Gun violence: It's a health crisis. Treat it that way.

This has been a tough post to write.  Not because there is nothing to say, but because there is so much to say, it's been difficult to keep it down to a readable length.  However, since there have been more than 5000 gun deaths since the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, and nothing has been done...

In the wake of December's mass shooting in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, there were a number of ideas floated to stem the epidemic of gun violence sweeping the country - reinstituting the assault weapons ban, closing the gun show loophole in background check laws, and banning ammunition magazines/ammo clips that are larger than a certain size, among many others - all of which have been strenuously opposed by the gun industry's lobbying group, the NRA, and most of which won't become law.

Witness Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and 44 of his colleagues banding together to block a proposal to close the "gun show loophole" in the federal law requiring background checks for firearms purchases.

Even though 90% of Americans, across all demographics - Ds, Rs, gun owners, liberals, conservatives, whatever - supported the common-sense move, 45% of US Senators were cravenly swayed by the NRA's campaign contributions.

In addition, in states where the NRA's tools hold sway over the political structure, they've actually passed laws to put more guns on the streets of America.

Witness Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signing HB2455 into law.

HB2455 requires municipalities and counties, with a few very specific exceptions, to sell any firearms that come into their possession.  The bill is targeted at gun "buyback" programs, where gun owners turn in weapons, usually for a small financial compensation, and then the local or county police agencies have the weapons destroyed.

This offended the tender sensibilities of the gun industry, their lobbyists in the NRA, and their lackeys in the Arizona so much that they passed a law to override the wishes of gun owners and to usurp local control.

The proposals that have been offered up in an effort to reduce the number of gun deaths will help, but all have the same underlying flaw that would ultimately limit their effectiveness, if any of them are ever enacted -


None of them seek to address the underlying causes of the epidemic of gun violence that's sweeping the country - a societal affinity for using violence as the first, not last, resort for resolution of conflict.

Nor do they address the "guns as toys" mentality that suffuses the gun subculture in America.


While easy access to firearms is a significant contributing factor in the torrent of violence, a bigger factor may be the attitude that firearms are toys that can be used or handled in any way without the user bearing any responsibility for the results of their handling or use of the firearms.

That can, and should be, addressed in a way that doesn't infringe on anyone's "rights".

Even if the gun fetishists (who, it should be noted, are not part of the group of *responsible* gun owners, who make up the majority of gun owners) don't like it, and they sure as hell won't.

Perhaps the people who are leading the efforts to reduce the number of gun deaths should take a page from the way that a previous behavioral health crisis was address.

That previous crisis?  Drunk driving.


In the early 1980s, when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started tracking the numbers, more than 21,000 people per year died as a result of alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents.

By 2011, that number had dropped to a little less than 10,000.

Why did that happen?

In large part due to a concerted effort, started in the early 1980s, to reduce both drinking and driving and the social acceptability of drinking and driving.

That effort included raising the legal drinking age (at the time, most states set that age at 18) to 21, changing the culture of enforcement (bars that served people until they were so intoxicated that they could no longer drive safely would lose their license and be subject to lawsuits, and police officers who let drunk drivers go with a warning would be held financially liable when one of those drivers would later get into an accident after being released) and increasing the penalties for those convicted of driving while under the influence (license suspensions became almost mandatory, as did jail sentences and hefty fines.  And that was even in cases where there were no injuries or property damage).

In short, the problem was addressed by addressing irresponsible behavior.

Drinking alcoholic beverages wasn't outlawed (they tried that with Prohibition.  It didn't work.  In fact, it failed miserably.).

Driving a motor vehicle wasn't outlawed (good luck with that one, not that anyone I know of is crazy enough to even suggest that, much less try to implement it).

Drinking and driving, on the other hand, while already against the law, was no longer winked at.  Because of the death toll that they inflict upon society, drunk drivers are now treated like the danger to society that they are.

To be sure, deaths due to intoxicated drivers haven't been reduced to zero, and won't be, but a huge dent has been made in the problem.

A similar approach may be the most effective way to address the epidemic of gun violence in the United States.

Completely banning guns, and no one with any credibility is pushing that as a solution, wouldn't "solve" the problem, any more than banning alcohol during Prohibition stopped all production and consumption of alcoholic beverages (or any more than the so-called "War on Drugs" has done anything to reduce the availability or use of narcotics, but that's a topic for another, very long, post).

However, there are a few approaches that can be taken that will address anti-social behavior without diminishing civil rights.  Though the gun industry, NRA, and gun fetishists will scream otherwise.

Offered, but not in any order of importance -

1. Roll back the legal shields created for gun manufacturers. If they start having to pay for their actions to make it easier for people who shouldn't be allowed near firearms to gain access to them, perhaps the industry will think twice about mass manufacture and mass marketing of handheld weapons of mass destruction such as the Bushmaster rifle and large capacity magazines.

2. Place as much emphasis on the *responsibility* that goes with possessing firearms as the NRA places on the "right" to possess them in the first place.  As with the example of drunk driving, intent to harm others wouldn't be relevant - everything from accidental discharge of a firearm with no harm to humans or property thru accidentally causing the death of another human should result in prison time.  Leaving a firearm in position, and condition, where it can be found and fired by children, should also result in prison time.  Incidents where such a firearm is actually fired would result in more prison time, and incidents where someone is actually harmed would result in even more prison time.

