A quick, non-political, "WTF?" post

From DenverPost.com:

Punter stabbed by benchwarmer, say police

A disguised University of Northern Colorado reserve punter on the football team stabbed the team's first string punter in the thigh of his punting leg, officials say.

The story goes on to describe the incident in which UNC's reserve punter, Mitch Cozad, is alleged to have attacked the team's starting punter, Rafael Mendoza, and stabbed him in the leg.

He was later apprehended because he stopped at a liquor store to remove tape from the license plate of the alleged getaway car.

Good freakin' God.

Expect the next issue of Sports Illustrated to include this as their "This Week's Sign of the Apocalypse."

It should this "This Decade's..."

Quick thoughts on November in LD17

and a bit on LD8.

You can see the LD17 results in the post below this one.

I have one observation that I think bodes well for the chances of the Democrats (Ed Ableser, David Schapira, and Meg Burton-Cahill) of LD17 to sweep the seats in the general election.

Votes cast in the Republican Representative primary race: 11,187.
Votes cast in the Republican Senate race: 5,206

Votes cast in the Democratic Representative primary race: 11,324.
Votes cast in the Democratic Senate race: 6,060.

The numbers are encouraging - the Republicans had a race for the nomination for Governor to and the Scottsdale proposition to draw out their base.

And still more Dems voted.

In the November election, the Democrats will have Tempe's (and LD17's) own Harry Mitchell and the popular, partisan demographic-busting, Governor Napolitano to draw even more voters out.

Mix in a little coattail voting and you have a recipe for a sweep.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure that will help up in LD8. The Reps' registration advantage is just too great, and Carolyn Allen (the apparent winner of the Rep nomination for Senate there) is too well-financed.

And she's "moderate" (by AZGOP standards, anyway) enough to poach a lot of Independent voters from the Democrats.

Dan Oseran will need all the help he can get to defeat Allen, as will Stephanie Rimmer and Bill Sandberg as they go against (apparently) Michele Reagan and John Kavanagh for the State Rep seats.

...Oh, and one disappointment for the day:

The numbers won't be available for a few days, but turnout was VERY low.

In my precinct alone, Grace in Scottsdale, the turnout was approximately 160 or so. It was 115 at 3:30, and I was there until 6. Traffic picked up a little after 5 for a little while, but was still slow. "160" total is a best guess.

Out of 1,474 registered voters (as of June 2006).

Mail in and Early Voting numbers will raise that a bit, but we are still looking at less than 15% turnout.

:((

Good night everyone!

LD17 Early results

and still very unofficial..

Edited at 10:05 p.m. to update numbers...

On the Rep side:

DEROSE - 2,072
DESPAIN - 2,908
GRANSINGER - 1,687
KNAPEREK - 4,520

On the Dem side:

ABLESER - 3,831
CROUSE - 2,563
SCHAPIRA - 3,137
WILSON - 1,793

Unless there are some major changes due to mail-in or provisional ballots, with 100% (72 of 72 precincts in) of the precincts reporting, it looks like the November race will come down to Dale Despain and Laura Knaperek on the Republican side and Ed Ableser and David Schapira on the Democratic side.

Congratulations to all four Democratic candidates on well-run campaigns.

Unofficial Scottsdale results on Prop 401, 79 of 87 precincts reporting and early ballots included:

Yes - 11,345
No - 12,546

At this point I'd say something about hoping the City Council learns something from this electoral repudiation of their heavy-handed attempt to impose a hard-right wing moral view on the business community, but I know, and knew before the voting started, that no matter where the final tally ends up, this is going to end up in court.

Again.

Words and numbers, Senate race edition

Pederson/Kyl stuff....

...It looks like that even the Phoenix Business Journal is catching on to the Republicans.

"Kyl launched a new television ad with Sen. John McCain defending his Republican cohort..."

Yeah, I know they really meant to use the word "colleague", but "cohort" really is more accurate. :)

...Continuing on the word usage front (btw - in case you couldn't tell, George Carlin was my favorite comic when I was a kid. He's become something of a grump these days though. :) )...Sen. Kyl, in his weekly column in the National Ledger, dropped a Bushism.

"The only way to win this struggle is to win it."

Very insightful. Really.

I will give him credit for one thing though - he does differentiate between the radicals responsible for much of the strife in the Middle East (and elsewhere) that we hear about and the normal Muslims that just want to live their lives in peace.

Many of us, and most Republicans, don't bother with that distinction.

...The AZ Republic ran an editorial today about the number of Pederson ads.

Yes there have been a lot of them, but I've seen as many Kyl spots. Particularly the aforementioned one that has John McCain defending him.

...(Thanks to jobsanger for the headsup on this poll) The latest WSJ/Zogby poll has Pederson trailing by 6.7%, up from the 4.1 % last month, but still within the margin of error. This basically matches the internal poll numbers released by the Pederson campaign.

There are credibility issues with both (Zogby - questionable methodology; Pederson internal poll - questions about the motivation for releasing the info) but with them both in the same ballpark, I'd say that this race really has become much closer than the Republicans *ever* thought it would.

Note: as I was doing research for other parts of this post, I came across a piece from Taegan Goddard's PoliticalWire that says basically the same thing.

In other news....thanks to Desert Beacon for the idea to even look in this direction. I looked up the principals of the ongoing corruption investigation in Alaska in the FEC's database.

I couldn't find any direct contributions, but the officers and executives of VECO Inc., the oilfield services company at the center of the investigation, have given a LOT of money to the Northern Light Political Action Committee, and NLPAC has given over $16, 000 to Kyl over the years.

