Legislative Republicans Still Scheming To Topple Voter Protection Act

The 2011 session of the legislature just ended but the Republicans in the lege are already planning for 2011.

One of the few things, perhaps the only thing, preventing the legislature from laying complete waste to Arizona's already weak societal infrastructure has been the Voter Protection Act.  The VPA, also known as "Proposition 105" was an amendment to the Arizona Constitution approved by the voters that effectively bars the legislature from interfering with any voter-approved initiatives (there are exceptions, but it takes a 3/4 vote and must further the intent of the initiative).

That safeguard has prevented the legislature from utterly destroying public education, early childhood health care, and AHCCCS, Arizona's Medicaid program (though they are trying that last anyway).

The Republicans in the lege have made periodic attempts to circumvent or overturn the measure, but those attempts have been rebuffed each time.

However, those Republicans are nothing if not persistent.  They are talking about going after the VPA again next session.

From the Arizona Capitol Times, by Jeremy Duda -

The chorus of lawmakers calling for an overhaul of the Voter Protection Act quieted to a low murmur in 2011, but supporters say the dormant issue will be back on the Legislature’s agenda next year.


Several Republican legislators said they will revive their plans to change Proposition 105, the 1998 ballot measure that strictly limits the Legislature’s ability to tamper with voter-approved measures. Legislative wins on a pair of big-ticket ballot measures, along with a standard informal agreement to steer clear of referenda in non-election years, helped keep the issue on the shelf.

Rep. Chad Campbell, House Democratic leader, was quoted in the article.

“The voters have shown time and time again that they do not want the Legislature undermining their ability to run initiatives and protect their interests. And I don’t blame the voters for that. I would agree with them.”

That pretty much sums up my take on this.  The Republicans will posture all they want, and maybe do even more to cripple the state's fiscal situation in an attempt to scare the voters into rolling over for the anti-society agenda pushed by the GOP pooh-bahs. 


However, the voters haven't done so before now, and with the growing dissatisfaction with the cold-heartedness (cutting education to pay for tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy) and corruption (Fiesta Bowl junkets, anyone?), they aren't likely to trust any ballot measure the legislature pushes targeting the voters' will.

Note:  right now, the Cap Times' piece isn't behind a paywall, but it soon could be.

The Arpaio Scandals: It's getting where you need a scorecard to tell them apart

With the latest scandal to hit Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Maricopa County Sheriff's Office this week, the arrest of three MCSO employees for involvement with drug and human-trafficking cartels, it seems as if the scandals could form their own baseball team.  Here's the lineup:

Leading off and playing center field, the fleet-footed rookie above

Batting second and playing second, the politically motivated investigations and indictments of Maricopa County supervisors and Arpaio political adversaries Don Stapley and Mary Rose Wilcox

Batting third and playing left field, the politicall motivated investigation of and charges levelled against a county judge who failed to kiss Arpaio's behind

Hitting cleanup and playing first, the news that Arpaio and his office misspent almost $100 million of jail funds

Hitting fifth and playing the hot corner (3rd base for the heathens out there :) ), former Chief Deputy Dave Hendershott, who's as famous for taking one for the team as he is for hitting them out of the ballpark

Batting sixth and catching, Joel Fox and the SCA laundered campaign contributions/depraved attack ad

In the seventh spot and playing shortstop, the new linchpin of Arpaio's defense, Bill Montgomery and the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of campaign finance violations

Batting eighth and playing right field, the Taj Mahal of buses, ostensibly purchased to transport prisoners, but now used to throw loyalists under in hopes that the bodies will stave off a federal indictment

And batting ninth and pitching, the master of distraction, Joltin' (rhymes with Revoltin'), Joe Arpaio.

The MCSO scandal bench is pretty deep - dead bodies at the hands of his detention officers, millions of dollars in lawsuits, junkets to Honduras to "train" the military there, just months before a right-wing military coup there, and more await their turn at the plate.

