Bought and Paid For

Congratulations Kentucky. You have gotten what you deserve.

In November, a former Lt. Governor, Democrat Steve Beshear, unseated incumbent Republican Governor, Ernie Fletcher in his bid for re-election. Beshear won handily. His campaign ads constantly accused Fletcher of graft and corruption and apparently the strategy worked. Fletcher was cast as a criminal, yet no indictments were ever issued against him by a Democrat Attorney General (who himself had sought his party's gubernatorial nomination). Greg Stumbo dogged Fletcher and his administration for the entire four years of the Governor's service. Fletcher was a weak Governor, and spent most of his term dealing with Stumbo's accusations.

Beshear's campaign packaging was slick. The ads were effective. They cast Beshear as the ultimate down home family friendly good old Kentucky boy, running against the corrupt politicians of Frankfort. In one particular ad Beshear stood in front of an old country church, talking of his values. He spoke of how his father and grandfather were both ministers and how they had made such an impression on his life. Well, dad and grandpa would probably be spinning in their graves today if they saw the "values" that Beshear exhibits.

First, there's his choice of a running mate. Dan Moningarno of Hazard is probably the leading abortion doctor in eastern Kentucky. As hard as the right to life people have worked to fight abortion in Kentucky, now the second highest office in the Commonwealth is occupied by an abortion provider. Oh, he's highly respected in that part of the state, and he is a member of First Baptist Church of Hazard, but he is what he is - one who has (legally) killed a number of unborn children. Shameful!

Beshear also supports the decisions by the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville, to provide benefits to the "domestic partners" of employees who are in a same sex relationships. This decision by the two largest universities in the state flies in the face of the Marriage Ammendment that the voters of Kentucky overwhelmingly passed a couple of years ago. This matter will now be in the courts, and the General Assembly will be addressing it this session as well. But we know where Governor Beshear stands on the issue.

Then there is the casino gambling issue. This is what Beshear is really about. Now, gambling is nothing new in the Bluegrass State, but Casino Gambling is forbidden by state law. Patrons of Churchill Downs, Keenland, and Turfway Park have laid down their bets at those race tracks for many years. Then there is the Kentucky Lottery, which that great statesman, Wallace Wilkinson, brought us during his Gubernatorial reign. Wilkinson told us that the lottery would be the cash cow that would be the savior of education in Kentucky. The electorate bought into the theory and the rest is history. The education system in Kentucky is unchanged and most school districts are still strapped for funds. We all pay higher property taxes to cover what the lottery was supposed to have taken care of.

Now the visionary Governor Beshear who tells us that Casino Gambling in Kentucky will provide many great paying jobs and raise over $500 million per year for the Kentucky Revenue Cabinet. He is presenting his gambling plan to the General Assembly this week. After all, several of our neighboring states have already approved casino gambling and they are getting all that cash revenue pie that the Bluegrass State should get a slice of . The Governor only wants what's best for the Commonwealth. Right?

Wrong!

He is bought and paid for by the gambling interests. Need proof? Consider the case of Mr. William Yung. He is a casino operator who would like to do business in Kentucky. How badly would he like to do business in Kentucky? Bad enough to donate ONE MILLION DOLLARS to help elect Steve Beshear as Governor. Now the law only allows a maximum contribution of $1,000 to a particular political candidate. So how could Beshear benefit from the $1,000,000 contribution? According to financial reports filed on January 31st, Yung made the donation to the Bluegrass Freedom Fund. The BGF is a 527 organization that spent over $3,000,000 on ads blasting Beshear's opponent, Governor Fletcher, in the run up to the November election.

527 Organizations get their designation from that section of the IRS code that allows such organizations to raise unlimited amounts of money. Legally they must be separate from any particular campaign organization, but they are used effectively to attack opposing candidates. (remember the Swift Boat Veterans ads that were so damaging to John Kerry in the last presidential election?) Although the 527's can raise unlimited amounts of money, they are required by law to disclose the names of their donors.

The Associated Press reports that Yung's company, Columbia Sussex Corp., based in Crestview Hills, Ky., owns hotels and casinos throughout the country including the Tropicana in Las Vegas. The company has owned the Tropicana in New Jersey, but casino regulators there stripped it of its license in December. New Jersey's Casino Control Commission also fined Columbia Sussex $750,000 for going nearly six months without an independent audit committee. IRS records also show that besides Yung's million dollar donation, the Bluegrass Freedom Fund received donations from 26 other donors including Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, gave $250,000. Turfway Park, a track in northern Kentucky, gave $125,000. While the BGF couldn't legally spend its total of $3.15 million on ads FOR Beshear, it did all go to Television and Radio spots blasting Beshear's opponent, Ernie Fletcher.

Besides the $1,000 maximum donation to the Beshear campaign, and the $1,000,000 gift to the Bluegrass Defense Fund, records show that Yung also gave $10,000 to help pay the cost of Beshear's Inagural Party in December. It's all legal but it doesn't pass the smell test.

When the AP tried to contact Yung but he would not return phone calls made to his northern Kentucky office. Beshear spokeswoman Vicki Glass had no immediate comment either.

An old story is told of a wealthy business man who approached a young woman in a bar. After buying her some drinks and advising her of his great wealth he asked her if she would spend the night with him for a million dollars. The excited tipsy girl answered in the affirmative. After a few more drinks the man asked her if she would spend the night with him for five dollars. Indignantly she slapped him across the face and screamed, "Absolutely not! What do you think I am?"

"We've already established that." he said with a smile. "Now we're just haggling over the price!"

Steve Beshear is bought and paid for by the gambling interest in Kentucky. He presents his plan to legalize casinos to the General Assembly this week. The logical sounding argument will be, "Let the people of Kentucky vote on it". I for one, hope that our elected representatives will show better judgment than the general electorate and will not yield to the pressure to bow down to the god of legalized gambling.

It's a bad bet.