Rand Paul’s do-over in Senate

Lawrence O'Donnell once again addresses the flip-flops of Rand Paul:



(Here are links to O'Donnell's first and second reports on this topic.)

Kentucky's newspapers on Williams' gambling

Kentucky's two most-read newspapers have been weighing in on the recent news of David Williams' gambling losses. From the Courier-Journal:

According to documents filed in his divorce case in 2003, Sen. Williams, R-Burkesville, reported gambling losses of $36,147 in a four-year period of 1999 to 2002. On a yearly basis, the losses ranged from $3,445 in 2000 to $17,889 in 1999.

...the disclosures raise concerns that Sen. Williams should address. He implied in interviews that he “must have had winnings more than (his declared losses).” Not necessarily. A taxpayer can claim and deduct gambling losses up to the amount of betting income that is reported, but losses could have totaled more — even much more. Given that Sen. Williams has tended to visit out-of-state casinos, it is highly unlikely he came out ahead in any of the four years, let alone all of them. The odds are set to favor the house in casino wagering, and it's a rare player indeed who beats the house over time.

...It is important that Sen. Williams, a candidate for governor, make appropriate information public. For starters, he should release his tax returns — which, among other disclosures, will include his gambling winnings, reveal whether they were entirely offset by losses and shed light on whether his claim that he has stopped patronizing casinos is truthful. He should also answer questions about his gambling, including the sums that he has won and lost.

The Herald-Leader added:

He should answer questions and release his income tax returns going back into the 1990s. At the very least he should release the portions of his tax returns that deal with gambling. He also should release the documentation of his losses, which would include information about where and when he was gambling.

And he should disclose whether he has received preferential treatment from casinos, including lodging, meals or other perks.

These are legitimate questions that will dog Williams should he win the Republican nomination. The sooner he gets them out of the way, the better.

Rand says put tolls on the Brent Spence Bridge

The Enquirer has the story:

"When I was up in Washington, D.C. several weeks ago, Sen. Rand Paul mentioned selling the bridge, privatizing the bridge," said Boone Judge-executive Gary Moore. "Then I heard when the Northern Kentucky Chamber visited a couple weeks after me, that he told them the same thing."

...When Kenton County Judge-executive Steve Arlinghaus spoke with Paul, "He did suggest the possibility of privatization as one possible answer, which I found an interesting concept, but you know if you privatize you'll be paying tolls forever," Arlinghaus said. "If you give complete ownership of the bridge to somebody, there's going to be tolls for a lifetime, and I don't know if that's in the best interest of the general public."

Paul's office did not return a call seeking comment Monday.

The Lavish Gambling Lifestyle of David Williams

Today the KDP issued this press release:

After a weekend that saw Kentucky news outlets reveal Republican Senate President David Williams’ excessive gambling habits and high-roller lifestyle, Kentuckians now have a better understanding of how David Williams views the value of a dollar. Williams dismissed losing tens of thousands of dollars and admitted he thought little of gambling thousands of dollars in a single day.

$36,147 gambling losses over four years? Doesn’t make me a big gambler! The Herald Leader reported that Williams’ reported gambling losses of $36,147 in the four-year period from 1999 to 2002, according to a document filed in his divorce case in 2003. Williams’ response? “I don’t think that makes me a big gambler,” he said.

$17,999 gambling losses in one year? Not a big number! The Herald Leader reported that documents filed in Williams’ divorce showed a gambling loss of $17,899 in 1999. Williams’ response? “That $17,889 figure sounds like a big number, Williams said, but noted it could have involved several trips to gambling venues.”

Betting thousands at each racetrack visit? Couple hundred dollars on each race! The Courier Journal reported that Williams said “he goes to race tracks ‘maybe five times a year…Let’s say if I take a couple of thousand dollars, bet a couple of hundred dollars a race,” he said. “… Or you bet $50 a race, $20 across the board, cumulatively you keep those (losing) tickets in case you do hit a race.”

Williams’ cavalier handling of money stands in stark contrast to how many Kentuckians must closely watch every dollar during the global economic recession, and raises questions about David Williams’ understanding and sensitivity to their struggles.

“While blowing a couple grand at the track, David Williams doesn’t seem to share the sense of frugality with which most Kentucky families manage their household finances,” said Dan Logsdon, Chairman of the Kentucky Democratic Party. “Most folks don’t walk around with thousands of dollars in their pocket ready to put it on the line at a casino or a racetrack. Kentucky families are too busy paying the bills, raising their families and working to stretch their hard earned dollars to live David Williams’ opulent lifestyle.”

While Williams attempted to downplay his $36,147 in gambling loses as nothing out of the ordinary, Kentucky families would have a hard time agreeing with him. Here’s what $36,147 would mean to the average Kentucky family.

• $34,400 could put two children through four years of college at the University of Kentucky (University of Kentucky)
• $26,750 could pay for premium private health insurance for over 2 years for a family of four (Kaiser Family Foundation)
• $33,840 would cover the average American family’s housing costs for one year (US Dept. of Labor)
• $30,952 covers 4 years of ownership and operating costs for the average American family car (American Automotive Association)

Chairman Logsdon also compared Williams’ casual attitude about his own money to the way he inappropriately spends taxpayers’ dollars. “Now we know why David Williams thinks it is no big deal to spend $17,000 of taxpayer dollars on a plasma television for himself, $52,800 of taxpayer dollars for fancy wood paneling, or $63,000 of taxpayer dollars every day on a special session where he isn’t doing any work,” Logsdon said. “How can Kentucky families trust David Williams with their hard earned tax dollars when he clearly doesn’t understand the meaning of financial restraint? That’s something Kentucky can’t take a gamble on.”

Did Rand Paul mislead public on Libya vote?

Lawrence O'Donnell follows up on the lies coming from Rand Paul's office:



Click here for O'Donnell's earlier story on Rand Paul.

Editorial comic roundup

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President Obama's weekly address

Speaking from a UPS customer center as part of the new public-private Green Fleet Partnership, the President discusses his Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future to help free us from oil and boost the American economy.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Lawrence O'Donnell eviscerates Rand Paul

A must-watch clip from yesterday's Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell:

Rand Makes False Claims About Public Workers

Think Progress makes a great catch:

Yesterday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) appeared on Fox Business Network to continue [the] war on labor rights, using his time on the station to attack unions and claim their pay and benefits are too high. At one point during the interview, the senator began attacking “government unions,” saying they are “going to have to” contribute to their pensions and health care plans, just like Paul has to as a senator, and that Kentuckians back home don’t have any sympathy for government union workers because they pay for their retirements.

The problem with Paul’s assault on public employee unions is that it’s based on a false premise. Public workers at all level of government have to contribute to their pension and health care plans. Federal employees contribute to the Federal Employment Retirement System (FERS), which requires them to contribute to the fund at a rate equivalent to one percent of their yearly salary. Meanwhile, their health care, just like Paul’s, is covered by the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) program, which also requires employees to share the cost with their employer, usually 25 percent of premiums according to the Office of Personnel Management.

...Paul is certainly entitled to his own opinion on public employee unions, but to coin an old phrase, he isn’t entitled to his own facts.

