Here's a look at the news from around the Natural State this week: Clown mailer, yo: State Rep. Barry Hyde has sent out a mailer depicting his opponent for state senate, Senator Jane English, as a clown. The mailer also depicts the sinister "Koch Brothers" as vampires, calling them "billionaire Kansas radicals." On a serious note: Rep. Hyde, if you need some help with Photoshop, give me a call. Yikes. This one is a must-see from Talk Politics. Hashed out: The Arkansas Supreme Court has … [Read more...]
Dept. of Moot Points: Here Is That Attorney General’s Opinion on the Arkansas Higher Ed Post
September 12, 2011
Your state attorney general, Dustin McDaniel, was tidying up around the office and came across that long-awaited AG's opinion on the qualifications of former Sen. Shane Broadway to serve as director of the Dept. of Higher Education. (More background here.) Here is McDaniel's opinion (opens as PDF), furnished in response to a request from state Reps. Allen Kerr and Jane English, which sidesteps offering a definitive answer to the question but does arrive at this conclusion: ...any person who … [Read more...]
Broadway Malady: GOP Lawmakers Still Waiting on AG Higher Ed Opinion
September 7, 2011
Hey, remember way back in July when a pair of state legislators asked Attorney General Dustin McDaniel for a legal opinion on whether former state Sen. Shane Broadway was statutorily qualified to serve as director of the Arkansas Dept. of Higher Education? Come on, think back.... Remember that? So do Republicans Reps. Allen Kerr and Jane English, the aforementioned lawmakers who requested the opinion. Here we are some six weeks later and they wanna know, "Hey, where's that opinion?" … [Read more...]
Lawmakers Question Legality of Broadway Higher Ed Appointment (Updated!)
July 26, 2011
Is the pending appointment of former state Sen. Shane Broadway to head the Arkansas Dept. of Higher Education even legal? That is what two state lawmakers want to know! Arkansas Reps. Allen Kerr and Jane English, both Republicans, have requested an opinion from Attorney General Dustin McDaniel as to whether Broadway's appointment by Gov. Mike Beebe meets statutory muster. Broadway has been serving as the department's interim director since February. Questions were raised about the appointment … [Read more...]
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel Is Making It Rain
June 10, 2011
John Brummett's recent column about Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel’s questionable and self-serving use of legal settlement funds lays out the start of a good case that McDaniel is abusing his office for political gain. Brummett asked McDaniel under what authority the attorney general had to spend settlement money, which he supposedly holds in trust for the people of Arkansas, to fund a new branch of his own office that would investigate computer sex crimes. McDaniel replied … [Read more...]
