Arkansas Blog: Talk is cheap ...

... and boy do the puffed-up peacocks of the Republican minority like to shovel it. It's tempting to ignore them entirely, they are so often irrelevant. But sometimes, they say things that illustrate why they are doomed to fail.

For example, John Williams reports more in-depth on tobacco silliness today. Rep. Bryan King, who goes by the title of minority leader, suggested it would be better to close one of the state's two law schools than to raise the tax on cigarettes. Cheap and meaningless talk. This law school issue is long-settled, a product of a sensitive and prolonged debate that came at the end of the political process, a process that means compromise, calm talk, facts and a buy-in by hundreds of people, from officials to students to alumni. King might as well say he'd rather fund a trauma system by a tax on cohabitation. It has about asmuch chance of passage

Give Mike Beebe credit for a gently derisive response to the nonsense:

The governor ridiculed accusations that he is a tax-and-spender who has loaded his healthcare proposal with pork. “No governor has cut more taxes than Mike Beebe,” Beebe said. “And there’s more to come.”

Told of Rep. King’s remarks about cutting a law school, Beebe said, “I’d don’t think he’d have an easy time doing that, but I’d have fun watching him try.”

“I think it’s a bit overly partisan, don’t you?” Beebe continued. “Overt partisanship is not in the interest of good public policy. I regret that [Rep. King] brought that up.”

The master tells the hungry pup to simmer down. A swat on the nose with a newspaper for soiling himself must have been tempting.

Speaking of taxes: A public relations advisor is pushing freshman LR Republican Rep. Allen Kerr's website, where Kerr has a finger to the wind on the cigarette tax for a "poll." Automated dialers of the tobacco lobby will ultimately produce the count he needs to vote against health for Arkansans. PR advice from me to Kerr: Return reporters' calls when they ask you why YOU WOULD NOT VOTE FOR THE APPROPRIATION FOR LR'S WAR MEMORIAL STAIDUM.

Comments

REAL leadership by Dems: "Get back to us when you win something, until then FKOff!"
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Posted by: Larry | February 3, 2009 06:19 PM

It's always amusing to hear a non lawyer bitch about the law skoolz. Oh which school do you close, Mr. King?? The one located 45 minutes or so from your home or the one in the largest city in the state?

Posted by: sjp | February 3, 2009 06:41 PM

In other news Rep King has a disclosure bill in the works:

A Financial Disclosure Act for:

A public official,
A candidate for elective office;
A district judge or city attorney, whether elected or
appointed;

Any agency head, department director, or division director
of state government;

Any public appointee to any state board or commission
that is authorized or charged by law with the exercise of regulatory
authority or is authorized to receive or disburse state or federal funds.

All persons who are elected members of a school board or who
are candidates for a position on a school board;

All public and charter school superintendents;
Executive directors of education service cooperatives;

A planning board or commission;

Appointees to-
An airport board or commission;
A water or sewer board or commission;
A utility board or commission; or
A civil service commission; or
A board of election commissioners

How fast will this disclosure sink?

Posted by: eLwood | February 3, 2009 07:01 PM

(snip)
-eLwood

How about disclosure of everything the individual legislator gets in the way of gifts, meals, trips, etc with no exceptions for group meals or associations. In other words, the Wal-Mart rule for everyone. At least WM would be making a real contribution to the state besides low pay, low benefits, loss of the ability to unionize without fear of the store being closed, and the loss of small mom-and pop businesses in rural America.

BTW, rather than get rid of the Fayetteville Law School (certainly preferable to closing the one in the state capitol), there appears to be too much medical capability in NWA already so we really need to see whether a second med school in the area will lead to further pay cuts for medical personnel like the 3% cut across the board cut announced in today's DoG for Washington County Medical Center employees.

Fed Up to Here

Posted by: Couldn't Be Better | February 3, 2009 08:46 PM

"All public and charter school superintendents"

Charter schools are public schools.

Are the legislators completely ignorant, or are the people who actually write the bills for them completely ignorant? For the last two sessions, the "drafters" of education bills have made a point of saying ..."public schools AND charter schools" for every single bill that has anything to do w/education. Hmmmm...could it be that the ADE is that insecure?

Posted by: OnesAndZeros | February 3, 2009 10:11 PM

Arkansas Blog

Talk is cheap ...

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