One of the legal kerfluffles (another way of saying "brouhahas") that has faced AZ in recent months was the tendency of certain prosecutors to charge drivers with DUIs even if they were not under the influence at the time of their arrest. The cases were built on blood tests that showed metabolites of a drug in the driver's bloodstream.
Metabolites are produced by the body when it processes a substance, *any* substance.
Most metabolites are inactive, or at least don't produce intoxicating effects.
However, that hasn't stopped police and prosecutors from using the presence of metabolites to bootstrap charges against someone who wasn't under the influence while driving. In many cases, the ingestion of the drug in question was days or even weeks before; in some cases, the exposure to the drug was indirect.
For instance, detectable traces of marijuana can remain in blood and urine for two weeks to a month after exposure, long after any intoxicating effects have disappeared.
The targets of the ginned-up cases objected to being charged with DUI when they weren't under the influence. Shocking, that.
In 2014, the Arizona Supreme Court put an end to the practice when it ruled that the presence of inactive metabolites in someone's bloodstream do not constitute evidence of intoxication.
Fast-forward to 2015, where certain members of the Arizona legislature have decided to "adjust" the state's DUI law, in light of that decision.
Sponsored by Republican representatives Sonny Borrelli, Regina Cobb, Anthony Kern, Brenda Barton, Noel Campbell, TJ Shope, and Bob Thorpe, it proposes to change a few words in the applicable statute.
1. If the test results show a blood or breath
alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, if the results show a blood or breath
alcohol concentration of 0.04 or more and the violator was driving or in actual
physical control of a commercial motor vehicle or if the results show there is
any drug defined in section 13-3401 or any
of its metaboliteactive or inactive metabolites in
the person's body and the person does not possess a valid prescription for the
drug, the violator's license or permit to drive will be suspended or denied for
not less than ninety consecutive days.
They propose to take the word in red and with a line through it out of the statute and replace it with the words in blue.
In case it isn't clear, the Republicans are proposing to undo the state supreme court's ruling, and again make someone criminally liable for DUI, even when they aren't under the influence.
The concern in these cases is over drugs like marijuana, but even something like chocolate has metabolites that are produced by the human body when it processes chocolate.
Maybe after this, Borrelli et. al. will seek to address the situation of driving after eating chocolate.
Look for "DUI-Kit Kat" coming to your local paper's police activity log soon...
Lots of presentations this week, probably more of them than bills under consideration. That will change in subsequent weeks...
Notes:
All committees meetings and agendas are subject to change without
notice, and frequently do. If you plan to travel to the Capitol to
observe or weigh in on the consideration of a particular measure, check
with the lege ahead of time to confirm that the meeting that you are
interesting in is still on schedule and your item(s) of interest is
still on the agenda for that meeting.
Meeting rooms designated "HHR" are in the House of Representatives building.
Meeting rooms designated "SHR" are in the Senate building.
Some agendas are summarized as "looks harmless", but if they cover an
area of interest to you, examine the agenda and the bills on it. If I
missed something significant, please leave a comment letting me know.
On Tuesday, both chambers' Appropriations committees will meet in joint session, 9 a.m., HHR1. On the agenda: a presentation on the governor's budget proposal. Recommended footwear du jour: hip waders, because it is going to get deep in there.
Also on Tuesday, both chambers' Transportation committees will meet in joint session, 2 p.m., HHR1. On the agenda: A slew of transportation-related presentations. Considering that one of the presenters is a Republican firm that lobbies for private industry, expect a proposal from the lege this session that takes a boatload of taxpayer money be transferred to some private company or companies (yeah, I know, that one is like predicting a sunny day in Arizona).
On the Senate side of the Capitol -
Tuesday, Rural Affairs and Environment, SHR109, 2 p.m. On the agenda: Presentations. No bills, as of this writing.
Wednesday, Public Safety, Military, and Technology, SHR1, 9 a.m. On the agenda: Committee organizing activities and three bills - SB1002 (relating to compensation for prison laborers); SB1063 (barring activating a walk signal for the purpose of slowing down drivers so that they can be solicited for a donation or for a business); and SB1073 (adding former judges to the list of people who can have certain information [i.e. - home addresses, phone numbers] redacted from public records).
Wednesday, Health and Human Services, SHR1, 2 p.m. Items of interest on the agenda: SB1031 and SB1032. Those measures are from State Sen. Kelli Ward (the committee's vice-chair) and seek to conscript AHCCCS contractors into the GOP's War on the Poor Drugs.
Wednesday, Government, SHR3, 2 p.m. The agenda is short (2 items) and looks relatively harmless. However, I say that with a big caveat: both measures are from Sen. John Kavanagh, someone who *isn't* known for his "good government" ideas (remember "show your papers before you pee"?). This one may merit closer examination.
Wednesday, Financial Institutions, SHR109, 2 p.m. On the agenda: a presentation.
Thursday, Finance, SHR3, 9 a.m. On the agenda: Four bills related to the state's public employee pension systems. As I don't understand the nuances of those, I cannot comment on the substance of the bills. However, given that these are proposed by legislative Republicans, who almost never do anything that helps public employees...
Thursday, Judiciary, SHR109, 9 a.m. On the agenda: SB1048, part of Kavanagh's ongoing jihad against "vexatious litigants". His aim with this bill seems to be focused on poor litigants.
Thursday, Education, SHR1, 9 a.m. On the agenda: a presentation from Diane Douglas, the state superintendent of public instruction (bring your popcorn :) ) and two bills - SB1052, expanding the ability of the state's community college districts to establish charter schools; and SB1065, adjusting the guidelines for school facilities projects (this one is from Sen. Jeff Dial, so it was probably written by some industry lobbyist ).
On the House side of the Capitol -
Tuesday, Ethics, HHR5, 1 p.m. On the agenda: organizational activities.
Tuesday, Rural and Economic Development, HHR5, 2 p.m. On the agenda: presentations.
Wednesday, Insurance, HHR4, 10 a.m. On the agenda: organizational activities.
Wednesday, Federalism and States' Rights, HHR5, 10 a.m. On the agenda: organizational activities and a presentation from an ALEC-associated group that seeks to amend the US Constitution to take authority away from the federal government and give it to state governments (perhaps because those are more easily influenced [OK, more "cheaply bribed"]?)