His team does have one glaring weakness - his star relief pitcher and biggest ally at the legislature, State Senator Russell Pearce, has troubles of his own.  Like a growing recall effort and a son who has been sentenced to a year in prison.  Wonder if he's going to do his time in  a luxury hotel room one of the private prisons that his father so ardently supports?

Fortunately for Arpaio, if this lineup ever sees a game, the umpire will be a federal judge, not any of the Maricopa County judges that he has tried to intimidate.

Unfortunately for him though, if this lineup ever sees a game, the opposing team captain won't be the prosecutor he's hired for his team, it'll the the US Attorney.

Schweikert makes pronounceement: Gutting Medicare is "honorable"

Big hat tip to David Safier at Blog For Arizona for noticing this.

ABC News featured an interview today with CD5's Congressman David Schweikert.  He spent his time whistling past the graveyard over the Republican loss in NY-26 last night, something which most observers (including me) attribute to the Republican candidate's whole-hearted embrace of the plan to turn Medicare into a corporate voucher plan.

Among the "highlights" -

Destroying Medicare is "based on the math."

Destroying Medicare will "save the republic."

Destroying Medicare is "the honorable" thing to do.

At the end of the interview, there was a staged, "awww, isn't that cute moment" moment with Schweikert's dog, Charlie.  Schweikert called to the dog to get him to jump up, but had to tug on his leash to get Charlie to move for the camera.

Wonder if Schweikert will be surprised when the seniors and working families that he is throwing under the bus tug on his leash?

There's a new third rail in American politics tonight

Social Security used to be called the "third rail" of American politics, implying that any politician that tried to touch it would see their political career shocked to death.

While Social Security is still vitally important to most Americans, a Republican in upstate New York learned tonight that there is a second "third rail" - Medicare.

From Talking Points Memo -

Democrat Kathy Hochul Wins Upset In NY-26, Medicare Vote Key To Victory


Republicans are going to have plenty of questions about their plan to turn Medicare into a voucher program tomorrow morning after Democrats romped to an improbable victory in a special election focused almost entirely on the issue.


Democrat Kathy Hochul lead 48-43 with over 83% of the votes counted and her victory looks to be a strong one -- the Associated Press called the race within an hour of the polls closing.

Look for Republican wags across the nation to blame the loss on the presence of a third candidate, a tea party type, in the race.

Just remind them that Hochul received approximately twice as large a percentage of the vote (48%) as the Democratic candidate in the same district received just six months ago (24%).

That's not the fault of the tea party type.

In spite of the loss, look for R office holders and seekers to double down on the "destroy Medicare" plan - they'd rather go down in flames than to admit they're wrong.

To those Republicans I say this (and I'm showing my age :) ) -

Keep on keepin' on - 2012 will be here soon.

Kirk Adams and Sal DiCiccio pass on the Kool-Aid in favor of a tall glass of Whine

And the Night Of Picking On Republicans continues... :)

On Thursday, the Goldwater Institute,  Arizona's corporate lobbyist organization masquerading as a right wing "think tank," will host Steven Greenhut, the writer of the anti-worker propaganda tome book called  Plunder: How Public Employee Unions are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation.

The "special guests" on Thursday?

- Sal DiCiccio, the member of the Phoenix City Council who was behind SB1322, the misbegotten proposal to privatize city services in Phoenix and Tucson (which passed the lege, only to be vetoed by Jan Brewer.  Turns out that she likes him as much as the rest of us. :) ).

- Kirk Adams, former Speaker of the Arizona House and current candidate for Congress (in a district to be determined later) and sponsor of a pension "reform" bill during this past session of the lege that erodes the pensions of public employees.

The name of the event is "How Public Servants Became our Masters & What We Can Do about It".

Wonder if anybody at GI noticed the irony there? 

Both DiCiccio and Adam have been, are, and will continue to be "public servants."

I'll leave it to blunter people than me to speculate on the quality and price tag to the public of that "public service" but the simple fact is that both of them collect publicly-funded paychecks or have in the past and are campaigning to do so in the future.

