4:01 - Passing SB1419, correcting a dental hygienist bill from last session. I am out of here.
3:38 - Voting on measure. Aboud expressing doubts about measure's vagueness, votes no; Aguirre votes yes, hoping language is clarified; S Allen thinks this is a great bill, votes yes; Braswell also thinks this is "excellent" and votes yes; Gould votes yes but thinks that Senate won't obey the measure anyway; Harper votes yes; Melvin votes yes; Pearce thinks this is great, votes yes. Passes 7 - 1, 1 not voting.
3:35 - It's apparent that the Senators don't know how this bill would apply, or don't want to talk about it. Sen. Aguirre is worried about school districts; Sen. Aboud is concerned with unclear language in the measure. Burns' doubletalk pace is increasing.
3:31 - Rs on the committee using this measure as an opportunity to decry the use of any debt instruments to fund government, yet don't mention how their never-ending quest for corporate tax cuts has forced the state and its agencies to turn to debt.
3:27 - Clarification from staff - the measure would not apply to "political subdivisions" (counties, etc.) but would apply to higher ed.
3:25 - Burns' measure is meant to reduce the state's debt level for all sorts of debt instruments (bonds, etc.). Includes K-12.
3:24 - Burns says that state has $4.3 billion in debt right now; c0unties, municipalities, school districts, etc. have more.
3:20 - SCR1060 - fact sheet here. Bob Burns speaking in favor of his proposal.
3:19 (later in the same minute) - meeting gavelled into order. SCR1060 (changing the state's debt limit) up first.
3:19 p.m. - The meeting is about to start - most of the senators are here and in their seats.
Monday, March 08, 2010
Quick update - special and regular session
...Right now, we are waiting for the beginning (actually the restarting) of last Friday's meeting of Senate Approps. Due to the fact that a number of members couldn't be in town last Friday, they didn't achieve the quorum necessary to conduct business and will do so after a meeting of Senate Rules.
...The schedule isn't posted as yet, but sometime tomorrow (Tuesday, March 9), the 7th Special Session's Senate Approps will meet to discuss the bills that are being posted as I write this. The text of the bills *should* be posted on the lege's website shortly.
...Word just came down to the staffers setting up the Approps meeting that they may be going back to a floor session first.
I'll post any updates as soon as they become available.
...The schedule isn't posted as yet, but sometime tomorrow (Tuesday, March 9), the 7th Special Session's Senate Approps will meet to discuss the bills that are being posted as I write this. The text of the bills *should* be posted on the lege's website shortly.
...Word just came down to the staffers setting up the Approps meeting that they may be going back to a floor session first.
I'll post any updates as soon as they become available.
Special Session #7 underway
The regular session Senate floor session took over an hour - and it was fairly non-controversial (any bills that were borderline between passing and failing, like the texting while driving ban, were pulled from the agenda for Third Read (final passage).
They are organizing the session right now (rules and such). The lege's staff is currently in the process of posting documents for the session. No text for bills has been posted yet, but a couple of titles have - SCR1001 (early childhood development; health; repeal) and SCR1002 (land conservation fund; reversion).
And so the ugliness begins.
Later...
They are organizing the session right now (rules and such). The lege's staff is currently in the process of posting documents for the session. No text for bills has been posted yet, but a couple of titles have - SCR1001 (early childhood development; health; repeal) and SCR1002 (land conservation fund; reversion).
And so the ugliness begins.
Later...
Senate Session, Monday March 8, 2010
1:17 p.m. - They've been going through "points of personal privilege" (introductions of guests, personal comments, or in Ron Gould's case, reading an editorial that he agrees with) for approximately 10 minutes. Highlight so far -
It's Senator Meg Burton Cahill's (D-LD17) birthday!
Whoooo hoooo!
It's Senator Meg Burton Cahill's (D-LD17) birthday!
Whoooo hoooo!
Sunday, March 07, 2010
The Coming Week - Everybody Else Edition
As usual, all info gathered from the websites of the relevent political bodies/agencies, except where noted, and subject to change without notice...
...In Congress, most of the MSM attention will be on health care reform but there are other matters on the agenda this week.
