Interesting editorial over on Midnight Politics:
Secretary of State Mark Martin (R – Arkansas) is a complete and total waste of an elected official. He not only broke a promise to be transparent to voters, but he lost the confidence of Gov. Mike Beebe (D – Arkansas) in Martin’s ability to perform his duties.
For those of you unaware of Martin’s actions, let’s have a quick refresher courtesy of the Arkansas Times:
He bought a car and hired Republican consultants with $60,000 or so that was not his to spend without approval from other members of the Board of Apportionment. Gov. Mike Beebe and Attorney General Dustin McDaniel were not so inclined.
That’s pretty cut and dry. He wasn’t supposed to spend the money. McDaniel and Beebe have not said that the expenditures were illegal, but you have to wonder if Martin is being investigated since the $60,000 was over 25 percent of the board’s entire $200,000 budget and he had spent the money before their first meeting was ever held without consent of the other two higher ranking officials. And I have to wonder how difficult it would have been for him to call the attorney general for some legal advice and then to call the governor for final approval.
Honestly, if Martin were to resign it would probably save him a ton of embarrassment later on. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this is a man with a history of incredible corruption and incompetence. He will be indicted for something before his tenure as Secretary of State is over, count on it.
