Wackjobs: Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

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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Monday morning nut watch

Max Brantley — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 06:22:00 -0500

It's Monday. If we're lucky, we have only 36 more hours of extremist Republican lawmaking (Obamacare approval excepted) at the Arkansas Capitol. And speaking of extremists:

* BENTON COUNTY BLOWHARD: It's the traffic wreck that won't quit. Benton County Republican Committee member Chris Nogy, you'll recall, seemed to suggest a 2nd Amendment remedy for Republican lawmakers who voted for implementation of Obamacare. When controversy broke out, he issued a non-apology apology. He said, among other things, he "most likely" wouldn't shoot anyone, just trying to make a point. Early this morning came still more backing and filling from Nogy and his wife Leigh, the secretary of the Benton County GOP, who posted his first letter on the county committee's newsletter. The Nogys still come up a bit short. (UPDATE: Looks like the thread is gone from the Benton County Republican Committee Facebook page, though at least one of Nogy's remarks remains posted.)

Excerpt from Nogy comment, said to be posted by Leigh Nogy:

When you read the entire letter, you will see that I am a very frustrated Benton County member of the Committee, voter, and politically active husband and father of three who has seen what I believe to be a critical breakdown in the proper process of representative government in our county, and felt the need to speak out not only with a complaint but with a solution. The section of my editorial explaining the 2nd amendment and how it works was added as punctuation, defining the tool as functional only if the threat of it's use is credible, and then going on to say that the tool we must develop, applying political, social and civil pressures, must also be credible or it will be worthless.

Uh, OK. Whatever that means.

His wife commented:

I made a bad decision in publishing this letter. I was stressed beyond my norm and was on a deadline. My heart told me this letter sounded scarey... I admit that, but because I had read the whole content of the letter, I got what he was saying. Unfortunately, in my rush I didn't even begin to think about the possibility of the media taking it out of context.

Out of context?

The most telling thing about the episode is the mealymouthed response from many Republican elected and party leaders. ... We're looking into it ... I defend his right to unpopular speech ... Not my view .... It's a local matter. .... Yadda yadda

PS — State Police are investigating. Not only Nogy, but also the case following.

UPDATE: Benton County Republican Chair Tim Summers finally clears his throat and issues a statement. 27 lines into it, he gets around to saying he "personally rejects" the suggestion of violence as a response to legislative vote. Well .... with this kind of pussyfooting, it's no surprise the right-wingers trounced Summers in 2012. And that could explain his timidity now.

* AGAIN WITH THE 2ND AMENDMENT REMEDY: More fun with guns was reported by House Speaker Davy Carter on his Twitter account overnight. He posted this:

seanonymous ‏@seanonymous 11h
@davycarter is a very persuasive gun advocate. I'd like to buy a gun and shoot him with it.

After another reader said the State Police should be called, Carter commented:

I'd rather him come here for an ass kicking

* AGAIN WITH THE PARTISAN POLITICS: I'm no fan of Democratic Rep. Nate Steel's bill that made prosecuting attorney elections non-partisan. It was a solution for a non-existent problem and, at its core, was a smear of prosecutors. He did it again last night, by trying to score political points over the potentially terroristic threats in the talk of people using guns to settle scores with elected public officials. Steel commented on Twitter:

Awfully close to terroristic threatening. Puts a same-party prosecutor is in an awkward position.

It would be awkward to prosecute someone who threatens to kill a public official because you might share a political party? Really? It's silly to think partisan labels in elections mean much anyway except as a handy guide to voters. A prosecutor who runs without party label still retains his party proclivities. You could argue it's easier to judge a prosecutorial decision in the extremely rare cases where party is a factor when such connections are on the table for all to see.

* LIGHTS ON THE ARKANSAS RIVER: Unrelated to guns, nuts and Republicans, I have a small update on the Entergy news conference this morning. It will be to announce plans to have three bridge crossings over the Arkansas River lit by the end of this year and, we expect, a plan to continue the lighting whenever the Broadway Bridge replacement is built (sometime after I expire from two years of traffic aggravation).

UPDATE: The announcement is a $2 million Entergy gift to celebrate its 100th anniversary and will put LED lights on the Main Street bridge and the Junction and Clinton Library pedestrian bridges. No info about the future for the Broadway Bridge, however. Long time off, that one. Entergy Arkansas, the Clinton Foundation, the Pulaski County Bridge Authority, Philips Lighting Company, Koontz Electric, and the cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock are all investing in the $2.4 million project. These agencies will split $400,000 of the cost, Mayor Mark Stodola said: LR, NLR, LRCVB, NLRCVB, Pulaski County Bridge Authority and Clinton Foundation. Exact amounts have yet to be decided. Phillips Lighting, which has decorated famous structures worldwide, will lead the installation.

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Republican extremism means never having to say you're sorry

Max Brantley — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 11:42:00 -0500

First it was Republican Rep. Nate Bell, with his non-apology apology for slurring Bostonians while trying to score a pro-gun political point in the midst of a manhunt for police killers noticeably undeterred by firepower.

When the world blew back on Bell, he did NOT apologize for his remark, only for its "timing."

Now comes Chris Nogy, an extremist Republican from Benton County (redundant, I know), whom I wrote about last night. He's the one who put a letter in the Benton County Republican newsletter in which he said, among other threatening remarks about Republican legislators who'd voted to implement Obamacare in Arkansas:

The 2nd amendment means nothing unless those in power believe you would have no problem simply walking up and shooting them if they got too far out of line and stopped responding as representatives.

He added, at one point, a Nixonian, "but hey we can't." Hard to shake the feeling he said that very regretfully.

Anyway, Larry Henry at 5 News in NWA adds more to the Nogy saga today:

Like Bell, a writer to the 5 news website, identifying himself as Nogy has issued further remarks that are well short of repentant for the initial comments.

In the “clarification” published in the comments section, the person identifying himself as Nogy says he “didn’t advocate violence” and “most likely won’t try to kill them or harm their families.”

“I mentioned violence to get people’s attention, and it worked,” he writes.

"most likely" ? Using threat of violence to get attention is a valid political tactic?

Official Republican response has been timid and wholly unsatisfactory. Rep. Charlie Collins even responded initially by saying that, while he disagreed with what Nogy said, he defended his right to say it.

This isn't on-the-one-hand/on-the-other-hand kind of rhetoric. It's just wrong. Nothing but definitive repudiation is in order.

Collins should have said: "I abhor what this person said and want no one like him as part of my Republican Party."

Don't hold your breath. The Republican Party of Arkansas was similarly wishy-washy about several extremist legislative candidates. Remember the Three Stooges — Hubbard, Fuqua and Mauch?

Tim Summers, the former legislator who chairs the Benton County committee, said it did not "approve" the letter and that it would be discussed at a future meeting. Does he really have to have a meeting before disavowing this diatribe?

The party's avoidance of strong criticism tells you everything you need to know about how important top Republicans think extremists are to their base of support.

