Gov. Steve Beshear is relying on a 1942 law combined with general ignorance of changes in the Kentucky Constitution from 1992 to appoint a new lieutenant governor today after Jerry Abramson resigned to work in the Obama Administration.
KRS 63.190, enacted in 1942, states "In every case where there is no provision of law for the filling of a vacancy in any office, the vacancy shall be filled by an appointment by the Governor."
But several changes in the Constitution enacted 1992 did speak to the issue and since a gubernatorial vacancy had not happened under those rules until today, the issue hasn't been thoroughly explored. When you look at the relevant constitutional sections, it becomes clear Beshear can't override the will of the voters or the Kentucky Constitution by replacing a duly elected lieutenant governor on a whim.
Section 70 of the Kentucky Constitution states: "The Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be elected for the term of four years by the qualified voters of the state. They shall be elected jointly by the casting by each voter of a single vote applicable to both offices, as shall be provided by law."
This section combined the offices at the head of Kentucky's executive branch for the first time in history. The lieutenant governor can't attain that office by his own election. He (or she) gains the office by election with a candidate for governor. The office of governor is not filled without both a governor and lieutenant governor. So this brings in Section 85.
Section 85 of the Kentucky Constitution states: "And if, during the vacancy of the office of Governor, the Lieutenant Governor shall be impeached and removed from office, refuse to qualify, resign, or die, the President of the Senate shall in like manner administer the government."
The office of Governor as defined by Section 70 became partially vacant when Abramson resigned. Section 85 describes how such a vacancy is to be remedied. Senate President Stivers should become Kentucky's Lieutenant Governor.
Thursday, November 06, 2014
Wednesday, November 05, 2014
New Kentucky lawsuit is ObamaCare checkmate
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY
FRANKLIN CIRCUIT COURT
DIVISION ___
CIVIL ACTION NO. 14-CI-______
FRANKLIN CIRCUIT COURT
DIVISION ___
CIVIL ACTION NO. 14-CI-______
DAVID ADAMS PLAINTIFF
V. COMPLAINT
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY, DEFENDANTS
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR, Steven L. Beshear,
OFFICE OF THE STATE TREASURER, Todd Hollenbach,
CABINET SECRETARY HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,
Audrey Tayse Haynes
Serve: Governor Steven L. Beshear
Office of the Governor
700 Capitol Avenue, Suite 100
Frankfort, KY 40601
State Treasurer Todd Hollenbach
Office of the State Treasurer
1050 US Hwy 127 South
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR, Steven L. Beshear,
OFFICE OF THE STATE TREASURER, Todd Hollenbach,
CABINET SECRETARY HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,
Audrey Tayse Haynes
Serve: Governor Steven L. Beshear
Office of the Governor
700 Capitol Avenue, Suite 100
Frankfort, KY 40601
State Treasurer Todd Hollenbach
Office of the State Treasurer
1050 US Hwy 127 South
Suite 100
Frankfort KY 40601
Serve: Audrey Tayse Haynes
Cabinet For Health and Family
Services
275 East Main Street 5W-A
Frankfort, KY 40621
Frankfort KY 40601
Serve: Audrey Tayse Haynes
Cabinet For Health and Family
Services
275 East Main Street 5W-A
Frankfort, KY 40621
***************************************************
Plaintiff, David Adams, for his Complaint against Defendants, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, acting through the Office of the Governor (“Governor”), and Governor Steve Beshear, in his official capacity as Governor of the Commonwealth, State Treasurer Todd Hollenbach, in his official capacity as State Treasurer and Audrey Tayse Haynes, in her official capacity as Secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services respectfully states as follows:
I. Nature of Action
- This is a civil action for declaratory and injunctive relief relating to Governor
Beshear’s continued attempt to unilaterally impose upon the Commonwealth acceptance of optional provisions of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, hereinafter ObamaCare. David Adams seeks injunctive relief in the form of a court order forbidding Governor Beshear from spending state funds related to ObamaCare’s optional provisions under any circumstances without prior and proper legislative approval.
2. Time is of the essence in resolving this issue because the current state budget explicitly forbids spending state funds directly or indirectly related to ObamaCare. Defendants’ actions make clear they have no intention of obeying state law in this matter until forced to do so. Continued delay in limiting the state officials’ activities in this matter to within the scope of Kentucky law and Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky sets a terrible precedent for ignoring constitutional limits on executive branch authority to protect Kentuckians’ rights to seek and pursue their safety and happiness as explicitly guaranteed by the Kentucky Constitution.
3. The judicial branch of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the only remaining venue for redress available to David Adams.
4. As a result of the actions of Defendants, David Adams respectfully seeks an injunction against any continued illegal spending related to ObamaCare until such time as proper legislative approval is granted as required by Kentucky law and the Kentucky Constitution.
II. The Parties
5. David Adams is a citizen of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
6. Governor Steve Beshear is sued in his official capacity as Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
7. State Treasurer Todd Hollenbach is sued in his official capacity as State Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
8. Cabinet Secretary Audrey Tayse Haynes is sued in her official capacity as Secretary of the Health and Family Services Cabinet.
4. As a result of the actions of Defendants, David Adams respectfully seeks an injunction against any continued illegal spending related to ObamaCare until such time as proper legislative approval is granted as required by Kentucky law and the Kentucky Constitution.
II. The Parties
5. David Adams is a citizen of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
6. Governor Steve Beshear is sued in his official capacity as Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
7. State Treasurer Todd Hollenbach is sued in his official capacity as State Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
8. Cabinet Secretary Audrey Tayse Haynes is sued in her official capacity as Secretary of the Health and Family Services Cabinet.
III. Jurisdiction
9. Jurisdiction is proper pursuant to KRS 418.040 and Kentucky Constitution Section 112 (5).
9. Jurisdiction is proper pursuant to KRS 418.040 and Kentucky Constitution Section 112 (5).
IV. Factual allegations and Background
10. The Executive Branch Budget as enacted by House Bill 235 in the 2014 General Assembly states: “Subsequent to these Executive Branch actions, no executive order related to the ACA has been codified by the General Assembly, nor has any administrative regulation related to the ACA been approved by a vote of the majority of the members of a legislative committee. Providing that the Governor continues unilateral implementation and operation of the ACA in the Commonwealth, the General Assembly shall limit the ACA's impact on the 2014-2016 State/Executive Branch Budget and future biennial budgets so as not to bind future General Assemblies. Therefore, no provision within this Act shall be deemed, adjudged, or constructed as being a recognition, finding, or admission of the General Assembly's approval of the operation of the ACA in Kentucky.”
11. The Executive Branch Budget as enacted by House Bill 235 in the 2014 General Assembly further states: “The Governor is expressly prohibited from expending any General Fund resources on any expenditure directly or indirectly associated with the Health Benefit Exchange. ”
12. The Executive Branch Budget as enacted by House Bill 235 in the 2014 General Assembly further states: “As the only body in the Commonwealth with the constitutional power to make appropriations, the General Assembly recognizes that federal funding for the expansion of Kentucky's Medicaid Program is not recurring in nature; therefore, the intent of the General Assembly is that funds received from the Affordable Care Act, or its successor, shall not be used to permanently expand existing programs, permanently create new programs, or in any way increase the requirements to be placed on the General Fund or Road Fund above the adjusted appropriation level as of June 30, 2014. ”
13. Defendants have made contracts in violation of these clear prohibitions as enacted by the General Assembly and have further made public statements indicating no intention to obey state law unless forced to do so. This unprecedented attempt at the abrogation of the rule of law in the Commonwealth cannot be countenanced by people who wish to remain civilized.
V. Claims for relief
14. David Adams seeks declaratory relief pursuant to KRS 418.040. David Adams seeks a judicial determination of the rights and duties of the parties with regard to an actual controversy arising out of Defendants’ conspiracy to adopt optional provisions of ObamaCare without prior and proper legislative approval and to spend state funds in violation of Section 230 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in violation of David Adams’ rights as a citizen.
15. David Adams seeks injunctive relief to stop Defendants’ violation of state law prohibiting spending of state funds for ObamaCare.
VI. Prayer for relief
16. David Adams requests the court enter a judgment declaring Defendants have erred in contracting, agreeing and conspiring to violate state law by spending state funds for ObamaCare despite the clear prohibition of same by the duly enacted 2014 Executive Branch Budget and prohibiting them from continuing to do so or to resume such activity until they are granted prior and proper permission by an act of the Kentucky General Assembly.
Respectfully submitted,
David Adams
121 Nave Place
Nicholasville, KY 40356
859-537-5372
Plaintiff
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
This certifies the forgoing was served this 5th day of November, 2014 via U.S. Mail upon:
Serve: Governor Steven L. Beshear
Office of the Governor
700 Capitol Avenue, Suite 100
Frankfort, KY 40601
Serve: State Treasurer Todd Hollenbach
Office of the State Treasurer
1050 US Hwy 127 South
Suite 100
Frankfort KY 40601
Serve: Audrey Tayse Haynes
Cabinet For Health and Family
Services
275 East Main Street 5W-A
Frankfort, KY 40621
_________________________________
David Adams
David Adams
121 Nave Place
Nicholasville, KY 40356
859-537-5372
Plaintiff
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
This certifies the forgoing was served this 5th day of November, 2014 via U.S. Mail upon:
Serve: Governor Steven L. Beshear
Office of the Governor
700 Capitol Avenue, Suite 100
Frankfort, KY 40601
Serve: State Treasurer Todd Hollenbach
Office of the State Treasurer
1050 US Hwy 127 South
Suite 100
Frankfort KY 40601
Serve: Audrey Tayse Haynes
Cabinet For Health and Family
Services
275 East Main Street 5W-A
Frankfort, KY 40621
_________________________________
David Adams
Monday, November 03, 2014
Torch Frankfort's Pinocchio factory Tuesday
The best thing that can happen in Kentucky's elections this year is repudiation of Obamacrats generally and state House candidates supported by wild, false attacks by a group called Kentucky Family Values PAC specifically.
