We’ll find out next week if Bill Halter is going to step up and challenge Blanche Lincoln, or run for the U.S. House or reelection.  By now, everyone in these parts knows all about how we’re pushing him hard to get into the senate race, so I’m not going to spend too much time talking about AR-02 or reelection, other than a few quick, if unconventional, observations about the two.  First, looking at AR-02, Halter would be a great general election candidate for the seat, but there is no guarantee now that he’d make it through the primary, with Joyce Elliott and Robbie Wills having staked out major territory, and the energy surrounding an AR-02 run isn’t there and won’t be there for him the way it will be in a primary challenge to Lincoln.  A reelection bid, on the other hand, will be a sure thing in the short run, but wouldn’t necessarily guarantee his political future down the line.  If Halter passes on this, the next shot to move up is in 2014 when he’s term limited and the governor’s office is up for grabs.  That seat will be wide open, and if Halter passes on the senate bid there are no guarantees that the following he’s gained will wait for him for four years.  Dustin McDaniel, while he has some rather unsavory establishment, good ol’ boy roots, is reasonably progressive and generally well liked by the base and the state party bosses alike, which would make him formidable.  And there’s always the chance that Martha Shoffner and Mike Ross will be running, which further complicates the way forward for Halter in that race.  So what makes the most sense then is to accept that when you’re hot in politics you have to strike, and thus Halter should make this bid against Lincoln, especially considering that winning is a very real possibility.

To win in politics, you need the “Three Ms”-money, machine, and message.  The last one will be up to Mr. Halter, but the other two won’t be a problem.  The only strength Lincoln seems to have these days is her money.  But it’s important to note that she can’t use all of her seven million in the primary, and she may well have maxed out a number of donors, mostly from big corporations and PACs.  Halter though will have financial support from individuals, unions, liberal organizations, his previous fundraising efforts, and probably environmentalists if Lincoln continues to irritate them.  Arkansas is a small state where retail politics (something Lincoln sucks at) is decidingly more important than ad buys, but still, Halter will need to raise at least one million and burn through it quickly after this late start, and that’s very doable.  As far as “machine” or organization goes, Halter will have that as well.  It won’t come from the state party for sure, but it will be there.  There are already countless activists lining up to knock on doors and make phone calls for Halter-something Lincoln really doesn’t have at this point-and for all the knocks unions take in this state they are good at providing workers come election time and getting their members to the polls.

But what about the path forward?

In 2004, Lisa Burks, who had less name recognition and money than Halter has and will have, took just over forty-seven thousand votes against Lincoln, which amounted to 16% of the vote in the primary in a year where Lincoln was running strong.  By now, that anti-Blanche sentiment that Lisa tapped is much, much stronger within the primary electorate, and black Arkansans are really irritated with Lincoln’s condescencion by this point and thus there’s potential for them to throw their backing to an insurgent challenger.  There’s also a lot of potential for tapping new voting pools-young voters aren’t about to be excited by Lincoln, and if I were Halter I’d hit every university in the state with organizing and voter registration efforts in the first two weeks of the campaign…and there’s no telling what kind of potential the growing population of hispanic Arkansans offers in western Arkansas, a region of the state that’s never been too keen on Lincoln in the first place.  Add to that a big effort in vote rich areas for Democrats like Little Rock and Fayetteville (while not neglecting the rest of the state mind you-that would be a Mark Campellesque disaster) and you have a terrific formula for victory.

In the general election, Halter will be the stronger candidate.  Lincoln is most likely going to lose, and we’ll stand a better chance with a fresh face who’s gotten real results for Arkansas.  The environment for Democrats come November will not be the same as it is now, especially if the economy improves as expected and Democrats actually start passing parts of their agenda.  Arkansas will still be tough territory for Lincoln though as her problems go much deeper than just dissatisfaction with the economy or Obama-there’s a deep resentment toward her by this point on all sides.  That’s why we need a fresh face come November, and someone with Halter’s record would only strengthen our hand.

Now, even if Halter goes for this and loses, it’s not the end of the world for him.  In fact, in adds something to his brand.  He solidifies his reputation as the guy that challenged the machine and (if the worst case scenario happens and he loses this bid) he’ll have a large following that won’t forget the effort come 2014 or 2016 if he decides to run again.  In the end, Halter can win this, and even if he doesn’t win the Senate race running can only help him in the long run.