I have no question that Adams and DiCiccio will gloss over that little fact during their "discussion" but I do have one question -

Which one is going to bring the crackers, and which one will bring the cheese?

Republican leader: No help for Joplin unless there are cuts elsewhere

From Politico, written by Jake Sherman -

The No. 2 House Republican said that if Congress doles out additional money to assist in the aftermath of natural disasters across the country, the spending may need to be offset.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said “if there is support for a supplemental, it would be accompanied by support for having pay-fors to that supplemental.”

Cantor is one of the 233 House Republicans who voted to protect subsidies to Big Oil and one of the 235 who voted to destroy Medicare.

Well, say what you want about Cantor and his ilk, (like Arizona's Jeff Flake, David Schweikert, Trent Franks, Ben Quayle, and Paul Gosar) nobody can deny his consistency.

Travis Waldron at ThinkProgress has his take here.

Jan Brewer and Tom Horne seek to overturn November's election results

...Of course, they only want to change the part of the election results they don't like, not the part that gave them their current jobs...

From the Tucson Sentinel, by Dylan Smith -

Gov. Jan Brewer and Attorney General Tom Horne will ask a federal court to determine if Arizona's new medical marijuana law is legal, they announced Tuesday.

The two said court action is needed to determine if the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act violates federal law.

The state will seek a declaratory judgment regarding the measure, Brewer said.

It's kind of interesting that Republicans are all for "following the will of the people" - except when the "people" support something they don't approve of, like Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, comprehensive immigration reform, or, as in this example, medical marijuana.

Brewer's press release is here.

BTW - Ummm...didn't we just get through a legislative session where Republicans all over the Capitol spent their days proudly thumbing their noses at the feds?  You'd think they'd be proud of something that the AZ voters did that those feds may not like...

Maricopa County Politics: the very definition of "small world"

Item one:  Witness one Mark Goldman, attorney.  A former deputy Maricopa County Attorney, he was heavily involved in the case ginned up by former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas against Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley, a political rival of Thomas' biggest political ally, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Item two:  Witness Dennis Wilenchik, attorney.  At one point in time, his firm employed Thomas.  When Thomas became county attorney, Wilenchik's firm received oodles of private contracts from MCAO, essentially using public funds to pay Wilenchik et. al. to serve as Thomas' political hatchetmen "special prosecutors".  Cases included (but were hardly limited to) the persecution and arrest of the publishers of the Phoenix New Times for their coverage of Arpaio and his misdeeds.

Item three:  Goldman, like Thomas, worked for Wilenchik at one point (see the link in the first item).

Item four:  Goldman is the attorney for State Senator Scott Bundgaard in his "domestic violence" case.

Item five:  Jason Rose, the AZ Republicans' resident PR guru, is Bundgaard's PR guy, helping him deal with the fallout from the domestic violence incident.  Bundgaard's case is still pending, in Phoenix Municipal Court, but I'm not sure.  Their records don't seem to be available online.  However, I can find no mention of the case in the Maricopa County court system's records.

Item six: Arpaio incurred fines of over $75K over illegal campaign finance activity when his campaign spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising that supported Bill Montgomery, a Thomas ally, over Rick Romley, a Thomas and Arpaio adversary, in the race to fill Thomas' unexpired term as CA.

All of which leads to item seven:

A Paradise Valley-located fundraiser for Montgomery, scheduled for Wednesday evening.

Organized by Goldman, it boasts a host committee (aka - list of big $ contributors) that includes Goldman, Wilenchik and Rose.

It also boasts of a "special appearance" by Arpaio, and curiously, Joe Miller, the candidate for U.S. Senate in Alaska who lost to Lisa Murkowski, who ran as a write-in candidate.  Maybe Miller will take the time to bring a housewarming gift to his friend Sarah Palin at her new digs in north Scottsdale.

Goldman's political fundraising LLC, GoldmanSmith, was incorporated in April, shortly after folks started figuring out that Bundgaard's "domestic violence incident" wasn't going to go away.  It's got a bare-bones website, and only one event listed - this one.

