance. His Patton administration's screwing around for eight years is precisely why we have many of the problems we are dealing with now.

No Class: Clinton Snarks At Bush Over Katrina

Bill Clinton just couldn't resist.

When asked during a BET telethon how his administration would have handled the hurricane differently, Clinton let loose with another whopper: "We always thought faster was better than slower," Clinton said.

Right. Obviously Clinton hasn't gotten the latest memo which states that the Democrat lie about how awful the Bush administration handled the tragedy's aftermath is unravelling quickly.

Do The Right Thing, Governor

Despite recent efforts by Kentucky's Educational Industrial Complex to misrepresent statistics on spending for public education, all honest people should know by now that more money isn't the answer.

Innovation is the answer.

The method is school choice. I've found a website dedicated to bringing about this innovation. Democrats and their teachers' union thugs are out to shut this down.

The teachers' union thugs already hate Governor Fletcher. He should do the right thing and embrace the school choice movement. Our children deserve that.

This Man Wants More Power

Rep. Adrian Arnold (D-Mt. Sterling) has pre-filed a bill that would extend the term of state Representatives to four years. Just what we need! Less accountability for liberal politicians!

Too bad he lives in the People's State of Mt. Sterling and can't likely be voted out. But we can win elsewhere and put him in the minority. Bills like this just strengthen our hand.

Why We Can't All Just Get Along

A University of Louisville student and chairman of the school's Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee has attracted the attention of the Secret Service by calling for the assassination of President Bush.

Phillip Bailey writes on a website called The SOULution and, in addition to his non-violent activities, has written essays with titles like "I Really, Really Hate White People."

Bailey's comments were made in reference to looters in New Orleans. He said "I say shoot every cop, national guard and politician who stands in your way, INCLUDING GEORGE W. BUSH if need be."

If charged with making threats against the president, Bailey could face five years in prison.

I doubt this 21-year old kid will go to jail. Merlene Davis and Betty Baye will doubtless be welcoming him to the wonderful world of professional race-baiting all too soon.

While we all know normal people who can deal with racial differences without inciting riots, young people like Phillip Bailey help keep alive the bitter flame of hatred.

African Americans in increasingly larger numbers already know that selling out to the Democratic Party won't advance anything that matters. That's all these cartoonish verbal attacks on George Bush are about: whipping up the loyal Democrat base to hate Republicans.

This young man should wake up and realize that he can use his obvious talents to be much more than a token black columnist sell-out.

Just As Bad As The Klan

Louisville Courier Journal columnist Betty Baye ups the ante on Bush-bashing today by stating that many African Americans already thought President Bush "doesn't care about black people" before Hurricane Katrina "confirmed" it for her and her buddy Kanye West.

Baye's race-baiting (she claims that 74% of all Republicans -- those who support the President's efforts -- wouldn't be supportive if more of New Orleans' beleaguered citizens were white) is thoroughly disgusting and has no place in a major newspaper.

There is an answer to racism, but Betty Baye wouldn't be interested in that. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached that answer. Love those who abuse you, he said.

I guess the race-baiting pays better, though.

The Kiss of Death?

Senator John Kerry is injecting himself into the 2006 mayoral Democrat primary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Any chance we could get him to bring his socialized medicine, tax-raising, defense cutting, Communist party-supported act to Kentucky for some of our 2006 races?

Yeah, I know. The Communist Party of the United States didn't actually endorse Kerry last year, but they didn't run their own candidate and they were adamant that defeating George Bush was critical to the achievement of their goals. Do the math.

The Courier Journal's Reefer Madness

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist died Sunday and the Louisville Courier Journal editorial board can hardly contain its hallucinogenic-inspired glee.

Must be smoking some pretty strong stuff to come up with the typo (not to mention false) headline "Rehnquist's legacyPovery on the rise" and the contention that the 7-2 vote to end the Gore recounts in 2000 was not only the "most notable" decision of his tenure, but also "a low point for the Court and its reputation."

How embarrassing that the most literate liberals in our state wasted their long Labor Day weekend smoking dope and typing recklessly. What's worse, they promise to have "more to say" about Rehnquist in the days ahead.

Here's a better idea, dudes: sleep it off instead.

A Great Opportunity For Governor Fletcher

The number that jumps out from the page is 17%. That is the number that the Louisville CJ's Bluegrass Poll says represents Kentucky registered voters who say they think they will vote for Governor Fletcher in 2007.

My first thought was to look for problems with the methodology of the poll. My only possible problem is with the question that generated the 17% answer. Here it is:

In 2007, voters will decide whether to re-elect Ernie Fletcher as governor of Kentucky. As you feel today, do you think you will vote to re-elect Ernie Fletcher, or will you consider voting for someone else, or do you think you will vote to replace Fletcher?

Nevertheless, as far as any poll more than two years out from election day (and more importantly one that doesn't list even one possible opponent) could have meaning, this one does. But the number that holds the most meaning is 44%. That is the job approval rating for Governor Fletcher. At what is likely the low point of the merit hiring debacle, that is not a bad number. The Impeachment Six group of legislators and their favorite lefty blogger will, I think, continue to ride the Beat Ernie Now train right off their own cliff.

