For the third year in a row, Kentucky is about to make a law banning synthetic marijuana.
I'll wait right here for a minute while that sinks in. Read the first sentence again if you have to.
Lead sponsor Rep. John Tilley, the House Judiciary chair, seems pretty sure that he finally has a bill that will work. But he is wrong again.
Look up synthetic marijuana on Amazon.com. It is readily available (as is allergy medicine) and inexpensive. The most Tilley's grand scheme will accomplish is to move retailers of synthetic marijuana onto the internet or out of the state. (Hint to lawmakers: that means less sales tax.)
And lest you think anyone will be made safer by this, consider that retailers usually live in or near the communities they serve and can be made to answer for bad or even dangerous products. It's much harder to hold an internet retailer accountable.
So if you want to cost Kentucky jobs and tax revenue and probably even put more people in harm's way, then go ahead. Knock yourself out and support HB 481 and tell your constituents you fought to make them safer.
It's just not true.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Worse than a tax increase
Rep. Alecia Webb-Edgington announced her signing of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge by stating that the "national debt is over $15 trillion and growing because the federal government spends too much of our money, not because it collects too little in taxes."
If she understands that, though, how could Webb-Edgington have voted for six of seven debt-filled House Democrat budget bills prior to this year? Her vote against the current budget bill is a good one, but her track record leaves voters to wonder if it was just an election-year move and whether she would stand strong in Washington D.C. when she hasn't in Frankfort.
The key to winning the Republican party nomination in Kentucky's 4th congressional district this year will be successfully navigating the distance between tea party and establishment Republicans. Alecia already started off the campaign on the wrong foot.
As tea party activists continue to grow their influence in Northern Kentucky, it will be interesting to see what the candidates do to bridge this gap.
If she understands that, though, how could Webb-Edgington have voted for six of seven debt-filled House Democrat budget bills prior to this year? Her vote against the current budget bill is a good one, but her track record leaves voters to wonder if it was just an election-year move and whether she would stand strong in Washington D.C. when she hasn't in Frankfort.
The key to winning the Republican party nomination in Kentucky's 4th congressional district this year will be successfully navigating the distance between tea party and establishment Republicans. Alecia already started off the campaign on the wrong foot.
As tea party activists continue to grow their influence in Northern Kentucky, it will be interesting to see what the candidates do to bridge this gap.
Thursday, March 08, 2012
Are you a Red Star Republican?
Current leadership of the Republican Party of Kentucky is now apparently excluding certain active Republicans from party activity with the use of a "Red Star" next to their names on voter lists.
There is nothing in party rules that allows such exclusion. Some insiders point to the preamble to party rules which states: "Devotion to our Party’s principles and loyalty to its candidates are and should be the only qualifications for holding any position in the Republican Party."
If that is what the establishment types are hanging their hat on to start kicking people out of the party, they are doing it arbitrarily. Repairing selective application of this "rule" would require expulsion of the entire GOP state Executive Committee, which voted in 2010 to not support the Republican nominee in the state Senate's 2nd district. If there is a specific statute of limitations on this imaginary "loyalty clause," it should be specified immediately. Otherwise, we might wonder if it applies to the state Senate President. A Republican, he supported Democratic Governor Paul Patton's re-election in 1999.
There is nothing in party rules that allows such exclusion. Some insiders point to the preamble to party rules which states: "Devotion to our Party’s principles and loyalty to its candidates are and should be the only qualifications for holding any position in the Republican Party."
If that is what the establishment types are hanging their hat on to start kicking people out of the party, they are doing it arbitrarily. Repairing selective application of this "rule" would require expulsion of the entire GOP state Executive Committee, which voted in 2010 to not support the Republican nominee in the state Senate's 2nd district. If there is a specific statute of limitations on this imaginary "loyalty clause," it should be specified immediately. Otherwise, we might wonder if it applies to the state Senate President. A Republican, he supported Democratic Governor Paul Patton's re-election in 1999.
If you don't support such shenanigans used to personally attack fellow Republicans despite (and arguably because of "devotion to our Party's principles", you just might be a Red Star Republican.
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
Get this camel's nose out of Kentucky's tent
Governor Steve Beshear has been scrambling around since passage of ObamaCare trying to find a way to implement the federal takeover of health care in Kentucky.
He has found it and stopping him is up to you.
