Good News: Arkansas Fails to Make List of Most Corrupt States

Current Events

Finally, a bad list that Arkansas isn’t on.

The list of most corrupt states just came out, and we’re not even in the top 10!

A study by researchers Cheol Liu from the City University of Hong Kong and Indiana University’s John L. Mikesell found corruption in Mississippi was tops among the states from 1976 through 2008. Louisiana, Tennessee, Illinois, and Pennsylvania round out the top 5 most corrupt states.

According to the study, the 10 most-corrupt states could have reduced per capita spending by an average of $1,308 if they had average corruption levels. In more corrupt states, large corporations enhance their bottom by lobbying lawmakers for tax breaks and other government assistance rather than focusing on better business practices.

In 2013 the Arkansas Legislature appropriated several million tax dollars to help build a steel mill in Northeast Arkansas.

You can read the study here.

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What are the Priorities of the U.S. Ambassador to Israel?

Current Events,

10275416_684279058276165_7270504065498211710_oIsrael is one of America’s most significant allies in the world. Although the country itself is small, its presence and importance are immeasurable.

The United States has enjoyed a unique relationship with Israel since the country formed in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust. And while Israel is by no means perfect, there’s no question with all the “wars and rumors of war” throughout the Middle East at the moment, now is the time to shore up our relationship with friends in the region and focus on protecting our interests and the interests of our allies.

Surely that would be the focus of the U.S. Ambassador to State of Israel, right? But you might not know it looking at the ambassador’s official Facebook page.

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U.S. Senator Introduces Bill to Spy Out “Hate Speech”

Current Events,

The American Family Association has issued a statement about a piece of legislation rolled out last month by Democratic Senator Edward Markey.

From AFA:

May 1, 2014

Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) has introduced legislation for the federal government to monitor and analyze speech on the Internet, television, and radio looking for anything it considers “hate speech.”

The Hate Crime Reporting Act of 2014 (S.2219) would capture Internet and other telecommunications that the government interprets as encouraging hate crimes based on gender, race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.

This is a bad bill, even to the liberal Boston Herald editorial staff. It mandates that the government monitor and analyze speech and press statements that are protected by the First Amendment. The wording is deliberately fuzzy, so that although it sounds like it only addresses constitutionally unprotected speech, it reaches much further.

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