Study: Kentucky ranks last in economic health

Kentucky has the worst state economy in the country, according to a new report by global capital management firm Conning.

The report cites Kentucky's dramatically underfunded public pensions, overspending and debt among others as key factors dragging the Commonwealth to the bottom of their list.

This is, of course, news to anyone who depends on the mainstream media for information. Kentucky's latest fiscal year deficit, for example, was more than $573 million despite claims from Gov. Steve Beshear repeated unquestioningly in the media as a $71 million surplus.

Obamacrat wannabe goes down swinging

Frankfort reporter Ronnie Ellis' audition for a press secretary job in the Beshear administration took an odd turn yesterday with another skewed report of another bogus administrative regulation vote on the ObamaCare Medicaid expansion.

Ellis wrote: "Courts have ruled Gov. Steve Beshear had the authority to expand Medicaid under legislation previously enacted by the General Assembly because it allowed the state to access more federal funds for the federal-state partnership that covers medical costs of the poor and disabled."

While one court has ruled this way, Ellis incorrectly makes the term plural, suggesting a falsehood. Further, when Franklin Circuit Judge Philip Shepherd ruled on this question last fall, his opinion included the following: "The General Assembly has the power to enact legislation to override these regulations, or to withdraw the authority to promulgate the administrative regulations. But this authority requires the enactment of a bill."

We have just such a bill. The General Assembly last month enacted HB 235, the budget bill, which stated in part: "Therefore, no provision within this Act shall be deemed, adjudged or constructed as being a recognition, finding or admission or admission of the General Assembly's approval of the operation of the ACA in Kentucky." It goes on to say: "The Governor is expressly prohibited from expending any General Fund resources on any expenditure directly or indirectly associated with the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange."

Any questions?

Media witlessly portrays ObamaCare poll

A new Marist poll shows ObamaCare is very unpopular in Kentucky. It also shows the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange, branded as "Kynect" with taxpayer dollars, is widely unknown but even less popular.

So how does the Courier Journal describe the poll's findings? Like this:

"Kentuckians like health care law, labels depending"

That's the headline. If you click on it, you get a brief article calling Kentucky ObamaCare a "major success" without attribution and invoking Shakespeare to suggest that under a different name, the federal takeover of healthcare is well-liked.

Given the Kentucky media's wall-to-wall cheerleading for all things "ObamaCare," "Kynect," "BeshearCare" or whatever, popularity for federal health reform is nowhere evident. The poll had 57 percent unfavorable for ObamaCare and 33 percent favorable for ObamaCare. The other ten percent lacked the information to have an opinion. The poll had 29 percent with a positive view of "Kynect" and 22 percent with a negative view of "Kynect." A staggering 49 percent lacked the information to have an opinion.

Only the Courier Journal -- and, seriously, only in the ObamaCare era -- would say this means Kentuckians actually like the Affordable Care Act. The only way we lose to these people is if we are just too tired to deserve to live in freedom.

TV commercial script for Matt Bevin

{Open with full screen Bevin logo}

Voiceover: "I'm Matt Bevin and I approve this message."

{Matt on screen head and shoulders}

"When conservatives in Washington D.C. tried to defund ObamaCare last fall, {picture of McConnell on screen touching Obama and laughing} my opponent stood against them.

"McConnell said the conservative strategy wouldn't work and {graphic showing nay votes to Vote #206 Sept 27, 2013, highlighting Rand Paul's name and "nay" vote} then played along with Democrats to make sure it didn't. A few conservatives held strong. 

Something similar just happened in Frankfort, Kentucky. But here, Republican leaders stuck to their guns to defund ObamaCare and Democrats gave in. {Matt on screen head and shoulders} McConnell and the Democrats don't want to talk about conservative victories. When conservatives stick together, we win. I'm Matt Bevin and I appreciate your vote May 20. 

ObamaCare fans want to ignore calendar

The latest pro-ObamaCare talking point attempts to refute a recent U.S. House Republican report finding that some two-thirds of private health plan purchasers under the Affordable Care Act had managed to make even their first month of premium payment. Insurance company executives came to the rescue yesterday, claiming that it is more like eighty percent.

The executives were quick to point out that their numbers are still preliminary and that no one really knows even now a hard number on this.

Nevertheless, left-wing talking heads are trying today to make this into the latest anti-ObamaCare "lie." But one thing I have not seen pointed out in any of the conversation about this controversy is that while we are talking about people making their first premium payment, the current month is May.

