Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight. I have been an engaged, sometimes critical, but ultimately very satisfied parent customer of Jessamine County Public Schools continuously since 1995. I have about six years left with my youngest child here and we appreciate you giving me a couple of minutes of your time.
I'm here to address an issue that has become rather incendiary in recent weeks due to national events. That issue is child safety in our schools. As you know, Jessamine County Schools' policy matches state law in effectively banning possession of firearms on school property. What you may not know is that state law also allows district school boards to change their policies to allow parents and teachers to carry weapons inside the walls of our school buildings.
I'm here to request that you make that change. There is a reason that mass shootings usually occur only in gun free zones. That's because people with ill intent are not concerned about state laws those of us who are trying to be law-abiding citizens choose to observe.
I expect there will be a process of persuasion required to widely gain a better understanding of this subject before we see action. Opponents are already making their voices heard in opposition to re-thinking this issue. They come up with all kinds of nightmare scenarios they say would result from taking this step to better protect our children. The President of the United States has already weighed in against it. But the truth is we could take all kinds of precautions to both pro-actively protect our children and to prevent accidents. We could expand policy to perhaps include only concealed carry permit holders, who undergo substantial gun safety training. We have been fortunate in Jessamine County to have had no school shootings. In all likelihood, expanding policy in this way will result in the number of school shootings -- currently zero -- staying at zero here. Allowing us to carry guns in the schools will serve merely as a deterrent to would-be attackers.
The difference between current policy and this proposed change is that we will stop a dangerous gun ban that stops only those who would protect our children. I hope to encourage school districts across the state to expand policy in this way to better protect our children to send a message not only to attackers here but to set an example on child safety for the nation. It would be nice to see my home district lead the way. I will follow up with board members here and ask that you carefully consider the safety needs of our children in your decision-making. Thank you.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
Please join Kentucky Safer Schools Project
It's right there in Kentucky's law books. KRS 527.070(3)(f) states local school boards can decide who is allowed to carry firearms in our schools. This section lists exemptions to state law prohibiting possession of weapons on school property. It states anyone "authorized to carry a firearm by the board of education or board of trustees of the public or private institution" may do so.
Please contact your local board of education and find out what their policy is on authorizing staff members and parents to carry firearms on campus. Respond to this post with what you find out and we will put together a list to get to work on ensuring that parents and staff members have the ability to protect children from attackers who manage to get inside our schools anywhere in Kentucky.
Please contact your local board of education and find out what their policy is on authorizing staff members and parents to carry firearms on campus. Respond to this post with what you find out and we will put together a list to get to work on ensuring that parents and staff members have the ability to protect children from attackers who manage to get inside our schools anywhere in Kentucky.
Friday, January 25, 2013
#BillClintonDefault
U.S. House Republicans' effort to "resequence" the federal debt discussion needs a little help.
I get the logic of Speaker Boehner's "no budget, no pay" bill with the creation of a debt ceiling date set to May 18 so someone other than Obama knows when default occurs. Rep. Andy Barr, my Congressman, voted for the measure on Wednesday. I appreciate his logic and the idea that the bill creates some chance for a positive outcome to this standoff rather than no chance. If the bill becomes law -- and it might -- there is at least some reason to hope spending might be curtailed in the ensuing battle.
But I agree with Rep. Thomas Massie's "no" vote. We all feel like we have been here before because we have been.
The current strategy is missing something and I think Republicans would do well to turn all their firepower on it for a while. That something is former President Bill Clinton.
Congressional Republicans have spent the last decade missing a great opportunity they can no longer afford to miss. They must destroy once and for all the fiscal accounting gimmick-driven myth of the Clinton budget surplus.
The truth is that proper accounting for intragovernmental transfers -- in this case, squandered Social Security surplus funds -- completely eliminates any so-called Clinton surplus.
Republicans have wasted the last decade trying to give Newt Gingrich credit for the "Clinton surplus." That must end now.
The effort to resequence the fiscal debate will be made much easier and more potent if we first resequence Bill Clinton. Democrats won't know what to do with this line of attack when it is launched and the disarray that will follow if we stick with it long enough will set the stage for reality-based budgeting, a desperately needed change in focus.
I get the logic of Speaker Boehner's "no budget, no pay" bill with the creation of a debt ceiling date set to May 18 so someone other than Obama knows when default occurs. Rep. Andy Barr, my Congressman, voted for the measure on Wednesday. I appreciate his logic and the idea that the bill creates some chance for a positive outcome to this standoff rather than no chance. If the bill becomes law -- and it might -- there is at least some reason to hope spending might be curtailed in the ensuing battle.
But I agree with Rep. Thomas Massie's "no" vote. We all feel like we have been here before because we have been.
The current strategy is missing something and I think Republicans would do well to turn all their firepower on it for a while. That something is former President Bill Clinton.
Congressional Republicans have spent the last decade missing a great opportunity they can no longer afford to miss. They must destroy once and for all the fiscal accounting gimmick-driven myth of the Clinton budget surplus.
The truth is that proper accounting for intragovernmental transfers -- in this case, squandered Social Security surplus funds -- completely eliminates any so-called Clinton surplus.
Republicans have wasted the last decade trying to give Newt Gingrich credit for the "Clinton surplus." That must end now.
The effort to resequence the fiscal debate will be made much easier and more potent if we first resequence Bill Clinton. Democrats won't know what to do with this line of attack when it is launched and the disarray that will follow if we stick with it long enough will set the stage for reality-based budgeting, a desperately needed change in focus.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Tea Party press release
Tea Party leaders from around Kentucky will hold a brief press conference today following the meeting of the advisory board of the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange at 12 Mill Creek Park in Frankfort. The meeting begins at 1:30 pm.
The KHBE has improperly taken upon itself taxing authority without the permission of the General Assembly. Senate Bill 40 would allow the people to have their say in the creation of this expensive new bureaucracy and we must be allowed to have that say.
The secrecy and incompetence exhibited by the federal government and certain elements within state government to illegitimately force Kentucky into spending untold millions of dollars purportedly for a web site deserves better answers than we are getting. That changes starting today.
David Adams
859-537-5372
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Lexington, KY police smacked by Constitution
Exactly five months after Lexington, KY police stormed a local business, a judge has ordered them to return tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise and cash they improperly took.
Back on August 16, 2012, Botany Bay on Winchester Rd in Lexington was invaded by several Lexington police wrecking personal property and issuing threats to put the local company out of business.
Today, Fayette District Judge Kim Wilkie ordered police to return all of Botany Bay's property, much of which witnesses saw officers destroy in August. The return is to be completed in two weeks. Most of the confiscated items were not listed on a served search warrant supposedly intended to capture illegal drugs. Police falsely told media at the time that they took illegal drugs from Botany Bay.
Judge Wilkie scheduled a February 19 hearing on the constitutionality of the new Kentucky law under which police attempted to prosecute Botany Bay. That new law was passed in 2012 by the General Assembly under the title House Bill 481.
Back on August 16, 2012, Botany Bay on Winchester Rd in Lexington was invaded by several Lexington police wrecking personal property and issuing threats to put the local company out of business.
Today, Fayette District Judge Kim Wilkie ordered police to return all of Botany Bay's property, much of which witnesses saw officers destroy in August. The return is to be completed in two weeks. Most of the confiscated items were not listed on a served search warrant supposedly intended to capture illegal drugs. Police falsely told media at the time that they took illegal drugs from Botany Bay.
Judge Wilkie scheduled a February 19 hearing on the constitutionality of the new Kentucky law under which police attempted to prosecute Botany Bay. That new law was passed in 2012 by the General Assembly under the title House Bill 481.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Hazard "gun free zone" shooting tonight
Two people are dead and another injured in a shooting tonight on the campus of Hazard (KY) Community and Technical College. The eastern Kentucky school has a policy prohibiting firearms.
This comes about as President Barack Obama plans to take to the airwaves tomorrow morning to announce plans for tighter gun control in America.
Plans for multiple Second Amendment rallies are underway to counteract federal gun grabbing schemes.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Kentucky's sleeper issue: health freedom
Kentucky's internal struggle with implementation of ObamaCare got its share of attention this week, but a key part of that fight just leapfrogged all other issues on the legislature's drawing board.
While Gov. Beshear yammered about raising the drop out age to "improve" education and legislative leaders feigned sudden interest on the long-ignored fronts of tax and pension reform, a consumer protection bill that actually works within ObamaCare while protecting consumers from its worst provisions gained more co-sponsors than any bill in either chamber.
Senator Tom Buford's health freedom bill was bumped up from SB 16 to SB 3, a strong sign of leadership recognizing it as a key priority. Fourteen other Senators quickly signed on their support.
The bill would simply force Kentucky's Department of Insurance to stop being more arbitrary than the Obama Administration with regard to a little-noticed protection for Christian free marketers written into the ObamaCare law.
Even most House Democrats don't want to be seen supporting ObamaCare, much less supporting state insurance bureaucrats in being more hostile to Kentucky consumers than the federal government currently is.
Please encourage your legislators to go on the record immediately in support of Senate Bill 3.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Kentucky sheriff to defy any federal gun grab
Jackson County Sheriff Denny Peyman has some advice for federal officials attempting to confiscate legal guns held by citizens in his jurisdiction: "go ahead, make my day."
Sheriff Peyman says he is very concerned about proposed federal legislation that could result in massive gun ownership bans and orders of confiscation.
"My office will not comply with any federal action which violates the United States Constitution or the Kentucky Constitution which I swore to uphold," Peyman said. "Let them pull that stuff in other places if they want, but not in Jackson County, Kentucky."
Peyman hopes his strong stand in support of the Second Amendment encourages law enforcement officers around Kentucky and elsewhere to reassure citizens of their protection from overzealous federal action on gun control.
"Just a few of us have to be willing to stand up to political opposition putting our people at risk," Peyman said. "The other side will back down."
Saturday, January 05, 2013
Analyze this ObamaCare scam, please
The biggest reason ObamaCare has gotten this far is a lack of careful analysis. State-run health insurance exchanges represent a perfect example.
Let's take Kentucky's Health Benefit Exchange. What we are getting is a web site people can use for comparing and purchasing health insurance under ObamaCare. Be careful not to confuse KHBE with www.ehealthinsurance.com, a private site serving the same purpose and not costing us anything. No, KHBE will be "better." Trust them.
This should beg several questions. Chief among them is the cost of running KHBE. Under ObamaCare , KHBE is a new permanent bureaucracy we will have to pay for starting January 1, 2015. According to KHBE's own estimate, that cost will be $39 million a year.
No analysis of ObamaCare shows it actually lowering costs. At best it transfers some uncompensated care expenses back and forth between consumers, and KHBE will be no different. Insurance consumers forced to do business with KHBE will pay extra to cover the $39 million.
