I guess this lends new meaning to the phrase "Mickey Mouse operation"

From AZCentral.com (emphasis mine)-

Arizona collects and distributes millions of dollars every year from court fees so the 15 county sheriffs can improve their jails.

In Maricopa County, the Sheriff's Office has spent hundreds of thousands of those dollars on out-of-state travel for training, stays at luxury hotels and a staff party at a local amusement park, The Arizona Republic found.

{snip}

Reviewing those records, The Republic found money used for items directly related to Maricopa County jail operations, including security and video-visitation equipment, Tasers, mobile-security towers, polygraph systems, computer programs to enhance record keeping, body shields and gloves to protect guards.

Also listed in the records were staff trips and hotel stays at the Walt Disney Yacht Club Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.; Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville; Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas; the Bourbon Orleans French Quarter Hotel in New Orleans; and Paradise Point Resort & Spa in San Diego.

The MCSO stated that the expenses were related to needed training, but how do stays in Mickey's yacht club, Opryland, a Vegas casino and resort, and posh resorts in New Orleans and San Diego enhance training? I suppose the hooker patrol could find some "training opportunities" in those places, but that would be about it. :)

Later...

The coming week...

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

...In a move that is certain to brighten the days of Thane and certain other readers ( :-) ), the U. S. House of Representatives is on their "district work period" and is not in session until September 8, 2009.

...However, the U.S. Senate is still in session this week. Look for a vote on Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court.

...The Arizona State Legislature is scheduled to reconvene on Tuesday at 1 p.m. Your guess is as good as mine on whether or not they're going to actually accomplish anything this week. One thing is certain though - if they finally do get their act together, any budget they pass is most likely to be punitive, not professional.

...The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has an informal session scheduled for Monday at 9:15 a.m. The agenda is a sparse one, but unsurprisingly, it includes yet another executive session. At 9 a.m. on Wednesday, they've got a formal session scheduled. The agenda for that one is much longer, but looks to be pretty much run-of-the-mill stuff.

...The Arizona Corporation Commission will be holding a series of public comment meetings regarding proposed rate hikes for APS and UNS Gas. Up this week: Flagstaff on Monday and Prescott on Thursday. The full hearings schedule is here; no formal ACC meetings are scheduled this week.

...The Arizona Board of Regents is scheduled to meet on Thursday and Friday at ASU in Tempe. The agenda is here. One of the highlights is ABOR approval of a multi-year contract for ASU basketball coach Herb Sendek (hint: coaching D1 college hoops is a lucrative field :) ). There will also be a presentation on the activities of the legislature this year. For numbers geeks, ABOR will consider, and likely approve, an item regarding the FY2010 State Expenditure Authority.

Of interest to students, prospective students, and their parents will be an item to move the Board's tuition setting calendar back to the spring. A few years back, the tuition setting process was moved to the fall to allow students more time to prepare financially.

...The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project will hold a regular meeting on Thursday at 10 a.m. The agenda is here.

Not scheduled to meet this week: The Board of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System, the Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District, the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, and the City Councils of Tempe and Scottsdale.

Later...

An open letter to the moderate Republicans in the Arizona Legislature -

This one is a bit of a vent for some of the frustration that has built up from watching the lege inaction over the last seven months...

Relax and please don't be insulted by the term "moderate." I'm not saying that you are actually anything other than very conservative Republicans who, in most other parts of the country, would be considered some of the leading lights of the far-right branch of the local GOP.

However, some of you have a sense of civic duty and professionalism, and by the standard set by the Arizona GOP, that makes you moderates.

And with the collapse of yet another horrible budget deal, a deal that wasn't horrible enough to suit certain members of your caucus, it's time for you to step up for your constituents and for all Arizonans.

It may mean working with the Democrats to get something done...OK, there's no "may" about it at this point.

It's time to fashion a budget with no tax hikes or cuts.

A small tax hike or two could be put to the voters, but any budget should be crafted assuming that nothing will pass; if one does, in fact, gain voter approval, a brief (and probably fairly relaxed) special session can be called to deal with the additional revenue.

Yes, your more extreme colleagues will threaten electoral retaliation during next year's primary season, but let's be honest here - they're coming after you anyway.

If you don't believe that, just ask former colleagues like Pete Hershberger, Tom O'Halleran, and even Jennifer Burns. And that's just from the 2008 election cycle.

You were elected to do a job, to represent the best interests of your constituents, and in the past you have done it pretty well.

I may not always agree with some of your proposals and your votes, but always thought that the intent of those proposals and votes was honorable.

Now, your state and your constituents need that integrity and professionalism like they've never needed them before.

Step up.


To the Democrats in the legislature -

I realize that most of you already realize this, but even a more moderate budget proposal will still have massive cuts to services and schools. Unfortunately, the revenue just isn't there to be able to avoid some heartrending decisions.

And equally unfortunately, fiscal sanity isn't going to return to Arizona government until January 2011 at the earliest, and then only if enough voters do their part and step up by actually voting for the best candidates, not for blind ideology.

If some Republican moderates approach you (and you know who they are), step up and work with them in good faith. The state needs you to do so.


To Governor Brewer -

To be totally blunt Governor, by no real world standard could you be *ever* be considered a moderate.

However, Arizona is *not* the real world.