3. Quit messing around and expand background check requirements to cover all sales of firearms, not just those involving licensed dealers.

Some will argue that it is unfair to criminally and civilly punish people and businesses for accidents or for acts made in "good faith".

I would argue back that even if it is, it's less unfair than sacrificing the lives of thousands of innocent men, women, and children every year upon gun fetishists' (and profiteers') altar of fear of civil society.

2013 Legislative round up: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

In normal years, the three categories above are enough to cover the activities of the lege.  There hasn't been "good" coming out of West Washington for years, so everything that could be labeled as "Well, it coulda been worse" (surprise vetos, watered-down bad ideas, bad bills that actually failed, etc.) were lumped into the "good" category.

This year, some actual "good" happened at the Capitol.

Which is good, of course, but it creates a dilemma -

Is it better to put the "coulda been worse" items into the "good" category, and possibly diminish the perception of the actual good items, or put the "coulda been worse" items into the "bad" category, and risk raising the perception of the truly bad items?

This was a vexing matter, until I remembered one thing -

I'm not Sergio Leone, so I'm not restricted to three categories.

Did keep the title though - "The Good, The Coulda Been Worse, The Bad, and The Ugly" just doesn't pack as much oomph. :)


On to the meat of the post...

The Good:

Medicaid restoration. Possibly the most "good" thing to come out of the Capitol in decades.  Signing scheduled for Monday morning.

Personal note: Let me now thank the lege's entire Democratic caucus for standing tall and standing united for the people of Arizona.  Additionally, there are 15 Republican electeds who, amazingly (to the rather cynical me, anyway) did the same thing.  I may never have cause to say or write anything complimentary about them again, but today, credit will be given where credit is due -

Governor Jan Brewer
Sen. John McComish
Sen. Steve Pierce
Sen. Adam Driggs
Sen. Rich Crandall
Sen. Bob Worsley
Rep. Doug Coleman
Rep. Jeff Dial
Rep. Frank Pratt
Rep. TJ Shope
Rep. Ethan Orr
Rep. Kate Brophy McGee
Rep. Heather Carter
Rep. Doris Goodale
Rep. Bob Robson


The Coulda Been Worse (mostly bad bills that died or were vetoed):

SB1439, a neo-secessionist measure to make gold and silver bullion legal tender; vetoed by the governor on 5/2/2013

SB1371, messing with local bond and tax elections; vetoed by the governor on 5/2/2013

SB1178, making a citation of religious belief a blanket exemption from all state laws and regulations; vetoed by the governor on 5/23/2013

A striker to SB1069 that would have placed all sort of onerous requirements on the operation of abortion clinics; passed by the House Appropriations Committee but died in the House this past week

Strikers to SB1432 and SB1045 aimed at legalizing some discrimination toward the LGBT community, known as the "show your papers before you pee" bills.  Run by Rep. John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills) at the behest of the Center for Arizona Theocracy Policy which aghast at the City of Phoenix' passage of a non-discrimination ordinance. Also passed by the committee but died for lack of further consideration.


The Bad (some of these could move up or down a category based on their final disposition):

SB1465, under certain circumstances, exempting solid waste operators from specific ADEQ requirements and oversight; signed by the governor on 4/16/2013

SB1370, messing with local franchise elections; signed by the governor on 4/10/2013

SB1363, expanding Sen. Steve Yarbrough's revenue stream school vouchers; awaiting action by the governor

HB2617, a smaller expansion of Yarbrough's revenue stream, specifically relating to corporate "contributions"; awaiting action by the governor

SB1346, making "class action" status for lawsuits more difficult to attain and retain; awaiting action by the governor

SB1288, barring federal projects and agencies from receiving any funding through the Arizona Water Protection Fund; awaiting action by the governor

HB2645, expanding the exemption from unemployment insurance laws accorded to churches and church-affiliated organizations; awaiting action by the governor

HB2446, expanding the property tax exemption accorded to religious organizations; awaiting action by the governor 

HB2305, an election "reform" bill that makes it more difficult for citizens to place initiative questions on the ballot; awaiting action by the governor (will definitely qualify as "ugly" if the governor signs it into law)

SCR1015, The legislative Republicans' love letter to the NRA in the wake of the Newtown massacre.  Would be in the "ugly" category, but it has no real impact, other than embarrassing the state.


The Ugly:

HB2593, the lobbyist shakedown bill, drastically raises or completely removes limits on campaign contributions; signed by the governor on 4/11/2013

HB2326, barring cities and towns from keeping records relating to ownership of firearms (a Newtown massacre memorial measure?); signed by the governor on 4/29/2013

HB2147, raises adminstrative barriers faced by workers applying for unemployment insurance benefits; signed by the governor on 3/28/2013

SCR1016, a proposed amendment to the AZ constitution that would purport that the state could ignore any federal law, regulation, rule, action, or anything else that it doesn't like; will be on the ballot in 2014.  I was going to put this in the "bad" category because of its pending status, until I realized that the presence of this proposal on the ballot next year means that we will be faced with scads of TV and newspaper ads...and mailers...and radio spots...and emails...and so on... from tea party types and other Koch Brothers-funded astroturf groups.

