Last Call For The Laughed-At Curve

Good thing Art Laffer is as good at political punditry as he is being an economist, huh.

Supply-side economist Arthur Laffer is predicting Republicans will win the White House in a landslide this year, regardless of the nominee.

“I would be surprised if the Republicans don’t take 45, 46, 47 states out of the 50,” Laffer told host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” on New York’s AM-970 on Sunday.

“I mean, I think we’re going to landslide this election.”

Laffer, who served in various positions in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations, said he is bullish on the entire Republican primary field.

“When I look at these candidates, I don’t see one of them who wouldn’t do a great job as president,” he said.

“I think Donald Trump is phenomenal, I think Rand Paul has done a great job, I even like Jeb Bush — I think Jeb Bush is great, he did a wonderful job in Florida,” he added. “Chris Christie – phenomenal.”

He said Democratic primary front-runner Hillary Clinton’s “day is over.”

“She would be defeated handily. I don’t think Hillary’s going to win this election no matter whom she runs against,” he said. “I mean, Hillary’s day is over."

This is just funny. Every presidential election is Reagan-Mondale in 1984 to these clowns, and gosh, the last six election they haven't even been able to top 286.

It's not that they can't win in 2016, far from it.  We know they will show up, because they are motivated by revenge against Obama and everyone who voted for him. The only question is whether or not our side goes to the polls at all in the states that are in play and try to stop them.

But 500+ EVs?  No.

Put that in the Future Stupidity files for sure.

El Chapo's Day Out

Needless to say, after Mexican marines recaptured drug cartel kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman last week after his daring escape from a Mexican prison, the pressure to extradite him to the US is very, very strong.

Mexico aims to extradite drug lord Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman to the United States after security forces recaptured the fugitive cartel leader who blew his cover through a series of slip ups, including an attempt to make a movie about his life.

The Mexican Attorney General's office will be working as fast as possible to establish the path to extradition, and Chapo could be sent to the United States by mid-year, a source familiar with the situation said on Saturday. However the timing might depend on injunctions filed by Guzman's legal team.

Guzman, the world's top drug smuggler and boss of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, is wanted by U.S. authorities on a host of criminal charges. His organization has smuggled billions of dollars worth of drugs into the United States and is blamed for thousands of deaths in Mexico and the United States due to addiction and gang warfare.

"The objective is to fulfill the extradition request," another source said.

Whether or not Guzman will escape again is anyone's guess.  But he made enough mistakes that even corrupt Mexican officials had an easy time finding him, and I'm betting that had lots of help from very determined US law enforcement. His biggest mistake?  Talking to Sean Penn for a Rolling Stone interview.

No, really. He did.

We'll see if Guzman ever makes it to America in 2016, I put the odds at 50/50 at best.

Why We're Losing The Gun Control Battle

Because the default "landed gentry" mode for America is now guys like this writing letters to the Boston Globe.

So, to the angry liberal who sat next to me on the commuter rail: I don’t hate you. I don’t have any ill feelings toward you. I don’t wish to do you harm. And I don’t regret sitting next to you. On the contrary; I feel bad for you. It must hurt carrying that much hate inside of you.

You obviously have strong opinions about this hot topic. So, let me say this as plainly as I can: If a bad guy with a gun had decided to walk onto that train and start shooting people, I would have been prepared and able to use my gun to defend my own life and the lives of everyone else on that train, including yours. Although you may hate me, a gun owner, I would risk my life for you.

Opinions and ideologies make a pretty thin shield against the bullets of a madman. Your liberal self-righteousness and ignorance may have made you feel superior and comfortable, but during that 40-minute train ride to Boston, my gun kept you safe.

The "good guys with guns" always believe they are and that they will be ready, and that they have to be ready.  It gives them power to again be the guys "in charge" in a world where the rest of us have gained in the equality stakes.  It's a societal movement of goal-posts where the new "hero" is the person with the concealed carry handgun, and of course a modern update of "only nobles can carry swords".