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Nate Bell's shot at Boston heard 'round the world

Max Brantley — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 07:03:00 -0500

More mail arrives on Nate Bell's use of the Boston bombing and police slayings to take a crack at liberals and gun control. I received this letter by e-mail:

I am a proud Arkansas native, and I am a proud Bostonian...three years now. I, like all Americans, was shaken to the core last Monday when two bombs ripped through the streets of my city, our city, killing three, injuring more, and devastating millions. A result of this tragedy has been something for which I am certain these terrorists did not bargain: that these brave people would run toward the blast of bombs so that they might help save others, the displays of kindness shown by complete strangers to those affected, and the knitting-together of a nation in support of its home city. Sadly, after a night and day of a manhunt for the people that did this, I read with utter embarrassment of the communication sent out by Arkansas Representative Nate Bell from his Twitter account in which he politicized a tragedy and insulted a people in pondering "how many Boston liberals spent the night cowering in their homes wishing they had an AR-15 with a high capacity magazine." You, sir, should be ashamed. While I have sense enough to know that this opinion is only yours and in no way reflects on the people of my home state, it represents an almost sociopathic disregard for human suffering and rightly casts you as the embodiment of a political culture more concerned with scoring points at any cost than actually serving others. Know this, Mr. Bell: You would not be able to stand in the shadow of these amazing people—they are too large for the pettiness and coldness that you have displayed. Know that you are a shameful representative of the great people of Arkansas that suffer right along with us. Go home, Mr. Bell. Arkansas does not need your brand of leadership.

Drew Smith
Boston, Mass

Some in the media continue to report erroneously that Bell apologized for his remark. He never did. Only for the 'timing.' The quality of that "apology" is noted in this letter from a retired judge in Paragould.

Rep. Bell:
I am a 61 year old lifetime resident of the Great State of Arkansas. For almost 15 years, I had the privilege of serving as an elected Circuit Judge in the Second Judicial Circuit in Arkansas, and now sit as a Retired Circuit Judge as assigned by the AR Supreme Court.

I have never been as appalled by a statement made by an Arkansas elected official as the one you made today. You have caused untold scorn to be heaped upon this wonderful state.

I certainly understand your rights under the First Amendment. However, your shallow attempt to then try and make an apology falls far short of what I would expect from an elected State Representative under these circumstances.

At this point, the only course of conduct I feel you can take in order to rectify your callous and cavalier behavior is to immediately resign your position.

Prove to the citizens of Arkansas you have the ability to do the right thing!

Respectfully,

David Goodson
Circuit Judge (Retired)
Paragould, AR

Bell, meanwhile, has something approaching 8,000 comments on his Facebook page to his original comment and his non-apology apology. Vituperation rate is high. His own Twitter account has been relatively silent. But one comment he re-tweeted after the furor erupted over his remark was this remark sympathetic to his advocacy of high-capacity magazines:

Dana Loesch ‏@DLoesch ==
Majority of my family lives in a rural area where response time is 20+ minutes. Rounds count when help isn’t available.

Really? Are there places in the country — Polk County? — where shootouts with hundreds of rounds of ammo are common, akin to a cowboys-and-Indians shoot-em-up movie? Wonder how many @danaloesch or @natebell4ar have engaged in?

A comment on the top of Facebook comments to Bell this morning was typical:

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There Rapert goes again: Liberals = Taliban, Nazis

Max Brantley — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 14:14:40 -0500

From Twitter:

One is tempted to suggest that the fiddlin' demagogue stick a vaginal probe in it.

Or maybe Matthew 7:1 would be a more appropriate response.

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Will Republicans boycott Walmart now? Walton Foundation acknowledges climate change

Max Brantley — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 11:04:41 -0600

Climate change hasn't come up at the Guns and Fetuses Session of the Arkansas legislature. But if it did, it would most likely be in the form of unanimous Republican consent that climate change is a liberal fiction. Didn't it snow a lot here on Christmas?

Anyway, the prevalent Republican dogma against climate change comes up as I read a news release from the Walton Family Foundation, which is a product of the billions created by Walmart. Waltons and Walmart are generally held holy by the Guns and Fetuses Caucus and Republican Chowder and Marching Society. So get a load of this:

In December, the Bureau of Reclamation released a major federal study on the impact of climate change on the Colorado River Basin. The study concluded that the projected future demands for water in the basin exceed projected supplies and included a range of options for addressing this demand imbalance. Foundation grantees, including the Environmental Defense Fund, Trout Unlimited and Western Resource Advocates, made the most of the study’s release to spotlight common-sense, cost effective water conservation approaches that make the most economic and ecological sense for the Basin and for the River.

The Basin Study was a wake-up call that we need change in the way the Colorado River is managed. The foundation and its partners are working to promote solutions that will protect river flows while ensuring the region’s communities and agricultural traditions can thrive.

Nate Bell, your help is needed at the Walton Family Foundation — STAT. They continue to believe in climate change.

Should you care about the Colorado River, there's more here. If climate change denial is more your thing, you can tune into KNUT and Elswick any afternoon.

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News forecast: Busy session for Capitol reporters

Max Brantley — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 06:32:12 -0600

Prediction: If Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporters are required to file extensive reports every time Denny Altes or another wingnut Republican threatens to file an idiotic piece of legislation, they are going to find themselves short of sufficient hours in the day.

Take today: about 40 column inches on a patently unconstitutional idea that Altes may or may not pursue to require federal law enforcement officers to obtain prior approval from local sheriffs before making criminal arrests in their counties.

Pay wall. But you hardly need to bother. This is vintage Denny nonsense. DBI, the floor is open.

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Yes, please. Curtis Coleman the Republican nominee for governor in 2014

Max Brantley — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 13:05:09 -0500

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The Dutch read about Charlie Fuqua

Max Brantley — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 20:38:00 -0500

Arkansas goes international.

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One more excerpt from the Republicans' Three Stooges

Max Brantley — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 06:20:28 -0500

I was going to give the Arkansas Republican Party's Axis of Idiots a rest this morning. Since Michael Cook and I began rolling out the words of Reps. Loy Mauch and Jon Hubbard and former Rep. and candidate Charlie Fuqua, last Friday, the world has gotten a good load of their thinking. (And where does the Democrat-Gazette get off repeatedly claiming ITS reporting set this story on fire, with no credit to others?)

The extremists' views have been repudiated by Democrats and Republicans alike. But the Republicans have not demanded their money back from the candidates nor have they withdrawn electoral endorsements of any of the three. Sen. Davy Carter's endorsement of Fuqua's Democratic opponent James McLean in Batesville has been a lonely Republican action worthy in response to what the trio stands for. I suspect support for the Trio is wider than you might care to believe among base voters and thus Republicans dare not give too much offense by standing up more bravely against warm words for slavery, religious bigotry and the rest of their nuttiness. Mauch's support of a neo-Confederate group that has endorsed secession would get far too many amens, I fear.

Still, the shape of the story is clear enough. But then I read in the DOG a comment from Phillip Finch, the chair of the Independence County Republican Party, one of Charlie Fuqua's backers. Rather than avoid comment, like the cowardly leader of the Craighhead Republican Party, which supports Jon Hubbard, Finch said:

“The county party is distressed. We all think highly of Charlie ... we realize it is a provocative book. Would we agree with everything he said? No. But Charlie wrote a book on some important topics that our country needs to deal with and he wrote it with a Biblical view.”