President Obama's Speech on Libya

President Obama delivered an address last night to update the American people on the situation in Libya. In case you missed it, here's the video:

Governor Beshear: Standing up for Kentucky

Today's Courier-Journal included this op-ed piece from Governor Beshear:

We proposed filling the shortfall in the 2011 Medicaid budget with money from the 2012 Medicaid budget, then filling the newly created hole with efficiency measures and with new managed-care delivery principles that many states have used to reduce their Medicaid costs.

...But over the last few weeks, forces in Frankfort who do not share the same values as the people of this state escalated this problem into a momentous battle that jeopardized our very ability to educate our children, provide health care for our vulnerable populations and keep our streets safe.

Rather than solve the Medicaid problem with Medicaid money, the Senate Majority insisted on unnecessary across-the-board cuts to core services.

Editorial comic roundup

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Medicaid endgame

Today's Courier-Journal included this great editorial:

The silver lining is that the outcome this week is probably as good as could have been expected, given yet another display of obstructionism by Senate President David Williams.

...The Medicaid funding crisis was serious business and should have been handled that way. After all, the state pays hundreds of millions of dollars each year on the program, which serves about 820,000 poor and disabled Kentuckians. Yet, Sen. Williams, who hopes to be Gov. Beshear's Republican opponent this fall, treated the issue as a political football. Instead of striving for consensus, he spent the regular session grandstanding, berating the Governor for “failing” to manage Medicaid properly.

When it comes to Kentucky's needs, nothing is more important to Sen. Williams than Sen. Williams.

President Obama's weekly address

The President says that thanks to our men and women in uniform, the military mission in Libya is succeeding even as responsibility is transferred to our NATO allies and partners.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Abramson touts Governor Beshear's record

The Enquirer has the story:

Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear has successfully guided Kentucky through tough times during the past four years and has earned a second term, his running mate, former Louisville mayor Jerry Abramson, said Thursday.

...Confronted with the recession almost immediately upon taking office in late 2007, Beshear and lawmakers balanced the budget eight times in three years, cutting more than $1 billion in spending.

They did it without significant cuts to education, public safety or safety net programs like Medicaid – and without raising taxes, Abramson said.

David Williams and 'totally unnecessary' cuts

From today's Herald-Leader:

Whatever the reason, [David] Williams and his fellow Senate Republicans demanded totally unnecessary across-the-board spending cuts in exchange for transferring funds between budget years, rebuffed all of House Democrats' compromise proposals and shut down the regular session early with no Medicaid fix enacted — raising the danger of a 35 percent reduction in reimbursements to Medicaid providers starting April 1.

Now, in a special session that is lasting far longer than necessary, Democrats and Republicans in the House cobbled together a compromise measure including some targeted spending cuts that will kick in only if the Beshear administration fails to deliver on the projected Medicaid savings it has promised.

...The House has sweetened the deal; the Senate should approve it.

Beshear's transparency website rated best in US

Today Governor Beshear issued this press release:

FRANKFORT, Ky.– Gov. Steve Beshear’s groundbreaking e-transparency website, Open Door, has once again received top honors as a comprehensive, searchable portal that enables taxpayers to explore how government money is being spent. For the second year in a row, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), a nonprofit, nonpartisan public interest advocacy organization, has recognized the site, online at www.OpenDoor.KY.gov, as a leader in setting the standard for spending transparency on government expenditures.

“I’m very proud of my administration’s efforts to make government more accountable and transparent to the people,” Gov. Beshear said. “Given our nation’s difficult economy, citizens deserve to know how their tax dollars are being spent and we created Open Door to give them such access. We remain committed to this high standard of open government and are proud that we may serve as an example to other states.”

In U.S. PIRG’s, Following the Money 2011 report, Kentucky and Texas share the honor of scoring 96 out of a possible 100 points, receiving the report’s highest ranking for states offering broad and detailed spending information. Kentucky also topped the ratings in 2010 and retained the honor again this year in spite of the use of more rigorous scoring criteria.

The report called Kentucky a “pioneer” that has “taken strides to remain at the head of the pack.” The website now posts a database of government-owned land parcels, and GIS and customizable maps for demographic data.

Shortly after taking office, Gov. Beshear issued an Executive Order in the spring of 2008 to establish the e-Transparency Task Force; a 14-member bipartisan panel charged with providing a more transparent and accountable state government. On Jan. 1, 2009, Kentucky’s Open Door was launched after a concerted, multi-agency effort, led by officials of the Finance and Administration Cabinet.

Since the site was first launched, improvements and enhancements have steadily been made. Significant upgrades included making it more user-friendly and adding significant new categories of information, such as comprehensive detail on state contracts, and up-to-date data on state employee salaries. In January 2010, the judicial branch also joined Gov. Beshear’s e-Transparency website. Open Door currently hosts information from both the executive and judicial branches, and all of Kentucky’s constitutional officers.

New in 2011, Open Door now also gives users the option to download expenditure records. This function allows users to download information by fiscal year, or by a search that they create.

“The transparency practices demonstrated through Open Door highlight Kentucky as a national role model in accountability and openness in the use of public funds,” stated Finance and Administration Secretary Jonathan Miller, who chaired the Governor’s e-Transparency Task Force. “Open Door itself is an outstanding example of government efficiency as only existing state resources were used to create the award winning site. No new funds were specifically dedicated to creating Open Door.”

The Finance and Administration Cabinet’s Office of Policy and Audit estimates that the Open Door website will eliminate 40 percent of the administrative costs of procurement assistance requests, and could reduce the costs associated with Open Records requests by as much as 10 percent.

The U.S. PIRG report coincides with Sunshine Week, a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information sponsored by the American Society of News Editors. Thirty-nine states provided feedback for the report.

To access the U.S. Public Interest Research Group’s full report, Following the Money 2011, click here.

President Obama's weekly address

Even as the President maintains his focus on international crises in Japan and Libya, he discusses his trip to Latin America to open up markets for US products.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

KY's papers on David Williams' political games

Kentucky's newspapers have been weighing in on the shameless political games that David Williams is playing with the state's budget. Here's what the Herald-Leader had to say:

Contrary to Senate President David Williams' continuing efforts to deceive Kentuckians, all the available evidence strongly supports Beshear's proposal to offset the money shifted from next year's budget to this year's with savings from implementing a managed care approach to Medicaid at the start of the next fiscal year.

All the proof Williams has to the contrary are the misleading words coming from his own mouth and the mouths of his Republican parrots in the Senate.

Williams and those parrots are totally responsible for the breakdown of House-Senate talks in the regular session that ended last week. They are totally responsible for the wasteful cost of the ongoing special session. And they will be totally responsible if Medicaid recipients and providers suffer the painful consequences of huge reimbursement reductions from April 1 through June 30.

The Courier-Journal added this:

Sen. Williams — whose proposal to cover the Medicaid shortfall by imposing additional, across-the-board cuts to already strapped state agencies, including schools, lost even Republican support in the House — actually proposed a public debate with the Governor over their positions on dealing with the budget shortfall. A debate now? Really?

That suggestion pretty much proves that Sen. Williams' campaign season against Gov. Beshear started early, well before GOP voters sealed the deal by giving the Burkesville legislator their nomination. (In doing so, Sen. Williams also is re-coining a political term: He is a presumptuous nominee.) It also pretty much proves that everything, even the state's business, is toast when it comes too close to Sen. Williams' overheated personal ambitions.

