Tuesday, 6 November 2007
Election Day Musings
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I have been really busy the last couple of weeks and have missed the most hectic part of the campaign season which is a bummer. So I'll offer some election day musings. The polls pretty much point to a Beshear victory today although I think the results will be closer than the polls suggest, but still not competitive. I wouldn't be surprised if the spread was around 55-45. if not then Trey Grayson might not be able to squeak out a victory today. The most frustrating part of the election has been looking at the polls. Not so much because they favored Beshear throughout, but that 1 in 4 Republicans and 1 in 3 "Conservatives" supported Beshear.
It is beyond me how ANY Republican can vote for Beshear. Don't they remember the malaise of Democratic reign in this state? Don't they remember the days where corruption and Democrats hiring 99% Democrats to run state government? Guess who was in the thick of things back then? Steve Beshear. His mantra as Attorney General during the Brown administration was "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". He was Lt Govenor for the corruptible Martha Collins administration. To think that he is going to bring "Integrity" back to the office is a joke. It is like giving your 16 year old kid the cars to your Ferrari and a case of beer and then tell him to go have fun. It won't be six months before it is business as usual back in the state capital. The new AG and state papers will totally ignore it. In fact I am sure there will be a new zeal to "expunge" those rascally Republicans from state government.
Just as concerning to me is the number of conservatives supporting Beshear and cast. What possible issue do conservatives have in common with Beshear? Let's run through them quickly. First up, limited government. Beshear has repeatedly said that the state needs new streams of revenue. Mainly to massively expand the welfare state to bring about "universal"(socialized) medicine in Kentucky. That means NEW TAXES. It might be hidden behind casinos, but it is still means a new form of taxation for state residents. What will happen if he doesn't get his casinos? He says he is going to get it from an "efficiency study". That is ridiculous. Most of that has already been done by the Fletcher administration. He isn't going to get blood out of a turnip.
How about right to work? Beshear is opposed to it. He want to force employees to have to belong to a union wether they want to or not. How conservative is that?
Bringing in new business? Beshear wants to completely open up the process used to award incentive packages. How is this going to bring in new business? No company in their right mind will apply. Doesn't he realize that much of what is kept confidential has to do with sensitive corporate data? Why would a company want to make any of that public? Beshear has no clue how to attract new business.
Health care. Fletcher has gotten an A- for his work in solving the state's Medicaid problems. A program which is now solvent and heading in the right direction. But instead of letting his administration tackle the problems of affordable coverage, the state has decided to turn the keys over to a guy whose only idea is to throw more money at the problem while ignoring the underlying causes. It is the kick the can down the street strategy. Leave it for someone else to address.
Next up, illegal immigration. Fletcher has said he will try to get local law enforcement to help identify illegals during arrests so they can be deported from the country. Beshear said it is a "federal problem". His comments come on top of Democratic panel in Lexington wanting to give illegal aliens drivers licenses. This is surreal. They slam Fletcher for breaking the law when he was cleared by a court system yet they want to either help or do nothing to people who are currently breaking the law.
Education? Beshear is going to through more money at it and pander to the biggest obstacle to education reform in this state, the KTA! Again government expansion without any real desire to solve the problems. Hmmm, this seems to be a common theme. At least Fletcher tried to challenge the teachers unions in this state.
Ok how about guns? Beshear is "pro" gun. Except that anytime he had an opportunity to stand up for gun rights he didn't do it. On top of that, the AG candidate, Conway, favored gun control measures when he ran against Northup for Congress. In fact the NRA rated him an an F. Now he is going to be the chief law enforcer in the state. That is not good for anyone who cares about the second amendment.
What about abortion? Beshear is against it but reserves the right to choice. To me this is the most morally vapid stand a person can take. I assume he thinks that the killing of the unborn is wrong, but that it should remain a choice. How completely repugnant is that line of thinking? If you believe something is wrong how can you support its practice?
Basically, almost every stand Beshear has made goes against the principles of conservatism. While Fletcher may not be 100% conservative he is 80-90%. That is a far cry better than 0-10% conservative that Beshear represents. On top of that Beshear is an empty suite. His only good ideas in the campaign were stuff that the Fletcher administration is already doing.