While some people signed up in April and even March and may have mailed in premium payments not yet received, the vast majority of sign-ups came much earlier -- the started last October -- and we aren't talking about people who have made all their payments. Just the first one.

Obamacrats have moved administratively to significantly delay how quickly insurers can cancel policies for non-payment, even making it easy for people to order a policy, use it for coverage and never pay -- while the insurer must give them one month for free. It will be interesting to learn how many people take that money and run.

ObamaCare-quitting states get a bonus

Oregon and Massachusetts made news recently by deciding to quit trying to set up state-run exchanges under the Affordable Care Act, saving themselves substantial sums of money. A report on CNBC suggests others may be close behind, but it doesn't really say why. That reason is big news.

The Affordable Care Act encouraged states to set up their own exchanges by promising and then delivering substantial federal grants to fund state efforts through December 31, 2014, but made no provision for clawing back that cash from states who took it and then failed to perform.

In our first two examples of taking the money and running, Oregon received $304 million in federal grants and Massachusetts got $180 million. Both stood to be on the hook for tens of millions a year each in additional annual costs to keep their program running perpetually.

Or they could just quit and let the federal government take on the responsibility, the work and the cost. Nearly three dozen states refused initially to take the bait and avoided the entire charade by never attempting to set up their own exchanges. In two states, Kentucky and Rhode Island, Obama-supporting governors tried to create state-run exchanges at their first opportunity by issuing executive orders. Both could soon wind up following Oregon and Massachusetts for fiscal reasons, with efforts underway in each state. In Rhode Island, a bipartisan bill (HB 7817) has been filed in the legislature to defund the exchange, with sponsors citing the same tens of millions of dollars in annual costs as being beyond the state's means. In Kentucky, an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote last month defunded their exchange and in HB 235 pointed out Gov. Steve Beshear failed to gain required legislative approval for his executive order under state statute KRS 12.028. Beshear says he will continue to run the "Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange" in violation of state law and without necessary funding until he is forced to stop. Two lawsuits have been filed against him in the state (13-SC-000652 and 13-SC-000667) and currently await state Supreme Court action.

Full disclosure: I filed the two lawsuits against Kentucky's Governor for illegally attempting to force Kentucky into ObamaCare.

Kentucky's $253 million ObamaCare good news

One thing I noticed in reading the Affordable Care Act legislation is there is no provision for clawing back federal funds when a state's ObamaCare exchange exchange fails. This fact helped Oregon and Massachusetts decide to drop their exchanges and it will help Kentucky.

Kentucky received $253 million in federal funds to set up an ObamaCare exchange. Beshear failed to gain legislative approval for the exchange and the 2014 budget bill defunded it.

A bipartisan bill in Rhode Island would defund their state exchange and accept the federal government's offer to pick up the tab.

"This bill is not an effort to protest the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in Rhode Island, or to interfere in its operation. It is about a $40 million a year expense we cannot afford. Rhode Islanders can take advantage of the ACA without the state spending $40 million a year," said State Representative Patricia Morgan, prime sponsor of the bill."

Another state official I spoke to said concern about being forced to reimburse the federal government for grant funds received by the state was the only thing holding their effort back. They need not worry. Obama doesn't want the public relations nightmare of going after states that tried to help him with his unworkable law but failed.

Kentucky defunded its ObamaCare efforts last month. Gov. Beshear remains in denial about the fate of his "legacy" item, but there is now really no legitimate reason to keep hanging on.

Give it up, Governor.

Kentucky drops in behind Oregon, Massachusetts

In recent days, ObamaCare exchanges in Oregon and Massachusetts have bitten the dust. Kentucky should be next.

The media in Kentucky and those who have flown in from New York and Washington D.C. to report on ObamaCare here have done a terrible job reporting on the incompetence of those running the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange, but that's beside the point now.

With the end of the Kentucky General Assembly session for 2014 and its refusal to give ObamaCare either the required legal authority to continue to exist or any of the funds necessary to operate in the coming biennium, the only thing delaying the official failure of Kentucky ObamaCare is continued disregard for state law by Gov. Beshear and continued misfeasance by the media.

Two lawsuits have been filed and await imminent action by the Kentucky Supreme Court. They are 13-SC-000652 and 13-SC-000667.