Check us out!

This is the first of a line of videos Blue Arkansas will be putting out, and I thought I’d give us a nice little introduction while I was still dressed up from the (unrelated) conference I attended today. I plan on having us some interviews with candidates soon, and some great video of other goings on around the state. So stay tuned! It’s going to be great!

Republicans have finally found a sacrificial lamb to get crushed by Mike Beebe in his bid for reelection.  Jim Keet, who up to this point had been reportedly looking at a race for Lt. Gov if Halter went for the Senate, is going to run a “positive campaign” against a governor he himself says he likes.  What’s this all mean?  It means the Republicans know they have to get at least 3% of the vote in the race for governor to keep their ballot access and talked the guy into carrying the banner.

Honestly, I think this is great news for Democrats.

Keet seems like a nice guy and all, but no one serious is going to bet money on him in this race.  Still, having a campaign to run will get Beebe to set up a campaign operation to motivate voters, and having that kind of operation can only be helpful for Democrats in tough races across the states.  (Yes, elections are a good thing in more ways than one.)  So, for all the things tilted against Democrats this year (and I’m convinced that things are likely to turn around if we put the work in), it’s nice to know that Beebe will have to run a race and, hopefully, provide some coattails for down ballot candidates.

For Nancy Shaw and her daughter Kacey, who has Down syndrome, the wait for health care reform isn’t about politics.

It’s about the health and financial well-being of her family.

Because her daughter’s Down syndrome was classified as a “pre-existing condition,” private health insurance companies declined to cover her medical care. As a result, Nancy cut back her Avon business to lower her income so she could qualify for Medicaid. That was the only way she could get help for her daughter’s serious health needs.

“Medicaid is Kacey’s only option for health care coverage. I have to keep my income around the federal poverty level, or else we don’t qualify and she has no health care coverage at all,” Nancy said.

Three months ago Nancy began volunteering for Arkansas Change That Works, a grassroots organization advocating for health care reform. At a rally in Hot Springs in December she spoke out against the cruelty of the “pre-existing condition” clause that so cruelly denies necessary medical care to a little girl. She also talked about how tough it is to intentionally inflict poverty on her family so she can get federal help for health care.

In the meantime, Nancy worries that the health coverage her daughter receives may not last. Recent news reports have raised the alarm that Arkansas Medicaid may cut benefits due to rising health care costs and budget shortfalls. Care for children like Kacey may be on the block.

Shaw says that she will continue to advocate for health care reform.

A story everyone should hear:

Obama leaves a Republican speechless:

My favorite moment:

FOLLOWING THE FEBRUARY 25 HEALTH CARE SUMMIT, CHANGE THAT WORKS STATE DIRECTOR RHONDA RUSSELL RELEASED THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT

HEALTH CARE REFORM STILL URGENTLY NEEDED IN ARKANSAS.

Following summit it is time for Congress to take action

We applaud the February 25 Health Care Summit as a step in moving comprehensive legislation forward.  Congress has been working on health care reform that will rein in the big insurance companies, level the playing field for small business and offer access to affordable, quality care for over a year.

Time for talking is over; now is the time for action.

Congress needs to act for things to get better. Nancy Shaw, a Hot Springs resident, is still unable to provide her daughter Kacey with private health insurance. Insurance companies have refused to cover Kacey, who was born with Down Syndrome. It’s a “pre-existing condition.” Her family spends more than they can afford in out-of-pocket costs, which include frequent trips to Little Rock to see the nearest specialists. Nancy doesn’t know how much longer she will be able to afford the ever-rising cost of health care for her daughter.

It is time for Congress to take action and stand with Arkansans.  Getting a comprehensive health care bill to the President’s desk is the first step in creating an economy that works for Main Street and not insurance companies, Wall Street, big banks, and special interests.

This coming from Max Brantley:

Another bit of evidence on the Halter-may-run theory is the near-instantaneous reaction to Berry’s gibe from Halter’s political spokesman Bud Jackson:

Congressman Berry’s comments are not surprising to us. After all, he did not support Halter’s campaign for lieutenant governor which beat the insiders and has now resulted in a scholarship lottery that will help thousands of Arkansans afford a higher education.

