Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

Partisan justice: Court candidate Wood gets tout from GOP's Curtis Coleman

Max Brantley — Sat, 18 May 2013 10:42:00 -0500

I've written here and in last week's column about the lingering taste of partisanship in supposedly non-partisan Arkansas judicial races, as exhibited recently by Court of Appeals Judge Rhonda Wood, who's expected to run for the Arkansas Supreme Court next year.

In that vein, check a YouTube of extremist Republican gubernatorial candidate Curtis Coleman talking of the need to build a "farm team" to elect the right sorts of people in three coming races for Supreme Court. He named one candidate he believed in — Rhonda Wood. "Solid and sound," Coleman said. A Coleman seal of approval is just about as big a disincentive to vote for Wood as I could imagine.

Speaking of Curtis Coleman: I learned this morning that some jokester had submitted a $1,000 pledge to Coleman's Institute for Constitutional Policy in my name. But then I was informed by a followup e-mail that the Institute was not currently accepting contributions. He's claimed it is a registered nonprofit, though it hasn't attained that official tax deductible status yet (giving him the chance to blame it all on the IRS, naturally). Good thing he's not registered yet. 501c3s are not supposed to engage in political advocacy, such as touting a candidate for Supreme Court. Or the Institute leader's own candidacy for governor.

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Practicing law with Bro. Rapert

Max Brantley — Sat, 18 May 2013 07:42:00 -0500

Sen. 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.

Bettina Brownstein, representing the ACLU, said she didn't think that portion of the law could be severed and kept intact because it was so intertwined with the purpose of the law, to ban abortions. It was noted that the law doesn't have a severability clause.

Bro. Rapert opined that a severability clause was automatic under Arkansas law. Given his generally poor practice as an attorney to date, I thought I'd check the fiddlin' preacher and found, shazam, he's found an acorn. From a manual of the National Conference of State Legislatures on statutory drafting rules of the various states:

Arkansas
6.1 APPLICABILITY.
(e) SEVERABILITY CLAUSE.
A severability clause provides that if a part of a law is declared invalid the remaining part stays in force. A general severability clause is not necessary, and should not be used. Arkansas Code § 1‐2‐117 states that the provisions of the Arkansas Code are severable, and Arkansas Code § 1‐2‐ 205 states:
“...The provisions of each and every act enacted by the General Assembly after July 24, 1973, are declared to be severable and, unless it is otherwise specifically provided in the particular act, the invalidity of any provision of that act shall not affect other provisions of the act which can be given effect without the invalid provision”.
(f) NON‐SEVERABILITY CLAUSE.
If the author does not want the provisions to be severable or does not want specific provisions to be severable, add a section declaring the provision to not be severable. Bills having a statement of non‐severability are rare.
Example:
SECTION 6. The provisions of this act are not severable, and if any provision of this act is declared invalid for any reason, then all provisions of this act shall also be invalid.

This does not fully resolve the question, but it is a strong leg for Rapert to stand on. Courts can rule against severability, however, and have done so. In the famous Malvern school choice case, a federal judge said it was impossible to sever the race-related bar to school transfers, held to be impermissible, from the rest of the act and struck the whole thing down. In that case, you can find the Arkansas Supreme Court guidance on severability.

The Arkansas Supreme Court looks to two considerations to determine severability: “(1) whether a single purpose is meant to be accomplished by the act, and (2) whether the sections of the act are interrelated and dependent upon each other.” In U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Hill, the Arkansas Supreme Court provided further guidance, stating “it is important whether the portion of the act remaining is complete in itself and capable of being executed wholly independent of that which was rejected.”

It is laughable, of course, that Jason Rapert would say he'd be happy to testify as to his intent that a part of the law be severable. It'd have no more weight than my aging French bulldog's testimony. Legislative intent in Arkansas is demonstrated solely by the words of the statute itself.

I'm afraid, however, there's a case for arguing that the mandatory ultrasound clause is capable of being executed independently, even if it was included only to create the standard for criminalizing an abortion, which it no longer can do.

A woman seeking an abortion has no need for an ultrasound test in that she plans to terminate the pregnancy. But anti-abortion forces like to require these tests for the emotional influence the test might bring to the decision. The Guttmacher Institute, while noting that an ultrasound is not medically necessary in the first trimester, says that eight states mandate an ultrasound for women seeking abortions.

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Remember Jon Hubbard? He hasn't mellowed

Max Brantley — Sat, 18 May 2013 07:10:00 -0500

Remember Jon Hubbard, the former Republican legislator from Jonesboro whose views proved too extreme for voters in 2012, though not for the Republican Party of Arkansas? (His self-published book included the observation that slavery had some positive benefits for black people.)

His fighting spirit continues, as evidenced in an op-ed this week in the Jonesboro Sun.

Why does he rage? That evil Barack Obama is why.

Perhaps the most valuable lesson I learned as a result of the 2012 election was that you cannot expect to win, or even survive, a political campaign when you are totally committed to playing by the rules when your opponent refuses to do so. The same is true when it comes to saving our nation from the clutches of an obsessed, liberal-socialist-globalist agenda.

A little more than four years ago, the people of this country sat quietly by as we were informed that America was no longer a Christian nation.

...A few weeks ago Barack Obama publicly called upon his god to “bless” the abortion providers he so proudly refers to as Planned Parenthood.

...When Obama was promoting the virtues of same-sex marriage, I couldn’t help but wonder where in the Holy Bible he found evidence to show that Jehovah God, the God of Abraham, Moses and Daniel, sanctified this abominable lifestyle?

...We are also now learning of the targeted attacks by Obama’s IRS Gestapo against not only tea party groups, but also against Jewish organizations.

...Obama has systematically gone about his primary objective to destroy America...

...There is no doubt that the Arkansas branch of the liberal-Democrat-socialist propaganda machine will come out in full force to try to discredit both this message and the messenger, but let’s not forget that Adolf Hitler also had his own well-oiled propaganda machine working around the clock to deceive and masquerade his true intentions of evil and world subjugation.

...Does America still have any chance of surviving Obama and his anti-American agenda? Of course we do, but only if those who really love this country are willing to come to her defense in this, her greatest hour of need!

If only the propaganda machine was as well-oiled as Hubbard imagines.

