What Do People Expect From Their Government?

It’s not always the same. Take Indonesians, for example, since the latest tsunami may be on our minds, as the death toll rises to 420 and keeps on going. (Bad enough, but minor compared to the huge one in 2004 that killed 230,000 people there.) Since the ‘04 tsunami, the government had promised its people a more extensive and better system for detecting such waves, and the events that cause them. But in more detailed news reports over the weekend it came out that the new system, installed by 2012, was NOT working, and no alarm sounded. Why???  One official blamed “vandalism and budget shortfalls.”

 

So the government of Indonesia, (one of the most earthquake, volcano, and tsunami-prone places on earth,) played fast & loose with its peoples' lives, placing a higher priority on who-knows-what over lives and safety of the people it was sworn to help and defend.

 

(In Kentucky, as elsewhere, “budget shortfalls” - debts and deficits in reality - are the excuses given for just about everything that doesn’t get done, including small items like retirement funding, contractual promises made state workers, who do so much for the rest of us.)

 

What do the American people expect from our government?

 

A lot more than national defense (not the same thing as so-called border security)---mail delivered daily, roads maintained, faulty medicines and food kept off the market, debts (such as Social Security and Medicare) paid on time, after all WE paid into those plans in a contract with our government to get it back later, veterans taken care of properly (I won’t even deign to go into this promise which has been so badly kept for years,) but just the same, we citizens have done our part (or we were fined and jailed), now our government MUST (ethically and legally) do the same.

 

There is NO excuse for ANY reason, at ANY time, for any PERSON or PARTY to shut down our government.

 

(And, BTW, all those “continuing resolution” stopgap measures, temporary funding bills need to remind us that Congress itself used to pass a budget by July 1st., (and when it found it could not,) kicked the can down the road to a new deadline of October 1st., (and for the last few years, found out it can’t do that either.)  Let’s remember these things when the next election comes ‘round.

 

In the meantime: There is NO excuse for ANY reason, at ANY time, for any PERSON OR PARTY, to shut down our government.

 

I'm just sayin'...

Kentucky Pensions And President Trump

Our supreme court spoke last week on one of its biggest cases in years (gracefully waiting until after the November elections) and ruled the Bevin-GOP attempt to revise our broken state pension system was illegal.  No surprises here as it was obvious to anyone who understood the English language the legislature had violated its own rules as well as the state Constitution; in the way it passed the “reform” bill.

 

What was a surprise: the unanimous decision against the Bevin- GOP approach. Unanimous. Judges of both parties and of varying judicial views all held the way it was done was wrong. (Implications for other bills---and there are many—passed the same way will probably be raised soon and cause new cases.)

 

Another minor surprise, the court did NOT go into the pension reform itself, as many had hoped, but ruled narrowly, as courts are inclined to do, that the method used was wrong.  Unfortunately this means IF a new legislature gets it right this time, a later case—sure to be filed—(with more expense and delay) would be needed to get our worst-in-the-nation-pension system changed. The court could have saved us all a lot of grief if it had gone into the reforms themselves.

 

Of course Gov. Bevin and his legislative allies were disappointed. They had worked long and hard to make changes, but they had also been warned they were going about it the wrong way.

 

So what was their reaction?

 

Just as President Trump’s—when he gets a court ruling he doesn’t like—blame the judges.

 

Bevin, who is not a lawyer, might (might) be excused, though he should, as every citizen should, understand the Rule of Law. But for top GOP legislative leaders to react by suggesting “we need to rein in the judges” is really discouraging. They know better and their words are just one more GOP attempt to damage our system of governing; words and actions echoed by at least 2 other state legislatures under GOP control that voted recently to strip powers from governors when the elections brought in a Democrat. This shows bad faith in our system, and likely will be overturned, in time, at considerable cost to those states who don’t have extra money lying around these days.

 

More and more our governor and state government seems to be becoming little Donalds.

 

It’ discouraging to see the President constantly disparaging our system of checks and balances, of three branches of government—each with its role to play, to make America work. With each new disparagement our Democracy falters, at a time we can least afford it. Elected officials have a responsibility to improve our system, not actively work to tear it down. I hope our voters will remember.

 

One last word: there is no excuse, ever, at any time and for any reason, for any party or person to shut down our government.

 

I'm just sayin'...

Admonitions For The Holidays

1---Be careful when you read the ingredients of holiday goodies.   

