Are you a Red Star Republican?

Current leadership of the Republican Party of Kentucky is now apparently excluding certain active Republicans from party activity with the use of a "Red Star" next to their names on voter lists.

There is nothing in party rules that allows such exclusion. Some insiders point to the preamble to party rules which states: "Devotion to our Party’s principles and loyalty to its candidates are and should be the only qualifications for holding any position in the Republican Party."


If that is what the establishment types are hanging their hat on to start kicking people out of the party, they are doing it arbitrarily. Repairing selective application of this "rule" would require expulsion of the entire GOP state Executive Committee, which voted in 2010 to not support the Republican nominee in the state Senate's 2nd district. If there is a specific statute of limitations on this imaginary "loyalty clause," it should be specified immediately. Otherwise, we might wonder if it applies to the state Senate President. A Republican, he supported Democratic Governor Paul Patton's re-election in 1999.

If you don't support such shenanigans used to personally attack fellow Republicans despite (and arguably because of "devotion to our Party's principles", you just might be a Red Star Republican.

Get this camel's nose out of Kentucky's tent

Governor Steve Beshear has been scrambling around since passage of ObamaCare trying to find a way to implement the federal takeover of health care in Kentucky.

He has found it and stopping him is up to you.

Buried at the bottom of the House budget bill is language to resurrect the Insurance Coverage, Affordability and Relief to Small Employers (ICARE) program, started under Governor Ernie Fletcher despite opposition from some conservatives at the time. Fortunately, the health insurance subsidy scheme was soon defunded by the legislature despite Gov. Beshear's campaign promise to expand it.

Beshear is back with an eye toward bigger spending. Much bigger spending.

If you happen to be combing through HB 265 looking for differences between the old and the new ICARE, there are several but one big one that jumps out if you are concerned about stopping ObamaCare from inching its way into our state.

On page 176 of the bill, under the label "Section 6(2)," you will find the following language: "The department shall work with the Office of Health Policy within the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to review the availability of federal funds for the ICARE Program."

The available federal funds mother lode is ObamaCare. Beshear has already telegraphed his interest in implementing ObamaCare administratively and this would open the door widely for him in the name of paying for bigger state government with federal funds.

ICARE should also be removed from the budget bill because we don't need another government redistribution racket making health insurance more "fair," but stopping ObamaCare is the reason with more zeros behind it.

Call your legislators.

They want more special sessions in Frankfort

Senate Bill 7, filed Monday by Senate President David Williams, would move the candidate filing deadline to late April and primary election day to late August. The supposed rationale is to increase accountability for legislators' actions in election year legislative sessions.

It won't work that way.

What this bill will do is push more real legislative action into special sessions in the summer months after the filing deadline. Look at how uneventful most sessions are through the month of January and how the current one remained so as the redistricting process dragged things out this year.

The filing deadline should happen at the same time we want legislators to start working. Move it to the first of January and we will stop the even year practice of legislators sitting on their hands in January. That way, they might even get to work on the budget earlier and take away much of the need for expensive special sessions. Otherwise, we will only move more lawmaking activity to later in the year.

Your next Kentucky sneeze may cost you

Kentucky's Senate Republicans passed a ridiculous Snot tax compromise bill that will require some people (not  many, they promise, and surely not you) to get a doctor's prescription before they can get all the allergy medicine they need.

They are already talking about needing to come back next year and to tighten the current restrictions so that even you will have to get a prescription.

Can't they just settle on letting Senator Stivers and Senator Williams travel around to WalMarts and yell at people who appear to have allergies? This bill doesn't change anything in terms of methamphetamine production and just encourages the nanny state inclinations of politicians with too much time on their hands.

Let's keep the Snot tax dead

The Kentucky state Senate took their tweaked Snot Tax bill and attempted to bring it to a floor vote today but stop short when sufficient votes for passage could not be found.

The new bill would still send allergy sufferers to their doctor for expensive prescriptions. The only difference is that it would also set up a bureaucracy to monitor in state purchases in a ridiculous attempt to limit the production of methamphetamine.

