Your Daily Hubbard-9/6/12

Sep 6, 2012 No Comments ›› ARDem

Today’s Daily Hubbard, from page 23, was just easier to take a screenshot of:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, he’s talking about black people again…

Again, on behalf of all white people, we are so, so sorry for this man’s existence!

SD-18: Missy Irvin Supports Bad Medicaid Policy

Sep 5, 2012 No Comments ›› ARDem

There’s an easy choice facing Arkansas in 2013.  We can take money we’ve already paid in to the federal government and use it to shore up Medicaid, cover thousands of Arkansans currently falling through the cracks, all while saving the state money or we can do what Republicans want to do-reject the money, let it go to other states, and watch a bad situation with Medicaid get worse.  Guess which one of those things Missy Irvin wants to do…

From Senator Missy Irvin: “I stand with my GOP colleagues in urging the Governor to wait on any decisions on Medicaid expansion. I also support the following recommendations for addressing the CURRENT Medicaid shortfall. We have to take care of our fiscal problems now before we exacerbate them.”

What are the proposals that Irvin endorses?

Global Consumer Choice Waiver – which provides more flexibility to patients, the state and providers Random drug-testing for working age adults – to screen for substance abuse Enhanced eligibility verification for Medicaid recipients – a testing system for income and other eligibility thresholds Increased co-pays for some services – to provide revenue for state program and help consumers understand cost of health care Controls to reduce waste, fraud and abuse – using technology such as smart ID cards to prevent non-enrollees from using services and to better track system data.

Let’s go through these one by one…

First, there’s the Global Consumer Choice Waiver, which caps federal financing available to the state.  Rhode Island has pursued this policy and it has failed to create the savings that were promised.

The drug testing idea is DOA because federal rules don’t allow the denial of Medicaid benefits due to drug testing.  South Dakota rejected such a measure because it would have cost the state 500 million in federal dollars.  Never mind the whole thing about stereotyping poor people as drug addicts and that substance abuse is an illness that requires treatment in and of itself.

Then there’s the Enhanced Eligibility Verification, designed to make it harder to get on the Medicaid rolls.  Yeah, great idea Missy, let’s work to deny more people Medicaid when our state already only provides it to 17% of the people eligible.  You’re so compassionate you know.

As for the increased co-pays…really?  The reason these people are applying for Medicaid is because they can’t afford private health insurance and Missy and other Republicans want to charge them more?  Really?  And I love that “in order to help consumers understand cost of healthcare” part.  How condescending can Republicans be pray tell?

Lastly, smart id cards are inefficient at reducing fraud and act more as a barrier to coverage.

This is an easy choice to make but Republicans are so ideologically opposed to anything remotely connected to Obama that they’ll reject good policy in knee jerk fashion, regardless of how many Arkansans they hurt in the process.  That’s why making sure Democrats control the state legislature next year is so important.  Zac White is a better than average Democrat and will be far better for all Arkansans than Missy Irvin.  Contribute to White for Senate.

SD-26: Mike Akin, The Candidate That Won’t Answer Questions

Sep 5, 2012 No Comments ›› ARDem

Reading the Arkansas Times piece on the SD-26 race, you get the sense that there’s a pattern with Republican Mike Akin…

Some people think it odd that the chairman of the supposedly nonpartisan University of Arkansas Board of Trustees is running as a Republican candidate for the state Senate. The Arkansas Times hoped to hear the opinion of the trustee/politician in question, Mike Akin of Monticello, but he declined to return our calls. He’s notably taciturn for a public official.

Akin was appointed to the UA Board by then-Gov. Mike Huckabee. Since he’s been a UA trustee, he struck a for-profit deal with the University of Arkansas at Monticello, one of the educational institutions he oversees, to build a private retirement center on campus. Questioners were advised — by university officials, not Akin, who stood mute then too — that the UA allows its trustees to do business with the university, so long as the conflict of interest is made public and the trustee profiting from the contract doesn’t vote on it. Suggestions that the UA adopt a higher standard of conduct for trustees have not been followed, so far as we know.

