Arizona-itis, aka "Republicans governing badly", spreading across the country

Turns out that the tendency of Republicans in power to fiscally mismanage things isn't limited to the federal government or even to Arizona, among the states.

From a NY Times editorial, published yesterday:

Failed State

New Yorkers should be appalled at their failed state government, particularly their corrupt and clueless Legislature. Scandal and irresponsibility have been Albany’s creed for decades. This year, the gang added another outrage to the list: complete fiscal incompetence.

The only solace is this: The entire Legislature is up for re-election in 2010. And unless there is a sudden turnaround — and, so far, we see few signs of it — New Yorkers have no choice but to vote out all the lawmakers and start over.

If there is any doubt left, here are just a few reminders of this year’s worst of the worst:

WHAT, US WORRY? New York has been on the brink of economic collapse, but the Legislature blithely ignored the problem for months. When the deficit reached a truly alarming $3.2 billion, the lawmakers grudgingly agreed to last-minute fixes while carefully protecting their political buddies and donors. That meant rich school districts on Long Island kept their money (until Gov. David Paterson imposed a temporary, across-the-board reduction), but 500,000 schoolchildren in New York City — many of whom can’t afford it — will now have to pay to ride the subway to class.

Even after draining state savings accounts and using federal stimulus dollars that were supposed to be spent next year, they still fell $500 million short. Next year is now a few hours away. The state is already in the red, and it could be facing a $9 billion deficit by March. Yet there is no sign that legislative leaders have spent much time thinking about how to address this disaster.

That's just the beginning of the piece, and it was written by a New York paper about a New York problem, but it could easily have been written by an Arizona paper about an Arizona problem...if the MSM in Arizona actually dared to seriously criticize the powers-that-be.

Try this on for size, with changes set off by [brackets] -

Failed State

[Arizonans] should be appalled at their failed state government, particularly their corrupt and clueless Legislature. Scandal and irresponsibility have been [Phoenix's] creed for decades. This year, the gang added another outrage to the list: complete fiscal incompetence.

The only solace is this: The entire Legislature is up for re-election in 2010. And
unless there is a sudden turnaround — and, so far, we see few signs of it — [Arizonans] have no choice but to vote out all the lawmakers and start over.

If there is any doubt left, here are just a few reminders of this year’s worst of the worst:

WHAT, US WORRY? [Arizona] has been on the brink of economic collapse, but the Legislature [and Governor] blithely ignored the problem for months. When the deficit reached a truly alarming $3.2 billion, the lawmakers grudgingly agreed to last-minute fixes while carefully protecting their political buddies and donors. That meant [school tuition organizations, including those operated by a legislator writing the laws regarding STOs] kept their money [deleted], but [thousands of ]schoolchildren [in Arizona's public schools will lose their teachers.]

Even after draining state savings accounts and using federal stimulus dollars that were supposed to be spent next year, they still fell $500 million short. Next year is now a few hours away. The state is already in the red, and it could be facing a [$3] billion deficit by March. Yet there is no sign that legislative leaders have spent much time thinking about how to address this disaster.

Scary how easily that editorial could have been written about AZ.

And to those of you who respond by saying "But New York is a Democratic state, so its problems were caused by Democrats!", remember this -

For all but approximately 6 months out of the last four decades, the Rs have controlled the NY state senate and have used it as a private money machine, as delineated later in the editorial.

In regard to the editorial's applicability to Arizona's situation, I do disagree with one point - we don't need to turn out *all* of the incumbent legislators. Most of the Democrats in the AZ lege are pretty good.

That's not just a partisan observation, either. One of the few good points, perhaps the only good point, of being the minority party in the lege for so long is that the Dems attracted to the lege are ones who take public service seriously.

Unlike most of the Rs, who either view it as an ideological playpen or a tool to enhance their private businesses (STOs, anyone?).

Interesting search terms

Just checking my site stats, and came across this entry:

207.156.23.30
Country United States
Region Florida
City Tallahassee
ISP Florida Department Of State

Given that this is a political blog, hits from offices of state governments aren't unheard of, though normally most of those come from AZ government offices.

What was really eye-catching were the search terms that they used when they hit this blog -

"SECRETELY RECORDING A CHURCH MEETING LAW"

Ignoring the poor spelling for the moment (it's "secretly" folks), why would the Florida Secretary of State's office want to record a church meeting, secretly or otherwise?

It turns out that the current Florida Secretary of State, Kurt S. Browning, has been known for playing a little fast and loose with the law, particularly in regard to election law, but this seems to be over the top, even for him.

On the other hand, Mr. Browning is known as a religious man, so perhaps the issue isn't what he wants to record secretly in a church, but what was secretly recorded in his church. If he said something in a church meeting that he doesn't want out there as public information, he could be looking for a way to block the release of the info.

Either way (and I'm not sure which it is), the situation doesn't cast a complimentary light on this particular GOPer.

Something tells me that in the new year, I'll be checking news from Florida between screaming matches in the AZ lege...

OK - anybody want to trade an Archie for a Calvin and Hobbes?

I am not a stamp guy, but I may just get me some of these...

The Postal Service has announced its 2010 Stamp Program, and among the usual "dreck" (Mother Teresa, monarch butterfly, Kate Smith, etc.) is one outright gem - Sunday Funnies.

And the Gem of the gems? Calvin and Hobbes. It ran for a little more than 10 years while the others in the set (Archie, Dennis the Menace, Beetle Bailey, and Garfield) ran (or still run) for 30 years or more. Still, it was the most brilliantly written non-political strip ever, entertaining and inspiring kids and adults alike, even a decade-and-a-half after Bill Watterson stopped penning new entries in the series.

After the set goes on sale in July, anything I have to mail is going to have a comic strip stamp on it.

For months. :)

BTW - In case you couldn't tell, the word "dreck", used earlier in this post, is nothing more than sarcasm used to express my sheer joy over the C&H stamp. Mother Teresa, Kate Smith, Tom Mix, and the rest of the honorees on next year's stamp issues are not "dreck-y" in any way, shape or form. In fact, most of them are extremely worthy of respect and honor for their life's accomplishments.

They just aren't Calvin and Hobbes.

Later...

GOP Senator sacrifices America's safety (and GOP credibility) on the altar of his anti-worker ideology

Lost in the cacophony of the Republican echo chamber's clamor for Janet Napolitano's resignation (over something she didn't have any control of) is their total silence regarding one of their own (over something he has absolute control of - his own actions).

From the Washington Post -

Republican senator DeMint holds up nomination for TSA chief

An alleged attempt to blow up a transatlantic flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas would be all-consuming for the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration -- if there were one.

Instead, the post remains vacant because Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has held up President Obama's nominee in an effort to prevent TSA workers from joining a labor union.

DeMint, in a statement, said Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's alleged attempted attack in Detroit "is a perfect example of why the Obama administration should not unionize the TSA."

So...it's OK to criticize the Secretary of Homeland Security for failures that took place outside of her control in a system that was set up by Republicans, all because she is a Democrat and a woman, but a "good ol' boy" Republican gets a free pass on something that he specifically chose to do that creates a disruption in the aforementioned system and endangers Americans?

It's obvious that even though they are in the minority, the principle of IOKIYAR remains one of the GOP's guiding lights.

I wonder if any conservative pundits have checked with the people of South Carolina to find out if they sent DeMint to D.C. to make sure America isn't safe from foreign terrorists but is safe from unionized American workers?

If the GOP wants to show that they have America's safety at heart, they'll call for Jim DeMint's resignation as loudly as they call for Secretary Napolitano's.

They won't though - DeMint is hardly the only good ol' boy in the GOP.

Candidate update - Scottsdale City Council

A quick visit to the City of Scottsdale's campaign finance webpage reveals that a new candidate has formed a committee for next year's election to fill three seats on the Scottsdale City Council.

Jose Luis Penalosa, Jr. filed his paperwork with the Scottsdale City Clerk last Wednesday.

According to his filing, he is an attorney and a Republican (and markets himself as such).

As I am totally unfamiliar with him, I did a quick internet search. Apparently his law practice specializes in immigration law (with that name and career path, I'm guessing that he's not part of the teabagger branch of the GOP...though that is *just* a guess) and is an amateur running enthusiast. In addition, according to the list of alumni of Scottsdale Leadership, he's a graduate of their program.

