Beshear's gas tax reduction idea gets roundly ridiculed

When Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear recently announced his idea for helping the state's residents get some relief from skyrocketing gas prices, his laughable suggestion was properly met with scorn and ridicule.

Beshear's proposal is to suspend a scheduled two-cent-per-gallon tax increase that is set to go into effect on July 1. That idea went over about as well as could be expected -- that is to say, it wasn't well-received at all.

A price reduction that minimal wouldn't even be noticed by consumers who've seen prices at the pump more than double since President Biden took office in January 2021. Indeed, prices have risen 20 to 30 cents a gallon in the week since Beshear offered up his idea.

It's questionable, in fact, if the governor even has the legal authority to suspend the tax hike. The two-cent increase was passed by the General Assembly as part of a sliding scale measure a few years ago to set a floor on the gas tax rate to shore up the state's Road Fund, which pays for construction and maintenance of state highways and also funds maintenance of county roads and city streets. Since the legislature approved the tax structure, the legislature would have to alter it.

Beshear also rightfully was ridiculed when he said he was going to consult with Attorney General Daniel Cameron about declaring a state of emergency so the state's price gouging prohibitions could be enacted. This little bit of political grandstanding came about because the legislature limited the governor's powers to declare emergencies after Beshear abused his authority in dealing with the Wuhan Chinese virus.

To the average Kentuckian, the price of gas -- and inflation in general -- is more of an emergency than the Kung Flu ever was. Unlike the pandemic, where people could make their own decisions as to how they were going to protect themselves, the economy is something over which they have no control. They're helpless as prices continue to rise to the point that they have to make tough decisions on which bills to pay. For many, who have to drive long distances to work because jobs are unavailable in their small towns and rural communities, their paycheck is being consumed by the fuel it takes to get to their place of employment.

Meanwhile Cameron, like the Democrats who preceded him in office, sits idly by while gasoline retailers collude to set prices in their individual neighborhoods or communities. Ever wonder why when one station in a town raises its price, everyone else does too? Big news was made a few years ago when a gas station/convenience store/restaurant in Clay County refused to join the collusion game and instead consistently priced its gas well below other stations in the Manchester area. Other retailers began threatening the station, but it didn't back down. Although the station wasn't identified in the news story, it later became known that the business was Alvin's, which also defied many of Beshear's Kung Flu orders regarding masks.

The sad truth is, the Democrats in charge of Kentucky and the United States want these high prices. They want gasoline to be unaffordable. It gives them a chance to push their "Green New Deal" agenda and assert even more control over the populace.

If Andy Beshear was serious about helping Kentuckians with these rising costs, he wouldn't propose a laughable delay of an implementation of a two-cent-per-gallon tax increase. He would, instead, go ahead and declare the state of emergency to invoke the anti-price gouging legislation, then call the legislature into special session to extend that emergency order for as long as gas prices remain exorbitant and at record high levels.

During that special session, Beshear could also ask the legislature to suspend the state's 28-cents-per-gallon gas tax until pump prices fall below a reasonable level, such as $2.50 a gallon. He could also ask the General Assembly to reconsider the proposed income tax rebate that was considered in the regular session earlier this year but became a victim of the reconciliation process between the House and Senate. A tax rebate of $500 for individual filers and $1,000 for joint filers was proposed by the Senate. Offering that tax rebate could help Kentuckians offset inflationary pressures.

Likewise, Biden could do more to help relieve the economic pain by asking Congress to suspend the federal gas tax, repealing all the executive orders he's issued since taking office that have driven up oil and gas prices, and reverse the embargo on Russian oil. He could also ask Congress to provide a tax rebate to assist working Americans.

Believe it or not, Biden still has defenders out there who agree with him that Vladimir Putin caused all this grief when Russia invaded Ukraine. Unfortunately for the Delaware Dummy and his fan club, there's an easily verifiable timeline that shows how Biden's actions have driven up prices before and after the invasion. Read it and weep, Biden sycophants:

 

Anytime someone makes the claim that the president is not responsible for gas prices, find this chart and show them. Each executive decision Biden has made regarding oil production, starting on his first day in office when he canceled construction of the Keystone XL pipeline that would deliver Canadian oil to Gulf of Mexico refineries, has made the price of gas go up. There's a definite cause and effect relationship here. Should a Republican take office in 2025 and immediately reverse these decisions, you'd see an immediate resulting reduction in prices.

There are definite steps that liberal politicians like Beshear and Biden could take to provide consumers with some relief, but they aren't inclined to do so. It will take more than the clueless Biden's "Putin caused this" feeble and helpless claims for him to escape responsibility for the economic destruction his energy policies have caused. And it will certainly take more than Beshear's politically pandering but worthless promise to stop a minuscule impending gas tax hike to protect the working class from runaway price increases.

In Beshear's case, relief depends on him trusting the GOP-controlled state legislature and allowing it to do its job. A narrow special session call designed to address the gas price crisis is all it would take. Beshear should be on the phone immediately with House Speaker David Osborne and Senate President David Williams to hammer out a consensus for a legislative agenda. The Republicans are anxious and ready to provide relief to consumers. Beshear needs to relinquish his need to control everything and work in a spirit of cooperation to help the state.