And the amount is only going to be that low to the extent that the estimate is valid or for as long as costs don't increase further. Any guesses how that will work out for us?
The largest annual component of this cost estimate is $20.5 million. That's the current annual contract KHBE has with Deloitte for IT consulting. The second largest component is $11 million in spending for new state employees. Then comes $3.3 million in contracts with other state employees. After that, we have $2.9 million in hardware and software maintenance and licensing and $1.3 million for "miscellaneous" costs.
Governor Beshear signed off on all this nonsense with an executive order setting up KHBE for ObamaCare. He also told us he managed a $46 million budget surplus last year, though we now know better. More than half the other states have ruled out setting up ObamaCare exchanges despite pressure from the Obama Administration and the Republican Establishment.
Resisting temptation from both sides of the political status quo is as simple as digging into the numbers. Any questions?
Let's take Kentucky's Health Benefit Exchange. What we are getting is a web site people can use for comparing and purchasing health insurance under ObamaCare. Be careful not to confuse KHBE with www.ehealthinsurance.com, a private site serving the same purpose and not costing us anything. No, KHBE will be "better." Trust them.
This should beg several questions. Chief among them is the cost of running KHBE. Under ObamaCare , KHBE is a new permanent bureaucracy we will have to pay for starting January 1, 2015. According to KHBE's own estimate, that cost will be $39 million a year.
No analysis of ObamaCare shows it actually lowering costs. At best it transfers some uncompensated care expenses back and forth between consumers, and KHBE will be no different. Insurance consumers forced to do business with KHBE will pay extra to cover the $39 million.
And the amount is only going to be that low to the extent that the estimate is valid or for as long as costs don't increase further. Any guesses how that will work out for us?
The largest annual component of this cost estimate is $20.5 million. That's the current annual contract KHBE has with Deloitte for IT consulting. The second largest component is $11 million in spending for new state employees. Then comes $3.3 million in contracts with other state employees. After that, we have $2.9 million in hardware and software maintenance and licensing and $1.3 million for "miscellaneous" costs.
Governor Beshear signed off on all this nonsense with an executive order setting up KHBE for ObamaCare. He also told us he managed a $46 million budget surplus last year, though we now know better. More than half the other states have ruled out setting up ObamaCare exchanges despite pressure from the Obama Administration and the Republican Establishment.
Resisting temptation from both sides of the political status quo is as simple as digging into the numbers. Any questions?
Tuesday, January 01, 2013
Mitch McConnell pulls a Nancy Pelosi
As more details emerge on last night's fiscal cliff tax increase vote in the U.S. Senate, the secrecy of this bad deal and its similarities to Nancy Pelosi's happy claim that they had to pass ObamaCare so we could see what's in it continue to grow.
McConnell's deal with Vice President Joe Biden deserves a slow, painful death in the House. If they want to wait two months before spending cuts get back on the table, then let's drag this out for two months and make full repeal of ObamaCare part of the discussion.
ObamaCare's tax increases are the worst thing taking effect today and we should be talking about that.
McConnell's deal with Vice President Joe Biden deserves a slow, painful death in the House. If they want to wait two months before spending cuts get back on the table, then let's drag this out for two months and make full repeal of ObamaCare part of the discussion.
ObamaCare's tax increases are the worst thing taking effect today and we should be talking about that.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Did someone hide little Carl Rollins' Twinkie?
House Education Committee Chairman Carl Rollins has filed a bill that just might get him appointed to Michelle Obama's food nazi staff in Washington D.C.
Under House Bill 44, schools would be "encouraged" to hide "prepackaged, unhealthy snacks where students will have to ask for them" and put "plain milk in front of chocolate milk" while "giving healthy food choices catchy, descriptive names."
I'm not kidding.
Rather than calling his bill "The Smarter Lunchroom Act," as Rollins suggests, how about "The Lunchlady Repetitive Motion Junk Food Turn and Grab Workout Act of 2013?"
Mitch McConnell doesn't want another Rand Paul
Kentucky's establishment moderate Republicans are cooking up a plan to change RPK by-laws again. This time, the idea is to eliminate conservative primary challengers to their favored, status quo candidates.
The new policy would allow the Republican state executive committee, which McConnell controls, to endorse Republican primary candidates.
Can't imagine many people who seriously want to cut government spending and debt or protect civil liberties making that list, can you?
Please contact any Republican party officials you know and ask them to oppose this latest power grab.
The new policy would allow the Republican state executive committee, which McConnell controls, to endorse Republican primary candidates.
Can't imagine many people who seriously want to cut government spending and debt or protect civil liberties making that list, can you?
Please contact any Republican party officials you know and ask them to oppose this latest power grab.
Monday, December 03, 2012
Tim Shaughnessy, pension millionaire
Retiring state Senator Tim Shaughnessy is next in a growing line of Kentucky state legislators who voted themselves a huge pension boost and are moving to take advantage of it -- and you.
By virtue of his vote for HB 299 in 2005, Shaughnessy joins former Senate President David Williams and current Agriculture Commissioner James Comer in transferring years of legislative pension credits to be multiplied with new massive salaries elsewhere in state government to illegitimately become state government pension millionaires.
Shaughnessy has taken a job in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System at $160,000 a year. His pension will now be based on his twenty three years as a legislator, plus whatever time he accumulates at KCTCS and multiplied by his three years of highest salary, unless he does the right thing now.
Please forward this message widely and contact these men to demand they take retirement from the legislature right away to make themselves ineligible to take advantage of Kentuckians any further.
By virtue of his vote for HB 299 in 2005, Shaughnessy joins former Senate President David Williams and current Agriculture Commissioner James Comer in transferring years of legislative pension credits to be multiplied with new massive salaries elsewhere in state government to illegitimately become state government pension millionaires.
Shaughnessy has taken a job in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System at $160,000 a year. His pension will now be based on his twenty three years as a legislator, plus whatever time he accumulates at KCTCS and multiplied by his three years of highest salary, unless he does the right thing now.
Please forward this message widely and contact these men to demand they take retirement from the legislature right away to make themselves ineligible to take advantage of Kentuckians any further.
Tuesday, November 06, 2012
Kentucky chooses unconstitutional route
Governor Steve Beshear's Department of Insurance has formally declined to attack one Christian health sharing group for practices used as justification to run another such group out of the state.
Fresh off a judge's ruling that Christian Care Medi-Share has until the end of the year to close all its accounts and stop serving customers in Kentucky, the DOI announced that it will not prosecute Samaritan Ministries for not submitting to state insurance regulation.
Arbitrary application of state laws violates Kentucky's Constitution.
The DOI is also considering whether to prosecute Christian HealthCare Ministries for the same crime of not falling in line behind the Department's capricious regulation. Should they do so, that would leave Kentucky Christians with only one viable alternative for health coverage when ObamaCare takes full effect.
Limiting consumer choice is not a valid justification for giving the government control of citizens' risk management decisions.
Fresh off a judge's ruling that Christian Care Medi-Share has until the end of the year to close all its accounts and stop serving customers in Kentucky, the DOI announced that it will not prosecute Samaritan Ministries for not submitting to state insurance regulation.
Arbitrary application of state laws violates Kentucky's Constitution.
The DOI is also considering whether to prosecute Christian HealthCare Ministries for the same crime of not falling in line behind the Department's capricious regulation. Should they do so, that would leave Kentucky Christians with only one viable alternative for health coverage when ObamaCare takes full effect.
Limiting consumer choice is not a valid justification for giving the government control of citizens' risk management decisions.
Thursday, November 01, 2012
If misunderstanding Liberty were fatal, most people would be dead
I just got off the air with radio talk host Matt Walsh of WLAP in Lexington.
Having explained to Matt's listeners that the battle for health freedom depends on more people realizing that their rights are being abused and that it should be no comfort to them if they aren't yet being persecuted under bad laws, I was disheartened to hear one of his subsequent callers.
The caller explained that he is a member of Samaritan Ministries health sharing organization, which Christian Medi-Share is now referring their members to, and that he knew Samaritan wouldn't have any trouble with the law in Kentucky because of the way Samaritan has organized its sharing process.
He has been misinformed. Sadly, valuable time was wasted in organizing people to fight back against Frankfort's war on Christians because Medi-Share members were similarly lulled into a false sense of security under Kentucky law.
Kentucky law is very clear in stating that the only three health sharing groups grandfathered in under ObamaCare are illegal in the Commonwealth. The fact that Samaritan and Christian HealthCare Ministries are not yet being attacked by regulators under the law can not legitimately provide a moment's comfort to the members of those two groups.
Further, people who don't belong to these groups who think they don't have anything to worry about because they have good employer-provided coverage are making exactly the same mistake. Many of them will be dropped as ObamaCare takes effect and then they will gain a greater perspective on health freedom in particular and Liberty in general.
Unfortunately, by then it may be too late. Please beat the rush and understand how Liberty for All means that we protect everyone's rights while we still can. If you get it already, please share.
Having explained to Matt's listeners that the battle for health freedom depends on more people realizing that their rights are being abused and that it should be no comfort to them if they aren't yet being persecuted under bad laws, I was disheartened to hear one of his subsequent callers.
The caller explained that he is a member of Samaritan Ministries health sharing organization, which Christian Medi-Share is now referring their members to, and that he knew Samaritan wouldn't have any trouble with the law in Kentucky because of the way Samaritan has organized its sharing process.
He has been misinformed. Sadly, valuable time was wasted in organizing people to fight back against Frankfort's war on Christians because Medi-Share members were similarly lulled into a false sense of security under Kentucky law.
Kentucky law is very clear in stating that the only three health sharing groups grandfathered in under ObamaCare are illegal in the Commonwealth. The fact that Samaritan and Christian HealthCare Ministries are not yet being attacked by regulators under the law can not legitimately provide a moment's comfort to the members of those two groups.
Further, people who don't belong to these groups who think they don't have anything to worry about because they have good employer-provided coverage are making exactly the same mistake. Many of them will be dropped as ObamaCare takes effect and then they will gain a greater perspective on health freedom in particular and Liberty in general.
Unfortunately, by then it may be too late. Please beat the rush and understand how Liberty for All means that we protect everyone's rights while we still can. If you get it already, please share.
David Williams in bipartisan pension scam
Kentuckians need to band together and demand David Williams retire from the Senate so that he becomes ineligible for the infamous million dollar pension reciprocity he rammed through the legislature in 2005. If we don't do this we deserve to get twisted every time David Williams and Steve Beshear grab a screwdriver.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Kentucky Halloween Massacre update
Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate will hear a request from Christian Medi-Share for extra time beyond his Monday order to shut down all operations in Kentucky by today. The hearing is scheduled for 2:00 pm ET in Frankfort.
At least one Medi-Share member is scheduled for surgery tomorrow.