Note: Scottsdale Leadership is a networking group for the city's leaders and would-be leaders (Chamber of Commerce contingent).

More info as it becomes available.

Edit to add:

Mr. Penalosa joins the three incumbents, Wayne Ecton, Bob Littlefield, and Tony Nelssen, as well as former Councilman Ned O'Hearn and former candidate Bill Crawford in the race.

There are other potential candidates rumored to be mulling entry into the race, but they haven't announced yet.

Scottsdale voters should remember that they can sign only three nominating petitions, so they might want to consider putting off signing any until the candidate field stabilizes.

...End edit...

Question of the day...

...The first in an irregular series of "quick hit" posts of stuff that has been bugging me, not all of which will be political. For instance, like tonight's premier post...


Why aren't we on the moon?


NASA's space program started in the late 1950s. At the time, they used IBM 7090 series mainframe computers in Mission Control.

State of the art at the time, they would be considered little better than abacuses built with kite twine and rubber bands by today's standards.

Each one cost nearly $3 million in that era's dollars.

Yet with those expensive relics, they sent men in hollow metal tubes over 230,000 miles to the moon and brought them back.

More than once.

Moving forward to 2009...

Last week, we went to the Grand Canyon from Phoenix - at approximately 230 miles, 1/1000th as far.

On that trip, we brought:

2 cell phones
2 laptop computers
1 IPod
1 GPS
2 digital cameras
1 10-year old TI-83 graphing calculator (I *always* have that with me. Yes, I'm a geek. :) )
2 digital watches with all sorts of features (stopwatch, compass, etc.)

$5K total, tops.

And that's not even counting the various computers in my truck...mostly because I can't even begin to identify them all.

In short, we had more computing power on our waistbands and in our backpacks to go to the Grand Canyon (which is close and isn't going anywhere anytime soon) than NASA used to send people to the moon (which is a lot farther away and definitely qualifies as a "moving target").

And we are relative electronic lightweights - no Blackberrys or PDAs or whatnot. No multiple cell phones. No portable game consoles. No portable DVD/digital entertainment units.

So could someone please explain to me why we ("we" as in Americans as a group) are content with putting satellites into orbit and not much more? Putting people into space hasn't gotten any tougher, at least in terms of the physics, but our tools to get the job done have improved exponentially.

We should have had multiple manned Mars missions by now; instead, our best pilots, engineers, and scientists are devoted to operating a freight line to the International "Space" Station.

That's not a criticism of them; they are doing incredibly well with what they have been assigned to do. The fact is, however, that the ISS is closer to the Earth (approx. 200 miles up) than Phoenix is to the Grand Canyon.

I know politics is a part of the problem - if there isn't a way for campaign contributors to make money, lots of money, off of an initiative, it's going to be difficult to get Congress and the President behind it (and that is *any* Congress and President, not just the current ones or their immediate predecessors).

Still, it might be time to forget about bank bailouts and various schemes to funnel tax money to the wealthy and focus on moving the country forward, socially, culturally, and scientifically.

To Arizona's Republican bloggers: be careful what you wish for...

...'Cuz you just might get it...

Conservative bloggers and pundits all over the country have been jumping on the anti-Napolitano bandwagon over this weekend's abortive terror attack on an international flight into Detroit. They're looking at her initial statement that "the system worked" followed by a retraction of that statement as evidence that she should be blamed for the attack. Some are even hinting that she should lose her job over this.

I'm not so sure that will happen - no one was hurt and the security failures occured overseas in other countries that were, are, and will continue to be out of her jurisdiction - but let's just assume for the moment that the Obama Administration decides that they need a scapegoat for this and fires her accepts her resignation.

If she becomes unemployed, she again becomes the favorite over John McCain in next year's election for a seat in the U.S. Senate.

With all due respect to Tucson City Councilman Rodney Glassman, he's got a better chance to win the seat if JD Hayworth is successful in his quest to knock off McCain in a primary.

McCain would be a tough, almost unbeatable, opponent in the general election; Hayworth less so.

Far less so.

Anyway, back to the main point...Napolitano was the Democrats' best bet at dethroning McCain before she went to D.C. with Obama. She's shown that she can win statewide elections (3 of them! 2 without winning Maricopa County!) and was smart enough to keep the loons in the lege in check while she occupied the 9th Floor.

While there was no guarantee that she *would* have won a race against McCain, it was a race that most political junkies in AZ wanted to see in the same way that fans of the two biggest-name heavyweight boxers from rival promotions want to see their fighters face off.

That all went away when Napolitano took the promotion to Secretary of Homeland Security.

If she ends up losing that job over something out of her control, she would then have the time on her hands for a run at the Senate seat held by McCain.

And while the Republican blogosphere in AZ hates John McCain with a fiery passion, something tells me they'd hate the idea of "Senator Napolitano" even more.

BTW - I'm not exactly Napolitano's biggest fan. Hindsight being 20/20, she *never* should have left AZ. While the state would still face the same fiscal crisis, I firmly believe that "Governor Napolitano" would have done a far better job of wrangling the legislature into fiscal sanity than "Governor Brewer" has.

Molly Ivins - coming to a stage near you

OK, "near" is a euphemism for "Philadelphia." :)

Thanks to Jobsanger in TX for the heads-up on this...


From the website of the Philadelphia Theatre Company -

JUST ANNOUNCED!

We are thrilled to announce that stage and screen actress Kathleen Turner will star in this world premiere play written by noted journalists and twin sisters Margaret and Allison Engel and directed by Broadway and Off-Broadway veteran David Esbjornson.

To have the chance to produce a new play that celebrates the life of one of journalism's most colorful and iconic figures is a rare and wonderful opportunity. It is equally wonderful that an actress such as Kathleen Turner, with her high-profile stage, film, and television career, had an opening in her schedule. So we seized the moment, even though it now means we must postpone our production of Mauritius to another season.

Turner will star as the "unsinkable" Molly Ivins, the famously bawdy newspaper columnist, political commentator, and bestselling author. A true Texas original, Ivins was a sharp-tongued liberal who skewered the political establishment and the "good ol' boys" with a heaping helping of her unforgettable wit and wisdom. This one-woman play celebrates Ivins' endurance and tenacity even when it seemed like a complacent America wasn't listening.

"A first-rate actress!" –The New York Times' Ben Brantley on Kathleen Turner

"A maverick; impossible to herd; Texas to the core!" –Dan Rather on Molly Ivins

The play is scheduled to run from March 19 until April 18, 2010.

Season subscriptions for the Philadelphia Theatre Company available now and single play tickets will go on sale for this February 11, 2010.


As long-time readers know (all both of you :) ), I am a huge fan of Molly Ivins. I consider her to be both the sharpest and funniest political observer of the last generation, and America lost a treasure when she passed away almost three years ago. If I ever get to be 1/100 as sharp and funny a writer as she was, I'll be the best political writer in Arizona.

We all can and should hope that this play is good enough and popular enough to go to Broadway and then to go on the road, but don't expect it to ever make it to Phoenix. We are just too far down the list of "must visit" places for traveling cultural events.

We can all hope for a DVD release, though.

Later...

Tort "Reform": Rearing its ugly head in Arizona

This is what happens when holiday boredom sets in so I have time to surf sites I don't get to as often as I should...

A little light reading over at the website of PublicCitizen.org twigged a memory of something on the AZ lege's website, so I checked it out.

As noted before this, members of the lege have already started filing bills for the session starting in January. Two of them, SCR1003 and SCR1006, are proposed amendments to the Arizona Constitution.

SCR1003 would repeal Article II, Section 31, a section that bars enacting laws that limit "the amount of damages to be recovered for causing the death or injury of any person."

SCR1006 would repeal that section as well as Article XVIII, Section 6, a section that states "[t]he right of action to recover damages for injuries shall never be abrogated, and the amount recovered shall not be subject to any statutory limitation."

If passed by both chambers of the lege and by the voters at the ballot, either measure would open the door to caps on medical liability awards, among other things. (Though SCR1006 would do a more comprehensive job of it)

It's telling that the sponsors of these measures are among the "worst of the worst" members of the lege when it comes to protecting the best interests of their constituents. The list of sponsors includes Sen. Jack Harper (not a surprise that his name is attached to both measures), Rep. Judy Burges, Sen. Russell Pearce, and Sen. Chuck Gray. They are all known for sacrificing the needs of their constituents on the altars of political dogma and expediency.

