Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Campaign superlatives
Inspired by Laurie Roberts of the Arizona Republic, who has a column up with the title "My picks for the most memorable performances of this campaign season."
Mostly her column is a series of criticisms of the effors of some of the campaigns. I can do that, and will, but I've got a few compliments, too.
Toward the end of the high school year, yearbooks come out, with picks (and pics) of the "the most" whatever or "the class" blah. Now that we are nearing the end of the campaign cycle, it's time for campaign superlatives.
...The "Least Likely To Have A Future On American Idol" Award: Rodney Glassman, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. His video performance of "Sweet Home Arizona" was easily the most entertaining video of the season, and it was energetic. Other than that...?
...The "Truth? We don't need no stinking truth! " Award: Many worthy nominees, but this one goes to the Yes on Prop 302 folks. They've got signs all over the state pimping the proposition with "Stop Wasteful Government Spending." They've also go signs up saying the Prop 302 is "for the kids" or some such tripe.
Prop 302 would defund and destroy First Things First, a program for early childhood education and health care. The money set aside for it via a voter-approved dedicated tax would then go into the state's General Fund and be subject to appropriation by the lege. The expectation is that the lege would use the revenue as an excuse for more corporate tax cuts, and then use the resulting reduction in revenue as an excuse for cutting education and children's health care programs even more than they already have been.
...The "Most Expensive Campaign By A Candidate Who Isn't Even On The Ballot" Award: Maricopa County's own Joltin' Joe Arpaio. The nativist sheriff isn't up for reelection until 2012, but he spent over $700K on TV spots targeting Rick Romley, a candidate for Maricopa County Attorney, and incurred a fine of $150K more for his illegal "in-kind" contribution.
...The "Most Likely To Be Cursing Poor Timing" Award: Joe Hart, the incumbent Arizona Mine Inspector. Hart looks to be openly in the pocket of the industry he's supposed to regulate (he takes lots of campaign contributions from them, and they help create laws to specifically increase his job security).
He started the campaign season well-funded and bunkered legally, and looked to be cruising to an easy reelection. Then 33 miners in Chile became trapped in an unsafe mine, and even worse, had the audacity to survive for more than two months underground before being rescued.
The world's, and Arizona's attention became focused on the drama in Chile, and unfortunately for Hart, on all things mining.
Including Hart's dearth of qualifications for the job, and the wealth of experience in the safe operation of mines on the part of his opponent Manny Cruz.
...The "Most Likely To Wish That The Election Was Held The Day After She Signed SB1070" Award: Who else? Jan "Brain Freeze" Brewer. She started out the real election cycle (i.e. - after the other major R candidates dropped out of their primary) with a huge lead over Terry Goddard. Right now, however, the short calendar between the primary and general elections is her best friend.
Between...
- Nationally ridiculed false claims of headless bodies in the Arizona desert...
- The aforemention "brain freeze" during her one and only debate with Goddard...
- National coverage of the ties between private prisons, SB1070, and her circle of lobbyists/advisers
- and other missteps, she has since allowed Goddard to close the gap with her, turning the contest into one that will be won by the organization with the stronger GOTV effort. She still leads in recent polling, but Tuesday can't come soon enough for her.
..."Most Likely To Be A Chip Off The Old Block" Award: Ben Quayle. Dad can't spell "potato" correctly; son doesn't know history, calling Barack Obama the "worst president in history" in a TV spot, ignoring the fact that his deep-pocketed well-connected daddy used to work for the deep-pocketed well-connected daddy of the one of the "worst presidents in history," the one who was the worst in well over a century.
Later...
Mostly her column is a series of criticisms of the effors of some of the campaigns. I can do that, and will, but I've got a few compliments, too.
Toward the end of the high school year, yearbooks come out, with picks (and pics) of the "the most" whatever or "the class" blah. Now that we are nearing the end of the campaign cycle, it's time for campaign superlatives.
...The "Least Likely To Have A Future On American Idol" Award: Rodney Glassman, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. His video performance of "Sweet Home Arizona" was easily the most entertaining video of the season, and it was energetic. Other than that...?
...The "Truth? We don't need no stinking truth! " Award: Many worthy nominees, but this one goes to the Yes on Prop 302 folks. They've got signs all over the state pimping the proposition with "Stop Wasteful Government Spending." They've also go signs up saying the Prop 302 is "for the kids" or some such tripe.
Prop 302 would defund and destroy First Things First, a program for early childhood education and health care. The money set aside for it via a voter-approved dedicated tax would then go into the state's General Fund and be subject to appropriation by the lege. The expectation is that the lege would use the revenue as an excuse for more corporate tax cuts, and then use the resulting reduction in revenue as an excuse for cutting education and children's health care programs even more than they already have been.
...The "Most Expensive Campaign By A Candidate Who Isn't Even On The Ballot" Award: Maricopa County's own Joltin' Joe Arpaio. The nativist sheriff isn't up for reelection until 2012, but he spent over $700K on TV spots targeting Rick Romley, a candidate for Maricopa County Attorney, and incurred a fine of $150K more for his illegal "in-kind" contribution.
...The "Most Likely To Be Cursing Poor Timing" Award: Joe Hart, the incumbent Arizona Mine Inspector. Hart looks to be openly in the pocket of the industry he's supposed to regulate (he takes lots of campaign contributions from them, and they help create laws to specifically increase his job security).
He started the campaign season well-funded and bunkered legally, and looked to be cruising to an easy reelection. Then 33 miners in Chile became trapped in an unsafe mine, and even worse, had the audacity to survive for more than two months underground before being rescued.
The world's, and Arizona's attention became focused on the drama in Chile, and unfortunately for Hart, on all things mining.
Including Hart's dearth of qualifications for the job, and the wealth of experience in the safe operation of mines on the part of his opponent Manny Cruz.
...The "Most Likely To Wish That The Election Was Held The Day After She Signed SB1070" Award: Who else? Jan "Brain Freeze" Brewer. She started out the real election cycle (i.e. - after the other major R candidates dropped out of their primary) with a huge lead over Terry Goddard. Right now, however, the short calendar between the primary and general elections is her best friend.
Between...
- Nationally ridiculed false claims of headless bodies in the Arizona desert...
- The aforemention "brain freeze" during her one and only debate with Goddard...
- National coverage of the ties between private prisons, SB1070, and her circle of lobbyists/advisers
- and other missteps, she has since allowed Goddard to close the gap with her, turning the contest into one that will be won by the organization with the stronger GOTV effort. She still leads in recent polling, but Tuesday can't come soon enough for her.
..."Most Likely To Be A Chip Off The Old Block" Award: Ben Quayle. Dad can't spell "potato" correctly; son doesn't know history, calling Barack Obama the "worst president in history" in a TV spot, ignoring the fact that his deep-pocketed well-connected daddy used to work for the deep-pocketed well-connected daddy of the one of the "worst presidents in history," the one who was the worst in well over a century.
Later...
Friday, October 29, 2010
GOTV time...
Due to there only being 24 hours in a day, blogging will be intermittent through the elections on Tuesday.
Some posts will go up, but no guarantees on the scheduling.
Stay updated on the latest AZ political news at Blog for Arizona, Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion, Democratic Diva, Dry Heat Democrat, or any of the blogs listed on the sidebar.
After you catch up on your reading, sign up for GOTV efforts at your nearest Democratic Party office here.
Hope to see you out canvassing!
Some posts will go up, but no guarantees on the scheduling.
Stay updated on the latest AZ political news at Blog for Arizona, Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion, Democratic Diva, Dry Heat Democrat, or any of the blogs listed on the sidebar.
After you catch up on your reading, sign up for GOTV efforts at your nearest Democratic Party office here.
Hope to see you out canvassing!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Brewer keeping an innocent man in jail; Arizona politics as usual?
I know I get a little worked up sometimes, questioning the motives, integrity, and even the humanity of many of the players in AZ's political circles. Usually, however, I can step back, take a deep breath, and regain my perspective and civility.
However, Jan Brewer has utterly beaten me.
She's soulless. Purely. Simply. Unequivocally.
Soulless.
ABC News has the story (KNXV-TV, the local affiliate of the network, has a written story here) of how our unelected governor has refused to release a man who was unanimously granted clemency by the board *she* appointed.
William Macumber, age 75, inmate number 033867, has been in prison for over 35 years for a murder that someone else has confessed to committing.
The Arizona Executive Board of Clemency took a look at the facts of the case last year, and citing the case as a "miscarriage of justice," recommended that Macumber be released.
Jan Brewer denied the recommendation for clemency, without explanation.
Since then, the victim's son, Ronald Kempfer, has sought both his father's release and a clear explanation for Brewer's intransigence.
The closest thing to an explanation that he has received was something about how his father's release would endanger public safety and that she has made her decision and "it's final."
Now I would like an explanation of something.
Governor Brewer, I realize that you don't read blogs, but people on your staff do, so maybe one of them will bring this question to you.
Pray tell, how does an arthritic 75-year-old man with heart problems who *didn't* commit a crime constitute a threat to public safety?
Hell, with that description ("an arthritic 75-year-old man with heart problems") all they'd have to do is give him a golf cart and a place to live in Sun City. He'd blend in perfectly. (I'd make a crack about the dangers of the denizens of Sun City driving golf carts, but that's a fight I don't want to get in right now. :) )
As more than a few of the stories suggested, Brewer's concerns with the clemency may be rooted in election year politics - she doesn't want to appear to be soft on crime (the fact that he didn't actually commit the crime is irrelevent to Brewer's reasoning.)
Only in Arizona would keeping an innocent man in jail be considered a good political move.
However, Jan Brewer has utterly beaten me.
She's soulless. Purely. Simply. Unequivocally.
Soulless.
ABC News has the story (KNXV-TV, the local affiliate of the network, has a written story here) of how our unelected governor has refused to release a man who was unanimously granted clemency by the board *she* appointed.
William Macumber, age 75, inmate number 033867, has been in prison for over 35 years for a murder that someone else has confessed to committing.
The Arizona Executive Board of Clemency took a look at the facts of the case last year, and citing the case as a "miscarriage of justice," recommended that Macumber be released.
Jan Brewer denied the recommendation for clemency, without explanation.
Since then, the victim's son, Ronald Kempfer, has sought both his father's release and a clear explanation for Brewer's intransigence.
The closest thing to an explanation that he has received was something about how his father's release would endanger public safety and that she has made her decision and "it's final."
Now I would like an explanation of something.
Governor Brewer, I realize that you don't read blogs, but people on your staff do, so maybe one of them will bring this question to you.
Pray tell, how does an arthritic 75-year-old man with heart problems who *didn't* commit a crime constitute a threat to public safety?
