Left coast state bites Obama

Oregon hasn't voted for a Republican presidential candidate in almost thirty years. But earlier this week a bipartisan coalition of state House members turned on President Barack Obama by voting to refuse to set up a state-run health insurance exchange, a key component of ObamaCare.

If they can do that there, it stands to reason our guys and gals in Frankfort can figure it out, too.

The Oregonian reports, however, that some legislators there are determined to keep drinking the Kool-Aid.

"Democrats protested that the exchange would be funded by federal money as well as insurance fees, and would not affect the state budget."

This is just the latest example of politicians who haven't read something they are voting on that will cost taxpayers money. The bulk of the ObamaCare federal money goes away in 2016 and the impact on state budgets will be substantial. In any case, it is ridiculously false to claim that there will be no impact on state budgets. Even Nancy Pelosi isn't trying that one.

Kentucky politicians would do very well to get out in front of this one.

Big Tea Party advance today

Nine months ago, Kentucky's state Senate President openly mocked tea partiers who wanted to limit the state's debt. On Wednesday, the Senate's top priority -- Senate Bill 1 -- was announced as, you guessed it, a state debt ceiling bill.

The bill prohibits the accumulation of any additional general fund appropriation-supported debt when the ratio of that debt exceeds six percent of general fund appropriated revenues. An exception in the bill for "emergency" situations requires a request by the governor and approval of majorities of both chambers of the legislature.

The current debt ratio is over six percent.

I'd prefer to see the ratio set lower -- like five percent -- and I'd prefer to do without the "emergency" escape hatch. But if it takes giving some on these two points to get the bill through, it looks like a step in the right direction.

If we can keep them below six percent, we can go for five percent later. And get ready to resist any bogus "emergency" debt bills.

This is a great issue for House candidates to start making noise about right away.

Tea party should demand a refund

Kentucky's legislative redistricting has been a disaster because of incumbent politicians seeking first to protect their turf. The shenanigans have caused some challenger candidates to file multiple times as the district boundaries have changed.

And the boundaries could change yet again.

The legislature should move immediately to refund any filing fees for candidates who have had to file more than once. While they are at it, they should refund fees to any candidate who decides not to run when the final lines are established.

I know the idea is to frustrate anyone who wants to come into the process from the outside in hopes he or she will just go away. This abuse of the public is exactly the type of thing we must fight against.

Extend Bush tax cuts now

On January 13, 2013, the Bush tax cuts are set to expire and taxes will go up for most Americans. Making them permanent should be an immediate priority for all presidential and congressional candidates, even those proposing to drop rates lower.

Lower rates are for next year. Right now is the time to prevent January 1 from being Tax Increase Day 2013. Even if Republicans liberate the White House and the Senate, there will certainly be enough Democrats in the Senate to filibuster against a bill to keep rates where they are now.

Representatives Ben Chandler and John Yarmuth have shown themselves to be untrustworthy on taxes already. They should hear from us every day between now and election day on extending the Bush tax cuts. Kentucky's Republican members of Congress should get the same earful at least until the House passes such a bill.

Showing taxpayers what they could buy with the money Obama and the Democrats want to take from them on New Year's Day would make an interesting campaign message.

Only one way to get more cosponsors

Kentucky House Bill 26, the welfare drug testing bill, has sixty cosponsors. The only way to get more names on a bill in Frankfort is to propose naming a bridge after a war hero.

Rep. Tom Burch is locking up the bill in the House Health and Welfare Committee with complaints which prove only that he hasn't bothered to read the bill.

Please call your legislators and ask them to tell Rep. Burch to read the bill and then to pass it out of the committee he chairs.

TEA time in Kentucky

The final, official list of Kentucky state House candidates includes at least two dozen very serious Tea Party Republican candidates.

One name to watch is Jessamine County's Matt Lockett.

Lockett faces House Majority Caucus Leader Bob Damron in the 39th House district.

Damron just voted to move the largest concentration of Republicans in Jessamine County out of the Sixth Congressional district so Rep. Ben Chandler might be more likely to carry water for Washington D.C. Democrats for the rest of his life.

Unfortunately for Damron, those conservative voters are back in Bob's district after he and Speaker Greg Stumbo botched the redistricting process for the state House.

Bob has also raised the ire of Americans for Tax Reform after he failed to keep his promise on their Taxpayer Protection Pledge when he voted to raise taxes.

Why isn't Kentucky Tebowing?

Long-time fans of Tim Tebow know that he was a home-schooled kid who, under Florida law, was allowed to play football at a public high school. That's how he came to the attention of the Florida Gators and, ultimately, became an NFL throwing-and-praying sensation.

The issue should come to the attention of Kentucky's General Assembly now because Virginia is close to passing its own "Tebow law" which would give that state's homeschool students access to sports teams their tax dollars are already paying for.

Yes, doing this dredges up tough questions about sports eligibility and recruiting but sorting them out is a small price to pay for restoring lost taxpayer rights to homeschoolers who choose to exercise them. And Kentucky public school students would benefit from a glimpse into the homeschool world.

Of course, maybe that is what "Big Ed" is afraid of in Kentucky. It's way past time to fundamentally alter the way we view utilization of our public education dollars. Putting the focus on serving children rather than protecting bureaucratic turf has to start someplace. Let's start here.

After Indiana victory, Right to Work comes here

Supporters of freedom from forced unionism in Kentucky workplaces are mapping out a strategy to make Kentucky a Right to Work state within six to eight years.

In Right to Work states, an individual can't be forced to join a union in order to get or keep a job.

Union dues are often used to support left wing causes and candidates, in opposition to the interests of most Kentuckians. Indiana became the only rust belt state to go Right to Work on February 1.

This law is particularly necessary in Kentucky because of special protections granted labor unions such as prevailing wage laws which artificially inflate the cost of public construction projects.

New job growth in Indiana as a result of Right to Work should help the effort to end forced unionism in Kentucky.

Richie Farmer: how low can we set the bar?

Former Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer made international news last week when it was revealed that he applied for unemployment benefits after his two terms in office ended in December.

Well, you won't believe this.

Apparently Richie got the rejection letter all the rest of us knew would be coming. And then he filed an appeal.

Kentucky has a long tradition of colorful characters running for -- and serving in -- political office. As long as name recognition is a key determinant of electoral success, we may have a tough time upgrading the quality of our candidates and officeholders. But if this sad tale doesn't motivate us to give less money and less power to our government, I don't know what will.

Still not kicking the right butts

On Wednesday morning, the Kentucky Senate Health and Welfare Committee will spend a significant amount of time on "Medicaid managed care provider problems." There are a lot of them.

The state Medicaid program is a serious mess. This comes after Gov. Steve Beshear spent the first three years of his first term "studying" managed care in Medicaid and just the last few months hurriedly putting it into place.

And now he and his friends are frantically trying to pretend ObamaCare won't make it much worse.

Let's define marriage as between free people

A federal appeals court in San Francisco today said states can't define marriage as between one man and one woman.

Two things should happen as this issue makes its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. First, the "Johnson Amendment" which allows the Internal Revenue Service to limit the freedom of speech of churches should be repealed. Then we should repeal all taxes on income in order to end government involvement in both the exercise of religion and the definition of marriage.

The left will not allow those two things to happen, of course. They would rather keep the same-sex marriage activists busy supporting Democratic candidates than risk being consistent on the protection of individual freedom in America.

Meanwhile, churches and socially conservative people will continue to resist efforts of the left to take for themselves another weapon against those who don't accept their agendas.

Rep. Damron, call the Governor

Speaking on the Jack Pattie show this morning, House Majority Caucus Leader Bob Damron said the state of Kentucky is waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on ObamaCare before setting up the federal law's health insurance exchange bureaucracy.

This is false.