By the standard set by your GOP brethren in the legislature, you *are* a moderate.

Whether or not you stand for a full term as governor, there is going to be a vicious battle in the Republican primary.

If you choose to enter the race, you will be the underdog, even if you roll over for the extremists' budget.

However, if you do so and are able to win in the Republican primary, in the general election you will be running on the legacy as "The Governor who crippled Arizona for two decades, and did it in less than two years."

Not the best legacy, or platform, for a general election campaign.

When the moderates and the Democrats come to you with a feasible compromise, step up and work with them.


To the majority of the Republicans in the legislature -

You had pretty much everything you wanted - significant budget cuts to education and human services, huge tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, gifts to the homebuilder's association in the form of a moratorium on impact fees, and privatizing state assets so that private companies can profit from taxpayers, and more, but that still wasn't enough for you.

You didn't want to allow the voters to consider a temporary tax hike that would have slightly mitigated some of the impact of the devastation you were wreaking upon society's infrastructure.

Simply put, you got greedy.

Now, if the moderates and the Democrats can find the spine to stand up to your ideological bullying, you'll get *far* less of your ideological agenda than you would have if you had just taken what was there in early June.

When the Democrats and the moderates bring together a budget, step aside.


And lastly, to the voters of Arizona -

Step up and get involved.

Step up and pay attention to candidates, their qualifications, and their records.

Step up and vote for the candidate, not the party.


I'd love for most of you to become active Democrats (hey, I am a Democrat after all :) ), but many of you cherish your independence. Also, some of you are dyed-in-the-wool Republicans, and I respect that, believe it or not.

Get involved anyway.

Independents - find a candidate or candidates that you can support, regardless of their party affiliations, and volunteer your time and financial support.

Republicans - do your part to ensure that the candidates that your party puts forward places the long-term needs and interests of their constituents and all Arizonans before the blind ideology of Grover Norquist and the craven avarice of corporate lobbyists.

Bottom line - Before we are Democrats, Republicans, Greens, Libertarians, or Independents, we are Arizonans.

If nothing else, remember that when you cast your votes.

Live blogging Senate Approps, via streaming video

Joining it in progress...

8:34 - I was hoping to see how this all turns out on the floor of the Senate, but I have to work in the morning. Good night...

8:28 - Tax package passes after Gould calls out his own party on spending too much. A correspondent noted he seems "pissy about getting smacked down by Burns yesterday." Aboud calls out Republicans and their diminishing credibility by cutting taxes for the wealthy while cutting voter-protected services. Pearce is spouting off about marijuana and meth and people who "have decided to not earn a living." A while back, I apologized to my readers for resorting to name-calling and said I wouldn't do so again (other than in a humorous way.)

I apologize again, because I have to say - Pearce is a putz.

8:15 - Harper sounding off on tax pledge, saying that this doesn't violate the pledge he and most of the Rep caucus gave to Grover Norquist. No explanation offered as to why a pledge to an anti-government special interest group is more important than his oath of office or his duties to his constituents.

8:05 - SB1029, the tax package. Ugly.

8:01 - SB1028 passes, Dems and Gould opposing.

7:58 - SB1028, Environment BRB.

7:57 - SB1027 passes 6 - 3.

7:51 - Huppenthal still lecturing. Even Pearce is now calling on him to get to the point. Gould votes "no" out of protest of the suspension of the rules that allowed the bills to be brought forward today.

7:48 - Finally voting on SB1027. Huppenthal lecturing on tax theory. Thinks AZ's cities have "lived high on the hog."

7:45 - Now Harper is going off on the NEA and the "homosexual agenda." And this guy wants to run statewide next year. God help us all.

7:42 - Gould just showed up.

7:38 - Still on SB1027. Back to a debate on tax policy theory. And they haven't gotten to the actual tax bill yet.

7:32 - OMG, quote of the freakin' year! Sylvia Allen - "We have to think 'What are *we* doing for the wealthy?' "

7:26 - Still on SB1027. They broke into a debate on taxes. Listening to Sylvia Allen (R-6000 years) spout off in defense of tax cuts for the wealthy was funny, if not actually enlightening.

7:03 -SB1027, striker into K-12 Education BRB. Rolling back the few good things that came out of the special session earlier this month. Pearce trying to stifle Paula Aboud a little. Unsurprisingly, that's not working too well. :))

7:01 - SB1026, striker into Health and Welfare BRB - eliminates KidsCare Parents among other things. Passes 6-2, Reps for, Dems against. Harper disappointed that it doesn't cut more.

6:56 - SB1025, striker to amend into General Revenues BRB - passing on a party line vote, with a Harper amendment attached that attacks Rio Nuevo in Tucson. Paula Aboud protested, but it still passed.

More budget games at the lege...

...Games played by the Republicans to avoid having to go to the Democrats to get votes in committee for their budget.

Latest move: Sen. Pam Gorman (R-Princess) is off of Appropriations and John Huppenthal (R-More Pliable Unless You're An Elderly Democratic Volunteer) is on...

Currently budget bills are moving through Senate Appropriations on party-line votes, with Gould, Hale, and Aguirre (I think) absent.

Update, and a note: After talking to someone down at the lege, it seems that Gorman was replaced because she is now out of town. No such replacement of absent members was offered to the Democrats. In addition, the "Princess" nickname for Gorman was *not* invented by me; it was overheard at the lege from multiple sources, including both elected and unelected folks.

