This is a piece of sarcasm written by Jonesboro pastor John Lawrence that was recently read on the Paul Harrell Program.  This puts President Obama’s “You didn’t built that.” comments in a whole new light. 

     Recently the Census Bureau released statistics that showed that over 200,000 small businesses no longer exist due to the state of the economy as it has been from 2008 through 2010.  These lost small businesses accounted for nearly the loss of 3 million jobs.  In light of this information I’d like to offer words of comfort to the small business entrepreneurs who are facing these difficult times.

     Those of you losing small businesses . . . you did not do this on your own.  Somewhere along the way you were helped in this situation.  Along the way a Congressman or a Senator offered legislation to make it more difficult for you to stay open.  You can look back to a leftist College professor who helped foster the current climate where socialism is so popular among many of our elites.  You may think it was due to your lack of intelligence and planning that you lost your business – but let me tell you – there are plenty of people who lack these things serving in our current government.  You may think it was due to your lack of hard work – or mismanagement of finances that made your business close.  But I’m here to tell you that we have an entire legislative and executive branch that is grossly mismanaging our budget (well at least our spending – they have yet to pass a budget this year – or actually last year for that matter).  You need to realize you’ve had help in running aground your business – we have a wonderful system of government and a constitution that is being ignored so that we can run aground and bankrupt our nation!

     How arrogant can you be to think you alone have caused the loss of your business and your means of making a living!  You’ve had help . . . you’ve had an abundance of help!  Who knows – maybe we can elect some people soon who will be more selfish about spreading the misery around.  Maybe after November you can operate in business without all this help.  I know it will be tougher without a government working against small business – but you may just have to get used to it. 

John Lawrence is the pastor of Calvary Chapel in Jonesboro, AR

This billboard can be seen while driving on East Nettleton Avenue directly past Airport Road in Jonesboro, AR.  Any fiscally concerned citizen would have to wonder how much the Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is spending per month to remind us to drink water.  However, a deeper analysis of this cautionary tale might begin with an inquiry about our federal overlord’s motivation and mindset.  Why does the federal government think it is their responsibility to prompt the American people to consume the most basic resource the human body needs to survive?  The nanny state implications are endless.  The federal government’s perception of the authority and citizen relationship have clearly become misguided and perverted from the original intent of our founders.  I wonder what our framers would say if they heard of a government which has become so big it has invented the responsibility of reminding it’s people to drink a resource that covers 75% of the world.  Is this a system they would embrace?  If we can’t stand for conservatism in our own community what chance does our country have?

Rep. Butch Wilkins’ truck was seen in front of the Bono, AR polling place on the day of the run-off election June 12, 2012.  His truck appears to be within 100ft of the polling entrance and is marked “Re-Elect Butch Wilkins”.  The question has now been raised.  Does this violate Arkansas statute 7 and qualify as electioneering?  The ATU network received a press release from Rep. Wilkins’ opponent in the November election.  Mr. John Cooper had this to say.

“There is nothing as important to the validity of the election process as basic fairness…….. Yesterday, I received a call from a citizen that my opponent, Representative Butch Wilkins was engaged in electioneering activities at the Bono polling place which appeared to be in violation of Arkansas statute 7-1-103. (9) (A) No election official acting in his or her official capacity shall do any electioneering on any election day or any day on which early voting is allowed. Except as provided in subdivisions (a)(9)(B) and (C) of this section, no person shall hand out or distribute or offer to hand out or distribute any campaign literature or any literature regarding any candidate or issue on the ballot, solicit signatures on any petition, solicit contributions for any charitable or other purpose, or do any electioneering of any kind whatsoever in the building or within one hundred feet (100′) of the primary exterior entrance used by voters to the building containing the polling place on election day.

Specifically, Mr. Wilkins was loitering inside the polling station and had his campaign advertisements in close proximity to voters coming and going. It appears that he had been there for an extended period of time. Specifically, his campaign vehicle was parked in the number one parking slot closest to the door which was non-handicapped. He may have also been wearing his campaign cap. I have photos of his parked vehicle.

I am asking the prosecuting attorney to investigate and deal with this issue in accordance with this statute or any other…..John Cooper Candidate for District 59 State Representative”

On Wednesday June 13, Paul Harrell of the Paul Harrell Program briefly covered the above press release which produced a phone call from a listener and poll worker from the previous day’s election.  The poll worker, who will go un-named for now,  described a similar incident that took place at another polling location in Cash, AR.  The caller said Rep. Butch Wilkins loitered around the Cash polling place for a couple of hours wearing a “re-elect Butch Wilkins” hat. 

The ATU Network reached out to Rep. Wilkins via the telephone and obtained an audio recording of the conversation.  The audio reveals a couple of things.

1.  Butch Wilkins admits he was at the Cash polling place and not voting.

2.  Rep. Wilkins claims he spoke with “Todd” at the ethics commission.  During our investigation we spoke with Todd Elder, Staff Attorney at the Arkansas Ethics Commission and he said at no time did he ever speak with Rep Wilkins or give him the information that his actions were permitted under Arkansas law as he claims during the phone conversation.

3.  During our investigation we did speak to Graham F. Sloan the director of the Arkansas Ethics Commission.  He told us he had spoken to Rep. Wilkins sometime after the run-off election this past Tuesday June 12.  Director Sloan said he made it clear to Rep. Wilkins the Arkansas Election Commission is the best place for his inquiries and that his questions about election laws are out of the ethics commission’s jurisdiction.  Director Sloan also told me that he did give Rep. Wilkins some unofficial advise that when a person is engaged in electioneering it did not matter whether his name is on the ballot or not.  So it appears Rep. Wilkins sought the admittedly meaningless opinion of the ethics commission after the possible election law violation took place, and he is claiming the ethics commission told him that hanging around polling places is ok as long as your name is not on the ballot.

4.  We have another report from John Cooper saying Rep. Wilkins was also loitering around the Bono polling place as well.

You can listen to the Answer to Us Network exclusive audio today on the Paul Harrell Program.  It will be made available on the website after today’s broadcast.

AUDIO UPDATE

America has a choice.  Will we look to more government and a collective society that is dependent on Washington to solve all of our problems, or will we once again embrace the principals which made us great? History has shown ideas like self reliance, personal responsibility, free markets and a society based on achievement and merit will produce prosperity and a high standard of living.  The picture above illustrates this and shows just how fragile our freedom is.  The only things that separates North Korea from South Korea aside from their shared border are competing ideas.  At a time when the left has become more radicalized and open about pushing their socialized agenda on America, we must look to the world’s obvious examples of consolidated absolute power and the indisputable effects it has over human beings regardless of how tempting these utopian ideas may seem in academia.  A picture is most assuredly worth a thousand words.  Enjoy!

Last Thursday Feb. 2, on the Paul Harrell Program there was much discussion about a failed house bill, HB1887.  This was a pro-life bill, and would have saved the lives of children after 20 weeks of fertilization.  The bill failed in the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor, with 9 yes votes and 3 nays.  There were at least two Representatives who did not vote, Rep. Gary Smith (D) Camden, and Rep. Butch Wilkins (D) Bono.  This is significant because if the committee had carried 11 yes votes the bill would have passed.

During the broadcast Paul Harrell Program producer, Daniel Gary, attempted to contact Rep. Wilkins and received no answer but did leave a message inquiring why he decided to abstain when the time came to represent his constituents and invited him to be on the program to explain his reasons for not voting.  Later that evening Rep. Wilkins called back and the conversation quickly devolved into an incoherent rant in which Rep. Wilkins accused us of trying to do an “ambush job” and being “unprofessional”.

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