Not Weird - Just Cold

Larry Keeling asks this question on his blog:

“Why any Democrat would want to get in the middle of the Fletcher-Pence break-up is strange enough. Why any Democrat would want to get into it on Fletcher's side is, as I said, weird - with a capital W.”

Here’s the answer:

If you are a Democrat you want Fletcher hurt, but not killed. It’s is better for all Democrats to watch Fletcher and Northup beat up on each other than have a clear Republican winner.

It’s really a military answer, it’s easier to trap an enemy slowed down with casualties than one that has freedom of movement.

You see Republicans really aren’t as cold hearted as some Democrats believe.

If they were, they would have slit Fletcher’s political throat a long time ago and left him bleeding in the dust and moved on.

Robo-call from Jack the Ripper

The other day I received a robo-call from telemarketer Bruce Lunsford.

I hate robo-calls. But this call spurred a few questions in my mind.

First, how was I so lucky to get this call?

Second, I wonder if they blanketed the entire universe of democrats in Kentucky with this verbal spam?

Conducting an unscientific poll, (talking to friends and neighbors), it appears the robo-call was limited to folks that could probably appear on lists maintained by Kentucky Democratic Party.

Now knowing, what an unbiased and fair person Party Chairman Jerry Lundergan is, this certainly couldn’t be the case.

After all, Lundergan had all of the candidates sign a “play nice” pledge not to play hard ball politics. After all we really wouldn’t want someone to question another candidate’s past business decisions. That would certainly be impolite.

Now maybe the candidates can’t ask that kind of questions, but being a cantankerous old democrat and voter, I would like to know why I should believe the guy that drove Vencor into the ground could possibly run the state health-care system?

From Bruce Lunsford:

“We'll fix our broken health-care system, improve our public schools and create good paying jobs.

Health care: We need universal health care so that every Kentuckian has health insurance. For too long, too many Kentuckians have gone without health insurance. Universal health care is not only the right thing to do, it is the right thing for our economy. We have the experience and the leadership skills to develop a universal health-care plan that will work.”

Given the track record for Lunsford, putting him in charge of a system that is currently screwing Kentuckians is kind of like hiring Jack the Ripper to be the madam of a whore house.

I guess you don’t have to worry about the system screwing anyone if all the whores are dead.

Pot of Gold for Dr. Dan

I find it interesting how politics make strange bedfellows.

Two people have come to me in the last week with an invitation they received for a fund raiser for Steve Beshear and Dan Mongiardo.

The invitation, signed by a well known Lexington fairness activist, contains the following:

“Steve has assured me that that (the typo was in the invitation) he will promptly re-execute Governor Patton’s Executive Order banning discrimination against state government employees who are gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, or transgendered. As to this issue, I will also not that Sen. Mongiardo recently voted in opposition to the Senate Bill which seeks to forbid our state universities and colleges from offering health care domestic partner benefits to its unmarried employees.”

Now I don’t have a problem with re-executing Patton’s order, nor do I disagree with Mongiardo’s vote on an incredibly short sighted Senate bill.

What I have a problem understanding is how the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgendered community can embrace a slate where one member was the sponsor of the Constitutional Amendment to ban same sex marriage.

How can you “help us fill a ‘pot of gold’” for a guy whose record clearly shows he is clearly challenged in the consistency department?

Two Birds, One Stone

From the Herald-Leader:

“Overhaul in the works for state retirees
LEGISLATORS SAY THEY HAVE A PLAN FOR HIGH COSTS OF PENSION SYSTEMS”

This bill has two purposes:

First, reduce benefits to new employees. In reality the only thing they can do with the legislation is just deny retirement and retiree health benefits to new employees. All this does is lower compensation for new state hires. You either have to raise base salary or you get a lower quality employee, there is no magic to this.

Second the Republicans know that Jody Richards and the Executive Director Hanes of the Kentucky Retirement Systems have been married at the hip for 20 years. Hanes doesn't want any changes to the system. Hanes wife works for Democratic Caucus. And the Democratic Caucus raises money from money managers contracted by KRS which the Ethics Commission says they do not have to disclose).

This forces Jody to either make changes that will anger state workers and retiree's or look like a road block to solving the problem.

Basically we are probably talking changing the system from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan.

Great legislation, screw the employees and a candidate for Governor at the same time.

You have to love David Williams, never let doing the right thing stand in the way of politics.