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Crisis at the NLRB

Max Brantley — Sat, 18 May 2013 06:59:00 -0500

If left to the Republican Party, there'd be no National Labor Relations Board to look after employee rights in the workplace. Republican opposition forced President Obama's appointment of members to the NLRB while the Senate was in recess, a process that courts have invalidated. The Senate may finally attempt to move on presidential nominations to the Board next week, but who knows. Without three members, the NLRB can't act.

Richard Trumka, leader of the AFL-CIO, has written an opinion piece on the NLRB battle, and is distributing it around the country co-signed by local labor leaders — here Alan Hughes of the Arkansas AFL-CIO.

It follows:

Crisis at the NLRB
By AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Arkansas AFL-CIO President Alan Hughes

Most people in Arkansas don’t even know what the National Labor Relations Board is. Well, why should they? Here’s why.

For decades, American labor law helped working people come together to have a voice on the job which in turn gave them a say in our economy and in our politics and public life. This freedom to organize, which is enshrined in the National Labor Relations Act (and, by the way in the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights) helped produce the greatest period of sustained and broad prosperity in our country’s history.

Everyone did better.

Broadly shared prosperity is needed once again. In order to rebuild our economy and level the playing field for all working people — union and non-union — the law protecting workers’ rights must be enforced. That’s the role of the National Labor Relations Board — and it needs to work.

That doesn’t mean protecting the rights of working people as opposed to the rights of employers. It means ensuring the NLRB’s ability to promote commerce by governing the relationship between workers and employers.

The less the board works, the more America’s economy falls out of whack, as we see it today with record inequality and a shrinking middle class.

But currently the NLRB is under unprecedented attack by extremist Congressional Republicans and corporate lobbyists who want to weaken the board’s power to protect workers who choose to organize and form unions on the job.

While this issue may not grace the front page of every newspaper the effects are and will continue to be felt at home here in Arkansas and across the nation.

In the face of partisan obstruction threats in Washington, President Obama made three Board recess appointments. But an unprecedented and radical decision by conservative U.S. District Court judges has put these appointments in jeopardy.

To make matters worse, House Republicans are pushing legislation to further cripple the Board. Their so-called “Preventing Greater Uncertainty in Labor-Management Relations” Act (H.R. 1120), despite its name, would create more uncertainty and deprive workers of enforceable rights.

These attacks are causing real consequences in real people’s lives.

Marcus Hedger is just one of the many workers who has been denied justice because of the attack on the NLRB. Marcus was the Chief Steward for the union at Fort Dearborn Co. After the union rejected a company proposal Marcus was fired and told the company was tired of the “union circus”. The NLRB rules that the firing was illegal and ordered the company to rehire Marcus, but the company has refused because of the Noel Canning decision. Marcus recently lost his home to foreclosure because of the financial distress he faced after being unlawfully fired.

Marcus is hardly alone. Four years ago, Visions of Elk River a Minnesota school busing company illegally fired two drivers and three aides, who accompany special needs children, for trying to form a union. The firings were motivated by employees’ known involvement in past union activity. Let me be clear.

Without a functioning NLRB, these people were fired, not for doing something wrong, but for doing something that’s protected by law, by openly talking about forming a union or bargaining for a better life. And yet their lives have been thrown into turmoil, and they have no effective recourse.

Justice delayed is justice denied, and justice to working people is being seriously denied because of the instability being forced upon the NLRB.

President Obama has taken an important step towards restoring stability to our system of labor-management relations by nominating a full, bi-partisan package of nominees to the NLRB.

Arkansas’s working people can’t wait in limbo any longer.

Responsibility for providing needed stability and the functioning NLRB working people need and deserve is now up to the U.S. Senate. John Boozman, Mark Pryor and other members of the Senate should act quickly and confirm the President’s full slate of nominees.

###

Richard Trumka is president of the 12 million member AFL-CIO
Alan Hughes is president of the 30,000 member Arkansas AFL-CIO

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The Injunction, Crazy Davy Comedy Hour Edition

Lindsey Millar — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:50:00 -0500

The first of what’s sure to be many legal challenges of new laws passed by the Arkansas General Assembly, Davy Carter opting not to run for governor, the environmental movements coalescing around the Mayflower oil spill cleanup and the factory hog farm in Mt. Judea in the Buffalo River watershed and bike lanes on South Main in Little Rock — all covered this week. Plus, Max endorses Barnhill strawberries (available at Kroger!) and Lindsey plugs the Little Rock Film Fest and the promise of Vine.

Stream on the jump.

Download.

Subscribe via iTunes (and give us a review, it helps people find out about the podcast).

[audio-1]

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Friday finish — An oldie but goodie for legislature? A rebuttal for Tom Cotton

Max Brantley — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:31:00 -0500

The line is open. Final thoughts:

* SCHOOL LEADER NAMED: Tom Kimbrell, the state Education director, has named Curtis Turner, superintendent at Eureka Springs, to take over leadership of the Mineral Springs School District. The state took control of the district yesterday because of fiscal woes. Turner has a long resume of school work, including in the fiscal distress unit of the state department.

* POLITICAL RUMOR: Stephen Smith of Fayetteville says he's been encouraged to make a run for state House of Representatives in 2014 for the seat currently held by Rep. Greg Leding. Heh. Smith was one of the rabble-rousing advisors to Bill Clinton during his first term as governor, a former state legislator with a record of some provocations, a UA prof and union rep, husband of former Fayetteville legislator Lindsley Smith and generally not exactly recalcitrant. Heh.

* DECONSTRUCTING TOM COTTON: Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Club for Growth) is right proud of the speech he gave on the floor of the House in support of the 37th or 99th vote by Republicans to repeal Obamacare (that very odious program that Arkansas Republicans just embraced for its money and benefits to Arkies.) It was a bravura performance in fundamental dishonesty, in that he seemd to want to paint the Democrats as Medicare cutters when he's on the fringe of the Paul Ryan Nutpack that would devastate the country's social safety net.

His performance was so galling to one supporter of Obamacare and of the man Cotton seems poised to attack in 2014, Sen. Mark Pryor, that he provided a line-by-line critique of Cotton's remarks. Recommended:

Cotton speech, with response in italics:

"Every time Cato the Elder spoke in the Roman senate he said: ‘Whatever the topic Carthage must be destroyed.' As long as Carthage survived the freedom and prosperity of the Roman people would never be secure. "As then with Carthage, so now with ‘Obamacare': as long as it remains on the books the health, prosperity, and freedom of the American people will never be secure.

