Monday, February 11, 2013
Arkansas Politics 'The Ignorance Caucus'
Posted by Max Brantley on Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 6:31 AM
Paul Krugman today dubs congressional Republicans the Ignorance Caucus, particularly when it comes to health care and Eric Cantor's recent pronouncements on same.
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...For these days his party dislikes the whole idea of applying critical thinking and evidence to policy questions....Want other examples of the ignorance caucus at work? Start with health care, an area in which Mr. Cantor tried not to sound anti-intellectual; he lavished praise on medical research just before attacking federal support for social science. (By the way, how much money are we talking about? Well, the entire National Science Foundation budget for social and economic sciences amounts to a whopping 0.01 percent of the budget deficit.)
But Mr. Cantor’s support for medical research is curiously limited. He’s all for developing new treatments, but he and his colleagues have adamantly opposed “comparative effectiveness research,” which seeks to determine how well such treatments work.
What they fear, of course, is that the people running Medicare and other government programs might use the results of such research to determine what they’re willing to pay for. Instead, they want to turn Medicare into a voucher system and let individuals make decisions about treatment. But even if you think that’s a good idea (it isn’t), how are individuals supposed to make good medical choices if we ensure that they have no idea what health benefits, if any, to expect from their choices?
Still, the desire to perpetuate ignorance on matters medical is nothing compared with the desire to kill climate research, where Mr. Cantor’s colleagues — particularly, as it happens, in his home state of Virginia — have engaged in furious witch hunts against scientists who find evidence they don’t like..
This same caucus is decisive in the Arkansas legislature nowadays. Sen. Jason Rapert is the leader. The fellow who says his invocation of "stars and bars" in an incendiary nativist speech to the Tea Party was only a slip of the tongue, not evidence of racial incitement, also says he'll present evidence at the proper time to show that every court opinion you've read about for the last 40 years really didn't prevent Arkansas from banning abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. Sen. Missy Irvin, stupefyingly, echoes Rapert and even expropriates the word "choice" for her support of legislation that would allow women the choice of following Irvin's religion or getting a back alley abortion. Guns? The state has a demonstrably leaky system of permitting concealed carry permits, but the Ignorance Caucus wants to eliminate the only check on errors — public records. The Ignorance Caucus believes cutting the income tax on the wealthy will spur the economy, mountains of evidence to the contrary, including the last decade of federal experience. There's lots more. But don't bother to confuse this group with the facts.
Speaking of...
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Practicing law with Bro. Rapert
May 18, 2013Sen. Jason Rapert, author of the patently unconstitutional bill to ban most abortions in Arkansas at the 12th week of pregnancy, took heart yesterday at Judge Susan Webber Wright's indication that she was inclined to uphold the part of the law that requires women seeking an abortion in the 12th week of pregnancy or later to have an ultrasound and to be shown the results of that test. /more/
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Judge Wright issues injunction against abortion law
May 17, 2013The word from the federal courthouse is that federal Judge Susan Webber Wright has issued a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the new Arkansas law that was meant to bar most abortions at the 12th week of pregnancy. /more/
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Women's rights in court this morning
May 17, 2013Leslie Newell Peacock will be in federal court for us this morning for the preliminary injunction hearing on the lawsuit challenging the new state law prohibiting most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. /more/
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Guns and fetuses: A legislative review
May 16, 2013Crazy Davy Carter, the House speaker who is a potential Republican candidate for governor, won headlines all over today for remarks at a legislative conference in Hot Springs that Republicans need to move beyond guns and abortion to focus on issues more important to average Arkies. /more/
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Judge refuses to dismiss suit challenging new 12-week abortion limit
May 15, 2013Federal Judge Susan Webber Wright has denied the state of Arkansas's motion to dismiss the ACLU-backed lawsuit challenging the new state law, passed over Gov. Mike Beebe's veto, to prevent most abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy. /more/
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Morning report: Prescription drug watch
May 13, 2013The morning again begins slowly. But among others: * MONITORING DOCTORS' PRESCRIPTION PRACTICES: Pro Publica has published with the Washington Post a deep look at doctors' prescription practices under Medicare. /more/
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Has Arkansas deregulated guns or not?
May 8, 2013John Lyon of Stephens Media examines at some length today a simmering topic in the gun nut community that is of general interest. /more/
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Flash: Texas grows enlightened on women's issues
May 7, 2013Interesting story from Texas on the Texas legislature. Republicans, who control nearly everything in Texas, apparently suffered huge blowback from their war on women in the last legislative session that cut health care to women in the battle to destroy Planned Parenthood. /more/
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Planned Parenthood plans to press Mike Ross on record
April 22, 2013Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Ross made encouraging sounds about looking out for women's medical services and the ability to choose abortion when he announced last week. /more/
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Mike Ross evolves on women's issues; pays price
April 18, 2013Mike Ross' entry into the Democratic primary race for governor, with a full-throated cry for women's rights against the Republican legislature, naturally invited an examination of his voting record. /more/
- More »
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