Governor Beshear, while denying to state reporters that he is working to create the ObamaCare infrastructure in Kentucky, has accepted millions of federal dollars for that purpose and has informed the National Conference of State Legislatures that he is using the state's Division of Certificate Need to implement by executive order what the legislature is too chicken to pass or kill in public.

Steve Beshear's lips still moving

Governor Steve Beshear is still denying to Frankfort reporters that he is working to sneak an ObamaCare health insurance exchange past the legislature.

Stopping ObamaCare in Kentucky should not be very difficult at all.

Is this the Seinfeld legislature?

The 2012 Kentucky General Assembly has been pretty underwhelming so far. One sign this might be the "session about nothing" is that four bills to remove an unpopular, expensive and, frankly embarrasssing legislative pension provision haven't even gotten as much as a committee hearing.

And it's not like they have been busy taking on other issues of substance.

Please call your lawmakers and ask them to pass HB 117, SB 26, HB 65 or SB 28.

What, no more politician cake?

Caleb Brown at the Bluegrass Institute points out former Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer's application for unemployment insurance at the end of his term lays bare an ugly fact -- we train our political class to not think past the next election.

Of course, these are the same people who piled a record amount of debt on us in 2011.

Glauber: stop Beshear on ObamaCare

The failure of Kentucky's legislature to protect against exploding costs of ObamaCare could be the most expensive story of the 2012 General Assembly, 26th district House of Representatives candidate David Glauber said.

"Governor Steve Beshear is working to advance the federal healthcare law by executive order and without the approval of the legislature," Glauber said. "If he did ask, even the House Democrats would surely refuse him in an election year. If we don't stop the federal law, in 2016 our already unaffordable state Medicaid expenses will skyrocket."

"We need a bill to prohibit Governor Beshear from creating a state health insurance exchange under the ObamaCare law without input from the legislature," Glauber said.

David Glauber signs Kentucky tax pledge

Kentucky's fiscal woes were created by overspending and not a lack of revenue, said 26th state House district candidate David Glauber, who is encouraging all legislative candidates to join in him swearing off tax increases.

"State government revenue is at an all-time high, but spending is even higher," Glauber said. "Now that Governor Beshear is talking about tax reform, we need to tie our politicians' hands against the possibility of raising taxes on hard working Kentuckians. We are taxed enough already."

Earlier today, Glauber signed the Americans for Tax Reform Taxpayer Protection Pledge, promising not to vote for tax increases. He encouraged other candidates to follow suit.

"Kentucky can't thrive with a government that keeps getting in our way. We need lower taxes and fewer regulations so the private sector can be profitable. Profitable companies hire more people," Glauber said.

David Glauber seeks to represent the new 26th House district comprising part of Bullitt County and part of Hardin County.

Kentucky should do this

Missouri's state Senate is considering a bill to prevent their governor from doing what Kentucky's Governor Steve Beshear is doing to us with regard to ObamaCare.

Beshear is quietly attempting to implement ObamaCare by creating, via executive order, the bureaucracy to enforce a federal takeover of the health care industry.

ObamaCare mandates a health insurance "exchange," which Kentucky has already taken millions of federal dollars to start implementing. We really need the legislature to take action on this right away.

Media freedom (could be) people freedom

A news item getting worldwide coverage this week was a ranking of press freedoms in 179 countries placing the United States 47th, tied with Romania.

Everyone across the political spectrum in America should be able to agree that our freedom of speech is a cherished right and that we don't want to be outdone by a nation separated from communist domination by less than a quarter of a century.

In fact, it's not good enough that the USA merely crack the top 25 in next year's ranking. We should have the freest media in the world.

I have an idea.

Our constitutional freedom of speech guarantees on both the federal and state levels include a term that has created some confusion we need to clear up in order to better protect our freedoms. The term is freedom of the press.

The Kentucky and United States Constitutions were written at a time in which the cutting edge communications technology of the day was a printing press. Employees of media corporations sometimes claim their profession is the only one protected by the Constitution. This is clearly not accurate. If the internet, television, radio or even telephones existed in the late 18th century, it is certain the word "press" wouldn't be found in either document or the other technologies would be included as well.

To update and clarify free speech rights in the United States we need to change our definitions of "media" and "press" to include all individuals, since we all have broadcast capabilities our founding fathers could not even imagine.

Click here to read proposed legislation for Kentucky.  Our state law does not include a "press exemption" or "media exemption" such as that used on the federal level to create special rights for media corporations, so a federal solution would be a little more involved. But it is worth the effort to protect our sacred freedoms. If you agree, please forward this post widely.

Kentucky industrial hemp rolling

The industrial hemp bill in Kentucky's House of Representatives has 15 co-sponsors, seven of which are Democrats.

Kentucky agriculture needs the freedom to grow industrial hemp and it can't happen until our politicians lose their ridiculous fear that someone might mistake this incredibly useful crop with a hallucinogenic drug.

Coming on the heels of advancement of Kentucky's milk freedom bill, this progress is a welcome sight. If you haven't already, please ask your representative to sign on to the hemp bill.

Kentucky milk freedom advances

The Kentucky Senate Agriculture Committee advanced a bill on Thursday to clarify the freedom of Kentuckians to produce, sell, buy and drink raw milk.

Senate Bill 47 came about as the result of an ugly incident in Louisville last May in which local "health" authorities raided a food club and took their fresh milk.

The bill has only four sponsors in the Senate. Please contact your Senator and ask him or her to support food freedom in Kentucky. Especially with the federal government getting more aggressive toward food freedom, getting this right on the state level is worth the effort.

It's not too soon to start talking this up with your House representative as well.

Going cold turkey off Kentucky crazy checks

Kentucky is about to make national news big time with a bill that would require a drug test for welfare recipients suspected of abusing illegal drugs.

Lonnie Napier's HB 26 now has 55 co-sponsors in the 100 member state House.

Florida passed a similar law that was blocked by a federal judge last October because it didn't limit testing to cases in which there is probable cause. A 1999 Michigan law was also thrown out for the same reason.

A similar measure is under consideration in Tennessee, but Kentucky is the one state in which someone is doing this correctly.

We can agree to cut this, right?

Kentucky legislators appear to be dragging their feet on clearing up the David Williams pension scandal in Frankfort, perhaps because too many of them are afraid of the Senate President.

But what about Steve Nunn? The Kentucky Knows Best PAC stirred up interest in bloated legislative pensions last summer with the news that convicted murderer and former state Rep. Steve Nunn would draw his state pension in prison for the rest of his life simply because he didn't murder his girlfriend while he was a legislator.

Cleaning this mess up will be very easy. See details by clicking here.

You can get the ball rolling by calling or forwarding this post your representatives or to Rep. Mike Cherry and Sen. Damon Thayer. While the legislature is patiently waiting for the candidate filing deadline to pass, dealing with this should be an easy and painless way to pass the time.

Small victory for free speech

State Rep. Jim Wayne (D-Louisville) withdrew a public financing of judicial campaigns bill today that would have given participating candidates funds to match independent expenditures made on behalf of an opponent.

Particularly during a presidential election year in which hundreds of millions of independent expenditure dollars are sure to be spent, it's interesting to see attempts like this to counter private funds devoted to a political campaign with funds forcibly taken by the government.

Glad to see such a ridiculous bill fail to get any support in the House. We should use the demise of this misguided attempt as a reason to reinforce individual free speech rights in Kentucky.

Kentucky Medicaid enrollment shocker

Kentucky's Medicaid/KCHIP enrollment under ObamaCare will increase by 42%, a new Urban Institute study projected.

This is significant mostly because Kentucky already can't afford what we spend on Medicaid (14.8% of general fund appropriations in the current budget proposal.) But also, there is this: the Urban Institute, a left-wing think tank supports ObamaCare. The Heritage Foundation, which opposes ObamaCare, projects an increase of only 31%.

