The bank founder versus the physicist

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Tiffany Wright, Henderson State, Trump dividend, Issue 3, Protect College Sports Act, Issue 1, Cotton Sanders, Hill JonesWill any of the state’s four U.S. House races be particularly interesting this election cycle? The 2nd District became a little more so last week.

That’s the one featuring Republican U.S. Rep. French Hill and Democrat Chris Jones. 

Jones gained a little momentum Monday when the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced he was one of six candidates across the country it had added to its Red to Blue program. The designation means Jones will have access to national organizational and fundraising support in the campaign’s final weeks. 

Democrats think he has a chance, in other words. Likewise, the well-regarded Sabato’s Crystal Ball election forecasting site recently moved the race from “Safe Republican” to “Likely Republican.”

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Cotton and Sanders: Waking up and being ‘woke’

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Tiffany Wright, Henderson State, Trump dividend, Issue 3, Protect College Sports Act, Issue 1, Cotton SandersSen. Tom Cotton and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders made national news in recent days. For Cotton, it was because of a disagreement with President Trump about when Americans should awaken. For Sanders, it was because some commenters said her political ad was too “woke.”

Cotton’s moment occurred Saturday when Trump urged him to support The Sunshine Protection Act in a post on Truth Social, Trump’s social media platform. The bill would make daylight savings occur year-round. It has already easily passed the House, 308-117, although all four members of Arkansas’ congressional delegation voted against it.

Trump encouraged Arkansans to contact Cotton and tell him to support the bill, going so far as to list what he said was Cotton’s cell phone number.

Cotton responded by saying that, like everyone else, he doesn’t like changing the clock, but past efforts to enact permanent daylight savings time have been repealed because the sun rises too late in the winter. There was a short-lived and ultimately unpopular move to year-round daylight savings time in the 1970s during an energy crisis. 

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Noncitizen voting ban on the ballot

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Tiffany Wright, Henderson State, Trump dividend, Issue 3, Protect College Sports Act, Issue 1Has the Arkansas Constitution’s declaration that “any” citizen can vote been enough to ensure that “only” citizens can vote?

Voters will have a chance to answer that question this November. On the ballot will be Issue 1, the Citizens Only Voting Amendment. 

The 1874 Arkansas Constitution says “any person” who is a U.S. citizen, an Arkansas resident, at least age 18, and is lawfully registered can vote in this state.

Issue 1 would change the wording from “any person” to “Only a citizen of the United States” who meets those qualifications. Continue reading →

Senate takes first step in college sports fix

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Tiffany Wright, Henderson State, Trump dividend, Issue 3, Protect College Sports ActDid the U.S. Senate take a step toward restoring sanity to college athletics Monday? Arkansas’ two senators, Republicans Tom Cotton and John Boozman, believe it did. So does John Calipari, the University of Arkansas’ head men’s basketball coach.

Boozman, who played football for the Razorbacks, and Cotton both voted for the Protect College Sports Act. The vote was 77-22, with both Republicans and Democrats voting yes.

The bill would provide the NCAA with an antitrust exemption that would help it enforce limits on how much colleges and universities can pay players. It also would increase that limit to about $49 million, of which $5 million would go to Olympic and nonrevenue sports. Everything is currently being done under a court settlement, including a $21.5 million salary cap that some schools have circumvented – obviously, based on scoreboard results. Players could compete over five years beginning when they finish high school or reach age 19. They could transfer once without penalty during their careers. The bill also would limit each conference to 20 teams. 

Notably, an amendment to limit coaches’ salaries to $5 million failed. Continue reading →

What Senate candidates say about debt, Social Security

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Tom Cotton, Hallie Shoffner, Jeff WadlinWhoever wins this year’s U.S. Senate race in Arkansas will take the oath of office amidst unprecedented fiscal challenges. 

The national debt has surpassed $40 trillion, equal to about $117,000 for every American. The government is spending more than $2 trillion more than it is collecting this fiscal year. 

Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office projects that Social Security’s retirement trust fund will become insolvent in mid-2032. This will occur before the end of the senator’s upcoming term. The result could be 26% benefit cuts for recipients unless Congress takes action.

What do Arkansas’ three U.S. Senate candidates – Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, Democrat Hallie Shoffner and Libertarian Jeff Wadlin – think about these issues? I asked them, and here’s what they said.

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