And here I was, thinking that the Reps had completely sold out years ago..

But it turns out that after selling off their souls to corporate interests, they plan to officially sell off the infrastructure of government too...

From AZCentral.com -

Call it a sign of desperate times: Legislators are considering selling the House and Senate buildings where they've conducted state business for more than 50 years.

If successful, by this time next year we could have -

The Arizona Community Financial Services Association House of Representatives Building

The Home Builders of Central Arizona Arizona State Senate Building

The Pinnacle West Executive Tower

Maybe we could sell off

...the state's parks and ADEQ to mining interests (Sydney Hay needs a job, doesn't she?)

...the Department of Education and the state's universities to the American Association of Cosmetology Schools (bonus - AACS is based in Scottsdale)

...DPS could be sold to Redflex Traffic Systems

...the county jails in the state to the Mob (the state's prisons are probably going to The GEO Group, AZSOS filer ID 201000125, as soon as the Reps pass their budget)

...and the list goes on.

Of course, a lot of this, especially the stuff involving the Capitol buildings, would just be officially acknowledging what most people know is currently reality.

So remind me again Republicans - why were auto industry bailouts bad, but banking bailouts good?

Last fall, at the height of D.C.'s bailout mania during the waning days of the Bush administration (and yes, into the beginning of the Obama administration), there was strong support in Congress for bailing out the white collar banks whose irresponsible and even fraudulent practices helped precipitate the deepest U.S. economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Yet, when the auto industry came calling, with its hundreds of thousands blue collar manufacturing jobs, the Republicans in Congress, led by AZ's own Jon Kyl, expressed outrage at the mere thought of bailouts for them.

Fast forward to today, when Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General for the State of New York, released a report on the bonus practices of bailed-out banks. (warning: the .pdf file is rather large; if you are using a dialup connection, it may take a while to download in its entirety.)

From the New York Times' article on the report -

The Wall Street millionaire club had nearly 5,000 members in 2008.

At least 4,793 bankers and traders were paid more than $1 million in bonuses last year even as profits at the biggest banks dwindled and they accepted tens of billions of dollars of taxpayer money, according to a report released on Thursday by the New York Attorney General’s Office.

Something tells me that of all the things that these "bankers and traders" might have bought with their bonuses, none of them bought even a small amount of shame.

Back to AZ later...

The Republicans' budget proposal: Long term ugliness

The Arizona Economic Council has sent out an email where in memo format, they clearly summarize the regressive effects of the Republicans' plans for Arizona's tax structure.

Shamelessly copied-and-pasted from that email -

MEMO: Budget Deal Shifts Heavier Tax Burden to Middle Class

TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Seth Scott, The Arizona Economic Council
DATE: July 30, 2009

Governor Jan Brewer and the State Legislature are at it again - desperately trying to bail out corporations and Wall Street insurance companies on the backs of Arizona's children and middle class families.

Just like the Governor's June proposal, the current plan concocted by Governor Brewer, Senate President Bob Burns and House Speaker Kirk Adams is wrong for Arizona. The Brewer-Burns-Adams Grand Tax Shift unfairly places a heavier tax burden on the middle class, and uses an 18 percent increase in the sales tax - as well as school cuts - to pay for hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate tax giveaways and bailouts we simply cannot afford.

Specifically, the Brewer-Burns-Adams Grand Tax Shift:

- Raises the state sales tax by 18 percent. Under Brewer-Burns-Adams, Arizona's sales tax would climb to the 7th highest in the nation, and that's before county and local taxes are taken into account. [Source: Tax Foundation 2009 Facts and Figures]

- Takes some revenue from the middle class tax hike to pay for a 30 percent cut to the state's corporate tax rate, shifting the burden to individuals.

- Takes another portion of revenue from the sales tax increase, which targets middle class families, and cut income taxes for those who make over $150,000 a year.

- Puts schools on the ropes and eliminates the $250 million education equalization fund, which goes directly to Arizona schools. This would shift funds from schools to the pockets of Big Business. For example, one of the biggest beneficiaries of this maneuver is New York-based Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. [Source: The Arizona Republic, April 4, 2009]

- Strips voter-mandated protections of school funds, so the Legislature would be free to override the will of the voters and further cut classroom resources in FY2010, FY2011 and FY2012.

The Brewer-Burns-Adams Grand Tax Shift is another example of misplaced priorities at the State Capitol.

Arizonans continue to lack confidence in the Governor and Legislature's handling of the budget crisis. A recent survey of 500 likely voters indicates that 72 percent of voters believe Governor Brewer is doing only a "fair" or "poor" job handing the state budget crisis. Eighty-one percent of those surveyed said the state legislature is doing only a "fair" or "poor" job handling the crisis.

###

The Arizona Economic Council is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that aims to promote ideas and policies to create jobs, strengthen our schools and the state's economy and educate Arizonans about the economic issues that face our state.

Eli Blake at Deep Thought has his take one one aspect of the Reps' schemes here.

AZBlueMeanie has an excellent piece on the entire situation here. It seems that the Reps' are running into trouble from their own caucus because, as bad as the current proposal is, certain members (i.e. Gould, Harper, Gorman, aka "The Usual Suspects") don't think that it is anywhere near bad enough.