- In the House of Representatives, their agenda includes many of the usual memorial, congratulatory, building naming and similar "window dressing" motions.
However, there are also a few items that could generate some heat.
- H.R. 4621, the Prevent Deceptive Census Look Alike Mailings Act. This one is targeted at groups and organizations that have sent out fundraising mailers that look like official Census documents. Like the GOP.
- H. Con. Res. 248, a privileged resolution by Dennis Kucinich to compel the President to remove American troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year. It won't pass, but it will take hours of debate to not pass it. Unless leadership decrees that is should just be tabled. Only the most progressive Democrats will support this one and all Rs will oppose it. Where things could get cute is if there is a move to table the resolution or to refer it to committee, the Rs could vote to keep it on the floor. As a privileged resolution, the measure takes precedence over almost everything else so they will have to deal with it before any other measure (like HCR) can be considered.
- H. Res. 1031, to impeach federal judge G. Thomas Porteous of Louisiana for ethics breaches. More info here.
...The Senate's committee schedule is here.
...Here in Arizona:
...The Arizona Board of Regents will meet on Thursday and Friday at U of A in Tucson. The agenda includes setting tuition and fees (there are other items related to tuition, but the link is the big one).
...The Arizona Corporation Commission doesn't have a full meeting this week. Their hearing schedule is here, however.
...The Board of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System don't have a meeting this week, but they are scheduled to be at MIHS' employee picnic on Friday.
...The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project will hold a joint meeting with the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association on Friday in Phoenix.
...The Scottsdale City Council isn't meeting this week. The City's Community Meeting Notice is here.
...The Tempe City Council also isn't meeting this week. The Council Calendar for the week is here.
Also not scheduled to meet this week: Citizens Clean Election Commission, Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
...In Congress, most of the MSM attention will be on health care reform but there are other matters on the agenda this week.
- In the House of Representatives, their agenda includes many of the usual memorial, congratulatory, building naming and similar "window dressing" motions.
However, there are also a few items that could generate some heat.
- H.R. 4621, the Prevent Deceptive Census Look Alike Mailings Act. This one is targeted at groups and organizations that have sent out fundraising mailers that look like official Census documents. Like the GOP.
- H. Con. Res. 248, a privileged resolution by Dennis Kucinich to compel the President to remove American troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year. It won't pass, but it will take hours of debate to not pass it. Unless leadership decrees that is should just be tabled. Only the most progressive Democrats will support this one and all Rs will oppose it. Where things could get cute is if there is a move to table the resolution or to refer it to committee, the Rs could vote to keep it on the floor. As a privileged resolution, the measure takes precedence over almost everything else so they will have to deal with it before any other measure (like HCR) can be considered.
- H. Res. 1031, to impeach federal judge G. Thomas Porteous of Louisiana for ethics breaches. More info here.
...The Senate's committee schedule is here.
...Here in Arizona:
...The Arizona Board of Regents will meet on Thursday and Friday at U of A in Tucson. The agenda includes setting tuition and fees (there are other items related to tuition, but the link is the big one).
...The Arizona Corporation Commission doesn't have a full meeting this week. Their hearing schedule is here, however.
...The Board of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System don't have a meeting this week, but they are scheduled to be at MIHS' employee picnic on Friday.
...The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project will hold a joint meeting with the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association on Friday in Phoenix.
...The Scottsdale City Council isn't meeting this week. The City's Community Meeting Notice is here.
...The Tempe City Council also isn't meeting this week. The Council Calendar for the week is here.
Also not scheduled to meet this week: Citizens Clean Election Commission, Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Dean vs. Rove at ASU
On Saturday, March 6, the ASU Undergraduate Student Government presented a debate between Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont and chairman of the Democrat Party, and Karl Rove, formerly an aide to Dick Cheney and a confidant of George W. Bush.
The debate was part on an ongoing tour with Dean and Rove visiting college campuses to discuss political issues.
