Bluegrass Beacon | Bluegrass Institute

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Established in 2003

Bluegrass Beacon

The Bluegrass Beacon is a commentary addressing a wide range of topics written by the Bluegrass Institute's President Jim Waters. Syndicated by numerous news outlets across the state, Waters brings an understandable and passionate perspective to some of the most pressing public policy topics within Kentucky. His goal is to both educate and persuade Kentucky citizens to face head on the challenges faced by our great state through the implementation of free market principles.

201

Items

10/4/24

What Amendment 2 won’t do, opponents ignore

3/14/24

Education choice saving Arizona millions

11/6/23

Energy one of the three ‘E’s’ of Kentucky campaigns

10/17/23

Anticompetitive certificate of need laws: Wrong prescription with serious side effects

8/26/23

More for taxpayers means more for government, too

8/2/23

Celebrating Calvin Coolidge: An overlooked above-average president

7/23/23

Growing mountain of evidence confirms denying parental choice the wrong song for Kentucky

7/5/23

Kentucky’s education system: Is it time to declare a State of Emergency?

5/14/23

Come-from-behind wins aren’t just for horse races

4/15/23

Court’s ruling: A disguised blessing?

4/10/23

School choice, school politicking and public school legislation

4/2/23

Let’s refocus on education

3/24/23

Changing policy, saving lives

3/18/23

Sound policy, not divisive politics, must be Kentucky’s priority

3/10/23

Legislators stepping up, want government to step back from collecting union dollars

3/6/23

Bill to end anti-competitive barrel tax ‘a positive start’

2/24/23

‘Abundance of caution’ appropriate concerning donors’ privacy

2/19/23

Get ready, stay ready for ESG attempts

2/12/23

Know much about Black history?

2/3/23

Eliminating occupational tax is the key to local tax reform

1/29/23

Symphony of spending off-key, full of wrong notes

1/13/23

State of the Commonwealth: Getting stronger due to free-market policies, not gubernatorial politics

1/3/23

What a difference a word makes

12/24/22

Naughty to nice: A gift idea for UofL

12/20/22

Bias against charter schools requires independent authorizers

12/9/22

Ball is in General Assembly’s court to stop higher gas taxes

12/9/22

Districts must follow law giving citizens access to school curriculum

11/21/22

With midterm elections over, 2023 moves into the spotlight

10/23/22

School choice and legacies

10/3/22

‘Refundable’ tax credits wrong policy for boosting signature industries

9/28/22

Some school districts hiking taxes despite rising property values, revenues

9/21/22

Best practices for a better Kentucky: More work, less welfare

9/12/22

Student-debt cancellation order: Bad policy, overtly political

9/5/22

End practice of using sick-day benefit to spike pensions

8/31/22

Paying unions: Recurring opt-in requirements protect public workers

8/22/22

It’s back to (nonpublic) school for thousands of students

8/8/22

Report confirms need for reforms in Newport schools, more options for parents

8/1/22

Inflation no reason to lose ground on pension progress

7/17/22

Calm inflation fears: Favor meaningful policies

7/12/22

‘American Birthright’ a model for Ky standards do-over

7/3/22

Educational freedom surges among Supremes

6/18/22

Best practices for a better Kentucky: Keep ‘rainy day’ fund pedal to the medal

6/10/22

Best practices for a better Kentucky: Managing debt

5/29/22

Big Biz, Big Govt: Voters are wary

5/15/22

Biden’s political hacks won’t stop charter schools’ growth

5/10/22

Higher gas taxes not needed for unprecedented investment in Kentucky’s highways

4/29/22

Kentucky’s education results: Claim doesn’t match facts

4/24/22

Not all gridlock thwarts legislative achievement

4/18/22

Not all superintendents oppose school choice

4/8/22

Bolstered reserves, lower tax burden increase Kentucky’s competitiveness

3/27/22

Flat rates work for tithes, taxes

3/22/22

‘We need more jam’

3/14/22

Legislation funds, adds authorizers for public charter schools

3/4/22

Liberty-boosting-and-busting moves, movers and shakers

2/27/22

Well-designed rainy day policy an umbrella for reserve funds

2/20/22

Black students benefit in charter-school states: When will Kentucky become one?

2/13/22

‘Double jeopardy’ tax policy: Fix it or end it

2/6/22

Budget belies big spenders’ misleading claims, provides funding for teacher raises

1/14/22

Tis the season for true tax reform

12/26/21

Nothing like a storm to bring us together

12/11/21

Poor district’s approach to teaching reading bears dramatic results, worth emulating

12/6/21

Stakes are too high to deny school choice, competition

11/21/21

Reform current pension benefits, ensure systems' future survival

11/15/21

Solid recovery a roadblock for gas-tax hike

11/10/21

Rental car companies attempt to manipulate tax policy, drive up competitors’ costs

10/31/21

School choice’s legacy: Segregation or integration?

