Open Georgia

Here is a tip of the hat to the Pilgrim for this.

The state of Georgia seems to be a least one step ahead of Kentucky when it comes to eTransparency.

Take a look at Open Georgia – Transparency in Government.

I’d like to see even more detail, but this site is a good next step.

Judge Maze?

My best guess on this one is that Jefferson County Attorney and former Lt. Governor Candidate Irv Maze is a lock for the Circuit Court in Jefferson County.

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The Judicial Nominating Commission, led by Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr., met today at the Jefferson County Judicial Center in Louisville to choose nominees to replace the late Judge Kathleen Voor Montano, who passed away April 21, 2008. The vacant circuit judgeship serves the 30th Judicial Circuit, Division 10, consisting of Jefferson County. Three Louisville attorneys were named as nominees to fill this vacancy: Margaret E. Keane, Irvin G. Maze and Theodore S. (Ted) Shouse.

Scorsone, Stein and Lee

Scorsone, Stein and Lee – now that would be a strange law firm I can’t see ever happening. But it could be an interesting combination of political ambition for this fall.

Fayette Chief Circuit Judge Sheila Isaac vacated her Seventh Division seat on June 2 to enter the senior judge program. Speculation in Frankfort is rampant that longtime state Sen. Ernesto Scorsone, D-Lexington, will seek an appointment to Isaac's seat……..

House Judiciary Chairwoman Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, said she would be ”very interested“ in running for Scorsone's seat if he is appointed to the bench.

This is a done deal. Scorsone will be appointed by Gov. Steve Beshear and Kathy Stein will run for his seat. The decision for Stein to step into the race for Scorsone’s Senate Seat has already been made and the voting members of the Fayette County Democratic Party will rubber stamp it.

Part of Stein’s motivation for running was probably her shaky hold on the House Judiciary Committee Chairmanship. With a battle shaping up of leadership in the House her hold on the chairmanship was not a done deal. Of course there may also be some promises to Stein from the Governor about the future, who knows?

The interesting questions here are who will run for Stein’s seat in the house and who will oppose her for the senate seat. I would expect the Republicans to make an attempt to take this seat but with a District that has re-elected and openly gay candidate, who was running unopposed, this will pretty much be a Kamikaze mission.

I do look forward to seeing Stein and David Williams sparring in the Senate.

Another rumor surrounding Isaac’s retirement is that Stan Lee will run against Scorsone. Now that would be an interesting race.

Weasel Words and Retirement

The General Assembly has passed the retirement bill. The bill was loaded with weasel words that allow the legislature to back out of any commitment.

Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, was the lone lawmaker to oppose the bill. He warned that the legislation is a mediocre first step that doesn't do enough to keep the retirement system from draining the state government's coffers in the future.

”If our goal is to achieve mediocrity in the pension plan, we have succeeded,“ Buford said.

The net result of the bill was to screw the workers and retirees a little bit while the Legislature doesn’t bite the bullet and do the right thing.

There are three approaches to this problem.

One the approach the legislature took. Reduce benefits to workers and retirees, but not enough that they actually scream. Promise to do better in the future and claim victory.

”Regardless of the speeches about this being an important first step, this is the ball game,“ he (Jody Richards) said. ”This puts us on a sound foundation for several years.“

Richards, once again, exhibits an inability to do math. If a worker is hired this year, after this bill goes into effect, and given the changes just made, the system will still not be on sound financial footing when the worker retires.

A second approach would be the David William's totally shaft the worker proposal.

One of the more controversial proposals not addressed by the legislation is a plan (Senate President David) Williams has backed that would create a so-called defined contribution option, similar to 401(k) plans that let workers manage their own retirement investment accounts.

Here is the bottom line on 401(k) investments from the Kentucky Deferred Compensation Authority, the existing state 401(k) agency.

Investing may involve market risk including the potential loss of principal.

In other words, with Williams plan you have a chance of reaching retirement age and not have a retirement fund.

The third approach would be for the General Assembly to pass comprehensive tax reform and generate enough revenue to meet the obligations to state employees.

But the odds of the General Assembly summoning up the collective backbone to do such a thing is doubtful. These folks couldn’t pass a cigarette tax increase when it was not only the right thing to do but was supported by most of the voters.

Julian Carroll on The Retirement Bill

The following is a copy of an email sent to me by a friend in Frankfort. My friend received the email from former Governor and Senator Julian Carroll.

Carroll has always been on top of money issues in Frankfort and his analysis of the retirement bill is pretty dead on.

Dear Friend,

I recently reported to you the negotiated House and Senate Leadership Pension Bill, together with charts showing the details of the agreed plan. Governor Beshear had previously charged the Leadership with negotiating such an agreed plan as a condition for calling the Legislature into a Special five-day Session in order to enact into law the proposed plan.

Just as a matter of explanation to some who are not familiar with the process, House Bill 1, the pension bill, was introduced Monday, June 23 on the first day of the Special Session and immediately referred to a House Committee for action. The Committee considered the Bill and reported it back to the House for a first reading.

The Bill received its second reading today and House Bill 1 will be considered for a vote on Wednesday, June 25, on that same day, the bill will be received in the Senate, referred to a Senate Committee, and reported out of Committee to have its first reading as required by the Constitution. The Senate will give the Bill its second reading on Thursday, and call the Bill for final passage on Friday. The Bill will then be enrolled and sent to the Governor, and the Session will adjourn Friday.

The Bill contains an Emergency Clause, which provides for it to become effective on enrollment and signing by the Governor. House Bill 1 will become law upon the signature of the Governor, presumably on Friday June 27, 2008.

I have received numerous questions about the pension bill. I hope that the bullets below will help clarify any questions that you may have.

For existing employees, beginning July 1, current and future KERS, CERS and SPRS retirees will receive a set 1.5 percent Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA).

For current employees, hazardous KERS, CERS and SPRS retirees, who return to work on or after September 1, 2008 in SPRS in a hazardous duty position in KERS or CERS, will be required to observe a one-month break in employment.

All other KERS, CERS and SPRS retirees who return to work on or after September 1, 2008 in KERS, CERS or SPRS, will be required to observe a three-month break in employment.

Provided the break is observed, the employee can return to work, draw his pension, but will not contribute to the systems or earn a second pension. However in order to further fund the system, the employer will be required to pay contributions to the systems and the health insurance premium of the retiree not to exceed the cost of a single premium.

The Bill will presumably become law on Friday, June 27, 2008 , so the provisions for new hire's after September 1, 2008 as previously reported, will be in affect.

The argument, which has been made for increasing the break in reemployment to three-months is the savings that will be realized both for balancing the new budget starting July 1 and funding the unfunded balance for the retirement system.

I hope this information, along with what I have previously sent, will answer most of your questions.

Please feel free to contact me if I can be of assistance to you.

Julian M. Carroll
State Senator

Reduction in Retirement Benefits

I’m not going to take on the entire retirement reform bill at one time. If I did your eyes would glaze over, I know mine do, before we got half way through the legalese.


So let’s just start with the changes to the Cost of Living Adjustment for existing retirees.

The bill quits using the Consumer Price Index to compute the Cost of Living Adjustment and sets the annual raise to 1.5 % per year.

The Legislature has the ability to do away with COLA’s for existing retirees anytime they want “The General Assembly reserves the right to suspend or reduce the benefits conferred in this subsection if in its judgment the welfare of the Commonwealth so demands.”

Here is the zinger"

The Consumer Price Index has never dropped to 1.5% during the last 20 years. Below are the percentages for the last 20 years. The General Assembly will happily screw the state employees by annually reducing their purchasing power.

Below is the CPI for the last 20 years.

1987 3.60%
1988 4.10%
1989 4.80%
1990 5.40%
1991 4.20%
1992 3.00%
1993 3.00%
1994 2.60%
1995 2.80%
1996 3.00%
1997 2.30%
1998 1.60%
1999 2.20%
2000 3.40%

2001 2.80%
2002 1.60%
2003 2.30%
2004 2.70%
2005 3.40%

2006 3.20%
2007 2.80%

Day Late and a Dollar Short

The saying “better late than never” doesn’t apply here.

I received the following Commonwealth News Center Updates via email on June 23.

Media advisory
URL : http://kentucky.gov/Newsroom/finance/etransparency.htm
Date : Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Issued By : Finance and Administration Cabinet
Summary : The Kentucky eTransparency Task Force to hold its first meeting

Governor Beshear Issues Call for Special Legislative Session to Address Pension Reform
URL : http://kentucky.gov/Newsroom/governor/20080617special.htm
Date : Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Issued By : Governor Steve Beshear's Communications Office
Summary : Governor Steve Beshear today issued the call for a special session of the General Assembly to convene on Monday, June 23, 2008, to act on the state's public pension crisis.

Chief of Staff Jim Cauley Announces Decision to Leave Post in Beshear Administration
URL : http://kentucky.gov/Newsroom/governor/20080618cos.htm
Date : Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Issued By : Governor Steve Beshear's Communications Office
Summary : Governor Steve Beshear today announced the decision of Chief of Staff James Cauley to resign in order to pursue his own political consulting business.

