Arts Funding, Professional Responsibility, Mexicans - Is There Anything That The Reps *Do* Like?

Update time...

In a previous post, I mentioned a bill that Russell Pearce (R-National Alliance) planned to hijack with a strike-everything amendment. That amendment would have immunized Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and any other government attorney from professional sanctions for misdeeds committed during the performance of "official duties."

That bill, SB1192, was scheduled to be heard and amended during this past Wednesday's meeting of the House Appropriations Committee. However, it wasn't heard (only ELL funding was) and was apparently dead.

However, a brief check of the agenda for next week's meeting of House Appropriations shows that SB1192 is back up for consideration and will again be subject to a strike-everything amendment.

This time, however, according to the agenda, the amendment will have to do with "abandoned mines safety funding."

A bill addressing abandoned mine safety funding, SB1330, didn't make it out of the Senate. Part of the reason that it didn't make it out of the Senate was the fact that the bill would have funded closure of abandoned mines by stripping all of the money for an arts education program. (EV Trib coverage here)

I checked the lege's page listing all strike everything amendments and couldn't find anything listing that such an amendment has been filed as yet.

Assuming such an amendment is filed, it will be interesting to see if arts funding is targeted again, or if one of the Republicans' other favorite targets for such attacks, such as AHCCCS, will find itself in the crosshairs.

According to the House Clerk's office, House rules governing strike-everything amendments only require that a proposed amendment be submitted by 4:00 p.m. on the 2nd day prior to its consideration. As such under that rule, the text of the amendment may not be available until late Monday afternoon.

[Note - I contacted both the Arizona Commission for the Arts and Arizona Citizens and Action for the Arts. Neither organization had heard about the proposed striker, but were *very* interested and are looking into the matter. Stay tuned.]

More later!

Russell Pearce (R-National Alliance) coming through for his friends...

Edit on 4/10 to update, at the end of the post...

...and proves that his win in the race for this year's Legislative Loon Award was well-deserved.

Thanks to The New Times' Sarah Fenske (writing the column 'Valley Fever') for the heads-up on this one...

Earlier this week, Pearce submitted a "strike everything" amendment to SB1192, a bill that originally related to perjury.

The language of the amendment -

SECTION 29. No public officer or employee of a public agency who is licensed to practice law in this state is subject to any inquiry, investigation or disciplinary action by the supreme court or any entity of the supreme court for any act that is done in an official capacity and in good faith and that is based on constitutional or statutory authority.

The end result of the language would be to ensure that Andrew Thomas (and his hatchet-man, Dennis Wilenchik) face absolutely no professional sanctions for any of their actions, no matter how out of line those actions might be (as in investigating and arresting journalists for writing uncomplimentary articles about Thomas and Joe Arpaio).

At first glance, this sort of legislation would seem out of character for Mr. "Operation Wetback" who normally targets his looniest legislation toward Mexican immigrants, but this makes perfect sense when you consider the fact that Thomas' support lends an apparent air of respectability to the immigrant-bashing and -harassing efforts of Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Pearce.

So Pearce's ploy to protect Thomas, while repulsive in an 'ethical' way, makes perfect sense in a 'practical politics' way.

If the bill passes both the House and the Senate, the measure would then go to the ballot in the fall, bypassing the Governor's veto pen.

The bill was scheduled for a hearing in the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday where Pearce would attempt to amend it. I don't know if it passed (the results haven't been posted on the Lege's website, and I couldn't find any MSM stories about the hearing), but since Pearce is the committee's chairman, I feel safe in guessing that it did pass on a party line vote.

Updates when available...

Update on 4/10 - Turns out my assumption was wrong - Pearce's strike-everything amendment did *not* pass on a party line vote.

It wasn't heard at all.

I called Pearce's office (after being referred to him by the House Clerk's office) to ask about the striker's prospects.

I was informed that the bill and the striker will not be heard because (to paraphrase) "the court will take care of the problem itself."

That's no guarantee that the bill and striker will *not* be heard, but as we are now in mid-April, every day that a bill isn't moving makes it more likely that it is dead for the session.

End edit...

Later!

Renzi creating problems for his colleagues

From The Hill -

FBI wiretaps picked up the voices of several members of Congress in their conversations with Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.).

The House General Counsel’s office recently notified those members after the Department of Justice (DOJ) told the House lawyers that the lawmakers’ voices had been intercepted during the FBI’s investigation of Renzi’s land deal, according to three GOP sources.

The article did not identify any of members of Congress that were recorded during the FBI's surveillance of Renzi.


Hmmm...it seems that soon, I won't be able to refer to Renzi as "(R-Mantech)."

Nope, soon he will be Rick Renzi (R-Pariah).