Earlier, when he was a member of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, also by Huckabee appointment, Akin accepted state money from the agency under him to take over a Dumas furniture plant and fold it into an ongoing Akin operation, not apparently the “new business development” that the taxpayers’ money was intended to promote. Then he cut the Dumas workers’ pay. He did not respond to inquiries about that transaction either.

When a candidate runs from tough questions, it’s a sign of weakness and that there’s something about the question that’s inconvenient for them.  Conflicts of interest, misuse of state funds, cutting workers’ pay-these are all serious things that Akin owes his would be constituents an answer for.  Two months out from the election though, his lips are still sealed.

On paper, this is a safely Democratic district.  A lot of the counties there-Desha, Chicot, Ashley, etc.-will vote for a Republican when Hell freezes over.  Drew County though has become more Republican leaning of late, and there are a lot of observers-myself included-who would like to see Democrat Eddie Cheatham (pictured on the left) up his game significantly here so that we can all sleep a little easier over our senate numbers.

Your Daily Hubbard-9/5/12

Sep 5, 2012 No Comments ›› ARDem

More on that media conspiracy to nominate and defeat John McCain on page 22:

The 2000 presidential contest, both the Democrat and Republican primaries, were entirely and totally orchestrated and choreographed by the unscrupulous and unethical liberal mainstream media.  To those who understand just how this sleazy group operates, how could anyone be surprised at the eventual outcome?  McCain finally understood that he had been chosen and set up by this deceitful media to win the primary over younger and more formidable conservative candidates whom the media knew were much more likely to defeat their invented, darling candidate, Barack Hussein Obama.  The liberal mainstream media did to this great American patriot in six months what six years in a Vietnam prisoner-of-war camp could not do.  They convinced John McCain to throw in the towel.  Anyone who thinks John McCain lost this race because he isn’t a fighter has no idea what this man is made of.  He simply came to realize that taking on one of the most influential and destructive elements in America today, who wants to push this nation into socialism, was just too much for him to take on at his age.  John McCain has certainly earned the right to enjoy his golden years, but fighting an evil conspiracy made up of the liberal Democrat Party and their liberal mainstream media propaganda mill were just more than he wanted to take on at this point in his life.  In another time, John McCain might have made this liberal den of thieves deeply regret even the thought of trying to trick him and the American people.  God bless, John McCain.

I love how this evil conspiracy to turn the U.S. towards socialism is apparently something that this great war hero John McCain can just shrug his shoulders about and go on enjoying his bingo games and Matlock…

But, ok, I confess.  There’s something to this liberal media conspiracy thing.  In fact, I’m a part of it myself.  You see, I recently went back a few years in my time machine (courtesy of State Rep. John Woods) and managed to convince Jon Hubbard to right this book of his so that I would have plenty of ammunition to hit him with in 2012, or at least give you all something to laugh at every morning.  I admit it.  Now lock me up and throw away the key.  At least that way I won’t have to suffer through the rest of this stupid book.

Mark Martin’s Office Looking Into Florida Style Voter Purge

Sep 4, 2012 No Comments ›› ARDem

At this point, I’ve gone over my recent FOIA request to the Secretary of State’s office with a fine tooth comb.  When Alex Reed had his little goof up in Union County, it sounded to me like he was hinting that the Secretary of State’s office was looking into doing some kind of voter purge similar to what the state of Florida has been trying to do.  A thick stack of documents later, I’m sad to say that it turns out my hunch was spot on.  Here’s a couple of the documents that my request turned up:

The folks included in this conversation are Deputy Secretary of State AJ Kelly, Director of Elections Division Martha Adcock, Assistant Director of Elections Kerry Baldwin, Chief Deputy Secretary of State Doug Matayo, and of course Press Secretary Alex Reed.  Noticeably absent is Secretary of State Mark Martin, and that’s not an anomaly.  Remember, I got a big thick packet of stuff from the SoS office and I only saw his name appear once in regards to something very trivial.  Either he’s an absentee boss at that office which, considering his reputation as a state legislator for showing up at committee hearings just to put his name on the roll and then leaving, is quite plausible or he’s conducting all his state business via personal email these days in hopes of avoiding them getting caught up in these nasty FOIAs.  Of course he could be included on the second email has Deputy Secretary of State Kelly has made it impossible to tell who all that went to in his email list.

