Arkansas LegislatureArkansas Republicans

Mike Beebe is One Million Times Smarter Than You (Updated!!!)

That headline is intended for every Republican legislator in Arkansas who voted for the pay raise for state officials, now that Gov. Mike Beebe sent notice to the Department of Finance and Administration that he’ll not accept the raise, thank you very much, because of “tough economic conditions” in Arkansas.

Let’s not put too fine a point on it: If you are a Republican legislator in Arkansas and you voted in favor of this pay raise, you are a hopeless failure and you never deserve to win anything in your entire life, never ever again. In fact, we should probably tie you up and put you on a horse backwards with a big dumb ceremonial mask or a maybe just a bucket on your head and send you off to a life of desert exile, like in “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.”

And while I frequently make fun of Beebe, because that’s what I do, let’s doff our hats to him this day and salute his politically savvy move. Well-played, sir. Well…played. (I’m doing that thing where I clap real slow right now.)

UPDATE: I think these are the vote pages, but please correct me if I’m looking at the wrong thing and I’ll update the links accordingly:

House of Representatives votes

Senate votes

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: If you’re a GOP legislator who voted for the pay raise and would like to stand up for yourself and your ilk, I’ll be delighted to publish your response here on The Arkansas Project. Send me a note via the contact page. In the meantime, I’ll be burning you in effigy in my yard, at least until my stupid neighbors call the cops again.

MORE UPDATING GOODNESS: A blogging John Brummett pronounces Beebe’s move “lame,” and rounds up responses from some of the other constitutional officers and legislators. Good stuff there.

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8 thoughts on “Mike Beebe is One Million Times Smarter Than You (Updated!!!)

  • Fourche River Rex

    Hurray for Gov. Beebe! Huzzah for his eminence! When Foxes’ Book of Martyrs is updated, he shall find a place therein! Oh, you misbegotten wretches who call yourselves Republicans. Hast thou not learned? Did Christ not avoid the tempters snares after 40 days in the wilderness? Did St. Peter not endure many labours before he was martyred? And so it is with St. Mike the selfless. Turinging down that $3,000 so as not to bankrupt the state. Knowing that state employees all over are living off the widow’s mite, he denies himself for the good of all! All hail St. Mike the munificent! St. Mike the selfless! Huzzah!

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  • Observer

    The GOP caucus decided it would be better to spend their time opposing new trauma centers, because saving 400 lives a year just isn’t worth it, and local hospitals don’t need any help with their ERs. Oh, and by fighting the tobacco tax to the death, we’ll be sure to get more votes from the 39 Arkansans who still smoke. Sure, that’s a much more effective political tactic than opposing pay raises for politicians.

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  • hillary

    I just love Governor Beebe. Getting 75 votes to pass his 100 million dollar tax increase just wasn’t enough of a challenge for him. Republican legislators made that challenge too easy for him by folding like wet toilet paper. He obviously decided to bring it up a notch and just kick them in what would be balls if they had any and make them ask for another as they vote in another 100 million dollar rip off of Arkansas taxpayers.

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  • I will tell you who the Governor really screwed. The Democrat legislators. There has always been one or two RWingnut Repubs who would vote against their pay raise, but always too few to cause the Democrat leggies any problems. Now that the precedent has been set by the Governor, no self respecting Republican would ever vote for a raise again.

    Oh wait. Nevermind. I don’t believe I have met any self respecting Republicans in quite some time.

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  • Cameron Bluff

    Fourche River Rex, you sound like you are living in Locker C18 at Grand Central Station. Or maybe once did.

    Anyway, St. Mike could do a lot more by issuing an executive order decreeing state vehicles that do not drive a minimum of 20% per year more in distance than the sum of the daily travel for that state employee to travel to and from work are to be returned to the state vehicle pool. In other words, if all you use your state vehicle for is driving to and from work and the occasional stop off at Puffs Cleaners or the liquor store or Kroger, you don’t need the taxpayers to be paying your travel expenses and providing you an automobile. And, there are a huge number of state vehicles which would fall into this number. Huge savings could be found at AGFC alone and DFA isn’t far behind.

    I would ask Republican state legislators to check into this, but they are too busy 1) rolling over for St. Mike, 2) raising salaries, and 3) obtaining the IRS maximum allowable for their mileage while allowing state employees to receive only about 60-70% of this amount.

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  • Fourche River Rex

    Nope, Cameron. I live in a shanty in the Fourche River Bottoms where my 400 dogs keep me company. I make moonshine for a living as I was recently laid off from my job at the paper mill. Now I spend my days as a troll on the internet and trying to wash the smell of cornmash off my hands.

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  • Cameron Bluff

    Well, those bottoms must be in either Pulaski or Yell Counties because folks in Perry and Scott County can neither spell nor type and have no access to nor use for computers.

    Beyond that, you do sound like my kind of ex-paper mill feller. Say now, aren’t you the same guy who recently bemoaned the language in the new animal cruelty bill by saying that it would stop you from tying your cat’s tails together and hanging them over the clothes line? You aren’t trying to spoof us are you. How could a guy with 400 dogs have a couple cats around anyway?

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  • Fourche River Rex

    Nope, I’m afraid that was another denzien. I said that my dog bit me and now I could file charges on him. And I will, the bum. The oher 399 are actually pretty good critters.
    Actually, I don’t know where ’bouts along the Fourche I live, as you have to hike in through several miles of cypress sloughs to get to my hovel. I do my tradin’ at Onyx and Steve. My location is a mystery to me so that it will remain a mystery to the revenue men that are trying to hunt me down.

    Reply

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