Thursday, Military Affairs and Public Safety, HHR5, 9 a.m. On the agenda: HB2089, making holders of "elective public office" a specially-protected class whereby a simple assault on one (normally a misdemeanor) is legally considered aggravated assault (a class six felony)
Thursday, Government and Higher Education, HHR1, 9 a.m. Agenda: looks harmless.
Thursday, Agriculture, Water, and Lands, HHR3, 9 a.m. On the agenda: a presentation.
As of this writing, no floor calendars have been posted. When some are posted, they will be available here.
Many folks are weighing in on Arizona Governor Doug Ducey's FY2016 budget proposal. They are using a lot of words.
Tonight, I believe in the old saying about pictures being worth a thousand words. :)
Ducey's steps to the budget proposal, illustrated (source documents here):
1. Proclaim the awesome things that you are doing for K-12 public education -
2. Contradict yourself.
Ducey claims that he wants to allocate nearly $160 million dollars more to K-12 education but tries to gloss over the fact that in his proposal, most of the funds come from...wait for it...K-12 education.
And at that, even the putative increase to education spending seems to be predicated on the state obeying a court that ruled that the state must allocate more for spending. They (the governor and the lege) have been fighting the ruling. If the judge backs down, expect the funding to disappear.
But not the cuts.
3. Screw over higher ed, expecting the Arizona Board of Regents to make up the lost funding with tuition increases.
The hypocrisy here is that he spent most of his gubernatorial campaign blaming his opponent, former Regent chair Fred Duval, for tuition increases necessitated by previous cuts to higher ed funding.
4. Make sure your pals in the private prison industry are taken care of.
Even if it is at the expense of the state's education system.
Other information -
This next one is just wishful thinking (aka - fairy tale math). It also looks like an easy way for the Ducey admin to give out a lucrative contract to some FOD* with little to no oversight -
* = "Friend of Dougie"
Doug Ducey, less "pro-education" and more "pro-incarceration"
Arizona has made the national news again, this time as the first state to require that students pass a civics test before they can graduate high school (HB2064).
Arizona on Thursday became the first state in the nation to pass
legislation requiring high school students to pass the U.S. citizenship
test on civics before they can graduate — part of a growing nationwide
effort to boost civics education.
The
swift action by the Arizona Legislature comes as states around the
country take up similar measures. The proposal requires high school
students to correctly answer 60 of 100 questions on the civics portion
of the test new citizens must pass.
What didn't they pass and see signed into law by the new governor? Legally adequate (and judicially required) education funding.
Other things the lege is proposing:
- Preventing residency challenges to electeds and candidates (If this one passes, expect it to be challenged in court and/or at the ballot box)
- Increasing the size of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors from the current five members to seven (I thought the Rs were champions of "small government"?)
- Adding elected officials to a specially protected class of persons where a simple assault on them (a misdemeanor) is legally considered to be aggravated assault (a felony) (Sources indicate that at its beginning, this measure was intended to protect judges, but, as written, it covers all elected officials from the governor down to precinct committeemen. Who doesn't it cover? Judges...)
- Moving the date of Arizona's primary election date from November to May (Nice to know that every other problem facing the state has been addressed)
- Taking control of funds granted to Arizona by the federal government from the governor and giving it to the legislature (this one is an annual effort. It has passed in the past, but since it needs the governor's signature to be enacted, don't hold your breath waiting for this one to become law)
- Adding (and here) the position of "lieutenant governor" to the list of Arizona elected officials (as written, the proposal would make the position an appointed one, not an elected one [in practical terms])
- Forcing schools to cut spending on maintenance and operations
- Restricting the ability of Arizona citizens to put ballot questions before the voters or to recall wayward elected officials
- Repealing Clean Elections (here, too) (another bill proposal that's seen annually)
- Banning the activation of a pedestrian "walk" signal at a traffic light if the purpose of that act is to slow down traffic in order to solicit drivers for money or for a business
- Keeping the names of the winners of winners of prizes in the Arizona lottery private
What isn't a proposal supported by the legislature and governor?
Paying the bills.
Note: On an related note, the governor's proposed budget will be released at 2:30 and will be available here. As I am not an insider, I don't know the details of it yet, but have been told that the financial starvation of the state's education will continue under Doug Ducey's budget.
Note2: Regarding the civics test law, follow the money.
This week sees the opening of the 2015 session of the Arizona legislature.
Each week, I will list the coming week's committee and floor schedules posted as of the time of writing, with an overview of bills to watch.
The schedule this week, as with all weeks, is subject to change without notice (and as the session progresses, schedule volatility increases).
Having said that, this is going to be an easy week, schedule-wise.
Note: "SHR" indicates that a meeting room is located in the Senate building; "HHR" indicates that a meeting room is in the House building.
Monday -
The session convenes, with the members of both chambers of the legislature being sworn in, at approximately noon.
At 2:00 p.m., the governor will give his State of the State address to a joint session of the legislature.
After that, there will be a "First Read" session in each chamber where proposed bills are formally introduced and assigned to committees.
Tuesday -
Senate Rural Affairs and Environment will meet at 9 a.m. in SHR109. On the agenda: committee organizational activities and a presentation from the American Lands Council, an (ALEC-backed?) organization that is pushing for the transfer of federal lands to the control of state governments (which will almost certainly then transfer such lands to the control of corporate interests, hence ALEC's interest in the subject). Background info on the American Lands Council from the Center for American Progress here.
House Health will meet at 2 p.m. in HHR4. On the agenda: committee organizational activities, a couple of presentations, and a couple of bills that look to be harmless.
Wednesday -
Senate Financial Institutions will meet at 2 p.m. in SHR109. On the agenda: committee organizational activities.
Thursday -
House Government and Higher Education will meet at 9 a.m. in HHR1. On the agenda: committee organizational activities.
House Agriculture, Water, and Lands will meet at 9 a.m. in HHR3. On the agenda: committee organizational activities.
Senate Education will meet at 9 a.m. in SHR1. On the agenda: committee organizational activities, a presentation, and one bill: SB1029, a proposal to change graduation requirements for Arizona high school students. Under the proposal, students would be required to correctly answer 60 out of the 100 questions on the civics portion of the US' naturalization test in order to earn a high school diploma. This proposal is being fast-tracked (as evidenced by its committee consideration during the first week of the session) and has a matching bill on the House side - HB2064.
