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Political BLOG |
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Joe Arnold
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December 2007 ArchivesThe last non-merit employee left in the Kentucky Labor Department may need to turn off the lights and close the door. ...In a wide ranging interview today, Congressman John Yarmuth admits that he made a political mistake in failing to vote for a resolution that praised the role Christmas and christians have played in American history. ...The new governor who talked about ethics and limiting a governor's pardoning powers apparently isn't making that a top priority of his first legislative session. ...From my vantage point, it appears Kentucky's budget problems are worse than Steve Beshear, or anybody else is talking about. It's the structural imbalance that's the biggest problem. ...My wife keeps saying that John Edwards will be the democrats' nominee for U.S. President in 2008. Frankly, I think so too. Not a clue about the republicans though. ...Ryan Alessi has uncovered what appears to be a big split in the Democratic Party in Dan Mongiardo's former senate district. And it looks like Mongiardo and Steve Beshear may be trying to steer the selection of the democrat they want running for Mongiardo's open seat. ...From Larry Hopkins to Anne Northup to John Yarmuth to Geoff Davis, this has always been a sore spot for me, Congressmen spending tax money on mailers to keep their constituents "informed." Apparently the new governor has figured out what all previous governors have figured out, the cupboard is bare. Gov. Beshear should look beyond the previous administration to the national economy and 138 folks on the 3rd floor of the capitol if he's looking to point a finger. ...No, not that House, the Ag House. Former State Rep. Roger Thomas of Bowling Green has been appointed to a state job by Gov. Beshear. ...I apologize for not linking to this important story from Tom Loftus a couple of days ago. ...The N.Y. Times has a story today that is no joke about Kentuckians. It describes how one in 10 Kentuckians literally have no teeth and how we don't care about our dental care. ...PageOneKentucky, which has ties to Bruce Lunsford, believes the Louisville businessman is inching toward running for U.S. Senate. ...The Lexington Herald-Leader has a story this morning about the 600K+ salary of KCTCS President Mike McCall and how it's causing morale problems among staff and faculty at Kentucky community colleges. ...I know alot of you have been asking so here's what I know about the next host of KET's Comment on Kentucky. ...Except for one errant New Year's Eve shift, I'm on vacation until the 2008 General Assembly begins on January 8. ...The latest Survey USA/WHAS 11 poll shows a huge turnaround in the approval ratings for U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell. ...Governor Fletcher last Finance Secretary is the new head of the Kentucky Retirement System. ...A Survey USA/WHAS 11 poll appears to show Republican John McCain has the strongest support in Kentucky among the candidates for U.S. President. ...Governor Fletcher ordered $18,000/yr. pay raises for his appointees to the Parole Board on the day he left office. At the same time, his administration was telling some state employees they wouldn't be getting reimbursed for work-related travel because the state was facing a budget crunch. ...Kentucky's governor told reporters today that he'd soon be laying out a plan for dealing with Kentucky's budget crisis. ...Former WHAS Radio talk show host Joe Elliott tells me he's seriously considering running for a Louisville Metro Council seat next year. ...Sources tell me that Governor Beshear is looking to another state government veteran to fill his cabinet. ...Governor Steve Beshear met with Attorney General Greg Stumbo on Tuesday, just before Rep. Brandon Spencer resigned, opening the door for Stumbo to run for his old house seat. ...State Finance Secretary Jonathan Miller says he's a happily married man and he's tackling what he calls "hurtful innuendos" head on. ...Governor Beshear has appointed another Geveden to a job in his administration. ...Rep. John Yarmuth and Sen. Mitch McConnell have sent out a joint news release proclaiming themselves bearers to pork, er, money for projects in the Louisville area. ...It appears the wheels have been set in motion for Attorney General Greg Stumbo to go back to his old House seat and abort a potential run for U.S. Senate. ...In his last 24 hours in office, Governor Fletcher appointed 169 people to various state boards and commissions. Three of those people were appointed to commissions that were abolished during Fletcher's term in office. ...The Consensus Revenue Forecasting Group has again revised its estimates downward, meaning Kentucky could be facing a $300 million dollar shortfall this fiscal year. ...The Beshear folks have filled in the blanks in the Commerce Cabinet. ...
