Arkansas Blog

There's your answer, Prouster.

But don't go crying, "I told you so." I believe the consensus around here has always been that BB should be flying commercial whenever possible.

See, it's not about bashing Huckabee; it's about the best use of taxpayer $.

Guv, BB ... bad choice on taking the plane. You should pay attention to this blog. Heck, even Philip Martin does.

Does anyone have any idea on how mnay governors have state planes?
It strikes me that this may not be that big of a deal.
Plus flying to Baltimore isn't very time efficient when going to DC. You still have to arrange ground transportation unless Max is advocating that the Governor hop the Metro and take the red line into the district.

ARK. BLOG: Why not. That's what the rest of us do.

Agreed, hugh...

I am disappointed. I have much higher expectations than can be met, I guess...

I don't mind the plane but it seems to be poor judgement to wait and go to the White House State Dinner before heading home.

But then Max, you'd complain about Beebe getting reimbursed for the metro pass.
The rest of us haven't been elected governor, nor are we expected to run the state.
I don't really care if Beebe took the state plane. I don't really care if he has ASP security. It just doesn't bother me.

ARK. BLOG: I'd pay for his Metro pass. Even a cab. But no limo.

The Beeb (rhymes with Deeb!) definetly stumbled by not hurrying back home. Brummett may aver, or even offer excuses, but how long could it take to assess that a town was in shambles? And what better justification for using the State Trooper plane in the first place than to be ready to roll when duty calls?

It's -1 for the gov and +1 for Halter. New Mike's gonna hafta do for Dumas now. Gotta be their Ding-Dong Daddy now!

My wife flys direct from LR to Baltimore. Then arranges transportation to DC. Or, she flies from Fort Smith to Houston, then direct to Dulles. That's what common folk do.

I'm with Crash...not a great name when discussing airplanes...but what do other states do? It would make a great human interest story like Sam Walton's old pickup if Beebe took the bus to DC with a lunch packed by his wife. But you can carry such things too far.

I asked this when Huckster was flying the state plane....what do other states do? If the rest have a plane for their governor, then Arkansas should have one too....what are we? Chopped liver?

We got all bamboozled with the 10 Huckabee years and Clinton didn't help it either. But once upon a time our governor spent at least Monday thru Friday doing State business, not hopping all over the country asking strangers if they think he's purty.

I'm really hoping that Beebe is happy being Governor of the State of Arkansas and has no higher plans. It's a pretty good job for an old boy from Amagon. We're so used to having a Hollywood Governor that we've forgot we elect them to hold a job within the state most of the time and not be off peddling diet books and T-shirts with their pictures on them.

I hope the only running Beebe does is to the bathroom when he's got the trots or bots or whatever. Skip the marathon running and trips to snake-handler meetings in Iowa. If Beebe acts like a real old fashioned governor we won't have to worry how often he takes the state police plane. It was Huck's fly every other day thing that pissed everyone off except Prouster and Mr. Boulder.

Let's not paint Beebe with the Huckabee brush until he sets a Huckabee pattern.

PS Looks like Arkansas isn't the only state having airplane problems.

AT ISSUE: It has been weeks since the Argus Leader exposed South Dakota's governor in his overuse of the state's airplanes.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The legislator who blew the whistle on Governor Keating's misuse of the state airplane is calling on the state chief executive to settle the case so the state can move on to more important business.

Governor Mike Rounds says it's clear he hasn't misused state aircraft in the past and he doesn't believe the extra restrictions are necessary.

Rounds says, "The passage of the law is a serious mistake."

He says that's because it doesn't allow South Dakota's Governor to travel across the state and do their job efficiently.

Rounds says, "You can't work as Governor and get to as many places as you need to without the use of an aircraft."

As governor, Blunt has never flown on state owned airplanes and has discouraged his cabinet directors from doing so as well. This cost savings move has saved taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. Other independent agencies, like the Missouri Department of Transportation, have responded to Blunt's call to cut transportation expenses in the midst of serious state budget challenges.

The list goes on and on.

ARK. BLOG: We wrote about this months ago. Here's the link:

http://www.arktimes.com/Articles/print.aspx?ArticleID=7d5323ff-b2f6-472a-9374-10f367dcacf8

The South Dakota newspaper surveyed all the states. Most do not provide a plane for the govenror's personal or political travel. Many governors take pains to use campaign or private contributions when they fly by private aircraft. Arkansas, under Huckabee, began justifying use of the plane as a security necessity. Why is it so much more dangerous for an Arkansas governor to fly commercial?

i don't mind bebee using the plane for state business. what bothered me was huck using it for obvious presidential campaign or fun trips and janet for probably not more than shopping and fun trips to dallas with her friends. that was where it got so silly and illegal with them. we used to have a plane and judicious use of it saved lots of time and made business more efficient. the stupid things huckabee said about record keeping were what made it so silly. faa requirements made strict records of trips so adding names were a snap. all that prevented anything more were hidden purposes. as long as beebe is willing to be open and i really think he is then lets be efficient and modern. it is not only saving the money of an air ticket max but he might be able to get more done for the state if he doesn't have to rely on airline schedules. a lot could get done instead of sitting in an airport for 6 or 8 hours as you have to do these days.

I'm with Max on this one. The Southwest direct flight to BWI is an easy way to get to Baltimore or DC. And, for those of you keeping score at home, shuttle or taxi takes about the same time to either city.
Plus, after spending last Fall practically commuting on those SW flights, what's good enough for Dale Bumpers is good enough for me and should be good enough for Beebe.

While this absolute wate of money adds to global warming.....

a tune comes to mind

[Chorus]
I'll fly away, Oh Glory
I'll fly away; (in the morning)
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away).