Stay tuned today...

Quick update - budget

Well, the budget may or may not pass tonight.

Update: Change that to will NOT pass tonight. Apparently, they've adjourned until tomorrow. Legislators have been told to change their vacation and other plans.

The motivation to get it done soon is two-fold -

1. There is a deadline, Friday, for passage of any referendum questions to make it to the ballot in November.

2. They don't think that they'll have a quorum, much less the votes to pass a GOP-authored package, after tonight. Too many legislators have made plans to be out of the state this weekend.

Of course, the Senate may not have the votes even tonight. AZCentral.com's Political Insider is reporting that Sen. Ron Gould (R-Freon Freedom Now!) has already said that he won't support referring a tax increase to the ballot.

And given that only 24 Senators answered the roll call today, Senate President Burns et. al. are going to need all of the votes that they can get.

I recommend visiting the lege website's streaming video page and watching the (in)action from the comfort of your home.

While you are waiting for them the jump back on the railroad train to Third World status for Arizona, for your reading pleasure -

HB2006, General Appropriations - text, fact sheet
HB2007, General Revenues BRB - text, fact sheet
HB2008, General Government BRB - text, fact sheet
HB2009, Assets BRB - text, fact sheet
HB2010, Criminal Justice BRB - text, fact sheet
HB2011, K-12 Education BRB - text, fact sheet
HB2012, Higher Ed BRB - text, fact sheet
HB2013, Health and Welfare BRB - text, fact sheet
HB2014, Environment BRB - text, fact sheet
HB2015, Taxes, Budget Stabilization - text (no text available online yet), fact sheet

I have to work tomorrow, so I'll be reading the updates instead of writing them.

Later...

Quick update - Huppenthal

The trial of State Senator John Huppenthal took place today in the San Marcos Justice Court. The testimony is complete, but the decision has been postponed.

Background on the incident that precipitated the trial here.

The testimony was interesting, however, and is worthy of a post.

...While the charges, misdemeanor theft and political sign tampering, are not partisan in and of themselves, much of the defense's questioning of prosecution witnesses and almost all of Huppenthal's own testimony painted the whole matter with a "Democrats v. Republicans" brush.

This included the moment when the defense attorney announced that he was a Democrat and the Chandler PD officer who responded to the call announced that he was a Republican.

...Huppenthal *really* hates criticism. He said that the reason that he found the sign so objectionable was that it was "misleading and even fraudulent." The sign in question highlighted his vote against a move in the lege to help address the air quality issues in Corona del Sol High School. He claimed that the amendment was proposed to make him look bad because he voted against it in favor of a holistic package of remedies that he claimed credit for created.

However, there is nothing in the political sign ordinance that allows someone to take it down because they don't like or agree with what the sign says.

Minor detail, that.

...Huppenthal has trouble understanding the English language.

He asked the assistant property manager of the apartment complex that was serving as a polling place if he could take a sign. She testified today that she said "sure, I don't care" after trying to refer him to the poll workers overseeing election activities at the site.

He testified that he heard that as "yes, you have my permission."

Ummm...nothing that I can write can top this.

...The defense also tried to say that it's not "stealing" if you don't try to go home (or elsewhere) with someone else's property, and that the fact that Huppenthal just move the sign to a dumpster on the apartment complex property meant that he didn't deprive the owner of the property (aka - the sign) of the use of the property.

Yeah, right. Try using that defense against a shoplifting charge where the defendant dumped the goods in the trash before leaving the store premises.

...The whole thing proceeded in that vein. The highlight of the hearing was when Huppenthal claimed that he thought he "was being carjacked by an older woman" when the Democratic volunteer at the polling place told him that he couldn't take the sign and tried to prevent him from leaving with it.

The "Democratic volunteer" is Ruth Levin. She's 78. She's the epitome of the "little old lady." Donna at Democratic Diva has a pic of her in this post.

...No decision was handed down today. The cynic in me believes that the pro tem judge assigned to the case wants to take time to find a technicality upon which to hang a complete acquittal. The not-so-cynical part of me also realizes that he has a lot of BS to sort through, and even the likes of Huppenthal deserves a fair trial.

Of course, being the partisan hack that I am, I also think that he deserves a fair conviction, too. :)

I did spend most of my time in the courtroom wondering why Huppenthal has insisted on pushing this as far as he has. The bottom line is that the charges are extremely minor, and even a conviction on both counts would result in no more than two lashes with a wet noodle on his wrist.

aka - A small fine, a suspended sentence, a few hours of public service (of the non-legislative variety), and maybe some unsupervised probation.

Instead, this incident has stayed in the news, and the public eye, for months. Months during which Huppenthal has been working to set up a statewide campaign for State Superintendant of Public Instruction.

Anyway, the AZRep has coverage here.

State Budget Deal In The Works

And it is a BAD one...

It looks like the Republicans are back to their old game of shutting out Democrats from budget discussions. The budget proposal that appears to be headed to a floor vote tomorrow or perhaps Thursday includes things like (from a House Democrats press release) -

· A huge risk that a one-cent sales tax increase won't pass at the ballot, but their proposed income tax decrease of $400 million a year and the permanent repeal of the state education equalization tax of $250 million a year will be implemented regardless, digging Arizona into an even bigger hole, with no new revenue guaranteed. This only benefits big corporations and the wealthy. Republicans now support the sales tax increase after signing a no-tax pledge.

