I have decided to put myself through the torture of watching the Democratic primary debate. Below is my live review of the debate.
Galbraith starts the process by being as entertaining as always. He might be wrong on almost all issues, but he brings a say it like it is approach that is refreshing. Richards is putting me to sleep and he is only on the opening statement. Hensley is probably a nice guy, but he doesn't belong on this stage. Lunsford uses his opening statement by remembering those who lost their lives at VT. Classy. Beshear. He looks like a walking skeleton. His theme for the night must be about "leadership". Miller statement is both goofy and cheesy. On top of that he looks like a bobble head doll. Henry is probably the best speaker of the bunch, but his opening is as droll as Richards.
Galbraith is for ending partisan bickering. Nice platitude but little substance.
Hensley is going to bring in college kids and hill billies.
Lunsford said Stumbo cleaned up the mess. Ok, whatever! All of these guys act as if no one ever held office before Fletcher was elected. And if they did, they were as clean as the wind driven snow. Oh my gosh. Lunsford has a plan! How exciting.
Beshear is also going to surround himself with the best people available. He must have seen the success Fletcher achieved with the same strategy. Beshear is going to magically strengthening the merit laws (that way no one can ever be fired). And he is going to limit pardoning powers.
Miller is a complete cartoon character. He wants to strengthen the law by making merit violations felonies. Whatever.
Ok, the BS meter went off when Henry said that Patton never asked political affiliation
Followup - Changes To Merit System.Lunsford has no plan and is avoiding the question.
Beshear is going to close all of the "loop holes". What loop holes? That is the question I would have asked if I was on the panel. The merit laws are pretty freaking clear. I would have asked Beshear, did any of these ethical lapses occur while you were Lt. Governor?
Richards is stumbling all over the place. He doesn't know why the bills never made it out of the house. Dude he is getting creamed by the questioner for why the tougher bills never made it out of the house even though they made it out of committee.
What the heck is Henry talking about. Preferences for veterans? What does that have to do with the question.
Lunsford has a natural habit of hiring the best people for the job. Of course then he totally screws them over.
Galbraith calls Lunsford out fir not taking a stand on the issue.
Miller is off on a tangent about state benefits and how they shouldn't be reduced for future employees. He said with a straight face that those who have worked in both the private and public sectors no what benefits are needed. I am guessing he wasn't talking about himself.
Question 2 - Top 2 ways to raise revenue
Henry starts by talking about covering every uninsured child. He wants to combine K-Chip/Medicaid (I guess he is done ripping Medicaid off) to lower costs.
Miller is the first to talk about the magical casinos. He believes that is how he is going to fund all of his spending and socialistic health care. He also wants to get rid of the AMT that is plaguing small business.
Beshear is not going to raise taxes. Oh, he is going to make government more efficient. Oh there it is, more magic casinos!
Lunsford is going to attract jobs because that is what he does. That is what he did working for Gov Brown and that is what he did in building Vencor. He also wants to rework health care so everyone can be covered. Yeah, more "universal" care.
Hensley says no to casinos! He wants more jobs to increase the tax base. Wow at least he has a grasp of basic economic principals.
Richards wants to re-prioritize resources. More to education first. He has a COG plan for education. What a silly name. I didn't hear the rest of his response because I was laughing at him being a COG in the wheel.
Galbraith wants to eliminate Medicaid fraud and criticized Stumbo for not going after more of it.
Follow up - Casinos
Galbraith wants the state to own the casinos. What a wonderful idea. State sponsored gambling!
Question 3 - Raising The Cigarette Tax
Henry is against a tax increase and thinks that depending on revenue from gaming is reckless! Amen.
Miller being the good liberal would consider more taxes on cigarettes. He things we need to find new revenue sources for funding and doesn't believe that we can save money from efficiency (Didn't Fletcher go from a deficit to a surplus through tax modernization and government efficiency? So I have no idea what he is talking about at this point). So basically, Miller is against cutting the size of government. He is definitely the most outright liberal in the group.
Beshear is against the cigarette tax, but seconds Miller on the state needing to find a substantial new source of revenue or we will fall behind. The only problem is gaming is not the solution. The solution is expand economic activities to expand the tax base which will generate more revenue. But that would take actual work. The casinos are easy money.