So there's nothing to do but provide more this morning from Charlie Fuqua's hit book:

We must require all parents to support their children. Any parent that does not support his or her children should be sterilized so that they cannot produce more children that they do not support. Any parent that has his or her parental rights terminated by a court because they have abused or neglected their children should be sterilized ...

Docs could set up profitable referral desks at the county courthouse if sterilization became required for failure to pay child support. At least Fuqua doesn't call for capital punishment, as he did for rebellious children.

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UPDATES: Republican candidate Fuqua endorses death penalty for rebellious children

Max Brantley — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 06:32:00 -0500

Remember former Republican legislator Charlie Fuqua, running again for legislature with financial support from the Arkansas Republican Party and U.S. Reps. Tim Griffin and Steve Womack, among others? We've mentioned some excerpts from his book, "God's Law: The Only Political Solution."

I have more for you today. To save space, I've omitted the Biblical citation for Fuqua's endorsement of the death penalty for rebellious children. Fuqua doesn't think execution would have to be used often on children who defied their parents, but suggests the deterrent effect of its legality would be beneficial. Verbatim, from the writing of Charlie Fuqua, a former lawyer for the Arkansas Department of Human Services:

The maintenance of civil order in society rests on the foundation of family discipline. Therefore, a child who disrespects his parents must be permanently removed from society in a way that gives an example to all other children of the importance of respect for parents. The death penalty for rebellioius children is not something to be taken lightly. The guidelines for administering the death penalty to rebellious children are given in Deut 21:18-21:

…

This passage does not give parents blanket authority to kill their children. They must follow the proper procedure in order to have the death penalty executed against their children. I cannot think of one instance in the Scripture where parents had their child put to death. Why is this so? Other than the love Christ has for us, there is no greater love then [sic] that of a parent for their child. The last people who would want to see a child put to death would be the parents of the child. Even so, the Scrpture provides a safe guard to protect children from parents who would wrongly exercise the death penalty against them. Parents are required to bring their children to the gate of the city. The gate of the city was the place where the elders of the city met and made judicial pronouncements. In other words, the parents were required to take their children to a court of law and lay out their case before the proper judicial authority, and let the judicial authority determine if the child should be put to death. I know of many cases of rebellious children, however, I cannot think of one case where I believe that a parent had given up on their child to the point that they would have taken their child to a court of law and asked the court to rule that the child be put to death. Even though this procedure would rarely be used, if it were the law of land, it would give parents authority. Children would know that their parents had authority and it would be a tremendous incentive for children to give proper respect to their parents.

To date, Congressman Griffin and Republican Party Chair Doyle Webb have criticized some of the things Fuqua has said. Womack has said nothing. But no party official has demanded money back or urged Fuqua to withdraw from the race. Majority control of the legislature is far too important for Republicans to abandon a candidate, no matter how extreme. Which tells you a little something about Republican majority governance.

Still waiting for Republican leadership, too, on the question of endorsement of sitting Republican Rep. Loy Mauch of Bismarck, who we've quoted repeatedly in defense of slavery and harshly critical of GOP patron saint Abraham Lincoln. Mauch scorns Lincoln as a Nazi and Marxist. The Republican representative is a follower of the neo-Confederate League of the South.

Republican officials also haven't pulled endorsements and financial support for slavery apologist Republican Rep. Jon Hubbard of Jonesboro.

UPDATE: Columnist John Brummett asked U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin if he'd like to add Loy Mauch to his list of regretted campaign contributions (to be distinguished from withdrawal of party endorsement). He got this response (~~pay wall~~; apparently it isn't pay feature):

The congressman wrote back, “I read a sample of Rep. Mauch’s statements, and they range from outrageous to historically inaccurate and anachronistic to downright odd. As we all know, both parties have folks that say ridiculous things, but I would not have financially supported Mauch had I known about these statements. And yes I am requesting that he give the money to charity.”

Note the weasel words "financially supported." Griffin presumably would vote for Mauch over Jesus, were Jesus to run in the party to which his philosophy is most naturally inclined these days, the Democrats. Of course, as Mauch tells us, Jesus condoned slavery, too.

UPDATE II: U.S. Rep. Steve Womack's staff, which normally ignores requests for information from the Arkansas Times, hastened to volunteer that they HAD made a statement about Hubbard and Fuqua, but not Mauch:

I am disheartened by Jon Hubbard and Charlie Fuqua's recent statements and do not support or agree with their views. Offering donations to their campaigns—and to all other Republican candidates seeking office in the Arkansas Legislature this fall—should not suggest otherwise.

In light of their new agreeability I've asked two followups: 1) what about Loy Mauch? and 2) does the congressman urge votes for these candidates despite their pronouncements? A campaign spokesman responded to Question 1, but not Question 2 (which is an answer in itself):

The congressman does not support the comments made by Mr. Mauch in the least.

UPDATE III: Congressmen Griffin and Womack, this is the more appropriate statement, Twittered this morning by Republican Sen. Davy Carter:

I am proud to endorse Rep. James McLean for State Rep. Dist. #63. It has been an honor to work with James the past four years, and I look...

McLean is Fuqua's Democratic opponent. Carter would earn Hall of Fame status if he endorsed Harold Copenhaver, who's opposing Hubbard, or David Kizzia, who's opposing Mauch. Neither of them are legislative colleagues, but a stump would be better in either case.

UPDATE IV: When I did my rundown early Saturday morning of Republican Party contributions to extremist candidates, Fuqua had not filed his latest campaign report. It came on-line yesterday. Add as financial supporters:

* House Republican Leadership PAC — $2,000.

* Independence County Republican Party — $500

* Michelle and former Republican legislator Jim Bob Duggar — $250. (Fine thing for the reality TV family show stars).

Does Republican Rep. Terry Rice really want to be House speaker bad enough that he'll send $2,000, the maximum, to a total nut rather than let a proven, conservative Democrat hold the seat?

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Hubbard and Fuqua: We are not cranks

Max Brantley — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 07:20:03 -0500

Some responses worth of note in the flurry of news about extremist views of Arkansas Republican legislative candidates.

First, from former Republican Rep. Charlie Fuqua, running again for the House from Batesville, who we noted has a book in which, among others, he calls for expulsion of all Muslims from U.S. and execution of repeat criminal offenders and says U.S. monetary policy is contrary to the Bible. He was quoted here:

"I think my views are fairly well-accepted by most people," Fuqua said before hanging up, saying he was busy knocking on voters' doors.

Alas, he's right, certainly insofar as the Republican base is concerned. Witness party officials refusal to withdraw endorsements and financial support from him or from Rep. Jon Hubbard of Jonesboro or Rep. Loy Mauch of Bismarck, both slavery apologists.

