AZSOS Michele Reagan to Clean Elections Commission: "Do as I do, not as I say"

...In her case, what she says is all about transparent and honest elections; what she *does* is most assuredly not about about transparent and honest elections.

Oh yeah - as Arizona's Secretary of State, she is the state's chief elections officer.

Then-Senator Reagan in 2011, speaking in Scottsdale against the redistricting process

From the Arizona Republic, written by Mary Jo Pitzl, dated 21 August 2015 -

The turf war between the Arizona Secretary of State and the Clean Elections Commission is continuing, but on a slower timetable and with softer, yet stern, rhetoric.

On Thursday, Secretary of State Michele Reagan told the five commissioners to “tread lightly” as they consider a rule that could force disclosure of so-called “dark-money” contributors.

“I believe you have noble intentions,” Reagan said. “You want to be able to rein in groups if they corrupt our election system.”

But, she continued, the way the commission is trying to do that would set a precedent that she called “extremely troubling.”

Now, when Secretary Reagan was "Senator Reagan" and only a candidate for AZSOS, she talked a good game (OK, it was an "alright" game, and then only if you didn't listen too closely...but I digress).


From the Arizona Republic, written by Mary Jo Pitzl, dated 31 October 2014 -

Reagan, as chairman of the Senate Elections Committee, sponsored a bill this year that would have required disclosure of the "identifiable contributors" who are the original source of money for an independent-expenditure committee. This would have cut through the layers of intermediary groups that have merely passed along campaign cash to the committee. Senate Bill 1403 also would have required all political ads, signs, brochures and other materials to list the top three contributors.

The bill passed her committee on a unanimous vote, then never surfaced again.

That last part, the "never surfaced again" part, was a distinct pattern for Reagan during her time in the state senate - not only did 2014's SB1403 "mysteriously" die in committee, so did a slew of her election "reform" bills in 2013.

Her "reforms" were almost all about voter suppression and while Reagan's bills died, the voter suppression clauses were folded into the now-infamous HB2305.

She wasn't listed as one of the sponsors of the bill (plausible deniability?), but she was one the conference committee members that help to turn a previously (relatively) innocuous bill into a true nugget of ugly.

That bill was passed and signed into law by then-Governor Jan Brewer.

It was then subject to a petition effort to refer it to the 2014 ballot to be overturned (or upheld) by the voters.

The petition drive was successful, more or less.

Enough signatures were gathered to freeze implementation of the measure and refer it to the ballot.

The lege, still having a few active brain cells under their tin foil tricorner hats and realizing that having on the ballot something that would serve to highlight GOP voter suppression efforts would be very bad (for them, anyway), promptly repealed HB2305 during the early days of the 2014 session, rendering the petition drive/ballot referral moot.


Reagan's conflict with the Citizens Clean Election Commission seems to rise from the fact that they aren't willing to be paper tigers, unwilling to do anything to upset the dark money-fueled gravy train that so many at the state capitol so enthusiastically ride.

Maybe if, instead of just talking a good game, Reagan was interested in doing her job conscientiously and honorably, it wouldn't be necessary for the CCEC to intervene.

This could get *fun* in a hurry: Southern AZ Republicans possibly involved with a prostitution ring

One of the main reasons that I don't subscribe the Cap Times is that it so rarely breaks a story that a) is interesting, and b) isn't already known by folks who pay attention to the antics of AZ's political class.

However, once in a long while...

From the Arizona Capitol Times, written by Hank Stephenson -

If you’re a well-known Republican from south of the Gila River, there’s a good chance your name is listed in police documents alongside hundreds of “Johns” suspected of frequenting a Tucson prostitution ring.

The rest of the story is behind their subscriber paywall, so I don't know with certainty if names are named, but given that this story was posted on Friday morning and the AZ political world hasn't exploded, yet, I'm guessing no names have been published.

Emphasis on "yet".

Stay tuned on this one.

The "Arizona two-step" is becoming a line dance: Ducey joins the lege's Rs in "going dark"

Earlier this week, the Republicans in the Arizona House of Representatives voted to close their caucus meetings to the public.