If those measures gain a hearing this year, and they just might as it is an election year and incumbent legislators will be trolling for PAC money for their campaigns, their supporters will be certain to tout them as a way to increase accessibility to health care and to reduce costs for Arizonans. They will likely cite the example of Texas, which has enacted its own medical liability caps, and say that such things are needed to decrease malpractice insurance premiums for medical providers and increase accessibility to medical care for patients.

The problem with that? That rationale is almost totally false.

From Public Citizen's report on the effects of tort "reform" in Texas (a press release with a brief summary here) -

Since the liability laws took effect:

• The cost of health care in Texas (measured by per patient Medicare reimbursements) has increased at nearly double the national average;
• spending increases for diagnostic testing (measured by per patient Medicare reimbursements) have far exceeded the national average;
• the state’s uninsured rate has increased, remaining the highest in the country;
• the cost of health insurance in the state has more than doubled;
• growth in the number of doctors per capita has slowed; and
• the number of doctors per capita in underserved rural areas has declined.

The only improvement in Texas since 2003 has been a decline in doctors’ liability insurance premiums. But payments by liability insurers on behalf of doctors have dropped far more than doctors’ premiums. This suggests that insurers are pocketing more of the savings than they arepassing to doctors.

In short, instead of improving Texas' health care system for all, as promised, award caps have improved things mostly just for insurance companies.

I recommend that all Arizona legislators and their constituents read the Public Citizen report before forming an opinion on SCRs 1003 and 1006. When the rhetoric starts flying around as the Rs in the lege and their ALEC puppeteers try to get this stuff on the ballot, the citizens of Arizona will need some defenders armed with facts.

Stripping constitutional protections from all Arizonans doesn't improve anything for the residents of Arizona, just for profiteers from Big Insurance.

Later...

The coming week...

As usual, all info gathered from the websites of the relevent political bodies/agencies, except where noted, and subject to change without notice...

As with last week, the current schedule is a light one due to the holiday on Friday.

...In Congress, both the House of Representatives and the Senate are in recess until the new year, at which point they will start wrangling over health care reform.

...The Arizona legislature is doing its most beneficial work of the year for the people of AZ this week - no committee hearings, no legislative sessions, no nothing this week. They won't be actively making things worse for Arizonans this week (though some legislators may be making plans for just that during the coming session).

...The Arizona Corporation Commission has no public meetings scheduled this week, though there is a light hearing schedule. Everything seems to be focused on rates for Litchfield Park Service Co. and Global Water-Palo Verde Utilities Co.

...The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has a special meeting scheduled for Monday at noon. The agenda includes an executive session component as well as an open meeting component. The highlight of the open meeting portion is the adoption of financial disclosure standards for county elected officials. You know, the kind of stuff that Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas have used to cause so many problems for Supervisor Don Stapley et. al.

MCBOS' 2010 meeting schedule is here. There are already a couple of adjustments - the 1/5/2010 meeting will be held on 1/7 and the 1/13 meeting will be held on 1/12.

...The Tempe City Council isn't meeting this week, though their Council Calendar is here. It's all Insight Bowl-related events.

...The Scottsdale City Council also isn't meeting this week. Their Community Meeting Notice is kind of light - nothing is planned for the week.

...The biggest meeting of the week looks to be AHCCCS' Public Hearing on Governor Brewer's recently-ordered cap on KidsCare enrollment, a hearing that will take place on Tuesday. Full details at this earlier post.

Not meeting at all this week: Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Boards of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System and the Central Arizona Project, the Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College System, and the Arizona Board of Regents.

Later...

The Arizona Legislature: 2010 preview

The next session of the Arizona Legislature is shaping up to be a lot like the last session, only more so.

...One of the harbingers of the discord took form last December, even before the session started. In a major surprise, the House Republican caucus deposed Jim Weiers as Speaker, installing Mesa Republican Kirk Adams in his place. According to the R blog Sonoran Alliance, there's a possibility that Weiers is going to try to return the favor, but don't hold your breath. It will probably be a year, and by then, the Democrats will be in charge. (Hey, I freely admit I put the "partisan" in "partisan hack." :) )

...Adams pledged to have a "transparent" process. Yet by the end of his first few weeks in his new position, the pattern had already been set - GOP leadership (Adams, Senate President Burns, Governor Brewer) would nestle themselves behind closed doors and negotiate budget packages that catered to the whims of their own caucus' membership while ignoring the input and ideas of Democratic legislators and even average constituents. Then they would present those packages for a public vote, passing them with only Republican votes and no real public hearings (Approps committee hearings with minimal notice don't qualify a "real." No matter how loudly the Rs claim that they do.)

By the time the Fifth Special Session of the lege rolled around in December of this year, they weren't even bothering with the pretense.

And still not getting the job done.

Anyway, to sum up the 2009 legislative session: Things started off badly, and went straight downhill from there.

First, some summaries of the 2009 session of the lege that are more neutral and dispassionate than mine -

Arizona School Boards Association



Arizona Capitol Times



Arizona Catholic Conference (OK, these folks are less "dispassionate" and more "really, really, really conservative)

Arizona Municipal Water Users Association

(State of) Arizona Land Management Department

A tax law firm's summary for CPAs

Arizona Game and Fish Department

Arizona Department of Health Services



Arizona Department of Revenue



Arizona Department of Insurance



Arizona Department of Transportation



Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club





Now that the "neutral" part of the post is over, on to the more partisan part - the 2010 predictions...


2009 Legislator of the Year, Arizona Capitol Times version: Rep. Ray Barnes (R-LD7)

2009 Legislator of the Year, County Supervisors Association of Arizona version: Sen. Sylvia Allen (R-LD5)

2010 Legislators of the Year, Random Musings version, or "Legislators who should stay away from cameras if they want a chance at being repeat winners of more mainstream awards" - Ray "Bisexual Principals" Barnes and Sylvia "5000 Years" Allen.

Not to be confused with the Legislative Loon Award, which is based on bill filings, this one is based on crazy utterances. While other contenders are certain to step up (Russell Pearce, John Kavanagh, Jack Harper, et al,) those two seem to have a lock on the award.


Most likely area of contention: What else? The budget. They haven't finished the current year's budget, which will take up the first few weeks of the new session, and hopefully no more than that. After that, they will start work on the FY2011 budget, which looks to have a deficit that's even larger than this year's. And most of the one-time fixes will have been used up already.


Bad bill most likely to make a comeback, non-revenue category: Guns in schools. A version directed at universities and community colleges has already been filed for next year's session, so a K-12 version can't be far behind.

Bad bill most likely to make a comeback, revenue category: Repeal of the equalization tax. The Rs have made it clear that they want to destroy public education in Arizona; getting rid of a dedicated revenue source for public education is a step in that direction.

Good bill most likely to pass: None. There may be a few "harmless" bills ("technical corrections" and the like), but nothing good is expected to come out of next year's legislative session...making it a lot like this year's session.


Institutional memory, elected/insider category: Rep. Jack Brown (D-LD5). First entered the lege in 1963, before many of his colleagues were potty-trained (and in more than a few cases, before they were born) and has served continuously since 1987. Has more knowledge and wisdom than most of the rest of the lege combined. Norman Moore, Chief Clerk of the House, was in contention for this one, but after three decades of service, he has retired to go into the private sector as a lobbyist.

Institutional memory, "outsider" category: Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services. He *is* Capitol Media Services, working as its sole employee. Every media outlet in the state uses his stories. Has been covering the Capitol for more than a quarter century. "Outsider" is in quotes because with his longevity, he isn't really an outsider, but he doesn't work for the lege, so he falls into this category.


Legislator most likely to piss off his own caucus: Who else could it be, but Sen. Ron Gould? With his stomping out of his own party's Governor's speech and spending the spring, summer, and fall working to scuttle any balanced budget deals, he's had this one sewn up for months. The runner up, and the House's "winner": Rep. Sam Crump. A second-termer, he was briefly stripped of a committee chairmanship early in the 2009 session for trying to out-harsh his own Speaker, Kirk Adams. He had been "exploring" a run for AG, challenging State Superintendent of Public of Instruction Tom Horne and (rumored) Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. He has announced that he is seeking reelection to the House, however. Democrat Jack Brown could gain some traction in this category because he is easily the most conservative Democrat in the legislature, but there is so much respect and affection for him that no one really objects when his votes don't always gibe with his caucus-mates'.