The Urban Institute suggests Kentucky will be able to make up for much of the additional costs by almost entirely eliminating uncompensated care costs. Yet again, if Massachusetts serves as a guide, that's another bad bet for Governor Beshear, who continues to force ObamaCare on us through the back door.

How will you protect free speech in Kentucky?

Theresa Camoriano, a Louisville attorney, understands better than most that we don't appreciate our free speech rights until we notice them being taken away. Mrs. Camoriano has written a legislative bill to ensure that individuals can maintain those rights in the face of a state government growing increasingly hostile toward its citizens who dare to speak out.

Her bill would amend KRS 121.015 by adding the following to it:

(18)     "Press" means any resident of the state of Kentucky who engages in any form of communication. 

(19)     "Media" means any resident of the state of Kentucky who engages in any form of communication.

(20)     "Newspaper" means any form of printed material that includes any advertisement or other information for the purpose of public distribution, including information printed on paper, billboards, signs, fliers, web pages and other electronic print material.

The purpose of this portion of Kentucky statute is to clarify that the speech and press rights of the flesh and blood residents of Kentucky are no less than the speech and press rights of legal persons taking the form of newspaper and broadcast businesses operating in Kentucky.

Given Kentucky's clear constitutional prohibition on government infringement of free speech rights, this change in state law shouldn't be necessary. But as long as we have Democratic elected officials promoting nonsense like this and Republicans willing to go along when they don't want to be criticized either, we need to be proactive.

This language would prevent the Commonwealth of Kentucky from punishing any citizen for simply exercising his or her right to speak freely. Anyone opposed to that?

Everyone wants to co-opt the tea party

Possibly the greatest political quote in history, from Mahatma Gandhi, applies to the tea party in a big way: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

In the battle between the tea party and the establishment, we are in the thick of phase three.

Newt Gingrich just won South Carolina and many of his voters claim to also support tea party principles. That might make your skin crawl if you oppose some of the big government positions Speaker Gingrich supports, but defeating the establishment was never going to be easy and we should expect a few more big twists and turns before we win. Newt is just another brick in the wall.

Where others view with disgust a dalliance between Newt and the tea party, I see a movement securing its footing for a major advance. Hold on tight for a very bumpy ride.

But at some point soon (very soon, I hope) the tea party will be bigger than both the Republican and Democratic parties. Then the only way someone can get elected to office is to swear a blood oath that he or she will make government smaller and less powerful.

The establishment, I think, will keep doubling down on their big government garbage past the point at which it stops working for them. In 2010, we got a very small taste of what that looks like. This year may not be the tipping point, but there is no question we are close.

Another positive sign is that Washington D.C. Democrats are saying out loud that the GOP has gone too far with the tea party and that they think they will get back all their power in 2012. They might win some races, but that would only pour gasoline on the tea party fire. If we do take a step back this year, the next move forward will be unstoppable. That could get really ugly because the power players are so entrenched, but the big government folks really are out of other people's money. They are running out of time faster than we are.

To end this post on a related but somewhat lighter note, I noticed today some on the far left using a familiar tea party symbol to support one of their own, Senator Kathy Stein. Did you see this?

If the Dems wave Gadsden Flags like this at their Sunday afternoon rally, I suspect the media will try to blame the tea party for any police cars they set on fire.

Unbridled "Medicaid Eligibility" foolishness

Governor Steve Beshear's 2012-2014 budget proposal includes a bonding request of $50 million for a Medicaid Eligibility program to "provide for real-time time determination of applicant eligibility."

Aside from the obvious stupidity of spending $50 million for a program to tell if someone is eligible for Medicaid or not, the laundry list of federal agencies involved in the project suggests strongly this has something to do with the ObamaCare program the legislature is quietly allowing Beshear to implement without our approval.

If there is any resistance left in Frankfort, now would be a great time to start resisting.

Kathy Stein gets her David Williams payday

Sen. Kathy Stein has been redistricted out of her state Senate seat. Expect her to quickly get appointed to another state job to cash in on the David Williams pension scam.

So far, the Kentucky legislature in 2012 has shown no inclination to clean up any part of the pension mess or address the debt problem.

Forty eight days remain in the 2012 General Assembly.

Only 8 cosponsors on concealed carry bill

Kentucky state Rep. Mike Harmon is trying again to restore to Kentuckians the right to carry a concealed firearm without getting a government permit first.

The biggest surprise about this bill, filed Wednesday, is that only seven other House Republicans have signed on with Rep. Harmon.

Please call your representative and ask him or her to stand up for our Second Amendment rights. In an election year in Kentucky, surely we can pass a bill like this.

Say no to this "health" nonsense

Kentucky's House Health and Welfare Committee will take up HB 206 on Thursday. It's a bill that would spend millions of dollars putting health departments across the Commonwealth through a new national accreditation process.

Sounds pretty hopey-changey to me.

If we need to improve our public health departments, that's fine. But the Public Health Accreditation Board needs to develop a track record of doing more than calling themselves experts before we spend money we don't have on their program.

The bill will pass the committee because that is how they roll. But the bill shouldn't stand up under much scrutiny. Let's hope it gets some before it hits Gov. Beshear's desk.

Tennessee might beat Kentucky this time

Tennessee's state Senate leader Ron Ramsey needs to get with Kentucky state Rep. Lonnie Napier before he gets much further with his welfare drug testing proposal. But once Ramsey gets clear on the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, he appears to really be on to something.

Ramsey says he wants to drug test nearly everyone getting any kind of government benefits. The problem with this is that in order to get through the inevitable court challenges, any such bill must limit testing to cases in which there is shown to be probable cause.

But that's easy to fix.

The really interesting part is where Ramsey's Tennessee proposal goes next. He doesn't just want to test welfare recipients, but also corporate executives getting government subsidies and even legislators.

You see, this isn't just about drugs. It's about questioning who gets government money and why. Once we start weeding government recipients out based on anything -- and drug abuse is a fairly easy one to sell -- then we are one big step closer to questioning the programs altogether.

And we can't get government under control until we question thoroughly the value of every program, eliminating the ones with limited value. Failed welfare programs and "economic development" are two fine examples.

Proliferating pain pill perversity

A new legislative proposal in Frankfort underscores the need to teach economics more widely in Kentucky.

House Bill 251 would cause some health care providers to be prosecuted as felons for accepting cash for their services. The intent is to cut down on overprescribing of pain pills, but at a time that our federal government is moving toward destroying our healthcare system through radical manipulation of insurance options, the last thing we need to be doing is telling sick people they can't pay cash to go to the doctor.

In fact, multiple medical examples such as contact lenses, plastic surgery, and LASIK, which are not payable by health insurance, suggest strongly that we should be encouraging cash payment for healthcare rather than throwing people in jail.

There are better ways to make prescription drug abuse more illegal than it already is. We don't need to throw bad economics into the mix.

Beshear sneaking ObamaCare past legislature

Understanding what is going on with ObamaCare in Kentucky depends on which Steve Beshear you believe.

With no chance a state ObamaCare exchange bill could pass even the Democratic-controlled House this year, Beshear's best option is to do nothing and let the law collapse on its own. His administration, when pressed by concerned Kentuckians, insists that is the approach it is taking. But they have told others something altogether different.

Last month, the Beshear administration told Health Policy Director Joy Johnson Wilson at the National Conference of State Legislatures in Washington D.C. that Beshear is proceeding secretly to implement a state-run exchange by executive order through the Division of Certificate of Need in the Cabinet for Health and Family Services' Office of Health Policy.

We can't afford ObamaCare in Kentucky and as word spreads of Beshear's duplicity, outrage across the Commonwealth will send that message to Frankfort very clearly. 

The legislature should move immediately to get its members on record in support of or against Beshear's sneaky ObamaCare implementation. Such action would shine some much-needed light on Frankfort. 