The Democrats are going to take beatings in the Kentucky state legislative races and in the national congressional elections this fall unless they take bold measures to protect the people from these unaffordable price increases. Silly reductions in scheduled tax increases won't get the job done, and most will see through that idea for the ineffective political ploy it is. Leaders' words ring hollow unless they are willing to take real, decisive action and not just practice performative politics that accomplish nothing.

Kentucky needs some trickle-down conservatism

The capital of Kentucky is Frankfort. The geographical center of the state is in Marion County, near Lebanon. And some say the economic and commercial center of the state is Louisville.

But it's very obvious that the political capital and epicenter of the Bluegrass State is in northern Kentucky, where true conservatism is alive and thriving. The Cincinnati suburbs are the hotbed of what's called the liberty movement. The loss of three powerful establishment GOP General Assembly members just proves how strong the party's base is becoming.

Each of the three defeated legislators had a particular weakness that their opponent exploited. C. Ed Massey was an opponent of school choice, which is increasingly becoming a key issue for the GOP grassroots. Sal Santoro was a consistent advocate for increasing the gasoline tax, a terribly bad idea anytime but especially now as pump prices have reached record levels. And Adam Koenig has been a critic of Donald Trump and a vocal proponent of expanded gambling, something that social conservatives don't favor. (Plus, Koenig had a problem that crossed the boundaries of personal and political when his use of his official state government e-mail address on an Internet sex site for married people seeking extramarital affairs became a campaign issue.)

Beyond the three high-profile legislative losses, establishment forces are ceding vital ground in the party hierarchy. Conservatives are taking over local party leadership positions and, with varying degrees of success, are running for local elective offices against GOP incumbents.

Grassroots conservatives have been saying for years that they're tired of the party being run by a bunch of liberals who'd rather capitulate to the Democrats on key issues than stand on principles and oppose Democrats' proposals and policies.

If northern Kentucky is the hotbed of conservatism, some of that philosophy needs to trickle down to the rest of the state, where establishment Republican incumbents won renomination in primary battles against liberty-minded challengers.

Each of the three petitioners who sought to impeach Gov. Andy Beshear over his unconstitutional executive orders in reaction to the Wuhan Chinese virus pandemic ran for the legislature. Each lost, to the detriment of liberty-lovers in Kentucky.

In west-central Kentucky, Jacob Clark ran against Rep. Samara Heavrin, who was a Santoro ally in advocating for a gas tax increase. In the Bluegrass region, Tony Wheatley tried to unseat Kim King, who supported vaccination mandates. And also in that region, Sen. Donald Douglas' supporters in the Senate leadership spent thousands of dollars to help him fend off a challenge from Andrew Cooperrider, a small business owner who was one of the most vocal critics of the Beshear lockdowns because they directly and negatively impacted him.

Kentucky's Democrats had some off-the-wall takes concerning the GOP incumbents' losses. Since Congressman Thomas Massie had supported the challengers' campaigns, the official KDP Twitter account said the Kentucky GOP had lost control of Massie, who was in open rebellion against the party.

If Democrats want to function in a party that's controlled from the top down, with leadership dictating things, they can feel free. Republicans don't want to operate that way. They want the party's leaders reflecting their views, not telling them how to vote. Massie was reflecting the views of the majority of his Republican constituents in supporting Marianne Proctor, Steve Rawlings, and Steven Doan over the incumbents who lost.

But perhaps the craziest comment came from radical lefty Jacob Payne, former Page One Kentucky blogger who's still active in promoting liberal causes on Twitter. He said the reason the incumbents lost to the challengers was because he and a group of Democrats had worked against the sitting legislators and were trying to handicap the Republicans by sending the most conservative representatives possible to Frankfort.

Seriously? If he and his imaginary friends think that's harmful, they're missing a few screws. Sending conservatives to the General Assembly is one of those "please don't throw us in that briar patch" moments. Having more freedom-minded legislators in Frankfort works to our benefit, not to our detriment. With a few more voices from the right around, existing conservatives may be more emboldened to stake out and support positions backed by the base.

Voter registration in Kentucky is close to 50-50 now, as Democrats are changing parties and new voters are flocking to the GOP. These new voters fleeing liberal ideology don't want their new political home to be a haven for the beliefs they reject. They will demand that Republicans uphold conservative values to include opposing elective abortion, cutting taxes, reducing the size and scope of government, preserving and protecting individual rights, and other basic planks of a constitutional agenda. If Republican officials and leaderss don't act differently than Democrats, these new voters will desert the GOP as fast as they've joined. Republicans aren't poised to become the majority party in Kentucky because of a great love of Mitch McConnell or Damon Thayer or Michael Adams. The appeal is because of the Rand Pauls, Tom Massies, Matt Bevins, Savannah Maddoxes, and others who carry the conservative banner.

Can the conservatism that's becoming the dominant political mindset drip down the map to the rest of Kentucky? If this state is to escape the ravages of Democrat rule that has plagued it for decades, it's vital that it does. The GOP-supermajority legislature disappointed conservatives in the 2022 session by taking baby steps. While legislative leaders will pat themselves on the back for standing up to Beshear's agenda, the reality is they approved and enabled far too much of it.

As much as the GOP establishment and the Democrats would like to think that this explosion of conservatism is confined to northern Kentucky, and Boone County specifically, they may be in for a surprise. The Republican revolution is not being fought by moderates and backers of the status quo. The soldiers in this battle are the party's activists and the grassroots voters. This movement needs to trickle down from the Ohio River border counties to the rest of the state.