Of course, if there is any justice in the world, his "R-Pariah" designation won't last long.

After his trial (and conviction!), he'll become "Rick Renzi (R-FCI Safford).

Time to write to the Governor

On Tuesday, the Arizona State Senate, by a 16 -13 vote, gave final approval to HB2220, the state equalization property tax repeal. (AZ Rep article here)

The bill, if now signed into law by Governor Napolitano, would repeal a dedicated source of funding for education (dedicated to the tune of $250 million). The tax has been temporarily suspended as part of a deal reached in 2006 while the state's treasury was full, and the state could afford to fully fund education via funds from other sources.

Now, the deal to suspend the tax is expiring and the state is facing a huge, $3 billion, deficit.

The Republican caucus in the senate, with the notable exceptions of Sens. Carolyn Allen (R-Scottsdale) and Tom O'Halleran (R-Sedona), voted to place their radical right anti-education ideology above the needs of the state's financial stability and its future. The Republicans were aided by Democratic Senator Ken Cheuvront (D-Phoenix), who gave them the 16th vote that they needed to actually pass the bill.

As noted in the Rep article, the state's business community is mounting a campaign to pressure the Governor to ignore the state's fiscal crisis and sign the bill into law.

Right now, she is only hearing the voices of those concerned with short-term profits or with foisting an extremeist ideology on the rest of society.

Instead, she needs to hear the voices of teachers, students, parents, and anyone who views Arizona as a 'home' to be built, protected, and treasured, not just a 'profit center' to be milked and discarded.

The contact page of the Governor's website is here; keep your message short, polite, and clear -

Veto HB2220.

Warde Nichols: trying to ban the Bible??

It's actually a little disappointing that the Arizona State Senate's Judiciary Committee killed Rep. Warde Nichols' (R-Home of the Devil Dogs) scheme to revoke the First Amendment (HB2660).

His bill would have cleared the way for lawsuits against people who create or sell dangerous and/or obscene material that inspires someone to commit a crime.

As much as I respect, even revere, the principles of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, I really would have loved to see the squirming of Nichols and the right-wing caucus of the lege when they realized that a certain 'inspirational' book would have been subject to the provisions of its proposed law, with its tales of, among other things, murder (1), genocide (2), rape (3), revenge (4), child molesting (5), biological terrorism (6), and domestic violence (7).

So what is this handbook of perversion, violence, fear and hatred?

{cue up Jeopardy music} :))

...Yup, you guessed it, the book in question is the Bible.

There's some pretty nasty stuff going on there (especially in the Old Testament!), stuff that according to today's community standards is totally unacceptable, even to right-wingers.

And to those who say that the Bible is a "good" book and only inspires "good" acts, let me point out murdered children, assassinated doctors, raped women, molested children (too many to list), an entire Inquisition, etc.

In short, the Bible has material "would substantially assist, encourage or result in another person committing terrorism or a felony offense" (to quote Nichols' bill) and has, in fact, been cited as an inspiration for some of the most heinous crimes in history.

So, under the terms of Nichols' bill, anybody who prints or sells a Bible would be civilly liable for damages for crimes inspired by one or more passages in the Bible.


After the Judiciary Committee vote, Nichols promised to return next year with a new, narrower, bill. Ignoring for the moment that Phil Hettmansperger may have something to say about Nichols' return next year, perhaps Rep. Nichols should take the vote as a sign from God (so to speak) - the Committee protected him from the ire of his base, the radical right among the Republicans in Gilbert.


Thanks to the Skeptics Annotated Bible for the citations and the University of Virginia for the online Bible text -

(1) Genesis 19:24
(2) Genesis 6:7
(3) Genesis 34:2
(4) the rest of Genesis 34
(5) Genesis 19:8
(6) Exodus 9:9
(7) Hosea 2:3

Later!

P.S. - the alternate title for this post was "Warde Nichols: Master of Unintended Consequences" :))

Candidate Update - Scottsdale Mayor

It looks like there are now three candidates for mayor of Scottsdale -

Incumbent Mary Manross (city bio page here, campaign website here)

Jim Lane, current member of the City Council (city bio page here, couldn't find a campaign website)

And the rumored third entrant - John Washington of the Coalition of Greater Scottsdale (COGS). This story was broken by The Scottsdale Activist; at Tuesday's meeting of the City Council, I heard that Mr. Washington had taken out papers for the race, but hadn't been able to confirm the info.

Very early, and brief analysis -

If Washington actually enters the race, it would seem to hurt Lane's candidacy more than Manross'. Previously, one of the strengths of Lane's candidacy was the "Anybody but Manross" vote. However, many of the neighborhood activists consider Lane to be 'Manross-lite*' and could very well switch their allegiances to Washington, who is a neighborhood activist himself.