Hubbard issued a statement late yesterday to KAIT-TV in Jonesboro. He said he's been taken out of context by "left-wing liberal bloggers." The statement said, in part:

Obama-Pelosi-Beebe Democrats, led by left-wing bloggers, have attacked me over a book I wrote in 2008. They attacked me because I’m a conservative, and they’ve taken small portions of my book out of context, and distorted what was said to make it appear that I am racist, which is totally and completely false. These liberals offer no positive plans for dealing with the issues which are of major concern to the people of our state, and all they can do is to launch these negative attacks on those of us who do have legitimate and workable solutions to these problems. The one thing that scares the life out of them is losing their political stronghold they have had on our state for the last 138 years, and this is what keeps them awake at night. They will do anything to steer the conversation away from the real issues, and that is why they try to make me and other conservatives spend our time defending ourselves against their false accusations, instead of addressing these real issues the people of this state desperately want answers or solutions for.

I didn't call Hubbard a racist. But I have noticed his pungent remarks over the years on immigration (he's on an unending tear against the UA, for example, for allowing a program on campus about the plight of undocumented students) and about black people and slavery. Integration has brought down white folks, slavery was a blessing in disguise, etc. As he says, it's all in his book. The fuller context doesn't mitigate Hubbard's extremism in my view or, apparently, the views of several Republicans who've distanced themselves from the quotes — if not from Hubbard the candidate. But if you want to buy it and decide for yourself, it's on Amazon.

No defense heard yet from Republican Rep. Lloyd Mauch of Bismarck, who's written for years in defense of slavery, saying, among others, the practice was condoned by Jesus and must be OK because none of the Gospels weighed in against it. He's also repeatedly rapped Abraham Lincoln, spiritual father of the Republican Party, as a Nazi and Marxist.

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God according to Charlie Fuqua

Max Brantley — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 14:05:28 -0500

In an earlier post on extremist Republicans (repetitive, I know), I mentioned I was planning to peruse House Republican candidate Charlie Fuqua's book, "God's Law: The only Political Solution."

Now that Lindsey has done a quick scan, I think some excerpts he found deserve a blog post of their own.

STARVE 'EM

The minimum wage should be set at zero. It is simply a lie that raising the minimum wage helps people at the low end of the pay scale.

KILL 'EM

We cannot continue to sustain the percentage of our population that is in prison. No prison term should be longer than two years. Prison should be unpleasant and rehabilitative. Anyone that cannot be rehabilitated in two years should be executed. [emphasis supplied]

PRAY

Education is inherently religious activity. Some religion will be taught in schools. Because God has been banned from public schools by our court system, the religion taught in public schools is secularism. If we decide to continue to fund education with public funds, the only way to have an educational system that gives parents the freedom to have their children taught the religion they desire is to have a voucher system that enables the parents to select the school the parents desire.

THROW THE MUSLIMS OUT

I see no solution to the Muslim problem short of expelling all followers of the religion from the United States.

Also recommended: Fuqua's Q&A with himself as part of the "media kit" for his book. In it, he explains why today's money system violates two of the Ten Commandments: against stealing and false witness. You'll have to read it.

BTW: Fuqua is a fruitcake of long standing. When he served as a Republican representative from Springdale, even Republicans didn't have much good to say about him. He made the Dem-Gaz's worst legislators list. Republicans were quoted as saying Fuqua was an embarrassment. Gov. Mike Huckabee said at the time: "I will say that we had some difficulty with only one Republican, that being Charlie Fuqua..."

CORRECTION: Fuqua's Democratic opponent, James McLean, is no liberal. The Koch billionaires have even praised his vote against Obamacare. But they'd be happy to see Fuqua win. Why? An automatic vote is an automatic vote, nutcake or not. The Republican Party has completed transition to automaton Koch-run Tea Party. The remaining few sane, if they dared depart from the company line, know they'd be expelled quicker than Fuqua would boot a Muslim by a Koch-backed nutcake in a primary.

Again: I know I risk this item being printed and distributed in a Koch flyer to the delusional who think Charlie just might be onto something. But when they come for me, I don't want to say I'm sorry I didn't speak sooner.

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Republican extremists, in their own words

Max Brantley — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 11:33:19 -0500

Extremism is no vice among Arkansas Republicans. And, no, I'm not talking about neo-Confederate Republican Rep. Loy Mauch, who once tried to have Abraham Lincoln's bust removed from the Hot Springs Convention Center.

There's also Rep. Jon Hubbard of Jonesboro, famously unhinged, who's put some of his choicest thoughts on paper in a book available on Amazon, “Letters to the Editor: Confessions of a Frustrated Conservative.” I'd heard a lot about this book and was talking to Lindsey Millar this morning about ordering a copy. But Michael Cook at Talk Business has already written about some choice excerpts. I confess that publicizing thoughts such as these might only serve to encourage the Republican voter base. But the truth will set someone free. Excerpts selected by Cook and others:

Slavery was good for black people:

“… the institution of slavery that the black race has long believed to be an abomination upon its people may actually have been a blessing in disguise. The blacks who could endure those conditions and circumstances would someday be rewarded with citizenship in the greatest nation ever established upon the face of the Earth.” (Pages 183-89)

If you think slavery was bad, you should have seen Africa:

African Americans must “understand that even while in the throes of slavery, their lives as Americans are likely much better than they ever would have enjoyed living in sub-Saharan Africa.”

“Knowing what we know today about life on the African continent, would an existence spent in slavery have been any crueler than a life spent in sub-Saharan Africa?” (Pages 93 and 189)

Black people are ignorant:

“Wouldn’t life for blacks in America today be more enjoyable and successful if they would only learn to appreciate the value of a good education?” (Page 184)

Integration was bad for white people

“… one of the stated purposes of school integration was to bring black students up to a level close to that of white students. But, to the great disappointment of everyone, the results of this theory worked exactly in reverse of its intended purpose, and instead of black students rising to the educational levels previously attained by white students, the white students dropped to the level of black students. To make matters worse the lack of discipline and ambition of black students soon became shared by their white classmates, and our educational system has been in a steady decline ever since.” (Page 27)

It's basically hopeless.

“… will it ever become possible for black people in the United States of America to firmly establish themselves as inclusive and contributing members of society within this country?” (Page 187)

Immigration is bad.

..the immigration issue, both legal and illegal... will lead to planned wars or extermination. Although now this seems to be barbaric and uncivilized, it will at some point become as necessary as eating and breathing." (Page 9)

Don't forget Nazi Germany.

"American Christians are assuming a similar stance as did the citizens of Germany during Hitler's rise to power." (Page 158)

Any wonder why the Arkansas Republican Party endorses mass mailings that emphasize the evil being done to America by black men, particularly the one in the White House or one dressed up like a doctor? FYI: Hubbard has a great Democratic opponent, church stalwart businessman Harold Copenhaver of Jonesboro.

I need to dig now into the book, "God's Law: The Only Political Solution," by another Republican candidate, Charles Fuqua of Batesville. Another wackjob. He's running against another solid Democrat Rep. James McLean. Highlighting his thoughts, again, might be a bad idea given the way things are going. Fuqua's God, for one good example, doesn't want anything to do with helping poor folks get insurance coverage in the federal Affordable Care Act. Fuqua served previously in the legislature from Springdale.

I'll have some book excerpts shortly, but this is from his own website:

Q. Do believe that the law of the U.S. is inconsistent with the principles stated in the Ten commandments?

A. Abortion, failing to use the death penalty, Socialism, graduated income tax, and our entire economic system is in violation of God’s law.

