Page 1406 – Family Council

AR Could Get More Money with 4/10-cent Sales Tax than a Lottery

Dec 13, 2013JerryArkansas LotteryArkansas Lottery

Here’s some sad news: The State of Arkansas could get more money for college scholarships by raising the state sales tax four-tenths of a penny than it currently “generates” with the Arkansas Lottery.

According to reports on the Department of Finance and Administration’s website, the State of Arkansas has collected roughly $1.4 – 1.6 billion annually in sales taxes since 2010. The state sales tax is currently 6.5% — meaning for every dollar you spend at the store, the state charges six-and-a-half cents in sales tax.

salestaxchart In order to collect an additional $90 – $100 million — the amount of money lottery proponents promised Arkansas’ college students would receive — the State of Arkansas would need to charge a “whopping” four-tenths of a penny extra on each sales dollar, raising the tax rate from 6.5% to 6.9%.

Now, I am not advocating higher taxes. I think we are taxed enough as it is. But in 2009, if lawmakers had said, “We have to come up with an extra $100 million in college scholarships, and we can do it either by raising the state sales tax or by instituting a state-run lottery,” I would have told our lawmakers, “Raise the sales tax.”

Here are five reasons why: (more…)

From FRC: The Fallout of a “Post-Nuclear” U.S. Senate

Dec 12, 2013JerryCurrent Events, Judicial ConfirmationsCurrent Events, Judicial Activism

You may recall last month when the United States Senate invoked “the nuclear option” changing the Senate’s rules, making it possible for a simple majority of senators to confirm President Obama’s executive and judicial nominees.

As you know, these nominations are for lifetime appointments to some of our nation’s most powerful courts. So it stands to reason we would want them filled by people a large consensus of our lawmakers agree are qualified for the job, right? Not under the new system.

Family Research Council has articulated very succinctly what the fallout is proving to be in this “post-nuclear” United States Senate:

Senator Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) party got a bench for Christmas — a federal one. That’s the unfortunate effect of the Left’s latest power grab, which yesterday yielded its first prize: a radical appointment to the D.C. Circuit Court. Two months ago, the nomination of Patricia Millett, an anti-Christian, anti-marriage ideologue, was a nonstarter under the chamber’s historic 60-vote threshold. That all changed before Thanksgiving when the Left steamrolled the Senate’s rules and unleashed the majority on a confirmation system that, until recently, gave both parties a say in the process. Now, in this “post-nuclear” world, the Senate that most Americans complained was moving too slowly is suddenly shifting into high gear to give the President’s picks lifetime jobs.

(more…)