At least one Medi-Share member is scheduled for surgery tomorrow.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Kentucky Halloween Massacre
A Circuit Court judge in Kentucky announced this morning he will rule by October 31 on whether or not to revoke the business license of a Christian group serving as an alternative to state regulated health insurance.
The Kentucky Department of Insurance has been (so far) successfully waging a war against Christian health consumers seeking to work around expensive regulations which result in severely limited health coverage choices for Kentuckians. Christian Care Medi-Share has been in and out of Kentucky courts for an entire decade, fighting for its ability to offer significantly better health coverage to Bluegrass State consumers.
Christian "health sharing" is actually not banned under ObamaCare, but Kentucky's hostility toward healthcare consumers predates the federal takeover of medical care by decades.
The Kentucky Department of Insurance has been (so far) successfully waging a war against Christian health consumers seeking to work around expensive regulations which result in severely limited health coverage choices for Kentuckians. Christian Care Medi-Share has been in and out of Kentucky courts for an entire decade, fighting for its ability to offer significantly better health coverage to Bluegrass State consumers.
Christian "health sharing" is actually not banned under ObamaCare, but Kentucky's hostility toward healthcare consumers predates the federal takeover of medical care by decades.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Pitchforks and Torches in Frankfort
Kentucky's ObamaCare Advisory Board is meeting publicly in Frankfort on Thursday October 25 at 1:30 pm ET.
You don't really need to bring pitchforks or torches, but the silliness will be so thick that witnesses could be very valuable. So please make plans to come to 12 Mill Creek Park in Frankfort. Specialized knowledge in healthcare isn't at all necessary to see how foolish a big government scheme this is.
And that's the point. We need more people with more first-hand knowledge of the ObamaCare trainwreck our own people in Frankfort are signing us up for, so please come if you can and invite others even if you can't make it.
You don't really need to bring pitchforks or torches, but the silliness will be so thick that witnesses could be very valuable. So please make plans to come to 12 Mill Creek Park in Frankfort. Specialized knowledge in healthcare isn't at all necessary to see how foolish a big government scheme this is.
And that's the point. We need more people with more first-hand knowledge of the ObamaCare trainwreck our own people in Frankfort are signing us up for, so please come if you can and invite others even if you can't make it.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Courageous candidates' legislative pension fix
Since 2005, several Kentucky legislators have taken advantage of a pension trick pushed into law by Senate President David Williams and former House Speaker Jody Richards to enrich themselves with public money after long General Assembly careers and short stints in the executive or legislative branches of state government.
J.R. Gray. Steve Nunn. Dan Kelly. Charlie Borders. James Comer. Ernesto Scorsone. Fred Nesler. Jon Draud. Greg Stumbo. Clearly, this is a bipartisan problem.
Several legislators have filed bills the last few years to close this "loophole," but none have seriously gotten close to being enacted. It's time for that to change.
Ironically, the first person who could have taken advantage of this pension trick did not do so.
Former state Rep. Joe Barrows took retirement from the legislature rather than boost his pension with the "reciprocity" scheme before going to work in the Executive Branch.
This week, Senate President David Williams will come one big step closer to a judicial appointment that would make all his state pension dreams come true at a cost to taxpayers of nearly one million dollars. Five state House candidates joined together last week and signed onto a statement encouraging Williams to put an end to the pension grab madness.
Chris Hightower, Matt Lockett, Jason Crockett, Bryan Lutz and Lynn Bechler agreed to the following:
"Should Senate President David Williams accept appointment to the circuit judgeship in his home district, we encourage him to set a strong example for future legislators by retiring from the legislature so he will not be eligible to receive pension reciprocity he has fought to repeal in the Senate."
J.R. Gray. Steve Nunn. Dan Kelly. Charlie Borders. James Comer. Ernesto Scorsone. Fred Nesler. Jon Draud. Greg Stumbo. Clearly, this is a bipartisan problem.
Several legislators have filed bills the last few years to close this "loophole," but none have seriously gotten close to being enacted. It's time for that to change.
Ironically, the first person who could have taken advantage of this pension trick did not do so.
Former state Rep. Joe Barrows took retirement from the legislature rather than boost his pension with the "reciprocity" scheme before going to work in the Executive Branch.
This week, Senate President David Williams will come one big step closer to a judicial appointment that would make all his state pension dreams come true at a cost to taxpayers of nearly one million dollars. Five state House candidates joined together last week and signed onto a statement encouraging Williams to put an end to the pension grab madness.
Chris Hightower, Matt Lockett, Jason Crockett, Bryan Lutz and Lynn Bechler agreed to the following:
"Should Senate President David Williams accept appointment to the circuit judgeship in his home district, we encourage him to set a strong example for future legislators by retiring from the legislature so he will not be eligible to receive pension reciprocity he has fought to repeal in the Senate."
"The honor of appointment or election to
higher office deserves to be without controversy as much as possible and we
believe President Williams' leadership on this issue will be followed by others
until the reciprocity law can be repealed by the legislature."
Williams would do very well to go along with this. Same goes for Senator Tom Jensen, who is also leaving the legislature to become a judge.
Friday, October 05, 2012
Obama wants us staring at our shoes, too
Just got a response from Obama's Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, to my complaint about the Kentucky Department of Insurance unconstitutionally attacking Christians for attempting to avoid ObamaCare's health insurance mandates.
The OCR rejected my complaint, but helpfully added that another agency may be able to assist and that they had taken the liberty of forwarding my complaint against the Kentucky Department of Insurance onto another agency. So, to whom did the Obama Administration send my civil rights complaint against the Kentucky Department of Insurance for further investigation?
The Kentucky Department of Insurance, of course.
The OCR rejected my complaint, but helpfully added that another agency may be able to assist and that they had taken the liberty of forwarding my complaint against the Kentucky Department of Insurance onto another agency. So, to whom did the Obama Administration send my civil rights complaint against the Kentucky Department of Insurance for further investigation?
The Kentucky Department of Insurance, of course.
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
What part of "prohibited" don't they understand?
Kentucky law prohibits insurance coverage of abortions except as an optional rider on a policy for which an additional premium is charged. Otherwise, the law prohibits coverage of an abortion unless the life of the mother is in jeopardy.
Kentucky's ObamaCare health insurance exchange basic plan, announced yesterday, Anthem PPO plus KCHIP's pediatric vision and dental benefits covers abortions when the life or health of the mother are in jeopardy.
That may not seem like a big difference, but it is undeniably an illegal expansion of abortion coverage in the state by a Department of Insurance that went crazy in August at the mere suggestion they wanted to cover more abortions in Kentucky. Plus, we don't know how they plan to define what constitutes a threat to a mother's health. Could be just about anything, right?
Even if you favor abortion coverage or even abortions, none of us should support state bureaucrats ignoring the law on a whim. Please forward this post as widely as you can.
Kentucky's ObamaCare health insurance exchange basic plan, announced yesterday, Anthem PPO plus KCHIP's pediatric vision and dental benefits covers abortions when the life or health of the mother are in jeopardy.
That may not seem like a big difference, but it is undeniably an illegal expansion of abortion coverage in the state by a Department of Insurance that went crazy in August at the mere suggestion they wanted to cover more abortions in Kentucky. Plus, we don't know how they plan to define what constitutes a threat to a mother's health. Could be just about anything, right?
Even if you favor abortion coverage or even abortions, none of us should support state bureaucrats ignoring the law on a whim. Please forward this post as widely as you can.
Tuesday, October 02, 2012
Kentucky judge shuts Christian MediShare
Franklin County Kentucky Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate just now ordered Christian Care MediShare to stop operating in the state.
In related news, Kentucky's Department of Insurance has announced that Anthem's PPO health plan plus KCHIP's pediatric dental and vision benefits will constitute the basic plan for the ObamaCare health insurance exchange, which will cause premiums to skyrocket.
Now is not the time to be limiting coverage options or larding up plans with more and more mandates, but that's exactly what we are getting.
In related news, Kentucky's Department of Insurance has announced that Anthem's PPO health plan plus KCHIP's pediatric dental and vision benefits will constitute the basic plan for the ObamaCare health insurance exchange, which will cause premiums to skyrocket.
Now is not the time to be limiting coverage options or larding up plans with more and more mandates, but that's exactly what we are getting.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Next up: Kentucky picks health exchange mandates
Rep. Stan Lee has pre-filed a bill to clarify that Obama's health insurance exchange can't make an end-run around state law and require coverage of abortions in Kentucky.
He should now file another bill to prohibit exchange coverage of all other kinds of surgeries.
Insurance coverage mandates increase costs. Verify that with your plastic surgeon or contact lens provider.
He should now file another bill to prohibit exchange coverage of all other kinds of surgeries.
Insurance coverage mandates increase costs. Verify that with your plastic surgeon or contact lens provider.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Another secret ObamaCare meeting
Governor Steve Beshear's ObamaCare Health Benefit Exchange Advisory Board will meet on Thursday September 27 at 1:30 pm in Frankfort at the Department of Insurance, 215 W. Main Street.
Please call Karen Cantrell at 502-564-7940 and ask if the meeting is open to the public.
Please call Karen Cantrell at 502-564-7940 and ask if the meeting is open to the public.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Republicans can win state House on ObamaCare
Democratic state Rep. Mary Jane King went on the radio to campaign and painted herself into a corner on her support of ObamaCare. There are lessons here for her opponent, tea party Republican Chris Hightower and other Republicans around the state.
Rep. King says in the interview she supports key features of ObamaCare, but starts going wobbly when she is pressed about how those features negatively impact people buying insurance.
Pressed further, she tries to run away from the whole thing and put responsibility on Congress. That's a nice try, but if the state merely stops setting up the optional health insurance exchange and refuses to accept the optional Medicaid expansion -- neither of which is affordable in the state budget -- ObamaCare goes away.
There is still time for a bill in 2013 to stop both of these activities from proceeding into 2014. Republican candidates should propose that and get their opponents on the record right away.
Here is Rep. King's interview:
Rep. King says in the interview she supports key features of ObamaCare, but starts going wobbly when she is pressed about how those features negatively impact people buying insurance.
Pressed further, she tries to run away from the whole thing and put responsibility on Congress. That's a nice try, but if the state merely stops setting up the optional health insurance exchange and refuses to accept the optional Medicaid expansion -- neither of which is affordable in the state budget -- ObamaCare goes away.
There is still time for a bill in 2013 to stop both of these activities from proceeding into 2014. Republican candidates should propose that and get their opponents on the record right away.
Here is Rep. King's interview:
Friday, August 31, 2012
Left doubles down on "Didn't Build That"
Republicans have clearly struck a nerve attempting to capitalize on President Barack Obama's claim that "You didn't build that."
Writing for Kentucky's fifth-highest circulation newspaper today, reporter Joe Sonka attacked Senator Rand Paul for bringing it up.
Liberal bloggers apparently believe that government creates infrastructure with the sweat of its own brow, rather than with resources taken from private sector wealth generators.