I don't know what sort of concoction they are brewing up over in PV, but given the ingredients include a number of people with large amounts of money and a personal or professional need for a "friendly" county attorney, whoever is standing over the cauldron better be able to stir with one hand.

The other holding will be holding their nose.

Have any Arizona legislators taken a trip to Maine recently?

From the Morning Sentinel (of Maine), written by Erin Rhoda -

WATERVILLE -- A state representative from Garland was arrested Saturday morning for pointing a handgun at a man at point-blank range in a Dunkin' Donuts parking lot.


The legislator, Republican Frederick L. Wintle, 58, faces a felony charge of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon for pulling a gun on Morning Sentinel photographer Michael Seamans, of Sidney, in a public area near a busy road.

One can reasonably expect this sort of behavior out of some of Arizona's Republicans, given their history of gun-fetishist behavior, and it's not much of a surprise when you see it in certain Western or Plains states (i.e. - Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, etc.), but the farther north and east one goes in this country, the less one expects to find occurrences of it.

And you don't get any more north and east than Maine.

Of course, it's easy to see the difference between Maine and Arizona (aside from Maine having winters straight out of a Jack London novel :) ) -

- In Maine, when a lawmaker engages in violent behavior, the leader of his caucus (in this case, the Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives) wants him barred from the House.

- In Arizona, when a lawmaker engages in violent behavior, the leader of his caucus (in this case, the President of the Arizona State Senate), declares that he is the victim and defends the lawmaker in question and not the real victim.

Short Attention Span Musing

...Late this week, the state elections director announced that she made a "mistake" in the timetable for forcing a recall election of Russell Pearce in November, meaning that any such election is now delayed until March of next year.

Has anyone else noticed that Amy Bjelland, the state elections director made the "mistake" benefitting Senator Russell Pearce, the current president of the state senate, was formerly the legal counsel for the Republicans in the state senate? 

Before she went to work for her current boss, Ken Bennett, who used to be a former Senate president himself? 

That many coincidences strains credibility.

I know a lot of good people (in other words, not people who support Pearce) who truly believe Bjelland made an honest mistake.  However, and maybe this just means that I'm not a good person, or perhaps just simply too cynical, but I don't believe that.

...Now that the latest "rapture" is over, it's time to take stock.  Of the 61 legislative Republicans, most of whom trip over themselves proving their devoutness whenever the opportunity presents itself...in front of TV cameras, anyway...how many are missing?  Surely at least a dozen or so must have been scooped up, right?

...Rumor has it that Sarah Palin is moving to north Scottsdale.  I don't know if it is true, but if it is, David Schweikert, Jeff Flake, and Jan Brewer better watch their backs.  One of them will have a target on it.

...Too funny for any words that I can add to it:  Newt Gingrich, Dancing Queen.


Later...

Pearce recall update: state elections director does what Pearce couldn't - delay his recall election

Arizona has long been a "pre-clearance" state, subject to US Department of Justice oversight of the state's elections and processes.  While the latest "incident" probably won't garner specific attention from the DOJ (read: an investigation and an indictment), it does illustrate the reason why Arizona has spent decades as a pre-clearance state -

These people are morally incapable of simply just doing the job right and letting candidates succeed or fail on their own merits.

From the Arizona Republic, written by Jim Walsh -

Arizona's elections director said she inadvertently gave an incorrect timetable to the organizers of a drive to recall controversial Senate President Russell Pearce, forcing a change in strategy in the historic recall effort.

Elections Director Amy Bjelland said she initially told recall organizer Randy Parraz that if he filed his signatures by May 25, there would be enough time to verify them and schedule a November election.

But Bjelland since has notified Parraz that Gov. Jan Brewer has 15 days to officially call an election if the signatures check out, not five. The difference of 10 days in the recall timetable means Citizens for a Better Arizona already has missed the actual deadline, May 10, to turn in the signatures for a November election and can only hope for a March 13, 2012, election.