 

     I like bourbon balls, often buy them this time of year. Recently I bought some from a major candy maker, who used a well known distillery’s bourbon. Didn’t care for taste, so idly checked the ingredients list. There were 10 major ingredients listed (but some of the ten were actually products with 5-8 ingredients themselves.  Sugar was the main one..followed by “invert sugar” as number 2. Included in the 10 were four other major ingredients which included some form of sugar in their formulation.)  Water was the fourth highest in use ingredient. Bourbon was the 8th ingredient listed---or put another way, 3rd from the bottom as the smallest amount contained in this candy.

 

Maybe we should call them “Sugar Balls.” Or “Bourbon flavored Sugar Balls” since sugar made up 40-plus% of the candy, by weight.

 

2---Those Xmas commercials.

 

Each season there are a few really thoughtful, interesting and unusual commercials on the air. Often its those of the Budweiser Clydesdales; but so far this year, a Meijer’s commercial is primo - the one about the little dog locked out of the house during present wrapping—and what happens next.  Check it out. (Liked the dog-centered Mercedes spot also for a few airings, but I could look at the Meijer’s spot many times.)

 

3---Now if I could just get area radio stations to play my all-time fave Xmas “commercial.”—one that was banned by some stations when it first came out 60 years ago. To find out why, and cheer the sentiment contained therein, Google “Stan Freberg’s Green Christmas.”  Just “Green Christmas” won’t do, that’s  a popular song by some other group. You can find just the lyrics, or on some websites, including Youtube, hear it played by his acting company. Well worth it.

 

I'm just sayin...Happy Christmas to all—and to all a Good Night.

Bush 41 And Bevin

Former President George H.W. Bush visited Kentucky a number of times, and as a journalist I was privileged to meet with him as part of a small group of broadcast reporters interviewing him. He impressed me with his sincerity, pleasantness and civility---in person and as hallmarks of his administration.  Reagan talked of “compassionate conservatism” but didn’t really delivery it; Bush did.

 

His “Thousand points of light” program was just one example. Trump has disparaged it, but it was truly nothing more than the old idea of volunteerism for America, helping your neighbor as a tradition on our nation. The Bush family, as the Kennedys and others, exemplified this in the extreme. They had profited by being Americans and felt an obligation to give something back.  You might disagree with their policies but not their desire to serve. (Several Kentucky communities were honored for their work by this program.)

 

Bush probably was a one term president because he broke a promise not to raise taxes. Yet, at that time, it was probably the right thing to do. But the Old Guard in the GOP never forgave him, and with a fractured party, Clinton won.

 

Today’s GOP is not the party of Pres. Bush; I wish it were. It was, as he put it, a “kinder, gentler” type of administration, which we lack today, both nationally and in Kentucky.

 

Gov. Bevin keeps trying to change the Medicaid rules so people must do some work  (or even Bush-type volunteering) to keep their benefits. Lawsuits stopping his first attempt here kept Kentucky from being the first in the nation with such a project. But appeals to DC have led them to tweak the program, in an effort to avoid the lawsuit they lost, and now Bevin is trying again.  But the same objections by opponents still apply: in many parts of Kentucky, especially Eastern Kentucky, there just aren’t the jobs—or even the opportunities to pursue volunteer projects—to meet the requirements so people will lose their benefits.       

 

One has to believe this is what the governor really wants. (Hardly either compassionate conservatism or a kinder, gentler approach.)  And now we have some proof. When the first lawsuit delayed our program; new lawsuits have been promised and other states went ahead. One in Alabama, was the subject of a recent report on the PBS Newshour. Surprise! In those areas of that state, where, as in our state, jobs are scarce, people could not qualify under the new work-volunteer rules and they lost their benefits. Many, as the report showed, have sunk into greater poverty, and much poorer health—much poorer.

 

Can we not learn from this?

 

Can Gov. Bevin not learn, and in the spirit of our former president, end this charade and return his party to Mr. Bush’s approach? It would serve many Kentuckians much better than these proposed new work rules; and, by the way, it’s much better politics.

 

I'm just sayin'...

Why Not?

A/G Beshear (and that’s also candidate Beshear) has urged lawmakers again to consider legalizing casinos and sports betting in Kentucky as a way to finance our pension problems.

 

Why Not?

 

We have a lottery already, with its funds dedicated to education, so why not more of the same with funds dedicated to the pension problem?

 

Bevin and the GOP majority in the legislature is the easy answer, but it makes little sense. We already have legal betting in the successful state lottery. We need the money, though let’s admit it won’t solve the pension problem, it can get us started—and in a big way.  Opposition by conservative “family” groups, also, but see my argument # 1, we already have a successful lottery.