Manross' core strength is the Scottsdale business community (aka - the Chamber of Commerce and developers); Washington probably won't cut into that area, though Lane could.



* - The Scottsdale Activist uses the same characterization in its story re: Washington, but I didn't plagarize it from them - I (and I expect that one of the writers at Scottsdale Activist :) ) have heard it at more than one COGS meeting.

Later!

Bush Fulfills A Campaign Promise

It's taken close to eight years for George "I'm a uniter, not a divider" Bush to live up to his own promise, but he's finally done - most Americans agree on one thing -

81% think that the country is on the wrong track.

Something tells me that when it comes time to select material for the George W. Bush presidential library and hunting blind, this survey won't make the cut. :))

From the N.Y. Times -

Americans are more dissatisfied with the country’s direction than at any time since the New York Times/CBS News poll began asking about the subject in the early 1990s, according to the latest poll.

In the poll, 81 percent of respondents said they believed “things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track,” up from 69 percent a year ago and 35 percent in early 2002.

Harry Mitchell's speech on reauthorization of the U.S.Fire Administration

The 2nd of tonight's copy and paste posts features Congressman Harry Mitchell's speech in support of his bill to reauthorize the U.S. Fire Administration, given on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, April 3, 2008.

From the page H1979 of Congressional Record -

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 4847, the U.S. Fire Administration Reauthorization Act of 2008, a bill I introduced with the original cosponsor, my good friend from Georgia, Dr. Gingrey. Firefighters are often the first to arrive at an emergency scene and the last to leave. Whether it is putting out a house fire or a wild fire, or responding to a terrorist attack or car accident, we depend on firefighters every day. But firefighters also depend on us; they depend on the public and their elected officials to make sure that they have the resources, the equipment, and the training they need to do their job. Without those tools, we put them and all of us at risk.

The U.S. Fire Administration is an invaluable resource for our Nation's firefighters and the communities they protect. Through training, data collection, fire education for the public, and support for fire-related research and development, the USFA provides critical tools and leadership to the Fire Service.

Fire is one of nature's most destructive forces. In 1973, when USFA was created, over 6,000 Americans died each year in fires and another 100,000 were injured. Through the leadership of USFA and others, the number of people killed by fires each year is now between 3,000 and 3,500, with approximately 16,000 people who were injured. We can all be proud of the significant reduction. However, 3,000 Americans a year is still too many, especially when so many of these deaths and injuries are from our most vulnerable populations, children and the elderly.

In addition, the Nation still suffers over $11 billion per year in direct losses due to fire, and the trend for this number is going up, not down. With statistics like these, it is clear that fire continues to be a major problem for the U.S. H.R. 4847 reauthorizes this important agency for 4 years at funding levels that will enable USFA to carry out fully its mission.

At a hearing with the Technology and Innovation Subcommittee held last fall, we heard the priorities of the Nation's fire service communities for USFA. This bill directly reflects their priorities.

This bill authorizes the USFA to focus on the pressing challenges of fighting fires in the wildland-urban interface, and fires involving hazardous materials, as well as advanced topics of emergency medical services.

Back home in Arizona, one of the toughest challenges our firefighters face is wildfires in the wildland-urban interface. This is an important year for wildfires. We have had a pretty wet winter which means a great deal of shrubs and bushes have grown at lower elevations. When the summer months heat up and the vegetation dries out, those shrubs and bushes will turn into tinder that can start a fast-moving wildfire in urban areas. Those fires threaten homes and lives. Fighting wildfires in urban areas requires special training, and I am proud that this legislation enhances fire administration training for wildland-urban interface fires.

Firefighters today are called upon to respond to an ever-broader range of emergencies. This authorization bill gives USFA the authority to make sure its training program keeps pace with the increasing challenges to the fire service.

The bill also addresses an important priority of the fire service in USFA, and that is to update the National Fire Incident Reporting System, or NFIRS. This system provides important data on fire events to policymakers at all levels of government. The current system is slow to report the data to the National Fire Data Center, and does not capture data on every fire, thus limiting its value to users. H.R. 4847 would direct USFA to update NFIRS to a real-time reporting, web-based system.

The bill also directs the U.S. Fire Administrator to continue USFA's leadership in firefighter health and safety. Every year over 100 firefighters die in the line of duty. H.R. 4847 directs USFA to educate local fire departments about national voluntary consensus standards for firefighter health and safety, and to encourage local departments to adopt these standards. This provision will help reduce the tragic loss of life the fire service suffers each year in line-of-duty deaths by promoting good practices in a variety of fire emergencies.

