Archive for June, 2010

More on the brink of homelessness, study finds

FRANKFORT — A housing study released Wednesday showed a 31 percent jump in the number of people who say they are on the verge of homelessness in Kentucky in 2010.

The study — administered by the Kentucky Housing Corporation and the Kentucky Interagency Council on Homelessness and other social service groups — also found an increase in the number of homeless in Kentucky from 6,623 in 2010 to 5,999 in 2009. That’s a 9 percent increase.

But the study’s sponsors caution that the 2009 numbers were likely low because the homeless survey that year was conducted during a major ice storm. It was difficult to get homeless surveys to people. This year, there was also a 22 percent jump in the number of homeless surveys that were returned, skewing the 2010 numbers.

The survey was conducted state-wide on Jan. 28. Volunteers went to emergency shelters and also went to other places where the homeless congregate.

How did Research 2000′s Kentucky polling stack up?

Given the questions raised Wednesday about the integrity of polling work done by Research 2000, we’ve produced a chart (click on the image above) that shows how election polling the firm performed for the Herald-Leader since September 2007 fared against the final outcome of those elections.

Of the 13 elections Research 2000 has polled for the newspaper and its television partners, the eventual winner was leading in all but one poll — the 2010 Democratic U.S. Senate primary. In that case, the poll showed Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo leading Attorney General Jack Conway by 7 points two weeks before the election. Conway won by 0.8 percent, a result that was within the poll’s plus or minus 4.5 percentage point margin of error. All other independent polling conducted in the final days of that race also showed Mongiardo ahead by a slim margin.

There are three instances — the 2007 races for agriculture commissioner and secretary of state and the 2010 Republican U.S. Senate primary — in which the margin of victory appears to be outside the poll’s margin of error, although there were large numbers of undecideds reflected in each poll. Those polls correctly showed the eventual winners.

- John Stamper

Paul expounds on farm subsidies, reaches out to conservative Dems

By Jack Brammer and Bill Estep – jbrammer@herald-leader.com

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul tempered his opposition to federal farm subsidies Wednesday, saying he is “much more moderate” on the issue than he has been portrayed in the media.

Appearing on WHAS-AM radio in Louisville with host Mandy Connell, Paul did not repeat a previous blanket assertion against farm subsidies.

“The interesting thing is they start out with that being my position and I’m actually much more moderate than that. You know how moderate I am,” Paul said during the one-hour radio interview.

In a May 10 appearance on Kentucky Educational Television with other Republican primary candidates, Paul said he was not in favor of agricultural subsidies.

“I don’t think federal subsidies of agriculture are a good idea,” he said.

Mongiardo ‘not taking a position’ in U.S. Senate race

Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo said Tuesday that he is “not taking a position” in the U.S. Senate race between Democrat Jack Conway and Republican Rand Paul.

“I have spoken with Jack Conway the week after election day and haven’t heard from him since,” Mongiardo said Tuesday night before speaking at the Community Action Council’s Poverty Forum in downtown Lexington.

Mongiardo, a physician from Hazard, was defeated by Conway in the Democratic primary last month by less than 1 percentage point.

Mongiardo also said he is not making plans for a gubernatorial run next year.

“I just got out of a heated campaign. The last thing on my mind is another campaign,” Mongiardo said.

Gov. Steve Beshear plans to seek a second term in 2011, but he has chosen Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson as his running mate because Mongiardo entered the race for the U.S. Senate seat now held by retiring Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Southgate.

– Karla Ward

Pollster used by Herald-Leader embroiled in dispute with Daily Kos

By John Cheves – jcheves@herald-leader.com

Research 2000, the pollster contracted by the Herald-Leader to gauge voter opinion before every election since the 2007 gubernatorial race, was accused by a major client Tuesday of providing “bunk” data.

Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas said three “statistics wizards” recently approached him with problems they discovered in Research 2000 polling results on his heavily trafficked political blog. After they investigated further at his invitation, Moulitsas said, “extreme anomalies” suggested “quite convincingly that the weekly Research 2000 State of the Nation poll we ran the past year and a half was likely bunk.”

“We were defrauded by Research 2000, and while we don’t know if some or all of the data was fabricated or manipulated beyond recognition, we know we can’t trust it,” Moulitsas wrote on his blog. “Meanwhile, Research 2000 has refused to offer any explanation.”

