John Shadegg - Protector of Big Oil

As efforts to find renewable sources of energy multiply, both nationally and here in Arizona, Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ3) is hard at work, protecting the interests of Big Oil, his Big Donors.

While claiming to support renewable energy and the extension of a tax credit for homeowners and businesses that utilize solar power, he voted against passage of a bill that will extend that tax credit beyond the end of the year.

His objection? The bill would follow House pay-go rules and pay for the solar energy tax credit by closing some tax credits reserved for the oil industry.

The same oil industry that reports setting a new record for profits seemingly every day.

From AZcentral.com -

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., a champion of solar efforts, said previous legislation would have paid for the renewable-energy tax credits by repealing credits given to the oil and gas industry. She said she hopes this latest bill, which would close tax loopholes for hedge-fund managers, overseas corporations and others, will be more "palatable."

Fellow Arizona Congressman John Shadegg, a Republican, isn't so sure it will be.

Shadegg said he supports solar energy and the tax-credit extension, but he voted against the latest House bill.

"Each time the issue of solar has come up before Congress, it has included tax increases, and none of them has moved in the Senate," Shadegg said. "If we (Republicans) get to vote for these issues, and they're not burdened by tax increases, we will approve it."

Instead, Shadegg has signed on as a cosponsor of H.R. 5984, a bill that would extend the solar energy tax credit, but instead of finding a way to pay for that extension, it would just increase the federal budget deficit.

Shadegg likes to tout his 'budget hawk' credentials (like this page from his campaign website that includes a WSJ article about his formation of 'Reagan 21'), but that hawkishness flies away when faced with defending his deep-pockets donors from the petroleum industry ($440K and counting).

Compare Shadegg's stance to that of his opponent, Bob Lord (from a press release) -

"Arizona can become the Middle East of solar energy if Congress makes energy independence a top priority," Lord said. "Solar power means investment, growth, and jobs in Arizona – it is an investment in our future.”

So, after Lord retires Shadegg this November, is anyone interested in starting a pool on which oil company or industry group hires Shadegg as a lobbyist?

For entertainment purposes only, of course. :)

Later!

Quick candidate update - local, state, national

...On the local (Scottsdale) level, a new candidate has entered the race for City Council.

Denny Brown, a 21-year resident of Scottsdale, has turned in paperwork as a $500 exemption candidate. He is running on enhancing/protecting Old Town Scottsdale and seeking an integrated approach for dealing with Scottsdale schools. 'Integrated' means involving "all the players, City of Scottsdale, Chamber of Commerce, Scottsdale School District, and the State Legislature." His website is here. I hope to speak with him about his candidacy within the next few days.

Edit to update later on May 27 -

Denny Brown was gracious enough to take a few minutes to chat with me earlier this afternoon. He mentioned that signature gathering seemed to be going "reasonably well" though there is a lot of competition for them right now - apparently he was at the library earlier and John Washington (mayor) and Jim Lane (mayor) were there collecting sigs, as was someone working on multiple initiatives. He did say, however, that he has been fortunate in that his involvment with Hohokam Elementary's PTA (President!) and other issues has raised his visibility in the community. Many people have stepped forward to help his efforts.

In addition to his focus on Old Town Scottsdale and working with SUSD's board on school issues in the City, he is also concerned with the southernmost parts of Scottsdale. One issue that he specifically mentioned was the exodus of car dealerships from the McDowell Road area (sounds mundane, but that's a *lot* of sales tax revenue leaving.)

My impression - he's obviously a political rookie, but an intelligent and enthusiastic one. He also shows more depth and breadth than the single issue, "no growth", candidates. Many voters, including me, may be sympathetic with the single-issue candidates on their one issue, but few voters, including me, are single-issue voters. We understand that there are many issues facing us (at the municipal, county, state, and national levels), and candidates who focus only on one issue don't make effective public officials.

If he is able to gain enough sigs to get on the ballot, Brown could surprise some folks come September.

End edit...

...On the state level, Corporation Commission to be specific, candidate Sam George sent out an email touting an endorsement by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ8) and talking about his campaign. No website yet, but he can be contacted at sam4corpcom[at]gmail.com. If you didn't receive the email, leave a comment with your email addy, and I'll be glad to forward it to you.