$5,000 in 2006 alone.

Nothing illegal here that I can find so far, but one would think that in a year that has Duke Cunningham in jail, Tom Delay under indictment and resigning in disgrace, and JD Hayworth running for his political life under a dark cloud of corruption allegations (see: Abramoff, Jack), the Reps would take that old cliche about "the appearance of impropriety..." a little more seriously.

Note2: Taegan Goddard has a similar piece from former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. Guess great minds think alike :)) .

Later!

"U.S. Reels" five years on....

There are going to be a LOT of fifth anniversary posts today.

They'll commemorate those who died that day.

They'll honor the heroes of that day.

They'll cover what happened that day, and what has happened since.

And what has *not* happened, too.

Many will try to affix blame.

Sometimes even to those actually responsible.

Given that this is an election year, expect every single politician and candidate to come up with a statement that is both respectfully mournful and sonorously patriotic, yet that somehow finds a way to express the crass sentiment "Send money!! Vote for me!"

Actually, that'd probably happen in an off-year, too.

All I can add is that like the bombing of Pearl Harbor for the "greatest generation" and the assassination of JFK for the Baby Boom generation, the attacks of September 11, 2001 are our generation's "Where were you when?" moment.

Every single person I spoke to this last week knew exactly where they were and what they were doing when the first heard about the attacks.

Syd - She was getting ready for work when her brother-in-law called, telling her to turn on her TV "right now. We've just been hit." She went to work, but everyone was "weirded out." Not much was accomplished that day, or for many that followed.

Kari - She was home in bed recuperating from surgery and under the influence of some pain meds when the images on TV grabbed her attention and made her sit up. She saw the 2nd plane hit. She went to work later in the day and found everyone in the break room silently watching the TV there and was struck by the "eerieness" of it.

Mike - He was driving home from work when the first brief reports came over the news on the radio. He took his wife to work, still listening to the radio as more reports came in. When he made it back home from that he spent all day watching CNN, looking for info on the internet, and calling family.

Susan - She had just taken her children to school and upon returning home had called her mom to say hi. Her mom told her what had happened. She commented on the "weirdness" of not seeing any planes in the sky.

Liz - She had just flown home from Minnesota on the evening of the 10th and actually slept through the initial reports. When she awoke in the morning and turned on the TV, she started "freaking out" because it was as if "the whole world had fallen apart."

She had a friend who was scheduled to fly from Boston to NYC on the morning of the 11th.

It was almost a week before she was able to find out that her friend had missed her flight and was OK.

There were others, but the pattern was similar. Much shock and numbness at the news, desperately searching for even the tiniest bit of new news, and lots of time talking to friends and family, both to reassure each other and to find out if anyone in the social circle may have been a victim.

As for me? My sister Patti called at approximately 6:20 that morning and told me to turn on the TV. As I had just gone to sleep a couple of hours before (at the time I worked from 4 p.m. until 4 a.m. and tried to stay on that schedule even on off days) I was not the most pleasant person when I asked "why?!?"

She practically screamed at me to just turn on the TV, to any channel.

I watched for a little while while speaking to her before my body just could take any more and I had to go back to sleep. Awaking after only a couple of more hours of sleep, I followed the news as best as I could as I got ready for a class that I was taking at SCC.

After the class, I came home and spent the rest of the day and night watching the news, trying to find info on whatever news websites were accessible, and talking to friends and family.

...One thing I learned from asking people what they could remember of that day is that EVERY one of us could remember exactly where we were, what we were doing, and what we were feeling when we found out about the attacks.

A couple of the people that spoke to me thought about some of the other "major" news events of the last few decades.

The Challenger shuttle disaster? Very important, but most of us couldn't remember much else about that day.

The OJ verdict? This one brought a laugh from a few people. Most of us didn't care, even at the time.

John Lennon's murder? Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan? Nixon's resignation? Significant, especially in particular cultural demographics, but...no.

Same thing with Neil Armstrong's moonwalk and the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and even Martin Luther King, Jr. They approach the all-encompassing cultural significance of September 11, but they don't quite make it.

Pearl Harbor, JFK, and September 11, 2001.

That's it.

May we never have another "where were you when?" moment.

Too many people die, both during the moment and during its aftermath.

And as for the title of this post, "U.S. Reels"?

In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, pretty much every mainstream news website was so swamped with hits that in practical terms they became inaccessible. Many of us turned to secondary sites for our info. One of those was Yahoo! News, which had an article titled "U.S. Reels From Twin Attacks, Thousands Die."

Yahoo! has message boards attached to its news stories, and many thousands of people, including me, turned to this one to get news and to discuss and speculate about the events.

I thought that the board had been taken down a couple of years ago, but last week as I was cleaning out my inbox, I found the link to it and just clicked on it out of sheer habit.

Much to my surprise, the board was up.

I started to reread the posts from that day, and was inspired to blog about what is there.

However, the posts from that day touch a still-sensitive spot.

All of the shock, confusion, anger, hatred, sorrow, fear, and other emotions that all of us experienced in the hours, days, and weeks after the attacks is there, sometimes in *very* raw form.

It was so overwhelming that I had to step back and change course on this post.

It all did remind me of one personal silver lining from the events of that day, perhaps the only one for me. I met one of my best friends there online, later in person.

If wiseass is a genetic trait, she may be my sister. Have to ask my father about his travels in his younger days. :))

Now if only I could convince her to live somewhere besides Minnesota, "Land of 10,000 Lakes and Two Seasons - Winter and Mosquito."