Legislator most likely to piss on the other caucus: One could make a case for most (though not all) of the Rs in this category, but the hands-down winner in this category is our old friend, Sen. Jack Harper. A complete list of his credentials for this award would take up the rest of the post, but the highlight of his year was when he equated legislative Democrats with a pre-Iraq War Saddam Hussein and the ruling Sunnis in Iraq.

Legislator most likely to claim at one point to only follow the "will of the voters" while at another point to claim that the "will of the voters" is meaningless: Russell Pearce. Basically, it all matters if he agrees with the "will of the voters." If the matters under discussion are nativist measures approved via referendum, he believes that the voters are brilliant; if the matters under discussion are voter-mandated social spending, he thinks they are misguided, or worse, and seeks to overturn the Voter Protection Act so that he can kill all social spending in AZ.

Christmas Day 2009 - Grand Canyon

All pics taken by a certain blogger... :)

Apparently, bigotry, deception, and lies don't the holidays off

Yes, I know that said "no political posts" but some things just cry out for a response...and since they don't have to take holidays off from their spewings I don't have to take time out from criticizing those spewings...

Sonoran Alliance has a Russell Pearce-penned op-ed piece up regarding his opinions on the ongoing legal battles between Maricopa County officials, the county court system and the Dynamic Duo (Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas) with the Arizona Bar Association thrown in for good measure.

The piece is standard winger tripe - everything that ails Maricopa County is the fault of liberal judges and lawyers...and, of course, undocumented immigrants.

All would be fine if folks would just get out of the way of fine upstanding public servants like Andrew Thomas while he wages his jihads against liberals...and, of course, undocumented immigrants.

In a somewhat surprising development (surprising that it happened so quickly, not that it happened), Pearce aimed most of his rhetorical salvos at Maricopa County Superior Court Presiding Judge Barbara Mundell and retired Arizona Chief Justice Ruth McGregor, the newly-appointed special master brought in to oversee the court cases between Thomas/Arpaio and the county's judges and other elected officials.

While Arpaio and Thomas and their supporters (a group that counts Pearce as one of its leaders) were certain to object to the appointment of an independent special master to oversee all of the many court cases involving county and court officials that have been brought by Thomas and Arpaio. I just thought that even *they* would take the rest of the week off from their campaign of bigotry, deceptions, and outright lies.

I was wrong (mark this date down :) ).

From the piece:

While I have worked with Former Chief Justice Ruth McGregor and I like her and feel she is very competent, she certainly has the appearance of conflict, she was who appointed Superior Court Presiding Judge Barbara Rodriquez Mundell (a focus of the investigation) to her position and worked with her for the past several years. (By the way phantastic she is a Democrat).

So let's see, in one sentence (and one parenthetical phrase): he implied a conflict of interest on the parts of both judges (telling readers that neither of them can be trusted while shifting the conversation away from Thomas' and Arpaio's misdeeds), stressed a Hispanic name (telling his fellow nativists that Judge Mundell is one of "them"), and drops in Chief Justice McGregor's voter registration (aka - telling fellow Rs that she isn't "one of us").

That's pretty efficient use of a single sentence, but old hat for an experienced demagogue like Pearce.

We're stuck with Arpaio and Thomas for another three years (barring resignations to run for higher office or federal investigations/indictments/convictions), but we can start making a change next year by electing officials (lege, Governor, etc.) who don't see their primary duty as running interference for the Dynamic Duo.

That's something that would make Christmas 2010 joyous for people who respect the rule of law in Maricopa County.

Public Hearing on KidsCare enrollment cap

On Tuesday, December 29, AHCCCS will be holding a public hearing on the enrollment cap that Governor Brewer has ordered for KidsCare.

From the public notice for the hearing:

KidsCare Program Enrollment Cap

Due to Arizona’s fiscal crisis, AHCCCS can no longer ensure the availability of adequate funding to support further growth in the KidsCare program. As a result, AHCCCS will implement an enrollment cap for the KidsCare program effective January 1, 2010.

AHCCCS will be holding a public hearing regarding the KidsCare Enrollment Cap, where written and oral comments can be submitted. Below is information on the location and time of the public hearing:

AHCCCS Administration
701 E. Jefferson, Gold Room
Phoenix, Arizona
December 29, 2009
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 p.m.

Other locations that will be set up for participation via teleconference are:

ALTCS: Arizona Long-term Care System
1010 N. Finance Center Drive, Suite 201
Tucson, AZ 85710

DAHL /Office of Special Investigations
2721 N. 4th street, Suite 23
Flagstaff, AZ 86004

The public information sheet is here; AHCCCS' letter on this topic to the Governor and leadership in the legislature is here.

Not exactly a Christmas-y post, but whatthehell - lumps of coal are a part of Christmas lore as much as tinsel and trees and such.

And lumps of coal are exactly what Brewer, Burns, and Adams deserve this year...

Twas The Night Before Christmas...

The bustling metropolis of Tusayan, Arizona, flooded with last-minute shoppers and holiday revelers...or not. :)

Clement Clark Moore's classic story is available here, courtesy the Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune (TX).

Stupid Human Tricks

Not of the David Letterman variety, of the "guns and booze" variety...

I was going to write about the appointment (document courtesy AZCentral.com) of retired AZ Chief Justice Ruth McGregor as "special master" to oversee the myriad court cases involving various Maricopa County officials, which all seem to have Andrew Thomas and Joe Arpaio as the complainants or complainees (aka whiners or whinees), but I'm trying to avoid hardcore political posting for the next few days.

So I'm left with this -

Also from AZCentral.com -

Gilbert man shows off gun, shoots finger

A Gilbert man proved once again early Wednesday morning that guns and alcohol don't mix.

Ryan Maes, 33, told police that he and a friend had been drinking and playing video games about 2 a.m. when he accidentally shot himself in the finger with a .40 caliber pistol.

To the 59 legislators (54 of them Republicans) who voted for the "guns in bars" bill during the last session, and the governor (also an R) who signed it:

Guns and booze don't mix.

Never did and never will, no matter how much the backslappers at last summer's NRA convention told you otherwise.

And they probably did it after a couple of cocktails.

Happy Holidays to all...

Posting will be light to intermittent until after New Year's, so I wanted to take this opportunity to wish all members of the Random Musings reader community a joyous and safe holiday season.

It's been a long, eventful, and often acrimonious year, and next year is shaping up to be more of the same. We can take a moment (OK, a couple of weeks) to step back, catch our breaths, and appreciate the good things that have happened this year. (Not gonna list those, because this post isn't about starting an argument. There will be plenty of time for that later. :) )

So whether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukah, Ramadan, Kwanzaa, winter solstice, 359th Day of the Year, or nothing at all, may you enjoy the season.

See you soon...

Pic courtesy ehow.com

Jan Brewer: "I surrender"

Arizona's Governor Jan Brewer held an "emergency" meeting of her cabinet on Monday.

There, her agency heads and the press were treated to this presentation on the state's budget crisis (summary: we're hosed).

Her address to those gathered before her is here.

She announced a number of unilateral moves to address the budget shortfall.

From the address -

Therefore, at my personal direction, the following steps will be taken immediately:

ONE: I am ordering my budget office to work with each of you to develop additional contingency plans in anticipation of additional agency reductions and to adjust spending allotments accordingly.

TWO: I am also ordering agencies to transfer monies out of all eligible special line items to ensure that they have sufficient funds to cover mandatory expenditures.

THREE: I am asking the Department of Education and the Board of Regents to notify school districts and universities to prepare for additional payment deferrals later in the year, beyond those already budgeted.

FOURTH, I am ordering the Arizona Department of Corrections to return to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) -- as soon as possible -- all non-violent criminal aliens as is allowed under existing law.

{snip}

FIVE: I am restating my Arizonans-only directives to state agencies to ensure that public benefits are only provided to those who are legally in this country and reside in this state.

{snip]

SIX: I am asking ALL directors with discretionary programs to provide me with a list of non-mandatory programs that can be capped due to a lack of funding.