If getting under the skin of the insiders is the price for helping Arkansans, he’ll do it time and time again. Should he run for federal office Arkansans can look forward to more of the same because Washington is broken and it needs more people like Bill Halter who aren’t afraid to stand-up to special interests and insiders.

These words were in reaction to Marion Berry’s comments about Halter. This isn’t the kind of talking a spokesman gives if Halter is leaning towards not running. These are fighting words. I was starting to wonder if Halter had the will to run, but these kind of reactions show something is up in the Halter campaign.

And by the way, what is with all the hate for Halter on the Democratic establishment side. I understand that he ran for Lt. Gov. when he wasn’t “supposed” to, but Arkansans could care less about that. So, instead you have to make up issues and try to play “gotcha” with things like the Lt. Gov.’s staff numbers? Really? I noticed that Max Brantley said that Halter was tooting his own horn when the Scholarship Lottery passed yesterday, but did anyone in the Democratic establishment bother to give credit where credit is due? No. They would rather act like Halter never existed and try to take the credit for his plan. They even tried to blame the pay scandal on him when he warned them in March about the issue and they ignored him.

Senate, House Panels Advance Lottery Bills – March 18, 2009

Halter also said the legislation would allow the lottery’s executive director to be paid nearly $500,000 a year, which he said is “over the top.”

Wills said the legislation sets a salary for the director of $141,603 but allows a legislative oversight committee to multiply the salary by up to 2-1⁄2 times, which would bring the maximum to about $354,000, not $500,000. A follow-up bill, now in shell form, will clarify that point, he said.

So when the story broke in summer, guess what happened? Many blamed Halter for the salary that got put near $350,000 by the oversight committee. People who disliked Halter jumped on this as an opportunity to attack him, despite the facts of the issue. The point of this is not to attack Wills for the displacement of the blame, that happens a lot in politics. The point is that so many were willing to jump on that without a factual basis to back up the claims. If Halter does jump in, we should be ready for these kinds of baseless attacks, because when you hate someone, you don’t have to know that the attacks are true or meaningful to repeat them verbatim.

The word from Max Brantley is as such:

The devastatingly bad flat tax amendment (replacing all state taxation with a monstrous sales tax) has been certified as to sufficiency of ballot title and the group backing it now plans to bring a friendly action before the Supreme Court to establish its legitimacy, City Wire in Fort Smith reports. Groyps that believe in fair taxation and a functional government are given fair warning that it’s time to unlimber some lawyers to work on intervention petitions.

Max also provides a link explaining why this is so bad. It ain’t pretty:

I’m not keen on helping the sponsors or the attorney general fix it, but a few discrepancies ought to leap out at any one. Here is one: The popular name describes it as a constitutional amendment “to Repeal All State Taxes” — no exceptions — and establish a flat-rate sales tax. The ballot title, which is what the voters would read in the voting booth, says it would repeal all taxes that are levied by the legislature. But when you read the actual amendment “all state taxes” means only a few taxes. My quick calculation is that it would repeal at most 25 or so taxes out of some 110 taxes levied by the legislature. Cigarette taxes would be repealed, for example, but liquor taxes would not.

If the amendment were ratified and the courts followed common statutory construction in interpreting it, the amendment would repeal only three or four taxes: personal and corporate income taxes, including income taxes on capital gains, and the real-estate transfer tax. That is because the amendment and the ballot title weirdly follow the sweeping repeal of “all state taxes” with five specific taxes that would be repealed: “The capital gains tax; The corporate tax; Income taxes; Payroll taxes; and The real estate transfer tax.” The state doesn’t levy payroll taxes, unless it is talking about the employment security, or unemployment, tax. And what is “the corporate tax”? There are a bunch of corporate taxes. Maybe they want to repeal the little franchise tax but who can say?

In interpreting law, courts have ruled that when a general provision is followed by specific provisions, the specific ones must be viewed as limiting the effect of the law to them.

But let’s assume that it did repeal all 25 or so taxes that are listed in Title 26, Subtitle 5 of the Arkansas Code, which seems to be what the authors intend. It would end taxes that support the general services of the state: the public schools, colleges and universities, prisons, all public health and medical services, law enforcement, the courts and many of the services provided by cities and counties along with maintenance and building of the state highways.

