Stuff Around Arkansas, August 10

August 10, 2009

Committee On Un-American Activities: First, Sen. Blanche Lincoln calls Obamacare protesters “un-American”; now Congressional Democratic leaders use same epithet to attack doubters in USA Today op-ed. K. Ryan James is flabbergasted that Dems think this is a good idea. (K. Ryan James Blog)

Hyperlocal: Former Benton Courier editor Whit Jones launches Inside Saline, online news venture for Saline County area. (Inside Saline)

Snake Oil: Ernie P. is still selling his state lottery snake oil, today to the Political Animals Club in Northwest Arkansas, and Christopher Spencer at Ozarks Unbound offers a full multi-media report from the scene. (Ozarks Unbound)

Meet The Candidates: The Tolbert Report interviews Republican candidate for state Senate Rep. Dan Greenberg, who will face former Rep. Jeremy Hutchinson in a GOP primary for Senate District 22. (The Tolbert Report)

Call to Action: State GOP calls on ‘double-dipping’ elected officials to resign from office. (Arkansas Times)

Globetrotter: Democratic Rep. Mike Ross among members of Congress who enjoyed a super lavish world travel package to study global warming, a trip that included snorkeling, fireworks, cable car rides and more. Basically, more fun than you’ve had in your entire life, all together, he got in one trip. (Wall Street Journal)

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Late Arrival: Tom Cotton Still Eyeing Senate Race

August 10, 2009

Will Republican attorney Tom Cotton, just back from U.S. Army duty in Afghanistan, declare for U.S. Senate soon? Perhaps!

We were noting the buzz that Cotton would challenge Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln a couple of months back, and columnist John Brummett pushed the story along last week with his note that Cotton was meeting with Arkansas Sen. Gilbert Baker to discuss the race.

And today, there it is on the national Powerline blog: “Now, in light of the weakness of the Republican field, (Cotton) is thinking about filling the void.” Meme alert! Meme alert! Discuss.

Don’t forget to check our (absurdly long) list of potential challengers to Lincoln. It will really make you think when you see some of the names on this list.  You’ll think things like “Who?” and “Why?” and “Huh?”

Filed Under: Arkansas Republicans Tagged With: ,

Well, That Certainly Sucked

August 9, 2009

You may have noticed that the Arkansas Project was down all day Friday and a good part of Saturday, because it turns out that when the health department tells you you “must wash hands,” brother, do they ever mean it. They’ll shut you down so fast it’ll make your head spin.

OK, maybe that’s not how it went. My hosting provider ran into some server problems, which they tried to explain to me, but all I heard was “infested with demons.”

So I guess I maybe need to find a new hosting service, so if you’re interested in being the new home for The Arkansas Project, send your proposals! I don’t really make a lot of demands or have a lot of specifications, though I suggest that, if you want to host this site, you might wanna be pretty lawyered up, because there’s a better than even chance that you’re gonna end up as a party to a libel suit at some point.

UPDATE: We may experience another brief disruption on Monday….

Filed Under: Arkansas Media

Blanche Lincoln: Protesters Are ‘Un-American’ (Updated!)

August 6, 2009

Remember when Democrats used to bristle whenever criticized, taking umbrage that anyone would “question their patriotism”? I do! Why, here’s a link to Barack Obama whining about that just one year ago when John McCain questioned his bona fides on national security.

Oh, hey, guess what happened? In a conference call with reporters, Sen. Blanche Lincoln says that protesters questioning Obamacare are “un-American.” Take that, you smelly hippies!

But then she took it back, because she evidently suddenly realized that  calling your constituents “un-American” when you’re up for re-election maybe isn’t the savviest of political moves. She was probably right about that.

UPDATE: By way of contrast, here’s a Twitter response from Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri that is smarter by a factor of, oh, let’s say a million. One million times smarter: “I disagree that the people showing concern over some healthcare proposals are “manufactured” Real folks, strong opinions.”

That’s a smart call from McCaskill, because if you think about it, it’s rarely a good idea for United States senators to start bandying about charges that their fellow citizens are “un-American” for their political activities.

And don’t look now, but here comes the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee! Their statement on Lincoln’s gaffe is at the jump:

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Arkansas’ Marquee Race: U.S. Senate 2010

August 6, 2009

Last week we started publishing our lists of candidates for political office in Arkansas, and we add to that ongoing project today with a listing for the 2010 U.S. Senate race. List of candidates (including rumored candidates, considering candidates and exploring candidates) is right over here.

Let me know if I’ve missed anyone, because God knows there are so many people looking at challenging Sen. Blanche Lincoln that it’s hard to keep them all straight. I’ve included links to their websites or where they’ve been mentioned in the media so that you won’t think I’m crazy for listing all these random names. Check out the full list and marvel at its astonishing length.

And I’ve been adding to the lists from last week over the last several days as new information trickles in. Take a look and let me know who we’re missing.

