Aww, Michele Beard Bachmann decided to flip-flop and withdrew her Swiss citizenship or whatever. Funny how that works. [Wonkette]

Where was Greg Stumbo months ago when ARH officials reached out to legislators about a certain Medicaid manager? Nowhere to be found. [Chicago Tribune/H-L]

Here’s Mittens Romney hating the gays at Jerry Falwell’s little school. [NPR]

Here’s Mittens Romney being a homophobic prick all the way back in the 1960s. [WaPo]

Let’s talk about how Mittens Romney has flip-flopped left and right about whether or not he hates the gays or loves them. [Wonkette]

Oh, look, it’s the head of the Republicans pretending that the gays haven’t faced persecution, crimes and discrimination. [Politico]

The fates of the American economy and the presidency of Barack Obama are inextricably linked, and both of them hit a bump in April. [The Economist]

Teachers in Boone County have decided to forgo raises in order to keep 46 positions from being cut. [H-L]

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden honored 34 police officers at the White House on Saturday for “extraordinary acts of bravery,” including two cops from Los Angeles who halted a shooting and one from Chicago who intervened during an armed robbery. [Reuters]

U.S. lawmakers have been unusually silent about federal regulators’ decision to allow a Chinese bank to take over 13 bank branches in New York and California, suggesting that they think American banks have much to gain. [The Hill]

Looks like Michele Beard Bachmann’s glittery husband’s line of work is under major scrutiny. [HuffPo]

Haha, so, funny story… A Kentucky Newspaper’s telephone system didn’t even work after it recklessly and confusingly announced paywalls and subscription price increases. Also, Wes Jackson is pushing the paper because of it’s “coupon savings.” These folks are doing a real disservice to the hardworking people employed by the paper and the community in general. [C-J/AKN]

We’re not sure how horses have anything to do with Mother’s Day but whatever. The newspaper seems to think it’s a big deal. [H-L]

Defense spending trumps poverty in the Republican Congress. That’s how it always works with people like Hal Rogers and Ben Chandler. [Politico]

Whattya mean the white supremacists aren’t crazy as hell? Another instance of gun deaths related to neo-Nazis. [Reuters]

Banks are fighting to keep major mortgage reforms from becoming permanent. Specifically the big banks that Morgan McGarvey has profited from. [HuffPo]

Have you seen what the local AFSCME labor union in Louisville is doing to the Metro Parks whistleblower? [The 'Ville Voice]

Of course income inequality has warped our political system. That’s not going to change any time soon. [NYT]

How desperate is Pikeville University for cash? Paul Patton got both Greg Stumbo and Rand Paul to keynote. [Floyd County Times]

Now Jack Conway says Richie Farmer “appears” to have abused the public trust? HAHAHAHA. [WHAS11]

Mitch McConnell wet himself and started crying when A Kentucky Newspaper wrote an editorial about how, you know, much off a butt cramp he is. [C-J/AKN]

Let’s just try pretending it’s not hilarious that Michele Beard Bachmann has endorsed Mittens Romney. Would would her glitter queen husband, Mary Kay… er… Marcus… think of that? [Wonkette]

You can’t even just be in your own neighborhood in Lexington these days without being shot dead. [H-L]

One in seven senior citizens faces the threat of hunger. Even in Kentucky. It’s not something you should be ignoring. [HuffPo]

“60 Minutes” will profile the case of corrupt former Whitley County Sheriff Lawrence Hodge. Yet another embarrassing moment on the national state for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. [WKYT]

It’s tough not to roll your eyes when “leaders” get together to exchange ideas for transforming the economy of Eastern Kentucky. [H-L]

Do you feel safer now? The House of Representatives passed cybersecurity legislation Thursday aimed at protecting American companies from hackers who steal intellectual property. [HuffPo]

Greg Stumbo’s little redistricting plan? The Kentucky Supreme Court reiterated that it was unconstitutional. [C-J/AKN]

While we’ve always thought of Denise Harper Angel as a yes man and lackluster legislator, it’s tough to hit her on returning a campaign contribution that’s above the maximum. Four months isn’t that big of a deal when it comes to backwater Kentucky politics. At least she returned it. [Curt Morrison]

You can’t even make dinner in Lexington these days without almost getting shot in the head. [WLEX18]