Derby shame: Beshear treats Obama like a lawn jockey

The Obama administration sent Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear more than a quarter billion dollars to set up the first phase of federal health reform in the Bluegrass State. Beshear, who came into office backed by casino gambling supporters and personally guaranteeing he would change state law to allow expanded gambling at horse tracks, has failed the White House even more spectacularly. The President knows this, obviously, but is too embarrassed by other failures in his plans to make a public example of Beshear. Yet.

There are a lot more elements of the Affordable Care Act teed up to go disastrously wrong for the President (see Halbig v. Sebelius, see any future verified details about how many ObamaCare policies are paid for, sold to sick people, sold to previously insured people, etc.)  and Beshear stands to get dumped on hard in the increasingly likely collapse. In applying for the more than $252 million in federal funds to set up the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange, Beshear had to certify the legal authority by which he created the new agency. He personally guaranteed that he had done so on the federal grant application papers by referencing the temporary reorganization executive order he filed. He did not disclose that KRS 12.028 requires him to get legislative approval to make it legal. He never got that approval.

This matter is currently awaiting action from the Kentucky Supreme Court (see 13-SC-000667).

When Beshear was sued for his role in the ObamaCare Medicaid expansion, he first claimed that he was being sued too early because he had not yet initiated the regulatory process under KRS 13A. After that claimed was rejected by the Court and too late to complete the process legally, Beshear initiated administrative acceptance of the Medicaid expansion. See 13-SC-000652

Kentucky will host visitors from all over the world this weekend and they will be regaled with stories about how a Democratic governor served his Democratic president in a state represented federally by Republicans. Don't believe it. Beshear has violated the law and his oath of office and has betrayed everyone in sight.

Enjoy the horse races.

Kentucky Obamacrats melt under slightest media scrutiny

The Hill newspaper looked at seven states with competitive Senate races and tried to do a flyover analysis of each state's ObamaCare experience to estimate what role the federal law might have in November elections.

For all of Gov. Steve Beshear's talk of "indisputable success" here, the state has actually fared very poorly in terms of meeting its federal goal for insurance policy sales with an actual premium attached. When asked about this, some Kentucky Obamacrat fell apart:dfdlf

Kentucky came in last with 37 percent based on an enrollment goal of 220,000, raising questions about how stable its premiums will be next year. 

An administration official called the conclusion unfair, arguing the target represented a combination of projected exchange and Medicaid enrollments. 

A spokeswoman for the Kentucky exchange did not immediately respond to a request for clarification. 

So when asked about the state's dismal failure to even come close to a goal which would demonstrate the slightest chance of sustainability, the official Frankfort response was a vague and very obvious lie followed by hiding out waiting for the reporter to go away. Silly Kentucky Obamacrat, that garbage only works with Kentucky reporters.

Mitch McConnell pledges to support Matt Bevin

This is perfect.

In hotly contested statewide primaries, the Republican Party of Kentucky has made a tradition of inviting the combatants to pledge to attend a post-election unity rally.

In the 2003 gubernatorial campaign, the move helped solidify support behind Ernie Fletcher. In 2010, a skeptical tea party contingent with Rand Paul met a shocked and dismayed establishment cohorts Trey Grayson and Mitch McConnell to start that successful fall campaign.

As the polls continue to narrow in his favor, Matt Bevin has every reason to continue hedging on whether or not he will attend if the voters choose McConnell. In fact, on Monday or Tuesday Matt should put out a press release demanding full retractions and apologies from McConnell for each and every false personal attack McConnell has launched against Matt as a condition to further discussions.

Here's my thinking on this: McConnell has already announced his support for Matt as the Republican nominee if the election does not go his way. McConnell should have to explain his own horrific behavior during that campaign and seek to make amends now or explain why he thinks someone as untrustworthy as the cartoonishly corrupt image he has spent millions of dollars trying to create would deserve general election support simply in the name of party loyalty.

Very few people outside the very insular established moderate professional politician circles view party loyalty as sacrosanct as does McConnell. Mitch could be made to sweat on this point a lot in the coming days and Matt should make him do it.

Paducah Sun unmasks Beshear as blind Obamacrat

A Paducah Sun editorial today hearkens back to a discussion their board had with Gov. Steve Beshear before ObamaCare became law.

"Gov. Beshear, back at a time when he was candidate Beshear, told our editorial board he had "no idea where we would get the money" for Medicaid expansion if the Affordable Care Act was passed. He still doesn't."