Could this be why they are still so confused about government "stimulus?"
Writing for Kentucky's fifth-highest circulation newspaper today, reporter Joe Sonka attacked Senator Rand Paul for bringing it up.
"The main theme of his speech was the main theme of the convention so far, which is a blatant and shameless lie — “You didn’t build that!” — taking President Obama completely out of context to mislead that he said business owners didn’t build their own business, instead of what he really said, that business owners didn’t build the roads, bridges and infrastructure that they rely upon."(emphasis added)
Liberal bloggers apparently believe that government creates infrastructure with the sweat of its own brow, rather than with resources taken from private sector wealth generators.
Could this be why they are still so confused about government "stimulus?"
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Retiring GOP lawmaker blasts David Williams?
Kentucky Rep. Bill Farmer (R-Lexington) will retire from the legislature at the end of this year, so he doesn't have to hold his tongue anymore about the disaster Senate President David Williams has been for Republicans.
In a comment on an online Louisville Courier Journal column about legislative pension greed today, Rep. Farmer recalled the vitriol directed at lawmakers who, like him, voted against the David Williams Pension Scandal.
Rigor mortis is starting to set in on David Williams' shenanigans in Frankfort. Expect a lot more of this soon.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Bob Damron writes off "math literate" vote
Nicholasville Democrat Rep. Bob Damron sent an official-looking glossy campaign mailer to his constituents today seeking to confuse voters in the 39th House district about fiscal mismanagement in Frankfort.
"Unlike the Federal Government, State budgets must be balanced," Damron wrote. "The only debts we at the State level incur are for the construction of capital projects and needed infrastructure."
Rep. Damron should try selling this garbage to the federal whistleblower who recently stepped down from Kentucky Retirement Systems. Chris Tobe said years of underfunding by the legislature to spend the money on pet projects has wrecked the public employee benefits system.
"Underfunding each year is like a hurricane devastating the pension," Tobe said. Tobe explained the legislature has underfunded state pensions by several hundred million dollars each year throughout the past decade.
Damron's constituents don't need to be Accounting majors to understand that a "balanced budget" doesn't include enough in misdirected pension funds to endanger the state's fiscal situation with over $30 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.
But Rep. Damron wants to keep you focused only on state bonded debt by itself and to ignore the context of trying to keep the state afloat while being forced to address the tidal wave of pension payments due to hit us by the end of Governor Steve Beshear's term in office.
And that doesn't even touch the ObamaCare costs due to crush us about the same time. (Did I mention Rep. Damron supports ObamaCare?) Needless to say, Damron is already spinning this mess he helped create and voted for at every turn.
"Often political candidates try to mislead voters and equate State Government Bonding (Debt) with the increasing debt, but the two are very different," Damron wrote.
On this, Damron has a point. It's just not the one he intends. The state will run out of money way before the federal government does, because the state can't print its own money.
But then, Bob Damron really hopes you aren't paying attention.
"I only wish they (federal government) had the same fiscal discipline that we have at the State level," Damron wrote.
Fast forward about three years and this last comment will be high comedy. Until then, if you want to keep supporting Bob Damron you should try really hard to ignore things like this.
"Unlike the Federal Government, State budgets must be balanced," Damron wrote. "The only debts we at the State level incur are for the construction of capital projects and needed infrastructure."
Rep. Damron should try selling this garbage to the federal whistleblower who recently stepped down from Kentucky Retirement Systems. Chris Tobe said years of underfunding by the legislature to spend the money on pet projects has wrecked the public employee benefits system.
"Underfunding each year is like a hurricane devastating the pension," Tobe said. Tobe explained the legislature has underfunded state pensions by several hundred million dollars each year throughout the past decade.
Damron's constituents don't need to be Accounting majors to understand that a "balanced budget" doesn't include enough in misdirected pension funds to endanger the state's fiscal situation with over $30 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.
But Rep. Damron wants to keep you focused only on state bonded debt by itself and to ignore the context of trying to keep the state afloat while being forced to address the tidal wave of pension payments due to hit us by the end of Governor Steve Beshear's term in office.
And that doesn't even touch the ObamaCare costs due to crush us about the same time. (Did I mention Rep. Damron supports ObamaCare?) Needless to say, Damron is already spinning this mess he helped create and voted for at every turn.
"Often political candidates try to mislead voters and equate State Government Bonding (Debt) with the increasing debt, but the two are very different," Damron wrote.
On this, Damron has a point. It's just not the one he intends. The state will run out of money way before the federal government does, because the state can't print its own money.
But then, Bob Damron really hopes you aren't paying attention.
"I only wish they (federal government) had the same fiscal discipline that we have at the State level," Damron wrote.
Fast forward about three years and this last comment will be high comedy. Until then, if you want to keep supporting Bob Damron you should try really hard to ignore things like this.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Beshear admin lashes out on abortion scheme
In response to this blog post and subsequent announcement of a House Republican bill to prevent inclusion of abortion coverage in Kentucky's health insurance exchange, the Commonwealth's Department of Insurance rushed out the following statement:
STATEMENT FROM COMMISSIONER SHARON P. CLARK: The Department of Insurance is receiving reports of incorrect information being distributed to the public concerning our position on essential health benefits offered as part of the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange. Some of this misrepresentation appears to be deliberate. Coverage for elective abortions will not be an essential health benefit. This would be a violation of state law and has never been considered. Under Kentucky law (KRS 304.5-160), health insurance companies cannot offer coverage for elective abortions except as a separate rider with a separate premium. Therefore, abortions cannot be offered as an essential health benefit in Kentucky's Health Benefit Exchange.
I'm guessing Commissioner Clark doesn't expect anyone to read beyond her own hysterical protestations. In fact, if you actually take a minute to glance at KRS 304.5-160 and HHS Pre-Regulatory Model Guidelines Under Section 1303 of the Affordable Care Act (PL-111-148): Issued Pursuant to Executive Order 13535 (March 24, 2010), you won't be so easily fooled.
The Kentucky statute does indeed prohibit coverage for elective abortions "except as a separate rider with a separate premium."
The House Republicans were right to engage on this issue quickly. Senate Republicans would do well to follow their lead, particularly in anticipation of more federal administrative rules.
STATEMENT FROM COMMISSIONER SHARON P. CLARK: The Department of Insurance is receiving reports of incorrect information being distributed to the public concerning our position on essential health benefits offered as part of the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange. Some of this misrepresentation appears to be deliberate. Coverage for elective abortions will not be an essential health benefit. This would be a violation of state law and has never been considered. Under Kentucky law (KRS 304.5-160), health insurance companies cannot offer coverage for elective abortions except as a separate rider with a separate premium. Therefore, abortions cannot be offered as an essential health benefit in Kentucky's Health Benefit Exchange.
I'm guessing Commissioner Clark doesn't expect anyone to read beyond her own hysterical protestations. In fact, if you actually take a minute to glance at KRS 304.5-160 and HHS Pre-Regulatory Model Guidelines Under Section 1303 of the Affordable Care Act (PL-111-148): Issued Pursuant to Executive Order 13535 (March 24, 2010), you won't be so easily fooled.
The Kentucky statute does indeed prohibit coverage for elective abortions "except as a separate rider with a separate premium."
The House Republicans were right to engage on this issue quickly. Senate Republicans would do well to follow their lead, particularly in anticipation of more federal administrative rules.
Are we ready to end legislative pension grab?
In 2012, no less than five legislative bills in the Kentucky General Assembly sought to stop further damage in the David Williams Pension Scandal.
None of those bills even got a floor vote in the House or Senate.
Senator Dennis Parrett is back with what will be Senate Bill 12 pre-filed for 2013. His bill would end the state legislator's pension program and take away the ability for legislators to get huge unearned pension "reciprocity" for election or appointment elsewhere in state or local government.
Senate President David Williams stood to gain hundreds of thousands of dollars under reciprocity had he been elected governor in 2011.
None of those bills even got a floor vote in the House or Senate.
Senator Dennis Parrett is back with what will be Senate Bill 12 pre-filed for 2013. His bill would end the state legislator's pension program and take away the ability for legislators to get huge unearned pension "reciprocity" for election or appointment elsewhere in state or local government.
Senate President David Williams stood to gain hundreds of thousands of dollars under reciprocity had he been elected governor in 2011.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
David Adams on radio in Lexington
I will be on Lexington radio today talking about how we can create health freedom in Kentucky and then spread it to the rest of the United States. Please tune in to Kruser and Krew on 590 WVLK AM at 1:00 pm ET. You may also listen online at www.wvlkam.com and call in with questions to 859-253-5959.
Starting to see real momentum on this. We will have legislative bills in both the Kentucky House and Senate pre-filed very soon and I'm continuing to set up speaking engagements around the state on this issue. If you would like to support the effort financially, please click here and donate what you can. Any amount will be a big help.
Starting to see real momentum on this. We will have legislative bills in both the Kentucky House and Senate pre-filed very soon and I'm continuing to set up speaking engagements around the state on this issue. If you would like to support the effort financially, please click here and donate what you can. Any amount will be a big help.
Monday, August 20, 2012
House GOP heads off Beshear abortion scheme
Kentucky House Republican Rep. Stan Lee will pre-file a bill to prevent Governor Steve Beshear from requiring Kentuckians to buy health insurance covering abortions.
Having started the process of using state government tools to limit bureaucratic atrocities in health care, we now need to do more. Expanding the Religious Publications Exemption to create a secure free market alternative to government-controlled health insurance in the Commonwealth is critical to turning the tide in this battle.
Having started the process of using state government tools to limit bureaucratic atrocities in health care, we now need to do more. Expanding the Religious Publications Exemption to create a secure free market alternative to government-controlled health insurance in the Commonwealth is critical to turning the tide in this battle.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
"Occupy Wall Street" meets Tea Party in Frankfort
"Occupy Wall Street" protesters plan to attend a Kentucky Tea Party rally in Frankfort on Tuesday. The rally features Senator Rand Paul and Senator Mitch McConnell talking about defeating ObamaCare.
"I have regarded this as an Occupy event from the beginning," said liberal activist Ryan Hidalgo of Owensboro.
Occupiers have actively been recruiting for weeks, starting with blogger Jim Pence. Pence has sought to inspire left-wing participation in the event by calming fears about potential violence.
"This is a free country, but when we become afraid to exercise our freedom then we are no longer free," Pence said. "Believe me, there will be plenty of law enforcement at the event, including Capitol police. I know because I've been to events like this and believe me, violence won't be tolerated."
Pence attended a 2009 Louisville Tea Party event with some 3000 attendees. He said:
Despite Pence's peaceful plea, overheated rhetoric has also been a key part of the effort to draw OWS activism in opposition to the tea party.
Clarksville, Indiana CPA Linda Jaggers Mitchell claims to have attended prior tea party events and says she approves of liberals going even as she lobs a bomb of her own.