The people of Kentucky need to remember who hung up state business on the road to political advancement, and who used his bully pulpit to bully, as they weigh the candidates' performance through the year.

David Williams get fact-checked

From Bluegrass Politics:

The statement: “Governor Steve Beshear failed to properly manage the budget and now we have a $166 million budget hole to fill this year.”

— Senate President David Williams, in a March 14, 2011, e-mail to supporters of his campaign for governor

The ruling: Mostly false

The facts: There is a shortfall in the state Medicaid budget this year, but Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear isn’t responsible for most of it, as Republican gubernatorial hopeful David Williams claimed.

Republican Budget Values

A great new ad from Americans United for Change:

Beshear: Help prevent unneeded budget slashing

Today Governor Beshear issued this press release:

Frankfort, Ky.- Time is running out to prevent devastating reimbursement rate cuts to health care providers unless citizens demand an end to Senator David Williams’ political gamesmanship, Governor Steve Beshear told Kentuckians today. Legislators returned to Frankfort today for a special session to balance the Medicaid budget – an action left incomplete when David Williams ended the 2011 Regular session early, without an agreement.

“The citizens of this state should be outraged – as I am – that Sen. David Williams has once again allowed petty politics to overrule the needs of the people of Kentucky,” said Gov. Beshear. “Senator Williams and the Senate Republicans have one job to do in Frankfort, and that is to balance the budget. They not only failed to complete this critical task, but also proposed to balance the Medicaid budget on the backs of our schoolchildren, our state troopers, our veterans, our senior citizens and our college students. It’s a draconian and totally unnecessary approach.”

In a two-day, nine-city trip around the state, Gov. Beshear is warning Kentuckians of the devastating cuts Medicaid providers are facing if an agreement is not reached before April 1.

Due to a shortfall in the Medicaid budget, Gov. Beshear recommended in November to balance the budget by transferring $166.5 million from the FY2012 Medicaid budget to FY2011, then capturing those savings through expanded managed care programs and other program efficiency measures. The House overwhelmingly approved the Governor’s approach in a bipartisan manner. However, with just three days left in the legislative session, Sen. Williams proposed an unconscionable plan to make cuts across all of state government, including to SEEK, the basic funding formula for Kentucky’s classrooms, to higher education, to social workers and to state troopers. Williams’ plan was rejected by not only Gov. Beshear and House and Senate Democratic members, but also by House Republican members. In all, over eighty percent of the Legislature rejected Williams’ plan.

If no agreement is reached, health care providers, including hospitals, nursing homes, doctors and others, face an approximate 35 percent rate cut in reimbursements, which many have warned could cause layoffs and possibly facility closures. The cuts must go into effect on April 1.

“As we enter this special session, we are fighting the clock,” warned Gov. Beshear. “The legislators have several options; however, the approach I proposed more than three months ago, and the House supports, protects our students, families and businesses from unneeded budget slashing.”

Click here for a chart that gives information on how to contact local Republican senators, what facilities in NKY would be impacted by reimbursement rate cuts, and how much Sen. Williams has proposed to cut schools and universities in the area.

Governor Beshear on special session

Governor Beshear penned an op-ed piece for today's Courier-Journal. Here's an excerpt:

Kentucky's Constitution directs the legislature to enact a budget and keep it balanced.

But Sen. Williams' refusal to rebalance the current year's Medicaid budget jeopardizes the health care services upon which some 800,000 Kentuckians rely — not to mention putting thousands of jobs at risk at the institutions that provide those services.

His refusal to act on a minor shift in the higher education budget may also force Kentucky's school districts to pay back $135 million in federal funds.

Governor Beshear makes a stop at CVG

WCPO reports:

Editorial comic roundup

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President Obama's weekly address

The President pays homage to former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, commends the great strides that have been made to create a more equal American society, and reaffirms his resolve to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

KDP Chair on Republican obstructionism

Today the KDP issued this press release:

Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman Dan Logsdon is calling out Republican Senate President David Williams for overseeing a partisan backroom maneuver that rejected eight highly qualified nominees for state boards and commissions without a single public hearing. Williams has refused to release information and documents from the confirmation process leaving Kentucky tax payers in the dark.

“The Kentucky State Senate has become a partisan house of horrors,” said Dan Logsdon, Chairman and Executive Director of the Kentucky Democratic Party. “This was a shameful abuse of power which may explain why it was done in the middle of the night. Republican Senators, under David Williams’ direction, didn’t grant these nominees an interview, won’t reveal how the decisions were made and now won’t even release documents on why they were rejected. There are two-bit dictatorships with a more transparent political process than the State Senate under David Williams.”

On Tuesday, State Senate Republicans met late at night and rejected eight highly qualified nominees to fill positions on several state boards and commissions, including two minority women to serve on the Parole Board. The nominees were rejected without a public hearing and, as of Thursday, Senate Republicans have refused to release documents on why they were not approved.

Of Beshear’s nominees, several had already begun their service and had left jobs in the private sector. Due to state law, rejected appointees are not eligible for appointment to another State Board for two years, leaving several without a job. The nominees were not told why their appointments were rejected and have been denied information on their nomination process.

“This was a petty partisan move, pure and simple and Kentuckians should be offended by it,” said Logsdon. “Before they slinked out of town without finishing the people’s business, David Williams and the Senate Republicans showed Kentucky that they have no interest in running a government free of politics. Kentucky taxpayers are grownups, they deserve better than to have their government keep secrets from them.”

Rand's solution for rebuilding Brent Spence: tolls

The Enquirer has the story:

"I don't want to tell you that there isn't any money. But there isn't any money," Sen. Rand Paul told chamber member Brent Cooper in response to a question about funding for the bridge.

...As for finding funding for the Brent Spence Bridge, Paul had other dramatic ideas to share, such as selling the bridge to a private company to build.

"Probably have it in a year and a half if you sell it to somebody. That's thinking way outside the box, but let somebody build it for you, and there are companies that will do it," he said, adding that doing so would probably mean significant tolls for the next 100 years or so.

Deep budget cuts not necessary

A terrific editorial ran in today's Herald-Leader:

Senate Republicans — led by President David Williams, Beshear's likely opponent in this fall's gubernatorial race — ignore [Beshear's] past successes in dealing with fiscal crises and claim the governor has no chance of finding enough savings to fill the budget hole by moving Medicaid to managed care.

Not surprisingly for a group led by a gubernatorial candidate who wants to endear himself to the Tea Party movement, Senate Republicans want to cut, cut, cut. Their proposal includes limited cuts in the last quarter of the current fiscal year and across-the-board cuts in the fiscal year beginning July 1.

...These cuts aren't necessary. What Williams and Senate Republicans are proposing are cuts made just for the sake of cutting, just for the appearance of cutting during an election year when a Republican gubernatorial candidate with a record of voting for tax increases and earmarked projects funded by massive bond issues needs to get right with the Tea Party movement.

Editorial comic roundup

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President Obama's weekly address

The President calls for Democrats and Republicans to come together on a budget that cuts wasteful spending without sacrificing job-creating investments in education, innovation and infrastructure.