This interest centers around access to the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database or SAVE.  SAVE is a government database used to make sure non-citizens aren’t getting government benefits that they aren’t entitled to.  It relies on DHS records uploaded from U.S. Central Index System databases that use alien registration numbers assigned at various stages of the immigration process.  It is not, by its nature, a complete list of citizens nor can it verify U.S.-born citizens.  When Florida attempted to use SAVE records for the purpose of removing “undocumented immigrants” from the voting rolls it resulted in an incredibly inaccurate list of U.S. citizens who were illegible to vote being purged from the rolls, the targets of the purge being overwhelmingly members of minority groups and Democrats, surprise surprise.  State officials were warned about that ahead of time and went ahead with it anyway, which further shows the partisan nature of this voter suppression game.  It is already illegal for an undocumented immigrant to vote and there are stiff felony charges that come with doing so or for knowingly registering someone who’s ineligible.  This isn’t about stopping voter fraud, which Republicans are yet to provide a single of example of.  It’s about suppressing minority and Democratic votes.

Mark Martin is one of twelve Republican Secretaries of State seeking access to the SAVE databases.  It’s pretty much what Alex Reed suggested down in El Dorado-they’re looking to try and purge voters from the roles under the guise of getting rid of undocumented immigrants, the threat of which exists only in their heads, else they’d be able to point to just one example of an undocumented immigrant committing voter fraud, which they can’t.  Martin’s hostility towards the state’s fastest growing minority group is well documented.  This is also, arguably, the most partisan Secretary of State’s office in memory.  The bottom line here is that there are a lot of Arkansas voters who have every reason to be concerned about what Mark Martin’s office is doing requesting access to the SAVE database.

By the way, this is not all my FOIA turned up.  There’s more to come.  And yes, I sent a follow up FOIA to find out more about this with SAVE.

Update: A friend of mine familiar with the operations of county clerk offices passed along some enlightening info to me.  In Arkansas, apparently the Sec. of State can’t purge voters directly from the rolls, that’s the job of the clerks who clean up the rolls on off years.  So why request the information from DHS then?  Most likely, to hand the list over to the clerks and say “Here, these voters need to be removed because of their immigration status.”  Or, alternatively, they may be hoping to change the law should Republicans take over the legislature.  Either way, not good, and this merits watching.

 

The Koch Brothers Love Them Some Mark Pryor

Sep 4, 2012 2 Comments ›› ARDem

While the Koch Brothers’ Americans for Prosperity are sending out disingenuous mailers attacking Arkansas Democrats in the state legislature, the Kochs themselves are showering Mark Pryor with campaign contributions:

In fact, one would be hard-pressed to find a Democrat nationwide who receives more support from Koch Industries than the $35,000 that employees of the firm and its political action committee, Koch PAC, have given to Pryor since 2007.

Most of that money — at least $20,000 — has flowed to Pryor’s personal political action committee, Priority PAC, and has been donated since Pryor’s re-election in 2008, according to a breakdown of Federal Election Commission records by the Center for Responsive Politics. The center is a nonpartisan Washington watchdog group that tracks political dollars.

That’s right, the same people trying to oust Democrats like Butch Wilkins, Jim Nickels, Barry Hyde, etc. and to guarantee a Republican takeover of the state legislature have made Pryor one of the few Democrats that they’ll rain money on.  Why?  Cue Pryor’s spokesman Michael Teague with the stupid quote of the day:

As to why Koch contributions go to Pryor, “I think donors give to Senator Pryor because they think he’s doing a good job of working across the aisle to get things done,” said the senator’s spokesman, Michael Teague.

