Discovered: the Problem With the Louisville Orchestra

I have found the root cause of the demise of our Louisville Orchestra. It is in the first two sentences of the recent letter from the LO board to the Courier-Journal. Do you see it?

As the board of directors of the Louisville Orchestra, we are the fiscal stewards of the organization. We are the designated trustees of the money that our many donors generously provide ...

In case you didn't immediately see the problem, let me spell it out for you and for the board:

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Kabuki Dance Ends, But Tragedy Continues

Finally, the kabuki dance is over.

Unfortunately, it was just one act. The play, an ongoing tragedy with many actors and no leads, continues.

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What Part of "Public" Does UofL Not Understand?

I've been following the hospital merger story from the outside, just like most of you, and I've got just one question:

What part of "public" does UofL not understand?

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The Facebook Guide to What's On America's Mind

So, this diary is going to be shorter than its title, I know ... but tonight I observed (again) an interesting phenomenon that on its own doesn't mean too much, but when added to other observable phenomena like thousands of people camping in city parks, may give us a clue to what's on people's minds. And it's on that wonderful sociological research tool -- Facebook.

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Nice Straw Man, Mr. Cain

Heard Herman Cain this morning on NPR calling the Occupy Wall Street protestors "un-American." He continued to say that "to protest Wall Street is to protest capitalism. These people are anti-capitalism."

Nice straw man, Mr. Cain. Let me proceed to knock it down.

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How the Middle Class Got Screwed

No new information here if you've been paying attention -- but it's short, cute, and has an important sign-up at the end:

It's Not About Labor, or Teachers, or Debt

For some of you, this post will be old news. For others, it may bring a little clarity. And I suppose for some, it will be revelational.

Here's the deal: Republicans don't care about out-of-control pensions. They don't care about ineffective teachers. They don't care about cutting government. And they sure as hell don't care about debt.

Why, then, are they attacking teachers and public workers all across the country? Why are they busting public employee unions and teacher unions? And why, after TRILLIONS of new debt under "Watch This Drive" Bush, are they NOW so concerned about debt?

Here's why --

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Night of the Living Discretionary Funds

I've been following the latest sturm und drang surrounding Judy Green, Metro Council, Mayor Jer, and those dangerous Discretionary Funds, and I've got a few thoughts to share.

First of all, discretionary funds are not bad in and of themselves. They exist in lots and lots of places: our pastor has one, the deacons as well. Some school principals have them. So do some non-profits, as well as some for-profit businesses.

They exist for two simple reasons: (1) no one can predict the future, and (2) trying to prepare for every possible budgetary need will make your budget and your accountants crazy.

So, if a family needs assistance, or there's a possibility of getting a really good speaker, or you need some T-shirts at the last minute to cap off a big event, or some big-wig drops in and you want to take them to eat ... well, you've got some money you can spend without having to adjust the budget, or get the Finance Committee together over the holidays, or get a check cut and co-signed.

If such funds are relatively common-place, then what went wrong in the cases of Green, Metro Council, and Abramson? It's simple -- three basic mistakes were made, and that made a lot of difference. Here they are:

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The Wisconsin Way

Wisconsin progressives, Democrats, and even some Republicans are fighting back against the union-busting, the appointed managers with dictatorial powers, and the attacks on the middle class and the poor. They are using a free tool at their disposal -- the recall.

So far, they have collected enough signatures to force recall elections against 3 of the 6 state senators they are targeting. In fact, they collected over 100% of the signatures needed!

The Wisconsin Way is grass-roots activism (not astroturfing) that is focused on forcing change and turning back the attacks on the middle class by the right wing. The good people of Wisconsin are showing us the way -- and it's time for us to help.

Watch this ad, then click the link to donate some $$ to help keep it on the air.

The donation page is here.

Frankfort Haiku

Medicaid big hole,
Frankfort talk and talk and talk;
In end, nothing change.

The 2011 General Assembly ended with parliamentary jujitsu, as the House pulled a fast one on the Senate by approving the Senate budget (thus eliminating the need for conference) and sending it on to the Gov, where he can line-item-veto everything he doesn't like with no fear that the House will vote to override. Where does that leave us? Right where we started.

