Kentucky "drug warriors" play fast and loose

Lexington prosecutor Sam Finley may add prosecutorial misconduct to his list of courtroom adventures on Tuesday if he follows through on plans to take employees of Botany Bay to trial. The new law he is prosecuting them under specifies they can't be found guilty.

Worse, Judge Kim Wilkie will hear a motion from the owner of Botany Bay, Ginny Saville, to dismiss all charges against her based on the unconstitutionality of parts of the same law. It's all part of a clumsy attempt to lump an absurdly broad array of substances into the "war on drugs," ruin the lives of innocent people and fund further police-state activities with ill-gotten gains.

If the purpose of laws were to selectively and arbitrarily persecute anyone at any time and to impose outlandish punishments without due process or respect for individual rights, this sordid tale would make everyone in the legislature, the judicial system and law enforcement proud.

Challenge Kentucky educrats' fake Pop-Tart ban

A 7-year-old Maryland boy made national news a couple of weeks ago when school officials freaked out and suspended him because his Pop-Tart had been chewed into the shape of a gun. Kentucky law makes no mention of a "look-alike weapon," but that doesn't stop the Kentucky School Board Association from strictly forbidding them.

KSBA weapons policy banning Pop-Tart guns includes the following passage:

A look-alike weapon refers to the following:

·         Any object designed to look like or imitate a weapon; or

·         Any object possessed or used by a student, employee or visitor to the school's facilities or grounds to give the impression that the object is a weapon.

Violation of this policy by staff members shall constitute reason for disciplinary action, including possible termination.

Violation of this policy by students shall require that the Principal immediately make a report to the Superintendent, who shall determine if charges for expulsion from the District schools should be filed under Policy 09.435. In addition, when they have reasonable belief that a violation has taken place, principals shall immediately report to law enforcement officials when an act has occurred on school property or at a school-sponsored function that involves student possession of a firearm in violation of the law or assault involving the use of a weapon.

Violations by visitors shall be reported to a law enforcement agency.  

(Emphasis added.)

I'm starting to think we need a Pop-Tart Day in Kentucky schools. I'm particularly interested in how the conversation would go with law enforcement for visitors who showed up wielding their Pop-Tarts. Seriously, though, this policy needs to be challenged and changed. I'll look into that this next week and report back.

Fire Sharon Clark now

The 2013 Kentucky General Assembly has two days left, the 25th and 26th of this month, called veto days. We should make sure they are used to get rid of the state's biggest ObamaCare cheerleader.

Insurance Commissioner Sharon Clark is the only one of Governor Beshear's 51 appointees not confirmed by the Senate in the first 28 days of the session. That's not enough, but it is good. Please encourage your state Senator to make sure that her term draws to an ignominious, but decisive, end with the failure of Senate Resolution 181.

Clark has been the driving force behind forcing ObamaCare down Kentuckians' throats. We should return the favor by showing her the door.

Next up is the monthly meeting of Kentucky's Health Benefit Exchange advisory board. Please bring friends to 12 Mill Creek Park in Franfort at 1:30 pm ET on Thursday March 28 to help draw attention to the illegal activities of this destructive bureaucracy.

Muhlenberg KY Schools breaking state gun laws

Muhlenberg County Public Schools' current Employee Handbook contains the following passage which conflicts with state law:

This policy can be found on page 23 of the handbook. Specifically, this violates KRS 527.070(3)(a) which allows adults to possess weapons contained within a vehicle on school property, KRS 65.870 which forbids local government entities from regulating possession of weapons and KRS 237.016 which forbids disciplinary action against an employee for possessing a firearm in a vehicle on the property.

Any questions?

Muhlenberg County needs to fix this illegal policy to comply with state law without further delay. Please call Superintendent Dale Todd at (270) 338-2871 and tell him his gun policy breaks state laws, as he seems to be unaware.

Thanks for the heads up on this to Jarrod Douglas of 2A Squared -- Second Amendment Aware.

One victory coming today

Observers remarked on the hatred in Kentucky Insurance Commissioner Sharon Clark's eyes for me last week when I was the only person to testify against her re-appointment in the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee.

Good.

She is a huge proponent of ObamaCare with the power to inflict great harm on Kentuckians and she hasn't been shy about stating her desire to do so. Meanwhile, the religious health sharing bill, Senate Bill 3, looks like it will pass today through both chambers, providing at least a narrow escape for consumers when the ObamaCare hits the fan this fall.