Rep. Richard Henderson gets two things right

This Thursday, January 19, Agriculture Commissioner James Comer starts making good on his campaign promise to restart hemp cultivation in Kentucky with a 3:30 pm press conference to unveil a bill by Rep. Richard Henderson that would make the growing of hemp legal in Kentucky.

Misinformed opponents sometimes confuse hemp with marijuana, which is odd since hemp cross-pollinates with marijuana and renders it useless as a drug. The economic benefits of hemp cultivation are well-documented. Kentucky House members who care about growing our economy should join Rep. Henderson and Commissioner Comer.

Rep. Henderson is also one of the forty seven cosponsors on Rep. Lonnie Napier's welfare recipient drug testing bill. We need more lawmakers in Frankfort who understand both industrial hemp's many benefits and who can tell the difference between it and the drugs on which welfare recipients shouldn't be spending our money.

The Thursday press conference will be held in the State Capitol. Please plan to attend if you can and invite friends. Further details will be made available here when we get them.

Stopping welfare waste starts here

Kentucky state representative Lonnie Napier has the best bill in the country for drug testing welfare recipients and so far forty six of his fellow House members agree.

The bill's forty seven cosponsors (including Democratic House Speaker Greg Stumbo and Majority Caucus Chairman Bob Damron) are more than enough to guarantee the bill a floor vote in case Health and Welfare Committee Chairman Tom Burch attempts to tie up the bill prematurely.

More efficiently attacking abuse of the welfare system is a great tea party issue. If your representative is not a cosponsor, please call him or her today.

Is David Williams Sugar Tax coming back?

Kentucky Senate President David Williams may be taking another flip on his flip-flopping over the proposed Snot Tax just as a new study could help revive his 2009 call for a tax on sugary drinks.

Sugar tax advocates say the federal government could save lives and billions of dollars in public health expenses by levying a penny-per-ounce "user fee" on certain soft drinks.

But just three weeks ago, Kentucky lawmakers killed a proposal which would have stopped Kentuckians from using food stamps to buy some junk foods.

Frankfort rarely misses a chance to make government bigger, but can't stomach a commonsense approach that would reduce spending and improve people's lives at the same time. And big-government Republicans who won't sign no-tax pledges always seem to be in the middle of it.

How to limit Kentucky's debt now

Kentucky's General Assembly should add to its two proposed constitutional amendments limiting state debt by simply seeking to pass a bill to do the same thing.

The two main advantages to this approach are that simple majorities are necessary to pass a bill -- as opposed to super majorities for constitutional amendments -- and that a new law created in this fashion could take effect immediately rather than next year.

We need to not wait any longer than is absolutely necessary to start the process of getting Kentucky's debt crisis under control.

And it doesn't have to be complicated at all. Take a look at KRS 58.020. This brief paragraph in state law could be improved greatly just by adding the following language:

"General fund appropriation-supported debt service" means the amount appropriated by the General Assembly for interest or other required periodic payments associated with general fund appropriation-supported debt, whether or not the debt has actually been issued.


The authorization of general fund appropriation-supported debt service by the General Assembly shall not at any time result in a ratio of authorized general fund appropriation-supported debt service to revenues of greater than five percent.


If the amount of authorized general fund appropriation-supported debt service exceeds five percent at the time of adoption of this provision, no new debt shall be authorized by the General Assembly until the level of authorized general fund appropriation-supported debt service falls below five percent.

Frankfort 2011 debt increase largest in history

Governor Steve Beshear's administration today finally released details on state finances for fiscal year 2011 showing a net increase in state bonded debt of $908 million, a state record.

This figure doesn't include the billion dollar debt owed to the federal government for unemployment benefits or the tens of billions in unfunded public employee benefits.

As of June 30, 2011, the end of FY11, the state's total bonded debt was $7.96 billion. The largest single component of the outstanding debt is the Kentucky Housing Corporation.

These facts will likely continue to escape public notice due to the timing of their release. State government has had these figures since last summer. 

Thomas Massie running for Congress

Lewis County Judge Executive Thomas Massie has officially entered Kentucky's 4th congressional district Republican primary race to replace retiring Rep. Geoff Davis.

Massie enters the race with the apparent backing of Sen. Rand Paul to take on establishment pick state Rep. Alecia Webb-Edgington and Boone County Judge Executive Gary Moore.

The most interesting thing about this race at the beginning is the role presidential politics will play in whether Massie can overcome the geographic disadvantage of living in the rural, eastern part of the district. Massie's support for presidential candidate Ron Paul and Sen. Rand Paul is well-documented and those relationships are  far closer than either of his opponents has with any presidential candidate. So far, Sen. Mitch McConnell has been silent about the race.

Otherwise, Massie is solid on the issues, speaks well, is wickedly smart and should be a force to be reckoned with on the campaign trail.

Calling all Tea Partiers!

Kentucky's Senate State and Local Government Committee will take up the issue of a state debt limit Wednesday, January 11, at noon.

Now is the time to make your voice heard on this issue.

Kentucky has a very serious debt problem. Sticking with the status quo is not an option. Of course, getting this wrong won't work either. If you can, please engage in the process right away by telling your representatives we need to limit the amount of debt the General Assembly and Governor can pile on us.

The committee meeting will be in room 154 in the Annex and should be available live on KET.org.

Kentucky debt limit efforts gain steam

Kentucky now has two state debt limit bills setting a debt ceiling below its current level and requiring a four-fifths vote of both chambers of the General Assembly to raise it, and only then after an emergency declaration by the Governor.

Rep. Mike Harmon's HB 108 would require the limit of appropriation-supported debt service to be set at 5% of General Fund revenues. Senator Joe Bowen's SB 56 is essentially the same bill except that it sets the limit at 6%.

Given the choice, 5% is better. Both bills would put the question of a state debt ceiling on the November ballot to let the people decide. Please share this post with your networks and let your representatives know where you stand on limiting Kentucky's state debt.

Alecia Webb-Edgington picks a side

Roll Call profiled the upcoming Kentucky 4th Congressional District GOP primary with an article that included the following quote:

“I am not of the establishment. I am a Republican. And I think I represent all paradigms of the Republican Party,” (state Rep. Alecia) Webb-Edgington said.)

In other words, she is an establishment candidate. The Republican party contains people who really want to break up the big government, bailout, debt-and-tax status quo and it also contains people who prefer to keep things pretty much as they are, but for themselves to be in charge of it.

You can't represent both of those and Alecia Webb-Edgington does not.

We will keep having nasty primaries about the direction of the Republican party between those who really want    smaller government and those who do not until this is resolved. The best you can do is represent one side and work to persuade the other. Until then, claiming to represent both is a pretty cynical (and increasingly ineffective) way of perpetuating the establishment.

You can read the Roll Call article here.

Why Kentucky's CAFR matters

Another week has passed without Kentucky's Finance and Administration Cabinet releasing its 2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. State law requires that it should have happened by September 30, 2011.

This matters now because it will show clearly that state officials knew what a mess they had made of state finances well before the November elections.  We know that from digging through other reports.

The Commonwealth is buried in debt -- a fact which the CAFR will make abundantly clear -- and we got that way with bipartisan action in Frankfort.

This should have been the biggest issue of the fall campaign, but it wasn't an issue at all because neither of the two main candidates for Governor brought it up.

Disgraceful.

Will you vote for Steve Beshear's tax reform?

Governor Steve Beshear's new tax reform commission is supposed to report recommendations by the end of 2012 for action in 2013.

Among his key goals for reform is ensuring "adequate revenue to fund critical state services."

Bear in mind this is coming from a politician who spent more than $3 billion he didn't have in his first term while claiming he was being fiscally responsible. He boasts about recruiting tens of thousands of Kentucky families onto the government health insurance rolls and about doling out special tax treatment in order to "create" jobs.

Governor Beshear's idea of what constitutes a critical state service should tell us that to him, tax reform means tax increases.