Hell, with that description ("an arthritic 75-year-old man with heart problems") all they'd have to do is give him a golf cart and a place to live in Sun City. He'd blend in perfectly. (I'd make a crack about the dangers of the denizens of Sun City driving golf carts, but that's a fight I don't want to get in right now. :) )
As more than a few of the stories suggested, Brewer's concerns with the clemency may be rooted in election year politics - she doesn't want to appear to be soft on crime (the fact that he didn't actually commit the crime is irrelevent to Brewer's reasoning.)
Only in Arizona would keeping an innocent man in jail be considered a good political move.
Well, that took long enough - National media finally notices the SB1070/private prison lobbyists connection
...and in case that title makes me sound like a jerk, let me say this up front: NPR did a great and thorough job with this.
NPR has released the results of its investigation into the behind-the-scenes machinations during the crafting and passage of Arizona's infamous SB1070. And the relationship between Jan Brewer's staff, many of whom are lobbyists for private prison companies
From the report -
To sum up: the seed of Pearce's SB1070 may have been planted by his unrelenting hatred for people with brown skin, but it was germinated in the hothouse of corporate ideology known as ALEC.
Still, the scheme needed to be nurtured before it could bloom.
As in J. Charles "Chuck" Coughlin, Jan Brewer's campaign manager and "former" policy adviser.
Consider it nurtured and bloomed.
Also on Brewer's staff and CCA's payroll? Communications Director Paul Senseman. He "used" to lobby for CCA; now, his wife is the Senseman household's "official" CCA lobbyist.
For his part, Russell Pearce has denied that ALEC or CCA played any part in the development of SB1070, claiming that he has proposed the bill many times before the ALEC conference late last year.
Granted, that *could* be interpreted to mean that he hatched his scheme free of undue or improper outside influence.
It could also very reasonably be interpreted to mean that he has been in the pockets of the private prison industry for many years, or just that he is a shameless opportunist, using the corruption indicated by industry lobbyists running the governor's office as a catalyst for turning the darkest of his private hatred into the vilest of public policy.
It may take a federal investigation, indictment, and trial, and a few years, but something tells me that in a generation, Arizonans will snicker at the words "Jan Brewer" the same way they do when the hear the words "Ev Mecham."
NPR has released the results of its investigation into the behind-the-scenes machinations during the crafting and passage of Arizona's infamous SB1070. And the relationship between Jan Brewer's staff, many of whom are lobbyists for private prison companies
From the report -
Prison Economics Help Drive Ariz. Immigration Law
{snip}
NPR spent the past several months analyzing hundreds of pages of campaign finance reports, lobbying documents and corporate records. What they show is a quiet, behind-the-scenes effort to help draft and pass Arizona Senate Bill 1070 by an industry that stands to benefit from it: the private prison industry.
The law could send hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to prison in a way never done before. And it could mean hundreds of millions of dollars in profits to private prison companies responsible for housing them.
Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce says the bill was his idea. He says it's not about prisons. It's about what's best for the country.
{snip}
It was last December at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C. Inside, there was a meeting of a secretive group called the American Legislative Exchange Council. Insiders call it ALEC.
It's a membership organization of state legislators and powerful corporations and associations, such as the tobacco company Reynolds American Inc., ExxonMobil and the National Rifle Association. Another member is the billion-dollar Corrections Corporation of America — the largest private prison company in the country.
It was there that Pearce's idea took shape.
"I did a presentation," Pearce said. "I went through the facts. I went through the impacts and they said, 'Yeah.'"
The 50 or so people in the room included officials of the Corrections Corporation of America, according to two sources who were there.
Pearce and the Corrections Corporation of America have been coming to these meetings for years. Both have seats on one of several of ALEC's boards.
To sum up: the seed of Pearce's SB1070 may have been planted by his unrelenting hatred for people with brown skin, but it was germinated in the hothouse of corporate ideology known as ALEC.
Still, the scheme needed to be nurtured before it could bloom.
As soon as Pearce's bill hit the Arizona statehouse floor in January, there were signs of ALEC's influence. Thirty-six co-sponsors jumped on, a number almost unheard of in the capitol. According to records obtained by NPR, two-thirds of them either went to that December meeting or are ALEC members.The "powerful new lobbyist" hired by CCA in early January? Highground Inc., operated by one J. Charles Coughlin.
That same week, the Corrections Corporation of America hired a powerful new lobbyist to work the capitol.
The prison company declined requests for an interview. In a statement, a spokesman said the Corrections Corporation of America, "unequivocally has not at any time lobbied — nor have we had any outside consultants lobby – on immigration law."
At the state Capitol, campaign donations started to appear.
Thirty of the 36 co-sponsors received donations over the next six months, from prison lobbyists or prison companies — Corrections Corporation of America, Management and Training Corporation and The Geo Group.
By April, the bill was on Gov. Jan Brewer's desk.
As in J. Charles "Chuck" Coughlin, Jan Brewer's campaign manager and "former" policy adviser.
Consider it nurtured and bloomed.
Also on Brewer's staff and CCA's payroll? Communications Director Paul Senseman. He "used" to lobby for CCA; now, his wife is the Senseman household's "official" CCA lobbyist.
For his part, Russell Pearce has denied that ALEC or CCA played any part in the development of SB1070, claiming that he has proposed the bill many times before the ALEC conference late last year.
Granted, that *could* be interpreted to mean that he hatched his scheme free of undue or improper outside influence.
It could also very reasonably be interpreted to mean that he has been in the pockets of the private prison industry for many years, or just that he is a shameless opportunist, using the corruption indicated by industry lobbyists running the governor's office as a catalyst for turning the darkest of his private hatred into the vilest of public policy.
It may take a federal investigation, indictment, and trial, and a few years, but something tells me that in a generation, Arizonans will snicker at the words "Jan Brewer" the same way they do when the hear the words "Ev Mecham."
Spin, Half-truths and Lies: Schweikert campaign running on empty
...but that's all they have left...and "half-truths" may be giving them too much credit...
Early yesterday, the Schweikert campaign breathlessly sent out an email press release, touting a police report in Tempe concerning a Tempe resident who "pushed down" two anti-Mitchell signs.
The one piece of truth? Such an incident did, in fact, occur, at least according to this police report (courtesy the Arizona Capitol Times).
After that, the press release gets more than a little light on facts.
The press release starts by conflating this incident with a 2000 incident where Mitchell was accused of stealing some signs.
The press release pontificates on that one with "[t]here was no question that Congressman Mitchell broke the law then."
The problem with that?
The charges were dismissed, and that dismissal was upheld on appeal. No matter how often Rs like to bring up the incident from 2000, they always seem to forget to mention that a judge ruled that no crime occurred.
Call this one the "half-truth, barely" part.
The press release then goes on to include a picture of some signs with "the kind of damage that has been occurring."
The problem with that?
The picture included in the press release wasn't of the signs that were part of the incident detailed in the police report. It was of some of the unsightly "insult" signs that Schweikert has carpetbombed CD5 with. The pic looks to have been staged in a parking lot, perhaps outside of Schweikert's campaign headquarters (I don't actually know where it was staged, just that it definitely looks staged).
Call this one the "spun into an outright lie" part, but at least it gave them an excuse to push their lies about Harry Mitchell one more time.
The Arizona Capitol Times has a story up that refutes the Schweikert campaign's spin and press release.
In it, the writer points out that neither the alleged "damager" nor the complainer involved in the incident are directly involved in either the Mitchell or the Schweikert campaigns other than in expressing support for the respective candidates. Speaking personally, I've been a frequent visitor to the Mitchell campaign office in Tempe, and I've never heard of the man accused of damaging the signs.
The Schweikert supporter, however, is a somewhat different story.
I've never heard of him by name, but he is quoted in the police report saying that he "has a company called Jet Media."
The Cap Times' story quotes Jim Torgeson, the owner of Jet Media, as claiming that the signs weren't commissioned by the Schweikert campaign.
From the story -
The press release claims very specifically that the signs involved in the Tempe incident *are* the property of the Schweikert campaign.
From the press release -
It also means that someone is violating campaign finance laws.
Either the complainer owns them and is engaging in political advocacy without filing campaign finance paperwork with the AZ Secretary of State (which he hasn't), or Schweikert owns them and needs to put the appropriate "paid for by" on the signs (which he hasn't, apparently, because there isn't one on the signs.)
Other issues -
Mr. Torgeson is a Republican operative of long standing, using his sign company to harass Democratic candidates in Tempe for years now.
Mr. Torgeson's company, Jet Media, received over $7400 worth of sign business from the Schweikert campaign just between late August and late September, according to Schweikert's FEC filings. I don't know if the signs that the Schweikert campaign purchased from Torgeson were the ones involved in the above incident, but that's a lot of money going to a small sign company relatively late in the cycle.
Mr. Torgeson is listed with the Arizona Corporation Commission as President of Jet Media Promotions, Inc. That corporation was administratively dissolved by the ACC earlier this year because of its failure to file an annual report. Not sure how/if that impacts the legal operation of the sign business, but it's definitely sloppy on Mr. Torgeson's part.
Still, given that we are now less than five days from Election Day, this is just a meaningless distraction. Any proceedings stemming from the above incident will take weeks or even months to run to completion; any possible campaign finance violations could take *years* to resolve.
Time to do a little canvassing.
Later...
Early yesterday, the Schweikert campaign breathlessly sent out an email press release, touting a police report in Tempe concerning a Tempe resident who "pushed down" two anti-Mitchell signs.
The one piece of truth? Such an incident did, in fact, occur, at least according to this police report (courtesy the Arizona Capitol Times).
After that, the press release gets more than a little light on facts.
The press release starts by conflating this incident with a 2000 incident where Mitchell was accused of stealing some signs.
The press release pontificates on that one with "[t]here was no question that Congressman Mitchell broke the law then."
The problem with that?
The charges were dismissed, and that dismissal was upheld on appeal. No matter how often Rs like to bring up the incident from 2000, they always seem to forget to mention that a judge ruled that no crime occurred.
Call this one the "half-truth, barely" part.
The press release then goes on to include a picture of some signs with "the kind of damage that has been occurring."
The problem with that?
The picture included in the press release wasn't of the signs that were part of the incident detailed in the police report. It was of some of the unsightly "insult" signs that Schweikert has carpetbombed CD5 with. The pic looks to have been staged in a parking lot, perhaps outside of Schweikert's campaign headquarters (I don't actually know where it was staged, just that it definitely looks staged).
Call this one the "spun into an outright lie" part, but at least it gave them an excuse to push their lies about Harry Mitchell one more time.
The Arizona Capitol Times has a story up that refutes the Schweikert campaign's spin and press release.
In it, the writer points out that neither the alleged "damager" nor the complainer involved in the incident are directly involved in either the Mitchell or the Schweikert campaigns other than in expressing support for the respective candidates. Speaking personally, I've been a frequent visitor to the Mitchell campaign office in Tempe, and I've never heard of the man accused of damaging the signs.
