Morning Roll Call~ News You Need to Know

No time to “editorialize” this morning (LOL might be best anyway) but these are stories that I thought you wouldn’t want to miss~ All of these stories are taken directly from the source.

1969 Sugar Bowl No. 9 Arkansas 16, No. 4 Georgia 2

After a five-year absence, a span that included two Cotton Bowl berths and a national championship, the Razorbacks were back in New Orleans to play in the 1969 Sugar Bowl.

Arkansas leaned on the passing combination of quarterback Bill Montgomery and split end Chuck Dicus, as well as a stingy defense, to beat coach Vince Dooley and Georgia. Read more…

WOMACK ASKED TO JOIN "WHIP TEAM" 

U.S. Rep.-elect Steve Womack, R-Rogers, continues to add to his Congressional responsibilities.

Womack was asked Thursday (Dec. 30) by U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., if he would serve as a member of the exclusive whip team. McCarthy will be the House GOP whip during the next Congress, which makes him the No. 3 Republican leader in the House. Read more…

Dead blackbirds fall in Beebe on New Year's Eve

  

BEEBE, AR  – Ringing in the New Year took on a different meaning for the citizens of Beebe. Beginning at around 11:30pm, enforcement officers with Arkansas Game and Fish Commission began getting reports of dead black birds falling from the sky in the city limits of Beebe.

Dick Baxter with the Game and Fish Commission estimates that 2000-2500 birds fell out of the sky over the city. Most of the birds were dead, but some were still alive when officers arrived. Three different types of blackbirds fell over a one-mile area in the city.  Read more…

Nelson expects to seek initiated act for severance tax hike

Facing disappointing returns from the newly increased state severance tax and bad prospects for another hike by the Legislature, Sheffield Nelson is gearing for a possible drive to put the matter to a public vote in 2012.

Nelson, a former gas company executive and gubernatorial candidate, wants to raise the levy on the natural gas exploration companies extract in the state to 7 percent — the same as he proposed three years ago before deferring to Gov. Mike Beebe, who successfully pushed a 5 percent hike in an April 2008 special session.

Industry officials, who cautioned prior to the 2008 increase that raising the severance tax would slow investments in new exploration in the state, were reserved in comments about Nelson’s talk of the need for a new tax hike.

Read More…

Vexation over public employee unions rises 

(This story appears in the NWA Times and to read the entire story you must have a paid subscription)

Across the nation, a rising irritation with public employee unions is palpable, as a wounded economy has blown gaping holes in state, city and town budgets and revealed that some public pension funds dangle perilously close to bankruptcy.

In California, New York, Michigan and New Jersey, states where public unions wield much power and the culture historically tends to be pro-labor, even longtime liberal political leaders have demanded concessions - wage freezes, benefit cuts and tougher work rules.

It is an angry conversation. Union chiefs, who sometimes persuaded members to take pension sweeteners in lieu of raises, are loath to surrender ground. Read more…

 

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@ArkansasOnline

New school looms large in county: As workers prepare to lay floor tiles in wide-open corridors, mud drywall and ... http://bit.ly/fIzMcf

Town begins picking up pieces: With the help of volunteers, residents of a small Arkansas community ripped apart... http://bit.ly/hWFe4M

Baby boomers in retirement-cash crisis: Through a combination of procrastination and bad timing, many baby boome... http://bit.ly/eS8gkr

@NWARobbie

Today's Sugar Bowl notebook: Jerico Nelson happy at home, Jake Bequette looks into NFL, Terrelle Pryor speaks out — http://bit.ly/ePrX9x

Today's story: QBs Ryan Mallett and Terrelle Pryor, early season Heisman hopefuls, bringing star power to Sugar Bowl — http://bit.ly/hYllQL

@Arkansasbuzztap

RazorBloggers >> Bowl Predictions — Ohio Statehttp://buzztap.com/-83rFm0

Arkansas Razorbacks (Official Site) >> Pep rallies set for Allstate Sugar Bowl http://buzztap.com/-3u6p9F

@HuntingNfishing

More Than 1000 Dead Birds Fall From Sky In Arkansas - WFMY News 2 http://goo.gl/fb/3IRhO

Those Pesky Numbers~

Throughout the 3^rd Congressional District race Mayor Steve Womack has touted his fiscally disciplined ways with the Roger’s city budget.

So it seemed fair to look at Rogers’ budget, available on line, and actually see if his words matched his actions. How has he handled the hard earned money of Rogers’ taxpayers?

Just a little bit of ciphering led me to believe that perhaps the Mayor embellished his record a tad.

