“State government can’t meet the demand for all the services required by the people of Kentucky, not under the current economic conditions,” Beshear said. “We need partners now more than ever, and we must continue to find ways to be responsive to Kentucky families and move the state forward. The time is right to join forces in an unprecedented effort for the greater good of the commonwealth.”I think this is a brilliant idea. Think of all of the liberals in this state that believe government is the answer and desire higher taxation. This is a perfect opportunity for them to give to the cause of government. If all of them gave just a few extra hundred dollars each we could overcome our budget shortfall.
By skimming the article you get the impression that Bunning is earning a $180,000 yearly salary from the foundation. But that isn't the case. His charity in the last 12 years has raised $504,000. That came directly from money Bunning made signing baseball memorabilia after he obtained a spot in the hall of fame. That comes to roughly $42,000 a year in money raised by Bunning. Of that money he took about $15,000 a year in salary. $12,000 was donated directly to charities while the final $15,000 was being held to create an endowment.The nonprofit Jim Bunning Foundation, set up in 1996 to collect money the Hall of Fame pitcher gets from autographing baseball memorabilia, has taken in more than $504,000, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported yesterday, citing Senate and tax records.
Of that amount, Bunning has earned $180,000 in salary, the newspaper said. By contrast, the foundation has given $136,435, or about one-fourth of its income, to churches and charitable groups around Northern Kentucky.
"For him to be taking more for himself than he gives to the charities just doesn't look good, no matter how you cut it," said Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy in Chicago.While he technically took in more money than he gave in charity, he is only taking about 1/3 of the money raised for salary. The rest will eventually end up going to charity. While a 33% overhead is not awesome, it is well within the range of acceptable overhead for charitable organizations.
Charity watchdog groups say it's acceptable for an agency to spend as much as 40 percent on overhead.My favorite part of the story is the last line.
Bunning started his foundation with the approval of the Senate ethics committee and the IRSSo what is the big deal? He has a charity where the overhead is considered reasonable and it was cleared by the Senate ethics committee and the IRS. Why is this even a story? Oh yeah, I forgot. He is a Republican up for re-election in 2 years and they need to start slimining him whenever they can.
Delivery exception - Local weather delay, delivery attemptedWhat? The roads were fine yesterday. All of the inclement weather went north of us. I might even have given them some slack if they hadn't delivered a package the day before when the weather was actually BAD. My guess is the day was coming to an end and the driver hadn't made his rounds so he used it as an excuse to not deliver the package.
Melting ice, especially in Greenland and the Arctic, is also thought to contribute to global warming, Zwally said. When the vast ice sheets and glaciers melt, they lose their reflective power, and instead, oceans and land absorb the heat, causing the Arctic waters and the atmosphere to warm faster.So melting ice in the Arctic is causing seas to rise? Really? As water turns from liquid to a solid, it expands and becomes LESS dense. This is the reason why ice floats within water. The increased size of the solid form means that ice actually takes up more volume than its liquid form. Therefore the water levels are higher with ice in it because the ice displaces more water.
The alternative to the Ohio River Bridges Project known as “8664” would lead to increased traffic congestion, higher emissions and longer delays than the federal plan to build two new bridges and reconfigure Spaghetti Junction, a state study has found.For me, this falls into the "duh category". By removing one of the main arteries to downtown, you are going to increase traffic on other downtown roads. This is just plain common sense. Traffic is an ever growing constant. If you remove a part of 64 the traffic has to go somewhere. That somewhere is the other roads in downtown Louisville. While 8664 might beautify the downtown landscape it will do nothing to alleviate Louisville's traffic problems. In fact it will only make the problem worse.
Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson will meet Thursday with members of President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team to discuss an economic stimulus package that would create jobs by investing billions of dollars in roads, schools and other city construction projects.An economic stimulus plan WILL create new jobs, build roads, bridges and schools. But for every dollar we spend on an economic stimulus plan we are removing one dollar from the private sector. No matter how much Abramson deludes himself into believing that government is the "real" economic engine, it doesn't change the fact that the private sector is the primary economic driver in this country. All we are doing with these stupid stimulus packages is taking money from the private sector and moving it into the inefficient public sector. In effect creating some public sector jobs while destroying many more private sector jobs. On top of that we are stifling the natural recovery or our economy. It is simple economics 101. But it is apparently a difficult concept for Democratic leaders to grasp.
Abramson, one of dozens of leaders from the U.S. Conference of Mayors invited to attend, will meet in Chicago with presidential transition co-chair Valerie Jarrett.
“If our country is to rebound quickly from the economic recession, we must invest in the economic engines of America — our metropolitan areas,” Abramson said in a prepared statement. “An economic stimulus in cities will help put people to work, create new jobs and build and rebuild roads, bridges, schools and other projects that serve citizens.”
My prayers go out to her family, fiance, and friends.Brittany Zimmerman, a 21-year-old college student who wanted to be a doctor, called 911 as she was being attacked by a stranger, police say.
Brittany Zimmerman's screams and struggle for her life were captured by a 911 tape.
But the police did not come for 48 minutes. By that time, Zimmerman was dead. Her fiance found her body.
Although the dispatcher claimed later to have heard nothing, the 911 tape captured screams, gasps and what sounds like a struggle, according to the court documents.
Spring was in the air when college student Zimmerman returned April 2 from classes at the University of Wisconsin to the off-campus apartment she shared with her fiance, Jordan Gonnering.
He was out when she arrived home. He discovered her body when he returned.
Zimmerman had been stabbed multiple times in her chest, near her heart. She'd also been beaten and strangled, according to warrants released recently.
Zimmerman managed to call 911 at 12:20 p.m. The call was taken by the Dane County 911 center and an internal investigation revealed the dispatcher did not hear any sounds that would signal an emergency.
Because of that, police were not sent to the apartment until 48 minutes after Zimmerman made the call. Her fiance was already there.
I like how he believes in "common-sense" gun laws. From a liberal, that means only a partial ban on weapons and ammunition. Personally, I don't blame people for going out and buying stuff while they still can. But I wouldn't go out and buy anything now. The high demand will cause prices to spike. I would wait until next year and buy the stuff when prices come back down. I plan on being one of those shopping. I have been wanting to buy a couple high capacity magazines for my Glock for the last year or two. I want to make sure I purchase them before they turn back up on some banned list.The rise in firearm purchases since the election prompted the president-elect to reassure gun owners during a press conference a week ago that he won't take away their weapons.
"I believe in common-sense gun safety laws and I believe in the Second Amendment," Obama said. "And so lawful gun owners have nothing to fear. I said that throughout the campaign. I haven't indicated anything different during the transition. I think people can take me at my word."
This is a chance for the court to throw this stupid case out with prejudice. It is beyond belief that it has already made it this far in the legal process. The attempt by the state to take domains names is silly. As we have pointed out before, domain names are just pointers to network addresses. A short cut that allows people to remember the address for a specific computer. Seizing them makes no sense as anyone can reach the gambling servers by using their network address directly.Lawyers representing online gambling interests told the Kentucky Court of Appeals on Friday that Gov. Steve Beshear’s effort to seize domain names is blatantly unconstitutional.
A three-judge panel is weighing Beshear’s unprecedented move to seize the domain names of 141 gambling Web sites.
Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate allowed the Cabinet for Justice and Public Safety to seize the domain names last month. The seizure, at this point, is meaningless because the state cannot control the content of the Web sites until a judge orders the domain names forfeited to the state.
The University of Kentucky may ban smoking on all campus property, including outdoors, as early as next fall, President Lee Todd announced today.Second hand smoke outside? That is ridiculous. It is out freaking doors! Smoke dissipates almost immediately outdoors. The risk of second hand smoke outside is nil! No this is just another case of the thought police deciding something is bad for you. Even if it is a legal product. Why don't they just vote to make tobacco illegal and then we don't have to deal with these stupid rationalizations for stripping our freedoms.
