Jack Conway

Jack Conway is the Attorney General of Kentucky who's running against Rand Paul for the open seat of retiring Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY).  Jack Conway ran for the seat of Attorney General in 2007 and won the seat.  He's been Attorney General since 2008.  Jack Conway was born in Louisville Kentucky on July 5, 1969.  He's the eldest of four children.  Tom and Barbara Conway are his parents.  Conway is a graduate of St. Xavier High.  Conway received an undergraduate degree from Duke University in 1991 and worked as a legislative aide to the U.S. House Banking Committee from 1991 to 1997.  He graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from George Washington University Law School in 1995 and worked as a legal counsel and deputy cabinet secretary for the Paul Patton gubernatorial administration from 1995-2001.  In 2001, he worked as a private attorney for Conlife Sandman Sullivan.  Conway and his father are partners in thoroughbred racehorse Stately Victor. 

In 2002, Jack Conway ran for the 3rd Congressional district seat in 2002 but lost to incumbent Anne Northup.  Conway is married to Elizabeth Davenport Conway and they have a one year old daughter, Eva.  The polls show that Conway has gained some ground within the last few weeks.  Rand Paul's lead has been from one to six points.  Other polls have showed a virtual dead heat.  Here are the stated positions of Jack Conway. 

1.  Social Security - As Senator, Jack will oppose any effort to privatize Social Security.  He believes Social Security has to be maintained as a public program that provides guaranteed retirement benefits.  He thinks those benefits should be maintained and protected from any outside risks associated with the financial markets.  Jack supports the new health care law that expands prescription drug coverage for seniors.  This new health care law will eliminate the "donut hole" over the next ten years, and approximately 129,000 Kentucky seniors with high prescription drug costs will receive a $250 check this year. 

2.  Small Businesses - Jack Conway says he is committed to making more credit available for business owners to hire new workers and expand their businesses.  He says we should never have another bailout like the TARP bailout and he feels it's time to focus on job creation here in Kentucky.  Jack says he'll create a Small Business Loan Fund, Capitalized with $30 billion which is new spending, not TARP funds.  He says he'll allow small and medium-sized community and regional banks and credit unions (with less than $10 billion in total assets) to purchase capital at reduced rates from the Treasury.  Banks and credit unions would get lower rates based on how much small business lending they do.  Banks and credit unions would have to submit quarterly reports detailing their small business lending activities.  He would also allow credit unions to participate in the Fund and raise the cap on member-business lending (MBL) to expand access to credit for small businesses.  Current law limits credit-union lending to member businesses to 12.25 percent of the union's total assets and exempts loans under $50,000.  Jack would raise that cap to 25 percent and would raise the exemption bar to $250,000.  He also says he would make it a priority to cut federal red tape, reduce paperwork and streamline government services for small business.

3.  The Deficit - Jack Conway has a plan to save $430 billion over the next ten years without raising taxes.  He would save $200 billion, by giving Medicare the ability to negotiate for bulk rate discounts on prescription drugs.  In 2004 when Congress created the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, the pharmaceutical industry successfully lobbied for a provision that said Medicare could not negotiate for lower prices on prescription drugs like the Veterans Administration and Medicaid already do.  Consequently, this deal is estimated to protect up to $24 billion of pharmaceutical profits every year.  That is taxpayer money that could be used to lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors and reduce the budget deficit.  The first piece of legislation Jack would introduce would be to repeal the special interest sweetheart deal for the pharmaceutical industry.  A report by the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare estimates this would save $200 billion over ten years.  Jack has also proposed creating state-level Medicare fraud task forces that would be better equipped to root out waste, fraud, and abuse because they are familiar with the provider networks and could detect-billing irregularities more easily.  Jack Conway says he wants to close corporate tax loopholes and shut down offshore tax shelters to so that big corporations pay their fair share and create jobs in Kentucky, not the Cayman Islands.

4.  Wall Street Reform - Earlier this year, Jack Conway supported a bill that would place a one-time windfall tax on bonuses for any executive at a company that received TARP bailout funds, because he thinks it's offensive that bailed-out bankers are taking huge bonuses at the same time they're refusing to lend to struggling small businesses.  To address the shortage of small business lending, Jack Conway has proposed a $30 billion Small Business Loan Fund to go around Wall Street and get capital directly to our community banks so they can give loans to Kentucky small businesses that want to create jobs but need the financing to do it.