Louisville Courier Journal Gloats In David Williams Electoral Defeat, Urges Same Fate For Him In Senate. CJ: It Ain't Happening!
A landslide
Tuesday’s landslide victory was a well-deserved endorsement of Democratic incumbent Gov. Steve Beshear’s steady and responsible stewardship during one of Kentucky’s most challenging times.
Gov. Beshear generally has not been daring or ambitious, but he has offered carefully considered spending cuts to balance state budgets in a deep recession, established strict ethical standards, managed steep Medicaid costs and protected state funding in the key areas of education, health and public safety.
Economic forecasts for the foreseeable future are less than rosy, so in many areas austerity will have to guide the Governor’s decisions.
At the same time, Mr. Beshear is now launched on a second term — and he is constitutionally barred from seeking a third — so he should be prepared to act boldly.
In particular, he should strive to increase state government’s inadequate revenue — not through a broad-based tax increase, which would be unpopular and politically unachievable, but through a bipartisan tax reform that modernizes the state’s tax code and aligns it with a 21st Century economy. He should also renew efforts to legalize expanded gambling, to bolster the horse industry and to keep pace with surrounding states.
Moreover, Gov. Beshear should abandon his bewildering hostility to regulation of the coal industry — steps necessary to save lives and spare the environment — and instead clean up and strengthen the agencies that enforce Kentucky coal laws.
On the other side of the political ledger, the election results were a crushing repudiation of the Governor’s Republican opponent, state Senate President David Williams, and his strategy of obstruction, rank partisanship and thinly veiled appeals to racial and religious prejudice.
Despite a long career in Frankfort and wide name recognition, Sen. Williams garnered only 35 percent of the vote. He flopped even in strongly GOP areas — losing in Johnson and Knox counties in Eastern Kentucky, for example; carrying only Boone County in Northern Kentucky, and faltering in Adair and Barren counties in Southern Kentucky.
The Republican majority in the Senate must decide whether such a thoroughly rejected candidate is the person who should lead them. The voters have expressed a clear preference for cooperation and constructive action. That is not Sen. Williams’ approach.
The ball is in the Senate Republicans’ court.
Tuesday’s landslide victory was a well-deserved endorsement of Democratic incumbent Gov. Steve Beshear’s steady and responsible stewardship during one of Kentucky’s most challenging times.
Gov. Beshear generally has not been daring or ambitious, but he has offered carefully considered spending cuts to balance state budgets in a deep recession, established strict ethical standards, managed steep Medicaid costs and protected state funding in the key areas of education, health and public safety.
Economic forecasts for the foreseeable future are less than rosy, so in many areas austerity will have to guide the Governor’s decisions.
At the same time, Mr. Beshear is now launched on a second term — and he is constitutionally barred from seeking a third — so he should be prepared to act boldly.
In particular, he should strive to increase state government’s inadequate revenue — not through a broad-based tax increase, which would be unpopular and politically unachievable, but through a bipartisan tax reform that modernizes the state’s tax code and aligns it with a 21st Century economy. He should also renew efforts to legalize expanded gambling, to bolster the horse industry and to keep pace with surrounding states.
Moreover, Gov. Beshear should abandon his bewildering hostility to regulation of the coal industry — steps necessary to save lives and spare the environment — and instead clean up and strengthen the agencies that enforce Kentucky coal laws.
On the other side of the political ledger, the election results were a crushing repudiation of the Governor’s Republican opponent, state Senate President David Williams, and his strategy of obstruction, rank partisanship and thinly veiled appeals to racial and religious prejudice.
Despite a long career in Frankfort and wide name recognition, Sen. Williams garnered only 35 percent of the vote. He flopped even in strongly GOP areas — losing in Johnson and Knox counties in Eastern Kentucky, for example; carrying only Boone County in Northern Kentucky, and faltering in Adair and Barren counties in Southern Kentucky.
The Republican majority in the Senate must decide whether such a thoroughly rejected candidate is the person who should lead them. The voters have expressed a clear preference for cooperation and constructive action. That is not Sen. Williams’ approach.
The ball is in the Senate Republicans’ court.
Labels: News reporting
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 8:55 AM
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