News opinion 2008-06-15 Andanh.com

Legislature needs to pass pension reform Sat, 14 Jun 2008 20:53:56 -0500
Too many legislative sessions have come and gone without the General Assembly dealing with the state’s pension system. But it appears that reform may be in the air as Gov. Steve Beshear is expected to call a special session sometime later this month to deal with a problem that could bankrupt the state if not addressed. If approved by the General Assembly, future state workers would have to work longer before retiring - and contribute more to their retirement. A joint committee of the House and Senate reached an agreement Tuesday on how to repair the system’s unfunded liability, which has been growing rapidly and now totals about $26 billion. Something had to be done and the plan could save the retirement system up to $250 annually million by some estimates. Highlights of the bill include reducing the annual cost-of-living adjustment to 1.5 percent for current and future workers upon retirement; requiring future workers hired after Sept. 1 to contribute another 1 percent of their pay toward health care; prohibiting retirees who return to state government jobs - “double dipping” - from collecting second pensions and requiring future workers in non-hazardous jobs to have a combined age and years of service of 87, with a minimum age of 57, to retire. Workers can now retire at any age with 27 years of service. These are just some of the highlights of the proposal, but they are the key ones that could make a lot of difference in the reform efforts. The practice of double dipping is something that this newspaper has long advocated getting rid of. It is unfair for state employees who retire and then return to state jobs to receive two pensions. Raising the age for when a new state worker can retire is also an important step in this package because we believe that 27 years of service to collect a pension has been too generous for a poor state like Kentucky. Although it could be several years before the state sees cash from these savings because of having to contribute more to the retirement fund, reform is something that has been needed for a long time and we believe legislators found an appropriate compromise to address a problem that threatened the financial stability of our state.

Oil and trouble Sat, 14 Jun 2008 20:53:44 -0500
The gas station guy in my town is exhausted from climbing the ladder every day in order to change the price sign. Of course, it’s up, up and away. High gas prices, I predict, will become the biggest issue in the presidential campaign. This week, Republican senators blocked a Democrat-sponsored bill that would have imposed a “windfall profits” tax on the five major oil companies. Since these companies made about $36 billion in profits in the first quarter alone, “windfall” may be understating it. The GOP says the bill would not have lowered gas prices as any tax punishment would be passed along to gasoline consumers. But let me break this to the Republicans gently: Folks are angry with the oil companies. Unless you guys can help bring some relief to beleaguered American working people, the Democrats will wipe you out. Of course, both parties are at fault. Every president in the last 50 years has whiffed on alternative energy. While Brazil emphasized flex-fueled vehicles operating largely on sugar-based ethanol, our presidents and congresspeople took junkets to the Middle East to hug Saudi Arabian oil sheiks. And now, as Reverend Wright is fond of saying, the chickens have come home to roost. The gangsters that run OPEC understand that technological advances will diminish oil demand down the road. So, they are accumulating as much cash as possible right now. It costs Saudi Arabia about $2 to market each barrel of oil. Last week, those huggable Saudis charged the world $138 for that barrel. The oil apologists say it’s a “supply and demand” thing. Sure. Here’s a bulletin: When you limit the supply, as OPEC is doing, the demand will skyrocket. Yeah, China and India are using more oil. Yeah, the U.S. dollar is weak. But in most competitive businesses, if your customers want more product - you put out more product. Not in oil. OPEC keeps production down to maximize profits. So, enough. The oil scam is hammering the U.S. economy, and, if Iran keeps causing trouble, gas prices might double from here. Israel stated this week that it will take military action against Iran if it continues developing nukes. Since I believe the crazy mullahs actually want that to happen because it would inflame worldwide jihad, this is an obviously a crisis situation. Congress must mandate by law that American car and truck manufacturers begin to produce a high percentage of flex-fuel vehicles. Once that law is passed, gas stations will begin installing alcohol-based fuel pumps. Congress must also drop import tariffs on alcohol-based fuel so countries like Brazil can sell them to us. We simply have got to get away from the oil cartel. It’s a national security issue. What say you, John McCain and Barack Obama?