Lunsford is for more taxes. But then he says that tax cuts stimulate the economy? You have got to be kidding me. That was a joke? Right? He is at least realistic about casinos. He knows that even at the best gaming wouldn't generate revenue until 2009-2010. So he has a "plan" in case that never materializes.
Hesley is against all new taxes and against casinos. He said we live in Kentucky and not Vegas (Good line)
Richards wants to get rid of the AMT (although the house passed it in 2006) and he will direct the magic casinos to education. Yeah, the lottery all over again! He also wants to import drugs from Canada to save money. We are on track to hit all of the liberal cliches tonight.
Galbraith is going to give $5000 for higher education to each high school kid that graduates and wants to go on to college. The $5000 will only be used for education and books.
Question 4 - KERA
Galbraith states that KERA is a disaster. It isn't working. He blames underfunding education. Sigh. How much money does it take? How much money does a class room need? If you have money for books and supplies what the frig else do you need? If you can teach then they will learn. Later, Galbraith calls out the other Democrats for doing nothing while in power. He makes fun of them for only now finding these solutions while they have opportunities over the previous years to make these changes. Wow that pissed of Richards. But then again Richards has been their and has had the opportunity to make the changes he claims to want to make as governor.
Richards on the other hand claims that KERA has been good. (Of course. He was a one of the people who originally passed it). He then goes on to bash no child left behind. I am guessing he is sucking up for the KEA endorsement.
Hensley wants to lower the work load for teachers. 9 months is obviously too much to work.
Lunsford claimed everyone health care has doubled in the last 7 years. (Mine hasn't thought). He thinks Health care needs to be fixed so money can be redirected to education.
Beshear must also be gunning for the KEA endorsement. He praises KERA while bashing no child left behind. What is wrong with no child left behind. Heaven forbid we test schools and hold them accountable for their productivity.
I have no idea what Miller is babbling on about. He wants a diverse education. Isn't that what is taught in school? Man it must have changed dramatically since I went.
Henry, Hmmm, at least Henry is well spoken. I have no idea what he said, but he said it well.
Followup - What about paying more for Math/Science teachers
They are all against it. Ug! Lunsford doesn't answer the question. It is amazing. He just talks and says absolutely nothing. They all want the teachers to be paid the same. Why would we want to do that? Wouldn't we be better served if we gave the teachers incentives for being more productive? How about giving bonuses to teachers who excel at educating students? I would think that promoting excellence would do more than anything else to help education in our state.
Followup - What about universal Kindergarten
Miller, Henry, Beshear, and Richards are all for it. I swear Miller looks like a bobble head doll. Someone needs to tell him to keep his head still while speaking. Lunsford wants to look for more private industry /public school interaction for the education system. He points to the private schools successes in educating their students.
Question 5 - How would they work with Republican led Senate
Henry claims to be a moderate. He said he would try to work together. He wants to work with him and not attack him. He then goes on to talk about Veteran affairs. Isn't that his wife's issue? Doesn't he have his own issue?
Miller will stand up for what is right. So I will take that as a not real well to how he will work with the senate.
Beshear claims the House going in one direction, Senate in another, and the governor yet another direction. Beshear is going to use the power of the governor to beat them into shape He will Force his will upon them.Richards bristles and tells Beshear he can't act like a dictator and work with the legislature (most passion I have seen from Richards all night). Beshear says he doesn't want to be a dictator (But that's not what it sounds like).
News flash! Lunsford has a plan! Way to answer the question! I am guessing he is going to be popular with senate. Especially with Stumbo as Lt. Governor.
Hensley claims he is going to work with everyone. I have to give him credit for being brief and to the point throughout this debate. To bad the other candidates aren't.
Richards takes us back to 2006 to explain how he worked with the Senate to pass a number of bills. But what about this year? You seemed to take your ball and go home. How is that working well?Galbraith states that Williams has snookered the Democratic leadership. I was lost after that.
Question 6 - Highways
Galbraith wants to raise the gasoline tax to pay for roads. This actually makes sense in that the tax would be paid by the people who use the roads. It is just a bad idea since the government makes more money off gas than the "greedy oil companies".
Richards notes that Kentucky has been a donor state. We only get back 70-80% of what we put into the Federal system. He is going to get it -- although I have no idea how he is going to accomplish it. This is what is wrong with the federal government. They take a huge amount of money, and it never returns where it is needed. At the state level.
