The Arkansas Project

After Halbig, Arkansas Moving Towards A State-Based Exchange

July 29, 2014 Nic Horton Leave a Comment

Last week, the D.C. circuit court ruled in Halbig v. Burwell that Obamacare subsidies cannot flow into state that are participating in the federally-run exchange. If the ruling holds (it will almost certainly be appealed), this could be a game changer for the federal health care law: currently, only 14 states have state-run exchanges and, according to the ruling, are eligible for premium subsidies. The question is, will the 36 states that are in the federal exchange now move to state exchanges … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Health Care, Obamacare Tagged With: Arkansas, David Sanders, Government, Halbig, health care, obamacare, spending, state exchange

Archivist expert rips UA Library permission-to-publish policy

July 28, 2014 Caleb Taylor Leave a Comment

We’ve already written about some of the more dubious claims the University of Arkansas has made regarding their “suspension” of the Washington Free Beacon (WFB) from library archives earlier this summer -- after the WFB published a series of stories critical of Hillary Clinton. Specifically, we criticized the library’s policy of forcing researchers to fill out a permission-to-publish form for public documents in a public library. We found out recently that Peter Hirtle, a past President of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Arkansas Politics, Freedom Of Information, Government Waste Tagged With: Hillary Clinton, peter hirtle, roy reed tapes, university of arkansas library, Washington Free Beacon

How Big Is Halbig? (Podcast)

July 25, 2014 Nic Horton Leave a Comment

This week on the show: How big is the Halbig ruling? Subsidies can only flow through state exchanges This Arkansas child can't get care she needs from Medicaid LR trying to stop Uber … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: Arkansas, health care, Medicaid expansion, obamacare, podcast, Policy, Politics

Mica Strother, the Face of the Favor Factory

July 25, 2014 Caleb Taylor 4 Comments

You might remember previous news reports about one of Governor Mike Beebe’s staffers, Mica Strother. Strother has a unique business model: apparently, she’s been spending part of her day working as a fundraiser for the Mark Pryor for Senate campaign, and the rest of it helping to decide who to appoint to various state government boards and commissions. To say that such an arrangement invites conflicts of interest is an understatement. Here’s an update on the Strother situation. Appointees made … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2014 U.S. Senate Race, Arkansas Politics, Election 2014, Gov. Mike Beebe, Government Waste, Mark Pryor Tagged With: Arkansas Democrats, Arkansas Senate race, Mark Pryor, mica strother, Mike Beebe

Report: Undercover Agents Fraudulently Enroll In Obamacare

July 25, 2014 Nic Horton Leave a Comment

A new report from the Government Accountability Office reveals that Obamacare (*gasp*) is highly susceptible to fraud. According to the Associated Press: Congressional investigators using fake identities were able to obtain taxpayer-subsidized health insurance under President Barack Obama's law... The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office says its undercover investigators were able to get subsidized health care under fake names in 11 out of 18 attempts. The GAO is still paying … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gallery, Health Care, Obamacare Tagged With: fraud, GAO, Government, health care, obamacare, spending, waste

Report: Arkansas Terrible On Transparency

July 24, 2014 Caleb Taylor Leave a Comment

Arkansans who care about transparency in government received some bad news today. According to an American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) study on tax cronyism released today, Arkansas is one of the worst states in the nation when it comes to reporting exactly what special breaks the state’s tax code gives to favored industries. William Freeland, an ALEC research analyst who worked on the report, told The Arkansas Project in a phone interview: The biggest thing here on Arkansas is in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Arkansas Legislature, Arkansas Politics, Cronyism, Economic Freedom, Economic Policy, Freedom Of Information, Tax Reform Tagged With: ALEC, Arkansas Legislature, crony capitalism, economic freedom, InvestArk, Tax Policy, william freeland

Sick Child Denied Treatment As State Spends Billions On Able-Bodied Adults

July 23, 2014 Nic Horton Leave a Comment

A new report released last week details how Medicaid expansion will harm the most needy Americans. Because of the perverse funding formula of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, expansion enrollees -- a population of mostly childless, mostly healthy adults -- receive more health care spending than traditional Medicaid enrollees. Author Jonathan Ingram explains: In the states that hope to get Medicaid spending under control, an ObamaCare Medicaid expansion puts truly vulnerable patients at even … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gallery, Medicaid, Obamacare, Private Option Tagged With: Arkansas, Chloe Jones, entitlements, expansion, health care policy, medicaid, obamacare, private option, Wall Street Journal, William Golden

Joan Adcock, Let My Uber Go!

July 23, 2014 Caleb Taylor 1 Comment

Relatively new ridesharing companies Uber and Lyft will have to submit to burdensome, archaic taxi regulations -- or not operate at all -- if one of Little Rock’s Board of Directors has her way. Both the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the Arkansas Times have recently reported on City Director Joan Adcock’s crusade to save Little Rock taxi customers from the menace of cheap, convenient taxi alternatives like Uber and Lyft. From the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: "The bottom line is that people … [Read more...]