News and Views on Politics, Policy and More
For the latest interview in my “Advancing Arkansas” series, I sat down with Senator Jason Rapert (R-Conway) about his plans for the upcoming legislative session. The session begins in just 5 days. Other than reforming the Medicaid system -- which is at its breaking point -- Senator Rapert said school funding is the biggest issue currently facing the legislature: “The second item behind Medicaid would be school funding. The Supreme Court’s ruling that came through that basically … [Read more...]
Listen, we've written a lot here (see "Related Posts" below) about the state-level implementation of the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare, in all its misshapen, ill-considered, shoddily-drafted glory. "Glory" is not the word I was looking for there, but never mind. This week we mark the two-year anniversary of the enactment of this policy-shaped turd, and the excitement (?) is heightened by the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to hear the constitutional challenge to the law next … [Read more...]
And it came to pass that there would be no state-run Obamacare health insurance exchange in Arkansas, and there was much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments. State Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford issued a tear-stained news release today (PDF) announcing the death of the (unlamented) state exchange, the demise of which he attributes to "legislative opposition" (read: opposition from minority Republican lawmakers). Oh, but if only Arkansas had had a Democratic governor in the … [Read more...]
"Boo! Booooooo! Boo, you Arkansas Republicans!" That is the message distinguished Arkansas News Bureau columnist John Brummett has for the six (6) Arkansas GOP lawmakers who stood firm this week against efforts of Gov. Mike Beebe's administration to set up an Obamacare health insurance exchange in the state. In a column published Saturday under the uncommonly compelling, informative and evocative headline "Obstruction is the preferred conservatism" ("Great headline writing! Nailed it! Time … [Read more...]
All right, show of hands: You've all heard of the old sales tactic called the "foot in the door" technique, right? Where a crafty salesman gets a customer to agree to a small request, in order to soften up said customer up for larger requests to come? Why, it's a timeworn classic (and well-supported by numerous egghead studies)! If you'd like to get a great example of the "foot in the door" technique in action, drop in on a legislative hearing sometime when Arkansas Insurance Commissioner … [Read more...]