It was political theater at its purest - there were obviously pre-planned laugh lines (barbs about Dean possibly posing for Cosmo, a la Scott Brown, the newly-elected R Senator from Massachusetts), pre-planned applause lines (pretty much any reiteration of current partisan political dogma), the expected finger-pointing ("it's all Obama's/Bush's fault," etc.), and so on.
No one's mind was changed, nor was there any real attempt to change anyone's mind.
Still, it was a highly-entertaining evening for the hundreds in attendance.
And the various volunteers who spent a couple of hours at the entrance to the Gammage Auditorium registering voters and talking to attendees (not too surprising that the crowd for this event was mostly registered to vote already).
And the various candidates for statewide and local offices who worked the crowd right along with the volunteers.
In short, it was a night for political geeks (Hey - who else would be willing to spend their Saturday evening listening to two people who aren't in office or likely to be running for office any time soon, and be willing to *pay* for the privilege? LOL ).
There should be a full write-up of the event in ASU's State Press by Monday. It turns out that when covering events like this, one can focus on taking notes (and thereby miss much of the goings-on) or can instead focus on paying attention to the event (and thereby take lousy notes). Guess which I did? :)
The one downside to the event was the heckling from the crowd. Much of the time, I couldn't hear the two speakers, and I was seated in the center of the third row.
The rudeness wasn't from just one side of the political spectrum either - both Rove and Dean were each shouted down at various times.
If anyone reading this was one of the hecklers, I have this to say -
The event wasn't a political rally, a basketball game between ASU and UA, or a bunch of drunks in a bar pounding down pitchers of beer BS-ing about the issues of the day. Whether or not you agreed with either speaker, you should have shown them, and your neighbors in the audience, some basic courtesy.
Never mind the fact that you embarrassed Arizona in general and ASU in particular (obviously, you didn't care about that anyway), you undermined the credibility of your own positions with your shameless disregard for those around you.
Later...
The debate was part on an ongoing tour with Dean and Rove visiting college campuses to discuss political issues.
It was political theater at its purest - there were obviously pre-planned laugh lines (barbs about Dean possibly posing for Cosmo, a la Scott Brown, the newly-elected R Senator from Massachusetts), pre-planned applause lines (pretty much any reiteration of current partisan political dogma), the expected finger-pointing ("it's all Obama's/Bush's fault," etc.), and so on.
No one's mind was changed, nor was there any real attempt to change anyone's mind.
Still, it was a highly-entertaining evening for the hundreds in attendance.
And the various volunteers who spent a couple of hours at the entrance to the Gammage Auditorium registering voters and talking to attendees (not too surprising that the crowd for this event was mostly registered to vote already).
And the various candidates for statewide and local offices who worked the crowd right along with the volunteers.
In short, it was a night for political geeks (Hey - who else would be willing to spend their Saturday evening listening to two people who aren't in office or likely to be running for office any time soon, and be willing to *pay* for the privilege? LOL ).
There should be a full write-up of the event in ASU's State Press by Monday. It turns out that when covering events like this, one can focus on taking notes (and thereby miss much of the goings-on) or can instead focus on paying attention to the event (and thereby take lousy notes). Guess which I did? :)
The one downside to the event was the heckling from the crowd. Much of the time, I couldn't hear the two speakers, and I was seated in the center of the third row.
The rudeness wasn't from just one side of the political spectrum either - both Rove and Dean were each shouted down at various times.
If anyone reading this was one of the hecklers, I have this to say -
The event wasn't a political rally, a basketball game between ASU and UA, or a bunch of drunks in a bar pounding down pitchers of beer BS-ing about the issues of the day. Whether or not you agreed with either speaker, you should have shown them, and your neighbors in the audience, some basic courtesy.
Never mind the fact that you embarrassed Arizona in general and ASU in particular (obviously, you didn't care about that anyway), you undermined the credibility of your own positions with your shameless disregard for those around you.
Later...
The Coming Week - Legislative Edition
As usual, all info gathered from the website of the Arizona Legislature, except where noted, and subject to change without notice (and given the activities expected for this week, short-notice changes are likely)...
As noted earlier this weekend, a special session (#7!!) is on tap for the week. Look for more updates as details of that become available.
As for the regular session, committee work is again at a near standstill. The respective chambers' Rules committees will meet on Monday so that the chambers will have something to talk about during floor sessions later in the week.
House Rules' agenda here; Senate Rules' here.
The calendars for Monday's floor sessions are already posted.
The Senate has a Third Read calendar up; highlight there include SB1324, requiring the state Department of Administration to "MAKE IDENTITY THEFT PROTECTION OR PREVENTION SERVICES AVAILABLE TO ALL FULL-TIME OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THIS STATE AND ITS DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES" (their caps) and SB1334, a bill to ban texting while driving.
SB1334 has been in the news lately. It died on a tie vote in a Senate COW session and then was revived. This one may pass, but it will be close.
As for SB1324, well, the only citizen listed in the record as in favor of it is James Hamilton, a lobbyist for LifeLock, a company that provides "identity theft and prevention services." Given the state's budget crisis and the recent and impending budget cuts to all of AZ's state agencies (except for the lege, governor, treasurer, and all other offices controlled directly by R elected officials), mandating that ADOA spend some of its rapidly dwindling resources to pay for something that only the lobbyist for the primary corporate beneficiary of the expenditure likes seems unwise.
To put it tactfully.
The CEO of LifeLock, Todd Davis, has contributed to R politicos in the past (Brewer, McComish, Robson in just the last three cycles, and no Ds)...not that I'm suggesting that this apparent payoff is anything more than a coincidence.
:)
The House's Third Read Calendar is here; COW calendars are here, here, and here. There are a number of moderately bad to completely horrible bills up for consideration, too many to list here. Expect those to pass on party line votes, the worse the bill, the deeper the divide (yes, my cynicism in running rampant today). Visit the lege's website for more details.
More later...
As noted earlier this weekend, a special session (#7!!) is on tap for the week. Look for more updates as details of that become available.
As for the regular session, committee work is again at a near standstill. The respective chambers' Rules committees will meet on Monday so that the chambers will have something to talk about during floor sessions later in the week.
House Rules' agenda here; Senate Rules' here.
The calendars for Monday's floor sessions are already posted.
The Senate has a Third Read calendar up; highlight there include SB1324, requiring the state Department of Administration to "MAKE IDENTITY THEFT PROTECTION OR PREVENTION SERVICES AVAILABLE TO ALL FULL-TIME OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THIS STATE AND ITS DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES" (their caps) and SB1334, a bill to ban texting while driving.
SB1334 has been in the news lately. It died on a tie vote in a Senate COW session and then was revived. This one may pass, but it will be close.
As for SB1324, well, the only citizen listed in the record as in favor of it is James Hamilton, a lobbyist for LifeLock, a company that provides "identity theft and prevention services." Given the state's budget crisis and the recent and impending budget cuts to all of AZ's state agencies (except for the lege, governor, treasurer, and all other offices controlled directly by R elected officials), mandating that ADOA spend some of its rapidly dwindling resources to pay for something that only the lobbyist for the primary corporate beneficiary of the expenditure likes seems unwise.
To put it tactfully.
The CEO of LifeLock, Todd Davis, has contributed to R politicos in the past (Brewer, McComish, Robson in just the last three cycles, and no Ds)...not that I'm suggesting that this apparent payoff is anything more than a coincidence.
:)
The House's Third Read Calendar is here; COW calendars are here, here, and here. There are a number of moderately bad to completely horrible bills up for consideration, too many to list here. Expect those to pass on party line votes, the worse the bill, the deeper the divide (yes, my cynicism in running rampant today). Visit the lege's website for more details.
More later...
Saturday, March 06, 2010
Special Session #7 on tap for Monday
The Governor has called for a 7th Special Session of the 49th Arizona Legislature to address the state's current budget deficit (~$700 million) and to formulate a budget for next year.
According to the AZRep article on the matter, the basic framework of the package worked out among the Rs in the lege and the Governor's office is the budget proposal she unveiled in January.
The one that includes imposing a 5% pay cut on state employees (well, those that don't get laid off), closing the state's Juvenile Corrections department, shutting down KidsCare, and forcing more than 300,000 patients off of Medicaid.
Those cuts, as horrible as they are, are expected to be dwarfed by massive cuts to K-12 education.
Also, according to the Rep article, R legislators have responded to fiscal concerns expressed by the counties, who will assume responsibility for juvenile corrections, by telling the counties to raise their property tax rates.
Apparently their oath of fealty to Grover Norquist allows them to compel others to raise taxes, so long as they don't do it themselves.
And things will be that good only if voters approve the sales tax increase in May; if not, the Rs have prepared a "Plan B" containing even more severe cuts.
Thus far, nothing has been posted on the lege's website and at this point, nothing should be expected before Monday.
The reasons for the early work on next year's budget appear to be two-fold (normally, work on this stuff doesn't ramp up until late May or early June) -
1. Many of the proposed budget cuts are based on ignoring voter mandates. Expect a plethora of lawsuits to be filed the moment the Governor puts pen to paper to sign this stuff into law. An early start on the budget means an early resolution to any legal actions arising from same.
2. It's an election year. The Rs would rather spend June and July campaigning for reelection than fussing over the budget.
Even though the jobs they want to keep are supposed to be *all* about crafting a workable budget for the state.
Note: The Ds would rather be out campaigning in June and July, too, but they would rather be campaigning on "we passed the best budget possible" while the Rs would rather campaign on "we* didn't raise your taxes."
* = "Just don't ask us about what we are forcing counties, municipalities, and school districts to do."
Time to get ready for the Dean vs. Rove debate. Later...
According to the AZRep article on the matter, the basic framework of the package worked out among the Rs in the lege and the Governor's office is the budget proposal she unveiled in January.
The one that includes imposing a 5% pay cut on state employees (well, those that don't get laid off), closing the state's Juvenile Corrections department, shutting down KidsCare, and forcing more than 300,000 patients off of Medicaid.
Those cuts, as horrible as they are, are expected to be dwarfed by massive cuts to K-12 education.
Also, according to the Rep article, R legislators have responded to fiscal concerns expressed by the counties, who will assume responsibility for juvenile corrections, by telling the counties to raise their property tax rates.
Apparently their oath of fealty to Grover Norquist allows them to compel others to raise taxes, so long as they don't do it themselves.
And things will be that good only if voters approve the sales tax increase in May; if not, the Rs have prepared a "Plan B" containing even more severe cuts.
Thus far, nothing has been posted on the lege's website and at this point, nothing should be expected before Monday.
The reasons for the early work on next year's budget appear to be two-fold (normally, work on this stuff doesn't ramp up until late May or early June) -
1. Many of the proposed budget cuts are based on ignoring voter mandates. Expect a plethora of lawsuits to be filed the moment the Governor puts pen to paper to sign this stuff into law. An early start on the budget means an early resolution to any legal actions arising from same.
2. It's an election year. The Rs would rather spend June and July campaigning for reelection than fussing over the budget.
Even though the jobs they want to keep are supposed to be *all* about crafting a workable budget for the state.
Note: The Ds would rather be out campaigning in June and July, too, but they would rather be campaigning on "we passed the best budget possible" while the Rs would rather campaign on "we* didn't raise your taxes."
* = "Just don't ask us about what we are forcing counties, municipalities, and school districts to do."
Time to get ready for the Dean vs. Rove debate. Later...
Friday, March 05, 2010
The Center for Arizona Policy: The Shadow Legislature
They probably will consider the title of the post to be a compliment, even though it really is intended to merely point out that it is considered to be the most influential lobbying group working a legislature that is renowned for its willingness to be swayed by well-funded lobbyists.
From an article on AZCentral.com -
They don't mind selling out Arizonans to one group or another; they just don't want the voters to know about it, especially during an election year.
Later...
From an article on AZCentral.com -
The Center for Arizona Policy has impacted the daily life of nearly every Arizonan in some way or another over the past 14 years.The money quote (though the whole article is worth a read) -
The Scottsdale-based conservative non-profit group has had a hand in banning same-sex marriage and raising the minimum gambling age to 21, requiring elementary-school students to recite from the Declaration of Independence and prohibiting late-term abortions.
