The debate over tax policy will never end. Like the poor, we will always have taxes with us; like death, taxes are certain. But rather than demagogue tax policies, throwing around clichés like “low taxes are good for businesses!” or “higher taxes are good for the poor!” I propose we look at the data. The latest [...]

Read the full story

After Rep. Nate Bell floated his proposal to reform state lottery scholarships last week, I contacted Professor Robert Steinbuch of Little Rock’s Bowen School of Law.  Steinbuch is an expert on student loan policy, and he had a great deal to say about the lottery’s financing of higher education as well. Steinbuch generally supports the idea [...]

Read the full story

Longtime readers of the Arkansas Times blog have noticed that hidden, sinister forces play a large role in the thoughts of its chief writer, Max Brantley. Occasionally, after reading his blog, I become curious about what conversations with Brantley must be like. I wonder if they’re something like this: Balanced, stable person: Hmm. Looks like it’s [...]

Read the full story

State Representative Nate Bell is working on legislation that would require Arkansas lottery scholarship recipients to repay their scholarship money if they do not finish school.  He has not officially released a draft of the bill, but that didn’t deter Max Brantley from immediately attacking Rep. Bell’s proposal as soon as Bell mentioned it on [...]

Read the full story

Over the years, as the failures of local schools became evident, states took more active roles in ensuring that children received an adequate education. As the failures of states have become more prevalent over the last several decades, the federal government has now decided that they in fact have the answers. In fact, just recently, the [...]

Read the full story

A recent ‘anti-cyberstalking’ or ‘cyberbullying’ bill in Arizona raised some eyebrows before it ever reached the governor’s desk.  Apparently the bill was so broad in its potential application that some lawmakers now worry that it could be used to silence online “trolls” who post hateful things on Facebook and in online chat rooms. Despite the fact [...]

Read the full story

Hey, guys! Here is some Arkansas Project news just for you: We’re adding a new blogger to the mix over here, and his name is Nic Horton. You may already know Nic from the Arkansas Patriot blog, where he covers political and government issues in the environs of Searcy and White County. (His Twitter feed [...]

Read the full story

Last week I posted about Surgeon General Joe Thompson’s arrest by Little Rock police officers, suggesting that the Thompson was arrested essentially because he was behaving obnoxiously, but not illegally, and that Thompson might have grounds for a civil suit against the city. After that post was published, I was contacted by Jacksonville businesswoman Partne Daugherty. She [...]

Read the full story

Arkansas Surgeon General Joe Thompson I have policy disagreements with our state’s surgeon general, Joe Thompson, but that is unrelated to yesterday’s news of his arrest by the Little Rock Police Department. What is interesting about the arrest is that Thompson appears innocent of what he was arrested for. Of course, people don’t just get arrested for [...]

Read the full story

Click map for more. And here it comes, baby: Tax Freedom Day. Can you feel it? Can you feel all that freedom coming your way? The fiscal wonks over at the Tax Foundation have strapped on their green eyeshades to determine that Tax Freedom Day in Arkansas lands just eight days from now, on April 11. That’s [...]

Read the full story