Going through life honestly believing that you are so much better than everyone else because they are all losers compared to you is nothing new, of course.  But throwing a weapon capable of killing someone in seconds into the mix and the margin of error makes the consequences of overreaction a deadly mistake.

The asshole on the train packing can end your life in a moment, and they very much enjoy having that kind of power. It used to be that had some accountability as a police officer or member of the military to have that mindset, but we've made it easier and easier to give to Joe Blow in state after state.

Do you ever think we're going to take that power away from these armed maniacs?  The power to sneer at unwashed libtard masses and say "my gun kept you safe" with the unspoken threat behind that?

Not in our lifetimes.

Sunday Long Read: Taxing Belief

With tax season upon us once again, this week's Sunday Long Read is from NY Times writers Noam Scheiber and Patricia Cohen as they give us the story of how America's richest have bought our tax policy to protect their wealth at our expense.

The hedge fund magnates Daniel S. Loeb, Louis Moore Bacon and Steven A. Cohen have much in common. They have managed billions of dollars in capital, earning vast fortunes. They have invested large sums in art — and millions more in political candidates.

Moreover, each has exploited an esoteric tax loophole that saved them millions in taxes. The trick? Route the money to Bermuda and back.

With inequality at its highest levels in nearly a century and public debate rising over whether the government should respond to it through higher taxes on the wealthy, the very richest Americans have financed a sophisticated and astonishingly effective apparatus for shielding their fortunes. Some call it the “income defense industry,” consisting of a high-priced phalanx of lawyers, estate planners, lobbyists and anti-tax activists who exploit and defend a dizzying array of tax maneuvers, virtually none of them available to taxpayers of more modest means.

In recent years, this apparatus has become one of the most powerful avenues of influence for wealthy Americans of all political stripes, including Mr. Loeb and Mr. Cohen, who give heavily to Republicans, and the liberal billionaire George Soros, who has called for higher levies on the rich while at the same time using tax loopholes to bolster his own fortune.

All are among a small group providing much of the early cash for the 2016 presidential campaign.

Operating largely out of public view — in tax court, through arcane legislative provisions and in private negotiations with the Internal Revenue Service — the wealthy have used their influence to steadily whittle away at the government’s ability to tax them. The effect has been to create a kind of private tax system, catering to only several thousand Americans.

The impact on their own fortunes has been stark. Two decades ago, when Bill Clinton was elected president, the 400 highest-earning taxpayers in America paid nearly 27 percent of their income in federal taxes, according to I.R.S. data. By 2012, when President Obama was re-elected, that figure had fallen to less than 17 percent, which is just slightly more than the typical family making $100,000 annually, when payroll taxes are included for both groups.

The ultra-wealthy “literally pay millions of dollars for these services,” said Jeffrey A. Winters, a political scientist at Northwestern University who studies economic elites, “and save in the tens or hundreds of millions in taxes.”

So yes, despite President Obama and the GOP agreeing to raise the top marginal tax rate to 39.6%, virtually none of the richest Americans actually pay that amount, and they never will.  They've long bought the trap doors and loopholes out of it, and if a Republican president gets into the White House in 2017, they'll pay even less.

Last Call For Here We Go Again, Day 7

The Bundy seditionists' call for backup has been heeded by one of the more nasty armed insurrection/white supremacist groups out there, Idaho's "Three Percent" movement.

Members of a group from outside Oregon arrived on Friday at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to "secure a perimeter" around the compound and prevent "a Waco-style situation."

The arrival of the "3% of Idaho" was the latest development in the situation outside Burns, where an armed occupation of the refuge by an Ammon Bundy-led militant group entered its seventh day.

"They just keep an eye on everything that is going on" to make sure "nothing stupid happens," Bundy said Friday afternoon outside refuge headquarters.

"If they weren't here," Bundy said, referring to the Idaho group, "I'd worry" about a Waco-style siege by federal officials.

The group's website says it stands for "freedom, liberty and the Constitution. We will combat all those who are corrupt." The website displays the motto, "When Tyranny Becomes Law, Rebellion Becomes Duty!"

As Dave Neiwert reminds us, these assholes are pretty deep into Islamophobia and armed insurrection.  They marched against settling Syrian refugees in Twin Falls, Idaho in October and again in Boise in November and the real danger is of course these jagoffs are national.

The Idaho group is only the local affiliate of a broader (though hardly numerous) national movement that takes its name from the notion that only 3 percent of the people living in the colonies took part in the American Revolution – thus, the name is intended to invoke the would-be combatants in a “second American Revolution,” as its proponents like to proclaim.

The movement is largely the brainchild of Michael Vanderboegh, the onetime militiaman who in recent years has been specializing in incendiary rhetoric supporting the notion that any attempts at federal gun control will spark a new civil war, or better yet, a new revolution.

Indeed, just about any kind of federal action inspires such warnings from Vanderboegh. “The health care law carries … the hard steel fist of government violence at the center,” he declared after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. “If we refuse to obey, we will be fined. If we refuse to pay the fine, we will in time be jailed. If we refuse to report meekly to jail, we will be sent for by armed men. And if we refuse their violent invitation at the doorsteps of our own homes we will be killed — unless we kill them first.”

He also freely suggests imminent violence. A 2012 post at his blog, Sipsey Street Irregulars, titled “Vote,” advised going to the polls but added: “At least later on you can say you tried everything else before you were forced to shoot people in righteous self-defense of life and liberty.”

Ammon Bundy may say he doesn't want a conflict, but these Three Percent guys definitely do.  I'm very fearful that the government will give them what they want, or that they'll come and seek "suicide by federal agent" by opening fire.

So yes, this situation just got a whole lot worse.

Good Ol' Texas Haterade

What happens when Republicans' blind, racist hatred of President Obama and bigotry against Muslims is so extreme it actually causes them to break Federal law while in office? Let's ask Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and his sidekick Lt. Gov Dan Patrick, shall we?

Two Texas politicians made public details of an investigation into a terrorism suspect while it was still in progress, potentially jeopardizing the inquiry, three sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick released details from documents that were still under court seal, the sources said. A spokesman for Governor Abbott had no immediate comment. Patrick's office was not available for comment.

The suspect, Omar Faraj Saeed Al-Hardan, 24, appeared in court on Friday accused of providing material support to Islamic State overseas. He entered the United States as an Iraqi refugee in November 2009 and lived in Houston, according to a court document.

Abbott and Patrick are both Republicans and their party has been fiercely resisting Democratic President Barack Obama's plan to allow 10,000 Syrian refugees into the country over the next year, arguing that they pose a security risk to the United States. The Obama administration has rejected that assertion.

One of the sources said investigators believe Abbott and Patrick may have learned confidential details of the investigation from the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Texas. The group's members include local and state law enforcement officers. There was no immediate comment from the task force.

The sources said the politicians' statements on Thursday night disclosing a terrorism suspect's arrest forced federal authorities to wrap up their inquiries and rush out public statements and court papers on the case earlier than planned.

Willful obstruction of a federal investigation, sounds like.   They found out about the investigation from state law enforcement, and while keeping in mind both men are, you know, lawyers, they knowingly leaked this information under a court seal.

Ought to be fun to see what happens next, huh?

Hey Greg, worry less about your Confederate re-enactment fantasies and more about federal charges.

Cincy's Trump Cards

The Cincinnati Enquirer profiled several Trump supporters in the area to see why they prefer The Donald, and found they all have two things in common: they're white, and they're pissed off. People like Pam Fitzgerald, a retired teacher.

“I try to be as conservative as I can,” she said. “Because I know they were right.” 

So while she believes diversity makes America better and has no interest in closing its borders, she says officials have been too generous in allowing people in. She believes President Barack Obama wants to let all Muslims, regardless of their background, into the country. This is not a good thing, Fitzgerald says. 

She believes the military has shrunk under Obama. So when Trump says he will "make America great again," the campaign slogan struck a chord with Fitzgerald. 

She remembers the respect she was taught growing up. That doesn't mean she agrees with everything Trump says, but she likes that he is not afraid to say it – respectfully or not. 