Of course, to be fair, she wonders how *I* can live somewhere where the weather ranges from 'hot as hell' to 'hotter than hell.' :)

Anyway, I don't know how long Yahoo! will leave the message board up (the story itself is long gone), but I will post the link here.

Be warned though - some of the language used there is very raw and hate-filled, and will offend many people. However, it is the best online repository of people's immediate emotional reactions that day that I have found.

U.S. Reels message board.

On edit: The link worked last night, but today the board doesn't open up. I've tried to access it from a few different computers, so it's not just me. I have to check into this.

End edit.

Peace everyone.

Weekend roundup and a comment on the Great Debate

A roundup of stuff (well, a roundup of stuff not already covered by Stacy at AZCW :) )...

From the Business Journal of Phoenix - Darth Vader...err...Karl Rove will be in Scottsdale on September 29 to raise money for the AZGOP. Tickets to the event range between $150 and $500.

From the Douglas Daily Dispatch - The Bush Administration has responded to Governor Napolitano's request for federal disaster assistance for "Pima and Pinal counties, the Gila River Indian Community within Pinal County, and the Tohono O'Odham Nation within Pima and Pinal Counties" relating to severe storm damage that happened in late July and early August.

Kinda surprised that the Bush Admin didn't wait until just before the general election to make the announcement. With Jon Kyl and the Rep nominee for governor at the photo op. Not that I'm cynical or anything. :)

From the City of Scottsdale (for you CD5/LD17 types :) ) - "Gov. Janet Napolitano and members of her staff will discuss local and statewide issues at a Scottsdale Policy Forum, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 18, at the new Granite Reef Senior Center, northwest corner of Granite Reef and McDowell roads."

The governor's staff members will be there at 4:30, with Governor Napolitano scheduled to appear at approximately 5:40 to make remarks and answer questions.

From the AZ Republic - the three candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction debated each other at the Arizona School Boards Association's annual School Law Conference in Litchfield Park.

Incumbent Tom Horne defended charter schools - "When he was a school board member, he said, some parents who were perturbed with traditional public schools found that charter schools provided alternative offerings and philosophies."

Both challengers, Slade Mead and Jason Williams, called for the tightening of standards for charter schools.

"[Jason] Williams said charter schools should be held to the same standards as other public schools and accused some charter schools of moving to the "realm of religion." "

"[Slade] Mead said charter schools should be forced to employ certified teachers and surrender some of their assets to the state, instead of owners, if the schools fold."

...As for the debate between the contenders for the CD5 Congressional seat between challenger Harry Mitchell and incumbent JD Hayworth, well, it's been covered very well already by Tim W. at The Word From Arizona's Fifth District, Geo at Geo's Precinct 134, and by Tim O at AZNetroots, among others.

The Mitchell campaign's take on the debate is here.

The Hayworth campaign's is here.

Both campaigns claim victory, and they're both right, at least partially. Hayworth won on style points, Mitchell easily won the 'substance' part of the program.

All that I have to add at this point is to note that with the candidates' different styles, that JD came off looking like a seasoned TV performer (which he is) and Harry certainly did not.

The differences can be summed thusly -

JD looked like someone used to looking directly into the camera;

Harry looked like someone used to looking directly into someone's eyes.

Guess which one I think is a better qualification for office?

Have a great rest of the weekend everyone!

Upcoming events....

Calendar stuff for the next week or so...

The Mitchell campaign is busy this week, with a breakfast with the Foothills Democrats this morning at 7:15 at Greyhawk Golf Club. Tickets are $25 at the door.

Also today from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Harry will be joining the Professional Fire Fighters of Arizona for a happy hour at Maloney's Tavern in Tempe.

Tomorrow evening, SCHMUSE (Southwest Coalition of Humorists and Musicians United to Save the Earth) is sponsoring a night of standup comedy.

"Stand Up For Harry! Comedy for Change 2006 Featuring Stand-up Comics: Jerry Robin, Joan O'Meara, Peter Francis, and Tim Davis" will be held at Shalimar Golf Club in Tempe." Tickets are $15 and can be purchased here. Contact the campaign for details at 480-755-3343.

On Saturday, September 9th, Jim Pederson will be at the Navajo Nation Fair Parade in Window Rock. For more info, contact Will at the campaign, (602) 262-2006.

And on next Tuesday, September 12 -

Primary Day!!

Help get out the vote, then get out and vote.

All of the campaigns need your help or you can contact the AZ Dems at (602) 298-4200 or the Maricopa County Dems at (602) 298-0503 if you are interested in helping them.

Tonight's LD17 Dems meeting

Tonight's District 17 Democrats meeting at the Pyle Center in Tempe was a pretty straightforward one.

This evening, the candidates for State Representative from District 17 each spoke to us for one last time before the primary next week.

They were asked which three (of 19!) ballot questions they are the most passionate about.

Angie Crouse started this portion of the meeting, speaking first in strong support of Proposition 202, the citizen initiative to raise Arizona's minimum wage.

[Note: the passion about and support of this proposition was unanimous among the four candidates.]

Angie noted that under the current minimum of $5.15/hour, a worker would earn less than $11,000 per year, assuming 40 hours worked per week for 52 weeks; at the proposed rate of $6.75, that would become a little over $14,000. And the rate would be adjusted for inflation.

That wouldn't provide a great standard of living, but it would be much better than that provided by the current wage, and given that some of the most important work in our society is performed by minimum wage earners (see: care, child and care, elder), well-deserved.

She followed up with strong opposition to Proposition 107, the Protect Marriage Arizona amendment to AZ's constitution. The proposal would define marriage as a union between one man and one woman and bar any official status or benefits for couples made up of unmarried persons.