...On the national level, ultraconservative former Congressman Bob Barr won the Libertarian Party's nomination this weekend. Beyond Libertarians, he is expected to appeal mostly to conservative Republicans, leading to some speculation that he could do to John McCain in 2008 what Ralph Nader did to Al Gore in 2000. The gist of that speculation is that in a close race, Barr could take enough votes away from McCain to give the election to Barack Obama.

I'm not so sure of that - many words have been used to describe Republicans (and, partisan hack that I am, I've used most of the uncomplimentary ones :) ), but while the list is a long one, "collectively stupid" isn't on that list. Barr will see an increase in support if the race *isn't* a close one; in a close race, I've got to expect most Reps will vote for McCain, even the ones that hold their noses while doing so. As much as many of them dislike McCain, they dislike Democrats even more.

In the event the race for the presidency isn't a close one, more Reps will be willing to exercise their votes as protest votes.

Later!

In Memory, with gratitude

To the million plus who have given their lives in the service of our country...

To the millions more who have been injured in the service of our country...

To the untold millions who have simply served...

...Thank you





















Photo courtesy Deborah Woehr...

The John Sydney McCain Memorial Crappie Award

When I retired the "Sunday Morning Crappie Award," and created the JS McCain Memorial Crappie Award, it was with the expectation that McCain wouldn't receive the award that is named after him.

To put it simply, the award was named after him because he was hogging it anyway, and others deserve their day of infamy.

However, he outdid himself this week and dragged someone else down with him; as such, he, together with George W. Bush, have earned the first joint J.S. McCain Memorial Crappie Award.

First the flip - John "I support the troops" McCain opposes the new G. I. Bill with its education benefits for veterans who have served since 9/11.

As does Bush, the commander-in-chief of the troops.

Then the flop - McCain suffers the humiliation of having to relocate and downsize a fundraiser with the President ($25K per couple!), in his own home state. Something about too many protesters and too few tickets sold.

Awwwww....I feel *so* bad for our John...really. Trust me. :))

And the hypocritical tie that binds the two, flip and flop, is that Johnny Mac moved his public appearance with Bush from downtown Phoenix to the Mesa site of a defense contractor, Silverado Cable Company. The fundraising part of the event will now take place in a private home instead of the Phoenix Convention Center.

So, within a week of turning his back on the people who put their lives on the line for the war that Bush started and he supports, McCain plans to party down with people who make a profit from the sacrifices made by America's troops.

And Bush will be standing right next to him.

And for that rather acrobatic flip-flop, both John McCain and George W. Bush win an unprecedented joint John Sydney McCain Memorial Crappie Award.

Maybe instead of saying that McCain is 'flip-flopping', it would be more accurate to call it 'flip and flipping off'...

The ever-wise Desert Beacon has awarded her weekly Sunday Deck Bass to McCain, for reasons that include his opposition to the G. I. Bill.

Later!

Bush is coming to town for McCain - Updated

Thanks to Zelph for the comment and the info on McBush's change of plans...

Update -

Due to poor ticket sales and the expectation that protesters would outnumber event attendees, the event at the Phoenix Convention Center has been moved to as-yet-undisclosed private residences in the metro Phoenix area. (courtesy the Phoenix Business Journal)

Of course, with a price tag of $25K per couple, what did they expect? The economy is tanking (so most people can't afford that price) and most Americans are still pissed about Bush's war in Iraq and have something to protest.

As of right now, the ADP's plans for Tuesday are in flux. Expect an email from them shortly detailing any changes (like a new time and location for a protest/rally).

End update (for now :) )

The big event -

Tuesday, May 27 - George W. Bush is coming to town to raise money for John McCain, and the Arizona Democrats are welcoming them both to AZ.

Colorfully. :)

Loudly. :))

The Bush/McCain event will be at the Phoenix Convention Center, 2nd. Ave. and Washington in Phoenix.

Meet at the event, or, if you don't want to fight downtown traffic (and between rush hour traffic and presidential security, it's going to be seriously snarled), the ADP will have shuttles from the ADP's headquarters at Central and Thomas starting at 3 p.m.