Arkansas Constitutional Officers

Arkansas Senate Races

Arkansas House Races

Filed Under: Arkansas Politics Tagged With:

On Health Care: The Price of Hope

August 6, 2009

This is the post I wish I couldn’t write. I loathe writing about it, because it is private and painful, and in many ways, none of your business. It also cheapens a loss in many ways, to take that loss and use it for a political illustration, but I think this story should be told.

Because folks like Rep. Vic Snyder tell us health care reform is needed because there are 50 million uninsured persons. When they say this they are implying that there are 50 million people that are denied health care because there is no insurance to pay for it—no insurance, no health care.

Last December 4, I held my mother’s hand as we watched my sister, Jeannie, draw her last breath. She was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer in October 2007. Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare form of cancer that spreads quickly and has a less than 50 percent survival rate in the best instances. Jeannie’s cancer was discovered late; by the time it was discovered, her lungs were already beginning to fill up with fluid.

Jeannie worked as a cashier at Kroger. By her own admission, she was a redneck woman. She bought her clothes at Wal-Mart, hunted deer and drove a 10-year-old Dodge pickup. She did have some insurance through her job, but like the insurance of most Americans it was inadequate to pay for the treatments she would undergo. Her insurance was capped at $23K a year. It took half a month of treatment to use up her insurance benefits.

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Lincoln: ‘Cap and Trade This’

August 6, 2009

Over at Roby Brock’s Talk Business blog, he notes that Sen. Blanche Lincoln announced she would oppose the House-passed “cap and trade” climate change legislation when it comes before the Senate. Uh, what the hell, did I just completely miss this? That seems like kind of big news, I guess, but I’m known for missing things. Anyway, Lincoln’s full statement is at the jump.

While we’re on the climate change beat, be sure to check out the results from Roby’s latest polling excursion, which suggests that Lincoln, along with Representatives Marion Berry (D), John Boozman (R) and Mike Ross (D), are on relatively safe ground with their constituents in opposing the cap and trade bill.

But why stop there? If we’re gonna bash the climate change crowd, we might as well make it a trifecta and head on over to the City Wire to read Michael Tilley’s fun rant against environmental fundamentalism and propaganda, stemming from a recent family tour of Chicago museums.

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Ed Rollins to Keynote Pulaski GOP Dinner, Sept. 24

August 5, 2009

If you’re a Republican political junkie, you might want to sit down right about now, because I’ve got news that will just knock you on your ass, should you unwisely remain standing after I gave you fair warning: Famed political strategist Ed Rollins will be the keynote speaker at the Pulaski County Republican Committee’s 2009 Lincoln/Reagan Day Dinner on Sept. 24.

The event will be at the Maumelle Country Club, and tickets are $75 a pop. (I’ve requested more info on whom you’re supposed to contact to get tickets and will insert it here when I get it.)

Rollins was the engineer of Ronald Reagan’s 1984 landslide victory, then he did a bunch of other stuff, and then he was campaign chairman for Mike Huckabee’s presidential bid a couple of years ago during the brief and weird period when we were all like, “Holy crap,  did he just win Iowa? I think he just won Iowa.” Remember that? O, what a time that was.

Filed Under: Arkansas Republicans Tagged With:

Big Break In Hotel Prankster Case?

August 4, 2009

You may recall the story from a earlier in the summer about the Holiday Inn Express in Conway, in which a prankster contacted the desk, posing as a representative of the company that installed the hotel’s sprinkler system, and goaded the clerk into doing $50,000 damage to the property.

There’s big breaking news on that case today as The Smoking Gun unveils the results of their own investigation into the perpetrators of that and similar pranks, revealing them to be the work of a bunch of maladjusted and underemployed computer nerds in Canada, Texas and elsewhere.

Oh, I know, I’m just as shocked as you are. I would have sworn they would trace this scheme back to a suave and sophisticated “Oceans 11″-style team of international criminals.

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Subscribe to ‘Arkansas Morning’ Update

August 3, 2009

Former U.S. Attorney Tim Griffin, who announced recently that he would not be pursuing a 2010 Senate race but now may be running for Congress against Rep. Mike Ross, because, you  know, why not, has launched a new daily e-mail update, Arkansas Morning.

It’s a political news tipsheet on state and national issues, with a good round-up of headlines from legacy media, blogs, Twitter feeds, etc. Good stuff in there— you should go over here to subscribe. (You can get a taste of recent submissions at Griffin’s blog, The Griffin Room.)

I’m not entirely sure why he’s taken to doing this all of a sudden, but I presume it’s a strategy to harvest e-mail addresses and sell them to spammers. At least that would explain why I suddenly started getting all these e-mail pitches about “Great Deals on Chinese Herbal Viagra!” And to be honest with you, I don’t think this is even real Chinese Herbal Viagra. In fact, now that I look a little closer it appears to be a Flintstones Chewable Vitamin. I can’t believe I ordered $1,200 worth, but truth be told, it was a pretty persuasive e-mail.

Filed Under: Arkansas Media Tagged With: ,
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