This looks like the best we can get through for the 2013 General Assembly regular session. Lots more to do.

Divide and conquer Louisville gun grabbers

A Lexington, Kentucky suburb opened up the 'guns in schools' debate this week with a proposal to change school policy on the district level in Jessamine County. A loophole in the state's most populous -- and most hostile -- school district, however, creates an unexpected urban opportunity for 2nd Amendment rights sure to attract national attention.

Jefferson County Public Schools' Conduct Code and Related Policies includes the following language on page ten: "Carrying, bringing, using or possessing a dangerous weapon in any school building, on school grounds, in any school vehicle or at any school-sponsored activity without the authorization of the school or the school district is prohibited."

That means the school board has delegated its authority from the state to change its weapons policy to the individual schools. I don't know if there is one school in Jefferson County with the courage and foresight to abandon its reckless 'gun free zone' status, but the effort to find one presents a can't lose opportunity.

Will Kentucky House GOP go nuclear on Dems?

Conservatives waiting for House Republicans in Frankfort to assert themselves in the 2013 General Assembly may have missed the quiet signal of a shift in the last ten days.

In that time, House Republicans have filed discharge petitions on two bills. Senate Bill 5, which would levy enormous fines on doctors who fail to perform an "informed consent" ultrasound on a pregnant woman prior to performing an abortion, on February 27. On Thursday, March 7, a discharge petition was filed on Senate Bill 129, which seeks to limit federal efforts to infringe on 2nd Amendment rights of Kentuckians.

The purpose of discharge petitions is to force a bill past an attempt by a chamber's leadership to bottle it up in committee. House Democrats have procedural tools available to them to beat back a discharge petition, but Republicans have absolutely nothing to lose by expanding the fight to other crucial bills like the ObamaCare repeal bills -- SB 39 and SB 40 -- and turning up the volume.

In what remains of the 2013 General Assembly, let's hope so. Meanwhile, intransigent House committee chairs Tom Burch and John Tilley deserve to be bombarded with telephone calls.

Jessamine mom takes on gun-free zones

Jessamine County School Board Vice Chair Amy Day is leading the way on changing safety policy in her school district to allow employees to carry weapons on campus to protect themselves and the children they serve.

"The people I've talked to are in favor of it," Day said.

Mrs. Day has two 10th grade daughters at East Jessamine High School. She is working on gaining support to make the change as authorized under Kentucky law to improve campus safety beyond the state suggestion which consists almost entirely of signs posted at school entrances informing would-be attackers that possession of a gun in schools breaks state law.

Jessamine County School Board members heard a presentation at their January meeting about making schools safer with this simple policy change. The next board meeting is at 7pm ET on March 25, 2013 at 871 Wilmore Road in Nicholasville.

This Christian battle is for everyone

Lunchtime today in Frankfort will pass quietly for all but a very few Kentuckians while a key constitutional struggle comes to a head.

At noon, the House Banking and Insurance Committee will vote on Senate Bill 3, the religious health sharing bill. The bill would simply move Kentucky into compliance with an exemption for Christians written into the ObamaCare law. As current Kentucky law stands, the freedom to contract privately among fellow followers of  Christ to mutually cover healthcare expenses is punishable as a felony.

Leaving this kind of power in the hands of state insurance bureaucrats makes no sense. More than half a century of bureaucratic bungling has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that we need more freedom and less government in healthcare. ObamaCare will start to blow up in the faces of consumers later this fall. What happens today should determine how much of a disaster that will be.

Christians bust through logjam in Kentucky

Grassroots activists in Kentucky burned up the phone lines in Frankfort to force a committee hearing to the Christian health sharing bill, Senate Bill 3, legislative staff confirmed late Wednesday.

The House Banking and Insurance Committee will hold a vote to allow Christians in Kentucky greater freedom in escaping ObamaCare when the federal healthcare takeover goes into effect fully next year. The committee hearing will be Thursday at noon in the Capitol Annex Room 129. Senate Bill 3 is the only bill on the committee's agenda.

Kentucky's filibuster: Robert Stivers?

As U.S. Senator Rand Paul makes serious headlines for holding up an Obama appointee, Kentucky state Senate President toils in relative anonymity while doing the same thing to the biggest ObamaCare cheerleader in Frankfort.

