Summary of recent Kentucky newspaper editorials:
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Nov. 14
Lexington Herald-Leader on Gov. Matt Bevin changing and hiding pension scores:
Look, we know Gov. Matt Bevin has had a tough time with his plan to upend public pensions in Kentucky.
But that’s not an excuse to rejigger the numbers from independent actuaries that make his plan look even worse than it already did.
Still, that’s just what he’s doing.
A little background is in order.
It’s been one thing after another since Bevin and his chosen few emerged from deep seclusion with a 505-page bill that kept promises only to those who are bothered by secure retirements for public workers.
Almost no one really liked the plan, except those who had sworn allegiance before they even saw it.
Then, there turned out to be so many surprises in those hundreds of pages that people had to wonder who wrote the darn thing anyway. Once it became more or less clear what was in it, irate public employees and retirees showed up in droves, well-armed with information, at forums around the state. That made even Republican legislators nervous and they began doing a quiet shuffle away from Bevin’s plan. Then, a sexual harassment settlement involving GOP leadership in Frankfort threw things into further disarray.
Dropped into this toxic mix last week was an independent actuarial analysis, or scoring, that found Bevin’s “fix” for the Teachers Retirement System would cost the state $4.4 billion more over the next 20 years than sticking with the current approach.
Due up next was the scoring for the larger Kentucky Retirement Systems. But Monday Bevin’s budget director, who is on the Bevin-controlled KRS board (the Teachers board is more independent of the governor’s office), said that analysis would not be released publicly. At least not until after he and his staff had a chance to make changes to it.
As if that weren’t enough - the state pays for an independent analysis which is going to be hidden until, it seems, Bevin’s guys are able to make it look better - Bevin now also wants to recalculate the numbers on the Teachers Retirement System.
Governor, enough is enough.
This is too important. The pension systems are in crisis, a crisis that threatens the pensions promised to hundreds of thousands of Kentucky workers who put in their share every paycheck for decades. Left unsolved, as you have warned many times, it also threatens state government’s ability to provide even the most basic services.
You can’t solve it by wrangling the numbers to meet your expectations. Instead, give some thought to the advice from Republican state Rep. John “Bam” Carney of Campbellsville: “If we’re going to do this right, which we have to do this right, all information needs to be open so we can have a true dialogue with all stakeholders.”
Online: http://www.kentucky.com/
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Nov. 12
Daily News of Bowling Green on U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell’s swift judgeship confirmations:
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell took a lot of heat in 2016 for not allowing a vote on then-President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, to fill the seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
But to McConnell’s credit, the Republican Senate majority leader from Kentucky stood his ground. He, like many Americans, feared Garland would alter a closely divided court. McConnell knew that if confirmed to the nation’s highest court, Garland would likely write decisions in support of big government at the expense of our individual liberties.
We applauded McConnell then for standing his ground against the national press corps and the Democratic Party, who viciously attacked him for not giving Garland an up-or-down vote. McConnell told the Daily News last Friday that last year’s Supreme Court gambit was “the single most consequential decision I’ve made in my political career.”
McConnell said very clearly in 2016 that no one should be nominated to the high court in the midst of a presidential campaign. McConnell cited the “Biden rule,” referring to former U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, who in 1992 argued that then-President George H.W. Bush should delay filling a Supreme Court vacancy, should one arise, until the presidential election was over, and that it was “essential” that the Senate refuse to confirm a nominee to the court until then.
There seemed to be a double standard from the national press and Democrats, who bad-mouthed McConnell for simply doing what Biden had also argued for during a presidential campaign.
Because McConnell stood his ground and because President Donald Trump was elected commander-in-chief, a more conservative nominee was put forth in current Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. Gorsuch is a very qualified man who knows the law and will adhere to the Constitution.
While McConnell was instrumental in helping get a conservative Supreme Court justice on the bench, he has also been successful in getting judges confirmed through the Senate to federal appeals courts. This is something McConnell should be applauded for.
Five of Trump’s judicial nominees were confirmed last week by the Senate for lifetime judgeships in the federal circuit court system, which is one step below the U.S. Supreme Court.
