Arkansas Blog

I'm so proud for the Citizens Journal.

*sniff-sniff*

In my opinion (oh well, then, so much for the value of the following...) Beebe's barnyard ads were much more valuable and important than Halter's visits with the coach.

I'm happy to say that my state senator is not on the Brotherhood member list. Is yours?

What a stretch by JB to opine that Beebe's retention of some agency heads is an endorsement of Huckabee. It is to Beebe's credit he's retained some experienced, non-partisan agency leadership. Wonder what Brummett's tune would be if Beebe has terminated all Huckabee staffers and replaced them with Demo Party hacks?

If you look at the bios, many of those retained were Tucker and Clinton appointees initally that Huck had retained.

It should be disturbing how many people who are true political appointees of Huckabee who are competent but in jobs that would be low paying positions but for the fact that they are bumped in pay as political reward spots are still sitting there without a replacement or even notice that they will be replaced. I know two that are holding off letting the cat out of the bag on their new post-Huckabee jobs simply because they are enjoying the prospect of superior health care coverage and more credit in the state retirement system. One jokes that if he lays low enough he might ride out the entire term.

If our governor-elect can't figure out 20-40 friends, campaign workers, party loyalists or just plain ol folks he's always taken a shine to, to fill those spots in the span of two months, something is wrong. Yet he told Brock he may not fill some of those spots until after session.

One full term as governor is 1,460 days (give or take a day or two depending on when the Tuesday after the second Monday in January falls in 2011.

Waiting to fill those truly political spots means he will spend almost 10% of his term in office with his extended cabinet being made up of people selected for their support of Mike Huckabee or the Arkansas Republican Party or both.

A presidential transition team fills thousands of positions compared to around 100 or so with only two more weeks to work with.

I'm glad for my friends but they will both tell you they are where they are because of politics and are puzzled that they haven't been asked to show a new person around, hand them keys and introduce them to the staff.

Well;

Exactly! I'm wondering when the replacement for my high profile, Huckabee connected agency head will be announced. Everyone in the building is speculating on it and it's really not conducive to a productive work environment. We're all afraid to embark on any involved projects with the future so uncertain.

Beebe should just make and release the decisions so we all can get ready for the session.

70%er I'm happy for my friends, never know one might be your boss, but even they are scratching their head.

They don't have marching orders for the session nor walking papers and I doubt they will be forceful advocates for anything that doesn't fit in with their party's agenda.

I can't imagine what it is like for the agency employees who don't know if the boss is staying or for how long and what changes if any may come along.

"A presidential transition team fills thousands of positions compared to around 100 or so with only two more weeks to work with."

Most presidential campaign contributions are all in by Aug so the list is pretty damn easy to do. The president elect has a team to do appointments. Don't know about a small state governor.

My understanding is that
transitions to the Arkansas
constitutional offices are not
funded by the state. I believe
the feds pay for the
presidential transition.

"Worst Endorsement - A guy named Ron Crawford, a basketball coach of some description, airing radio spots trashing Beebe because Paron High School got closed. Runnerup: Rudy Giuliani, abortion and gay marriage advocate, for Hutchinson."

...and Second Runner Up - Arkansas Times Endorsement of Barbara Graves for LR Mayor!!

It seems to me that the better test of Beebe's staffing decisions will be how many of the incompetent time-servers and ideologues from Huckabee's office staff he keeps. They need to go root and branch, from the faith-based scold to the underpaid receptionist, from Jason Brady to Kelly Boyd, from Chris Morris to Leon Jones, those who researched the voting records of Democratic incumbents and those who were paid with public funds while running for office or managing unsuccessful Republican candidate campaigns for office. All of them. Not a one should draw a dime after next Monday. Then, hunt down those rats who fled the sinking ship and were awarded a sinecure at some agency where they think they can hide under the radar. Nelson and Harris should be given an immediate chance to pursue opportunities in the private sector. Cliff Hoofman knows who they are. No quarter, I say. We didn't vote for them or their masters, and they must go--now!

It's precisely because Huckabee was gracious enough to keep on many of Tucker's staff (both office and political) that Beebe is returning the favor. It's called a "gentleman's agreement" and it comes in hand when there isn't a huge federal staffing allowance to vet candidates for political appointees.

Let's not forget that Tucker didn't even give Huckbee the benefit of a transition, and Huckabee kept many of his people.

I don't really have an opinion on whether our director stays or goes. I'm so far down the food chain it wouldn't affect me much either way. We just need to know so that we can move forward.