In the waning days of the Fletcher administration, a road construction company partially owned by Leonard Lawson got a huge change order for a road project in the home county of State Senate President David Williams. ...The pardon file for Harrison Yonts includes a slew of letters from a Who's Who is Kentucky politics. ...Kentucky's new governor says he's not going to take any action regarding his new Finance Secretary, Jonathan Miller, leaving those issues to the state Personnel Board. ...Now that all of you have rung up thousands of minutes on my cell phone bill telling me the WHAS web page and my blog was down, let me assure you I'M AWARE OF IT!!! ...If Phil Osborne had hired a P.R. firm, like his own, to craft his notice of resignation as Governor Beshear's Communications Director, that firm probably would have told him to do something like this: ...Former Louisville prosecutor Craig Dilger is the new chairman of the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance. ...Kentucky's Executive Branch Ethics Commission has concluded that the newest Public Service Commission member doesn't have a direct conflict of interest deciding cases involving the law firm where her husband works. ...A democrat who's not yet a candidate for an eastern Kentucky state senate seat is now the subject of a complaint from the Kentucky Republican Party. ...Ryan Alessi of the Lexington Herald-Leader has been working on a story on Jonathan Miller for some time. ...A few updates on postings over the past few days: ...In a reversal of his earlier stance, House Speaker Jody Richards is now saying he'll fully support placing the legalization of casinos on teh ballot. ...Andrew Horne officially announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate today. ...Here we go again. Two democratic state lawmakers are proposing a bill that would bar state agencies from offering health insurance benefits to the unmarried partners of state employees. ...Former Louisville police assistant chief, Bridget Skaggs Brown is the new chairman of the Kentucky Parole Board. ...U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell is pushing for a tax break for investors in the horse industry. ...WHAS 11 News has learned that a State Police vehicle assigned to former Lt. Governor Steve Pence accumulated 11 unpaid parking tickets in the past two years totalling $275. ...As reported earlier, former Madisonville mayor Bill Cox is expected to be named Revenue Commissioner by Governor Beshear. ...New Transportation Secretary Joe Prather says he'll keep David Ray on as Inspector General in the cabinet. ...The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has reached a settlement with wrongfully fired employee Mike Duncan. The agreement, which was negotiated by the Fletcher administration which wrongfully fired Duncan, calls for taxpayers to shell out $369,200 to Duncan and his attorney. ...The C-J is reporting that republican Metro Council member Ellen Call won't be seeking reelection to her seat. ...Here's a wrapup of my Inauguration Day observations. ...It may have been Inauguration Day in Frankfort, but much of the talk in the streets was about the record number of pardons issued by Governor Fletcher on his last day in office, in particular one that was issued very late Monday night. Franklin County's Commonwealth's Attorney called it Ernie Fletcher's final insult to the people of Franklin County. ...I'm heading to Frankfort today to cover the Inauguration of Steve Beshear. ...I hope those of you who live in the Louisville TV market saw Rachel Platt's story about Jane Beshear. It was terrific. ...The little boy who grew up the son of a preacher in Dawson Springs, Kentucky is officially Kentucky's 61st governor. ...Has anybody else noticed that the new governor from western Kentucky only has one western Kentuckian in his cabinet. ...Incoming Lt. Governor Daniel Mongiardo told me today that he has "absolutely no interest" in running for U.S. Senate in 2008. ...It's a tradition for the staffs of governors to line the hallway leading from the Governor's Office to the exit door as they leave the capitol building for the last time as governor. Today was no exception. ...Don McNay has an interesting look at the juxtaposition Mike Huckabee and Ernie Fletcher find themselves in today. ...You've heard about it. Now you can watch the MSNBC/Keith Olbermann take on calling Mitch McConnell the "Worst Person in the World." ...Now that Crit Luallen is out, it looks like Andrew Horne may Kentucky democrats most likely choice to try and unseat Mitch McConnell. ...It appears very few of you need to "get right" with the