Bipartisanship remains elusive

President Obama's first State of the Union address Wednesday night was a "do over." Fresh from the devastating Senate race loss in Massachusetts last week, Obama and team realize they must shift course. Part of that was reiterating the word "bipartisanship" several times. Obama even offered to meet with Republicans.

At the same time, Obama couldn't resist the urge to remind his audience that his predecessor took office with a budget surplus and left him a huge deficit. When the cameras quickly turned to John McCain, you could clearly see him lean over to a colleague and say in an exhausted manner, "Blame Bush." Mr. President, reminding everyone that George W. Bush wasn't the best at math won't help your push for bipartisanship.

This is not to say that this is all Obama's fault. From the day Obama took office, Republicans in Congress have rebuked him at every turn. Sure, they have genuine policy differences with him, but it's no secret that the GOP hierarchy would rather Obama fail with the hope of re-taking the White House in three years. That's politics, but it's also turning off Americans and quickly growing the number of people who call themselves Independents. Meanwhile, the country's problems grow and solutions remain elusive. Republicans might be happy that healthcare reform has been derailed, but medical attention is still expensive and is bankrupting families and governments alike.

Leadership could mean getting party leaders from both sides behind closed doors and figuring a way to give both parties a little of what they want. Maybe Democrats would give up anti-business labor ideas and Republicans could agree to support some limited but meaningful ways to reduce healthcare costs. Both parties might be pleasantly surprised at how a little "win-win" bipartisanship would be received by most Americans. Will it happen? I doubt it.

Is Obama a UK fan or a Kentucky fan?

What an honor it was Tuesday for President Obama to call the UK basketball team and congratulate them for the money it raised for the efforts in Haiti. UK basketball is riding high again at the top of the college basketball world and deserves the president's kudos for another job well done.

As I watched the replay of the call on TV, however, I couldn't help but think about the irony of it. President Obama lost big in Kentucky to John McCain, his environmental policies threaten Kentucky coal, its corresponding low electricity rates and economic competitiveness. Plus, Obama's chief antagonist in the Senate is, of course, Kentucky's Mitch McConnell. To add to the irony, Lexington Congressman Ben Chandler joined the president in the call. Chandler's vote for the liberal and controversial cap and trade bill in the House soiled him badly in his home district and promptly stripped him of his previous "unbeatable" status.

Make no mistake. The call to the UK squad and Coach Cal from Obama was very appropriate (and perhaps a precursor to another congratulatory call later this spring). UK basketball is bigger than politics and is probably at least one thing Governor Beshear and Senator David Williams agree upon. Still, I couldn't help but smile at how the president shined a positive light on Kentucky for a few moments; at the same time, many don't think his environmental priorities are positive for the state in any way.

Note: I wrote this prior to UK's loss to South Carolina on Tuesday night.

Economy-choking laws won't create jobs

Here we are several months after the mega-billion dollar federal stimulus plan and unemployment remains stubbornly high. What was supposed to stimulate job creation has led to no more than a blip on the job front and now there seems to be a renewed interest by President Obama in job creation by the private sector.

The private sector, however, is too busy being wary of Washington. Job creators must keep their eye on Congress because of at least three issues on the White House agenda that are counterproductive to the idea of creating jobs. Business doesn't know yet how much healthcare reform will cost. We're now hearing that the very anti-business "card check" union issue will be back on the front burner soon. And while environmental "cap and trade" appears to be stuck in the mud in Congress, the EPA has moved forward with its own job-choking regulations.

Make no mistake that the results of all three of these issues would be expensive for business. More to the point, all three issues force business to take their eyes off their business of creating products or providing services and helping customers. That's no way to create jobs and as long as these three issues are hovering over business, job growth is likely to remain skittish at best.

Yes, we want clean air. There should be a balance of employer and employee interests in the workplace and healthcare is too expensive. The fact remains, however, that business creates jobs. When you make it harder and more expensive to do business, the jobs won't come. There's no amount of stimulus that will change that.

Sales tax exemptions are expensive

The 2010 Kentucky General Assembly goes into session this Tuesday and money will be the issue. More specifically, the lack of money and how to craft a new two-year budget with the state's coffers reeling from the economic downturn will dominate all talk. The numbers are huge and for simplicity sake, the legislature is looking at a $1 billion deficit. Lawmakers will be forced at some point between now and mid-April to decide to make drastic cuts to existing programs (state employees?) or find more money (tax increases). More than likely, some of both will be the final answer.

One of the state's primary income generators is the 6% sales tax that is applied to most goods we buy. In 2010, the state is budgeted to collect $9.1 billion from the sales tax. According to a story in Sunday's Herald-Leader, however, various sales tax exemptions will mean about $6.9 billion will not be collected this year.

Most people know Kentucky does not tax groceries or prescription drugs, but there are a wide variety of other goods that are not taxed. According to the story, the money lost to sales tax exemptions is rising about seven percent per year, and the Kentucky Dept. of Revenue won't tell what all is covered by exemptions.

As the deficit discussion grows, many are calling for "comprehensive tax reform." While that sounds good and might be a good idea, often times voters consider "tax reform" to be code for "tax increases" and that usually gives lawmakers cold feet. Perhaps another discussion could involve that list of tax exemptions and which ones make sense and which ones are simply political favors. If the exemptions total nearly $7 billion per year, my guess is a billion or so could be found.