Hey Gov -- How About EFFECTIVE Government?

I heard an interview with Gov. Beshear yesterday, and I was struck by his definition of success. When asked to identify some of the signature wins of his first two years, he noted "we've shrunk the size of government."

Sound good to you? Then imagine this -- at a press conference in 2011, someone asks Coach Cal to identify the signs that the Cats are making progress, and he says, "We've cut the number of players on scholarship!"

Here's a news flash for the Gov and for anyone else who has drunk the "government is bad" koolaid --

It's not about big or small government; it's about effective government. And Kentucky continues to suffer from one of the most ineffective governments in the country.

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The Biggest Problem? The Lies of the Government

I was listening to NPR this morning and heard an interview with John Barry, the author of The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History. It was a fascinating interview, full of details and anecdotes that make me want to purchase the book.
One on-air observation, though, struck me as so important that it deserved to be pulled out of the interview and talked about on its own:

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The City Owes Me $200

We lost a tree in the ice storm -- fell over the driveway. Some friends of ours came over and cut it up and off the driveway so we could get our cars off the street. Then my son and I finished cutting everything else up, made the stacks like we were supposed to do, and waited for the city crews to pick them up. The stacks went the entire length of our yard, but I figured they wouldn't be there long.

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I Agree with a Conservative!

David Adams is "Kentucky Votes Director and Bluegrass Policy Blog lead blogger." In other words, he's one of the chief cooks and bottle washers at the Bluegrass Institute, the conservative/libertarian/we-love-business-and-hate-liberals think tank in Bowling Green. Not someone I normally would have much in common with, right?

I ran across David on the Front Page blog, where he is an occasional commenter. We then hooked up through Facebook (yes, I'm on Facebook -- deal with it), and have traded statuses and comments for a while.

Lo and behold, I read a comment of his on a public policy question, and actually AGREED with him! I was so shocked that I told him I'd blog about it. And HE was so shocked he said he would actually read it! So, David, this blog's for you.

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