There’s a fire in Trump she hasn't felt from a president before. 

"He's opened the doors,” Fitzgerald said, “for people to open their mouths."

And guys like Ed Kirker, who has spent 26 of his 46 years in the military.

Kirker explains his Trump support with a saying he frequently used in the military: “I’m an (expletive). Get over it.” 

He acknowledges Trump is flamboyant. To Kirker, this is part of his appeal. 

When Trump made a campaign stop in Columbus, Kirker volunteered. That night, Trump made waves by saying he would bring back waterboarding. The way Trump explained his position was an example of the “common sense” approach Kirker has come to love. 

In 1994, Kirker saw a man’s head chopped off inches in front of his face at the public Saudi Arabia market that is familiar to many as Chop-Chop Square. The man had been caught stealing. 

When other countries do this, what is wrong with waterboarding? That’s a question Kirker can’t get past. There are questions about how Trump avoided the draft during the Vietnam War, but Kirker believes he is a natural leader. 

A leader unafraid to say what he thinks. 

A leader unafraid to offend. 

A leader who could be president.

Or Kentucky Democrats like Larry Saunders, switching parties to the GOP to vote for Trump.

He worries about his wife and his two children when he is not around, even though Fort Wright is not a crime-ridden city. He believes top U.S. officials don’t know who is in America. He says Trump shouldn’t have singled out Muslims in comments about immigration, but agrees with his sentiment. He even takes it a step further. 

“I would say stop all immigration for a time,” Saunders said. 

He explains his thinking like this: “I wouldn’t let anybody into my house I don’t know.”
The United States should do the same, he said. Trump, he believes, will make sure that happens. 

As to Trump’s sometimes abrasive tone, Saunders says he didn’t know what tone meant until it was discussed in the media. But it was part of the reason he remained leery about Trump as a presidential candidate. 

Then he saw the polls. Trump was leading. 

“Maybe that’s the tone we need,” Saunders said.

That theory that you've heard that Trump actually had far more support than he's showing in the polls?  I'm starting to think maybe that's true.  I'm starting to think a lot of pissed off white folks are going to be voting for him in 2016.

If the rest of us don't show up, this asshole just might win.

Last Call For Compassionate Conservatism

Not that Jeb Bush has any shot at even being the nominee right now, but as with Marco Rubio, it's very illuminating to see just how far to the right the "moderate" Republicans are going in order to try to win over the Tea Party disaster that Republican primary voters have become.

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush on Friday proposed an overhaul of the U.S. welfare system that would eliminate what he called failing programs for the poor and send the federal dollars from them to the states to develop their own plans.

Bush, continuing an effort to position himself as the most serious, substantive candidate in the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, laid out his plan ahead of a poverty forum in South Carolina on Saturday.

Bush said decades of federal policy have not solved the vexing problem of how to help generations of Americans mired in poverty.

"We have spent trillions of dollars on the ‘war on poverty,’ but there are now still more than 46 million Americans living in poverty," he said in a statement laying out his plan.

Well, your father's cuts to programs and your brother's crashing the economy didn't help either, Jeb. America spent a total of 12 years under your family's policies as part of what you call a failure, let's not forget.

Bush, a former Florida governor, would take some controversial steps as part of his welfare plan.

He would eliminate the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps, housing assistance programs and a cash program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

He would use the money to give so-called "right to rise" grants to the states to let state governments fund programs they develop as the best way to address poverty.

To encourage more Americans on welfare to seek jobs, Bush would include in "Right to Rise" grants work requirements and time limits for able-bodied adults.

So Jeb would just eliminate federal welfare programs completely and let states deal with the problem, because states like Florida have such good ideas.  Block grants to states is the new universal fix for everything in GOP land, no doubt states wouldn't be required to use that money to help the poor, but it sure would be great if we could give it to rich people, right? They'll totally promise to creat jobs with it, Jeb pinky swears.

Compassionate Conservatism at its finest.

Marco And Greg Awesome Show, Great Job!