Teague said the Koch brothers probably appreciate Pryor’s efforts to reform the government regulatory process as well.

Pryor and Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, are sponsors of the Regulatory Accountability Act in the Senate, legislation that would force government agencies to consider the effects of their proposed regulations on jobs and the economy.

Teague said “maybe they think that is a good bill.”

The Koch’s various companies are, of course, some of the worst polluters in the country, as we’ve seen with Georgia Pacific dumping carcinogens into the water in Crossett, hence their support of deregulation.  They count on politicians like Pryor and the entire Republican Party who care more about getting reelected than looking out for their constituents to push their agenda through.  If Pryor wasn’t scratching their backs, they wouldn’t be scratching his.  Of course the joke’s on him-in 2014, that spring’s gonna dry up fast and go over to Tim Griffin, Steve Womack, Tom Cotton, or whatever other Republican steps up to run against him.  Pryor’s a useful idiot to them for now, but they’ll dump him for a Republican the first chance they get.  In the meantime, maybe some of our Democrats concerned about keeping the state legislature should have a little chat with Pryor about the company he keeps.

Pryor ought to do all of us, including himself, a big favor and just retire in 2014.

Your Daily Hubbard-9/4/12

Sep 4, 2012 No Comments ›› ARDem

From page 20, we bring you Jon Hubbard, very loud dog whistler:

Obama hints that everything we have learned about the Christian religious is all wrong, that we should forget our own traditions, while allowing the traditions of those who came to this country from other lands to proceed unaltered.

Just say it Jon.  You think the black man with the funny name is a Muslim and that, along with him being a black man with a funny name, scares the hell out of you.  Just come out and say it.  It’s not like we could possibly think less of you than we already do.

Enjoying Labor Day? Thank Unions

Sep 3, 2012 No Comments ›› ARDem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Daily Hubbard-9/3/12

Sep 3, 2012 No Comments ›› ARDem

From pages 19 and 20 of Hubbard’s book:

John McCain will likely strengthen our military, while many expect Obama to weaken and draw down our military, making us vulnerable to attack by any one of several rogue nations.

The ghosts of Muammar Khadafi and Osama Bin Laden approve this message.

Arkansas Democrats Hit Republican Legislators With Web Ads

Sep 2, 2012 No Comments ›› ARDem

So I was pleasantly surprised when I hopped on Dailykos this morning and saw this:

Yes, that’s Jon Hubbard’s scowling mug in that web ad, and he’s not the only one that’s getting hit.  Clicking the link takes you to this webpage, and so far I’ve found similar ones for Jason Rapert, Loy Mauch, Nate Bell, and David Sanders.  At this point, I don’t know the specifics on the ad buy or strategy, though I suspect it’s heavily targeted.  Only a likely Democratic voter is going to be scrolling down the Dailykos home page and I’m literally one block away from Jon Hubbard’s district line.  (For those that are computer illiterate, you’d be amazed at how you can target ads like that to hit particular audiences.  It’s pretty cool stuff when you think about it.)  It seems like the folks at the DPA are now putting modern technology to use, and this can actually be pretty effective when it’s used right.  Now, could some tv ads be in the works please?

Update: Just saw the same ad show up on my facebook page.  Looks like the DPA’s gone all out with this.

Butch Wilkins Comes Out Swinging Against Americans For Prosperity

Sep 2, 2012 1 Comment ›› ARDem

Last Friday, I mentioned that my state representative, Butch Wilkins, was one of many Arkansas Democrats hit by a dishonest mailer sent out by the Koch Brothers’ Americans for Prosperity.  Well it didn’t take long for Butch to hit back and hit back hard, and he’s apparently going to tie that dishonest mailer around his opponent’s neck in the process.  Here’s the statement that went up on Butch’s facebook page yesterday:

If you live in my district and got a recent post card form a group who call themselves (American for Prosperity) you may be interested in the Jonesboro sun article that will be coming out soon on this post card. I think it will be very revealing about the honesty of this subversive group. They are liars and that is a fact, they answer to out of state millionaires who want to control your state government that is a fact. They have unlimited money so they will produce more of the same as we go to thru the different campaigns. They support the most radical candidates, I think because they think these candidates are dumb enough for this group of millionaires to completely control everyone of them. These people want only one thing in Arkansas (CONTROL). They are not for your prosperity, they are for theirs. We must do all we can to stop this group of radicals. I am in control of my campaign I say what will and will not be mailed out on my behalf. Doesn’t everyone???? If You can’t control your on campaign what does that say about you.

