The Truth In Arkansas Politics

On Saturday, Republicans from across the state came to Little Rock for the state convention. Following the tough elections this past cycle, it was an important convention. According to this news article, Gilbert Baker was re-elected Chairman with Jim Lagrone becoming the new First Vice-Chairman, Ann Briton the new Second Vice-Chairman, Jennifer Parks, Secretary and Dennis Milligan, Treasurer.

We believe that the decision by Baker and affirmed by the convention to set up a business steering committee is exactly what the party needs. It is important for our party to remain the pro-business, fiscally conservative party that selects candidates not only on their commitment to conservative principles, but also on their economic positions.

It is important for us to get back to the age of fiscal conservatism with low taxes and personal responsibility and accountability. We must not rely on government to fix our problems. Government spending and wasteful programs should be at the forefront of the party's platform and the Truth is that Chairman Baker obviously understands this. We applaud the party for this initial step towards fiscally conservative principles and look forward to seeing the recommendations.

The Next Generation Foundation (NGF) will hold its annual holiday party in Washington, DC this Thursday to raise funds for its education sholarships and broadband internet technology initiative in the Mississippi Delta region.

The group which consists of business, trade association and political leaders in DC and around the country is "dedicated to providing a brighter future for the Mississippi Delta," said President R. Stuart Jones, a Pine Bluff native working in Washington, DC.

By clicking here you can find out more about NGF and the holiday party.

We all knew that Mike Beebe would say anything to get elected, but we didn't know he would start his flip-flopping and fence-strattling before he even took the office. Here on Mike Beebe's Campaign Website, he says:

"As examples of his fiscal plan, Beebe talked about his proposals to completely phase out the grocery tax and the tax on utilities for manufacturers. Beebe said he would completely phase out both taxes over time, matching the rate of increased revenue from job growth."

But now, Mike Beebe is questioning whether he will actually fulfill this campaign pledge. In this article Mike Beebe has much to say on just how hard it must be to do what you say you are going to do:

"Gov.-elect Mike Beebe said Thursday removing the state sales tax from groceries could be a tough sell in the upcoming legislative session."

"It sounds good on the front end, but you can't believe the number of people who are opposed to providing tax relief on the most ... regressive tax that we have," he [Beebe] said. "That opposition exists."

"Beebe declined later to give the names of groups opposed to removing the sales tax from groceries." His friends the lobbyists maybe?

The Truth is we all knew what we were getting when we elected Mike Beebe. He says on thing and then does another. We shouldn't be surprised of this latest move by old "Both Ways Beebe"