They keep telling me the smart money is on the GOP's great "moderate, establishment conservative hope" in Marco Rubio, but the reality is Rubio is far to the right of the entire country on issues like same-sex marriage and having abandoned his own immigration plan for political expediency, he's now publicly pushing the fringe notion of a convention of states to rewrite the Constitution.

America was built on the revolutionary idea that our rights come from God, not from government. To protect those rights, our founders created a government of the people, by the people and for the people. But today, that government has been hijacked by politicians and bureaucrats who disregard the will of the people, rack up trillions in debt and expand the federal bureaucracy into more and more aspects of our lives. As president, I will promote a convention of states to amend the Constitution and restore limited government. 

The framers of our Constitution allowed for a constitutional convention because they knew our citizens were the ultimate defense against an overbearing federal government. They gave the American people, through their state representatives, the power to call a convention made up of at least 34 states, where delegates could then propose amendments that would require the support of 38 states to become law. 

This method of amending our Constitution has become necessary today because of Washington’s refusal to place restrictions on itself. The amendment process must be approached with caution, which is why I believe the agenda should be limited to ideas that reduce the size and scope of the federal government, such as imposing term limits on Congress and the Supreme Court and forcing fiscal responsibility through a balanced budget requirement. Limiting the agenda will prevent the convention from being overtaken by special interests.

Let's keep in mind that this has never happened before.  The convention of states method of amending the Constitution has never been used, not even once.

Secondly, term limits for Congress has long been ruled unconstitutional and for good reason, where term limits are in place for state lawmakers, lobbyists control the agenda much more easily.

Finally, a balanced budget amendment would destroy the economy overnight.

Ahh, but it seems Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott is taking Marco Rubio's advice and is running even further to the right with it..

Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday called for a constitutional convention to gather and adopt nine new amendments he proposed in what he’s billing as “the Texas plan.” 

“Departures from the Constitution are not the aberration. Now they have become the norm,” said Abbott, speaking at an event by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank in Austin. His proposed amendments — which include allowing a two-thirds vote of the states to repeal any federal law and preventing Congress from regulating economic activity that takes place all within the borders of one state — would “put teeth in the 10th Amendment” and guarantee states’ rights, he said.

It's all about states' rights when there's a black president, I guess.

Here are Abbott’s proposed amendments: 

“1. Prohibit Congress from regulating activity that occurs wholly within one State.

“2. Require Congress to balance its budget.

“3. Prohibit administrative agencies—and the unelected bureaucrats that staff them—from creating federal law. 

“4. Prohibit administrative agencies—and the unelected bureaucrats that staff them—from preempting state law. 

“5. Allow a two-thirds majority of the States to override a U.S. Supreme Court decision. 

“6. Require a seven-justice super-majority vote for U.S. Supreme Court decisions that invalidate a democratically enacted law. 

“7. Restore the balance of power between the federal and state governments by limiting the former to the powers expressly delegated to it in the Constitution. 

“8. Give state officials the power to sue in federal court when federal officials overstep their bounds. 

“9. Allow a two-thirds majority of the States to override a federal law or regulation.”

If you're wondering what tyranny of the majority looks like, here's your road map.

Part-Time Employees, Full-Time Liars

Remember conservative economists warning that the dangerous scourge of Obamacare would mean millions of Americans working full-time jobs would be limited to 29 hours a week and lose all full-time benefits in order for struggling employers to even stay in business?

Turns out that was a massive lie by the right. Surprise!

A new study further undercuts a major claim by critics of the Affordable Care Act, who contended that the law would encourage companies to slash full-time workers' hours and shift them into part-time work in order to avoid having to offer them health insurance.

The research "found little evidence that the ACA had caused increases in part-time employment as of 2015," according to a summary of the findings published in the journal Health Affairs on Tuesday.

"We can say with a large degree of confidence that there is nothing we can see nationwide when we look at the whole workforce" that would support a claim that the so-called employer mandate or other Obamacare features have led to increases in part-time employment at the expense of full-time jobs, said Kosali Simon, a professor at Indiana University, and a co-author of the report.

