KyKurmudgeon

After two weeks of desk duties at the Herald-Leader mother ship and another week of vacation during which I managed to do a fair imitation of a turkey by getting stuffed on Thanksgiving Day, I’m back, at least for a couple of weeks. Now, if someone would please remind me what a person does with a blog, I can get back to work. (Just kidding, sorta.) Anyway, let’s ease back into the routine with a few observations about some of the news from the last three weeks.

1. You know, for people who get and keep their jobs through what are essentially popularity contests, politicians can be really dense about appreciating the public perception created by their own actions. One example of that in recent weeks was Gov. Steve Beshear signing off on a 25 percent bump in salary (from $80,000 to $100,000) for a position he tapped friend and campaign donor Ralph Coldiron to fill in the Department of Homeland Security. At the time, Beshear knew the state was facing a projected shortfall in revenue for this fiscal year. He didn’t know the shortfall was going to be as much as the $456 million now estimated by the Consensus Forecasting Group, but he knew it was going to be significant. He also knew he was going to have to ask state agencies to cut back on funding the services they provide the public and/or ask Kentuckians to pay higher taxes. Under those circumstances, approving a salary increase for a position you’re naming a buddy to fill is, well, not very smart. It needlessly undermines the message Beshear will be delivering to the public and legislature over the next few weeks as he outlines his plan for dealing with a serious budget shortfall. A governor who plans to ask others to tighten their belts and make do with less needs to set the example with his own appointees.

2. Of course, Beshear is not alone among elected officials in Frankfort in being fiscally insensitive. A couple of recent stories (one in the Herald-Leader and another in The Courier-Journal) illustrated how profligate state lawmakers can be when traveling on the public dime. John Cheves’ story in the Herald-Leader dealt with the state police who provide security during out-of-state trips by Senate President David Williams and House Speaker Jody Richards, a practice that cost taxpayers $12,000 in just one month last summer. The Courier-Journal story by Tom Loftus reported that lawmakers in general spent $1.3 million of the public’s money on out-of-state travel between Jan. 1, 2006 and Oct. 31, 2008. Obviously, some travel by lawmakers to conferences and conventions can be beneficial since it can expand their knowledge about dealing with issues all states face. But state Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, traved at public expense an average of more than 40 days a year during that time frame. Others among the General Assembly top frequent flyers averaged 25-30 days a year during that period. Considering the state’s budget woes in recent years, that’s excessive. And I can think of no legitimate justification for the state police escort Williams and Richards have been getting in their travels. After all, outside of Kentucky, who would know either man or what positions they hold well enough to target them for harm?

3. It would be way, way dumb of House Democratic leaders if they try to “steal” the 26th District seat from Rep. Tim Moore, R-Elizabethtown. Moore narrowly won re-election over Democratic challenger Mike Weaver, who held the seat prior to his unsuccessful 2006 campaign for the 2nd District U.S. House seat. Weaver and D leaders have discussed the possibility of contesting Moore’s election when the General Assembly convenes next month because of a malfuntion in a voting machine at one precinct. Such a contest would be settled by a vote of the full House, where D’s hold a sizeable majority. But Weaver and D’s leaders should end those discussions and accept defeat in the 26th District. Otherwise, they’ll only wind up looking as foolishly arrogant and petty as Williams and Senate R leaders looked when they tried to seat Dana Seum Stephenson despite court rulings that she failed the constitution’s residency requirement for serving as a state senator.

Hope you all had a spectacular Turkey Day.