News and Views on Politics, Policy and More
Upon rereading David Ramsey’s piece on the genesis of the “private option,” it’s hard not to notice the flood of admiring compliments he bestows on the intellect of its creators. They are “clever,” “smart,” “open-minded,” and “pragmatic.” As they work in tandem with Governor Mike Beebe, they are “thoughtful and nuanced.” In particular, Senator Jonathan Dismang’s “comfort with getting into the weeds on policy details” makes him “open to pragmatic … [Read more...]
At the Saline County TEA Party meeting last week, Rep. Andy Mayberry told his constituents that the struggle over the private option made him feel like he was being forced to jump out of the third story of a burning building: There’s no way, if I just stand there, that I’m going to survive. I’m gonna burn. There’s a window over here that I can choose to jump out of and I might die in that fall. I know I’m going to die if I stay there and don’t do anything. But I might just survive … [Read more...]
David Ramsey of the Arkansas Times regularly distinguished himself this session with his thorough coverage of the debate over Medicaid expansion. His account of the creation of the “private option” -- perhaps the biggest increase in the size and scope of state government in my lifetime -- was educational and gripping. But occasionally his work told us more about David Ramsey than it did about Medicaid expansion. One of the areas where his article fell short was in his discussion of the … [Read more...]
Thursday night, the Saline County TEA Party hosted a town meeting so that their members could question the Saline County legislators who had supported the “private option.” About five state legislators representing Saline County attended; at least as many legislators from outside Saline County attended as well. Almost every public official who was there has been a friend of the Advance Arkansas Institute and, in some way, has fought for good-government reforms. But I have become … [Read more...]
My phone has been ringing off the hook ever since we broke the news a few weeks ago about the meaning of Act 746: namely, that the right to carry a firearm in Arkansas has now been established in law. As I reported, the law makes multiple substantive changes to Arkansas law: most importantly, it decriminalizes firearm possession. Nonetheless, there’s been just a bit of disagreement about what the law means to law-abiding and Second-Amendment-appreciating Arkansans. Therefore, earlier this … [Read more...]
Advance Arkansas Institute President Dan Greenberg was recently asked to summarize the battle over Medicaid reform for The Heritage Foundation. His piece is on their blog, The Foundry. Here's a taste: In plain English, the maneuver Arkansas was contemplating would gain the state no additional flexibility on benefits or cost sharing beyond the (very limited) scope allowed under current federal Medicaid rules. Thus, the notion that the “private option” could somehow produce significantly … [Read more...]
Yesterday I did my weekly segment with The Paul Harrell Program. The hot topic, as it has been for much of the week here at The Arkansas Project, was constitutional carry. We discuss the governor's input, comments from the director of the state police, and much more. The segment begins around the 1:06:00 mark: Video streaming by Ustream … [Read more...]
Our post earlier in the week about Act 746 -- and the possibility that it brought constitutional carry to Arkansas -- has created a bit of a stir. In fact, that story has gotten more pageviews than any story in the history of The Arkansas Project, even including the fabled Kinkade Era. This is no small accomplishment. Our story has been referenced by a multitude of websites and newspapers; it was even a brief topic of discussion on KARK-4 this morning. That discussion has often invoked the … [Read more...]
