Frankfort's jig is up

Among the things I have been yelling about for years is the fake balanced budgets state government keeps patting itself on the back about and the pretense to revenue shortfalls. Sadly, state media members have been more loyal to politicians than to their readers or the truth on this front.

A small sign this may soon change came in the form of a front page article in Saturday's Lexington Herald Leader headlined "Kentucky's financial outlook lowered to 'negative' because of pension woes."

Deep in the article was a quote from Moody's, a ratings agency who isn't as susceptible to political spin.

"Kentucky's credit outlook is negative. While revenue growth has improved, the commonwealth's sizable budget deficits over the past few years led to a depletion of reserve balances and borrowing for budget relief."

Republicans and Democrats alike tell their constituents how hard they work each year to "balance the budget." It's baloney. Spread the word, please.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/02/01/2499515/kentuckys-financial-outlook-downgraded.html#storylink=cpy

On WLAP 630 AM Lexington today

I will be a guest on the Matt Walsh Show with substitute host Tom Dupree today at 4:30 pm. We will be talking about a unique constitutional protection available to Kentuckians that we would do well to pay more attention to and that other states would do well to emulate.

You can listen by clicking here.

Mitch McConnell leans toward right on drugs

Mitch McConnell today said he supports Kentucky hemp. Good.

I'm glad to see Senator McConnell moving to the right with his statement on hemp, though he continues to cling to the big government view that if we just spend a few billion dollars more on 'drug eradication' that people will suddenly stop taking drugs.

Not so fast, Sheriff

The Kentucky Sheriffs Association has clearly misunderstood the nature of their constituents' concern about federal threats to Kentuckians' gun rights.

Don't believe me? Call KSA Executive Director Jerry Wagner at 606-782-0592 and ask him if his statement from Tuesday means that all Kentucky Sheriffs are prepared to refuse federal orders limiting our self-defense rights guaranteed by the 2nd Amendment.

As a group, they aren't.

We need a stronger, more precise statement from our Sheriffs than the one they made on Tuesday, when they stated support for the Constitutions of the Commonwealth and the United States. They are crazy if they think we are just going to let this go.

Lexington Police paint city into a corner

Fayette District Court Judge Kim Wilkie ordered Lexington Police for a second time to return confiscated inventory to a small Lexington business this morning.

Police raided Botany Bay last August with a search warrant seeking illegal drugs. Finding none, they then proceeded to pull two truckloads of miscellaneous items out of the store -- many of which were outside the scope of the search warrant.

Police video of the raid clearly depicts officers destroying a substantial amount of Botany Bay's property. These same items are now supposed to be returned to Botany Bay in the same condition in which they were taken.

Before Lexington citizens are asked to reimburse Botany Bay for the results of this latest adventure in law enforcement, they should seek serious answers from city politicians.

KY Sheriffs unanimously support Constitution

Members of the Kentucky Sheriffs' Association voted unanimously today to support the Constitutions of the United States and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Citizens across Kentucky have been calling county law enforcement offices seeking clarification of sheriffs' positions on gun rights in the face of recent federal rhetoric about confiscating private weapons.

"A lot of people have been calling and we just wanted to clarify that we do support the Constitutions our members have sworn to uphold," Jerry Wagner, Kentucky Sheriff Association Executive Director.

This comes less than three weeks after Jackson County Sheriff Denny Peyman created a national firestorm by proclaiming that he would defy federal efforts to violate citizens' Second Amendment rights.

*** For an important update to this post, please click here.

My remarks to Jessamine Co. School Board

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight. I have been an engaged, sometimes critical, but ultimately very satisfied parent customer of Jessamine County Public Schools continuously since 1995. I have about six years left with my youngest child here and we appreciate you giving me a couple of minutes of your time.

I'm here to address an issue that has become rather incendiary in recent weeks due to national events. That issue is child safety in our schools. As you know, Jessamine County Schools' policy matches state law in effectively banning possession of firearms on school property. What you may not know is that state law also allows district school boards to change their policies to allow parents and teachers to carry weapons inside the walls of our school buildings.

