Is Mike Beebe the norm or is he an aberration? Do Arkansas legislators routinely vote on bills for which they don't have any information or any understanding?Mr. Beebe voted to override Gov. Huckabee's veto of a bill that allowed legislators to bilk the State of Arkansas out of almost $2 million. When questioned about this during the current campaign for governor, what was his response? He didn't know what he was voting for.
Now that strikes me in one of two ways. Either Mike Beebe is just plain stupid or he had to try to talk his way out of something he knowingly did. While the first excuse is very tempting, I believe the latter is more plausible. But the excuse for the latter is so terrible, it makes you wonder if both theories are true. It is a response from someone who has been put on the spot and can't come up with a believable lie. He should take lessons from Bill Clinton.
Things get worse for Beebe. Nick Wilson, the Senator and scam ring leader, said that everyone knew about what was going on. Everyone except poor Mike Beebe. He didn't know what he voted on and he didn't know what was going on. Exactly what was Mike Beebe doing in the legislature?
Finally, after the scams and bilking of 1.9 million taxpayer dollars were exposed (to Beebe since everyone else already knew), Mike Beebe had the opportunity to show his leadership ability and slam the cell doors on Nick Wilson, Mike Todd, and the others.
How did Beebe show his leadership skills (or lack of)? He openly opposed censure of these criminals who stole money from taxpayers and children.
Once these criminals were convicted, again Beebe had an opportunity to make things right. What did he do? He opposed kicking the bums out of the legislature. He supported letting these convicted criminals who stole millions of dollars of taxpayer money, stay in office.
If my closest friend and ally in the legislature did this to Arkansas taxpayers and children, I would have to ask him to resign or get kicked out. There is no excuse for the scams or for Mike Beebe's irresponsible actions in response.
This man is currently our Attorney General. He is supposed to represent the people of Arkansas. How can we trust Mike Beebe to protect us now when he didn't protect us back then?
Mike Beebe is the wrong man for Arkansas. On November 7 we need to put an end to this career of poor judgment and representing the wrong people. Vote for real, proven, experienced leadership. Vote for Asa Hutchinson.
Sources: New York Times, Arkansas Times