Again. This might be a winning ticket. But here I stand. I can do no other than report it.

UPDATE: I have some excerpts from Fuqua to add, but they're deserving of their own special attention. Evict all Muslims from the U.S.; monetary policy violates the Ten Commandments, etc. Check it out here.

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U.S. history, Republican version

Max Brantley — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 10:12:58 -0500

A nice little piece of work from The New Yorker's Jack Hitt, which would be riotously funny if it wasn't so painfully true.

It's an encyclopedic roundup of utterances on the American experience from Republicans and conservative sources. The misinformation is epic. Mike Huckabee makes several appearances. Examples:

1775: New Hampshire starts the American Revolution: “What I love about New Hampshire… You’re the state where the shot was heard around the world.”—Michele Bachmann

1776: The Founding Synod signs the Declaration of Independence: “…those fifty-six brave people, most of whom, by the way, were clergymen.”—Mike Huckabee

1787: Slavery is banned in the Constitution: “We also know that the very founders that wrote those documents worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States.”—Michele Bachmann

1801: “Thomas Jefferson creates the Marines for the Islamic pirates that were happening.”—Glenn Beck

...2011: President George W. Bush kills Osama bin Laden: “Thanks to George Bush…. Because if Obama had his way we wouldn’t have gotten bin Laden, you know that.”—Sean Hannity

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What's the matter with Kansas - and is it epidemic?

Max Brantley — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 06:42:58 -0500

A serious effort is underway in Kansas, led by statewide Republican officials (secretary of state, lt. gov., attorney general), to remove President Obama from the November election ballot because they don't think he's provided sufficient evidence of being born in the U.S.

This would be stunning except this is a state that has moved swiftly and brutally to enforce the entire Republican Party agenda. That includes criminalizing abortion, jackpot tax reductions for the wealthy and just about every other plank of the platform you care to name.

The important question for Arkansas and all U.S. voters: Is Kansas the future? Based on the actions of most Arkansas Republican legislators and state officials — Rapert, Bell, Hubbard, Mauch, King, Darr, Martin and many others jump to mind — you'd have to conclude yes.

Birthers or Beebe governance? The sane and safe choice seems clear to me. But don't tell that to the majority of Kansans. Or maybe the majority of AR-kansans either.

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Greenwood rodeo includes abuse of Obama effigy

Max Brantley — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 06:15:48 -0500

40/29 offers a report, with photo, of a rodeo in Greenwood, where an effigy of President Obama was knocked around by a bull and then kicked by a rodeo clown.

The TV station reports that some were unhappy about the disrespect for the president.

CNN noted the incident in a reader-provided post, with this commentary :

Apparently, many Greenwood, Arkansas rodeo fans' idea of family entertainment includes violent displays of hate toward President Obama. A crude effigy was produced during the rodeo on Saturday night, and then violently beaten and destroyed in response to an announcer's call to the audience: "Who wants to rip Obama's head off?"

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How low can they go? Conservatives blame Roberts' meds

Max Brantley — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 10:29:15 -0500

The Republican messaging machine is running in high gear on Obamacare. It's a tax. It's socialism. It will be the ruination of America, economically, morally and spiritually. And so forth.

But they're havimg a hard time fitting rock-ribbed Republican Chief Justice John Roberts into the messaging. A strong line developed yesterday that Roberts had pulled a fast one by sacrificing a short-term loss on the president's signature legislative achievement to the greater good of a wonderfully conservative interpretation of broader law. Plus, this theory goes, he provided some coverage of the reflexively political inclinations of the Republican court majority, evidenced in the lockstep four-vote dissent.

But it's awfully hard to sell the notion that the outcome you fervently prayed against is, after all, a good thing.

So an alternate theory emerges:

Some conservatives are blaming the chief justice's alliance with liberal justices on his epilepsy medication and cognitive problems. Drug-crazed, in other words. These compassionate conservatives will eat their young, too, if given a chance.

Still more crazed wing-nut reaction here. La. Gov. Bobby Jindal is leading the George Wallace Redux Movement, vowing not to allow implementation of broader health coverage for his state's citizens. The Louisiana working poor and sick: Uninsured yesterday. Uninsured today. Uninsured forever. Thanks, Bobby.

And then there are the gun nutatics.

ALSO RE HEALTH CARE:

1) MAKEUP CALL: I probably gave Sen. Mark Pryor unduly short shrift yesterday over his statement responding to the Obamcare ruling. He voted for the law. His statement yesterday cited the many benefits. Lumping him with the reprehensible Mike Ross, who remains an unapologetic supporter as well as gun nut and civil liberites oppressor, just wasn't fair. I give Pryor a second crack by repeating his statement on the jump.

2) SECOND DISTRICT: Herb Rule, Democratic candidate for 2nd District Congress, has a statement cheering the ruling. His Republican opponent, Rep. Tim Griffin, has been a consistent opponent of broadening health care coverage and supports the Ryan budget that would wreck Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Herb Rule’s aim in running for Congress is to help improve the health, income and education of Arkansas people. Rule says, “We must have healthy, well educated people to create new jobs and business so all Arkansans prosper and live fulfilling lives.

Yesterday’s landmark decision by the Supreme Court upholding the Affordable Care Act by a margin of 5 to 4 lets Arkansans continue to benefit from greater access to health care for ourselves, our children and older relatives, rather than hunting for emergency care only after a serious illness or accident has taken its toll. It will bring certainty and protection for all of us so we can concentrate on building our families and businesses and help make America great again.

In light of this decision, I am confident, that Governor Beebe and Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford, as well as all of our doctors, nurses and hospitals will continue to push forward to bring affordable healthcare to all ages. I will be your strong arm in Congress to shape sensible solutions to this need. Our productivity and prosperity depends on it.

The Court’s decision protects women with regular cancer screenings, thousands of children who would otherwise have no medical care, and puts a lid on insurance companies’ denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions and limits them to a reasonable profit.

Certainly, the law can be better, but the way to protect our health care, which is the best in the world, is by experience and amendment, not by repeal. My opponent has been an aginner from the start, and continues to play political games with our healthcare. I care about Arkansans, and having spent a lifetime working in and for this state will continue that work in DC, not play political games with your money.”

MARK PRYOR STATEMENT

The cost of health care is having a major impact on Arkansas families and it is taking an enormous toll on our nation’s budget and well-being. This reason is why Presidents and lawmakers of both parties have promised to fix this broken system for more than 40 years. It is also the reason I have worked to make health care more affordable, accessible and reliable for Arkansans. The law we passed, while not perfect, is already making health care more affordable, accessible and reliable. It is benefiting children, adults and seniors throughout our state.

Before health care reform, I heard from an individual in Greenwood who couldn’t afford life-saving medicine for his heart condition. He is now one of the 36,000 Arkansas seniors who are saving a collective $30 million on prescription drugs through Medicare. I received a letter from a mom in Fayetteville who can now insure her 5-year-old with Down Syndrome, and an email from Brian in Rogers who was able to purchase health care coverage despite having multiple sclerosis. In fact, in Arkansas more than 35,000 young adults have gained health insurance, 574 individuals with pre-existing conditions were able to buy coverage after being denied in the past and 819,000 individuals received preventive services with no deductible or co-pay. The protections upheld today by the Supreme Court will continue to benefit these families, and thousands of other Arkansans who have struggled with the cost of health care in our country.