I'm here to request that you make that change. There is a reason that mass shootings usually occur only in gun free zones. That's because people with ill intent are not concerned about state laws those of us who are trying to be law-abiding citizens choose to observe.

I expect there will be a process of persuasion required to widely gain a better understanding of this subject before we see action. Opponents are already making their voices heard in opposition to re-thinking this issue. They come up with all kinds of nightmare scenarios they say would result from taking this step to better protect our children. The President of the United States has already weighed in against it. But the truth is we could take all kinds of precautions to both pro-actively protect our children and to prevent accidents. We could expand policy to perhaps include only concealed carry permit holders, who undergo substantial gun safety training. We have been fortunate in Jessamine County to have had no school shootings. In all likelihood, expanding policy in this way will result in the number of school shootings -- currently zero -- staying at zero here. Allowing us to carry guns in the schools will serve merely as a deterrent to would-be attackers.

The difference between current policy and this proposed change is that we will stop a dangerous gun ban that stops only those who would protect our children. I hope to encourage school districts across the state to expand policy in this way to better protect our children to send a message not only to attackers here but to set an example on child safety for the nation. It would be nice to see my home district lead the way. I will follow up with board members here and ask that you carefully consider the safety needs of our children in your decision-making. Thank you.

Please join Kentucky Safer Schools Project

It's right there in Kentucky's law books. KRS 527.070(3)(f) states local school boards can decide who is allowed to carry firearms in our schools. This section lists exemptions to state law prohibiting possession of weapons on school property. It states anyone "authorized to carry a firearm by the board of education or board of trustees of the public or private institution" may do so.

Please contact your local board of education and find out what their policy is on authorizing staff members and parents to carry firearms on campus. Respond to this post with what you find out and we will put together a list to get to work on ensuring that parents and staff members have the ability to protect children from attackers who manage to get inside our schools anywhere in Kentucky.

#BillClintonDefault

U.S. House Republicans' effort to "resequence" the federal debt discussion needs a little help.

I get the logic of Speaker Boehner's "no budget, no pay" bill with the creation of a debt ceiling date set to May 18 so someone other than Obama knows when default occurs. Rep. Andy Barr, my Congressman, voted for the measure on Wednesday. I appreciate his logic and the idea that the bill creates some chance for a positive outcome to this standoff rather than no chance. If the bill becomes law -- and it might -- there is at least some reason to hope spending might be curtailed in the ensuing battle.

But I agree with Rep. Thomas Massie's "no" vote. We all feel like we have been here before because we have been.

The current strategy is missing something and I think Republicans would do well to turn all their firepower on it for a while. That something is former President Bill Clinton.

Congressional Republicans have spent the last decade missing a great opportunity they can no longer afford to miss. They must destroy once and for all the fiscal accounting gimmick-driven myth of the Clinton budget surplus.

The truth is that proper accounting for intragovernmental transfers -- in this case, squandered Social Security surplus funds -- completely eliminates any so-called Clinton surplus.

Republicans have wasted the last decade trying to give Newt Gingrich credit for the "Clinton surplus." That must end now.

The effort to resequence the fiscal debate will be made much easier and more potent if we first resequence Bill Clinton. Democrats won't know what to do with this line of attack when it is launched and the disarray that will follow if we stick with it long enough will set the stage for reality-based budgeting, a desperately needed change in focus.

Tea Party press release

Tea Party leaders from around Kentucky will hold a brief press conference today following the meeting of the advisory board of the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange at 12 Mill Creek Park in Frankfort. The meeting begins at 1:30 pm.

The KHBE has improperly taken upon itself taxing authority without the permission of the General Assembly. Senate Bill 40 would allow the people to have their say in the creation of this expensive new bureaucracy and we must be allowed to have that say.

The secrecy and incompetence exhibited by the federal government and certain elements within state government to illegitimately force Kentucky into spending untold millions of dollars purportedly for a web site deserves better answers than we are getting. That changes starting today.

David Adams

859-537-5372

Lexington, KY police smacked by Constitution

Exactly five months after Lexington, KY police stormed a local business, a judge has ordered them to return tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise and cash they improperly took.