· A 3-year TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights)-like spending cap for education, the disabled, seniors and more, guaranteeing that new growth will not be funded and schools will have to make deep cuts to meet the cap. That includes fewer classroom supplies and increased class sizes. Brewer vowed not to “decimate” these areas, but now supports it.

· A ballot initiative to repeal the protections of education and health care funding afforded by Proposition 105. Voters originally brought the Voter Protection Act, which protects voter-approved initiatives to the ballot, preventing the legislature
from raiding funding for or changing voter-approved measures, which would undermine the will of the voters.

It was obvious that this was going to be a bad one when in the summary of the plan given to the House Dems by a lobbyist (the Rep leadership doesn't even have the professionalism or simple civility to give the info to the Democratic members of the lege themselves!) referred to the scheme to undermine the Voter Protection Act as "improving" Prop 105, the Voter Protection Act.

Anyway, the best quote regarding the AZGOP's unilateral plotting and scheming on the budget came from Rep. Chad Campbell (D-Phoenix), the House Democratic Whip.

“If the state wanted a recipe for economic disaster, it got the best cooks in town,” said House Democratic Whip Chad Campbell. “Arizonans should be prepared because no one wins from this except big corporations and the wealthy.”

Assuming for the moment that this packages passes pretty much in its current form, I'll probably be voting against any sales tax hike because it isn't intended to help balance the budget so much as to provide cover for massive tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy.

Still, my opposition to the Republican tax hike scheme pales in comparison to my outrage at other parts of the budget proposal.

Specifically, any attempts to weaken the Voter Protection Act,

NO.

NO.

NO.

A million times, NO!!!

These brazen ideologues have proven unequivocally that they have no regard for the will or welfare of most of the people of Arizona, only the ones who can get their attention with large campaign contributions.

Additionally, they have no fiscal sense, either.

There's no way they should be allowed anywhere near the VPA.


AZBlueMeanie at Blog for Arizona has more here.

Tedski at Rum, Romanism, Rebellion has his take here. I won't say that the Republicans have hired/delegated staffers to "fight the good fight" on Democratic blogs, but check out the comments from "Ryan Bailey."

State Rep. Daniel Patterson (D-Tucson) offers his insights here.

AZCentral.com coverage here.

Updates to "The coming week..."

The post is just a day old, but there have already been some significant changes to the schedules this week.

...Over at the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, the previously-scheduled uneventful week now has a Special and Executive session scheduled for Thursday at 10 a.m.

...And in the court case of State Senator John Huppenthal, the jury trial in another case that had been scheduled for the San Marcos Justice Court (the court where Huppenthal's case is assigned) has been cancelled/postponed (not sure which), so Huppenthal's case is back in the San Marcos Justice Court's courtroom.

Until it is changed again, anyway. :)

Some interesting info has come to light concerning the "pro tem" JP assigned to hear the case, Daniel Washburn.

He ran for Superior Court Judge in Pinal County last year, losing in the Republican primary.

After he lost in the primary, he left a message on his website -

Of course I am saddened that I did not win the primary election; however, I am grateful to have time once again to spend with my family and friends. Additionally, as a judicial candidate, I was restricted from publicly supporting the Republican Party and its candidates. I am no longer a judicial candidate; therefore, I now publicly support all Republican candidates and encourage all Republicans to support the Republican ticket that is now set for the general election in November.

Washburn also wrote this law school journal article regarding student religious speech in schools.

Washburn was also cited in a Phoenix New Times' article documenting "questionable" expenditures of Clean Elections monies. From the article -

John Fillmore, a Republican running for state representative in Apache Junction, didn't even bother writing a check to a company he owned. Instead, he simply paid himself $2,861 in "petty cash/miscellaneous." Fillmore says he used the cash to avoid his bank's "exorbitant" checking fees.

Fillmore also paid $17,350 to Mesa attorney Daniel Washburn for "communications," according to records. Washburn was "helping me a lot, helping me orchestrate polling places throughout the district," Fillmore says.

Hmmmm....I don't know who assigns pro tem JPs to cases in Maricopa County, but Judge Washburn is an interesting choice for a politically-charged case involving a Republican politician as a defendant. Especially given that the original JP, Judge Keith Frankel, recused himself because of his own political involvements.

Note: I did hear other things regarding Washburn's political involvements, but couldn't independently verify them. There was nothing earth-shattering anyway, just more details.

Wednesday morning should be interesting, if only to see if the case is assigned to yet another judge.

Later...

Flake's jihad against earmarks: The reality is not quite as pure as the image

Even though I've criticized AZ Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ6) in the past - and will continue to do so in the future - I actually have a great deal of respect for him.

While I rarely agree with him on most issues (and would never vote for him if I lived in his district), he is nothing if not consistent.

For instance, he has been calling for an House Ethics Committee investigation into the relationship between the PMA Group lobbying firm and Demcratic appropriators for months now. At one point, after his fifth or sixth "privileged resolution" was introduced in the House, I wondered where his righteous indignation and high ethical standards were during the Tom Delay mess a few years ago.