Yet most Arizonans likely have never heard of it.
Kelly Damron of Phoenix said she got a lesson on the inner workings of the Legislature when she went up against the center and its bills to add regulations to human-egg donation and the use of human embryos. Damron is co-chairwoman of the Arizona chapter of the infertility group Resolve.The article is actually pretty fair (not a hatchet job, not a puff piece), but you can be sure that one group won't like it - the legislature itself.
"It just appears that citizens have no say and that the legislators are being swayed by lobbying groups," she said. "And if you're not savvy enough, there's nothing you can do to stop bad legislation. I didn't feel like I had a voice."
They don't mind selling out Arizonans to one group or another; they just don't want the voters to know about it, especially during an election year.
Later...
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Technical issues
Due to a virus, I am in the middle of reformatting my computer and upgrading my firewall/anti-virus software. As such, blogging will be very light for the next few days.
I recommend surfing over to Blog for Arizona, Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion, or any of the other blogs listed in the blogroll for the latest information and insight into AZ's political scene.
I recommend surfing over to Blog for Arizona, Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion, or any of the other blogs listed in the blogroll for the latest information and insight into AZ's political scene.
Monday, March 01, 2010
Quick update from the legislature...
Heard/seen while spending the morning at the Capitol...
- All of the Democrats and most of the Republicans in the lege are in the dark about what is going on with the budget this week - all of the talks are going on behind closed doors, and unless you are part of a certain special clique, you aren't invited.
- The Governor held a press conference in the quad in front of the Old Capitol building to declare today "Jeff Gordon" Day (aka - "Jan Brewer is running for election this year and wants to get the state's NASCAR fans on her side" Day). Brewer, Kirk Adams, and Bob Burns were all there, but the biggest crowd (both MSM and average citizen) was around Gordon.
- There will be a Senate Third Read (final passage) session at 1:00 p.m and a House COW (Committee of the Whole) session at 1:30 p.m (agenda here and here). If it wasn't for those (and planned floor sessions later in the week), most legislators would have headed for home already. This is a (hopefully) shorter version of last year's Bob Burns-mandated "no bills until the budget is passed" debacle.
- I'm not naming names, but as I am writing this, I am listening to an unnamed tour guide with what looks to be a junior high or early HS class. He's trying really hard, but he has massacred Latin - "pro tem" does not mean "second in command", and the House normally meets at 1:30 p.m., not 10 a.m. Also, the Governor isn't allowed on the floor of either chamber without being granted floor privileges first (though nobody can remember the last time that a Governor was denied floor privileges).
...More later...
- All of the Democrats and most of the Republicans in the lege are in the dark about what is going on with the budget this week - all of the talks are going on behind closed doors, and unless you are part of a certain special clique, you aren't invited.
- The Governor held a press conference in the quad in front of the Old Capitol building to declare today "Jeff Gordon" Day (aka - "Jan Brewer is running for election this year and wants to get the state's NASCAR fans on her side" Day). Brewer, Kirk Adams, and Bob Burns were all there, but the biggest crowd (both MSM and average citizen) was around Gordon.
- There will be a Senate Third Read (final passage) session at 1:00 p.m and a House COW (Committee of the Whole) session at 1:30 p.m (agenda here and here). If it wasn't for those (and planned floor sessions later in the week), most legislators would have headed for home already. This is a (hopefully) shorter version of last year's Bob Burns-mandated "no bills until the budget is passed" debacle.
- I'm not naming names, but as I am writing this, I am listening to an unnamed tour guide with what looks to be a junior high or early HS class. He's trying really hard, but he has massacred Latin - "pro tem" does not mean "second in command", and the House normally meets at 1:30 p.m., not 10 a.m. Also, the Governor isn't allowed on the floor of either chamber without being granted floor privileges first (though nobody can remember the last time that a Governor was denied floor privileges).
...More later...
Sunday, February 28, 2010
The coming week - the everything but the lege edition
The lege's schedule this week - almost no committee hearings while the lege "focuses" on the budget - has been covered here, in a post at Blog for Arizona.
