ANDY BARR

Andy Barrs past should give any voters serious doubts about his fitness to serve as a U.S. Congressman. He was previously convicted of holding a fake drivers license and then lied about that conviction when he applied for state government jobs. Further, Barr served as the lawyer for LINK, an organization that assisted in cronyism, finding jobs for friends of influential Republican leaders. The organization was investigated by the Kentucky Attorney General for this in 2005 and 2006. Finally, Barr claims that he would have voted for the Ryan Plan, which would make painful cuts to Medicare and Social Security.

Fraud And Public Drunkenness

Barr Charged with Possession of Fake Drivers License. According to Lexington Herald-Leader, In 1993, as a 19-year-old college student in Key West, Fla., Barr was charged by police with possession of a fake Mississippi drivers license. He pleaded guilty and was ordered to provide eight hours of community service, according to court records. [Lexington Herald-Leader, 4/11/10] Barr Omitted Fraud Charge in State Government Job Application. According to Lexington Herald-Leader, When Barr applied for state government jobs under Fletcher, he checked No on the sections asking if he had ever been convicted of violating any law other than minor traffic violations. Barr said he believed his Florida conviction was minor and did not merit disclosure. [Lexington Herald-Leader, 4/11/10]

Barr Charged with Public Drinking. According to Lexington Herald-Leader, In 1999, Lexington police charged Barr, then 26, with public drinking in front of Wildcat Drive-In Liquor on North Broadway, according to court records. His attorney got the charge dismissed four months later. Barr declined to explain the circumstances behind those charges. [Lexington Herald-Leader, 4/11/10]

Cronyism
Barr Was General Counsel for Local Initiatives for a New Kentucky (LINK). According to Lexington Herald-Leader, Between stints in the governors office, Barr was general counsel for a state agency, Local Initiatives for a New Kentucky, or LINK, that was a focus of the attorney generals merit-hiring investigation in 2005 and 2006. [Lexington Herald-Leader, 4/11/10] LINK Played a Key Role in Finding Jobs for Friends of Republican Leaders. According to Lexington Herald-Leader, LINK employees played a key role in satisfying

local Republican leaders who wanted state merit jobs for family and friends, according to records released in the investigation. They politically promoted Fletcher in their assigned regions and told their supervisors about local news coverage critical of the governor. LINKs director was indicted the indictment later was dismissed and LINK representatives were named as unindicted co-conspirators. Fletcher disbanded LINK, saying, Some appeared to have been overzealous and too eager to please. Barr was not charged in the investigation or accused of wrongdoing. [Lexington Herald-Leader, 4/11/10] Barr Conducted Ethics Training for LINK Colleagues. According to Lexington HeraldLeader, Barr said he conducted ethics training for his LINK colleagues in his role as their lawyer. He said he warned them about a state ethics ruling that slapped previous Gov. Paul Pattons administration for letting insiders promote people for merit jobs. Once prosecutors convened a grand jury, Barr said, my job was to make sure that people were cooperating with the investigation. [Lexington Herald-Leader, 4/11/10]

Ryan Plan Support

Barr Would Have Voted for the Ryan Plan to End Medicare. According to Politico, In a nearly half-hour phone interview Wednesday night, Barr said he would have voted for Rep. Paul Ryans budget and against increasing the debt ceiling without significant spending cuts. I believe that we have got to be adults in the discussion about entitlement reform, and that means preserving our commitment to current seniors no question but for future generations, what we have to consider is that the politicians in Washington who put their head in the sand and refuse to do anything are the greatest threat to the long-term solvency of Medicare, he said. [Politico, 6/9/11] Wall Street Journal: Ryan Plan Would Essentially End Medicare. According to Naftali Bendavid at the Wall Street Journal, The plan would essentially end Medicare, which now pays most of the health-care bills for 48 million elderly and disabled Americans, as a program that directly pays those bills. [Wall Street Journal, 4/4/11] Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel: Ryan Budget Plan Would Nearly Double Out-OfPocket Costs for Seniors. The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reported that The Ryan budget plan would cut federal spending on Medicaid, which provides health care for the poor, and begin distributing money by block grant to states. The plan would do away with Medicare's direct payment for health care for seniors, replacing it with a voucher system in which recipients choose private insurers. The plan would do away with Medicare's direct payment for health care for seniors, replacing it with a voucher system in which recipients choose private insurers. The Congressional Budget Office found that part of the plan, which would take effect in 2022, could nearly double out-of-pocket costs for seniors. [Ft Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, 4/16/2011] Economic Policy Institute: Ryan Budget Would Result in Roughly 900,000 Jobs Lost in 2012 and Roughly 1.3 Million Jobs Lost in 2013. According to the Economic Policy Institute, Using a standard macroeconomic model that is consistent with that used by private- and public-sector forecasters, we estimate that the shock to aggregate demand from near-term NSD spending cuts would result in roughly 900,000 jobs lost in 2012 and roughly 1.3 million jobs lost in 2013. Cumulatively, cuts of this magnitude would result in a loss of 2.2 million jobs over the next two years, or 3.1 million full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs. [Economic Policy Institute, 4/13/11]

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Two-Thirds of the Ryan Plans Cuts Come from Programs Helping the Poor and Middle Class. In April 2011, Robert Greenstein, President of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said that nearly two-thirds about $2.9 trillion of the Ryan Plans $4.5 trillion in budget cuts over ten years comes from programs aiding the poor or disadvantaged. The $2.17 trillion of these cuts come from Medicaid and repeal of the expansion of Medicaid under the 2011 health care reform law. The remainder of the $2.9 trillion would come from non-health related services to the poor, such as Pell Grants, food stamps, and low-income housing programs. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Press Release, 4/20/11, 4/20/11] New York Times Editorial: Ryan Plan Would End Medicares Guaranteed Benefit. The House Republican budget would mean that older Americans no longer have a guarantee that Medicare will pay for their health needs. [] He would still offer the elderly a fixed amount of money to shop for their own health insurance, but allow the option of enrolling in traditional Medicare. [New York Times Editorial, 3/20/12]