McConnell vowed at the beginning of last week to confirm the five nominees, who include Joan Larsen, a Michigan Supreme Court judge who will now serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, which hears cases from Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Michigan. Last week’s judicial confirmations, which received very few crossover votes from Democratic senators, follow four nominees who were confirmed earlier this year to federal circuit judgeships, including former Eastern Kentucky federal district judge and former prosecutor Amul Thapar and Louisville-based attorney John Bush.
McConnell got five of these judicial nominees confirmed to federal courts - four to circuit court and one to district - in one week.
In Obama’s first year with control of Congress he only got one Supreme Court justice, Sonia Sotomayor, one appellate court justice and three district judges.
The difference in the number of judicial appointments confirmed in Congress shown under these presidents speaks volumes. McConnell hasn’t gotten nearly the credit he deserves for getting all of the judicial nominees confirmed in this short amount of time. We are very proud of McConnell for spearheading the effort to putting sound, conservative judges on our federal courts.
Online: http://www.bgdailynews.com/
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Nov. 11
The Independent of Ashland on Braidy Industries providing optimism for the future:
When Braidy Industries announced in April that it would build a $1.3 billion, state-of-the-art aluminum rolling mill offering some 550 well-paying jobs, few people in the Tri-State had ever heard of the company. My how quickly things have changed. Not only has Braidy become a household word in Northeastern Kentucky - many are convinced it will lead the way to a major economic recovery for the entire region.
Braidy Industries believes in this region’s future. This is demonstrated in both the plans to build the mill and its decision to open its corporate headquarters to downtown Ashland.
Braidy Industries President and CEO Craig Bouchard used the unveiling of its corporate offices on the third and fourth floors of the Community Trust Bank Building in the heart of downtown Ashland this week to brag about this region and it potential for growth and economic development.
“I think you’re going to see a bunch of new businesses on these streets out here … for the region, I believe this is a turning point,” Bouchard said. “There’s been 30 years of subpar economic activity here. I think you’re going to see 30 years of hyper-accelerated growth.”
We certainly hope that is true. After years of seeing hundreds of good-paying jobs disappear in this region, we are overdue for a major economic shot in the arm, and Braidy Industries has provided it. Braidy has helped restore hope and confidence in this region’s future.
To be sure, things have changed since Braidy made its announcement in April. Because the soil at the South Shore site failed to meet the high standards required for the proposed aluminum mill, Braidy was forced to seek another location. However, instead of moving hundreds of miles away, the company is negotiating to purchase a 300-acre site in Boyd and Greenup counties that is part of the EastPark Industrial Center. Because of the work of The Ashland Alliance, which serves as the chamber of commerce for Boyd and Greenup counties, Braidy already knew the property was suitable for the aluminum mill.
Bouchard told The Daily Independent that Braidy’s new coporate offices were completely rehabbed from what they were prior and “Now you see one of the greatest offices - this whole complex - in Kentucky, thanks to the incredible work done right here in Ashland.”
The third floor of the Community Trust Bank building includes 14 Braidy offices. The company is also leasing the floor above, which Bouchard said will include 25 offices. About 20 work in the headquarters now, but that number will rise to 65 in the coming months, the company CEO said.
The showcase was met with fanfare from local government officials and business owners. At least 150 crowded into the third-floor office space Monday. They were served candied bacon and other appetizers, along with beer and wine. An ice sculpture of the Braidy Industries logo was placed in the main hallway, where many lined up to meet Bouchard.
Among those present was University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto, who spoke with Bouchard inside his office.
“We (UK) see opportunities for partnerships,” Capilouto told The Daily Independent as to why he was in attendance.
“We also want to be able to be a source for a terrific work force that Braidy and others that follow would look to. I’m very impressed with the dream, and I think Mr. Bouchard is someone who can turn it into a reality,” said the president of the state’s leading research university.
All of this sends a huge positive message to other companies considering locating here - that northeastern Kentucky may have offer just what they need and want. That’s the kind of ripple effect Braidy Industries can have.
Online: http://www.dailyindependent.com/
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