Given that fact and the content of the proposal itself, this one is definitely in the "ugly" category.


Note:  The above lists are not meant to be comprehensive, but I think that I've covered the worst of the worst, and in the case of Medicaid restoration, the best of the best.

AZ legislature and the budget: Hope somebody brought cheese, because there is plenty of whine at the Capitol tonight...

This week at the legislature started quietly - everybody knew stuff was happening, but it was all out of public view.  No one knew when the stalemate over the state's budget was going to break, just that it was going to happen soon.

Turns out "soon" meant "Tuesday".

Some of Tuesday's events - 

...The Republicans scheduled a House Appropriations Committee meeting for early Thursday (8 a.m., HHR1) to consider the House's version of a budget in the form of strike-everything amendments to the package of budget bills passed by the Senate.

...House Speaker Andy Tobin (R-Paulden) then adjourned the session of the House until Thursday, in an apparent attempt to gain an edge in the fight over the budget and Medicaid restoration.

...Arizona Governor Jan Brewer called them all into a special session to force the passage of a budget and Medicaid restoration.

...And the tea party types EXPLODED -

Antenori and Gould are former legislators; Biggs and Tobin should be.


Anyway on Wednesday, the outrage turned into full-scale whinery during the COW sessions (Committees of the Whole) in the respective chambers of the lege.

In the Senate, they excoriated the governor for "hijacking" the "democratic process" (Sen. Judy Burges) and tried to derail the budget with scads of proposed amendments, some overtly hostile, some seemingly innocuous.  All voted down.

Senate COW is done; all parts of the budget passed.  The Senate will meet in Third Read (final approval) session on Thursday.

(Thanks to all of the MSM and legislative types who tweeted from the floor of the Senate.  I may have two eyes and two ears, but that isn't enough to watch and listen to, and understand, two livestreams at one time.)

Over in the House, the debate has become a kabuki theater of sorts - tea party type Republicans have been demanding that the less extreme Republicans who are working with the Democrats and the Governor stand to answer questions.  The less extreme Rs have declined to do that, so the tea party types have one of their compatriots stand in, to proffer criticism of the other Rs, in the form of a faux-answer.

As of this writing, they are taking a break in the House before taking on Medicaid restoration.

To sum up the non-Medicaid debate thus far:

Tea party types decry the "unnecessary abruptness" of the special session.  Ignoring the fact that they've had more than five months to do this but waited until there are about two weeks left in the fiscal year to....delay the budget even longer.

With their hand forced by the special session, the tea party types have taken to criticizing the "lack of tranparency" of the budget process.  Ignoring the fact that most of the last decade's worth of budgets have been done with as much transparency, and when Democrats protested, they just laughed at the Ds.

The tea party types have been reduced to opposing provisions in the BRBs (budget reconciliation bills, or changes to law necessary to make the budget work) that they have supported, even sponsored, earlier in the session.  Ignoring the blatant hypocrisy.

In other words, they are opposing everything in the budget, just because it is in the budget.

As of right now, rumors/expectations are that the lege will adjourn sine die sometime Thursday, but that will only happen if the budget passes first.  If the tea party types are successful in their efforts to derail the state budget and Medicaid restoration, anything could happen.

Texas jury OKs murdering women who say "No"...or maybe it's just prostitutes

While AZ may hold the lead in "crazy per capita", TX has the lead in sheer volume of "crazy"...and "depraved"...and "violent"...and a lot of other bad things...

From MySanAntonio.com, written by Michele Mondo and Sam Peshek -

A Bexar County jury on Wednesday acquitted Ezekiel Gilbert of murder in the death of a 23-year-old Craigslist escort.

Gilbert, 30, embraced defense attorneys Bobby Barrera and Roy Barrera Sr. with tears in his eyes after the not guilty verdict was read aloud by state District Judge Mary Román.

Outside the courtroom, Gilbert thanked God, the Barrera family and the jury for being able to “see what wasn't the truth” and for the “second chance.”

Had he been convicted, he could have faced up to life in prison for the slaying of Lenora Ivie Frago who died about seven months after she was shot in the neck and paralyzed on Christmas Eve 2009. Gilbert admitted shooting Frago.

So, let me sum up what happened here, in nine easy steps:

1. Man looks for Ms. Right, or at least "Ms. Right Now, for the Right Price, anyway" on Craigslist.

2. Man reads word "escort", thinks "hooker".

3. Man makes "business arrangement" for "escort services", thinks "sex".

4. Woman delivers "escort services".  Man demands "sex".

5. Woman says "No".

6. Man shoots woman, who languishes paralyzed for seven months before succumbing to her injuries.

7. Man is charged with murder.

8. Man puts on a defense of "by saying 'no' to sex at night, a prostitute has stolen money in the nighttime, and lethal force can be used to recover such stolen money".

9.  Jury agrees, and acquits man.

I'll leave it to others who are far wiser and more eloquent than me to expound on how truly horrific this crime, defense, and verdict were (like here).

I will, however, point out the silver lining in this darkest of clouds -

Texas led the way in "tort reform"; now it's leading the way in simplifying the resolution of contract disputes.