I am still analyzing today’s ruling. While it provides more certainty, it still allows us to work in a bipartisan way to improve our health care system.

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State Rep. Jon Hubbard still on tear over immigrants

Max Brantley — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 06:20:00 -0500

Speaking of audits: State Rep. Jon Hubbard of Jonesboro needs a mental one

Now, Stephens Media reports, he wants to spend state money to audit whether the University of Arkansas spent any money in a recent campus discussion on the life of undocumented immigrants. He's sure Chancellor David Gearhart hasn't told him the truth in saying no money was spent. Why, the chancellor might have called somebody and invited him to attend or otherwise publicized the event.

Here's the thing: IT DOESN'T MATTER. It doesn't matter if the UA rented the Ritz Carlton to hold this confab. If a university cannot hold a discussion on the plight of unauthorized immigrants, it can't discuss any element of society that a wackjob like Hubbard might prefer be kept secret from impressionable students. Education would be limited to topics Hubbard holds suitable.

Hubbard will continue wasting the time and money of a state oversight agency for his mean-spirited and maniacal pursuit of the brown people. If no other Republican is defeated this fall, Hubbard's defeat would lift civility, compassion and reason in the chamber exponentially.

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Jon Hubbard: UA panel on immigration promoting "illegal" activity

Lindsey Millar — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 14:29:00 -0500

The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville is hosting a panel discussion later this month with five, young undocumented immigrants. The announcement of the panel, "Undocumented: Living in the Shadows,” inspired Republican Rep. Jon Hubbard (Jonesboro), the wingnuttiest of the state GOP delegation and a strident foe of all things immigrant, to fire off an angry email to UA Chancellor G. David Gearhart. Hubbard's been known to send an anti-Latino email to a state official a time or two.

In your announcement of this event... you praise these undocumented/illegal persons for their willingness to take part in this event, and you refered [sic] to their actions simply as the "national immigration debate", instead of what it actually is, an "illegal" and criminal activity!

Politely, Gearhart schools Hubbard in his response:

As I hope you understand, one of a university’s many purposes is to serve as a gathering place where issues and ideas are shared and discussed. I believe it’s important to offer our students and the public an opportunity to hear firsthand from individuals who have such a unique perspective: living most of their lives in and as Americans, if not citizens, but without having access to the same legal, educational, and economic opportunities as their classmates and neighbors.

I hope this explanation helps you understand why the university is holding this educational forum. No one should be afraid or opposed to hear all sides of an issue that is so much in the public domain. I believe the very tenets of our nation, in fact, demand such. Our great country is based on the hallowed principles of free speech and assembly as cherished virtues. I would hope you, as an elected official, would agree with this basic premise and support our guaranteed right and privilege to do so.

See the full exchange on the jump.

Gearhart's response:

Dear Representative Hubbard:
I received your email and offer the following response to your questions and concerns.
We are an educational institution that has a responsibility to educate and inform the public of social and political issues that affect our nation and state. We see this as an important public service as a land grant institution. As you know, there are a multitude of legal, social, educational, cultural, economic, policy, and political issues related to the presence of more than 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States. Arkansas has one of the larger populations in our midst.
Part of the national debate focuses on those issues as they pertain to young people—specifically, those undocumented immigrants in the U.S. who were brought to the U.S. as children. Those individuals have grown up in the U.S., attending American schools—legally, as the Courts have determined, having little understanding or awareness that their legal status was different from others in their classes with whom they play, learn, and say the Pledge of Allegiance. For the most part, they do not learn until they are older of their status and their limited abilities to drive a car, get a job, travel safely and securely, or pursue higher education. Returning to their country of birth is not necessarily a realistic option; many of these immigrant children have no recollection or family connections in the country in which they were born, nor do they necessarily speak or write their home country’s native language. English is the only language in which they are fluent. In fact, many of these young people speak English with an Arkansas accent. All of this creates social and economic circumstances that negatively affect them, their families, and society as a whole.
Having traveled our state extensively, I am well aware that there is widespread interest in the topic of young, undocumented immigrants. I hear it from students, business and community leaders, educators, and policy makers. Whether they are immigrants or fifth-generation Arkansans, they make it clear to me that greater public discourse is needed to understand better the aspects and complexity of this issue. For that reason, the University of Arkansas chose to convene a panel that would allow the public to hear firsthand how young, undocumented immigrants view themselves and their place in the country in which they’ve lived for most of their lives. So much of the public debate has centered around the opinions and sound bites of TV pundits; we thought we would hold an event that would, through exchanges of perspectives and a Q&A session, provide an educational and enlightening forum on this major public policy topic.
As I hope you understand, one of a university’s many purposes is to serve as a gathering place where issues and ideas are shared and discussed. I believe it’s important to offer our students and the public an opportunity to hear firsthand from individuals who have such a unique perspective: living most of their lives in and as Americans, if not citizens, but without having access to the same legal, educational, and economic opportunities as their classmates and neighbors.
I hope this explanation helps you understand why the university is holding this educational forum. No one should be afraid or opposed to hear all sides of an issue that is so much in the public domain. I believe the very tenets of our nation, in fact, demand such. Our great country is based on the hallowed principles of free speech and assembly as cherished virtues. I would hope you, as an elected official, would agree with this basic premise and support our guaranteed right and privilege to do so.
Finally, it is my fervent hope that you would attend the assembly and be better educated to the serious issues and pitfalls facing the youth of our state. We would be delighted to have you with us.
Sincerely,
G. David Gearhart
Chancellor
University of Arkansas

Hubbard's email:

Dr. Gearhart:

I would be very interested in knowing why the University of Arkansas, a state institution which receives a large portion of it's operating budget from taxpayer funds, would knowingly allow itself to participate in a program for those who are in this country and this state, "illegally"? If you understand and agree that being "undocumented" is the same as being "illegal", then how can you, as Chancellor of the University of Arkansas Fayetteville, explain and justify taking part in an activity in support of someone who is knowingly and openly breaking Federal Law? In your announcement of this event below, you praise these undocumented/illegal persons for their willingness to take part in this event, and you refered to their actions simply as the "national immigration debate", instead of what it actually is, an "illegal" and criminal activity!

Please consider this as my official request that you explain both your own, and that of the University of Arkansas, roles in this specific, and most likely, "illegal" activity. I look forward to your prompt reply.