While many of these programs are important, and their freeze will be heartbreaking and difficult for many Arizona families, the Legislature simply has not committed enough funding for their continuation and we must divert resources to the programs that ARE mandated.

Starting today, I am implementing a wait list for KidsCare, the children’s health insurance program at AHCCCS. There will be a hard cap on childcare assistance wait lists at DES.

{snip}

SEVEN: In order to sustain the most critical services, I am asking all citizens receiving state services to contribute more toward their benefits. Effective immediately, agencies are to implement means testing and sliding fee schedules to ensure the neediest among us receive the most help.

EIGHT, I am taking immediate steps to enhance the management of our state’s cash flow. On your desks you will find instructions to change the processing of state warrants.

{snip}

NINE: I am establishing a Privatization Commission to expand the use of private sector services in state government. This commission will be charged with developing best practices, identifying areas of state government appropriate for privatization and developing plans for the implementation of privatization solutions. Privatization done properly will help the state reduce operational costs, improve service delivery and quality, and lead to innovation.

And FINALLY: In the first week of the New Year, I will be convening the legislative leadership of both parties. I will not be asking for theories, or for a vote count of what might or might not work politically. I will ask for honest, comprehensive and TIMELY solutions to the current budget deficit.

Now, while most of the MSM attention is going to the part about deporting imprisoned undocumented immigrants, that's already done under existing law.

What really should get the attention of most folks are her plans for capping enrollment for KidsCare and other safety net programs, screwing with state aid to all schools and privatizing government.

Let's sum up here: she's dealing with the legislature's failure to balance the budget because some of the most extreme members of her own already extreme caucus felt that the budget proposals before the lege weren't draconian enough. They embarrassed her and their own leaders by scuttling anything resembling a proposal that didn't dismantle the state's social safety net, public education system, and Arizona government itself.

So what does she propose?

Giving the nuttiest of the nuts *exactly* what they wanted all along.

Why do I think that the last of her ideas, the one about talking to legislative leadership "of both parties" isn't going to work, especially since the nuts have just learned that their political bullying tactics have worked?


BTW - Brewer makes a show of asking for "honest, comprehensive and TIMELY solutions to the current budget deficit."

Funny, but just such things were offered to her months ago by the Democrats in the lege - http://www.strongerarizona.com/.

She and her Republican associates in the lege haven't been interested in real solutions before this, and there's no evidence that they are really interested now.


Coverage from the AZ Capitol Times here; Howard Fischer of Capitol Media has coverage here, courtesy the East Valley Tribune; Arizona Republic coverage here; Phoenix New Times coverage here.

The coming week...

As usual, all info gathered from the websites of the relevent political bodies/agencies (except where noted), and subject to change without notice...

This will be a quick post, mostly because almost everybody is on a holiday schedule this week. Meaning that almost nothing will be happening.

...Having said that, let's start off with the highest profile exception to that statement, the U.S. Senate. They'll be in session most of the week, considering health care reform (LA Times). Expectations are that a final vote will be taken by Christmas, meaning that the bill won't go to conference committee until after the new year as the House is adjourned for the holidays. (Actually, there's a session planned for Wednesday, but that seems to be a pro forma session. I'll update if that changes.) The Senate's committee schedule is here; there's only one committee scheduled to meet this week - Judiciary on Thursday.

...Back here in AZ, the Arizona Corporation Commission has a Securities and Utilities meeting scheduled for Tuesday. Agenda here. The ACC's full hearing schedule is here. It's a light one.

...The Arizona Board of Regents isn't meeting this week. However, they are looking for a President of the Board.

...The Tempe City Council isn't meeting this week, but their Council Calendar is here. There's one item on it this week - a holiday open house on Tuesday at 9 a.m.

...The Scottsdale City Council isn't meeting this week, but the Community Meeting Notice is here. Summary: there's nothing scheduled this week. You might think that there is a holiday or something coming up. :)

...Everybody else isn't going to meet this week: Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, Boards of Directors of the Central Arizona Project and the Maricopa Integrated Health System, Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District, Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Arizona State Legislature.


Have a happy and safe Christmas everybody, even Republicans...and a certain Libertarian commenter! :))

Et tu, Steve?

During Saturday's debate in the House on the latest round of budget cuts, things got a little heated, with Democrats and Republicans criticizing each for various things. Mostly the Republicans were trying pin the blame for the state's finances on the Democrats, the group that has been totally shut out of almost all discussions at the lege this year, while the Democrats were having none of it.

Most of it was stuff that we have heard before, with just a little more rancor than usual (apparently, the idea of having to work on the Saturday before Christmas on matters that should have been dealt with by the end of June put the legislators in a less than "seasonally cheery" mood. What a shock. :) )

Time permitting, I'll cover some of those gems in a later post after the lege has posted the video of today's session.

However, one utterance caught my ear and then my eye when Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services included it in his piece on Saturday's happenings at the lege.

From the article, courtesy VerdeNews.com -

Rep. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler, said the Democrats voted against every spending reduction that came to the floor, not just this session but earlier this year.

"It may politically expedient to say, 'I voted against the cuts,' ' Yarbrough said. "But that is political gamesmanship, not statesmanship.'

This from one of the people most responsible for the state's mess, what with his devotion to his STO and protecting its ability to siphon revenue from the state into his pockets and his signing on to Grover Norquist's "no taxes" pledge.

Yarbrough, along with almost all of his Republican colleagues, haven't just voted against all attempts to address revenue (and not just taxes), including the "passing of the buck," a referral of a sale tax increase to the ballot, they've simply refused to even consider them.

How about we change his statement to -

"It may be politically expedient to say 'I voted against the taxes.' But that is political gamesmanship, not statesmanship."

Change a couple of words, and Yarbrough's statement is true, but truth was never a part of the special session agenda for Yarbrough and his friends. Gamesmanship was.

On the other hand, gamesmanship and ideological rigidity may be what passes for "statesmanship" in today's GOP.

Yarbrough is one of the leaders of the gang that has sacrificed fiscal sanity and legislative professionalism on the altar of "political gamesmanship."

If he wants to assess blame for the toxic atmosphere and culture of ineffectiveness at the Capitol, that is his prerogative.

He just needs to be looking in a mirror when he's pointing fingers.

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends

In this case, "the show" refers to the state's ongoing fiscal crisis and the refusal of the Governor and the Republican leadership to open their eyes to the reality of the depth of the state's problems.

Today, the House passed $193 million in budget cuts in a bill that the Governor is expected to sign. After that, they adjourned the Fifth Special Session of the lege so that they could all make it home for Christmas. (AZ Capitol Times coverage here.)

The next act in the show will take place on Monday morning at 9. That's the time that the Governor has set for an "emergency" meeting of her cabinet.

In an unusual move, the cabinet meeting will be open to the press (I'm pretty sure that does *not* include wiseass "intrepid" bloggers :) ).

Normal practice has been to hold cabinet meetings and then issue press releases/do coordinated interviews afterward. All this means is that Paul Senseman and the rest of the Governor's communications staff are hard at work today writing up a script for the meeting...instead of its aftermath.

I've got a couple of phone calls out about the special session and the Governor's set piece scheduled for Monday, but the people that I've reached don't have any info about the cabinet meeting or are out doing non-AZ government stuff, like spending time with their families and friends.

Sounds like some crazy priorities, but whaddya expect on a Saturday? :)

Later...

And the race is on...

...for the most coveted annual award in blogdom, the Random Musings Legislative Loon Award...

Perhaps the challenge of upstart Legislative Loon candidate Judy Burges has served to inspire previous winners Jack Harper and Russell Pearce, but they are getting an early start on their efforts to regain the title (last year's award went to the entire Republican caucus).

They've teamed up on a couple of pretty rancid pieces of "legislation."

One is SCR1006, a proposed amendment to the AZ Constitution to repeal the right of folks to sue to recover damages in the event of death or injury. This is the localized AZ expression of the GOP's obeisance to the insurance industry.

AKA the "their constituents aren't as important to them as are big business lobbying groups" act.

The other is SB1011, a bill to complete the "turning Arizona into an armed encampment" trifecta that they started last year. Last session they passed guns in cars and guns in bars. Next session, they will be trying for guns in schools. Specifically, SB1o11 would allow faculty members to carry concealed weapons on the campus of their university or community college.