That's a great point. The editorial unwittingly also perpetuates false information in claiming that Kentucky has no financial obligation for the Medicaid expansion until 2017. This is utterly false as we are even now spending state money administering expanded Medicaid without legislative approval. Fortunately for all of us, Kentucky's legislature defunded the optional parts of ObamaCare -- which includes the ObamaCare exchange and Medicaid expansion -- just last month.

Beshear's combination of ignorance and arrogance belongs in Washington D.C., not Kentucky. Thanks again to state Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer for breaking the silence over Kentucky's struggle to rein in our out of control state government executive.

Damon Thayer: we prevailed on KY ObamaCare

President Barack Obama lavished Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear with praise three months ago, calling him "a man possessed" for Beshear's zeal in pushing provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in his conservative, southern state. But that may be about to change.

Kentucky's legislature just defunded state implementation of federal health reform, derisively nicknamed "ObamaCare" by opponents in a struggle serving as the focal point for most if not all political observers ahead of midterm elections.

"Apparently Democrats can read polls that show how unpopular ObamaCare is with voters," said state Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, a Republican from the north-central part of the Bluegrass State.

The budget bill prohibiting use of state funds for the ACA passed both chambers of the legislature by wide margins, 89-11 in the Democratic House and 37-1 in the Republican Senate. Beshear's opportunity to line-item veto any part of the budget expired without him taking action on this. The two-year state budget now says the following: "The Governor is expressly prohibited from expending any General Fund resources on any expenditure directly or indirectly associated with the Health Benefit Exchange." The Affordable Care Act prohibits the use of federal funds for state run exchanges after January 1, 2015.

Democratic House Speaker Greg Stumbo is defiant, though he hasn't explained his position other than to say he wanted to avoid a lengthy debate. He told WFPL radio in Louisville simply, "We didn't feel like that this language would be egregious to the governor in moving forward."

Two lawsuits have been filed in state court to clarify the controversy and await Supreme Court hearings. Majority Floor Leader Thayer pointed out that legislative approval of Beshear's federal health reform advocacy was never granted as state law requires in KRS 12.028.

"Senate Republicans felt strongly that no state dollars should be appropriated to fund ObamaCare. Its implementation has never been approved by the General Assembly and has been unilaterally implemented via executive order by Governor Beshear," Thayer said. "We took a strong stand on this in the budget process and, fortunately, we prevailed on behalf of Kentucky taxpayers."

Governor Beshear has made no public comments about this new development.

They still think ObamaCare is free

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee reported today that only 2.45 million people in the federal ObamaCare exchanges out of 8 million claimed by Obama have paid even one month of insurance  premium.

“In a sad reversal away from its vows of transparency, the Obama administration, from inside the Oval Office on down, has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep basic details of the health law from the public. Tired of receiving incomplete pictures of enrollment in the health care law, we went right to the source and found that the administration’s recent declarations of success may be unfounded,” commented full committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI). “We need a complete picture of how this law is working. We will continue to strive for transparency and hold the administration accountable for this law’s shortcomings and broken promises.”  

Lexington Herald Leader House candidate questionnaire

This afternoon, the Lexington Herald Leader issued state House candidate questions for a pre-primary voter guide to be printed on May 18, 2014. Each question must be answered in 45 or fewer words. Here they are, with my answers.

1.  Should the Kentucky Constitution be changed to allow casino gambling?

Kentucky shouldn't prohibit gambling, but must forbid  governments owning, managing or regulating, selling or giving licenses or taxing any business engaged in gambling differently than other businesses. Government officials must not project future revenues from gambling or spend revenues on non-debt items.

2.  Should the Kentucky Constitution be changed to automatically restore voting rights to most felons who have completed their sentences and terms of probation?

Yes, but only in conjunction with stronger voter identification requirements.
.

3.  Do you support or oppose Gov. Steve Beshear’s decision to expand Medicaid eligibility in Kentucky under the federal Affordable Care Act?

Oppose. The legislature did not approve the expansion of Medicaid under ObamaCare and has prohibited necessary state funds from being spent on the expansion.

4.  Should the state provide $80 million to help pay for a proposed redesign of Rupp Arena and an attached convention center?

No, it should be funded privately.