The Kentucky state House will never do anything to improve our plummeting fiscal fortunes, whether it's public pensions or mounting real budgetary deficits or improve our regulatory approach, economic policies or our broken judicial system with Greg Stumbo calling the shots. An avalanche of "Kentucky Family Values" sponsored advertising touting Democratic candidates as paragons of conservative virtue while maliciously slandering Republicans has blanketed the state in recent weeks by the same operatives who make a living attacking "big money Republicans."
The group's cartoonish propaganda is laughable to anyone paying attention, but we are counting on a lot of people to do their homework to see past the smokescreen. Fortunately, their nonsense was so over the top, a significant number of people have done just that.
"Kentucky Family Values" supports candidates with lies to prop up a failed ideology that has kept Kentucky corrupt and backwards for decades longer than it should have. Informed citizens will do well to make sure such left-wing Pinocchio factories waste their money.
The Kentucky state House will never do anything to improve our plummeting fiscal fortunes, whether it's public pensions or mounting real budgetary deficits or improve our regulatory approach, economic policies or our broken judicial system with Greg Stumbo calling the shots. An avalanche of "Kentucky Family Values" sponsored advertising touting Democratic candidates as paragons of conservative virtue while maliciously slandering Republicans has blanketed the state in recent weeks by the same operatives who make a living attacking "big money Republicans."
The group's cartoonish propaganda is laughable to anyone paying attention, but we are counting on a lot of people to do their homework to see past the smokescreen. Fortunately, their nonsense was so over the top, a significant number of people have done just that.
"Kentucky Family Values" supports candidates with lies to prop up a failed ideology that has kept Kentucky corrupt and backwards for decades longer than it should have. Informed citizens will do well to make sure such left-wing Pinocchio factories waste their money.
Friday, October 31, 2014
Kentucky Dems still faking Obama-enthusiasm
Associated Press Frankfort Bureau chief Adam Beam wrote an article today about Kentucky's ObamaCare premium increases on the vast majority of people signed up on the illegal ObamaCare "exchange and Gov. Steve Beshear still can't give a straight answer about the mess he has made.
Obamacrats have insisted since the beginning of ObamaCare that any judgments on the program's performance are either premature or too difficult to do, or both, unless the judgment is positive toward them or their mess. Beshear tried to explain away massive rate increases coming in 2015 by claiming that because rate increases vary from case to case that they can't really be discussed.
The vast majority of people who purchased exchange health plans in 2014 are facing at least a fifteen percent rate increase in 2015. We know that much. Beshear also very helpfully explained that one person with a sixty dollar subsidized monthly premium and a six percent rate increase would face only a $3.60 a month hike, if their subsidy stays the same.
That's a huge "if" combined with a hypothetical that doesn't apply to anyone. Besides, should their subsidy be decreased or go away completely, someone in a similar hypothetical situation could see their premium increase two hundred dollars a month or more.
While I'm glad to see one Frankfort reporter at least take a stab at this story, the lack of journalistic seriousness devoted to ObamaCare remains quite disappointing.
Obamacrats have insisted since the beginning of ObamaCare that any judgments on the program's performance are either premature or too difficult to do, or both, unless the judgment is positive toward them or their mess. Beshear tried to explain away massive rate increases coming in 2015 by claiming that because rate increases vary from case to case that they can't really be discussed.
The vast majority of people who purchased exchange health plans in 2014 are facing at least a fifteen percent rate increase in 2015. We know that much. Beshear also very helpfully explained that one person with a sixty dollar subsidized monthly premium and a six percent rate increase would face only a $3.60 a month hike, if their subsidy stays the same.
That's a huge "if" combined with a hypothetical that doesn't apply to anyone. Besides, should their subsidy be decreased or go away completely, someone in a similar hypothetical situation could see their premium increase two hundred dollars a month or more.
While I'm glad to see one Frankfort reporter at least take a stab at this story, the lack of journalistic seriousness devoted to ObamaCare remains quite disappointing.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Kentucky's hidden 250,000 dependents
Kentucky's "Kynectors" have been signing people up for ObamaCare faster than you can say perjury since they first reported 521,000 people signed up for the program as of July 31.
So why are they still telling us the number is 521,000?
The real number is closing in on 800,000. At this rate we should have a million Kentuckians illegally signed up for ObamaCare Medicaid by the end of 2014. They won't publicize this for fear someone else might do the math and realize the next Governor will immediately step into the mother of all budget messes his or her first day on the job.
Our lawsuits continue to move forward to stop this nonsense. I'm writing briefs for the Kentucky Court of Appeals right now.
Unfortunately, I need money very quickly to keep going. Please click here and donate whatever you can today. Any amount will make a difference. I will fight this to my last breath, but I really could use some help right away.
So why are they still telling us the number is 521,000?
The real number is closing in on 800,000. At this rate we should have a million Kentuckians illegally signed up for ObamaCare Medicaid by the end of 2014. They won't publicize this for fear someone else might do the math and realize the next Governor will immediately step into the mother of all budget messes his or her first day on the job.
Our lawsuits continue to move forward to stop this nonsense. I'm writing briefs for the Kentucky Court of Appeals right now.
Unfortunately, I need money very quickly to keep going. Please click here and donate whatever you can today. Any amount will make a difference. I will fight this to my last breath, but I really could use some help right away.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
McConnell should finish Medicaid answer
Mitch McConnell won the ObamaCare portion of last night's debate by default when Alison Grimes lauded Gov. Steve Beshear's "courage" for illegally implementing optional provisions of the "Affordable Care Act," but it wasn't the knockout it could have been.
"With regard to the Medicaid expansion, that's a state decision," McConnell said. "States can decide whether to expand Medicaid or not. In our state, the Governor decided to expand Medicaid and that..."
McConnell was cut off there by KET debate moderator Bill Goodman. If McConnell does not wish to support Kentuckians fighting against illegal implementation of the Medicaid expansion here, he might make that clearer than he already has by finishing his sentence. I suspect, however, that he never will.
I don't have much of a problem with the word games McConnell is playing with the "Kynect" implementation. Obamacrats don't want to call him on saying the state could keep it because they don't want to draw any more attention to the fact that they need huge amounts of federal dollars to maintain even a facade of viability for the exchange. McConnell could stand up for the rule of law on this issue, but expecting him to start that now is perhaps setting the bar too high.
"With regard to the Medicaid expansion, that's a state decision," McConnell said. "States can decide whether to expand Medicaid or not. In our state, the Governor decided to expand Medicaid and that..."
McConnell was cut off there by KET debate moderator Bill Goodman. If McConnell does not wish to support Kentuckians fighting against illegal implementation of the Medicaid expansion here, he might make that clearer than he already has by finishing his sentence. I suspect, however, that he never will.
I don't have much of a problem with the word games McConnell is playing with the "Kynect" implementation. Obamacrats don't want to call him on saying the state could keep it because they don't want to draw any more attention to the fact that they need huge amounts of federal dollars to maintain even a facade of viability for the exchange. McConnell could stand up for the rule of law on this issue, but expecting him to start that now is perhaps setting the bar too high.
Thursday, October 02, 2014
Herald Leader questions for state House candidates
The Lexington Herald Leader has sent the following questions to state House candidates around the state. Included with each question are my answers.
Should the Kentucky Constitution be changed to automatically restore voting rights to most felons who have completed their sentences and terms of probation?
Maybe, but I'm not as concerned about this as I am the unnecessary stigma for life placed on people convicted of nonviolent crimes that have been illegitimately deemed felonies. The damage this does to Kentuckians has a much more negative impact on our state than problems caused by some people having to apply to get their voting rights restored.
Would you vote to continue or reverse an expansion of Medicaid eligibility in Kentucky under the federal Affordable Care Act?
Reverse. We can't afford the massive expansion of Medicaid created by ObamaCare, it was not implemented legally and the entire legislature has already defunded it. The only reason anyone is still talking about this is because Gov. Beshear refuses to follow the law.
Do you support or oppose a statewide ban on smoking in public places and places of employment?
Oppose. Banning legal activity by adults on private property is not a proper function of the legislature.
Do you support or oppose prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accommodations?
Oppose. Telling employers who to hire, landlords who to rent to and business owners who to serve is not a proper function of the legislature.
Do you support or oppose a proposal that would require a doctor to present the results of an ultrasound to a pregnant woman prior to an abortion?
Support. Anything that might limit instances of this barbaric practice needs to be tried. Ultrasounds are already required in Kentucky. What other states have found is that requiring informed consent prior to an abortion leads to fewer abortions being performed.
Should Kentuckians be allowed to use marijuana for prescribed medical purposes?
Yes. The prescription drug Marinol, a synthetic version of THC, is already legal and marijuana can be grown in Kentucky and distributed here at a lower cost. Limiting agriculture production is not a proper function of the legislature.
Do you support or oppose raising Kentucky’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour?
Oppose. Mandating wage levels is not a proper function of the legislature.
Do you support or oppose changing state law to allow people to work in businesses that have unions without joining the union or paying union dues?
Support. Requiring membership in a union is not a proper function of the legislature.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Kentucky public debt hits all-time high, grows $186.6 million in only six months
A new report issued quietly today by the Beshear Administration reveals a staggering increase in revenue supported state debt in the last six months. The increase of $186.6 million brought Kentucky's total of such debt to $9.1 billion.
When Gov. Beshear took office in December of 2007, that amount was $6.1 billion and the increase should have been lessened by an unprecedented $3.4 billion in one-time federal "stimulus" funds.
"This is why Kentuckians must band together to stop Gov. Beshear in his illegal ObamaCare charade," said David Adams, who is suing Beshear to stop his health reform efforts which have already been defunded by the legislature. "You stop a shopaholic by taking away his or her credit card. Beshear needs an intervention in the worst way."
