Now the Republican Twitter mavens are busy at the taping of the gubernatorial debate featuring Gov. Mike Beebe, Jim Keet and Green candidate Jim Lendall.
Keet has pledged not to add a single state employee in four years. And, one wonders, if college enrollment does explode thanks to the state lottery, which jobs will he cut to balance the need for new instructors? The Correction Department, which can’t staff a Malvern prison despite exploding population. Maybe it would be the understaffed State Police. The Highway Department? Maybe Game and Fish, though since hunting is about to be a constitutional right in Arkansas it sure seems like you’d risk a PETA invasion if you cut back on wildlife officers.
Oh, wait. I know. Who needs a pollution regulatory agency? Or a securities department? Or a department looking out for insurance company fraud? And if we’d stop paying workers compensation for injuries, that’s another agency we could shut down.
Get the GOP view here. Best I can tell Beebe camp isn’t messing with Twitter.
I note again the enthusiastic Tea Partyer Laurie Lee Masterson has cheered Keet’s promise that Arkansas will live within its means under him. Funny. I believe that’s been the case under our balanced budget requirement since about the 19th century.
Republicans are cheering, too, questions about why Arkansas hasn’t done something about illegal immigration. (Maybe because it’s the job of the federal government? Maybe because immigrants are a net plus for Arkansas?) Keet promises to emulate Arizona. It’s only been 50 years since Arkansas was a symbol of hate; time to dust off the trophy.
On the jump: The spin cycle.