Turns out that he was one of the Republicans pressuring then-Majority Leader Tom Delay to step down.

So he gets some serious points for not being a hypocrite on ethics.

Unfortunately, he does have a record on earmarks of being, if not outright hypocritical (he doesn't seek earmarks for his own district), well, it *is* a little "gray."

He has proposed a number of anti-earmark amendments to bills this year, and the vast majority of them opposed earmarks in other states. And the ones that don't target other states' earmarks? They're general amendments.

He almost never targets AZ.

Hey, as someone who lives here, I suppose I should be a little grateful at his mercy, but as much as I love Arizona, even I don't think that all federally-funded projects here are good, while all such projects in other states are bad.

Yet Jeff Flake seems to think that the only improper expenditures of federal money occur in other states.


To whit, from the various authorization and appropriations bills (and the stimulus bill) that Congress has considered this year (note: pages linked to the word "amendments" are the Rules Committee pages listing all amendments proposed for a particular bill, not just Flake's) -

- For H.R. 3288, the Transportation and HUD appropriations act, Flake proposed 12 amendments.

He attacked projects in North Dakota, Texas, Ohio (twice), Pennsylvania (twice), New York (three times!), West Virginia, Wisconsin, and New Mexico. The closest he came to targeting an AZ earmark was one of the Pennsylvania projects he attacked. It was in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

- For H.R. 3170, the Financial Services and General Government appropriations act, Flake proposed 11 amendments.

He went after projects in Georgia, Arkansas, Idaho, Minnesota, Maryland, Florida, California (twice), Pennsylvania (twice) and South Carolina.

- For Energy and Water Appropriations, he proposed 12 amendments.

He went after projects in Missouri, California (twice), Georgia, Arkansas, New York, Vermont, Nevada, District of Columbia, Washington, Massachusetts, and Minnesota.

- For H.R. 3082, Veterans Affairs and Military Construction appropriations, Flake proposed one amendment. This one would have prohibited "all of the member-requested earmarks for military construction projects." That amendment would have eliminated over 100 projects, one of which was in AZ.

- For H.R. 3081, State Department and foreign operations appropriations, Flake proposed one amendment, eliminating funding for "the one-time special educational, professional, and cultural exchange grants program."

- For H.R. 2997, Agriculture, Rural Development and FDA appropriations, Flake proposed 12 amendment, some of which were of the "MIRV" variety, attacking multiple states in one strike.

He went after projects in Pennsylvania, Idaho (twice), Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oregon (twice), Tennessee, West Virginia, Iowa (twice), Georgia, Washington (twice), Minnesota, Ohio, Maryland, Texas, Illinois, and Maryland,

- For H.R. 2996, Interior, Environment and related appropriations, Flake proposed 10 amendments.

He went after projects in Indiana, Minnesota (twice), New York, Alabama (twice), Tennessee, Connecticut, Georgia, and Wisconsin.

- For H.R. 2647, the FY2010 National Defense Authorization Act, Flake proposed two amendments. The first would have "prohibit the Defense Secretary from expending money for earmarks if (1) the recipient (or any employee, director, or PAC) contributed to a Member of Congress who sponsored the earmark or (2) any registered lobbyist (or its PAC) whose client is the recipient of the earmark contributed to the Member of Congress who sponsored the earmark" and the second would have required "the Defense Secretary to report to Congress on the competitive processes used to award earmarks listed in the joint explanatory statement for the FY2008 defense appropriations bill. If competitive processes were not employed in making such awards, the decision-making process and justifications as to why should be cited in the report."

- For H.R. 2892, Homeland Security appropriations, Flake proposed 11 amendments.

In those, he went after projects in Arizona (whoooo hoooo! Finally!!), Kentucky, New York (twice), North Carolina, Texas, California (FOUR times!), and one amendment that would have struck "all the earmarks for emergency operations centers from FEMA's State and Local Programs account."

Note: Why do I think that it may not be the brightest idea for a Republican to go after FEMA? Maybe he can campaign on this one as his "Katrina Memorial" amendment.

- For H.R. 2918, Legislative Appropriations, Flake proposed one amendment. That one would have prohibited "funds from being used to implement the House Ethics Manual provision on page 239 in the Certification of No Financial Interest in Fiscal Legislation section of Chapter Five that states "A contribution to a Member's principal campaign committee or leadership PAC generally would not constitute the type of 'financial interest' referred to in the rule." "

- For H.R. 2200, the Transportation Security Administration Authorization Act, Flake proposed one amendment. That one would have prevented "earmarking in a new grant program established in the bill, and would clarify that Congress presumes that grants awarded through that program will be awarded on a competitive basis, and if they are not, require the Assistant Secretary to submit a report to Congress explaining the reason."

- For H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Flake proposed seven amendments. He didn't attack specific states. Instead he went after AmeriCorps, the National Endowment for the Arts, Amtrak, the National Mall Revitalization Fund, "any duck pond, museum, skate park, equestrian center, dog park, ski hill, historic home, ice rink, splash playground, or speaker system", and energy efficient federal buildings.


So in 81 amendments that Jeff Flake has proposed to authorization and approps bills (and ARRA), Flake has gone after one AZ earmark directly (regarding solar power of all things. I mean, it's totally foolish to invest money on solar power projects in Arizona, right? BTW - that's sarcasm folks :) ) and one, a fire station, that was included on a long hit list of military construction projects.