These debt figures are available to the general public (and the media, but, oh never mind...) from the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet. Just ask for their ALCo semiannual report issued today.
When Gov. Beshear took office in December of 2007, that amount was $6.1 billion and the increase should have been lessened by an unprecedented $3.4 billion in one-time federal "stimulus" funds.
"This is why Kentuckians must band together to stop Gov. Beshear in his illegal ObamaCare charade," said David Adams, who is suing Beshear to stop his health reform efforts which have already been defunded by the legislature. "You stop a shopaholic by taking away his or her credit card. Beshear needs an intervention in the worst way."
These debt figures are available to the general public (and the media, but, oh never mind...) from the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet. Just ask for their ALCo semiannual report issued today.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Yarmuth: let's blow up Louisville economy
At a Tuesday rally for illegally forcing Louisville businesses to raise their "minimum wage" to $10.10 an hour, Congressman John Yarmuth quoted an old left-wing blog talking point that could, if taken seriously, wipe out the unskilled workers in the city and their employers.
"If your business model requires you to pay people less than a living wage, then you shouldn't be in business," Yarmuth said.
While Yarmuth is advocating for a city-wide increase in the minimum wage and not to force employers of unskilled laborers out of Jefferson County, he should be made to explain which businesses in Louisville he wants to victimize first.
"If your business model requires you to pay people less than a living wage, then you shouldn't be in business," Yarmuth said.
While Yarmuth is advocating for a city-wide increase in the minimum wage and not to force employers of unskilled laborers out of Jefferson County, he should be made to explain which businesses in Louisville he wants to victimize first.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Earth to lefties: Alison Grimes is ignoring you because Kentuckians aren't that stupid
The political Left desperately needs Alison Lundergan Grimes to campaign on Kynect/ObamaCare to justify their misinformation. She can't do it because she wants to have a future in Kentucky politics after she loses in November.
They claim falsely that Kentucky's uninsured population has dropped by half under ObamaCare. They claim falsely that Kynect is a massive success. They claim falsely that Kentuckians love Kynect all based on the New York Times finding one Kentuckian who was glad to get Medicaid.
ObamaCare is bad economics, bad health policy and bad politics in Kentucky. Love to see an Obamacrat get raked over the coals for not being Obamacrat enough and it will be great to watch them get louder and shriller as they continue to be ignored. If Kentucky's mainstream media had any honest players left, there is a good story here and "but the people just don't understand how great ObamaCare is!" isn't it.
They claim falsely that Kentucky's uninsured population has dropped by half under ObamaCare. They claim falsely that Kynect is a massive success. They claim falsely that Kentuckians love Kynect all based on the New York Times finding one Kentuckian who was glad to get Medicaid.
ObamaCare is bad economics, bad health policy and bad politics in Kentucky. Love to see an Obamacrat get raked over the coals for not being Obamacrat enough and it will be great to watch them get louder and shriller as they continue to be ignored. If Kentucky's mainstream media had any honest players left, there is a good story here and "but the people just don't understand how great ObamaCare is!" isn't it.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Alison Lundergan Grimes rips taxpayers for ObamaCare
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes went on the offensive for ObamaCare on Saturday in Covington, against the interests of most Kentuckians.
"I want to make sure we're not ripping insurance from 500,000 people in Kentucky," Grimes told friends and supporters at her campaign's Northern Kentucky headquarters.
The fact is that getting ObamaCare out of Kentucky has nothing to do with "ripping insurance from 500,000 people." Far fewer have even purchased insurance under ObamaCare in Kentucky. What she is talking about is Medicaid, which is not insurance and is financed with money ripped out of the hands of Kentuckians.
According to the Kentucky Department of Insurance, 280,000 Kentuckians actually had their insurance ripped away from them when ObamaCare first hit Kentucky.
Grimes continues to defend Gov. Steve Beshear's illegal implementation of ObamaCare in Kentucky, which is currently being challenged in Kentucky's Court of Appeals (case numbers 13-CA-1521 and 13-CA-1590).
"I want to make sure we're not ripping insurance from 500,000 people in Kentucky," Grimes told friends and supporters at her campaign's Northern Kentucky headquarters.
The fact is that getting ObamaCare out of Kentucky has nothing to do with "ripping insurance from 500,000 people." Far fewer have even purchased insurance under ObamaCare in Kentucky. What she is talking about is Medicaid, which is not insurance and is financed with money ripped out of the hands of Kentuckians.
According to the Kentucky Department of Insurance, 280,000 Kentuckians actually had their insurance ripped away from them when ObamaCare first hit Kentucky.
Grimes continues to defend Gov. Steve Beshear's illegal implementation of ObamaCare in Kentucky, which is currently being challenged in Kentucky's Court of Appeals (case numbers 13-CA-1521 and 13-CA-1590).
Sunday, September 07, 2014
ObamaCare/Kynect still big loser here
Obamacrats have screamed for years that as soon as people understand ObamaCare, they will love it. They will scream it again Monday, citing a new NBC/Marist poll they claim shows Kynect, which is Kentucky's health "exchange" created illegally by Gov. Beshear in answer to passage of ObamaCare, gaining support.
Don't buy it.
The new poll shows ObamaCare way underwater with 31 percent holding a favorable view and 62 percent unfavorable among registered voters. Capitalizing on unfamiliarity with the name of the state "Kynect" program, ObamaCare supporters will point to a 34 percent positive view of Kynect against only 18 percent negative. What Obamacrats -- and journalists, but I'm repeating myself -- neglect to point out is that 30 percent answered they have "never heard" of Kynect and 18 percent said they were "unsure."
The only way to lower those last two numbers is to explain what Kynect is. It's ObamaCare. Worse, Kynect was created illegally and is currently spending unappropriated state funds in violation of the Kentucky Constitution. Both failures are currently being challenged in state court, another fact Obamacrats don't want to talk about.
Don't buy it.
The new poll shows ObamaCare way underwater with 31 percent holding a favorable view and 62 percent unfavorable among registered voters. Capitalizing on unfamiliarity with the name of the state "Kynect" program, ObamaCare supporters will point to a 34 percent positive view of Kynect against only 18 percent negative. What Obamacrats -- and journalists, but I'm repeating myself -- neglect to point out is that 30 percent answered they have "never heard" of Kynect and 18 percent said they were "unsure."
The only way to lower those last two numbers is to explain what Kynect is. It's ObamaCare. Worse, Kynect was created illegally and is currently spending unappropriated state funds in violation of the Kentucky Constitution. Both failures are currently being challenged in state court, another fact Obamacrats don't want to talk about.
Wednesday, September 03, 2014
Chamber of Commerce slurps up ObamaCare
The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce is going around the state presenting a startlingly uninformative cheerleading session in favor of the "Affordable Care Act."
Ashli Watts, the Chamber's Public Affairs Manager, is delivering PowerPoint presentations billed as providing "what you and your business need to know" about ObamaCare.
But instead of that, Watts' audiences get stale talking points, non-answer answers to specific questions and repeated reminders that the Chamber was initially against ObamaCare but now just wants to help.
She also said the Chamber has taken no position on the lawsuits challenging ObamaCare, but that the Chamber supports Beshear's (illegal) attempts to create a state based exchange.
Ashli Watts, the Chamber's Public Affairs Manager, is delivering PowerPoint presentations billed as providing "what you and your business need to know" about ObamaCare.
But instead of that, Watts' audiences get stale talking points, non-answer answers to specific questions and repeated reminders that the Chamber was initially against ObamaCare but now just wants to help.
She also said the Chamber has taken no position on the lawsuits challenging ObamaCare, but that the Chamber supports Beshear's (illegal) attempts to create a state based exchange.
Tuesday, September 02, 2014
Obamacrats attack Jessamine for Russ Meyer
A Washington D.C. political group has descended on the 39th Kentucky House district to promote the candidacy of Democrat Russ Meyer and ObamaCare.
"After a year of letters, calls, rallies and congressional visits, we passed a bill -- the Affordable Care Act -- that will help everyone get quality, affordable health care that can't be taken away," the group, Working America, claims on its website.
"Russ Meyer is the best candidate for state representative," the group claims in printed material it is distributing.
Meyer's opponent in November, Jonah Mitchell of Nicholasville, opposes ObamaCare.
"After a year of letters, calls, rallies and congressional visits, we passed a bill -- the Affordable Care Act -- that will help everyone get quality, affordable health care that can't be taken away," the group, Working America, claims on its website.
"Russ Meyer is the best candidate for state representative," the group claims in printed material it is distributing.
Meyer's opponent in November, Jonah Mitchell of Nicholasville, opposes ObamaCare.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Kentucky ObamaCare lawsuits moving forward
The Kentucky Court of Appeals will hear two cases challenging Gov. Steve Beshear's unilateral implementation of the "Affordable Care Act" in Kentucky.
"Our system of government is on trial here," said David Adams, plaintiff in both cases. "Governor Beshear has created a mess by violating state law to force Kentucky into ObamaCare without required legislative approval. If Kentucky's judicial branch won't stop him in this contemptible law-breaking, we have no law. I don't believe we are that far gone."
The first order of business with the Court of Appeals will be a re-hearing of Beshear's ridiculous claim that citizens of Kentucky don't have a right to complain when he breaks the law.
"The legislature has refused to play along with Beshear in his ObamaCare nonsense by killing his executive orders without a single hearing and defunding ObamaCare in the state budget by veto-proof majorities in both chambers," Adams said. "The people's representatives have spoken loud and clear and now is the time for the rest of us to engage."
"Our system of government is on trial here," said David Adams, plaintiff in both cases. "Governor Beshear has created a mess by violating state law to force Kentucky into ObamaCare without required legislative approval. If Kentucky's judicial branch won't stop him in this contemptible law-breaking, we have no law. I don't believe we are that far gone."