And this one on June 24th:

eTransparency Task Force holds inaugural meeting
URL : http://kentucky.gov/Newsroom/finance/etransparency.htm
Date : Thursday, June 19, 2008
Issued By : Finance and Administration Cabinet
Summary : Gov. Beshear's vision for making public information more available, accessible discussed

Now I know email is not perfect, but a 5 or 6 day lag?

I don’t know if this time lag is intentional or just blazing incompetence but it is another example of how this administration appears to be clueless when dealing with the public appearance of doing the right thing.

I do know that all four of the items were things that I have commented on in this blog.

I Want to Be Governor 101

OK kids, here’s a lesson in practical politics. Let’s call it I Want to Be Governor 101.

Adam Edelen has recently been appointed by Steve Beshear to be his chief of staff. The Herald-Leader summarizes Edelen’s credentials for the position:

Before his appointment to homeland security, Edelen was a senior executive with both Thomas & King Inc. and Commerce Lexington. He also has served as a board chairman of Kentucky Educational Television, chairman of the 2006 United Way of the Bluegrass Annual Campaign and an aide to Gov. Paul Patton.

In addition to his role at homeland security, Edelen is currently vice chairman of the Urban League of Lexington and a member of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.

"Adam brings a diverse resume of public, political and private experience, along with strong and decisive management skills, all of which will be crucial to the ongoing success of this office and administration," Beshear said.

All of this is true, but they left out his most important skill. Adam Edelen can raise money like no one else in Kentucky politics. Edelen can raise hundreds of thousands of dollars without even trying hard. This is an invaluable asset to any politician.

So Edelen has his public service credentials, the ability to raise money, and the Homeland Security job started him on the way to making connections with all of the county officials.

Remember Homeland Security in Kentucky has nothing to do with Homeland Security it is a pork barrel pass through agency, it’s all about handing out money.

By becoming the Governor’s Chief of Staff, Adam Edelen positions himself so that everyone that wants something from the Governor comes through him. This is a powerful position. The Chief of Staff, if played correctly, will get a lot more ink from the press than the Director of Homeland Security.

Now Edelen has scored a political triple play, money, connections and publicity.

What’s next?

With Steve Beshear, unless he pulls an Ernie Fletcher, basically assured of repeating as Governor there is only one place to Edelen to go; the office of Auditor of Public Accounts. Crit Luallen is term limited out of the Auditor’s Office and there are no other viable candidates on the horizon.

Adam Edelen will have a cake walk in to the Auditor’s Office in 2011, much like Jonathan Miller did in his first term as Treasurer during the middle of the Paul Patton’s administration.


The real fun will begin when both Edelen and Jack Conway both want to be Governor in 2015. Both can raise money and will, in the up-coming years, have the opportunity to make and impression on the public.

Remember a successful campaign to be Governor is not only the tactical game of winning the election; it is the strategic game of positioning to win the election.

Adam Edelen is doing a masterful job of positioning.

Send Draud Home

Jon Draud is one greedy SOB and state government would be better off without him.

Draud has been caught twice with his hand in the cookie jar since becoming Education Commissioner.

First, he wanted extra vacation days.

Gov. Steve Beshear also asked that the search be reopened, but the board hired Draud. In February Draud withdrew a request for additional benefits after Beshear questioned the timing.

The board had approved a proposal that would have given Draud 20 days of vacation and an extra 30 sick days before the commissioner withdrew his request.

Now he wants a state car with a bunch of goodies.

State government recently bought a nearly $31,000 Chrysler 300 for Draud to drive as his state car. Draud signed off on the car with nearly $13,000 in upgrades that included a more powerful engine, a hands-free phone system and a global positioning system.

Draud gets paid 220,000.00 per year of our tax dollars, and he still insists on trying to screw the Commonwealth out of every dime he can.

This guy needs to go, the sooner the better.

Transparency - Sort Of

Here is a Kentucky government web site that offers a glimpse, sort of a looking through the glass darkly view, where your tax dollars are going.

While not as transparent as we would like, the Legislative Research Commission offers some transparency to state government spending. The Government Contract Review Committee shows us who gets some of our tax dollars.

All of the information is on contracts and amendments that have been reviewed and approved by the committee for payment. So we get to see where the money went, not where it’s going.

Here are the bigger ticket items from May 2008:

MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT FOR

16. 0800007172

Health Care Excel Incorporated
2629 Waterfront Parkway
Indianapolis, IN 46214

Auditing - $2,694,084.00

Provide for compliance with the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 including, but not limited to, three year general audits by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), as well as CMS focused reviews, provide technical and educational support to identify fraud, rule out potential erroneous/fraudulent billing through clinical reviews and audits, and identify opportunities for system payment edits and audits.

TRANSPORTATION CABINET

21. 0800007385

JL Lee Engineering LLC
100 North Main Street, Suite 218
Lawrenceburg, KY 40342

Engineering - $2,000,000.00

Provide Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) based site assessments, evaluations, characterizations and remediation plans and control compliance reviews including sampling, reporting, remediation and other environmental concerns.

22. 0800007413

Corradino Group First Trust Center
200 South Fifth Street, Suite 300N
Louisville, KY 40202

Engineering - $2,000,000.00

Provide Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) based site assessments, evaluations, characterizations and remediation plans and control compliance reviews for Kentucky Underground Storage Tank regulations and the Clean Water Act including sampling, reporting, remediation and other environmental concerns.

23. 0800007414

Linebach Funkhouser Incorporated
114 Fairfax Avenue
Louisville, KY 40207

Engineering - $2,000,000.00

Provide Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) based site assessments, evaluations, characterizations and remediation plans and control compliance reviews for Kentucky Underground Storage Tank regulations and the Clean Water Act including sampling, reporting, remediation and other environmental concerns.

Now, true transparency in government would let us see these contracts before they get the legislative rubber stamp.

Also here’s an idea:

Could we cross reference the Contributor Information from the Registry of Election Finance, the Corporate Information from the Secretary of State with the database containing the above information?

Now that would be a fun site.

Steve and Jane's Big Adventure

How much will this little junket cost?

What do the taxpayers of Kentucky get from Steve and Jane’s vacation?

Gov. Steve Beshear and Economic Development Cabinet Secretary John Hindman will depart Sunday for an economic development trip to Japan. The trip will mark the first visit by Gov. Beshear to Japan as Governor. Joining the Governor and Sec. Hindman will be First Lady Jane Beshear who is Secretary of the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation, Governor’s Executive Cabinet Secretary Larry Hayes, Commissioner J.R. Wilhite, of the Department for New Business Development, and Commissioner George Burgess, of the Department for Existing Business Development. Joining the delegation is Alston Kerr. Ms Kerr is Chair of the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation and Vice President of the Board of Directors of the World Games 2010 Foundation, Inc.

In Japan, the Governor will work to establish relationships with businesses considering new investments in Kentucky, and to continue to strengthen relationships with firms that are operating and growing in the Commonwealth.

Working to establish relationships?

Puhleeze.

Free the Documents

Here is an example of what currently goes on in Frankfort. The Commonwealth Office of Technology maintains an online document system called GotSource.

The public can search GotSource as a Guest user. The words I searched for and some of the results are listed below. The searches were limited to 100 responses sorted by date.

“Expenditures”

20070914_PMIS_Governance_Board_Agenda.doc
Copy of att6.8_payroll.xls
Financial Report
YTD Expenditure 1-31-01
Section III - 09b - GOT IT Overview- Expenditure Comparison Chart
Revenue Expenditure Summary

“Contract”

Copier CONTRACT.doc
Alabama contract
Section III - 10 - GOT IT Overview - Major Enterprise Contracts
RE: Panasonic Toughbooks on contract

“Contractor”

Time Tracking Business Rules.xls
IT Contractor Report (january06).xls
Training for Purchasing Professionals ITN#3-908-660-B Revised 8-14-2006.doc
NIC Contract Final 2-21-03.doc

“Telephone”

Kentucky Revenue Cabinet Locations and Telephone Numbers.doc
Kentucky State Telephone Directory Tutorial
2003 NASCIO Nomination NoCall.doc

If you click on any of the links above you get this:

Not Authorized

You are currently listed as Guest, which means you are not logged in. Guests are allowed to freely browse the publicly-readable portions of this server, but do not have permission to add content, make revisions or view restricted information.

I’m sure there is some Home Land Defense security reason for restricting the access to the Kentucky State Telephone Directory Tutorial and the 20070914_PMIS_Governance_Board_Agenda.doc. I’m just confused at what the reason might be.

Now here is the real problem. The Governor has created a Task Force that is charged with finding ways to create more transparency in State Government. He has put Jonathan Miller in charge and appointed Steve Dooley to the Task Force.

The problem?

Steve Dooley is the Commissioner of Commonwealth Office of Technology and Jonathan Miller is his boss. Either one could remove a lot of the secrecy built into GotSource with one direct order to their staff.

