We were promised a lot of things. Chief among these was the promise that, if we bought into yet another bailout, none of the corrupt officials who created the subprime mess and the disasters that followed would benefit. Now, the truth has become a national disgrace, and we're only just learning about the AIG part in the largest graft scheme in modern history. One trembles in anticipation of the other frauds still to be uncovered.

The machinations are colorful, though lacking in creativity. Congress, which engineered this fraud, is now feigning outrage. The President, who lobbied it to bipartisan "success," is now pretending to have been misled. The American people share no responsibility for this, as this mountain of pork was created expressly for the benefit of the friends of Congresspersons, with the latter openly betraying the public trust and selling that selfsame trust in the freest black market in the land, The Corruption Carnival on K Street.

But wait, there's more.

Senator Bunning is apparently considering immolation of his career as a "nuclear option," to use news-speak from 2008. Senator Bunning, while I disagree with him about some things, was one of few Republicans to keep a steady non-socialist, anti-"stimulus" platform under both a Republican and a Democratic president. He has done this without regard to his own political future. It is refreshing to see an elected official put principle ahead of personal gain, for a change.

Now, it seems that the GOP is conducting a political assassination in retaliation by trying to keep him from being re-elected. This is similar to Bush and the PA GOP taking out Rep. Pat Toomey in his 2004 primary contest against Arlen Specter. Perhaps Sen. Bunning has found the only way to defeat the neocons: Let them know that they will lose all political power if they drive out the last few conservatives and libertarians.

Why do the good Republicans get chased out of politics? The statist Bush establishment forces them out of their own party.

Big Brother simply will not stop the relentless march toward becoming an all-powerful "Peeping Tom" guild. In Chicago, Mayor Dailey is promising to put a surveillance camera on every corner.

Due to the recent spate of corruption crimes by Chicago politicians, may I suggest that such a plan be scrapped, instead putting cameras in every government office in Chicago. This will help us keep the Windy City free from corruption. After all, government transparency is impossible when one class is given inscrutable power, and why would we want to give such a class unlimited power to spy on us?

The most outrageous aspects of the "stimulus" plan continue to dazzle the taxpayers who will foot the bill. The cost is just crippling to consider. Now, CNET is reporting $7 billion is being spent to subsidize broadband.

So, which part of the new era of imaginary governmental accountability will this broadband plan fulfill?

So I want to be clear about this: We cannot tolerate business as usual -- not in Washington, not in our state capitols, not in America's cities and towns. We will use the new

They're busy in Frankfort doing the "people's business," whatever that euphemism is supposed to mean. Voices are shouting about repealing income tax, raising spending, and everything in between.

I grew up in a GOP household, and I remember a certain pundit remarking in the early 1990's that gridlock wasn't necessarily bad, as that meant more of our freedoms were not being destroyed at any given point in time. I concur, in the broadest sense. So, if gridlock is good, why is a bankrupt government not that much more good? In short, why are we grinding our citizens to dust with more taxes to avoid the wages of economic sin? If the voters cannot impose discipline on a state, should not the creditors be given a chance?

Looking at this rationally and objectively, I am merely asking a question that few are considering. Is this a tragedy or a chance to revoke the illusion of an all-encompassing welfare state? If this is that chance, maybe we should leave the taxes alone (or cut them) and let natural selection apply the iron rule of fiscal accountability to Frankfort and Washington.

The last time I heard the Pledge of Allegiance, it concluded with the words, "with Liberty and Justice for All". But today in Frankfort, the Kentucky House confirmed the new wording, "with Sin Taxes and Government Waste for All", by passing a new budget which includes new taxation on alcohol sales, on top of the hidden taxation that already existed, and a 100% increase in the hidden cigarette tax (on top of the hidden bulk warehouse tobacco sales tax).

This Saturday (Feb 7th) the legislators for the Northern Kentucky area are holding a meeting with constituents. Questions will be taken on a first come first served basis. The event is at 10am in the plaza level cafeteria of the old student center at NKU.

The Libertarian Party of Kentucky intends to be there asking questions. If you would like to join us, please do. More details about the event can be found at our Meetup.com page.

If you are unable to attend, feel free to submit questions to us and we will try to get an answer for you. I will be able to receive questions submitted through our Contact Form, just select "Treasurer-Eric Cranley" from the category drop down list. I will have my Blackberry with me, so you can even submit a question at the last minute.

We hear a lot from Frankfort about soaking Kentucky smokers because of their alleged drain on the Commonwealth's resources. Interestingly enough, a quick perusal of the overdue budget transparency website reveals that an astonishingly small proportion of the money from the tobacco settlement actually goes to smoking prevention.

Surprising amounts of the settlement money go to Spousal Abuse Prevention, Natural Resources Conservation, and Daycare. Daycare? Is that a tobacco-caused illness?

The time has come for Frankfort to stop draining users of a native crop for special projects that have nothing to do with tobacco illness and public health.

If you're a fan of the micro-blogging service Twitter, then make sure to follow us. The account name is lpky.

Right now we're just using it to remind people about upcoming meetings and events, but we also plan to use it to alert people to legislation and other government actions that need a response from concerned citizens.

Yesterday, the Kentucky Court of Appeals struck-down the lower-court ruling which allowed Beshear to "seize" internet domains for gambling websites. Source: http://tinyurl.com/7arvve

In China, the government controls what their people are permitted to see on the internet. Even Google has created a specialized version of their search engine to comply with China's web-filtering.

Why does China filter the internet? They filter political and religious viewpoints contrary to the Communist Party's viewpoints. You can read more about Chinese web-filtering here: http://tinyurl.com/9roduh