Short timer's disease; understandable but not good in most people, but utterly unacceptable in U.S. Senators.

For those who don't understand the term, from Urban Dictionary -

I call it "mailing it in" but whatever it's called, it's obvious that Kyrsten Sinema has it.

Press releases tend to be boring and uninformative, but they can be illuminating if someone reads into one.

And sometimes, one doesn't have to look too deeply. 

From the website of the Arizona House Democrats (emphasis added by me) -

PRESS RELEASE: Tsosie Joins Bi-Partisan 

DC Push to Save I-10 Widening Project

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 15, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In February Arizona learned that federal transportation authorities had rejected its request for $360 million in matching funds to widen a constricted 26-mile corridor of I-10 on the Gila River Indian Community. The largest of nine 2022 "mega grant" projects awarded was $292 million, and the average award was $130 million.

On Wednesday Representative Myron Tsosie, Republican House Transportation Chairman David Cook and Gila River Indian Community Governor Stephen Roe Lewis met with U.S. Department of Transportation officials and Senator Mark Kelly and staff for Senator Kyrsten Sinema to urge consideration of a scaled-back $130 million grant request. That request, if approved, could still move the project forward along with $640 million of accumulated state and Maricopa Association of Governments funding, Tsosie said.

"We greatly appreciate officials from the Department of Transportation and our Senators for hearing our concerns," said Tsosie, the ranking Democratic member on the House Transportation Committee. "Reconsidering and granting funds to widen the I-10 would be a huge benefit to the Gila River Indian Community and to our statewide economy that heavily relies on this important but overworked transit corridor. The meetings went well and we are optimistic about the outcomes."

In addition to meeting with Sen. Kelly and Sen. Sinema's staff, the delegation met with Christopher Coes, Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, Paul Baumer, Senior Policy Advisor for Infrastructure Finance & Innovation and former Arizona State Representative Arlando Teller who is now Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tribal Affairs.

It's obvious that she's realized that she doesn't have a snowball's chance in Phoenix, in July, of winning reelection in 2024, and that her only hope is to act as a spoiler, gaining enough votes to give the election to whoever the Republicans nominate.

I thought that she had a chance at 20% of the vote before this bout of mailing it in.

However, with her current attitude toward doing her job, even double digits seems like a stretch goal; of course, 3-5% may be enough for her to be a spoiler.

Old Election deniers that lose elections don't fade away, they just keep denying that they lost

Of course, losing an election may be more lucrative for them - notwithstanding Cheeto's penchant for golfing on the taxpayer's dime, most actual election winners have to actually do things, not just speak at conferences.

At least Mark Finchem is keeping himself occupied now that he's out of office.

Of course, the way that he's doing isn't exactly constructive.

From AP via Yahoo!, (emphasis added by me) -

Election conspiracy movement grinds on as 2024 approaches

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) — One by one, the presenters inside the crowded hotel ballroom shared their computer screens and promised to show how easy it is to hack into voting systems across the U.S.

Drawing gasps from the crowd, they highlighted theoretical vulnerabilities and problems from past elections. But instead of tailoring their efforts to improve election security, they argued that all voting machines should be eliminated — a message that was wrapped in conspiracies about elections being rigged to favor certain candidates.

“We are at war. The only thing that's not flying right now is bullets,” said Mark Finchem, a Republican candidate for secretary of state in Arizona last year who continues to contest his loss and was the final speaker of the daylong conference.

Finchem was among a group of Republican candidates running for governor, secretary of state or state attorney who disputed the outcome of the 2020 election and who lost in a clean sweep last November in important political battleground states, including Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Finchem can deny it all that he wants, but his election wasn't even close.

From the Arizona Secretary of State -

The people of Arizona were clear in their rejection of him.

Legislative schedule - week starting 3/19/2023

In addition to many committee agendas this week, there will be an appearance by the Senate Inquisitions Committee...errr....Director Nominations Committee.

Also, according to an email from Civic Engagement Beyond Voting, legislative leadership may extend the deadline for committees to hear bills by one week, to next Friday.  Which explains the (mostly) brief agendas this week.

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to spread propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority.  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one. 

On Monday, 3/20 

-

Senate Committee on Director Nomination meets at 9:30 a.m. in SHR109.  Scheduled for a grilling are Jeffery Glover, nominee for director of DPS, and Thomas Torres, nominee for State Forester.

House Health & Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  Five bills on the agenda.

House Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3,  Seven bills on the agenda, including some propaganda and a simply bad bill.

House Military Affairs & Public Safety meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  Three bills on the agenda, including SB1148, John Kavanagh's scheme to charge money for video recordings of public employees (specifically, police officers).

Senate Elections meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  Seven bills on the agenda, all propaganda

Senate Finance meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  Four bills on the agenda, including HB2504, a move to expand school vouchers.

Senate Transportation and Technology meets at 2 p.m. in SHR2.  Four bills on the agenda.

On Tuesday, 3/21 

-

House Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  Four bills on the agenda, including one striker, and SB1167, Steve Kaiser's scheme to reduce the benefit duration of Arizona's already-low paying unemployment insurance.

House Education meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  One bill on the agenda.

Senate Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  22 bills on the agenda.  Includes HB2003, David Livingston's proposal to reduce corporate income tax rates.