Friday -
The governor releases his proposed budget for the next fiscal year. Expect further cuts to the state's education system and remaining public safety net. The state faces a large deficit, but the new governor, Doug Ducey, has already promised that no taxes will be raised to close the gap.
There are no floor calendars posted as of this writing.
The lege's calendar of registered events at the Capitol is here.
President Barack Obama spoke in Phoenix today (January 8, 2015). His topic was housing.
The speech video is above, courtesy the White House's website; the text is below, also courtesy the White House's website -
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Arizona! (Applause.) Hey! (Applause.)
Happy New Year, Arizona. (Applause.) Go, Bobcats. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you!
THE PRESIDENT: I love you back. (Applause.)
It’s good to be in Phoenix. (Applause.) And I mean that, because I
was in Detroit yesterday, which is a great city but it was 60 degrees
colder. (Laughter.) So it feels pretty good, this weather right here.
I had a couple staff people who said, we’re going to miss the plane.
(Laughter.) They’re just going to try to get stranded here for a
while. (Laughter.)
But I went to Detroit, I went here -- I guess between the Lions and
the Cardinals, this is my post-wild card consolation tour. (Laughter.)
As a Bears fan, I want you to know that, first of all, you guys did a
lot better than we did. (Laughter.) You got a great coach; you got a
great team. You had some bad luck. And there’s always next year. So
keep your chin up. Keep your chin up.
I want to thank Secretary Castro not just for the terrific
introduction, but for the great job he’s doing every day. (Applause.) I
want to thank your Congressman, Ruben Gallego. (Applause.) Where’s
Ruben? Where is he? Ruben, I already liked him, and then he told me he
was from Chicago originally, before he got smart and moved to warmer
weather (Laughter.)
I want to thank your Mayor, Greg Stanton. (Applause.) He was
there. There he is. Greg is doing a great job. I want to thank your
principal, John Biera, Jr. (Applause.) And your superintendent, Kent
Scribner. (Applause.) And I want to thank all the students and staff
and faculty who may be here. We really appreciate your hospitality.
One last acknowledgement. I had a chance to meet a couple of really
good friends -- Mark Kelly and Gabby Giffords. (Applause.) This was a
remarkable meeting for me because it was four years ago today that Gabby
and some other wonderful Arizonans were gunned down outside a
supermarket in Tucson. It's a tough day for a lot of folks down there.
We keep them in our thoughts and prayers.
But Gabby is doing great. She looks wonderful, and she’s got the
same energy and passion that she always has had. Even as she’s waged
her own fight to recover, she’s fought to prevent the next tragedies
from happening to others. She’s a hero, and she is a great Arizonan.
(Applause.) So we’re really proud of her. And her brother, who is also
an astronaut -- her brother-in-law, who’s also an astronaut, is going
to be in space for a year. He was just on the cover of Time Magazine,
which I know there’s some folks in Washington who wish I was going to be
in space for a year, but -- (laughter) -- but I'm still around.
(Applause.) Because I got some work to do.
Now, I am here because one of my New Year’s resolutions is to make
sure more Americans in Phoenix and in Arizona and all across the country
feel like they’re coming back. Because the country is coming back, but
I want everybody to feel like things are getting better and we are
moving in the right direction. And let there be no doubt -- thanks to
the steps we took early on to rescue our economy, to rebuild it on a new
foundation, America is coming back. (Applause.)
And that’s not just my own opinion. Here are the facts. 2014 was
the strongest year for job growth since the 1990s. (Applause.) We’ve
had 57 straight months of private sector job growth, created nearly 11
million new jobs. (Applause.) Since 2010, we’ve put more people back
to work than Europe, Japan, and every advanced economy combined.
(Applause.) American manufacturing is growing at the fastest pace since
the ‘90s. We’re now the number-one producer of oil, of gas. And by
the way, you’re saving about a buck-ten a gallon at the pump over this
time last year. (Applause.)
Although I was in Detroit and I told folks yesterday, gas prices
aren’t going to be low forever, so don’t start suddenly saying you don’t
have to worry about fuel efficiency. If you’re going out shopping for a
new car, don’t think it’s always going to be this low, because then
you’ll be surprised and you’ll be mad at me later -- (laughter) -- and
I’ll be able to say, I told you don’t get a gas guzzler because gas is
going to go back up. But while it’s low, enjoy it. And feel free to
spend some of that money on local businesses, who then will hire more
people and put more folks back to work. (Applause.)
Meanwhile, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, about 10 million
Americans have gained health insurance in the past year alone.
(Applause.)
We’ve done all this while cutting our federal deficit by about
two-thirds. And I’m going to repeat that, because they did a poll the
other day and like 70 percent of the people think the deficit is going
up. No, 70 percent of the people. You stop people on the street -- 7
out of 10 think the deficit is going up. The deficit has gone down by
two-thirds since I was President of the United States. (Applause.) So
we’re doing all this in a fiscally responsible way. (Applause.)
And maybe closest to my heart, after 13 long years, our war in
Afghanistan has come to a responsible end, which means more of our brave
troops spent time with their families this holiday season, right here
back home. (Applause.)
So these last six years required hard work and sacrifice by
everybody. But as a country, we have a right to be proud that all that
hard work paid off. America’s resurgence is real. And now that we’ve
got some calmer waters out there, if everybody does their part, if we
all work together, we can make sure that the tide starts lifting all
boats again. We can get wages and incomes growing faster. We can make
sure the middle class is growing, that the ladders of the middle class
for folks who are struggling are firm and steady and have a lot of rungs
to them. Because it’s the middle class, it’s working families that
power America’s prosperity. That’s always been the case; that will be
true for decades to come. (Applause.)
And I’ve got a State of the Union address in about two weeks and
that’s what I want to talk about -- building on the progress we’ve
made. But of course, why wait for the State of the Union? It’s sort of
like you’ve got presents under the tree, you kind of start shaking them a
little bit. (Laughter.) I want to kind of give you a little sense of
what I want to talk about. So we’re going to start this week laying out
some of the agenda for the next year.
And here in Phoenix, I want to talk about helping more families
afford their piece of the American Dream, and that is owning their own
home. (Applause.)
Now, let me just say, right now Michelle and I live in rental
housing. (Laughter.) We don’t own where we live. We’ve got two years
remaining on our lease. (Laughter.) I’m hoping I get my security
deposit back. (Laughter.) Although Bo and Sunny have been tearing
things up occasionally -- we’re going to have to clean things up a
little bit. (Laughter.)