Rand gets fact-checked

The folks at PolitiFact look into Rand Paul's recent statements about Wisconsin's public school teachers:

Paul said twice on national television that the average public school teacher in Wisconsin "is making $89,000 a year." We’re assuming his figure isn’t just for salary, in which case his number would be too high by $40,000. But even if he meant salary plus benefits, his figure is too high by $14,000.

We rate Paul’s statement False.

Governor, House leaders reject Williams plan

Today Governor Beshear issued this press release:

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Vowing to fight cuts to priority programs, including K-12 education, Governor Steve Beshear and House Democratic leaders rejected Senator David Williams’ eleventh-hour proposal on the Medicaid budget.

“Sen. Williams wants our schoolchildren, our college students, our seniors, our veterans, our state police, our prosecutors, our social workers and many others to pay for a shortfall in the Medicaid budget,” said Gov. Beshear. “I won’t stand for one penny to be hijacked from our school systems, nor one cent stolen from public safety to protect our families. My proposal fixes Medicaid within the Medicaid budget without these painful and unnecessary cuts.”

Facing a shortfall in the Medicaid budget, Gov. Beshear proposed transferring $166.5 million from the FY2012 Medicaid budget to FY2011, then capturing those savings through expanded managed care programs and other program efficiency measures. The proposal passed overwhelmingly in a bipartisan manner in the House.

Senate President David Williams’ proposal, passed by the Senate, would instead cut $148.5 million from the non-Medicaid areas of the budget, with 81 percent of the cuts coming from priority areas of education, health care and public safety. This includes:

• Education: $47.4 million from K-12 education, including $38.4 million from SEEK, the basic funding for formula for classroom teaching. These cuts to SEEK are in addition to the estimated $49 million shortfall in FY 11 and $29 million in FY 12.
• Higher Education: $28 million from higher education, including $22 million from institutions’ base budgets and $4.3 million from student financial aid.
• Health and Family Services (non-Medicaid): $19 million from non-Medicaid programs in the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, including social workers, public health departments and Meals on Wheels services.
• Justice and Public Safety programs: $17.4 million from public safety programs, including state troopers, local jail support and juvenile justice programs, as well as $12.1 million from the Corrections Department.
• Judicial Branch: $8.5 million from the Judicial Branch, which has suffered from layoffs under previous cuts.
• Rest of state government: $28.2 million from the rest of state government, including job creation programs, state parks, environmental and worker safety programs and veterans assistance programs.

This proposal ignores the cumulative impact of eight budget cuts totaling over $1 billion to agency budgets over the past three years and the enacted cuts already built into FY12. Many targeted programs have already faced 20 to 30 percent budget cuts.

“We have balanced our budget eight times in three years because of the global economic recession, and with it, a billion dollars has been cut from our state budget,” said Gov. Beshear. “Yet, every time, we have protected SEEK from cuts. I am not about to start cutting it now, especially when there is a viable alternative to balance our Medicaid budget on the table.”

House leaders pledged to reject Senate plans to cut state services across the board as legislators head into a conference committee on the Medicaid budget bill.

“The most prudent choice is to allow the Governor to continue to manage this Medicaid deficit before we take the radical option of cutting education and other essential services,’ said House Speaker Greg Stumbo. “If you look at the Governor’s track record over the last three years, he’s cut about a billion dollars from government spending without having Kentuckians suffer through the crises we see in many other states. The Governor has a proven track record, and deserves our support.”

“Other states have implemented expanded managed care contracts that have generated savings while improving health outcomes,” said Health and Family Services Cabinet Secretary Janie Miller. “We are confident that we will replicate those results. The Cabinet is poised to act quickly and aggressively to achieve contracts with managed care organizations to capture the required savings in FY 12."

Without passage of a Medicaid bill, the only alternative would be to cut health care provider rates by 30 percent, warned Sec. Miller, which would also lead to layoffs, furloughs and reductions in health care services.

Poll: Jack Conway leads by nearly 20 points

From cn|2:

The first poll of Kentucky’s 2011 attorney general’s race shows that Jack Conway — after running two statewide races — begins with a nearly 20-point advantage over Republican challenger Todd P’Pool.

...The cn|2 Poll of 804 likely voters showed Conway starts with support from 52.1% of respondents while P’Pool begins with 32.7%. Another 13.6% are undecided.

Dems Call on GOP to Join Budget Negotiations

Geoff Davis votes to protect Big Oil subsidies

The Republicans are apparently lying when they say they're concerned about the deficit:

With Big Oil raking in record profits, House Democrats offered a Motion to Recommit to the House Republican short-term spending bill this afternoon making a responsible cut to the budget: putting an end to taxpayer-funded subsidies to large oil companies. Repealing these subsidies would save taxpayers tens of billions over the next decade and even ex-Shell CEO John Hofmeister agrees saying “with high oil prices, such subsidies are not necessary.”

...Republicans voted unanimously against the motion, defeating it by a vote of 176-249.

Geoff Davis, of course, voted with the Republicans on this. Geoff owes us an explanation. Why is he willing to hand over our tax dollars to Big Oil? Could it have anything to do with the $191,270 in contributions that Geoff has accepted from the Oil & Gas industry?

Report: Republican Plan Would Cost 700,000 Jobs

From Bloomberg:

House Republicans’ $61 billion budget-cutting plan would cost 700,000 jobs, according to a report likely to inflame the debate over the U.S. government deficit.

The measure would reduce real economic growth this year by 0.5 percentage points and by 0.2 percentage points next year, resulting in 700,000 fewer jobs by the end of 2012, said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics. He said budget- cutters should wait until the U.S. economy is stronger, saying Republicans “would be taking an unnecessary chance with the recovery.”

“Significant government spending restraint is vital, but given the economy’s halting recovery it would be counterproductive for that restraint to begin until the U.S. is creating enough jobs to lower the unemployment rate,” Zandi said.

Editorial comic roundup

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President Obama's weekly address

The President discusses his recent travels and the examples he's seen of how America can win the future. He urges Congress to heed these examples in the coming budget debate and to tighten our belts without eliminating investments in innovation, education and infrastructure.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Tunnel vision

There's a very good editorial in today's Courier-Journal:

[Kentucky state Rep. David Floyd, R-Bardstown] is becoming an old hand at tying anti-abortion measures to every manner of legislation — including, this session, bills involving tanning beds, car decals for young drivers and domestic violence.

...Rep. Floyd's procedural shenanigans threaten to take down legislation designed to bring more scrutiny to bear on how well — or how badly — Kentucky's Cabinet for Health and Family Services does its job in protecting children who die or suffer serious injuries from child abuse and neglect. House Bill 441 would create a panel to oversee the Cabinet's efforts in that regard. It is not a perfect bill, but amendments were promised to address secrecy concerns and to restore language requiring public disclosure about child deaths and serious injuries.

...If legislators want to be anti-abortion activists, they can do that on their own time. But it is high time that they stopped using their time in Frankfort to disrupt the important business of the people of Kentucky with rope-a-dope tactics that prevent useful and beneficial legislation from advancing.

Editorial comic roundup

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President Obama's weekly address

The President speaks from the Intel campus in Oregon about educating our kids for the jobs of tomorrow so we can make sure America wins the future.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Deficit hawks and the games they play

Today's column by EJ Dionne is a must-read:

When conservatives blow up our fiscal position with their tax cuts, the deficit hawks are silent - or, at best, mumble a few words of mild reproach to have something on the record - and let the budget wreckage happen. Quite a few in their ranks (yes, including some Democrats) actually supported the Bush tax cuts.