Get a gun.

The House's price for Medicaid restoration coming into focus

After much posturing on the part of most of the Republicans in the AZ House of Representatives (which is a continuous activity there), the state budget/Medicaid restoration package of bills passed by the Senate three weeks ago is finally moving.

Well, one of the bills, anyway...

An agenda has been posted for a meeting of the House Appropriations Committee for Monday morning at 10 a.m. in HHR1.

The agenda has two bills, and only one of them is related to the budget.  Related directly, anyway -

SB1492, the budget bill with the Medicaid restoration language; and part of the price -

A striker to SB1069, with language from the Center for Arizona Theocracy Policy that both attacks abortion clinics and bars Medicaid providers from performing abortions.

In addition, while no amendment language has been posted as of this writing, don't be shocked if there is a move to removed the Medicaid language from SB1492.

Those two measures are also scheduled for Committee of the Whole (COW) consideration on Monday, presuming they both pass the Appropriations Committee (which seems to be a safe presumption at this point).

While no Third Read Calendar is yet posted, look for these measures to be passed by the House on Monday.


Also on Monday, the House Education Committee is meeting (12:30 p.m., HHR3) to consider a same-subject striker to one bill, HB2399, relating to raising bonding limits for school districts.  That one is not scheduled for COW consideration at this point.

If you cannot attend the Appropriations meeting in person but have an account for submitting comments online, the login page for that is here.

Another (indirectly?) budget-related action occurred this past week when Senate President Andy Biggs removed Senators John McComish and Adam Driggs from the conference committee that was assigned to work out the "wrinkles" in HB2305, one of the voter-suppression bills that is still moving through the legislature ("wrinkles" = differences between the version passed by the House and the version passed by the Senate).  McComish and Driggs were then replaced by Sens. Judy Burges and Kelli Ward, respectively.

How is that "budget-related"?

McComish and Driggs voted for the Senate budget, with the Medicaid restoration language; Burges and Ward voted against it.

And Biggs was and is opposed to Medicaid, period.  My guess is that he's still plotting payback for that vote and this was just one small part of it.

- In other McComish news, Mark Spinks, a former candidate for Congress, has opened an exploratory committee for a run at the LD18 Senate seat held by McComish.  Normally, one of the first things that a challenger to an entrenched elected has to do is raise his level of public exposure.  However, that plan may be contraindicated in Spinks' case.

Oh yeah.

President Obama appoints Susan Rice as National Security Advisor; Republican Congressional candidate shows ignorance of recent political history

President Obama has looked Congress in the eye and (metaphorically) flipped them the bird.

From The Hill, written by Justin Sink and Julian Pecquet -

President Obama on Wednesday named Susan Rice — the public face of the Benghazi controversy — as his national security adviser.

The decision elevates the U.N. ambassador to the most powerful foreign relations role in the White House, ensuring Rice will have the president’s ear on top issues.

 “I am absolutely thrilled she’ll be back at my side, leading my national security team in my second term,” Obama said in a Rose Garden ceremony.

Susan Rice was in line to become Secretary of State before she became the target of Congressional Republicans looking for a public scapegoat for the Benghazi faux-scandal.

Andrew Walter, a 2014 Republican candidate for the AZCD9 seat held by Democrat Kyrsten Sinema, chimed in on the appointment almost as soon as the news broke -

Walter talks about "business as usual" but only seems to be concerned about President Obama's activities.

Perhaps he has a point about that "business as usual" thing, but he needs to provide supporting evidence that there is a pattern of such behavior in DC.

I don't often offer to help Republicans, especially those whose campaign "talking points" are limited to a DC-written NRCC script, but I'm going to do so tonight.  Out of the goodness of my heart.  Really. :)

Let me think for a moment...

...Prominent presidential administration official

...An academically and professionally accomplished woman

...African-American

...Secretary of State

...National Security Advisor

...Accusations of lying

...Last name of Rice

Hmmm........

....I have it!


From the Washington Post, written by Mike Allen, dated November 17, 2004 (emphasis added) -

President Bush named his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, to succeed Colin L. Powell as secretary of state yesterday, turning to a confidante at a time when the White House is vowing to mend ties with Europe and put more energy into brokering Middle East peace.

{snip}

 Rice, who will be fourth in line of succession to the presidency, will be the first African American woman in the job. She is a classical pianist, was a Stanford University provost and political science professor, and specialized in the former Soviet Union as a National Security Council official for President George H.W. Bush. She once was an intern in the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

{snip}

Rice faces confirmation hearings in the Senate, where Democrats said they will take the opportunity to grill her about some of the discredited elements of the White House's case for war against Iraq. But congressional leaders predicted she will be confirmed, probably before Bush begins his second term on Jan. 20.

From the Guardian (UK), written by Michael Williams, dated November 28, 2012 -

The Republican crusade against Susan Rice, US ambassador to the United Nations, continues unabated. Dr Rice, a favourite to succeed outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is charged by some Republicans with "lying" about the nature of the attacks against the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya on 11 September 2012.

While Rice should be thoroughly vetted by the Senate, the logic of current witch hunt is laughable; and it sets a precedent the GOP should want to avoid. Following the logic of Senator John McCain, the Obama administration should launch an investigation into the George W Bush administration.