Please call 502-564-8100 and tell Sen. Stivers you appreciate him standing up for Kentuckians and against ObamaCare. Refusing to allow the re-confirmation of Sharon Clark to the position of Kentucky Insurance Commissioner could have the most significant impact of anything this General Assembly does. Shutting down ObamaCare is on Sen. Stivers' shoulders now. He needs our encouragement to end Kentucky's involvement in the federal takeover of our healthcare system now.

Crushing Frankfort's war against Christians

Kentucky's Senate Banking and Insurance Committee attached all of the religious health sharing bill to House Bill 365 this morning, practically ensuring an end to the Department of Insurance's decade-long jihad against Christian Medi-Share in particular and Christian citizens in general.

House Bill 365 will very likely have no opposition in the full Senate and then will go back to the House in its amended form for a floor vote there. Please contact your state Representative and urge support for House Bill 365 as amended by the Senate.

This will allow Christian Medi-Share back into the state and limit the Kentucky Department of Insurance in their ability to harass and penalize Christians seeking to avoid the ObamaCare debacle. Non-Christians would do well to demand that the federal exemption to ObamaCare available to Christians must be expanded to protect them too.

Taking out the trash in Frankfort

Thank you to everyone who called your Kentucky state senator over the last two weeks demanding they hold up re-confirmation of Kentucky's leading ObamaCare cheerleader, Insurance Commissioner Sharon Clark. Allowing her to keep her job while forcing Kentucky over the ObamaCare cliff is not acceptable.

Senate staff confirmed this morning that Commissioner Clark is not on the list for tomorrow's confirmations, signally a significant shift. Please call your senator and thank him or her for not supporting Commissioner Clark until after Senate Bills 3, 39 and 40 are signed into law by Governor Beshear.

Your support in this has been invaluable. Turning back ObamaCare is the least we can do for our country and for future generations of Americans.

Kentucky leads nation in this, too

President Barack Obama is right about one thing: the "sequester" is a manufactured crisis. Of course, he made it, in conjunction with congressional leaders of both parties looking for an easy way out of the debt ceiling fight of 2011. This is Obama addressing the nation on Saturday.

Kentucky has had eleven such sequesters since 2008 and they haven't even slowed down the train.

Mitch McConnell's "outrage" masks weakness

Readers will awaken Sunday to national news coverage of the most powerful Republican in Washington D.C. hurling a boulder at two liberal Louisville activists for suggesting erroneously on Twitter that his wife is from China.

This is what passes for the "ultimate outrage" at a time in which we strain at petty slights but swallow whole imaginary fiscal crises like the sequester and big government blunders like providing funding for ObamaCare.

It is these latter issues which will haunt Sen. McConnell in the upcoming Republican primary for the seat he has occupied since his election in 1984. Long after this fainting goat routine runs its course, Sen. McConnell will have to run on his record.

Republican primary voters looking for seriousness in fiscal reform are in no mood to swoon for professional politicians who have become millionaires at the public trough trying to play the victim in such a transparent manner.

Sen. McConnell's bailout and corporate welfare chickens will come home to roost in 2014. Expect a Republican replacement to be there to clean up the mess. Republican primary voters either know or can easily be reminded about how Mitch ran Jim Bunning out of the Senate for standing up to the status quo and that we wouldn't still be playing Charlie Brown to Obama's Lucy on debt ceiling deals if he hadn't facilitated the debt ceiling increase and sequestration fraud in 2011. 

UK grad schools Jack Conway on 14th Amendment

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway wants to shut down RJ Bruner's Lexington moving company and send his 31 employees packing.

Wildcat Moving was fined thousands of dollars in 2011 by the state for operating a moving company without state permission. Bruner took a good look at the arbitrary and capricious state application process and the 2010 MBA graduate filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging violation of his Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection under the law.

He is right. And this week, United States District Judge Danny C. Reeves sided with him in refusing Conway's motion to dismiss his lawsuit. Kentucky law gives existing moving companies the right to veto new applicants wishing to join the marketplace.

At his next press conference, Conway should be forced to explain why he is fighting against this young Kentuckian and his small army of employees instead of fighting for them.

Senator Tom Buford's Senate Bill 132 would eliminate this process for companies moving "household goods" but leave it in place for those moving people. His bill needs to become law and then we should go back and strike the whole ridiculous idea of government deciding who gets to be a market participant and who doesn't.

