Some Things We Know (Editorial)

To address the ethics challenges that some in the Arkansas Legislature have faced recently, state Senate leaders last week proposed a number of initiatives, among them the creation of a committee (What? No task force?) and an ethics course for senators. The leaders apparently think that one can be elected to the highest deliberative body in Arkansas government and not know that ethics — as in having some — are good.

How did we get here? Well, most of the recent ethics issues stem from a federal case in which legislators took bribes or kickbacks in exchange for helping out Preferred Family Healthcare of Kirkwood, Missouri, which operates a number of mental health and behavioral clinics in Arkansas and elsewhere and which benefits greatly from Medicaid and Medicare — i.e., taxpayer — money.

Five former Arkansas legislators have been convicted of various crimes stemming from the case. On June 7, former lobbyist Milton Russell “Rusty” Cranford of Rogers pleaded guilty in a Missouri federal court to bribing Arkansas elected officials in what prosecutors called a “multimillion-dollar scheme.” Among those he bribed, said Cranford, was “Arkansas Senator A”: Jeremy Hutchinson, who has denied taking bribes and who has not been charged. (See Senator A’s Best Case (Gwen Moritz Editor’s Note).)

State Sen. Jim Hendren, who is poised to be the Senate president pro tempore (and who is Hutchinson’s cousin), said, “I am determined to change the culture” because “Arkansas deserves better.”

The Senate’s ethics proposal also prohibits conflicts of interest (good luck with that) and stricter financial disclosure statements.

Anyway, ethics are good.

And in more examples of Some Things We Know: Kim Jong Un of North Korea is neither “talented” nor “strong.” He’s a murdering dictator.

Nazis are still bad.

We’ll let you know if this changes. If we can.