NFL / taking a knee

My thoughts on taking a knee. Some NFL players feel that not showing respect to the nation or it's flag will point out social injustices and bring about change. They have a right to do so. They also have a right to suffer the consequences as well. In disrespecting the country and those that love and serve it, they are most likely hurting their cause. They are sowing division. They have made the issue one of patriotism, nothing else. Those millionaires would have sent a far stronger and well received message had they purchased tv commercials during the game listing their actual grievances and instances of racism. Identify the problem and call for a solution. People that might be sympathetic to their cause are instead turned away by a misplaced message of anti-American sentiment. Yes, they have a right to take a knee and I support that. The people and even the president have a right to ask for them to be fired as well. I support that too. People that are unhappy with this have the right to boycott the NFL. I also support that. This is all working the way it is supposed to. No one is being jailed or arrested. No one's rights have been violated. At least in regards to taking a knee. What precipitated it may well be a much different story. A story that isn't being told at all because the messengers chose not to tell it, but to make an entirely different and counterproductive statement instead. Rarely do you get positive results by insulting the audience that pays your wages. If you want that audience to understand what is wrong and needs to be fixed, best not to start things off by alienating them with something not even related. Even if you have the right to do so. Again, take a knee, that's your right. If the team owner joins you, more power to them. If people criticize you for doing so, that's their right too. If people quit watching the games and revenue goes down, that's the way freedom works.

Arkansas Works

     Arkansas legislators are clapping themselves on the back for successfully implementing Asa Hutchinson's re-branding of Obamacare. They even found an "interesting trick" to get it done. All the while claiming that it was the only option. That is NOT true. RomneyCare/ObamaCare/PrivateOption/ArkansasWorks are the same program, adding huge amounts to our debt while decreasing the quality of medical care and drastically increasing the costs. Arkansas should never have participated in this.
     When it was first passed as the private option, the state took health insurance away from bus drivers and employee spouses from public schools statewide. They did this to drive them into the expanded medicaid system so that repealing it would be painful. It is the same process used by drug pushers to create a sustainable market of addicts for their illicit wares. This is not a madel for compassionate or responsible government.
     The argument was made that we couldn't afford to end the program, that the $100million/year "cost" of ending it would wreck the budget. This was a lie. The budget proposal included over $110million dollars in INCREASED spending on DHS, including a HUGE raise for the director of this department that oversees the Obamacare program we didn't need. Without cutting the budget to ANY program, the "cost" of eliminating our renamed version of Obamacare could easily have been covered merely by limiting the INCREASE in spending on DHS to $10million.
     Another argument was made that there was no way to replace it. While I would suggest that even doing nothing would be better than what we got, there are plenty of other options. Options our pig-headed legislators would never consider because they are bound to serve their establishment masters.
     Of the infinite possibilities that Arkansas could have tried, here's the one I would propose if given the chance. It is simple, easy to implement, and could be the "innovative" example legislators claim to want. Immediately end the medicaid expansion in Arkansas. No need wasting any more money on the increased government (and associated corporate welfare that comes with it) made necessary by accepting it. Replace it with free health clinics at every county health department in the state. Fund it with the so-called "sin" taxes already in place. We already have established health departments in every county, so no new government bureaucracy would be created. Health care would become more accessible to residents of rural counties. Each clinic could provide general wellness exams and preventative care, emergency care, imaging, diagnostics, and more. Access to preventative health care would reduce the number of more serious (and expensive) illnesses. The overcrowding  of emergency rooms and the associated high costs of uncompensated emergency care required by the EMTALA of 1986 would be greatly diminished. Each clinic would function as a teaching environment (collaborating with state universities and community colleges), helping to alleviate the severe shortage of qualified health care workers. State corporate welfare funding for private clinics, such as planned parenthood, could be painlessly eliminated. Additional funding would be available through public/private foundations. Non profit hospitals are already required to spend their excess revenue in charitable ways, this would be one method of doing so. It is a model already being tried on a smaller scale as a way of bringing ambulance service to rural areas.  This is a program that would not require any federal or Obamacare assistance, lowering the burden on taxpayers. By shifting responsibilities into expanding one program that already exists, it would eliminate multiple other related agencies; shrinking the size of government. Increased access to higher quality health care with less government and lower costs. Common sense. Not considered at all by members of our ruling political class because it decreases their power and influence.

Special Session for Lockheed Martin

Arkansas has a constitution that required a balanced budget to ensure responsible government spending and long term financial security and stability for our state. Unfortunately, that requirement is being completely ignored. Arkansas currently has an outright debt of about $3billion. If you include unfunded pension and other retirement debts that jumps to a whopping $38billion! Now the Governor wants to add another $87million to our debt as a gift to Lockheed Martin in the hopes that they might employ a few hundred Arkansans. This is a completely unnecessary expenditure of corporate welfare. Lockheed Martin has just as good a chance of winning a taxpayer funded contract to construct military vehicles here in Arkansas without Arkansas' $87million dollar gift as they would with it. It is nothing more than a cash payout to a huge firm that employs an army of lobbyists and doles out significant campaign contributions - a quid pro quo arrangement that hurts all Arkansans not in the "political class." This comes just a short time after our last governor requested and got $125 million dollars of our hard earned tax dollars to give to Big River steel so they could open a steel plant to drive Nucor steel out of business in our state. Mind you, Nucor has been a responsible tax payer and employer of Arkansans for decades, and it took no such payouts from us to bring and keep them here.