I also understand there have been some concerns that this provision would affect the jurisdiction of NIOSH, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. I would like to reassure my colleagues that it is not my intent for this bill to have any effect on NIOSH or any other agency of the Department of Health and Human Services.

H.R. 4847 is the product of bipartisan collaboration, and is supported by major fire service organizations, including the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Firefighters, the National Volunteer Fire Council, National Fire Protection Association, and the Congressional Fire Services Institute.

The resources and leadership of the USFA are an essential part of the ability of the fire service to protect our cities, towns and communities. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

No partisan showboating or gamesmanship here, just solid and practical work on a mundane but vital issue, on behalf of his constituents and the country.

Apparently, freshman Congressman Harry Mitchell could teach something to veterans like John "Only has a cold shoulder for his constituents in Paradise Valley when that have poison coming out of their taps" Shadegg..

Later!

State Committee Members - an at large candidate for convention delegate asks for your vote

And no, I'm not that candidate :)

Much like Man Eegee, I'm experiencing a bit of a writer's block this week (or maybe I just don't have much to say :) ), so this post and my next post will essentially just be "copy and paste" posts.

For this first one, one of the candidates for an Obama district level delegate slot at this summer's national convention, Dritan Zela, is also a candidate for an at-large delegate slot has written a letter to state committee members in support of his candidacy at the April 26 meeting of the State Committee. I'm publishing it here with his permission. As I'm not a member of the State Committee, this is done as a courtesy, not an endorsement.

From Dr. Dritan Zela -

Dear State Committee Member,

I am an ASU Mathematics doctoral graduate who never was involved in politics until 2003. I did not grow up as a free man but lived under one of the world’s most repressive communist regimes and, for much of my early life, just going to college or speaking freely my mind was beyond my ability to conceive. I have seen and made the American dream come true - going, in my short life, from the most extreme sufferings and discrimination of a dictatorship to overthrowing it, from making burgers to receiving a Ph.D. in Mathematics with applications to Neuroscience, to being a professor at prestigious universities and community colleges, to working for the Department of Justice, to winning in Supreme Court a civil rights class-action lawsuit against the State of Arizona to protect the indigent healthcare, to being the 2006 employee of the year of Maricopa Community Colleges as well as of Scottsdale Community College, to winning the world prestigious Fulbright Scholar award, to making a very singular, unique impact on an American Presidential campaign, that of Wesley Clark and John Kerry, and later supporting Barack Obama’s historical campaign, and to being elected a 2004 DNC delegate.

From being the co-founder and leader of the Arizona for Clark grassroots organization, to being featured in local, national and international media on Clark, Kerry and education issues and to being the main organizer and national speaker in many rallies for Clark, Kerry or Kosova, from filing on behalf of Gen. Clark his candidacy paperwork with the Secretary of State to helping deliver the immigrant vote to Clark and Kerry, to doing house parties, phone calls, mailing/emailing and making aware the ethnic communities and democratic clubs I represent or am connected with about Sen. Obama helping deliver their vote for him, my contribution to the democratic process has been very singular. Over the years, I worked as a student leader to help overthrow one of the most repressive communist regimes, compiled petitions, organized phone banks, had thousands of people sign petitions to successfully lobby U.S. Congress, current and former U.S. Presidents and iconic figures like Mohammed Ali by influencing them successfully to support intervention for stopping the genocide and ethnic cleansing and help stabilize the Balkans; developed advocacy strategies in support of immigrant, civil rights, ethnic, minority and against genocide causes as well as for presidential campaigns. I have founded, led and advised many cultural, student and Democratic organizations and advocacy groups including SCC Democratic club, Arizona Asian-American democratic association, etc. and have worked closely with Blue Mondays organization and Arizona college democrats. I have made singular impacts on several occasions for just causes like the healthcare in Arizona where, almost single handedly, I forced the state in Supreme Court to change the laws to provide healthcare for the Arizona most vulnerable. As part of my Fulbright Scholar grant in Europe, I became the lead attorney representing Albania and its soccer champion team in a historical international trial against Union of European Football Associations.

Being I am an Albanian-American, I thought it would be of interest to hear from someone whose people experienced the genocide first hand in Kosova and which the Clinton Administration put a stop to it. We would be living in a very different world today if the Bush administration had followed the lessons of its democratic predecessor in Kosova and the visionary ideas of Barack Obama in regard to policies on Iraq and Iran. Multilateralism, collaboration and understanding of people, postwar planning, commitment to the use of force only as a last resort - these are the ingredients of a lasting success, the ingredients of winning, not just the combat operation, but winning the hearts and minds of people and the stability and peace, the toughest battle of all and it were those kind of policies of Democrats that helped Kosova recently win independence. People of Iraq and of the world deserve the same kind of leadership that the Albanian people in Kosova received; the American people,
the American troops deserve the same level of support, visionary ideas and type of inspiring and inclusive experience and Barack Obama and this Democratic Party can deliver those kinds of results, because they already have. Though Obama is the epitome of immigrant’s dream come true, immigrants are still very under-represented group in US and I would like you to consider that as well when you vote.

