An item in this morning's paper led me to the blog of Glenn Gallas, the Tea Party activist leading the charge to get a referendum on the healthcare expansion on the ballot in 2014. Turns out he really, really doesn't like the "private option":
Why is protecting Arkansans from Sharia Law different when protecting Arkansans from a federal law robbing them of the right to their own medical choices?
The question now is whether he has the ground troops to pick up 46,800 signatures (and signatures in 15 different counties that are equal to 3 percent of the voters in the 2010 governor's race in each of those counties). The 15 counties bit ain't easy. Gallas told the D-G he hopes to have canvassers out gathering signatures by Monday. As we saw with the casino amendment, opposition groups with deep pockets can create all sorts of trouble for referendum efforts, and the coalition in support of the "private option" will be back in full force to fight Gallas and company.
So my question: WWAFPD? Americans for Prosperity lost the first round on the healthcare debate. If they're willing to jump back in and put up big money to push the referendum effort, there's a decent chance that we'll see the "private option" on the ballot in 2014.