When the shadows of this life have gone,
I'll fly away;
Like a bird from prison bars has flown,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away)

[Chorus]

DBI....I hate to call you out, but how old is your information? You mention Oklahoma and Governor Keating.

Frank J. Keating left office in 2002, succeeded by a Democrat - Brad Henry, who was just overwhelmingly reelected.

Incidentally, newly-elected Governor Sarah Pallin (R-Alaska) is auctioning off the Governor's Lear Jet on E-Bay and used commercial service to come from Alaska for the NGA.

On the other hand, Governor Linda Lingle (R-Hawai'i) flies a chartered United Airlines jet back and forth between the Mainland.

I can remember the old days when I would have business in DC [non-governmental] and regularly run into and chat with either Senator Bumpers or Senator Pryor on the flights back and forth to LIttle Rock. Remember the daily non-stop to Washington National on American? Oh, the benefits of regulation.
Now the likes of Huckabee and the State Police Plane remind me of the song from Evita, "High Flying Adored". Get down with the common people [not that people who fly cover the total spectrum of citizenry], experience the security lines, be abused by the lousy service, see how the other 95% live. There is something humbling about that and it may even translate into effective public policy.
I am dissappointed that Govenor Beebe does not recognize the value of being among the people in this most frustrating part of public transportation. Just because Huckabee left him wings, does not mean he should use them.

"Once a man holds public office he is absolutely no good for honest work."

---Will Rogers

I don't know how many people on this blog have ever traveled with a Governor to D.C. or elsewhere. I have--several times. (Not the Arkansas Governor.) I also traveled a lot to D.C. without the Governor during the same time, and the difference in efficiency is significant. Yes, I suppose we could teach our governors a lesson in humility by requiring them to fly coach and hail cabs and drive themselves to work and live in their own home and tote some firewood and water from the well while we're at it. But, come on, people, the man (or woman) is the Chief Executive of the state. You complain about whether he's devoting his full work week to running the state, and then you want him to sit around in airports cooling his heels while weather or mechanical failure or general airline incompetence results in another delayed flight. Yes, I know that all the rest of us endure those things. And, yes, I know we hate to do so. But you and I aren't the Governor. He is. And he's the Governor 24/7. It seems to me that we want him to be able to maximize the use of his time for the good of the people of the state.

Now, using the state plane to go run in marathons and make political appearances--that's a whole other kettle of fish. But using it to go to NGA meetings seems to be very reasonable. I've been to some of those meetings. Work actually gets done. The feds actually listen to the guys running the states. And sometimes they think twice about shifting burdens from the federal government to the states.

I suppose we could go back to being 50th in everything and paying our governor $30,000 a year (or whatever the obscenely low salary used to be) and make him Go Greyhound if he dares to leave the state and resurrect all of those little school districts that teach Algebra II every 4 or 5 years when some smart-alecky youngster gets the bright idea that they might want to go to college. We could...but I don't think we should...and I hope we don't.

Some of the info I Googled quickly is rather old but many states appear to have an ongoing battle with any governor they have over the use of state owned airplanes. Our neighbor Keating was in constant hot water over the OK air force.

I don't think it is too much for our governor to have a state owned airplane at his disposal for WORK. I said that when Crushabee was around too. We gotta keep up with the Joneses to a certain degree. And the number 1 honcho of our entire state I am not at all miffed if he shows up in a private airplane. But again...for WORK, not play.

My father had a company car for 30 years and never had any trouble because the rules were clear what the car was and was not to be used for. We can do the same with an airplane for Beebe or the next Republican governor we elect if only they'll use a little common sense and not be a pig about it.

I'll stress again that the governor should fly commercial *whenever possible*. I don't mind the Chief Exec using the state plane when it's warranted. I just don't want to see BB abusing the privilege the way Huckabee did. He blatantly doubled up business and personal.

Security concerns? After his smelly and ungraceful exit from office there are enough people that would like to wring his neck that the security excuse might fly (so to speak) if it were relevant now.

I don't understand why anyone runs for office. You make no money and ego maniacs question your ethics and decisions at every turn. Jesus Christ would be a lying sycophant to the media in this state.

Mike Beebe is the Governor of the State of Arkansas. We should value his time. For one thing, whenever Max Brantley travels on business has gets to write off his time and ticket and write a story. One way or the other, Beebe's travel is going to be paid by the state. So who cares if the state flys him or he takes a commercial flight and wastes an extra 6 hours in the airport and traveling from BWI to DC (which is an hour both ways FYI)? The taxpayers should. It is waste of valuable time.

What we have here in Arkansas are reporters (who often write about the inferiority complex we have here in Arkansas - i.e. Brummett) - who feel so belittled by persons who give their time (and valuable skills) to the State for pennies that they would deny them something as simple as the abilty to effectively manage a multi-billion dollar operation a little differently than they write a 200-word column 3 times a week.

"I don't understand why anyone runs for office."

Some people run for office because they genuinely want to serve the public.

Arkansas just got out from under a governor who, toward the end anyway, milked the position for everything he could. It went from public service to self-service. The public didn't deserve to pay the tab for the ex-governor's self-servce. Some of us paying attention don't want to see it happen again.

The two journalists you mentioned aren't in any public servant's hip pocket. Such journalism seems out of fashion these days, but I'm glad to have it.

Amen, hugh mann. I voted for Beebe and will again if he does a good job. Beebe comes from humble roots and is a self-made man. It will be interesting to see if he can refrain from the grababee mode.
I got pretty sick of that.

"There's your answer, Prouster."

Yep. Thanks, Brummett! Asked several times but no one was interested but you.