Our legislative races this year are going to have to be about protecting us from tax increases and ever-expanding government for when 2013 comes around and Beshear starts touting his blue-ribbon plan for raising revenue.

If your representatives won't hold the line against Beshear on this, you shouldn't support them.

Beshear: I'll gladly tell you Tuesday, 1/17

A request to the Beshear Administration for the state's current debt ratio just resulted in the following response: the answer will be in the Governor's Executive Budget document on Tuesday, January 17.

The debt ratio is simply the current amount of appropriation supported debt service as a percentage of current revenue. It should be a pretty easy number to track down for the people who keep the books.

My best guess is that the number, whenever it is revealed, will have more than doubled since 2010 in a bipartisan Frankfort orgy of spending and borrowing.

Today is Day Two of Beshearmageddon.

Beshearmageddon

Governor Steve Beshear's spokeswoman has confirmed he will seek spending cuts of 7 to 9 percent this year.

InsiderLouisville.com has the story here.

From the story:

“Preliminary (cuts) have been requested for next year at 7 to 9 percent,” stated Kerri Richardson, Gov. Steve Beshear’s deputy communications director, in an email response to an Insider Louisville query.

Frankfort politicians in both parties had to know this was coming. The excessive spending never stopped during the recession and this is just the tip of the iceberg because principles of budgetary responsibility have been so actively ignored for so long.

This helps explain, of course, why the state finance people are hiding legally mandated reports.

And it is particularly odd that only two days ago, Speaker Greg Stumbo was on television discussing plans for huge increases in school spending. Was he totally in the dark?

The legislature will want to respond to this by borrowing more money but we can't let them do it.

Greg Stumbo is $7 billion too late

Monday night on KET, Kentucky House Speaker Greg Stumbo rehashed his old 2010 billion dollar school stimulus idea that gave Senate President David Williams his best talking point in last year's gubernatorial race about stopping Democrats' wild spending.

Stumbo apparently thinks he is still on the gravy train he and Williams rode on the way to larding themselves up with approximately $7 billion in bonded debt and federal stimulus in Beshear's first term. 

No one seems to have told Mr. Stumbo that the party is over. Worse, he appears to have the concept of "government money" backwards and sideways.

"Now is a good time to invest," Stumbo said. "My theory is that if the government doesn't invest in itself then why should private citizens have the courage to go forward and make investments. 

What Kentucky is doing with ObamaCare

None of the media "legislative preview" stories I've seen so far have mentioned the biggest potential budget-buster facing Frankfort: ObamaCare.

Governor Steve Beshear has been bobbing and weaving for months to avoid getting pinned down on his position regarding the federal takeover of health care. His excuse was that he was waiting for federal guidance on how to proceed, but that guidance came a week before Christmas.

So far, Kentucky is one of only 11 states who haven't even filed enabling legislation to set up a state-run insurance exchange. We've already taken millions of federal dollars for setting up an exchange, which is the hook that traps states into ObamaCare.

Beshear could try to set up a state exchange by executive order. If that is his idea, he shouldn't be allowed to do it quietly. As some other Republicans around the country are folding like cheap suits in the battle to stop ObamaCare, it's hard not to imagine Senate President David Williams doing the same when pressed.

Like last year's Snot Tax, this one is going to be up to us. Are you ready?

Kentucky needs a debt ceiling

The biggest news story with the least amount of coverage in Kentucky in 2011 is easily Kentucky's debt problem.

Revenues continue to increase for the state and politicians in both parties continue to claim they need more revenue. But at the heart of the problem is that spending has increased even faster.

And that problem has been hidden by debt and unfunded liabilities. In order to believe that Kentucky's budget finished the last fiscal year in surplus, as the state claims, you have to ignore the money borrowed from the 2012 state Medicaid budget and ignore the unemployment benefits money borrowed from the federal government and ignore the money not paid into the state public employee benefits system and ignore the new billion dollars in bonded debt created in just the last year.

That's a lot of ignoring. And in 2012 we are going to have to get a handle on it.

Why Steve Beshear thinks he can raise taxes

Governor Steve Beshear didn't say anything about raising taxes before this year's election. In fact, he bragged in nuanced fashion about not raising any "broad-based" taxes in his first term.

He got away with that because his general election opponent played the same nuanced game to, in fact, raise taxes. And they together also played a much more harmful trick on Kentuckians by jointly underfunding and raiding public employee pensions by hundreds of millions of dollars and borrowing to spend billions more.

So the two most powerful politicians in Frankfort see no downside to increasing revenues now. They need the money, as they see it.

This is the kind of bipartisan agreement we are going to have to fight against even harder in 2012. And that is why we need a state debt ceiling and/or to amend the Constitution to give us a real balanced budget requirement.

This isn't transparency, Governor Beshear

Ellen Ballard in the Commonwealth of Kentucky Controller's Office said this morning the state's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report will remain hidden from the public at least until next Wednesday.

The FY 2011 report will show clearly that Kentucky made its budget appear balanced for the most recent year with the issuance of hundreds of millions of dollars in long-term debt.

KRS 48.800(3) states this report must be made available within 90 days of the end of the fiscal year. That was September 30, about five weeks before the November election. We shouldn't have to beg to see this report.

Fletcher versus Stumbo one more time?

Former Governor Ernie Fletcher's Chief of Staff Stan Cave weighed in on Paul Patton's expensive and controversial plan to get state funding for the University of Pikeville.

"Admission of University of Pikeville into the public university system is quid pro quo for eastern Kentucky legislators' vote for expanded gambling," Cave said. "The House Speaker doesn't give a tinker's darn about a recurring $12 million cost to taxpayers."

Via Facebook.

Phyllis Sparks should be next

State Rep. Alecia Webb-Edgington has resigned as Kentucky's 4th Congressional District GOP chair so she can run in a likely crowded primary for Congress without an apparent conflict of interest.

Good move.

An even better one would be to replace her with Boone County Republican businesswoman and activist Phyllis Sparks. She has been very active in the Tea Party movement and would be a very solid choice to keep growing the party in the northern Kentucky district.

Can't grow cotton in Kentucky

I'm told anything that can be made of cotton can also be made of industrial hemp. Kentucky can't grow cotton. Growing hemp doesn't require the water and pesticides necessary to grow cotton.

Federal law prevents us from taking advantage of this competitive advantage.

Kentucky's new Agriculture Commissioner James Comer supports growing industrial hemp and resistance in the legislature is weak and based on ignorance of what industrial hemp is.

Anyone who supports economic growth in Kentucky should support overturning federal restrictions on growing industrial hemp.

Any questions?

Frankfort's chance to support Christians

The Commonwealth of Kentucky has been battling for years to keep an organization called Christian Care Medi-Share from saving Kentuckians money on their health care expenses.

This currently makes less sense than ever before and must stop now.

A constitutional amendment is necessary to allow cost-sharing programs to function in the state. As Medi-Share states on its web site, an exemption written into the ObamaCare law will keep their program a viable alternative should ObamaCare survive to 2014 and beyond.

Some Frankfort Republican leadership on this would really come in handy now.

What's $336 million among friends?

Earlier in the week, Kentucky's Consensus Forecasting Group predicted revenues for the fiscal year ending next June 30 will be $9.0 billion. They also predicted a $136.5 million dollar surplus for the same time period.

That's interesting, considering the legislature voted just last spring to spend $9.2 billion.

Frankfort in January is going to be a sight to behold. Merry Christmas!

Governor Beshear's Christmas horror story

Governor Beshear's Finance and Administration Cabinet appears intent on making good on their threat to keep the truth about the state's finances hidden until the last business day before Christmas.

The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report will show an increase of $1 billion in appropriation-supported debt in the fiscal year ending June 30. The report was apparently completed prior to September 30 but has been kept quiet since then.

The media is not going to report on this at all but this is exactly why we need a state debt ceiling.