What she does support is equal rights for all citizens; she also observed that the amendment would negatively impact thousands of couples, the vast majority of which are heterosexual.

She closed with her support of Proposition 203, the First Things First initiative. This proposal would provide $150 million for early childhood education and health screenings.

She then gave us a campaign update, saying everything is "going great" and advising us that she spent over 18 hours this weekend walking the district.

Ed Ableser was up next.

He too strongly supports raising the minimum wage (Prop 202), citing a study that shows that a truly livable wage would be in the $9.20 - $9.80 range.

As with Angie, he also opposes Prop 107, calling it a bad proposition, not only because of the unfairness of it but because of the harm it would do to cities such as Scottsdale and Tempe that offer domestic partner benefits to their employees. They would lose a competitive advantage over cities elsewhere in the country when it comes to recruiting employees.

Ed also supports Proposition 204, the Humane Treatment of Farm Animals Act. He talked about a pig factory farm near Flagstaff where the pigs are kept penned for their entire existences practically, with their food going in one end of the cage and their...ummm...."post digestion food byproducts" exiting the other, with the pigs never being allowed to move.

As with Angie (and the others as it turns out :) ), the campaign is going great.

He had to leave to attend a meeting in his capacity as a serving state senator concerning ASU's plans to build a large dorm (seven stories) in a nearby neighborhood.

Rhett Wilson led off his part of the presentation with his strong opposition to Proposition 300, a legislature-initiated proposition to bar access for undocumented immigrants to literacy and adult education programs and educational financial aid.

My take, in my words: this prop is the way the Republicans in the legislature are protecting us against those "durned lurned furriners. They don' need ta read 'n write to pick chilies, cut grass and be deported."

Rhett was far more tactful than me. :)

He also strongly supports raising the minimum wage, noting the growing income disparity in the U.S.

Lastly, he also opposes the Protect Marriage Arizona ballot question, observing that it doesn't just attack same-sex couples.

His campaign is also in good shape. He talked about how he was grateful "just to be there" and that over the course of the long primary season he had learned a lot.

David Schapira closed out this part of the meeting with his three answers.

On his first, he admitted he was cheating a little, but he tied to initiatives together. He urged everyone to support Proposition 201, the Smoke Free Arizona Act and to oppose Proposition 206, the Arizona Non-Smoker Protection Act. They're both citizen initiatives, however, Prop 206 was funded almost totally by RJ Reynolds Tobacco.

Prop 201 would ban smoking in enclosed public spaces; Prop 206 would allow bars and restaurants to exempt themselves if they so choose.

David cited a study of the effects of a California law similar to Prop 201 that observed a nearly-60% reduction in emphysema and other lung/breathing disorders among bar and restaurant staff. Second-hand smoke does kill.

He also warned that passage of Prop 206 alone would roll back Tempe's already-stringent anti-smoking ordinances.

Secondly, he strongly supports raising the minimum wage; he thinks it's embarrassing that Arizona is one of six states without it's own minimum wage.

Finally, he closed with his support of Prop 203, the First Things First initiative. He said the state currently provides almost no financial support for early childhood ed; this would change that.

His campaign is "fantastic"; two of the more notable developments are his endorsements by the Arizona Republic and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP).

Personal note: I have to say now that all four of the candidates, Ed Ableser, Angie Crouse, David Schapira, and Rhett Wilson have done a great job and should be proud of the way that they have conducted their campaigns and themselves during the campaign. There are some other districts that could learn from their example (yes, that's you CD8.)

Even tonight, as tired as they are, they were friendly, respectful, and complimentary toward each other.

They're a credit to themselves, the district, the party, and their parents. [Hey - Rhett Wilson's mom was there tonight...gotta give credit where credit's due. :)) ]

Regardless of how the primary turns out, I hope the two runners-up stay involved with the party. They have way too much to offer the district and the state.

In other matters, Elvis Richardson, the write-in candidate for Kyrene District Justice of the Peace spoke briefly before he had to pick up his kids from the babysitter.

Randall Holmes spoke for a while about the elections integrity work that he is involved with.

Meg Burton-Cahill, candidate for LD17 Senate, called LD17 the "hottest district" in the state and how we have a chance to sweep the seats this year to help protect the Governor's veto.

Jon Levinson, candidate for Kyrene Constable, spoke and thanked everyone for their support. Well, that's not completely correct, as he couldn't thank me.

I live in the University Lakes Justice Precinct. :)

However, if I did live in Kyrene, I would support his candidacy.

Lauren, the Volunteer Coordinator for the Mitchell for Congress campaign gave a brief update. I'll do a post on that and calendar-type stuff tomorrow.

Next meeting: October 3rd, 7:00 p.m. at the Pyle Center in Tempe.

Good night everyone!

Labor Day at Kiwanis Park in Tempe...

[Warning: lots of links ahead. It's tedious, but I just know that I would hear about it if I left anyone out. :) ]

...with Harry, Janet, Ed, Jim, Terry, Rano and more.

Oh, and did I mention the Arizona AFL - CIO and its hundreds of union workers and their families enjoying the festivities in the Ruben Romero Corporate Ramada at Kiwanis Park in Tempe?

On the parts of both Arizona's working families and the politicians paying homage to them, the turnout was great.