Hensley is against all new taxes
Ug, Lunsford talks about how wonderful it would be to have Democratic controlled congress to work with the Democratic governor. He says that he will work with Yarmuth to get the money (yeah right). He fails to mention Chandler. Who is the only Democrat who can actually get the money.
I have no idea what Beshear said. It made little sense to me.
Miller states that his "open system" of government will drive the costs down. Wait? I didn't think efficiency could gain anything? I am confused. He at least named Chandler which Lunsford didn't.
Henry believes that ethanol will save the day! It will provide cheaper gasoline. So much for free markets?
Follow Up - Bridges in NKY and Louisville - Toll Bridges
Everyone is against toll bridges. Lunsford claims the Democrats in congress will provide the funding. I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.
At this point the discussion tangents.
Galbraith goes on about how gas prices change at the whim of corporate greed. Therefore gas taxes would be no big deal. That is absolute rubbish and makes no sense economically. The natural fluctuations are arbitrary profits by greedy oil companies. It is the natural fluctuation of prices in a free market.
Miller talks about farm lands being the energy source of the future. Sigh. What about free markets! Nothing like arbitrarily picking a energy source without any proof that it will work in the free markets.
This whole debate is painful. It is like watching a giant pandering convention. These guys are promising everything without any understanding of economic realities. I am really having trouble watching this. These guys are real light weights and should be thankful that no one is watching this "debate"
Question 7 - Granting Local Communities the Right to Create New Taxes
Henry wants to allow local municipalities to have their own taxes. He believes that if people are overtaxed they will naturally correct it. Wait a second. Tell me about how this works for employees in J-Town inside Louisville. They are totally screwed by the "employment tax" and have no say in how the money is spent. This would just allow more onerous taxes to sprout up around the state.
Miller hasn't met a tax he doesn't like.
Beshear is against it. He sees the real problem as unfunded mandates. He wants to use the magic casinos to pay for any mandates so the local communities won't need new taxes.
Lunsford once again didn't answer the question. Instead he is talking about state mandates. Wait a second. He doesn't want local tax authority. Why didn't he just say that to begin with?
Hensley is against it as well. He wants the state to pay for jails and county dumps.
Richards echos what Beshear and Lunsford said. He points out that local communities already have taxing options and don't need more. He believe it would be better if the state helps pay for big expenses like jails.
Galbraith is also against local taxes. He doesn't want a patch work system across the state. Taxes should be uniform. In addition, He want to release people from jail for drug offenses to save money and wants to make the pharmaceutical companies to pay for their treatment. Closing statements
Henry seems to be the most polished of the candidates, but he seems to have very few ideas. Definitely the moderate in the race.
Miller is Mr. Bobble head. Wow he is calling his opponents Fletcher-Light. He called them a six pack of Fletcher light. No he didn't just call himself Miller Genuine. He now has a new name in this blog. I was going to call him Mr. Bobble head, but from now on he is going to be known as Miller Genuine Daft here. Wow, he just quoted John Lennon "You might call me a dreamer". Definitely the socialist in the race.
Beshear is giving us his autobiography - boring, boring, boring. Excellent, he finishes by rubbing his success in all of our faces. That was uplifting. He is so much better than the rest of us peasants.
Lunsford treats us to another autobiography. Snooze. Once again he is so much better than the rest of us. Oh wait. The "plan" is back. The one thing I learned about Lunsford is he has a plan! He didn't articulate that plan, but he has one. A man a plan a canal, panama.
Hensley is going to ride his 12 foot bull around the capital the day before the election. His web site is otisbullmanhensley.com.
Richards talks about hope with what was either a scowl or a frown on his face. I can't tell which. That is kinda funny.
Galbraith claims to represents the change that Chandler represented 4 years ago. (Wait a second. Isn't chandler one of the people that caused the problems that he is railing against? I am confused) If you voted for Chandler, vote for Galbraith.
Well that is the end of the debate. That was about as much fun as root canal surgery. I am positive I am only one of probably five people in the state who watched the whole thing. What did I learn tonight? I learned Lunsford has a plan. I learned that Galbraith continues to be both entertaining and wrong. I learned that Hensley owns a 12 foot bull. I learned that Miller Genuine Daft is a socialist. I learned that Beshear believes in dictatorships and magic casinos. I learned that Henry is an empty suit. And finally, I learned that two hours is way to long for ANY debate.