"Personally, I don't think of it as crashing but I know how dangerous the tea party can be," she said. "These people are crazy. I really don't want to be around them."
"These people make my blood boil," Lela Morgan said.
Again, others were much more reasonable, suggesting a peaceful, if spirited, event.
"We are merely going there to protest the legislators and their policy," said April Browning of Lexington. "In this case it happens to be Republican policy. I do not reserve my voice to speak out against one party and not the other. I am neither Democrat nor Republican but I am an activist, an activist who believes in the power of the people, the power of social movements and the power of using your voice."
Still others among the liberal protesters suggested bringing signs to show solidarity with tea party principles, in opposition to establishment politicians of both parties.
Karen Conley posted on Facebook a list of suggested slogans opposing bank bailouts, earmarks, civil rights abuses and out of control government budgets.
"This would make it less likely the tea partiers would be against our message," she said.
"I have regarded this as an Occupy event from the beginning," said liberal activist Ryan Hidalgo of Owensboro.
Occupiers have actively been recruiting for weeks, starting with blogger Jim Pence. Pence has sought to inspire left-wing participation in the event by calming fears about potential violence.
"This is a free country, but when we become afraid to exercise our freedom then we are no longer free," Pence said. "Believe me, there will be plenty of law enforcement at the event, including Capitol police. I know because I've been to events like this and believe me, violence won't be tolerated."
Pence attended a 2009 Louisville Tea Party event with some 3000 attendees. He said:
"I went to the event alone, a 70 year old progressive among 3000 conservatives, with only my camera and camcorder and didn't have one problem with anyone. I didn't hide the fact I was a progressive -- nor did I flaunt it -- and no one seemed to care. The event was secured by plenty of police protection and would have been the perfect place for Louisville progressives to counter the Tea Party Express in front of the entire nation. But, for whatever reason, Louisville progressives decided to let the Tea Party Express have their way in Louisville Kentucky."
Despite Pence's peaceful plea, overheated rhetoric has also been a key part of the effort to draw OWS activism in opposition to the tea party.
Clarksville, Indiana CPA Linda Jaggers Mitchell claims to have attended prior tea party events and says she approves of liberals going even as she lobs a bomb of her own.
"Personally, I don't think of it as crashing but I know how dangerous the tea party can be," she said. "These people are crazy. I really don't want to be around them."
"These people make my blood boil," Lela Morgan said.
Again, others were much more reasonable, suggesting a peaceful, if spirited, event.
"We are merely going there to protest the legislators and their policy," said April Browning of Lexington. "In this case it happens to be Republican policy. I do not reserve my voice to speak out against one party and not the other. I am neither Democrat nor Republican but I am an activist, an activist who believes in the power of the people, the power of social movements and the power of using your voice."
Still others among the liberal protesters suggested bringing signs to show solidarity with tea party principles, in opposition to establishment politicians of both parties.
Karen Conley posted on Facebook a list of suggested slogans opposing bank bailouts, earmarks, civil rights abuses and out of control government budgets.
"This would make it less likely the tea partiers would be against our message," she said.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Kentucky needs a brain transplant
ObamaCare advocates in the Kentucky Department of Insurance are plotting to require all health insurance policies in Kentucky to cover abortions among the "essential health benefits" required by the federal law.
Whether you oppose abortions or not, this is a bad idea. It is wrong to force Kentuckians to pay for abortions, particularly those who are pro-life. It's also wrong for the government to force Kentuckians to buy insurance policies covering services they don't want or need.
If we were smart, we would describe our "essential health benefits" under ObamaCare as ridiculously as possible so that they wouldn't apply to anything and insurers could write policies based on public demand. Things like brain transplants, nose removal, adding a third arm to a patient's torso or an extra pair of ears to his head.
Such a stupid law deserves just such a response.
Whether you oppose abortions or not, this is a bad idea. It is wrong to force Kentuckians to pay for abortions, particularly those who are pro-life. It's also wrong for the government to force Kentuckians to buy insurance policies covering services they don't want or need.
If we were smart, we would describe our "essential health benefits" under ObamaCare as ridiculously as possible so that they wouldn't apply to anything and insurers could write policies based on public demand. Things like brain transplants, nose removal, adding a third arm to a patient's torso or an extra pair of ears to his head.
Such a stupid law deserves just such a response.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Frankfort stirs abortion hornet's nest
Kentuckians who don't want to be forced to pay for abortions when paying health insurance premiums in 2014 need to let the Commonwealth's Department of Insurance know now.
Because ObamaCare assumes you are too stupid to demand health insurance benefits you want and need, states setting up health exchanges under the federal law must specify what health insurers will cover and what they will not.
The Department issued this statement:
Kentuckians wishing to weigh in on what those benefits should be can send an email to DOI.RateReview@ky.gov.
All the more reason for dismantling this whole system of government control of health care. If you want to do that, click here.
Because ObamaCare assumes you are too stupid to demand health insurance benefits you want and need, states setting up health exchanges under the federal law must specify what health insurers will cover and what they will not.
The Department issued this statement:
"Currently, the Kentucky Department of Insurance is analyzing the various benefit options in order to make an informed recommendation that balances cost and benefits in the best interest of Kentuckians. The Commonwealth will recommend its choice of Essential Health Benefits to the Secretary of the HHS prior to September 30, 2012."
Kentuckians wishing to weigh in on what those benefits should be can send an email to DOI.RateReview@ky.gov.
All the more reason for dismantling this whole system of government control of health care. If you want to do that, click here.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Boston Globe piles on Papa John's, makes stuff up
The hits keep coming against Papa John's Pizza founder John Schnatter for answering a question recently about the impact of ObamaCare on his corporation's stock price.
What the pizza mogul's attackers fail to realize is the largest negative impact will not be felt by Papa John's International Inc., but by thousands of small business owner franchisees, their employees and the people who won't be able to work for them because of the law's disincentives for hiring or keeping employees.
The Louisville Courier Journal editorial page today thinks it's all a big joke over twenty cents:
This is a blatant misrepresentation of the impact of ObamaCare on Americans and our health care system. ObamaCare doesn't fix the problem of uncompensated care and it won't provide coverage for a lot of Papa John's employees.
The Boston Globe, though, takes the silliness to an even higher level:
What the pizza mogul's attackers fail to realize is the largest negative impact will not be felt by Papa John's International Inc., but by thousands of small business owner franchisees, their employees and the people who won't be able to work for them because of the law's disincentives for hiring or keeping employees.
The Louisville Courier Journal editorial page today thinks it's all a big joke over twenty cents:
"In our book, that's a bargain if it means thousands of Papa John's employees in all 50 states are going to get health coverage and we're not going to have to foot the bill when hardworking but uninsured pizza chefs get ill and end up in the hospital.
Imagine that. Health care for thousands of workers and all you have to do is look for two dimes under your car seat. That's change we can believe in!"
This is a blatant misrepresentation of the impact of ObamaCare on Americans and our health care system. ObamaCare doesn't fix the problem of uncompensated care and it won't provide coverage for a lot of Papa John's employees.
The Boston Globe, though, takes the silliness to an even higher level:
The guessing here is it won't be that tough for Papa John's to survive the 11- to 14-cent-per-pizza increase. Its biggest competitors, like Domino's, will also have to contend with potential health care increases.What the Globe ignores is that franchisees and employees will bear the brunt of ObamaCare. And many of those small businesses have fewer than 50 employees, qualifying them for the dubious "exemption." On top of that, writers at the Globe should have to divulge their source for the assertion about Schnatter and the "corner pizza shop." It's not something he has said or written. In fact, it appears they got that one from a liberal blog.
Schnatter's concern is that the corner pizza shop will be exempted because it has fewer than 50 employees.
Thursday, August 09, 2012
Papa John states obvious, liberals pounce
Left-wing pundits and activists are having a field day attacking Louisville's Papa John's Pizza founder John Schnatter for saying ObamaCare will increase business costs.
It's still the Democratic Party line, but no one really believes ObamaCare will reduce healthcare costs anymore. The people trying to shout Schnatter down or threatening to boycott his pizza are setting themselves up for another Chick-fil-A debacle.
Government growing its own power to counteract the negative effects of decades of too much government involvement in healthcare makes no sense. Nearly everyone gets that now. The rest will figure it out the hard way when ObamaCare takes full effect in 2014.
We may need pizza for lunch at the Kentucky State Capitol on August 21 for the rally with Sen. Rand Paul and Sen. Mitch McConnell.
It's still the Democratic Party line, but no one really believes ObamaCare will reduce healthcare costs anymore. The people trying to shout Schnatter down or threatening to boycott his pizza are setting themselves up for another Chick-fil-A debacle.
Government growing its own power to counteract the negative effects of decades of too much government involvement in healthcare makes no sense. Nearly everyone gets that now. The rest will figure it out the hard way when ObamaCare takes full effect in 2014.
We may need pizza for lunch at the Kentucky State Capitol on August 21 for the rally with Sen. Rand Paul and Sen. Mitch McConnell.
Will Obama disrupt Kentucky tea party event?
Obama supporters are planning a "counter-protest" against an August 21 tea party rally against ObamaCare featuring both of Kentucky's U.S. Senators.
A Facebook event page labeled "Counter-Protest against Tea Party, Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell, Money in Politics, etc." shows invitations have been sent out to more than 700 people. Congressional candidate Bill Adkins, a rabid Obama supporter, is listed as a possible attendee. The event page lists the same date, time and location as the authorized tea party event.
The "counter-protest" page links to a liberal blog post encouraging Obama supporters to show up and disrupt the event and, of course, mentions defecation, a favorite of Occupy Wall Street types.
A Facebook event page labeled "Counter-Protest against Tea Party, Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell, Money in Politics, etc." shows invitations have been sent out to more than 700 people. Congressional candidate Bill Adkins, a rabid Obama supporter, is listed as a possible attendee. The event page lists the same date, time and location as the authorized tea party event.
The "counter-protest" page links to a liberal blog post encouraging Obama supporters to show up and disrupt the event and, of course, mentions defecation, a favorite of Occupy Wall Street types.
Wednesday, August 08, 2012
Frankfort can't justify doing this to us
If you grew up with siblings, you probably know the injustice of parental punishment doled out unevenly. Big brothers took the heat while little brothers got off easy for similar crimes at my house.
But we are adults now. And besides, government is not your daddy. That's why Kentucky's Constitution forbids arbitrary enforcement of laws. We try to require officials to be evenhanded to protect everyone equally.
That's why the Commonwealth's reign of terror against Christians in health sharing organizations is so despicable. Kentucky's Department of Insurance has attacked Christian Care Medi-Share in court for ten years as an illegal insurance company. Under Kentucky law, Samaritan Ministries and Christian HealthCare Ministries are just as guilty but have avoided any of the same punishment. This uneven enforcement hurts not only the companies and their members with all the uncertainty, but also potential members who will be looking for alternatives to government-controlled health insurance increasingly in the months and years ahead.