A long list of local elected officials and candidates trekked to the park for session of hot dogs, ice cream and stumping: incumbent Congressman Ed Pastor (CD4), congressional candidates Harry Mitchell (CD5) and John Thrasher (CD2) [Yes, he's "Mr. Jackie"], legislative candidates Meg Burton-Cahill, Angie Crouse, and Ed Ableser (all LD17), Glenn Ray (LD22), Jim Larson (LD6), Steve Poe (LD9), Debra Boehlke (LD4), Sue Dolphin (LD4 write in candidate), Sheri Van Horsen (LD9), Jackie Thrasher (LD10) [Yes, she's "Mrs. John"], Chad Campbell (LD14) and Shawn Hutchinson, a candidate for Peoria City Council. No website, but an AZCentral.com article about the race that mentions him is here.

Of course, many candidates for state-wide office made an appearance also. Governor Napolitano received the strongest ovation of all the candidates, and was easily the most popular in the post-speech meet and greet. In addition to the governor, Attorney General Terry Goddard, Rano Singh (candidate for Treasurer) [both of whom spoke before I arrived with the Mitchell campaign and volunteers], Israel Torres (Secretary of State) and Jim Pederson (U.S. Senate) gave short speeches.

Of all of the speeches, it was Israel Torres' that most electrified the crowd; a feat all the more notable because it came near the end of the picnic when most of the crowd was starting to feel the effects of the heat, humidity, and food.

With the exception of the aforementioned speech from Israel, all of the speeches were short (something that was rewarded by the crowd - the shorter the speech, the longer the applause. The candidates caught on quickly to that, lol) and even more importantly, to the point.

For the workers and their families, today was not just about food, family and entertainment (though those things were very important.)

Today was about soldarity and celebration. Solidarity with their brothers and sisters from the union, and celebration of achievements of the labor movement.

For the politicians, today was not about long, wonky, policy initiatives and position statements.

Today was about preaching to and energizing the choir.

From Ed Pastor's "if you get off your can, we can" through Harry Mitchell's reminder that Labor Day isn't just "a day of rest, but a day of action" to Israel Torres' call to "turn the state Blue from the top of the ticket down to the bottom", today was about harnessing grassroots support to help Democratic candidates carry the day in November.

Oh yeah, and in a shocking surprise, expressing strong support for raising the minimum wage.

OK, so maybe not much of a shock there. :)

All in all, Rebekah Friend, the president of the Arizona AFL-CIO, and the rest of the organizers did an awesome job in putting together the event. The combination of good food, good times with friends and family, good political theater, and great weather made for a nearly perfect way for the union rank-and-file to spend the day, and gave the campaigns that appeared a chance to reach out to a part of their base that is both active and organized.

Note: there were many other union representatives and officials who spoke and did a lot of work helping to bring off this picnic, but my note-taking skills did not allow me to keep up with the names. My apologies to them, and also to any candidates that I missed above.

Good night!

Quick update on the Treasurer's race

Did a little research today into the address of Grassroots Programs, the business operated by Kerry Martin, the wife of Republican candidate for AZ State Treasurer, Sen. Dean Martin.

The address is listed, by the Corporation Commission, Secretary of State, and in Dean Martin's campaign finance reports, as 4718 E. Cactus, #159, Phoenix.

My research consisted of driving there today.

"4718 E. Cactus" in Phoenix is a mail drop in a shopping center across from the Paradise Valley Mall, specifically, P.V. Postal and Shipping.

The address for Digital Print Design is 12629 N. Tatum, #159, also in Phoenix.

The last listing that I can find for that is a couple of years old, so I was not surprised that I could not find it there. Looking at his most recent filings for the Treasurer's race, he's not using his own business for signs this time around.

Much of this has come to light before now, but what is semi-ignorable in a candidate for the legislature from another district (a part-time legislature at that - in theory :) ) is totally unacceptable in a candidate for Treasurer, a position that requires a high level of integrity and professionalism.

Rano Singh has the experience, integrity and professionalism to do the job the way it is supposed to be done. Not the way David Petersen has done it; not the way Dean Martin would do it if we are foolish enough to give him the chance.

The only thing that I find surprising in all of this is NOT the fact that a partisan hack from a safe district engages is brazenly unethical campaign finance activities, with no worry of penalty.

No, the only surprise is the fact that the Singh campaign and the AZ Democratic party aren't hammering him on this on a daily basis.

On the other hand, I expect the questions about his ethics to get louder as the general election nears.

A LOT louder.

Sourcing the AZ Treasurer post

After looking back at my post about the AZ Treasurer's race, I realized that I forgot to include some of the sources of the info.

Here goes -

For the list of the campaign expenditures to the companies in question (Digital Print Design and Grassroots Projects) go to the Arizona Secretary of State's campaign finance reporting page...

Cannot link directly to the pages, but go to the search page, enter "Martin" and check the boxes for Active, Inactive, and Suspended under "Status." You'll have to scroll down for the following (Filer ID, Committee Name), then click on the "Details" button:

200402496 SEN. DEAN MARTIN COMMUNITY SERVICE ACCOUNT
200402666 SENATOR DEAN MARTIN COMMUNITY SERVICE ACCT
200291762 VOTE DEAN MARTIN
200492094 VOTE DEAN MARTIN - 2004
200091642 VOTE DEAN MARTIN.COM
200493251 VOTE DEAN MARTIN.COM (SENATE)
200693445 VOTEDEANMARTIN.COM

Also from the AZSOS's website, the registration info for "Grassroots Programs":


General Information
File ID 251312
Description Trade Name
Status Active
Name GRASSROOTS PROGRAMS
Address 1 P O BOX 71266
City PHOENIX
State AZ
ZIP 85050-
Phone 602-679-3578
Business Type CONSULTING
Domestic Begin Date 7/1/2001
Registered Date 7/9/2001


672439 Owner KERRY MARTIN P O BOX 71266 PHOENIX AZ 85050- 602-679-3578

Note: According to the AZ Corporation Commission, Dean A. Martin is listed as the President and Statutory Agent of CENTER FOR RESPONSIBLE BUDGETING, INC., with Kerry Martin listed as Secretary. It is registered and has active status as a non-profit corporation.

