TUMBLING TOWARD FUTILITY

The votes on HB 166 (actually HB 144) are in and the damage is done. 66 to 34 votes in the KY House for the dreaded liquor tax hike. [I hope they have factored in provisions for the KY allotment of the President’s Stimulus package to be immediately diverted to Northern KY come May 2nd, otherwise, this side of the river will be one BIG FRIGGIN’ ghost town.]

It’s one small step for simpletons and one giant coffin nail for Northern KY. We’ll await the Senate vote, but here are the 66 assholes who blindly and recklessly offered up this area as a sacrificial lamb to save the budget they themselves screwed up. Oh, and as of today, I am officially declaring myself a Republican (only been Democrat for 20 years):

Royce Adams D-Dry Ridge (traitorous bastard!)
Rocky Adkins D-Sandy Hook
John Arnold D-Sturgis
Eddie Ballard D-Madisonville
Johnny Bell D-Glascow
Thomas Burch D-Lousiville
Mike Cherry D-Princeton
Larry Clark D-Louisville
Hubert Collins D-Wittensville
Leslie Combs D-Pikeville
Will Coursey D-Benton
Jesse Crenshaw D-Lexington
Robert Damron D-Nicholasville (this coward has no email)
Mitchell Denham D-Maysville
Bob DeWeese R-Louisville
Ted Edmonds D-Jackson
Tim Firkins D-Louisville
Kelly Flood D-Lexington
Danny Ford D-Mt. Vernon
Jim Glenn D-Owensboro
Jim Gooch Jr. D-Providence
Derrick Graham D-Frankfurt
Jeff Greer D-Brandenberg
Keith Hall D-Phelps
Richard Henderson D-Jeffersonville
Melvin Henley D-Murray
Charlie Hoffman D-Georgetown
Jeff Hoover R-Jamestown
Dennis Horlander D-Shively
Joni Jenkins D-Shively
Dennis Keene D-Wilder (turncoat!)
Martha King D-Lewisburg
Jimmie Lee D-Elizabethtown
Mary Lou Marzian D-Louisville
Thomas McKee D-Cynthiana (another turncoat!)
Charles Miller D-Louisville
Harry Moberly Jr. D-Richmond
Lonnie Napier R-Lancaster
Rick Nelson D-Middlesboro
Fred Nesler D-Mayfield
Sannie Overly D-Paris
Darryl Owens D-Louisville
Ruth Ann Palumbo D-Lexington
Don Pasley D-Winchester (my great-grandfather’s and Grandfather’s ghosts are coming for your ass Donnie boy!)
Tanya Pullin D-South Shore
Rick Rand D-Bedford (the lead a-hole instigator)
Jody Richards D-Bowling Green
Steven Riggs D-Louisville
Tom Riner D-Louisville
Carl Rollins D-Midway
Charles Siler R-Williamsburg
Dottie Sims D-Horse Cave
John Will Stacy D-West Liberty
Kent Stevens D-Lawrenceburg
Jim Stewart R-Flat Lick (are you kidding me?)
Wilson Stone D-Scottsville
Greg Stumbo D-Prestonburg (the KY Speaker of the House DEACTIVATED his email since yesterday morning - HUGE COWARD!)
Tommy Thompson D-Owensboro
John Tilley D-Hopkinsville
David Watkins D-Henderson
Jim Wayne D-Louisville
Robin Webb D-Grayson
Ron Weston D-Fairdale
Susan Westrom D-Lexington
Brent Yonts D-Greenville

To all the Grape Tree readers, commit these names to memory and make certain to spread the word: help the wine & spirits industry and all of their patrons (that’s you) in giving these folks their pink slips come next Election Day. Whether it is this fall, next fall, or the Fall after that, they are toast, unless the Senate saves them from the biggest blunder of their political careers. And those cowards aren't informed enough to try to illustrate their side of the argument, which to most I've talked to, amounts to a so-called moral argument, not an economic one. Far be it from me to get in the way of salvation, but it's a lot harder to go to church when you can't afford the gas to get there, or cab fare (because you've lost your car) or for a hotel (because you've lost your home). I guess they're gunning for more foreclosures and double-digit unemployment.

My prediction for tax revenue generated by this bill is -50 Million Dollars by years’ end 2010. We’ll see. But us folks working in the biz in NKY will more than likely be in other jobs out of state.