Buried at the bottom of the House budget bill is language to resurrect the Insurance Coverage, Affordability and Relief to Small Employers (ICARE) program, started under Governor Ernie Fletcher despite opposition from some conservatives at the time. Fortunately, the health insurance subsidy scheme was soon defunded by the legislature despite Gov. Beshear's campaign promise to expand it.
Beshear is back with an eye toward bigger spending. Much bigger spending.
If you happen to be combing through HB 265 looking for differences between the old and the new ICARE, there are several but one big one that jumps out if you are concerned about stopping ObamaCare from inching its way into our state.
On page 176 of the bill, under the label "Section 6(2)," you will find the following language: "The department shall work with the Office of Health Policy within the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to review the availability of federal funds for the ICARE Program."
The available federal funds mother lode is ObamaCare. Beshear has already telegraphed his interest in implementing ObamaCare administratively and this would open the door widely for him in the name of paying for bigger state government with federal funds.
ICARE should also be removed from the budget bill because we don't need another government redistribution racket making health insurance more "fair," but stopping ObamaCare is the reason with more zeros behind it.
Call your legislators.
He has found it and stopping him is up to you.
Buried at the bottom of the House budget bill is language to resurrect the Insurance Coverage, Affordability and Relief to Small Employers (ICARE) program, started under Governor Ernie Fletcher despite opposition from some conservatives at the time. Fortunately, the health insurance subsidy scheme was soon defunded by the legislature despite Gov. Beshear's campaign promise to expand it.
Beshear is back with an eye toward bigger spending. Much bigger spending.
If you happen to be combing through HB 265 looking for differences between the old and the new ICARE, there are several but one big one that jumps out if you are concerned about stopping ObamaCare from inching its way into our state.
On page 176 of the bill, under the label "Section 6(2)," you will find the following language: "The department shall work with the Office of Health Policy within the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to review the availability of federal funds for the ICARE Program."
The available federal funds mother lode is ObamaCare. Beshear has already telegraphed his interest in implementing ObamaCare administratively and this would open the door widely for him in the name of paying for bigger state government with federal funds.
ICARE should also be removed from the budget bill because we don't need another government redistribution racket making health insurance more "fair," but stopping ObamaCare is the reason with more zeros behind it.
Call your legislators.
They want more special sessions in Frankfort
Senate Bill 7, filed Monday by Senate President David Williams, would move the candidate filing deadline to late April and primary election day to late August. The supposed rationale is to increase accountability for legislators' actions in election year legislative sessions.
It won't work that way.
What this bill will do is push more real legislative action into special sessions in the summer months after the filing deadline. Look at how uneventful most sessions are through the month of January and how the current one remained so as the redistricting process dragged things out this year.
The filing deadline should happen at the same time we want legislators to start working. Move it to the first of January and we will stop the even year practice of legislators sitting on their hands in January. That way, they might even get to work on the budget earlier and take away much of the need for expensive special sessions. Otherwise, we will only move more lawmaking activity to later in the year.
It won't work that way.
What this bill will do is push more real legislative action into special sessions in the summer months after the filing deadline. Look at how uneventful most sessions are through the month of January and how the current one remained so as the redistricting process dragged things out this year.
The filing deadline should happen at the same time we want legislators to start working. Move it to the first of January and we will stop the even year practice of legislators sitting on their hands in January. That way, they might even get to work on the budget earlier and take away much of the need for expensive special sessions. Otherwise, we will only move more lawmaking activity to later in the year.
Friday, March 02, 2012
Your next Kentucky sneeze may cost you
Kentucky's Senate Republicans passed a ridiculous Snot tax compromise bill that will require some people (not many, they promise, and surely not you) to get a doctor's prescription before they can get all the allergy medicine they need.
They are already talking about needing to come back next year and to tighten the current restrictions so that even you will have to get a prescription.
Can't they just settle on letting Senator Stivers and Senator Williams travel around to WalMarts and yell at people who appear to have allergies? This bill doesn't change anything in terms of methamphetamine production and just encourages the nanny state inclinations of politicians with too much time on their hands.
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Thursday, March 01, 2012
Let's keep the Snot tax dead
The Kentucky state Senate took their tweaked Snot Tax bill and attempted to bring it to a floor vote today but stop short when sufficient votes for passage could not be found.
The new bill would still send allergy sufferers to their doctor for expensive prescriptions. The only difference is that it would also set up a bureaucracy to monitor in state purchases in a ridiculous attempt to limit the production of methamphetamine.