New research suggests that global warming is causing the cycle of evaporation and rainfall over the oceans to intensify more than scientists had expected, an ominous finding that may indicate a higher potential for extreme weather in coming decades. [NYT]

It’s hilarious watching the mouth-breathers freak out because the Obama Campaign is mentioning the death of Osama bin Laden. Can you imagine what would happen if a teabagger had gotten the guy? Or if Dubya had done so? [Wonkette]

Urgent circumstances did not exist for Lexington police to enter an apartment without a warrant in 2005, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled Thursday. [H-L]

Awww, let’s all pretend that the entire world doesn’t know Faux News is a homophobic cesspool of urine and feces. [HuffPo]

Here’s your chance to win a copy of The Kentucky Derby. It’s all about the Run for the Roses becoming America’s premier sporting event. [Page One]

It’s kind of a sad day for teabaggers. Stephen Colbert’s SuperPAC out-raised and has more cash in the bank than Ron Paul’s. [ABC News]

The guy who didn’t give Sarah Lynn Cunningham her cash in the whistleblower case against the Metro Sewer District in Louisville was finally disbarred. You’ll absolutely want to read this story for Tom Riner’s creepy quote. [C-J/AKN]

The Lundergan Family brought President Bill Clinton back to Kentucky today and everyone in Lexington is still freaking out. [H-L]

That welfare recipient drug testing law in Georgia? Mmm hmm, it was supported by bad research. Somebody call Lonnie Napier’s hair dye and let it know. [HuffPo]

What would you do if your home, place of employment and entire community were wiped off the face of the earth by a tornado? Recovery in Eastern Kentucky will take a long time and only the Red Cross remains on the ground supporting the people who most need it. [Click Here To Give]

Today the White House announced that several schools in Kentucky are U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools: Rosa Parks Elementary School, Lexington; Georgetown Middle School, Georgetown; Richardsville Elementary School, Bowling Green. [Press Release]

Just like Greg Stumbo originally pretended that he didn’t know Kelly Flood and she pretended that she hated him because she’s friends with his ex-wife, he’s being less than honest in this situation. He most certainly did sit down with Republicans in the Senate and made promises to get what he wanted. [C-J/AKN]

Barack Obama’s top advisers are making a mid-“core” correction in their attacks on Mitt Romney — with a little nudge from Bill Clinton, who is finding a niche as an Obama campaign whisperer and fundraiser. [Politico]

Did you hear? Lexington Mayor Jim Gray is giving people money to put on hot pants and spread glitter everywhere. [WKYT]

Thomas Massie continues to insinuate that he’s been endorsed by Geoff Davis. He wanted desperately for Davis to endorse Webb-Embarrassment so he could get Liberty Christ to endorse him. That will likely happen now. [Head - Desk]

HAHAHA! PEE ALERT! Wingnut mouth-breathers are furious that Mittens Romney is going to bring his mormon cult games to Jerry Falwell’s pretend university. [Wonkette]

Poverty in America: Defining the New Poor. You should probably read this and give it some deep thought. [NPR]

Mouth-breather/evolution deniers are advancing their “cause” under the guise of free inquiry. But it’s a bunch of monkey kabuki. [The Economist]

The police chief in the Trayvon Martin case is stepping down. This means basically everyone on the case has had to quit because of being awful. [HuffPo]

A Bowling Green doctor says the Kentucky House Speaker should stop pretending he knows what the majority of physicians, nurses, and dentists thinks regarding a prescription drug bill. [WKU Public Radio]

What would you do if your home, place of employment and entire community were wiped off the face of the earth by a tornado? Recovery in Eastern Kentucky will take a long time and only the Red Cross remains on the ground supporting the people who most need it. [Click Here To Give]

Now officials say it’s just a rumor that Calumet Farm is being sold. Did Paulick get it wrong? Ruh ro. [H-L]

Lexington television stations are basing their reports on the original story we linked early this morning. [WKYT]

Oh, cute, here’s a nice little story about Kenyans involving President Barack Obama’s father. It’s sure to send racist mouth-breathers into a tailspin. [BBC]

Greg Fischer ran on a platform of JOBS, JOBS, JOBS. Unfortunately for him, his signature Ohio River Bridges Debacle moves thousands upon thousands of jobs out of Louisville. [The 'Ville Voice]