Simon noted that even the slight shifts to part-time employment from full-time jobs — of just about 0.5 percent from 2013 to 2015 — in two subgroups could not be attributed to the Obamacare employer mandate. Those subgroups are people with no more than a high school degree, and workers between the age of 60 and 64.

Oh, and there's more:

A related analysis released Tuesday also found that the expansion of Medicaid benefits to more poor adults in the United States — a crucial component of Obamacare — did not lead to job reductions or other significant employment changes in 2014, when the Medicaid expansion's effects began being broadly felt.

You mean JOB-KILLING OBAMACARE didn't actually kill jobs?  Hoocuddanode?  By the way, this morning we found out that December saw 292,000 new jobs and 50K in upward revisions to October and November, meaning 2.8 million new jobs in 2015 to go with 3.1 million in 2014.

Yep, Obamaxare is killing jobs alright.

StupidiNews!

• President Obama participated in a town hall meeting broadcast on CNN that discussed his executive actions on gun safety, taking questions from supporters and fierce critics alike.
• Alabama is the latest state to sue the Obama administration over the placement of Syrian refugees, claiming the White House was negligent in screening and placed state citizens at risk.
• Global stock markets appear to have stabilized after two days of intense selloffs in China's markets as Beijing has raised its currency higher.
• The first lawsuits against GM for its faulty ignition switches begin on Monday as the automaker faces potentially billions in damage claims.
• The FCC says that broadband internet is still unavailable to about 34 million Americans, but that's a major improvement from the 67 million figure from 2012.

Last Call For Chartering A Scam

I've long railed against charter schools as a massive sinkhole for giving billions in education money to private companies in order to weaken public schools to the point of destruction, but there's always been a racial component to the scam as well.  Charter schools are sold to black and Latino parents as a way to get their kids out of "failing public schools" when of course all it does is send money away from already strapped inner city schools.

In North Carolina, the extent of the charter schools scam is now becoming somewhat more evident.

A report showing the student population at state charter schools is wealthier and whiter than student bodies at traditional public schools was pulled Wednesday from the State Board of Education’s consideration. 

Lt. Gov. Dan Forest argued that the report, intended for the legislature and full of data on charter school enrollment, demographics and costs, was too negative. 

“The report, to me, did not have a lot of positive things to say,” he said.

No kidding?

And of course since the report wasn't so nice, Forest pulls the report off the NC assembly's agenda.

More than 57 percent of students attending charter schools in the current school year are white, compared with traditional public schools’ 49.5 percent, the report said. 

The proportion of African-American students is about the same across both types of schools. A little more than 8 percent of charter students are Hispanic, while enrollment at traditional schools is more than 16 percent Hispanic. 

The report also references an April 2015 study by Helen Ladd, Charles Clotfelter and John Holbein of Duke University that showed little integration within individual charter schools. Student populations at individual charters, their study found, are predominantly white or predominantly minority. 

The state board sends a report on charters to the legislature each year, but this one comes as charter school enrollments are accelerating while growth of traditional public schools stagnates. 

Charter enrollment increased quickly after the state lifted the 100-school cap in 2011. About 41,200 students were enrolled in charters then. Last fall, nearly 82,000 students enrolled in one of 158 schools, according to the report. Overall, traditional public schools were expected to add about 3,700 students this year. 

Charter schools have a smaller proportion of low-income students, the report says. At charters last year, 36 percent of students were economically disadvantaged, compared with nearly 55 percent at traditional schools.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article53438435.html#storylink=cpy

In other words, charter schools are quickly becoming a two-tiered education system at taxpayer expense.  And that's exactly how Republicans want it.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article53438435.html#storylink=cpy

A Bunch Of Lazy Government Moochers

Guess which states depend on federal tax dollars the most?  If you said "Republican-controlled Southern and Midwestern states" then you get the brass ring.



That's Mississippi there at the most dependent state in the nation, 42.9% of the state's revenue comes from Washington DC.  Meanwhile, large blue states like California and New York?  Near the bottom.