Link to the Center for Public Integrity's .pdf file of Sen. Martin's 2005 Financial Disclosure Statement, listing his and his wife's ownership interests in Grassroots Programs and Digital Print Design.

The index page for all AZ legislators is here.

There's some other stuff I need to track down/ get clarification about. I will be working on this over the next couple of days. It is probably all legal, but still eye-opening.

Have a good night!

A change of pace post - the AZ Treasurer race

It’s time for a bit of a break from the Chronicles of Harry and JD.

While JD Hayworth is a never-ending source of subject material, after a while, even he gets boring.

In addition to JD becoming boring after a while, I think he has contributed to a bit of laziness on my part. I haven’t had to go looking for topics to write about, because he provides two or three good ones every week.

It’s time for a bit of a stretch, writing-wise. Time to write on a topic that I don’t know much about, and have to do some research about.

Hence, this post is going to be about one of the races on the undercard in November, the race to replace the disgraced David Petersen as Arizona State Treasurer.

I was sort of ignoring this race, mostly because in a race like this it's almost a reflex for me, and for most people, to vote the party line. However, that kind of blind party loyalty is how we get people like David Petersen (and George Bush) in office. Therefore, this race is deserving of analysis.

Rano Singh is the Democratic candidate for the position, and Dean Martin is the Republican candidate. They are both unopposed for the primary on September 12th and will face off in the general election on November 7th.

A look at their campaign websites quickly reaffirmed my initial inclination to vote for Mrs. Singh.

Dean Martin's website highlights his legislative career. It does not mention that he is running for Arizona Treasurer.

It contains little tidbits like his definitions of some terms (click on 'Soundbites) -

“The people have spoken” - Refers to a voter-passed tax or spending program.

“The people did not understand” - Refers to a voter-passed limit on government.

“Institutional Knowledge” - A state of physical and mental being held by those who have been around so long they have become institutionalized. (See “The people did not understand”) Term used by Term-limited politicians who want to remove term limits.

“Bipartisan” or “Bipartisanship” - Republicans caving into Democrats.

“Partisanship” - Standing on principle. Also known as “unwilling to compromise”. (See “Bipartisanship”)

“It's for the children” - It's really expensive.

There are others, but you get the idea.

His "Press Release" page has four entries...from 2001.

In my research, I discovered one shining example of his idea of sound fiscal practices.

He wants everyone to pay their federal taxes, but to send the money to the state government to dole out to the feds after the state has taken its share to pay any costs that it deems to be related to illegal immigration. Source: Lou Dobbs Tonight, February 14, 2006.

I did find one place on the site that does mention his campaign for Treasurer.

The contribution page. And "mention" is all it does.

On Rano Singh's website, at the very top of the main page, she tells you what office she is running for...

What a radical concept!

Also on the main page is a link to her "issues" document.

Her quotes include -

My top priority will be to restore stability and trust to the office.

I am not a politician. I will always place competence first.

The Treasurer must protect the taxpayer’s dollars through transparency and disclosure of all activity within the Treasurer’s office and the State of Arizona Local Government Investment Pools.

*She's* actually put some thought into the job she's running for...

What a radical concept! #2

They do have some similarities in their respective backgrounds.

He is married and educated (degree in Small Business Management/Entrepeneurship.)

She is married and educationed (degrees in Education and Organizational Management.)

He has experience in government and civic organizations (State Senate since 2001 and active in Republican groups.)

She has experience in government and civic and cultural organizations (no elective offices, but a member of state finance-related commissions under governors Hull and Napolitano.)

They both own small businesses.

He owns Digital Print Design, and his wife owns Grassroots Programs, a consulting firm.

She is co-owner and president of DPS Biotech Southwest Inc.

More on this later. This info leads to some verrrry interesting places.

The Arizona State Treasurer is the "chief financial officer" of the state. The constitutional requirements for eligibility are limited (from Article 5, Section 2 of the Arizona State Constitution) -

No person shall be eligible to any of the offices mentioned in section 1 of this article except a person of the age of not less than twenty-five years, who shall have been for ten years next preceding his election a citizen of the United States, and for five years next preceding his election a citizen of Arizona.

However, given the nature of the position, an ideal candidate should possess some other qualities.

He/She has some knowledge of finance, investments and/or accounting.

Both candidates have knowledge in this area.

And he/she will be someone who places a premium on professionalism, not partisanship.

In this area, there's no doubt that Rano Singh is the far more qualified of the two candidates.

She has the education, the work experience in both the private and public spheres, and the professionalism that the position cries out for. She has worked successfully with and for Republicans and Democrats, and has strong ties to the community.

Dean Martin brings a contempt for Democrats, for professional government employees (see the quotes above), and responsible fiscal management.

In other words, he's David Petersen all over again.

Even stopping right here, there's far more than enough evidence to support Rano Singh as the best candidate.

He might spruce up his website a little, provide a few soundbites that are more on point for a financial professional instead of a partisan hack, but it's too late. He's been running since February and the cat's out of the bag.

But wait, there's more.

Lots more.

Remember those two companies that are owned by the Martins? Digital Print Design and Grassroots Solutions?

Those companies are two of the biggest recipients of paid campaign work for candidate Dean Martin.