The legislature would pass a single sales tax to make up the difference to pay for all those services. The tax would have to be 20 percent, 25 percent — who knows? Since all businesses of any kind, big or small, would not pay a sales tax on anything — not on the fuel and energy they consume or any equipment or merchandise that they buy for business use — the tax rate paid by individual consumers would have to be high enough to make up for that huge loss of revenue. The amendment says no services could be taxed either although other parts of the amendment seem to contradict that.

The price of commodities in Arkansas would be so high that people would buy everything they could — cars and appliances, for example, maybe groceries and clothing — across the borders or over the Internet. It would create the biggest black market in the world outside of the Middle East.

Oh, but the amendment would require the state to send every rich, middling and poor person in the state, as long as they were citizens and registered with the state finance agency, a monthly check to cover the expenses of living in poverty. What a deal!

So, citizens will, if this thing does make it to the ballot, have the choice to place a massive sales tax burden on themselves. Won’t that be fun. We’re not going to take this lying down however. Instead, we’re going to fight it tooth and nail every step of the way.

One last thing. This line from the article bugs me:

Fortunately, the amendment, its popular name and its ballot title are all so clumsily and thoughtlessly written that the Supreme Court is unlikely to let it go on the ballot. No voter could possibly understand what he or she was voting on, which is the court’s test of whether any proposition can go on the ballot. The attorney general made a change or two in the ballot title that make it even more inaccurate than the authors’ version. (He wouldn’t do that on purpose, would he?)

Sounds like that goes beyond McDaniel just doing his job to me…

Folks in the know in Arkansas politics, particularly with regard to the goings on in AR-01, know that Marion Berry doesn’t like Bill Halter. Well, between his ridiculous tirade against President Obama and today’s blasting of Bill Halter, I’d say Berry has gone past the point of mere political animosity and entered into grumpy old man territory.

“I don’t know anybody that cares what Bill Halter is going to do except Bill Halter,” Berry said in an interview Thursday morning. “He is only of consequence in his own mind.”

With under two weeks to go before Arkansas’ filing deadline, there has been mounting speculation that Halter will challenge Sen. Blanche Lincoln in May’s Democratic primary. Halter is polling the race, and national liberal groups such as MoveOn.org have been openly courting him to challenge the moderate Lincoln.

Halter’s camp has only said that he’s keeping his options options open and is still considering running for the Senate, for Arkansas 2nd district House seat or for re-election.

Berry said a run against Lincoln “would probably be the end of Halter’s political career in Arkansas because he’ll get beat and that will be the end of it.”

“He’s pretty much exhausted his ability to raise money in Arkansas,” Berry said. “It was kind of fluke he got elected to lieutenant governor’s office” in 2006.

Me thinks Berry has been in Washington too long. I’ve said many times that I like Marion Berry, but with the kind of vindictiveness he’s showing on his way out to greener fields is so revolting that I’m sorry I ever added the man to the ActBlue page in the first place.

Now, for Congressman Berry’s information, there are a lot of us who like what Bill Halter has done and are tired of Blanche Lincoln, and there’s been a groundswell of support for a primary challenge across the state, something jsamuel and I have both seen and been a part of. Polls are showing the truth-that people are fed up of Lincoln and her antics, and there is a way forward for Halter to win a primary. My hunch is that Berry recognizes this, and he’s trying to help Blanche scare Halter off. If he really does think electing Halter was a fluke, then his political skills have deteriorated such that it’s a good thing he’s retiring. Halter got elected and has enjoyed popular support in the state because he gets results in a big way. Care to name another Arkansas politician that has?

Now, I don’t know why Berry doesn’t like Halter. I suspect it’s for the same reason most of the establishment doesn’t-he didn’t come up through the good ol’ boy, wait your turn, don’t rock the boat system. That being said, I’m sure Berry wouldn’t like me all that much either, or Blue Arkansas as a whole, because we’re here to burn that system to the ground and change the politics of this state for the better.

Speaking of which, I would point out that in ‘06 Berry endorsed the man who sits on the board of a hate group and had to admit that his bill to bring back public hangings was a mistake. That shows you what Berry’s politics are I guess. Now I’ve said many times that when I make a mistake around these parts I’ll own up to it, publicly. Right now, I’m feeling like supporting Marion Berry so vocally in the past my require just that-the admission of a mistake.