So I say to Republicans who are voting for Beshear. You have identified yourselves as RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) and can not be trusted to lead the party. And for those calling themselves conservative and are voting for Beshear, you might want to rethink your principles. No true conservative would vote for Beshear.
But in the meantime I am going to enjoy this brisk sunny day and vote.
It is beyond me how ANY Republican can vote for Beshear. Don't they remember the malaise of Democratic reign in this state? Don't they remember the days where corruption and Democrats hiring 99% Democrats to run state government? Guess who was in the thick of things back then? Steve Beshear. His mantra as Attorney General during the Brown administration was "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". He was Lt Govenor for the corruptible Martha Collins administration. To think that he is going to bring "Integrity" back to the office is a joke. It is like giving your 16 year old kid the cars to your Ferrari and a case of beer and then tell him to go have fun. It won't be six months before it is business as usual back in the state capital. The new AG and state papers will totally ignore it. In fact I am sure there will be a new zeal to "expunge" those rascally Republicans from state government.
Just as concerning to me is the number of conservatives supporting Beshear and cast. What possible issue do conservatives have in common with Beshear? Let's run through them quickly. First up, limited government. Beshear has repeatedly said that the state needs new streams of revenue. Mainly to massively expand the welfare state to bring about "universal"(socialized) medicine in Kentucky. That means NEW TAXES. It might be hidden behind casinos, but it is still means a new form of taxation for state residents. What will happen if he doesn't get his casinos? He says he is going to get it from an "efficiency study". That is ridiculous. Most of that has already been done by the Fletcher administration. He isn't going to get blood out of a turnip.
How about right to work? Beshear is opposed to it. He want to force employees to have to belong to a union wether they want to or not. How conservative is that?
Bringing in new business? Beshear wants to completely open up the process used to award incentive packages. How is this going to bring in new business? No company in their right mind will apply. Doesn't he realize that much of what is kept confidential has to do with sensitive corporate data? Why would a company want to make any of that public? Beshear has no clue how to attract new business.
Health care. Fletcher has gotten an A- for his work in solving the state's Medicaid problems. A program which is now solvent and heading in the right direction. But instead of letting his administration tackle the problems of affordable coverage, the state has decided to turn the keys over to a guy whose only idea is to throw more money at the problem while ignoring the underlying causes. It is the kick the can down the street strategy. Leave it for someone else to address.
Next up, illegal immigration. Fletcher has said he will try to get local law enforcement to help identify illegals during arrests so they can be deported from the country. Beshear said it is a "federal problem". His comments come on top of Democratic panel in Lexington wanting to give illegal aliens drivers licenses. This is surreal. They slam Fletcher for breaking the law when he was cleared by a court system yet they want to either help or do nothing to people who are currently breaking the law.
Education? Beshear is going to through more money at it and pander to the biggest obstacle to education reform in this state, the KTA! Again government expansion without any real desire to solve the problems. Hmmm, this seems to be a common theme. At least Fletcher tried to challenge the teachers unions in this state.
Ok how about guns? Beshear is "pro" gun. Except that anytime he had an opportunity to stand up for gun rights he didn't do it. On top of that, the AG candidate, Conway, favored gun control measures when he ran against Northup for Congress. In fact the NRA rated him an an F. Now he is going to be the chief law enforcer in the state. That is not good for anyone who cares about the second amendment.
What about abortion? Beshear is against it but reserves the right to choice. To me this is the most morally vapid stand a person can take. I assume he thinks that the killing of the unborn is wrong, but that it should remain a choice. How completely repugnant is that line of thinking? If you believe something is wrong how can you support its practice?
Basically, almost every stand Beshear has made goes against the principles of conservatism. While Fletcher may not be 100% conservative he is 80-90%. That is a far cry better than 0-10% conservative that Beshear represents. On top of that Beshear is an empty suite. His only good ideas in the campaign were stuff that the Fletcher administration is already doing.
So I say to Republicans who are voting for Beshear. You have identified yourselves as RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) and can not be trusted to lead the party. And for those calling themselves conservative and are voting for Beshear, you might want to rethink your principles. No true conservative would vote for Beshear.
But in the meantime I am going to enjoy this brisk sunny day and vote.
Posted by at 10:10 AM in Kentucky Politics