I know that for most of you being a free person, not being scared for your life, for speaking up your mind or getting an education are things that may be taken for granted but for me, who experienced first hand one of the most repressive communist regimes, and for my Albanian Kosovar people, who saw the unspeakable horrors of genocide, it is a matter of visceral understanding that hope is not a passing fad but a reality, that idealism and inspiration are necessary seeds for positive social change, that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are everyday as precious as the air we breathe and we cannot thank enough this country for helping me and millions of immigrants, who came here because of Statue of Liberty “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” motto, experience these basic rights all over again. All my life, I have fought for democracy, a society governed by the rule of law and not of men, a free market economy and multi-party elections, and those ideals have been defended by me and my family not just with words, time or money but sometimes with the price of internment, imprisonment or even life, not just recently, but all my life and with actions that have changed dictatorial regimes, changed state laws, and influenced national policies.

Whether our ancestors have been here for thousands of years or came here on the Mayflower or in slave ships, whether they landed on Ellis Island, JFK or LAX airports or swam over to Miami, if you believe in the declaration of independence and the constitution, if one accepts the values of freedom, equal rights and other core values this country stands for then you are an American. Being an immigrant, it is time that we all become proud of our president, it is time that someone revives the ideal of what makes this country so great and different from the rest of world, the ideal that this is the country of “What you know and not who you know or who your daddy knows”, the ideal of to “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has”, the ideal that our founders proclaimed that we are all created equal in the eyes of God and this Democratic Party and Senator Obama can bring back to us those ideals and I believe I offer a very unique representation of those ideals that Barack Obama personifies in.

I humbly ask you to consider what I have to offer.

Dr. Dritán Zela
P.S. Below is my bio and some articles on me, just in case you may want to know more.

http://www.uact.com/academics/faculty_bios.aspxhttp://www.d8dems.org/nl/0502Newsletter.pdf
http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/1216srcampusbeat16fulbrightZ8.html
https://intranet.known-universe.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://intranet.known-universe.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/25376
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5518882/

ENDORSEMENTS

One of my colleagues, Professor William Maxwell who was educated at Harvard, the
first professor of thinking in US and who has been dean of schools of education in Fiji, Nigeria, Texas and California and who has lived and taught in more than fifty nations, in his endorsement said: “I feel that American prestige has suffered enormously among well informed persons around the world over the last few years. Dr. Dritan Zela, although an immigrant, embraces the American ideals more passionately than any other academic I have met in recent years. As an African American, I wish that the older Americans, native, white, black, hispanic and others, would defend intellectually the freedoms that made America unique and great as vigorously as Dritan does. Dritan brings to political discourse a first class intellect and a purified passion."

Amy B. Berg: former vice chair and co-founder of Scottsdale Community College Democratic Club, former Chair of College Democrats of Arizona

Dr. Nancy Buel: former State Committee Member, LD8 State Representative candidate, 2004 DNC Delegate

Martha Bruneau: LD4 Chair, Founder of the Blue Mondays, former State Committee Member, LD19 State Senate candidate, 2004 DNC Delegate

Virgel Cain: State Committee Member, LD7 Vice Chair, former LD7 Chair, LD7 State Representative candidate, 2004 DNC Delegate
Ken Clark: former State Representative, 2004 DNC Delegate, Steering Committee Member of John Kerry’s Arizona Campaign, Chair of Arizona Fair Districts/Fair Elections Project

Dr. Robert Murray Davis: Widely published Author, retired University of Oklahoma Professor and former President of the Western Literature Association

Marilyn Fox: State Committee Member, LD7 Chair, LD7 State Representative candidate

Dr. Bonnie A. Gray: Executive Director of Maricopa Community Colleges POWER Diversity Institute, Director of Maricopa Community Colleges Diversity Infusion Program, Professor of Psychology and former Department Chair at Scottsdale Community College

Dr. Paul N. Grocoff: Doctoral Graduate in architecture, university Faculty, President of Avant-Garde Lighting Design and Consulting

Sally Hart: Senior Policy & Litigation Attorney for Center for Medicare Advocacy

Mathew Jewett: State Committee Member, Vice Chair of LD15, 2004 DNC Delegate, Children's Action Alliance Research Associate