If this one passes, students should duck if they show up to class late... as should Appropriations chairs who visit the campuses of the universities whose budgets they are gutting.

In normal years, this kind of nuttiness would barely rate a line, much less an entire post, but given the train wreck of a session this past session and the obvious lack of focus on the parts of Pearce and Harper and the other GOPers on addressing the state's worsening fiscal crisis in the coming session, the complete fiscal insolvency of Arizona looms ever more likely.

Legislative Republicans: Still more interested in partisanship than in professionalism

They are sure to gripe that their Democratic counterparts are the hyperpartisan ones, that they are engaging in dilatory tactics for no good reason (no, the Rs don't think that legislators and the public having time to read the bills before the lege is a good reason), but they "doth protest too much."

The proof is in the numbers.

From SB1001 of the Fifth Special Session -

General Fund cuts and fund sweeps from the Attorney General's office: $8,195,500.

GF cuts and fund sweeps from the House, Senate, and the other constitutional offices (Governor, Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Ed, Secretary of State, and Mine Inspector): $2,153,000.

In other words, the Democrat-occupied AG's office is taking a hit that is more than 3.8 times larger than the other constitutional officers and the House and Senate.

Even when adding in cuts to two agencies under control of the lege, the Auditor General and Joint Legislative Budget Committee ($1.34 million and $200K, respectively), that ratio stays above 2.2X.


Bottom line - the Governor and the Republican leadership in the lege still don't take this stuff seriously.

Jan Brewer could be a placekicker for the Buffalo Bills

...because she has the "wide right" part of the job down pat already...

I was going to title this post "Does A Special Session Make A Noise In The Woods If It Doesn't Do Anything?" but that was too long and snarky, and God knows I could never be accused of "snarkiness."

:-)

Anyway, it's looking more and more like tomorrow's 5th Special Session of the Arizona Legislature (in 2009 alone!) has already fizzled.

Mary Jo Pitzl at the Arizona Republic's Political Insider is reporting that they don't have the votes, even with some Dems crossing over, to pass anything through the House.

Mary Reinhart of The Arizona Guardian (subscription required) confirms this, but writes that the session is going forward anyway. Of course, as Tedski at Rum, Romanism, Rebellion advises, Brewer's call for a special session can't be rescinded, so they have to meet, pray, pledge, collect their per diems, and go home for the holidays. Maybe take some time to work on a few bills for next session, drop off campaign paperwork at the SOS' office, or just generally schmooze with people they last saw so many months weeks days ago.

Anyway, if any changes happen, I'll write about them tomorrow after work...or you can just read about it at Tedski's site. :)

Have a good night!

Health care reform: It's not time to get out the tar and feathers...yet

Desert Beacon in Nevada puts it far better than I can here...but that's not going to stop me from trying anyway. :)

Most of the recent developments regarding health care reform in the Senate have been disheartening to those of us who support substantive reform.

Between Joe Lieberman behaving as if he is relevant, the death of a single-payer plan, and the way that the Senate plan has morphed from a plan to "reform" health care to a plan to "enhance" insurance industry profits, it's easy to be discouraged.

Don't be, not yet anyway.

This whole mess still has to go to conference committee to be merged with the bill that passed the House.

What is more important than the Senate bill is the final bill, the one that reaches the President's desk.

Many people in the center and on the left may not understand that, but you can be sure that the Republicans understand it all too well. They are less interested in seeing that a "bad" bill passes the Senate than in seeing *no* bill pass the Senate.

They know that it is easier to fix the shortcomings in a bad program than to start one from scratch (witness the months-long kerfluffle over health care reform).

Now is the time for all of us to contact our representatives in Congress again (I know a couple of office staffers who aren't going to be happy about that line :)) ) and let them know that the only acceptable reform is real reform, not an insurance industry wish list. Let them know that their constituents need them to stand strong in supporting substantive reform.

We've given up on single-payer (with all due respect to Senator Sanders, his amendment was never going to pass even if he hadn't withdrawn it). but a non-mandatory public option is a must, and it's a reasonable compromise.

Well, "reasonable" to most anyone who doesn't work for the insurance industry, like Jon Kyl, John McCain, and Joe Lieberman (ok, so it's Lieberman''s wife who works for the industry. He works for her.)

We can get that in conference, but first, we have to *get* to a conference committee.

For that, we need the Senate to pass *something.*


Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (CD8) can be contacted via this online form.

Congressman Raul Grijalva (CD7) can be contacted here.

Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick (CD1) can be reached here.

Congressman Harry Mitchell (CD5) has a contact form here.

Congressman Ed Pastor (CD4) can be reached via this generic House contact form.

I'm not bothering to list the contact info for any of the Arizona Republicans in the House or Senate. They've all made it clear that they are opposed to any form of health care reform, or at least any that isn't structured to increase insurance company profits and reduce choice for average Americans. If you want to contact them, then use a search engine to find their official websites and work from there.

New Republican challengers in CD5

They seem to be crawling out from every rock these days, begging the question -

Is it Congressman Harry Mitchell who they think is vulnerable, or repeat (soon to be perennial) candidate David Schweikert?

Even though Schweikert never stopped campaigning after his loss last year, hoping to scare off any GOP challengers for the nomination, the carpetbaggers and newbies are lining up around the block to face off against him (and at least one former foe is rumored to be eyeing a return match).

- Eric Wnuck, a "resident" of Arizona and owner of a small, out-of-state, business (OK, it seems to be one not-so-small business with offices in a number of states) is appealing to the teabaggers in the district. Never held elected office.

- Jim Ward, a professional investor and video game guy has settled in the district to run for Congress. Not a total carpetbagger he - his wife is from PV. Never held elected office.

- Chris Salvino, a doctor at Banner Good Samaritan specializing in trauma and weight loss surgery, has filed paperwork to run. His campaign treasurer is one Kelly Lawler. That name should be familiar to CD5-watchers - Lawler was the treasurer for the ethically-challenged JD Hayworth. Never held elected office.

- Jeffrey W. Smith of Gilbert has also filed for CD5. That's a particularly lousy name for an internet search, but there is a "Jeffrey W. Smith" who started a landscape maintenance company in Queen Creek last year. I am *not* sure that is him, however. What is clear is that his campaign address in Gilbert is well outside of the district (not that that ever stopped Virginian Rick Renzi from running up in CD1). I can't find any record that he has ever held elected office, but with a name like that... :)

On the other hand, I'm pretty sure that he's not this "Jeff Smith."

- And then, lurking in the tall grass (that's a metaphor, there's not much grass, tall or otherwise, in CD5), is fellow perennial candidate Susan Bitter Smith. She was the strongest challenger to Schweikert in 2008 and is rumored to be looking at jumping into this cycle's race.

At the beginning of the year, it was an open secret that Schweikert was considered to be the "presumed" GOP nominee in CD5 by GOP insiders.

Apparently, those "insiders" forgot to let the "outsiders" (and at least one other "insider") in on the secret.

McCain, Hayworth camps taking swipes at each other

Posted without much comment, mostly because the sight of Republicans tearing strips off of each other is highly entertaining on its own merits. :)

From AZCentral.com -

A former Arizona attorney general filed a federal complaint Tuesday seeking to stop KFYI radio-talk show host J.D. Hayworth from using his microphone to promote a potential primary race against Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

The complaint filed by Grant Woods with the Federal Election Commission claims Hayworth, a former Republican congressman, cannot use his radio show to further his latest political aspirations. Woods estimates Clear Channel Communications, which broadcasts Hayworth's program, is effectively providing air time to Hayworth that would cost $540,000 each week to rebut in radio ads.

{snip, to include my favorite line in the article, emphasis mine}

"He's [McCain's] more distraught about the Cardinals' (loss Monday night) than a potential Hayworth candidacy," Woods said.

*SMACK* goes the McCain campaign. :)

Rep. Judy Burges (R-LD4) making an early run for the Legislative Loon Award

It's early (since the 2010 session hasn't actually started yet), but Rep. Judy Burges is making a spirited declaration of her candidacy for the 2010 Legislative Loon Award.

Let's see...

She's a primary sponsor of...

...HB2001, creating a voluntary tax fund for taxpayers who feel that they didn't pay enough. Call this one the "F--- you Arizona" Act.

