As the title suggests, it seems no issue is too small for Sue Madison to use the coercive power of the state to force people to do what she thinks is “fair”. We’ve written about her nanny tendencies in dealing with liquor licensing here and here. One could have dismissed these earlier incidents off as simply being a product of the Springdale Liquor Association’s influence on Ms. Madison, but unfortunately it looks like her paternalistic desire runs a little deeper.

In the ongoing legislative session she has introduced SB99 (you can find it here). This bill would force state-supported institutions of higher education to pay for employee parking if it exceeds $10 annually. I’m not sure why Ms. Madison cares how parking is allocated on campuses across the state, but I do know that this bill subsidizes driving for a group of people who, on average, earn more than the average Arkansan. Madison’s bill would result in higher cost for students, (marginally) more faculty and staff driving to campus, and in turn, less walking. I think the takeaway is that Ms. Madison is anti-student, anti-environment, and pro-obesity.

If anyone still believes that it is a good idea for the legislature to take greater control of higher ed, I hope that bills like this do something to shake that belief. Micro managing nannies like Ms. Madison would quickly erode any academic reputation these institutions have.

Fayetteville’s new tv-spot, a 5 minute ad on the infomercial “Today In America” hosted by Terry Bradshaw, has finally been unveiled to the public.  You may recall that I had a good time complaining about this waste of ~$20,000 in a couple of previous posts.  To me, the most entertaining aspect of the city’s involvement with the show was how city officials tried to sell the paid infomercial as a legitimate t.v. show with a legitimate interest in Fayetteville.  You can read those earlier posts here and here.  In those posts, I discuss how Today in America is simply an infomercial.  You pay them a fee, and you get airtime.  There’s nothing wrong with that, per se.  What’s not so endearing, though, is that they reportedly have salespeople cold-calling potential clients and pretending to have a genuine interest in featuring them on their “show.” Then, when they have the mark right where they want, the “fee” is introduced.

A fun thing about wordpress, the software that this blog runs on, is that I can look at various stats.  One of the stats I can see are what search engine terms bring people here.  Since writing those earlier posts about Today in America, we’ve had hundreds of visitors that key-word searched “Today in America scam” or “Terry Bradshaw Today in America scam” and such.  Apparently, there’s quite a few people out there trying to research Today in America who are also using the word “scam” as one of their search terms.

I’ve also pointed out, as have others, that the money would have been better spent locally.  There’s plenty of good video producers in our area.  And they already know our town.

Anyway, the infomercial is here now. I personally think it’s goofy as hell and the production value is sub-par. They don’t even mention the Razorbacks. Check it out for yourself.

According to the Fayetteville Flyer, it is going to run on Fox Business this Saturday Feb. 26 at 3 p.m.  In case you don’t know, that’s a terrible time.  For one, nobody watches Fox Business on the weekends.  It’s primarily a weekday network.  Well, I guess some people watch it, but you can be the judge as to whether you think, as city officials have claimed, such an airing will “put us on the map.”

Let’s see if we can piece together the demographic profile of who we’re going to be advertising for.  According to the Fox Business website, Saturday begins with Mr. Nappy Head himself, Don Imus, from 6-9 a.m.  Then there’s an hour of Freedom Watch with Judge Napolitano.  Think tea-party constitution loving 9-11 conspiracy theorist.  Then, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., there is 7 hours of paid programming, with Fayetteville’s spot scheduled for 3 p.m., presumably book-ended by Shake-weight, Bow-flex, and Sham-wow types of shows.  Then, at 5 p.m., it’s on to the Cavuto show.  Think typical Fox news hack with a larger than average head.

Yep.  Fayetteville’s going to get some exposure allright.  If all goes as planned, a plethora of tea-party activists, armed with Shake-weights and Sham-wows will soon descend upon us like locusts.

I bet things are going to start happening to us NOW!

The nannies are on the move.  In yesterday’s Dem-Gaz, it was reported that House Bill 1282 was approved by a 92-3 vote in the Arkansas House, and is now primed for a vote in the State Senate. The bill was sponsored by right-wing nanny Robert Dale  (R-Dover), who said that the bill was written at the request of the Arkansas Beverage Retailers Association (ABRA).