Update: Courtesy of Arkansas Blog, Halter’s spokesman responds, and knocks it out of the park!

Congressman Berry’s comments are not surprising to us. After all, he did not support Halter’s campaign for lieutenant governor which beat the insiders and has now resulted in a scholarship lottery that will help thousands of Arkansans afford a higher education.

If getting under the skin of the insiders is the price for helping Arkansans, he’ll do it time and time again. Should he run for federal office Arkansans can look forward to more of the same because Washington is broken and it needs more people like Bill Halter who aren’t afraid to stand-up to special interests and insiders.

There is one bit of nice news, corrupt DINO Bob Johnson will not waste our time our embarrass our state with a primary challenge.

http://farm.ewg.org/sites/farmbill2007/top_recips1614.php?fips=05107&progcode=farmprog&enttype=indv&enttype=entity

I finally found video of Joyce Elliott’s announcement for AR-02 on youtube.  Better late than never I guess.  It’s worth a watch too.

I like how Senator Elliott presents herself and frames the issues. She’s a regular person, someone who can identify with what’s going on in the average joe’s life because she’s lived it too. It’s a nice touch, and as I keep telling people, don’t underestimate her based on her race, gender, or ideological leanings. She’s got some serious political skills to consider.

Okay, by now the word is making it around that Bill Halter had a moment of note in the Arkansas Capitol. Max Brantley has said it was bad, Tolbert’s giddy over it, and I think it’s funny for a completely different reason than they do.  But let’s take a look at what happened.  A reporter asked Halter about Ingram’s initiative to cut his office’s budget, and Halter responded (badly in some folk’s eyes apparently).

Halter: I am literally running to the Senate floor.

MacNeil: Okay, do you have an opinion on the questions about the size of your staff… (interrupted by one of Halter’s staff members)

Halter: We’ve already put out a statement.

MacNeil: Okay, but I am inquiring and just asking you if you have an opinion.

Halter: About…uh…about what? (Tolbert says he used a “rather indigent tone” here.  You can listen over on his page linked above…I don’t hear it myself.) I mean you are asking me…I don’t even know what you are asking me.

MacNeil: Do you think the size of your staff is reasonable?

Halter: Uh..yes, but I would point out to you that the legislature has approved a staff for the Lieutenant Governor from the very beginning of the office. And we don’t have anything to do with other than, the legislature approves the budget. Look we are going up to the floor.

He then goofed up by, for some reason, coming out the elevator on the floor he had just left.  I got to admit, that’s rather sad…and I also have to admit I’ve done it myself.  But seriously, Halter said it best:

 I would point out to you that the legislature has approved a staff for the Lieutenant Governor from the very beginning of the office. And we don’t have anything to do with other than, the legislature approves the budget.

Halter has four guys working for him, and a budget approved by the legislature.  There’s nothing really to this.  And what do these folks expect him to do?  Get in the mud with a guy like Ingram over a nakedly vindictive issue?  He answered the question, though I can’t really blame him for sounding so perplexed about it at first.  What’s really funny to me is how the Arkansas establishment is going to far to try and bring this guy down, and how so many people seem willing to just swallow it.  Meanwhile, his bad day ended with his lottery scholarships that will benefit thousands of Arkansans passing the legislature.  A bad day indeed.

I just want to know.  Wellstone Action works in those areas that others don’t simply because it is part of the mission to ignite all people and communities to do the work that Paul and Shelia Wellstone left behind.

Are you interested in putting on a Camp here?

Look what they did in South Carolina –

“Here at Wellstone Action, we pride ourselves on going to places where other national training programs simply don’t.  (Take Idaho, for example, a state where we will return for the third time this spring.)  So when Camp Wellstone alums, Marilyn Hemingway and Jamarr Brown approached us and pleaded, “Bring Camp Wellstone to South Carolina!” we took their request seriously.  After all, South Carolina was one of only five states we had never trained in (Wellstone Action has now held trainings in 46 states, and we have alumni in all 50).”