Study by Rand Corp commissioned by state says will bring coverage to 400,000 Arkansans, prevent 2,300 deaths, and create 6,200 jobs in Arkansas.

"‘Obamacare' raided $700 billion from Medicare meaning seniors across Arkansas will have their health care rationed as doctors refuse to see any new Medicare patients.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) made certain reductions in provider reimbursements in Medicare. Largely health providers agreed to accept these cuts with the understanding they would be treating fewer uninsured patients. When Tom Cotton voted for the House budget resolution, he also voted in favor of the same $700 billion in Medicare spending reductions included in the ACA.

"‘Obamacare' creates an unelected and unaccountable panel of bureaucrats to ration and deny needed medical care to Arkansas seniors.

The board he is referring to may be asked to make recommendations to improve Medicare solvency in the future if Congress fails in its responsibility to hold costs down. However the board is specifically “barred from changing Medicare’s benefits or increasing cost-sharing.”

ObamaCare will cause insurance premiums to skyrocket by as much as 60 to 100 percent for Arkansas families.

The often criticized study that produced this statistic was only looking at the “individual market,” which only provides health coverage to 5% of Arkansans. This is the market where insurers currently offer skimpy health care packages and deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions. Income related subsidies will be available to the vast majority of Arkansans purchasing coverage in this market, and CBO says premiums for such individuals will be reduced by 56% to 59%.

"‘Obamacare' raises 21 taxes by more than $1 trillion will cost at least $1.7 trillion in the first decade alone. ObamaCare violates our freedom of conscience by using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions.
"‘Obamacare' is corrupt to its rotten core.

Not true. The last time CBO scored a bill to repeal the ACA, they said repeal would increase the deficit by $109 billion and the most recent vote is likely to have even higher costs. The House Republican Budget Tom Cotton voted for kept these tax increases in place. Arkansans will receive $850,000,000 in tax credits to help make health coverage more affordable according to the Rand Corporation study the state commissioned.

"The government exempted hundreds of the president's cronies from the law.

Simply not true. Such exemptions have not been granted.

The secretary of Health and Human Services is right now shaking down private companies for millions of dollars to promote ‘Obamacare.'

She has had phone conversations in a private capacity urging insurers to fund non-profit groups that will be helping people sign up for health coverage.

And, of course, the IRS - expanded by 2,000 agents - will be the main enforcement agency for ‘Obamacare'; the very IRS that we now know targets the president's political opponents for harassment and intimidation.

Much of the new IRS staffing is actually to deliver the tax credits that will help families purchase coverage.

"‘Obamacare' must be repealed.

"I urge the Congress to repeal this abominable law. And, I urge the American people to throw out of office every politician that voted for it three years ago."

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Davy Carter: 'I don’t know if the Republican party in a primary is willing to elect a guy like me'

David Ramsey — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:16:00 -0500

House Speaker Davy Carter is not running for governor, which took a significant amount of sizzle out of his speech at the Political Animals Club today (Carter himself told reporters “I had to give a different speech than I had planned”). Carter was loose and funny — he opened with a Letterman-style Top Ten Reasons I’m Not Running For Governor. Best entries: “#10 Do not want anyone to find out that I’m the ghostwriter of Nate Bell’s twitter account” and “#2 Gov. Beebe and I are secretly working with Johnny Allison, the federal government, Michael Moore, George Clooney, and the former KGB to take our conspiracy tour around the other 49 states to secretly implement Obamacare under this clever and disguised name of the ‘private option.’”

Carter has improved as a public speaker pretty dramatically over the course of the last five months and he would be a formidable candidate in a general election. On nearly every issue he has voted as a standard Arkansas Republican, but he has a knack for non-substantive, stylistic appeals to the center (publicly cussing former Rep. Jon Hubbard, tussling with Sen. Bryan King, reprimanding Rep. Nate Bell, urging a focus on bread-and-butter economic issues rather than hot-button social issues). Today's speech was no exception, with a call for "more elected officials from the middle and less from the fringe."

I suspect there are a good number of center-right voters that pulled the lever for Beebe in general elections that would find Carter appealing. The problem is getting to the general, and Carter acknowledged that he would have had a tough road in a Republican primary. That was one factor in his decision, he said.

Talking to consultants on how things would need to be done in the traditional way to win a Republican primary...I’m who I am. I don’t know if the Republican party in a primary is willing to elect a guy like me. I don’t know. Certainly I thought about all that.

The main substance of his speech today, by the way, was devoted to political process issues. Carter expressed strong disapproval of term limits and support for the idea of an open primary system — no division by parties, top two finishers move to the general. Of course, whatever the merits of those ideas, let us note the obvious: they would be a boon to the political future of one Davy Carter.

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Two judges disciplined for courtroom behavior

Max Brantley — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:13:00 -0500

The State Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission today announced disciplinary actions against two judges for unethical behavior.

* CIRCUIT JUDGE GERALD KENT CROW of Berryville was reprimanded and censured. In a drug and a DWI case the judge mounted his own investigation of some facts of the cases, though neither the state nor defense had requested it. He also was found to have retaliated against Public Defender Beau Allen, attorney in one of the cases, for filing a complaint against the judge with the Judicial Commission.
The censure, a more serious punishment, was for the retaliation against Allen.The commission's order said Crow got consideration for admitting to ethical missteps. He was directed to review his docket for possible conflicts with others, refrain from issuing orders in which his employees or families are parties, not have ex parte communications, not step outside the ordinany judicial role and "endeavor to cooperate with other prosecuting attorneys and defense attorneys to the extent that you can, while maintaining decorum and dignity in your courtroom." He also was instructed to refrain from threatening lawyers with turning them into the Committee on Professional Conduct.

* DISTRICT JUDGE ROBERT BATTON of Jacksonville was reprimanded for a heated exchange with a frequent court defendant who became obstreperous. Batton accused the defendant, who is black, of being a racist toward white people. When the man left Batton's courtroom, the judge remarked: "There goes another angry black man." Batton said he knew the statements weren't right or proper but he expressed a "desire to vindicate to those in the court that he is not prejudiced against blacks." He was reprimanded as an appropriate sanction because of his "willingness to accept that your actions were in violation of the code and your commitment to be more aware of the issues listed above in the future....."

The particulars can all be found here.

