Kratom ban in Kentucky will worsen heroin

For all the billions of dollars government spends attempting to fight "drugs," you might think by now we would know better than allowing politicians to manage any part of the issue much less ban anything else.

"People across Kentucky are using a mild, natural product called kratom to step down from heroin addiction while Senate Bill 136 would ban kratom and throw people in jail for using it," Kentucky Progress publisher David Adams said. "If this stupid bill becomes law, heroin deaths will only increase. Politician tossing should be a sport."

Beshear: Conway was terrible, Stumbo worse

Gov. Steve Beshear's message in a Lexington press conference today was supposed to be about getting Matt Bevin to turn his back on the half million people who believed his campaign promises about undoing ObamaCare damage in Kentucky, but it didn't work out that way.

Beshear spoke to a half dozen nodding supporters at the Hyatt Regency hotel with a somber Crit Luallen and an utterly miserable-looking Audrey Tayse Haynes nearby. He told them ObamaCare is not a disaster. They looked like they really wanted to believe him.

"The picture of Beshear's Magical Misery Tour says a thousand words about what's left of Kentucky's Democratic Party in the wake of Obama and ObamaCare," Kentucky Progress publisher David Adams said. "Beshear's effort here serves as an admission that the proper forum for this discussion, Jack Conway's gubernatorial campaign, was a huge failure and that Speaker Greg Stumbo's evaporating House majority is even less equipped to make a case for ObamaCare when reality is too clearly in opposition."

Anti-7th Amendment bill walks like gun control

Senate Bill 6 in Kentucky's 2016 General Assembly would force an innocent person harmed by medical error or negligence to go through a tangled mess of red tape taking a year or more before being allowed to seek reimbursement for losses, in violation of the 7th Amendment of the Kentucky Constitution and Section 7 of Kentucky's Constitution.

"There is nothing in Senate Bill 6 which protects consumers or lowers healthcare costs and the idea of asking a panel of doctors if you can hold another doctor who hurts you responsible is like asking Nancy Pelosi if you can buy a gun," Kentucky Progress publisher David Adams said.

Appreciating Rand Paul's efforts on race relations

Senator Rand Paul deserves to be congratulated for his efforts in the presidential race to improve race relations in America and we should carry on his fight, 30th district Kentucky House candidate Waymen Eddings said.

"The divide between people of different races comes down to lack of communication and we need to continue talking to bring people together," Eddings said. "Freedom for all still needs to be won and we can not afford to ignore Senator Paul's color blind message of putting the individual first in the 21st Century."

ObamaCare takes next step down

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield took another big step toward dumping its Kentucky ObamaCare customers today, announcing they are practically eliminating insurance agent commissions on their health plans.

"With today's action, we get one step closer to the planned total destruction of health insurance in America and the time when ObamaCare and total government control of healthcare mean the same thing," Kentucky Progress publisher David Adams said. "Customer service at health insurance companies was already bad enough, but this is a huge nail in the coffin."

"Bad Doctors Gone Wild" bill SB6

Whether through negligence or sheer incompetence, a tiny fraction of Kentucky doctors account for most medical malpractice lawsuits each year. Senate Bill 6 would essentially eliminate the ability to sue for a malpractice by encouraging doctors to obligate any patients so harmed to skip court and rely on "binding arbitration."

"This is the legal equivalent of throwing the baby out with the bathwater," Kentucky Progress publisher David Adams said. "The Kentucky and U.S. Constitutions guarantee a plaintiff's ability to sue for losses caused by another person and once in a while someone may try to abuse that right, but we can't pretend that gumming up the works and delaying or preventing a legitimate day in court does anything but make that worse. Senate Bill 6 must be withdrawn or defeated."

Louisville House candidate defends gun owners

Attacking innocent Kentuckians' right to bear arms is the standard politician's answer to inner city crime and violence, but it doesn't work, 30th district House candidate Waymen Eddings said.

"My opponent, Rep. Tom Burch, has a 21% rating from the National Rifle Association, but his being an opponent of self-defense rights has not made anyone safer and only makes crime worse," Eddings said. "Working to improve public safety while also protecting individual rights will always be my top priority."

"Criminals are not known to comply with KRS statutes so then my opponent's approach simply imposes even more restrictions on my law abiding neighbors in Louisville. Gun control is a bureaucratic gesture, not a solution. So, I intend on engaging the community to find the true answers. These answers will be responsive to the unique dynamics of violent conflict in an urban environment while not penalizing the lawful citizen for the actions of the criminal element."

Will Matt Bevin abuse 7th Amendment?

Gov. Matt Bevin has said many times he supports using tort reform to lower healthcare costs, but if you want evidence that limiting medical malpractice jury awards does that, prepare to be disappointed. Such evidence just doesn't exist.

"Tort reform is politician-speak for 'I don't know what to do, let's just kill some lawyers,'" Kentucky Progress publisher David Adams said. "It's a well-worn Republican buzzword, but tort reform not only runs afoul of the Seventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Section 7 of the Kentucky Constitution, it simply fails to deliver what its advocates promise. In fact, as ObamaCare blew up healthcare for everyone while trying to fix it for a few, tort reform threatens to do the same thing to a citizen's right to seek redress in court."

"Gov. Bevin should speak clearly about his vision of tort reform without delay and that includes the bad idea in the legislature to force injured parties to go before a medical review panel in Senate Bill 6, which will only hurt consumers."