James Kimes: 2004 LD1 State Representative candidate, 2002 Gov. Napolitano’s co campaign Coordinator for Yavapai County

Jeffrey Tucker: LD20 Secretary

Jim Hogan: State Committee Member

Dr. William Maxwell: Harvard Doctoral Graduate, first US Professor of Thinking, prominent African-American, Professor and Dean in over fifty nations

Dr. Mark Crispin Miller: John Hopkins University Doctoral Graduate, Professor of media ecology at New York University, national well-renown Researcher of modern propaganda, history and tactics of advertising, American film, and media ownership, national well-renown featured Speaker

Margaret Hogan: LD8 Chair, State Committee Member, former Dean

Kathleen O’Brien: State Committee Member, Administrator of Pediatric Surgeons of Phoenix

Ron Owen: former State Committee Member, former LD8 Chair, 2004 DNC Delegate

Mark Riddle: Arizona State Director of Wesley Clark 2004 Presidential Campaign, Partner in FRCR, a major political media firm

Rano Singh: 2006 Democratic Party State Treasurer Candidate, 2004 LD6 State Representative candidate, Commissioner of Governor Napolitano’s Citizen’s Finance Review Commission, Founder and Chair of Arizona Indo-Democrats, 2008 US SBA Minority Business Champion for Arizona

Slade Mead: former State Senator, 2006 Democratic Party State Superintendent of Public Instruction Candidate, lawyer, professional sports consultant, former Vice-Chair of Appropriations, Government and Education Senate Committees, Maricopa Regional School District Board and Receiver Board member

Suzanne Steadman: former Director of International Study Programs at Arizona State University

HRH Agnes Umuligirwa: Princess and Heiress of Rwanda, NAACP Freedom Fund Award Recipient

2004 Arizona DraftClark Presidential Campaign Core Founders

Note to any other PLEO/At-Large candidates: If you have one, I'd be happy to post a similar letter for you. If interested, please let me know at cpmaz[at]yahoo.com.

Later!

Scottsdale TCE update: Arizona American Water fined by ADEQ

From the East Valley Tribune story, written by Ari Cohn -

State environmental officials Thursday slapped Arizona American Water Co. with $69,000 in fines for two recent incidents in which elevated levels of a suspected cancer-causing chemical entered the drinking water supply of 12,000 people in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley.

The Trib article went on to state that AZAmWater (AAWC) still faces penalties from the EPA and the Arizona Corporation Commission. A call to Vicki Rosen, the EPA's community involvement coordinator for the North Indian Bend Wash Superfund site (NIBW), sort of confirmed this.

When asked if there was anything in the consent agreement entered into by ADEQ and AAWC that blocked the imposition of penalties from other agencies, she indicated that she didn't believe so, but referred me to an EPA lawyer, with whom I left a message. She also indicated that while AAWC may or may not face EPA-imposed sanctions, the participating companies (the companies responsible for the contamination in the NIBW) that hired AAWC may themselves face sanctions.

My workweek starts soon, but I'll follow up with the EPA attorney early next week, and update if appropriate.


The ADEQ press release is here.

Arizona American Water's press release is here.

I'd link to the AZ Rep's article on this, but it's just a rehash of the above two press releases.

Later!

Candidate Update - Arizona Corporation Commission

Edit on 4/7 to correct a mistake in candidate Barry Wong's bio info - he did not run for Maricopa County Treasurer. My apologies to Mr. Wong for the error.

Over the last couple of days, Greg at Espresso Pundit and Tedski at Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion put up posts detailing the rumored entries of new candidates for the already-crowded race for the three open seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission.

In addition to the names mentioned by one or both of my esteemed blogging colleagues (Democrats Paul Newman and Sam George, neither of whom has a committee for the race listed on the AZ Secretary of State's website as yet), here are the known candidates -

Democrats:

Sandra Kennedy

Kara Kelty

George Arredondo

Notes - Arredondo is a former City Councilman in Coolidge, Kelty is a member of the Flagstaff City Council, Kennedy is a former state legislator (both House and Senate). Newman is a former legislator and current Cochise County Supervisor. George is a former candidate for the Central Arizona Water Conservation District (CAWCD). I wrote about this a year and a half ago, and what I said then still holds true - George's name makes for a profoundly lousy search term. Based on a comment from my original CAWCD post, he was an assistant Secretary of State (AZ) for a while.

All three Democrats with active committees (Kennedy, Kelty, and Arredondo) are running as Clean Elections Candidates. (Full list here)

Note to any Democratic candidates - if/when you put up a website, email a link to cpmaz[at]yahoo.com. I'll be happy to add the link to my list of candidate links.


