‘Robin Hood in reverse’

The recent budget cuts prove that Regressives are so out of touch with the people that they will sacrifice us for their pig-headed principles. They spent decades destroying primary education to the point of creating an Idiocracy of drooling, slack-jawed morons, and now those morons are in charge. And you people put them there because you don’t understand history.


FDR used a lot of borrowed money to bring us out of the Depression, but all progress was lost in the mid-’30s when the Austerity Movement brought about by bankers pulled the funding from the New Deal programs that got the country back on track. We went into the deepest recession ever seen in 1938 because of their shortsightedness, and only Lend-Lease and World War Two pulled us out of it.

Now the Teabaggers have closed their eyes to history, and, as usual, the little guy suffers. Congressmen are wealthy. Congressmen won’t lose anything. The victims will be small business, the military, teachers, students, and the poor. It’s Robin Hood in reverse.


It reminds me of a year ago when drooling, slack-jawed morons stood on street corners yelling “NO HEALTH CARE!” Lord, how stupid can you people be?

The stock market continues to climb, proving once again that the rich grease the treads of their tanks with the guts of the working class.


Here in Arkansas the drooling, slack-jawed morons in the statehouse are at war with progressive thinking.

Where are Fulbright, Pryor, Bumpers, Mills, Robinson and McClellan when we need them?

James King

Roland


Creepy legislation

This is my list of four of the creepiest pieces of Republican legislation now being proposed at the Arkansas 89th Assembly. And I’m not including all the predictable anti-abortion bills, voter I.D. bills, guns in church/school bills or unemployment pee-test bills. These bills are even creepier.

HB 1348. A version of Oklahoma’s Anti-Sharia legislation quietly inserted into the current Arkansas legislative session. Kinder, gentler language with the same xenophobic overtones of the Oklahoma law.

HP 1352. Allows for the allocation of state money from the Arkansas Better Chance Program to private religious schools. And don’t just give it to them any old time. Give it to them now.

HR 1004. A resolution recognizing “the many contributions made by citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan” that mentions the bravery of the Azerbaijanis during Khajoly massacre in all the “whereas” sections of the resolution, and mentions that Arkansas welcomes all those who come in friendship and commerce. Is it just coincidence that Azerbaijan happens to have the richest oil fields in the world right now? With big oil companies like BP and Exxon/Mobil given 30-year contracts to drill there? Or that Azerbaijan has rich mineral deposits in the lesser Caucasus? Has anyone made note of the fact that Azerbaijan has come under heavy criticism from international bodies such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for its record on human rights, in particular the treatment of homosexuals and the media?

Not content to just pass this resolution, sponsor Rep. Jonathan Barnett wants a copy of it sent to the U.S. speaker of the House, the president, the U.S. secretary of state, the Arkansas congressional delegation and the U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan.

Can you kiss any more butt than that? If so, relay the info to Representative Barnett. I’m sure he’ll look into it.

SR 2: It basically states that Israel was given its land by God himself because the Old Testament says so. And because Israel has been such a great pal of the U.S. and because we both have so much in common, it’s just hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. So we need to show our love to Israel by supporting its every policy and action.

I can’t help but wonder how many of these and other 89th Assembly bills were handed down as models from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). In a December 2011 opinion piece in The Nation magazine, John Nichols described ALEC as a “collaboration between multinational corporations and conservative state legislators.” In May 2012, Brendan Greely wrote in BusinessWeek that “part of ALEC’s mission is to present industry-backed legislation as grass-roots work.”


Seriously! Who’s running the show? Arkansans or the Koch brothers?

Brad Bailey

Fayetteville

More bike safety measures

Due to recent accidents, I have become concerned over the issue of bicycle safety in Little Rock. With increased participation in the sport, it is important that this issue be taken care of now versus later. I want to praise the city for maintaining the River Trail, but avid bicyclists have become bored with the same trails every day.

Shared lane markings, or sharrows, are symbols painted on the road that consist of a bicycle and arrows pointing the way of traffic. Sharrows are intended to warn road users that bicyclists are sharing the road and traveling a certain direction. The Bicycle Advocacy Club of Arkansas has an online petition to the city to try and get these sharrows on busy roads.

Increasing bicycle safety awareness is important and can provide benefits such as making Little Rock a more desirable destination for bicyclists and tourists, further increasing economic development downtown. Currently, Arkansas is ranked 50 out of 50 for bicycle-friendly communities and this embarrassing title should motivate city officials to think about installing these cheap fixes.

Brisa Bartczak

North Little Rock

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