But I’ll never forget the day we bought our first place, a place of
our own -- a condo, back in Chicago. And for us, and millions of
Americans like us, buying a home has always been about more than owning a
roof and four walls. It’s about investing in savings, and building a
family, and planting roots in a community. So we bought this place --
it was about, I guess, probably about 2,000 square feet. It was in this
complex called East View Park. It was sort of like a railway
apartment. And it felt huge when we moved in. And then Malia and Sasha
were born, and their toys got everywhere. (Laughter.) And then it felt
small because they basically took over the whole dining room with their
toys.
But I have such good memories not just about the place itself, but
all the work we had to do to save to get in there, and then to fix it
up, and that sense of accomplishment that you were building something
for your family and for your future.
And that's always been true. When my grandfather came back from
World War II, this country gave him the chance to buy his first home
with a loan from the FHA. For folks like him, a home was proof that
America was a place where if you worked hard, if you were responsible,
it was rewarded.
But we all know what happened in the last decade when responsibility
gave way to recklessness. Families who did the right thing and bought a
home that they could afford, and made their payments each month, and
did everything right, when the market plummeted they got hurt. Even
though somebody else was acting irresponsibly -- whether on Wall Street,
or folks who weren’t responsible in terms of how they were dealing with
their real estate -- ordinary families got hurt bad. And that was
especially true here in Arizona.
There were folks who borrowed more than they should have. There were
lenders who really were just worried about making profits and not
whether the people they were lending to were going to be able to keep up
their homes. So home values plunged. Americans sank underwater.
Foreclosures skyrocketed. Builders stopped building. Construction
workers lost their jobs.
And when I came into office, I believed we could not let this crisis
play itself out. If we could save more families from losing everything
they had worked so hard to build, we had to make the effort. So less
than a month after I took office, I came here to Arizona to lay out my
plan to get responsible homeowners back on their feet. And I said that
healing our housing market wouldn’t be easy, it would not be quick. But
we were going to act swiftly, we were going to act boldly, we were
going to try everything that we could to help responsible homeowners.
If something didn't work, we’d try something else. But we were going to
try to keep folks in their homes.
And we ended up helping millions stay in their homes. We helped
millions more save thousands of dollars each year by refinancing. We
helped folks who didn’t want to buy a home or who weren’t ready to buy
find an affordable place to rent. We kept up our fight against
homelessness. And by the way -- there’s some homeless advocates here --
since 2010, we’ve helped bring one in three homeless veterans off the
streets. (Applause.) And I want to make sure everybody knows -- under
Mayor Stanton, Phoenix is leading the way in that effort. (Applause.)
Phoenix is doing a great job. (Applause.)
So as a result of all these efforts, today, home sales are up nearly
50 percent from where they were in the worst of the crisis.
Homebuilding has more than doubled. That's created hundreds of
thousands of construction jobs. New foreclosures are at their lowest
level since 2006. Since 2012, nearly 10 million fewer Americans have
their homes underwater. Rising home prices have put hundreds of
billions of dollars of wealth back in the pockets of middle-class
families.
Now, I want everybody to be clear -- this progress is not an
accident. It is not luck. It’s what happens when you have policies
that put middle-class families first. (Applause.)
And what’s true in Arizona is true all across the country: We’ve
still got some more work to do, our job is not done, but what we're
doing is working. And we’ve got to keep at it. We’ve got to stay at
it.
Today, here in Phoenix, I’m going to take a new action to help even
more responsible families stake their claim on the middle class and buy
their first new home. Starting this month, the Federal Housing
Authority will lower its mortgage insurance premium rates enough to save
the average new borrower more than $900 a year. (Applause.) Now,
that's $900 that can go towards paying the groceries, or gas, or a
child’s education. Or, depending on what your mortgage is, it might be a
month’s mortgage payment.
And for those who aren’t familiar with FHA, FHA underwrites, it
guarantees, it’s the backstop for a lot of loans around the country,
especially for middle-class folks. So a lot of people pay these fees,
and if they’re saving $900 that’s money that’s going to be going
throughout the economy.
Over the next three years, these lower premiums will give hundreds of
thousands more families the chance to own their own home, and it will
help make owning a home more affordable for millions more households
overall in the coming years.
And just to give you an example, earlier today, Secretary Castro and I
visited Nueva Villas. It’s a new neighborhood here in Phoenix where a
lot of families are buying homes with the help of the FHA. And we
actually -- this was a big development that wasn’t finished or wasn’t
all sold; the crisis came, half the homes were still unsold. Folks lost
their homes. It started getting boarded up. People were feeling
insecure. It was starting to get depressed. Nonprofits, with the help
of HUD, came in, purchased some of the properties, hired local residents
to rehab them. Now people are building them -- beautiful homes. And
with the help of the FHA, we can now make sure that more people are
getting access to these homes. And today’s action will mean more money
in the pockets of families like the ones that we’ve met.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Is this about housing? (Laughter.) All right.
And keep in mind, hundreds of thousands of new buyers is going to
mean a healthier housing market for everybody. So how many people here
own their own home? (Applause.) All right. So even though you’ve
already got your mortgage or your loan, already have your home, if your
neighbors are buying more homes, that’s lifting the whole market here,
which means the value of your home starts going up. And that’s good for
you. (Applause.) It means fewer foreclosure signs as people fix up
old properties. It means more construction, which means more jobs,
which means a better economy. So this is the kind of boost that we need
to keep the momentum that we have seen over the last several years --
keep it going here in Phoenix and all across the country.
So I want to be clear. If you’re looking to take advantage of these
lower rates, that’s great. On the other hand, don’t buy something you
can’t afford. (Applause.) You’re going to be out of luck. These rates
are for responsible buyers. We’re not going down the road again of
financing folks buying things they can’t afford. We’re going to be
cracking down on that. We put in place tough rules on Wall Street and
we created a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and we’re really
policing irresponsible lenders luring folks into buying stuff they can’t
afford. (Applause.)
And we designed a mortgage form that’s written in simple language so
that people understand what the commitments are when you buy a home.
We’re cracking down on some of the worst practices that led to the
housing crisis. We’re going to protect middle-class families from
getting ripped off.