The Schweikert supporter, however, is a somewhat different story.
I've never heard of him by name, but he is quoted in the police report saying that he "has a company called Jet Media."
The Cap Times' story quotes Jim Torgeson, the owner of Jet Media, as claiming that the signs weren't commissioned by the Schweikert campaign.
From the story -
"But Jet Media owner Jim Torgeson said that Sanders’ signs were not commissioned by the Schweikert campaign, and that they personally belonged to Sanders, not the company."That opens up a big can of worms for the Schweikert campaign.
The press release claims very specifically that the signs involved in the Tempe incident *are* the property of the Schweikert campaign.
From the press release -
"The signs in question are the property of David Schweikert’s campaign."That's pretty unequivocal.
It also means that someone is violating campaign finance laws.
Either the complainer owns them and is engaging in political advocacy without filing campaign finance paperwork with the AZ Secretary of State (which he hasn't), or Schweikert owns them and needs to put the appropriate "paid for by" on the signs (which he hasn't, apparently, because there isn't one on the signs.)
Other issues -
Mr. Torgeson is a Republican operative of long standing, using his sign company to harass Democratic candidates in Tempe for years now.
Mr. Torgeson's company, Jet Media, received over $7400 worth of sign business from the Schweikert campaign just between late August and late September, according to Schweikert's FEC filings. I don't know if the signs that the Schweikert campaign purchased from Torgeson were the ones involved in the above incident, but that's a lot of money going to a small sign company relatively late in the cycle.
Mr. Torgeson is listed with the Arizona Corporation Commission as President of Jet Media Promotions, Inc. That corporation was administratively dissolved by the ACC earlier this year because of its failure to file an annual report. Not sure how/if that impacts the legal operation of the sign business, but it's definitely sloppy on Mr. Torgeson's part.
Still, given that we are now less than five days from Election Day, this is just a meaningless distraction. Any proceedings stemming from the above incident will take weeks or even months to run to completion; any possible campaign finance violations could take *years* to resolve.
Time to do a little canvassing.
Later...
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The most fortunate man in America: One violent teabagger
A video of a violent assault of a MoveOn.org member at a Rand Paul event has been going viral on the internet and cable news.
That video -
Turns out that the three most important factors in politically-motivated violence are the same as in the real estate business - location, location, location.
The perp is fortunate tonight - in Kentucky, he faces only misdemeanor charges.
In Massachusetts (where I was born and grew up), a shod foot (what the Paul supporter used on the head of the woman as she lay pinned to the ground) is considered a "dangerous" weapon under the law, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (ABDW) is a felony that could earn the perp upwards of a decade in state prison.
Of course, that may be a better option for the attacker and his ilk than in Arizona - we've got some of the weakest-ass laws in existence regarding the application of deadly force in self-defense of the defense of another, thanks to Russell Pearce.
One of the attacker's fellow tea party types. God I love the irony there...
Basically, under Arizona law, you can shoot your neighbor for sneezing. (Yeah, that's a bit of hyperbole. But only a bit. Read the statutes.)
And to top it off, the perp, a (now-former) county coordinator for the Rand Paul campaign named Tim Profitt, is now demanding an apology from the woman he assaulted.
For what, daring to soil the bottom of his shoe with her scalp?
That video -
Turns out that the three most important factors in politically-motivated violence are the same as in the real estate business - location, location, location.
The perp is fortunate tonight - in Kentucky, he faces only misdemeanor charges.
In Massachusetts (where I was born and grew up), a shod foot (what the Paul supporter used on the head of the woman as she lay pinned to the ground) is considered a "dangerous" weapon under the law, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (ABDW) is a felony that could earn the perp upwards of a decade in state prison.
Of course, that may be a better option for the attacker and his ilk than in Arizona - we've got some of the weakest-ass laws in existence regarding the application of deadly force in self-defense of the defense of another, thanks to Russell Pearce.
One of the attacker's fellow tea party types. God I love the irony there...
Basically, under Arizona law, you can shoot your neighbor for sneezing. (Yeah, that's a bit of hyperbole. But only a bit. Read the statutes.)
And to top it off, the perp, a (now-former) county coordinator for the Rand Paul campaign named Tim Profitt, is now demanding an apology from the woman he assaulted.
For what, daring to soil the bottom of his shoe with her scalp?
Blast from the past time: Tom Delay's trial finally starting
Tom Delay, the scandal-plagued former Congressman from Texas who ran amok in Washington and across the country (and the world) with Jack Abramoff the last time the Rs controlled the House is finally going on trial. He faces money laundering charges in Texas stemming from campaign finance violations.
From CNN -
Thanks for the heads-up on this go to Jobsanger in Texas...
Later...
From CNN -
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in the trial of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who is charged with illegally funneling corporate money to help elect GOP candidates to the Texas legislature.Corporate money? Legislative elections? Delay was a man ahead of his time. Too bad for him that he was a criminal in his time.
The Republican was indicted in 2005 on charges he illegally sent $190,000 in corporate money through the Republican National Committee to help elect GOP Texas legislative candidates in 2002.
Thanks for the heads-up on this go to Jobsanger in Texas...
Later...
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Turns out that Russell Pearce is far more well-rounded than I gave him credit for...
...I thought he was just a thoroughgoing bigot, but according to someone who knows him better than I do, he is also petty, vindictive, and prone to violence.
Earlier, I put up a post that covered State Sen. Russell Pearce's (R-National Alliance) attempts to interject himself into a legal conflict between the Tohono O'odham nation and the City of Glendale over a proposed tribal casino on the edge of Glendale.
At that time, I speculated that Pearce's interest in the situation stemmed from a basic dislike of Native Americans (they may be "Natives," but they aren't "natives," ya know what I mean?), but thanks to Greg Patterson at Espresso Pundit, I humbly stand corrected.
From Patterson's post on (roughly) the same topic (he started off talking about an anti-Prop 302 mailer) -
Something tells me that real-life mobsters will be insulted by the comparison...
Apparently, free speech protections only apply to people who agree with Pearce and the other small "n" nativists. All others should just take the abuse, shut up, and like it.
So, in one brief passage, he details how Pearce (and his colleagues in the R caucus of the lege) is going after the Tohono O'odham because they've dared to oppose his move to defund and destroy early childhood education in Arizona in order to pay for corporate tax cuts. And he compares his fellow Rs to mobsters.
Nice.
Earlier, I put up a post that covered State Sen. Russell Pearce's (R-National Alliance) attempts to interject himself into a legal conflict between the Tohono O'odham nation and the City of Glendale over a proposed tribal casino on the edge of Glendale.
At that time, I speculated that Pearce's interest in the situation stemmed from a basic dislike of Native Americans (they may be "Natives," but they aren't "natives," ya know what I mean?), but thanks to Greg Patterson at Espresso Pundit, I humbly stand corrected.
From Patterson's post on (roughly) the same topic (he started off talking about an anti-Prop 302 mailer) -
...But that's only one reason why Legislators like Pearce are ticked off. Look who else sponsored the mailer...that's right, the tribes. If you are new to the legislative process, you may ask yourself what the Tohono O'odam's opposition to Prop 302 has to do with the Tohono O'odam casino in Glendale? The answer is that it has everything to do with it. Everything in the Legisature is connected. That means that if the Legislature creates Prop 302 in order to avoid steep cuts in services and the Tohono O'odam use Indian Gaming money to kill that Proposition, then the Legislature is likely to go after the Tohono O'dam's casino.
Seriously, did you not even watch one episode of the Sopranos?
Prop 302 is likely to fail. So the legislature is going to have a $400 million hole in its budget. Naturally, they will use the cover that Eddie and Nadine Basha have provided and cut as much as they can out of the budget.
But they will still need revenue...and they sure as heck aren't going to raise taxes. So they are out of borrowing capacity, and they can't have the First Things First money because their first proposal was shot down by the Tribes. So what's left?
Well, Indian Gaming is left. Of course they can't take the money from the tribes...but they can COMPETE with the tribes.
Something tells me that real-life mobsters will be insulted by the comparison...
Apparently, free speech protections only apply to people who agree with Pearce and the other small "n" nativists. All others should just take the abuse, shut up, and like it.
So, in one brief passage, he details how Pearce (and his colleagues in the R caucus of the lege) is going after the Tohono O'odham because they've dared to oppose his move to defund and destroy early childhood education in Arizona in order to pay for corporate tax cuts. And he compares his fellow Rs to mobsters.
Nice.
Three nominated to fill Jorge Luis Garcia's seat in the AZ Senate
From an email from that Arizona Democratic Party -
As the press release notes, Maria De La Luz Garcia is Senator Garcia's wife. Both Bob Gilby and Sami Hamed are long-time Democratic activists in LD27 (and for the County and State parties). In fact, both were House candidates this year.
Without personally knowing any of the principals involved (I've briefly met them all at one ADP function or another, but that isn't the same as "getting to know" them), I feel comfortable predicting that Maria De La Luz Garcia will receive the appointment of the Pima supes.
Traditionally, in such situations, where the appointment won't have much or any real world impact, it frequently goes to the late officeholder's spouse as both a way to honor and respect the family *and* to avoid the appearance of playing favorites close to an election (though both neither Hamed nor Gilby made it through the primary).
Given that the appointment will for approximately two months...
3 nominees announced for consideration to fill seat of late Sen. Jorge Luis Garcia
TUCSON -- On Monday night, 39 precinct committeepersons of the Arizona Democratic Party convened for a Legislative District 27 meeting in Tucson for the purposes of nominating replacements to fill the seat left vacant by the untimely death of state Sen. Jorge Luis Garcia.
Three nominees were affirmed by acclimation (uncontested). They are as follows:
--Maria De La Luz Garcia (Sen. Garcia's wife) of Tucson
--Robert Gilby of Tucson
--Sami Hamed of Tucson
The names of these nominees were submitted today to the Pima County Board of Supervisors by Don Bivens, Arizona Democratic Party chair. The Board of Supervisors will choose the replacement from among the three names submitted. That appointee will be sworn into office and serve the remainder of the term until January.
As the press release notes, Maria De La Luz Garcia is Senator Garcia's wife. Both Bob Gilby and Sami Hamed are long-time Democratic activists in LD27 (and for the County and State parties). In fact, both were House candidates this year.
Without personally knowing any of the principals involved (I've briefly met them all at one ADP function or another, but that isn't the same as "getting to know" them), I feel comfortable predicting that Maria De La Luz Garcia will receive the appointment of the Pima supes.
Traditionally, in such situations, where the appointment won't have much or any real world impact, it frequently goes to the late officeholder's spouse as both a way to honor and respect the family *and* to avoid the appearance of playing favorites close to an election (though both neither Hamed nor Gilby made it through the primary).
Given that the appointment will for approximately two months...
The steam must be pouring out of Russell Pearce's ears right about now...