Opening up GotSource doesn’t take a Task Force recommendation, an order from the Governor or Legislative approval.

All it takes is for either Dooley or Miller to make a management decision. So guys, it’s time to walk the walk.

Electronic Transparency

Another thought on putting a little electronic transparency in state government. How about this as a start?

Let the public see the purchases made on state Procurement Cards.

Procurement Cards, or ProCards are government issued credit cards. I for one would like to see what is being bought with these little pieces of plastic.

Now the cards will be rejected if someone tries to buy any of the following.

Airlines
Automobile/Vehicle Rental
Hotels and Motels
Eating Places, Restaurants
Bars, Cocktail Lounges, Discotheques, Nightclubs, and Taverns – Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
Quick Payment Service – Fast-Food Restaurants
Package Stores, Beer, Wine, Liquor
Financial Institutions
Security Brokers/Dealers
Insurance Sales and Underwriting
Insurance Premiums
Insurance (Not elsewhere classified)
Lodging

So I couldn’t pay for a trip to Europe with this card, but I bet I could buy jewelry, furniture, clothes, a big screen TV (I wonder if David Williams has one of these?)

The rules say I can’t rent a car, but could I buy one?

I think the public would probably get a little bent out of shape if they found a state office furnished with solid cherry furniture or antiques.

I would love to trip through these records.

Force or Farce?

Let’s give Steve Beshear credit for being able to steal a good idea even if it comes from a Right Wing Nut state legislator.

Citing the need for state government to exercise openness in how it conducts business, Gov. Steve Beshear today signed an executive order creating an eTransparency Task Force. Under the executive order, the group will bring recommendations to the governor on the creation and implementation of a “one-stop” information access tool that will include, among other things, providing information about state expenditures and state programs.

Does the following sound familiar?

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 42 to require the Finance and Administration Cabinet to create a searchable Web site to provide certain information on the expenditure of state funds; provide that the new sections shall be known as the "Taxpayer Transparency Act of 2008."

Two questions:

If this is such a great idea, I think it is, then why did it die in the legislature and who killed it? I don’t know why this died, other than most of our legislators would know a good idea if it bit them in the ass, but the guy that killed this puppy was Mike Cherry.

Cherry is the Democratic Legislator from Princeton, Kentucky and the chairman of the House State Government Committee where this bill died.

So once again the General Assembly fumbles the ball.

But I’m not so sure the Task Force will do much more than steam around in the fog and accomplish nothing.

Remember, the idea here is to recommend how to make state records accessible on the Internet. Now, this sort of thing is an unnatural act for most politicians and bureaucrats.

Take a look at the membership of the Task Force.

Chair – Secretary of Finance and Administration Cabinet, Jonathan Miller;
Vice Chairs – The Honorable Todd Hollenbach, Jr., State Treasurer, and The Honorable Crit Luallen, Auditor of Public Accounts;
The Honorable Jack Conway, Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, or his designee;
The Honorable Richie Farmer, Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture, or his designee;
The Honorable Trey Grayson, Secretary of State, or his designee;
The State Controller or designee;
The State Budget Director or designee;
The State Librarian or designee;
The Executive Director of the Kentucky Broadcasters Association or designee;
The Executive Director of the Kentucky Press Association or designee;
The Commissioner of the Commonwealth Office of Technology;
The Executive Director of the Office of Legal Services for Finance and Technology, Finance and Administration Cabinet;
The President of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce;
The Executive Director of the Kentucky Association of State Employees;
The Executive Director of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth; and
The Executive Director of Common Cause of Kentucky.

So, we start with 6 politicians that, to put it kindly, are pretty computer challenged.

Five of the remaining eleven members are state bureaucrats, of which only one the Commissioner of the Commonwealth Office of Technology hopefully will know what the issues are surrounding the task force’s job. Of course his job reports directly to the Chairman of the Task Force, which always fosters an open public discussion of issues.

Two members are from the main stream media. Notice they left the bloggers out, it must be a typo. While the media types may be tech savvy they are usually averse to actually working to get a story so we can’t expect a lot of effort here.

That leaves us with a business representative, I’m sure they will want all the contracts and spending records opened to public inspection.

The union representative and a couple of liberal human rights groups finish out the make-up of the Task-Force.

Oh, one final thing, eight of the appointees don’t ever have to show up. They can just designate whoever is in the office and not doing anything to go to the meetings, that is what is usually meant by “designee”.

This is a great idea, but I don’t see much chance of it working.

0 to Stupid in Nothing Flat

This is about what I would expect from a former state legislator. You have to admire the Beshear administration for being consistent. Even if that consistency is how totally clueless they are about public perception.

E-mail messages obtained by a newspaper show Kentucky Education Commissioner Jon Draud approved the purchase of a new state car for his own use with $13,000 in extra options.

If Steve Beshear wanted to get some public relations points he would take this little perk away from the temporary help like Draud. Make them drive their own car and pay them mileage. This is cheaper than the state buying tweaked out pseudo sports cars.

One other question, how are they going to get the state seal over that piece of trim on the doors?

Kentucky Retirement - Another Reason to Clean House

I’ve not been posting lately because we have been traveling in Ireland. I hear you crying for me now, maybe you should given what the policies of the Bush administration has done to the exchange rate. But this is not a rant about international economic policy.

This one is a little closer to home.

From the minutes of the Kentucky Retirement Systems Board:

Mr. Overstreet presented the memorandum “Amendments to the Statement of Bylaws and Committee Organization and Election of Officers.”

Mr. Overstreet stated that over the last year the Board has been faced with circumstances of different reporters contacting trustees. Mr. Overstreet stated that it has been a communicated policy to the Board for a number of years to refer media inquiries to the Executive Director so that questions from the media are answered with one voice. The Bylaws as amended provide that the Board, or individual members of the Board, shall refer all news media inquiries to the Executive Director and to not discuss matters that affect the Systems or the Board generally with the news media. The role of the Executive Director is also redefined. Mr. Overstreet opined that those matters are better addressed by the Executive Director who has the information and knowledge to answer those questions.

Mr. Crall advised that it somewhat implies that the Executive Director is the one to respond on behalf of KRS to entities because the Bylaws do not specifically allow for the board members to do that. Mr. Crall advised that there are times when he is asked to do that and would use appropriate discretion in doing so. Mr. Crall stated that there are also times when he would need to respond to questions as the Governor’s representative.

It was moved by Mr. Lang, seconded by Ms. Ballenger, and carried by the Board to adopt the amended Statement of Bylaws and Committee Organization as presented.

In my absence the mainstream media have picked up on this act by the KRS board. The Governor is talking special session to deal with current mess and has appointed a working group to figure out what to do.

Given the composition of the work group, no state employees or retirees, I have a feeling which group is going to end up on the short end of any recommendations.

The proposed changes are pretty cosmetic and don’t deal with the real problems of chronic underfunding by the legislature and the ballooning cost of medical care.

Proposed changes:

Raising retirement ages for future hires;
Lowering the cost of living adjustment to 1.5 percent;
Requiring new employees to contribute 1 percent of their salary to the health insurance fund;
Reforming the practice of double-dipping, in which government retirees return to government jobs while still collecting a state pension.

But I digress; let’s get back to the KRS board and the smelly sock that is stuffed in their collective mouth. The KRS Board is the governing body of the Kentucky Retirement Systems. These people are not doing their job. If Steve Beshear needed a reason to clean house this is it.

Whatever happened to transparency in Government? Does the Executive Director think his board is too stupid to talk to the media? Is it possible that if more than one of them answered a question the answers would be different?

The only reason for an action like this is to keep the story straight. If only one person is stonewalling or telling a lie then it’s easier to keep the story straight.

If the Governor really wants to instill ethics in state government then cleaning out this sad excuse for a Governing Board at the Kentucky Retirement Systems would be a great way to start. I would like to see people appointed who cared more about doing the job they were supposed to do than the next tax payer paid junket they were taking.

Bully From Burkesville

One great thing about the court system in this country is that any idiot can file a law suit.

Senate President David Williams sued Gov. Steve Beshear Friday, claiming the governor's veto of a $3.8 billion state highway spending plan is unconstitutional.

This is grand standing, and an exercise in money wasting, by David Williams. The bully from Burkesville just doesn’t like it when someone shoves back.

All Williams will accomplish here is to keep his name in the news and waste a few more of our tax dollars.

And the guys in the General Assembly wonder why no one loves them.

Serving the Pork

Let’s take a minute to look at how politicians pass out the pork.

Here is a press release from the Governor’s office.

Gov. and Mrs. Steve Beshear today launched Kentucky’s Adventure Tourism initiative in Knott County. This plan opens more areas of the state as tourist destinations for biking, hiking, camping, boating, fishing, hunting, off-roading and horseback riding.

“Here in Kentucky we can offer wilderness, with the Daniel Boone National Forest, the Cumberland Mountains, the Red River Gorge and a set of lakes and rivers unmatched by any other state,” said Gov. Beshear.

Kentucky’s Adventure Tourism initiative allows the state to enter into agreements with private property owners for the public use of land for outdoor activities without fear of facing liability issues.