In fact with the exceptions of Louisiana at number 2 (who just elected a Democrat in late November) and #6 Montana (Democrat Steve Bullock) all the top ten moocher states have GOP governors. Fiscal conservative John Kasich, running for the 2016 White House on a federal balanced budget? His own state is #19 on the list, getting more than a third of all revenue from the Feds.

Funny how that works.

Dispatches From Bevinstan, Con't

Gov. Matt Bevin's plan to flip the state 100% red like neighboring Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Missouri is proceeding apace, with the Governor having already gotten rid of two Kentucky House Democrats with new appointments to his cabinet and knocking the Democratic lead down to 50-46, he's now calling special elections for the seats in just nine weeks.

Gov. Matt Bevin has set March 8 as the date for critical special elections to fill four vacancies in the Kentucky House of Representatives. 

Those elections could tip the balance of power in the House, which will stand at 50 Democrats and 46 Republicans when the General Assembly convenes on Tuesday. 

During an impromptu news conference Monday at the Capitol, the Republican governor also said he plans to campaign hard in those elections to elect candidates who share his views. 

"I want conservative people. I want people in those seats that will represent the people of Kentucky. And I will do everything in my power to make sure that the people who I think embody the values that I was elected to represent are elected. I do think they'll be Republicans," Bevin said. 

Two of the four vacant House seats were caused by resignations of Democrats John Tilley, of Hopkinsville, and Tanya Pullin, of South Shore, who resigned to accept appointments from Bevin. The other two seats were made vacant by the resignations of two Republicans to accept jobs to which they were elected in November: Ryan Quarles, of Georgetown, who was elected agriculture commissioner, and Mike Harmon, of Danville who was elected auditor. 

In addition, two House Democrats - Jim Gooch of Providence and Denny Butler, of Louisville - switched to the Republican Party last month. 

"I think the tide is turning; the tide has already turned in some measure," Bevin said of the growing GOP numbers in the House. "And I think that's going to become increasingly evident in the days, weeks and years ahead."

A 50-50 tie in the Kentucky House would be something of a disaster, as there's no clear law as to who would be in control of the assembly.  It's entirely possible another legislator could flip parties to break the deadlock, but Bevin's made it clear that Democrats no longer have a place in the state. He's apparently drafted the state's most powerful Republican to help, too.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, after privately meeting Wednesday morning with Gov. Matt Bevin, said it’s inevitable that the Kentucky House will flip to Republican control and that he is working to make sure it happens. 

McConnell, a Louisville Republican, said he is working with state Rep. Jonathan Shell, R-Lancaster, to recruit Republican candidates for the four special House elections Bevin has called for March 8 to fill vacancies and for this year’s regular House elections, in which all 100 seats will be contested. 

Democrats now control the House with a 50-46 margin. If Republicans win all four House special elections, the political party makeup in the chamber will be an even 50-50. 

That has never happened before in Kentucky history, and Republicans are trying to wrest control of the state House for the first time since 1921. Republicans now control the state Senate and governor’s office. 

Both McConnell and Bevin said it is a matter of time before Republicans control the House. Bevin said he expects it to happen this year.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article53290090.html#storylink=cpy

We'll see where it goes, but Bevin doesn't seem to be wasting any time in turning Kentucky into another basement dwelling Southern red state.  And in case of a 50-50 tie in the House, Bevin is already laying down markers that he's the decider.

Ironically, Alison Lundergan Grimes is still Secretary of State, and Steve Beshear's son Andy is now state AG, so we'll see how they weigh in.  I'm hoping they do, and soon.

StupidiNews!

• Chinese stocks plummeted for a second day as markets hit limit down within 30 minutes, dropping 7% before trading was suspended for the day.
• Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson is again running for President on the Libertarian party ticket, having garnered one percent of the vote in 2012.
• Iraq is offering to help broker an agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia after Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Tehran over the execution of a prominent Sunni cleric.
• South Korea is resuming propaganda broadcasts into North Korea in response to Pyonyang's nuclear test earlier this week.
• German newspapers are reporting that Volkswagen may offer to purchase more than 100,000 cars sold in the US back from owners as fixing the cars' diesel emissions may prove too costly.