Bruce Lunsford, Democratic Senate candidate from Kentucky, wrote himself a $1 million check the day after the Supreme Court struck down the so-called Millionaire's Amendment of BCRA.

That's the way the system works -- kinda rotten for average non-wealthy folks, which is most of us, but that's the way it is.  For now.

Lunsford should make clear that he's not about keeping it that way, with the Senate resembling an elite country club, and he should sign the Voters First Pledge in support of public financing for Congress.  A tip of the cap to our friends at Campaign Money Watch for sending Lunsford a letter telling him to do so.

Attorney Edward Bonnie published an Op-Ed entitled "Big money's big mouth" yesterday in the Louisville Courier-Journal, making the First Amendment case for publicly financed campaigns:

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that the president of the Kentucky State Senate, David Williams, held a luncheon with 80 attendees, with about half of them lobbyists. At this luncheon, he encouraged the lobbyists to raise money--with a goal of up to $50,000 per person--to elect Republicans to the State Senate:

None of this would be a problem, really, if it weren't such an attempt to skirt the law. As the article notes, lobbyists cannot give to a candidate's campaign or the Senate Republican Caucus Committee, but they can give to the Senate Trust, and their clients can give to the Trust as well as the Caucus Committee, who in turn fund candidates--thus, the law is bypassed through a process that bears more than a passing similarity to money laundering.

Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher, once accused of hiring political supporters for state jobs and indicted for conspiracy, official misconduct and political discrimination, won the GOP primary for a second term Tuesday. Fletcher had a little more than 50 percent of the votes, compared to 2003 when 75 percent of Republicans supported him. Wonder why...

We've been updating you on Ernie Fletcher since the 16-month long investigation into his hiring practices and the first calls for his resignation started. After preemptively pardoning everyone in his administration who might be charged for hiring state employees based on their political affiliation, being arraigned, and more ethical violations, Fletcher managed to struck a deal with Democratic Attorney General Greg Stumbo. The criminal charges against Fletcher were dismissed, on which Stumbo later stated that it was `highly, highly unlikely that the governor would ever stand trial'. Nevertheless, a grand jury report released last November alleged the governor had approved a "widespread and coordinated plan" to skirt state hiring laws.

"Ethically challenged" Fletcher will run against Democrat Steve Beshear in the general election.

Are you reading this blog from work right now?

Last month we told you about the arraignment of Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher.  Accused of hiring political supporters for protected state jobs, Fletcher pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of conspiracy, official misconduct, and political discrimination.

Well, Governor Fletcher has recently reappeared in the news by restricting access to blogs from Kentucky's 34,000 state employees.

Administration officials claim that the move is an effort to curb excessive blog-reading in the workplace, and efficiency experts look favorably on the decision.  In addition to blogs, other categories of websites have been blocked, including humor and sports pages.

But bloggers charge that the censorship is nothing more than a violation of the free speech of those critical of Fletcher's administration.  After Mark Nickolas, owner of the Kentucky-based blog bluegrassreport.org, criticized Fletcher in a New York Times article, 1,000 state employees found that they could no longer access his blog.  A constitutional fight looms ahead:

Undoubtedly, we will continue to hear more in the ongoing debate about the role of blogs in our political landscape.

Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher, accused of using his political influence to maneuver the hiring of several political supporters, was arraigned on Friday.  His lawyer entered pleas of not guilty on misdemeanor charges of consipracy, official misconduct, and political discrimination; Fletcher was in Florida on vacation and did not appear at his own arraignment.

Here's a short story from the Knoxville Times.

Here's a round-up of what happened this week in the states.  Let us know what you think of this in the Comments section -- if you like it and think it's useful, then this will be a weekly feature.

And, as always, if something happened in your state that you don't see here, be sure to let us know.

• California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has missed an awful lot of days at the office during his first term.
  
• A poll commissioned by California Common Cause found that California voters prefer that an independent commission conduct redistricting rather than the Legislature.
  
• Common Cause Pennsylvania is going to court over last summer's suspicious pay raise for state officials.
  
• 72% of registered voters in New York State agree with the statement "state government in New York State is broken and needs to be fixed."
  
• Common Cause New Mexico's Matt Brix has been named to Gov. Bill Richardson's ethics and campaign finance reform task force.
  
• Common Cause Kentucky filed a complaint with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance over Gov. Ernie Fletcher's misuse of a campaign-funded BlackBerry.
• The Atlanta City Council passed legislation, which the mayor then vetoed to great public outrage, allowing themselves to accept free gifts and meals from lobbyists.

Common Cause Kentucky is not going to let an opportunity for reform get away.  Last week Dave told you that Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher had been indicted on several charges of misconduct (among other violations).  

Well, this week, Richard Beliles, the director of Common Cause Kentucky, filed a complaint with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance over Fletcher's misuse of a Republican-funded BlackBerry.

This may seem like a minor thing, but an ethical violation is an ethical violation, and especially when the Governor is under such heavy legal scrutiny, it's important not to let any wrong deed go unnoticed.