Impressive, looks good, sounds good, and with Dad and his friends I don't see anyone even getting close.
Here is her opening shot.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Where's Jack?
Four days left to file for the Primary. Where are you Jack?
It’s a short walk down the hall to file the papers. If he doesn’t file then chalk this one up to and automatic Republican victory.
Then Steve Beshear should go ask Ernie Fletcher how much fun it is when the Attorney General belongs to the other party.
Then Steve Beshear should go ask Ernie Fletcher how much fun it is when the Attorney General belongs to the other party.
The Bottleneck in Tax Reform
The biggest impediment to meaningful tax reform in Kentucky is President of the Kentucky Senate David Williams.
As a person close to General Assembly put it “David is the bottleneck - Gatewood got it right in the H-L (Lexington Herald Leader) - we need to put it all on the table no sacred cows”
Williams shows a remarkable level of short sightedness when it comes to achieving tax reform. His proposal, rammed through the Kentucky Senate, creates a group to write tax reform that doesn’t have a single voting member from the legislature. This plan is from a man who was there when KERA passed, he knows how to do this, but he would sacrifice the state to get to sit on the first floor of the Capitol.
Williams is more interested in political cover that solving the problems, not a good trait in a leader.
In his quest for the Governor’s Office Williams is like a frat boy in bar looking at a coed through beer goggles. He knows what he wants and he is willing to do something stupid to get it
As a person close to General Assembly put it “David is the bottleneck - Gatewood got it right in the H-L (Lexington Herald Leader) - we need to put it all on the table no sacred cows”
Williams shows a remarkable level of short sightedness when it comes to achieving tax reform. His proposal, rammed through the Kentucky Senate, creates a group to write tax reform that doesn’t have a single voting member from the legislature. This plan is from a man who was there when KERA passed, he knows how to do this, but he would sacrifice the state to get to sit on the first floor of the Capitol.
Williams is more interested in political cover that solving the problems, not a good trait in a leader.
In his quest for the Governor’s Office Williams is like a frat boy in bar looking at a coed through beer goggles. He knows what he wants and he is willing to do something stupid to get it
Mini-Boptrot?
While the Herald Leader has done a great job on reporting on the Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of the Kentucky Retirement Systems, the other main stream media has not given the story the coverage it deserves.
The story has received national coverage in Forbes and a number of trade publications like the Council on State Governments.
Attorney General
In two other states the Attorneys General in California and New York were elected Governor for going after placement agents in their retirement funds,
While Kentucky’s Attorney General looked the other way and was soundly defeated in his Senate Race.
KRS management claims there is nothing wrong with placement agents and the Attorney General seems to agree, a coincidence as we explored earlier .
Kickbacks
Many individual commissions exceeded $1 million and a leading expert has determined anything over $200,000 is most likely used as a kickback. In every other state where placement agents were used kickbacks were eventually found.
So of this $15 million paid by KRS the conventional wisdom is that $12 to $13 million was kicked back to someone. Kickbacks could go to many places, in North Carolina placement agent Glen Sergeon donated to the Chief Investment Officers favorite charity.
There are many types of political action funds in which donations could be hidden. Of course placement agents could always hide money the old fashion way and just wire money to someone’s Cayman account. After 911 the SEC has more abilities to follow wire transfers and hopefully will track this down.
General Assembly
It has long been speculated that the Kentucky House Democratic Caucus has received pension related donations since the Caucus employed the wife of the KRS executive director for over 10 years.
In recent years based on Republican Senator Damon Thayer’s defense of KRS actions in the land deal, many suspect the Senate Republican Caucus may be getting donations as well.
My understanding is that a caucus does not have to report non-lobbyist contributions under $5000 per year.
It has long been speculated that the Kentucky House Democratic Caucus has received pension related donations since the Caucus employed the wife of the KRS executive director for over 10 years.
In recent years based on Republican Senator Damon Thayer’s defense of KRS actions in the land deal, many suspect the Senate Republican Caucus may be getting donations as well.
My understanding is that a caucus does not have to report non-lobbyist contributions under $5000 per year.
An early Executive Branch ethics decision declared that money managers do not have to register as lobbyists creating a potential loophole.
That loophole leaves open the possibility for each of the 40+ managers at KRS to potentially donate $4999 a year under the radar.
Medicaid Shell Game
Governor Steve Beshear and Speaker of the House Greg Stumbo are playing a budgetary shell game.
