GO VOTE- a note from my older bro

Mom and E –

It is Election Day, and if you have the opportunity to vote, you should always try and exercise your right! We do not have the greatest of choices for the Democratic primary, but I do believe that we have someone who can make a difference and much needed change in Frankfort.

I was in full support of Jonathan Miller and Irv Maze for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, but sadly they have dropped out of the race. My only consolation is that Miller/Maze endorsed our former Lieutenant Governor Steve Beshear (under Gov. Martha Layne Collins). His platform, I believe is fresh and I believe that his running mate, State Senator Daniel Mongiardo is an honest and hardworking man that can really help some of the healthcare issues we have in this state. Like I said before, I wish that Jonathan Miller had not dropped out, but I voted for Steve Beshear this morning, and am proud to say that I did.

Steve Beshear has some great ideas, and I have listed some of them below:

Promote quality, affordable healthcare coverage by:

• Covering All Children – There are currently 81,000 children in KY without healthcare
• Providing Relief for Small Businesses
• Allowing Young Adults to Keep Family Coverage Up to Age 25
• Strengthening the Health Care Safety Net

Control runaway health care costs by:

• Speeding Kentucky’s Progress Toward 21st Century e-Health
• Improving Patient Safety and Quality
• Investing in Preventive Care
• Controlling Pharmaceutical Spending
• Cracking Down on Medicaid Fraud and Abuse

To make “clean coal” technology (and others like it) a top priority

• KY is 3rd in the nation in coal production
• KY could be the nation’s leader in “clean coal” and set a standard for the rest of the nation.

To make small businesses in KY a top priority

• Large corporations (IBM, Lexmark, etc.) have been sending jobs to Mexico
• Small businesses make up 93% of the businesses in KY, and he wants to support them

THERE IS A PLAN TO GENERATE EXTRA REVENUE WITHOUT RAISING THE TAX BURDEN ON HARD-WORKING KENTUCKIANS – EXPANDED GAMING!

• You might not like the idea of expanded gaming for religious or ethical reasons, but Steve Beshear is tired of being 45th, 46th, and 47th in things like healthcare and education.
• If we allowed expanded gaming, we could poor our own money into healthcare and education reform
• Currently, we are already pouring money into these things, but our money is going to West Virginia, Indiana, and Illinois.

Raising the KY minimum wage:

• Beshear thinks that it is vital to our economy and his moral obligation to try and get the minimum wage raised
• KY hasn’t raised it since 1997. It is currently $5.15 per hour (with inflation it should be at least $6.10 per hour)
• Someone making $5.10 per hour makes approximately $10,700 a year or $5,888 under the poverty level of $16,600.

These are just a few reasons why I voted for him. There are 5 other candidates running for the Democratic nomination. The only other two that have a chance of winning are Bruce Lunsford and Steve Henry. I believe that both Lunsford and Henry have had too much scandal win the general election in November. Henry was involved in a huge Medicare fraud scandal and Lunsford and involved in a healthcare scandal involving his company (not to mention Lunsford endorsed Fletcher in 2003 and has given more money to the Republican Party over the past 10 years than the Democrats 10-fold).

Go to all three of their website, and check it out if you have time, but I think I gave you a pretty good reason to go vote for Steve Beshear!

Beshear/Mongiardo – www.stevebeshear.com

Lunsford/Stumbo – www.lunsfordstumbo2007.com

Henry/True – www.henrytrueforky.com

Hope it helps!