• The state’s decision to take federal stimulus money and loan it to cities and counties is nothing short of thievery. The explanation that it will provide funding for other projects down the road doesn’t cut it. The fed provided the money to stimulate the economy through infrastructure and construction projects. Instead the state will happily loan the money needed for the Madisonville/Hopkins County South Main sewer project. The city will have the burden of paying back $1.8 million at 3 percent interest over 20 years. As the Spin Doctor wrote in a story concerning this subject, “Everything comes with a price — even when it’s free.”
• Kudos to Madisonville City Council for agreeing to apply for the loan with the knowledge that they don’t have to accept the funding. Councilmen Bob Simmons and Rudy Stone expressed concerns over the deal. Simmons made it clear that he only motioned to approve applying for the loan in order to “keep the door open,” with a May 22 deadline for filing an application looming.
• The sewer project could bring as many as 600 new customers into the system, the majority who live outside the city limits. Madisonville Mayor Will Cox said he plans to meet with county officials to discuss funding for repaying the loan. County Magistrate Tim Riggs told the Doc that the county should pony up funding. He said the project benefits the county “and that would be the right thing for us to do.” The county funding would likely come through coal severance. It has already given the city $100,000 toward the project.
• As the drums for expanded gambling in the state beat louder, the American Gaming Association has released a survey that indicates there was a fall off in spending in gross gaming revenue in 2008. The survey says spending was down 4.7 percent from 2007. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the 2008 total of $32.5 billion was the second highest total in history. The AGA said $5.7 billion was returned to states in taxes.
• Larry Dale Keeling’s column that ran in Tuesday’s Messenger concerning the politics of expanded gaming and the horse industry hit the nail on the head. The Herald-Leader columnist believes the House should pass Speaker Greg Stumbo’s bill and force Senate President David Williams to deal with it.
• The war of words between Sen. Jim Bunning and Sen. Mitch McConnell continues. According to the Associated Press, Bunning said that a lack of an endorsement from McConnell “may be the best thing that could happen” for his chances at being re-elected. Bunning has blamed McConnell, the Senate minority leader, for the Republican losses in the Senate and for Sen. Arlen Specter’s recent defection to the left. Bunning referred to McConnell as a “control freak.”
• Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo, who is seeking the Democrat nod for a chance to run for Bunning’s seat, wasted no time in jumping into the Bunning-McConnell fray. His campaign released a statement Tuesday saying, “What is freakish is Sen. Bunning’s inability to get along with even his fellow Republican senators to get things done for Kentucky families who are struggling during these hard economic times.”
• Americans for Legal Immigration, a political action committee that has been on the attack since President Obama’s swearing in, has issued a press release asking their supporters demand that Congress not bail out failing newspapers. ALIPAC sent the press release to the Doc — an, um, newspaper reporter.
• Roger Clemen’s explanation on ESPN radio’s Mike and Mike Show last week that it would have been suicidal for him to use steroids or human growth hormones because of a history of heart disease in his family was laughable. Clemens said his brother had a heart attack in his late 40s. OK, the Doc gets that part of it. However, he followed that up by saying his stepfather died of a heart attack. That’s spin even the Spin Doctor can’t figure out.
• Journalists can be a cynical bunch. On a Web site geared for sports journalists, a message board thread concerning Manny Ramirez’s use of a drug used for female fertility issues listed suggested newspaper headlines for the story. Best by a mile was “That’s just Manny being Annie.”
• Happy 60th (Tuesday) to ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill. “Rumour spreadin’ a-’round, in that Texas town, ‘bout that shack outside La Grange …”
“Ah have mercy.”