Please spread the word.

Let's protect the First Amendment

It's funny that the same big-government types who insist paid media is not speech want political speech to be paid for with tax dollars and think that will make everything just fine.

Exhibit A is Congressman John Yarmuth. He has filed a constitutional amendment to "get the money out of politics." We've never heard that before, have we?




Indeed, we have heard this same line constantly since the Watergate scandal and all the regulations, restrictions and penalties have done nothing to improve the political process. Prior to that, the idea that we needed government to control our political speech was universally understood as anathema to our American freedoms dating back to colonial times.

What we need is less regulation of political speech. Kentucky could lead the way on this by repealing all of our state campaign finance laws. With Yarmuth pushing so hard in the wrong direction, 2012 may be the perfect time to put this front and center.

Beshear still hiding bad news

Kentucky's Gov. Steve Beshear appears likely to get away with hiding the state's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report through the election and up to an expected just-before-Christmas release.

The report will show Frankfort accumulated an additional billion dollars in revenue-supported debt in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011 despite claims of spending austerity and budget surplus.

Unfortunately, the GOP establishment in Frankfort has a big enough megaphone to draw attention to this but most of them voted for it, so they won't.

Those who vote for the status quo can't be surprised when they keep getting the same old thing.

When they get around to posting the report, you should be able to see it here.

The force is strong with this one

Lewis County Judge Executive Thomas Massie will soon become a household name in Kentucky for the massive amounts of waste he has uncovered and eliminated since his 2010 election. It's no surprise that he is drawing a lot of attention as a possible candidate for Congress in the 4th congressional district in the 2012 open election.

Some NKY political hacks are spreading a rumor that Massie has declined to enter the race, but that is not true. Stay tuned here for updates.

Here he is with his wife and two of their four children along with presidential candidate Ron Paul at a 2010 Louisville fundraiser for Senator Rand Paul. Thomas also hosted a fundraiser at his home very early in Sen. Paul's campaign.



Thomas and his wife Rhonda are both Kentucky natives and MIT graduates. His children attend public school in Lewis County.

A policy split in the GOP establishment?

Sen. Damon Thayer has pre-filed a bill to remove the constitutional office of state Treasurer. The Senate has passed this bill before and the GOP nominee in 2007 ran with this as the main plank in her platform.

Here's hoping Sen. Thayer pushes SB 51 past any establishment resistance in the Senate.

Now two bills to end Kentucky legislator pensions

Kentucky legislative bills addressing the David Williams pension scandal keep coming in. The latest is from House Republican Brent Housman. It will be HB 149. Like Senate Democrat Dennis Parrett's bill, Housman's would shut down the Legislators' Retirement Plan to new participants as of August 1, 2012.

There are currently 5 pre-filed bills addressing this problem. Please, keep them coming.

How slowly can we fix KY pension scandal?

For the first time, each caucus in the Kentucky General Assembly has filed a bill to fix the David Williams pension scandal.

In the Senate, Republican Jimmy Higdon pre-filed SB 26 to stop legislators from getting a huge pension boost if they can get appointed to an executive or judicial branch position for as little as three years. Democratic Senator Dennis Parrett previously filed a similar bill, SB 28.

In the House, Republican Rep. Ron Crimm already filed HB 65.

And now, House Democratic Rep. Mike Cherry has re-filed the same bill he filed last year and then ignored in his own committee.

The bills have some similarities and differences, but the one feature that stands out the most is how quickly they each take effect. Interestingly, Sen. Higdon's bill doesn't kick in until the end of 2014. This makes it the slowest one of the bunch. Sen. Parrett's bill actually stops legislators from grabbing the outlandish pension boost on August 1, 2012 and goes so far as to shut down the Legislators Pension Plan to new members on the same date.

Sen. Parrett has the right idea.

Frankfort doesn't want you to know

Kentucky finance cabinet officials continue to sit on a devastating report on the accumulation of state debt nearly three full months after the report was supposed to have been prepared.

An official at the Cabinet said current plans are to release the report on December 23 or 24.

Please ask your representatives to demand the immediate release of the current Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.

Is PNC taking your money to Pennsylvania?

Government officials in Latvia and Sweden are blaming Twitter for a weekend run on two Swedish banks in Latvia after "tweets" claimed Swedish officials were about to close the banks and leave depositors empty handed.

Twitter is not to blame; government bank deposit insurance is.

Think about it. If a rumor spread in Kentucky that Pennsylvania-based PNC Bank would shut its branches here and take all its depositors' money back to Pennsylvania, how would a lot of people react? You know it would get ugly.

The point is that government deposit insurance has made banking consumers all over the world dumber than they should be and subject to freaking out when presented with rumors like this.

The flip side of a false sense of security is a susceptibility to unwarranted panic. In addition to protecting taxpayers from huge amounts of moral hazard, ending government deposit insurance would force bank customers to educate themselves about the health of their bank.

At a time in which the world is growing keenly aware of the devastation caused by banking crises, that would be a good thing.

Can we interrupt inauguration to ask about this?

Kentucky's Finance and Administration Cabinet should have a report out any day now showing clearly that the state went $1 billion deeper into debt in the last fiscal year.

The report is supposed to post to this web site. In fact, according to KRS 48.800(3) it should have been posted by September 30.

Food freedom gets a boost in Kentucky

Kentucky state Sen. John Schickel pre-filed Senate Bill 47 to help clear up any confusion government officials may have about the right of farmers to sell -- and Kentuckians to drink -- unpasteurized milk.

This action was made necessary by an ill-conceived raid last May on a private food club by the Louisville Health Department.

Kentucky's shot at a debt ceiling

Kentucky Knows Best has a report out in favor of a constitutional amendment limiting the debt Frankfort politicians can pile on us.

The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Mike Harmon, would limit revenue supported state debt service to 5% of revenues. We are now almost 30% above this so Rep. Harmon's bill would stop the accumulation of bonded debt for several years.

Glad to see Kentucky leading the way on this. Maybe Congress should take notes.

Should the bill, which will be HB 108 in the 2012 General Assembly, gain sufficient support in Frankfort it will appear on the November ballot as follows:

"Are you in favor of amending the Constitution of Kentucky to modernize, update, and consolidate provisions in the Kentucky Constitution related to debt, and to limit the amount of debt that may be authorized by the General Assembly, subject to future changes, to that limit initiated by either the registered voters of Kentucky or by the General Assembly?"

The correct answer is "yes."

Obama Admin lies in Lexington KY

At a Council of State Governments webinar in Lexington on Tuesday, an Obama Administration official lied about a serious problem with the ObamaCare law.

At about 31:40 on the video, Steve Larsen, director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight in the U.S Department of Health and Human Services was asked about citizens in states with federally-run ObamaCare health insurance exchanges not being able to get federal subsidies for the more expensive ObamaCare insurance in 2014.

The law states very clearly that only people in states with state-run exchanges can get the subsidies.

Mr. Larsen's answer did not reflect that fact.

"The ACA (Affordable Care Act) permits the federal exchange to provide tax credits," Larsen said.

The Obama Administration can't just wave a magic wand and change the wording of federal law to cover up this stupid mistake. To change the law, it must go back to Congress for a swift death in the House.

Obama minion files Kentucky bill

President Barack Obama's Kentucky campaign chairman pre-filed a bill yesterday that serves as another reminder that the champions of big government think you are stupid.

House Bill 103 would create three new slush funds inside Kentucky's budget reserve trust fund, or rainy day fund.

You aren't supposed to know that the only way Kentucky can show a positive balance in the rainy day fund is to hide our growing debt.

Professional politicians in both parties in Frankfort have gotten pretty good at that.

What is negative campaigning?

Attacking Newt Gingrich for being a Big Government Republican is not negative campaigning.


Any questions?