I'm sure that at least a few of the earmarks that he targeted are ones that most reasonable people would consider to be wasteful, However, his nearly-unswerving aim at targets outside of AZ, a state that owes a huge amount of credit for its growth to federal infrastructure spending, gives lie to the purity of his motives.

He may be touted as a "limited government spending", Libertarian-leaning Republican, but it seems that he only wants to limit government spending in other parts of the country.

Perhaps so that more money is available for Arizona. Not that he'll ask for any. He leaves that sort of petty "looking out for his state and district" stuff to mere mortals.

Like Ann Kirkpatrick, Harry Mitchell, Gabrielle Giffords, Ed Pastor, and Raul Grijalva, the Democratic members of AZ's Congressional delegation.

Jim Rice's Hall of Fame Induction speech

An incredibly overdue and wholly deserved moment...

Courtesy NESN.com -

Thank you. Good afternoon. I've only got a couple of minutes now, guys.

I'd like to start by thanking Jane Clark, the chairman of the board of directors of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Thank you, Jane, for welcoming us into your Hall of Fame family.Jeff Idelson, who is the president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Thank you so much for a smooth transition into the Hall of Fame. I'd like to thank the Hall of Fame staff for their hospitality and impeccable attention to detail. Congratulations to Rickey Henderson, Joe Gordon and my fellow Hall of Fame inductees. Also, congratulations to Tony Kubek and Nick Peters as they receive their respective awards. Thank you Dick Bresciani, Red Sox historian, who kept my stats in the public eye.

I am a husband, called Rice. I am a father, called Dad. I am a brother, called Ed. I am an uncle, called Uncle Ed. I am a grandfather, called Papa. I am a friend that doesn't call -- some of my friends know that -- and sometimes best not call at all. Finally, I do mean finally, I am Jim Rice, called a Baseball Hall of Famer.

You always feel that after every great once-in-a-lifetime moment, there cannot be anything else to top it. You find your lifelong partner, that one true love. You have your first child, and you spend hours wondering at the perfection of tiny little fingers and toes. You rejoice and cry through pre-, elementary, middle and high school, and, if you're lucky, college graduation. You marvel at how sanity endures. Right when you thought it couldn’t get any better, you have grandchildren. And a new, astonishing love blossoms.

And then after 15 years, you get a phone call that you thought you'd never get. Your aspiration realized. Your tears overflow because you know now that the highest honor of your career means so much [more] than you ever thought it would mean before. Because what it feels like most is being welcomed at home plate after hitting a walkoff home run. You find yourself repeating the same phrases over and over: "We made it. We made it. We made it."

And suddenly you think: "Where’s my wife?"

And I really didn't think I would have gotten a newsflash while watching my favorite soap opera, The Young and the Restless -- every day at 12:30 -- and that's what I was doing. Jeff knows when he called I was watching The Young and the Restless.

To me, it doesn't matter that I got called this year versus getting it in my first eligible year. What matters is I got it. A call that 20 years from now will make a great trivia question.

It is hard to comprehend that I am in a league of only 1 percent of all professional baseball players. I am in awe to be in this elite company and humble to be accepting this honor. I am also one of the very few players that spent an entire career with the same baseball team. For that I thank the Boston Red Sox, a professional baseball club where any player would be proud to spend a career.

Of course I have many people to thank and share this honor with. To do that, we're going to have to go back to my hometown of Anderson, South Carolina. By the time I was heading into my senior year at West Side High School, I had lettered in football, basketball and baseball. In 1970, my senior year, integration finally came to town. I went to pick up my schedule at West Side High School and I was looking forward to graduating with my West Side class of 1971. Imagine how I felt when I was told that I had to go to T.L. Hanna High School, which had the majority of non-blacks. Integration had come to town and the lines were drawn in such a way that kept schools as segregated as possible. I simply would not be allowed to attend my alma mater for my senior year. Evidently the city of Anderson wanted me to attend T.L. Hanna my senior year. I lived on Reese Street and the integration line stopped at Murray Avenue, excluding most black students. The line would have extended to my street, but my sister was allowed to go Hanna, not me. I was forced to leave West Side High. What could have been worse? I had to leave everything that I knew: my future wife, my friends, my coaches, my everything. I showed up at Hanna and it was like a walk in the park. I was received with open arms and so were my fellow West Side High transplants. I was even voted co-class president.

Nearing the end of my senior year, I had some decisions to make. Nebraska was offering me a four-year scholarship for football. I talked to my dad about it. My dad said, "I think you've got a better shot at becoming a professional baseball player than a professional football player." So that was it, the life-defining decision that led me to being drafted by the Boston Red Sox at the age of 18 years old and eventually being called up to the big leagues in 1974.

In the minor leagues, I went from being Ed Rice to being Jim Rice. I was a quiet leader, not a follower. I played through the pain and I suffered. No regrets. Well, wait a minute. Maybe those last few at-bats in 1989 that saw my .300 average drop to .298. That I do regret.

Along the way, there were many people who gave me encouragement and shared their wisdom.

First and foremost, my wife, who after 37 years of marriage, still gives me relevant tips and advice whether I want it or not.