From KOLD -
From Linda Brown, executive director of the Arizona Advocacy Network, a plaintiff in the lawsuit at the base of today's decision (via email) -
Expect some coverage of the "sky is falling!" variety from the R blogosphere over this one, and soon.
A U.S. appeals court has ruled that Arizona's law requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote violates federal law.The full court opinion is here.
The Ninth Circuit of Appeals opinion issued Tuesday found that the Arizona documentation requirement runs afoul of the National Voter Registration Act that states must use and accept the federal voter registration form without additional documentation requirements.
The Arizona requirement is part of Proposition 200 which voters was passed in 2004.
From Linda Brown, executive director of the Arizona Advocacy Network, a plaintiff in the lawsuit at the base of today's decision (via email) -
"The penalties against non-citizens registering to vote are very serious and have served Arizonans -- and all Americans -- well for decades. The real crime is that this law disenfranchised tens of thousands of citizens who wanted to vote but lacked the documentation to register."Howard Fischer coverage, via the East Valley Tribune, here.
Expect some coverage of the "sky is falling!" variety from the R blogosphere over this one, and soon.
KVOA getting ready for next week's elections...
They've put up some "test" returns for Arizona House races on their website, and didn't pull down the test before I noticed it.
Heh heh heh heh, time for a little fun (and it is just fun - they've got Ds winning in districts that are R locks, and Rs winning in D districts. In other words, these are just numbers serving as space fillers, not reality or even predictions of reality)...
Highlights -
Heh heh heh heh, time for a little fun (and it is just fun - they've got Ds winning in districts that are R locks, and Rs winning in D districts. In other words, these are just numbers serving as space fillers, not reality or even predictions of reality)...
Highlights -
District 4No more Jack Harper? Fingers (and toes) crossed for the future of LD4 and the state...
103 of 103 precincts - 100 percent
x-Judy Burges, GOP (i) 36,972 - 45 percent
x-Karina Guerrero, Dem 32,864 - 40 percent
Jack Harper, GOP 12,324 - 15 percent
2 to be elected.
District 11If there is any justice in the world, this one, with Eric Meyer winning, will become reality in a week. It would annoy the hell out of some industry groups, too, as they've dropped a lot of cash on McGee.
83 of 83 precincts - 100 percent
x-Eric Meyer, Dem (i) 23,522 - 45 percent
x-Eric West, GOP 20,908 - 40 percent
Kate Brophy McGee, GOP 7,840 - 15 percent
District 17This is my home district, and this result would definitely work for me...
69 of 69 precincts - 100 percent
x-Ed Ableser, Dem (i) 17,611 - 43 percent
x-Ben Arredondo, Dem 16,201 - 40 percent
Donald Hawker, GOP 1,823 - 5 percent
Cristian Dumitrescu, Lib 1,709 - 4 percent
Damian Trabel, Lib 1,603 - 4 percent
Gregor Knauer, Grn 1,555 - 4 percent
District 19Won't happen, but this would be nice. It would be nicer still if Adams was the R who came in third.
65 of 65 precincts - 100 percent
x-Kirk Adams, GOP (i) 24,674 - 45 percent
x-Kit Filbey, Dem 21,933 - 40 percent
Justin Olson, GOP 8,224 - 15 percent
2 to be elected.
District 20As with Meyer above, in a truly just world Waters would win this one in a walk.
59 of 59 precincts - 100 percent
x-Rae Waters, Dem (i) 22,657 - 45 percent
x-Bob Robson, GOP 20,138 - 40 percent
Jeff Dial, GOP 7,552 - 15 percent
2 to be elected.
Russell Pearce: the man who wants to be shadow governor also wants to be shadow dictator of every city in the state
Russell Pearce may deride the U.S. government, saying that "states' rights" supercede any central authority, but he doesn't hold the same for Arizona's cities and towns in their dealings with the central authority of the Arizona state government.
First, his SB1070 would have shanghaied municipal police officers into his anti-immigrant purging force, no matter what the elected leaders of those municipalities thought their employees should be doing (you know, like preventing or investigating crimes in their jurisdictions). It may still do so, but the law is winding its way through the courts.
Then, perhaps feeling that the City of Glendale is lax in fighting against the encroachment of Native Americans upon the Valley (yes, that's sarcasm. Native Americans of one tribe or another were here long before the first settler with European roots. Pearce is a small "n" nativist, not a capital "N" one.), Pearce has tried to interject himself into Glendale's legal conflict with the Tohono O'odham over a proposed tribal casino next to that city.
Pearce doesn't represent any part of Glendale (of course, that's a minor detail, considering that he doesn't actually work to represent his "official" constituents in West Mesa), nor is the legislature or the state government involved in the fight, but he still wants to meddle in the affairs of Glendale and the Tohono O'odham.
Finally, this past spring, he pushed through a bill, SB1108, that allows people to carry concealed firearms without a permit or even training. Beside that, it included a provision requiring that legitimately confiscated weapons be sold to gun dealers, unless such action would violate "FEDERAL, STATE OR LOCAL LAW."
He thought he had ensured a steady supply of low-cost product for local gun dealers.
Until a number of municipalities started passing ordinances requiring that confiscated weapons be destroyed (the "local law" segment of the above provision).
Now, he decries the "loophole" in the law (a law that he wrote and was the sole sponsor of) that allows cities and towns to determine their own procedures and governance, and has promised to "fix" the law so that cities and towns have no option but to put forfeited weapons back into public circulation.
So the man who doesn't help Mesa, even though he has been elected to represent part of it, wants to interfere in the local affairs of *other* cities?
It's time for the voters of LD18 to make a change and elect somebody who will actually represent them.
Vote for Andrew Sherwood for State Senate.
First, his SB1070 would have shanghaied municipal police officers into his anti-immigrant purging force, no matter what the elected leaders of those municipalities thought their employees should be doing (you know, like preventing or investigating crimes in their jurisdictions). It may still do so, but the law is winding its way through the courts.
Then, perhaps feeling that the City of Glendale is lax in fighting against the encroachment of Native Americans upon the Valley (yes, that's sarcasm. Native Americans of one tribe or another were here long before the first settler with European roots. Pearce is a small "n" nativist, not a capital "N" one.), Pearce has tried to interject himself into Glendale's legal conflict with the Tohono O'odham over a proposed tribal casino next to that city.
Pearce doesn't represent any part of Glendale (of course, that's a minor detail, considering that he doesn't actually work to represent his "official" constituents in West Mesa), nor is the legislature or the state government involved in the fight, but he still wants to meddle in the affairs of Glendale and the Tohono O'odham.
Finally, this past spring, he pushed through a bill, SB1108, that allows people to carry concealed firearms without a permit or even training. Beside that, it included a provision requiring that legitimately confiscated weapons be sold to gun dealers, unless such action would violate "FEDERAL, STATE OR LOCAL LAW."
He thought he had ensured a steady supply of low-cost product for local gun dealers.
Until a number of municipalities started passing ordinances requiring that confiscated weapons be destroyed (the "local law" segment of the above provision).
Now, he decries the "loophole" in the law (a law that he wrote and was the sole sponsor of) that allows cities and towns to determine their own procedures and governance, and has promised to "fix" the law so that cities and towns have no option but to put forfeited weapons back into public circulation.
So the man who doesn't help Mesa, even though he has been elected to represent part of it, wants to interfere in the local affairs of *other* cities?
It's time for the voters of LD18 to make a change and elect somebody who will actually represent them.
Vote for Andrew Sherwood for State Senate.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Lies, more lies, and the truth...
My friend and fellow blogger, Texan Jobsanger, has been citing and complimenting some of my posts recently. It's time to return the favor.
His post, "8 Lies Republicans Want Us To Believe" is worth of a look, so worthy in fact that it rises to the level of being worthy ofstealing reposting. :)
Here it is:
Later...
His post, "8 Lies Republicans Want Us To Believe" is worth of a look, so worthy in fact that it rises to the level of being worthy of
Here it is:
During this election campaign the American public has been inundated with lies from the Republican Party. Some of these lies have been told and repeated for so long that they have assumed the proportions of myth, and are accepted by a great many Americans. But they are still just Republican lies.
I have been trying to attack these lies one at a time, and have written several posts about them. But Dave Johnson over at Campaign for America's Future has combined them into one very good post. He cuts through all the BS and exposes these mythic lies, and then tells the truth about them. Here are those 8 lies:
1) President Obama tripled the deficit.
Reality: Bush's last budget had a $1.416 trillion deficit. Obama's first budget reduced that to $1.29 trillion.
2) President Obama raised taxes, which hurt the economy.
Reality: Obama cut taxes. 40% of the "stimulus" was wasted on tax cuts which only create debt, which is why it was so much less effective than it could have been.
3) President Obama bailed out the banks.
Reality: While many people conflate the "stimulus" with the bank bailouts, the bank bailouts were requested by President Bush and his Treasury Secretary, former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson. (Paulson also wanted the bailouts to be "non-reviewable by any court or any agency.") The bailouts passed and began before the 2008 election of President Obama.
4) The stimulus didn't work.
Reality: The stimulus worked, but was not enough. In fact, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the stimulus raised employment by between 1.4 million and 3.3 million jobs.
5) Businesses will hire if they get tax cuts.
Reality: A business hires the right number of employees to meet demand. Having extra cash does not cause a business to hire, but a business that has a demand for what it does will find the money to hire. Businesses want customers, not tax cuts.
6) Health care reform costs $1 trillion.
Reality: The health care reform reduces government deficits by $138 billion.
7) Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, is "going broke," people live longer, fewer workers per retiree, etc.
Reality: Social Security has run a surplus since it began, has a trust fund in the trillions, is completely sound for at least 25 more years and cannot legally borrow so cannot contribute to the deficit (compare that to the military budget!) Life expectancy is only longer because fewer babies die; people who reach 65 live about the same number of years as they used to.
8) Government spending takes money out of the economy.
Reality: Government is We, the People and the money it spends is on We, the People. Many people do not know that it is government that builds the roads, airports, ports, courts, schools and other things that are the soil in which business thrives. Many people think that all government spending is on "welfare" and "foreign aid" when that is only a small part of the government's budget.
Don't believe the lies being told by Republicans. They just want to return to power, and they'll say anything to do that. If the American people fall for this nonsense and return them to power, the recession will continue unabated and the country will be damaged for many more years. Remember when you go to the polls this November, it was the Republican policies that put the American economy in the mess it is in right now and those policies have not changed.
Later...
Latest adventures of Schweikert and the voter
This is a parody of David Schweikert and the tea party platform (Obama/Pelosi BAD! Corporate tax cuts GOOD!)
New Brewer video...
...and it's definitely scary enough for pre-Halloween viewing...
Hat tip to Stephen Lemons of the Phoenix New Times for the heads-up on this...