{snip}

Consider the tale of the other Dr Rice, Condoleezza Rice
.
The Bush administration failed to anticipate the 9/11 attacks, despite the fact that the outgoing Clinton administration warned them of the threat and left a great big file on the desk of the new national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice. Rice justified the oversight to the 9/11 Commission because, despite intelligence indicating an attack, there was nothing concrete: the intercepts did not say who, they did not say when, they did not say how. So the administration did next to nothing. The Bush administration and Condoleezza Rice, as national security adviser, were let off the hook by the 9/11 Commission.

Rice was eventually named secretary of state despite the fact that the oversight of the Bush administration cost 3,000 American lives on 9/11, not four as at Benghazi. Still, Joe Biden and Barack Obama voted to confirm her as secretary of state along with 28 other Democrats. At that time, Senator McCain warned against letting a rancid debate over confirmation of the new secretary get in the way of a foregone conclusion. He seems to have had a change of heart.

See?  It was easy to find the evidence of a pattern there.

The only major difference here may be that while the Obama-adminstration official named Rice has been accused of lying, the accusations were lies themselves intended to smear Ms. Rice, President Obama, and former Secretary of State (and future candidate for president?) Hillary Clinton.  When the Bush-administration official named Rice, was accused of lying, it was proven that she actually did lie, and the lies contributed to the loss of thousands of American lives, hundreds of thousand of Afghani and Iraqi lives, and billions of American taxpayer dollars.

Hmmm.....

Walter is, by all accounts, intelligent and educated.  Perhaps not in the league of either Rice, but few people are, so that is no insult.

Maybe he's just smart enough to realize that being perceived as ignorant, for the duration of one news cycle (if even that long) is better than ticking off the NRCC by saying anything that could be deemed critical of George W. Bush.

However, *I* am not in a position where I care if the NRCC likes me or not.

AZ budget and Medicaid restoration moving...sort of

The end of the legislative session is apparently nearing, though you still need to squint to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

From the Arizona Republic, written by Mary Jo Pitzl and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez -

House Speaker Andy Tobin ended a nearly three-week lull at the Capitol today by announcing work will begin on the state budget, including the controversial Medicaid expansion plan supported by Gov. Jan Brewer.

But plans to start the process with a Thursday meeting of the House Appropriations Committee were scuttled as today’s 4 p.m. filing deadline hit. That throws into question when the House will begin work on the fiscal 2014 budget, which in its current form includes Brewer’s Medicaid expansion.

Based on tweets from members of the Capitol press corps, there are enough votes to pass everything, but not enough to suspend the rules (which require at least three legislative days for the consideration of any measure), so this situation will go on well into next week.

Screencap taken on 4 June 2013

Based on that information, which is supported by other sources (i.e. - AZ Capitol Times), the likely schedule for the remainder of the session (note: this is tongue-in-cheek, not an actual prediction :) ) -

Tomorrow (Wednesday): A meeting of the House Appropriations Committee is scheduled for Thursday.  A session of the House Committee of the Whole is scheduled for Friday

- Thursday (June 6) - At the Approps meeting, the committee strips Medicaid restoration language out of the budget bills.   This creates all kinds of furor, and House leadership decides to cancel Friday's COW session to give legislators time to think about things.  And since they would have to come back next week anyway, this isn't a hard call to make.

- Tuesday (June 11) - After being greeted by the sight of demonstrators from both sides of the Medicaid issue (tea party types: "health care for the poor will destroy the republic!"; civil society types: "bullshit"), the House COW session restores the language after a "slightly" contentious four hours of debate that will include screaming, gnashing of teeth, stamping of feet, and the sticking of fingers in ears and yelling "lalalalala I can't hear you lalalalala!".  And after Carl Seel is done speaking, things will get worse.  Three hours of the four hour debate will be spent with legislators sitting around as Medicaid opponents "slow vote", each holding off on actually casting their votes as long as possible.

Ultimately however, the Medicaid restoration language will be re-attached to the budget package.  Probably in time for legislative leadership to do interviews for the local 10 p.m. newscasts.

- Wednesday (June 12) - Wanting to avoid the theatrics/histrionics of the COW session, House leadership informs a closed-door meeting of the Republican caucus that supporters of the measures will be rewarded with a lunch with an intern from the Governor's office at the DES cafeteria across the street from the lege; anyone who engages in the sort of disruptive and dilatory behavior seen at the COW session will be treated to lunch, too.  

At Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale.  

The bills pass with the same gnashing of teeth as seen in the COW session (AZ's dentists are going to see a spike in office visits the week after next) but far more smoothly than in the previous day's COW session.  The budget bills are then sent to the governor.

- Thursday (June 13) - Legislators in both chambers pass a raft of measures, send emails to the governor pleading with her to sign their pet measure(s), and adjourn sine die.  Look for at least two legislators to receive speeding tickets on sine die day as they get the hell out of Dodge.  And look for one of them to be Rep. Steve Smith (R-Maricopa), who has a wee bit of a problem with a lead foot (not sure if that is covered under the "Obamacare" that he so enthusiastically opposes).