Julia Mae and Roger, my parents. If they were alive today, they would be so proud.

Thomas MacDuffy, who treated me like his own son, always helping me out, even giving me a kangaroo glove. And I think it was a Willie Mays glove at the time. I think at the time Willie Mays and Hank Aaron both had the kangaroo gloves, but they both were great.

John Moore, my West Side High School coach from the seventh grade. John taught me things that they were teaching me in minor leagues, so I learned techniques that minor league coaches were teaching players when I got there.

Olin Saylors. I played American Legion ball for Post 14. He came by my house every day and picked me up. I didn't really want to play ball, but Olin was very [determined] to make me play baseball for American Legion Post 14.

Mitch Brown and Sam Mele. I really thank those guys for signing me.

Rac Slider took me up under his arm as far as being an Instructional League manager of mine and I went to Florida to work on my skills. The things I remember the most about going to the Instructional League were those hot wool uniforms where you had to go down to spring training and work every day.

Don Zimmer. He believed in me. He was my mentor. Zim was more of a manager and a father figure to me.

Johnny Pesky was my personal hitting instructor. Don Zimmer, the manager at the time, told Pesky to stay with me day and night. Pesky took me under his wing when I was still a kid, kept me grounded and we could always talk. And he's still with me today.

And, of course, a good friend of mine, Cecil Cooper. My roomie, my ace, my buddy, my friend to the end.

By now you may be wondering how did I get such a notorious reputation with the media. Well you see, the media often asked me questions about my [fellow] players. I refused to be the media's mouthpiece. Of course my stance didn't really make any media friends. I came to Boston to play professional baseball and that's what I did, and I did it well until I retired in 1989. And who would have ever guessed that I would be working in media at NESN sitting across the desk from Tom Caron, allowing all of you to see my winning smile.

And here we are in 2009 and I'm standing amongst baseball elite, in front of my family, friends and fans, proudly accepting baseball’s pinnacle, a professional achievement. I cannot think of anywhere I would rather be than to be right here, right now, with you [the fans] and you [my fellow Hall of Famers].

Thank you.

Back to politics on Monday...

The coming week...

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

...In the U.S House of Representatives this week, the agenda is again a full one, and again, most of the bills up for consideration are pretty mundane.

Of course, again there are a couple of nuggets that will generate some serious conflict.

- H.R. 1035, the Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Amendments Act of 2009, sponsored by AZ's Raul Grijalva and cosponsored by the other four Democratic members of AZ's delegation, Ann Kirkpatrick, Gabrielle Giffords, Harry Mitchell, and Ed Pastor.

- H.R. 3326, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010. Lots of money, lots of arguments. Jeff Flake alone plans to file 540 amendments to this bill.

H.R. 3326 is scheduled for a Rules Committee hearing on Tuesday at 3 p.m. (noon AZ time).

- H.R. 3269, the Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act of 2009. CRS summary here. This one could have the effect of limiting some of the more outrageous executive compensation packages that were seen at the height of the economic bubble and that some corporations are itching to bring back.


...Over in the U.S. Senate, they'll be starting the week with floor consideration of H.R. 3183,"appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies." Various committees will be considering other budget bills during the week. Also, there will be continuing consideration of Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court.

In addition to all that, expect more hubbub over President Obama's health care reform plan.


...Back here in the AZ lege, the never-ending session is, well, not ending. Not this week, anyway. They are scheduled to meet this week, but thus far the plans seem to include only a prayer and a pledge. The rooms where the deals are made may no longer be "smoke-filled" (since smoking in public buildings is illegal), but closed doors are even less transparent. It's looking more and more like they're going to futz around until the last possible moment, then engage in a round of panic cutting in order to balance the rest of the budget.


...The Arizona Corporation Commission is scheduled to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday in Phoenix. The agenda is a full one. Hearing schedule here.


...The Governing Board for the Maricopa County Community College District will meet on Tuesday for an executive session at 5:30 p.m. and a regular meeting at 6:30. The agenda is long and mostly boring. There is a monitoring report on the District's budget status that might be a little interesting, and a contract award for management consulting services too, but that seems to be it thus far.


...The Citizens Clean Elections Commission is scheduled to meet at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. No agenda posted yet.


...The political highlight of the week, at least in Central AZ, seems to be the trial of State Senator John Huppenthal on Wednesday. It is scheduled to be at 8 a.m. in the San Marcos Justice Court, but it is highly likely that it will take place in another courtroom in that building (there are four Justice Courts in that one building) as Huppenthal and his attorney have waived a jury trial in their case but there is a jury trial scheduled for that specific courtroom that day. If you are a total geek and plan to go watch the trial, get there a little early and inquire as to which courtroom the case has been assigned.

The incident that merited the charges pertain to some shenanigans on Election Day last November that involved tampering with some political signs critical of him and a confrontation/assault with an elderly Democratic activist.

All charges are misdemeanors (hence the assignment of the case to a justice court) and will result in no more than a slap on the wrist, even if he is convicted.

Background on the Huppenthal matter from Ray Stern of the Phoenix New Times here.


Thus far, the Arizona Board of Regents, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, the Boards of Directors of the Central Arizona Project and the Maricopa Integrated Health System, and the City Councils of Scottsdale and Tempe are not scheduled to meet this week.