Bringing business and industry to Arkansas is important so that good jobs are available throughout the state. If spending is needed to improve infrastructure (roads, ports, training, etc...) for that - go ahead and budget for that in the regular BALANCED budget. I'm all for it. I'd also love to see a tax policy that lowers taxes for everyone and creates a climate for job growth that benefits everyone, not just one or two picked "winners." Going further into debt just to give a multimillion dollar gift to one corporation, however, is outrageously irresponsible and reprehensible and should not even be considered.

Don't Waste Your Vote

It is a commonly accepted myth that voting for a third party candidate is a "wasted" vote. Nothing can be further from the truth. In fact, the opposite is usually true.  The major party candidates tend to stray very little from the party line, so a vote for them is typically for nothing more than a vote for a talking head that represents the party power brokers. Add to that the fact that , despite the name calling and mud-slinging, there is little difference in practice between those two parties. Both Republicans and Democrats increase debt and taxes to increase their power and grow the government. The people are increasingly frustrated and unhappy with this. When Democrats are in control, they vote Republican to try and change things. When Republicans are in control the people vote Democrat to try and change things. The end result is that nothing changes, because there is no significant difference between them. That is why the President has such a low approval  rating, and why Congress' approval rating is far worse. At this point the majority of people have figured this out, and don't vote at all. They know voting for the Republican or Democrat is just a waste of time, and end up wasting their vote on no one. Less than half of eligible voters end up casting their ballot, and nearly all are frustrated with the end results.
If just those discouraged people would vote for the independent and third party candidates, things would change dramatically. Those votes would not be wasted.  Republicans and Democrats would have a very hard time winning elections. The establishment power brokers would not be able to control the government, and therefore the people. Independent and third party candidates owe no loyalty to these power brokers. They cannot be controlled by anyone but the electorate, the people that vote. That is what scares the establishment. That is why lawmakers and the two major parties work so hard to keep independent and third party candidates off the ballot and out of debates. That is why they work so hard to perpetuate the myth of the wasted vote.
Repeatedly doing the same thing over and over again, and somehow expecting the results to change is a definition of insanity. Yet this is exactly what we have been doing every election year. The results are always the same. It's time for REAL change, to stop the insanity. Stop wasting your vote. Vote for the independent or third party candidate that WILL make a difference. The candidate that votes his or her conscience, not what their party boss or campaign contributors tell them to. Our founding fathers set up a fantastic system of government where the power comes from the people. That system has been corrupted, but all is not lost. That corruption hinges entirely on believing that any vote for an independent or third part candidate is wasted. It is time for that myth to die. Take the power back, it's yours. Don't keep wasting your vote on the same establishment candidates that vary in little more than appearance or name. Don't waste your vote by staying at home. The establishment parties are depending on you to do just exactly that. Your country desperately needs you to dismiss that myth and fight back at the ballot box.
A vote for me isn't a wasted vote. The votes for me are the only ones not wasted. It only takes a few successes to bring down the myth, to dramatically change things for the better. You have the power to do that this November. Make your vote count. Vote for change. Vote for a difference. Vote for a Libertarian. Vote for an Independent. Vote for me. You can make a difference, you do have a voice.
 

Minimum Wage

There is a proposal to raise the minimum wage in Arkansas over the next few years. This is an issue that will have a clear divide between republicans and democrats. Both parties love this issue because they can use it in their election propaganda without having to worry about anything substantive occurring.  This simply isn't really an issue.  The minimum wage in Arkansas is currently well below the mandated federal minimum wage, and as such effects almost nobody. Raising the rate to the federal level will have absolutely no affect at all on anything other than allowing democrats and republicans to publically disagree with each other. Do we really need a law to accomplish that? Raising the rate in the future to something slightly above the federal level will still not have much of a net overall effect.  Some low paid workers will see a small increase in pay, but not enough to lift them out of poverty or provide a liveable wage. Some employers will end up hiring fewer workers, so those just entering the workforce will have an even harder time finding a job. Other employers will just pass on the increased labor costs resulting in inflation. This issue is insignificant to the point that I don't really care that much about it one way or the other. Generally I think the market can do a much better job of setting fair wages than the government can, but in this particular case the proposal is so miniscule that I don't think it really matters. As such, I would pass on my thoughts to the people in my district, and vote on such an issue in whichever way they thought best.   