And that’s why we had the Justice Department fight for buyers who
were discriminated against or preyed upon, and we won a settlement that
awarded more money to victims in one year than in the previous 23 years
combined. (Applause.) That’s why we worked with states to force big
banks to repay more than $50 billion to more than 1.5 million borrowers
who had been treated wrongly -- and that was the largest lending
settlement in history. (Applause.) And that’s why I’ve called on
Congress to wind down the government-backed companies known as Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac.
So the bottom line is we don't think there’s anything wrong with
pursuing a profit, but we want to make clear the days of making bad bets
on the backs of taxpayer money and then getting bailed out afterwards
-- we're not going back to that. (Applause.) We've worked too hard,
and everything we’ve done to heal the housing markets we want to
preserve. But we do want to make sure that the housing market is strong
and that responsible homeowners can get a good deal. For people who
have saved, done the right thing, now are looking to buy their first
home, we want to make sure that they get a little bit of help.
In the end, everything we've done to heal the housing market is about
more than just restoring housing values. It's about restoring our
common values. It's about who we are as a country and who we are as
communities.
And I want to just tell you a quick story. Lorraine Cona, from Sun
City, next door, she did everything right. She had a good job as a
librarian. She bought a home she could afford. She wanted to retire in
that home. She made her payments on time. Then, five years ago,
through no fault of her own, she was laid off, and she started falling
behind in her payments. She knew foreclosure was coming. She said,
“I’d look out the window and I’d see somebody taking pictures of my
house.”
But when things seemed darkest, Lorraine learned about something
called the Hardest Hit fund –- it's a program that we created to help
folks in states like Arizona that had been especially hard hit by the
real estate crash. And they helped her make her late payments --
because she had a great track record until she had lost her job. They
set her up with financial counseling so she could stay on track. It
wasn’t easy, but Lorraine repaired her credit. She refinanced her
mortgage. And today, after a lifetime of hard work, Lorraine is
retired, she’s back to making her payments every single month. She’s in
her home. She was able to accomplish that. Even though it was scary
at times, she got it done. Lorraine came back, just like Phoenix has
come back. (Applause.) Just like Arizona has come back. Just like
America has come back. (Applause.)
It’s not just the economy turning around. It’s turning around the
lives of hardworking people, making sure that that hard work finally
pays off. (Applause.) It’s making sure you finally get that job you’re
looking for, or the raise you deserve, or a little bit of security, or
the retirement that you’ve earned, or being able to send your kid to
college so their lives are better than yours. (Applause.) That's what
this is about.
So I just want everybody to know that we have been through some tough
times, but we are moving. There are workers today with jobs who didn’t
have jobs last year. There are families who have got health insurance
who didn’t have health insurance before. (Applause.) There are
students who are in college right now who didn’t think they could afford
it before. (Applause.) There are heroes who had served tour after tour
who are finally home with their families. There are autoworkers who
are building great American cars now when they thought that those plants
were going to shut down.
America is coming back. (Applause.) And the key, Arizona, is for us all to work together to make sure we keep it going.
Thank you, everybody. God bless you. God bless America. (Applause.)
Update on 1/8 for a correction: eagle-eyed reader and fellow blogger Steve Muratore (Arizona Eagletarian and Blog for Arizona) noted an error in this post. The "Allen" who sponsored HCRs 2001 and 2002 is state representative *John* Allen, not state senator *Sylvia* Allen. Corrected where appropriate, with thanks to Steve and apologies to readers. End update.
It's early (the legislative session hasn't even started yet), but even though less than 70 bill proposals have been posted on the lege's website, a few familiar patterns have emerged -
1. One of the GOPers' attacks on the majority of civil society will be an attempt to impose "tyranny of the minority".
Reps. Phil Lovas, TJ Shope, and John Allen, are pushing HCR2001 and HCR2002.
HCR2001 would change judicial retention election requirements so that judges subject to such elections would need the votes of 60 percent of the voters in an election to retain their offices.
HCR2002 would change the process of amending the state constitution so that proposed amendments would need the support of 60 percent of the voters in an election to be approved.
Hmmm...
If the first one was in force for the 2014 elections, no state supreme court or appellate level judges would have been voted out, and four Maricopa County judges would have lost their jobs (in reality, one, Benjamin Norris, was not retained).
The three that would have lost their jobs include one who probably should have lost his job (he was considered to be qualified, but marginally so) and two were nowhere near unqualified.
Of course, one of those two was Bill Brotherton, a former Democratic state legislator.
Just a guess here, but Lovas et. al. probably wouldn't lose any sleep over Brotherton losing his job, notwithstanding his fitness for the job.
Having said that, this probably is less a personal attack on Brotherton and more one of the lege's annual attacks on the independence of the judiciary.
Note: Evaluations from the Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance Review are here.
As for HCR2002, I am totally unsure of what they are trying to do here. If enacted, it would effectively block almost all amendments to the Arizona constitution, including most supported by the sponsors. Such as 2014's Proposition 122, the neo-secessionists' proposal about the state being able to nullify any federal law, regulation, or rule that the lege doesn't like.
My first impression, subject to change (assuming these measures move forward), is that the sponsors of the measures have looked at the US Senate and its gridlock (it takes 60 percent of the 100-member body to do almost almost anything beyond waking up in the morning) and decided that's a good model for Arizona to follow.
Of course, if they (Lovas, Shope, and Allen) really thought 60 percent was so wonderful, they would propose changing election rules so that legislative incumbents need to earn 60 percent of votes cast to win reelection.
Not holding my breath waiting for that one...
2. The quadrennial windmill tilt has already started.
Every four years, some bright-eyed and bushy-tailed type vents his umbrage at the fact that Arizona is not the first state to hold its presidential preference primary.
This year, Rep. Lovas (him again! :) ) has proposed HB2015, changing the date of the state's presidential preference election to that of the date of the Iowa caucuses, unless Iowa's are no longer the first in the nation.
3. There are going to be a *lot* of strikers this session.
44 out of the 62 measures currently posted on the lege's website are "technical correction" bills, which exist primarily to serve as "vehicle" bills for strikers.
4. The "bay at the moon" caucus is still peeved over the 2011 recall of disgraced former Senate president Russell Pearce.
To stop that from ever happening again, they have proposed HB2048, which would turn recall elections into partisan elections (primary and general).
In 2011, no Democrat ran against Pearce in his recall election and the sponsors of this bill apparently think that Pearce would have won a purely partisan affair (they seem to be blithely ignoring Pearce's 2012 primary election loss by the same percentage as his 2011 recall election loss).