Tell Beshear to return ObamaCare bailout

Kentucky is one of six states to have started allowing state employees to drop state health insurance coverage on their children and pick up federally subsidized CHIP through changes implemented in the 2010 federal health reform law.

The Beshear administration claims to have shifted $2 million in health costs onto the federal government already.

Unwinding ObamaCare will be hard enough when we get the opportunity. With the program's tentacles now having extended into the state government workforce, it will be just that much harder.

The silence from Frankfort's Republicans on state action on ObamaCare is deafening.

Governor Beshear should back off this policy and stop all activity that further tangles Kentuckians into ObamaCare.

Try proving sales tax holiday isn't a gimmick

Nearly every year in Kentucky around Christmas, someone in the state legislature files a "back to school state sales tax holiday" bill.

So here comes the 2012 version. In it, certain school supplies and clothing would be exempt from state sales tax for three days at the end of July each year. It's the perfect feel-good legislative proposal. If it passes, the sponsors win. If it doesn't pass, the sponsors win. And voters who aren't paying much attention feel that their Frankfort lawmakers have thrown them a bone.

I'll take this as more than a political stunt if the sponsors amend the bill to immediately cut from the state budget the total amount of sales tax exemptions tallied during each and every sales tax holiday.

"The essence of ObamaCare"

Presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann has criticized both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich for supporting the "essence of ObamaCare."

She's right.

Romney's web site says that he would "help control health care costs" and "ensure that individuals with pre-existing conditions who are continuously covered for a specified period may not be denied coverage." But we don't need government to do either of these things. It's in following this flawed line of thinking about government activism in the marketplace that we wind up with things like ObamaCare.

Gingrich's web site says he wants to reinforce "laws which prohibit insurers from cancelling or charging discriminatory rate increases to those who become sick while insured." But we don't need government to step in and force insurers to stop doing something that their contracts allow them to do.

And that is the most important point.

Most people don't read their insurance contracts because they believe that government regulation is there to protect them. You don't have to talk to too many people to figure out this is not the case. You probably don't sit around all day trying to manipulate government regulations to get the most value from your insurance contracts. But your health insurer does. Those companies have to cut every available corner in the interests of self-preservation. And that's because government regulation would otherwise be used against them to curry favor, build power and buy votes. They were forced to start playing the game, but they have become expert at it. They are banking on the likelihood that you are no expert.

The best thing for government to do in health care transactions is to stop creating this adversarial relationship between insurers and their customers and get out of the way. If that policy were our default position, then helping people with temporary or even permanent financial needs relating to health care would be much cheaper for everyone. We would then have more insurance companies and greater consumer choices and all the societal benefits that come along with market competition.

Michelle Bachmann's web site is light on specifics about health care. With Herman Cain out of the race, she is smart to go after Romney and Gingrich on this issue. She should take the next step and show that she understands what must be done beyond repealing ObamaCare.

Make life easier for Kentucky Wildcats

University of Kentucky athletic dirctor Mitch Barnhart could build and maintain sports facilities for our beloved Wildcats for less money if Frankfort politicians would repeal the state's prevailing wage laws.

It's worth noting this weekend that North Carolina has no prevailing wage laws. Coach Calipari, what say you?

Greg Stumbo on drugs

Kentucky House Speaker Greg Stumbo wants to force medical providers to accept health insurance as part of the effort to "fight drugs." This comes as the federal government is doing its level best to destroy health insurance in America and state officials are already making it worse.

The only way out of our health care crisis is to rebuild markets in health care. Forcing providers who have escaped the system to get back in as part of a half-baked scheme to battle prescription drug abuse is the wrong solution at exactly the wrong time.

Price competition is the only thing that will improve the efficiency of health care in America. We don't need fewer cash-only clinics; we need more of them.

Kentucky can kill ObamaCare

A Kentucky Knows Best report indicates the ObamaCare law will collapse quickly under its own weight if states don't set up Health Insurance Exchanges which facilitate hiding the law's costs.

That's because the law clearly states federal subsidies for Exchange-purchased health insurance policies can only be given if the state chooses to run the exchange. Without the subsidies, ObamaCare insurance will be way too expensive.

The Obama Administration is scrambling to change the law illegally through the IRS or the Department of Health and Human Services because they know Congress won't bail the president out of his mess.

Meanwhile, Kentucky's Governor Steve Beshear is trying to figure out a way to change Kentucky law to set up a state-run Exchange without actually having to get a bill through the legislature.

States like Kentucky can kill ObamaCare by refusing to set up an Exchange. Please tell your legislators not to set up a state health insurance exchange.

Want to see bunch of sugared-up lawmakers?

Rep. Rick Nelson probably means well with a new proposal to limit food stamp spending on sugary foods and drinks, but before the legislature kills what would seem to be a common sense bill the main thing this will do is activate Big Food and their lobbyists to sweeten up some legislators' campaign accounts.

12/23/11 edit: The link to Rep. Nelson's bill no longer works because the bill has been removed.

Some Beshear 2% cuts are 98% short

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear announced yesterday that spending exceeds revenues by $190 million dollars and that he will address the problem with certain 2% cuts that amount to (... wait for it!) $29 million.

Most of the rest will come from the same kind of smoke and mirrors games that have created billions of dollars in off-the-books debt that never seems to make it into the headlines.

Or even the press releases from either side of the aisle in Frankfort.

The biggest problem with a 2% cut to the Economic Development Cabinet (ha!) is that it leaves in place the other 98%. There are others, but this should be the beginning of the discussion, not its end. This is where we need the "leadership" Senate President David Williams has been talking about. It's a terrible shame that we are getting instead his image rehabilitation efforts and, likely, more bipartisan tax increases in January.

This is why a "no tax increase" pledge is important.

What Mitt Romney doesn't get

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney explains the difference between his Massachusetts government health coverage plan and President Obama's federal government health coverage plan basically as one of jurisdiction.

“Our plan was a state solution to a state problem," Romney said. "And his was a power grab by the federal government to put in place a one-size-fits-all plan across the nation."

But if we have learned anything since starting Medicare and Medicaid almost half a century ago, it is that expanding the role of government in health care is not a very good solution no matter where you are.

So Mitt wants to repeal ObamaCare on jurisdictional grounds. But if there were any doubt that failure to grasp the problem with too large a role of government remains an issue with him, just wait till you see his plan for Medicare.

He wants to set up a voucher program to compete with the federal program. Of course, the private options will have to play with real dollars and the government option will get to keep using government accounting and an endless supply of tax and borrowed money. Can't be surprised when that doesn't work well for anyone but the polticians who support the government option.

It's like "if you like your insurance, you get to keep it" in reverse. No thanks.

Kentucky goes crazy for Casey Anthony

Kentucky is well on its way to having ten pre-filed bills that would make it even more illegal to neglect your child like Casey Anthony was accused of doing. Senator Ray Jones today joined the parade.

A Bluegrass Fair dunking booth was a big hit this summer in Lexington because it featured a Casey Anthony look-alike who heckled patrons until it was decided that making a joke about a dead child might be in poor taste.

This legislative piling-on is no better.

Did Hal Rogers just endorse term limits?

Congressman Hal Rogers told CN2 that the Americans for Tax Reform Taxpayer Protection Pledge should have a one term time limit on it.

Congressman Hal Rogers does not understand the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.

Left unchecked, government will only grow bigger and stronger. Small government advocates support candidates who realize this is a problem and promise to do something about it. Refusing to give the federal government tax increases is one of those things. We don't put time limits on core principles.

Congressman Hal Rogers made that promise himself when he signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.

Now he wants out. This is not what we need from Republicans in Washington D.C. right now.

Repealing ObamaCare isn't enough

President Obama's opponents on health reform should look at a developing controversy in Kentucky for a clue to winning a larger battle about the role of government.

Click here for a Kentucky Knows Best report on efforts by state politicians to limit their constituents' health coverage options even more than current federal law mandates.

