Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy

Have you ever heard of the "Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions?" I have heard it mentioned by a few people; find it readily when doing web searches on Kentucky Politics; even have had some friends in the political world express their opinion about this group. They are an interesting group I'll give you that.

About Us
Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions

We are an independent, non-partisan association of writers, speakers and thinkers who analyze state and local public policy in Kentucky, and suggest alternatives more in concert with the ideas of our founders: Individual liberty, economic freedom, personal responsibility and a respect for others.

http://bipps.org/ARTICLE.ASP?ID=1

I've been quiet in my opinions on this group for a few reasons, mainly because I'm a conservative and I thought they could be a reasonable voice in the din of political slams and dirty politics. I've quietly read their blog and watched their website evolve for some time. Shoot, I even subscribed to their newsletter. But something is not right somehow. They come off a little disjointed and frankly, a little over extreme.

I'm still reading, watching and getting to know them but if they want to come off as a "think tank", they better start thinking. Case in point; they recently published an article by Aaron L. Morris titled, " Doing business in Kentucky not a 'privilege'." I was excited by the title but as I read I lost my enthusiasm. It's the tone or language of the articles I think and to me they come off aggressive and a little too extreme.

On the topic of business and the new tax, Morris writes,

"Starting a new business is a risky endeavor. Most new businesses fail within two years, with would-be owners losing their savings or going bankrupt as a consequence."

http://bipps.org/ARTICLE.ASP?ID=551

Well, anyone who has been reading my blogs knows exactly how I feel about that subject. I recently wrote on this very subject and the fact is most businesses DO NOT fail in the first two years. The fact is (according to the United States Small Business Administration or SBA), almost half of new companies with at least one employee survive beyond four years. Also, the SBA reports that even when a small business fails in the first 12 months, a full one third were not financially distressed.

That's just one example but in my opinion, it only takes a few to lose the "think tank" credentials. Another fact... well okay apposing opinion at least,  it IS a privilege to do business in Kentucky and I gladly pay my taxes and corporate fees to do so. And yes, I paid the new LLC fee not once but two times this first year as law.

Then we have this new article posted by a local republican and another republican state representative. I think they make some great points and I learned a good deal from the article, but somehow it still seemed a little too far out on the edge. If that's what they are shooting for, then hats off to them... it worked. But for an "institute" that proclaims themselves a think tank, I would think they would want to be a little more "conservative" in their delivery.

Pork-stuffed budget train careening out of control

By Reps. Jim DeCesare, Stan Lee

There will be questions about why we decided to get off the reckless budget train now headed toward Gov. Ernie Fletcher’s desk – especially when this spending plan passed so overwhelmingly in both chambers earlier this week. We invite them.

We commend members of the budget conference committee who prepared this budget for their hard work, long days and late nights. However, when our constituents elected us, we promised them we would cast our votes in a fiscally responsible manner that would benefit all Kentuckians in the long term, not just a few during the next biennium.

Last year, we made the mistake of voting for a budget we weren’t given time to fully understand. It contained nearly $2 billion in spending for too many special projects. At the beginning of this session, we determined we would not repeat this misstep.

One of the primary challenges in casting an informed vote on Kentucky’s budget is to fully comprehend it. Following the budgeting process in use today, the General Assembly cannot act quickly enough to make reasoned decisions on how taxpayers’ dollars will be spent.

http://bipps.org/ARTICLE.ASP?ID=556

Who am I to judge? I'm no politician! I'm no think tank or institute. I'm not even a good writer. But I call em like I see em and in this one voting republican's opinion, they need to form a focus group and/or committee on public relations and consider the delivery of their message. If the Bluegrass Institute wants to push the envelope, then they can join the mass hysteria that is the political norm. If they want to reach the moderate conservative, then I think more facts, more creativity, more intellect and confidence would be in order.

Don't get me wrong, I'll continue to read, but since they don't have a way to comment on articles on their website, don't be surprised if they show up here from time to time when they torque my political screws.