This all sounds good right, more tourism, more money for economically distressed county, good public relations for the Governor and maybe a few bucks for private property owners.

But I’m not sure how this really works. You see, this program looks to be a legacy from the Fletcher administration. The Kentucky Flex-E Grant Program for implementation of the comprehensive Adventure Tourism Plan for economically distressed ARC Counties has been around since fiscal year 2006.

The money is administered by GOLD (Governor’s Office for Local Development) these are the waiters in the pork passing process.

According to the application guidelines the only entities eligible to apply for Kentucky Flex-E Grants are:

• Local units of government (including special districts, area development districts (ADDs), school districts) and post secondary education institutions in or serving distressed Appalachian Kentucky counties.

• Non-profit organizations and citizen groups located in or serving distressed counties which have an on-going mission and an established, administrative organization that supports pursuit of the mission.

I don’t see the local property owners being involved unless they are part of the local political power structure, like say the Knott County Fiscal Court.

I don’t know if the Adventure Tourism Park System, in Knott County, is involved in this little pork passing exercise? But it looks like it could be.

We Make Things Happen Corporation, in partnership with Summit Engineering, Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon and Economic Research Associates have been commissioned by Knott County Fiscal Court to assist in developing an Adventure Tourism Park System made up of a series of trails throughout the county.

Now I know it is probably only coincidence that folks that work for Summit Engineering, according to the Registry of Election Finance, have donated $86,800.00 to various political candidates, including Steve Beshear.

And I’m sure that by spending money with one company that as most of it’s’ offices in Tennessee and Alabama and another company with it’s' office in Los Angeles that those bucks will be churning through the economy.

And who could possibly question spending money with a Mom and Pop operation in Bowling Green whose references include Frankfort bureaucrats?

Doesn’t this whole thing just smell a little funny? Talk about a piece of government accounting that looks like it needs a financial audit.

Horses and Weasels

Sometimes the number of weasel words in a press release from Kentucky state government makes me wonder why they bother saying anything.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority (KHRA) at its next meeting will be asked by its chairman to consider forming a work group to review thoroughbred horse racing health and safety concerns.

Robert M. Beck Jr., appointed KHRA chairman last month by Governor Steve Beshear, said the proposed work group will look at several issues and bring recommendations to the authority.

“I envision the group would assemble information that has already been prepared by other organizations and assess the need for additional work on safety issues,” Beck said. “We also want to work with other industry organizations, owners, breeders, trainers and jockeys to make improvements to the racing community.”

So let me get this straight you are thinking about creating a committee to rehash old information and keep everyone involved happy.

If anything makes a case for taking the regulation of Thoroughbred Racing away from the states and giving it to national regulating body it is drivel like this.

Problems At The Ivory Towers

Academics in Kentucky aren’t pleased that someone questions them being given a blank check.

Facing some of the angriest public remarks by a group of Kentucky University presidents in memory, a panel gave the initial vote of approval Thursday to higher tuition at the state's public universities and community colleges, including five institutions whose requests were cut.

By a 4-0 vote, with one member absent, the budget and finance committee of the state Council on Postsecondary Education approved the council staff's tuition recommendations for 2008-2009. It's rare for universities' tuition requests to be denied or even scrutinized to the extent they have been this year, at least since higher education reforms of 1997.

Let’s give credit to the Council on Postsecondary Education for at least trying to do their job.

The blame for rising tuition has a multitude of fathers and a few mothers.

First, we can blame the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky for the almost universal disdain for education. As long as the major and most of the minor institutions provide entertainment with their athletic teams most Kentuckians don’t give a damn about what happens on campus.

Second, the so called representatives of the people in Frankfort who don’t have the cohones to pass a viable revenue bill, and thus creating the budget short fall. I think special recognition should be given to the “NO NEW TAX” crowd that prefers sound bites that appeal the first group above.

Third, the administrators of our institutions of higher learning who place students last on their list of priorities, permit the building of petty fiefdoms, and allow a host of other sins in the name of academic freedom.

I’m not saying to run the Universities like a business, but a little accountability and responsibility would be nice from all concerned

Score One for the Guv

From: Patrick, Sue (CPE)
To: Patrick, Sue (CPE)
Sent: Tue Apr 29 16:33:13 2008
Subject: CPE PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION


COUNCIL ON POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Release Date: April 29, 2008

Contact: Sue Patrick

Phone: 502-573-1555 ext. 308



Note to media—There will be no further comment today from President Cowgill.



STATEMENT OF BRAD COWGILL, PRESIDENT

KENTUCKY COUNCIL ON POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION

Today I announce my resignation as president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. I do this for one reason: in the foreseeable future, it would be necessary to devote excessive time and effort to unproductive activities, denying me the satisfaction of fruitful work.



I was drawn to this position by my desire to make a meaningful contribution in aligning the Commonwealth's always-limited resources to our statewide postsecondary education goals.



During my eight month tenure, there has arisen within the Council a consensus agenda that focuses on affordability, performance funding, accountability and the state's Double the Numbers educational attainment goal. The Council determined from my track record here that my experience and qualifications would be a good match with its long-term agenda.



I am not aware of any dissimilarity between the Council's postsecondary education agenda and that of Governor Beshear. Iin the last two weeks, he has shown a determined interest in the Council's presidency, contending that the organization must duplicate last year's search and must exclude me from it.



I have no desire to wage a battle with the Governor over this matter.
It would unduly harm Kentucky's postsecondary education reform efforts, and the positive momentum that has been achieved to this point.



It has been a great pleasure to have had the opportunity to work over the past eight months with a deeply committed staff and outstanding board members. The Council's work is nationally respected and should be a source of great pride to the Commonwealth.



The effective date of my resignation will be worked out with the Council to provide a seamless transition to new leadership.





Sue Patrick, APR
Director of Communications
Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education

1024 Capital Center Drive, Suite 320
Frankfort, KY 40601
502-573-1555, ext. 308

Free Food, Kentucky Style

Let’s talk about stupid for a moment.

Who wants to stand out in the cold and rain for bad food? According to the Herald-Leader, probably about 12,000 people need a free meal.

But there is no such thing as a free lunch or in this case a free breakfast. And guess who gets to pay for it, --- you do.

Serving hours are from 7 to 11 a.m. with about 70 workers from the Kentucky Department of Parks serving more than 2,000 pounds of country ham, 15,000 biscuits and servings of cheese grits, 25,000 scrambled eggs, and 1,200 pounds of sausage.

Now I don’t know how much this little party costs, but looking around the Internet you can get some idea.

Workers from the Kentucky Department of Parks, let’s say they are paid at the mid-point of a grade 10. Food and Dietetic workers pay grades run from grade 6 to grade 16. The mid-point hourly rate for a grade 10 employee is $16.355.

So let’s assume a couple of hours to setup and a couple more to clean up and we have 70 people working 8 hours at $16.355 or $9,158.50 for staff.

Then there is the cost of the breakfast fixin’s:

Kentucky Country Ham, 2,000 pounds at $4.89 a pound would be $9,780.00.

Beaten Biscuits, 15,000 at $3.25 a dozen would be $4,062.50.

Cheese Grits (had to go to Hartford CT to find a link), bulk price 18 servings for $14.95 so let’s call the price of grits at $6,000.00. The price would be less than half the retail price in Hartford,

Eggs, 25,000 at $2.17 a dozen would be $4,520.83.

Sausage, 1,200 lbs at $6.25 per pound would be $7,492.50.

So now we have a projected cost of $41,014.33.

I didn’t figure in the time to setup the tents, or clean up the streets or anything else and we are knocking on the door of $50,000.00.

The only thing more stupid than standing in the rain for cold eggs is spending this amount of money, or any amount of money, for this little show.

I know this is chump change in the state government budget, buy surely to God when you are cutting social programs, don’t you think Steve Beshear could find something better to do with $50,000.00?

Moral Values and Neurotoxins

Yesterday, I got an email from Jonathan Miller. Well actually I got two emails from Miller’s group the Compassionate Community. I guess the spam software belched, and yes, I did sign up for the group.

The email was hyping Kentucky’s First Lady Jane Beshear and her project of the Green Team and began with this:

Happy Earth Day!

I'm pleased to tell you that in celebration of the holiday, First Lady Jane Beshear just announced her vision to make the Governor's Mansion and all Kentucky homes more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

The email concludes with a link to a Facebook page:

So, please join us by signing up for the Green Team at greenteam.ky.gov and/or join our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=15267901982.

I know that a lot of the First Ladies have pet projects. The projects allow the First Lady to do “good work” and get good media attention. Usually the projects are more about projecting image that actually accomplishing anything.

I still remember Martha Wilkinson (Wally the Weasel’s wife) poster. Martha, dressed in a 1940’s WAC outfit, was trying to get volunteers for her GED Army.

So a couple of questions:

First, did Miller use this opportunity to touch base with supporters? I don’t understand the use of the Compassionate Community to promote a state government website. Isn’t the standard press release enough? Does the linking of government supported activities and a personal website promoting a book give anyone else heartburn?