Sincerely,
Jon Hubbard
State Representative
Jonesboro, AR

UA announcement:

“What’s it like to grow up in America but not be an American?” That’s the question five young, undocumented immigrants will address as part of a unique, nationally relevant panel discussion called “Undocumented: Living in the Shadows,” to be held in Fayetteville on Monday, April 23 from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. Given your leadership position in our state, I invite you to join me for this thought-provoking evening, which is being coordinated and sponsored by the University of Arkansas. The five panelists taking part in the discussion were brought by their parents to the U.S. at a young age. Some of them don’t have any connections or recollection of the country in which they were born. Two panelists are university students who grew up in Arkansas. The other three panelists grew up in Massachusetts, New York and Virginia, respectively. Their undocumented immigration status makes travel within the U.S. difficult and risky and their ability to work legally impossible. They are taking a significant risk by making themselves so publicly visible. However, they deeply believe in the importance of sharing their stories about fears, self-identity, and the national immigration debate. We appreciate their willingness to do so. The April 23 event will be held at the Town Center in Fayetteville. While the event is free and open to the public, seating will be limited. Please RSVP by April 19 if you are interested in attending and we will reserve seats for you. I truly hope you will join us for this special event. Best wishes, G. David Gearhart Chancellor

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South Carolina GOP ballot — a sex litmus test

Max Brantley — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 13:16:00 -0600

OK. Any effort to top South Carolina in the political hall of shame will fall to this one.

Before you can join the Laurens County Republican Party in South Carolina and get on the primary ballot, they ask that you pledge that you’ve never ever had pre-marital sex — and that you will never ever look at porn again.

Last Tuesday, the LCGOP unanimously adopted a resolution that would ask all candidates who want to get on the primary ballot to sign a pledge with 28 principles, because the party “does not want to associate with candidates who do not act and speak in a manner that is consistent with the SC Republican Party Platform.”

Adultery is also a no-no.

Legal considerations prevented the county party from making the pledge an ironclad requirement for the ballot, but failure to sign the pledge would presumably be as damaging as failure to answer the Arkansas Family Council's do-you-hate-gays-enough? political questionnaire.

PS — This as good a place as any to provide more of Rush Limbaugh's non-apology apology. In short: "Rappers are worse."

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Secure Arkansas and me — together at last

Max Brantley — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 06:27:38 -0600

I've had my sport before and undoubtedly will again with Secure Arkansas, the anti-immigration group that once said Mexicans were plotting to build a super highway to Kansas City and whose leaders fear bike lanes are a medium for one-world UN takeover.

But when they are right, by golly, they are right.

Several have forwarded me the latest Secure Arkansas alert to followers about the Jason Rapert-led charge to enlist Arkansas in the fight to put a majority of state legislatures in charge of the federal budget. His proposal, if enough state legislatures pass it, would set in motion the first state-called constitutional convention in U.S. history to amend the Constitution to allow their terrible idea. A majority of state legislatures (not a majority of the American people, even) would be required to approve increases in the federal debt.

Secure Arkansas is less worried about putting yahoos in charge of national defense spending than it is in who's behind the movement, their motives and unintended consequences.

The Koch brothers and their proxies, the American Legislative Exchange Council and Americans for Prosperity, are among those shilling this plan, which would merely cut the knees out from under federal government and its services to U.S. citizens on the whim of people like, well, Jason Rapert. Read on the jump for the Secure Arkansas e-mail missive on the point. Here's a recent link to their website on the issue.

Unintended consequences? The backers of this nutty idea assure all that convened delegates would stick to budget matters if a convention was called. That's bad enough. But there'd also be no limitation to subject matter and this group, particularly given its roots, could cause some great mischief to the U.S. Constitution. Do you think for a minute that religionists like Jason Rapert and Jerry Cox wouldn't seize this moment to correct all the ills imposed by judicial interpretation of our founding document? Do you think for a minute some little ol' add-ons wouldn't be added to agenda? Rapert, for one, would surely be happy to allow religioius proselytizing with public dollars; criminalization of homosexuality; bans on not just abortion but also contraception. Trans-vaginal probes for all women! Check the list of Arkansas sponsors if you think I exaggerate.

Rapert may get a hearing in the Senate on this terrible idea next week. Sad to report that three Democrats are on the list of Senate sponsors, so it could pass that end of the Capitol, unless some of the tiny GOP Sanity Caucus declines to go along. Gene Jeffress and Jerry ~~Brown~~ Taylor are not too surprising as sponsors, neither particularly inclined toward the Democratic Party's principles or common sense. David Wyatt is a slightly more disappointing addition to the loony list. PLEASE NOTE MY CORRECTON: I goofed and wrote Jerry Brown when I meant Jerry Taylor in original post.

For your study: Ernie Dumas' explanation of Rapert's Folly.

So there it is. Debbie Pelley, Jeannie Burlsworth and me. Together at last. They do occasionally make sense. See some good, factual stuff on the Kochs and ALEC in Secure Arkansas's e-mail blast:

SECURE ARKANSAS E-MAIL MESSAGE FOLLOWS

SJR1 Must be killed

Senator Rapert is the key sponsor of this bill.

SJR1 legislation came from model legislation from American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Be sure to click this explosive link.

American Legislative Exchange Council

Click this so you can see for yourself how the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is ghostwriting the law for corporate America.

(ALEC) is one of many NONGOVERNMENT groups behind the model legislation that gets implemented in all the states around the country. You need to ask the elected politicians who the author is. We need to know who the author is and where the legislation came from on every bill. All our politicians are real proud to get their name on legislation as a sponsor or co-sponsor to make them look good to the folks back home. Most legislation is promoted by lobbyists and special interest groups.

ALEC's main goal is privatization which has been done extensively to prisons, thus making corporations quite wealthy on prison labor, keeping them in for longer periods of time. ALEC is also at the head of the pack calling for a Constitutional Convention, which would totally destroy the nation.

State Chairman (legislative and corporate) for ALEC are Arkansans

Representative Linda Collins Smith (R) and Senator Michael Lamoureux(R)

Ted Mullenix, AT&T

ALEC Corporation Members

Michael Lamoureux is a Republican member of the Arkansas State Senate. He is a member of the following committees: JBC-Personnel (Chair); ALC - Personnel (Chair); Revenue and Tax - Senate (Vice Chair); Arkansas Legislative Council (ALC); Joint Budget Committee, ALC - Charitable, Penal and Correctional Institutions, ALC - Administrative Rules and Regulations, ALC - Litigation Reports Oversight Subcommittee, City, Council and Local Affairs Committee - Senate, Energy - Joint, Legislative Facilities and Senate Efficiency.

Lamoureux is also a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), serving as ALEC State Chairman for Arkansas, as well as on the Board of Directors for ALEC, as of July 2011.

Linda Collins-Smith was a Democratic member of the Arkansas State Assembly. On Wednesday, August 10th, 2011, she announced that she had switched to the Republican Party. She is on the following committees: Revenue & Taxation (Vice Chair); Revenue and Taxation - House, City, County and Local Affairs - House Finance Subcommittee; Energy - Joint and the Judiciary Committee - House.

Through ALEC, behind closed doors, corporations hand state legislators the changes to the law they desire that directly benefit their bottom line. Along with legislators, corporations have membership in ALEC. Corporations sit on all nine ALEC task forces and vote with legislators to approve "model" bills. They have their own corporate governing board which meets jointly with the legislative board. (ALEC says that corporations do not vote on the board.) They fund almost all of ALEC's operations. Participating legislators, overwhelmingly conservative Republicans, then bring those proposals home and introduce in statehouses across the land as their own brilliant ideas and important public policy innovations - without disclosing that corporations crafted and voted on the bills.