Due process wins Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:53:00 EST
It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of Thursday's Supreme Court ruling that prisoners at Guantánamo Bay have a constitutional right to go before a federal judge and challenge their detention.

The Zimbabwe mess Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:53:00 EST
An open letter to Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, signed by 40 prominent Africans, including Bishop Desmond Tutu and former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Anan, pleaded for a "free and fair" presidential runoff election on June 27. That plea likely was too little, too late.

Presidents call for energy solutions Sat, 14 Jun 2008 23:04:00 EST
High crude oil prices and increasing dependence on foreign oil have sparked an intense discussion about energy diversification across the country. And as America searches for responses to the energy independence riddle, Kentucky's energy and agriculture expertise will be more valuable than anyone could have imagined.

The new face of terrorism Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:59:00 EST
We are fighting the wrong foe. Over the past six years, the nature of the international Islamist terrorist threat to the West has changed dramatically, but Western governments are still fighting the last war -- set up to fight an old al-Qaida that is now largely contained. Unless we understand this sea change, we will be unable to ward off the new menace.

Exploring bias against Appalachia Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:57:00 EST
The thing that I used to love about "Green Acres" and "The Beverly Hillbillies" was how the so-called bumpkins and yokels always outfoxed, outwiled and outsmarted the so-called elites among and around them. Oliver Wendell Douglas was no match for Mr. Haney, and Mr. Drysdale was no match for Granny Clampett, and by espisodes' end, comeuppance and respect were paid.

For Father's Day, a book list for Dad Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:58:00 EST

Perot's back -- with his charts! Sat, 14 Jun 2008 23:39:00 EST
Sixteen years after he shook up American politics by launching an impromptu campaign for president, Ross Perot is about to dip a toe back into the public debates. And, yes, he's bringing his charts with him to make his point.

McCain-Lieberman would team kindred spirits, Cold War mentalities Sat, 14 Jun 2008 23:37:00 EST
When John McCain invited a small group of Republican officeholders to a Memorial Day cookout at his Arizona ranch, there was a lot of speculation the presumptive GOP presidential nominee planned to grill more than just barbecue.

Where should we focus, town or country? Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:52:00 EST
So which are you, the city mouse or the country mouse? The moral of the fable is that the grass always seems greener -- or the rodent food supply looks bigger and better -- somewhere else.

Readers discuss rising auto fuel costs Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:55:00 EST
Charles Krauthammer's column on June 8 brought back memories of times past. While reading his article about the cost of gasoline and our "new" old interest in alternative fuels, I couldn't help but agree with him about our inability to pay ourselves first through a higher gasoline tax.

READERS' VIEWS Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:02 EDT
STRAINED WORKERS NOT AT FAULT FOR PUMP PRICES

I recently took a part-time job at a gas station. In the short amount of time I've been working there, I have been subjected to some of the worst behavior and foulest language I've seen and heard in my life.

It's not my fault that the price of gas is so high or that it was a few cents cheaper just a couple hours ago. I pay the same price for gas that everyone else does.

I perform a service for my employer and the public, for which I'm paid a decent wage. I took this job to resolve a financial burden that I accumulated on my own and of my own free will.

I could have relied on the false promises of a Marxist presidential candidate or the local paper's editorial board to solve my problems for me, but I was raised to solve them myself in any legal and honest way I could find.

Advice to eighth-graders: learn to be self-sufficient Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:02 EDT
Lawyering in a small town has its nice times, like when they invite you up John's Creek to speak to the eighth-grade graduation.

John's Creek is 99 miles long, nearly a river; we could all unfold it a little as it passes our place and add that extra mile any time we want to and make it one.

