Saturday, June 04, 2011

Well, now we know why Sarah Palin moved to AZ...

...because if she moved to MA to run for their Senate seat next year, she'd have already lost the primary.



Ummm...yeah.

Not looking too Senatorial there, much less Presidential.

In the interests of educating the newest resident of the Lower 48, here's a little primer for her, courtesy The Poetry Foundation (not perfectly accurate historically, but it's a whole lot closer than that mess spewed by the wannabe president/senator/pundit) -
The Landlord's Tale. Paul Revere's Ride

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.


He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,—
One, if by land, and two, if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."
Then he said, "Good night!" and with muffled oar
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war;
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon like a prison bar,
And a huge black hulk, that was magnified
By its own reflection in the tide.


Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street,
Wanders and watches with eager ears,
Till in the silence around him he hears
The muster of men at the barrack door,
The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,
And the measured tread of the grenadiers,
Marching down to their boats on the shore.


Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church,
By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,
To the belfry-chamber overhead,
And startled the pigeons from their perch
On the sombre rafters, that round him made
Masses and moving shapes of shade, —
By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,
To the highest window in the wall,
Where he paused to listen and look down
A moment on the roofs of the town,
And the moonlight flowing over all.
Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,
In their night-encampment on the hill,
Wrapped in silence so deep and still
That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread,
The watchful night-wind, as it went
Creeping along from tent to tent,
And seeming to whisper, "All is well!"
A moment only he feels the spell
Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread
Of the lonely belfry and the dead;
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent
On a shadowy something far away,
Where the river widens to meet the bay, —
A line of black that bends and floats
On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats.


Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse's side,
Now gazed at the landscape far and near,
Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry-tower of the Old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the hill,
Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp in the belfry burns!
A hurry of hoofs in a village street,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet:
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.
He has left the village and mounted the steep,
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;
And under the alders, that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.


It was twelve by the village clock,
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.
He heard the crowing of the cock,
And the barking of the farmer's dog,
And felt the damp of the river fog,
That rises after the sun goes down.


It was one by the village clock,
When he galloped into Lexington.
He saw the gilded weathercock
Swim in the moonlight as he passed,
And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare,
Gaze at him with a spectral glare,
As if they already stood aghast
At the bloody work they would look upon.


It was two by the village clock,
When he came to the bridge in Concord town.
He heard the bleating of the flock,
And the twitter of birds among the trees,
And felt the breath of the morning breeze
Blowing over the meadows brown.
And one was safe and asleep in his bed
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket-ball.


You know the rest. In the books you have read,
How the British Regulars fired and fled, —
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farm-yard wall,
Chasing the red-coats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.


So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm, —
A cry of defiance and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo forevermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

Friday, June 03, 2011

Did anybody notice...?

...that Rep. Paul "I'm a millionaire" Gosar (R-AZ1) pushed an anti-Davis-Bacon Act amendment to the Homeland Security funding bill passed by the House this week?  The Davis-Bacon Act requires that workers on public works projects are paid the "prevailing wage" in their area.  The amendment failed, even with the support of the other four Arizona Republicans in the House.

It's kind of curious that a wealthy Congressman who (allegedly) represents the people of Arizona's First district, which contains some of the poorest areas of the state, would be actively working to suppress wages in that area (and across the country).


...that Sen. Russell Pearce has a pattern?  He's all for the blind "rule of law" when it is applied to people with brown skin or who simply disagree with him.  But for people he likes?  Not so much.

Latest example:  His appointment to the state's Child Support Committee has a history of violence in front of children.

Pearce's response when his appointee's criminal record was brought to his attention?

From an Arizona Capitol Times story, written by Gary Grado -
Finding qualified people to sit on the multitude of committees that have many seats is a challenge, and disqualifying people on the basis of a criminal record would make it even more challenging, Pearce said.

The blasé attitude, while disappointing, is hardly surprising.  This is the same guy who pronounced that state senators are above the law barring the possession of weapons in public buildings and that his ally and fellow state senator, Scott Bundgaard, was actually the victim in a domestic violence incident that took place in February.

Despite the statement of the actual victim.

Despite the reports of the police.

Despite the statements of eye witnesses.


...that since she bought a house in north Scottsdale, Sarah Palin has been everywhere except for Arizona?  It seems like she hasn't missed a landmark, tourist trap, or truck stop in her presidential campaign bus tour through the northeastern U.S.

Well, just she doesn't slip from notice here (OK, so that's not going to happen.  It works as an excuse to write this blurb :) ), based on the address, here is a list of electeds who need to watch their backs.

President Barack Obama - it's hardly a secret that she wants his job.  OK, she probably just wants the title.  If she actually won, she'd probably quit a couple of years into her first term to find a better-paying job.