Republicans:

Barry Wong

Bob Robson

Rick Fowlkes

Marian McClure

Bob Stump

Joseph Hobbs

John Allen

Keith Swapp

Notes - Swapp, Fowlkes, and Hobbs are running as one slate (website here); current state reps Stump, McClure, and Robson are running as another. Wong is a former state rep and a former appointed member of the ACC (last half of 2006). Allen is a former state rep from Scottsdale.

McClure, Stump, and Robson are running as traditional candidates; the other Republicans are running Clean.

Later!

Short Attention Span Musing

...Guess the Republican Party's worshipful love of 'private property rights' is exceeded only by their hatred for brown people.

From the Arizona Daily Star (emphasis added) -

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff likes to argue that illegal traffic across the border "has caused severe and profound impacts to the environment."

Trash and litter don't begin to compare to the severe and profound impacts to the environment that could follow Chertoff's high-handed decision on Tuesday to waive 36 laws, ignore local expertise and concerns, shut down vital wildlife corridors and slam up border fencing.

{snip}

Republican Sen. Jon Kyl...told Fox News Tuesday that Chertoff was just doing his job.

"We gave him the authority for the waivers," Kyl said. "We've given him the money. And we've said, get about the job (of finishing the fence)."

Last year, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ7) introduced H.R. 2593, the Borderlands Conservation Security Act. The bill has been languishing in various committees since its introduction; maybe Chertoff's open contempt for the laws and people of the United States will inspire a couple of committee chairs to get off their asses.

Rep. Grijalva's press release on Chertoff's waivers of law here.

The Department of Homeland Security's press release here.


...Congratulations go out to Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-AZ5) on the House unanimously passing his H.R. 4847, the United States Fire Administration Reauthorization Act of 2008.

The bill authorizes nearly $300 million in appropriations over a four year period for many things, including training for improved fighting of fires such as those from terrorism, natural disasters, and wildfires (Arizona has been known to have one or two of those, hasn't it?? ).

Mitchell's press release on the matter here.

CQPolitics' story on the vote here.


...Guess that now that people aren't blindly buying into the 'fear' component of their "fear and smear" campaign to retain control of the White House (and to perhap regain control of Congress), the Republicans have decided to minimize the impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

From AP via Yahoo! News -

A conservative Republican congressman says he supports helping victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks but did not offer an apology for remarks he made while questioning the need for federal compensation.

During a joint hearing on Tuesday by two House Judiciary subcommittees considering legislation to extend benefits, [Rep. Darrell] Issa [R-CA] described the Sept. 11 attacks as "a fire that had no dirty bomb in it" and added: "It had no chemical munitions in it. It simply was an aircraft, residue of two aircraft and residue of the material used to build this building."

He questioned "why the firefighters who went there and everyone in the city of New York needs to come to the federal government for the dollars versus, quite frankly, this being primarily a state consideration."

"Primarily a state consideration"???

So, in the highly unlikely event that Osama bin Laden is ever captured, does that statement mean that Congressman Issa believes the District Attorney for New York County has first dibs on him (for roughly 3000 counts of murder in Manhattan)??


...From the "Doesn't get along well with others" Department:

It's not enough for the Bush-led Department of Justice to ignore Congress, now it's ignoring the courts, too.

From the L.A. Times -

New federal sentencing guidelines designed to end the racially tinged disparity between prison sentences for powder and crack cocaine dealers went into effect a month ago, and so far more than 3,000 inmates have had their prison terms reduced.

Dozens have been released, including at least 15 in California, but many others who should have been released have not. Attorneys involved in the process blame bureaucratic delays as well as opposition from the Justice Department.

The problem isn't only with the Justice Department, either.

Also from the Times' story -

In Dallas, one judge has refused to allow federal defenders to represent crack offenders in his court, saying they have no right to counsel at this stage of the proceedings. That has left hundreds of inmates having to file jailhouse petitions to gain their freedom.

I suppose some of the crack offenders left hanging (so to speak) by the foot-dragging of the DOJ and the courts *could* appeal directly to George Bush for relief, but looking at the list of his most recent pardons, they shouldn't expect much help in from that direction.

Of the 15 pardons listed, 1 was for marijuana, one for cocaine, one for heroin, and one for distribution of an unnamed controlled substance that pre-dates crack; the others were non-narcotics-related offenses.

No crack offenders to be found.


Later!

Sunday Morning Crappie Award (early edition)

Yes, I know that it's 4 days early, but short of George W. Bush resigning from office, giving his fortune to Amnesty International and volunteering to spend the rest of his life with Habitat for Humanity working to rebuild the Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast, it isn't likely that anyone is going to flip-flop as much as Russell Pearce (R-National Alliance) did this week.