To RSVP or to get more info, contact the ADP at 602-234-6815.

Later!

Brief Elections Update - sigs rolling in

The following candidates from the Tempe/Scottsdale/Mesa area (aka - LDs 17, 8, and 18) have turned in their nominating petitions so far (the deadline is June 4, 2008) -

Michelle Reagan (R), running for LD8 State Representative (incumbent) - 1315 signatures, 527 required (traditional financing), filed May 20, 2008.

Ed Ableser (D), LD17 State Representative (incumbent) - 699 signatures, 253 required (Clean Elections), filed April 17, 2008.

David Schapira (D), LD17 State Representative (incumbent) - 757 signatures, 253 required (Clean Elections), filed April 17, 2008.

Cecil Ash (R), LD18 State Representative - 733 signatures, 245 required (Clean Elections), filed May 15, 2008.

Steve Court (R), LD18 State Representative - 536 signatures, 245 required (Clean Elections), filed May 8, 2008.

Ron Middlebrook (R), LD18 State Representative - 320 signatures, 245 required (Clean Elections), filed April 15, 2008.


The following candidates for Corporation Commission have filed their petitions -

Sandra Kennedy (D) - 6353 signatures, 4580 required (Clean Elections), filed May 16, 2008.

Rick Fowlkes (R) - 6626 signatures, 5184 required (Clean Elections), filed May 19, 2008.

Above info courtesy the Arizona Secretary of State's website (current as of 5/2.1.2008)


And as for Maricopa County races -

Tim Nelson (D), candidate for County Attorney, 5276 signatures, 2338 required.

Dan Saban (D), candidate for County Sheriff, 8002 signatures, 2338 required.

Ed Hermes (D), candidate for District 1 County Supervisor, 1093 signatures, 482 required.

Mary Rose Wilcox (D) candidate for District 5 County Supervisor (incumbent), 1191 signatures, 448 required.

County race info courtesy the Maricopa County Clerk's website, information current as of 5/19/2008.

Expect a flood of petitions to hit the county clerk's office and the SOS's office next week.

Later...

Scottsdale/TCE update - Wednesday's CIG meeting

Warning: lots of acronyms ahead

On Wednesday night, the EPA held a meeting of the North Indian Bend Wash Superfund Site's (NIBW) Community Involvement Group (CIG) in the auditorium of the Civic Center Branch Library in Scottsdale.

Summary - there was no breaking news tonight, no bombs like the one dropped at November's meeting (the week+ during October of 'incomplete remediation' .)

Of course, there were no 'F-bombs' dropped in return. :))


The longer version of tonight's events isn't actually all that much longer than the summary, and most of the information was made available previously.

A number of officials from EPA, DOJ, ADEQ, ADHS, MCESD, and City of Scottsdale were present, as well as elected officials or their representatives such as Scottsdale City Council members Ron McCullagh and Wayne Ecton, and Robbie Sherwood, District Director for Congressman Harry Mitchell.

The people who were there for professional reasons may have outnumbered the folks who were there as "interested citizens." :))

Both the Participating Companies (PCs) - Motorola, Siemens, and GSK - and the operator of the Miller Road Treatment Facility (MRTF), Arizona American Water Company (AAWC), conducted separate investigations into the incidents (October 2007, January 2008). The end result of those investigations was that the PCs blamed human error on the part of AAWC personnel, and that AAWC blamed the system set up by the PCs.

The EPA had an independent contractor overseeing the investigations; their report isn't complete as yet.

While that report is pending, and long-term solutions are evaluated, the output of the well with the highest concentration of trichloroethylene (TCE), called PCX-1, has been permanently disconnected from AAWC's drinking water system. The facility was shut down after the January incident but is now back online, with the output of PCX-1 discharged into the Arizona Canal.

The PCs have contracted with a new firm to handle the remediation of PCX-1 while the remediation of two other wells, with much lower contamination levels, is still handled by AAWC. The output from those wells is discharged into AAWC's water distribution system.

In addition to the permanent disconnection of PCX-1 from the water distribution system, increased testing of the effluent, 24/7 onsite monitoring, and thrice-daily inspections of all equipment and controls have been implement as interim actions to address the TCE contamination while ensuring that similar failures do not re-occur.