A Senate Republican source who asked to remain anonymous to avoid punishment from leadership said the bill remained seven votes short of passage despite a full-court press.

They went through the same process last year with this effort. It's funny to watch Senate leadership try and fail repeatedly to browbeat members into going against their constituents on healthcare costs. When are they ever going to learn?

House panel votes to keep surgery expensive

Surgery in a hospital is much more expensive than surgery in a doctor's office and Kentucky's House Health and Welfare Committee wants to keep you going to the hospital.

The committee voted this afternoon to require doctor's seeking to establish outpatient "ambulatory surgical centers" in their office's to apply to the state's archaic and inefficient Certificate of Need department so the state can prevent them from providing these services in competition with hospitals.

If you know you don't want a Kentucky Snot Tax, then please understand this issue involves much more money than that.

Senate still wants to tax your allergies

Kentucky Senator Robert Stivers filed Senate Bill 3 today as part of the continuing effort to force allergy sufferers to get a doctor's prescription before they can buy allergy medicine containing pseudoephedrine.

"Snot tax" supporters claim that limiting access to allergy and cold medicine by innocent people will help with the drug problem in the state.

It might be interesting to see this come to a vote to learn where the players are on the issue.

Obama declares war on Tea Party

You may not want to hear anything Barack Obama has to say between now and election day. But Obama feels the same way about you -- and he controls the IRS, which gives him the upper hand in trying to shut you up.

And, of course, he is now abusing that power.

Obama is using the Internal Revenue Service to prevent citizen groups from forming 501(c)(4) corporations. This effectively limits individual citizens' ability to associate and petition the government for redress of grievances as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

If you are a member of the Kentucky 912 Project, Obama has you in his crosshairs right now. The Kentucky 912 Project is comparing notes with other liberty groups across the country and have found dozens whose applications for 501(c)(4) status have been denied or revoked by the IRS.

In case you were looking for another reason to support dismantling the IRS, you can now include ending the ability of an out of control president using federal power to take your voice away.

This is a great example of an issue that you don't have to be directly affected by to understand that we must stand with our friends in their time of need before we find ourselves standing alone against such tyranny.

Please read up on this issue and tell everyone you know.

Kentucky casino bill sleeps with fishes

It was pretty easy to see this coming.


Kentucky can't create a casino bill that generates income for the state and expands revenue at the racetracks sufficiently to gain the votes to pass the legislature.


And this afternoon, the bill they put up failed on the Senate floor.


Maybe next year they will try something different. But if they can't reconcile the vast differences between those who want most of the revenue to go to tracks and those who want most of the revenue to go to the state, then those who just oppose casinos don't have to do much other than sit back and watch the circus.


And now that it is over for 2012, let's hope we can do something serious about spending less in the budget than revenues will cover.

Tea Party rocks the rotunda

I will be on the Leland Conway radio show Tuesday at 3:50 pm ET talking about Wednesday's Tea Party rally in Frankfort.

You can listen online at wlap.com or on Lexington radio at 630 AM. The Facebook event page is here.

See you Wednesday at 10:30 am ET in the capitol rotunda.

The Tea Party pulls it all together

We've had tea party events in Kentucky focused on federal issues and tea party events focused on state issues,  but on Wednesday we will have federal candidates drawing attention to a state issue.

The juxtaposition is creating significant interest.

On February 22 at 10:30 am ET at the state capitol's rotunda, confirmed speakers Alecia Webb-Edgington, Gary Moore and Thomas Massie, 4th district congressional candidates, and 6th district congressional candidate Andy Barr join state legislators and others to draw attention to state government overspending and debt.

Leland Conway rallies for debt ceiling

WLAP talk personality Leland Conway will speak to a tea party rally in support of a state debt ceiling in Frankfort next week.

The rally will be held at the Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday, February 22 at 10:30 am ET. The public is invited to attend.

The tea party has been pushing hard for a mandated limit on state debt since last fall. The state Senate has named this issue their highest priority with Senate Bill 1.

Please spread the word about this event. Click here to go the Facebook page.

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.