Bogota, New Jersey, police officer Regina Tasca responded to a call about a young man who was being erratic. She was supposed to transport him to the hospital. Two of her fellow officers, though, thought they were more supposed to jump on him and kick him in the head and shit — you know, the law! Tasca jumped in and managed to pry the officers off the young man. What do you suppose has happened since? A commendation, maybe? Definitely a commendation right? [Wonkette]

If Greg Fischer is pushing a piece of legislation, you know it’s 100% flawed and should be immediately scrapped. [WFPL]

A State Senate panel put David Williams’ vetoed road projects into the transportation budget. Which means the cat fight will never end. [H-L]

Whattya mean another mouth-breathing Republican is spewing Anti-Semitic tripe? Comparing smoking bans to Hitler’s “Jewish Stars.” Jesus H. Christ people are dumb as hell. Republican leadership needs to own up to these shenanigans and address them head-on, unlike Eric Cantor. [HuffPo & More HuffPo]

The 20 best small towns in America? None of them are in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, according to this list. [Smithsonian Magazine]

Here’s what President Barack Obama had to say about the Buffett Rule last night: The President proposed the Buffett Rule to ensure a very basic principle of fairness: millionaires shouldn’t pay less in taxes as a share of their income than middle class families pay. The President believes our system must ask the wealthiest to pay their fair share, while protecting 98 percent of Americans from seeing their taxes go up at all. And we can’t accept the Ryan Republican approach that hands out massive tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans at the expense of investing in the things we need to grow our economy, create jobs and help the middle class. In the next few weeks, Members of Congress will get a chance to vote on the Buffett Rule, and show the American people whether they are willing to make sure the middle class gets a fair shake. We urge Members to vote for this common sense approach. [Press Release]

As you sit around this year wondering why your butthole is burning? It’s not just because you weigh 350 pounds and have roids the size of a cat. It’s because of this placement agent/okay for corruption bill that Frankfort has passed. If Steve Beshear wasn’t bought and paid for, he’d veto the shit out of that mess. [BGDN]

Guess which country tops the ten spending the most on health care. [HuffPo]

Ruh ro! Here comes more corruption. Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway has ruled that board members of Buffalo Trace Area Development District have violated Kentucky’s Open Meetings Act related to a vote taken on February 21. [Ledger Independent]

Here’s more about that old man in Knox County who wanted to assplode everything because Jesus or something. [WKYT]

People who discount James Carville’s advice end up with on their face. He’s right about health care reform. He’s the reason Bill Clinton won. Ask Jerry Lundergan about his political acumen. [Politico]

The Senate’s version of the state highway construction plan would put $372 million worth of projects in the district of Senate President David Williams in the next six years. You don’t find out how much cash Greg Stumbo is throwing at Floyd County, where he absolutely does not live (Hello! I’ve been in his home – he doesn’t live there), until the end of the article. Let’s just say the outrage at Williams is feigned. [Tom Loftus]

For-profit colleges would be subject to stiffer oversight under a bill that has cleared the state legislature on Thursday and now heads to Gov. Steve Beshear for consideration. Still no mention about why Jack Conway is wet for for-profit colleges. [H-L/AP]

OMG! Can you believe they let black people vote?! And sometimes allow them to register to vote?! THE HORROR! [Wonkette]

You know you need a Friday morning pee alert. And you know you’ve been wondering why Michelle Duggar has so many damn kids (and how she walks around without her, ahem, convenience store falling out). It’s because she’s dumb as hell! Says there needs to be more children because the world needs more joy. And – get this – overpopulation is a lie. HAHAHA. [HuffPo]

A Frankfort man was arrested late Thursday evening after a 12-hour standoff with the po-leece. Nope, it wasn’t Julian Carroll. [WLEX18]

Finally, Stumbo lives most of the time in Lexington. Yes, he has a home in Prestonsburg, which is his legal address, and as House speaker, has to commute to Frankfort frequently. He had to be in Frankfort full-time during the four years he was attorney general and his daughter started school in Lexington.

Still, to understand the coal industry’s choke hold on a region that must export its best and brightest, one might start by asking why a mountain politician feels compelled to brag about living on an old strip mine when he lives on an old horse farm.

Ouch?

Greg will probably threaten to burn the paper to the ground in 3, 2…

FRANKFORT – A smart and stoic old Roman pol, who knew something about both life and legislatures, told us centuries ago we should neither dread our last day, nor long for it. But with end times upon the 2012 General Assembly, it isn’t hard to dread the session’s last six late-hour days, yet long for an end to the winter’s weary labor.