On the surface, the spirit of the bill appears to be that it will eliminate the franchising of liquor stores in Arkansas.  As such, it looks like simply another attempt for nannies to control adult behavior.   Specifically, however, it looks like the bill is actually just the latest attempt by competitors of Macadoodles to use the law for their own benefit.

We’ve seen this fight before.   The last time Macadoodles was targeted by ABRA, people were quick to accuse the Springdale Liquor Association of using ABRA to manipulate public policy in such a way as to eliminate their competition.

The Springdale Liquor Association owns seven stores in Springdale and is exempt from the anti-franchise rules.

The president of Macadoodles, Roger Gildehaus, feels the bill is targeted specifically at his business.  From the Dem-Gaz:

“Gildehaus said the bill is an effort by the Springdale Liquor Association and its president, Jim Phillips, to prevent Macadoodles from expanding. A person who answered the association’s phone Friday said she could not comment on the legislation but would ask Phillips to contact the reporter by telephone or e-mail for comment. Phillips had not responded by Monday evening.”

Left-wing nanny, State Sen. Sue Madison, who has never seen a prohibition on alcohol that she doesn’t like, seems supportive of the bill.  Again, from the Dem-Gaz:

“State Sen. Sue Madison, D-Fayetteville, who is chairwoman of the state agencies committee, said Monday she had not studied the bill but is opposed to a proliferation of liquor stores in the state. Madison said she lived in Louisiana, where “you have drive-through martini bars.”

“Pretty soon we’re going to have liquor stores on every corner,” she said.”

It’s always been hard to tell if Sue Madison is in the pocket of the Springdale Liquor Association, if she just hates alcohol, or if she’s just a little bit loony.  Recall that the last time she opposed Macadoodles, she claimed that the Missouri location had “lured people across the state line to purchase alcohol,” and that they should be denied a license “until they have repaid Arkansas all the tax dollars we’ve lost.”  In all seriousness, who says things like that?

Either way, it would be a shame if the State Senate and Governor Beebe allowed this Bill to become law.

In other nanny-news, the Fayetteville Flyer is reporting that the Northwest Arkansas Tobacco-Free Coalition is targeting Fayetteville’s bars.  Never mind that there are already plenty of bars in Fayetteville that are smoke-free by choice.  Never mind that everyone in a bar is a legally consenting adult.  Never mind the rights of the property owners.  Never mind that Dickson St. is already hurting financially.

Of course they’ll claim it is all about health concerns, and they’ll claim they are simply looking out for the employees of the bars.   And I’m sure they’ll have a wealth of anti-smoking propaganda “studies” to make the case that a smoking ban is no different than a ban on poison.

The truth is they just hate smoking, and they don’t mind telling other adults how they should live.   If only they would admit as much, then at least the community could have an honest debate about the scope of government coercion with respect to individual liberty.

UPDATE: Bob Caudle had a great column in the NWA Times about the liquor store franchising issue. See it here.

Since Tuesday, Northwest Arkansas roads have been covered in snow and ice. Schools have lost four days of instructional time just this week.

Meanwhile, Fayetteville is spending about $96 million on construction and renovation at the high school. The goal is to improve education.

But Fayetteville, like other NWA cities, keeps having to cancel school at the slightest flurry of snow because no one is capable of clearing the roads. Maybe a better way to improve education would be to buy some extra snowplows and de-icing material (it would surely cost a lot less than $96 million). After all, how much education can the fanciest building deliver if no one is there?

Politicians lie.  Bless their hearts, they just can’t help it.  There are things that they want and they’ve discovered that it is much easier to get those things if they don’t tell us the whole truth.  And on some level we don’t really mind their lies.  We want them to get things done and we’ve just grown accustomed to it.  Besides, we all lie — at least about small things to facilitate daily living.  So who are we to expect better from our politicians?

But maybe we should hold our politicians to a higher standard of truthfulness.  After all, they do have a legal and moral responsibility to us.  And their fibs have a much broader impact on other people than the lies of us regular people because they have power over the rest of us.

I’ve been thinking about all of this as I’ve been watching the machinations of local politics in Fayetteville.  If the politicians were honest they would just announce that they want to raise our taxes, reduce spending on the popular trail system, and don’t really advocate for the interests of most businesses.  But politicians can’t just tell us what they want.  They have to lie.

