Two bills to watch when the General Assembly comes back, House Bill 15 and Senate Bill 45, both would require a prescription for cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine.
Here is a time when common sense is doing battle with a well-funded political lobby.
If the bills pass here are some thoughts:
The number of meth labs in Kentucky decrease substantially. This has been the experience of both Mississippi and Oregon where similar laws have been passed.
There will be some loss of tax revenue since prescription drugs cannot be taxed in Kentucky. No one has put a number to the revenue loss, but I have a hard time believing that pseudoephedrine is a major revenue stream for the Commonwealth. On the flip side Kentucky would not be spending money to clean up toxic waste that meth labs generate.
The argument that the drugs will suddenly be too costly seems a bit odd. In Kentucky you already have to get a pharmacist to dispense the drug. Unless there is some price gouging by the manufactures or the pharmacies then the price of the drug should about remain the same. Also if the drug is added to the formulary of major Insurance plans it might be even cheaper.
Currently there is a real time computer tracking system for pseudoephedrine purchases. There is an argument that if the law passes, the drug would be tracked by KASPER system that tracks all controlled substances. The KASPER system is not real time and would therefore hamper police investigations.
Seems to me there are two solutions here; either one, use both systems, or two; upgrade the KASPER system to real time.
But the bottom line is regardless of what computer system is used they are not working to decrease the number of meth labs. The number of meth labs continues to rise.
Law enforcement, medical professionals and even powerful politicians like Representative Hal Rodgers are in favor of the bill.
So who opposes it?
Drug companies, with a lot of money and lobbyists, that see there volume of sales dropping if the medication is not an over the counter drug. If the law passes the drug companies have two options; one raise the price and be seen for what they are; or two suck up the loss and act like human beings.
This is a good law. This is an opportunity for legislators to step up and do the right thing.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Vetting Process Works - a little slowly
One of the early bumps in Lexington Mayor Jim Gray’s new administration; Robert Ramsey, designated Commissioner of General Services has resigned prior to his confirmation hearing.
The Commissioner of General Services oversees the city's parks system, the fleet of vehicles and maintains city buildings and property. There appears to have been some question regarding code violations on property owned by Ramsey.
The full story can be found at Lexbix.com.
This is one plus and one minus for the Gray administration.
The plus is the vetting process worked. The minus is it didn’t work before the appointment.
The Commissioner of General Services oversees the city's parks system, the fleet of vehicles and maintains city buildings and property. There appears to have been some question regarding code violations on property owned by Ramsey.
The full story can be found at Lexbix.com.
This is one plus and one minus for the Gray administration.
The plus is the vetting process worked. The minus is it didn’t work before the appointment.
Because It Is Legal Doesn't Mean It's Right
I don’t know how many times during a discussion I’ve heard the phrase “Well. It’s the law.”
What bothers me about this phrase is that what is legal is not necessary what is right.
What is legal is often times the result of political pandering and posturing. Other times it’s a reflection of who had the most money to throw at legislators.
In Kentucky we have a number of laws, in my opinion, that fall in that category.
For example:
The amendment to the Kentucky Constitution banning gay marriage falls into the pandering group. When is it ever a good idea to I’m still waiting to see that first traditional marriage that was saved by this law.
When I was growing up there was soda shop / candy store a block from my house. Everyone, even little kids, new you could play the numbers game there and in the back room were all these flashing machines, but kids couldn’t go in there.
Today, we can all play the numbers racket, it’s called the Lottery. The lottery is a voluntary, mostly regressive, legal tax on people who dream big and can’t do math. Is it the right way to fund government? Not really.
The flashy machines in the back room aren’t legal yet but the governor is working on it.
In Kentucky you can’t go on the internet to buy a bottle of wine from California or anywhere else because no common carriers have approved shipments into Kentucky under the direct-to-consumer law. Only a winery producing 50,000 gallons annually or less are eligible to apply for a direct-to-consumer permit, but may not ship to dry zip codes. This is a felony in Kentucky.
Does this law benefit the wine industry in Kentucky? No, it benefits a few major distributors who pony up major political contributions.
As a matter of fact the Commonwealth pays the distributors $12.00 per case to distribute Kentucky wine. You sell the wine make a profit and the state gives you $12.00 a case to do it. So who do you think is driving the boat, the consumers, the wine makers or the middle men?
I can go on and on with examples, but I think you get the drift.
Money and power drive the system and so as long as we continue to elect legislators whose major interest is keeping their jobs and partying with lobbyists we will continue to get things made legal even if they aren’t the right thing to do.
What bothers me about this phrase is that what is legal is not necessary what is right.
What is legal is often times the result of political pandering and posturing. Other times it’s a reflection of who had the most money to throw at legislators.
