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Monday, July 16, 2012

Arkansas Politics Transparency in politics: Let's start with Kochs

Posted by Max Brantley on Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 6:23 AM

TRANSPARENT: Not the Koch-financed group led by Teresa Oelke of Rogers.

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TRANSPARENT: Not the Koch-financed group led by Teresa Oelke of Rogers.

Nice feature in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (pay wall) this morning by Michael Wickline on a political figure who appears in this space with some frequency — Teresa Oelke of Rogers, the tireless paid leader of the Arkansas chapter of the Koch brothers' political operation, Americans for Prosperity.

I was interested to learn Oelke has put Republican Rep. Nate Bell's wife on her payroll. Other items were well-known but worth repeating: Her spending in Republican primary races on behalf of extremist candidates; her role in the Koch propaganda machine against health care reform. I'd have liked to have seen more about her role in fighting water supply protection rules in Pulaski County as part of the Kochs' assault on government.

But here's today's point: Republicans (like Nate Bell) bellyached mightily about the modest Regnat Populus initiative that failed to make the ballot. It would have ended direct corporate contributions to candidates and ended loybbyist freebies. The Republicans who made clear their opposition said we could cure the rotten system with more transparency. If only there was truly full disclosure of political spending, we'd have a system we could believe in.

So then: Can I expect Reps. Bell and Burris and Lt. Gov. Mark Darr — among the notable Oelke acolytes — to require regular public accounting of sources of income and specific expenditures by Oelke and Americans for Prosperity in the political arena? Waiting.

Tags: Teresa Oelke, Kochs, Americans for Prosperity

        
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Arkansas Blog

Monday, July 16, 2012

Arkansas Politics Transparency in politics: Let's start with Kochs

Posted by Max Brantley on Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 6:23 AM

Speaking of...

An item in this morning's paper led me to the blog of Glenn Gallas, the Tea Party activist leading the charge to get a referendum on the healthcare expansion on the ballot in 2014. /more/

Not much new to report this morning. If all goes well, I'm going to catch at least three movies today at the Little Rock Film Festival. /more/

The legislative vote to avail Arkansas of Obamacare Medicaid expansion money. Good or bad? /more/

The Arkansas chapter of Americans for Prosperity, the Koch billionaires' anti-tax, anti-regulation political arm that spent a million bucks to produce a Republican legislative majority in Arkansas, has a new state executive director. /more/

A momentous week lies ahead. Against all odds, a significant Republican caucus has developed for moving ahead with Medicaid expansion in Arkansas. /more/

The Kochs have spoken. Their Americans for Prosperity chapter in Arkansas has formally announced opposition to the legislature approving the Obamacare-provided expansion of health care coverage under the Medicaid program. /more/

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