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Faulkner jury awards $5.2 million in nursing home negligence case

Max Brantley — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:34:00 -0500

A Faulkner County jury returned a unanimous verdict last night that the Greenbrier Nursing and Rehabilitation Center had been negligent in treatment of Martha Bull, 76, who died at the nursing home April 7, 2008 after staff failed to act on a doctor's orders to get her transferred to a hospital emergency room for treatment of severe abdominal pain.

It set damages for pain, suffering and mental anguish at $5.2 million, according to Bull's attorney, Thomas Buchanan of Little Rock. He said representatives of the nursing home had told him a Faulkner jury would never award more than $500,000 in the case. Circuit Judge Mike Maggio presided.

Buchanan expects an appeal. And even an unsuccessful appeal will likely be only the beginning of a long road toward collection, if any. The nursing home is controlled by Central Arkansas Nursing Centers, a private company headed by Michael Morton of Fort Smith. Buchanan said the individual nursing homes are organized as freestanding limited liability corporations, with licenses separate from physical property and small liability insurance policies through a self-insurance-style program based in Bermuda. It is not unusual in Arkansas for nursing homes to be set up this way and to contend they've spent all their liability coverage in legal defense — $100,000 in this case. Buchanan, who said he faced six defense lawyers, said he'd attempt to "pierce the corporate veil" to show a relationship between the nursing home and other parts of the company with assets to collect the judgment.

Lyn Pruitt, who led the defense team, said she couldn't comment on the outcome because of a judge's directive on a pending post-trial issue.

Buchanan said the jury found the nursing home guilty of negligence, medical malpractice and violation of resident's rights, but it did not specifically find that the nursing home caused Bull's death. New legislation from the 2013 legislation, sponsored by Sen. Jonathan Dismang, will make it impossible to sue a nursing home except for medical reasons, not for multiple causes of action. In this case, Buchanan said, the jury awarded damages only under one area for pain, suffering and mental anguish, it wasn't multiplied by the multiple types of culpability.

The case was brought by Bull's two daughters, Rose Perkins and Rhonda Coppak, on behalf of her estate and the beneficiaries.

Buchanan's account of the facts: Bull was admitted to the nursing home March 28, 2008 for 30 days of rehabilitation after a stroke. During the night of April 6, 2008 she said she was in severe pain, sweating and unable to have a bowel movement. Nothing was done. The next shift, she continued to complain. A physician was called at 2:20 p.m. April 7. He sent an order to have her transferred to an emergency room for evaulation in light of a history of stroke and abdominal abscess. The director of nursing received the fax at 3:34 p.m., but was leaving for the day. The nursing director sent it by fax to a new fax in a closet of the nursing home wing in which Bull lived. No one saw it. Bull wasn't sent to the emergency room. She screamed throughout the afternoon, so loudly that residents on other halls complained. She was found dead at 10:20 p.m. April 7. The faxed physician's order was found the next day.

No autopsy was performed. Buchanan said that the nursing home, after fighting the case without relent since it was filed four years ago, admitted in the early stage of the trial, which began May 7, that a mistake was made. But it presented testimony that it wasn't clear what caused Bull's death.

Buchanan said that the nursing home admission of a mistake came only after the trial began. If sincere, it should have done so long ago, expressed regret and demonstrated sincerity by trying to make things right, he said.

Meanwhile, in the legislature and perhaps at the ballot in 2014, the business community will continues to endeavor to make it harder than it already is to collect for pain and suffering of elderly people who are victims of nursing home negligence.

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Judge Wright issues injunction against abortion law

Max Brantley — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:04:00 -0500

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. She ruled from the bench after about two hours of hearings.

The law is suspended while the lawsuit by abortion providers, brought by the ACLU and the Center for Reproductive Rights, is tried, but the judge made clear that, based on evidence so far, the state was likely to lose its defense of the law.

The awarding of an injunction is a strong signal of how the case is likely to turn out because one standard is the likelihood of prevailing on the merits.

Sen. Jason Rapert, sponsor of the legislation, was on hand to caterwaul about the murderers and baby killers and plot his next round of talking points on Twitter. The lawyers whose hours will be paid by the state of Arkansas talked to reporters afterward, too. A spokesman for the attorney general had no comment on whether there'd be an appeal of the injunction.

The bill was passed over the veto of Gov. Mike Beebe, a lawyer who can read Supreme Court precedent. Judge Wright noted the precedents in her ruling and the likelihood that the law was unconstitutional. Evidence to the contrary: Jason Rapert says abortions ought to stop. Happily, I don't think he'll qualify as expert testimony.

And why did the judge think the law likely to be unconstitutional in the end? She said: "I believe the plaintiffs established this because the Supreme Court has consistently used viability as a standard with respect to any law that regulates abortion."

Leslie Peacock reports that the judge raised a question about the portion of the law that requires an ultrasound and a report to a woman about the results of that test. She asked whether that portion of the law could be severed from the abortion ban itself and said she was inclined to preserve it. Bettina Brownstein, attorney for the ACLU, objected to severing that portion of the law. The judge said she could submit a brief on the question. The idea about severability was raised in a proposed friend of the court brief submitted by an Arkansas anti-abortion group.

The state argued that the plaintiffs couldn't prove there were woman outside the exceptions allowed by the law who'd want an abortion after 12 weeks but before viability. The judge noted that the state's own data show that a significant number of abortions are performed during that period.

The judge dismissed the state's effort to use a 2007 partial-birth abortion ban case as an avenue to expand a ban before fetal viability. She said that case was about a procedure used post-viability. She sympathized with the tortured arguments raised by the attorney general's office. "I know you're in a tough position," she said.

It really is that simple. As I wrote this morning.

A news release from the Center for Reproductive Rights follows on the jump.

For the case books, the case is styled:

LOUIS JERRY EDWARDS, M.D., on
behalf of himself and his patients, ET
AL.
Plaintiffs
V.
JOSEPH M. BECK, M.D., President of
the Arkansas State Medical Board, and
his successors in office, in their official
capacities, ET AL

Republicans hit Pryor on IRS union contribution

Max Brantley — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:23:00 -0500

Easy score. Arkansas Republican Party says U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor should return political contributions he's received from the union that represents Treasury Department employees, which include IRS workers.

How can he hold the IRS accountable as a recipient of $11,000, the GOP asks.

This is fair game, but it can be played without cease against every candidate that takes contributions, meaning all of them.