Greetings and welcome to The Compassionate Community, where we believe public policy should reflect the fundamental moral value of compassion for others.
On this site, you can:
Order copies of the book (Now in paperback!);

Second, the Facebook page for the Green Team has Jonathan Miller as the creator. Does the Secretary of Finance really have the time to sit around and create a Facebook page? Let’s hope some staffer did the work and just put Miller’s name on the page.

Third, did anyone actually do any research before they put the Green Team web page on the Internet?

One of the tips from the First Lady was to:

Replace regular incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (cfl)

CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bulb. This simple switch will save about 300 pounds of CO2 a year.

Of course this would be a great idea if there wasn’t that pesky neurotoxin problem:

….the bulbs contain small amounts of mercury, a neurotoxin, and the companies and federal government haven't come up with effective ways to get Americans to recycle them.

I guess the thing that bothers me about this little project isn’t the cause; I’ve been accused of being a liberal tree hugger myself.

What bothers me is the amount of time and effort put forth by Miller and staff on a public relations exercise and the linking of a personal promotion website to a Kentucky government project.

Don’t they have anything else to do?

Doesn’t anyone ever think about how things might look before they do these things?

The Government We Deserve

Every organization that has been around for a while has its’ problems. Take the Kentucky General Assembly for example.

The governor summed up the end to his first General Assembly as "disappointing," while lawmakers described the last day's worth of legislative meltdowns in harsher terms laced with disgust.

"It ended in possibly the poorest fashion I can remember in the 16 years I've been here," said Rep. Bob Damron, D-Nicholasville -- one of many Democratic lawmakers who have publicly complained about how it all fell apart.

The basic problem is that voters generally think the members of General Assembly as a group are bunch of idiots, and their legislator is the only person with their head screwed on right.

The cast of characters in the legislature is same as any large organization:

We have the old guy that can’t do his job any more, the arrogant SOB that would rather score office political points that do his job and the guy who is so stupid you wonder how he finds the door to the office.

We also have the slacker that doesn’t show up for work half the time, the greedy bastards watching out for numero uno, the office ditz that has never had an original idea, and the guy one step away from the penitentiary.

Of course on the other side we have the guy really trying to do his job and a gutsy lady that doesn’t take a lot of crap from the good ole boys.

The good guys are outnumbered by the incompetent, arrogant and greedy. That will continue to be the case until the voters wake up and actually send more good guys to the legislature, until that happens you can expect more of the same.

We get the government we deserve.

Screw You, You're Only the Governor

The Council on Postsecondary Education stuck their thumb in the eye of the Governor Steve Beshear today by first voting down the motion to conduct a nationwide search for President of the Council.

Then they followed by voting up a motion to hire Bradford Cowgill as President. Cowgill is the current interim President appointed by Governor Fletcher. Cowgill's interim status was to expire at the end of April.

I wonder if anyone will ever ask about Mr. Cowgill's request for 40 inch plasma TV or rearranging the floor plan of the offices such that meeting goers didn't have to witness the staff, and the staff couldn’t see who was coming to meetings.

Rancid Pork Belly

How much pork does it take to feed the Kentucky General Assembly?

According to the Herald-Leader it’s about $80 million.

When the state spending bill for education and health programs appeared doomed earlier this month, legislative leaders turned to an old standby to entice support from more lawmakers:

projects.

And lots of them.

The result was $80 million worth of buildings, park improvements, water and sewer lines, sheriff's vehicles, fire trucks, baseball fields and programs such as abstinence education spread
across 38 mostly rural counties in Eastern and Western Kentucky.

The details are listed in House Bill 410.

So I wondered what the money was being spent on. Below are about $6 million of the projects.

Bell County Fiscal Court - Projects and/or Equipment $1,100,000

City of Middlesboro - Projects and/or Equipment $115,000

City of Pineville - Projects and/or Equipment $70,000

Breathitt County Fiscal Court - Breathitt County Museum - Welcome Center $150,000

City of Jackson - Parks and Recreation $100,000

Daviess County Fiscal Court - Downtown Development Projects - Incentives – Operational Expenses $331,935

Daviess County Fiscal Court - Economic Development Projects - Incentives - Operational Expenses $327,198

Floyd County Fiscal Court - Develop New Mud Creek Park $150,000

Floyd County Fiscal Court - Develop Veteran's Cemetery $100,000

Floyd County Fiscal Court - Mountain Top Recreational - Repair - Upkeep - Maintenance $400,000

Floyd County Fiscal Court - Wayland Sports Hall $100,000

Floyd County Fiscal Court - World War II and Korean Memorial $30,000

Hancock County Fiscal Court - Various Projects $186,102

Harlan County Fiscal Court - Adventure Tourism $316,000

Harlan County Fiscal Court - Tri-City Little League – Lights $60,000

Henderson County Fiscal Court - To Promote Tourism for the Rivers and Waterways of Henderson County $10,000

Hopkins County Fiscal Court - Hopkins County Sports Complex – Site Development and Improvements $225,000

Hopkins County Fiscal Court - Sports Complex - Site Development and Improvements $ 300,000

Knott County Fiscal Court - Appalachian Artisan Center $500,000

Knott County Fiscal Court - Bond Payment - Equipment/Improvements – Sportsplex $1,400,000

Do you really think that throwing money at these projects justifies screwing the educational system and social programs in this state?

This bill and the budget passed by the General Assembly is more about a group of politicians spreading political spoils and staying in office than anything else.

Revenge Not Justice

Chilling reading first thing in the morning, take a look at the Herald-Leader story on the death penalty.

The story deals with a step-by-step look at how Kentucky lethally injects Death Row inmates is now public after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the partial release of the state's execution protocols.

If you are a “the bastard’s need to die” type, don’t read the rest of this post, you won’t like it.

I’m against the state killing people, here’s why:

One, judges and juries make mistakes. The system, even with all the appeals is not perfect. Innocent people are sometimes convicted and once you kill someone you can’t get do over.

Two, the act of murder by government is simply revenge. There is never closure for the families and loved ones by the act of killing someone. I came to this opinion after a long talk with a person that had witnessed multiple executions as part of their job. The act is just revenge not justice.

Three, the argument that it is cheaper to kill someone than keep them in prison is false.

The death penalty is much more expensive than its closest alternative--life imprisonment with no parole. Capital trials are longer and more expensive at every step than other murder trials. Pre-trial motions, expert witness investigations, jury selection, and the necessity for two trials--one on guilt and one on sentencing--make capital cases extremely costly, even before the appeals process begins. Guilty pleas are almost unheard of when the punishment is death. In addition, many of these trials result in a life sentence rather than the death penalty, so the state pays the cost of life imprisonment on top of the expensive trial.

The high price of the death penalty is often most keenly felt in those counties responsible for both the prosecution and defense of capital defendants. A single trial can mean near bankruptcy, tax increases, and the laying off of vital personnel. Trials costing a small county $100,000 from unbudgeted funds are common and some officials have even gone to jail in resisting payment…..

For the states which employ the death penalty, this luxury comes at a high price. In Texas, a death penalty case costs taxpayers an average of $2.3 million, about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years. [3] In Florida, each execution is costing the state $3.2 million. [4] In financially strapped California, one report estimated that the state could save $90 million each year by abolishing capital punishment. [5] The New York Department of Correctional Services estimated that implementing the death penalty would cost the state about $118 million annually.[6]

A Response to Professional Whining

I received the following email in response from Bryan Langeneckert to my post on Professional Whining. The email has been edited and only presents one side of the issue. I don’t know Bryan Langeneckert and I cannot attest to the accuracy of the statements below other than to say this is one person’s view of how as single board works or in this case doesn’t work.

Dear Mr. Long,

I'd like to weigh in on your comment entitled "Professional Whining". Below is what I have begun publishing on the net trying to achieve some reform. As of yet, my attempts seem to be falling on deaf ears. Please add this to your post as an additional comment. Thanks so much.

Do you believe the KY Board of Auctioneers protects the public? Guess again! One would think so... and they claim that's their primary mandate on their site (http://auctioneers.ky.gov/ ) but that's not the case here. I filed five pages of wrongdoing concerning numerous illegalities perpetrated by Thompson & Riley, Ltd. Auctioneers / Realtors. The Kentucky Board of Auctioneers "investigated" and then dismissed my complaint. No hearing, no witness testimony... they turned a blind eye to each and every portion of my complaint. Any one of the basic points about which I complained required action by the Board. The more complicated points of my complaint that, with thorough investigation and witness testimony, would have proven fraud and a systematic approach of wrongdoing by Thompson & Riley, Ltd., Auctioneers and Realtors... were also ignored. The Kentucky Board of Auctioneers wouldn't even let it get to the next step of a hearing.

Do not, even for a second, believe there is any protection of the public by the Kentucky Board of Auctioneers. Oops... I stand corrected by the annual report of the Kentucky Board of Auctioneers:

Between June of 2006 and May of 2007, there were (presumably) at least 1,149 complaints filed (mine was numbered 07-1149) yet only one... ONE auctioneer lost his license!!! Need I say more?

