The Arkansas Project

Greenberg: ‘It’s OK To Disagree With Other People’

By David Kinkade - May 23, 2009 8:18 am

Why, lookee there, it’s Arkansas Project contributor Rep. Dan Greenberg making another appearance on the national media scene, here in the (outstanding) libertarian mag Reason.

An article by Nicole Russell about the horrors of state and local lawmaking notes some of Greenberg’s legislative efforts in Arkansas, and picks up a comment from the GOP legislator:

Sadly, many frivolous and harmful bills made it through the legislature without any uproar. Rep. Dan Greenberg (R-Little Rock) is in his second term and has a reputation for authoring libertarian bills like “The Open Checkbooks in Government Act” [link opens as PDF file]. Greenberg told me he believes that when it comes to his state, the political culture is as much to blame as the people. “[In the legislature] it’s understood as bad manners…There’s pressure not to have public disagreements. We’d have a much healthier political culture if we’d get more comfortable with the notion that it’s okay to disagree with other people.”

Perhaps that’s one reason why so many destructive bills survive local legislatures. With lawmakers remaining silent, citizens have no reason to pay attention. Thankfully, blogs and grassroots activism have helped fill some of the information gap.

Read the whole thing. It’s not Greenberg’s first appearance in Reason—he was profiled last fall. And earlier this week, Greenberg was interviewed by the New York Times about his “Edifice Complex Prevention Act.”

Related Posts

• December 17, 2009 -- A Stiff Drink: Greenberg, Kerr at Arkansas Tea Party
• December 1, 2009 -- Premature Evaluation: Or, Why Internet Polls Aren’t Worth the Paper They Aren’t Even Printed On
• November 11, 2009 -- Tribute to Our Veterans
• September 5, 2009 -- Hutchinson Plans Formal Senate Announcement
• September 2, 2009 -- Wills: ‘What We’ve Got Here Is Failure to Communicate’
• August 25, 2009 -- Stuff From Around Arkansas, August 25