Focus People

Anyone that has read any of my postings regarding smoking or big tobacco knows that I will be very happy when tobacco companies go out of business.

So take a moment and focus here. Let me give you a metaphor, we need to drain the swamp, but we keep forgetting to drain the swamp because we are fighting off the crocodiles.

Here’s one crocodile. David Williams, out of the blue, is in favor of an unenforceable statewide ban on smoking in public places. As the Herald-Leader points out, that dog don’t hunt.

…..anything our pro-tobacco legislature is likely to pass would be weaker than the ordinances that local governments are enacting. A statewide ban would drain the political energy from local efforts to enact better protections.

And without a ton of money behind it, enforcement would be a joke.

A second crocodile is the continued mantra that we can only pass a small tobacco tax. If the best the legislature can do is a 20 to 30 cent per pack tax on cigarettes, then we should urge our legislators to vote it down. This is a delaying tactic.

What to do?

Focus on draining the swamp. The only acceptable answer is a dollar, or more, tax per pack of cigarettes. Stay after your state legislator; instill a spine in our honorable representatives so they can do the right thing.

Call them, write them, and go visit them.

Don’t settle for half way measures.

All Politics are Personal

A well DUH moment from David Williams, from the Courier-Journal:

Senate President David Williams yesterday accused Rep. Harry Moberly of ramming Eastern Kentucky University projects into the state budget during closed-door conference committee meetings.

Moberly, D-Richmond, is the chairman of the House budget committee and a high-ranking official at EKU.

"I've been at the conference table in the conference many times when he has stood up to have things added for EKU in the budget," Williams, R-Burkesville, said in a session with reporters. "If he doesn't get what he wants in the budget nobody else is going to get what they want in the budget, or other people can't get things for UK or U of L if he doesn't get what he wants in the budget."

Who in their right mind would ever think that Harry Moberly, the most powerful person in relationship to the budget, wouldn’t have an agenda? Did you think EKU made him the Executive Director of Administration because of his good looks? Maybe his years of protecting his University had something to do with it. Of course Harry is going to take care of EKU.

Williams is whining because he doesn’t have total control of the budget. This is called compromise, you get some of what you want and I get some of what I want. Williams just doesn’t play well with others and wants to get back a Moberly for killing the Republican backed bill to eliminate the CATS test in public schools.

With Williams, all politics are personal.