ArklatexPolitics.com

Posted 16 hours 2 minutes 36 seconds ago
Posted In: Home, Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Democratic Senate candidate Bill Halter
says if elected he wouldn't accept any cost-of-living pay raises as
long as there's a federal budget deficit.
Halter on Tuesday said he would oppose any automatic pay raises
and would donate the money to charity if any were approved in
Congress. The Arkansas lieutenant governor is challenging
Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln in the May 18 primary.
Members of the House and Senate under current federal law
receive automatic cost-of-living raises each year, unless they pass
legislation rejecting the raise. Congress rejected a pay raise for
this year.
Halter also said that if elected he'd hold town hall meetings in
all 75 counties, make his schedules available to the public online
and never become a lobbyist after serving in the Senate.

Posted 16 hours 4 minutes 48 seconds ago
Posted In: Home, Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor says he's
open to passing health care reforms with a simple majority in the
Senate -- but says it's not his first choice.
The Arkansas senator told reporters Wednesday that he's not
ruling out supporting passing the proposed health care overhauls in
a process known as reconciliation.
Democratic leaders are looking at a two-step approach in which
the House approves a Senate-passed bill from last year, despite
House Democrats' opposition to several provisions. Both houses then
would follow by approving a companion measure to make changes in
the first bill.
Fellow Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas on Tuesday
insisted she is opposed to the simple majority vote, despite saying
she wanted to see what is in the legislation.

Posted 1 day 10 hours 23 minutes ago
Posted In: Home, Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Democratic Senate candidate Bill Halter
says if elected he wouldn't accept any cost-of-living pay raises as
long as there's a federal budget deficit.
Halter on Tuesday said he would oppose any automatic pay raises
and would donate the money to charity if any were approved in
Congress. The Arkansas lieutenant governor is challenging
Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln in the May 18 primary.
Members of the House and Senate under current federal law
receive automatic cost-of-living raises each year, unless they pass
legislation rejecting the raise. Congress rejected a pay raise for
this year.
Halter also said that if elected he'd hold town hall meetings in
all 75 counties, make his schedules available to the public online
and never become a lobbyist after serving in the Senate.

Posted 1 day 16 hours 7 minutes ago
Posted In: Home, Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Long before the Whitewater scandal
ended his governorship, Jim Guy Tucker was an officer in the Marine
Corps Reserve who couldn't go to Vietnam because he had a liver
disease.
So he went on his own as a civilian correspondent, documenting
the war for Asian and U.S. media outlets.
Tucker's photos from his two trips to Vietnam are featured in a
new exhibit alongside work from his Hall High School classmate,
Bruce Wesson. "Warriors: Vietnam Portraits By Two Guys From
Hall," opened Friday and runs through Aug. 8 at the MacArthur
Museum of Arkansas Military History in Little Rock.
Tucker says photography became a new passion of his as he
traveled throughout Vietnam. His black-and-white photographs depict
Arkansans at war -- sometimes relaxing, other times responding to
attack.
Tucker's former classmate, Wesson, says he hopes the exhibit
honors Vietnam veterans and makes them proud of their service.

Posted 1 day 16 hours 10 minutes ago
Posted In: Home, Arkansas

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senator Blanche Lincoln says she is still
opposed to pushing a health care bill through the Senate with a
simple majority vote, despite saying she wanted to see what was in
the legislation.
Lincoln, a Democrat who faces more liberal challenger in the
party primary plus GOP opposition, said Tuesday her earlier comment
should not be taken as a change of heart. Lincoln says she is still
opposed to the controversial majority-vote procedure known as
"reconciliation."
Reconciliation could put a health care reform measure up for a
simple-majority vote.
Lincoln told reporters outside the Senate floor Tuesday, "I
don't support reconciliation! All I said was I want to see what's
in it."

Posted 2 days 16 hours 38 minutes ago
Posted In: Home, Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- The filing period for state and federal
office in Arkansas has ended and the stage is set for heated
primaries in the United States Senate race.
Four of the eight Republicans running for the GOP nomination
were among the last to file by the noon Monday deadline. Randy
Alexander, Gilbert Baker, Jim Holt and Conrad Reynolds made their
candidacies official by filing at the state Capitol.
The race for the seat held by Sen. Blanche Lincoln is shaping up
to be an expensive battle with Lincoln trying to hold off a
challenge from Lt. Gov. Bill Halter in the Democratic primary. D.C.
Morrison of Little Rock also filed for the Democratic nomination.
Secretary of State Charlie Daniels says 338 people have filed to
run for office over the past week.

Posted 5 days 15 hours 42 minutes ago
Posted In: Home, Arkansas

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) -- The new economic incentive for movie
makers who film in Arkansas has drawn some takers.
Arkansas Film Commissioner Christopher Crane said Thursday that
six projects are in the approval stages for a 15 percent rebate
film crews get for spending in Arkansas. Another 10 percent of
payroll can be given in a rebate for Arkansas workers hired into
the crew.
Filmmaker Harry Thomason has been in Arkansas shooting "The
Last Ride," about the final three days of country singer Hank
Williams Sr.'s life. Thomason could get $300,000 back in rebates
from his $2 million budget.
Crane says scripts have to be approved by the state if they are
to get taxpayer money. He says the state won't subsidize films that
portray Arkansas in a negative light.

Posted 5 days 15 hours 44 minutes ago
Posted In: Home, Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Democratic Rep. Mike Ross is
highlighting his opposition to his party's efforts on health care
and climate change legislation as he seeks re-election.
Ross filed for re-election Friday at the state Capitol. He's the
only incumbent congressman in Arkansas running for re-election.
Ross told reporters after filing that he's opposed a proposed
health care overhaul that passed the House. He also noted his
opposition to "cap and trade" climate change legislation.
Republicans Glenn Gallas and Beth Anne Rankin filed earlier this
week for the GOP nomination to challenge Ross in the fall election.
Friday marked the fifth day of filing for state and federal
offices in Arkansas.

Posted 5 days 15 hours 45 minutes ago
Posted In: Home, Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Gov. Mike Beebe says he wants to
continue phasing out Arkansas' sales tax on groceries if
re-elected, but won't give a timeline for when he'd like to to do
it.
Beebe on Friday filed paperwork to run for a second term. He's a
Democrat who was elected in 2006.
Beebe ran four years ago on a promise to eventually phase out
the state's sales tax on groceries. Since he's taken office in
2007, the tax has been lowered from 6 percent to 2 percent.
Former state legislator Jim Keet, a Republican, filed paperwork
earlier this week to run against Beebe.

Posted 6 days 15 hours 49 minutes ago
Posted In: Home, Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK -- (AP) Republican Glenn Gallas of Hot
Springs. Gallas, a business owner, is the first Republican to file
for the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic Rep. Mike Ross.
Ross, who has not filed to run yet, is the only incumbent
congressman in the state seeking re-election.