5. Attacks on the poorest Arizonan will continue much as they have in recent years.
Already submitted: HB2051, barring recipients from using TANF EBT cards at fast food restaurants (with a very vague definition of "fast food".
Summary: whatever we've seen from this bunch in years past will be back; the names of the legislators have changed, but the culture of contempt for their constituents has not.
In high school (for me, anyway; I don't know what's on the high school reading lists currently), one of the books that everyone had to read and study was "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
It was (and remains) as classic piece of American literature (not to be confused with the other-than-classic 1995 moviebased on the book).
Written in the middle of the 19th century, it was set in the middle of the 17th century in Puritan-era Boston.
There are many themes to explore in the book, not least of which is ineffectiveness of the use of ostracization as a punishment. And the pettiness and hypocrisy of its advocates.
A newly elected Arizona state representative says he's drafting
legislation to add a "non-citizen" designation on driver's licenses
issued to young immigrants participating in an Obama administration
program enabling them to avoid deportation.
Rep.-elect Jay
Lawrence, R-Scottsdale, said he wants to protect the integrity of the
voting system, while Democratic state Rep. Catherine Miranda, D-Phoenix,
said Lawrence's proposal spells trouble for Arizona in the wake of past
controversy over a 2010 immigration-enforcement law.
The 17th century Puritans in Hawthorne's novel wanted to ostracize, even demonize, anyone of whom they didn't approve and use that fear of the "other" to bolster their position of authority.
And Lawrence, perhaps trying to make a "splash" with his new colleagues in the lege, seems to be running plays out of that 17th century playbook.
Perhaps it's time to add a new clause to AZ law to require sitting legislators to wear a henna tattoo in the middle of their foreheads, kind of like
Using henna because it is temporary (like legislative terms), but because it is temporary, the "L" tats would have to be refreshed periodically. Since henna tats usually last 2 - 4 weeks, let's go with requiring refreshers twice a month, perhaps at the beginning of each legislative pay period.
...Most of this post will focus on the goings-on/bad behavior of some of Arizona's Republicans, but I have to lead off with one positive note:
Congratulations to Randy Keating, friend and immediate past chair of the LD26 Democrats (Tempe and West Mesa) on his election as 2nd Vice Chair of the Maricopa Democratic Party! His energy and smarts will help guide the MCDP in its quest to restore some rationality to Maricopa County politics. Plus he's a hell of an organizer and knows a lot about what LDs here want and need to do to make gains.
...Apparently, outgoing AZSOS Ken Bennett has no desire to drift back from whence he came (aka - Prescott). He's the newly-elected chair of the LD24 Republicans (mostly east and central Phoenix) -
...Perennial candidate Vernon Parker also isn't fading away.
From the website of the Maricopa County Republican-
Don't be shocked if Parker (or a proxy) goes after Rep. Eric Meyer (D-LD28) in 2016. The Rs in that district absolutely *hate* the fact that there is a Democratic legislator from that district and go after him hard every cycle. I expect Parker to use his deep-pocketed contacts to fund a run at Meyer.
...Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio may not be feeling too festive this holiday season.
U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow was telling him [Sheriff Joe Arpaio] Thursday that
there was "a very real possibility" he would refer the popular sheriff
to the U.S. Attorney's Office for criminal prosecution on
contempt-of-court charges, later noting, "I fully intend to."
It was the latest showdown in a class-action civil-rights case that has dragged on since 2007.
That
case, brought on behalf of Latinos who said immigration sweeps by the
Sheriff's Office violated their civil rights, ended with a settlement
and the imposition of a federal monitor to ensure it doesn't happen
again.
...The unofficial title of the chief of staff for Governor-elect Doug Ducey (R) should be "Director of Dark Money".
Americans for Responsible Leadership, an obscure Arizona-based
501(c)(4) non-profit headed by former Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams
and with no history of political activity in California, contributed
funds to two political action committees there. One committee supported
an anti-union initiative and the other opposed a tax increase, both on
the California ballot in 2012.
The money, ultimately spent on
political advertising, came to Americans for Responsible Leadership
through a convoluted network of dark-money non-profit groups in Virginia
and Iowa associated with the Koch brothers.
...The Arizona House of Representatives announced the committee assignments for the upcoming session.
Agriculture, Water and Lands (Thursday morning) Chair – Brenda Barton, Vice Chair – Darin Mitchell, Regina Cobb, Karen Fann, Steve Montenegro, T.J. Shope, Jennifer Benally, Rosanna Gabaldon, Lisa Otondo Appropriations (Wednesday afternoon) Chair – Justin Olson, Vice Chair – Vince Leach, John Allen, Russell “Rusty” Bowers, Rick Gray, Warren Petersen, Tony Rivero, David Stevens, Michelle Ugenti, Lela Alston, Mark Cardenas, Stefanie Mach, Eric Meyer, Andrew Sherwood
Banking and Financial Services (Tuesday afternoon) Chair – Kate Brophy McGee, Vice Chair – Jeff Weninger, John Allen, Eddie Farnsworth, Jill Norgaard, Diego Espinoza, Rosanna Gabaldon, Debbie McCune Davis Children and Family Affairs (Monday afternoon) Chair – John Allen, Vice Chair – Kate Brophy McGee, John Christopher Ackerley, Regina Cobb, Phil Lovas, Kelly Townsend, Sally Ann Gonzales, Juan Jose Mendez, Rebecca Rios Commerce (Wednesday morning) Chair – Warren Petersen, Vice Chair – Jill Norgaard, Jay Lawrence, Tony Rivero, T.J. Shope, Diego Espinoza, Charlene Fernandez, Stefanie Mach County and Municipal Affairs (Monday afternoon) Chair – Doug Coleman, Vice Chair – Tony Rivero, Paul Boyer, Karen Fann, Rick Gray, Lela Alston, Reginald Bolding, Rosanna Gabaldon Education (Wednesday afternoon) Chair – Paul Boyer, Vice Chair – Jay Lawrence, Doug Coleman, Jill Norgaard, Bob Thorpe, Reginald Bolding, Lisa Otondo Elections (Tuesday morning) Chair – Michelle Ugenti, Vice Chair – J.D. Mesnard, Heather Carter, Jeff Weninger, Ken Clark, Jonathan Larkin Energy, Environment and Natural Resources (Monday afternoon) Chair – Frank Pratt, Vice Chair – Russell “Rusty” Bowers, Brenda Barton, Heather Carter, Mark Finchem, Vince Leach, Ken Clark, Macario Saldate, Victoria