I’ve found myself less than enthused with the 1st district candidates I’m afraid to say. Wooldridge is a no go. I know nothing of Bryles or Cook as of yet and, so far, have no reason to be too interested in either. Causey’s a good guy with plenty of potential, but some of the things he’s said and the sense that he might not be ready for prime time has me concerned. Up to this point, I’ve been in the anybody but Wooldridge category. Now though, this new guy, Ben Ponder, has peaked my interest…

The first thing that grabbed my attention when looking at this guy is his background. He’s a product of the public schools, he’s got a PhD in communication, he’s been a researcher and teacher, and he’s studied theology. More interesting though is what stands out about his work in the private sector:

While completing a 900-page dissertation, Ben also led a start-up renewable energy company with offices in the Chicago area and in Central Arkansas. The business’s goal was to provide affordable, home-grown renewable fuels to communities throughout Arkansas. When venture financing began to dry up at the start of the Great Recession, Ben and his teammates made the difficult decision to pull the plug on an innovative business that had been driven for two years by a stellar team of entrepreneurs and advisers.

Beyond his background, Ponder actually tells you in his announcement what his platform focuses on, and from the looks of things, it’s pretty good. He sounds like a good old fashion populist with a real progressive streak:

I am running for Congress because I want to give voice to this voiceless multitude of those who will come after us. They will be our judges in history. They will be the ones who name our generation. Do we aspire to share in the honor of the generation that is now passing—what has been called “the greatest generation”— or will we settle for the stature of “bubble surfers,” “payday loan sharks,” or “the generation when America began its decline.” We must not squander the bounty and splendor that our fathers and mothers left us as an inheritance. We must now make the hard choices and the bold stands for justice that history demands of us.

In the coming days, I plan to talk with you and with the citizens of Arkansas’ First District about the specific policies and plans that I will enact if you elect me as your Representative in Congress. Today, in the interest of time and temperature, I will keep my policy remarks concise.

Three areas of domestic policy that require our immediate attention are JOBS, HEALTHCARE, and EDUCATION.

The Senate yesterday passed a modest jobs bill that was an encouraging sign of teamwork between the two parties, even if the bill lacked the teeth to make a significant dent in our melancholy unemployment numbers. The passage of this bill in one chamber of Congress is a good step, but more action must be taken and taken quickly.

As a businessman and an academic, I understand both the practical and theoretical sides of economic policy. The stock market has slowly recovered over the last year, but job growth has not followed. Why is that? The answer is that job growth in the 21st century is not tied to publicly traded companies. Fortune 500 companies do not create jobs. They are mature capitalist enterprises and as such, they are fundamentally driven to eliminate jobs in the pursuit of “operational efficiencies” and “increased productivity.”

The engine of job growth in America has always been and will always be the entrepreneur. Those who seize upon an idea or innovation, turn it into a useful product or service, and find a way to reach a growing market. These men and women find themselves needing help, needing workers. Small businesses create jobs; REAL jobs with REAL futures, not dead-end temporary jobs or statistic-manipulating job shifting.
Our energies and our money as a nation must be targeted toward small businesses. We must increase access to capital, to ideas, to technical skills, and to business management training. In order for our economy to truly flourish, we need to change our focus from the banks and auto companies that are “too big to fail” and begin to invest in promising, local businesses that are “too SMALL to fail.”

The second area of grave concern in our country right now is HEALTHCARE.

We all have a vague sense that our American healthcare system is not what it could be.

For some, the system is completely shattered. For others, the system simply requires a few minor tweaks. Regardless of where you land on the spectrum, we all believe that health care needs reform.

I am bothered, however, that the public debate and the actions of Congress with regard to “health CARE reform” are, in fact, a narrowly conceived attempt at what is really “health FINANCE reform.” Now, health finance reform is important, but it is only a piece of the puzzle. Our system will not improve until we reform the quality of care as well as the mechanism of payment.

In Congress, I will not vote for any healthcare bill, popular or unpopular, that doesn’t have two key provisions:

1) We must shift the business model of the health insurance industry. As a publicly traded corporation, these insurers are ultimately beholden to their shareholders, not to their policy holders. Forcing everyone to purchase health insurance is short-sighted: it will temporarily decrease premiums, yes, but as long as health insurers are driven by a mandate for escalating profits, then they will be forced to pay less and less on claims.