How will Rep. Tom Cotton hold big business in America accountable when he's a wholly owned subsidiary of the Club for Growth?

How will a congressman whose treasury is stuffed with defense contractor money hold them accountable?

The money always carries a taint. Today, it's the IRS (if, of course, you also first presume every single IRS employee is corrupt, including, presumably, the inspector general who produced the report highlighting mismanagement in the agency.) The politicians who got elected with the help of stealth 501c4 money (most of them Republicans) can't be viewed as too likely to insist on proper enforcement of tax laws on these groups, can they now?

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'Stand your ground' laws increase homicides

Max Brantley — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:05:00 -0500

Count me unsurprised that enhanced legal protection for opening fire on people results in more gun deaths.

But if you can't believe researchers from Texas A&M, who can you believe? From the Law Blog:

In a new study, an economics professor and a PhD student at Texas A&M University take a broader look at the laws’ effect. The authors, Professor Mark Hoekstra and Cheng Cheng, use state-level crime data from 2000 to 2009 to determine whether the laws deter crime.

The answer, they conclude, is no. In fact, the evidence suggests the laws have led to an increase in homicides.

From the study:

Results indicate that the prospect of facing additional self-defense does not deter crime. Specifically, we find no evidence of deterrence effects on burglary, robbery, or aggravated assault. Moreover, our estimates are sufficiently precise as to rule out meaningful deterrence effects.

In contrast, we find significant evidence that the laws increase homicides. Suggestive but inconclusive evidence indicates that castle doctrine laws increase the narrowly defined category of justifiable homicides by private citizens by 17 to 50 percent, which translates into as many as 50 additional justifiable homicides per year nationally due to castle doctrine. More significantly, we find the laws increase murder and manslaughter by a statistically significant 7 to 9 percent, which translates into an additional 500 to 700 homicides per year nationally across the states that adopted castle doctrine.

Thus, by lowering the expected costs associated with using lethal force, castle doctrine laws induce more of it. This increase in homicides could be due either to the increased use of lethal force in self-defense situations, or to the escalation of violence in otherwise non-lethal conflicts. We suspect that self-defense situations are unlikely to explain all of the increase, as we also find that murder alone is increased by a statistically significant 6 to 11 percent.

The gun lobby will shortly inform us 1) that the study is all wrong and 2) what's wrong with more "justifiable" homicides anyway? These have included people gunning down petty thieves who posed no physical threat to the shooter, but if you can't shoot someone for breaking into your car, what's a gun for?

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The 2013 legislature closes quietly

Max Brantley — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:11:00 -0500

The House and Senate convened briefly this morning to complete the 2013 General Assembly. By 10:14 a.m. the House had adjourned sine die. No business was conducted. The Senate likewise scuttled off after a skeleton crew mustered for a quiet ending.

That lack of action, significantly, had the effect of sustaining Gov. Mike Beebe's veto of three election-related bills by Sen. Bryan King aimed at taking Republican control of election oversight.

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Arkansas unemployment rate dropped in April

Max Brantley — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:24:00 -0500

The Arkansas unemployment rate in April was 7.1 percent, down from 7.2 percent the month before. The number of people working rose. Here's the full report.

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Davy Carter won't make race for governor

Max Brantley — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:08:00 -0500

It was fun while it lasted. House Speaker Davy Carter won't make a Republican race for governor. Asa Hutchinson, Rep. Debra Hobbs and Curtis Coleman, at least, will fight it out for the nomination.

Instead, Carter has taken a banking executive position. (See jump for news release.) He'll be executive vice president of Home Bancshares. He previously was a division president for Centennial Bank in Cabot, part of the Home banking group.

His statement this morning:

After much deliberation, I have decided against a campaign for Governor at this time. In the past weeks I have had many calls of encouragement and offers of support from fellow Republicans, Independents and yes, even Democrats, all of which I very much appreciate. I love this state and I love public service. Although I will be returning to the private sector, I will find ways to remain involved in public service in Arkansas in the years ahead.

As several have noted, an open call this week by Carter for some moderation on the Republican Party's press for gun and abortion issues (and he's also viewed by some GOPers as squishy on religious issues) was not a particularly effective way to set the tone for a GOP primary. It makes him an appealing crossover candidate, but will dog him forever, I'd say, on any future Republican ambitions.

Mike Ross and Bill Halter, so far, are the sole combatants on the Democratic side. Carter's decision is a benefit to the Democratic nominee. The likelihood is that the winner — and you'd have to make Ross the favorite at this point — will face Asa Hutchinson, three times a loser in statewide races.

NEWS RELEASE

Conway, AR — Home BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ GS: HOMB), parent company of Centennial Bank, has named Davy Carter Executive Vice President. Carter formerly served as Division President for Centennial Bank in Cabot and he remains a member of the Centennial Bank Board in Cabot. He will report to Randy Sims, CEO of
Home BancShares.

“We are extremely pleased that Davy is returning to our corporate family. It is a unique and exciting opportunity to have someone with his experience and knowledge join our leadership team.” said Sims.

Carter is the current Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives, where he is serving his third term.

“This is a great opportunity and I’m excited to be back with the Centennial Bank and Home BancShares family. I look forward to being a part of this outstanding corporation and its executive leadership team,” said Carter.

Carter is a graduate of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro with a bachelor’s degree in finance. In addition, he holds a Juris Doctor with honors from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's William H. Bowen School of Law and is an alumnus of the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

“Davy brings more than a decade of financial experience to Home BancShares, including his years with Centennial Bank. His outstanding leadership skills and strong community ties will help further build upon our reputation for strength and service,” said John W. Allison, chairman of Home BancShares. Carter and his wife Cara reside in Cabot with their three children Jackson, John David and Anna Claire.

Home BancShares, Inc. is a bank holding company, headquartered in Conway, Arkansas. Our wholly-owned subsidiary, Centennial Bank, provides a broad range of commercial and retail banking plus related financi

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UPDATE: Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, Bill Clinton on lawyer suspension list

Max Brantley — Fri, 17 May 2013 07:24:00 -0500

On March 8, the Supreme Court suspended the license of state Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson for nonpayment of dues. I've sent him a note asking whether he's cleared the matter up. Hutchinson has been practicing law periodically, including for clients he subsequently helped, coincidentally, with legislation. Not that advocating a former client's interest in the Senate is practicing law (though some might find it unseemly). Hutchinson, with a rambunctious former girlfriend who improperly received some of his campaign cash and a losing legal battle over debts owed a campaign consultant, has had a series of personal problems. More fodder for Rep. Ann Clemmer, who has said she'll run against Hutchinson for Senate next year.