The first order of business with the Court of Appeals will be a re-hearing of Beshear's ridiculous claim that citizens of Kentucky don't have a right to complain when he breaks the law.
"The legislature has refused to play along with Beshear in his ObamaCare nonsense by killing his executive orders without a single hearing and defunding ObamaCare in the state budget by veto-proof majorities in both chambers," Adams said. "The people's representatives have spoken loud and clear and now is the time for the rest of us to engage."
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
2015 GOP gubernatorial race's missing ingredient
Just got an email from the Hal Heiner for Governor campaign touting a 28-22 lead over James Comer. As much as I like Hal and appreciate his work particularly on education, it's pretty hard to miss the real news in the polling he mentions.
Hal isn't winning.
The headline on the campaign email says Heiner has "taken the lead" but the poll shows him either in 2nd or 3rd. If you throw Matt Bevin into the mix, the Hal is running behind "Not sure" and Bevin. If the race is between Heiner and Comer only, Hal trails "Not sure." By a lot, in both cases.
I'm not sure Matt Bevin will get into this race, but I know that if he did the first thing he would do is put up a web site with a page dedicated to explaining his positions on the issues. Hal has the only official campaign in the race but has yet to do that.
When the issues get the attention they deserve, there are several Kentucky candidates must address. Following state law and getting Kentucky out of ObamaCare is a total no-brainer. Dropping out of the federal "War on marijuana" is perhaps not as obvious yet, but it will be. Deregulating healthcare any way we can should be another easy one with quick, positive results -- starting with repealing certificate of need laws and reducing the scope of Department of Insurance regulation of health coverage. Opting out of federal control of public education must be a top priority of our next governor. Ending Kentucky's ridiculous corporate welfare game and seriously addressing public employee pensions are also winning ideas that can't wait for a champion.
We've suffered long enough under popularity contests and mud-slinging determining who runs our government. If you see a candidate or potential candidate ask them to get specific right away.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Joe Sonka: I see insured people!
Left-wing journalist Joe Sonka has a very funny way of advocating for ObamaCare in Kentucky. His latest effort reminded me a lot of the line from the spooky, supernatural "The Sixth Sense" movie from 1999 in which the main character whispered eerily "I see dead people."
Sonka is upset that Alison Grimes took her U.S. Senate campaign to Perry County without mentioning the "Affordable Care Act."
Sonka:
We are deep into imaginary friend territory here. No one knows how wildly inaccurate the Census Bureau's guess at rates of coverage by health insurance are, but we can only hope it's not worse than Beshear's ridiculous twin claims that 75% of exchange health insurance enrollees were previously uninsured as were 75% of ObamaCare Medicaid enrollees. Current and former "exchange" employees and contractors reported repeatedly that their computers kicked out entries defining applicants as possessing prior insurance coverage, so it is very safe to assume Beshear simply made up both numbers.
Taking two very questionable data points and concluding from them that the uninsured rate in Perry County "may have dropped from over 17 percent to less than 1 percent," much less that the fantasy should be touted as fact in a U.S. Senate race, may run a thrill up the leg of Obamacrats and Beshear lackeys, but such science fiction writing does nothing to advance real public policy discussion.
Sonka is upset that Alison Grimes took her U.S. Senate campaign to Perry County without mentioning the "Affordable Care Act."
Sonka:
But an examination of enrollment numbers through Kynect, Kentucky’s state insurance exchange made possible by the Affordable Care Act, shows that the uninsured rate dropped more dramatically in Perry County (where Hazard is located) than in any other Kentucky county.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Small Area Health Insurance Estimates, in 2012 there were 19,773 residents in Perry County with health insurance coverage, and 4,202 residents with no coverage. However, by the signup deadline this April, 5,509 people in Perry County had signed up for insurance through Kynect. Assuming the Beshear administration’s statewide estimate that 75 percent of Kynect enrollees were not previously insured (as stated on their application), this means Perry County’s uninsured rate may have dropped from over 17 percent to less than 1 percent.
We are deep into imaginary friend territory here. No one knows how wildly inaccurate the Census Bureau's guess at rates of coverage by health insurance are, but we can only hope it's not worse than Beshear's ridiculous twin claims that 75% of exchange health insurance enrollees were previously uninsured as were 75% of ObamaCare Medicaid enrollees. Current and former "exchange" employees and contractors reported repeatedly that their computers kicked out entries defining applicants as possessing prior insurance coverage, so it is very safe to assume Beshear simply made up both numbers.
Taking two very questionable data points and concluding from them that the uninsured rate in Perry County "may have dropped from over 17 percent to less than 1 percent," much less that the fantasy should be touted as fact in a U.S. Senate race, may run a thrill up the leg of Obamacrats and Beshear lackeys, but such science fiction writing does nothing to advance real public policy discussion.
Monday, August 11, 2014
University of Kentucky student health plan covers abortion
Kentucky law forbids health insurance companies from covering abortions except in the case of saving the life of the mother, but United Healthcare's student plan at the University of Kentucky covers elective abortions.
At the bottom of page 23 of the plan document under the headline "Benefits for Elective Abortion," it reads: The exclusion will be waived and benefits will be paid for elective abortion as for any other Sickness."
"Elective abortion" is also listed under "Exclusions and Limitations" in the policy, but "elective" is defined in the policy on page 25 as services that "do not meet the health care need for a Sickness or Injury," services deemed experimental or "not recognized and generally accepted medical practices in the United States." In other words, the policy makes no distinction between a legal abortion and an illegal abortion. It covers them all.
I guess the folks at UK figure it is cheaper to pay for abortions than for delivery of a child.
We've dealt with the Beshear administration's lack of honesty on this issue before.
At the bottom of page 23 of the plan document under the headline "Benefits for Elective Abortion," it reads: The exclusion will be waived and benefits will be paid for elective abortion as for any other Sickness."
"Elective abortion" is also listed under "Exclusions and Limitations" in the policy, but "elective" is defined in the policy on page 25 as services that "do not meet the health care need for a Sickness or Injury," services deemed experimental or "not recognized and generally accepted medical practices in the United States." In other words, the policy makes no distinction between a legal abortion and an illegal abortion. It covers them all.
I guess the folks at UK figure it is cheaper to pay for abortions than for delivery of a child.
We've dealt with the Beshear administration's lack of honesty on this issue before.
Wednesday, August 06, 2014
WellCare of Kentucky not paying Medicaid doctors
Sources report Medicaid managed care provider WellCare of Kentucky has stopped reimbursing doctors whose patients present their coverage for payment.
Doctors' office personnel are currently turning away WellCare members and urging them to call Governor Steve Beshear. Kentucky has added over 600,000 people to the Medicaid rolls under ObamaCare.
This failure was not difficult to predict.
"'Counting ObamaCare 'success' one Medicaid recipient at a time is for people who enjoy playing hide-and-seek alone," said David Adams, plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking clarification of the law Beshear violated in signing Kentucky up for the optional ObamaCare Medicaid expansion.
Doctors' office personnel are currently turning away WellCare members and urging them to call Governor Steve Beshear. Kentucky has added over 600,000 people to the Medicaid rolls under ObamaCare.
This failure was not difficult to predict.
"'Counting ObamaCare 'success' one Medicaid recipient at a time is for people who enjoy playing hide-and-seek alone," said David Adams, plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking clarification of the law Beshear violated in signing Kentucky up for the optional ObamaCare Medicaid expansion.
Tuesday, August 05, 2014
Supreme Court justice shows stronger sign of gubernatorial run
Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Will T. Scott has recused himself from involvement in the Court's two ObamaCare lawsuits, likely signaling a campaign for the the Republican nomination for Governor.
Justice Scott told the Lexington Herald Leader last month he was considering making a run and there is no other readily apparent reason for him to step down from hearing the ObamaCare cases.
The timing of the recusal also points to likely imminent action from the Court on the cases.
"Continuing to allow Gov. Beshear's ObamaCare charade to drag on with him continuing to fail to make implementation legal serves no purpose unless you enjoy watching MSNBC hosts slobber all over him," said David Adams, plaintiff in the two lawsuits challenging legality of ObamaCare implementation in Kentucky.
Justice Scott told the Lexington Herald Leader last month he was considering making a run and there is no other readily apparent reason for him to step down from hearing the ObamaCare cases.
The timing of the recusal also points to likely imminent action from the Court on the cases.
"Continuing to allow Gov. Beshear's ObamaCare charade to drag on with him continuing to fail to make implementation legal serves no purpose unless you enjoy watching MSNBC hosts slobber all over him," said David Adams, plaintiff in the two lawsuits challenging legality of ObamaCare implementation in Kentucky.
Monday, August 04, 2014
Beshear puts more lipstick on ObamaCare pig
The Interim Committee on Health and Welfare voted today in favor of Gov. Steve Beshear's third attempt to make ObamaCare legal in Kentucky, but there remains no chance whatsoever that his latest executive order will be ratified by the entire General Assembly. And that is what matters.
"The legal case for ObamaCare in Kentucky gets thinner by the day as illegal state expenditures pile up and nothing can be done to make it fit state law," said David Adams, plaintiff in two state lawsuits seeking clarification of already-pretty-clear state law forbidding Beshear's unilateral acceptance of optional portions of the "Affordable Care Act." "Kentucky's brain dead media would be all over this if the governor breaking the law so egregiously were a Republican or if there were an extramarital sex act involved."
The symbolic vote passed 11-7 with eleven yes votes coming from Democrats and seven no votes from Republicans. Nine committee members missed the meeting, including seven Republicans.
"The legal case for ObamaCare in Kentucky gets thinner by the day as illegal state expenditures pile up and nothing can be done to make it fit state law," said David Adams, plaintiff in two state lawsuits seeking clarification of already-pretty-clear state law forbidding Beshear's unilateral acceptance of optional portions of the "Affordable Care Act." "Kentucky's brain dead media would be all over this if the governor breaking the law so egregiously were a Republican or if there were an extramarital sex act involved."
