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.

"Sanctuary"?!? How About Sanctuary From Stupid Frankfort Bills?

I've discovered a new effect of coal. It makes people lose their mind.

How else can you explain the latest WTF moment from Frankfort, where a bill has passed out of committee to make Kentucky a "sanctuary state." Hmm ... sanctuary from torture? Nope. Sanctuary from guns and war? Of course not. Our esteemed leges want us to have sanctuary from ... the EPA.

Brandon Smith (R-DeadStreams) moved the bill through the Natural Resources and Energy Committee on Thursday. I'm glad to learn that the purpose of the Natural Resources committee is to destroy all our natural resources, and protect their destroyers.

Meanwhile, back at the funny farm, Jim Gooooooch (D-ButNotReally) got a bill out of the House Committee to Destroy Natural Resources that said that coal mined and sold in Kentucky didn't fall under the purview of the Federal government. Wow -- Federal laws don't apply within Kentucky? Who knew?

The only sane voice in this kabuki dance of stupidity was Tom Fitzgerald, who warned that shooting the EPA the finger could backfire, resulting in both loss of Federal funding and greater scrutiny from the EPA, not less.

The problem with that argument, Fitz, is that it uses logic. And logic is in short supply in the two Committees to Destroy Natural Resources.

Does Anyone in Frankfort Have ANY Damn Guts?

With leaders like these, who needs enemies?

First it was Steve Beshear presenting a budget that relied on a non-existent revenue source to make up the shortfall. Now it's state House leaders trying to get around hard choices by using another non-existent revenue source: a possible Federal stimulus to Medicaid that wouldn't happen until next year.

House leaders are proposing a daring budget maneuver that would strip $227 million in General Fund money from the state’s Medicaid program for the next budget year in hopes that the federal government will approve additional stimulus funds for the program starting in 2011.

So now we're reduced to playing Russian roulette with the budget, and the poor are the ones with the gun to their head.

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