Where's Jay?

Sometimes, you can tell a lot about a politician by what they don’t do. Take for example the vote to sell alcohol on Sundays taken by the Lexington-Fayette Council.

Councilwoman Andrea James voted against the measure and Councilman Jay McChord was absent.

You have to admire the intestinal fortitude of first year council member Andrea James casting the one lone vote against a popular resolution.

On the other hand Jay McChord not showing up doesn’t look good. Now I’m sure there is some good reason that McChord couldn’t be there to cast a vote on the issue.

But if I were a negative sort I might think McChord is already doing the political math regarding Stan Lee becoming the next Attorney General.

You see Lee’s House District and McChord’s Council District cover a lot of the same voters. Those voters tend to be a tad on the conservative side, so it wouldn’t look good to be seen as corrupting the public by being in favor of selling liquor on Sunday. At the same time you don’t want to anger the business community and maybe jeopardize those campaign contributions.

So the easy answer is stay home.

But I’m sure I’m just being negative, Jay must have had a good reason not to show up for the vote.

Montani Semper Liberi

Growing up in West Virginia, you hear every hillbilly joke ever told. Living in the only state completely in Appalachia, makes you a little different. The State Motto "Montani Semper Liberi" (Mountaineers Are Always Free) sometimes shows up in everyday life.

Today’s Herald-Leader gave me two reasons to be proud of my birth state.

First, there is settlement of Rank v. Jenkins.

CHARLESTON, WV – The American Civil Liberties Union today announced a successful resolution of the case of Jeffery and Nicole Rank, the young Texas couple arrested on the West Virginia capitol grounds on July 4, 2004 for peacefully expressing their opposition to President Bush. According to the settlement agreement, the United States government will pay the Ranks $80,000…..

“This settlement is a real victory not only for our clients but for the First Amendment. The outcome of the case speaks for itself,” said Andrew Schneider, executive director of the ACLU of West Virginia. “As a result of the Ranks’ courageous stand, public officials will think twice before they eject peaceful protestors from public events for exercising their right to dissent.”

Second, there is the decision by Ernie Fletcher to kill Ralph Baze Jr.

Why does this make be proud to be a born in West Virginia? Simple, West Virginia does not have a death penalty.

Maybe Ernie should pay a little more attention to the Kentucky Motto: "Deo gratiam habeamus" ("Let us be grateful to God").

Advanced Disbursement

The Peabody Welfare Bill is moving through the Kentucky General Assembly. The abstract of HB 1 can be found on the Legislative Research Commission web site.

The one phrase you don’t see in the abstract is “advanced disbursement”. If you read the text of the bill you can find this term. What it means is that Peabody gets a huge chunk of taxpayer cash, before they do one thing, and with very little accountablility for how the money is spent.

The details of the bill are outlined by the Herald Leader.

And the guys in the Legislature wonder why no one trusts them.