But when it's the progressives' turn in power, the deficit hawks become ferocious. They denounce liberals if they do not move immediately to address the shortfall left by conservatives. Thus, conservatives get to govern as they wish. Liberals are labeled as irresponsible unless they abandon their own agenda and devote their every moment in power to cutting the deficit.

It's a game for chumps. The conservatives play it brilliantly. By winning their tax cuts and slashing government revenue, they constrain what liberals can do whenever they get back into power.

Past Versus Future

Here's an excellent new ad from the DNC:

Rand gets fact-checked

From FactCheck.org:

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky wrongly claimed that Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, during her confirmation hearings, agreed that "the government through the commerce clause could regulate that you eat three vegetables a day."

...In talking about the constitutionality of the health care law, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky distorted a comment by Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. Paul recounted an exchange between Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn and then-nominee Kagan during her confirmation hearings. Coburn was alluding to the debate over whether the commerce clause of the Constitution would allow the federal government to require individuals to purchase health insurance:

Paul, Feb. 10: Recently Sen. Coburn in one of the committee hearings asked Elena Kagan, he said, well do you think the government through the commerce clause could regulate that you eat three vegetables a day. Her response was yes.

Kagan’s response was not “yes.”

Editorial comic roundup

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President Obama's weekly address

The President previews his budget, explaining that it will help the government live within its means, while still investing to make sure America wins the future.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Not heard the last about Williams' plasma TV

There's an interesting editorial in today's Herald-Leader:

As part of a $639,000 renovation of several state senators' Capitol Annex offices in 2006, Senate President David Williams' office was equipped with a $17,000 entertainment center featuring a 60-inch plasma TV screen.

The screen remained in Williams' office until this General Assembly session when it was moved to the Senate chambers in the Capitol to serve as one of two screens displaying bill status and senators' votes.

...Strangely enough, though, the need for the screen to serve such a purpose never occurred until after Williams decided to run for governor. But as much as Williams might want to defuse a potentially damaging issue with this TV screen switcheroo, the reality of modern political campaigns strongly suggests we're going to hear a lot about the first screen in coming months.

A Terrible Divide

Be sure to check out the latest column by Bob Herbert:

Look out the window. More and more Americans are being left behind in an economy that is being divided ever more starkly between the haves and the have-nots. Not only are millions of people jobless and millions more underemployed, but more and more of the so-called fringe benefits and public services that help make life livable, or even bearable, in a modern society are being put to the torch.

...American workers are in a world of hurt. Anyone who thinks that politicians can improve this sorry state of affairs by hacking away at Social Security, Medicare and the public schools are great candidates for involuntary commitment.

New ideas on a grand scale are needed. The United States can’t thrive with so many of its citizens condemned to shrunken standards of living because they can’t find adequate employment. Long-term joblessness is a recipe for societal destabilization. It should not be tolerated in a country with as much wealth as the United States. It’s destructive, and it’s wrong.

Federal judicial vacancies reaching crisis point

Today's Washington Post examines one of the worst consequences of Republican obstructionism:

Federal judges have been retiring at a rate of one per week this year, driving up vacancies that have nearly doubled since President Obama took office. The departures are increasing workloads dramatically and delaying trials in some of the nation's federal courts.

...Since Obama took office, federal judicial vacancies have risen steadily as dozens of judges have left without being replaced by the president's nominees. Experts blame Republican delaying tactics, slow White House nominations and a dysfunctional Senate confirmation system. Six judges have retired in the past six weeks alone.

...The 60 nominees confirmed in Obama's first two years in office made up the lowest number in 35 years, according to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

10 Reagan facts conservatives rarely mention

Via ThinkProgress:

Tomorrow will mark the 100th anniversary of President Reagan’s birth, and all week, conservatives have been trying to outdo each others’ remembrances of the great conservative icon. Senate Republicans spent much of Thursday singing Reagan’s praise from the Senate floor, while conservative publications have been running non-stop commemorations. Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee and former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich are hoping to make a few bucks off the Gipper’s centennial.

But Reagan was not the man conservatives claim he was. This image of Reagan as a conservative superhero is myth, created to untie the various factions of the right behind a common leader. In reality, Reagan was no conservative ideologue or flawless commander-in-chief. Reagan regularly strayed from conservative dogma — he raised taxes eleven times as president while tripling the deficit — and he often ended up on the wrong side of history, like when he vetoed an Anti-Apartheid bill.

ThinkProgress has compiled a list of the top 10 things conservatives rarely mention when talking about President Reagan.

ThinkProgress did a great job compiling this list. Click the link to check it out.

President Obama's weekly address

In this week’s address, President Obama said America can prosper and win the future by supporting innovation, education, and infrastructure. This past week, the President highlighted how students and researchers at Penn State University are poised lead the way on innovation and job creation through their work on energy efficiency. In the coming week, he will visit Marquette, Michigan, where high-speed broadband infrastructure is connecting a small town to the larger world. And on Monday, he will talk to the Chamber of Commerce about how if we make America the best place to do business, then businesses should make their mark on America by setting up shop in America, hiring American workers, and paying good wages.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Repealing health care would be a budget-buster

Senator Durbin exposes the illogicality of Mitch McConnell's attempt to repeal the Health Care act.

Rand Paul Email Touts False Gun Conspiracy

ThinkProgress has the story:

In an email to supporters, Paul warned that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the “global gun-grabbers” are out to “strip you and me of ALL our freedoms” by signing a treaty designed by the “petty dictators and one-world socialists who control the UN” to “CONFISCATE and DESTROY” all civilian firearms across the world. With his trusty sidekick the National Association For Gun Rights and a financial contribution from his base, Paul can “lead the fight to defeat this radical treaty.”

...Paul’s conspiratorial email is missing one tiny footnote: there is no U.N. Small Arms Treaty. While the U.N. has been considering the feasibility of such a treaty, Paul’s “piece of scarelore” is “erroneous in all its particulars.” Clinton has never signed such a treaty. Nor could she, Congress, or the President ever do so. The Supreme Court’s Reid v. Covert decision established that the Constitution — which still includes the Second Amendment — supersedes international treaties. In fact, the only treaty that Clinton said the U.S. would possibly consider is a treaty that combats the illegal, international trade of small arms by setting “international standards” to “close gaps” that “allow weapons to pass onto the illicit market.” The policy has “nothing to do with restricting the sale or ownership” of guns inside the U.S. A point so salient that even the NRA felt compelled to squash the nonsense.

Governor's State of the Commonwealth Address

Did you miss last night's State of the Commonwealth address by Governor Beshear? Here's a link to watch it at KET's website.

Gov Beshear: Job creation efforts paying off

Today Governor Beshear issued this press release:

FRANKFORT, Ky.—In his fourth State of the Commonwealth address, Governor Steve Beshear told lawmakers that responsible fiscal management, including holding the line against broad-based taxes and slashing more than $1 billion from the state budget, has enabled Kentucky to preserve core priorities and begin to recover from the global recession. At the same time, tireless and innovative job creation efforts have led to the creation and retention of thousands of jobs in every corner of the state.