In May, the Department's spokesperson told me they had been watching Samaritan and Christian HealthCare for years. In June, the Department initiated a formal investigation into their activities. Given that a determination of their legality can be made by viewing their web sites for a few minutes and that they have supposedly been under the watchful eye of state regulators for years, two months is way more than enough time to act. That's particularly true if consumers are at risk, right? I mean, isn't that why regulators have jobs?
Kentucky insurance regulation is a joke. It's not a funny one and, in fact, represents an unconstitutional abuse of power as well as a waste of scarce resources. We are going to prove it and, in doing so, pave the way to requiring state government to better justify its actions or to stop them.
But we are adults now. And besides, government is not your daddy. That's why Kentucky's Constitution forbids arbitrary enforcement of laws. We try to require officials to be evenhanded to protect everyone equally.
That's why the Commonwealth's reign of terror against Christians in health sharing organizations is so despicable. Kentucky's Department of Insurance has attacked Christian Care Medi-Share in court for ten years as an illegal insurance company. Under Kentucky law, Samaritan Ministries and Christian HealthCare Ministries are just as guilty but have avoided any of the same punishment. This uneven enforcement hurts not only the companies and their members with all the uncertainty, but also potential members who will be looking for alternatives to government-controlled health insurance increasingly in the months and years ahead.
In May, the Department's spokesperson told me they had been watching Samaritan and Christian HealthCare for years. In June, the Department initiated a formal investigation into their activities. Given that a determination of their legality can be made by viewing their web sites for a few minutes and that they have supposedly been under the watchful eye of state regulators for years, two months is way more than enough time to act. That's particularly true if consumers are at risk, right? I mean, isn't that why regulators have jobs?
Kentucky insurance regulation is a joke. It's not a funny one and, in fact, represents an unconstitutional abuse of power as well as a waste of scarce resources. We are going to prove it and, in doing so, pave the way to requiring state government to better justify its actions or to stop them.
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
US Military war gaming battle versus Tea Party
Just as hundreds of Kentucky Tea Party supporters plan a pilgrimage to Frankfort for an anti-ObamaCare rally in two weeks, officials at the US Army Training and Doctrine Command are war gaming an attack on tea partiers on American soil.
I'm not kidding.
Dr. Kevin Benson, a retired Army Colonel and currently at the University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies at Fort Leavenworth wrote a paper describing how a hypothetical 2016 military attack on insurgent tea partiers in South Carolina might play out.
It goes without saying that tea party events have always been peaceful, professional and exceedingly polite. Since Dr. Benson's fantasy has come to light, the media has avoided discussing it like the plague. Please encourage your elected officials and local media to address the issue of military threats against peaceful American citizens. This kind of official intimidation has no place in a free society.
I'm not kidding.
Dr. Kevin Benson, a retired Army Colonel and currently at the University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies at Fort Leavenworth wrote a paper describing how a hypothetical 2016 military attack on insurgent tea partiers in South Carolina might play out.
"While mainstream politicians and citizens react with alarm, the “tea party” insurrectionists in South Carolina enjoy a groundswell of support from other tea party groups, militias, racist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, anti-immigrant associations such as the Minutemen, and other right-wing groups."
"The pace of the operation needs to be deliberate and controlled. Combat units will conduct overt Show of Force operations to remind the insurrectionists they are now facing professional military forces, with all the training and equipment that implies. Army and Marine units will remove road blocks and check points both overtly and covertly with minimum essential force to ratchet up pressure continually on insurrectionist leadership." ... "Federal forces continue to tighten the noose as troops seize and secure power and water stations, radio and TV stations, and hospitals."
It goes without saying that tea party events have always been peaceful, professional and exceedingly polite. Since Dr. Benson's fantasy has come to light, the media has avoided discussing it like the plague. Please encourage your elected officials and local media to address the issue of military threats against peaceful American citizens. This kind of official intimidation has no place in a free society.
Saturday, August 04, 2012
Friday, August 03, 2012
These are the people protecting us?
On Wednesday, after researching a complaint against Christian Care Ministries Medi-Share program for three weeks, the Kentucky Department of Insurance determined that it has been fighting Medi-Share in court for ten years.
I'm not kidding.
In a letter dated August 1, 2012 the Consumer Protection Division of the Department of Insurance stated it was closing a consumer-initiated investigation into Medi-Share's insurance activities filed July 10. The Department justified its decision by invoking 806 KAR 02-050 sec. 2, which states the Department "no authority to usurp or infringe upon the jurisdiction, prerogative, or authority of the various courts of competent jurisdiction."
That's interesting, though, because the courts, the bureaucrats and the politicians in Frankfort have been usurping and infringing upon the rights of Kentuckians to protect themselves against health care costs for years and it is about to get worse.
Getting the state of Kentucky to back off from their overbearing restrictions on our health care decisions can't wait for sleepy government officials playing pass the buck with our lives. ObamaCare takes full effect in 515 days.
I'm not kidding.
In a letter dated August 1, 2012 the Consumer Protection Division of the Department of Insurance stated it was closing a consumer-initiated investigation into Medi-Share's insurance activities filed July 10. The Department justified its decision by invoking 806 KAR 02-050 sec. 2, which states the Department "no authority to usurp or infringe upon the jurisdiction, prerogative, or authority of the various courts of competent jurisdiction."
That's interesting, though, because the courts, the bureaucrats and the politicians in Frankfort have been usurping and infringing upon the rights of Kentuckians to protect themselves against health care costs for years and it is about to get worse.
Getting the state of Kentucky to back off from their overbearing restrictions on our health care decisions can't wait for sleepy government officials playing pass the buck with our lives. ObamaCare takes full effect in 515 days.
Health freedom gets a day in court
The Kentucky Department of Insurance and Franklin Circuit Court this afternoon have broken their silence on a case that can usher in unprecedented health freedom for citizens of the Commonwealth. After quietly neglecting citizens in the state's bizarre battle against Christian health sharing organizations with no action since July 2011, DOI officials and Judge Thomas Wingate have announced a public hearing on the state's decade-long lawsuit against Christians seeking an exemption from ObamaCare.
Please make plans to attend the hearing in Frankfort on August 30 at 1:30 pm in the Franklin Circuit Court, 669 Chamberlain Avenue, Frankfort. The case number is 02-CI-837.
We are looking for a ruling against Christian Medi-Share to help mobilize support for changing Kentucky law to allow religious health sharing groups to operate without fear of prosecution in the state. Either way the fight will go on, though, as education about this case continues. Most of the people being hurt by this don't yet realize it.
Consumers don't have a lobbyist in this fight or an attorney in this case, though our standing in it is clear. The only thing holding Kentuckians back from taking full advantage of this exemption from ObamaCare is bad Kentucky law that must be changed.
Please support this effort to force Frankfort to get out from between Kentuckians and our natural right to health freedom. Click here and donate what you can.
Please make plans to attend the hearing in Frankfort on August 30 at 1:30 pm in the Franklin Circuit Court, 669 Chamberlain Avenue, Frankfort. The case number is 02-CI-837.
We are looking for a ruling against Christian Medi-Share to help mobilize support for changing Kentucky law to allow religious health sharing groups to operate without fear of prosecution in the state. Either way the fight will go on, though, as education about this case continues. Most of the people being hurt by this don't yet realize it.
Consumers don't have a lobbyist in this fight or an attorney in this case, though our standing in it is clear. The only thing holding Kentuckians back from taking full advantage of this exemption from ObamaCare is bad Kentucky law that must be changed.
Please support this effort to force Frankfort to get out from between Kentuckians and our natural right to health freedom. Click here and donate what you can.
Thursday, August 02, 2012
Kentucky's Catch-22
Joseph Heller's Catch-22 satirically attacks arbitrary abuse of government power.
From Wikipedia:
"Other forms of Catch-22 are invoked throughout the novel to justify various bureaucratic actions. At one point, victims of harassment by military police quote the MPs' explanation of one of Catch-22's provisions: "Catch-22 states that agents enforcing Catch-22 need not prove that Catch-22 actually contains whatever provision the accused violator is accused of violating." Another character explains: "Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.""
Kentucky utilizes Catch-22 reasoning in its continued assault on citizens attempting to escape ObamaCare. State law effectively forbids religious health sharing, an alternative to health insurance whose practitioners are actually exempt from mandates in the "Affordable Care Act."
Under Kentucky law this practice is not only illegal, it is a felony punishable by large fines and up to five years in prison. So if you are a Kentuckian who understands ObamaCare is an unworkable mess and want out, your state government could legally throw you in jail for trying. Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate, the state's Department of Insurance and the legislature have stopped even trying to clarify this situation, but all those people have one thing in common: they are state employees not subject to prosecution for seeking a health insurance alternative while regular citizens face ObamaCare taxes, fees and mandates on one side and the potential for imprisonment on the other.
It's about time to storm the gates. Here's one idea. And another.
From Wikipedia:
"Other forms of Catch-22 are invoked throughout the novel to justify various bureaucratic actions. At one point, victims of harassment by military police quote the MPs' explanation of one of Catch-22's provisions: "Catch-22 states that agents enforcing Catch-22 need not prove that Catch-22 actually contains whatever provision the accused violator is accused of violating." Another character explains: "Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.""
Kentucky utilizes Catch-22 reasoning in its continued assault on citizens attempting to escape ObamaCare. State law effectively forbids religious health sharing, an alternative to health insurance whose practitioners are actually exempt from mandates in the "Affordable Care Act."
Under Kentucky law this practice is not only illegal, it is a felony punishable by large fines and up to five years in prison. So if you are a Kentuckian who understands ObamaCare is an unworkable mess and want out, your state government could legally throw you in jail for trying. Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate, the state's Department of Insurance and the legislature have stopped even trying to clarify this situation, but all those people have one thing in common: they are state employees not subject to prosecution for seeking a health insurance alternative while regular citizens face ObamaCare taxes, fees and mandates on one side and the potential for imprisonment on the other.
It's about time to storm the gates. Here's one idea. And another.
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
Wagging the Senator
Nothing seems to stir up political observers like a conversation about the Tea Party and the August 21 event in Frankfort featuring Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell promises to keep them going for a while.
The burning questions about the movement, as always, run anywhere from the causes of the death of the Tea Party to speculation about how it came to rule the world. That both of these questions are pondered just as seriously at the same time and so endlessly is a great feature of the movement. The first step of any campaign is to define your opponent and our opponents can't really get off that block.
Tea Party opinions of Senator McConnell tend to run from ambivalence to far worse. The fact that he will appear with Senator Paul at a Tea Party event creates a must-see-tv element of intrigue Hollywood couldn't dream up. Watching people try to interpret every aspect of this pairing will be half the fun.
