Mediaboss Marketing

ASHLAND The Attorney Generals of Kentucky and West Virginia came to Ashland Thursday afternoon to chew the fat about the rule of law, guns, God and opioids.

The appearance at the Train Depot was part of a two-leg tour by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the first Black man to hold statewide office, and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, whos held that seat in the Mountain State since 2013.

Hosted by Ashland Alliance, Tim Gibbs the chamber's president played moderator, lobbing up the questions from a list of vetted topics to the two men who pretty much agreed on everything.

Here's what the top cops in the Bluegrass and the Mountain State had to say:

Rule of Law

Cameron: The Rule of Law means applying the statutes and constitution to everyone equally, without fear or favor. No one is above the law and whether you're an individual or a business entity, it doesn't matter.

Morrisey: Rule of Law means applying the law regardless of political or economic circumstances. There are no Republican laws or Democrat laws. I think in this environment, attorney generals need to apply the law without political goals.

Context: Cameron has come under fire nationally after refusing to indict the police officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor, while Morrisey joined the suit by the Texas Attorney General to overturn the results of a lawful federal election.

Economic Development in Appalachia

Morrisey: We have to be optimistic because we have a richness in our people and that's where economic development starts. If you look at the COVID monies, we can use that on capital expenditures for broadband and entice a lot of people from the cities to move to West Virginia and Kentucky to work remotely.

Cameron: I was speaking with the Judge-Executive of Floyd County today and he said five years ago, his sons were going to leave for the big city because there were no jobs there. Thanks to expanded internet access, they stayed and now work remotely. I believe broadband will encourage people to stay at home and stay in place and we can stop this brain drain.

Context: According to the Appalachian Regional Commission, broadband access in the entire region (ranging from western New York to northern Alabama) is about 78%, while national it is 83%. However, counties in central Appalachia still lag behind, particularly in Kentucky and West Virginia. They're at around 70% access, according to the ARC. The ARC also notes there is divide between urban areas of Appalachia and the rural areas. Neither AG addressed how blue collar workers will be helped through broadband access.

Federal Overreach

Cameron: We fight federal overreach daily. Whenever a new administration comes in, there's a grace period to see what they do. What I've seen from this current administration, from taxes to COVID to energy is they have tried to overreach in many different areas. The new clean power rules contained in the infrastructure bill would be disastrous to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. We could lose 30,000 jobs and see our electric bill increase by 27%.

Morrisey: When I started in 2013, I was up to my eyeballs in alligators with the Obama administration's overreach. This is Obama 4.0. The Biden administration does not have much respect for the rule of law. We see this in an unprecedented amount of illegal aliens and fentanyl flowing across the border, vaccine mandates that they're trying to push onto companies and an energy policy that would be cataclysmic for Kentucky and West Virginia.

Context: With all the talks about energy, in early July Cameron actually bucked against Morrisey by recommending the Kentucky Public Service Commission deny a request by Kentucky Power to put $67 million in upgrades into a coal fire plant in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. Biden's current push for a COVID vaccine mandate in the private sector hasn't received much push back from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers or the Business Roundtable, some of the top business organizations in the country.

The Opioid Crisis

Cameron: I believe in a two pronged approach of putting the people who distribute drugs in jail and going after the manufacturers of pharmaceutical drugs who marketed this poison in our communities. Kentucky is a part of a global settlement in which our commonwealth is getting $482 million to help restore our communities.

Morrisey: I think the opioid crisis is an example of how important it is to collaborate because this crisis does not recognize borders and jurisdictions. It is everywhere. I believe we should focus on the supply and the demand and look at the root causes of the problem. We need to spend this settlement money wisely.

Context: In July, the companies at the center of a massive class action lawsuit agreed to settle the litigation with a $26 billion payout, to be signed off by the states involved. According to an Aug. 24 Reuters article, West Virginia did not sign the agreement. Kentucky, however, did.

The Second Amendment

Morrisey: The Second Amendment is one of the most cherished basic liberties we have. When I took office, we increased reciprocity to 38 states, supported constitutional carry and are now opposing moves by the Biden Administration to regulate ghost guns and pistol braces. They're trying to say a pistol brace is a short-barreled rifle, when really it's a just a tool that allows the elderly and the disabled to exercise their rights.

Cameron: Our General Assembly has done a great job at protecting the Second Amendment and my office has helped craft resolutions for counties to say the federal government can't infringe on our freedoms. Right now, we are fighting for our ability to have bump stocks and continue to support the Second Amendment.

Context: While the Biden Administration is currently looking into regulating Ghost Guns guns put together with unfinished receivers the pistol brace regulations and the bump stock bans originated in the Trump Administration. The pistol brace rule was put out for public comment by the ATF in December 2020, during Trump's lame duck session, but rescinded within five days following an uproar by Congressional Republicans. The bump stock ban was put in place in 2019, in response to the 2017 Las Vegas massacre.

Religious Liberties

Cameron: We have seen during a period of emergency the scaling back of First Amendment rights when our executive here in Kentucky made the decision to shut down churches. You could go driving on a Sunday morning and see no cars in the church parking lots, but still see them at big box stores. I'm all for commerce, but religion is protected by the Constitution while big box stores are not.

Morrisey: When we started to see religions organized, people were prosecuted for their faith. Our Constitution was novel in that it has protections for peoples faiths. There's a lot of people eroding religion and we have to watch out for it because it's under assault. They're forcing business owners and bakers to do things they don't want to do and undermining the integrity of women's sports.

Context: During the lockdowns in 2020, Gov. Andy Beshear issued an executive order banning mass congregations, including at churches. Several churches flouted the rule and it was quickly rescinded. Also, the Bible doesn't mention a whole lot about women's sports.

(606) 326-2653 |

henry@dailyindependent.com

We are making critical coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story.

The rest is here:
Ky., W.Va. AGs visit Ashland | News | dailyindependent.com - The Independent