by Richard Nelson | Feb 19, 2018 | Blog
Today is President's Day and at a time when confidence in political leadership may be at an all-time low, it's good to celebrate the courage and conviction of leaders who've demonstrated statesmanship. Abraham Lincoln our 16th president held the Union...
by Richard Nelson | Feb 16, 2018 | Blog
A government report out of India shows there are 63 million missing girls. No, they weren't kidnapped. They've been aborted simply because they were female. Males are more highly valued in India and it's leading to a gender imbalance that is becoming quite...
by Richard Nelson | Feb 15, 2018 | Blog
Over 400 bills have been proposed in the Kentucky General Assembly this year and there's an interesting thread that runs through many of the high-profile bills. Here are a few issues they address: the opioid crisis, human trafficking, child abuse, revenge porn,...
by Richard Nelson | Feb 13, 2018 | Blog
Kentucky’s pension system is broken. So how should it be fixed? According to 13 Republican House members, casinos are the answer. They’re saying that all of the revenue would go to the state pension fund. Somehow we’re made to believe that the...
by Richard Nelson | Feb 12, 2018 | Opinion Pieces
If enticement is inherent to gambling, then the lure of easy fixes to complex state problems is the curse of legislators. Such is the case with the latest proposal to amend the Kentucky Constitution to legalize casinos. The question posed by HB 229 is straightforward:...
by Richard Nelson | Feb 12, 2018 | Blog
Philadelphia is basking in its first Super Bowl victory and fans are rejoicing and celebrating. This contrasts with a very different emotion experienced by a Kentucky community gripped by tragedy. I'm talking about Marshall County, where 14 students were shot and...
by Richard Nelson | Feb 9, 2018 | Blog
Have you ever been discouraged over the news and felt helpless that there's nothing you can do to change things? You may be just one person but there are things you can do. In fact, there are things each of us can do and it begins with small and deliberate...
by Richard Nelson | Feb 8, 2018 | Blog
Some policy issues are tough to talk about in public. Pornography is one of those issues. It's the 800 pound gorilla in the room. But headlines dealing with porn confront us on a daily basis. The latest news is from the Kentucky State House which is seeking to...
by Richard Nelson | Feb 7, 2018 | Blog
Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse delivered an impassioned pro-life speech and said "We all start in the same place: vulnerable and dependent in every way. We all ooh and aah over sonogram pictures of our children, our grandchildren, our nieces and...
by Richard Nelson | Feb 6, 2018 | Blog
Cecile Richards abruptly resigned from Planned Parenthood—the nation's biggest abortion business. Of course, Planned Parenthood has been under investigation by the FBI for allegedly selling baby body parts. As a result several states, including...
by Richard Nelson | Feb 5, 2018 | Opinion Pieces
Discussion of sexuality is fraught with tension largely because human will and desire meet moral and ethical boundaries. When such discussions become public, they often end up in contentious debate. So when a Kentucky Senator proposed a bill mandating abstinence until...
by Richard Nelson | Feb 2, 2018 | Blog
Kentucky's prisons are full. In fact, we have the 9th highest incarceration rate in the nation. On top of it, we're seeing the prison population increase even though the national prison population is declining. According to the Justice Reinvestment Work Group,...
by Richard Nelson | Feb 1, 2018 | Blog
Is legalizing pot for recreational use the way to grow an economy? According to State Sen. Dan Seum, the answer is yes. Seum said “It’s out there. We’re using it anyway. We might as well reap the harvest so to speak.” He...
by Richard Nelson | Jan 31, 2018 | Blog
The Kentucky legislature is considering a bill that says wherever sex-ed is taught in the public schools they should teach abstinence until marriage as the ideal for human sexuality. It may go against the culture of sexual permissiveness but our children should...
by Richard Nelson | Jan 30, 2018 | Blog
Kentucky ranks 44th in teen pregnancy. Sexually transmitted disease (STD) are at an all-time high. And one in four women will have had an abortion by age 45. These statistics point to broken sexuality but a recently proposed bill helps high schoolers avoid the...
by Richard Nelson | Jan 29, 2018 | Blog
Last Tuesday morning Marshall County High School should have been a typical school day. There should have been teenaged voices in the halls and sophomores and juniors scurrying off to class. But instead, at 7:57, shots rang out and struck 20 students. Two 15-year olds...
by Richard Nelson | Jan 26, 2018 | Blog
One of the areas that escaped cuts in the recent state budget proposal was foster care. In fact, the governor proposed the creation of a new adoption and foster care program funded at $11 million. Gov. Bevin said "you think of the role of government and its there...
by Richard Nelson | Jan 25, 2018 | Blog
Tuesday morning at Marshall County High School started out as a typical school day. Sophomores and juniors carrying books and backpacks scurried down the halls. Teachers were settling in for another day as lively voices filled the classrooms. But at 7:57 a.m. shots...
by Richard Nelson | Jan 25, 2018 | Blog
Kentucky became the first state in the nation to receive a federal waiver to require able-bodied Medicaid recipients to work, go to school, or engage in community service at least 20-hours per week. This is a major change to the Medicaid program. The plan is to...
by Richard Nelson | Jan 24, 2018 | Blog
Since 2014, nearly a half-million Kentuckians joined the Medicaid rolls since the Affordable Care Act lowered the participation threshold. Today, one out of every three Kentuckians are on Medicaid, which begs the question: is it a policy achievement to have more...