Rural Ambulance Service

This issue has been taking up quite a bit of the county government's time and energy, not to mention a fair bit of reserve funds. Last night I attended the quorum court meeting to hear the 3rd reading and observe the vote. It was interesting. There were over a dozen people in attendance, with a handful that made their public comment. Each expressed a different opinion on what tax should be raised to support the ambulance service. The court itself was considering two options: a small millage increase for everyone in the county, and/or a  $40 fee for property owners in unincorporated areas. The jp's themselves couldn't agree on what to pass, as those representing incorporated areas wanted only the fee, and those representing rural areas wanted the millage. The end result was that neither proposal received the votes needed to have the issue on the ballot. I couldn't help thinking that even before the vote, all this energy was being wasted. People don't want their taxes raised. Either issue would have most likely failed at the ballot box in November. The quorum court can still get this on the ballot if they can find the votes needed in an early or special meeting next month, after that it'll have to wait another year. Again, I don't think it'll matter.
The voters are unlikely to pass a tax increase they feel is unnecessary, and rightfully so.  We pay an awful lot in taxes. So far, the county has not done a good job informing the voters why a tax increase is needed. I think we can all agree ambulance service is necessary, here's what the county needs to answer if they want us to pay more for it:
1. Explain why those using the ambulance in rural areas don't just pay for the service as needed. This is, after all, what insurance is for. Are there a lot of non-reimbursed ambulance runs? If so, what is the actual cost of those non-reimbursed runs. What is the added cost to the cities for just the rural runs they make?
2. If the cost is for the establishment and maintenance of the service and not the cost of the service itself, what is that cost and how is it calculated? Furthermore, how is the county's cost separate from the incorporated city's cost determined. The cities have submitted "bills" that the county is paying from reserve funds now, but how were those amounts arrived at? Is it reasonably a fair share? Can a better price be negotiated? If the county is paying for a certain percentage of the establishment, what percent of control would the county have in administering that service? How would that be determined and implemented? Doesn't the county have the right and responsibility to oversee and control costs for a service it is partially establishing?
3. What would it cost for the county to establish its own rural service? Or take over all service in the county, cities included. Is "renting" service from the city the most cost effective way? Is a private for profit service more cost effective or available?
4. Why do we need new taxes to cover this? Are there any other areas of the budget that can be cut
in order to provide this service? If so, what are they?  How much are we currently spending in each area of the county budget? Can all those expenditures be justified as necessary to the point of raising taxes for ambulance service?
These all need to be answered, made public, and most importantly, become common knowledge, before any tax hike is likely to be approved by the voters. Print this information in the local papers, a guest column shouldn't cost the county anything and it might help newspaper circulation. Publish the information on the county's website so anyone with internet access can read it. Have the JP's go to public meetings in their districts to get the information out and receive feedback. It doesn't have to be a special town hall; go to council meetings, farmers markets, organization meetings, churches, etc...
If it is determined that a tax increase is the best option, give the voters more than just two choices to choose from. Beyond the considered fee or millage increase, consider increasing sales tax, voluntary dues, pursue grants or private donations,  or anything else someone might come up with. This again would have to become public and common knowledge. Clearly explain the benefits, drawbacks, and costs for each option.  Listen to what tax option(s) the people are most agreeable to, and put that/those on the ballot.

Why Not A Republican

District 96 has been a solid republican district for a while now. For a decade or so, this position has been unopposed. There is good reason for this. The people of Northwest Arkansas are mostly good conservative people, and the leftist message typical of the democrat party is rightfully viewed poorly here. The conservative small government, low taxes, personal responsibility rhetoric common to the republican party resonates well with the sensible people of Benton County. So why am I not a republican, and why shouldn't we vote for one? Because they lie, and their message is all marketing with no substance.
The republicans took complete control of the legislature in the last election cycle, with veto proof control in both houses of the legislature.  The republicans had free reign to shrink the government, reduce spending, and cut taxes.  They did not.  Instead, last year they ADDED nearly 900 million dollars in spending. They supported Obamacare by expanding medicaid through the so called "private option."  They INCREASED taxes on everyone by increasing the state sales tax rate.  They claimed to cut taxes by reducing the income tax rate by 1/10th of one percent only for people earning less than $7,000 a year, and eliminating the tax on dividend income above $10,000,000.00.  This gave a tax cut to part time workers that was far less than the sales tax increase imposed on them.  The handful of people earning over 10 million dollars in dividend income got a nice tax cut, but a tax cut for less than .01 percent of the state population is hardly something to brag about.  The vast majority of us are paying more in taxes this year because of the republicans.
Furthermore, they are proposing a constitutional amendment to repeal current term limits. They deceptively worded it to make it appear that it would be setting rather than repealing term limits so that we would be tricked into voting for it this November.  They are also hoping to amend the constitution to make it easier to raise salaries for elected state representatives and senators without having to be held responsible for such actions.  They are deliberately working to increase the power of the government, not shrink it. 
That is why I cannot vote for, much less join, the republican party. They have no integrity, no personal responsibility, and no respect for the people they claim to represent.  I know it is cliché to call any politician a liar now, as we have come to accept it as commonplace. We should NOT accept this. That is why I am a Libertarian.  You may not agree with everything the party stands for, I certainly don't agree with it all, but you can be sure that the vast majority of Libertarians have integrity and mean what they say. There are no party bosses forcing me to vote the party line. The party has not been bought and paid for by special interests. If you're looking for a party that won't lie to you, the Libertarian party is your only option.