...HB2005, creating a special license plate for the Arizona Masonic Fraternity, with 68% of the revenue from the fees for that plate going to the Masons. Call this the "43 Special Plates Isn't Enough" Act.

...HB2015, expanding the definition of justifiable use of deadly force to allow deadly force to be used in situations where only the mere display of a weapon ("defensive display of a firearm") had been justified. Call this one the "Violent Paranoiac's Free Pass" Act.

...HB2016, allowing convicted felons with concealed weapons permits from other states to possess and carry firearms in AZ if their rights have been restored in that other state. Not sure what to call this mess.

...HB2017, specifying that firearms instructors working in K-12 schools be certified by either the Arizona game and fish department or the NRA. Changes current language that only specifies "a national association of firearms owners." Call this one the "NRA Employment Act."

...HCR2001, a concurrent resolution asserting the state's sovereignty over the federal government under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Call this one the "Go Away Feds, We Don't Need Your Civil Rights Act, Environment Regulations, Worker Safety Laws, Or Product Safety Laws. Just Leave Lots Of Money Before You Go" Resolution.

Yes, Rep. Burges is making a serious play for the Award, but if she is going to be a real contender, she needs to expand her activities to all areas of legislation. She needs some nativist proposals, some anti-balanced budget stuff, maybe some anti-choice proposals, and, of course, massive tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations.

Her emphasis on appeasing the gun lobby is admirable (in a "well, it helps identify the wingnuts" sort of way), but she needs to embrace the all around lunacy exhibited by her Senate colleague from LD4, Jack Harper, if she wants a real chance to take the LLA home this coming year.

Later...

Well, the special session has been called...

...now we have to wait and see if they can actually do anything, or even reach a quorum...

The Governor has issued the proclamation for a special session of the lege, planned start date of Thursday, December 17, 2009.

From the proclamation -

The subjects to be considered at the Special Session shall be:

1. Adjustments to address the fiscal year 2009-2010 state budget.

2. A referendum to voters to impose a temporary tax for the purpose of raising state revenues for primary and secondary education, health and human services and public safety expenditures.

3. A referendum to voters to temporarily suspend the provisions in Article IV, Part 1, Sections 6 and 14 of the Arizona Constitution.

The lege's website has a fifth special session up, but there aren't any bills or committee hearings posted yet.

Reports from The AZ Guardian (subscription required) are that the Governor is expressing confidence that they have the votes, including some from Democrats, to pass the measures on the agenda. However, other denizens of the Capitol aren't so sure.

From the Arizona Capitol Times -

Legislative Republicans and Democrats haven’t agreed on much this year, but both are puzzled by Gov. Jan Brewer’s proclamation earlier today that the two parties have set aside their differences and hashed out a deal that would allow a sales-tax increase she favors to be sent to the ballot in March.

{snip}

Earlier today, media outlets reported Brewer was saying she had been assured by Adams and Senate President Bob Burns that they have secured the necessary Democratic votes to send the temporary one-cent sales tax hike to the ballot.

But that came as news to Democratic leaders.

“She hasn’t asked for a single (vote). We haven’t gotten a call,” said House Assistant Minority Leader Kyrsten Sinema. “She hasn’t talked to anybody.”

This is just a guess, as I haven't talked to any legislators since last night, but it seems that this special session is more a hail mary pass from Brewer, hoping that she only has to call the play(special session), while praying for somebody else to step up to actually make it work (catch the pass), than any example of real leadership.

AZCentral.com coverage here.

Maybe justice will be served this time

I guess elections *do* matter, because I'm pretty sure the corrupt cops named in these indictments would have been given a free pass by the Bush-era DOJ...

From CNN.com -

Five people, including three police officers, have been indicted in the fatal race-related beating of a Latino man in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

Two indictments charge the five with federal hate crime charges, as well as obstruction of justice and conspiracy, authorities said in a written statement. A federal grand jury handed up the indictments last week, and they were unsealed Tuesday.

The charges stem from the July 2008 beating and murder of Luis Ramirez, a Mexican immigrant, in Shenandoah. Two teenagers, Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky, beat Mr. Ramirez while shouting racial and ethnic slurs (hence the hate crime charges).

The federal indictment alleges that Piekarsky, Donchak, and four police officers, including the chief of Shenandoah's PD, conspired to obstruct investigations into the crime.

Note: while CNN is reporting that 3 police officers have been indicted, the USDOJ's press release says 4. I'm going to go with the DOJ's number, under the presumption the DOJ knows who they've indicted (which is a rather large presumption, I know :)).

While it is heartening to see the action regarding the murder itself (especially given the fact that the killers were sentenced to less than 2 years in jail on state charges), the obstruction and conspiracy charges are what are really encouraging.

Especially given the amount of obstruction and conspiracy spewing forth from the similarly bigoted offices of the Maricopa County Attorney and Sheriff.

While none of this will bring Mr. Ramirez back to his friends and family, it could work to prevent future murders and coverups by officialdom.

At least one can hope...

Special session Thursday?

Mary Reinhart of The Arizona Guardian is reporting that a one-day special session of the lege is in the works for Thursday (subscription required). There is some confusion over the details of the timing, but her article covers the topic well.

As planned, the session would include a referral of a sales tax hike to the ballot as well as a question to allow the lege to breach the protections of the Voter Protection Act (aka "Prop 105") to raid the funds of measures approved directly by the voters. In addition, there would be $200 million in budget cuts on the agenda.

According to State Rep. David Schapira (D-LD17), the tentative schedule is for the session to begin on Wednesday for Appropriations Committee consideration (and back room arm-twisting [my phrase, not his]) with COW and final passage (and probably more arm-twisting) on Thursday.

There are some serious questions if any package can pass a special session - most of the R caucus in the House and some of the Rs in the Senate have made it clear that they won't support even the referral of a temporary tax hike unless they pass permanent tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.

In addition, they still aren't talking to Democrats (other than to notify them of the session itself).

As Rep. Schapira said, referring to the Republicans in the House and the chances of a special session passing anything -

"They fall in line, or it falls apart."

More coverage here from Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services, published by the EV Tribune.

Stay tuned for developments as this is a fluid situation. While it seems likely to fall apart at any moment, it could also be a done deal by Wednesday, with the leadership just holding the session to cross some "Ts" and dot some "Is" (pro forma consideration of something that they have worked out behind closed doors).


Assuming that the fifth "special" session goes off as planned, I'm not sure how I'd vote on a sales tax hike.

If it is simply to backfill revenue lost to tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, then my vote will be "HELL NO!!"

If it is part of a complete package designed to actually balance the budget while minimizing the pain to Arizona's neediest residents, then "maybe".

As for giving the lege the ability to breach Prop 105, that's a "HELL NO!!" Period. End of question.

These people have shown that they have neither the ability nor the inclination to govern responsibly. As long as they continue to ignore the wishes of their constituents, they must not be given the legal ability to do so.

And regarding any proposed budget cuts, I know that they are inevitable, but I want to see what they are first.

Time to cut the lege's budget, as well as those of state officials who have thus far been untouched by previous budget restrictions (like the Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction).

Later...

Brewer to the people of Maricopa County: You're on your own

First she abandoned any pretense of leadership during the state's budget crisis, now she has abandoned the people of the state's most populous county during the crisis (OK, it's a clusterf***) facing Maricopa County as a result of the conflicts (OK, it's a civil war) between the County's elected officials.

From AZCentral.com -

Gov. Jan Brewer said the state's budget crisis precludes her from even considering any intervention in current legal and personality clashes within the Maricopa County government.

Brewer told The Associated Press on Monday that she has not looked into whether she should or could intervene.

"I have been paying attention and I have been reading the newspaper and, you know, listening to television and hearing about it," said Brewer. "Certainly I've got my hands full with what I'm facing here at the state level."

The sad part is that Brewer was a Maricopa County supervisor before winning election to the AZ Secretary of State's job.

Yet despite the fact that the people of Maricopa County are her constituents and neighbors, she is washing her hands of the situation, claiming that the state's budget situation demands her complete attention.

So where's the balanced budget, or at least a proposal that's balanced?

Where's her call for a special session to fix the latest fix for the budget?