The interim operating plan is available here.

Information regarding long-term measures should be forthcoming during the fall. Possible options in that regard include, but aren't limited to, reinjection, reconfiguring MRTF to add precautions and redundancies, and continuing to treat and discharge the water from PCX-1 into the Arizona Canal.

The EPA's most recent update on the MRTF situation is here.

Other info from the meeting -

...According to Terry Lockwood, representing Motorola (and the other PCs), there is no evidence of northward movement of the contamination plume.

...The money from the $500,000 fine levied against the PCs is going into the Superfund. (AAWC was fined $69K by the State of Arizona.)

...There will probably be another CIG meeting in the fall after the evaluation of options for long-term measures.

...Oh, and even though the majority of people affected by January's incident at the MRTF live in Paradise Valley, which is in his district, no one from Congressman Shadegg's office was present Wednesday night.

Guess he's still MIA when it comes to his constituents.


Other Scottsdale news from the meeting - As of 5:00 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, Councilman Ron McCullagh was the only candidate who has turned in nominating petitions so far. When asked about being first, he stated that he turned them in so early because he had enough to do so, and that he was working on collecting sigs for the state land trust reform initiative and wanted to focus his attention on that.

Later...

A little federal budget fun...

Found this in an entry of GovExec.com's FedBlog -

American Public Media, the country's largest operator of public radio stations, has a 'game' on its website called "Budget Hero."

While it is presented as a game, it is a very enlightening simulation. It highlights the the impact of various budget tactics, and how increasing spending in one area means cuts in another, increased taxes, or increased deficits. It also highlights the long-term effects of budgeting decisions by showing how their impact on a project 'budget bust' date.

Anyway, I didn't quite achieve "Budget Hero" status in the areas I chose for my first time through the game, but was able to increase education and infrastructure spending (areas that qualify as long-term investments, with long-term payoffs) while the only defense spending cut was to bring the troops home from Iraq soon. This was paid for with a repeal of Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy, an end to tax subsidies/breaks for Big Oil, and assorted taxes on the wealthy (hedge fund managers, etc.).

Hardly the sort of budgeting that would ever endear me to Republicans, but this "tax-and-spend" Democrat balanced the budget, decreased the size of government (as a % of GDP), and decreased the size of the national debt (also as a % of the GDP).

And provided AMT relief for the middle class by indexing it to inflation.

There were some tough decisions here too - had to raise the eligibility age for Social Security to make this work.

Try to do as well or better; most people won't be able to if they budget by ideology instead of reality.

Give it a shot if you have a few minutes. You'll learn a lot.

Later...

Education is the key to changing Arizona's political landscape

I've been trying to write this post for nearly a week, but every time I try to write it, it goes off in a direction different than the one I had expected.

And then I have to re-write.... :((

On Thursday evening, the LD8 Democrats hosted a 'meet the candidates' night.

Making the journey to north Scottsdale were Gerald Richard, candidate for County Attorney, Dan Saban, candidate for County Sheriff, Joel Sinclair, candidate for County Supervisor, Sandra Kennedy, Kara Kelty, and George Arredondo, candidates for Corporation Commission, and Stephanie Rimmer, candidate for LD8 House.

The evening's discussion was fairly standard, especially for candidates appearing in front of a friendly crowd. The candidates briefly covered their positions and visions for the offices they are seeking, and then there was an open question-and-answer period.

One of the questions, while seemingly innocuous, actually highlighted one of the biggest reasons for the insane nature of the Arizona political scene - ignorance about the very existence of many of the offices, the people that hold them, and of their relevance to the average Arizonan.


Don't think that's an issue? Just ask your friends and neighbors to name the members of the Corporation Commission, or to tell you the name of their representative on the County Board of Supervisors.

Hell, most people can't even name their legislators.


Anyway, the questioner asked the candidates how they address the situation when they speak to voters who are not only unfamiliar with them (the candidates) but also with the offices they're campaigning for.

While their answers varied in content based on the offices they are seeking, all of the candidates believe that education is the solution.