...As usual, all info gathered from the websites of the relevent political bodies/agencies except where noted, and subject to change without notice...
In Congress, most of the week will be spent on committee hearings and behind-the-scenes work on health care reform and jobs bills. The short agenda for the House's floor activity mostly covers a number of non-controversial memorial and congratulatory resolutions. Even the one meaningful bill, HR4247, the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (CRS summary here; an AP article on the need for the proposed legislation, via AZCentral.com, here) should pass easily...after the Rs oppose even bringing the measure to the floor, of course (they oppose everything these days, no matter the worthiness of the legislation),
The Senate also has a long committee schedule (media highlight: the Commerce Committee's hearing looking into Toyota's recalls). Floor work may include consideration of the jobs bill recently passed by the House and an extension of the Patriot Act.
...Here in Arizona...
...The Arizona Corporation Commission will be holding a "utilities" meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. The ACC's hearing schedule is here.
...The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project will be meeting on Thursday in Casa Grande. CAP's Public Policy Committee will also meet on Thursday, as will its Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District & Underground Storage Committee.
...The Tempe City Council is scheduled to meet Thursday evening for a regular meeting (agenda here); earlier on Thursday, they are going to hold a special meeting on balancing the city's budget (agenda here). On Friday, they'll hold an executive session as part of the process of choosing a new City Clerk for Tempe (agenda here). The Council's calendar is here.
...The Scottsdale City Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday (agenda here). The Council's Community Meeting Notice is here.
Not scheduled to meet this week: Arizona Board of Regents, Board of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System, Maricopa Board of Supervisors, Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District (though they have some kind of "retreat" scheduled for Tuesday evening), Citizens Clean Elections Commission.
...As usual, all info gathered from the websites of the relevent political bodies/agencies except where noted, and subject to change without notice...
In Congress, most of the week will be spent on committee hearings and behind-the-scenes work on health care reform and jobs bills. The short agenda for the House's floor activity mostly covers a number of non-controversial memorial and congratulatory resolutions. Even the one meaningful bill, HR4247, the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (CRS summary here; an AP article on the need for the proposed legislation, via AZCentral.com, here) should pass easily...after the Rs oppose even bringing the measure to the floor, of course (they oppose everything these days, no matter the worthiness of the legislation),
The Senate also has a long committee schedule (media highlight: the Commerce Committee's hearing looking into Toyota's recalls). Floor work may include consideration of the jobs bill recently passed by the House and an extension of the Patriot Act.
...Here in Arizona...
...The Arizona Corporation Commission will be holding a "utilities" meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. The ACC's hearing schedule is here.
...The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project will be meeting on Thursday in Casa Grande. CAP's Public Policy Committee will also meet on Thursday, as will its Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District & Underground Storage Committee.
...The Tempe City Council is scheduled to meet Thursday evening for a regular meeting (agenda here); earlier on Thursday, they are going to hold a special meeting on balancing the city's budget (agenda here). On Friday, they'll hold an executive session as part of the process of choosing a new City Clerk for Tempe (agenda here). The Council's calendar is here.
...The Scottsdale City Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday (agenda here). The Council's Community Meeting Notice is here.
Not scheduled to meet this week: Arizona Board of Regents, Board of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System, Maricopa Board of Supervisors, Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District (though they have some kind of "retreat" scheduled for Tuesday evening), Citizens Clean Elections Commission.
Russell Pearce - the feds should do as we say, not as we do
Amazingly enough, this *isn't* about the state's budget mess, where their blind obeisance to Grover Norquist (and not-so-coincidentally, corporations and AZ's wealthiest residents) and their blindness to fiscal reality has led them to gut the state's future...
Nope, not now anyway. However, that will be covered in a future post.
From a Washington Examiner article about Joe Arpaio (emphasis mine) -
Ummm...weren't the Stapley indictments/arrest all about "crossing T's and dotting Is"?
Nope, not now anyway. However, that will be covered in a future post.
From a Washington Examiner article about Joe Arpaio (emphasis mine) -
With a sheriff's helicopter beating overhead, the man known as "Sheriff Joe" stood behind a line of officers as 10,000 people marched past — but this was not the usual show of affection and support for Joe Arpaio.
