KyKurmudgeon

1. It appears some Republicans want Mike Duncan, the chairman of the party’s national committee, to take the fall for the beating they took at the polls Nov. 4. Several reports indicate the Inez banker may have competition, perhaps from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich among others, if he seeks re-election in January. But it seems a bit odd to me that Duncan would become the scapegoat. After all, the R’s got their butts kicked because of President Bush’s disastrous policies on the economy and in Iraq, not because of the way Duncan ran the party machine. Any R who believes otherwise is in a serious state of denial. If there is any Kentuckian who should be blamed for the beating R’s took on a national basis, it is Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has been Bush’s enabler in chief on all those disastrous policies.

2. When the Consensus Forecasting Group meets Friday, expect an even gloomier revenue projection than the $294 million shortfall Gov. Steve Beshear’s budget analysts predicted a couple of weeks ago. Expect that gloomier forecast to cause Beshear and House Democratic leaders to suggest an increase in the cigarette tax. But since the election didn’t produce any change in Frankfort’s political dynamics, don’t expect any increase to be passed because President David  Williams still mans his roadblock in the Senate.

3. A story in The Courier-Journal Tuesday reported that the Horseshoe casino (formerly Caesar’s) has paid $740 million in Indiana state taxes in its 10 years of existence. Some $215 million of that went back to Harrison County, where the casino is located. In addition, the county got another $100 million in profit-sharing. One Indiana casino contributed a total of $840 million to the public bank accounts in 10 years. Think what nine casinos could be contributing to Kentucky’s public bank accounts. But don’t think too hard about it right now, not with the roadblock still functioning in the Senate.