A Senate Republican source who asked to remain anonymous to avoid punishment from leadership said the bill remained seven votes short of passage despite a full-court press.
The new bill would still send allergy sufferers to their doctor for expensive prescriptions. The only difference is that it would also set up a bureaucracy to monitor in state purchases in a ridiculous attempt to limit the production of methamphetamine.
A Senate Republican source who asked to remain anonymous to avoid punishment from leadership said the bill remained seven votes short of passage despite a full-court press.
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House panel votes to keep surgery expensive
Surgery in a hospital is much more expensive than surgery in a doctor's office and Kentucky's House Health and Welfare Committee wants to keep you going to the hospital.
The committee voted this afternoon to require doctor's seeking to establish outpatient "ambulatory surgical centers" in their office's to apply to the state's archaic and inefficient Certificate of Need department so the state can prevent them from providing these services in competition with hospitals.
If you know you don't want a Kentucky Snot Tax, then please understand this issue involves much more money than that.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Senate still wants to tax your allergies
Kentucky Senator Robert Stivers filed Senate Bill 3 today as part of the continuing effort to force allergy sufferers to get a doctor's prescription before they can buy allergy medicine containing pseudoephedrine.
"Snot tax" supporters claim that limiting access to allergy and cold medicine by innocent people will help with the drug problem in the state.
It might be interesting to see this come to a vote to learn where the players are on the issue.
"Snot tax" supporters claim that limiting access to allergy and cold medicine by innocent people will help with the drug problem in the state.
It might be interesting to see this come to a vote to learn where the players are on the issue.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Obama declares war on Tea Party
You may not want to hear anything Barack Obama has to say between now and election day. But Obama feels the same way about you -- and he controls the IRS, which gives him the upper hand in trying to shut you up.
And, of course, he is now abusing that power.
Obama is using the Internal Revenue Service to prevent citizen groups from forming 501(c)(4) corporations. This effectively limits individual citizens' ability to associate and petition the government for redress of grievances as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
If you are a member of the Kentucky 912 Project, Obama has you in his crosshairs right now. The Kentucky 912 Project is comparing notes with other liberty groups across the country and have found dozens whose applications for 501(c)(4) status have been denied or revoked by the IRS.
In case you were looking for another reason to support dismantling the IRS, you can now include ending the ability of an out of control president using federal power to take your voice away.
This is a great example of an issue that you don't have to be directly affected by to understand that we must stand with our friends in their time of need before we find ourselves standing alone against such tyranny.
Please read up on this issue and tell everyone you know.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Kentucky casino bill sleeps with fishes
It was pretty easy to see this coming.
Kentucky can't create a casino bill that generates income for the state and expands revenue at the racetracks sufficiently to gain the votes to pass the legislature.
And this afternoon, the bill they put up failed on the Senate floor.
Maybe next year they will try something different. But if they can't reconcile the vast differences between those who want most of the revenue to go to tracks and those who want most of the revenue to go to the state, then those who just oppose casinos don't have to do much other than sit back and watch the circus.
And now that it is over for 2012, let's hope we can do something serious about spending less in the budget than revenues will cover.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Tea Party rocks the rotunda
I will be on the Leland Conway radio show Tuesday at 3:50 pm ET talking about Wednesday's Tea Party rally in Frankfort.
You can listen online at wlap.com or on Lexington radio at 630 AM. The Facebook event page is here.
See you Wednesday at 10:30 am ET in the capitol rotunda.
You can listen online at wlap.com or on Lexington radio at 630 AM. The Facebook event page is here.
See you Wednesday at 10:30 am ET in the capitol rotunda.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
The Tea Party pulls it all together
We've had tea party events in Kentucky focused on federal issues and tea party events focused on state issues, but on Wednesday we will have federal candidates drawing attention to a state issue.
The juxtaposition is creating significant interest.
On February 22 at 10:30 am ET at the state capitol's rotunda, confirmed speakers Alecia Webb-Edgington, Gary Moore and Thomas Massie, 4th district congressional candidates, and 6th district congressional candidate Andy Barr join state legislators and others to draw attention to state government overspending and debt.
The juxtaposition is creating significant interest.
On February 22 at 10:30 am ET at the state capitol's rotunda, confirmed speakers Alecia Webb-Edgington, Gary Moore and Thomas Massie, 4th district congressional candidates, and 6th district congressional candidate Andy Barr join state legislators and others to draw attention to state government overspending and debt.