Making strides towards greater transparency is something that all Kentuckians should be excited about. For instance… Kenucky’s Auditor of Public Accounts, Adam Edelen, said in a press release this morning that he plans to shed light on the state’s special taxing districts. These districts account for anywhere between $500 million and $1.5 billion in taxpayer…
I just uploaded the video from the Liberty Awards that we did in louisville (05/24/12). I will also post the keynote from Congressman Brett Guthrie (R-KY). For a recap of the events check out Phil Impellizzeri’s post. Also go check out the pictures at facebook. playlist: 00:00 Jim Waters 10:00 Representative Mike Cherry (D) 16:30…
The 2004 publication “Planning for Kentucky’s Future” is now available on FreedomKentucky.org here. This publication asks: What the role of Kentucky’s government should be? What the vision for the state should be ? What are the essential services government must provide? How do we know our government is doing a good job? How much should…
Below is a frightening quote from the upcoming release Future Shock: Kentucky’s Politicians’ Opulent Pensions Have Become A Modern-Day Gold Rush. According to the Legislative Research Commission, the state’s current debt from borrowing is $9.6 billion – an impressive amount, but no so much compared to the retirement systems’ debt, which is 34.5 billion. As…
Here at the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, we like our elected officials served up with a healthy portion of accountability. What better device to hold an official accountable than a pledge with their own signature on it? A pledge that is making the rounds and picking up steam is the Obamacare Repeal Pledge…
This is a quote from the upcoming report Future Shock: Kentucky Politicians’ Opulent Pensions Have Become a Modern-Day Gold Rush. …the main message of this story resides in the subsurface — the attitude of the General Assembly…demonstrated by flat-out greed and disrespect for the public treasury, which now has put the standard of living of…
This letter to the editor appeared in the Sunday May 13, 2012 edition of the Lexington Herald-Leader: In the past few years, Kentucky has taken some steps toward strengthening transparency. Unfortunately, as we have seen in recent weeks, these steps are not enough. Positive steps such as publishing legislators’ votes online, the establishment of a…
Need proof of the advantages of transparency? The Kentucky Club for Growth recently posted a piece about the voting record of Kentucky Senator Damon Thayer. The blog contained stats about his voting history on tax issues including raw vote numbers and a percentage representation of how his votes aligned with the missions of the Kentucky…
“Washington needs statesmen, not horse traders. Our country needs principled leaders who will stand up and say no to trillion-dollar deficits.” –Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, in the Washington Times
Fresh of an investigation of former Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer’s office, State Auditor Adam Edelen has made public his plan to look into “special taxing districts” such as libraries and sewer services that use taxpayer dollars yet may escape accountability. Edelen readily admits that Kentucky doesn’t even know how many of these districts exist. In…