{snip}

Parraz said Citizens for a Better Arizona was hoping to force a November election by turning in far more than the required 7,756 signatures by May 25, based upon Bjelland's original timetable.

"We know it was not intentional. We needed more time anyway," he said.

Parraz is far more forgiving, and tactful, than me.

I don't know if Bjelland is taking the blame over this on her own volition or if her boss, Secretary of State Ken Bennett, gave her a little push, but tactics this heavy-handed won't help Republicans in general or Pearce in particular.

Before the "oopsie," the Rs were going to have a year to work with/live down the fallout of the Pearce recall.  In addition, before this, it was all about Pearce and only Pearce.

Now, there will be five more months of stories about Pearce and his depredations, stories that will be prominent during the campaign season (remember, there will be a presidential primary around that time - there's going to all kinds of political coverage going on).


...In other recall news, Pearce is getting a little testy over the recall.  At an anti-recall rally with Joe Arpaio, John Kavanagh and other leading lights of Arizona's nativist subculture, he dropped a really curious quote.

From AZFamily.com (Phoenix TV 3), by Stacy Delikat (emphasis mine) -

..."You take everything seriously, people know who these folks are, they've tried it before," said Pearce. "They're simply open-border anarchists who have no respect for the rule of law, we'll deal with it."

Just a quick refresher for those unfamiliar with Pearce's MO of "do as I say, not as I do," particularly when it comes to the "rule of law" -

Just this year, he's...

...proclaimed that sitting legislators are above the laws that govern the rest of us when it comes to carrying weapons in the public buildings of the legislature

...created a "blacklist" of people he arbitrarily barred from the Senate building for the "crime" of daring to disagree with him on immigration issues

...supported Scott Bundgaard, his ally in the Senate, and his use of "legislative immunity" to avoid arrest because of a domestic violence incident along a Valley freeway

...dissembled, denied, and just plain lied about his involvement with the Fiesta Bowl scandal, where a number of Arizona's lawmakers took gifts and laundered campaign contributions from Fiesta Bowl lobbyists, in violation of many state laws..  Most of the lawmakers involved have now quietly repaid the Fiesta Bowl and amended their financial disclosure reports. 


Many words can be used to describe Pearce and his activities.

"Quiet" isn't one of them.  Neither is "repentant."

As for "law-abiding"?

It's only used by him, his cronies, and his followers, and only to describe him.

Schweikert: Doing what he was born to do

...Pimping for Big Oil Pumping gas...

From the KNXV (channel 15)  -

Tomorrow: 10 stories to watch in Arizona 5/18 2011

{snip}
 
SCHWEIKERT PUMPS GAS

Congressman David Schweikert will meet with constituents and fill up gas tasks as he talks about rising gas prices and energy independence. 8am-9am, Danny’s Family Car Wash, Scottsdale.

FYI, Danny's Family Car Wash is headed up by Danny Hendon, a noted "entrepeneur"/corporateer with bankruptcy issues and a track record of securing taxpayer-backed financing based on a sketchy letter of credit.

Just the sort of "association" that one can expect from the pro-corporate/anti-senior "Foreclosure Dave."

Note:  Green2V, the company in question (re: letter of credit), is incorporated in AZ,  and is Hendon's and a partner's through a series of his other corporate and partnership entities (here, here, here, and here), all registered at the same address, 15509 N. Scottsdale Rd.

Pearce spin machine getting up to speed

Most of the R blogs/press release outlets in Arizona have posted a press release from Russell Pearce.  It touts his new "charity," formed to bring clean water to Haiti.

Sounds like an "awww, geee - isn't that nice" sort of moment except for a few things.  Minor things, really, more nagging sort of details.  But still... -

- The website for the "effort" was registered on April 19, 2011, a few weeks after the Fiesta Bowl scandal blew up in Pearce's face and just about the time that people realized that the Recall Pearce initiative has legs and may just well succeed in forcing a recall election.

- Pearce, and the other Republican senators that chose him to be their leader and face to the rest of the country, earned an "F" from the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club for his "work" on environmental issues during this past session.  This work included SCR1015, which would have referred to the voters an amendment to the Arizona Constitution to remove federal Clean Waters Act protections from waters in Arizona. 

