The caravan, the pipe bomber and the truth

By Steve Brawner, Copyright 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

There’s what we know to be true, suspect to be true, want to be true, and don’t care if it’s true. As much as possible, we should strive to make the first three the same, and stay away from the last one. Unfortunately, too often it’s the last three where we make our home. That brings us to two separate news items this week: the caravan and the pipe bomber.

Here’s what we know to be true about that caravan: Thousands of Central Americans are so desperate to flee gang violence and poverty that they’re trying to march all the way up Mexico to get to the United States. Look at a map or a globe, and try to imagine the enormity of that task. As of Thursday, they’d traveled 95 miles in six days with more than 1,000 miles to go in the Mexican heat. No wonder many have already dropped out.

A society that most values what it knows to be true would respond by asking itself difficult questions about its responsibility. If they make it, do we help them, or do we turn them away? There are reasonable arguments for both.

Unfortunately, truth is not always our highest aim. The president of the United States charged one day that the caravan included “Middle Easterners,” and then later said he had no proof of that. When he originally made the charge, did he suspect it was true, want it to be true, or not care if it was true? Meanwhile, some Americans are openly questioning, again without proof, if the caravan is being funded by liberal political forces like billionaire George Soros who somehow want to influence the upcoming and future elections. Continue reading →

How I’m voting, and how I could be wrong

Alabama, blue wave, school boards, Hixson, Breanne, red tide, judicial electionsBy Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Your ballot probably will list five statewide issues, but votes will be counted on only three of them. I’m voting against all three, and I could be wrong on all three.

We’re down to three after the Arkansas Supreme Court last week pulled from the ballot Issue 1, which would have limited lawsuit awards and attorney’s fees, and Issue 3, which would have tightened the state’s legislative term limits.

That leaves Issue 2, an amendment requiring voters to present a photo ID at the ballot box; Issue 4, an amendment issuing four casino licenses; and Issue 5, an initiated act increasing the minimum wage.

Continue reading →

Bring your IDs to vote on IDs

vote, Mark Moore, 16-year-olds, Arkansas primaries, Goodson, photo IDBy Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

One of the issues on which you’ll be voting this election will be the act of voting itself.

Issue 2, referred by the Arkansas Legislature in 2017, would enshrine in the Constitution a requirement for voters to show a photo ID at the ballot box.

Yes, you already did that during the May primary elections. Legislators that year also passed a law that does the same thing and has already gone into effect.

Why both a law and a constitutional amendment? A previous photo ID law unanimously was declared unconstitutional in 2014 by the Arkansas Supreme Court. The majority opinion said it illegally added a new qualification to voters. Another three justices said the Legislature didn’t pass the law by the required two-thirds majority. Justice Courtney Goodson wrote that second, concurring opinion. Opponents have used that against her in her re-election campaign this year.

In response, the Legislature covered its bases.  Continue reading →

Fort Smith college students Fix the Debt

By Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

At the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Friday, more than 220 college students, including sophomore Garrett Spain from Greenwood, tried to do what Congress is unwilling to do – get the government’s debt under control.

The students gathered at two dozen tables, each with a laptop, and worked together using the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s (CRFB) Debt Fixer tool. That’s an online resource that lets users see how the federal budget would be affected by selecting various spending cuts and tax increases.

The goal of Friday’s exercise was not to pay down the $21.6 trillion national debt. Instead, it was to get the red ink under control. The $15.8 trillion public debt (what the government owes everyone but itself) is 77 percent of the gross domestic product and growing rapidly. By 2028, it is projected to be 97 percent, meaning it will be the same size as the economy. The goal for the students was to stabilize it at 70 percent by 2028, and 40 percent by 2050. Continue reading →

That other Supreme Court seat

vote, Mark Moore, 16-year-olds, Arkansas primaries, GoodsonBy Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

You’re probably well informed about the Supreme Court seat that’s already been filled, but not so much about the one where you still have a say. Let’s start fixing that.

The one that’s filled will be occupied in Washington, D.C., perhaps for 30 years, by Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Regardless of what you think about it, it’s done.

The one you still can influence will be decided Nov. 6. That’s when Arkansans will vote to re-elect Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Courtney Goodson, or replace her with her opponent, David Sterling. Continue reading →