"Joe must go! Joe must go," whole families chanted, as they rounded the corner in front of the county jail complex run by the five-term Maricopa County sheriff famed for his confrontational tactics, his harsh jail policies and a gift for publicity. The parade of mostly brown-skinned people wanted to show they hated his trademark immigration patrols.
{snip}
Even supporters of his immigration efforts like state Sen. Russell Pearce, a former top deputy under Arpaio, acknowledge concern. "You always have to be worried," Pearce said. "If they are going to investigate whether you have crossed your T's and dotted your I's on every issue, I doubt there is anybody without fault."
Ummm...weren't the Stapley indictments/arrest all about "crossing T's and dotting Is"?
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Trent Franks (R-AZ2) - Arizona's shame
Perhaps this country's history of slavery is America's shame (though a strong argument can be made for the genocide perpetrated on American Indians here), but Congressman Trent Franks' waxing nostalgic about the good ol' days is Arizona's shame -
We are the ones who have sent him to the national stage, giving his utterings a far wider audience than they merit.
I first heard about this on Friday's Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, and it is already all over the blogosphere. Here is the Phoenix New Times' take on Franks' latest bout of verbal diarrhea -
The scary part is, no matter how much Franks is a right-wing Neanderthal whackjob, it still isn't enough for the AZGOP - they're running a Tea Party type (I refuse to link to this crap; just Google "Charles Black" and "Kingman) at him, attacking him from the right.
One silver lining in this dark cloud of embarassment - as long as Franks is around, wiseass AZ bloggers will never want for subject material.
We are the ones who have sent him to the national stage, giving his utterings a far wider audience than they merit.
I first heard about this on Friday's Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, and it is already all over the blogosphere. Here is the Phoenix New Times' take on Franks' latest bout of verbal diarrhea -
Republican Congressman Trent "Foot-in-Mouth" Franks is truly the gift that keeps on giving. The goofy, amiable wingnut from Arizona's Second Congressional District is known for his hard-right stance on just about everything from abortion to President Obama's birth certificate, which he desperately wanted to see at one point.
To say he's outdone himself with his latest racially-charged statements...starting around 6:12 in, would be ignorant of Franks' history of saying stupid stuff...I'm sure the 2.2 percent of African-Americans in his district will not be too happy to find out that Franks figured they had it better off in the antebellum South.
The scary part is, no matter how much Franks is a right-wing Neanderthal whackjob, it still isn't enough for the AZGOP - they're running a Tea Party type (I refuse to link to this crap; just Google "Charles Black" and "Kingman) at him, attacking him from the right.
One silver lining in this dark cloud of embarassment - as long as Franks is around, wiseass AZ bloggers will never want for subject material.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Events: Dean v. Rove Debate At ASU
First, there was the Rumble in the Jungle...
There there was the Thrilla in Manilla...
After that, the Duel in the Desert (many times over)...
Now, we have the ultimate showdown -
The Damage at the Gammage...
Tickets go on sale tomorrow...expect them to sell out quickly...
BTW - I don't know what they will be debating (it could be something apolitical along the lines of the relaxing spring training experience at Hohokam vs. the thrill of a drive for a national title at Packard), but it's going to be a lot of fun. However, given the two principals and the sponsor (ASU student government), something political will probably be on the agenda.
BTW2 - "Damage at the Gammage" is more than a little lame, but in my defense, *you* try to find something appropriate that rhymes with "Tempe." :)
There there was the Thrilla in Manilla...
After that, the Duel in the Desert (many times over)...
Now, we have the ultimate showdown -
The Damage at the Gammage...
Tickets go on sale tomorrow...expect them to sell out quickly...
BTW - I don't know what they will be debating (it could be something apolitical along the lines of the relaxing spring training experience at Hohokam vs. the thrill of a drive for a national title at Packard), but it's going to be a lot of fun. However, given the two principals and the sponsor (ASU student government), something political will probably be on the agenda.
BTW2 - "Damage at the Gammage" is more than a little lame, but in my defense, *you* try to find something appropriate that rhymes with "Tempe." :)
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