Now, new governor Doug "Dark Money" Ducey has joined them in the effort to impair the ability of Arizonans to keep an eye on activities at the Capitol - he's removed the visitor logs from the governor's office.

From ProgressNow Arizona -

Gov. Doug Ducey, who surfed a wave of anonymous dark money into office in November, does not want the public to know who is coming up to the ninth floor to meet with him. Earlier this week, the visitor’s log that had been on the 8^th floor of the Executive Tower through multiple governors quietly disappeared. In the Capitol Times Yellowsheet, where the story broke, a Ducey spokesman defended the lack of transparency. Ducey’s flack said ditching the visitors log would make the office “more efficient” because the logs weren’t always accurate.

Like his fellow travelers at the lege, Ducey doesn't want the public (or the working media) to know what is going on at the Capitol and he is doing whatever he can to impede scrutiny.

If the anti-transparency efforts get any more widespread, the "line dance" will become an "orgy".

Which brings us to a proposal from my "favorite" state senator, John Kavanagh (R-LD23).

His SB1098 would *quadruple* the size of public service corporations (energy utilities, water companies, etc.) allowed to seek consumer rate increases without a public hearing before the Arizona Corporation Commission.

Should we put together a referendum campaign to change the state constitution so that when our state's electeds foist their typical "public policy" off on the public, they have to wear condoms while doing so?

At least until they understand the difference between "doing the public good" and "doing the public".



Notes:

In this context, "favorite" is sarcastic.

SB1098 is being fast-tracked - it's scheduled to go before the state senate's Committee on Commerce and Workforce Development on Monday (1:45 p.m., SHR1).

Republicans in the AZ lege doing the Arizona two-step over transparency

I chose "two-step" after consideration other possibilities like " 'do as we say, not as we do' do-si-do" (too long for a post title), "bullshit boogie" (I try not to swear in post titles), "hypocrite shuffle" (not enough "ooomph"), and the like...

On Tuesday, the Republicans in the Arizona House of Representatives voted to change the rules of their chamber to allow them to close their caucus meeting to the public.

From the Casa Grande Dispatch, written by Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services -

Saying they sometimes need some privacy, House Republicans voted Tuesday to let themselves — and Democrats if they want — have closed-door discussions about pending issues.

House rules have required party caucuses to be open except for certain executive sessions for specified reasons. Historically, that has included the election of party leaders and advice from legal counsel about pending lawsuits.

The new rule, however, allows party leaders to shut the doors any time they want.

While the House Rs were doing their level best to reduce government transparency, Senate Rs were demanding more transparency of others.

On Tuesday, Senators Gail Griffin, Sylvia Allen, Barbara McGuire (a D, but don't let that fool you - she's a conservaDem of long standing), David Farnsworth, and John Kavanagh introduced SCM1012.

It was officially "First Read" (introduced) on Wednesday and assigned to a committee (Federalism, Mandates, and Fiscal Responsibility), where it has already been placed on an agenda (Tuesday, 9 a.m., SHR3).

The equivalent of a love letter to Congress (you can tell by the overuse of the word "whereas"), it "respectfully" (their word, but trust me, they don't mean it) requests that Congress pass a bill to require the US Fish and Wildlife Service to disclose how much they are spending to respond to lawsuits over the Endangered Species Act -

Whereas, the 21st Century Endangered Species Transparency Act would require the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to track, report to Congress and make available online the federal taxpayer funds used to respond to ESA lawsuits, the number of employees dedicated to ESA litigation and the amount of attorney fees awarded in the course of ESA litigation and settlement agreements; and...

Watching them in action makes me wonder one thing -

Where are they going to bury the "dancing shoes" line item in the budget this year?

Inquiring minds want to know: Is Republican candidate for SOS Wil Cardon encouraging petition fraud?

As in most states, in Arizona the chief elections office is the Secretary of State.

The two Republican candidates (so far) are State Sen. Michele Reagan and businessman (and 2012 candidate for US Senate) Wil Cardon.