Over the last four years or so, he has funnelled over $25,000 of his campaign funds to those companies through his various committees, with a majority going to DPD.

In addition, he has taken a lot of contributions through the years from lobbyists like Stan Barnes and from the finance, banking, and accounting industries directly. [Mrs. Singh is running as a Clean Elections candidate.]

The industries that would most want to influence the man who oversees the investment, and the fees associated with that investment, of the State of Arizona's money.

As far as I can tell, nothing about these activities is illegal (at least, he hasn't been prosecuted for them), just deceptive.

But do we really want someone this practiced at deception in a high position of fiduciary trust and responsibility, like the Arizona State Treasurer's office?

Anybody who reads this blog regularly knows that I don't usually have a very high opinion of the Republican Party, but I have NEVER said it was run by stupid people.

I'm think I have to re-assess that position, though.

In an election year where they are getting their asses kicked all over the country due to ethics issues.

In an election year where they are trying to find a replacement for an unethical and unprofessional officeholder.

WhywhywhyWHY?!? are they running a candidate who's just as ethically challenged as the guy who is all but getting run out of office?

Do they have that much contempt for the voters, or have I overestimated their intelligence?

On edit: After reading this, I realize that those options are not mutually exclusive. Never mind. :)
End edit.

Note: The Clean Elections Commission has scheduled a debate between the candidates for 6 - 8 p.m. on October 4th at the Bullhead City Chamber of Commerce. Check with the campaigns and the Clean Elections website for details.

Note2 - In the giving credit where it's due department, during my research for this post, I came across a number of comments on the AZCentral.com site from Bob Haran (read the 4th comment down - it's pretty much everything that I found, with much greater detail) that pointed me in the right direction on the research into the Martins' companies. Mr. Haran and I disagree on pretty much everything else politics-wise, but we both despise corrupt public officials of any party affiliation.

Bird Droppings Alert

What is it with Stephen Lemons of the New Times?

After defending JD Hayworth's lionization of anti-Semite Henry Ford in his last column, Mr. Lemons decided to use his current column to directly attack JD's challenger for the CD5 Congressional seat, Harry Mitchell.

It's a mostly petty attack, with phrases such as "wishy-washy wusses" and name-calling like "Milquetoast Mitchell" forming the rhetorical foundation of his criticism of Harry's stance on Scottsdale's Prop 401.

I'd go into it in more depth, but I am torn between disgust at the personal nature of his attack (ok, more the utter lameness of it) and pity for him. As in pity for a professional writer such as himself who produces such a weak work product.

As with his last column, though I may disagree with it (strongly!), he has the right to have and express his opinion. Even though he loonily refers to himself as a "beak-bearing scribbler", "annoyed albatross" and "leftist lark." [Sorry, just couldn't resist one bird pun. OK, maybe two, counting the title of this post. :) ]

I would, however, like to point out a fact to Mr. Lemons.

He writes [emphasis mine]"...that Hayworth-challenger Mitchell, without needing to take a stand on the issue, volunteered one on his Web site..."

Maybe this is a minor detail, but this breaking news has been confirmed by the Maricopa County Recorder's Office -

Scottsdale is a part of Arizona's Congressional District 5, and Harry Mitchell is asking the voters of CD5 to elect him to represent us.

Perhaps he doesn't "need" to take a stand on Scottsdale issues, but he damn well *should* if he plans on representing us.

And I think that even when I disagree with the position that he has taken.

Perhaps Mr. Lemons should go back to writing restaurant reviews, and leave the political commentary to people, whether they be amateurs or professionals, who take it seriously.

Just for giggles I checked the Hayworth campaign's latest filing with the FEC, wondering if I'd find an obvious financial link between the two (Lemons and JD).

I didn't.

But I still have to wonder about the source of Mr. Lemon's vitriol.

In other, related news, the aforementioned visit to the FEC's website was illuminating.

From July 1 thru August 23, JD raised $519,000; of that total, better than $212,000 came from PACs and other committees. His August forms are here. [Health Industry PACs still love our JD - check out the reports.]

During the same period, Harry Mitchell raised $156,000, with a little less than $46,000 coming from PACs. Forms are here.

Interesting numbers. Obviously, JD and his handlers take the challenge from Mitchell seriously. My guess is that he has used Congress' summer break to conduct a combo begging/arm-twisting tour of his financial backers.

Not an unexpected development since the purpose of the break is to give the incumbents an opportunity to devote themselves to full-time fundraising.

It looks as if the reports are in for most of the other AZ candidates. I'll leave commenting on those to others - I'm working on another post right now.

Later!

Hayworth Defends His Record on Drugs/Medicare

and attacks the Mitchell campaign for "lies and distortions" about that record.

Hayworth spokesman Brian Hummell is quoted in the release as saying (about Harry Mitchell) "...he attacks a worthy program that has already saved seniors billions of dollars on their prescription drug costs..."

Just a couple of problems with that.

The Mitchell press release in question is here.

It is a recap of an AP article carried in the AZ Republic that brings some harsh light to the fact that "the pharmaceutical industry quietly footed the bill for at least part of a recent multimillion-dollar ad campaign praising lawmakers who support the new Medicare prescription drug benefit...", including ads for JD.

The Mitchell press release does highlight Hayworth's financial ties to Big Pharma.

The Mitchell press release does NOT have an attack on any part of Medicare, including Medicare Part D.

Oh, and in the interests of accuracy, Mr. Hummell should change his statement from "saved seniors billions of dollars" to "gave trillions of dollars in additional profits to Big Pharma."