I wonder: Could Hutchinson take referral work from Texarkana plaintiffs' lawyer John Goodson during a suspension? I don't mean to count as legal work being Goodson's highly valuable advocate for a tort reform proposal that sabotaged the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce's march to a tough tort reform proposal.

On the subject of lawyer dues: Reader Radical Centrist noted on the open line last night that former President Bill Clinton also turned up on the list of Arkansas lawyers suspended March 8 for non-payment of bar dues. The Arkansas Supreme Court record doesn't indicate if he's cleared up the matter and I've sent a query about it. It's not very important. He hasn't been practicing law, being busy with a few other things. He served a five-year suspension that ended in 2006 over testimony he gave in the Whitewater investigations when he became eligible for reinstatement.

UPDATE: Dues are payable between Jan. 1 and March 1 each year. Each attorney gets a letter in December as a reminder. If they are not paid, a computer program automatically suspends a license. Judges in the state got the list yesterday of those suspended, which explains the news coming out yesterday. There were about 700 on the list. Renewal requires only payment of dues and a late fee. A spokesman in the Supreme Court clerk's office said Sen. Hutchinson paid his fee this morning and the website will be updated this evening to show he's in good standing. The annual dues are $200 and the late fee is $100.

As for Bill Clinton: He never applied for reinstatement of his law license after his five-year suspension and hasn't paid dues since 2000. But his name automatically turns up on the list each year regardless. The list of 700 typically includes the names of many lawyers no longer practicing or dead.

A lawyer who practices after a suspension takes effect is practicing without a license. That can potentially have consequences for a client. For example, an attorney might file a pleading in a criminal or civil case that could be held invalid because it wasn't filed by a licensed lawyer. A refiling could come after a statute of limitation had tolled.

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Guns and the governorship: Asa Hutchinson continues to front for NRA

Max Brantley — Fri, 17 May 2013 06:44:00 -0500

In for a penny ....

Asa Hutchinson, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, seems happy to be indelibly branded as the NRA's front man on guns as the calendar rolls toward the May gubernatorial primary. And why not, given the recent gunfest legislative session?

Says here that he'll debate Sarah Brady May 27 on gun control in a program in California moderated by Leon Panetta. Brady chairs the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Her husband, Ronald Reagan's press secretary, was shot in the 1981 Reagan assassination attempt

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Women's rights in court this morning

Max Brantley — Fri, 17 May 2013 06:14:00 -0500

Leslie 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.

Do the plaintiffs have a high likelihood of succeeding on the merits? They do, as Judge Susan Webber Wright telegraphed clearly in her order refusing to dismiss the lawsuit. She referenced so-far ironclad U.S. Supreme Court precedent in two benchmark cases — Roe and Casey.

Do plaintiffs also have proof of irreparable harm if an injunction is not issued, the other key standard to suspend the law? The law doesn't take effect until August. It will indisputably bring irreparable harm to women and doctors who provide abortion services, but that time lag might give the judge some time to mull the inevitable injunction.

Advance coverage in the Democrat-Gazette today included some points worth mentioning.

For one thing, I don't believe it's a certainty that the U.S. Supreme Court WILL take up this law or the North Dakota law that are frontal assaults on Roe. It could let stand the inevitable lower court precedent-based rulings striking down these invasions on women's medical autonomy.

Sen. Jason Rapert also spoke mendaciously as usual in being allowed by the newspaper to say without challenge that 93 percent of abortions kill babies. He might as well have said 100 percent, since he believes there's a baby the moment a zygote forms. Law, medicine and even many religions don't believe a "baby" exists until it is viable outside the womb. That 93 percent figure he cites presumably begins around 5 or 6 weeks, when a heartbeat can be detected. This is months shy of viability, as the 12-week limit is. According to the CDC, fewer than 2 percent of abortions occur after 21 weeks, which is still several weeks shy of fetal viablity.

Finally, I don't think the weight of legal opinion — outside Liberty University legal circles — is that the 2007 decision allowing a prohibition of so-called partial birth abortions opened the door to pre-viability abortion bans. By a 5-4 vote, that 2007 decision that allowed bans on post-viability later-term abortions indeed damaged the notion of an unfettered constitutional right to abortion. But it did nothing to disturb the Roe and Casey rulings that held rights of women paramount to a fetus that can't survive outside the womb. If it does, we ain't seen nothing yet. Bro. Rapert will be back with his 5-week ban, vaginal probes, bans on IUDs and bans on pills that might — might — prevent implantation of a fertilized egg. If they win, the damage to women will be enormous.

Or so my unlearned legal analysis goes.

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The death and taxes open line

Max Brantley — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:19:00 -0500

The line is open. Closing out:

* THERE THE GOP GOES AGAIN: The Arkansas Republican Party is in all-out assault mode on U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, today pounding him for once saying seven years ago that he supported permanent repeal of the estate tax (dishonestly called a "death tax" by the Republicans) but joining in recent bipartisan approval of what is now a dramatically lower estate tax. Under the bipartisan deal, a spouse can inherit $10.5 million from a spouse without tax and the top rate on amounts above that, if not otherwise protected by the many tools available, has dropped to 40 percent.

Two other laugh-worhty points in the GOP narrative: 1) The invocation of the noble family farm. In addition to fact that a family farmer can pass an unlimited amount to a spouse and between them a married couple can structure $10.5 million (net value after debt offset) in untaxed estate pass-along, farms also enjoy other enormous benefits. Heirs can spread payments over 15 years at a low interest rates. (I've edited the original version to correct an error on the spousal exemption.) By one calculation, of the 1 in 1,000 deaths that result in a taxable estate nationwide, an estimated grand total of 20 are farms. Some threat. 2) Again, too, we must endure GOP Party Chair Doyle Webb as the preachy moralist on Mark Pryor's supposed inconstancy. It would be nice if Doyle Webb PAID his taxes and just debts and didn't try to cheat on old ladies' estates, including his own mother's. He's the last guy the GOP should trot out to talk about estate taxes and broken promises.