In Kentucky we have a number of laws, in my opinion, that fall in that category.
For example:
The amendment to the Kentucky Constitution banning gay marriage falls into the pandering group. When is it ever a good idea to I’m still waiting to see that first traditional marriage that was saved by this law.
When I was growing up there was soda shop / candy store a block from my house. Everyone, even little kids, new you could play the numbers game there and in the back room were all these flashing machines, but kids couldn’t go in there.
Today, we can all play the numbers racket, it’s called the Lottery. The lottery is a voluntary, mostly regressive, legal tax on people who dream big and can’t do math. Is it the right way to fund government? Not really.
The flashy machines in the back room aren’t legal yet but the governor is working on it.
In Kentucky you can’t go on the internet to buy a bottle of wine from California or anywhere else because no common carriers have approved shipments into Kentucky under the direct-to-consumer law. Only a winery producing 50,000 gallons annually or less are eligible to apply for a direct-to-consumer permit, but may not ship to dry zip codes. This is a felony in Kentucky.
Does this law benefit the wine industry in Kentucky? No, it benefits a few major distributors who pony up major political contributions.
As a matter of fact the Commonwealth pays the distributors $12.00 per case to distribute Kentucky wine. You sell the wine make a profit and the state gives you $12.00 a case to do it. So who do you think is driving the boat, the consumers, the wine makers or the middle men?
I can go on and on with examples, but I think you get the drift.
Money and power drive the system and so as long as we continue to elect legislators whose major interest is keeping their jobs and partying with lobbyists we will continue to get things made legal even if they aren’t the right thing to do.
An Apology to J. Stan Lee
Last night it was brought to my attention that I had been unfair to my state representative J. Stan Lee by making him my example of legislators, in my mind, taking an unreasonable amount of expense money.
I will do a mea culpa here. I should have stressed how all the legislators get the same amount.
So Stan, if I was unfair to you, I’m sorry, but I still what to know what expenses you had to pay with that $13,908.40?
In the name of fairness I pose the same question to the rest of the legislators representing Fayette County. Can anyone explain why four lawyers, one of whom was Governor, two bankers, a tax accountant, a Minister, two community volunteers and a realtor each need a nearly $14,000.00 expense check when they all live so close to the Capitol?
Anyone of you that want to step and answer this I’ll publish your reply here. I’m directing that to you J. Stan Lee (Lawyer), Tom Buford (Banker), Julian Carroll (lawyer, Former Governor), Jesse Crenshaw (Lawyer), Bob Damron (Investment Banker), Bill Farmer (Tax Accountant), Kelly Flood, (Minister), Alice Forgy Kerr, (community volunteer), Ruth Ann Palumbo, (community volunteer).Kathy Stein, (Lawyer), and Susan Westrom (realtor).
The only answer I can come up with is that all members of the legislature wanted a bigger pay check and this is a way to do it without have to actually admitting they are all, giving themselves a pay raise.
If you want to pay for expenses for a legislator how about the same rules that apply to state government employees.
I will do a mea culpa here. I should have stressed how all the legislators get the same amount.
So Stan, if I was unfair to you, I’m sorry, but I still what to know what expenses you had to pay with that $13,908.40?
In the name of fairness I pose the same question to the rest of the legislators representing Fayette County. Can anyone explain why four lawyers, one of whom was Governor, two bankers, a tax accountant, a Minister, two community volunteers and a realtor each need a nearly $14,000.00 expense check when they all live so close to the Capitol?
Anyone of you that want to step and answer this I’ll publish your reply here. I’m directing that to you J. Stan Lee (Lawyer), Tom Buford (Banker), Julian Carroll (lawyer, Former Governor), Jesse Crenshaw (Lawyer), Bob Damron (Investment Banker), Bill Farmer (Tax Accountant), Kelly Flood, (Minister), Alice Forgy Kerr, (community volunteer), Ruth Ann Palumbo, (community volunteer).Kathy Stein, (Lawyer), and Susan Westrom (realtor).
The only answer I can come up with is that all members of the legislature wanted a bigger pay check and this is a way to do it without have to actually admitting they are all, giving themselves a pay raise.
If you want to pay for expenses for a legislator how about the same rules that apply to state government employees.
Is Jack Conway Running?
What going on with Jack Conway? The filing deadline is a few days away. The race looks like a cakewalk, but he hasn’t filed the papers.
And more of the key staff members are heading for the exit. Scott Crawford Sutherland is leaving at the end of this month.
This isn’t the way it usually works.
And more of the key staff members are heading for the exit. Scott Crawford Sutherland is leaving at the end of this month.
This isn’t the way it usually works.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)