But make no mistake, what they each say about the policy and politics of ObamaCare will be tremendously important. You won't want to miss it.
And while you wait, consider that only the Tea Party would even try to pull this off. Think about that for a while.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Eat more capitalism
I'm not big on fast food, but joining friends at Chick-fil-A tomorrow to make a statement seems like the right thing to do. Also, catching them in an advocating kind of mood provides a good chance to warn them about possibly being charged as felons, jailed and fined for following a pro-Christian right buried deep in the language of ObamaCare.
The federal healthcare law carves out a money-saving (and possibly life-saving) exemption to its mandates for members of religious health sharing ministries, but under Kentucky law such membership is a felony. As ObamaCare's 2014 implementation draws closer, a lot more Kentuckians will be looking for a way out. Encouraging state lawmakers to expand the Religious Publications Exemption by striking KRS 304.1-120(7)(d)(e)(f) eliminates the worst of this threat.
It's a guilt-free, low sodium solution to a problem we don't need to have. Please spread the word right away. And if you like getting heads up like this on issues no one else reports on, please consider contributing to the effort by clicking here and making your most generous contribution. No amount is too small, and anything you can do is greatly appreciated.
The federal healthcare law carves out a money-saving (and possibly life-saving) exemption to its mandates for members of religious health sharing ministries, but under Kentucky law such membership is a felony. As ObamaCare's 2014 implementation draws closer, a lot more Kentuckians will be looking for a way out. Encouraging state lawmakers to expand the Religious Publications Exemption by striking KRS 304.1-120(7)(d)(e)(f) eliminates the worst of this threat.
It's a guilt-free, low sodium solution to a problem we don't need to have. Please spread the word right away. And if you like getting heads up like this on issues no one else reports on, please consider contributing to the effort by clicking here and making your most generous contribution. No amount is too small, and anything you can do is greatly appreciated.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Medi-Share debacle endangering Christians
A three-ring circus in Frankfort is no laughing matter for hundreds of Kentucky Christians who could face felony insurance fraud charges for belonging to Christian Care Medi-Share's health sharing program, a viable alternative to mandated health insurance under ObamaCare but a decade-long target of state insurance regulators.
Kentucky's Insurance Code, KRS 304, defines insurance to include activities of not only health sharing groups like Medi-Share, but also their members.
In a March 1, 2011 permanent injunction ruling, a Franklin Circuit Judge prohibited Medi-Share and its members from operating their health sharing program in the Commonwealth, specifically mentioning KRS 304.11-030(2), which prohibits the health sharing activities of both the company Medi-Share and its members.
KRS 304.47-020(2)(b) provides for punishment of imprisonment between one and five years and fines of tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Judge Thomas Wingate says he can't rule on a year-old contempt of court motion against Medi-Share and it's members until the state's Department of Insurance and Medi-Share agree on a hearing date. Despite either weeks or months of negotiating on a date, none has been scheduled as of Monday afternoon. While the judge, the state and Medi-Share play hot potato, innocent Kentuckians are put at risk. There is a simple fix for this, though it would surely be more satisfying at this point to run the whole bunch of them out of the state and force them to talk their way back in.
Kentucky's Insurance Code, KRS 304, defines insurance to include activities of not only health sharing groups like Medi-Share, but also their members.
In a March 1, 2011 permanent injunction ruling, a Franklin Circuit Judge prohibited Medi-Share and its members from operating their health sharing program in the Commonwealth, specifically mentioning KRS 304.11-030(2), which prohibits the health sharing activities of both the company Medi-Share and its members.
KRS 304.47-020(2)(b) provides for punishment of imprisonment between one and five years and fines of tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Judge Thomas Wingate says he can't rule on a year-old contempt of court motion against Medi-Share and it's members until the state's Department of Insurance and Medi-Share agree on a hearing date. Despite either weeks or months of negotiating on a date, none has been scheduled as of Monday afternoon. While the judge, the state and Medi-Share play hot potato, innocent Kentuckians are put at risk. There is a simple fix for this, though it would surely be more satisfying at this point to run the whole bunch of them out of the state and force them to talk their way back in.
Is Kentucky moving toward marijuana?
The Democratic sponsor of a Kentucky state Senate bill to make Kentucky a medical marijuana state has a Republican opponent who also supports legalization of medical marijuana.
Sen. Perry Clark made headlines earlier this month when he admitted to recent marijuana use, a very poorly kept secret in Frankfort. His Republican opponent, Louisville businessman Chris Thieneman, condemns Sen. Clark for smoking on the job but said he supports changing state law to allow Kentuckians who gain relief from physical problems by smoking marijuana to do so.
A year ago, nervous state politicians called industrial hemp, a natural product with multiple uses and no hallucinogenic effects, a gateway drug to harder substance abuse until Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, a Republican, won election statewide on a platform including advocacy for industrial hemp cultivation.
It will be interesting to see how quickly other politicians' views toward medical marijuana evolve now that Thieneman has stepped up on this issue. President Barack Obama admitted smoking marijuana on many occasions and campaigned on leaving medical marijuana users alone. In office, he has instead aggressively prosecuted medical marijuana use, to the consternation of former supporters.
In October, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. will hear oral arguments in a case against the Department of Drug Enforcement's efforts against marijuana use.
Sen. Perry Clark made headlines earlier this month when he admitted to recent marijuana use, a very poorly kept secret in Frankfort. His Republican opponent, Louisville businessman Chris Thieneman, condemns Sen. Clark for smoking on the job but said he supports changing state law to allow Kentuckians who gain relief from physical problems by smoking marijuana to do so.
A year ago, nervous state politicians called industrial hemp, a natural product with multiple uses and no hallucinogenic effects, a gateway drug to harder substance abuse until Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, a Republican, won election statewide on a platform including advocacy for industrial hemp cultivation.
It will be interesting to see how quickly other politicians' views toward medical marijuana evolve now that Thieneman has stepped up on this issue. President Barack Obama admitted smoking marijuana on many occasions and campaigned on leaving medical marijuana users alone. In office, he has instead aggressively prosecuted medical marijuana use, to the consternation of former supporters.
In October, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. will hear oral arguments in a case against the Department of Drug Enforcement's efforts against marijuana use.
Catholics expand fight for health freedom
The Commonwealth of Kentucky's passive-aggressive war against (mostly Protestant) Christians is about to spread to Catholics.
Solidarity HealthShare, a new health-sharing organization, will help Catholics avoid ObamaCare health insurance mandates.
The Catholic Church has been outspoken in its opposition to government mandates for insurance coverage of abortion and this effort is clearly motivated by that. As more people of faith see the wisdom in fighting back against federal or state regulation of health insurance, we grow closer to gaining true health freedom for everyone.
With Catholics on board, health freedom gains a powerful new ally.
Solidarity HealthShare, a new health-sharing organization, will help Catholics avoid ObamaCare health insurance mandates.
The Catholic Church has been outspoken in its opposition to government mandates for insurance coverage of abortion and this effort is clearly motivated by that. As more people of faith see the wisdom in fighting back against federal or state regulation of health insurance, we grow closer to gaining true health freedom for everyone.
With Catholics on board, health freedom gains a powerful new ally.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Tea Party storms Frankfort over ObamaCare
The Louisville Tea Party is sponsoring an anti-ObamaCare rally at the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort on Tuesday, August 21 at 11:30 am. Featured speakers include U.S. Senators Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell.
Winning the battle for health freedom has to be the top tea party issue until candidates in any party are terrified to run on any platform that does not include health freedom as one of its key planks.
Winning the battle for health freedom has to be the top tea party issue until candidates in any party are terrified to run on any platform that does not include health freedom as one of its key planks.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Kentucky's War on Christian Health going national
Kaiser Health News generates lots of talking points for politicians seeking control of your health care. Minutes ago, KSN distributed this:
"Christian health sharing ministries are largely unregulated, except by themselves. This means members cannot go to an insurance commissioner with a complaint, rates aren't reviewed by an independent regulator, and there is no way to ensure they are following anti-discrimination laws."
Just as some states are fighting back against ObamaCare from the right, others are pulling it faster to the left. One of their approaches is to effectively shut down Christian health sharing ministries' exemption in the federal law and Kentucky is way ahead of the curve on this.
It's simple: we fight back or we lose. I will be speaking in Louisville tonight about how we can fight back to win our health freedom in Kentucky. Join us at 6pm ET at Ernesto's, 10105 Dixie Highway if you can.
If you would like to help get the message out, please consider donating whatever you can here. Thanks for all you do.
"Christian health sharing ministries are largely unregulated, except by themselves. This means members cannot go to an insurance commissioner with a complaint, rates aren't reviewed by an independent regulator, and there is no way to ensure they are following anti-discrimination laws."
Just as some states are fighting back against ObamaCare from the right, others are pulling it faster to the left. One of their approaches is to effectively shut down Christian health sharing ministries' exemption in the federal law and Kentucky is way ahead of the curve on this.
It's simple: we fight back or we lose. I will be speaking in Louisville tonight about how we can fight back to win our health freedom in Kentucky. Join us at 6pm ET at Ernesto's, 10105 Dixie Highway if you can.
If you would like to help get the message out, please consider donating whatever you can here. Thanks for all you do.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
An ObamaCare amendment we all need
The more you know about Christian health sharing, the more you agree it offers a better deal for consumers than government-regulated health insurance. It doesn't take a very detailed analysis.
Kentucky is gaining increased national attention for its long-standing hostility toward Christian health sharers. While we pursue a legislative correction to that misguided animosity, federal representatives should also implement a small change to the ObamaCare law to improve the efficiency of health coverage alternatives not regulated by public employee bureaucrats.
ObamaCare bill H.R. 3590 exempts health sharing from federal mandates but also limits the market to religious organizations in operation since 1999. Simply eliminating this arbitrary limitation allows for new competitors in the market just as the rest of the federal law reduces choices in the government-controlled market.
The change involves striking out this part of the law:
While the benefits of a more competitive free market in health care coverage are obvious for Christians, less obvious is the opportunity for others who may, for political reasons, want to support the idea of ObamaCare but don't want to be stuck holding the bag when the government sector of the health market blows up.
I'm thinking a health care sharing ministry for the Church of the Left-Handed Bicycle Riders might come in handy at some point.
Kentucky is gaining increased national attention for its long-standing hostility toward Christian health sharers. While we pursue a legislative correction to that misguided animosity, federal representatives should also implement a small change to the ObamaCare law to improve the efficiency of health coverage alternatives not regulated by public employee bureaucrats.
ObamaCare bill H.R. 3590 exempts health sharing from federal mandates but also limits the market to religious organizations in operation since 1999. Simply eliminating this arbitrary limitation allows for new competitors in the market just as the rest of the federal law reduces choices in the government-controlled market.