Steele Federalism and States’ Rights (Wednesday morning) Chair – Kelly Townsend, Vice Chair – Noel Campbell, Mark Finchem, Darn [sic] Mitchell, Bob Thorpe, Rebecca Rios, Ceci Velasquez, Bruce Wheeler Government and Higher Education (Thursday morning) Chair – Thorpe, Vice Chair – Ackerley, Phil Lovas, Justin Olson, Warren Petersen, Kelly Townsend, Lela Alston, Jonathan Larkin, Macario Saldate Health (Tuesday afternoon) Chair – Heather Carter, Vice Chair – Regina Cobb, Paul Boyer, Jay Lawrence, Randall “Randy” Friese, Eric Meyer Judiciary (Wednesday morning) Chair – Eddie Farnsworth, Vice Chair – Sonny Borrelli, Anthony Kern, J.D. Mesnard, Randall “Randy” Friese, Albert Hale Military Affairs and Public Safety (Thursday morning) Chair – Sonny Borrelli, Vice Chair – Mark Finchem, Noel Campbell, Eddie Farnsworth, Anthony Kern, Frank Pratt, Richard Andrade, Mark Cardenas, Stefanie Mach Rules (Monday afternoon) Chair – David Stevens, Vice Chair – Steve Montenegro, David Gowan, David Livingston, Bob Robson, Bob Thorpe, Albert Hale, Ceci Velasquez, Bruce Wheeler Rural and Economic Development (Tuesday afternoon) Chair – T.J. Shope, Vice Chair – Russell “Rusty” Bowers, Brenda Barton, Vince Leach, Frank Pratt, Jennifer Benally, Sally Ann Gonzales, Juan Jose Mendez Transportation and Infrastructure (Tuesday afternoon) Chair – Rick Gray, Vice Chair – David Stevens, John Christopher Ackerley, Sonny Borrelli, Noel Campbell, Karen Fann, Richard Andrade, Charlene Fernandez, Victoria Steele Ways and Means (Monday afternoon) Chair – Darin Mitchell, Vice Chair – Anthony Kern, J.D. Mesnard, Justin Olson, Michelle Ugenti, Jeff Weninger, Mark Cardenas, Andrew Sherwood, Bruce Wheeler
- No commentary on these yet...
...Finally, the LD26 Republicans seem to have established a new holiday season tradition.
Honor the massacre of 27 people by Adam Lanza (his mother, 6 school staff members, and 20 children) in Newtown, CT by giving away an AR15, a higher-end version of the weapon used in the massacre.
Well, you can tell the start of a new legislative session is nigh when legislators start "pre-filing" bills.
Generally speaking, such early bills are no more successful than bills that are filed once the session starts (for various reasons, most bill proposals don't go anywhere).
However, they serve as good discussion fodder during the political equivalent of baseball's "hot stove" season.
This year, the first legislator to have bills posted on the lege's website is Representative, and soon-to-be State Senator, John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills).
He has filed SB1001, "nuclear emergency appropriations; assessments" and SB1002, "prisoners; compensation for labor performed".
SB1001 is a relatively non-controversial measure to fund nuclear emergency planning for two fiscal years, with the funds coming from an assessment (aka - tax) on the operators of the state's nuclear power generating station. Versions of this have passed before; this one will probably see smooth sailing and pass in 2015.
SB1002, however, could see some major headwinds.
It would triple the maximum compensation that a prisoner in a state, or privately-operated, prison could receive for their labor, with certain exceptions.
Don't get too excited - the current limit is 50 cents per hour; tripling that still leaves the compensation at barely above "slave wage" levels.
Even that, though, may be too rich for legislators who like to score political points by beating up on appearing tough toward those that they consider to be weaker than them.
More importantly, given Kavanagh's close relationship with the private prison industry and the fact that this bill would cost the industry money, the bill probably won't pass as is.
Caveat: there could be some backroom finagling going on here, some nuance to this that I do not see right now where the ultimate beneficiaries of this are the private prisons, or the companies that contract for the use of prison labor.
It could just die a quiet death (not get taken up by a committee, or not see floor action if it does pass committee).
It could be watered down (increase the compensation limit, but by a smaller amount).
Finally, it could be utilized as a "vehicle" bill (have the guts of the bill stripped out and replaced the text of another, via a "strike everything amendment", aka - a "striker").
Whatever the ultimate fates of these two bills, they are just the first of 1000? 1200? more? proposals that the lege will consider.
Can't say that I think it will be a "fun" ride, but it should be an interesting one...
While I try to make this blog an informative one (especially on the subject of the doings of the Arizona legislature), its genesis was as a place to vent.
One of the reasons that I haven't written about the non-indictment of Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri is that there are so many thoughts trying to get out that I haven't been able to organize them.
However, the time that has passed hasn't done anything to help those thoughts simmer down, so it is time to return this blog to its roots - as a vent.
Here goes -
1. Have no doubt: the prosecutor in the case, Bob McCulloch, tanked the case.
There's an aphorism about prosecutors being able to indict a ham sandwich. I don't know if it is 100% accurate, but if that ham sandwich was stolen, almost all he would have needed to indict Wilson would have been to show that Wilson was in the same time zone as the sandwich when it went missing.
Nearly all grand juries do exactly what the prosecutors leading them want done.
Of course, given that McCulloch is the president of an organization that raised money for Wilson's defense, that appears to be exactly what happened in this case.
2. There have been people, perhaps people of good intent, who have looked to rationalize the police response to this situation by saying something along the lines of "well, the police deal with people at their worst so that it isn't a surprise" that Wilson thought that Brown was a demon, before Wilson shot and killed Brown. Those same people use the same "logic" to rationalize police predisposition to violence toward members of minority communities.
Believe it or not, that can be worked with - if it is acceptable to pass judgement on an entire community based on the bad behavior of a few individual members of that community, then it *is*.
As Darren Wilson is a bigoted murderer; so are all members of the "blue wall".
Don't like it? (And you shouldn't)
Too bad. That's how stereotypes work.
For the record: I believe that in our society, there is no one more worthy of respect than a good cop.
As for my definition of "good"? Well, the Darren Wilsons of that world and the "go along to get along" types who have aided and abetted him need not apply...