We have a big Medicaid deficit. The Gov proposed borrowing from next year's budget, with "promises" to pay the money back through cost-savings. (If you can achieve that much in cost savings, why not do it now?) David Williams, never one to let a crisis go to waste if he can use it to score political points, led the Senate to cut everything in sight in response. (David keeps a copy of Shock Doctrine on his bed-side stand.)

Now, with this latest maneuver, the Gov gets to borrow his money, veto the spending cuts, and promise to pay them back later. Williams gets to say he tried, the House gets to say they saved the day, and everyone gets to go home. And we, dear citizens, get stuck with a budget crisis that's just delayed, not actually dealt with.

MSD's Stuff Stinks

When you deal with sewage, you expect a certain amount of odor. You don't expect most of it to come from the board of directors.

How's this for a headline? "Board Approves Paying Itself $600,000." Wouldn't that seem unethical to you? But not at MSD.

Hiding behind the "we're not really a government agency, nyah nyah nyah" defense, the MSD Board says it's perfectly okay that it has given work to a company owned by the board chair -- and all without competitive bidding. Other board members have profited as well.

Ethics experts said they found the circumstances "troubling." Ya think? But even after questioning, the board members weren't troubled one bit. They talked about "safeguards" in place, like recusing yourself (wink wink) when the rest of the board (wink wink) votes to give your company the contract without any other bids. With board members like this, who needs friends?

And for the rest of us -- with board members like this running one of our local utilities, who needs enemies?

Optometrists Organization Suffers From Bad Optics

My boss has an alternative meaning for the word "optics." Instead of referring to the science of light, she uses it to mean "how things look to others." Apparently, the Kentucky Optometric Association is optically challenged.

It was bad enough that the Association threw $400,000 at lawmakers in order to get their "Make Me a Doctor" bill greased through the General Assembly. Now, they're actually hosting a reception to buy more votes thank the legislators for their prompt attention to this important issue facing our state.

Is it legal? Yep, every bit of it, apparently. Still, it is just another example of the cynical, money-driven pit our state government has fallen into. The KOA paid the money and got lots of money in their pockets in return. What's a few Benedictine sandwiches between friends?

So, the next question is: Which of the legislators also suffer from bad optics and Scratch My Back Syndrome, and which ones actually have some ethical vision left? Might be interesting to stand outside the reception and see who is cynical enough to attend.

Tea-Bagger Plans to Infiltrate Union Rallies

Came across a story on Daily Kos about tea-baggers trying to infiltrate union rallies, and thought it seemed too odd to be true. Note that this was not counter-protest, but infiltrate. So, I clicked through the link to the instigator, and sure enough, once you got past his pop-up to get you to buy his stuff on eBay, I discovered that the quote was accurate.

Mind you, this is just one guy's site, someone named Mark Williams ("Reporting from Occupied America and Fighting for Liberty!") -- but he says he's being contacted by Tea-Baggers all over the country, so maybe this is spreading. Anyway, here's the money quote:

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The Sham That Is the School Audit

I have just learned that as part of the so-called "school audit" at Seneca, a teacher I know was let go. And this has put the entire process into clear focus for me: it is a sham.

It is a sham designed to provide cover for over-paid administrators who don't know what they're doing. It is a sop to the right to make them shut up about vouchers. It is a salve to the conscience of the public, to make them think their lack of involvement in their children's education is not a problem.

We're not serious about schools. We're serious about LOOKING serious about schools. And it is time to finally tell everyone the truth: all the achievement tests and all the audits and all the staff turnover in the world won't make our schools better or our children smarter. Only great parents and great teachers can make great schools. And we just showed one of those great teachers the door.

Prison Reform -- Finally, Some Sanity

On a day when Frankfort lost its mind due to coal, it came to its senses about prisons.

The House passed a prison reform bill that moves low-level drug offenders into treatment rather than prison, strengthens the parole system by linking offenders with community resources, and reinvests the savings into treatment programs.

The most encouraging phrase in the entire C-J story is "months of work by a bipartisan task force." This shows that it is possible to make progress in government, but it takes both hard work and bipartisan cooperation. This bill was not a shoot-from-the-hip wonder to win votes; it was a well-crafted bill that aims to make a bad situation better.

I'm quick to point out when our elected officials act like spoiled children on a sugar high, so it's only fair to point out when they actually act like adults. Congrats to all, both Dems and Reps, who served on the task force, and to all who worked to make this happen.