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a group that fronts special interests and was started by oil billionaire David Koch and Richard Fink (a member of the board of directors of Koch Industries). AFP's messages are in sync with those of other groups funded by the Koch Family Foundation. According to an article in the August 30, 2010, issue of The New Yorker, the Kochs are known for "creating slippery organizations with generic-sounding names," that "make it difficult to ascertain the extent of their influence in Washington." AFP's budget surged from $7 million in 2007 to $40 million in 2010, an election year. This is according to Sourcewatch.org.

Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE) (1984-2004) was a conservative political group operating in the United States, whose self-described mission was "to fight for less government, lower taxes, and less regulation." In 2004, Citizens for a Sound Economy split into two new organizations, with Citizens for a Sound Economy being renamed as FreedomWorks, and Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation becoming Americans for Prosperity.

Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE) was established in 1984 by David H. Koch and Charles G. Koch of Koch Industries. "CSE received almost $5 million from various Koch foundations between 1986 and 1990, and David Koch and several Koch Industries employees serve[d] as directors of CSE and the CSE Foundation. This is according to Wikipedia.org.

Koch brothers gave ALEC over $200,000 in 2009.

Click here for a diagram of the Koch Brothers and their connections. THIS IS A MUST CLICK!!!

The Claude R. Lambe Foundation, which Charles Koch, his wife and kids help run, donated $125,000 to ALEC. His own Charles G. Koch foundation kicked in an additional $75,000.) That $200k is before whatever is the undisclosed amount of membership "dues" paid by Koch Industries, which is run by Charles and David Koch. There is no public disclosure of annual gifts the company gives to take part in the one-stop shopping ALEC conventions provide to meet with legislators from every state about their wish list. There are many documents that state that the Koch Brothers have given anywhere from $600,000 up to a Million in the last decade or so and Koch Industries has donated an untold amount. The Kochs also bailed out ALEC with a loan of nearly half a million dollars in the late 1990s. Koch Industries has also chaired ALEC's corporate board and has had a seat on its board for over a decade. Plus, another subsidy unaccounted for by ALEC is the money corporations like Koch have spent on having the head of its lobbying arm involved in ALEC's leadership as well as whatever amount of time the company spends crafting ALEC "model" legislation.

Koch Brothers Exposed - Cancer Risks for Koch Profits

Any politician that will not pull their name from this legislation does not understand the Constitution or how a Constitution Convention (Con-Con) works. It is the delegates to the Con-Con that control the outcome.

American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is behind a large portion of the model legislation that they are trying to get implemented. This is being done in all the states all around the county via the ALEC State Chairmen and members.

Metro 1313 also plays a major part in bringing model legislation into the state, county, city and school governments.

We do not disagree with every issue ALEC promotes, but we do disagree with their methodology.

Securing the blessings of liberty,

SecureArkansas@gmail.com

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Republicans: Pizza sauce is a vegetable

Max Brantley — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:21:36 -0600

The Republicans love to talk about the "nanny state" — by which they mean government regulation aimed at improving the health and safety of American citizens.

That could be a principled position — to hold a hand up against regulation — except when they stick out the other hand for enormous taxpayer subsidies under legislation rigged for their favored corporate backers.

Earlier this year, the USDA made an attempt to bolster the nutrition guidelines for the federal school lunch program. Under the new guidelines, for instance, school lunches would be limited to one cup of starchy vegetables a week and the ability of schools to count tomato sauce on pizza towards their fruit and vegetables requirement would be scaled back. But House Republicans, in a new spending plan unveiled yesterday, have done away with those changes:

The spending bill also would allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable, as it is now. The department’s proposed guidelines would have attempted to prevent that.

The changes had been requested by food companies that produce frozen pizzas, the salt industry and potato growers.

Republicans, as ever, invoked the evils of regulation. Think Progress translated the Republican legislation differently:

What they will actually do is ensure that a steady flow of dollars continues toward certain favored food manufacturers, at the expense of children’s health.

Can ketchup be back as a vegetable soon?

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Tree farmers behind Christmas tree marketing fee

Max Brantley — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:58:20 -0600

A Republican friend sent a link from the Fox Noise machine where the wingnuts are busily stirring up a war on Christmas charge against Barack Obama over an Agriculture Deaprtment plan to impose a 15-cent-a-tree charge on large sellers of Christmas trees.

You don't need to know the facts to know this is a slogan campaign tailormade for Fox, O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Hannity and friends. But I also intuited instantly that this sounded less like a presidential declaration of war on Christians than a marketing fee just like those paid by soybean farmers, dairy farmers, cattle ranchers and others to pay for programs to support promotion of the things they produce.

Who could think Christmas trees need image work, everyone from Limbaugh to the Kochhead stooges at the Arkansas chapter of Americans for Prosperity parroted — as if they'd invented the wheel?

Easy answer: tree farmers and retailers of their product who've seen a big share of tree business go to fake Christmas trees, reusable year after year.

It didn't take a genius to figure this out if I did. But Talking Points Memo did the legwork. The drive for this fee began before Obama took office and came straight from tree farmers.

“It has absolutely nothing to do with Obama, it’s not a tax,” National Christmas Tree Association spokesman Rick Dungey told TPM. “I’m slowly but surely narrowing down who the culprits are who put out that sinister little statement for whatever reasons there were.”

“Growers have been working on this for three and a half years,” Dungey added. “It’s just sort of interesting timing, and unfortunately somebody decided to smear it. It’s growers pooling their money to promote the crop that they grow on their farms.”

I need not tell you that the facts don't matter when it comes to right-wing memes. You CAN fool most of the people most of the time. Obama is stealing Christmas with a confiscatory tax (can 15 cents buy ANYTHING anymore?) on a symbol all Americans hold dear (though many fewer buy it in the raw.) This will be Twittered, Facebooked and e-mailed a zillion times today by the fruitcakes and wackjobs who'll pin any lie, from small to monstrous, on Barack Obama. There's no reeling it back in.

PS — Don't expect the Obama administration to stand tall even when the truth is on its side. It's delaying the fee.

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Corporal punishment kills third child

Max Brantley — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:40:48 -0600

A chilling story in NY Times about an evangelical preacher, Michael Pearl, and his popular book exhorting use of "corporal punishment" from age six months to properly rear children. He encourages carrying a length of flexible plumbing line to administer whippings. It's easily portable, see.

Three children have now died as a result of unsparing use of the rod by parents who, it so happens, kept Pearl's book in their home. The preacher naturally says they went too far. But that is the problem with physical punishment. There's no science to calibrating use of hand, board, whip, belt or whatever instrument of abuse is employed. Couple it with a parent's anger and results can be ugly.

The pastoral mood in the hills of Tennessee offered a stark contrast to the storm raging around the country over the Pearls’ teachings on child discipline, which advocate systematic use of “the rod” to teach toddlers to submit to authority. The methods, seen as common sense by some grateful parents and as horrific by others, are modeled, Mr. Pearl is fond of saying, on “the same principles the Amish use to train their stubborn mules.”

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