 

The GOP, the party of Business, seems content to let a lot of business leave Kentucky and go to Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and other surrounding states that have, or may soon have, casinos, sports betting, etc., draining this money from our state and our business. That is shortsighted in the extreme. And bad politics.

 

Gov. Bevin says its time to take a new look at solving state problems, especially the one he has hung his hat on—pensions. He won’t Like the Beshears (dad also proposed the same thing when he was governor) getting any credit here, but what is best for our state: credit in a campaign or solving a festering problem that is only getting worse?

 

I'm just sayin'

Election Thoughts - Past And Future

Almost every election, reporters interview someone who didn’t vote and the reason why is often “my vote won’t count.”

 

EVERY election, the one just past being no exception, races ARE decided by one vote; both this time on the federal level as well as local. Yup, someone’s headed to Congress because one person voted.  And here in Kentucky, we had one race end in a tie, decided by a coin flip.

 

Enuff of history, and the miserable turnout, about 46%, let’s talk about all the problems the US had; from not enough ballots, to jammed machines, to one polling place that didn’t exist (it was foreclosed on and padlocked before the election!) to not enough machines causing long lines, to not enough election workers showing up, to machines with NO paper trail in 3 states (and thus no way to check on fraud or human errors!) to some political chicanery but no real evidence of fraud.

 

That said, why aren’t our elections better run???

 

After the”hanging chad” debacle of 2000, Washington promised us help. We got some more money (not sufficient) and some new electronic machines (not always easy to operate and again, some without a paper trail---such as right here in Fayette County!!!) and as I write almost 2 weeks later, some races still have not been called, and I don’t mean just Florida.

 

BTW, we have a small race here next year for governor. And the nation has one in two years for the top job.

 

What can be done?  A lot, and while Washington must help with more $$$, and some UNIFORM voting rules for federal races, let’s talk about the Commonwealth.

 

1---get rid of all machines that do not have a paper trail. The Herald-Leader reports that means FayCo..and the city seems to have some surplus funds which could solve this problem (plus grant money from state and US sources.)  Let’s do it! And if we can’t get simpler machines with paper trails by next year, let’s go back to paper ballots, read by machines, instead.

 

2---pass legislation that whenever the Secretary of State is a candidate, he/she must turn over the duties of overseeing elections to someone else. Let’s not have the disgrace of what happened in Georgia happen here. We have been warned; let’s get ahead of the curve.

 

3—take a good hard look at early voting..which has some advantages, but also some drawbacks. Do NOT go in for mail ballots as some states have, which I suspect is too open to fraud. Do consider in person voting over several days or even shifts or longer hours—and gear up for that.

 

4---consider AVR, as several states already have. Basically Automatic Voting Registration is where if you go to any state office for any matter, you are or can be registered to vote then and there.

 

5---plan NOW for a non- or bi-partisan commission of experts who will draw the lines for all state/federal voting districts when the new census figures come out, more and more states are going this way, Kentucky needs to as well.

 

and, above all,

 

6---join the movement to end the Electoral College and elect the President by popular vote. Then, one Kentucky vote will no longer mean less than a vote in Tenn., or Ohio, or Indiana.  ALL votes will be equal!

 

I'm just sayin'...

Free Advice For Amy McGrath

Years ago, as a young reporter, I interviewed James F. Byrnes, once the “assistant president” to FDR and a former Secretary of State, a name now largely forgotten.

 

One of the things he told me I have never forgotten:  “Free advice is the commodity in greatest supply—and least in demand.”

 

Nevertheless, I will now offer some to Mrs. McGrath:

 

DON’T run for governor.

 

I know your campaign manager, (a professional here as I am not) wants you to (and maybe increase his employment,) but don't.

 

Right now you are a new, fresh, and exciting face on the body politic, and a loser after an excellent, hard fought campaign against an incumbent, backed by a popular President, (at least here in these parts.) Many will suggest “strike while the iron is hot” and, yes, there are a lot of not-so-exciting Democrats in the wings ready to run. But, many did question why you ran, fresh out of service without much current experience in state issues and policies.  Take your time. Go to Pennyrile and Paducah; go to Harlan and Bowling Green; meet the people there---out of your home district. Tour the Commonwealth. Get better known throughout our state.

 

You’ve already antagonized the Gray clan, no need to take on the Beshears. Or the Lundergans.

 

Besides who really wants to take up the issue of our state pension debacle. Let someone else continue to screw it up.

 

Wait a while.

 

Come back in ‘20...and take on the Big Dawg!

 

I'm just sayin'...