The change involves striking out this part of the law:
I'm thinking a health care sharing ministry for the Church of the Left-Handed Bicycle Riders might come in handy at some point.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Kentucky tying up Christians for sharing, promising
Two national news articles in the last three days about Christian health sharing have mentioned Kentucky's battle against Christian Care Medi-Share. In one, Medi-Share CEO Tony Meggs suggests his company's legal problems will be wiped away when Judge Thomas Wingate sees Medi-Share has changed the way it handles it's members money.
That's not likely.
Medi-Share was found to be an unregistered health insurance company in 2010 by the Kentucky Supreme Court. The Court ruled the company failed to meet all requirements of the Religious Publications Exemption in KRS 304.1-120 (7), specifically the one requiring health sharing members to pay each other's medical bills "directly from one (1) subscriber to another."
Whether that requirement is met under current operations is somewhat open to interpretation. Medi-Share members now send monthly funds to a credit union account the member and Medi-Share control jointly. The Kentucky Department of Insurance and the Supreme Court claim such an arrangement does not constitute direct subscriber-to-subscriber payment.
But even if the Department and the Court change their minds and decide that this method is direct enough, there is at least one more problem for Medi-Share. Gaining the exemption also requires that there can be "no assumption of risk or promise to pay either among the subscribers or between the subscribers and (Medi-Share)."
Medi-Share's many advertisements (like the one above) are full of eye-popping numbers like an average family month commitment of $282 and a claim of $625 million in savings. Also, anyone who has had to call around to find an agreeable doctor has to be impressed by the idea of having the freedom to "use any provider."
All this is suggestive of a "promise to pay," but the fact that is going to get them is that members who don't pay their monthly fees for two months will be dropped from the program and will not have outstanding medical needs presented for payment. That sounds obvious, but the fact of a requirement to pay in order to benefit is the legal definition of a "promise," which is prohibited under the law.
The ridiculous hoops we require these people to jump through to enjoy some measure of health freedom need to be eliminated. But they can't be wished away or shouted away. We need to change the law.
That's not likely.
Medi-Share was found to be an unregistered health insurance company in 2010 by the Kentucky Supreme Court. The Court ruled the company failed to meet all requirements of the Religious Publications Exemption in KRS 304.1-120 (7), specifically the one requiring health sharing members to pay each other's medical bills "directly from one (1) subscriber to another."
Whether that requirement is met under current operations is somewhat open to interpretation. Medi-Share members now send monthly funds to a credit union account the member and Medi-Share control jointly. The Kentucky Department of Insurance and the Supreme Court claim such an arrangement does not constitute direct subscriber-to-subscriber payment.
But even if the Department and the Court change their minds and decide that this method is direct enough, there is at least one more problem for Medi-Share. Gaining the exemption also requires that there can be "no assumption of risk or promise to pay either among the subscribers or between the subscribers and (Medi-Share)."
All this is suggestive of a "promise to pay," but the fact that is going to get them is that members who don't pay their monthly fees for two months will be dropped from the program and will not have outstanding medical needs presented for payment. That sounds obvious, but the fact of a requirement to pay in order to benefit is the legal definition of a "promise," which is prohibited under the law.
The ridiculous hoops we require these people to jump through to enjoy some measure of health freedom need to be eliminated. But they can't be wished away or shouted away. We need to change the law.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Kentucky dawdling wastes health money
Two months after promising to investigate their own arbitrary prosecution of Christian health sharing organizations, Kentucky's Department of Insurance has still failed to clear up confusion for citizens seeking to escape ObamaCare mandates.
Religious health sharing organizations in continuous operation since 1999 and their members are exempt from dictates of the Affordable Care Act. Kentucky's hostility toward this simple alternative to health insurance, however, predates federal health insurance reform.
The state's 2002 lawsuit against Christian Care Medi-Share is still not resolved, mainly due to Department of Insurance inaction. Failure to even begin addressing legal issues facing members and prospective members of the only two other federally exempt organizations -- Samaritan Ministries and Christian HealthCare Ministries -- until forced to do so six weeks ago, very poorly serves Kentucky's insurance consumers.
Hundreds of thousands of Kentucky Christians are overpaying for health coverage because of this legal mess, which could be cleared up easily.
Religious health sharing organizations in continuous operation since 1999 and their members are exempt from dictates of the Affordable Care Act. Kentucky's hostility toward this simple alternative to health insurance, however, predates federal health insurance reform.
The state's 2002 lawsuit against Christian Care Medi-Share is still not resolved, mainly due to Department of Insurance inaction. Failure to even begin addressing legal issues facing members and prospective members of the only two other federally exempt organizations -- Samaritan Ministries and Christian HealthCare Ministries -- until forced to do so six weeks ago, very poorly serves Kentucky's insurance consumers.
Hundreds of thousands of Kentucky Christians are overpaying for health coverage because of this legal mess, which could be cleared up easily.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Kentucky waffles again on Christian health
After repeatedly refusing to meet with Christian Care Medi-Share to discuss their legal status, the Kentucky Department of Insurance now seems to be coming around.
A Department spokesperson said a meeting may take place in August.
The state's newly found interest in openness on the issue of religious health sharing organizations and their superiority to government-regulated health insurance doesn't immediately address the organizations' real legal problems, but the response to tea party pressure is a welcome one.
Health freedom can be won in Kentucky and then spread to the other states. Stay tuned for updates.
A Department spokesperson said a meeting may take place in August.
The state's newly found interest in openness on the issue of religious health sharing organizations and their superiority to government-regulated health insurance doesn't immediately address the organizations' real legal problems, but the response to tea party pressure is a welcome one.
Health freedom can be won in Kentucky and then spread to the other states. Stay tuned for updates.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Frankfort should defund ObamaCare ads
Frankfort Republicans made a little noise this past week with an attempt to deny office space funding for Gov. Beshear's ObamaCare health insurance exchange bureaucracy. Beshear had no trouble going around them, but another opportunity has just presented itself.
Kentucky's Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Audrey Haynes just appeared this morning on Bill Bryant's WKYT Newmakers program in Lexington touting the coming bureaucracy.
She also stated the 2014 roll out of the expensive program will be "heavily advertised."
Wasting money on advertising to promote this waste of money should be against the law, right? Looking for a way to do that in the 2013 General Assembly could be both fun and productive for the cause of Liberty.
The first place in statute that comes to mind as a vehicle for prohibiting government from spending our money to advertise the expansion of itself is KRS 121, campaign finance law.
I'm a little nervous about opening up campaign finance with the current legislature given than Senate Republicans have been at least as bad as House Democrats on the issue. Proposed legislation to prohibit the state from using any state resources to promote any element of the Affordable Care Act, though, could be worth the risk. A pre-filed bill with this objective this summer could be used as a campaign tool against House Democrats stuck between their party's damaging policies and their desire to win re-election in November.
Kentucky's Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Audrey Haynes just appeared this morning on Bill Bryant's WKYT Newmakers program in Lexington touting the coming bureaucracy.
She also stated the 2014 roll out of the expensive program will be "heavily advertised."
Wasting money on advertising to promote this waste of money should be against the law, right? Looking for a way to do that in the 2013 General Assembly could be both fun and productive for the cause of Liberty.
The first place in statute that comes to mind as a vehicle for prohibiting government from spending our money to advertise the expansion of itself is KRS 121, campaign finance law.
I'm a little nervous about opening up campaign finance with the current legislature given than Senate Republicans have been at least as bad as House Democrats on the issue. Proposed legislation to prohibit the state from using any state resources to promote any element of the Affordable Care Act, though, could be worth the risk. A pre-filed bill with this objective this summer could be used as a campaign tool against House Democrats stuck between their party's damaging policies and their desire to win re-election in November.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Kentucky still abusing health consumers
Kentucky's quiet war on Christians has taken another odd twist.
A Consumer Protection Division official in the Department of Insurance confirmed today that no determination has been reached on the legality of Christian health sharing organizations Samaritan Ministries and Christian HealthCare Ministries. A Department of Insurance spokesperson has claimed repeatedly the organizations have been examined thoroughly for several years, so the latest delay in the current six week investigation is perplexing.
Given that another Christian health sharing organization, Christian Care Medi-Share, has been attacked by state insurance officials repeatedly throughout a lawsuit initiated in 2002, consumer confusion caused by arbitrary application of the state's Insurance Code leaves consumers at great risk.
Because of the structure of health sharing organizations, Kentucky law could cause members -- customers -- of the organizations to be defined as insurers and prosecuted as felons.
Kentucky officials should act immediately to clear up this confusion as citizens scramble to find viable healthcare solutions before ObamaCare hits them in 2014.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
This can't be good
Someone in Obama's office is reading Kentucky Progress right now:
I'm not going to go Alex Jones on you, but seeing this did kind of give me the willies.
I'm not going to go Alex Jones on you, but seeing this did kind of give me the willies.
Steve Beshear will be surprised in 2015
Governor Steve Beshear went on the Jack Pattie radio show on WVLK 590 in Lexington this morning to make his case for signing Kentucky up for ObamaCare yesterday. He either doesn't understand what he has just done or really hopes no one is paying attention.
Beshear flatly stated the ObamaCare health insurance exchange won't cost the state anything, that the exchange will pay for itself. This is absolutely false. Increased fees or taxes will be necessary to fund the new bureaucracy after federal funds run out at the end of 2014.
Beshear flatly stated the ObamaCare health insurance exchange won't cost the state anything, that the exchange will pay for itself. This is absolutely false. Increased fees or taxes will be necessary to fund the new bureaucracy after federal funds run out at the end of 2014.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Beshear takes the bait on ObamaCare
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear couldn't get through the first sentence of today's big press release without telling a lie.
From the release: "Governor Steve Beshear today issued an executive order establishing the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange, a requirement of the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA)."
The ObamaCare exchanges are optional. Further, refusing to play along is the only way Kentucky could hope to survive the rapid tax, penalty and fee increases for Kentuckians in the federal law.
Federal funding for the Kentucky exchange will dry up at the end of 2014. At that point, Beshear claims the "Exchange will be wholly funded with revenues it generates."
That means either a new tax or some kind of fee increase on health insurance will be necessary. Governor Beshear should be made to explain exactly how much he anticipates the state will spend on the exchange annually and where precisely that money will come from.
From the release: "Governor Steve Beshear today issued an executive order establishing the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange, a requirement of the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA)."
The ObamaCare exchanges are optional. Further, refusing to play along is the only way Kentucky could hope to survive the rapid tax, penalty and fee increases for Kentuckians in the federal law.
Federal funding for the Kentucky exchange will dry up at the end of 2014. At that point, Beshear claims the "Exchange will be wholly funded with revenues it generates."
That means either a new tax or some kind of fee increase on health insurance will be necessary. Governor Beshear should be made to explain exactly how much he anticipates the state will spend on the exchange annually and where precisely that money will come from.
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