CARTER’S VOODOO BUDGET MATH: He told reporters today that the $150 million in unspecified tax cuts he’s supporting won’t result in state funding cuts. That would be a neat trick, since the lion’s share of Beebe’s proposed budget $163 million increase is for Medicaid and public education, which have to be funded.
*HERE WE GO AGAIN: I wonder if this is what Davy Carter had in mind when he said it was time to focus on things like the budget.
*CLUB FOR GROWTH TARGETS PRYOR: Get ready to see thousands of commercials like this for the next 20 months.
*OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SUPPORTS EQUAL RIGHTS: It filed a legal brief in the Prop 8 case before the Supreme Court expressing its support for same-sex marriage in California.
THE HYPOCRISY OF GUN RIGHTS ADVOCATES: Good reporting by Gawker on the NRA’s efforts to make gun permit records exempt from the FOIA:
But while the NRA has lately become one of the harshest critics of fourth estate access gun permit data—it has said “personal information regarding [permit] holders serves no public interest and only exposes law-abiding citizens to potential criminal acts” and places them at “risk to criminals who may target their home to steal firearms”—the group holds itself to a very different standard.
When Tennessee first tried to make gun records private in 2009, the effort died “amid fears that political groups and gun advocates would no longer be able to access addresses of handgun carry permit holders to add to their mailing list soliciting contributions,” according to the Associated Press.
Indeed, in a survey of public records requests filed in 7 of the states that make (or formerly made) gun records public (we’re still waiting on answers from 9 more), Gawker found multiple examples of the NRA and other conservative, “pro-gun” partisans seeking the lists for their own political and fundraising gain.
Gawker has a list of people in Arkansas who’ve requested the concealed carry list in Arkansas since 2003. It’s obviously incomplete since neither anyone from the Times nor Gwen Moritz is listed. But interesting to see Steve Jones of Arkansas Carry listed.