When voters ask why they should care about the ACC, Sandra Kennedy advises them to look at their ever-rising APS bills; when asked about the County Board of Supervisors, Joel Sinclaire advises voters that Maricopa County has a budget of $2.2 billion dollars.

For some reason, those things get the attention of voters. :))

Anyway, part of the job in their campaigns isn't just to introduce themselves to voters and to persuade the voters to support them, but to also bring home to the voters why these offices that most of them have never heard of or just don't care about have a daily impact on their lives.

In some ways, Dan Saban and Gerald Richard (and Tim Nelson, too!) have it easier - most people know about their races and the offices they are seeking. While they have uphill battles against entrenched and desperate incumbents, the vast majority of voters are already familiar with the antics of Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas, their opponents.

They may be facing the dirtiest campaigns in the state this year, with all of the problems that go with that, but "under the radar" is *not* going to be one of those problems.

Which still leaves the board and commission candidates needing some help in getting out the word on why their races are important.

Up for consideration this evening? The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

Want to know why the Board is important, and why the voters should take the opportunity to change the complexion of the board during this year's election?

Start with fiscal responsibility.

From the Board's agenda for today's meeting -

Approve spending $1.6 million on outside legal fees because Andrew Thomas gutted the County Attorney's Office Civil Division to funnel money to his former law firm;

Approve spending $97,000 to maintain two MCSO aircraft that have fallen into disrepair while the Sheriff would rather spend money on junkets to Honduras than on proper maintenance of equipment vital to the safety of MCSO staff and prisoners.;

Accept grants and enter into contracts, totalling millions of dollars;

Oh yeah, and approve a tentative annual budget of $2,258,887,593.

Actually, there are over 70 items on the Board's main agenda, and another 11 on the supplemental agenda. The items cover the length and breadth of the county, covering public safety, schools, libraries, water delivery, planning, land management, solid waste, flood control, public health, and more.

In short, it's basically a city council for an area that's approximately six times this size of the entire state of Rhode Island (9200 square miles vs. 1500) and no one is paying attention to it.

Time to change that.


One brief candidate note: A Democratic candidate has stepped forward in Supervisor District 4 (western and northwestern Maricopa County). Wayne Pearson, a Glendale businessman, has filed to challenge Max Wilson. I don't have any info on him as yet, but stay tuned.

He will be uniting with Ed Hermes (SD1), Joel Sinclaire (SD2) and Marilyn Fox (SD3) as they work to join incumbent Mary Rose Wilcox (SD5) on the Board.

Next up: The Arizona Corporation Commission, probably within the next week or so.

Later!

Congratulations Corey Woods and Joel Navarro!

In Tempe, the unofficial results are in (and with the usual caveats about 'unofficial' results), Corey Woods and Joel Navarro have won the two remaining contested seats, joining March's winner, incumbent Mark Mitchell, on the Tempe City Council.

Voter turnout was low, 22% (15,098 ballots cast out of 69,698 registered voters), but that is very normal for this sort of stand-alone municipal election.

Navarro received 7455 votes (27.2%); Woods 7098 (25.9%). Julie Jakubek and Hut Hutson, the other two candidates, received 6608 (24.1%) and 6221 (22.7%) votes, respectively.

The day at the polling places was a quiet one, for a reason other than the low turnout.

Of the ballots cast, over 83%, or 12,579, were cast early or by mail.

More later....

Whew - got scared there for a minute

Here I was, all prepared to write a post criticizing the Democrats in Congress for passing H.R. 6074, the Gas Price Relief for Consumers Act of 2008. The bill passed by a 324 - 84 margin (Giffords, Mitchell, Pastor, Grijalva - yea; Franks, Flake, Renzi, Shadegg - nay).

The reason for my intended criticism was not based on the language in the bill, but on some of the press coverage, which calls the bill a move to allow the U.S. to sue OPEC over high gas prices.

AP coverage here; TimesOnline coverage here; AFR coverage here.

The coverage gives the impression that in an era of record-breaking oil prices, and equally record-breaking oil company profits, that Congress has determined that the best solution is to take foreign nations to court.

Assuming that those nations would even bother to face the U.S. in court, given the low regard for international law that is typically exhibited by the U.S. government.