The symbolic vote passed 11-7 with eleven yes votes coming from Democrats and seven no votes from Republicans. Nine committee members missed the meeting, including seven Republicans.
Friday, August 01, 2014
"Follow the Constitution" is GOP ticket in 2014
Republican candidates who want to maximize GOP voter turnout as well as attracting voters registered otherwise would do very well to focus on the rule of law and the ways in which their opponents fall short on that front.
A Tea Party Patriots poll of Republican voters across the country finds nearly all of them believe the most important issue involves a failure of government to follow the rule of law. The best answer from Democrats to complaints about their illegal tactics is to attempt to justify their actions.
Our prisons are full of people who, like these Democratic politicans, demonstrate failure to grasp why flouting constitutional and statutory restrictions on their actions is inherently bad.
Pointing this out repeatedly and keeping the discussion on opponents' problems with the rule of law should be fertile electoral policy any time, but seems to be especially so now.
For federal candidates, questions to ask involve your opponents' support for any number of the president's illegal and unconstitutional actions including asking why the opponent supports or does not support them. State candidates would do very well to look into Gov. Beshear's many illegal actions regarding ObamaCare implementation and question their opponents in a similar manner.
A Tea Party Patriots poll of Republican voters across the country finds nearly all of them believe the most important issue involves a failure of government to follow the rule of law. The best answer from Democrats to complaints about their illegal tactics is to attempt to justify their actions.
Our prisons are full of people who, like these Democratic politicans, demonstrate failure to grasp why flouting constitutional and statutory restrictions on their actions is inherently bad.
Pointing this out repeatedly and keeping the discussion on opponents' problems with the rule of law should be fertile electoral policy any time, but seems to be especially so now.
For federal candidates, questions to ask involve your opponents' support for any number of the president's illegal and unconstitutional actions including asking why the opponent supports or does not support them. State candidates would do very well to look into Gov. Beshear's many illegal actions regarding ObamaCare implementation and question their opponents in a similar manner.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Leftists trying to microchip subsidies into ObamaCare
ObamaCare opponent overreach is an unfortunately common frustration for those trying to fight the federal takeover of our healthcare system by steadily bringing in supporters based on undeniable facts. An example of this is the claim that ObamaCare calls for Americans to micro-chipped as part of the law.
Something like that was in an early version of the ObamaCare bill, but never made it into law.
The funny thing is ObamaCare apologists freaking out over the idea that they might be held to the actual language in the law and not what their intentions are have taken up the same tactic of trying to distract people by quoting from old versions of the ObamaCare bill.
Greg Sargent, a Washington Post columnist, makes the silly argument that we have to ignore the language in the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" and run ObamaCare taxes and subsidies in states that opted out of setting up an exchange because an earlier version of the bill said something about taxes and subsidies flowing through both federal and state exchanges.
I've been explaining to friends for the last few years that ObamaCare doesn't require insertion of microchips, but as fast and loose as Obamacrats are with the rule of law maybe we can't be so sure.
Something like that was in an early version of the ObamaCare bill, but never made it into law.
The funny thing is ObamaCare apologists freaking out over the idea that they might be held to the actual language in the law and not what their intentions are have taken up the same tactic of trying to distract people by quoting from old versions of the ObamaCare bill.
Greg Sargent, a Washington Post columnist, makes the silly argument that we have to ignore the language in the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" and run ObamaCare taxes and subsidies in states that opted out of setting up an exchange because an earlier version of the bill said something about taxes and subsidies flowing through both federal and state exchanges.
I've been explaining to friends for the last few years that ObamaCare doesn't require insertion of microchips, but as fast and loose as Obamacrats are with the rule of law maybe we can't be so sure.
Is Beshear defrauding feds or Kentuckians?
If you want to see Gwenda Bond's head explode -- and believe me, you do -- ask her for a copy of Kentucky's NCE application for our state ObamaCare Health Benefits Exchange.
As spokewoman for Kentucky's Cabinet for Health and Family Services, she is the person Beshear administration officials referred me to when I asked for a copy of the document formally requesting additional time to spend federal dollars on the Commonwealth's ObamaCare program.
The reason Gwenda is so upset is the "Affordable Care Act" requires all federal implementation funds given to states to set up their own exchanges to be spent by December 31, 2014, but gives flexibility for an extension if additional time is needed for the initial set-up of the "exchange." Beshear has been bragging across Kentucky and around the nation that Kentucky's exchange is ahead of schedule and operating better than other exchanges. So which is it: is Kentucky moving slowly and in need of remediation or does Beshear simply lack the legal authority and state spending ability he needs to proceed without state funds in a mere five months and finds himself in need of a federal bailout he can't have without breaking federal law?
A CMS FAQ document on NCE grants specifies: "the funds may not be used to cover maintenance and operating costs." Beshear has no money for such costs and no legal authority to cover them. So, you see the problem. After claiming falsely that he didn't need state funds for ObamaCare, Beshear now needs them but doesn't have them and doesn't qualify for an extension of federal funds and time is running out on his charade.
Lawsuits 13-SC-652 and 13-SC-667 currently await Kentucky Supreme Court action seeking clarification of Beshear's violations of state law in trying to force us into ObamaCare without legislative approval.
As spokewoman for Kentucky's Cabinet for Health and Family Services, she is the person Beshear administration officials referred me to when I asked for a copy of the document formally requesting additional time to spend federal dollars on the Commonwealth's ObamaCare program.
The reason Gwenda is so upset is the "Affordable Care Act" requires all federal implementation funds given to states to set up their own exchanges to be spent by December 31, 2014, but gives flexibility for an extension if additional time is needed for the initial set-up of the "exchange." Beshear has been bragging across Kentucky and around the nation that Kentucky's exchange is ahead of schedule and operating better than other exchanges. So which is it: is Kentucky moving slowly and in need of remediation or does Beshear simply lack the legal authority and state spending ability he needs to proceed without state funds in a mere five months and finds himself in need of a federal bailout he can't have without breaking federal law?
A CMS FAQ document on NCE grants specifies: "the funds may not be used to cover maintenance and operating costs." Beshear has no money for such costs and no legal authority to cover them. So, you see the problem. After claiming falsely that he didn't need state funds for ObamaCare, Beshear now needs them but doesn't have them and doesn't qualify for an extension of federal funds and time is running out on his charade.
Lawsuits 13-SC-652 and 13-SC-667 currently await Kentucky Supreme Court action seeking clarification of Beshear's violations of state law in trying to force us into ObamaCare without legislative approval.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Beshear's $8.5 million ObamaCare/Kynect problem
Governor Steve Beshear filled last year's budget hole last Wednesday with $91 million in funds shifted around from someplace else. One of those other places was Kentucky's ObamaCare exchange, which coughed up $8.5 million for the cause.
The tangled web of problems with this transaction is worth looking into.
Beshear admits up front that the ObamaCare bucks are actually Kentucky Access funds. As Kentucky Access funds, they could be considered "lapsed funds," which a divided Supreme Court just last month declared fair game for General Fund spending. Beshear moved Kentucky Access funds to the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange with an executive order filed in 2013 that expired unratified last Tuesday, the day before Beshear ordered the money to be thrown into the General Fund.
So technically, Beshear didn't raid Kentucky ObamaCare. He raided Kentucky Access, which had unspent tax funds after last fiscal year because Kentucky Access doesn't exist anymore. Otherwise, Beshear would have been taking state funds out of Kentucky ObamaCare, which funds through budget negotiations this spring he insisted did not exist and would not be needed in the new biennium.
But we are in the new biennium and, as Beshear now admits, the ObamaCare exchange does need state funds even though the legislature refused to give him any and explicitly forbade him from spending. Yes, Beshear wrote another executive order in 2014 to replace the old unratified one, but state law very clearly forbids him from doing this.
So if you are keeping score at home, Beshear just raided a fund of $8.5 million that he said in court last year that he wouldn't need even though he knew he did and now he has to replace it even though the legislature has refused to grant him the necessary authority to get it, to replace it or to spend it if he does.
Wouldn't it have been much simpler, Governor, to just be honest and follow the law in the first place? Obamacrats...
The tangled web of problems with this transaction is worth looking into.
Beshear admits up front that the ObamaCare bucks are actually Kentucky Access funds. As Kentucky Access funds, they could be considered "lapsed funds," which a divided Supreme Court just last month declared fair game for General Fund spending. Beshear moved Kentucky Access funds to the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange with an executive order filed in 2013 that expired unratified last Tuesday, the day before Beshear ordered the money to be thrown into the General Fund.
So technically, Beshear didn't raid Kentucky ObamaCare. He raided Kentucky Access, which had unspent tax funds after last fiscal year because Kentucky Access doesn't exist anymore. Otherwise, Beshear would have been taking state funds out of Kentucky ObamaCare, which funds through budget negotiations this spring he insisted did not exist and would not be needed in the new biennium.
But we are in the new biennium and, as Beshear now admits, the ObamaCare exchange does need state funds even though the legislature refused to give him any and explicitly forbade him from spending. Yes, Beshear wrote another executive order in 2014 to replace the old unratified one, but state law very clearly forbids him from doing this.
So if you are keeping score at home, Beshear just raided a fund of $8.5 million that he said in court last year that he wouldn't need even though he knew he did and now he has to replace it even though the legislature has refused to grant him the necessary authority to get it, to replace it or to spend it if he does.
Wouldn't it have been much simpler, Governor, to just be honest and follow the law in the first place? Obamacrats...
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Beshear sends along critical new evidence
I just got a letter from Gov. Steve Beshear's attorney in my two ObamaCare lawsuits which he claimed was in answer to my week-old question about illegal "exchange" funding in the state budget.