Christian Care Medi-Share is obviously not the perfect health coverage plan for everyone. But federal law exempts it from regulation under ObamaCare while Kentucky officials attempt to run the health care cost sharing program out of the Commonwealth.

Few politicians in Kentucky want to be associated with Barack Obama. Even fewer would like to be described as worse than Obama on health care, but that is the current state policy. Please call your representatives and tell them to support more health care choices for Kentuckians.

ObamaCare may or may not be repealed in 2012, but if we can't even get behind the idea that government shouldn't be making health decisions for everyone then we deserve whatever we get.

Thankful for the Tea Party this year

On balance, 2011 has been a challenging year for the Tea Party. We lost some elections. The debt ceiling fiasco drags on with higher debt, no real cuts in spending and a "supercommittee" deal that allows both Republicans and Democrats to yell at each other through the 2012 elections without addressing the main issue.

Government didn't get any smaller in 2011 and next year looks even worse.

Long live the Tea Party.

A lot of us said at the beginning of the movement in 2009 that it took many decades for us get in our current mess. We weren't going to get out of it in a few months. And so, we didn't succeed immediately and beyond our wildest dreams. For this, the opposition is calling still for us to give it up and go away quietly.

Go fish.

Democrats say the state of things is the Republicans' fault. Republicans reply that it is all Obama and the Dems. Tea Partiers point out that it is both sides of the professional politician racket bobbing and weaving and hoping no one catches on to them.

We have caught on to them. If you are part of the Tea Party, thank you for hanging in there. The tough times are far from over, you know that. Keep up the fight.

Same old trap on casino gambling

In much the same way that you can't have open borders and a welfare state, you can't have expanded state govenment revenue streams with enormous social costs in a welfare state.

Casino gambling in Kentucky can't pass the legislature without promising to fund too many pet projects with all the hoped-for revenue. And it can't, in reality, fund all the projects.

Take, for example, Rep. Alecia Webb-Edgington. She gives her laundry list of funding suggestions in the video below and then states she will not vote for casinos if funds are not devoted to those areas.

The people want casinos to help the horse industry have to figure out a way around those who want casinos to make government bigger. In other words, they are still at square one after all these years.

Another $2 billion hole in Kentucky's pocket

Last January, The Washington Post ranked Kentucky's gubernatorial race as the most important one to watch in 2011.

It never materialized in the fall because the best points of attack against Gov. Steve Beshear (tax increases, massive bonded debt and underfunding of the state employee benefits plans) all applied equally to Republican nominee Senate President David Williams.

In fact, an actuarial report out today from the Kentucky Retirement Systems showed the legislature over the last four years cut short their required payments into the pension plans by more than $2 billion.

It's very likely this blog post is the first you are hearing about this latest outrage. If you would like to have access to information like this without waiting to see what the mainstream media filter wants you to know, click here to sign up for Kentucky Knows Best email updates. You only need to provide your email address and then respond to one confirmation email.

The Smurf Employment Act of 2012

Kentucky state Rep. Brent Yonts is pre-filing a bill that would encourage methamphetamine cooks to create jobs throughout the Bluegrass state.

Of course, that's not the way he is selling it.

Funny that politicians "fighting" drugs actually create jobs while doing so but, for once, don't want to talk about it.

No more wire hangers!

Sparks will fly in Frankfort tomorrow with the expected release of the Kentucky Retirement Systems' annual actuarial report. The report will show in detail how drastic underfunding in state budgets has drowned Kentucky's public employee benefits plans in red ink.

On the campaign trail this fall, Governor Steve Beshear remained silent about the status of the benefits plans and Senate President David Williams repeatedly attacked anyone who mentioned the fact that he helped underfund the plans to the tune of billions of dollars. Perhaps we will hear from them on this tomorrow.

If Beshear and Williams were Hollywood actresses, Beshear would be Greta Garbo and Williams would be Joan Crawford.

Duck and Cover time in Frankfort

The Kentucky legislature on Tuesday morning will hold a committee discussion about potential banking and insurance issues for the upcoming 2012 General Assembly session.

In the age of ObamaCare decimating health insurance and Dodd-Frank wrecking the financial sector, this is as close as Frankfort gets to must see tv.

The meeting starts at 10 am in room 149 of the Capitol Annex and will probably be available on the internet at www.ket.org.

Why would they think that?

The Lexington Herald Leader printed an article today about the disastrous Kentucky Retirement Systems' mishandling by Frankfort leadership. The article contained no new information and could have been written any time since the pension special session in 2008.

There was one telling statement, though.

The article quoted KRS actuary Thomas Cavanaugh talking about how ignorant Frankfort politicians are about the biggest financial disaster in state government.

"I'm sure there are people in the legislature who think they'll be 100-percent funded in 2025 based on what they’ve done," Thomas Cavanaugh of Cavanaugh Macdonald Consulting told the KRS board.

And the reason any elected official in the legislature might think that Kentucky's continued underfunding of the pension system will magically lead to 100% funding in 2025 is the mainstream media has carefully avoided telling them anything else.

What will Kentucky Senate GOP do?

Last year at this time, Kentucky's Senate Republicans put up a comprehensive agenda in an ambitious if transparent attempt to give Senate President David Williams some conservative credentials.

Now that Williams is no longer a candidate for governor, will Senate Republicans move in 2012 to show that 2011 was more than a campaign stunt?

Despite some calls for Williams to step down, he remains the President of the Senate. He says that he will be a better Senate President. We sure need one.

He could start by showing up for the redistricting discussion. House Speaker Greg Stumbo has shown his hand, which appears to show that he wants Congressman Hal Rogers' job. And the congressional delegation seems to be playing the same game. Williams will do well to propose a more balanced plan. And the sooner, the better.

Will Mike Cherry show up in 2012?

With Democratic Sen. Dennis Parrett's pre-filing yesterday of a bill to clean up the David Williams pension scandal, only one caucus of the General Assembly has failed to show interest in the effort.

House Republican Ron Crimm and Senate Republican Jimmy Higdon previously filed similar bills to what the Senate has passed the last two years. House Democrats failed to respond both times, choosing instead to keep the issue on the table as Senate President Williams ran for governor.

In fact, Rep. Mike Cherry filed such a bill in the 2011 session but didn't even call it up for discussion in his own committee.

Will Gary Johnson sue WKYT and WLKY?

Presidential candidate Gary Johnson filed a campaign finance complaint against CBS with the Federal Election Commission today, claiming that by excluding him from its televised debate the network contributed illegally to his opponents.

CBS will claim exemption from the rules under the federal media exemption, but Johnson has made a good point. He's polling even with Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum. If they can receive the significant value of inclusion in a prime time nationally televised debate but he can't, are our federal campaign finance laws really providing equal protection to all citizens? Why not?

Incidentally, Kentucky doesn't have a media exemption. Perhaps Johnson should file his complaint against the CBS affiliates here.

Industrial hemp won last Tuesday

Overlooked in much of the post-election punditry is the increasing support for industrial hemp as a cash crop in Kentucky.

When conservative candidates started campaigning on hemp cultivation last fall, establishment politicos attempted to capitalize on common misperceptions about hemp to scare people.

The election of James Comer as Agriculture Commissioner could well change that. Comer campaigned in support of hemp and now has the opportunity to lead on an issue whose time has come.

There is already one bill pre-filed to support growth of hemp in Kentucky. Expect there to be more.

Let the unwinding of ObamaCare begin

The U.S. Supreme Court just announced a ruling on the constitutionality of ObamaCare will probably come in June 2012.

Kentucky can move to protect ourselves somewhat from the unpredictable nature of the Court. Let's begin by sending back the federal money delivered to Frankfort to begin implementation of ObamaCare. And then let's repeal Kentucky's Certificate of Need laws.

Lots more to do before June, but that's a start.