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March 26, 2007

House Bill 228 shields porkers from scrutiny

In the waning hours of the Kentucky General Assembly, leaders in the Kentucky Senate have just approved a measure that would allow them to place an even tighter vice grip on legislation.

The Herald-Leader’s John Stamper sums it up (March 22 Herald-Leader story):

The proposal would clarify that lawmakers have the ability to set aside existing laws and create new laws within the executive branch budget bill, which appropriates billions of dollars once every two years. It was put into an unrelated House bill by a Senate committee last week.

Unlike most other bills, the final details of a budget bill are usually hammered out in closed-door meetings of leading lawmakers from the House and Senate. Most rank-and-file legislators have no opportunity to even read the mammoth document before casting a vote on the measure in its entirety.

The size and secrecy of the last two Kentucky state budgets should serve as a reminder to all fiscal watchdogs that the General Assembly continues to actively seek opportunities to spend more of your money with less scrutiny. Lawmakers who vote for the current version of HB 228 do not represent fiscal conservatism. They do not represent the interests of all the Kentucky families on tight budgets who have to pay the bills for the state. House Bill 228 is little more than a cynical repackaging of House Bill 184.

 

UPDATE: The bill in its current form no longer contains the offensive elements. The bill is, though not perfect, far better than it was a few weeks ago. 

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March 13, 2007

Minimum Wage

After ten members of the House stood up to the faulty economics of a minimum wage hike, just five voted against a minimum wage hike the second time around.

 

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March 12, 2007

Minimum Wage ... again

Only one Kentucky state Senator had the courage to vote against a minimum wage hike: Dick Roeding. Any questions?

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March 9, 2007

Kentucky's senate votes to raise minimum wage

The Kentucky Senate passed a hike in Kentucky's minimum wage Thursday. What does this decision mean for voters, businesses and unskilled workers?
 
It means that the Kentucky Senate has little to no understanding of basic economics. When lawmakers decide that employees are worth a minimum amount, they are not making workers more valuable. When a legislature decides that you must pay a worker a minimum amount - and decides that no worker may accept an amount below a proscribed minimum - that legislature has decided that the free market cannot be trusted to set prices for labor.
 
It means that the business community realizes that lawmakers don't trust them to do what's best for their own bottom lines. Businesses often exist on very narrow profit margins. When a government arbitrarily forces businesses to pay more for labor, that government is harming the businesses that will have to endure the additional cost. It means that businesses will have to make myriad difficult hiring and firing decisions to preserve those narrow profits. A minimum wage is a tax on labor.
 
It means that the poor and unskilled workers will find a harsher labor market. Those workers who need experience and job skills the most will have a harder time getting hired knowing that their value may not measure up to the new minimum wage. These workers deserve a chance at the first rung of the employment ladder. A hike in the minimum wage simply puts that first job out of reach for many workers.
 
The bottom line is that any lawmaker who supports a wage control or a price control is not a lawmaker who wants Kentucky's economy to grow. That lawmaker may know that the economics of wage controls work against Kentucky's best interests, but feels compelled to obey the misguided notions of certain voters.
 
The Kentucky Club for Growth endorses the free market as the best means to assign prices to goods, services and labor. Wage and price controls do not support growth. Lawmakers who support minimum wages do not support Kentucky's future!

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March 7, 2007

The 'Northup Trifecta'

The ‘Northup Trifecta’ of failed fiscal policy dates back to May 2002, when Citizens Against Government Waste named Northup “Porker of the Month” for her efforts at funding a Louisville-based foundation she started with taxpayer dollars.
 
More recently, National Journal, a respected Washington, D.C.-based news publication, issued its liberal-conservative vote ratings for members of the U.S. House and Senate. That ranking gave Northup an outrageous 27.8% liberal voting record, the most liberal record of any Republican in Kentucky’s congressional delegation.
 
Just last week, a third national watchdog group brought to light Northup’s liberal voting record on taxes as a member of Congress. The National Taxpayers Union, also based in Washington, published its annual rating that awarded Northup a C+ and a numerical score of 54%. According to its website, the NTU rates congressmen and senators on their actual votes that significantly affect taxes, spending, debt and regulatory burdens on consumers and taxpayers.

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March 1, 2007

Want to see where your tax cut went?

Instead of a tax cut, you got HB1, more spending the state supposedly couldn't afford last year but suddenly can afford this year. Aren't you happy?

Five members of the Kentucky House voted against this egregious spending. Want to know who they were?

DeCesare (R)

Farmer (R)

Floyd (R)

Koenig (R)

Lee,S (R)

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