Congressman Jeff Flake - it's hardly a secret that she'd "settle" for the US Senate seat held by the soon-to-be-retired Jon Kyl, a seat that's coveted by Flake.

Secretary of State Ken Bennett and anyone else eyeing a 2014 run for governor.  Arizona is a bigger state than Alaska, and while she probably isn't interested in dealing with the AZ legislature, anything could happen.

Congressmen David Schweikert and Ben Quayle - her new home places her at the western edge of the current Fifth Congressional District.  After redistricting, she could end up in either Schweikert's or Quayle's freshly-redrawn district.  As first-termers running for reelection in somewhat unfamiliar districts, they'll be highly vulnerable to challenges.

LD7 and LD8 state legislators Heather Carter, David Burnell Smith, Michelle Ugenti are all first-termers in the lege.  While it is highly unlikely that Palin would be interested in a run at the lege, they would be vulnerable in the same way that Schweikert and Quayle are vulnerable.  Nancy Barto, Michele Reagan, John Kavanagh could be vulnerable to a primary challenge from a high-profile opponent, but they've been around long enough that they could weather such a challenge.  After redistricting, she could end up in the new version of either district.

Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley.  While he has survived the attacks from Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas, he has been scuffed up enough for a challenger to defeat him.  Not the highest profile position, but they get to deal with an annual budget of more than $2 billion, with minimal oversight.  With Palin's predilection for misusing office (Troopergate, anyone?), this one cannot be ruled out.

Desert Ridge Justice of the Peace Clancy Jayne...OK, this one is a bit of a stretch, even for a wiseass post like this one.  Maricopa County JPs are paid pretty well (~$100K) but it's a job that is actual work.  She would have to show up and do the job, not spend her time flying around the country trying to find the greatest concentration of TV cameras.

Desert Ridge Constable Cory Hazlett...lower profile and lower pay than the JP job, and the job requires working outside.  Not gonna happen either.

Cave Creek Unified School District Governing Board members David Schaefer, Mark Warren, Susan Clancy, Casey Perkins, and Stephanie Reese.  Probably too low-profile for Palin's taste, and she's not exactly a fan of public education (her oldest daughter was homeschooled, not sure about her other children), but school board members probably garner the most respect accorded any elected position in Arizona.  Quitting halfway through her term as governor of Alaska has left Palin a little light in the respect department.

Peak View precinct Republican PCs Melinda Gulick, Peter Kanton, Regina Knapp, Gary McCaleb, Gwenn McCaleb, Lawrence Wangler, and Verna Wangler.  Low-profile and unpaid, yet gaining one of these slots could bolster carpetbagger Palin's bonafides with the AZ GOP.  Could result in the first known case of a PC candidate having to file campaign finance reports.

Finally, Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane.  Not being snarky here.  It's high-profile enough to give her Arizona visibility for any 2014 or 2016 runs in AZ, yet part-time enough for her to keep her financially lucrative reality TV/faux news career going.  Plus Scottsdale has a recent history of elected women as its mayor (Mary Manross, Sam Campana).

Hmmm....

Later...

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Recall Pearce turns in more than 18,000 signatures

Arizona had a good day today...and Russell Pearce had a very bad day.

Today was a "historic" day, as described by Chad Snow, chairman of Citizens for a Better Arizona.. 

For the the first time in Arizona history, a sitting legislator faces a recall election.

For the first time in US history (as far as anyone can find, anyway), a sitting state senate president faces a recall election.

Monday afternoon, hundreds of supporters, ages 8 to 80, of the Recall Pearce initiative gathered at the state capitol to help turn in the petitions circulated by more than 300 volunteers who gave up their weekends and evenings to work for a better Arizona.

Reports were that Pearce was at the Capitol Monday but didn't meet with the Recall supporters, nor did he answer media questions.

They turned over 18,000 signatures, more than the number of votes Pearce received last November.

Now the process of certifying the signatures begins.  My expectations are that Pearce and his allies, which include both the governor and the secretary of state, will do everything they can to derail the movement.

When this effort began in January, many skeptics (and I freely admit, I was one of the skeptics) didn't believe that Randy Parraz and the rest of the Citizens for a Better Arizona crew could pull it together and pull it off, but they did, and regardless of whatever games the Pearce and his friends play with the certification process, all of the Citizens for a Better Arizona deserve our thanks.

Arizona Capitol Times coverage here

Arizona Republic coverage here.

Phoenix New Times coverage here.


Some pics of the day today, courtesy Robert Hääscħ, via the Recall Pearce Facebook page -

Marching from the Senate building to the Executive Tower














Filling the entrance of the Tower














Randy Parraz explaining a chart showing the number of sigs gathered














Crates full of petitions














The story of the end of Pearce's political career, if this leads to that outcome, won't be titled  "For Who The Bell Tolls" (that's been taken already by some no-name hack :)) ), ir'll be "For Whom The Papers Riffle."  Not as profound a title, but it may have as profound a meaning...