The liberal blogger fired the pollster earlier this month and said he intends to sue in coming days. His State of the Nation polls tracked the favorable and unfavorable ratings for national elected leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Del Ali, president of Research 2000 in Olney, Md., said he could not respond to the specific allegations Tuesday and referred questions to his attorney, who did not return a call seeking comment.

“I can tell you, we’re fine. What we’re going to reveal, that will be the end of the Daily Kos,” Ali said. “I can say, it has to do with people owing money.”

Paul files belated financial disclosure form

PDF: Paul’s financial disclosure form

By Halimah Abdullah – habdullah@herald-leader.com

WASHINGTON — In the last four months of 2009, Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul’s income as an eye surgeon increased about $116,000 and his rental income dropped by roughly $76,000, according to federal financial filings.

The Secretary of the Senate’s office received Paul’s updated financial disclosure form on June 22 after the Bowling Green ophthalmologist missed a May 17th deadline to report new financial information. Under reporting requirements, candidates are given a 30-day grace period to submit reports detailing their personal financial status.

Paul’s campaign filed a new report shortly after the grace period expired and may now face a $200 late filing fee according to Senate ethics rules.

On the new form, Paul’s income as a physician is listed as $163,000 — up from the $46,143 he reported in September. Paul’s lower income last fall reflects the initial financial strain the ophthalmologist faced when he opened his medical practice, Jesse Benton, Paul’s campaign manager, said earlier this month.

McConnell a ‘yes’ for Fancy Farm, Paul and Conway remain ‘maybes’

FRANKFORT –U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell will be there.

And so will House Minority Leader Jeff Hoover of Jamestown.

But the two U.S. Senate candidates — Republican Rand Paul and Democrat Attorney General Jack Conway — have still not decided whether they will attend Fancy Farm, the annual August political event at St. Jerome Catholic Church in rural western Kentucky.

State pension investment chief is quitting

By John Cheves — jcheves@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The chief investment officer of the Kentucky Retirement Systems has resigned after three years on the job.

Adam Tosh, who joined KRS in 2007, is pursuing new opportunities in “private industry,” the agency said in a prepared statement. Tosh’s final day will be July 16. The statement did not offer more information.

Neither Tosh nor KRS Board Chairman Randy Overstreet immediately returned calls Monday seeking comment.

KRS provides pensions and health insurance for about 88,000 retired state and county employees and state police and their beneficiaries. It has experienced several difficult years, in part because of losses incurred in the economic recession, dropping from $16 billion the month Tosh was hired to less than $11 billion by the end of 2009.

Biden defends stimulus in hot GE production plant

UPDATED at 7:15 P.M.

By Jack Brammer and Bill Estep – jbrammer@herald-leader.com

LOUISVILLE — Vice President Joe Biden rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt and told dozens of GE Appliances and Lighting employees Monday that the federal government’s stimulus package has been good for their company and country.

The Democratic vice president took a shot at critics of the $862 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which Republican U.S. Senate nominee Rand Paul has used as a favored example of excessive government spending.

Backed by Democrats in Congress, the stimulus package includes tax cuts, expansion of unemployment benefits and other social welfare provisions.

“I love these guys who say government should stay out when we’re in deep crisis, like some of the people you’re hearing from in this state and other places,” Biden said to cheers from GE employees.

Biden to tout stimulus in Louisville on Monday

Vice President Joe Biden plans to visit Louisville Monday to discuss how federal stimulus dollars have benefited the state, the White House announced Friday.

Biden will deliver remarks at 11 a.m. at the headquarters of GE Appliances & Lighting. Gov. Steve Beshear and U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Louisville are expected to join him.

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Jack Conway has a scheduling conflict and will not be at Biden’s visit, Conway’s campaign manager, Jonathan Drobis, said. He declined to identify the scheduling conflict.

GE is making a $600 million investment to expand manufacturing production at Appliance Park, the news release said. Its investment is supported by $24.8 million in federal tax credits.

GE Appliance Park already has added more than 100 new employees to meet increased demand for energy-efficient appliances due to federal rebates, the news release said.

With the addition of three new product lines, they plan to add more than 800 jobs through 2013.

- Jack Brammer