In the letter, attorney Patrick Hughes advised me of state Open Records law, again, reminded me that because the cases are on appeal the discovery process is over, quoted back my question to state Deputy Budget Director John Hicks, and then answered half the question.
Hughes answered the easy part, admitting that state funds have been written into the budget. Thanks, counselor, I needed that evidence. Again, the legislature voted nearly unanimously in March to prohibit any state spending in the new biennium on anything "directly or indirectly related to the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange." There is no legal authority for the expenditure, as this letter also tacitly admits.
Beshear did not veto the defunding language because his veto would have easily been defeated by the legislature. He claimed then, falsely, that no state funds were necessary and called the spending prohibition "symbolic" and meaningless.
So much for that claim.
Thanks to everyone who shook the governor up the last couple of days to force him to cough up this invaluable admission.
In the letter, attorney Patrick Hughes advised me of state Open Records law, again, reminded me that because the cases are on appeal the discovery process is over, quoted back my question to state Deputy Budget Director John Hicks, and then answered half the question.
Hughes answered the easy part, admitting that state funds have been written into the budget. Thanks, counselor, I needed that evidence. Again, the legislature voted nearly unanimously in March to prohibit any state spending in the new biennium on anything "directly or indirectly related to the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange." There is no legal authority for the expenditure, as this letter also tacitly admits.
Beshear did not veto the defunding language because his veto would have easily been defeated by the legislature. He claimed then, falsely, that no state funds were necessary and called the spending prohibition "symbolic" and meaningless.
So much for that claim.
Thanks to everyone who shook the governor up the last couple of days to force him to cough up this invaluable admission.
Held hostage in Kentucky
It's been a week since I asked Kentucky Deputy Budget Director John Hicks to his face where he got the $37.4 million dollars to spend on the state ObamaCare exchange and under what legal authority he was spending it since the legislature almost unanimously voted in March to prohibit any such spending.
He has failed so far failed to respond. Maybe we should be worried. Perhaps Mr. Hicks has fallen ill and can't answer his email. Maybe he is being held hostage and can't answer because his head is wrapped in duck tape.
More likely, this sorry episode merely demonstrates the depravity of our state government and it is we who are being held hostage by a rogue governor and his army of overpaid minions. I would call the media, but they live too far up Gov. Beshear's rectal cavity to notice the stench of his actions. I would call whichever Republicans wield influence in Frankfort, but they are mostly too afraid of Beshear's popularity to mount any form of sustained protest.
So I come to you for help. Please forward this message as widely as you can and tell your friends to do the same. Please also contribute whatever you can afford to the fight, by clicking here to donate, so we can keep going.
The Kentucky Supreme Court is on vacation this month. We desperately need them to clarify the law for Gov. Beshear and his fellow Obamacrats when they come back to work. Remember the squeaky wheel gets the grease and let's keep getting louder and louder.
He has failed so far failed to respond. Maybe we should be worried. Perhaps Mr. Hicks has fallen ill and can't answer his email. Maybe he is being held hostage and can't answer because his head is wrapped in duck tape.
More likely, this sorry episode merely demonstrates the depravity of our state government and it is we who are being held hostage by a rogue governor and his army of overpaid minions. I would call the media, but they live too far up Gov. Beshear's rectal cavity to notice the stench of his actions. I would call whichever Republicans wield influence in Frankfort, but they are mostly too afraid of Beshear's popularity to mount any form of sustained protest.
So I come to you for help. Please forward this message as widely as you can and tell your friends to do the same. Please also contribute whatever you can afford to the fight, by clicking here to donate, so we can keep going.
The Kentucky Supreme Court is on vacation this month. We desperately need them to clarify the law for Gov. Beshear and his fellow Obamacrats when they come back to work. Remember the squeaky wheel gets the grease and let's keep getting louder and louder.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Halbig case about more than ObamaCare
Halbig v. Burwell turns on whether or not the IRS can change the words in a law on a whim. The suit arose because the "Affordable Care Act" says federal subsidies flow through ObamaCare "exchanges" when they are set up by individual states.
Some three dozen states did not fall for the offer of federal seed money to start an exchange and the reason for this is simple. States dumb enough to set up their own exchanges would then be responsible for the costs of running their exchange perpetually while refusenik states were liberated from paying the same costs. Also, because of how the law was written, states opting out of state-run exchanges would not see their health insurance markets further distorted by federal subsidies. It was a risk-free way for a state to vote against ObamaCare -- which is both their right in such a circumstance as well as their responsibility in the face of federal overreach.
Both sides in the case agree that if the Plaintiffs win, ObamaCare will be ripped apart. Most states would be exempt from much of the carrot created to sucker people into the dependency of ObamaCare, while their citizens would be forced to pay full price for the stick of ObamaCare's wild federal coverage mandates. Federal representatives of such states would have no leg to stand on to insist their people continue to suffer under ObamaCare because the new subsidy-receiving constituency would no longer exist.
Obamacrats campaigning against the lawsuit are placed in the untenable position of arguing that the language of the law should be ignored because following it would lead to a result that, according to them, would not comport with the purpose of the law as stated in its title, which is of course the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act."
The hard truth is ObamaCare does nothing to lower the cost of healthcare, it merely shifts those costs around which actually increases them. Attempting to ignore the language of a law because following it frustrates your administration's imaginary purpose is a truly unique legal argument by a truly unique presidential administration.
Some three dozen states did not fall for the offer of federal seed money to start an exchange and the reason for this is simple. States dumb enough to set up their own exchanges would then be responsible for the costs of running their exchange perpetually while refusenik states were liberated from paying the same costs. Also, because of how the law was written, states opting out of state-run exchanges would not see their health insurance markets further distorted by federal subsidies. It was a risk-free way for a state to vote against ObamaCare -- which is both their right in such a circumstance as well as their responsibility in the face of federal overreach.
Both sides in the case agree that if the Plaintiffs win, ObamaCare will be ripped apart. Most states would be exempt from much of the carrot created to sucker people into the dependency of ObamaCare, while their citizens would be forced to pay full price for the stick of ObamaCare's wild federal coverage mandates. Federal representatives of such states would have no leg to stand on to insist their people continue to suffer under ObamaCare because the new subsidy-receiving constituency would no longer exist.
Obamacrats campaigning against the lawsuit are placed in the untenable position of arguing that the language of the law should be ignored because following it would lead to a result that, according to them, would not comport with the purpose of the law as stated in its title, which is of course the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act."
The hard truth is ObamaCare does nothing to lower the cost of healthcare, it merely shifts those costs around which actually increases them. Attempting to ignore the language of a law because following it frustrates your administration's imaginary purpose is a truly unique legal argument by a truly unique presidential administration.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Beshear budget fraud update
I stopped in the office of Kentucky Deputy Budget Director John Hicks five days ago to ask him about the curious appearance of state spending in the current budget for the ObamaCare exchange after Gov. Beshear spent months lying about the need for state funds and the legislature succeeded in -- nearly unanimously --defunding the exchange.
Mr. Hicks asked me at that time to send him an email with my question. I sent an email on July 9 at 2:27 pm which read as follows:
I have yet to receive an answer. Surely there is someone out there who won't be stumped by such a straightforward request.
Mr. Hicks asked me at that time to send him an email with my question. I sent an email on July 9 at 2:27 pm which read as follows:
John,
Thanks for talking with me earlier today. If you could, please provide me with the source of budgeted restricted funds for the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange in the current biennium and any statutory authority related to such funds.
Thanks,
David Adams
859-537-5372
I have yet to receive an answer. Surely there is someone out there who won't be stumped by such a straightforward request.
Friday, July 11, 2014
Herald Leader selling Beshear math
In a story about Kentucky state overspending -- they call it a budget "shortfall," of course -- the Lexington Herald Leader unquestioningly prints another piece of Gov. Steve Beshear's budget propaganda as fact.
"The governor has cut $1.6 billion in state budgets since taking office in 2007," reports Herald Leader reporter Jack Brammer without attributing the questionable statement to anyone.
According to state budget documents available to anyone who bothers to look, Revised Fiscal Year 2008 state spending was $24.3 billion. Revised Fiscal Year 2014 spending $29.7 billion. And you probably aren't supposed to remember Beshear got and spent $3.4 billion in federal "stimulus" funds right in the middle of that.
We're looking at spending going up an average of almost a billion dollars a year under Beshear and almost another billion a year in one-time money blown through, but Beshear and his cronies in the media keep repeating his "budget cutting" fiction.
"The governor has cut $1.6 billion in state budgets since taking office in 2007," reports Herald Leader reporter Jack Brammer without attributing the questionable statement to anyone.
According to state budget documents available to anyone who bothers to look, Revised Fiscal Year 2008 state spending was $24.3 billion. Revised Fiscal Year 2014 spending $29.7 billion. And you probably aren't supposed to remember Beshear got and spent $3.4 billion in federal "stimulus" funds right in the middle of that.
We're looking at spending going up an average of almost a billion dollars a year under Beshear and almost another billion a year in one-time money blown through, but Beshear and his cronies in the media keep repeating his "budget cutting" fiction.
Wednesday, July 09, 2014
Beshear budget fraud on Page 209
When the 2014 Kentucky General Assembly enacted budget language forbidding spending on anything directly or indirectly related to ObamaCare, Gov. Beshear declined to veto the provision because, he said, sufficient federal funding would be available to run the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange in 2015-16.
That was never true.
Now the actual state budget (on page 209) shows $37.4 million state dollars being transferred to the Exchange as state restricted funds and spent in clear violation of the explicit legislative instructions in the current state budget. An active state budget is the supreme law of the land in Kentucky next to the Constitution.
I have made a request of Deputy Budget Director John Hicks for an explanation of this illegal action by the Beshear Administration.
That was never true.
Now the actual state budget (on page 209) shows $37.4 million state dollars being transferred to the Exchange as state restricted funds and spent in clear violation of the explicit legislative instructions in the current state budget. An active state budget is the supreme law of the land in Kentucky next to the Constitution.
I have made a request of Deputy Budget Director John Hicks for an explanation of this illegal action by the Beshear Administration.
Thursday, July 03, 2014
Abortion zealots attacking Nicholasville Hobby Lobby store TODAY at 4pm
In an attempt to gin up pro-abortion activists for mid-term elections, Democrats are trying to make an example out of Hobby Lobby with protests around the country at the Christian-owned stores.
Local media sources report the same thing will happen today at 4pm at the Brannon Crossing Hobby Lobby store in Nicholasville.
Left-wing activists are upset because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that Obama couldn't force Hobby Lobby to pay for abortifacients for the company's employees.
See you there?
Local media sources report the same thing will happen today at 4pm at the Brannon Crossing Hobby Lobby store in Nicholasville.
Left-wing activists are upset because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that Obama couldn't force Hobby Lobby to pay for abortifacients for the company's employees.
See you there?
Tuesday, July 01, 2014
Steve Beshear admits it
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear did not veto budget language earlier this spring defunding ObamaCare in the Bluegrass State because, he said, federal funds would be available to fund it throughout the two year budget cycle.
That was a lie and he just admitted it in writing.
In an executive order filed with Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes late yesterday, Beshear attempted for the third time to administratively create the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange with the following admission:
"WHEREAS, operation of kynect in Kentucky will be funded entirely with federal funds until January 1, 2015, at which time its operations will be wholly funded from revenues generated by and through the Exchange." (emphasis added)
Generating revenue "by and through the Exchange" would require the creation of a tax and an appropriation, neither of which can the governor do on his own. Beshear's two previous attempts to create the exchange by temporary reorganization executive order, which is what this is, failed in the 2013 and 2014 General Assemblies when the legislature declined to ratify them as required by the relevant statute KRS 12.028. Subsection 5 of the same law forbids the governor from putting its provisions into effect until the next session of the General Assembly. He has now violated this law three times, despite stating on federal grant applications requesting over $200 million in federal funds that the exchange had been legally created.
Two current lawsuits in state court seek to clarify the constitutional issues limiting Beshear's authority in this matter. They are 13-SC-652 and 13-SC-667.
That was a lie and he just admitted it in writing.
In an executive order filed with Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes late yesterday, Beshear attempted for the third time to administratively create the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange with the following admission:
"WHEREAS, operation of kynect in Kentucky will be funded entirely with federal funds until January 1, 2015, at which time its operations will be wholly funded from revenues generated by and through the Exchange." (emphasis added)
Generating revenue "by and through the Exchange" would require the creation of a tax and an appropriation, neither of which can the governor do on his own. Beshear's two previous attempts to create the exchange by temporary reorganization executive order, which is what this is, failed in the 2013 and 2014 General Assemblies when the legislature declined to ratify them as required by the relevant statute KRS 12.028. Subsection 5 of the same law forbids the governor from putting its provisions into effect until the next session of the General Assembly. He has now violated this law three times, despite stating on federal grant applications requesting over $200 million in federal funds that the exchange had been legally created.
Two current lawsuits in state court seek to clarify the constitutional issues limiting Beshear's authority in this matter. They are 13-SC-652 and 13-SC-667.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Beshear quietly grants 200,000 Kentuckians two year ObamaCare reprieve starting Tuesday
Nearly 200,000 Kentuckians facing health insurance cancellation under ObamaCare starting Tuesday July 1 will instead have two more years before they have to worry about narrow provider networks and excessive costs associated with the Affordable Care Act's insurer loopholes and coverage mandates, the second such extension announced by President Obama and Governor Steve Beshear since last November.
Insurers are supposed to notify affected customers if they are among the lucky few allowed to avoid the ObamaCare pool a while longer. Anthem said about 130,000 of their customers make the cut, as do Humana's 32,000 small group enrollees. Also benefiting are more than 6000 Time Insurance Co. customers, 9000 with Bluegrass Family Health, 11,000 with UnitedHealthcare.
Kentuckians shouldn't have to beg their politicians for permission to keep their health insurance and such permission should not be granted piecemeal. The arbitrary and capricious -- and illegal -- implementation of ObamaCare in Kentucky is currently being challenged by two lawsuits in state court, 13-SC-652 and 13-SC-667.
Insurers are supposed to notify affected customers if they are among the lucky few allowed to avoid the ObamaCare pool a while longer. Anthem said about 130,000 of their customers make the cut, as do Humana's 32,000 small group enrollees. Also benefiting are more than 6000 Time Insurance Co. customers, 9000 with Bluegrass Family Health, 11,000 with UnitedHealthcare.
Kentuckians shouldn't have to beg their politicians for permission to keep their health insurance and such permission should not be granted piecemeal. The arbitrary and capricious -- and illegal -- implementation of ObamaCare in Kentucky is currently being challenged by two lawsuits in state court, 13-SC-652 and 13-SC-667.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Beshear hires $400/hr. D.C. lawyers for Medicaid debacle
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear has hired a Washington D.C. law firm at $400 per hour to provide "legal advice and consulting services regarding the development of various funding mechanisms and management initiatives for the Medicaid Program," according to a document filed with the Secretary of State's office.
The massive fees will be split 50/50 between the federal government and the Commonwealth for Covington & Burling of 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C.
Earlier this spring, the Kentucky General Assembly defunded the Medicaid expansion under ObamaCare amid wildly excessive costs greatly exceeding Beshear's rosy projections. Two state lawsuits also seek to stop Beshear's foolishness before too many more millions of dollars are wasted. The cases are 13-SC-652 and 13-SC-667.
The contract specifies "Covington & Burling shall also provide legal representation to the Cabinet in Medicaid related litigation."
The massive fees will be split 50/50 between the federal government and the Commonwealth for Covington & Burling of 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C.
Earlier this spring, the Kentucky General Assembly defunded the Medicaid expansion under ObamaCare amid wildly excessive costs greatly exceeding Beshear's rosy projections. Two state lawsuits also seek to stop Beshear's foolishness before too many more millions of dollars are wasted. The cases are 13-SC-652 and 13-SC-667.
The contract specifies "Covington & Burling shall also provide legal representation to the Cabinet in Medicaid related litigation."
Will Steve Beshear try 2nd ObamaCare "mulligan?"
When Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear failed to get legislative approval for his 2012 temporary reorganization executive order attempting to create a state-run ObamaCare exchange in his state, he got sued. His response to that failure and that lawsuit was to illegally file another executive order.
That second executive order not only did not get approved by the legislature, it sparked very clear legislative language enacted into law in the state budget forbidding Beshear to proceed with his ObamaCare fiasco.
But Beshear seems to think he deserves another mulligan.
The illegal second executive order expires July 15. Federal authorities have been formally notified of Beshear's multi-million dollar fraud against them. The only way this doesn't get a lot worse is for Beshear to come clean now and admit that his ObamaCare gambit has failed.
Unfortunately for all of us, again, Beshear seems convinced that he deserves another shot at his pipe dream. Two Kentucky Supreme Court cases (13-SC-652 adn 13-SC-667) seek to clarify for Gov. Beshear the error of his ways.
That second executive order not only did not get approved by the legislature, it sparked very clear legislative language enacted into law in the state budget forbidding Beshear to proceed with his ObamaCare fiasco.
But Beshear seems to think he deserves another mulligan.
The illegal second executive order expires July 15. Federal authorities have been formally notified of Beshear's multi-million dollar fraud against them. The only way this doesn't get a lot worse is for Beshear to come clean now and admit that his ObamaCare gambit has failed.
Unfortunately for all of us, again, Beshear seems convinced that he deserves another shot at his pipe dream. Two Kentucky Supreme Court cases (13-SC-652 adn 13-SC-667) seek to clarify for Gov. Beshear the error of his ways.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Senate Democrat wants to jail Audrey Tayse Haynes
Sen. Reggie Thomas (D-Lexington) pre-filed a bill today for the 2015 Kentucky General Assembly that would make lying to a legislative committee a crime and in some cases, a felony.
The only person I saw make repeated false statements in a committee meeting last session was Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Audrey Tayse Haynes while promoting ObamaCare.
The bill would require committee leaders to swear in witnesses as if they were testifying in court and the regular penalties for perjury would apply.
I like this a lot, though I suspect jailing Obamacrats isn't exactly what Sen. Thomas has in mind. The bill is scheduled to appear as Senate Bill 11.
The only person I saw make repeated false statements in a committee meeting last session was Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Audrey Tayse Haynes while promoting ObamaCare.
The bill would require committee leaders to swear in witnesses as if they were testifying in court and the regular penalties for perjury would apply.
I like this a lot, though I suspect jailing Obamacrats isn't exactly what Sen. Thomas has in mind. The bill is scheduled to appear as Senate Bill 11.
Taxpayer funded Kentucky ObamaCare insurer gouging will go largely unscrutinized
The Kentucky Health Cooperative, an insurer created solely by ObamaCare with federal tax dollars, has requested a 9.9% premium rate increase for 2015.
The Kentucky Department of Insurance, purportedly a consumer watchdog, has evolved into little more than the local muscle of an insurer protection racket and will surely rubber stamp the request.
A statement on a federal health insurance web site appears to explain a lot about the odd price increase.
The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight explains: "HHS works in partnership with states to ensure that all proposed rate increases of 10 percent or more (emphasis added) in the individual and small group market are thoroughly reviewed."
The Kentucky Department of Insurance, purportedly a consumer watchdog, has evolved into little more than the local muscle of an insurer protection racket and will surely rubber stamp the request.
A statement on a federal health insurance web site appears to explain a lot about the odd price increase.
The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight explains: "HHS works in partnership with states to ensure that all proposed rate increases of 10 percent or more (emphasis added) in the individual and small group market are thoroughly reviewed."
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Beshear damned either way on ObamaCare
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear's anticipated third attempt to force his state into maintaining an ObamaCare exchange has not yet materialized and he doesn't want you to know why.
Beshear filed his second temporary reorganization executive order last June when his first (2012) executive order designed to create the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange (KHBE) was about to expire because the 2013 Kentucky General Assembly declined to ratify it. Franklin Circuit Court Judge Philip Shepherd failed to recognize the illegality the second executive order found in KRS 12.028(5), which failure is currently under review by the Kentucky Supreme Court (13-SC-000652 and 13-SC-000667).
Either way that goes, Beshear and friends bear watching between now and July 15, when the KHBE loses any semblance of a claim to exist under Kentucky law due to the expiration of the 2013 executive order, producing a default into the federal exchange as should have happened a year ago. This essentially would free Kentuckians from the obligation to pay millions of dollars in ObamaCare taxes.
Worse, for Beshear, filing another executive order serves as an admission to the FBI that he lied on federal grant applications for which he fraudulently received more than $200 million in federal funds to create the exchange. What has to give him pause now is the realization that not filing another executive order does exactly the same thing.
Any questions?
Beshear filed his second temporary reorganization executive order last June when his first (2012) executive order designed to create the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange (KHBE) was about to expire because the 2013 Kentucky General Assembly declined to ratify it. Franklin Circuit Court Judge Philip Shepherd failed to recognize the illegality the second executive order found in KRS 12.028(5), which failure is currently under review by the Kentucky Supreme Court (13-SC-000652 and 13-SC-000667).
Either way that goes, Beshear and friends bear watching between now and July 15, when the KHBE loses any semblance of a claim to exist under Kentucky law due to the expiration of the 2013 executive order, producing a default into the federal exchange as should have happened a year ago. This essentially would free Kentuckians from the obligation to pay millions of dollars in ObamaCare taxes.
Worse, for Beshear, filing another executive order serves as an admission to the FBI that he lied on federal grant applications for which he fraudulently received more than $200 million in federal funds to create the exchange. What has to give him pause now is the realization that not filing another executive order does exactly the same thing.
Any questions?
Thursday, June 19, 2014
HHS calls $3168 ObamaCare subsidy a "success"
A new Health and Human Services report claims data compiled from state ObamaCare exchanges shows the federal takeover of healthcare in America is "working," but uses ridiculous methodology to arrive at that conclusion.
The report finds an average monthly per person health insurance premium in states on the federal exchange of $346 and claims success because nearly seventy percent of plans are subsidized with federal dollars leaving an average monthly net premium of $82 for that segment of the ObamaCare population.
The report quotes HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell saying "the Marketplace is working. Consumers have more choices and they're paying less for their premiums."
Jacking premiums up to an average of $346 a month and touting the necessity of a $3168 annual federal subsidy (346 - 82 = 264; 264 x 12 = 3168) as evidence the "Marketplace is working" could only fly in the la-la land in which Obamacrats celebrate each others' brilliance.
Can't be long until Kentucky's brain-dead media starts cheering this on as well.
The report finds an average monthly per person health insurance premium in states on the federal exchange of $346 and claims success because nearly seventy percent of plans are subsidized with federal dollars leaving an average monthly net premium of $82 for that segment of the ObamaCare population.
The report quotes HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell saying "the Marketplace is working. Consumers have more choices and they're paying less for their premiums."
Jacking premiums up to an average of $346 a month and touting the necessity of a $3168 annual federal subsidy (346 - 82 = 264; 264 x 12 = 3168) as evidence the "Marketplace is working" could only fly in the la-la land in which Obamacrats celebrate each others' brilliance.
Can't be long until Kentucky's brain-dead media starts cheering this on as well.
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Federal investigation of Frankfort ObamaCare begins
I met with an investigator at the Lexington office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation this afternoon to initiate a case against Gov. Steve Beshear's administration for fraudulently obtaining over $200 million in federal ObamaCare grants based on the false statement that Beshear had legal authority to apply for the grants without legislative approval.
In multiple grant applications, Beshear claimed that he filed a temporary reorganization executive order that was sufficient to give him authority to create the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange. That was a false statement. Making such a false statement to the federal government is a felony.
Federal officials in Oregon and Maryland are already investigating questionable statements made on Health and Human Services gate reviews just like the ones falsified by Beshear for possible criminal charges.
In multiple grant applications, Beshear claimed that he filed a temporary reorganization executive order that was sufficient to give him authority to create the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange. That was a false statement. Making such a false statement to the federal government is a felony.
Federal officials in Oregon and Maryland are already investigating questionable statements made on Health and Human Services gate reviews just like the ones falsified by Beshear for possible criminal charges.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Courier Journal shoots for 2014 "lie of the year"
Louisville Courier Journal writer James R. Carroll thinks you are stupid.
In a story this morning about Gov. Steve Beshear speaking in Washington D.C. about ObamaCare in Kentucky, Carroll wrote the following:
And the part about 75 percent of the recipients having never had coverage "in their lives" is not something I've even heard Beshear say. This is so stupendously false a claim that I can't imagine it being surpassed in 2014 in Kentucky and perhaps only nationally by the IRS' "dog ate our emails" whopper.
The only question that remains about this Kentucky ObamaCare lie is if it was told by Beshear or by the Courier Journal's James R. Carroll.
UPDATE: Just spoke with the Courier's Mr. Carroll who said Beshear is the one selling the absurd 75% figure. Here's hoping he clarifies his article to separate himself from this very big lie. Meanwhile, the Beshear administration should be asked often to provide any kind of documentation they have. Hint: there is none.
In a story this morning about Gov. Steve Beshear speaking in Washington D.C. about ObamaCare in Kentucky, Carroll wrote the following:
"The governor called the state health care exchange known as kynect "highly successful," enrolling 421,000 Kentuckians — with 75 percent of them receiving coverage for the first time in their lives."The governor is entitled to any opinion he wishes to express, but not ridiculously false numbers. And for Carroll to repeat them without attribution, credibility or apparently any thought at all takes the Courier's shockingly poor reporting on the subject to a new level. The 421,000 enrollment figure is now two months old. There are now well over 500,000 Kentuckians signed up, nearly all of them in unaffordable and unsustainable Medicaid.
And the part about 75 percent of the recipients having never had coverage "in their lives" is not something I've even heard Beshear say. This is so stupendously false a claim that I can't imagine it being surpassed in 2014 in Kentucky and perhaps only nationally by the IRS' "dog ate our emails" whopper.
The only question that remains about this Kentucky ObamaCare lie is if it was told by Beshear or by the Courier Journal's James R. Carroll.
UPDATE: Just spoke with the Courier's Mr. Carroll who said Beshear is the one selling the absurd 75% figure. Here's hoping he clarifies his article to separate himself from this very big lie. Meanwhile, the Beshear administration should be asked often to provide any kind of documentation they have. Hint: there is none.
Monday, June 16, 2014
Beshear taking third bite at ObamaCare
Gov. Steve Beshear is widely expected to issue an executive order this week attempting to create an ObamaCare "exchange" in Kentucky. If that fact confuses you because of the many glowing reports of ObamaCare exchange success here, you really need to pay attention to this post.
Beshear filed his first temporary reorganization exchange order to create the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange in the summer of 2012. When the legislature refused to ratify the actions requested by Beshear, the executive order's contents became null and void ninety days after the 2013 General Assembly.
I filed a lawsuit against Beshear in anticipation of this failure in 2013. The day his first ObamaCare executive order was set to expire we were in court on this matter. Beshear re-issued his expiring executive order with a second executive order containing minor changes. This second attempt at forcing Kentucky into ObamaCare violated both the letter and the spirit of the law in KRS 12.028(5).
This matter is currently under review by the Kentucky Supreme Court in cases 13-SC-000652 and 13-SC-000667. One House Democrat filed a bill to ratify the second, out-of-order executive order in the 2014 General Assembly, but it failed to even get a committee hearing. Then the legislature voted almost unanimously to defund either of the optional parts of ObamaCare, the exchange and the Medicaid Expansion, in the state budget.
Beshear deserves to be questioned thoroughly about his illegal actions in the court of public opinion and in front of the Kentucky Supreme Court. Separation of powers is written in to our Constitution and is a key part of form of government. If the legislature need not be consulted on matters of policy such as taxing, spending and form and function of state government under some bizarre new Beshear Doctrine, why do we even bother sending legislators to Frankfort at all?
Our Constitution hangs by a thread.
Beshear filed his first temporary reorganization exchange order to create the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange in the summer of 2012. When the legislature refused to ratify the actions requested by Beshear, the executive order's contents became null and void ninety days after the 2013 General Assembly.
I filed a lawsuit against Beshear in anticipation of this failure in 2013. The day his first ObamaCare executive order was set to expire we were in court on this matter. Beshear re-issued his expiring executive order with a second executive order containing minor changes. This second attempt at forcing Kentucky into ObamaCare violated both the letter and the spirit of the law in KRS 12.028(5).
This matter is currently under review by the Kentucky Supreme Court in cases 13-SC-000652 and 13-SC-000667. One House Democrat filed a bill to ratify the second, out-of-order executive order in the 2014 General Assembly, but it failed to even get a committee hearing. Then the legislature voted almost unanimously to defund either of the optional parts of ObamaCare, the exchange and the Medicaid Expansion, in the state budget.
Beshear deserves to be questioned thoroughly about his illegal actions in the court of public opinion and in front of the Kentucky Supreme Court. Separation of powers is written in to our Constitution and is a key part of form of government. If the legislature need not be consulted on matters of policy such as taxing, spending and form and function of state government under some bizarre new Beshear Doctrine, why do we even bother sending legislators to Frankfort at all?
Our Constitution hangs by a thread.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
