In advance of next week’s Kentucky Primary Election, WEKU is profiling candidates for the Sixth District U.S. House race. Today we hear from a minister with a long history of social advocacy.
Running for political office may be a new experience for Nancy Jo Kemper, but keeping abreast of issues before politicians is not. The Lexington native has for years spoken out on matters ranging from tax reform and racial justice to gambling expansion.
Kemper has served as a minister for half a century and directed the Kentucky Council of Churches for 18 years. She says Washington politicians could learn a thing or two from church leaders from many different dominations, “They could come together and unanimously support a whole array of good things aimed at improving the common life and the common good for the people of Kentucky.”
Kemper says middle and low income central Kentuckians are still not making economic gains as much as needed. She believes military spending has been too high. “Our spending priorities have been out of whack and so we need to focus on infrastructure. Lots of jobs to be done and be had in rebuilding America’s infrastructure,” noted Kemper.
That, according to the congressional candidate, includes broadband expansion in Eastern Kentucky. Still, Kemper says more meaningful employment can come with improved education and re-training.
To work toward a reduction in gun violence, Kemper says bringing back certain restrictions would help and not impose on Second Amendment rights. “We need to ban assault weapons and the semi-automatic assault weapons once again. We had that ban in affect for a long time and then it was allowed to expire,” Kemper explained. “Nobody needs a military style assault weapon for hunting or anything of the sort.”
Health care reform is one of the issues Kemper has advocated. She says the push toward full universal insurance coverage should continue. Saying insurance companies will make their profits, Kemper believes there is a point of balance, “Insurance is called insurance for a reason. It’s protection against disaster for people.” “It’s got to be affordable and we’ve got to make sure that our care is continuing at a high quality,” maintains Kemper.
If there’s one issue standing out under the microscope of Kentucky’s federal and state government officials, it’s the future of coal. For her part, Kemper believes the natural resource which has been so much a part of Kentucky’s economic standing will fade away in time, “Our coal’s not coming back. I care about coal miners to have new opportunities and a new future and to be able to stay in their communities and continue their traditions that they’ve had for so many years.”
Kemper believes some new employment opportunities may come through broadband installation and entrepreneurship.
Attention given to this year’s presidential race has played out through all kinds of media outlets throughout the past year. While Election Day remains almost six months away, Kemper thinks the U.S. could benefit from tactics found overseas. “I would love to see a more British system in our campaign and a time limit on the amount of time people can campaign and I would love to see a dollar limit that could be imposed, that could be spent,” Kemper said.
Kemper says today’s “big money” in politics reinforces the image that the government’s for sale. The sixth District House candidate adds citizen trust won’t be regained until so called “dark money” is eliminated. ?