* GAME AND FISH LEASES LAKE MAUMELLE: The Game and Fish Commission today approved a $1 million 99-year lease of 9,000-acre Lake Maumelle and 9,861 surrounding acres for use in the Maumelle Wildlife Management Area. It would been working with Central Arkansas Water on the deal for some time. The money is to be paid over three years, with three-fourths of it coming from the federal government.

* SPEAKING OF NONPROFITS, THE IRS AND POLITICIANS: Blue Hog Reports notes that Sen. Jason Rapert is using the same PO Box he uses for his nonprofit Holy Ghost Ministries as the mailing address for his campaign finance report. No payments reported by the campaign for the usage, or an in-kind donation by the nonprofit. 501c3's are supposed to avoid partisan politics, of course. He shares a phone with the ministry, too. Penny ante stuff, yes, but, as BHR says, kind of odd. Rapert says his ministry does mission work in Africa. I've looked at his Form 990s a time or two. He doesn't itemize income or outgo, except to call the outgo of $60,000 or so a year as mission expenses. He got very offended when I asked him some months ago to disclose how he spent the money.

POLITICAL NEWS UPDATE: House Speaker Davy Carter will announce tomorrow whether he is in or out of the race for governor. Conventional wisdom is OUT. Statewide headlines that the GOP should go easier on guns and abortion is not a traditional way for a candidate to jump into a Republican primary.

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New study finds no water contamination by fracking in Arkansas

Max Brantley — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:24:00 -0500

A study by Duke University and U.S. Geological Survey participants has found no contamination of Arkansas groundwater by gas exploration using hydraulic fracturing.

The scientists sampled 127 shallow drinking water wells in the Fayetteville shale exploration region

Duke scientists had earlier found some contamination in the shale zone in Pennsylvania.

"The hydrogeology of Arkansas's Fayetteville Shale basin is very different from Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale," [Avner] Vengosh noted. Far from contradicting the earlier studies, the Arkansas study "suggests that variations in local and regional geology play major roles in determining the possible risk of groundwater impacts from shale gas development. As such, they must be taken into consideration before drilling begins."

Faulty drilling techniques also still hold the potential to cause problems, the scientists said.

"The take-home message is that regardless of the location, systematic monitoring of geochemical and isotopic tracers is necessary for assessing possible groundwater contamination," he said. "Our findings in Arkansas are important, but we are still only beginning to evaluate and understand the environmental risks of shale gas development. Much more research is needed."

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Michigan pipeline whistleblower John Bolenbaugh visits Mayflower

David Koon — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:15:00 -0500

Citizen journalist John Bolenbaugh, the Michigan oil-spill-clean-up-worker-turned-whistleblower-turned tar-sands gadfly, spent the last week in Mayflower, chatting with residents, documenting what he saw on video, and attempting to see the ongoing spill clean-up himself.

Bolenbaugh worked on cleanup following a July 2010 rupture of an Enbridge pipeline near Marshall, Michigan that sent over a million gallons of heavy tar sands oil flowing into the Kalamazoo River. He was fired in October 2010 by Enbridge subcontractor SET Environmental after, he says, he refused to hide and cover up evidence of oil contamination. He later filed a whistleblower lawsuit over his firing, and settled out of court for an undisclosed sum in April 2012. Since then, Bolenbaugh has become an activist against tar sands oil, visiting spill sites and documenting what he sees while doing follow-up reports on the Kalamazoo River clean up. Bolenbaugh said he has spent over $35,000 of his own money traveling and documenting pipeline spills.

"This is my calling," he said. "This is what I feel my purpose in life is now: to travel around and give speeches and document tar sands spills. I've seen the devastation first hand of what tar sands oil can do to a community."

During his time in Arkansas, Bolenbaugh said he was followed several times by local police, something he managed to capture on video on at least one occasion, confronting an officer in a Faulkner Country Sheriff's Department patrol car who tailed him into a parking lot. As seen in the video, the officer in the car refused to roll down his window or talk to Bolenbaugh when Bolenbaugh confronted him to ask why he was being followed.

Bolenbaugh, who said he has several relatives currently working on pipeline projects, said that he isn't an anti-oil.

"I'm not against oil. People need to understand that. I'm a Union member, that works on oil pipelines. I'm not against oil, and I'm not against working on an oil pipeline job. I'm against tar sands."

Bolenbaugh said Mayflower residents he spoke with are upset, and don't believe that ExxonMobil has been telling them the truth about the spill cleanup or the potential health effects.

"The residents are pissed," he said. "Exxon, of course, is doing their little PR campaign that everything is fine. One lady was really mad because all the kids were sick and puking at school, and they didn't evacuate the school." Bolenbaugh said he has been diagnosed with migraines, dizziness, headaches, blood in his urine and kidney dysfunction, all of which he attributes to his time as a tar sands oil cleanup worker. He added that residents of the area should consider seeking legal representation, and should avoid signing any settlements with ExxonMobil, even if they're feeling fine now.

"People have to realize that these chemicals sometimes take up to a year before you'll even see signs that you are getting sick," he said. "What Exxon and Enbridge and all these companies do, they'll have people sign off, they'll give them two or $3,000 dollars or less, and then they say: 'sign this document that clears us from all future lawsuits. Basically you have settled with us.' The issue with that is, people will have major medical bills in the future, or maybe the kids who breathe these chemicals in, maybe ten years in the future, they get cancer."

To see more video shot by Bolenbaugh during his time in Mayflower, visit his Youtube page or his HELPPA.org Facebook page.

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State takes over Mineral Springs School District

Max Brantley — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:12:00 -0500

State Education Director Tom Kimbrell has ordered state takeover of the Mineral Springs-Saratoga School District, including dissolving of the school board, because of money problems.

The release:

Arkansas Education Commissioner Dr. Tom Kimbrell today exercised his authority under state law to dissolve the school board of the Mineral Springs School District.

The action was taken to immediately move toward stabilizing the finances and management of the troubled district in Howard County. The district is facing a severe budget deficit and does not have sufficient cash flow to finish the district’s fiscal year.

"This action was necessary to keep Mineral Springs public schools operating and serving students despite the district's extreme financial difficulties," Dr. Kimbrell said. “Our number one concern is the education of the students in this community. For the future of the district, students and the staff, state action had to be taken now.”

Dr. Kimbrell and other key ADE staff arrived in Mineral Springs this morning to inform acting superintendent, Bill Blackwood, of the changes in district governance. Blackwood has agreed to stay on board until Kimbrell appoints a new superintendent.