The perverse disincentive for health insurers to pay on legitimate claims must end.

Health insurers should be run as cooperatives, like we see with credit unions, rural electric companies, and farmer’s co-ops, where the policyholders are also the owners of the business.

2) Doctors should be paid to listen first and to cut second. The system as it stands today encourages doctors to perform expensive exploratory surgery rather than to simply listen to you describe your symptoms. If a doctor wants to keep the lights on in his or her practice, he or she must perform costly tests and invasive surgical procedures.

Physicians must rush through their regular clinic visits, because they have to see 40, 50, or 60 patients a day just to cover the costs of their practice. Until our health care system encourages and pays for doctors to listen to their patients, true health care reform is a mirage.

The third major area of domestic policy that requires our immediate attention is EDUCATION. This building, the Old College Hall, is landmark in the history of education in Arkansas, and it is a fitting reminder of the educational legacy of our community.

Our commitment to education is the key indicator of our hope for the next generation.

Education policy is now so consumed with standardized testing and metrics that teachers are forced in lock step to “teach to the test” rather than having the freedom to inspire their students with a love for learning.

My education policy is simple: teachers, teachers, teachers. Facilities and technology are wonderful, but Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle had neither buildings nor computers, and they proved to be fine educators. We need to attract, retain, and reward educators who “know their stuff” and who can infect students with an abiding passion for learning.

Then, and only then, will our children and grandchildren be prepared to compete in the global marketplace.

A lot of good stuff there…really good stuff. Now, there are a few things I’m concerned about. The first is simply a critique of his style as a candidate and it’s that his language tends to be a bit flowery. However, that might work for him-I haven’t seen any video yet or seen him in person (would love to though) so I don’t know how good he really is on the stump. If he’s got the charisma to pull it off, it would be great to see a candidate in this pack that could get out there and really inspire people with high minded talk like this.

The other concern is that he might turn out to be in the same vein as Wooldridge on social issues. Now if he’s somewhat conservative on social issues, that’s fine. I understand he’s a devout Baptist (I grew up in the Southern Baptist church and still consider myself a Baptist. There is a moderate, even a progressive minded, band within that denomination that was pushed aside back in the 70s and 80s.) and I understand that this is a district with a conservative streak on social issues. Remember, when I was running the beta version of this site by myself, Blue Arkansas was backing Marion Berry, who’s got a significant conservative streak to say the least. But there’s a difference between being conservative and sitting on the board of a hate group and letting your campaign staff lie and try to cover it up. I don’t expect Ponder to come out for marriage equality or anything close-that’d be an unrealistic expectation for sure. I’d be fine with it if he announces he’s anti-choice. But I want to see that he is tolerant of others and willing to protect the civil rights and liberties of ALL his potential constituents. If he can reassure me on that front…I may have found my candidate.

One last thing. There is an interview Ponder gave to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Now, I’m not about to pay a penny to read that crappy right wing rag, but I’d love to know what was said. If someone else has access to that, pass it along to me if you would.

A large group of organizations is mobilizing today to get 1,000,000 people to call congress and let them know that we want them to pass health care reform. Over 400,000 have done their civic duty so far today (as of 11:20 CST). (Over 500,000 as of 12:13 CST)

I signed up and gave a call to both Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor. I told both that they should support passing Health Care Reform through reconciliation and told Pryor that he should support adding the Public Option back into the bill through reconciliation.

A neat little flash app shows you how many people are currently calling from each state:

Arkansas is showing about 2-4 people calling at a time. I think we can do better than that!

Arkansans have a greater influence on these votes since we have a lower population to senator ratio and because both of our senators are possible swing votes. Please make an effort to call today.

Sign in here – they will give you all the info you need:
http://pol.moveon.org/virtualmarch10/action.html?rc=vm.fb.11

You might also use their tools for posting it on facebook and twitter to spread the word.

Update:
Seems like word is getting around now as we are up to 2-8 Arkansans calling at a time. Try sending an email, updating your facebook and twitter status, or sending a message to your facebook friends. (Over 680,000 at 1:45 CST)

Update 2:
They hit 1,000,000 people! This was supposed to be a two day event, but they got there in one. I suspect they will keep it going through tomorrow. Maybe they can get 2,000,000 by tomorrow evening.