…… In short, watch out if you are dealing with a Kentucky auctioneer.

Want another tidbit? Did you know that, according to the Kentucky Revised Statutes, an auctioneer involved with shill bidding can be fined $10???. You read that right... ten dollars. An auctioneer getting caught shill bidding (which goes to the very core on the question of honesty within the auction industry) can be fined ten dollars. Do YOU see a reason to trust a Kentucky auctioneer?

More information about the complaint can be found at ThompsonandRileysucks.com.

Television Wasteland

I saw my first Bruce Lunsford television commercial last night. Well maybe more accurately I saw part of a Bruce Lunsford commercial. I guess I just tuned out the first part of Bruce’s monologue, it’s not like we all haven’t heard it before.

I guess he is running the commercials early to start attacking Mitch. He sure doesn’t need them to win the primary.

Speaking of commercials, can anyone tell me why the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security needs to run television commercials? Does Adam Edelen’s budget have so damn much money they can just throw it away?

Wait a minute I know the answer to this one.

The answer is YES.

The federal government is throwing away so much money in this program that Edelen and company have to hold training sessions to give it away. Talk about a bureaucracy that needs trimming from Washington to Frankfort.

Get A Fraking Clue

File this one under “When are they going to get a fraking clue.”

An Eastern Kentucky lawmaker who resigned abruptly just three weeks before the start of the 2008 General Assembly session has taken a $60,000-a-year state job in the Transportation Cabinet.

In political life perception is the same as reality. If it looks like a duck, smells like a duck, sounds like a duck most people will think it’s a fraking duck even if you call it a fraking stork.

Fraking Transportation Cabinet.

Dear Mr. Sloth

I received this comment on a previous post, so consider this a follow-up.

Rightwing Ground Sloth has left a new comment on your post "No More Mr. Nice Guy <http://www.ralphlong.com/2008/04/no-more-mr-nice-guy.html> ":

Ralph...you really should try and explain how tax increases ends up benefiting the economy. I'd love to read about that. It seems to me that Tennessee is doing reasonably well and they have no income tax at all.

I'm no finance guy. Don't even play one on TV. But it seems to me that if you raise taxes then prices go up as well. Those companies you are taxing are going to offset that tax on the backs of the very people you are trying to help. Raise income taxes on those people in Kentucky that pay taxes would only serve to make them tighten up even more than they already are with gas prices where they are. When they tighten up on their spending the sales tax receipts plummet. Again, I'm no finance guy, but that just doesn't make sense to me.

While those state employees toil away for nothing(compared to their private sector peers) and look into next year at their proposed 1% raise you are suggesting we raise their taxes so they end up LOSING money with that raise? They are already losing money to the 2.7% inflation rate! They have been going backwards for the past several years anyway...you tax hike won't help that.

So...splain yerself...please.

So here is the ‘splainin’:

Dear Mr. Sloth,

First, Tennessee does have an income tax:

The individual income tax is imposed only on individuals and other entities receiving interest from bonds and notes and dividends from stock.

Second, Tennessee’s primary source of revenue is the sales tax:

Generally, the state's sales and use tax rate is 7 percent.

Food is taxed at 5.5 percent, but candy, dietary supplements and prepared food are taxed at the increased 7 percent rate.

Local sales taxes also are collected and those rates vary from 1.5 percent to 2.75 percent.

When it comes to soaking the poor Tennessee is one the best states in the country.

From Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States. “

When all Tennessee taxes are totaled up, the 2003 study found that:

The state and local tax rate on the best off one percent of Tennessee families—with average incomes of $828,000—is 3.3% before accounting for the tax savings from federal itemized deductions. After the federal offset, the effective tax rate is a mere 3.0%.

The average tax rate on families in the middle of the income distribution—those earning between $24,000 and $38,000—is 8.8%. After the federal offset, the rate is 8.7%, nearly three times the effective rate the richest pay.

But the tax rate on the poorest Tennessee families—those earning less than $14,000—is the highest of all. At 11.7% it is nearly four times the effective rate of the wealthiest Tennesseans.

By comparison Kentucky Sales and Use Tax are imposed at the rate of 6% of gross receipts or purchase price. There are no local sales and use taxes in Kentucky.

Kentucky does not tax food.

….food and food ingredients means substances, whether in liquid, concentrated, solid, frozen, dried, or dehydrated form, that are sold for ingestion or chewing by humans and are consumed for their taste or nutritional value. Excluded from the exempt food and food ingredients are the subcategories of (a) alcoholic beverages, (b) tobacco, (c) candy, (d) dietary supplements, (e) soft drinks, and (f) prepared food.

So if you want to talk about being poor and paying taxes then I’d rather be in Kentucky.

Third, there is no legislation to “raise income taxes on those people in Kentucky”.

Fourth, the sales tax increases that were killed by the state Senate were on:

Commercial janitorial services, including carpet, upholstery, and window cleaning; armored car services; security services; Chartered air flight services if a pilot is furnished, including hot air balloon flights; and Commercial linen services, excluding: Commercial uniform services; and Commercial linen services provided to hospitals and nursing homes.

Now I realize that those taxes will impose a burden on individuals needing to have their hot air balloon cleaned before the armored car arrives with their money, but I can live with that.

Fifth, considering the real costs of smoking, everyone would be better off if it went away. The arguments made by the Tobacco Apologistas just don’t hold up.

Once again let’s look at the real costs of smoking.

Annual health care costs in Kentucky directly caused by smoking - $1.50 billion

Portion covered by the state Medicaid program - $487 million

Residents' state & federal tax burden from smoking-caused government expenditures - $602 per household

Smoking-caused productivity losses in Kentucky - $2.13 billion

If there is one single answer to "how tax increases ends up benefiting the economy" then just add up the billions of dollars that would be added to the Kentucky economy if tobacco went away.

Yes, a tax on smoking is a regressive tax; it will impact the poor more than the rich. And yes, I know you can’t legislate morality or health. But you can sure tax stupid behavior. I see this tax as much a social policy as a revenue generation device. The tax makes good long term health policy and good long term fiscal policy.

Sixth, successive governors and legislatures over the last four decades have systematically stripped financial rewards from state employees. I have repeatedly said the common way to balance the budget is to do it on the backs of state employees.

If we had a sane tax policy, then state workers could be paid amounts comparable to the private sector. The plantation mentality, (guess who the slaves are), used by a long line of Kentucky politicians culminating in David Williams will continue to prevail as long as sound bites like “No New Taxes” resonate with the voters.

For state workers there are two alternatives, either shut up and take it or unionize. If you don’t like the idea of a union look at the teachers. As a group the legislators and the Governor are a hell of a lot more scared of what the KEA is going to do than what state workers are going to do.

Please feel free to use these talking points when discussing the issues with other sloths.

No More Mr. Nice Guy

Legislators don’t like the budget.

Hours after weary House and Senate budget negotiators finished a patchwork $19 billion spending plan, other lawmakers began blasting it for what they considered fatal deficiencies: education and health program cuts, paltry teacher raises, and few projects.

The wave of frustration that crested suddenly Tuesday -- especially among House Democrats -- now puts in jeopardy the prospect of passing the two-year state budget, which legislative leaders had hoped to do Wednesday.

The Governor doesn’t like the budget.

“However, I can say I’m disappointed that the proposed budget does not include any plan for additional, recurring revenue so desperately needed by Kentucky.

“As you recall I proposed not one but two plans for recurring revenue -- namely expanded gaming and an increase in the state’s low cigarette tax -- in an effort to move the state forward in the areas of education, health care, public safety and economic development.

Brereton Jones thinks Beshear screwed up handling expanded gambling.

Former Gov. Brereton Jones, who was instrumental in persuading Steve Beshear to run for governor, is criticizing Beshear's handling of a constitutional amendment to allow casino gambling in Kentucky.

Beshear was "in the perfect position of getting it done and he did not," Jones said Tuesday in an interview. He is chairman of the Kentucky Equine Education Project, which pushed casinos.

I think Casinos are a bad idea, but Jones is right, Beshear just didn’t get it done.

So what can Governor Steve Beshear do? Here are a few suggestions.

First, if that mass of Jell-O, the General Assembly, actually passes the budget the Governor should veto it. If the legislature doesn’t pass a budget we move to step two.

Second, the Governor should call the legislature into special session after the May primary election. He should privately threaten to keep calling them into session until the November election unless they pass a reasonable budget. This keeps legislators with contested campaigns from raising money, a real motivator to get something done.

Third, hand Jody Richards and Harry Moberly the budget bill with tax increases and projects. Tell them they can change commas but they can’t change the substance of the bill. Make it clear that if they screw this up then Governor will not be pleased.

Fourth, take David Williams to the wood shed, something long overdue, and hang every painful program cut back on his head. Give Williams a diplomatic way out but make it clear that you, as Governor, will make his life a living hell in every possible way unless he cooperates. Believe me a Governor can do this even to David Williams.