Such is usually the mood of a session’s penultimate week. That’s when the stale air of too many packed committee meetings contrasts with the arrival of an open, fresh spring, which came early, spectacularly so, this year. Even youngsters in the process look pale and bunker-bound and ready for air. Lawmakers going from the Annex to the Capitol more and more walk outside, instead of taking the underground tunnel between buildings.

But atmospherics aside, let’s see where the ’12 session stands.

Hanging out there unresolved — expectedly so, since it’s usually the year’s last real order of business — is the issue that will largely define Kentucky’s next two years: The $19.5 billion state budget. The Senate passed its version of the biennial spending plan Thursday. The House forwarded its own a couple of weeks ago, taking off from a budget the governor submitted way back in January.

Most of the big changes made by the Senate are aimed at reducing the state’s authorized bonded indebtedness.  The governor’s original proposal included $968 million in debt. That was reduced to $552 million by the House. The Senate bill shrinks that amount even further, to $391 million.

Read the rest after the jump…

The House and Senate bills are, at bottom, chamber statements of priorities. Their divergences map a starting point for hard bargaining next week. The final budget will be negotiated between chamber leaders, in a conference committee free to find compromise on those differences– with even small ones magnified in a budget facing major cuts this year, on top of earlier deep cuts last year, which themselves came after cuts on top of cuts, ten rounds altogether till now, as the grim years of the Great Recession hopefully fade and future budgets won’t be slash-and-burn.

It’s a recipe for all-nighters in the Capitol, as the session’s last hours tick down.

Elsewhere, other major bills too face their day of reckoning, in this coming week of up-or-down decisions.

Close to resolution, if not yet fully signed, sealed and delivered, is a so-called Pill Mill Bill, designed to deal with an epidemic of prescription-painkiller abuse that, in addition to killing chronic pain, kills a thousand Kentuckians a year, more than die on state highways. Pill mills are clinics, often with out-of-state ownership by non-physicians, that prescribe powerful, legal painkillers with only cursory physical examination and few questions asked.

Both the House and the Senate have advanced legislation dealing with the problem. But they’ve differed on one key element — which state agency would oversee the statewide prescription monitoring system, the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting system known as KASPER. This week, though, key lawmakers in both chambers said an agreement had been reached on a compromise that would clear the way for what one leader called ‘landmark’ legislation.

Lawmakers say they know they’re walking a thin line here. They want to crack down on shady operators mostly out to profit by offering a legal-drug spigot for addicts and abusers. But they don’t want to hamstring or intimidate legitimate medical practitioners helping folks with a real medical need. They’ve approached this bill thoughtfully and cautiously, and indications are the two chambers’ cooperative work on this major issue will soon bear fruit.

Meanwhile, a bill to fight Kentucky’s other (though illegal) drug scourge – methamphetamine – resumed its halting progress through the legislative process. A bill that would limit the amount of cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine Kentuckians could buy monthly and yearly without a prescription passed a House committee this week and went to the full House. Pseudoephedrine, a common decongestant, is a precursor used in cooking meth, an illegal form of speed that has ravaged some Kentucky communities, mainly in rural areas.

The bill ran into the same snag in the House panel that bogged it down in the Senate before that chamber finally passed it: If you’re going to restrict sales at all, how much is a reasonable amount for law-abiding families to be allowed?

The bill as now written would let Kentuckians buy as much as 7.2 grams of pseudoephedrine in one month and 24 grams, in pill form over the counter, in any one year. More than that would require a prescription. (It’s important to note that gel caps and liquid pseudoephedrine are excluded from the limit because making meth from liquid forms is difficult and unlikely).

To put this limit in perspective, a generic 48-count box of pseudoephedrine, with a standard 30-milligram dosage, contains 1.44 grams of the medicine.

Earlier in this year’s session, lawmakers were looking at a bill that would have required a doctor’s prescription for virtually any cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine. That idea, resurrected from a grisly death last session, met heavy resistance again this year, including an expensive and expansive industry-backed ad campaign that saturated the airwaves – a campaign that continues, since the industry group opposes even the diluted restrictions.

The scaled-back measure’s next step is the full House, where at this writing early Friday it was not yet posted for consideration by the full chamber.