Kimper is most of the way up there and is just below where Frank Phillips lived. He was the trigger man for the Hatfields.

Here is what I declared to the graduates.

I don't know why they called me to come up Johns Creek and talk to you tonight. Heck, I have gone to school 11 years longer than you have, and I don't know much of nothin'.

America must rethink rural policy Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:02 EDT
By any measure, rural America is falling further and further behind the rest of the country.

Look at the number of children living in poverty, children without health insurance or per capita spending on schools, and you see that rural communities continue to lag the nation's cities and suburbs.

Of America's 250 poorest counties, 244 are rural. Yet these are conditions that news outlets ignore, charitable foundations avoid and politicians sidestep.

Rural America is more than the land. Sixty million strong -- one-fifth of the country -- rural Americans represent a rich diversity of people and possibilities. When rural communities succeed, the nation does better. Cities and suburbs benefit from richer resources and stronger markets. But when rural communities falter, it drains the nation's prosperity and limits what we can accomplish together.

We now face the challenge of sustainably fueling, feeding and nurturing ourselves and a fragile world. It is one of the defining tests of the 21st century. And if we are to meet this challenge, the vitality of rural America will be essential.

It's a shame to end senior judge program Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:02 EDT
What happens when a good program goes bad?

If it's as potentially useful to the public as the senior judge program, it should be rehabilitated.

But retiring Chief Justice Joseph Lambert is probably not the person for that job.

Lambert allowed the program to become so cushy that some judges in their 40s and many in their 50s left the bench just to snag the lucrative lifelong pension bonuses.

The number of senior judges grew faster than expected, raising worries about the financial burden on the retirement system and state.

Don't de-fund citizen's advocate Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:04 EDT
The Urban County Council did the right thing Tuesday when it voted to continue funding the office of the Citizen's Advocate.

It will do an even better thing if, once the budget process is complete, it follows through on the promise to offer more guidance to and oversight of the office.

The office was created in the charter that formed the combined Lexington Fayette Urban County Government in 1974. The framers of the charter reasoned that government would work better when citizens have "an independent agent through whom they can seek redress of their grievances."

Not surprisingly, the office has repeatedly been a target for elimination, particularly in tight budget years.

That happened again this year when Mayor Jim Newberry recommended zero funding for the office in his proposed budget.

On the brink of hellish session Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:02 EDT
This and that before special session hell descends on the state Capitol:

Why "special session hell"? Because the cavernous Capitol does not lend itself to proper climate control.

Like two-thirds of the porridge Goldilocks found at Grizzly Manor, it can be too hot or too cold but seldom feels just right.

When you take warm summer days, add the body heat of all the folks drawn to a legislative session and throw in the voluminous hot air generated by bloviating politicians, you create Dante's Inferno .

However, our anticipated visit in special session hell is based on the assumption that the agreement House and Senate leaders reached on reforming public pension programs doesn't fall apart before the opening gavel drops. And experience suggests a handshake between these two sides doesn't assure anything.

The fastest computer ever Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:08 EDT

COLUMN: ‘Sex’ and this city
Last Wednesday, four girls sat in a booth drinking Cosmopolitans and waiting for a movie to start.

A blackbird circles today
Today is not like any other day. It’s very special from me and not because it’s Father’s day — though that is special as well.

Republicans keep their faith
FRANKFORTParty conventions are fun, but I wish the two state parties emulated their national big brothers by avoiding meeting on the same day. I went last week to the Republican gathering, primarily because I knew Mike Duncan, chairman of the Republican National Committee, would speak.

Agency narrows its focus
With the soaring price of gasoline, most people are cutting back on their travel.

Contractor ‘remodels’ door
It started as a simple home-remodeling job.

YOUR VIEWS: Writer disputes claim about Leoti, Kan.
I have just read the article written by Jennifer Moonsong in the Glasgow Daily Times referring to Leoti, Kan., as a “destination of misery” and I am appalled!

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