Fifth, drag every waffling member of the legislature, Democrat and Republican, into a one on one session with the Governor and his staff and make it damn clear that screwing with the Governor on this will make their life incredibly unpleasant. Tell then what they are getting, what it’s going to cost them and what they need to say in public.

Sixth, take the message of what government cut backs mean to every citizen to the public forum. The Governor has the bully pulpit. He should use it. The mainstream media is lazy. He can supply them with an endless amount of information on why his plan is good and why David Williams and his toadies are evil.

Bottom line Steve Beshear needs to grow a pair and quit being Mr. Nice Guy.

Know Your Friends

I recently got a couple of Fund Raising emails from http://www.kentuckyvotes.com/. The emails came from Kelly L. Smith [postmaster@bipps.org]. Now I subscribe to this site, along with a number of other sites and I know its run by the same folks that run the Bluegrass Institute. Kentucky Votes is a pretty good service if you ignore most of the comments on the site.

The subject of the email was KentuckyVotes.org_A Testimonial from Norman Davis and contained this line.

Our friend and colleague, Norman Davis of Clarkson, Kentucky, is a regular user of Kentucky Votes. No big deal, I’m a regular user of Kentucky Votes. But to think that Norman Davis endorsing something will get me to pony up some bucks, well that’s not going to happen.

For those of you who don’t know who Norman Davis is let me introduce you. Davis is the leader of a coalition of groups called Take Back Kentucky.

A 2004 Kentucky Department of Justice Report - Hate Crime and Hate Incidents in the Commonwealth of Kentucky lists Take Back Kentucky as a Patriot Group.

Patriot groups define themselves as opposed to the “New World Order” or advocate or adhere to extreme anti-government or conspiratorial doctrines.

Now Take Back Kentucky has its’ supporters in the Legislature like Perry Clark.

“You are important; you have valid concerns; you make a difference,” Mr. Clark said inside a large tent with a Confederate flag next to it. “You'll disagree (with legislators) on some things, but they need to know your opinion.”

I was always told that you are known by who your friends are so I don’t think I’ll be giving any money to Kentucky Votes or the Bluegrass Institute. Maybe Perry Clark will empty his pockets.

If they go out of business it just means I do my research without their input, not that great a loss.

Ethics and Hacking - Follow-up - Part Deux

A third source has sent me an email regarding the Ethics and Hacking post. Seems the Executive Branch Ethics Commission has been contacted about the issues raised in the post.

….concerned citizen has sent a note to the EBEC about Mr. Rutledge and his various sins….

Along with the Auditor of Public Accounts this makes two agencies that are aware of the issues. Will they do anything, that’s the real question?

I would also like Jack Conway to will quit hyping the Cybersafety legislation and take a look at the potential loss of millions of tax payer dollars. We know he can talk the talk, but can he walk the walk?

Striving for Mediocrity

The Herald-Leader has pretty well summed up the Steve Beshear administration so far.

A year ago, amid a competitive Democratic primary for governor, Steve Beshear told a crowd of Hopkins County Democrats that he planned to be the second native of the county to become Kentucky's governor.

It was a bold declaration.

On Saturday night, amid a competitive Democratic primary for president, Beshear had the chance to make another strong political statement in front of his home crowd by endorsing in that race.

Instead, Beshear, who grew up in Dawson Springs, reiterated that he hasn't "quite made up my mind."

I originally thought the Beshear administration would be a care taker administration. But, so far Beshear’s actions and appointments have struggled to reach mediocre.

With the notable exception of pushing for casino’s, a train wreck of political incompetence, this administration has basically done nothing but give a bunch of Frankfort old timers jobs.

Beshear has dropped the ball a bunch of times. His coming late to the idea of raising the tobacco tax and his less than inspiring endorsement of restoring voting rights to former felons are but two examples.

So it’s no surprise his is taking the least politically dangerous route when it comes to supporting a presidential candidate.

If Steve Beshear wanted to make a bold move, or if he could just do math, he would follow Danny Briscoe’s advice.

Briscoe suggested that Beshear should back Obama regardless of how the Kentucky primary turns out because Obama mathematically looks to be the nominee with his lead in delegates.

"In Kentucky, clearly Clinton is going to win 2 to 1, but if the governor steps forward and says he's for Obama in a white, Southern state, that puts him in a position to be remembered by Barack Obama for a long time" if Obama wins the White House, Briscoe said.

Ethics and Hacking - Follow-up

Two different individuals have informed me the post on possible hacking of Commonwealth Office of Technology servers was passed on to upper management at the Auditor of Public Accounts.

Crit Luallen’s administration of this office has been less than inspiring, let’s hope that they will take the ball and run on this issue.

I don’t have much hope for the other possible players.

Jack Conway’s idea of fighting cyber-crime appears to be having retired cops pose as teens to arrest perverts. While he issues press releases and sucks up to the bully from Burkesville.

For Jonathan Miller, I think having Secretary of Finance on his resume will be a lot more fun than actually doing the job.

The entire Executive Branch Ethics Commission was appointed by Ernie Fletcher; I doubt they want to take a hard look at another Fletcher appointee.

I’ll keep watching.

Ethics and Hacking

From an anonymous source in the Commonwealth Office of Technology:

Before Mark Rutledge left, our AD servers were hacked by somebody outside the network. They covered it up and made sure everybody was scared to talk. We also deployed voip to many state offices. That server has also been hacked and depending on who you believe, there have been between $250,000 and $6,000,000 is international calls made. We can't seem to track down who did it.

Lastly, Mark Rutledge went to work for McAfee. That alone should be an ethics violation since he was responsible for their enterprise contract with us. Well, last week he made a sales call to the technology staff over at Education. That should really be a problem.

What does this mean? Let me interpret some of the techno-speak.

First the AD servers are the Active Directory Servers; the over-simplified explanation is that these machines are the master servers for the entire computer network. If you control these servers you control the network. If someone did hack these computers they would have access to all state records, personal information, financial information, email -- everything.

To cover up such a hack would be an act of major misfeasance. The last time Kentucky state government was the victim of such a hack Auditor Ed Hatchett blew the whistle.

Second, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology that allows you to make voice calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line. The concerns here are not only how much money was lost, possibly up to $6,000,000.00, but what was the nature of the calls?

Even if the financial loss was only $250,000.00, who runs up a quarter million dollar phone bill talking to his girlfriend spending the semester in France? Isn’t this something that crosses state lines and is therefore a federal matter? Wouldn’t the FBI or the Department of Homeland Defense be involved?

Regarding Mark Rutledge, the former Chief Information Officer of the Commonwealth, working for McAfee:

The state contract for McAfee is through Dell Computers, so that may technically mean that McAfee is not doing business with the state. However, the state does buy a lot of McAfee software and if Rutledge has already been making sales calls then it looks like someone is tap dancing around the rules.

The following post employment restrictions are placed on state employees.

A current or former officer or elected official is prohibited for six months following termination of employment from accepting employment or compensation from any person or business that does business with, or is regulated by, the state in a matter in which he was directly involved during the last 36 months of his state tenure.

There are a number of questions here that could stand a little sunlight.

Let us hope that someone is paying attention.

A number of people and agencies have the authority to look into this: Auditor Crit Luallen , the Executive Branch Ethics Commission, Secretary of Finance Jonathan Miller, or Attorney General Jack Conway.

And one other thing the reason I got an anonymous email from a COT employee is because “Posting on blogs or any other interactive media is strictly prohibited.”

Racial Profiling in State Hiring

Update:


Senior moments are a bitch, so is screwing up and not completely researching a post. Both have happened here.

Inspite of a not so great summary that says nothing about foster and adoptive families, which is what this bill is about, let me do a mea culpa for not doing my homework and putting out a sloppy posting and even an apology to Stan Lee who appears to be one of the good guys here.



I’m sorry but this strikes me as a totally unnecessary addition to the state bureaucracy.

HB 666 (BR 1074) - D. Owens, R. Meeks
AN ACT relating to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Create a new section of KRS Chapter 194A to establish the Office on Racial Disportionality within the cabinet secretary's office; specify duties of the office to include training, targeted recruitment and employment efforts, data collection, and strategic planning; require the department and its contractors to collect and analyze data by race, evaluate and implement a plan to address disportionality; require annual report to the Governor, Interim Joint Committee on Health and Welfare, and the public each year.

Before you start calling me a racist, I don’t care if you are black, brown, yellow, red, white or some combination of the above. I don’t care if you are male, female or transgender. I don’t care if you are Baptist, Catholic, Jew, or following the teachings of Islam. I don’t care if you are straight, gay or bisexual.

When it comes to hiring people to work for the state, I do care if you are competent. I do care if you are ethical, honest and trustworthy. I do care if you are the most qualified person for the job.

This bill seeks to institutionalize hiring based on skin color, not a good criterion for hiring and certainly not a good criterion for establishing another state agency.

Oh, and this thing passed the House 95 to 0, with 5 not voting.