Back on August 16, 2012, Botany Bay on Winchester Rd in Lexington was invaded by several Lexington police wrecking personal property and issuing threats to put the local company out of business.

Today, Fayette District Judge Kim Wilkie ordered police to return all of Botany Bay's property, much of which witnesses saw officers destroy in August. The return is to be completed in two weeks. Most of the confiscated items were not listed on a served search warrant supposedly intended to capture illegal drugs. Police falsely told media at the time that they took illegal drugs from Botany Bay.

Judge Wilkie scheduled a February 19 hearing on the constitutionality of the new Kentucky law under which police attempted to prosecute Botany Bay. That new law was passed in 2012 by the General Assembly under the title House Bill 481.

Hazard "gun free zone" shooting tonight

Two people are dead and another injured in a shooting tonight on the campus of Hazard (KY) Community and Technical College. The eastern Kentucky school has a policy prohibiting firearms.

This comes about as President Barack Obama plans to take to the airwaves tomorrow morning to announce plans for tighter gun control in America.

Plans for multiple Second Amendment rallies are underway to counteract federal gun grabbing schemes.

Kentucky's sleeper issue: health freedom

Kentucky's internal struggle with implementation of ObamaCare got its share of attention this week, but a key part of that fight just leapfrogged all other issues on the legislature's drawing board.

While Gov. Beshear yammered about raising the drop out age to "improve" education and legislative leaders feigned sudden interest on the long-ignored fronts of tax and pension reform, a consumer protection bill that actually works within ObamaCare while protecting consumers from its worst provisions gained more co-sponsors than any bill in either chamber.

Senator Tom Buford's health freedom bill was bumped up from SB 16 to SB 3, a strong sign of leadership recognizing it as a key priority. Fourteen other Senators quickly signed on their support.

The bill would simply force Kentucky's Department of Insurance to stop being more arbitrary than the Obama Administration with regard to a little-noticed protection for Christian free marketers written into the ObamaCare law.

Even most House Democrats don't want to be seen supporting ObamaCare, much less supporting state insurance bureaucrats in being more hostile to Kentucky consumers than the federal government currently is.

Please encourage your legislators to go on the record immediately in support of Senate Bill 3.

Kentucky sheriff to defy any federal gun grab

Jackson County Sheriff Denny Peyman has some advice for federal officials attempting to confiscate legal guns held by citizens in his jurisdiction: "go ahead, make my day."

Sheriff Peyman says he is very concerned about proposed federal legislation that could result in massive gun ownership bans and orders of confiscation.

"My office will not comply with any federal action which violates the United States Constitution or the Kentucky Constitution which I swore to uphold," Peyman said. "Let them pull that stuff in other places if they want, but not in Jackson County, Kentucky."

Peyman hopes his strong stand in support of the Second Amendment encourages law enforcement officers around Kentucky and elsewhere to reassure citizens of their protection from overzealous federal action on gun control.

"Just a few of us have to be willing to stand up to political opposition putting our people at risk," Peyman said. "The other side will back down."

Analyze this ObamaCare scam, please

The biggest reason ObamaCare has gotten this far is a lack of careful analysis. State-run health insurance exchanges represent a perfect example.

Let's take Kentucky's Health Benefit Exchange. What we are getting is a web site people can use for comparing and purchasing health insurance under ObamaCare. Be careful not to confuse KHBE with www.ehealthinsurance.com, a private site serving the same purpose and not costing us anything. No, KHBE will be "better." Trust them.

This should beg several questions. Chief among them is the cost of running KHBE. Under ObamaCare , KHBE is a new permanent bureaucracy we will have to pay for starting January 1, 2015. According to KHBE's own estimate, that cost will be $39 million a year.

No analysis of ObamaCare shows it actually lowering costs. At best it transfers some uncompensated care expenses back and forth between consumers, and KHBE will be no different. Insurance consumers forced to do business with KHBE will pay extra to cover the $39 million.

And the amount is only going to be that low to the extent that the estimate is valid or for as long as costs don't increase further. Any guesses how that will work out for us?

