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Methods Matter, ACT, Defibrillators, BB&T

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

1.                 Methods matter - On Valentine’s Day, there will be a special election for State Rep. and State Senator in Louisville.  Unfortunately, Debbie Peden, the Republican Candidate for State Senate, is running a campaign of character assassination against her opponent, Perry Clark, trying to make him look like an arrogant lunatic.  I have met Perry Clark a few times and, while I do not agree with him (or anyone else) on all the issues, I have found him to be a very decent, sensible, down-to-earth person.  It is a shame that the Republican candidate is taking such a dishonest approach in this election.  Since it is a very short campaign and Clark has little time to respond to the smears, Peden may get away with it.  That would be a pity, as winning an election on a dishonest basis cannot provide a good, firm foundation for public service.  Republicans rightfully complain when liberal Democrats use these types of tactics against them and against their judicial nominees, so why are they using the same sleazy tactics in this campaign?  Voters should reject such dirty dealing and let politicians know they demand clean campaigns based on the truth -- not on half-truths, distortions and smears.

2.                 ACT – The Kentucky legislature is proposing to require the state education testing to include the nationally standardized ACT test.  Good idea!  Instead of spending millions of dollars to create its own CATS test, which is inaccurate and cannot be used to compare Kentucky students to students in other states, the state should use a far less expensive, nationally standardized test like the ACT.  Then, taxpayers will have a basis for seeing how much bang they are getting for their buck, and students will have an incentive to do their best on the test, as it can also be used when they apply to college.   

3.                 Defibrillator bill – Another bill in the Kentucky legislature would require certain fitness centers to have defibrillators.  This would be another case of micromanagement of private businesses by the legislature, which would be very unfortunate.  Let the people who join fitness clubs decide whether they want to pay a little extra to have a defibrillator available – not have the legislators decide for them.

4.                 Building proposals in Louisville – Many thanks to John Schnatter and David Jones for putting up their own money to study the Water Company site for an arena.  It does appear that the site was written off too quickly, without a serious study having been made.  The political mess of building an arena with taxpayer money is just another reason why these projects should be financed privately.  As for the new mixed use skyscraper that is being proposed, bravo!  It would be even better if that project were entirely privately funded instead of being built on land “donated” by Louisville taxpayers. 

5.                 BB&T and Eminent Domain – While private businesses often take it on the chin in the media as being corrupt and sleazy, the truth is that competition provides a pretty good check on business.  In fact, some businesses exhibit very high ethical standards and challenge their competitors to do the same.  Recently, BB&T pledged that it would not finance projects in which eminent domain is used to take property from one private party for use by another.  It is to be applauded for taking such a stand, and, as a consumer, I am seriously considering applauding by moving my accounts to BB&T. 

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