Over to you.

* I meant to mention earlier one other item, a Supreme Court decision saying a lawyer disciplinary panel should have delivered a sanction sterner than a caution to James Clouette, a Little Rock lawyer sentenced to a probationary sentence on a felony conviction for possession of methamphetamine. The court rejected a request from Stark Ligon, director of the disciplinary agency, who’d asked for disbarment.

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* And, here come the tax increases. House Speaker Robert Moore said today that he’ll soon introduce an unspecified tax increase proposal to help meet current road construction needs and Republican Rep. Jonathan Barnett is ready to put a half-cent sales tax increase to voters to pay for a highway bond issue. Republicans think they can use the cover of a popular vote for a tax increase. Maybe so. I think they ought to ask voters, too, if they favor that windfall tax cut for rich people that Republicans jammed through the House yesterday, to the detriment of every college, university and state agency. But you know the Republicans’ answer. Voters can’t be trusted on such important matters as tax breaks for the wealthy. Voters also might surprise Republicans given a chance to vote on that tax cut for manufacturers’ utility bills. They also might not like the idea of an increase on their own home electric and gas bills, as Barnett proposes, to help finance more profits for Barnett’s road construction buddies. Particularly when they hear about some of the high-flying done on the commission plane by big-shot highway commissioners, as Barnett once was. And, do we really need to spend $45 million plus to replace a bridge in Little Rock, rather than repair it?

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