The opportunity for Governor Fletcher is to tighten up his organization for a productive 2006 legislative session. If he and the Senate can line up needed reforms and if the loudest detractors stay loud (a pretty safe bet!) he may find Kentucky's voters ready to send a majority of Republican State Representatives to Frankfort to drown out the bickering.

This opportunity is a fragile one and if it is mishandled it could cut the opposite direction quickly and decisively. I suggest taking on the Business Forum On Kentucky Education recommendations immediately and then quickly and publicly addressing the Medicaid situation. Tough and easily demagogued moves are required there. Engage the public on the important issues and, please, don't mention the Attorney General by name in regard to the merit investigation ever again.

The radio shows and newspaper columns are a great idea. I hope using these vehicles to address real issues will prove beneficial to the entire state.

Ky Native Links Katrina With War

Sure it was a dumb question. And it will probably lead some on the left to detour from blaming Republicans for the actual hurricane itself to claiming to have yet another excuse for surrendering to the terrorists. But this morning when ABC's Diane Sawyer asked President Bush about continuing to spend money on the war in Iraq when there are so many people suffering here, she veered dangerously close to this.

Straighten up, Diane. You are supposed to be on our side.

Senate Race Headed To Supreme Court

Dana Seum Stephenson will have her case heard before the Kentucky Supreme Court.

She beat Democrat Virginia Woodward last year, but a lawsuit has prevented her from taking office so far.

Another Liberal Myth Debunked

Most educational establishment folks can't talk about their work without bitterly lamenting the "unfunded mandate" foisted upon them by President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act.

Next time you hear that talking point, you can ignore it. The man who is in a better position than anyone else in the state to know about it says there is no such unfunded mandate.

Kentucky's Education Commissioner Gene Wilhoit was asked yesterday at the Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee meeting about this common criticism by opponents of the President.

In front of reporters, Wilhoit said there is no such condition in Kentucky schools. You won't see that in the mainstream media, though.

Merit Probe Far From Over; Time To Do Real Work

Governor Fletcher has issued pardons, but I can't imagine he hopes this will do much more than kick off the 2006 elections early and with a bang. This action does create a little breathing room to get some things done, though. How about some real tax reform? How about some health insurance reform? Here I mean for the individual and group markets. Grab the bully pulpit, Governor. Quickly.

Take a look at the Kentucky Democrats' "Family Agenda." Two points jumped out at me as good things to say, though a skeptic might say they had their chance. The first is a promise: "We will support reductions in the regulations, red tape, and some mandates that hamper (health insurance reform). If they really understand how well this would work, seriously, then why are they just now getting around to a more market-friendly approach to health insurance? If they had only listened to the Republicans saying this is 1994 we could have avoided more than a decade in the insurance wilderness.

The second is an attack on Tax Modernization that I couldn't agree with more. It has been a disaster for small business and clearly has to be changed. But again, the Dems all voted for it too.

So the Democrats seem to have punted on yet another opportunity to rise above the partisan tussle. And this is why, when the dust settles, Governor Fletcher should be able to gain re-election. I just hope he and his administration take full advantage of the next legislative session to advance conservatism and further strengthen the state.

One pretty funny thing: take a look at how this always-goofy leftist site goes from trying to make hay out of the merit system debacle for Democrats to infighting about racism and their own stereotypes of rampant Appalachian incest. It is beyond hilarious.

On Gas Prices And Income Taxes

You are probably getting several emails urging a citizen revolt against higher gas prices.

You know the routine: if we all boycott the same company or all swear off gasoline for one day, the oil companies will get the message. What these would-be Crusaders are missing is that we can run our gas guzzlers on fumes all week and blow the whole thing walking to the grocery store and spending $100 on food. In short, we can all cut up our Chevron cards in protest if we want to. The shippers who bring the goods we buy will not participate. The statement is muted as soon as we buy an apple.

It isn't a giant leap from the realization that gasoline consumption plays a role in the availability (and the price) of everything from Cheerios to chaise lounges to the screaming need for federal income tax reform.

It stands to reason that three dollars a gallon for gas -- which now seems inevitable and imminent -- will not only eat into your take home pay, but will take a bite out of shippers' and truckers' bottom lines as well. So if your kiwis come from Chile, you can probably expect the price of them to be headed north as well.

Did it ever occur to you that when your favorite plumber's growing business puts him in a higher tax bracket, the same dynamic applies? And that is for a service, which isn't taxed directly at the retail level.

A "flat tax" doesn't begin to address the issue of income taxes passed along from providers to consumers. Only the Fair Tax does that. Congress goes back into session in one week and tax reform will be on the agenda. Done properly, this reform could have an enormously positive impact on the U.S. economy.

Every Economics 101 textbook refers to a "multiplier effect" that ripples through an economy as the result of certain actions. Just as gasoline price increases reverberate through layers of providers and get passed along to consumers, nearly one-third of the price of all goods and services flows back to the federal government to pay income tax liabilities incurred by those same providers. The difference is that we can actually have a meaningful impact on income taxes.

We need the Fair Tax now. If you want to affect change, join this Crusade (with apologies to our Islamo-fascist readers, of course.)

