Hope Star - Beebe Touts Food Tax Cut

Beebe Touts Food Tax Cut - 6/21/2006

Written by Todd Burrow (Hope Star)

Arkansas Attorney General Mike Beebe said he is the candidate for governor who will do more to help fight the drug scourge and eliminate the sales tax on food.

He said that is one of the reasons he should be the voter's choice for governor.

He said the sales tax on food is regressive and that is an issue that he and his Republican opponent, Republican Asa Hutchinson, differ.

"With the growth we are experiencing, we can reduce if not eliminate it," Beebe said. "It's a big difference between me and my opponent."

He said the meth law, which he pushed and which forces pharmacies to place pseudoephendrine products behind the counter, has been a success.

Pseudeoephendrine is one of the main compounds used to manufacture methamphetamine, he said.

Before it was placed behind the counter, the allergy fighting drug used to make methamphetamine was easily obtained, even when a person purchased up to 10 boxes that contained 100 tabs, he pointed out.

"We have seen a 50 percent reduction in the number of meth labs in the state and we have done it without a reduction in the number of law enforcers we have," Beebe said in a telephone interview. "Now for the bad news, ICE, which is the purest form of the drug, is coming from Mexico, so our legislation has been counteractive, because of the contraband that is coming across the border.

"As you know, our borders are porous," he said.

He said his emphasis on Internet safety, where sexual predators are targeted, is working because of information counselors who tell the youngsters about what to do and what not to do regarding information swapping on the net.

Concerning education, Beebe said legislators and the state government have finally achieved a legal way to fund education.

Finally, he said the state has recovered more than $10 million in civil penalties involving nursing homes and fraudulent spending of Medicare money.

He said numerous goals, such as education, economic development and health care will top his agenda if he is elected.

"I want to unveil a pre-kindergartner program and elevate at-risk kids because many of them do not have moms and dads at home or some just have a mom who works. We have a generation of kids who do not have that. We must absolutely avoid abandoning them," Beebe said.

He said the state must change the way it attracts businesses and we must ensure that the two-year schools in the state are able to meet the demands of businesses that come or want to locate in the state.

"The two go hand in hand," he said. "Research and development is so important to attracting businesses."

He said countries such as India and China know what they are doing and will be doing 10 years from now and Arkansas can do the same.

"We can be a leader in taking our country's oil supplies out of the hands of the oil producing countries with products such as biofuels, and we certainly can grow corn for ethanol. There are additional uses of timber, such as the stumps that remain after the trees have been cut for timber. We can use those stumps for energy purposes," Beebe said.

"We also need clean fuel refineries," Beebe said.

Beebe said he served on hospital boards and he would like to find companies that pool with others so that medical services become more affordable for those who have no medical insurance or Medicare.

"The more people we have in the pool will reduce the cost of insurance premiums," he said.

Beebe said outgoing Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Republican, has been good for Arkansas and that he and the governor have worked together on many projects.

Beebe said he is a proponent of the death penalty and is against abortion except in the case of the rape, incest and the life of the mother.

"I am absolutely against partial-birth abortion," he said.

He said voters would be better served if they voted for him, though he and Hutchinson are polite with each other.

Concerning the campaign, he added, "I hope it stays clean and above board, but traditionally, special interest groups get involved and it eventually turns nasty. I don't think Hutchinson will support a negative campaign."

http://www.mikebeebe.com/articles_details.asp?id=178