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Political BLOG |
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Joe Arnold
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July 2007 ArchivesGovernor Fletcher told me and Greg Stotelmyer from WTVQ-TV that he won't include a ban on domestic partners or other items on the special session agenda for August unless he reaches prior agreement with lawmakers. ...It looks like Greg Stumbo is either really serious about running for U.S. Senate or he's really enjoying the attention and the thought of gigging Mitch McConnell. ...A WHAS11/Survey USA poll shows most Kentuckians want U.S. troops out of Iraq within six months. ...State Sen. Gerald Neal says he apologized to a WDRB-TV reporter the day after his inappropriate reaction to a question she asked. ...The fiasco known as the July 2007 legislative session has mercifully ended, or has it? It appears Barack Obama might be back in the Bluegrass State later in August. ...Joe Gerth's column in the Monday C-J has a couple of interesting tidbits that I probably should have blogged about last week. ...It appears that every member of the Republicans statewide ticket this fall has climbed on board the anti-casino train. ...After its chairman negotiated for a week and a half with Leon Mooneyhan, the Kentucky Board of Education hung him "out to dry," in Mooneyhan's view. ...U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell is sticking with the "we're fighting them over there so we won't have to fight them here" defense of the U.S. military's build up in Iraq. ...Whew!!!! My head is spinning from the all of the lobbying for a couple of candidates for INTERIM, yes INTERIM state school commissioner job. Not the full time job, just the part time one until a governor is elected in November and the Kentucky Board of Education has regained its footing. ...Gov. Fletcher's Budget Director is leaving for a bigger salary and a bigger agency. Both Steve Beshear and Ernie Fletcher have raised money since June 26 and applied to their primary campaigns. ...One D.C. political pundit is speculating that Greg Stumbo or anyone else who wants to challenge Sen. Mitch McConnell next year may be hamstrung in their fundraising by this year's governor's race. ...The three Louisville men who opened a movie theatre on Broadway in west Louisville, are now being sued for failing to repay the federal government for loans their company got to open Broadway Cinemas. ...The meeting with Peabody Energy Corporation's C.E.O. has produced a compromise, at least between House and Senate leaders, on what to do with the aborted special session. ...The latest Survey USA polling shows U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell's job approval ratings dipping below where they were in February and March of this year. ...Hope all you Hebert fans won't mind me popping in for a political observation. Some shrewd politics behind the proposed Library Tax, (or is it a "fee?") ...Those of you who live in Louisville have probably heard about the allegations of vote trading among democrats on the Metro Council. Well, here's the democratic caucus' response: ...Voters who watched the CNN/YouTube presidential debate last night were convinced going into the debate that Hillary Clinton is the democratic candidate who would make the best president. They came out of the debate even more convinced, according to a Survey USA poll. ...Kentucky's Attorney General has formed an exploratory committee to start raising money for a potential race for U.S. Senate in 2008. ...It appear we have more mixed messages from Peabody Energy Corp. on whether they need incentives legislation passed right now in order to pick Kentucky as the new home for a $2 billion coal-to-natural gas plant. ...The Executive Director of the Kentucky A.C.L.U. office is leaving for a job in the sunshine state. ...I found a couple of odd items in the weekend news that deserve a look from you readers. ...Rick Redding has a column on his blog about the republicans trying to rile up some bile about state treasurer Jonathan Miller serving two masters. The GOP has been taking shots at Miller for serving as Democratic Party Chairman while, theoretically, working full time as treasurer. ...Remember when the Fletcher administration instituted a new policy to block state employees from looking at political sites on state computers? ...Governor Fletcher says giving collective bargaining rights to teachers would be different than giving collective bargaining rights to firefighters. Fletcher signed a bill into law that gave the Lexington firefighters collective bargaining rights. ...Retired Shelby County school superintendent Leon Mooneyhan tells me he is "negotiating with the state school board to be the interim education commissioner." ...As you've probably noticed, a number of democrats want to respond to GOP chairman Steve Robertson's letter to presidential candidate John Edwards. John David Dyche had a column in the C-J about the possible replacements for Al Smith as the host of KET's Comment on Kentucky. Most of you who read this blog watch "Comment" so here's Dyche's view, followed by my personal thoughts: ...I won't normally post propaganda, in its entirety, from politicians or political parties. However, Kentucky GOP Chairman Steve Robertson's letter to John Edwards should be read in its entirety. ...A government watchdog group says Kentucky's required financial disclosures for its governor rank 23rd among all states. Kentucky's financial disclosure gets a grade of "D" from the group Public Integrity. ...The much publicized phone records of the so-called "D.C. Madam" have only produced one phone number in area code "502" and it's a curious one. ...Greg Stumbo's spokesperson is leaving the attorney general's office to become the director of communications for Steve Beshear's gubernatorial campaign. ...The second face off between Steve Beshear and Ernie Fletcher again produced plenty of shots and countershots about casino gambling. ...The special Supreme Court Justice who decided a key merit hiring case in Governor Fletcher's favor, has now been appointed by Fletcher to the Executive Branch Ethics Commission. ...The head of the union local that represents close to 1,000 Louisville Metro Government employees wrote checks to herself and a car rental store without proper authorization, then tried to cover up those payments. that's what by AFSCME Council 62 has found. ...The headline the folks at Survey USA wrote for the results of this week's gubernatorial poll says "Fletcher makes no significant inroads agaiinst Beshear: Democrat still poised for KY statehouse takeaway." ...Folks who attend the Fancy Farm Picnic will have to endure one less speech from an elected officeholder who's not up for reelection. Senator Jim Bunning says he ain't goin'. ...There's more information in the return of a search warrant that sparked the raid on Knott County government offices last week. ...It appears media scrutiny, a complaint from Common Cause and the inability to get a big name speaker have torpedoed a political fundraiser for the Kentucky Republican Party and, indirectly, republican state senators. ...Before the Kentucky Board of Education hires a new search firm to help find another state school commissioner, perhaps its staff needs to do a little background checking of their own. More than a month ago, I uncovered some interesting problems with Ray and Associates, the firm that helped Kentucky find Barbara Erwin. ...The Kentucky Board of Education is looking for a new good man, or woman. And it wants them on board right now, or at least within the next two weeks. Former Kentucky Congressman Carroll Hubbard is running again, this time for the 2nd district state senate currently held by republican Ken Winters. ...The woman hired to become Kentucky's state school commissioner won't be attending her third state board of education meeting. Barbara Erwin is gone. ...It appears a Jefferson Circuit Court Judge doesn't like the actions, or inactions, of Kentucky's Corrections Commissioner John Rees. He may be headed to jail according to a story on the C-J's web page: ...The most talked about issue in Frankfort these days isn't coal-to-liquid, Jody's backbone or "where's Pence?", it's the city of Frankfort's plan to start collecting occupational taxes from lobbyists. Lobbyists are whining about it and Frankfort reporters might be next. ...Call it a draw. That's my take on the first head-to-head debate between the Republican and Democratic nominees for Kentucky governor. ...It sounds like Governor Fletcher may take House Speaker Jody Richards up on his offer to fly to St. Louis to meet with Peabody Energy CEO Gregory Boyce. ...The first head-to-head debate between Ernie Fletcher and Steve Beshear will be happening in about 45 minutes. I've got to run because I'm the moderator. ...A prosecutor's videotaped interview with former state highway engineer Sam Bevarage won't be seen by the public anytime soon. Franklin Circuit Judge Tommy Wingate has decided to seal Larry Cleveland's interview of Bevarage. ...Three months ago we reported on the formation of Bluegrass Freedom Fund, a new 527 issues committee. At the time we didn't know the purpose of connections of the new committee. Now we have a few more details. ...It appears the Illinois school district that Barbara Erwin is leaving on Friday is looking for a missing personnel file. A St. Charles, Ill. police spokesman confirms they have an open theft investigation into a missing file from the St. Charles School System. ...Government officials in Lexington were apparently wowed by a sales pitch from a Louisville Water Company official on Tuesday. ...Kentucky's new Education Commissioner is scheduled to be at the Kentucky Board of Education meeting today in Frankfort. ...Although state lawmakers have gone home until at least July 30th, they'll keep getting a state paycheck, according to State Treasurer Jonathan Miller. ...Kentucky Republican Party Chairman Steve Robertson says it was Democratic gubernatorial nominee Steve Beshear, along with party chairman Jonathan Miller, who orchestrated the House democrats' decision to adjourn on the first day of the special legislative session called by Governor Fletcher. ...Upcoming fundraisers for Steve Beshear and Ernie Fletcher show the advantages that each candidate has in certain areas. ...A new TV ad which has apparently begun airing in the Cincinnati TV market (which includes northern Kentucky) targets Sen. Mitch McConnell support for President Bush's tactics in Iraq. ...A poll done in conjunction with the Southern Political Report shows Steve Beshear and Ernie Fletcher in a virtual dead heat in Kentucky's governor's race. ...Kentucky's Republican Party is making "robocalls" to voters, urging them to call their democratic state representative at home and tell them to "quit playing partisan politics" with items on Governor Fletcher's special session agenda. ...Joe Gerth of the C-J has a piece on how the House's decision to walk away from the special session might affect the Fletcher and Beshear campaigns: ...The Kentucky Attorney General's Office has filed a motion to seal the videotapes interview between convicted former State Highway Engineer Sam Bevarage and Franklin County Commonwealth's Attorney Larry Cleveland. ...Governor Fletcher is putting on a full court press, trying to get supporters riled up enough to call and write their house members over the weekend. ...Most of you who read this blog know about the Kentucky House of Representatives' decision to adjourn on Thursday, the first day of the special session. ...Kentucky Supreme Court Justice William McAnulty is battling cancer. ...State Senate President David Williams says senators will forego their legislative pay if House members will agree to stick around Frankfort for more than one day and work on Governor Fletcher's special session agenda. ...Trying to combat a flurry of evidence to the contrary, Governor Fletcher has released another letter that suggests Peabody Coal Company won't build a new plant in Kentucky without guaranteed incentives from the state of Kentucky. ...There's a good article from the June 29th Henderson Gleaner which lays out Peabody Coal's plans for possible coal liquification projects. ...It appears House Democratic leaders have decided adjourn the House on thursday, the same day that a special legislative session, called by Governor Fletcher, is scheduled to begin. ...A Survey USA/WHAS11 poll shows Kentuckians are evenly split on the need for a special legislative session and support for state universities offering domestic partner benefits. ...Louisville state senator Dan Seum has quickly abandoned his flirtation with running for U.S. Congress next year. ...Governor Fletcher has included 67 items on his call for a special legislative session beginning July 5th. ...Kentucky's Democratic Party has some old faces in new places. ...Congressman John Yarmuth isn't 6 months into his first term and he's already got at least one potential opponent out raising money. ... |
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