Getting this right across the board would only help Kentucky consumers and providers of such absurdly over-regulated products and services as health care, financial services and labor.

Beshear attacks Kentucky dentists

More shocking mismanagement of Kentucky Medicaid Services (KMS) has come to light in which state officials are illegally attempting to bilk oral surgeons who treat poor, toothless Kentuckians. At issue is a service called alveoplasty performed for Medicaid patients after all their teeth have been removed.

In an attempt to shore up state finances, KMS has cut payments for alveoplasty services retroactively from 2006 to 2011 and demanded repayment from surgeons for work they performed during that time. Some Kentucky surgeons are looking at bills from the government for tens of thousands of dollars.

Of course, our surgeons are fighting back. We must join them in this because such outrageous actions threaten to further limit the availability of dental surgeons in Kentucky at reasonable prices -- or perhaps at any price at all. 

Please share this information with your elected representatives in Frankfort. Tell them to force recission of Department of Medicaid Services Internal Change Order 16402. Further, they should support Senate Bill 39, which will require greater scrutiny of the proposed Medicaid expansion under ObamaCare. If they are playing these flimflam games with Medicaid now, it will only get worse under a much larger program.

Kentucky sequestration exclamation

Amid the wall-to-wall freaking out over the federal "sequester," it's worth pointing out that Kentucky has had eleven sequesters since Governor Steve Beshear took office. Notice anything about spending in this chart?

Mitch McConnell skewers himself

Sen. Mitch McConnell has never been a big fan of the Club for Growth, a fiscally conservative Washington D.C. group committed to replacing moderate Republicans with fiscal hawks.

It's about to get a whole lot worse for him.

The Club has released its 2012 Congressional Scorecard which shows Sen. McConnell with his lowest score since 2008.

Think bailouts.

The 2012 votes that could cost Sen. McConnell dearly in May 2012 include votes against cutting federal gas taxes and returning some highway programs to the states, voting against a fiscally conservative budget blueprint, voting against cuts to farm subsidies and loan guarantees. He also got dinged for voting in favor of a bloated spending bill for transportation programs, student loan and flood insurance subsidies and for voting to fund ObamaCare.

Mary Lou Marzian bites Louisville Courier Journal

If the Louisville Courier Journal has a favorite Kentucky state legislator, it could well be Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, a left-wing politician of epic proportions. It is more than a little odd, then, to see her filing a resolution in Frankfort to muzzle our largest newspaper, a left-wing media outlet of epic proportions.

House Concurrent Resolution 6 would force media corporations to stop attempting to influence elections in Kentucky. That's not Rep. Marzian's intention, of course, but that's what you get when you don't think things through.

And she seriously didn't think this one through.

HCR 6 calls on Congress to amend the U.S. Constitution to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and prohibit corporate political support through federal and state legislation.

A little thing called a "media exemption" jumps out as problematic here for fans of the Courier Journal. Banning corporate political speech nationally won't generally concern Gannett, the CJ's corporate parent, because federal election law exempts what it defines as "media" from such regulation, but Kentucky law contains no such loophole.  

That means Rep. Marzian can't shut off corporate political activity for Kentucky corporations she doesn't like without also silencing those she does like. 

A bipartisan trait of most politicians somehow prevents them from universally recognizing the value of absolute individual rights. Some like absolute gun rights but can't imagine missing an opportunity to prohibit ingestion of some substances. Others, like Marzian, like speech from friends supporting their worldview but can't endure thoughts from political opponents. Sometimes, amid all their infringing and prohibiting, these politicians get a little sloppy. This is one of those times.

Why don't these people just once, when faced with a choice between limiting freedom unevenly and promoting its unalienable aspects stop twisting themselves into pretzels to justify controlling people and just let freedom happen?

Kentucky's Constitution very unambiguously guarantees freedom of speech, promising "no law shall ever be made to restrain the right thereof." Rep. Marzian embarrasses herself attempting to use Section 150 of the Kentucky Constitution in her resolution to justify stifling political speech of corporations, when this section speaks to vote buying activity of both individuals and corporations. Is she saying she wants to muzzle private citizens in Kentucky as well as her hometown newspaper, which seems to never tire of endorsing her and her ideas?

I'd love for a Courier Journal reporter to ask her that.