Even Stan Lee voted for this thing. I wonder what his supporters think of this vote?

Kentucky v. Bloggers

One last comment, one more than it’s probably worth, on Steve Beshear allowing access to blog sites.

Yes, I am glad that the silly restriction was lifted. But I do wish the Herald-Leader would do its’ homework a little better before publishing things like this.

Reversing a policy set by former Gov. Ernie Fletcher's administration, state-owned computers used by executive branch employees can now access blogs. The state had banned access to most blogs, excluding those operated by newspaper and television companies, since June 2006.

"We don't believe it is state government's role to distinguish between which news source is legitimate and which is illegitimate," said Jonathan Miller, secretary of the cabinet. "For the most part, we are leaving an open Internet."

The troubling thing here is Miller’s comment that “we are leaving an open Internet” when in fact they are being more restrictive than Fletcher’s administration.

Like I said I’m glad bloggers aren’t being blocked, but whether this administration is more open on their Internet access policy is arguable.

Beshear Opens State Computers to Internet - Sort Of

Here’s a little more detail on the Governor Steve Beshear administration’s opening up state computers to see blog sites like this one.

Some observations:

Beshear has blocked more categories of web sites than former Governor Ernie Fletcher had blocked.

While pushing for casino’s Beshear has blocked all of the games and gambling categories.

Beshear has blocked the illegal drug category, but neither blocked the tobacco or alcohol categories.

Fletcher didn’t want you watch sports and Beshear doesn’t want you to find a date.

First a list of the things Fletcher and Beshear can agree on should be blocked.

Pornography - Includes Web sites containing the depiction and illustration of sexually explicit activities and erotic content unsuitable to persons under the age of 18.

Erotic / Sex - Includes Web sites containing nude photography and erotic material, as can be found ontelevision or obtained free of charge from magazines. Sexually explicit activities are not listed here. Includes erotic collections of celebrities pictures as well.

Swimwear / Lingerie / Nudity - Includes Web sites containing nudity, but with no sexual references. Includes illustration of swimwear and lingerie as well.

Illegal Activities - Includes activities that violate the Human Rights Charta or are illegal according to German and European law, such as instructions for murder, manuals for sabotage such as bomb building, instructions for illegal activity, child pornography, sodomy, slavery, torture etc.

Computer Crime - Includes Web sites containing information about the illegal manipulation of electronic devices, data networks and password encryption, as well as about credit card misuse and other methods of Internet fraud such as dialer scam.

Hate / Discrimination - Includes Web sites from and about extreme right and left wing groups, sexism, racism, religious hate, suppression of minorities, inequitable boycott calls and holocaust revisionism.

Illegal Software (Cracked) - This category contains Web sites with software cracks, license key lists and illegal license key generators, as well as providers of equivocal P2P content and violations of copyright.

Extreme - Includes Web sites containing questionable content or promoting extremism (e.g. violence, militancy).

Music / Web Radio - Includes Web sites for radio, Web radio, soundfiles (MP3, Wav, etc.), audio- streaming, homepages of musicians and bands, record labels and music vendors.

Anonymous Proxies - Includes Web sites that allow users to anonymously view Web sites.

Spyware / Adware - This category contains Web sites making use of or providing malicious applications violating personal or corporate privacy without user's explicit knowledge or consent. Examples of violations are unsolicited data exchange beyond simple user authentication or validation, unrequested installation of software among others.

Phishing - This category contains Web sites providing information about financial fraud through manipulated Web sites and e-mails, also known as Phishing.

Malicious Web sites - This category contains Web sites with malicious source code, such as self- installing Trojans and viruses that exploit security vulnerabilities in browsers or firewalls.

State Black List - Any particular site they feel like blocking.

Second a list of those categories that Fletcher blocked but Beshear opened.

Politics - This category contains Web sites of political parties and those sites that provide information about a particular political party and different political topics (election, democracy, etc.)

Religion - Includes Web sites with religious content, information about the [five] main religions, and religious communities that have emerged out of these religions.

Sects - This category contains Web sites about sects, cults, occultism, satanism and religious fundamentalism.

Newsgroups / Blogs - This category contains Web sites that enable the sharing of information such as on a bulletin board. Includes Web logs (“blogs”) and guest book servers as well.

Sports - This category contains Web sites about resort sports, fan clubs, events (e.g. Olympic Games, World Championships), sports results, clubs, teams, sporting federations, magazines and fan sites.

Third, those categories those were open under Fletcher and are now blocked by Beshear.

Gambling / Lottery - Includes lottery organizations, casinos, betting agencies and other gambling sites with chances of profit.

Computer Games - Includes Web sites with computer games, of computer game producers, cheat sites, online gaming zones, gaming clans and other gaming sites without chances of profit.

Toys - This category contains information about dolls, modelling, model trains/cars, board games, card games, parlor games as well as other non-educational products and offerings for children.

Chat / Instant Messaging - This category contains Web sites that allow users to communicate and to have a direct exchange of information with another user from place to place. Also listed are chatroom providers and offerings about Instant Messaging.

Illegal Drugs - This category contains Web sites about LSD, heroine, cocaine, pot, dope, amphetamines, stimulant drugs, magic mushrooms, doping drugs and the utilities for drug use (e.g. water pipes).

Dating / Relationships - This category contains Web sites that promote interpersonal relationships, escort services and family-related content as weddings and adoption.

Personal Homepages: This category contains Web sites about and from private individuals. Includes personal homepage servers and other sites with personal contents and activities.

Read But Don't Write

Having been banned by the Commonwealth Office of Technology I was somewhat surprised by the reported lifting of the ban. I don’t think it will make much difference in my readership because the ban had more holes than a block of Swiss cheese.

However, while checking the state servers I ran across this edict from on high, the “Internet and Electronic Mail Acceptable Use Policy”. This was originally written in 1996 but was last updated March 18, 2008.

The last section of the document details what a state employee can’t do on the Internet or in email.

I find it somewhat disturbing that commenting on this blog, or any other blog, is considered the same as visiting pornographic sites, pirating software, committing sexual harassment and a number of other undesirable behaviors.

The prohibited uses are listed below:

Prohibited and Unacceptable Uses: Use of Internet and E-mail resources is a privilege that may be revoked at any time for unacceptable use or inappropriate conduct. Any abuse of acceptable use policies may result in notification of agency management, revocation of access and disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. The following activities are, in general, strictly prohibited. With the proper exception approved, employees may be exempt from these prohibitions during the course of job responsibilities and legitimate state government business.

Violations of the rights of any person or company protected by copyright, trade secret, patent or other intellectual property, including but not limited to, the downloading, installation or distribution of pirated software, digital music and video files.

Engaging in illegal activities or using the Internet or E-mail for any illegal purposes, including initiating or receiving communications that violate any state, federal or local laws and regulations, including KRS 434.840-434.860 (Unlawful Access to a Computer) and KRS 512.020 (Criminal Damage to Property Law). This includes malicious use, spreading of viruses, and hacking. Hacking means gaining or attempting to gain the unauthorized access to any computers, computer networks, databases, data or electronically stored information.

Using the Internet and E-mail for personal business activities in a commercial manner such as buying or selling of commodities or services with a profit motive.

Using resources to actively engage in procuring or transmitting material that is in violation of sexual harassment or hostile workplace laws, whether through language, frequency or size of messages. This includes statements, language, images, E-mail signatures or other materials that are reasonably likely to be perceived as offensive or disparaging of others based on race, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, religious or political beliefs.

Using abusive or objectionable language in either public or private messages.

Knowingly accessing pornographic sites on the Internet and disseminating, soliciting or storing sexually oriented messages or images.

Misrepresenting, obscuring, suppressing, or replacing a user’s identity on the Internet or E-mail. This includes the use of false or misleading subject headers and presentation of information in the distribution of E-mail.

Employees are not permitted to use the E-mail account of another employee without receiving written authorization or delegated permission to do so.

Employees are not permitted to forge E-mail headers to make it appear as though an E-mail came from someone else.

Sending or forwarding chain letters or other pyramid schemes of any type.

Sending or forwarding unsolicited commercial E-mail (spam) including jokes.

Soliciting money for religious or political causes, advocating religious or political opinions and endorsing political candidates.

Making fraudulent offers of products, items, or services originating from any Commonwealth account.

Using official resources to distribute personal information that constitutes an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy as defined in the Kentucky Open Records Act, KRS 61.870.

Online investing, stock trading and auction services such as eBay unless the activity is for Commonwealth business.

Developing or maintaining a personal web page on or from a Commonwealth device.

Use of peer-to-peer (referred to as P2P) networks such as Napster, Kazaa, Gnutella, Grokster, Limewire and similar services.

Any other non-business related activities that will cause congestion, disruption of networks or systems including, but not limited to, Internet games, online gaming, unnecessary Listserve subscriptions and E-mail attachments. Chat rooms and messaging services such as Internet Relay Chat (IRC), I SeeK You (ICQ), AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger and similar Internet-based collaborative services.

Posting on blogs or any other interactive media is strictly prohibited.