We are trying to get to 600 members tonight.
Draft Bill Halter need 3 more members to get to our goal. We have gotten 97 members so far this week. If we get 3 more, we will have gotten 100 new members in a single week. If you want to know about
Bill Halter, see here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/17/815418/-Draft-Bill-Halter:-Help-Arkansas-Democrats-with-Our-LiebermanWhy you should help Draft Bill Halter:
1. He is a strong leader showing that a Lt. Governor is a job that can be used to get things done, including passing a constitutional amendment essentially providing free tuition to any Arkansan student. He is the Southern Region Chair of the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA).
2. Tell me more about free college tuition for all thing:
Any legal resident of Arkansas with a 2.5 High School GPA (between a B and C average) or who scores a 19 on the ACT will get a full scholarship to a 4 year University or 2 year College (public or private). Returning students also qualify. An adult also qualifies for the scholarship if they attended an Arkansas High School and got a GPA of at least 2.5 or they can get a 19 or above on the ACT. Adults also qualify if they have attended a college or university for 12 credit hours and got a GPA of 2.5 or higher. This is an amazingly progressive policy as it essentially allows any Arkansan to attend college with no tuition costs given they meet relatively low merit benchmarks. Compare this to other states like Florida, where a full scholarship requires a 3.5 GPA and a 1270 SAT score among a slew of other requirements (and that was in 2000 when I was entering college). Florida fell victim to a Republican state legislature which creatively financed other programs using the lottery funds, decreasing the amount available for scholarships and increasing the requirements for qualification to receive a scholarship.
The Arkansas scholarships are funded through a state lottery which has already been made law. Scholarships will begin in Fall 2010. Almost 2/3 of the population voted to pass the constitutional amendment adding the state lottery. The state legislature made sure (with Bill Halter's constant pushing) to limit the money to only be used for these scholarships and the cost of running the lottery itself. By law, money currently allocated for other scholarships could not be decreased. This was in the language to prevent the creative financing other states have fallen victim to where the lottery money ends up actually decreasing the funds in other areas not tied to the lottery. When the legislature added the law, it won unanimous support. For more on the lottery and the scholarships, visit Hope for Arkansas.
3. Some Accomplishments:
He attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Bill Halter brings extensive experience in both the public and private sectors to his office. He has served as an economic adviser to the President of the United States and to the U.S. Senate, led the Social Security Administration, advised Fortune 500 companies, and served on the Boards of Directors of information technology and life sciences companies.
Bill Halter first joined the Clinton administration in 1993, working to help trim bureaucratic waste with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the Executive Office of the President. During his six years at OMB, the government’s $290 billion budget deficit was transformed into a $125 billion surplus. The United States enjoyed its first balanced budget in 40 years.
4. Lt. Governor Bill Halter helped organize the Free Health Clinics held in Little Rock, Arkansas. These are the same clinics Keith Olbermann advocated for on Countdown. He also volunteered his time to register patients on the day of the event.
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