Earlier this year city officials asked us to approve a referendum allowing the portion of the HMR tax that was dedicated to the development of parks to no longer have that restriction.  They assured us that our parks won’t get cut.  They just wanted more “flexibility.”

At the time I predicted that the “flexibility” they were seeking was to cut park development spending, including for further construction of our wonderful trail system.  Sure enough, that is exactly what Alderman Bobby Ferrell proposed yesterday.  According to the Northwest Arkansas Times, “Ferrell suggested cutting money budgeted for trail improvements…”  I could have told you that they were lying when they said they only wanted “flexibility” over HMR tax proceeds, but then again I actually did tell you.

And no one should be fooled by the falsehood that Steve Clark, the head of the local Chamber of Commerce, advocates for the interests of businesses.  He doesn’t.  First, the Chamber only represents existing businesses, not future businesses.  Unfortunately, existing businesses often favor regulations and other barriers to entry that would protect them from competition from yet-to-be-created businesses.  There is no greater supporter of government-enforced monopolies than businesspeople.  So, no one should confuse the Chamber of Commerce for an organization that advocates free-market policies that facilitate business formation and growth.

Second, Steve Clark doesn’t even appear to represent the existing businesses in Fayetteville.  He and the Chamber clearly didn’t do a good enough job of advocating for local businesses to convince enough of them to pay the voluntary dues to keep him and the Chamber in the lifestyle to which they are accustomed.  So, they convinced the city to tax businesses to pay the Chamber. Yes, they called the tax a “business license fee,” but that is just part of the honesty-challenged pattern. Steve Clark doesn’t really work for local businesses.  He works for the city since a large chunk of his salary is paid by the city and not by voluntary dues to the Chamber.

If you don’t believe me that Steve Clark really represents the interests of city government and not business interests, just listen to what he said in support of the latest proposal to increase the city’s property tax.  According to the Northwest Arkansas Times: “Steve Clark, president of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, said avoiding major cuts in city services, such as fire, police and sanitation, are his main priorities when it comes to finding ways to balance the budget.” (emphasis added)

I thought that protecting city worker jobs was the main priority of their unions or the politicians beholden to those workers.  Advancing the interests of business is normally the main priority of the Chamber of Commerce, but I guess that changes when the Chamber staff effectively become city employees along with the police, firefighters, etc…

“Lie” is such a strong word that we have developed more polite terms for this regular behavior by politicians.  We call it “spinning” or “packaging.”  We have these more polite terms because it is probably unfair to expect politicians to avoid distorting or shading the truth altogether.  They have to do it to get what they want done.

The problem is when we no longer recognize what is spin and what is truth.  If we get fooled into believing that “flexibility” means something other than “cutting” and that the “Chamber of Commerce” necessarily means “business interests” we are the ones to blame, not the politicians.  It’s part of their job to lie (or spin) and it is our job to be suspicious.  Unfortunately, our local media and elites are overly credulous.

Ozarks Unbound has a poll asking readers how they would fill the $1.45 million dollar hole in Fayetteville’s budget. I would encourage our readers to go over and vote. It will be fun to see the results of the poll if a reasonable number of people respond. Mayor Jordan claims to be paying attention(check out his facebook page).

My inclination is that a combination of cuts in staff and services and dipping into the reserves is the best course of action. I am not unequivocally against a millage increase, but the city would have to make a very good case for why we should increase property taxes. Two things are not clear to me. First, is the two year dip we have seen in city revenue a temporary blip or a more permanent change? If it is a more permanent shift due to new restaurant and shopping development in Rogers (among other things), then the property tax solution might be more appealing. However, it is only necessary if we want to maintain the current level of staffing and services at the city. And, that brings me to the second thing that is not clear to me – What would $1.45 million in cuts to staff and services look like? I hope the city spends some effort answering these two questions before moving to increase property taxes. Failure to do so would likely result in a considerable voter backlash come election time.

It looks like the school millage has passed in Fayetteville but failed in Springdale. For full election results head over to Ozarks Unbound.

