Commentary
Rudy’s mark of Cain in American history
Rudy Giuliani has no regrets. No regrets, he says, for falsely accusing two election workers of stealing a presidential election here in Georgia. No regrets for coming to the state Capitol bearing “proof” that the two workers had been secretly passing vote-filled memory cards between them, “as if they’re vials of heroin or cocaine.” In […]
The legislature has the money this year to pass a budget that delivers for Kentuckians
What would you do if you had billions of dollars to help meet the needs of your fellow Kentuckians? Would you use the money to address the teacher and bus driver shortages, build affordable housing or provide essential medical care to those who need it most? Or would you sit on an excessively large pile […]
Julian Carroll’s life traced decades of Kentucky politics
Every life has lessons. The life of former Gov. Julian Carroll, which ended Dec. 10, had plenty of lessons in its 92 years, including an instructive narrative in Kentucky political history. Born in the depths of the Depression, when his big family in McCracken County sometimes didn’t know where its next meal was coming from, […]
Part of a tiny minority in the judicial system, three Black women are safeguarding the rule of law
Three Black women — two prosecutors and a judge — are in unenviable positions to lead former president Donald Trump and this nation in lessons on democracy, accountability and the rule of law. New York Attorney General?Letitia James, Atlanta-based District Attorney?Fani Willis?and U.S. District Judge?Tanya Chutkan?have been bombarded with threats, often racial or sexualized. A […]
The Kentucky ‘governor’ who fled Frankfort before approaching U.S. troops
Whatever happens at Gov. Andy Beshear’s second inauguration, odds are federal soldiers won’t run him out of town. During the Civil War, Confederate troops captured Frankfort, the only capital of a loyal state to fall to the enemy during America’s most lethal conflict. The rebels’ advent forced Unionist Gov. James F. Robinson and the Union-majority […]
Make the mountains blue again?
Eastern Kentucky is an ancestrally Democratic region that usually doesn’t vote Democratic, except last month. Gov. Andy Beshear was reelected to a second term, and he did so by winning across Eastern Kentucky. As a proud Eastern Kentuckian, I want to offer my take on the election — not only on how Beshear won in […]
The kids aren’t alright: Don’t throw that catch-up plan in the dustbin just yet
Kentucky inaugurates a governor next week. He’s the same guy who has served in that office for the last four years, so it might seem silly to indulge in pomp and circumstance when nothing is changing. But as Americans learned the hard way after 2020, having an election end peacefully — having voters who supported […]
Improving efficiency would lower Kentucky Power bills and demand, say negotiators
Kentucky Power, a utility serving 20 of Kentucky’s poorest counties, has asked for an increase in electricity rates for homeowners, renters and small businesses — the fourth in eight years. The increase, currently in a settlement agreement under review by the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC), could bring in $74 million more a year to […]
Kentucky counties hit hardest by disasters swing toward Beshear
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, was reelected last month with 52.5% of the vote, a significant improvement on his razor thin margin of victory in 2019. Many of the largest shifts toward Beshear occurred in counties hardest hit by recent natural disasters, including the 2022 flooding in southeast Kentucky and the 2021 tornado across […]
Five things we can do for kinship families
As we approach a new year, let’s not forget kids in kinship care. Kinship care is when a child is living with relatives or close family friends other than their parents. These children may be victims of abuse and neglect and/or formally in the child welfare system, while many for myriad reasons are informally left […]
Remember learning ‘how a bill becomes law’? Well, forget it in the Kentucky legislature.
A million thanks to the League of Women Voters of Kentucky for running the numbers on the opaque and, oh, so arrogant way the General Assembly conducts what we still quaintly call the “people’s business.” “None of the people’s business” is more like it, considering how frequently the legislature chooses to shut out the public. […]
It’s time to restore citizen participation in Kentucky lawmaking process
Our representative democracy rests on a basic principle: The people have a right to participate in decisions that affect them.? The League of Women Voters of Kentucky is concerned by any weakening of that principle. In our new “How Can They Do That?” report, we show that Kentucky’s General Assembly has increasingly fast-tracked legislation in […]