For example, the Rogers’ Museum takes in about $6150 in revenue but operates on a budget of over $501,000? Salaries and benefits tally over $371,000 alone. In fact, museum employee’s salaries have increased over 75% since 2005.

If that were just one city budget I might overlook it. But there is more.

The recycling center, which I was sure would turn a small profit or perhaps operate more revenue neutral has projected sales of $150,000 for FY2010. However, the Recycling Center pays over $212,000 in salaries and benefits and has a total budget of $281,854 in FY2010 costing taxpayers $131,854.

Roger’s has an impressive Parks system which is projected to bring in $209,661 this year. Wow, that’s great. But hold on to your pocketbooks, the Park system pays out over $1.3 million dollars in salaries and benefits. The citizens of Rogers’ will spend $2.5 million dollars on their parks system in FY2010.

Surely, the program Mayor Womack would like to expand to other cities across the country, the Adult Wellness Center, at least breaks even. The AWC takes in an impressive $358,000. The gym pays out salaries and benefits of just over $335,000, but goes on to spend over $758,000. If memory serves me Roger’s Mayor promised that this program wouldn’t cost tax payers a dime because it would be paid with membership dues and run by volunteers. Maybe it will work differently on a national level because that is certainly not the case for taxpayers in the city of Rogers.

Mayor Womack boasted in a congressional debate that he has $19 million in taxpayer dollars held in reserves. Wouldn’t a true fiscal conservative set aside a reasonable amount in a rainy day fund and then think about how to return the excess taxes to tax payers?

And last but certainly not the least of worries is the hefty pay raise Rogers’ Mayor Womack has received during his tenure. It went from $43,216 when he took office to currently $115,003. It was reported by the Tolbert Report that a “normal inflationary increase during this time period would put it around $56,000.”

It seems Mayor Steve Womack’s budgeting principles are the same budgeting strategies fiscal conservatives are trying to alleviate in Washington D.C.

Tales of Two "Servants"

Here in the 3rd District on June 8th we will join together once again to choose who we will to send to Washington from this region to represent our interests and to a larger degree, the state of Arkansas. The two candidates vying in a run-off are Cecile Bledsoe and Steve Womack, both of Rogers. In vetting each candidate, I discovered distinct differences. I hope my findings in fact will aid in your decision making process.

After several personal conversations with each candidates and researching of their records, here’s what I discovered.

When speaking with State Senator Bledsoe on issues where we disagreed, she listened to my views. She understood my position and even admitted that she had learned some lessons. She seemed sincerely interested in building relationships and bringing people to the table. She also even asked if I’d be willing to put her in contact with others who shared my concerns.

On the other hand in a conversation with Roger Mayor Steve Womack, hoping to clarify his position on taxes and his pet project of Adult Wellness Centers, he seemed to me to be unwilling to listen. He actually became defensive, at one point saying: "I don't hear you coming up with any answers"

In this same conversation which occurred a week before he agreed to sign the “Americans for Tax Reform Pledge” from ATR, Mayor Womack told me and another person that he would not sign the pledge because he felt that “taxes needed to be on the table.” It was the same statement he had made in a public forum not long before this conversation. So it seemed clear this was his position. But then, about a week later, he signed the pledge saying, it had been his intention “all along to sign it on April 15th." But that also was the day when Dick Morris called him on the carpet at a Tea Party rally on the Fayetteville square for being the only candidate of eight in the race not to have already signed the no tax pledge. You can decide for yourself, considering the timing of all this and his previous denials of the pledge, how sincere his explanation was.

Additionally, in our discussion when asked why private sector business was not included in his concept of these wellness centers he said he did not include them because in his view government: “needed to have full control, to do the best job"
In conclusion Mayor Womack said to me and my companion, “I am sure I will not get your vote but that is okay I am comfortable with the supporters I already have.” So much for constituent service.

These conversations for me, reveal two very different people with vastly different approaches to the job as a congressman. One was willing – even eager - to listen and ask for even more critiques, to take personal responsibility for her own actions and all without being publicly shamed. She also made a solemn pledge to Arkansans to not make the mistakes again.

The other appeared to be border-line hostile to questions, unwilling to hold an open and objective dialogue and clearly not genuinely committed to hold the line on increasing taxes even higher than they are.

I believe more than at any other juncture, we need and expect servant leaders not leaders who expect to be served. Arrogance in any public servant is not a pretty or endearing sight. I’ll be doing a follow-up posting on their records.

Just food for thought based in personal observations and experiences~