Soooooo...we are expected to believe that Pearce, a man renowned for his antipathy toward people whose skin color is other than lily-white, supports clean water for Haitians while being opposed to clean water in Arizona?

- "Pearce Johnson Foundation" is nowhere to be found in the databases of CharityNavigator.com, Arizona Corporation Commission, or Arizona Secretary of State.  A corporate entity could have been created, either as a non-profit or an outright charity and the paperwork upload is lagging, or it could have been in another state (but why do that?), but so far, I cannot find any independently verifiable evidence that this charity actually exists legally.

- Sort of related to the above point, the website is soliciting contributions from the public, yet there is no contact info on the website.  The only contact method is a web contact form. 

No "bricks and mortar" address, no phone number.  Not even an email.

Most charity watchdog groups, including state attorneys general, encourage would-be givers to check out the so-called charities before they give.  Between the lack of public info and the opaqueness of the website, there's no way to do that here.


Somebody really should sit down with Pearce and the others involved and let them know that forming a charity that doesn't seem to actually be a charity, well, that isn't something that will help Pearce with what ails him in the public relations area.

Nope, not at all.

Huckabee out of race for the Republican nomination for president

I understand the ego involved in making the announcement on his own Faux News program, but if this was a truly momentous announcement, wouldn't it have been made during weekday primetime?

I mean, on cable and on Saturday night?

I love politics and knew that he had some sort of announcement scheduled for today, but even I would rather watch the DBacks beat the Dodgers in LA.

And did.  It was a good game.  :)

Anyway, from AP via Yahoo! News -

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Saturday he won't seek the Republican presidential nomination, choosing to stick with a lucrative career as a television and radio personality over a race that would be both costly and caustic.


"All the factors say go, but my heart says no," Huckabee, the winner of the 2008 Iowa caucuses, said on his Fox News Channel show.

Huckabee's decision further muddies the GOP field as the Republican Party seeks a challenger for President Barack Obama.

I normally don't care about the inner-workings of the Republican candidate selection process, but I have to say this - Huckabee's decision fits perfectly with the Republican meme that public service, even well-compensated public service, takes a backseat to financial self-enrichment.

Of course, certain ones find a way to turn public service into self-enrichment.  We call them members of Congress.  And the Arizona legislature.

Later...

David Schweikert has time for contributors but not for constituents

Cross-posted from Blog For Arizona...

If you are bored and looking for a really expensive drink and some lame conversation tomorrow after helping out the Recall Pearce effort.  :)


First, from Schweikert's House website -

Due to a scheduling conflict, the Listening Sessions with David Schweikert planned for May 16th and May 19th, 2011, have been postponed to a future date to be determined.

However, whatever the "scheduling conflict" may be, apparently it isn't important enough to get in the way of campaign fundraising.

From an announcement for an event on Saturday -

You are Invited to Attend the

Talking With Tempe Event

in support of

U. S. Congressman David Schweikert

House Financial Services Committee
& Vice Chair of the Capital Markets Subcommittee

Hosted by

Honorable Hugh Hallman

Honorable Onnie Shekerjian

Dennis Redmond & Dick Foreman

Saturday, May 14
4:00pm – 6:00pm

$100 Attend
$1,500 Co-Host

The Penthouse at Bridgeview Condominiums

140 E. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe AZ 85281

Host Committee:

Steve Chucri

Jose Esparza

Bettina Nava

Barry and Jody Aarons

Ann and Danny Seiden

The Honorable Laura Knaperek

Umm...yeah. Nice priorities there, Dave.

BTW - think it's a coincidence that Schweikert stressed his particular House committee membership in the notice? Check out the host committee for the event -

Chucri is a lobbyist.

Esparza is a lobbyist.

Nava is a lobbyist.

Aarons is a lobbyist.

Seiden is a lobbyist.

Knaperek is a lobbyist.


Later...