3. As horrific as it is, police violence toward minorities (and non-LEO folks who aren't 1%-ers) isn't the most pressing issue.
Sad to say, but there are always going to be bad apples in any group.
In other words, even in a group that is mostly decent human beings and honorable public servants, there is always going to be an element that is bigoted, vicious, and/or corrupt.
The biggest problem is the pervasive "code of silence" that suffuses the LEO subculture. Until that is addressed, until their loyalty is given to the civil society pays their salaries and grant them their authority before it is given to the blue wall, then the Darren Wilsons of the world will continue to be the face of the American law enforcement community.
And as long as Wilson and his ilk *are* the face of American law enforcement, the LEO community will have more authority than credibility. That's not just a problem for the LEO community; it undermines trust in society overall.
Mine: "What? No mention of deporting Ted Cruz and Justin Bieber?"
Republicans (via Fox News): "Impeach him!"
Democrats: (via MSNBC): "Canonize him!"
My real reaction:
An OK start, but it doesn't address the root causes of undocumented/illegal immigration - economic reality.
A good job in Mexico pays less than a lousy job in the US.
The immigration issue won't change until the economics driving it change (and that's not a wish that the Rs get their fondest dream of having all jobs in the US lousy jobs).
As a member of the state lege, he is part of the government that he and RedState believes is so disrespectful; as the newly-elected House Majority Whip, he is one of the most powerful people in the most powerful branch of Arizona government.
I'm guessing that he wasn't being ironic when he retweeted RedState's tweet, so either he is so self-UNaware that it borders on irony, or he believes that the people who buy into this stuff are idiots.
Obviously, I can't speak for him (not a mind-reader here), but I'm not going to sell him short - he can do both.
Rep. Eric Meyer, Minority Leader
Rep. Bruce Wheeler, Assistant Minority Leader
Rep. Rebecca Rios, Minority Whip
Republican leadership:
Rep. David Gowan, Speaker
Rep. Steve Montenegro, Majority Leader
Rep. David Livingston, Majority Whip
Rep. Bob Robson, Speaker Pro-Tempore Committee chairs (because the Rs are the majority in the House, all committee chairs are Republicans):
Agriculture, Water and Lands – Representative Brenda Barton, LD-6
Appropriations – Representative Justin Olson, LD-25
Banking and Financial Services – Representative Kate Brophy McGee, LD-28
Children and Family Affairs – Representative John Allen, LD-15
Commerce – Representative Warren Petersen, LD-12
County and Municipal Affairs – Representative Doug Coleman, LD-16
Education – Representative Paul Boyer, LD-20
Elections – Representative Michelle Ugenti, LD-23
Energy, Environment and Natural Resources – Representative Frank Pratt, LD-8
Federalism and States' Rights – Representative Kelly Townsend, LD-16
Government and Higher Education – Representative Bob Thorpe, LD-6
Health – Representative Heather Carter, LD-15
Insurance – Representative Karen Fann, LD-1
Judiciary – Representative Eddie Farnsworth, LD-12
Military Affairs and Public Safety – Representative Sonny Borrelli, LD-5
Rules – Representative David Stevens, LD-14
Rural and Economic Development – Representative T.J. Shope, LD-8
Transportation and Infrastructure – Representative Rick Gray, LD-21
Ways and Means – Representative Darin Mitchell, LD-13
In the Arizona State Senate -
Democratic Leadership:
Sen. Katie Hobbs, Minority Leader
Sen. Steve Farley, Minority Whip
Sen.-elect Lupe Contreras, Minority Co-Whip
Sen.-elect Martin Quezada, Minority Co-Whip
Sen. David Bradley, Minority Leader Pro-Tem
Sen. Barbara McGuire, Rural Liaison
Sen. Andy Biggs, Senate President
Sen. Steve Yarbrough, Majority Leader
Sen. Gail Griffin, Majority Whip
Committee chairs (as with the House, all Rs):
Appropriations Sen. Don Shooter
Health & Human Services Sen. Nancy Barto
Natural Resources Sen. Steve Pierce
Energy Sen. Gail Griffin
Education Sen. Kelli Ward
Commerce & Workforce Development Sen. Kimberly Yee
Judiciary Sen. Adam Driggs
Transportation Sen. Bob Worsley
Federalism, Mandates & Fiscal Responsibility Sen. Judy Burges
Financial Institutions Sen. David Farnsworth
Government Sen.-elect John Kavanagh
Finance Sen.-elect Debbie Lesko
Public Safety, Military & Technology Sen.-elect Steve Smith
State Debt & Budget Reform Sen.-elect Jeff Dial
Rural Affairs & Environment Sen.-elect Sylvia Allen
One brief commentary: Is it just me, or did they go out of the way to give nearly R with a pulse a committee this time around?
When Diane Douglas, a single-issue "negative" candidate for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction, she shocked most observers.
She had no campaign platform other than an almost implacable opposition to the set of education standards known as "Common Core.
She did almost no campaigning, other than a few appearances at "safe" events.
She had almost no support among the state's education or business communities.
She still won.
And now, her supporters are coming out of the woodwork to proclaim the reasons behind their support for Douglas, and, in a surprise to no one, the "reasons" are stunningly ignorant.
From a letter to the editor, published in the Arizona Republic on Friday, written by Ray Himmelberg -
Using history and experience as a guide, I prejudged and saw Democrat
next to Garcia's name and inferred a willingness to raise my taxes
without proper oversight and unfettered deference to the teachers union.
Ummm...at the state level in Arizona, there are only two entities with the authority to raise taxes, and neither one is the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
One is the legislature, and they would rather see the roofs of AZ's schools cave in and crush AZ's students than increase any tax.
The other is the voters of Arizona themselves, who have shown themselves willing to do just that.
Now, like any other citizen, from the governor to the newest resident of AZ, the SPI can suggest or support a proposed tax increase. However, he or she doesn't have the authority to do anything to increase taxes.
As for Mr. Himmelberg's stereotyping of all Democrats? Let's leave that for another time.
In his letter, Mr. Himmelberg displays a propensity for ignorance and simplistic "reasoning". In this, he is consistent, at least.
In 2012, he wrote another letter to the editor, this one asserting the premise that Arizona residents who don't blindly love the state shouldn't criticize it. They should just leave.
These are the kind of people who help keep Arizona in late-night monologues.