I suppose this is a cheap shot (but she has made it so easy), but if the budget is the most important thing on her radar right now, more important even than the complete meltdown of Maricopa County government, why is she flitting about the country campaigning speaking at hotel openings, elementary schools, conferences, Christmas tree lightings, and more? (Public schedules for the last two weeks here and here)

Maybe one of her advisers should remind her that she will need the votes of Maricopa County voters during next year's elections if she hopes to win a full term on the ninth floor.

Not seeing the forest for the trees

The Arizona Daily Star has an interesting article (byline: Rhonda Bodfield) up today about Clean Elections and its perceived failures.

From the article -

It's been more than a decade since voters made Arizona one of only two states at the time to offer public financing of campaigns for statewide races.

It was supposed to mitigate the effects of special interests, give voters more choices and help new faces compete against the power of incumbency.

But even the guy who helped bankroll the campaign to get it approved, former Democratic Party Chairman Jim Pederson, now says it it was a mistake — not only failing to achieve those goals, but actually contributing to more partisanship and the exclusion of political minority perspectives.

There are other quotes, from both sides of the partisan aisle, but almost all boil down to "it's made the lege less partisan and less civil."

Have no doubt - the legislature *is* less civil than it used to be (not that it was ever an afternoon tea party with the Queen of England). Just ask anybody who has been down there for more than five years.

Yet for all of the statistics and anecdotal quotes, the article (and the "quotees" in that article) make one fundamental error - Clean Elections was not and is not about changing partisanship or the behavior of legislators at the Capitol.

It was about giving an opportunity to citizens who don't have the corporate fundraising connections needed to fund "traditional" campaigns to run for lege or statewide office.

It has done so. I personally know a number of people who have run, and a few who have won, races who could never afford to do so under traditional financing.

It was about reducing the influence of lobbyists over the lege, or at least reducing the amount of influence that they have over who is *in* the lege.

This one may be a something of a failure. OK, more than "something" of a failure. Too many legislators (mostly, but not totally, from the R caucus) are openly in the pockets of corporate lobbyists. Of course, that may be due more to the ideology and lack of ethics of the legislators involved than any failures on the part of the Clean Elections law.

And there were elected officials around who were more interested in serving their personal ideologies and/or personal wealth than their constituents long before Clean Elections was ever proposed, much less enacted.

What the Clean Elections law is being blamed for are the effects of two phenomena that are utterly out of its control -

1. The far-rightward shift of the GOP and the harshening tone of its rhetoric, even toward its own members. As this piece from the Washington Post demonstrates, this tendency is a nationwide thing and not limited to Arizona.

Has the right wing of the AZGOP used Clean Elections candidates to take out moderate Rs with primary challenges (here "moderate" = "not conservative enough to bring smiles to the faces of Grover Norquist and David Duke")? Yes.

However, CE was just a tool for the extremists. Blaming CE for that is like blaming a hammer because the carpenter put up an ugly house.

In a state like Arizona, one that is thus far a Republican-majority state, the harshening of the GOP's rhetoric and the polarizing of its internal politics has the effect of similarly "harshening and polarizing" the overall political atmosphere, beyond just the GOP itself.

That's been seen in states that don't have publicly-financed elections, such as Texas and New York ("Scozzafava-ed" is a verb now). Blaming CE for the loss of civility in public discussions is misleading and inaccurate.

2. The apathy toward politics and governance on the part of most Americans. It seems that the vast majority of voters don't pay attention to what is going on in their government until campaign season heats up. And some, not even then.

The cynic in me believes that certain demagogues have deliberately made politics more distasteful so that more people turn away in disgust, leaving the demagogues and their vassals in office to wreak their havoc with minimal oversight.

However, the apathy toward politics has existed for, like, *ever*, so it isn't fair to blame the demagogues for the existence of that tool.

Of course, it *is* fair to blame them for their use of that tool, a use that is detrimental to the state and to the country, but that is a topic for another day.

This post is already long enough. :)

Anyway, I don't have a solution for this problem, other than to tell folks, D, R, or I, to watch the votes and actions of their elected officials, ask hard questions of their electeds, and listen to and consider the answers.

And to do it all the time, not just during campaign season or when things have already gotten ugly.

During one of the pro-education rallies at the lege last session, I was talking to one of the teachers present. He stated that he was a Republican and he was surprised at how bad things were at the lege (i.e. - the level of contempt for education, students, and educators on display from most of the Republican caucus).

He was a Republican, but he had never attended a meeting of his LD party or even a candidate forum other than for school board. He was shocked at the low priority his legislators give to the needs and views of the majority of their constituents.

I suggested that he switch parties or just show up.

I advised him that while as a Democrat, I would welcome him to the party if he chose to change his registration, I would understand if he chose to remain an R. What he could, and should, do, is get involved, at least a little. He doesn't have to be a PC to talk to and evaluate candidates, nor to talk about candidates. Just be there and let the candidates know that average people are watching them, not just the blind ideologues.

And by paying attention, and showing candidates and potential candidates, folks such as him can have a greater voice in which candidates are nominated by their party.

Because ultimately, voters decide who is in office; Clean Elections has only expanded the number of options that they can choose from.

Edit on later on 12/14 to add:

Donna at Democratic Diva has a post on this same subject here where she provides the perspective of someone who has run a campaign as a Clean Elections candidate.

End edit...

2010 candidate update

Normally, the format for these posts is to discuss top of the ballot candidates and then work down. However, since the candidates for Tempe City Council are set while most of the other races are still forming up, we'll start with that one.

- For Tempe City Council:

Incumbents Shana Ellis and Onnie Shekerjian will be joined in the race for the Council's three open seats by Robin Arredondo Savage and Mark Ortiz. AZCentral.com report here. The Tempe City Clerk's announcement here. The Primary election will be held on March 9, 2010 and the General election (if necessary) will be held on May 18, 2010.

Ortiz is an Iraq War vet, community volunteer, and employee of a locksmith business and a lawn care business. His website is here, though it seems to be incomplete at this time.

Ellis is on the Council and is currently serving as Tempe's Vice Mayor. Her 2006 campaign website is here, though I'll update the link when/if a more current one comes online. Before her election to the Council that year, she had been a long-time community activist.

Shekerjian was also elected to the Council in 2006. Her campaign website from that year is here, though as with Ellis, when/if a more current site comes online, I'll update here. She's a conservative Republican who emphasizes her ideology during Council meetings and campaign stops. She's also Mayor Hugh Hallman's last remaining ally on the Council - unlike Mayor Bob Walkup of Tucson, Hallman doesn't ignore partisan affiliations when deciding who to work with on issues facing Tempe.

Arredondo-Savage is perhaps the most interesting candidate. She's the niece of current member (and future state legislator?) Ben Arredondo. She's currently a member of the Tempe Union High School District Governing Board. Unlike Shekerjian, she emphasizes community needs in her speeches and actions. She is a Republican, but in her dedication to the community, she is more like her uncle than Shekerjian (or Hallman.) I couldn't find a campaign website, but when one is set up, I'll link to it here.

- For District 2 on the Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District...

...Dana Saar, a member of the Fountain Hills school board, has formed a committee to challenge incumbent Jerry Walker (R-embarassment). AZCentral.com coverage here; Fountain Hills Times coverage here. The race may yet fall by the wayside - a conservative blog (Sonoran Alliance) is reporting that Walker is considering a run for the LD19 seat in the state senate.

- In LD8, a Republican has stepped up to challenge presumed candidate (and fellow Republican) State Rep. Michelle Reagan for the State Senate seat. Michelle Ugenti, a "tea party" brand of Republican, set up a committee on December 3.

Yes, this means that the AZGOP is running against a Reagan from the right.

- Current State Senator Jim Waring is termed out after next year. He has formed an exploratory committee for a run at state treasurer. He will only run *if* current treasurer Dean Martin decides to run for Governor. Phoenix New Times coverage here.

- Tajudeen "Taj" Oladiran has filed to enter the race for the Republican nomination for Attorney General. I couldn't find out much about him, but he seems to be best known for his rather "unique" court filings.

- NRA board member Owen "Buz" Mills has filed for the Republican nomination for Governor next year. And after Jan Brewer said all those nice things about the man at some NRA event last May. I'm shocked. Really. :)

AZBlueMeanie at Blog for Arizona has more complete coverage of candidate committees here.