Smacked Down: Miller Tastes Defeat On KAPT

The KAPT board decided Thursday to abandon Treasurer Jonathan Miller and his lawsuit over $13.7 million he wants to take from the General Fund to prop up the KAPT program. This move was widely expected.

Instead of supporting Miller's money grab, the board resolved to "work vigorously with the General Assembly to pass legislation that will ensure that all currently held KAPT contracts will be honored when an unfunded liability arises." Contrary to Miller's wishes, this language echoes the sentiments expressed by members of the General Assembly.

In fact, the language of yesterday's resolution was very similar to that of a March 18, 2005 letter sent out by Senate President David Williams to KAPT contract holders which stated "The Kentucky Senate intends to live up to our commitment to the KAPT families."

Miller struck a defiant posture nonetheless, claiming unconvincingly that not only was the board's decision "a symbolic victory" for him, but that President Williams "reversed course and has announced that he supports the rights of KAPT families."

Miller's reputation for petulance is well-deserved. He slipped into name-calling mode in an email to contract holders, labeling Williams "formerly KAPT's most ardent foe."

The only person to ever suggest that the General Assembly wanted to harm contract holders' investments has been Jonathan Miller. Without provocation, Miller has attacked repeatedly the members of the State Senate for seeking to put a cap on Miller's unsustainable scheme. When the Democratic House members became convinced of the necessity for action to stem the tide, he attacked them too.

No one can know how Miller's lawsuit will turn out other than to waste more taxpayer dollars.

Every politician knows the hack's version of the sucker punch. It's called the straw man: accuse your opponent of saying something he didn't say, then attack him for saying it. This is Miller's favorite trick. He does it twice in the same paragraph of his statement on government email to contract holders. He said KAPT families were "attacked as undeserving rich people" and that legislators wanted to "shut down KAPT and force refunds (without interest)." The only person to make these claims has been Miller himself.

And he wants you to elect him Auditor of Public Accounts in 2007. Given his New Liberal Math techniques, I don't think we can afford much more of Mr. Miller.

Stan Lee Sponsors Good Business Bill for 2006

Rep. Stan Lee (R-Lexington) pre-filed a Right To Work bill in Frankfort yesterday. This would simply prohibit unions from forcing membership or support on individuals as a condition of employment. It's a good bill for a "conservative" Democrat to steal and push through the House.

Chandler: We Must Destroy Embryos To Beat China

Rep. Ben Chandler spoke to the Richmond Chamber of Commerce and his two topics were how strong China is getting and how terrible George Bush has been.

Most of his comments were nothing new, but one jumped out as odd. Chandler said "As the current administration turns its back on promising scientific research, China is working very hard to develop the know-how to develop and exploit new technologies."

Looks like the left is getting their talking points mixed up. Is China really going to toss us in the dustbin of history on the strength of their embryonic stem cell research?

Calling Howard Dean: Class Warfare Hits China

If any circumstance ever called for a good Dean Scream(Mandarin version), this would have to be it. A very strange Associated Press story today from Shanghai explains how growing income "inequality" will "likely undermine social stability" in China very soon.

What? In Communist China? You mean just as their experiment with capitalism is starting to work, they start getting all DNC-squishy on us? This story is actually a perfect example of why people on the left and right don't see eye to eye. We just keep score differently. Conservatives don't generally view equalization of outcomes as the role of government and liberals see unequal outcomes as their clarion call.

A priceless nugget: "reforms have also largely ended cradle-to-grave social support, forcing Chinese to pay far more for health care, education and other basic services. Millions have also slipped into poverty after being laid off from moribund state enterprises and rural incomes have largely stagnated as wealth fails to trickle down into the countryside."

Sounds like circumstances would improve in China if they gave up on their economic reforms and went back to "cradle-to-grave social support." Nice touch throwing in the "trickle down" part there at the end. What is the world coming to when peaceful agrarian reformers go for Reaganomics?

One might think that the next thing we would hear from the AP is how the explosive economic growth in China is causing homelessness. It probably won't happen, but it does raise an interesting question: if a man goes homeless in Shanghai but no Republicans are there to blame, does the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities still get to write a weepy research report?

I found the original article from China Daily.

And from straight-faced Chinese economic planners, some good quotes that Sen. John Kerry would never see the humor in:

"The government's top priority is to make those farmers still in poverty earn more," the team concludes in a report. "

(And if that doesn't work, Beijing will just shoot them.)

"He said incomes of laid-off workers are decreasing while the wallets of private business owners have been fattening at incredible rates."

(Imagine getting less money for not working. Expanded Unemployment Benefits, anyone? Let's send a delegation and teach them how!)

Democrats Taking Ho Chi Minh Trail To Lose Iraq

Read all about it in the Washington Post.

Update: Looks like John Edwards wants the joint next.

Meanwhile, Evan Bayh is having a bad trip. He thinks he is Jimmy Carter.

Gary Hart says Dems aren't trying hard enough to sabotage the war.

Even if We Don't Build It, They Will Come

... so connect U.S. 27 in Jessamine county to Interstate 75 to improve traffic flow and save lives.