5.  Do you support or oppose a statewide ban on smoking in public places and places of employment?

No, property owners are capable of implementing smoking bans should they choose to do so. Protecting that choice is the proper role of government.

6.  Do you support or oppose a statewide prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation?

No, sexual orientation is a private matter. Individuals and businesses should not be subjected to further government interference regarding sexual orientation.

7.  Do you support or oppose a proposal that would require a doctor to present the results of an ultrasound to a pregnant woman prior to an abortion?

Beshear administration policies now provide funding for elective abortions in violation of state law, which means taxpayers could be required to fund these ultrasounds. I support clarifying legislation first and then requiring a doctor to present the results of an ultrasound before performing an abortion.

Oregon ObamaCare collapse presages Kentucky's

The Oregon Business Report is considering what will happen in their state after the federal government takes over their ObamaCare exchange. Very interesting, as they point out, that the whole thing may fall apart because of a federal lawsuit in which a ruling is expected any day now.

Kentucky's General Assembly defunded Kentucky's exchange earlier this month. While Gov. Beshear is still in denial about what this means for Kentucky's exchange, what is happening in Oregon bears close watching as this will soon be our fate too.

Is Mitch McConnell taxed too much?

A silly left-wing blog post from Friday points out evidence that Sen. Mitch McConnell's re-election campaign is paying for one of his staffers' health insurance premiums for Kentucky ObamaCare's public option KYHC.

You can read the post here.

A couple of things about the $170.43 monthly premium: one, that's a lot of money for what is almost certainly a young person and it's significantly more than similar coverage would have cost in 2013. And two, no such premium exists on the approved rate charts of the Kentucky Health Cooperative.

That means this ObamaCare plan for a McConnell campaign employee is either subsidized by federal taxpayers or the premium includes a tax Gov. Beshear didn't get authority to levy, or both.

What we need to know to figure this out is the age, home zip code, smoking status and chosen plan of the covered employee.

Sen. McConnell?

What's their phone number, Mitch?

Mitch McConnell came out of hiding this past week, but probably wishes he hadn't. The national media is all atwitter because Sen. McConnell said creating jobs isn't his job, but that's not the embarrassing part of his statement.

Government destroys jobs. The closest thing to creating jobs government can do is to get out of the way. That should have been very easy to say. But alas, it was not to be.

Asked what he would do to bring jobs to Lee County, McConnell said "That's not my job. It is the primary responsibility of the state Commerce Cabinet."

The Democratic response and that of the media has been focused on the "that's not my job" part of the quote. McConnell even responded to that, saying "It's up to all of us -- at the federal, state and local levels."

No, again. Waiting around for government at any level to create jobs is not something a person who understands economics would ever say.

But the really funny part -- what makes this an embarrassing gaffe -- is that Kentucky hasn't had a Commerce Cabinet for many years. Telling jobless Kentuckians to get off his back and call a nonexistent government agency in Frankfort is something Mitch's opponents should waste no time hitting him on.

Rand Paul should help Matt Bevin on cockfighting "issue"

It wasn't that long ago Rand Paul got raked over the coals nationally for explaining that there are limits to federal jurisdiction. Rand's episode related to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and is so similar to the current dust up over Matt Bevin and cockfighting that Rand is the perfect person to come to Matt's aid now.

National media figures are having a field day because Matt spoke about states rights at a Corbin rally organized for the purpose of promoting the legalization of cockfighting.

The whole ordeal has as its genesis a successful effort by Sen. Mitch McConnell to make attending a cockfighting event a federal crime. The only fact that matters is that the U.S. Constitution does not grant Congress jurisdiction over such an activity. Rand Paul understands the truth and he also remembers well how McConnell left him to twist in the wind when left-wing talking heads were calling him a liar and a racist.

McConnell does not recognize limits on federal jurisdiction. That's why he is so blatantly incapable of discussing problems with ObamaCare beyond focus grouped talking points. Matt has made his race against McConnell close by himself. Rand can and should come in now to give Liberty another powerful voice in Washington D.C.

 

Kentucky ObamaCare scandal hits Louisville television

I will be a guest on WHAS11 Saturday morning at 9:30 am ET talking with Joe Arnold on his program "The Powers That Be."

Joe asked me to come on to talk about the Kentucky General Assembly's defunding of ObamaCare and about the U.S. Senate race.

The station is not sure yet whether the program will be live-streamed, but there will be a link sometime this weekend.