Yes, there’s some typos in there, but Butch is an older guy so I think that can kind of be excused.  The message though is just phenomenal.  Wilkins calls a spade a spade-calling AFP what they are, a bunch of liars working on a power grab for wealthy special interests and then drops them right in his opponent’s lap for him to own.  I love it when Democrats stand up for themselves and hit back with a winning message and Rep. Wilkins just showed every Democrat in the state how to counter these lies, and how to use them against Republicans.  Wilkins is showing no sign of backing down either, and I suspect this populist us against them approach mixed with an appeal for honesty in politics will go over well on the stump.

Your Daily Hubbard-9/2/12

Sep 2, 2012 No Comments ›› ARDem

Jon Hubbard has an interesting idea on how John McCain got the Republican nomination four years ago, as we find out on page 16 of his book:

Everyone knows that the mainstream media has long favored and promoted liberal Democrats, using lies and deception to discredit what once was a proud and conservative Republican Party.  Conservatives should have realized something was up when the mainstream liberal media began to throw its phony support behind John McCain as the Republican Party nominee.  They perceived (and correctly so) McCain to be easier for their newly invented and inexperienced darling candidate Barack Hussein Obama to defeat, so they did whatever was necessary to see that McCain became the nominee instead of more conservative GOP candidates who would have presented a stark contrast to any liberal, socialist candidate the Democrats offered up.  With the success of this charade well in place, the media, as expected, has now turned its attack on McCain, and now true conservatives discovered there was no candidate for them to identify with or to rally around.

McCain’s nomination was the result of a conspiracy by the liberal media…Who knew?

AR-01: American Action Network Sends Out Misleading Mailer For Crawford

Sep 1, 2012 No Comments ›› ARDem

Speaking of misleading mailers, here’s one that’s been sent out on Rick Crawford’s behalf by a Republican outfit called the American Action Network.  The piece claims that Democrats want to destroy Medicare Part D and that Rick Crawford is protecting it.  Now of course the group sending this out is no doubt counting on first district Arkansans to not be able to distinguish Part D from Medicare as a whole, so let’s see if we can’t clear this up.  Medicare Part D is the massive prescription drug benefit passed under Bush and it enables the pharmaceutical companies to bill the government an arm and a leg in the process.  As a result, it’s become a major cause of our deficit.  Democrats want to modify the program so that it saves the government costs while still providing the benefit to seniors.  Suggesting that Rick Crawford is somehow a defender of Medicare of course is ludicrous considering that he voted more than once for Paul Ryan’s plan to privatize, but the mailer is of course an attempt to blur the distinction and to help get him reelected so he can help protect big pharma’s government trough.

Scott Ellington will work to actually protect Medicare and not Big Pharma’s corporate welfare.  But he’s going to need some help pushing back against the Washington special interests and the Republican money machine if he’s going to flip Rick.  So contribute to Ellington for Congress.

The Republicans Americans For Prosperity Should Be Attacking

Sep 1, 2012 2 Comments ›› ARDem

Yesterday I talked about the mailer that the Koch Brother’s Americans for Prosperity is sending out against Democratic state legislative candidates.  Well thing is the “advancement” of the fuel tax they’re complaining about actually had a lot of support from House Republicans as well.  So, I thought I’d share the list of Republicans that Americans for Prosperity should be attacking as well:

Denny Altes, Lori Benedict, Mark Biviano, David Branscum, John Burris, Les Carnine, Davy Carter, Charlie Collins, Linda Collins-Smith, Bruce Cozart, Robert Dale, Gary Deffenbaugh, Jon Eubanks, Ed Garner, Jeremy Gillam, Kim Hammer, Prissy Hickerson, Karen Hopper, Lane Jean, Josh Johnston, Kelley Link, Stephanie Malone, Loy Mauch, David Meeks, Stephen Meeks, Terry Rice, Matthew Shepherd, Mary Slinkard, Gary Stubblefield, Tim Summers, Bruce Westerman, & Jon Woods

Quite a list there right?  In fairness, they did hit Tim Summers in his primary with the exact same mailer, though I don’t recall anyone else on this list getting that treatment, at least not to my knowledge.  But hey, are we going to see Jon Woods hit with this in the general election?  Or Kim Hammer?  Or Linda Collins-Smith?  Will AFP campaign against having a Republican Speaker of the House, Terry Rice, who’s position on this is the exact same position as the current Democratic speaker and his opponent for the job?  No, of course not.  Honesty is not something these people know anything about, and besides, a Republican House will be bought and paid for by the Kochs and give them anything they want.

But of course there’s more to it.  Remember, this was about getting the tax on the ballot.  Here’s what the AFP people have to say about that:

Teresa Crossland-Oelke, state director for Americans for Prosperity’s Arkansas chapter, says the mailers are fair despite protests from candidates who have been singled out in the group’s mailers.

“We know that currently they don’t have the numbers to pass tax increases forthright,” Oelke tells Talk Business. “They can’t pass it with a direct legislative vote.”

She said that a common maneuver being used by state legislatures nationally is to refer proposals to voters, schedule the timing of the special elections favorably, and succeed in passing tax increases with low voter participation.

“It’s a way they can increase taxes in Arkansas and it’s the only way,” she said.

In other words, this is really about a pair of plutocrats wanting to take away the people’s chance to vote on an issue.  Because, you know, it’s only class warfare when ordinary Americans fight back.

Your Daily Hubbard-9/1/12

Sep 1, 2012 No Comments ›› ARDem

Today’s Daily Hubbard, taken from page 15 of Hubbard’s book, we get yet more confirmation that Jon Hubbard is, indeed, a very scary man.

Immigration has become a major problem in today’s America, and it is just another example of what liberals will allow to happen to our country in return for a few extra votes.  People from other countries coming here must do so legally, or not at all!  Repeat offenders of our immigration laws should be incarcerated at prisons at hard labor, and I don’t mean prisons that even remotely offer conditions like the country-club environments enjoyed by those detainees at Club Getmo on a daily basis.  Anyone who chooses not to take advantage of the vast educational opportunities found in this country would be given a choice between induction into the military or enrolled into a trade school where they would learn a skill.  Those who showed no interest in working would not be compensated with welfare entitlements, unless they were legitimately disabled, or were physically or mentally unable to hold down a job.  If laziness was the only disability someone might have, they would be encouraged to move to another country that accepted and supported their deadbeat lifestyles as a matter of policy.

Encouraged?  What, are they going to get a nice little letter in the mail saying please move?  Or, more likely, is the word “encourage” an Orwellian euphemism for rounding “lazy people” up and deporting them?

And no, we don’t compensate people for being lazy with entitlements.  Don’t believe me?  Go apply at the local office and use that excuse, I’ll be glad to do a write up on how that story works out for you.  Hubbard could of course be venting about welfare fraud-misrepresenting the reason you’re seeking assistance to scam the government-but that in and of itself is rare, though not nearly as ridiculous as suggesting the government just hands out checks for bonafide laziness.

And by the way, if you were confused by the spelling, “Club Getmo” is a reference to “Gitmo” or Guantanamo Bay…You know, the prison we maintain in Cuba that has endlessly damaged our countries reputations thanks to Bush era torture policies?  Yeah, that’s a “country club” and Jon Hubbard wants us rounding up undocumented immigrants and sentencing them to a Soviet style gulag that he promises will be much worse.

All fear Attila the Geezer.