People near I-10, I-17, and SR87 leading out of the Valley should be prepared to hear cars full of people cheering and yelling.  Think high school graduation, with less booze and worse, less hope for the future, because these folks are coming back in January.

2014 Updates...

...It's early, but Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne has already given up on the idea of running on his record.  Being the subject of a multistate investigation for campaign finance violations and committing an FBI-witnessed hit-and-run accident while leaving his girl friend's home during the work day will do that.

From the Arizona Republic, written by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez -

Republican Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne’s campaign is attacking the media and President Barack Obama as it tries to raise money for Horne’s re-election.

In an e-mail to supporters late last week, Horne accused the “liberal media” of comparing him to murderer Jodi Arias, calling it “a new low and a disgusting attack” that cannot be allowed to stand.

Horne is upset that the media (and others) observed the interesting timing of his guilty plea on charges relating to the hit-and-run - it was crammed through on short notice so that it would be lost in the media frenzy that exploded when the Jodi Arias verdict was announced.

Prediction:  Horne will face a challenger in the Republican primary.  Even the Rs know that someone with a record like his will be toast in a general election, especially against a strong candidate like Democrat Felecia Rotellini.


...It's early, but State Rep. Steve Montenegro has announced the list of consultants that he has hired for his "exploration" of a run at AZ Secretary of State.

He is spinning the team of big-name (in R circles) players as a way of proving his (potential...yeah right) candidacy is a serious one.

I think that it's more likely that his campaign will be hitting up donors for as many max bribes campaign contributions as possible - the folks Montenegro has hired don't come cheap.  And no matter how their candidates do at the ballot box, they do well personally.


...It's still early, but a highly qualified candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction has formed an exploratory committee.

From the Tucson Weekly, written by Mari Herreras - 

Earlier today, David Garcia announced on Facebook that he's launched an exploratory committee for State Superintendent of Public Instruction. And as crazy as it seems in Arizona, the ASU associate professor is kinda qualified for the job.

With that, let's wish Garcia luck and acknowledge he'll probably lose, but hey, welcome to the fray. From his Facebook candidate page:

Phoenix, Ariz. — June 3, 2013 — Dr. David Garcia, an Associate Professor at Arizona State University, announced the formation of an exploratory committee, Garcia 2014, for Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction.

A nationally recognized expert in education policy and research, Dr. Garcia served as the state Associate Superintendent of Public Instruction for Standards and Accountability, Director of Research and Policy for the Arizona Department of Education, research analyst for the Arizona State Senate Education Committee, and peer consultant for the U.S. Department of Education. He is the current director of the Arizona Education Policy Initiative.

{snip}

Born and raised in Mesa, Arizona, Garcia received his B.A. from ASU and a Masters of Arts and Ph.D. in Education Policy, Research and Institutional Studies from the University of Chicago. He proudly served in the U.S. Army Infantry where he trained as a Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Warfare Specialist. He and his wife Lori Higuera, a Director at Fennemore Craig, P.C., have two young daughters that attend an Arizona public school.

Sounds incredibly qualified, but given that the two most recent superintendents of public instruction, Tom Horne and John Huppenthal, were (and are) incredibly unqualified for the job, Garcia has an uphill fight ahead of him.

He joins Sharon Thomas in the Democratic field of candidates for the state's top education post.

David Safier, BfA's resident education wonk, offers his insights into Garcia here.

Report: House to start moving budget/Medicaid bills today

According to Hank Stephenson of the Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required), House Speaker Andy Tobin has announced that he will be assigning the budget bills, including Medicaid restoration, to committee.  According to other reports (OK, tweets from other MSM types at the Capitol), the bills will be assigned to House Appropriations, which is chaired by Rep. John Kavanagh (R-hates Medicaid).

More updates as further news breaks...

Arizona Legislature: The coming week

...Still hung up on the state's budget and Medicaid restoration...

New high temp records in Phoenix may be matched by new thumb twiddling records at the Capitol this week...

Another week where all hell could break loose at a moment's notice (or with no notice), or where the entire week could be summed up thusly -

Courtesy http://sophlylaughing.blogspot.com/2011/11/fine-art-of-thumb-twiddling.html

As of this writing, the only legislative activity that is currently posted is a House Committee of the Whole (COW) calendar for Tuesday.  That calendar includes consideration of SB1363, expanding Steve Yarbrough's revenue stream school vouchers (by another name).

Other than that, there's nothing on the schedule as of right now, no other floor calendars (though that will probably change), no committee hearings, no Capitol events.

There have been news "stories" that barely rise above the level of reading tea leaves in terms of journalistic professionalism talking about rumors that the House has enough votes to pass Medicaid restoration, that there aren't enough votes to pass Medicaid restoration, or that the House Republicans are looking to entirely kill off the Senate budget and write their own version.

At this point, anything could happen, but it seems likely that this legislative session is going to go down to the end of the fiscal year (June 30), much as happened in 2009.  The various sides (and there seem to be more than two) figure if they hold their breath long enough, the other sides will blink first.


Think we could get any support for a petition campaign for a ballot question to mandate turning off the air conditioning at the Capitol from May 15 until the end of the legislative session?

Fun with social media

Perhaps due to the holiday this week, it was relatively quiet on the social media front for Arizona electeds.