The largest annual component of this cost estimate is $20.5 million. That's the current annual contract KHBE has with Deloitte for IT consulting. The second largest component is $11 million in spending for new state employees. Then comes $3.3 million in contracts with other state employees. After that, we have $2.9 million in hardware and software maintenance and licensing and $1.3 million for "miscellaneous" costs.

Governor Beshear signed off on all this nonsense with an executive order setting up KHBE for ObamaCare. He also told us he managed a $46 million budget surplus last year, though we now know better. More than half the other states have ruled out setting up ObamaCare exchanges despite pressure from the Obama Administration and the Republican Establishment.

Resisting temptation from both sides of the political status quo is as simple as digging into the numbers. Any questions?

Mitch McConnell pulls a Nancy Pelosi

As more details emerge on last night's fiscal cliff tax increase vote in the U.S. Senate, the secrecy of this bad deal and its similarities to Nancy Pelosi's happy claim that they had to pass ObamaCare so we could see what's in it continue to grow.

McConnell's deal with Vice President Joe Biden deserves a slow, painful death in the House. If they want to wait two months before spending cuts get back on the table, then let's drag this out for two months and make full repeal of ObamaCare part of the discussion.

ObamaCare's tax increases are the worst thing taking effect today and we should be talking about that.

Did someone hide little Carl Rollins' Twinkie?

House Education Committee Chairman Carl Rollins has filed a bill that just might get him appointed to Michelle Obama's food nazi staff in Washington D.C.

Under House Bill 44, schools would be "encouraged" to hide "prepackaged, unhealthy snacks where students will have to ask for them" and put "plain milk in front of chocolate milk" while "giving healthy food choices catchy, descriptive names."

I'm not kidding.

Rather than calling his bill "The Smarter Lunchroom Act," as Rollins suggests, how about "The Lunchlady Repetitive Motion Junk Food Turn and Grab Workout Act of 2013?"  

Mitch McConnell doesn't want another Rand Paul

Kentucky's establishment moderate Republicans are cooking up a plan to change RPK by-laws again. This time, the idea is to eliminate conservative primary challengers to their favored, status quo candidates.

The new policy would allow the Republican state executive committee, which McConnell controls, to endorse Republican primary candidates.

Can't imagine many people who seriously want to cut government spending and debt or protect civil liberties making that list, can you?

Please contact any Republican party officials you know and ask them to oppose this latest power grab.

Tim Shaughnessy, pension millionaire

Retiring state Senator Tim Shaughnessy is next in a growing line of Kentucky state legislators who voted themselves a huge pension boost and are moving to take advantage of it -- and you.

By virtue of his vote for HB 299 in 2005, Shaughnessy joins former Senate President David Williams and current Agriculture Commissioner James Comer in transferring years of legislative pension credits  to be multiplied with new massive salaries elsewhere in state government to illegitimately become state government pension millionaires.

Shaughnessy has taken a job in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System at $160,000 a year. His pension will now be based on his twenty three years as a legislator, plus whatever time he accumulates at KCTCS and multiplied by his three years of highest salary, unless he does the right thing now.

Please forward this message widely and contact these men to demand they take retirement from the legislature right away to make themselves ineligible to take advantage of Kentuckians any further.

Kentucky chooses unconstitutional route

Governor Steve Beshear's Department of Insurance has formally declined to attack one Christian health sharing group for practices used as justification to run another such group out of the state.

Fresh off a judge's ruling that Christian Care Medi-Share has until the end of the year to close all its accounts and stop serving customers in Kentucky, the DOI announced that it will not prosecute Samaritan Ministries for not submitting to state insurance regulation.

Arbitrary application of state laws violates Kentucky's Constitution.

The DOI is also considering whether to prosecute Christian HealthCare Ministries for the same crime of not falling in line behind the Department's capricious regulation. Should they do so, that would leave Kentucky Christians with only one viable alternative for health coverage when ObamaCare takes full effect.

Limiting consumer choice is not a valid justification for giving the government control of citizens' risk management decisions.