The U.S. government only participates in that process when it suits them - why should any other country behave any differently when it is the U.S. initiating the proceedings?

Based on the MSM coverage, I thought that the bill was pointless and insipid, and reeked of a little election year pandering, and that's always worthy of criticism.

I was sitting at my keyboard, profoundly disappointed in my fellow Democrats, and when the White House threatened a veto of the legislation, I was worried that my agreement with that position might indicate that I'd hit my head, come down with some sort of mental illness, or just plain had my soul sucked out of me.

Then I read the actual language of the bill, and was greatly relieved to find the real teeth of the measure.

SEC. 201. ESTABLISHMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY ANTITRUST TASK FORCE.

The section goes on to delineate some of the areas of interest of the Task Force, including looking for price gouging, market manipulation, anti-competitive behavior, collusive behavior and more.

And it isn't restricted to international cartels and the like. Specifically included are petroleum refiners and wholesalers of gasoline and petroleum products.

In short, the oil companies themselves are in the crosshairs of this bill.

Which thoroughly explains why the White House and the four Republican members of Arizona's delegation so thoroughly oppose the bill.

The "I'm not totally naive" caveats -

It *is* an election year, and I'm fully aware that many of the Democratic supporters of this bill did so to take advantage of the anti-OPEC nature (aka - the "anti-foreigner" nature) of the bill. It's always easier to blame an amorphous "them" for our problems than to tell voters that they might bear some of the responsibility for the creation of and the ultimate solution for the current mess.

In addition, I'm fully aware of the fact that many of the Republicans who supported the bill did so with the full knowledge that it will never become law, either because of a veto they won't vote to override, or because it will die in the Senate.

While this move has some merit (holding Big Oil's feet to the fire is always a good thing), how about an effort to not just wean the U.S. off of *foreign* oil (which is just Republican-speak for "let's destroy ANWR"), but to wean us off of petroleum in general.

Supporting efforts to create something other than the internal combustion engine to power our transportation infrastructure would be a good start, no matter how much Big Oil and Big Auto scream about it.

Election Day in Tempe

Today is Election Day in Tempe. The only race on the ballot is the race to fill two seats on the City Council.

Polling places can be found here; election results will be available on Tempe's elections home page here.

Tempe voters -

Today is the last chance to vote for Corey Woods and Joel Navarro for the council; if you haven't already voted early or by mail (and my guess is that most voters have already cast their ballots), make sure you visit your polling place today.

Also, anyone who wants to assist the campaigns should contact Zac Casey of the Corey Woods campaign at 480-748-7194 or Tony Butch of the Joel Navarro campaign at 480-296-1732. Even though time is winding down, they'll still be grateful for any help (plus maybe they'll give you the info on the election night parties :)) ).

Later!

Scottsdale/TCE update: Motorola, Siemens, and GSK fined $500,000

From the EV Tribune:

Motorola, Siemens Corp. and GlaxoSmithKline were fined $500,000 Monday for system failures that led to trichloroethylene, or TCE, being released into a private water company’s drinking supply twice in a four-month period.

Motorola, Siemens, and GSK are the companies that were responsible for the TCE contamination in Scottsdale's water supply and are responsible for the cleanup of the affected area, known as the North Indian Bend Wash Superfund Site (NIBW).

Expect the fine and more to be discussed, at length, during Wednesday's meeting of the Community Involvement Group (CIG) of the NIBW at the Civic Center Branch Library in Scottsdale. The meeting will be held in the library's auditorium from 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Expect a 'colorful' meeting. :))

Background on the history of the NIBW, courtesy The Phoenix New Times, here.


A U.S. Department of Justice press release on the fine here.

EPA press release here.


Previous posts - May 2, 2008, April 4, 2008, February 5, 2008, January 19, 2008. January 18, 2008, January 17, 2008, November 17, 2007, November 15, 2008.

The list isn't even close to being a comprehensive one. :)

More on Wednesday...

Short Attention Span Musing

If it's Friday, my attention span must be 'Fri'-ed (either that or I just like bad puns :)) )...

...As the June 4 deadline approaches, more and more candidates are turning in their nomination petitions.