Of course, after the first post in the series, I also found that I was *mysteriously* following fewer people on Twitter.  Hmmm... :)

Still, a few electeds served up some updates that are ripe for mocking.

...State Sen. "Atomic" Al Melvin spewed forth some of his usual brain pan drippings -

Posted May 31, 2013

Arpaio's body count is in the hundreds and his dollar count is in the millions.  He's destroyed thousands of families and sacrificed hundreds of sex crime victims upon the altar of his hatred of people with skin darker than a Sun City golfer's tan.

Many words can be used to describe Arpaio.

"Innocent" isn't one of them.


...State Treasurer Doug Ducey joined the fun this week, though his posting is more an example of "conflation" than "clueless" -

Posted May 30, 2013

 Ummm...even if it is proven beyond a reasonable doubt that IRS officials improperly targeted conservative groups for official scrutiny, how does a need for behavior reform equal a need for tax reform? 

Of course, if the allegations concerned the improper scrutiny and harassment of liberal groups, Ducey and his associates would be dancing in the streets, which kind of undercuts their credibility on this issue.


...But the winner of this edition of the Tweet of the Week Award (Irony Edition) goes to State Rep. Rick Gray (R-Sun City) -

Posted May 29, 2013

 Given that he's part of the R leadership (House Majority Whip) that has been working to destroy education in AZ (K - college), Gray probably should have been more selective in choosing his quotes.

Cheerios ad with interracial couple: reactions range from "ho hum" to "the sky is falling!"

From the New York Times, written by Stuart Elliot -

The Cheerios spot shows a young girl asking her mother if the cereal is “good for your heart.” Her mother assures her that is so. The girl runs away with a cereal box, and in the next scene, the girl’s sleeping father awakes with a pile of Cheerios atop the side of his chest where his heart is.

The commercial ends with the word “Love” on screen. 

The spot, heartwarming to many, began on national television on Monday and was uploaded to YouTube on Wednesday. But it has caused a furor for the maker of Cheerios, General Mills, because an interracial cast portrays the family.

{snip}

The casting has attracted angry comments, many of them overtly racist. The volume of negative remarks on YouTube reached the point that General Mills has temporarily disabled the commenting function. 

As of this writing, YouTube comments are still closed, but "likes" number at more than 11K and "dislikes" are at just under 1000.

While the YouTube comments are closed, comments *are* open on many of the pieces written *about* the YouTube comments aren't closed.  The comments on many of those pieces, such as this one from AdWeek, illustrate the ignorant hatred and venom that is so enthusiastically spewed by some.

The ad is pretty much a boilerplate "aw shucks" kind of spot, more about plucking emotional heartstrings than about delivering a substantive message about the product it is promoting.  Which is fine, because after more than 70 years in America's markets and on America's breakfast tables, there's little of substance left to say about Cheerios.

Apparently, some people, less than 10% of the population (based on the YouTube like/dislike percentages; not exactly a scientific poll, but the numbers jibe with my own observations, so they work for this post), are deeply offended and/or frightened by heartstrings that aren't monochromatic.

Apparently, slightly less than 10% of the population are miserable a--holes.

For the record, the spot doesn't really change my opinion of Cheerios.

I didn't like them before seeing the spot; I didn't like them after.  However, the fact that the actors in the spot were portraying an interracial family doesn't make me dislike Cheerios more.

Guess that puts me in the "ho hum" crowd.  I'm OK with that. :)

Anyway, the ad -

Committees update - "open" legislative seats in relatively safe districts

Another brief one...

A few interesting names have formed committees for runs at seats in the legislature -

- Rich Bauer, a captain in the Phoenix Fire Department, has opened a committee for a run at the Democratic nomination for an LD24 House seat (currently, the LD24 seats are held by Democrats Lela Alston and Chad Campbell; Campbell, the House Minority Leader, is term-limited and "exploring" a run for governor.)

- Chuck Schmidt, Assistant Executive Director of the Arizona Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association has opened a committee for a run at the Republican nomination for an LD23 House seat (currently, the LD23 seats are held by Republicans John Kavanagh and Michelle Ugenti; Kavanagh has already opened a committee for a run at the LD23 Senate seat currently held by Michele Reagan, who is exploring a run for Secretary of State.)  Assuming that everything stays on the current course in LD23, a primary battle is all but guaranteed here - Scottsdale City Councilman Bob Littlefield is already exploring an R House run here.

- Jeff Weninger, member of the Chandler City Council, has opened an exploratory committee, no office specified.  However, according to a press release, he is running for the Republican nomination for a House seat from LD17 (currently, the LD17 seats are held by Republicans Tom Forese and JD Mesnard; Forese has already formed an exploratory committee for a run at the Corporation Commission).

- Diane Landis, member of the Litchfield Park City Council, has filed for a Republican House nomination in LD13 (currently, the LD13 House seats are held by Republicans Steve Montenegro and Darin Mitchell; Montenegro is exploring a run at Secretary of State).

Dear US House freshmen: Doing bad works for good reasons is still doing bad works.

I don't expect to be in complete agreement on every issue with the elected officials who represent me, even those who I support, but I do expect my elected representatives to perform their duties in a completely ethical manner.

*Especially* those I support.