Phoenix videographer Dennis Gilman has put together a video compilation of some of Jan Brewer's creepiest utterances as a sort of independent Get Out The Vote effort.
Hat tip to Stephen Lemons of the Phoenix New Times for the heads-up on this...
Phoenix videographer Dennis Gilman has put together a video compilation of some of Jan Brewer's creepiest utterances as a sort of independent Get Out The Vote effort.
CD5: All Politics Isn't Just Local, It's People
Nearly two decades ago, former House Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill published a followup to his best-selling autobiography (Man of the House) titled "All Politics Is Local."
That's a truism that all successful elected officials, before and since, have taken to heart. Taking care of the district that elected them and understanding its needs is paramount for any elected looking to be a "re-elected."
Even more important than that, though, is people.
Specific artificially-created land areas on a map like political districts don't have needs, the people who live in those districts do.
Districts don't vote for candidates, people do.
And most importantly for the point of this post, districts don't form the backbones of political campaigns, people do.
The ground game of any campaign, particularly in a close race like CD5, is what makes the difference on Election Day.
An effective ground game that connects with voters can turn back a high-powered and heavily-funded aerial attack.
All of the TV ads and mailers funded by secretive corporate front groups and bungee campaign appearances by national figures employed by Fox News mean nothing next to volunteers talking to their neighbors.
In this, Harry Mitchell's lifetime of service to Tempe, Scottsdale, and Arizona is standing him in good stead.
People are turning out in droves to help defend the man who has worked for them for decades, from teaching their children in school to advocating for them in the halls of Congress.
His ground game, hundreds of volunteers dialing or knocking and talking, is thumping the Schweikert campaign's.
Over Columbus Day weekend, the Schweikert campaign bragged about making 5000 calls to voters.
By comparison, the Mitchell campaign made over 50,000 calls that same weekend.
It's not just on the holiday weekends that the respect and affection for Mitchell is showing through.
Anecdotally, this past weekend, I was at the Mitchell campaign office to make some calls. I put down my stuff to go get some water before getting on the phones. By the time I returned to that particular phone just a couple of minutes later, somebody else had already moved in to that seat and was making calls. I had to wait a little while (~15 minutes) before another station opened up.
More than the volunteers in the office and out walking in neighborhoods, thousands of voters across the district have turned out for dozens of house parties for Mitchell.
By contrast, the Schweikert campaign's ground game seems to be floundering.
Just this past weekend, they sent out a "desperate" call for volunteers (their word, not mine) to do the things that the Mitchell campaign's volunteers have been doing for months - walk and talk to their neighbors.
Early last week, they sent out an equally desperate email, calling for "volunteers" to make their campaign office look busy during a visit from a reporter from the national political news site, Politico.
From the email from the Schweikert campaign's volunteer director, forwarded to me (misspellings theirs, not mine) -
There's no need for it - -the only times when I haven't seen the office busy is when most volunteers were out walking neighborhoods.
The sad thing is, in a close race in a Republican-leaning swing district, money can make a difference, and David Schweikert has access to a LOT of out-of-state corporate cash. Just during the writing of this post, I've seen at least three Schweikert spots on TV, none actually paid for by Schweikert. (My favorite: the perfectly-timed for Halloween spot paid for by John McCain with McCain and Jon Kyl touting Schweikert while wearing dark suits in front of a black background. They look like disembodied heads floating in the air from a cheesy grade-Z horror movie from the 1950s. Seriously spooky.)
He may not be *earning* the seat, but we are in danger of he and his allies *buying* the seat.
There are eight days left before the election, and Harry Mitchell needs our support, votes, and time more than ever. Keeping the phones staffed and neighborhoods covered is what will put Harry over the top.
Sign up here to volunteer to walk or call voters between now and Election Day.
That's a truism that all successful elected officials, before and since, have taken to heart. Taking care of the district that elected them and understanding its needs is paramount for any elected looking to be a "re-elected."
Even more important than that, though, is people.
Specific artificially-created land areas on a map like political districts don't have needs, the people who live in those districts do.
Districts don't vote for candidates, people do.
And most importantly for the point of this post, districts don't form the backbones of political campaigns, people do.
The ground game of any campaign, particularly in a close race like CD5, is what makes the difference on Election Day.
An effective ground game that connects with voters can turn back a high-powered and heavily-funded aerial attack.
All of the TV ads and mailers funded by secretive corporate front groups and bungee campaign appearances by national figures employed by Fox News mean nothing next to volunteers talking to their neighbors.
In this, Harry Mitchell's lifetime of service to Tempe, Scottsdale, and Arizona is standing him in good stead.
People are turning out in droves to help defend the man who has worked for them for decades, from teaching their children in school to advocating for them in the halls of Congress.
His ground game, hundreds of volunteers dialing or knocking and talking, is thumping the Schweikert campaign's.
Over Columbus Day weekend, the Schweikert campaign bragged about making 5000 calls to voters.
By comparison, the Mitchell campaign made over 50,000 calls that same weekend.
It's not just on the holiday weekends that the respect and affection for Mitchell is showing through.
Anecdotally, this past weekend, I was at the Mitchell campaign office to make some calls. I put down my stuff to go get some water before getting on the phones. By the time I returned to that particular phone just a couple of minutes later, somebody else had already moved in to that seat and was making calls. I had to wait a little while (~15 minutes) before another station opened up.
More than the volunteers in the office and out walking in neighborhoods, thousands of voters across the district have turned out for dozens of house parties for Mitchell.
By contrast, the Schweikert campaign's ground game seems to be floundering.
Just this past weekend, they sent out a "desperate" call for volunteers (their word, not mine) to do the things that the Mitchell campaign's volunteers have been doing for months - walk and talk to their neighbors.
Early last week, they sent out an equally desperate email, calling for "volunteers" to make their campaign office look busy during a visit from a reporter from the national political news site, Politico.
From the email from the Schweikert campaign's volunteer director, forwarded to me (misspellings theirs, not mine) -
I am in urgent need of your help. I need a ton of phone callers in the office tomorrow from 1:30pm until 3:30pm.. Here is why-- We have reporters coming in from one of the biggest political sites in the nation. We need to look like the best run, well staffed campaign in the natin..I've never seen such an email from the Mitchell campaign, even though they also received a visit from a Politico reporter.
There's no need for it - -the only times when I haven't seen the office busy is when most volunteers were out walking neighborhoods.
The sad thing is, in a close race in a Republican-leaning swing district, money can make a difference, and David Schweikert has access to a LOT of out-of-state corporate cash. Just during the writing of this post, I've seen at least three Schweikert spots on TV, none actually paid for by Schweikert. (My favorite: the perfectly-timed for Halloween spot paid for by John McCain with McCain and Jon Kyl touting Schweikert while wearing dark suits in front of a black background. They look like disembodied heads floating in the air from a cheesy grade-Z horror movie from the 1950s. Seriously spooky.)
He may not be *earning* the seat, but we are in danger of he and his allies *buying* the seat.
There are eight days left before the election, and Harry Mitchell needs our support, votes, and time more than ever. Keeping the phones staffed and neighborhoods covered is what will put Harry over the top.
Sign up here to volunteer to walk or call voters between now and Election Day.
Chris Deschene on KNXV-TV
Video courtesy Phoenix's channel 15.
The campaign website of Chris Deschene, Democratic candidate for Arizona Secretary of State, is here.
The campaign website of Chris Deschene, Democratic candidate for Arizona Secretary of State, is here.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Pic of the cycle...
Just in time for both Halloween and next Tuesday's election.
Emailed from a friend in Tempe...
Emailed from a friend in Tempe...
Sunday good thoughts from Rose Mofford
Simple and direct...
Pic of the artwork courtesy an email from the Goddard campaign, original artwork courtesy former Governor Rose Mofford...
Pic of the artwork courtesy an email from the Goddard campaign, original artwork courtesy former Governor Rose Mofford...
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Entering the home stretch in Arizona...
and something tells me that Jan, her clan, and the rest of the Rs are happy that the election cycle comes to an end on November 2, not December 2.
From the East Valley Tribune -
It's getting closer, but to put Terry, and Chris, Felecia, Andrei, Penny, and Manny. over the top, sign up here to volunteer with the Arizona Democratic Party or your local county or coordinated campaign office.
Being exhausted from a day of canvassing or phone banking will suck, but a single night's sleep will recharge your batteries.
Years of Republicans holding statewide office will suck worse, and it will take years, even generations, to fix the damage.
Nine days of campaigning left. Nine days for the future of Arizona.
Note on 10/24: something goofy happened with the formatting of this post. It's been corrected.
From the East Valley Tribune -
Goddard catching up with Brewer in final weeks of gubernatorial campaign
Gov. Jan Brewer's large lead over Democrat Terry Goddard is eroding in the final weeks of a campaign that once looked like a runaway victory for the Republican incumbent
{snip}
While Brewer led Goddard by 20 points in July, she's supported by 38 percent of likely voters compared with Goddard's 35 percent, according to a Behavior Research poll conducted the first 10 days of October. The gap between the candidates narrowed as support for Goddard rose during the survey.
Libertarian Barry Hess and the Green Party's Larry Gist had 6 percent between the two of them.
It's getting closer, but to put Terry, and Chris, Felecia, Andrei, Penny, and Manny. over the top, sign up here to volunteer with the Arizona Democratic Party or your local county or coordinated campaign office.
Being exhausted from a day of canvassing or phone banking will suck, but a single night's sleep will recharge your batteries.
Years of Republicans holding statewide office will suck worse, and it will take years, even generations, to fix the damage.
Nine days of campaigning left. Nine days for the future of Arizona.
Note on 10/24: something goofy happened with the formatting of this post. It's been corrected.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Congratulations to the Texas Rangers!
They have defeated the loathsome New York Yankees (gee, can ya might think I'm a Red Sox fan or something :) ) and are advancing to their first World Series appearance ever.
As much as I don't like mixing baseball and politics, their victory brings to mind a question (pointed out by a FB friend) -
George W. Bush ran the Texas Rangers for 5 years, from 1989 until 1994, and it's taken the Rangers 16 years to right their ship. And after that 16 years, people all over Texas and the country are rejoicing.
Yet Bush ran the entire country for *8* years (60% longer) and messed up everything, and people are livid that Barack Obama hasn't fixed everything in less than 2 years (87% less time).
What's up with that?
As much as I don't like mixing baseball and politics, their victory brings to mind a question (pointed out by a FB friend) -
George W. Bush ran the Texas Rangers for 5 years, from 1989 until 1994, and it's taken the Rangers 16 years to right their ship. And after that 16 years, people all over Texas and the country are rejoicing.
Yet Bush ran the entire country for *8* years (60% longer) and messed up everything, and people are livid that Barack Obama hasn't fixed everything in less than 2 years (87% less time).