From the Herald Leader:
“Beshear predicted Wednesday the General Assembly will approve his plan to shift $166.5 million from next year's Medicaid budget to the current year. To make up the resulting shortfall in fiscal year 2012, Beshear said the state would expand the use of private contractors to provide Medicaid services.”
Instead of tax reform and a careful monitoring of the system to prevent fraud and waste Beshear is digging the hole deeper in the future and relying on contractors like Passport to save him.
The Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts had this to say about Passport:
“Auditors found that as Passport’s excessive revenues grew, it increased spending on lobbying, public relations, travel and salaries, and provided financial benefits that favored its original investors over other area providers.
The exam notes weak ethical policies and numerous conflicts of interest and calls into question Passport’s board structure and oversight……
Passport derives all of its funding from state and federal sources and is the state’s largest contract, receiving $793 million in fiscal year 2010 to serve 164,000 Kentuckians. "
So in what alternate reality does Beshear and the General Assembly think this is going to work?
Appears to me that if the Kentucky Department of Medicaid Services had beem doing its’ job at least part, if not all, of the $166.5 million dollar shortfall would be covered.
I know I probably am beating a dead horse here, but let’s look at the fuzzy math of this proposal.
Again from the Herald-Leader:
“Gov. Steve Beshear said payments to health care providers who see Medicaid patients would fall by 30 percent if the General Assembly does not approve his proposal to balance the program's mammoth budget.
For hospitals, a 30 percent cut in Medicaid reimbursement for six months would amount to a $247 million loss, said Mark Neff with the Kentucky Hospital Association.”
So we have a $166.5 shortfall and Beshear says that he would have to cut the payments to providers by 30 percent. A 30 percent cut to just hospitals, not all providers, just hospitals, for 6 months would be $247 million.
Since I’m not living in Beshear’s alternate reality $166.5 million is still less than $247 million.
So if we are still talking just hospitals the total cut for one year would be $594 million. So we don’t really need a 30 percent cut. The cut would be more like 10 percent, if we only cut hospital reimbursements.
I assume that if we include all providers, there are a couple of hundred types of providers in Kentucky, then the percentage drops even further.
How about if just instead tighten up the monitoring of contractor lobbyists like Passport and Medicaid providers like this guy.
From the Herald Leader:
“Beshear predicted Wednesday the General Assembly will approve his plan to shift $166.5 million from next year's Medicaid budget to the current year. To make up the resulting shortfall in fiscal year 2012, Beshear said the state would expand the use of private contractors to provide Medicaid services.”
Instead of tax reform and a careful monitoring of the system to prevent fraud and waste Beshear is digging the hole deeper in the future and relying on contractors like Passport to save him.
The Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts had this to say about Passport:
“Auditors found that as Passport’s excessive revenues grew, it increased spending on lobbying, public relations, travel and salaries, and provided financial benefits that favored its original investors over other area providers.
The exam notes weak ethical policies and numerous conflicts of interest and calls into question Passport’s board structure and oversight……
Passport derives all of its funding from state and federal sources and is the state’s largest contract, receiving $793 million in fiscal year 2010 to serve 164,000 Kentuckians. "
So in what alternate reality does Beshear and the General Assembly think this is going to work?
Appears to me that if the Kentucky Department of Medicaid Services had beem doing its’ job at least part, if not all, of the $166.5 million dollar shortfall would be covered.
I know I probably am beating a dead horse here, but let’s look at the fuzzy math of this proposal.
Again from the Herald-Leader:
“Gov. Steve Beshear said payments to health care providers who see Medicaid patients would fall by 30 percent if the General Assembly does not approve his proposal to balance the program's mammoth budget.
For hospitals, a 30 percent cut in Medicaid reimbursement for six months would amount to a $247 million loss, said Mark Neff with the Kentucky Hospital Association.”
So we have a $166.5 shortfall and Beshear says that he would have to cut the payments to providers by 30 percent. A 30 percent cut to just hospitals, not all providers, just hospitals, for 6 months would be $247 million.
Since I’m not living in Beshear’s alternate reality $166.5 million is still less than $247 million.
So if we are still talking just hospitals the total cut for one year would be $594 million. So we don’t really need a 30 percent cut. The cut would be more like 10 percent, if we only cut hospital reimbursements.
I assume that if we include all providers, there are a couple of hundred types of providers in Kentucky, then the percentage drops even further.
How about if just instead tighten up the monitoring of contractor lobbyists like Passport and Medicaid providers like this guy.
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