Senate Health and Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  Six bills on the agenda, including HB2624, Leo Biasucci's plan to throw a lot of folks off of AHCCCS, AZ's version of Medicaid.  When went to ALIS to enter my opposition to the bill, it wasn't there.  Hmm....

On Wednesday, 3/22 

-

Senate Government meets at 8:30 a.m. in SHR2.  Seven bills on the agenda, including some propaganda.

House Government meets at 9 a.m. in HHR3.  Nine bills on the agenda, including SB1026, John Kavanagh's anti-drag bill, and SCR1023, Justine Wadsack's proposal to remove charter city protections from the state's constitution.  In spite of (alleged) promises made by the sponsor amend the bill so that it wouldn't affect smaller cities (read: those that elect Republicans), no amendments have been offered.  So either the sponsor lied to colleagues or they lied to, well, US.

Hmmm...

If I were to speculate, I would guess that the colleagues have nothing to worry about.

House Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  11 bills on the agenda.  Many bad, mostly about increasing criminal liability for various offenses

Senate Commerce meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  Six bills on the agenda; two strikers will be offered, but the text for those is not yet available.  The agenda includes HB2108, David Livingston's bid to reduce eligibility for unemployment insurance; and HB2750, Michele Pena's ploy to foist off spoiled eggs on Arizonans by simply extending the expiration date.

House Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  Three bills on the agenda.

House Municipal Oversight and Elections meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  11 bills on the agenda; all propaganda.

House Regulatory Affairs meets at 2 p.m.in HHR5.  Five bills on the agenda; some propaganda, at least one is simply BAD.

House Transportation & Infrastructure meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  Eight bills on the agenda.

Senate Education meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  Four bills on the agenda; not all propaganda.

Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety and Border Security meets at 2 p.m. in SHR2. 14 bills on the agenda, including HB2754, a proposal to add NGOs for migrants to the list of terrorist organizations.

On Thursday, 3/23 

-

Senate Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  10 bills on the agenda, many propaganda, many simply bad.

Senate Natural Resources, Energy and Water meets at 9:30 a.m. in SHR2.  Some propaganda; some love letters to Congress that will be completely ignored.  Also, a couple of proposals that read as if they were written by industry lobbyists so a member could slap their name on them.

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Budgetary Funding Formulas meets at 10:30 a.m. in HHR4.  No bills on the agenda.

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Fiscal Accountability meets at 10:30 a.m. in HHR3.  No bills on the agenda.

Cheeto, trying to do his idol one better

Of course, in this case, "better" might not be the right word to use.

First up, Cheeto.

From CNN -

Trump says he expects to be arrested Tuesday as New York law enforcement prepares for possible indictment

Former President Donald Trump said Saturday he expects to be arrested in connection with the investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney next week and called for protests as New York law enforcement prepares for a possible indictment.

In a social media post, Trump, referring to himself, said the “leading Republican candidate and former president of the United States will be arrested on Tuesday of next week.”

“Protest, take our nation back,” he wrote.

Two observations here:

1. For once, I hope he's right.

2. NYPD and the NY state police should expect violence from trumpkins.

Now Vlad.

From BuzzFeed -

Vladimir Putin Is Officially A Wanted Man

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, accusing him of war crimes over the invasion of Ukraine. 

Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, are both wanted by the ICC for unlawfully deporting and transporting Ukrainian children to Russia.

The International Criminal Court does not have its own police force, so any warrants issued by it have to be enforced by other jurisdictions, and unless the subjects of the arrest warrants visit some place that will enforce the warrants for the people named in them won't be arrested.

I don't expect Putin et. al. to do so

MDs have a saying that should guide all of us: "first do no harm."

The Latin phrase is "primum non nocere," but my Latin accent sucks, so here, we'll stick with the English translation. :)

I've been thinking about this for a while, but the recent spate of bank collapses and the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio (and now, NW Arizona and western Kentucky; the rail companies involved claim that there were no hazardous materials on the non-Ohio trains that derailed, but since profit is involved, they have credibility problems), have helped bring my thinking together.

Enough attorneys read this blog that I expect that I'll be corrected if I'm wrong, but my understanding of our society (and most others) is that there are basically two ways to address bad behavior - criminal laws and civil laws, and regulations fall under civil law.

And reducing civil liability for a specified behavior without a commensurate increase in criminal liability for that behavior only serves to encourage that behavior.

Certain people, we'll call them Republicans and Democrats in name only, believe that a desire for profit and increased profit justifies the most craven acts.  

It doesn't..

And reducing regulations in a way that endangers the people in society or society itself qualifies as "craven."

Some people will try to rationalize harm or death to others by insisting that the intent was only to generate profit or increased profit.

To that I would point out certain acts that result in the death of someone also result in a murder charge.

For example, someone who burns down a building that results in the death of a person will also face a murder charge, even though death wasn't their intent.

Some may argue that the underlying act in that example, arson, is illegal in and of itself, which justifies a murder charge for each death resulting from it.

To rebut that argument I would point out that consuming alcohol is legal, as is operating a motor vehicle.  Combining the two?

Not legal.

And if doing so results someone's death, a person who drank and drove will face a greater criminal charge.  Even if death wasn't their intent.

Results matter more than intent.