What's up with that?
What is it with Arizona and its treasurers?
It seems that a certain segment of Arizona's politicians don't seem to understand that there is a difference between "representing" Arizonans, and "preying" on Arizonans...
Exhibit A: Former State Treasurer David Petersen. A former state legislator who resigned in disgrace from the state treasurer's job after an investigation into his improper use of public monies to fund his private business activities (ironically, the business was as a "character education" provider).
Exhibit B: Current and soon-to-be former State Treasurer Dean Martin. A former state legislator who should (but won't) resign in disgrace from the state treasurer's job after proudly proclaiming on a national radio program his status as a vulture investor who is profiting from the scandal-plagued foreclosure crisis that is wracking families across Arizona and the country.
Exhibit C: Former Maricopa County Treasurer David Schweikert. A former state legislator who has been outed as a predatory vulture foreclosure investor, like Martin above. He's been at it longer than Martin, and so is more accomplished at it - there have been illegal evictions (one served on a 12-year-old child, according to a court filing) and citations and fines for letting the properties he has acquired fall into disrepair, scarring the surrounding neighborhoods.
So let's see - they've got legislative experience in common, they've all been publicly-elected treasurers, and they aren't overly encumbered by ethics in their financial dealings.
What else could PeteRsen, MaRtin, and SchweikeRt have in common? I wondeRRRRR...
Anyway, while he has never been a legislator, Doug Ducey, R candidate for Arizona State Treasurer, is arguably already more accomplished at predatory and corrupt financial dealings than any of the others.
May he never get the chance to add "publicly-elected treasurer" to the list of things that he has in common with Schweikert, Martin, and Petersen, and may Schweikert not get the chance to take his brand of vulturism to D.C.
We need more public servants in public office, not more predators using public office for their private gain.
Vote for Andrei Cherny and Harry Mitchell.
Exhibit A: Former State Treasurer David Petersen. A former state legislator who resigned in disgrace from the state treasurer's job after an investigation into his improper use of public monies to fund his private business activities (ironically, the business was as a "character education" provider).
Exhibit B: Current and soon-to-be former State Treasurer Dean Martin. A former state legislator who should (but won't) resign in disgrace from the state treasurer's job after proudly proclaiming on a national radio program his status as a vulture investor who is profiting from the scandal-plagued foreclosure crisis that is wracking families across Arizona and the country.
Exhibit C: Former Maricopa County Treasurer David Schweikert. A former state legislator who has been outed as a predatory vulture foreclosure investor, like Martin above. He's been at it longer than Martin, and so is more accomplished at it - there have been illegal evictions (one served on a 12-year-old child, according to a court filing) and citations and fines for letting the properties he has acquired fall into disrepair, scarring the surrounding neighborhoods.
So let's see - they've got legislative experience in common, they've all been publicly-elected treasurers, and they aren't overly encumbered by ethics in their financial dealings.
What else could PeteRsen, MaRtin, and SchweikeRt have in common? I wondeRRRRR...
Anyway, while he has never been a legislator, Doug Ducey, R candidate for Arizona State Treasurer, is arguably already more accomplished at predatory and corrupt financial dealings than any of the others.
May he never get the chance to add "publicly-elected treasurer" to the list of things that he has in common with Schweikert, Martin, and Petersen, and may Schweikert not get the chance to take his brand of vulturism to D.C.
We need more public servants in public office, not more predators using public office for their private gain.
Vote for Andrei Cherny and Harry Mitchell.
Funny, but painfully true, video parody of David Schweikert and the Tea Party platform
A new video is up on YouTube. It's definitely worth a chuckle, especially if you're watching the CD5 race.
Or have to deal with another tea party candidate ("Obama, Obama, Obama! Pelosi, Pelosi, Pelosi!" - priceless! :) )
Or have to deal with another tea party candidate ("Obama, Obama, Obama! Pelosi, Pelosi, Pelosi!" - priceless! :) )
It's getting Ugly out there...
As we approach Election Day, any Republican facade of civility is sloughing off in the heat of the races.
Witness recent developments:
- A conservative astroturf group, "Latinos for Reform" released a Spanish-language TV spot that attempted to suppress Latino voter turnout...
- GOP/tea party operatives are running voter suppression efforts in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, and elsewhere that are specifically targeted at Democratic-leaning minority communities...
- Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce (R-National Alliance) has announced his latest effort to inflict his vision of ethnic purity on America - he's targeting the 14th Amendment and its provision that grants citizenship to children born in the USA.
It won't succeed, and I suspect Pearce knows that, but it keeps the conversation on a topic that the Rs think they can win on - demonization of the "other" - and may provide the fading Jan Brewer an SB1070-like bump at the polls.
- A Pearce clone in Florida, State Rep. William Snyder, has proposed a version of the infamous SB1070, one that carves out an exemption for white people in the form of a presumption that anyone from Canada or a "visa waiver" country is in the U.S. legally.
The vast majority of the countries that are part of the visa waiver program are European; none are Latin American.
- Then just yesterday, Congressman Raul Grijalva's Tucson office was shut down and evacuated after someone sent it a swastika-covered package containing a toxic substance.
Lies, hatred, threats of violence - the Rs are pulling out all the stops this year, and the only way to stop them is to urge your family, friends, and neighbors to stand strong for their community against the Republicans, their contempt for civility, and their fear-mongering.
Everybody who can vote, *should,* and they should be able to exercise their rights free from intimidation and fraudulent attempts to stifle their participation America's political process.
Note: The Arizona Humanities Council will present a screening of the documentary 9500 Liberty on Tuesday evening at the Arizona Historical Society Museum in Tempe. 9500 Liberty covers the effects (and failure) of an SB1070-like law in Prince William County, Virginia.
Details:
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
6:00-8:00 pm
Arizona Historical Society Museum
1300 N. College Avenue
Tempe, AZ 85281
Later...
Witness recent developments:
- A conservative astroturf group, "Latinos for Reform" released a Spanish-language TV spot that attempted to suppress Latino voter turnout...
- GOP/tea party operatives are running voter suppression efforts in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, and elsewhere that are specifically targeted at Democratic-leaning minority communities...
- Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce (R-National Alliance) has announced his latest effort to inflict his vision of ethnic purity on America - he's targeting the 14th Amendment and its provision that grants citizenship to children born in the USA.
It won't succeed, and I suspect Pearce knows that, but it keeps the conversation on a topic that the Rs think they can win on - demonization of the "other" - and may provide the fading Jan Brewer an SB1070-like bump at the polls.
- A Pearce clone in Florida, State Rep. William Snyder, has proposed a version of the infamous SB1070, one that carves out an exemption for white people in the form of a presumption that anyone from Canada or a "visa waiver" country is in the U.S. legally.
The vast majority of the countries that are part of the visa waiver program are European; none are Latin American.
- Then just yesterday, Congressman Raul Grijalva's Tucson office was shut down and evacuated after someone sent it a swastika-covered package containing a toxic substance.
Lies, hatred, threats of violence - the Rs are pulling out all the stops this year, and the only way to stop them is to urge your family, friends, and neighbors to stand strong for their community against the Republicans, their contempt for civility, and their fear-mongering.
Everybody who can vote, *should,* and they should be able to exercise their rights free from intimidation and fraudulent attempts to stifle their participation America's political process.
Note: The Arizona Humanities Council will present a screening of the documentary 9500 Liberty on Tuesday evening at the Arizona Historical Society Museum in Tempe. 9500 Liberty covers the effects (and failure) of an SB1070-like law in Prince William County, Virginia.
Details:
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
6:00-8:00 pm
Arizona Historical Society Museum
1300 N. College Avenue
Tempe, AZ 85281
Later...
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Why don't we build anything anymore?
From AP via Yahoo! News -
Yet those things, like the interstate highway system, transcontinental rail system, the Hoover Dam, Tennessee Valley Authority, and more all created the infrastructure necessary to encourage and sustain the American economy in ways that short-sighted "free market" theorists (who are usually nothing more than corporate lobbyists with an academic degree) will never admit to.
Those lobbyists would rather not have roads to carry their products/services on than have to pay for those roads.
If the "free market" was left entirely to its own devices, there wouldn't be much electricity or water in Arizona, hence there wouldn't be much Arizona.
However, because of federal projects and spending on things like the Central Arizona Project, Arizona is home to millions of people, as opposed to the thousands (not hundreds of thousands, just thousands) that could or would live here without them.
The Party of No, whether the large-scale version in D.C., the smaller version at the AZ lege, or the street corner variety in places like Scottsdale ("no light rail for us!"), is all about protecting the short-term revenue streams of corporations and the already-wealthy.
Years ago (and now, for that matter), the Rs would rationalize their tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations by saying that "a rising tide lifts all boats." The implication was that by helping the wealthy, the wealthy would help everyone else.
It was and is the era of "trickle down" economics. Yes, I know that this is a very simple, even simplistic, explanation, but tinkle down economics isn't the focus of this post.
What the state and the country should understand is that is backward thinking. The country's real need is long-term thinking, and a realization that the rising tide that lifts working fishing trawlers first also eventually lifts luxury passenger liners as the working class starts spending money.
By sacrificing America's future economic viability in order to bolster corporations' immediate bottom lines, the Party of No is crippling America for decades, possibly ever.
NEWARK, N.J. – New Jersey's governor wants to kill a $9 billion-plus train tunnel to New York City because of runaway costs. Six thousand miles away, Hawaii's outgoing governor is having second thoughts about a proposed $5.5 billion rail line in Honolulu.Many public works projects are decried as "pork" or "the government interfering in the free market" by Republicans.
In many of the 48 states in between, infrastructure projects are languishing on the drawing board, awaiting the right mix of creative financing, political arm-twisting and timing to move forward. And a struggling economy and a surge of political candidates opposed to big spending could make it a long wait.
Yet those things, like the interstate highway system, transcontinental rail system, the Hoover Dam, Tennessee Valley Authority, and more all created the infrastructure necessary to encourage and sustain the American economy in ways that short-sighted "free market" theorists (who are usually nothing more than corporate lobbyists with an academic degree) will never admit to.
Those lobbyists would rather not have roads to carry their products/services on than have to pay for those roads.
If the "free market" was left entirely to its own devices, there wouldn't be much electricity or water in Arizona, hence there wouldn't be much Arizona.
However, because of federal projects and spending on things like the Central Arizona Project, Arizona is home to millions of people, as opposed to the thousands (not hundreds of thousands, just thousands) that could or would live here without them.
The Party of No, whether the large-scale version in D.C., the smaller version at the AZ lege, or the street corner variety in places like Scottsdale ("no light rail for us!"), is all about protecting the short-term revenue streams of corporations and the already-wealthy.
Years ago (and now, for that matter), the Rs would rationalize their tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations by saying that "a rising tide lifts all boats." The implication was that by helping the wealthy, the wealthy would help everyone else.