“I have opposed broad-based tax increases in Kentucky, and I will continue to oppose them during this legislative session,” said Gov. Beshear. “I will not threaten the survival and growth of our businesses at this perilous moment. I will not burden our families as they struggle to survive. And I will not jeopardize our fragile recovery.”

Gov. Beshear told Kentuckians that he runs Frankfort like they run their family budgets – by working harder and spending less.

“My message to the people of the state is this: We are in this together – we will share your sacrifice because we work for you,” said Gov. Beshear.

Since taking office, Gov. Beshear has:

• Balanced Kentucky’s budget eight times in three years, slashing over a billion dollars in spending.
• Reduced the executive branch to its smallest size in decades.
• Cut the so-called non-merit work force by an additional $5 million.
• Ended take-home cars for his office.
• Furloughed most state workers for six days, to save $24 million, and is taking six unpaid days himself.
• Voluntarily cut his salary by 10 percent – as have top staff and cabinet secretaries.
• Created a website that allows Kentuckians to find out exactly how their money is being spent, which was named the best website of its kind in the nation.
• Put Kentucky’s public pension funds on sound footing, reducing benefits for new employees, eliminating pension double-dipping and mandating appropriate expertise for those making investment decisions.

“We have acted in a calm, strategic and measured way to rein in government with an eye not just on short-term survival, but also on long-term progress,” said Gov. Beshear. “And that strategy is working.” He offered the following evidence that the economy is beginning to improve:

• Nearly 250 companies have used Kentucky’s new incentives programs to announce planned investments of almost $2.2 billion.
• More than half of Kentucky’s manufacturers plan to hire in 2011.
• Unemployment rates are down in 84 counties from a year ago.
• State receipts are up 5.4 percent through the first half of the fiscal year.
• Kentucky’s highways are the safest they’ve been in 25 years.
• Kentucky’s prison population and recidivism rates are dropping.
• The state is attracting visitors from around the world to the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and the upcoming NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, which alone is estimated to have a $150 million economic impact.

In addition to Kentucky’s revamped business incentives programs, Gov. Beshear noted other efforts to create and retain Kentucky jobs, including:

• Two new initiatives that help smaller businesses export goods overseas and recoup investments in staff and equipment.
• A unique program that matches federal high-tech grants to attract and groom smaller companies with innovative ideas in fields like biosciences and energy.
• The realignment of Fort Knox, which will create 7,000 to 8,000 jobs.
• Efforts to keep healthy a $4 billion equine industry that employs 100,000 Kentuckians.
• The construction of a national research laboratory that will develop and market advanced battery technologies.
• Fighting the federal government for the survival of Kentucky’s coal industry, which provides 90 percent of our electricity and has helped build a robust manufacturing industry.

“Our coal industry is in jeopardy because Washington bureaucrats continue to try to impose arbitrary and unreasonable regulations on the mining of coal,” said Gov. Beshear. “To them I say ‘Get off our backs!’ I will fight you for the right to cleanly and safely mine coal. I will fight you on behalf of 18,000 Kentucky coal miners who are working to feed their families. And I will fight you to keep this nation strong by supplying it with the energy it needs to remain the beacon of democracy in a troubled world.”

Gov. Beshear discussed the following important legislative items for the 2011 legislative session:

Increasing high school graduation by raising the drop-out age: House Bill 225, which would raise the mandatory school attendance age to 18 overwhelmingly passed the House last year. HB 225 gradually phases in the change, giving schools adequate time to implement it, and creates alternative programs to address concerns about unmotivated students.

Addressing short-term and long-term Medicaid issues: A plan to balance a shortfall in the Medicaid budget would move $166.5 million from the 2012 Fiscal Year Medicaid budget to the current 2011 Fiscal Year. It would also utilize the expertise of the private sector by incorporating more managed-care principles in the state’s Medicaid program to run it in a more cost-effective manner. The only alternatives to this plan are to cut $600 million in services or cut reimbursement rates to health care providers by 30 percent, jeopardizing jobs throughout the state.

Reducing barriers to Kentucky businesses: Gov. Beshear offered his support to an idea promoted by Republican Sen. David Givens and Senate President David Williams: a one-stop electronic business portal to speed up and simplify how businesses register and interact with the state. The Governor called the bill a good example of finding common ground.

Protecting seniors: Gov. Beshear pledged to work with legislators to find ways we can protect vulnerable seniors from physical and financial abuse and exploitation.

“Some of us have different ideas about how to fix Kentucky’s problems,” said Gov. Beshear. “But that doesn’t mean we cannot and should not make life better for our people by identifying areas of agreement and places to collaborate. I am confident we can do that because over the last three years we have done it.”

Finally, Gov. Beshear paid tribute to Kentucky’s men and women serving in active duty military and the Kentucky National Guard, both overseas and here at home, as well as their families. He noted that the Commonwealth has fielded the largest contingent among the states of soldiers, sailors and airmen in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, and that over 20 percent of all U.S. forces in the Central Command area came from Fort Campbell and Fort Knox, from the Kentucky Air and Army National Guard, Marine Corps units at Fort Knox and the state’s Army and Navy Reserve units. Since 9/11, the Kentucky National Guard has deployed more than 14,000 soldiers and airmen, and this summer, the Guard will deploy its largest contingent since World War II.

“I am awed by the courage, dedication and sacrifice of these soldiers and their families – just as every Kentuckian should be.”

Editorial comic roundup

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Report: Bush illegally helped reelect Geoff Davis

The Enquirer has the story:

Several area lawmakers, including Reps. Steve Chabot and Geoff Davis, benefited from 28 politically motivated trips made illegally by the George W. Bush White House in 2005 and 2006, according to a new government report.

The independent Office of Special Counsel said that the trips made by Bush administration Cabinet officials were purported to be official, which meant taxpayer dollars paid for them. But they were actually part of a targeted campaign orchestrated by the White House to help vulnerable Republicans in tight races, the report said.

According to the report, Chabot, Davis and former Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-Ind., were considered "Tier 1" targets, meaning that they were "considered to be more important" than other lawmakers asking for visits by Cabinet officials.

President Obama's weekly address

In this week’s address, President Obama called Orion Energy Systems in Manitowoc, Wisconsin an example of how America can win the future by being the best place on Earth to do business. Orion was able to open with the help of small business loans and incentives that are creating demand for clean energy technologies. By sparking innovation and spurring new products and technologies, America will unleash the talent and ingenuity of American workers and businesses, which will lead to new, good jobs.

Paul's meat ax

The Courier-Journal also takes on Rand Paul's radical budget plan:

As President Obama delivered his State of the Union address to the nation, newly elected U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., let drop his competing vision for how to deal with the country's deficit challenge. The President proposed a five-year federal government spending freeze; the senator proposed $500 billion in spending cuts in fiscal year 2011.

...A senior analyst for the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, a conservative Washington think-tank, described the senator's prescribed cuts as “a meat ax approach to the government, with no real effort to look at costs and benefits of programs, and the huge unintended consequences” of the cuts.

With his first piece of legislation, Sen. Paul is demonstrating to Kentuckians the huge, unintended consequences of sending a guy with a meat ax to Washington.