UK would join Campbellsville University as the only other campus in Kentucky to enact a complete smoking ban, according to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation.
UK already bans smoking indoors and outside its medical facilities.
“I think there clearly are indications that second-hand smoke is an issue,” Todd said after a UK Board of Trustees meeting. “And I do think that smoking is a health hazard.”
Moberly, D-Richmond, said the shortfall could be addressed only with cuts but that approach “would be too painful” and the state would “seriously cripple” important programs.So what does he propose? You might guess it. Tax increases. Let me get this straight. We are in an economic downturn. A time when tax payers are struggling to make ends meet. And Mr Government Moberly wants to increase our tax burden so we have even less money. For what purpose? So he can continue to live high on the hog in state government. So government doesn't have to face pain. To hell with that! It's better for government to feel the pain rather than us tax payers. I hope the Republicans stand firm against tax increases this coming session. It's time that the government did with less and not the tax payers.
A 4 percent state funding cut this year would have a "devastating" impact on Kentucky's public schools, Education Commissioner Jon Draud said yesterday.Give me a break. Every time their is a chance at a budgetary cut, these people talk about how horrible the results will be. I have an idea. Suck it up! Businesses have ups and downs. They don't get the ever expanding budgets that government get regardless of performance. My company had to cut back during the downturn of 2002. I had to get rid of people and it was horrible, but it wasn't devastating to my business. Was it a set back? Yes. Devastating? No. Why? Because I still had a core of good people to work through the bad times and start growing again.
If you want to be a Judge, all you have to do is buy it. Looks like the going rate for an unqualified candidate is $300,000. That is exactly what 29 year old Katie King did. More unbelievably, she lent herself almost $200,000 for the election.
New Jefferson District Judge Katie King lent her own campaign $194,000 in the two weeks immediately before and after the November election, according to her filings with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance.
King was the subject of a number of news stories which raised questions about her qualifications, leading up to her face off with David Holton. King won the race and has been sworn in as district judge. Records show King raised just $8000 in the 15 days before the election, but pitched in $194,000 of her own money to pay the campaign's bills. King is the daughter of Metro Council President and Louisville bank founder Jim King. He told me the campaign money came out of Katie's pocket, not his. Katie King reported raising and spending a total of $303,000 for her campaign. Holton's post-election report is not available though his campaign consultant says Holton raised a little over $100,000.
Amazing. King spent $200,000 for a job that pays just over $100,000. Not a bad investment. She will make her money back by the end of her first term. What I want to know is how the heck does a 29 year old got $200,000 to spend on the election in the first place? Do assistant district attorneys make a lot more money than I believed? Or maybe she has been saving her pennies every day since she was a little girl? For some reason, I don't believe either theory. The only place that type of money was available to her was through her daddy, Jim King. I love how he claims it wasn't his money. Yeah, that is almost believable.
What I want to know is when did he giver her the money? Was it a trust set up a long time ago or did he just give it to her in the last year or two. If it is the latter, then they could have possibly violated campaign finance laws. I doubt we will ever know.
Gov. Steve Beshear doesn’t want Kentucky to borrow its way out of a nearly half-billion-dollar shortfall by issuing bonds, he said.This is an excellent decision. There is no reason for us to go into hock because we come up short for a year or two. It is much better to tighten the belt and spend less than it is to keep on spending money like they do on the national level. That way we will be in a much stronger position whenever the economy does recover.
Steve Beshear told me (Mark Hebert) today that repealing the union-backed wage law is "off the table" as far as he's concerned. Beshear isn't convinced that repealing the law would save much money and he says it could hurt the quality of construction on government financed projects.This has to be a joke right? We are in a financial pinch right now, and he doesn't want to take a step that will save us, by his own admission, money? I guess taking care of his own includes his buddies in big labor and not us tax payers. My favorite part is that it wil l hurt the quality of construction. Yeah, union construction is just so much more superior to non-union construction. Just look at the quality differences between the Big 3 automotive companies and say Toyota and Honda.