It was and is the era of "trickle down" economics. Yes, I know that this is a very simple, even simplistic, explanation, but tinkle down economics isn't the focus of this post.
What the state and the country should understand is that is backward thinking. The country's real need is long-term thinking, and a realization that the rising tide that lifts working fishing trawlers first also eventually lifts luxury passenger liners as the working class starts spending money.
By sacrificing America's future economic viability in order to bolster corporations' immediate bottom lines, the Party of No is crippling America for decades, possibly ever.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Ben Arredondo honored for his public service
From the East Valley Tribune -
Learn more about Ben, his career, and his campaign for the Arizona House of Representatives here.
The Tempe Sports Complex will be rededicated Monday in the name of former Councilman Ben Arredondo. A ceremony will include Arredondo, U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz., and former Mayor Neil Giuliano.Congratulations to Ben!
Arredondo was on Tempe’s Council for 16 years and is a former high school teacher, coach and member of the Tempe Elementary School District governing board. He helped create the annual Tempe Tardeada event and worked on a Tempe History Museum exhibit that features memories of Hispanic community members.
Learn more about Ben, his career, and his campaign for the Arizona House of Representatives here.
Another Veterans' Group Grades Harry Mitchell - A+, of course
The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) Action Fund has given out its grades to Congress in its 2010 Congressional Report Card.
The grades for the AZ delegation can be found here.
Summary:
Harry Mitchell - A+ (whooo hoooo!)
Ann Kirkpatrick - A+
Ed Pastor - A
Gabrielle Giffords - B
Raul Grijalva - C
Jon Kyl - D
John McCain - D
Trent Franks - D
Jeff Flake - F
John Shaddegg - F
The interesting part? The lowest-graded Democrat in Arizona, Raul Grijalva, still out-paced the highest-graded Republicans from our state, Franks, McCain, and Kyl.
Apparently "anti-war" isn't synonymous with "anti-warrior" and "pro-war" isn't synonymous with "pro-warrior."
No matter how much the Rs protest to the contrary.
The grades for the AZ delegation can be found here.
Summary:
Harry Mitchell - A+ (whooo hoooo!)
Ann Kirkpatrick - A+
Ed Pastor - A
Gabrielle Giffords - B
Raul Grijalva - C
Jon Kyl - D
John McCain - D
Trent Franks - D
Jeff Flake - F
John Shaddegg - F
The interesting part? The lowest-graded Democrat in Arizona, Raul Grijalva, still out-paced the highest-graded Republicans from our state, Franks, McCain, and Kyl.
Apparently "anti-war" isn't synonymous with "anti-warrior" and "pro-war" isn't synonymous with "pro-warrior."
No matter how much the Rs protest to the contrary.
Scottsdale City Council bails out Arizona American Water
After more than 2 hours of presentations and discussions at Tuesday's meeting of the Scottsdale City Council, the Council voted 5 - 2 to enter into a "Treat and Transport" agreement with Arizona American Water (AAW) whereby Scottsdale will treat TCE-contaminated water from wells controlled by AAW and then return it ("transport") back to AAW's system for delivery to its customers.
Previous posts on the matter here and here.
I'll keep this brief because I walked out of the meeting thoroughly ticked off at the selling out of Scottsdale residents by the majority on the Council, and that anger will affect the quality of my writing.
The five members who voted to shoulder AAW's cleanup responsibilities were Mayor Jim Lane, Vice-Mayor Suzanne Klapp, Council member Wayne Ecton, Council member Bob Littlefield, and Council member Marg Nelssen.
Littlefield and Ecton are up for reelection this year. Littlefield's support of AAW was no surprise - he's long been a corporate apologist. Ecton's was a bit of a surprise, and he had a seriously sour look on his face when he cast his vote, but he voted in favor of AAW nonetheless.
The two members who supported condemnation of AAW were Council member Ron McCullagh and Council member Lisa Borowsky.
McCullagh's support of condemnation was no surprise - he's a customer of AAW and has been the victim of their screw-ups (and AAW's arrogance about those screw-ups) for years. Borowsky's support of condemnation was weaker and seemed to be rooted in some reservations about the trustworthiness of the AAW figures that she has met with, not in a whole-hearted support for acquiring AAW's Scottsdale operation and folding their customers into the Scottsdale municipal system.
In the interests of keeping this brief, and because the AZ Republic will probably cover the matter in more depth later today, here are some observations from the meeting:
- It was definitely a "strange bedfellows" sort of evening - Lane and Littlefield were on the same side of the issue as the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce. Definitely an unusual event.
- More "strange bedfellows" - former (2008) rivals for the R nod for CD5, Laura Knaperek and Susan Bitter Smith, were there to lobby for AAW. I'm not sure that it means much, but they stayed well away from each other during the meeting.
- They weren't even together during the group hug/backslapping session held outside City Hall by AAW's lobbyists after the hearing.
- Two member of the governing board of the Central Arizona Project were in the Kiva to support AAW, though neither was ID'ed as such. Both Tim Bray, who spoke, and Bitter Smith are current members of the Board. Bray is running for reelection; Bitter Smith is not.
- Before the meeting hypocrisy alert (unrelated to the AAW matter) - at the beginning of the meeting, Jim Lane proudly announced that the City had purchased more land for the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, partially with money from the Growing Smarter/Land Conservation Fund.
A fund that Republicans, including Lane, want to dismantle in favor of corporate tax cuts (Proposition 301).
All in all, it was a very frustrating evening, both for me and for most of the residents in the Kiva. The vast majority of those who weren't there on AAW's dime strongly supported condemnation.
I left the building with one thought - if the issue at hand was a tattoo parlor in north Scottsdale increasing profits by cutting corners on needles, and exposing residents of north Scottsdale to hepatitis, HIV, or something else, the Council would have fallen all over itself to shut down the operation and kick it out of Scottsdale. However, the people exposed to poison as a result of AAW's shoddy maintenance practices (and that was part of the final report of the investigation looking into the incidents that precipitated Tuesday's agenda item) were all in south Scottsdale.
People noticed that, and many of the folks walking out of the Kiva after the meeting left muttering that they would be supporting whoever runs for Mayor against Lane in 2012.
While Tuesday's meeting was a serious setback for supporters of good governance, from any partisan affiliation (I'm a D, yet both McCullagh and Borowsky are active Rs), something tells me this isn't over. Tuesday's vote was for approval of guidance to City staff, not on approval of a specific contract.
Later...
Previous posts on the matter here and here.
I'll keep this brief because I walked out of the meeting thoroughly ticked off at the selling out of Scottsdale residents by the majority on the Council, and that anger will affect the quality of my writing.
The five members who voted to shoulder AAW's cleanup responsibilities were Mayor Jim Lane, Vice-Mayor Suzanne Klapp, Council member Wayne Ecton, Council member Bob Littlefield, and Council member Marg Nelssen.
Littlefield and Ecton are up for reelection this year. Littlefield's support of AAW was no surprise - he's long been a corporate apologist. Ecton's was a bit of a surprise, and he had a seriously sour look on his face when he cast his vote, but he voted in favor of AAW nonetheless.
The two members who supported condemnation of AAW were Council member Ron McCullagh and Council member Lisa Borowsky.
McCullagh's support of condemnation was no surprise - he's a customer of AAW and has been the victim of their screw-ups (and AAW's arrogance about those screw-ups) for years. Borowsky's support of condemnation was weaker and seemed to be rooted in some reservations about the trustworthiness of the AAW figures that she has met with, not in a whole-hearted support for acquiring AAW's Scottsdale operation and folding their customers into the Scottsdale municipal system.
In the interests of keeping this brief, and because the AZ Republic will probably cover the matter in more depth later today, here are some observations from the meeting:
- It was definitely a "strange bedfellows" sort of evening - Lane and Littlefield were on the same side of the issue as the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce. Definitely an unusual event.
- More "strange bedfellows" - former (2008) rivals for the R nod for CD5, Laura Knaperek and Susan Bitter Smith, were there to lobby for AAW. I'm not sure that it means much, but they stayed well away from each other during the meeting.
- They weren't even together during the group hug/backslapping session held outside City Hall by AAW's lobbyists after the hearing.
- Two member of the governing board of the Central Arizona Project were in the Kiva to support AAW, though neither was ID'ed as such. Both Tim Bray, who spoke, and Bitter Smith are current members of the Board. Bray is running for reelection; Bitter Smith is not.
- Before the meeting hypocrisy alert (unrelated to the AAW matter) - at the beginning of the meeting, Jim Lane proudly announced that the City had purchased more land for the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, partially with money from the Growing Smarter/Land Conservation Fund.
A fund that Republicans, including Lane, want to dismantle in favor of corporate tax cuts (Proposition 301).
All in all, it was a very frustrating evening, both for me and for most of the residents in the Kiva. The vast majority of those who weren't there on AAW's dime strongly supported condemnation.
I left the building with one thought - if the issue at hand was a tattoo parlor in north Scottsdale increasing profits by cutting corners on needles, and exposing residents of north Scottsdale to hepatitis, HIV, or something else, the Council would have fallen all over itself to shut down the operation and kick it out of Scottsdale. However, the people exposed to poison as a result of AAW's shoddy maintenance practices (and that was part of the final report of the investigation looking into the incidents that precipitated Tuesday's agenda item) were all in south Scottsdale.
People noticed that, and many of the folks walking out of the Kiva after the meeting left muttering that they would be supporting whoever runs for Mayor against Lane in 2012.
While Tuesday's meeting was a serious setback for supporters of good governance, from any partisan affiliation (I'm a D, yet both McCullagh and Borowsky are active Rs), something tells me this isn't over. Tuesday's vote was for approval of guidance to City staff, not on approval of a specific contract.
Later...
2012 starts now - Redistricting Commission applicants being reviewed
I can hear the groans of "What? 2010 isn't even over yet!" already...
The list of applicants for the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission is available. The Commission on Appellate Court Appointments will screen the applicants, nominating 25 out of the 79. Out of those 25, five will actually be appointed - 2 Ds, 2 Rs, and 1 Independent.
The press release in its entirety -
The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission's website is here.
The Arizona Judicial Nominating Commissions' website is here. (The Commission on Appellate Court Appointments is one of the JNCs.)
The list of applicants for the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission is available. The Commission on Appellate Court Appointments will screen the applicants, nominating 25 out of the 79. Out of those 25, five will actually be appointed - 2 Ds, 2 Rs, and 1 Independent.
The press release in its entirety -
STATE SEEKS COMMENT ON APPLICANTS FOR ARIZONA REDISTRICTING COMMISSION
The public is being asked for comments on 79 applicants for Arizona’s Independent Redistricting Commission, which will oversee the mapping of Arizona’s congressional and legislative districts in 2011.