10/17/21

Facts don’t mesh with more-money better-education myth

10/1/21

Pension-surplus funds not meant to be spent on higher benefits

9/26/21

Don’t hinder solar’s promise, farmers’ property rights

9/10/21

Special session should focus on less – and better – government

9/3/21

Count your legal and pension blessings, and respond rightly

8/29/21

Could constitutional amendment help balance power in Frankfort?

8/22/21

The mask wars: Local choice better than Frankfort’s coercion

8/8/21

Legislative chicanery aids harmful policies

8/1/21

Pension reform: Will past performance be the best predictor of future behavior?

7/21/21

Teaching Reading: Thank God for Mississippi’s approach

7/21/21

Teaching Reading: Thank God for Mississippi’s approach

7/21/21

Less CRT, more ABCs?

7/6/21

Washington’s gravy train slowing Kentucky’s recovery

6/25/21

Lawsuit uses tax dollars to sue taxpayers

5/23/21

Kentucky not growing up to its potential

5/22/21

Competition via innovation trumps regulation by limitation

5/22/21

How much is enough?

5/22/21

Incompetence on the loose in Frankfort

4/27/21

Liberty is not a luxury

4/17/21

School choice will help ‘step up’ Ky’s education game

4/12/21

Session featured Override-O-Rama, last-day spendalooza

4/8/21

Tax-hiking zealots’ Plan B: Sneaky legislative gimmicks

3/28/21

HB 249: Slimy fat in a slippery pot

3/21/21

Proponents of gas-tax hike running on empty

3/14/21

Opponents’ fibs falter in view of school choice facts

3/7/21

Protect journalists, activists from vindictive lawsuits

2/28/21

Amend education bill, get kids back to school

2/18/21

Nothing complicated about this pension plan

2/9/21

Learning pods: Retro, yet innovative, school choice

1/31/21

New progressive pension plan positive for future teachers

1/22/21

New year, same old unemployment system

11/8/20

Denying charter schools ‘a form of institutional racism’

10/31/20

More than 90,000 jobless claims unresolved despite $17 million no-bid contract

10/29/20

Return ‘balance’ to ‘balance of power’

10/13/20

‘Clear and convincing’ missing from proposed amendments on Kentucky's ballot

9/11/20

Private broadband investment key to sturdy long game

8/28/20

Legislators must limit scope of emergency executive power

8/21/20

Unmask COVID-19 funding for states

8/21/20

Current environment provides opportunity to advance school choice

8/14/20

Return to bustling economy rather than turning to D.C.

8/11/20

COVID-19 crisis: A terrible thing to waste

7/30/20

Let parents use SEEK dollars for online learning options

7/24/20

Court affirms small program, fuels national movement

7/3/20

Revisit history standards, lack of school choice

6/13/20

Higher taxes plus more spending equals deeper hole

6/1/20

Tax hikes during the pandemic? Perish the thought!

5/30/20

Governing through COVID-19: Sledgehammer or scalpel?

5/18/20

Beware of the virus of mistrust

5/10/20

Individual liberty strengthens the common good

5/3/20

Congress should quash states’ bailout expectations

4/23/20

Why no seat for taxpayers on new pension board?

4/11/20

Bluegrass Beacon: Kentucky not built to shut down

4/10/20

Bluegrass Beacon: Some government distancing, anyone?

4/8/20

Use COVID-19 crisis to make good spending decisions

3/22/20

Bluegrass Beacon: Quasi-pension bill good but Kentucky Senate could make it great

3/20/20

Bluegrass Beacon: Legislature should dump proposed fuel-tax hike

3/13/20

Bluegrass Beacon: Taxpayers should be wary of changing Kentucky’s Constitution

2/28/20

Bluegrass Beacon: Will governor strike out on board disruption?

2/18/20

Bluegrass Beacon: Frankfort should butt out of private-sector’s purview

2/14/20

Bluegrass Beacon: Ky. should ride Trump’s coattails to school-choice victory

2/9/20

Frankfort buzzes with bipartisan talk of tax hikes

2/8/20

Ousted KBE members take stand; hospital ruse offers ‘myopic malarkey’

2/7/20

Scholarship program offers the right kind of tax credit

1/19/20

Bluegrass Beacon: Pension contract inviolable, not inflexible

1/5/20

Bluegrass Beacon: Will Beshear consider ‘common goals’ of non-teaching taxpayers?

11/24/19

Bluegrass Beacon: Loan for failing hospital a bad deal for taxpayers

11/10/19

School-choice opponents’ hypocrisy unmasked

11/3/19

Ring education’s liberty bell in Kentucky, too

10/27/19

Bluegrass Beacon: The politics of priorities

10/25/19

Bluegrass Beacon: Don’t force taxpayers to finance failing projects

10/22/19

Bluegrass Beacon: Was Jesus a ‘Super Socialist’?