From AZCentral.com -

Lawmakers want to be free from voter restraints

Staring down a deficit abyss of about $3 billion for this year and next, Arizona lawmakers complain that their efforts to cut spending and balance the budget are stymied by voters.

Health care for the poor. Spending on schools. Money for clean elections and land conservation. Early-education and health programs for kids, funded by tobacco taxes. Major state programs and big bucks - all off-limits because they are protected by voter-approved initiatives.

{snip}

Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, says this means that a huge chunk of budget growth, about $600 million a year, is on "auto-pilot," which makes it difficult for the Legislature to balance the budget during hard economic times. Why shouldn't voter-approved programs share the cuts?

"In bad times, tough decisions have to be made," said Pearce, who sponsored the measure, House Concurrent Resolution 2044.

{snip}

Pearce complains that what voters have protected are "the giveaway programs, the socialist programs," referring to programs like AHCCCS and First Things First.

OK, let's be clear here - Pearce wants the authority to override voters' wishes because he thinks that they (aka - us!) haven't voted wisely.

This from the same guy who has sponsored over 30 proposed referendums so that the legislature can get the worst of their worst schemes past the Governor's veto pen.

Oh, and those 30 measures aren't exactly a new trick for the old nativist dog Pearce - he sponsored or cosponsored 17 such proposals during the 2007 session of the lege, 23 during 2006, and 17 during 2005.

A goodly number of the HCRs and SCRs that he sponsored for referral to the ballot were of the "let's screw with brown people" variety, which leads to the conclusion that he only respects voters' opinions (and votes) when they coincide with his own.

Reining in those dastardly brown Mexicans immigrants? Gooood voters...

Reining in saintly nativist American legislators? Baaaadd voters...

For this spectacularly shameless flip-flop of the "reverse one and a half somersaults with three and a half twists" variety, Rep. Russell Pearce reels in this week's Sunday Morning Crappie Award.

BTW - Pearce is running for state senate this year. Judah Nativio is running against him, and can use your help and your vote.

Thank you, Elizabeth Edwards

It's about time that Democrats with some stature started taking on McCain...

From The Washington Post's The Trail -

Elizabeth Edwards Issues a Challenge to McCain on Health Care

Since her husband suspended his run for the Democratic nomination three months ago, Elizabeth Edwards has remained largely out of the public sphere. A fierce proponent of her husband's run for office and once a regular on the campaign stump -- despite her ongoing battle with cancer -- Edwards stepped back into the fray last weekend with an attack on Sen. John McCain's health-care plan.

Under the presumptive Republican nominee's health-care plan, Edwards told reporters, she would not be covered, an accusation that McCain's aides deny.

Mrs. Edwards' blog entry at ThinkProgress here. Her blog entry contains links to both McCain's health care platform and an LA Times article chronicling this ongoing discussion.

The best part of the article was a McCain adviser's criticism of Mrs. Edwards' criticisms - he said "that they revealed she did not understand the comprehensive nature of the senator's proposal." (from the LA Times article)

Ummm, Elizabeth Edwards has degrees in English and Law. Not only that, but she has been fighting and living with cancer for almost four years.

If there is anyone who is almost uniquely qualified to comprehensively understand the "nature" of a political candidate's health care proposals, Elizabeth Edwards is that person.

McCainiacs - you can't win this one. Better to just walk away from this fight - even taking her on makes you look like heels.

Later!

Credit where it's due: Phil Gordon

Phil Gordon, mayor of Phoenix, has been on the receiving end of harsh criticism from grassroots Democrats, and much of that criticism is deserved (endorsing Jim Weiers and Andrew Thomas?!? That was not only a betrayal of Democrats, that was a betrayal of all residents of Phoenix).

However, on Friday he gave a speech at the annual Cesar Chavez Luncheon that deserves a little respect from everyone, not just Democrats. In his forceful speech, he called out Sheriff Joe Arpaio on his bigotry against Mexicans and people of Mexican descent and on his disregard of his duties - quietly ignoring arrest warrants for violent criminals in favor of standing in front of TV cameras and witch-hunting brown people with broken taillights.

It was easily the best speech of Gordon's career; while he isn't an electric speaker by any means, Gordon's delivery was exactly what is needed in today's nativist environment - it was clear, eloquent, and timely.

More importantly, the speech was a much-needed and honest discussion of the real price of Arpaio's self-serving pandering to the nativist crowd.

Gordon may have earned the ire of Democrats and others in the past, and I fully expect him to do the same in the future. Right now though, he has earned a little respect.

The video of the speech is here; the text of the speech is here.