Monday, May 30, 2011

Debt Ceiling Up For A Vote Tomorrow; Nationwide Default Imminent

After weeks of posturing and playing chicken with America's economic stability (and fiscal credibility), House Republicans are bringing H.R. 1954, raising the government's debt limit, to the floor for a vote Tuesday evening.

It's a vote designed to fail - they're bringing the bill to the floor under "suspension of the rules," meaning that it will require a 2/3 vote to pass.

There are 432 members of the House right now, and 2/3 of that total is 288.  That means that if all 192 Democrats in the House voted to raise the debt limit, the measure would still need 96 Republicans to vote for it in order to pass.

However, not every D will vote for it  (though the vast majority will) plus some will be absent (i.e. - Gabby Giffords).  In other words, H.R. 1954 will need the support of somewhere between 102 and 106 Rs to pass.

Probably not going to happen.  Most of them are more interested in adhering to their economic nihilist ideology than in actually governing.

The move to require a 2/3 vote, however, frees up any Republican who is from a district that is more moderate than they are to vote for raising the debt ceiling without, you know, actually raising the debt ceiling.

The vote is scheduled for ~6:30 p.m. Eastern, or 3:30 p.m. Arizona time.  The debate on the matter will be earlier in the day, late morning or early afternoon Arizona time.

Government Executive magazine, a publication of the National Journal, offers a list of likely ramifications of default here.  For readers who believe that ultimately the Republicans will do the responsible thing here, read the list.

There's nothing on the list that the Republicans harbor any serious objections toward.

Remember


Picture of Arlington National Cemetary, Memorial Day 2010, gratefully borrowed from Arlington's website.

Courtesy the National Archives,  the state-sorted roll calls of

- WW II Army and Army Air Force dead is here

- WW II Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard dead is here

- Korean War dead is here

- Vietnam War dead is here.

An Arizona Republic article from 1999, archived by BYU, with links to lists of Arizona's war dead, is here.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

2012 committees update

Edited/corrected on 5/29 per an email from frequent reader and commenter Thane.  Thanks Thane!

Edited on 5/30 per an observation from commenter Steve, to clarify some poorly crafted language.  Thanks Steve!

Things have been fairly quiet on the committee formation front, but a few new ones sprung up since the last update.

For U.S. Senate -

Douglas McKee of Ft. Mohave has filed for the Republican nomination.  Ft. Mohave (population ~14K), between Lake Havasu City and Bullhead City in the northwest corner of the state probably isn't the best place from which to launch serious statewide campaign, but I did a quick Google search on him.  His Twitter feed is here, his "fathers' rights" website is here.

Richard Grayson of Apache Junction has filed for the Green Party nomination.  He's run against Jeff Flake, the expected Republican nominee next year, in the past and is making another run.


For U. S. House -

No new committees that I could find


For statewide office -

Ken Bennett has filed an exploratory committee for a 2014 run for governor.  Not "new" news, but I hadn't found the committee on the Secretary of State's, aka, his, website.


For Arizona Legislature -

Adam Kwasman has filed for the Republican nomination for LD26 House.  According to his Linkedin page, he was the campaign manager in 2010 for Jesse Kelly's failed bid for Gabby Giffords' CD8 House seat.  The LD26 House seats are currently held by Republicans Terri Proud and Vic Williams, though after redistricting they could all end up in separate districts.

Robert McDonald Jr. has filed for the Democratic nomination for LD18 Senate.  He ran in 2010, coming in second in the Democratic primary to Andrew Sherwood.


Other state-level committees -

The Republicans have formed a committee to oppose the recall of Sen. Russell Pearce.  Yes, it's officially "non-partisan" but it is chaired by Matt Tolman, Pearce ally and friend, and more importantly for this post, former 2nd Vice Chair of the AZGOP and Chair of the LD18 Republican Party.  His Linkedin page is here.


City of Phoenix -

Phoenix' general election is in August, with the runoff (if necessary) in November.  Candidate petitions are due June 1, so I won't go over the whole list of candidates yet (mostly because it hasn't been finalized yet), but some candidates have already been certified for the ballot -

Greg Stanton for Mayor

Eric Frederick, Gary Whalen, and Thelda Williams for City Council, District 1

Jim Waring for City Council, District 2

Brenda Sperduti and Daniel Valenzuela, City Council, District 5

Arthur Olivas Jr., City Council, District 7


Tempe and Scottsdale -

There don't seem to be any new committees that I could find.



Later!

Friday, May 27, 2011

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.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

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.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

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?

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

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...

Sunday, May 22, 2011

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.