Arkansas Blog

Sen. Bobby Glover praised lawmakers' work during a prayer before the Senate Tuesday morning, saying the session "in all likelihood will down as the greatest session of all time."

"If you look back on the accomplishments, I don't think there's any question that it's the greatest in the state's history," said Glover, D-Carlisle. "In essence, we cut taxes by $200 million and that's never been done."

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Sheesh. He couldn't just say it was a good session or a great session. Ol' Bobby Lee had to whip out the can of self-congratulatory BS and spray it wildly like a dog with a bladder control problem. The sad thing is that most of the other 34 of 'em probably said, "Amen," just as loudly.

Cutting taxes by $200 million is not exactly heavy lifting if you've got a $900 million surplus, Bobby Lee. Was it positive? Of course. But like a basket of strawberries, this legislative session had its fair share of rotten fruit.

Notably, payday lenders got a get out of usury free card from all but one member of the Senate Insurance & Commerce Committee (Jim Argue was the exception). For the fourth consecutive legislative session, Arkansas remained a safe haven for legalized loan sharking. Many major players who could have made a big difference here(they know who they are) were shamelessly MIA.

The Senate (notably Mr. Self-Congratulation Himself, Bobby Lee Glover), blew a big raspberry at ethics reform.

On taxes, manufacturers got a fat tax break on energy use while the poorest Arkansans will still pay full sales tax on electricity and natural gas use.

A half-full appraisal? Perhaps. But don't count on voters in November '08 to endorse having this crew meet every year.