10/11/19

Bluegrass Beacon: Drama of disruptive protests exacerbates testing woes

10/4/19

Bluegrass Beacon: KEA chief’s ditty full of fearmongering, misinformation

9/27/19

Bluegrass Beacon: Will the real AARP please stand up?

9/27/19

Bluegrass Beacon - Lacking: Transparency and judicial good sense

9/1/19

Bluegrass Beacon: Is capitalism to blame?

9/1/19

Bluegrass Beacon: Simple awareness can thwart threats

5/31/19

Bluegrass Beacon: Kentucky’s campaigns: Right-left or rural-suburban?

5/30/19

Bluegrass Beacon: Retrofit Kentucky’s odd, off-year elections

5/24/19

Bluegrass Beacon: Adkins could reap millions in pension windfall

5/17/19

Bluegrass Beacon: Salvation for sins of the pension fathers

5/12/19

Bluegrass Beacon: Opportunity costs of pleasing unions tragically high for charter-less minorities

3/15/19

Bluegrass Beacon: Bigoted anti-choice statement a new low

3/1/19

Bluegrass Beacon: Defective SBDM policy foils education reforms

2/24/19

Bluegrass Beacon – Pension-reform reset: A win-win for teachers, taxpayers

1/25/19

Bluegrass Beacon: Education facelift incomplete without school choice

1/4/19

Bluegrass Beacon: Avoid ‘fatal’ delay-of-game penalties for needed policies

11/16/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Voters got it right … again

11/9/18

Bluegrass Beacon: More government for all!

11/6/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Anti-right-to-work candidate’s confusing contradictions

10/16/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Pledge calls for full pension transparency

10/15/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Dodging pension crisis won’t fix it

9/9/18

Bluegrass Beacon - Critically needed: New pension system for incoming teachers

9/2/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Innovate to make KASPER more Kentucky-friendly

8/23/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Judge hides behind black robe of procedure in pension case

8/20/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Why the political war dance against pension reform?

8/19/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Minor-league fare abounds at ‘Super Bowl of Kentucky politics’

7/27/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Charter opponents don’t have New Orleans to kick around anymore Copy

7/27/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Tax-raising politicians should choose transparency over comfort

7/6/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Union contracts squeeze school districts’ flexibility

6/18/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Abuse cover-up seals deal for JCPS takeover

6/14/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Reforms free able-bodied from welfare’s sticky web

5/27/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Charter opponents don’t have Ohio to kick around anymore

5/22/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Time for an all-out offensive against failure

5/19/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Both parties scheme to soak taxpayers

4/29/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Intimidated conservatives lose focus

4/13/18

Kentucky Wired: A long marriage to a real loser

3/25/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Bill clouds citizens’ access

3/21/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Boosting term limits, busting bad homeschooling bills

3/9/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Pension dispute lacks facts, not funding

3/2/18

Bluegrass Beacon - Eye bill’s focus: Keep online examiners out

3/2/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Real reformers aren’t name callers

2/19/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Inconvenient truth about teachers’ salaries

2/16/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Hit drug program’s PAUSE button

2/11/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Councils just another failed fad of KERA

2/11/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Reforming Medicaid, tweaking elections and overcoming evil

1/29/18

Bluegrass Beacon: Will pension funding engulf entire budget?

1/22/18

Kentucky Can't Wait 100+ Years to Improve Our Schools

1/18/18

Bluegrass Beacon - Fighting open-meetings offenses: Short-term pain, long-term gain

1/12/18

Bluegrass Beacon: How many ways can you say ‘distraction’?

1/5/18

Bluegrass Beacon: New pension paradigm protects taxpayers, benefits workers

12/31/17

Bluegrass Beacon - Education’s holy grail: Achievement, not racial quotas

12/18/17

Bluegrass Beacon: Applying the Yellow Pages test to utility ownership

12/15/17

Bluegrass Beacon: Keep making the General Assembly great again

12/10/17

Bluegrass Beacon: Stay the course despite the scandal

12/8/17

Bluegrass Beacon: Christmas coal, meet government grinches

12/4/17

Bluegrass Beacon - Drug pricing: Bustling marketplace or stifling monopoly?

12/3/17

Bluegrass Beacon: Claims of paltry pension funding ring hollow

11/26/17

Bluegrass Beacon - Clear the air: Reveal retirees’ benefits

10/29/17

Bluegrass Beacon: End mooching off taxpayers for sports stadiums

10/27/17

Bluegrass Beacon: Pension plan cools, but freeze still needed

10/20/17

Bluegrass Beacon: Merit pay for teachers merits consideration

10/14/17

Bluegrass Beacon: Storms squeeze the best out of us

10/12/17

Bluegrass Beacon: Kentucky Wired versus the Big Dig

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