Sen. Damon Thayer (R-Georgetown) took the opportunity of a speech to the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Friday to encourage support for some familiar Bluegrass Institute themes.
"My pledge to you and the citizens of Northern Kentucky is that I will strive to be a leader that puts problem solving before politics," Thayer said.
"That means not raising taxes. That means fixing our education system. And that means protecting taxpayers from the partisan agenda of a governor who just doesn’t seem to get it."
Thayer criticized big-spending politicians who now seek to raise taxes.
"Government should be forced to do more with less. Not do more with more.
But the drumbeat for higher taxes has already begun. And the band leader is Steve Beshear."
Beshear has been actively involved in promoting a cigarette tax hike.
Thayer mentioned the absence of Beshear's promised $180 million a year "efficiency study" and the legislature's continued support for prevailing wage policies.
"The state of Kentucky could easily save $130 million a year by eliminating the prevailing wage law on public construction projects. This silly idea costs the taxpayers millions at a time when we can ill-afford to cater to any special interest group."
Thayer listed several education statistics in making the case for reforming school policies that mislead parents and policymakers to believe schools are performing better than they actually are.
"It is high-time we got rid of the CATS testing system, and replaced it with something that actually tells parents, educators, and policymakers what we need to know."
Friday, November 21, 2008
Damon Thayer lays down the law
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4 comments:
Where, oh where is our state auditor on this matter? Why is she so very quiet on these shortfalls and spending issues?
With all her acclaimed knowledge and experience, has she no ideas or plans on how to curb Democrat excess?
Where, oh where can she be?
OHHHH, yes I remember; Quietly hiding behind her Democrat Governor, sure to never ruffle his feathers, lest she be swatted from her next ambition.
Damon Thayer appeared before the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce on November 21, 2008 and again proved why he is part of the problem in Frankfort and is no part of the solution. Thayer attacked Governor Beshear and legislators for their efforts and attempts to pull Kentucky out of the financial disaster existent today, a disaster that is a direct result of Republican ‘leadership,’ both nationally and locally.
Damon Thayer was complicit in the Ernest Fletcher disaster that left Kentucky’s treasury empty. And this was BEFORE George W. Bush delivered the Great Depression II and brought about bank closings, Wall Street’s crash and the auto industry’s collapse. Yet all Damon Thayer can do is hold close his Republican Hymnal turned to that old classic, “Don’t raise taxes.” Yet he can find no answers in that Hymnal.
Thayer has shown absolutely no leadership in Frankfort. The Republicans only tactic in that first session after Ernest Fletcher was removed from office, practiced by David Williams and his flunkies, i.e. Thayer, was obstructionism. Thayer himself presented legislation to defeat a very good ethics bill containing provisions proposed by a bipartisan House so as to prevent further ethical breaches so present in the corrupt Fletcher Administration. He claimed he was ‘improving’ that legislation. He improved it so much it wasn’t passed.
And how does Thayer propose to ‘help’ Kentuckians? By attacking them, by attacking working men and women of the Commonwealth, by attacking the blue collar workers who are the backbone of our labor force.
Then there’s the Republican Effect upon the Commonwealth’s financial health. The highway fund, for instance, was left broken by Fletcher and the now indicted Bill Nighbert – where was Thayer? David Williams remodeled his office and bought big ticket electronics - all to the tune of almost $100,000 – where was Thayer?
Steve Beshear has offered good ideas and solutions to the unprecedented budget shortfall of almost a half a billion dollars, a shortfall not only exacerbated by Damon Thayer but created by Republicans during the Ernest Fletcher disaster. Beshear’s ideas include raising the cigarette tax, both a method of raising revenue as well as to improve the health of Kentuckians. But such a solution is beyond the understanding and comprehension of those like Thayer who can only recite Republican talking points.
I, for one, am disgusted with hacks like Damon Thayer who so thoroughly and regularly demonstrate how shallow they are, how little they actually know about Kentucky citizens and who cost the Commonwealth so much. Get with the program, Thayer, or get off the bus.
Bluegrass Institute themes are basically a diatribe against American values.
Not raising taxes is not an American value. In Federalist Paper 12, Alexander Hamilton set forth a fair tax system to ensure that government had adequate funds to do its job. He wrote:
"The ability of a country to pay taxes must always be proportioned, in a great degree, to the quantity of money in circulation, and to the celerity with which it circulates. Commerce, contributing to both these objects, must of necessity render the payment of taxes easier, and facilitate the requisite supplies to the treasury."
Thayer has no morals when it comes to understanding justice as it applies to economics.
Thayer said: "Government should be forced to do more with less. Not do more with more."
I seriously doubt that Sen. Thayer (R-Georgetown) suggested that his salary and benefits be cut to no more than what Kentucky's public school teachers make.
Perhaps government could do more with less--if we go into a period of deflation. I seriously doubt Thayer wants his income to deflate.
Where's Thayer's leadership in proposing legislation to pardon all non-violent marijuana users that the state incarcerates to the tune of $270 million a year? Is Thayer another gutless wonder on this issue? That far exceeds the amount Thayer cites in objecting to the prevailing wage law.
Thayer's attack on prevailing wage laws shows that he doesn't understand that for an economy to prosper, money has to circulate. Alexander Hamilton understood that. Thayer evidently considers such American values a pesky nuisance.
Thayer says he wants to get "rid of the CATS testing system, and replaced it with something that actually tells parents, educators, and policymakers what we need to know."
There's nothing wrong with the CATS testing system. Tell the educators to report the results in grade-level equivalents. That would tell what grade level a student is performing on. That should tell Sen. Thayer what he wants to know. However, it's doubtful that Thayer even knows what he wants to know.
Hempy says, "There's nothing wrong with the CATS testing system."
Hempy, you clearly have not been paying attention. Go to www.bipps.org and enter "CATS" in the search feature to learn more from the large number of articles and papers on exactly what is wrong with the inflated, disconnected CATS assessments.
Scoring inflation getting much worse over time, an obvious disconnect with what kids really need to learn, untimely return of scores, inaccurate portfolio scoring, and no penalties what so ever for education gaps are just a few of the things you need to learn about.
Thayer, and a lot of other legislators on both sides of the aisle, know about these issues, but you apparently do not.
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