From Ozarks Unbound:

*Unofficial results from Tuesday’s Millage Elections

Fayetteville School District Millage
FOR tax .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  4,875   55.48%
AGAINST tax.  .  .  .  .  . 3,912   44.52%

Springdale School District Millage
FOR tax .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 3,173   43.77%
AGAINST tax.  .  .  .  . 4,077   56.23%

It is school election day here in Northwest Arkansas.  Fayetteville and Springdale have millage increases on the ballot and several school board seats are up for grabs across the area.  For a rundown of what will be on the ballot in your area check out the Washington County Courthouse site here see sample ballots here, and find out where to vote in Fayetteville here. If you live in Benton County, you can check out sample ballots here.

I live in Fayetteville and will be voting for the millage increase to renovate the high school. I encourage all of you who live in the ‘ville to do the same and here is why. First, while Fayetteville High School is not falling down, it is a crowded and outdated facility that lacks several of the amenities we desire. Second, after last year’s failed millage vote, the administration and school board responded to the voters concerns about cost by both scaling back the project and cutting their budget to fund a portion of the renovation. Third, at some point in the not too far off future we will need to renovate our high school facilities. This year we have the opportunity to finance that renovation with interest free (or close to) bonds, thereby saving the taxpayers a substantial sum.

Still not convinced a yes vote is the way to go, then check out this guest post by Jay Greene supporting the millage.

(Guest Post by Aaron Stahl)

The City of Fayetteville narrowly passed the proposed business license last Tuesday. It was not a good day for Fayetteville businesses I can assure you. Fayetteville non profits, businesses, and home based businesses are now forced to pay a yearly fee, fill out a form, and answer intimate questions about their businesses or risk a $250/day fine and their City utilities being shut off. No mind to the businesses that are struggling, can’t afford it, or are otherwise exasperated. No mind to the fact that businesses don’t need the proposed “help”. No mind to the fact that voluntary alternatives were proposed. Forcing people is easier.

Many months ago I decided to take a stand on this issue based on these principles, not because I couldn’t afford the nominal fee or somehow find the time for the extra red tape the proposal would force on me. I knew the principles of the issue did not add up. We did not need this. It did not solve the “problems” it said it would. And in fact it would make things worse for many businesses and take away a shining kernel of business freedom in Fayetteville.

Unfortunately for Fayetteville businesses and their employees, principle did not win out. In fact, during the City Council meeting last Tuesday, I witnessed principle get tossed by the wayside as some of the authors of this proposal fudged, misled, and spouted half-truths on their way to its approval. I also witnessed an organization, The Chamber of Commerce, which I used to be a part of (until Tuesday) grossly misrepresent me and the vast majority of its membership.

Over 30 years ago Fayetteville voters rid itself of the business license (or occupation tax as it was called back then) in exchange for a City/County sales tax. The government got its tax and the businesses were removed of the occupation tax burden. But sure enough, 30 years later with the support of the Chamber of Commerce and without the input of the voters we find ourselves sitting with both. It took a while but the bait and switch is complete.

Why would the Chamber of Commerce support such a piece of legislation? Don’t fees, fines, and red tape sound anti-business? Their reason for supporting this proposal was because they needed “information” to help them recruit businesses to Fayetteville. The funny part is Chung Tan of the Chamber of Commerce spoke up on Tuesday night and said they could get the information they need already, but that it’s hard and this would make it easier.

Well guess what? It’s called a job. It’s not supposed to be easy. I certainly don’t pay my Chamber dues to have them spend their time passing blanket legislation forcing every business to pay money and waste their time filling out forms to make their jobs easier!

In my opinion the real reason for the Chamber’s support lies with their newfound contract with the City. Last Fall the City awarded the Chamber of Commerce a $250,000 contract for “economic development”. One would think that “economic development” would not include more red tape and fees on businesses.

The proponents act like this is no big deal. However, now when a business owner cuts a check for the business license they just might not go out and eat that night as planned. Or they might not go to the movies. Or they might not make that purchase.

The logic from City officials is that the fee is so small it won’t affect anyone. Really? When was the last time you paid $10 for a hamburger and fries? It’s only a few dollars more than a good deal but we’d all likely balk at that price. Any extra fee or cost will affect people’s decisions. And that, in this case, will negatively affect our local economy. But, the absence of such logic is government intelligence at its finest.