Rand Paul's warped fiscal priorities

There's a must-read editorial in today's Herald-Leader:

Sen. Rand Paul's plan for cutting $500 billion from the federal budget is more parlor game than serious proposal, as evidenced by its lack of co-sponsors.

...Like many Republicans, Paul seems not to understand that the national debt always rises in recessions. Without the temporary spike in federal spending since 2008, the economy would be much weaker and many more Americans would be jobless and poor.

Paul pines for a land built on libertarian theory. But the country of his ideals is a place that few Americans would want to leave their children.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Fact-Checking the Republican SOTU Response

The nonpartisan folks at FactCheck.org examine the Republican responses to President Obama's State of the Union address:

We found two new claims that we haven’t covered before:

• In the official response, Rep. Paul Ryan said that "trust in government is at an all-time low now that the size of government is at an all-time high." He’s wrong on both counts. Trust has been lower, and government has been larger, in the past.
• In her own rebuttal to Obama, Rep. Michele Bachmann said that the bailout cost "$700 billion." The net cost actually is estimated to be much less — $25 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

In addition, the two Republicans repeated several false and misleading charges we’ve already written about. Our readers will be familiar with many of them, such as claims that the stimulus didn’t create jobs (it did), that the health care law hurts job growth (experts say the impact will be small), and that "16,500 IRS agents" will enforce that law (that’s based on a flawed, partisan analysis).

A Long Island tax cut backfires on the Tea Party

A special report from Reuters:

Nassau's ills exemplify the growing tension across the country as dozens of freshly-elected Tea Party lawmakers, many of whom promised to cut taxes, must find ways to slash record budget gaps as revenues dwindle.

"A lot of people who got elected on this type of anti-tax platform are running into the brick wall of fiscal reality," said Matthew Gardner, executive director of the non-partisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington.

Besides being a cautionary tale, the setback in Nassau County is a black eye for the Tea Party, the grassroots movement built around the core principles of constitutionally limited government, free-market ideology and low taxes.

Video: The 2011 State of the Union Address

Did you miss last night's State of the Union Address? Here's the video:

Editorial comic roundup

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President Obama's weekly address

President Obama used his weekly address to highlight the steps his administration is taking to make America more competitive. As a result of the deals made with China this week, U.S. exports to China will increase by more than $45 billion and China will increase its investments in America by several billion dollars. These deals will support some 235,000 American jobs. Also, the President named GE CEO Jeff Immelt to head up the new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, which will help find ways to grow the economy by investing in American businesses.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Fudging the Facts on Health Care and Deficits

Today's column by Joe Conason is a must-read:

[T]he Republican leaders in Congress are now insisting on their own "facts" concerning health care and deficits, which directly contradict the careful studies of the Congressional Budget Office. They have gone so far as to denigrate CBO, among the most respected agencies in Washington since its founding in 1974, by accusing its analysts of using "rigged" assumptions to reach its conclusions.

Why? The agency's conclusions are irritating to the Republicans, especially Speaker John Boehner and Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan, because the CBO found that health care reform will reduce the federal deficit by more than $230 billion during the first decade after it goes into effect—and then by trillions of dollars in the decades that follow.

...The present Speaker and his cronies know that their partisan attack on the CBO is patently hypocritical. Unless afflicted with early Alzheimer's, they can surely remember that two years ago, the Republicans and other opponents of reform were crowing loudly because the CBO had found that the Senate Finance Committee's health care bill would increase the deficit. Although Democrats grumbled, they accepted the CBO findings and rewrote the bill extensively to ensure that it reduced the deficit, as promised.

What Seniors Groups Are Saying

Courtesy of The White House:

As Congress considers legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act, it’s important to take a look at who is opposing repeal. Here’s what organizations representing seniors are saying:

AARP
“As the House prepares to vote this week on repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), I am writing to make clear AARP's position. While we respect that there are those who do not support the ACA, AARP opposes repeal because the new law includes many vital provisions important to older Americans and their children.”

Leadership Council of Aging Organizations
“Millions of Americans have already benefited from provisions of the Affordable Care Act, including millions of seniors who received $250 towards the cost of their prescription drugs when they entered the Part D doughnut hole. The economic and physical health of seniors and their families will continue to benefit as the law is implemented further. We urge you not to deprive them of the protections created by the Affordable Care Act, and to vote against repeal.”

National Consumer Voice for Quality Long Term Care
“Repeal of the Affordable Care Act would eliminate all of these urgently needed improvements in long-term care and protection of the elderly. Please vote against the bill to repeal the law.”

Center for Medicare Advocacy
“Health care reform is helping families struggling to deal with illnesses, age, unemployment, and under-employment. The law advances family values. It’s time to implement, not repeal health care reform!”

Alliance for Retired Americans
“The proposal to be voted on in the U.S. House this week to repeal the 2010 health reform law is unconscionable. Seniors are clear on this: DO NOT raise our prescription drug costs; DO NOT re-open the Medicare Part D prescription drug doughnut hole; and DO NOT take away our free preventive screenings by repealing this law.”

Generations United
“It is imperative that lawmakers not pass H.R. 2 and repeal the Affordable Care Act. It will be devastating to children, young adults and older people.”

National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
“Not only is a repeal fiscally irresponsible, it takes away crucial Medicare improvements for seniors in the new law.”

Medicare Rights Center
“As the U.S. House of Representatives prepares for floor debate and a vote next week on a bill (HR 2) that would repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Medicare Rights Center expresses concern that repealing health care reform would sacrifice Americans’ wellbeing for the sake of political gain. Health reform extends the solvency of the Medicare trust fund, reduces the federal deficit, introduces initiatives to enhance quality and coordination of care, and provides real benefits to Medicare consumers by eliminating cost-sharing for many preventive services and closing the coverage gap in the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Knowing what the Medicare Rights Center knows from our clients, repeal of this legislation would hurt older adults and people with disabilities.”

National Council on Aging
“The National Council on Aging (NCOA), the leading nonprofit service and advocacy organization for older Americans, is urging the 112th Congress not to repeal the landmark Affordable Care Act (ACA). Already, the ACA is providing critical benefits for seniors and their families, including a 50% discount on brand-name prescription drugs in the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole” or coverage gap, a free annual wellness visit to help older adults develop a personal prevention plan, and full coverage of important preventive services such as diabetes tests and prostate cancer screenings.”

National Association of Area Agencies on Aging
“If repeal is allowed to go forward millions of older Americans would be deprived of new prescription drug benefits for those individuals who fall into the Medicare Part D "donut hole" and all working Americans would stand to lose benefits provided under the new CLASS program that would help them pay for long-term care when they need them. Repeal also means older adults will not be able to take advantage of new Medicare prevention and wellness benefits to help them better manage their chronic conditions and stay healthy. We urge all Members of Congress to vote against repeal and allow key provisions of the ACA to be implemented that will improve the health and security of our nation’s older adults.”

What Health Care Providers Are Saying

This press release was issued by The White House today:

As Congress considers legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act, it’s important to take a look at who is opposing repeal. Here’s what organizations representing doctors, nurses and health care providers are saying:

American Nurses Association
“…[W]e believe that a vote for repeal would be a devastating step backward.”

American Medical Association
“The AMA does not support initiatives to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Expanding health coverage, insurance market reforms, administrative simplifications and initiatives to promote wellness and prevention are key parts of the new law that reflect AMA priorities.”

American Academy of Family Physicians
“A repeal of all provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will return our health care system to its previous trends of unsustainable, increasing costs and ever-growing numbers of under- and uninsured Americans. It will have negative consequences on Americans’ access to needed health care for years to come.”

American College of Physicians
“ACP believes that Congress should preserve and - as necessary - improve on these and other important reforms created by the Affordable Care Act, not repeal them.”

Association of American Medical Colleges
“The nation’s medical schools and teaching hospitals stand behind the Affordable Care Act. Ensuring that all Americans have health care coverage is a moral imperative for our nation, and enactment of the Affordable Care Act was an important step toward that goal.”

National Association of Community Health Centers
“From the perspective of community health, however, the new law moves our nation to the goal of more affordable and accessible health care for all people and we stand strongly in support of it.”

American Osteopathic Association
“The Affordable Care Act made fundamental and important changes in our health care system that will improve the health of our patients individually and our nation as a whole.”

Catholic Health Association
“On behalf of the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA), the national leadership organization of more than 2,000 Catholic health care systems, hospitals, long-term care facilities, sponsors, and related organizations, I strongly urge you to maintain support for efforts to improve and strengthen our nation’s health care system by opposing the legislation before the House to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA).”

American Public Health Association
“Implementation of the Affordable Care Act is critical to addressing a number of the biggest challenges facing our health system including the escalating costs associated with our health care system, uneven quality and more than 100,000 deaths due to medical errors, discriminatory practices by health insurance providers and the shrinking ranks of the nation’s primary care providers. The enactment of the Affordable Care Act begins to shift our health system from one that focuses on treating the sick to one that focuses on keeping people healthy and addresses these challenges.”

Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum
“Almost 60 percent of Asian Americans receive health care coverage through their employers and the last thing we should be doing is weakening the ability of small business owners to provide quality health care to their employees. We must not place the interests of insurance companies ahead of small businesses, our communities, and our families. When insurance companies are free to pursue profit without accountability, people have fewer choices, fewer options, and little recourse. We can’t let that happen.”

Doctors for America
“As doctors, we see how our broken health care system is failing patients and health care providers. Passing and implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is an important first step to fixing a broken system, and we must continue to move forward. Repealing the health care reform law will only move our health care system backward – and millions of patients simply can’t afford that. We urge the new Congress to work with patients and providers to improve the health reform law so we can build a health care system that works for everyone.”

National Hispanic Medical Association
“NHMA supports the Affordable Care Act as it is a step forward in caring for the health of the underserved communities and all Americans. Investing in the health of Americans, our most valuable resource, is sound policy and a wise course of action when so many diseases are preventable and treatable. For this reason we ask you to cast a vote against H.R.2.”

What Patient Groups Are Saying

Today The White House issued this press release:

As Congress considers legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act, it’s important to take a look at who is opposing repeal. Here’s what organizations representing patients with disease and illness are saying:

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network:
“Repeal of the law without a meaningful alternative that includes critical patient protections would resurrect the broken ‘sick care’ system that denied lifesaving care to people with cancer and their families. The evidence is clear that lack of access to meaningful health care is linked to later stage cancer diagnoses, which are more expensive to treat and harder to survive.”

Easter Seals:
“The goal of the health care reform law is to assure that all people have access to quality, affordable health care and long term services and supports that meet their individual needs. It is through these types of changes to the health care system that we can hope to enable all Americans, including people with disabilities and chronic conditions, to be healthy, functional, live as independently as possible and participate in their communities. Please vote NO on HR 2.”

American Heart Association:
“Patients have already benefited from the reforms that have been implemented in the last 10 months. We believe these reforms and the additional forthcoming patient protection provisions were long overdue and need to be given an opportunity to work and if necessary, improved upon. Repeal of ACA will have devastating consequences for patients and their families.”

LIVESTRONG:
LIVESTRONG supported passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act last year and we believe that repealing this law now would have a negative impact on the lives of many Americans living with cancer. Study after study has shown that those who lack insurance or who are underinsured have higher cancer mortality rates than those who have insurance therefore better access to care.

American Lung Association:
“The American Lung Association strongly opposes the repeal of this important law and urges Congress members to vote against the bill. The American Lung Association is particularly concerned about the impact the repeal of the Affordable Care Act would have on people with lung diseases. Changes required by the law are already making a difference to millions of people with lung diseases, such as lung cancer, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).”

More than 100 AIDS Service Organizations:
“We the undersigned organizations write today to strongly urge you not to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA). As a coalition of more than 100 national and community-based AIDS service organizations representing HIV medical providers, public health professionals, advocates and people living with HIV/AIDS, we urge you to consider the effect of repealing the legislation on people living with HIV/AIDS and those at risk for infection.”

Experts doubt claim that health care's a 'job killer'

McClatchy has the story:

Despite what Republicans say, the 2010 health care law isn't necessarily a job killer.

..."The claim has no justification," said Micah Weinberg, a senior research fellow at the centrist New America Foundation's Health Policy Program.

Since the law contains dual mandates that most individuals must obtain health insurance coverage and most employers must offer it by 2014, "the effect on employment is probably zero or close to it," said Amitabh Chandra, a professor of public policy at Harvard University.

Governor Beshear: Bad time to raise taxes

Governor Steve Beshear penned an op-ed column for today's Herald-Leader. Here's an excerpt:

There's lots of talk these days about tax reform.

However, if you ask 10 people what that phrase means, you will get 10 different answers. I am always open to ideas about how to make our tax laws more fair and more in tune with Kentucky's economy, but during this historic economic recession no such reform should include broad-based tax increases on Kentucky's families and businesses.

...Putting our people to work must be our top concern. That's been my strategy, and it's a strategy that's indisputably working.

Editorial comic roundup

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President Obama's weekly address

In this week’s address, President Obama said that once business resumes in Washington, he looks forward to working with members of both parties to meet the challenges facing the country. By working together in a spirit of common cause, the President and members of Congress can face these challenges in a way worthy of the voters who sent them to Washington.

Rand Paul Holds Debt Ceiling Hostage

From ThinkProgress:

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has already made it abundantly clear that he expects Republicans to demand concessions in return for raising the nation’s debt ceiling, which will have to be done sometime in the coming months. Like a slew of equally irresponsible Republicans, Paul has issued demands that he wants fulfilled in return for his vote to increase the debt limit, essentially holding the credit-worthiness of the United States hostage to his brand of radical fiscal conservatism.

Last night, Paul was asked about his stance on the debt ceiling by Fox News’ Sean Hannity, where he replied that the only way he will vote to increase the debt limit is if Congress adopts “an ironclad rule that we will balance the budget from here on after.”

...House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) — who has some radical ideas about the federal budget himself — has said that failure to raise the debt ceiling is “unworkable.” “Does it have to be raised? Yes, you can’t not raise the debt ceiling,” Ryan said. Leaving aside the myriad disastrous consequences that would result if the U.S. failed to raise the debt ceiling — and the fact that the current Congress can’t tie the hands of a future Congress, as Paul seems to imagine they can — Paul’s demand shows that he’s completely out-of-touch with what the federal budget actually looks like.

Governor Beshear's weekly address