Both candidates look to be running on campaign platforms that seem "counterintuitive" for candidates who are asking voters to put them in charge of the state's elections.

Reagan was the public face of most of the voter suppression provisions in HB2305, a bill so onerous in its design and planned implementation that a multipartisan (and nonpartisan) coalition of activists were able to gather enough signatures to refer the measure to next year's ballot.

Note: she wasn't the final sponsor of HB2305.  She tried to push most of the provisions through as individual bills.  However, her bills failed so most of the provisions were crammed into HB2305 and the package was railroaded through the legislature in one bill.

With Reagan staking out the "voter suppression" campaign turf, that apparently leaves Cardon with limited options, and he seems to be grabbing the "fraud" ground.

From his campaign's FB page -

Questioning my own eyes, I enlarged the picture -

Now, I could be wrong, and feel free to correct me if I am, but I think that the person signing Cardon's petition above is just a shade too young to do so.

Legally, anyway.

Arizona Legislature: "Silly season" becomes "ignorant and ugly season"

Normally, this would be time for the "coming week" post, but there truly isn't much on the schedule right now.  It's subject to change (and probably will change) at a moment's notice, but right now the highlight of the week looks to be the lege's annual House v. Senate softball game on Tuesday.  It is scheduled to take place at the field at SRP's PERA Club in Tempe (1 E. Continental Drive) at 5 p.m.

However, because of the light schedule (so far), it might be wise to use this opportunity to highlight why this may be the most dangerous time in this, or any other, session of the legislature.

This past Thursday, State Sen. Judy "Birther" Burges held a hearing to denounce the UN's Rio Declaration on Environment and Development in particular, and sustainability and "green" initiatives in general, as efforts to take away American sovereignty and Americans' freedom.

Perhaps (not-so) surprisingly, things got a little colorful.

Posted by State Sen. Steve Farley on Facebook - 

The most specific thing noted in the update, Rep. Bob "body armor shill" Thorpe's urging the crowd to commit a felony (violating ARS 13-3107, also known as "Shannon's Law"), could be considered a crime in and of itself (see: ARS 13-1002).  Assuming that Thorpe actually did this (and such an assumption is necessary as the video record of the meeting hasn't been posted on the lege's website), he has all-but-absolute legal immunity for anything he says while at the legislature.

Still, "immune" in this context doesn't mean "didn't violate the law"; it just means "not responsible for his words".

As for the part about pointing out "Sandy Bahr of the Sierra Club as a target"?  Until I see the recording of the meeting to see exactly what Thorpe said, I'll reserve comment.

Fair notice time:  If it turns out that Thorpe was advocating violence against someone because that person disagrees with him politically, that comment will be clear and direct.


All of this brings to mind the old saying - 

The devil finds work for idle hands.

 According to TheFreeDictionary.com, this means "something that you say which means people who have no work or activity are more likely to do things they should not do, such as commit crimes".

It's as if the creator of that saying had Rep. Bob Thorpe and the AZ lege in mind when they came up with it. 


Note: I've been told both that the meeting video will and will not be posted on the lege's website.  If it is, I'll link to it and do a fuller analysis and commentary.  Until, and if, that happens, I've got a few feelers out to people who were at the meeting.  However, it's the weekend, and I don't expect to hear from anyone until Monday at the earliest.

Breaking: Sen. Scott Bundgaard involved in a domestic violence incident

From the Arizona Republic -

Scott Bundgaard, R-Peoria, the majority leader of the Arizona state Senate, was briefly taken into custody with marks on his body Saturday, indicating he had been involved in a fight, an act of domestic violence, Phoenix police officers said.

Sgt. Tommy Thompson said police responded to a call of a man pulling a woman out of a gold vehicle, which was stopped northbound next to the median on Arizona 51, just south of Cactus Road.

Bundgaard invoked his legislative immunity to avoid arrest and incarceration,  However the woman in the car, who also had marks on her body indicating involvement in a fight, Aubry Ballard, was arrested on an assault charge.

More details as they become available...