Meanwhile, here’s the late-week status of some other headline bills:

The University of Pikeville, now a private college, had sought admission to the state’s publicly-funded system, in part to increase educational-attainment levels in the Appalachian region. Resistance to that idea – based largely on its likely fiscal impact at a time when existing state schools face spending cuts — led to the proposal being withdrawn.

It was replaced with an amended bill to provide scholarships for mountain students to attend existing colleges, financed with multi-county coal severance tax funds. The measure passed the House. But the Senate budget doesn’t fund the initiative. Whether that comes up in the budget conference, we’ll see. Indications are it may.

Across the Third Floor, a bill aimed at widespread dissatisfaction with Jefferson County’s student-assignment plan (usually just called busing, a court-ordered attempt to eliminate vestiges of racial segregation and promote diversity in the state’s largest school system) passed the Senate along solid party lines, after pointed debate. In a nutshell, the bill would allow parents to enroll their children in the neighborhood school nearest their home rather than seeing them bused to sometimes-distant locations.

That bill’s prospects in the in the House are unlikely, at best. Its Senate sponsor conceded (and House leaders agreed) it has virtually no chance in that chamber this session. But advocates say the issue will remain live and important, and this year’s debate was valuable for spotlighting it.

Finally, constitutional amendments are still loose in the process, waiting for the chambers to settle on as many as four (the legal maximum) to be sent to voters in November. Though several are out there, most have narrow or limited impact. But one with broad repercussions is a Senate proposal the House has said it’s receptive to, which would update and revamp legal guidelines for legislative redistricting, a problem that has bedeviled this session, and whose consequences are still being felt.

The redistricting amendment has passed the Senate, and at this writing awaits what the House will do.

And the most nepotistic member of Congress award goes to… Daddy Christ Ron Paul! And you know the apple didn’t far fall from the tree. [Wonkette]

HAHAHA! Frankfort reconsidering the death penalty in Kentucky? Hahaha. Right. Like that will happen. [H-L]

Would moving this drug monitoring system to Jack Conway’s office make it easier for him to alert his brother to upcoming drug raids? [C-J/AKN]

Having Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell headline a night celebrating bipartisan compromise is like. . . oh, Tupac and Biggie releasing a duet. [WaPo]

Mitch McConnell wants child labor to be a good thing on farms. Can’t be having the Messicans, right? Might as well have children. [WKU Public Radio]

Have you seen this photo of Greg Stumbo hollering on the House floor about pain clinics? Oh, the jokes we should be making right now. [Courier & Press/Gleaner]

Did you hear? The cat-licks think religion is under threat because common sense women don’t want their lady parts controlled by some pervert priest. So they’re holding some kind of mouth-breather rally in Lexington. [H-L]

If you elect not to live in the Lieutenant Governor’s housing provided, you shouldn’t get to pocket $30,000. [WKYT]

Like a candle in a howling gale, optimism about North Korea is hard to keep alight. In negotiating with the outside world, Kim Jong Un turns out to be a chip off the old block. Naturally, Republicans want to focus on keeping women subservient and killing health care reform in favor of making the rich richer. [The Economist]

If you live in Lexington, the land of teabagger grifters continually opening failed bars, you should probably just run from all the gunmen like this guy did. [WLEX18]

The Florida state attorney quits the investigation into Trayvon Martin’s murder as that backwater state studies its ‘stand your ground’ law and a bunch of paranoid white guys are defending the murder. [HuffPo & More HuffPo]

Candy Barr sent out some silly release about Ben Chandler and “Obamacare” this morning that was about as embarrassing as his candidacy. [Press Release]

“If the press accounts are correct it’s just another study. I told you, I don’t need a study, I live up there. I didn’t commission it and I don’t put much faith in it. But according to press reports, if they are correct, all they’re saying is, they are recommending the same old things that led to the failures they recognize,” he says.

Greg has never lived in that house on the mountain. He merely visits when it’s convenient.

While not as bad as Ruth Ann Palumbo pretending to live where she’s registered, Greg still ought to stop acting like he lives in the mountains. He just owns a home there.

During the 2007 gubernatorial campaign, the furniture was still covered in plastic, the laundry facilities had never been used and the plumbing didn’t work. We were at the golf course recently and people there rarely if ever see Greg.