Perhaps more revealing as to why this got passed is that one of the Chamber’s “performance items” in the City contract was the implementation of a business registry. Given this, the Chamber’s support should come as no surprise. I would presume the Chamber would probably like that contract renewed next year. With the bone they threw the City last week I’d say they’ve got a good shot at just that.

It looks more and more like the Chamber is becoming an instrument of the City instead of being an advocate for business. If you doubt me, just check out the Proposal for Consulting Services that the Chamber provided the city. You’ll notice how in this proposal each working member of the Chamber has their time allocated between working for the Chamber and working on the new City contract.  The President of the Chamber himself offered up half his time to dedicate to the City contract. Hmmm, I don’t recall getting a 50% discount on my Chamber dues because they’re working half as much.

Furthermore the Chamber and proponents offered up their support last Tuesday by saying they supported it and businesses supported it. I own a business and am a member of the Chamber. I don’t support it. Every business owner that I’ve talked to doesn’t support it. Did the Chamber consult their membership before offering their blanket support? I never heard anything. Neither did other Chamber members I’ve talked to.

Aside from the Chamber’s involvement in this mess I witnessed Don Marr cough up some interesting half-truths (I’m being generous) and distortions last Tuesday. I heard, half in horror and half amused, as he countered my claim that businesses had not been consulted about this by saying that this was spawned from the Fayetteville Forward Business Incentive Group in which a large number of businesses were represented. A quick search of that summit shows that they did indeed support such a measure. A voluntary one! Voluntary. Not one that forces businesses to pay money, fill out forms, or be shut down.

There’s your first half truth.

Second he told the Council that there was “business involvement” in this ordinance because of a public forum held by Eva Madison. I was there, and there was zero business support. Zero.

The only business owner that was even remotely supporting of it would only offer that support if this was a voluntary measure. Again, voluntary.

Somehow Don Marr took the information from those two meetings and regurgitated it to the Council as business support for forcing fees on everyone in town.

Another doozy I heard from him last Tuesday night was that electricians, plumbers, and the like need a license in Fayetteville in order to get licensed by the State.  Hmm, so how have we had plumbers and electricians in Fayetteville for the last 30 years if that’s the case?

The truth is all a plumber or electrician needs to do is get a letter from the City stating that Fayetteville doesn’t require a business license and show that to the State.  It’s a piece of cake.  The proponents would have you believe that these tradesman would rather pay a YEARLY fee and fill out a YEARLY form instead of getting a free piece of paper ONE time.  I applaud him for his sales skills, but that is a tall tale if I ever heard one.

The truth about all this is simple. Fayetteville has grown by leaps and bounds over the past 30 years without a business license. We’ve grown by more than any other City in Arkansas without one. Businesses in this town used to love the fact that Fayetteville didn’t require this. That even with all the red tape from the State and Federal governments you could still find a small kernel of freedom in the City of Fayetteville.

We didn’t need a license for the past 30 years and we don’t need one for the next 30 years.

My Chamber membership ended last Tuesday with their support for this measure. I encourage all of you who feel the same to rescind yours as well.

For more business license coverage check out our previous articles:

http://mid-riffs.com/2010/03/its-business-license-time/

http://mid-riffs.com/2010/04/more-business-license-nonsense/

http://mid-riffs.com/2010/03/convicted-felons-and-good-ole-boys/

Last week, we were fortunate in the UA College of Education to host a lecture from Glenn Loury, the Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences in the Department of Economics at Brown University. While he gave an interesting talk on the Economics of Affirmative Action Policy, he also made a quick reference to education policy when he alluded to his former student, Roland Fryer.

Dr. Fryer is now a Harvard Professor who is creating quite a buzz by evaluating an innovative educational program that pays kids for good grades in cities across the US. He is one of the very rare academics who both understands the academic lingo and can also translate it to the regular person, as is made clear by this interview on the Colbert Report …. this (along with his complete candor) is why he is such a joy to watch.

The Colbert Report	Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Roland Fryer
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election Fox News

For a longer speech by Professor Fryer from 2009 advocating R&D in education, click below: