In Al Cross' Piece, Greg Stumbo Ignores Phil Moffet, Says "We're Blessed To Have Men Like Steve Beshear And David Williams [For Governor]."
Speeches are hint of politicking to come
By Al Cross
LEXINGTON, Ky. — The dinner included chicken, steak and some killer mousse cake. Western Kentucky barbecue would have been more fitting.
The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce's annual opening-of-the legislature dinner, on the first Thursday in January, was much like the political speaking at the Fancy Farm Picnic in Graves County on the first Saturday in August.
The likely gubernatorial nominees of the two major parties spoke back to back, referring to each other; the speaker of the House played comedian but ultimately statesman as he roasted speakers of both parties; and the minority caucus leaders contributed to a veritable circus of politics and public policy.
There were no Fancy Farm-type hecklers, of course, but the record crowd of more than 1,200 at the Lexington Convention Center was close to the typical number that actually listens to the speeches at St. Jerome's Catholic Church. And the audience got a preview of the expected summer face-off between Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear and Republican Senate President David Williams, with some clues to their strategy and tactics for the November election.
The dinner has long featured legislative leaders and the chief executive, but this is the first time an incumbent governor has faced an electoral challenge from one of the leaders, and that surely boosted the crowd.
It's also the first time that the opening week of the legislature has been used to pass major legislation, as Williams and Senate Republicans are doing in an obvious effort to boost his gubernatorial campaign.
None of those bills are likely to see the light of day in the Democratic House, as Speaker Greg Stumbo indicated pointedly, saying the annual winter roost of turkey vultures near the Capitol is notice that “the Senate agenda has arrived in the House.”
But for those of us who relish public-policy debates that ultimately lead to progress, parts of Williams' agenda are intriguing, such as an all-experts council to propose a new tax code that would not be subject to substantive amendment, forcing the House to bury the plan in committee or take an up-or-down floor vote on it.
Since the current tax code is laden with exemptions defended by lobbying interests, and service industries would likewise resist coming under the sales tax, the key to real reform, Williams' idea is worth considering. Debate on tax reform has gone pretty much nowhere in two decades.
But Williams' bill is “an idealized notion of what the tax code should look like without regard to the political realities” of adopting it, as new Senate Democratic Floor Leader R.J. Palmer of Winchester told the dinner crowd. His idea to add three members from each house, two from the majority and one from the minority, would make the council more like the task force that successfully wrote the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990.
At least for the campaign season, Beshear seems to be dismissing tax reform. He argued, with some evidence, that his new business-tax incentives have made the state more competitive in attracting business. “We need to improve the tax climate,” he said, but he is “proud of how far we've come.”
Since Williams' bill is dead on arrival in the House, its major effect may be to give him a talking point on which to lean when asked about taxes as he runs for governor. That's important for him, because he voted for the KERA taxes and the recent increases in tobacco and alcohol levies, and he has tea-party opposition in the Republican primary, Louisville businessman Phil Moffett.
Williams' legislative agenda has two main devices to appeal to his party's right wing and bid for blue-collar Democratic votes in the fall: his bill for “neighborhood schools,” which would needlessly and expensively blow up Jefferson County's student-assignment plan for racial integration, and authorize charter schools; and his draconian bill to make being an illegal immigrant a crime under state law.
Surely realizing that his audience included many Louisville business people who don't like his education bill, Williams barely mentioned the neighborhood-school piece in his speech, saying more about giving superintendents the power to hire principals. And he didn't mention the immigration bill at all, perhaps realizing that it is, even more, too radical for such a crowd.
To the larger electorate, Williams is playing to reactionary sentiment and a base that is impatient for change but often too impatient to learn the complexities of issues like immigration. They want simple solutions for complex problems, which usually fail. But sometimes they succeed politically.
In conclusion, Williams directly addressed Beshear, whom he has called a caretaker governor, and urged him to dive into legislative issues, saying the state has too many problems “to shiver on the shore. … If you tread water long enough, you will ultimately drown.”
Beshear, who spoke last, gave a speech that was a subtle argument for his re-election, largely on grounds that he has been a good manager in tough times. But though he spoke too long, more than half an hour, in some cases he said too little or fell flat.
He gave the most emphasis to the Senate-rejected bill to raise the school dropout age to 18 from 16, but those lines drew limited applause, despite the chamber's endorsement of the idea. And his most direct challenge to Williams — “Senate leadership, it's time to let this bill go,” got no audible reaction.
There was also limited applause for Beshear's repeated call for saving the horse industry through expanded gambling. That was his main issue in the 2007 election, and he has failed to deliver. Perhaps people are tired of hearing about it. That's bad news for horse folks.
Beshear had a good line about using Medicaid money for smoking cessation — “I'm not sure that there's anything that causes more health problems in Kentucky than the heavy smoking our people do” — but he failed to repeat his earlier support for a statewide smoking ban, which had been introduced in the House that day. That idea, which Williams has said he favors, is likely to languish without gubernatorial support.
Stumbo, who said last month that the state would be lucky to have Beshear or Williams as governor, got laughs with a series of sometimes-low humor lines that don't bear repeating here. When he switched to substance, it included qualified praise of Beshear, thanking the governor for “a steady hand” during the recession. “I think you're doing a pretty good job,” he told the governor. But later he added, “We're blessed to have men like Steve Beshear and David Williams.”
And so we are, despite their failings. It should be a governor's race for the ages.
Al Cross, former Courier-Journal political writer, is director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications at the University of Kentucky. His e-mail address is al.cross@uky.edu. His views are his own, not those of the University of Kentucky.
By Al Cross
LEXINGTON, Ky. — The dinner included chicken, steak and some killer mousse cake. Western Kentucky barbecue would have been more fitting.
The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce's annual opening-of-the legislature dinner, on the first Thursday in January, was much like the political speaking at the Fancy Farm Picnic in Graves County on the first Saturday in August.
The likely gubernatorial nominees of the two major parties spoke back to back, referring to each other; the speaker of the House played comedian but ultimately statesman as he roasted speakers of both parties; and the minority caucus leaders contributed to a veritable circus of politics and public policy.
There were no Fancy Farm-type hecklers, of course, but the record crowd of more than 1,200 at the Lexington Convention Center was close to the typical number that actually listens to the speeches at St. Jerome's Catholic Church. And the audience got a preview of the expected summer face-off between Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear and Republican Senate President David Williams, with some clues to their strategy and tactics for the November election.
The dinner has long featured legislative leaders and the chief executive, but this is the first time an incumbent governor has faced an electoral challenge from one of the leaders, and that surely boosted the crowd.
It's also the first time that the opening week of the legislature has been used to pass major legislation, as Williams and Senate Republicans are doing in an obvious effort to boost his gubernatorial campaign.
None of those bills are likely to see the light of day in the Democratic House, as Speaker Greg Stumbo indicated pointedly, saying the annual winter roost of turkey vultures near the Capitol is notice that “the Senate agenda has arrived in the House.”
But for those of us who relish public-policy debates that ultimately lead to progress, parts of Williams' agenda are intriguing, such as an all-experts council to propose a new tax code that would not be subject to substantive amendment, forcing the House to bury the plan in committee or take an up-or-down floor vote on it.
Since the current tax code is laden with exemptions defended by lobbying interests, and service industries would likewise resist coming under the sales tax, the key to real reform, Williams' idea is worth considering. Debate on tax reform has gone pretty much nowhere in two decades.
But Williams' bill is “an idealized notion of what the tax code should look like without regard to the political realities” of adopting it, as new Senate Democratic Floor Leader R.J. Palmer of Winchester told the dinner crowd. His idea to add three members from each house, two from the majority and one from the minority, would make the council more like the task force that successfully wrote the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990.
At least for the campaign season, Beshear seems to be dismissing tax reform. He argued, with some evidence, that his new business-tax incentives have made the state more competitive in attracting business. “We need to improve the tax climate,” he said, but he is “proud of how far we've come.”
Since Williams' bill is dead on arrival in the House, its major effect may be to give him a talking point on which to lean when asked about taxes as he runs for governor. That's important for him, because he voted for the KERA taxes and the recent increases in tobacco and alcohol levies, and he has tea-party opposition in the Republican primary, Louisville businessman Phil Moffett.
Williams' legislative agenda has two main devices to appeal to his party's right wing and bid for blue-collar Democratic votes in the fall: his bill for “neighborhood schools,” which would needlessly and expensively blow up Jefferson County's student-assignment plan for racial integration, and authorize charter schools; and his draconian bill to make being an illegal immigrant a crime under state law.
Surely realizing that his audience included many Louisville business people who don't like his education bill, Williams barely mentioned the neighborhood-school piece in his speech, saying more about giving superintendents the power to hire principals. And he didn't mention the immigration bill at all, perhaps realizing that it is, even more, too radical for such a crowd.
To the larger electorate, Williams is playing to reactionary sentiment and a base that is impatient for change but often too impatient to learn the complexities of issues like immigration. They want simple solutions for complex problems, which usually fail. But sometimes they succeed politically.
In conclusion, Williams directly addressed Beshear, whom he has called a caretaker governor, and urged him to dive into legislative issues, saying the state has too many problems “to shiver on the shore. … If you tread water long enough, you will ultimately drown.”
Beshear, who spoke last, gave a speech that was a subtle argument for his re-election, largely on grounds that he has been a good manager in tough times. But though he spoke too long, more than half an hour, in some cases he said too little or fell flat.
He gave the most emphasis to the Senate-rejected bill to raise the school dropout age to 18 from 16, but those lines drew limited applause, despite the chamber's endorsement of the idea. And his most direct challenge to Williams — “Senate leadership, it's time to let this bill go,” got no audible reaction.
There was also limited applause for Beshear's repeated call for saving the horse industry through expanded gambling. That was his main issue in the 2007 election, and he has failed to deliver. Perhaps people are tired of hearing about it. That's bad news for horse folks.
Beshear had a good line about using Medicaid money for smoking cessation — “I'm not sure that there's anything that causes more health problems in Kentucky than the heavy smoking our people do” — but he failed to repeat his earlier support for a statewide smoking ban, which had been introduced in the House that day. That idea, which Williams has said he favors, is likely to languish without gubernatorial support.
Stumbo, who said last month that the state would be lucky to have Beshear or Williams as governor, got laughs with a series of sometimes-low humor lines that don't bear repeating here. When he switched to substance, it included qualified praise of Beshear, thanking the governor for “a steady hand” during the recession. “I think you're doing a pretty good job,” he told the governor. But later he added, “We're blessed to have men like Steve Beshear and David Williams.”
And so we are, despite their failings. It should be a governor's race for the ages.
Al Cross, former Courier-Journal political writer, is director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications at the University of Kentucky. His e-mail address is al.cross@uky.edu. His views are his own, not those of the University of Kentucky.
Labels: Kentucky politics
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