Steps have been taken to secure school records and to ensure district operations will continue uninterrupted.

The State Board placed the district in fiscal distress in December, 2012. Under the Omnibus Quality Education Act of 2003, the education commissioner has authority to exercise a state takeover of districts in fiscal distress that don't adequately address their problems.

You might recall the district had its previous superintendent suspended last fall after the Education Department discovered it was operating a phantom high school at Saratoga. The district in Howard County has about 500 students. Blackwood came out of retirement this school year to act as interim for the district, which recently accepted 11 teacher resignations because of money troubles.

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The forgotten in Exxon County, Arkansas

Max Brantley — Thu, 16 May 2013 11:39:00 -0500

The Northwood subdivision in Mayflower has gotten most of the attention in the Canadian tar sands crude spill that flowed from a ruptured ExxonMobil pipeline. But those property owners are not alone with claims of damage from the oil spill and airborne chemicals and damage in the cleanup effort itself.

One is Diane Wilson, who lives nearby and who says her repeated efforts to get corrective action from Exxon officials have been futile. She writes and supplies the photos here, which were taken from the front door of her home:

I live on Joseph Road. Most people don’t know this road is there. We are off the I-40 service road on Joseph Road. ExxonMobil has been using Joseph Road to access the spill at Dawson Cove. We are that close to the spill yet no one came to evacuate the area. We knew something happened because the odor was so strong we were all sick. We didn’t know if it was a gas leak in town or a wreck on the interstate until the next day.

We watched as the mass of people came down our one-lane gravel road with equipment and vehicles. It felt like an invasion. I have never been afraid of an occupation. Now I know how it feels. ExxonMobil blocked off my road from my neighbors and would not let me down the street I live on. I was backed down my own road to allow huge equipment the right of way. The roads are so rutted it is hard to travel. I have no property value now because of the stigma attached to the oil spill and our proximity to it. ExxonMobil workers blocked both my drives to my house three times. Workers vehicles lined my road and strangers came and went 24/7.

Everything is slowing down now. There is not as much traffic on my road in front of my house. The road is contaminated from ExxonMobil driving equipment out of the spill in the wetland and down my road before the wash stations were built. The deer and turkey, all the wildlife, are gone. ExxonMobil’s newsletter says everything is almost cleaned up and they will leave the area as it was before. All I see is a mud hole and rutted and ruined roads. My once quaint beautiful neighborhood carries the stigma of being at the oil spill.

Can anyone tell us what the plan is? So much attention has been paid the Northwood Subdivision and understandably so, but we would like a little information as well. What about OUR property value, what about our cove and wetland area? What is the end game? The plan?

ExxonMobil did not mind using our road, our neighborhood for their access to the spill, but they sure don’t want to acknowledge any responsibility to the residents.

Diane Wilson
46 Joseph Road
Mayflower

I've sent some questions about Wilson's complaint to the Exxon PR team. (Coincidentally, Benji Hardy who blogs for the Legislative Digest has a post up about the nearly non-existent state response to pipeline damage and peril, a notable exception being Attorney General Dustin McDaniel.)

UPDATE: A response from Amber Gardner of Exxon's PR team:

Per your inquiry below, we regret that this incident has occurred and apologize for any disruption and inconvenience that it has caused. Property owners along the Cove are able to address any harm they feel they have incurred due to the spill through the claims process. We will continue to honor all valid claims.

Any damage to roads or property owners' landscaping by our cleanup operations will be repaired. We have been in direct communication with Ms. Wilson and we are working to address her specific concerns.

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James Lee Witt endorses Mike Ross for governor

Max Brantley — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:34:00 -0500

Does the endorsement of James Lee Witt, Bill Clinton's FEMA director, now a bigtime lobbyist/consultant, help Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Ross? Surely it will in Wildcat Holler.

Or is Bill Halter's Arkansas Promise more of a winner?

Release follows:

James Lee Witt of Dardanelle, Ark., former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under President Clinton, has endorsed Mike Ross for Governor. Witt is also the former director of the Arkansas Office of Emergency Services (now the Department of Emergency Management) and a former long-time Democratic Yell County judge. Ross, a former small business owner, state senator and U.S. Congressman, is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor of Arkansas.

“Mike Ross is a battle-tested leader with a history of pushing politics aside, rolling up his sleeves and finding commonsense, practical and bipartisan solutions that tackle the challenges at hand,” said Witt. “I have known Mike Ross for many years as a state senator, U.S. Congressman and as a friend and he is a workhorse with a long history of results for the people of Arkansas. I have seen governors tested in crisis situations and know what it takes, and I know Mike Ross is the type of strong, steady leader who will serve Arkansas well as its next governor.”

“James Lee Witt served our state and nation with integrity and I am honored to have his support,” said Mike Ross. “When James Lee arrived at FEMA in 1993 with President Clinton, he turned the embattled agency around making it the most effective it has ever been in its history. James is the model public servant and has made Arkansas proud, and I will always deeply value his advice and counsel.”

“When I’m elected governor, I will work day and night to fight for the people of Arkansas and focus on our future — preparing for the challenges and opportunities that await this great state,” said Ross.

Ross has previously been endorsed by the Southern States Millwright Regional Council and the Central South Carpenters Regional Council, affiliates that represent more than 10,000 carpenters, and the Arkansas Professional Fire Fighters, along with numerous business owners, community leaders and working families around the state.

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Massive resistance to Obamacare produces results

Max Brantley — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:08:31 -0500

Sarah Kliff at the Washington Post's Wonkblog disputes those who think serial votes by the U.S. House against Obamacare are meaningless political theater. The votes confuse many in the public about something so basic as whether the law actually took effect. The persistence of the resistance contributes to a movement that has produced other meaningful alterations in the law. It discourages adoption of Medicaid expansion in the states.

Speaking of Medicaid expansion: Isn't that map that ran with Kliff's article something? Arkansas is an oasis of sanity in the Confederate States of Republicanism. And it couldn't have happened without significant Republican influence.

As a half-empty-glass kind of guy I'll still believe in full implementation of Obamacare when I see it. I'd still place a small bet on ultimate fiscal failure from congressional strangulation and, in turn, the resulting end of the "private option" in Arkansas. We'd then have a tiny shadow of a remnant Medicaid program to show for this year's sturm and drang. I hope I'm wrong.

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