The Hayworth campaign has become quite handy with the convenient lies and facile distortions.

Years ago (1990s), regarding Newt Gingrich, Molly Ivins [God, I love Molly!] wrote that "Gingrich constantly accuses others of that which he himself is guilty." "Projection is simply part of his political life," going back to his first Congressional campaign. [Source: Who Let The Dogs In?, page 89, trade paper edition]

She could have written that about our JD. Today.

It seems as if anything he accuses Harry Mitchell of is something he himself has done (taken questionable campaign contributions) or is doing (lying and distorting the truth).

Now for the geek part of our program :) -

I checked out the two House bills that JD cited as proof he supports "bipartisan plans for re-importation of drugs."

H.R. 5441, Homeland Security Appropriations for FY2007 -

Yes, he voted for it. [Note: Nearly everyone else did too - it passed 389 - 9. Jeff Flake was the only member of the AZ delegation to vote against it.]

Yes, it passed the House.

Yes, it was sent to the Senate and passed there.

Now it is awaiting a conference committee to iron out the differences in the amended bills.

And yes, one of those amendments would prevent US Customs and Border Protection from interfering with individuals (not businesses) who import FDA-approved prescription drugs.

The fun part, for me anyway?

It's a Senate amendment, proposed and approved weeks after the House's (meaning JD's) vote on the overall bill.

Copy and pasted from the official record:

S.AMDT.4548 Amends: H.R.5441
Sponsor: Sen Vitter, David [LA] (submitted 7/10/2006) (proposed 7/11/2006)

AMENDMENT PURPOSE:To prohibit the United States Customs and Border Protection from preventing an individual not in the business of importing a prescription drug from importing an FDA-approved prescription drug.

TEXT OF AMENDMENT AS SUBMITTED: CR S7286
STATUS:

7/11/2006:
Amendment SA 4548 proposed by Senator Vitter. (consideration: CR S7295-7305; text: CR S7295)

7/11/2006:
Amendment SA 4548 as modified agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 68 - 32. Record Vote Number: 191. (text as modified: CR S7301)

[Note: Big Pharma's buddy Jon Kyl was one of the 32 voting against; John McCain supported the amendment.']

Essentially, JD is claiming credit for supporting something that he never proposed, spoke favorably of, or voted on.

Would you like some milk, sugar, or distortions to go with those lies? :))

As for H.R. 2427, the Pharmaceutical Market Access Act?

The bill in question is from 2003.

Yes, he supported passage of it in debate.

Yes, he voted for it.

Yes, it passed.

So why has no one ever heard of this wonderful bill to help poor, working and retired Americans get needed medications at a reduced price?

It passed the House on July 25, 2003.

It was buried in committee in the Senate. On July 25, 2003.

It seems that JD has developed a pattern of behavior.

He'll vote for bills that actually help real people, not just large corporate campaign contributors.

When he knows that the bill in question isn't EVER going to become law.

Like H.R. 2427 in 2003.

Like when he supported the minimum wage increase in July.

Enough already. Time for a new direction.

'Bye JD.

Pederson Closing Gap With Kyl

...The latest Zogby/WSJ Online has Republican incumbent Jon Kyl's lead over Democratic challenger Jim Pederson down to 4%. The support numbers were 48.3% for Kyl, 44.2% for Pederson. (courtesy Taegan Goddard's PoliticalWire)

Whoooo hooooo!

In other AZ numbers from the Zogby/WSJO poll, Governor Napolitano's lead over the #1 Republican challenger, Don Goldwater, has increased to nearly 12%.

Governor Napolitano - 50.5%
Don Goldwater - 38.6%

Whoooo hooooo2!!

...More Pederson/Kyl news: the big names of the Republican Old Guard continue to come out in support of Jon Kyl.

From the AZ Republic -

Former Secretary of State and national security adviser Henry Kissinger is scheduled to host a fund-raising event for Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., at a private Paradise Valley residence Wednesday evening.

The dinner costs $500/plate.

For that much money, I'd rather attend an event with former President Bill Clinton.

...For less money (presumably), the AZ Daily Star reports that you can attend an ice cream social with the Senator at the Republican Headquarter in Tucson.

It starts at 2 this afternoon...

...From the National Ledger - Sen. Kyl touts NCLB in his weekly column.


In Mitchell/Hayworth news:

...in his azcentral.com blog, EJ Montini reports "The people from the Harry Mitchell campaign are planning a public demonstration this week against his opponent Rep. J.D. Hayworth for having supported the war in Iraq" before going on to criticize the entire delegation for the same thing.

I spoke to Seth Scott, the Mitchell campaign's spokesperson, about this.

While the war in Iraq, and JD Hayworth's enthusiastic support of it, is an "important issue", he assured me that the Mitchell campaign is not planning a demonstration. There may be some kind of demonstration this week, but the Mitchell campaign is not involved.

On edit: Mr. Montini has corrected his blog post. He now states that "some political activists from MoveOn.org are planning a public demonstration this week against Rep. J.D. Hayworth..."

That makes sense because that type of event is more in line with MoveOn.org's methods than the Mitchell campaign's.

End edit.

Personal note: I can sort of confirm that personally. I've overheard something about a demonstration, but didn't pay much attention at the time. Also, what I heard had nothing to do with the Mitchell campaign.

While ending W's war in Iraq is important, I think that the only way that is going to happen at this point is to elect a Congress that won't blindly pay for it. Therefore, that's where I've focused my energy and attention.

If anybody does have info about a planned anti-war demonstration, let me know. I'll be happy to publicize it.

Time to go to class! Later!