There were a number of Democrats in this year's freshman class in the US House of Representatives, including Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona's 9th Congressional District.

Those freshman members who were deemed to be most vulnerable in 2014, including Sinema, were given seats on the House Financial Services Committee to give them access to the deep-pocketed lobbyists for the financial services industry.

As such, most of them are doing very well with their campaign fundraising efforts.

Well, DC is a "quid pro quo" kind of place, and it's time for the freshmen to give a little "quo" for all of the "quid" that they've been getting.

From the New York Times, written by Eric Lipton and Ben Protess -

Bank lobbyists are not leaving it to lawmakers to draft legislation that softens financial regulations. Instead, the lobbyists are helping to write it themselves.

One bill that sailed through the House Financial Services Committee this month — over the objections of the Treasury Department — was essentially Citigroup’s, according to e-mails reviewed by The New York Times. The bill would exempt broad swathes of trades from new regulation.

{snip}

...But most of the Democrats on the committee, along with 31 Republicans, came to the industry’s defense, including the seven freshmen Democrats — most of whom have started to receive donations this year from political action committees of Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and other financial institutions, records show.

Six days after the vote, several freshmen Democrats were in New York to meet with bank executives, a tour organized by Representative Joe Crowley, who helps lead the House Democrats’ fund-raising committee. The trip was planned before the votes, and was not a fund-raiser, but it gave the lawmakers a chance to meet with Wall Street’s elite.

In addition to a tour of Goldman’s Lower Manhattan headquarters, and a meeting with Lloyd C. Blankfein, the bank’s chief executive, the lawmakers went to JPMorgan’s Park Avenue office. There, they chatted with Jamie Dimon, the bank’s chief, about Dodd-Frank and immigration reform.

I understand the desire of elected officials to win re-election and am fully cognizant of the fact that any Republican running against her is likely to be far worse.

Having said that however, each of the seven Democratic freshmen on the committee (and, for that matter, all of the Democratic members of the committee) got where they are in large part because of a massive amount of grassroots support.

Those grassroots supporters didn't stuff thousands of envelopes, make thousands of phone calls and canvass thousands of miles of neighborhoods only to see their candidates turn into ethical reincarnations of JD Hayworth.

Yes, re-electing Congresswoman Sinema and the rest of the freshman Democrats would be a "good" thing, but actively aiding and abetting the banksters in return for generous campaign contributions is most definitely "bad" and just may help the Republicans in the long run.

Most everybody expects Republican electeds to be at least a little dirty, even their supporters - they hold public service and public servants themselves as utterly contemptible, and use that attitude to rationalize contemptible behavior of their own* - but Democrats tend to be seen as the "good guys" (no, not all perfect, and certainly not all "guys").  As such, they are held to a slightly higher standard.  That's why John Ensign (R) got to resign with his pension intact and Rod Blagojevich (D) got to go to prison.

In short, an elected Democrat who is perceived to be as ethical as an elected Republican is well on the way to becoming an unelected Democrat.


For the record, while I absolutely deplore corruption on the part of public officials regardless of partisan affiliation, I think that the most annoying part of this behavior is that it gives credibility to the "they're all dirty" crowd, those whose political thoughts and knowledge can comfortably fit on a bumper sticker.


* - I am not the first to make this observation.  The late, great, Molly Ivins once made almost the same observation about the presidential administration of George H.W. Bush, and things have only become worse since.

Arizona Legislature: The coming week

A week to "stay tuned" because if anything breaks at the Capitol, it will happen on short notice -

We've reached the point where almost nothing is on the schedule at the legislature as all the activity is taking place in the background - they're (meaning the Governor's office and the House Republican leadership) still wrangling over Medicaid restoration in the House and the Governor is still refusing to sign any bills into law until Medicaid restoration and the budget is passed.

On KPNX's (Phoenix Channel 12) Sunday Square Off this week, Rep. John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, stated that the Medicaid restoration language that passed the Senate as part of their budget package will be stripped out by his committee, possibly as soon as this week.

That would leave supporters of Medicaid restoration with the task of restoring Medicaid restoration via floor action.  Not actually a problem, because if there is enough support to pass the Medicaid package, there is enough support to add the language (again!) via a floor amendment.

In other words, if Kavanagh has the Medicaid language removed from the bill, it will be less about policy and more about posturing for the extremist part of the base.

Speaking of posturing, a press conference has been scheduled for Tuesday.  On the lege's events calendar, it is named "Republican Party Campaign Response".

Regardless of the rhetoric surrounding it, and the path it takes, the extreme wing of the Arizona Republican Party already believes that Medicaid restoration will happen.  From the Twitter entries of former legislator Ron "the South Will Rise Again" Gould -

Things look like they ?may? break open this week.  In the House last week, one of the common themes in the floor speeches given by members was an expression of frustration with the lack of progress at the lege.  Members are becoming irritated of showing up to work only to have nothing to work on (vote on).  Pressure is mounting on the leadership, from both within and without the House, to "get it done".  Pretty near everybody wants to "get the hell out of Dodge".

Which points out one of the major downsides of the sort of "top-down" mindset that defines the operation of the Arizona legislature -

When there is a failure, all fingers are pointed in one direction, and that direction is *not* away from the leadership.