Awesome! These people are completely clueless. I like the fact that they have saved an undetermined amount already. Let me translate for you. Not much. If it was saving a lot of money they would have a figure trotted out by now. I love the fact that they are oping to save $100 million dollars from suggestions made by the general public. It is going to be a fun 2009!During his 2007 campaign, Gov. Steve Beshear pledged to save Kentucky taxpayers $150 million to $180 million a year by finding greater efficiencies in state government.
Now — one year into his term, grappling with a projected $456 million budget shortfall — Beshear is asking taxpayers for their cost-cutting ideas.
The Beshear administration says it’s already saving an undetermined sum thanks to thousands of useful efficiency suggestions submitted by state workers over the past year, such as canceling newspaper subscriptions (the same news stories are available for free on the Web), shrinking the state vehicle fleet through two surplus auctions and reducing some laundry and cleaning services from weekly to monthly.
Starting this month, Kentuckians can offer their own suggestions to the governor’s Office of Innovation, Economy and Efficiency, said Finance and Administration Secretary Jonathon Miller on Wednesday.
Anyone interested should visit www.OpenDoor.KY.gov and click on the compact fluorescent light bulb, Miller said.
Personally, I think these atheists are a bit short sighted. I know they don't believe in a God, but what if one does exists? Wouldn't we be better off asking that deity for help in securing our society and being thankful for its help? I would think we could use all of the help we can get in defending ourself from terrorists.An atheists-rights group is suing the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security because state law requires the agency to stress “dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth.”
American Atheists of Parsippany, N.J., and 10 non-religious Kentuckians are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, set to be filed Tuesday in Franklin Circuit Court...
...The requirement to credit God for Kentucky’s protection was tucked into 2006 homeland security legislation by state Rep. Tom Riner, D-Louisville, a Southern Baptist minister.
“This is recognition that government alone cannot guarantee the perfect safety of the people of Kentucky,” Riner said last week.
Riner said he expects Homeland Security to include language recognizing God’s benevolent protection in its official reports and other materials – sometimes the agency does, and sometimes it doesn’t – and to maintain a plaque with that message at the state’s Emergency Operations Center in Frankfort.
Yup, that's right. They want free money. I am sure these people are "losing sleep" over this law. What kind of loser do you have to be to have trouble sleeping over this legislation. I don't agree with a lot that government does. Heck I am concerned about a number of people who are running this country, but I don't have trouble sleeping because of it. These people really need to find something do with their time rather than sitting around wallowing in victimization. I understand playing the victim is a favorite liberal past time, but these people really need to move past it and get on with their lives.The plaintiffs ask for the homeland security law to be stripped of its references to God. They also ask for monetary damages, claiming to have suffered sleeping disorders and “mental pain and anguish.”
“Plaintiffs also suffer anxiety from the belief that the existence of these unconstitutional laws suggest that their very safety as residents of Kentucky may be in the hands of fanatics, traitors or fools,” according to the suit.
First off, I have to once again comment on his quote that an infrastructure stimulus package would put people back to work. It doesn't work that way. To pay for infrastructure package the money has to come from somewhere. That somewhere is from the taxpayers! By taking money from the taxpayers we are not stimulating anything. We are just moving money from the efficient private sector to the inefficient public sector. That will only HURT the economy. Sigh...When Gov. Steve Beshear joins other governors to meet with President-elect Barack Obama Monday night, he expects to make a pitch for a stimulus plan for states that could include cash to help struggling programs.
Beshear and other state leaders are scheduled to sit down with Obama in Philadelphia, first at an informal session Monday evening, then in a formal conference Tuesday morning, Beshear said.
“We’re going to be talking about a number of possibilities to help us with this situation we find ourselves in,” Beshear said. “Obviously an infrastructure stimulus package would help Kentucky as well as other states in helping people get back to work.”
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