The Arizona constitution directs the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments to review the applications and by January 8 to nominate 25 people to serve. Four elected officials will appoint the first four members of the Redistricting Commission. The fifth member will be chosen by the four members appointed to the commission.
No more than two members of the Redistricting Commission can be members of the same political party. Of the first four appointed, no more than two can be residents of the same county. Among the applicants there are 31 Republicans, 31 Democrats, and 17 Independents. Applications were received from 11 of Arizona’s 15 counties.
An alphabetical list of all applicants follows. Lists are also available by political affiliation or county by calling (602) 452-3311 or at the nomination website, http://www.arizonaredistricting-nominations.com/.
The applications will be reviewed at a public meeting on November 16. The meeting will be held at the Arizona State Courts Building in Phoenix, 1501 W. Washington, Conf. Rm. 345, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Citizens may address the Appellate Commission at that time or send written comments to 1501 W. Washington, Suite 221, Phoenix, AZ 85007. Written comments must be received by November 10 to be considered.
The Appellate Commission may vote on nominations for the Redistricting Commission at the November 16 meeting or at a later meeting.
APPLICANTS FOR REDISTRICTING COMMISSION
Allmon, Kathleen Patricia
Ashton, MarcThe applications can be viewed here.
Bates, Gary
Bender, Paul
Bladine, Raymond Frank
Broderson, Gerald C.
Broome, Beth Frances
Bruner, Jim
Busching, Marcia J.
Cafarelli, Eugene Joseph
Campos-Outcalt, Doug
Cannon, Robert Lawrence
Castle, Catherine
Charlson, Gary W.
Clark, Andrew
Collins, Thomas E.
Daggett, David Colby
De Leon, Louis Armando
Dickman, Frances Baker
Echeveste, Adolfo P.
Ehre, Stephen Jon
Francisco, Warren Barton
Freeman, Scott Day
Gallagher, Richard
Genna, Ignazio Edward
Gibson, Bonnie
Gleason, Christopher Mark
Gonzales, Luis Armando
Goronkin, Pamela Louise
Harowitz, David James
Hatton, Patricia Ann
Henderson, Eric Bryce
Herrera, José Manuel
Howell, Adrienne Y.
Inks, Peter Alfred
Johnson, Karl Joseph
Keck, John Martin
Kuby, Michael
Kuttner Ludwig G.
Lanning, Kimber Layne
LeSueur, Daniel M.
Littleton, Steven Johnson
Lucero, Frank A.
Mapstead, Jim
Martin, Elizabeth Louise
Mathis, Coleen Coyle
McNulty, Linda C.
McWhortor, Patrick
Miller, Jeffrey D.
Mills, Karen R.
Mohrweis, Lawrence Charles
Moore, James Harvey
Morrison, Todd Arnold
Narwid, Thomas A.
Overton, Timothy Warren
Perry, Micahel Reddick
Roe, William Garfitt
Rubin, Mark David
Russell, Crystal A.
Schnepf, Mark Edward
Schorr, S.L. "Si"
Schwalbe, Leslie Ann
Searles, William Aaron Montano
Shelton, John Michael
Shultz, Susan Fried
Silva, Margarita
Smith, Jimmie Dee
Smith, Ross Alan
Sossaman, Stephen J.
Spears, Linda
Stertz, Richard
Switsky, Terry June
Urias, Sr., Rodolfo Guerrero
Walker, Valerie
Werner, Lynn
White, Benny E.
Williams, Christian Moore
Winzer, Kimulet Wardie
Worden, Marshall A.
The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission's website is here.
The Arizona Judicial Nominating Commissions' website is here. (The Commission on Appellate Court Appointments is one of the JNCs.)
Monday, October 18, 2010
Got some good news, got some bad news
OK, for some it's "bad news, good news"...
...Good news for the Schweikert campaign - this is his third campaign for Congress, and Jackass 3D was #1 at the box office this weekend. Sequels had some strength this weekend.
...Bad news for the Schweikert campaign - the election wasn't this weekend.
...Bad news for the Ken Bennett campaign - setting up an office in the basement of a lobbyist's office doesn't look good for a candidate for an office that is supposed to be all about integrity.
...Good news for Bennett - He's already set up his desk for his post-election job.
...Bad news for Ben "Tater Tot" Quayle in CD3 - a new poll shows him *behind* Democrat Jon Hulburd in the Republican-leaning district.
...Good news for Quayle - if he goes on to lose the race (and since his "unfavorables" are above 50%, that's a strong possibility), he should remember that the son of another famous politician lost his first campaign, a campaign for Congress. When George H.W. Bush tried to buy a seat in Congress for his son George W., the future "worst president ever" failed miserably to win what should have been a "safe" seat for any credible R candidate.
...Of course, that good news for Quayle isn't good news for the rest of us.
...Good news for the Brewer campaign - she's found a way to move attention away from concerns about her health and her ability to serve a full term in the Governor's office..
...Bad news for the Brewer campaign - that way involves irritating voters by hiding from them, decreasing the chance that after the election, she will have the opportunity to serve a full term.
Pic courtesy the Terry Goddard for Governor Facebook page...
At least she was consistent all day - she blew off senior voters during the day, and educators and students during the evening.
...Good news for the Schweikert campaign - this is his third campaign for Congress, and Jackass 3D was #1 at the box office this weekend. Sequels had some strength this weekend.
...Bad news for the Schweikert campaign - the election wasn't this weekend.
...Bad news for the Ken Bennett campaign - setting up an office in the basement of a lobbyist's office doesn't look good for a candidate for an office that is supposed to be all about integrity.
...Good news for Bennett - He's already set up his desk for his post-election job.
...Bad news for Ben "Tater Tot" Quayle in CD3 - a new poll shows him *behind* Democrat Jon Hulburd in the Republican-leaning district.
...Good news for Quayle - if he goes on to lose the race (and since his "unfavorables" are above 50%, that's a strong possibility), he should remember that the son of another famous politician lost his first campaign, a campaign for Congress. When George H.W. Bush tried to buy a seat in Congress for his son George W., the future "worst president ever" failed miserably to win what should have been a "safe" seat for any credible R candidate.
...Of course, that good news for Quayle isn't good news for the rest of us.
...Good news for the Brewer campaign - she's found a way to move attention away from concerns about her health and her ability to serve a full term in the Governor's office..
...Bad news for the Brewer campaign - that way involves irritating voters by hiding from them, decreasing the chance that after the election, she will have the opportunity to serve a full term.
Pic courtesy the Terry Goddard for Governor Facebook page...
At least she was consistent all day - she blew off senior voters during the day, and educators and students during the evening.
Letter to the editor regarding Harry Mitchell
Recently, but more than a week ago, I submitted a letter to the editor to the Arizona Republic. It was considered for publication, but apparently was passed over.
No problem. There are other outlets for my insightful (yet humble) observations. :)
The letter as submitted -
No problem. There are other outlets for my insightful (yet humble) observations. :)
The letter as submitted -
Dear Editor,Volunteer to help Harry keep helping us.
I urge everyone in the 5th Congressional District to support one of Arizona's longtime public servants, Congressman Harry Mitchell.
People, including me, may not agree with every single vote that he casts in Congress, but I've never disagreed with the motivation behind those votes - looking out for the best interests of his constituents.
Whether it is fighting for America's (and Arizona's) veterans, striving for fiscal responsibility in Washington, or working to strengthen our schools, Mitchell has always put his constituents first, and deserves our renewed support.
While his detractors like to ridicule him for "having his heart in the right place," they should consider the idea that in an ideal world, every elected official should have their hearts in the right place..
Voters can send a message by voting to reelect Harry Mitchell.
CD5 is one of the places that still values public service instead of vilifying it.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Public comment submitted to the Scottsdale City Council on Arizona American Water agenda item
The following comment was submitted to the Scottsdale City Council regarding item number 22 of Tuesday's agenda, consideration of options regarding the operations and facilities of Arizona American Water (see this earlier post for more info).
The comment -
The above comment is sure to annoy certain people (such as regular reader Thane :) ), but while I would strongly oppose a move to take property from one private owner in order to transfer it to another, more politically-favored, private owner (see Kelo v. New London), this truly is a matter of the public good.
The comment -
Mayor Lane and members of the Council,
By now, you are familiar with the history behind item 22 of this week's agenda - the discovery of contaminated groundwater in south Scottsdale, the clean up efforts, and particularly, the failures of Arizona American Water (AAW) to perform its duties in this regard.
Failures that exposed thousands of Scottsdale residents to contaminated drinking water.
On Tuesday, October 19, you will be considering two possible options for dealing with those failures.
One option is to engage in a "Treat and Transport" agreement with Arizona American Water. The City would handle the "treatment" (cleanup) of AAW water before forwarding it to AAW's system so that AAW could then deliver it to their customers.
The second option would be to acquire AAW's assets in the affected area through a condemnation proceeding and to bring those customers into the municipal water delivery system.
The report from City Staff cites low short-term costs and resource consumption as advantages of the "Treat and Transport" option while citing the opposite as among the disadvantages of the "condemnation" option.
City Staff favors the "Treat and Transport" approach (http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/2010/10/15/20101015sr-azwater1016.html), however, I am urging you to give serious consideration to acquiring AAW's Scottsdale assets through condemnation.
To be certain, condemnation of private property is a serious issue and not something to be undertaken on a whim or lark. However, in this case it is wholly appropriate.
With its failures, AAW's operation has become a public health risk, one that merits the removal of AAW from Scottsdale (at a fair price, of course.)
The draft agreement included in the Council Report on this item does include insurance provisions, but those provisions do not cover liability incurred for failure to properly treat contaminated water.
The very reason that this item is before you.
Either option would result in the City assuming that liability. However, the "Treat and Transport" option would cause the City to incur that risk while AAW would retain the profit from the City's efforts to clean the contaminated water.
Much like the federal bailout of Wall Street, that kind of socialization of risk and privatization of profit hurts the public interest far more than it helps it.
Inevitably, a number of lobbyists for AAW will decry any move to condemn AAW's Scottsdale operation as an inappropriate interference with the "free market" and an improper abrogation of "private property rights."
And if the issue at hand concerned a Brown Avenue retailer selling overpriced yet substandard trinkets to tourists, I would agree with them. While sales to tourists are important to Scottsdale's economy, they aren't a matter of life or death.
However, the matter at hand it water, something we all need to survive. "Substandard" isn't good enough.
Those lobbyists will be looking to safeguard AAW's short-term interests, and that is their job.
Your job is to look after the long-term interests of the residents of Scottsdale.
Thank your for your time.
Regards,
[cpmaz]
The above comment is sure to annoy certain people (such as regular reader Thane :) ), but while I would strongly oppose a move to take property from one private owner in order to transfer it to another, more politically-favored, private owner (see Kelo v. New London), this truly is a matter of the public good.
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