Beshear campaign, you all gave money to him in the closing days of his campaign! ...An investigator for the state Attorney General's Office has sued his former employer, the city of Georgetown. ...Steve Beshear has announced more appointees to his administration and he is apparently still struggling to sign up a Health Services Cabinet Secretary. Beshear has named Ellen Hesen the interim secretary of that cabinet. ...Crit Luallen has released a statement saying she's not running for U.S. Senate. Here's the statement from Luallen followed by the story I wrote earlier this morning before receiving the statement. ...Steve Beshear has named four more top aides. ...Former congresswoman Anne Northup made a point to tell reporters that she hasn't ruled out the possibility of running for office at some point in the future. ...The Kentucky Democratic Party is holding a fundraising party a couple of hours before Steve Beshear and Dan Mongiardo are sworn into office. ...It appears Greg Stumbo's lawsuit, which claims Governor Fletcher illegally stacked state university boards with republicans, is likely to be put on hold. ...Presidential candidate Mitt Romney was scheduled to be in Northern Kentucky on Wednesday or Thursday for a fundraiser. But that fundraiser isn't happening. ...If you want one man's view of what Rudy Giuliani said to supporters in Louisville this afternoon, check out Jefferson Poole's blog. ...Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani is inside Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse in Louisville at this hour (12:30) collecting more than $100,000 for his campaign. ...I suppose it's one way to raise money for an organization devoted to lobbying for horse breeders and casinos at racetracks. ...Governor-elect Steve Beshear wants the head of the Passport Health Plan to be his Health Services Cabinet Secretary. But so far, negotiations with Joyce Hagen haven't resulted in any agreement. ...The painting of the Kennedy Bridge from Louisville to Jeffersonville, Ind. is almost over and it only took seven years and 57 million dollars. ...
Louisville's Mayor has made a preemptive strike for what he says could be a major budget shortfall, by curtailing some spending now. But it appears to me that Jerry Abramson and the Metro Council based this year's revenue projections on inflated corporate profits tax collections from last fiscal year. ...Mitt Romney is scheduled to be in Northern Kentucky for a furndraiser sometime this week and the wife of another GOP candidate had to cancel a visit to Kentucky at the last minute. ...Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will be in the Golden Triangle on wednesday, raising money for his presidential campaign and the Kentucky Republican Party. ...The chairman of the Kentucky Parole Board has resigned. ...The blogosphere has run amok with speculation that Jim Bunning is in his last term as a U.S. Senator and won't run for reelection in 2010. ...Want some basic info on Kentucky schools? How many? How do they rank in various categories? ...The legislature's Appropriations and Revenue Committee traveled to eastern Kentucky yesterday to check out mountaintop removal for themselves. ...I have to admit, this would not even come close to a news story or blog material if it weren't the fiancee of our incoming Lt. Governor and kind of funny. ...The VilleVoice web site has more criticism of Clear Channel's decision to get rid of Joe Elliott's radio show. ...I know real estate and housing costs along the gulf coast in Florida are pretty high but Joe Prather's winter home in the Sunshine State better be pretty nice. ...Don't forget to scroll down to see some other weekend news but here's one: Governor Fletcher's Personnel Cabinet Secretary and the chairman of the Governor's Blue Ribbon task force that's studying the state pension crisis has applied for the executive director's job at the Kentucky Retirement Systems. ...I put together a story on Friday that took a look at how the Governor's Highway Safety grants were handed out this fall. ...Greg Stumbo tells me he's got a portion of his poll numbers back and they show him in a dead heat with Mitch McConnell in Louisville and easily beating other potential democratic candidates in a statewide primary race. ...PageOneKentucky is reporting that Crit Luallen's communications director is leaving the State Auditor's office for the Lt. Governor's Office. ... |
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WHAS11.com Political Blog
WHAS11 Reporters blog the latest political news from the campaign trail and beyond. 
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