- Sandra Kennedy, candidate for Corporation Commission, turned in thousands of signatures, many more than the minimum required.

From her press release -

"This brings me one step closer to fulfilling my promise of clean, affordable energy for all Arizona, with the extra jobs and vital economic development that come with more solar and renewable energy in Arizona," said Kennedy. "Arizona has enough solar resources to be energy independent and have sustainable economic growth."

- Dan Saban, candidate for Maricopa County Sheriff, kicked off the official start of his challenge to Joe Arpaio by turning in more than three times the amount of sigs needed, an indication of both his organization and the heartfelt dissatisfaction that many citizens have for the way Arpaio is performing his duties.

From an EV Tribune article on Saban-

Former Mesa police Cmdr. Dan Saban filed thousands of signatures with the county on Friday to get his name on the ballot, setting up a rematch with Joe Arpaio for Maricopa County sheriff.

Saban, who stepped down last week as police chief of Buckeye to focus on the race, turned in 8,040 signatures from registered voters throughout the county, far more than the 2,100 needed to qualify.

...We've had governors, congressmen, legislators, state treasurers, state mine inspectors (and more!) indicted and/or convicted while in office. Could Arizona be adding a senator to that distinguished list in the near future?

From USA Today -

Sen. John McCain secured millions in federal funds for a land acquisition program that provided a windfall for an Arizona developer whose executives were major campaign donors, public records show.

McCain, who has made fighting special-interest projects a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, inserted $14.3 million in a 2003 defense bill to buy land around Luke Air Force Base in a provision sought by SunCor Development, the largest of about 50 landowners near the base. SunCor representatives, upset with a state law that restricted development around Luke, met with McCain's staff to lobby for funding, according to John Ogden, SunCor's president at the time.

Wonder if he learned that trick from Rick Renzi, his former campaign co-chair, or if McCain was the Miyagi to Renzi's Daniel in that particular instance?

House Republicans abdicate their professional responsibilities

Earlier today, the U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass part of H.R. 2642, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2008. The part that they failed to pass was the part provided supplemental funding for Bush's occupation of Iraq.

I call today's move a "failure" not because I support continuing to pay for Bush's war, but because the bill wasn't defeated (though much of the MSM coverage will paint it as such), but because the Republicans basically didn't show up.

The final vote - 141 in favor, 149 opposed, 132 present.

All 132 members of the House refusing to take a stand on one of the biggest issues facing our nation today by voting present were Republicans.

As evidenced by the split in the Democratic caucus (85 yeas, 147 nays), this is an issue that deeply divides the country; the Republicans' refusal to take a stand, any stand (even one I disagree with!) nearly constitutes en masse job abandonment.

And 'job abandonment' is grounds for termination of employment.

See you in November.

By the way - the part of the measure that they failed to take a stand on is the part of the bill that would have ensured that there is money to continue paying the troops after June 15.

Can't wait to see how they spin that into "support for the troops."

Other details of today's votes -

The vote split among the Democratic members of Arizona's Congressional delegation reflected the split among the whole caucus - Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ8) and Harry Mitchell (D-AZ5) voted yea; Ed Pastor (D-AZ4) and Raul Grijalva (D-AZ7) voted nay,

Among the Republicans from Arizona, only Rick Renzi (R-AZ1) took a stand, voting yea. John Shadegg (R-AZ3), Trent Franks (R-AZ2), and Jeff Flake (R-AZ6) all sat on their hands.

A second part of the bill that establishes a timeline for withdrawal passed 227 - 196, with Arizona's delegation splitting along party line - Democrats in favor, Republicans opposed.

The third and final section of the bill, containing some domestic spending such as the new G.I. Bill and unemployment relief, passed 256 - 166, with Democrats Grijalva, Giffords, Mitchell and Pastor, and Republican Renzi supporting, and Republicans Flake, Franks, and Shadegg opposing.

Note: there is an expectation that the Senate will restore the funding portion of the bill and return it to the House for another vote.

Note2: Bush has threatened to veto any supplemental bill that includes any restrictions or timelines (he's not too fond of education benefits for veterans, either.)


The Hill's coverage here.

AP coverage here.

Later!