State Sen. Jake Flake passes away

Courtesy AZCentral.com -

Ariz. State Senator Jake Flake died Sunday after suffering a fall at his home near Snowflake. He was 72.

Mary Louise Flake, the senator's wife, said her husband fell shortly after he awoke around 8:45 a.m. After his fall, he passed out and couldn't be revived, his wife said.

The longtime cattle rancher and former Arizona speaker of the House has been a fixture at the Legislature since 1997.

My condolences go out to the entire Flake family...


Note: For those of you who were wondering, Sen. Flake was Congressman Jeff Flake's (R-AZ6) uncle.

Note2: I'll ask the tacky but obvious question in a later post (but it's based on this post)

Later!

Short Attention Span Musing

...First up: The No-Snarkiness section of tonight's post...

Congressman Harry Mitchell will be holding the grand opening party for the headquarters of his reelection campaign on Saturday, June 14, from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. The office is at 123 E. Baseline Rd. in Tempe (SE corner of Baseline and Mill) It's in the same retail/office complex as his 2006 office, just in a different part of the complex. Follow the streamers, balloons, and other signs of festiveness. :)

For more info or to volunteer, contact the campaign at 480.755.3343 or via email at info[at]harry2008.com.


...Does Randy Pullen own stock in Dolan Media?

Dolan Media is the parent company of the Arizona Capitol Times, the weekly devoted to covering the goings-on on West Washington.

The Cap Times has a feature called "Best of the Blogs". As might be expected from the name of the feature, it is supposed to feature the best commentary from AZ's blogosphere.

As a blogger, I welcome any MSM recognition for the work done by many of us, left, right, or middle of the road.

However, the Cap Times' "Best of..." feature has been exhibiting a bit of a pattern.

The blogs selected for inclusion tend to fall into one of two groups - The Yellowsheet Report, the Cap Times' own premium "blog" (it's more of a tipsheet than a blog), and AZ Republican Party press release "faux" blogs.

Since the issue dated May 2, 2008 (the earliest issue that the Scottsdale library had out on the main floor) -

Blogs featured May 2 - RedArizona, AZHouseGOP, Red State Arizona, and Yellowsheet Report.

May 9 - While the website has something, there was nothing in the print edition.

May 16 - Sonoran Alliance, Zonitics, Liberty's Apothecary, Seeing Red AZ, and Yellowsheet Report.

May 23 - PolitickerAZ, Red State Arizona, Arizona Political Heat, Yellowsheet Report.

May 30 - Arizona Political Intel, PolitickerAZ, Yellowsheet Report.


That's 16 "blogs" featured over 5 issues.

25% of the time (four) it featured its own (Yellowsheet); nothing surprising in that, Cap Times is a business, and part of that business is pimping advertising itself.

12.5% (twice) of the time, it featured a 'neutral' blog in PolitickerAZ. Some might question it's "blogness" as it is more of an "online news outlet," but it's close enough for our purposes.

For the remaining 62.5% of the time (10 times), it featured hardcore Rep blogs.

[And even there, Cap Times showed bias against original content - six of the ten, Arizona Political Intel, Arizona Political Heat, Red State Arizona (twice), and AZHouseGOP aren't much more than press release outlets for the AZ GOP.]

And, in the most recent period covered by the five issues, none of the blogs featured could be considered Democratic.

Now, I don't really expect them to feature Dems on a regular basis (though Ted Prezelski, Eli Blake, Man Eegee, Michael Bryan, some of the Democratic Divas and others do some great writing, definitely worthy of recognition) - as long as the Reps have a registration advantage and control both chambers of the lege, the Cap Times will lean toward the buttered side of their bread, the Republicans.

However, even allowing for that consideration, where's Espresso Pundit, Exurban League, Arizona 8th, or even a few of the others? They're all loyal Republicans [as such, they're usually wrong, but that goes with being *Republicans* :)) ] but at least they publish their own words.

If the Cap Times wants to publish GOP press releases, that's their right, but they should be honest about it.


...Speaking of MSM outlets showing bias, the Republic shouldn't show preferences in their coverage of local elections, except in their endorsement editorials.

They dropped this line in an editorial in the Scottsdale edition of the Rep -

Joel BramOweth [sic] has been campaigning for more than a year, speaking at virtually every council meeting. Few observers take him seriously, but he has the money to mount a full campaign.

I've met Mr. Bramoweth and even signed his nominating petitions. I might not agree with him on every issue, but he's worked harder than any of the other candidates at participating in and learning about Scottsdale's governance (he's been at every Council meeting that I've been to and has been at many of the commission meetings that I've attended, too (Planning, Transportation, Human Relations). While some of the other candidates make the occasional appearance at a Council meeting, I haven't seen any of the others at commission meetings.

In addition, earlier this year at a meeting of the Community Council of South Scottsdale, he was the only candidate or sitting member of the Council to say something when one of the other attendees started spouting off some nativist bs about Mexicans.

In short, he may not always be right (that's the job of wiseass bloggers :) ), but he's an intelligent, hard-working, and decent human being.

If that kind of candidate shouldn't be "taken seriously," what does that say about the state of Scottsdale's politics?


...Oh, and speaking of the Community Council of South Scottsdale, their next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 19, with a special guest speaker on the subject of promoting humanity, unity, and civility in our culture.

Joe Arpaio.

This shouldn't be a surprise - I'm sure that he'll get to those subjects if he has any time left after promoting himself, nativism, bigotry, and hatred.

Later!

Politics 101: A Tale of Two Incumbents

...On one hand, we have freshman Democrat Harry Mitchell. He's defending his seat a district where he faces a crowded field of Republican challengers hoping to take advantage of a daunting Republican registration advantage in the district.


Instead of running scared (which has never been Mitchell's style in nearly four decades of public service anyway), he has simply been doing his job, working for the people of his district.


- He's been working tirelessly since he took office in January 2007 to support the Fifth District's (and America's!) veterans with H.R. 5740, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, prodding the Veterans' Administration over its almost-criminally lax efforts to meet the medical, psychological, and social needs of injured veterans (here, here, and here), meeting with his Veterans Advisory Council here in the district, or myriad other efforts on behalf of vets.

Here his efforts have been less focused on ideology than on people.


- Since late last year, Mitchell and his staff have been working to address the failures at a water treatment facility that resulted in many of his constituents being exposed to TCE-contaminated drinking water. Again, his instincts are to help his constituents.


- More recently (Wednesday, as a matter of fact), he's working to help Corona del Sol High School by bringing national attention to the plight of students, faculty, and staff. They've been dealing with air-quality related medical ailments as a result of the poor air inside the aging school.


AZ Rep coverage of his floor speech here; the actual floor statement starts on this page of the Congressional Record, and goes on to the next.

Yet again, he focuses on working for his constituents.


In short, the longtime teacher, Tempe city council member and mayor understands Politics 101, best summed up by the title of Tip O'Neill's book, "All Politics Is Local."




...On the other hand, we have 7-term incumbent Republican incumbent John Shadegg. He's defending his seat against a relative political newcomer in Bob Lord (he's not new to public service, but is new to elected office). He's in a district that has an even wider Republican registration advantage than CD5 and he's an experienced campaigner.


This should be a cakewalk for him, right?


It probably would be, except that he is failing Politics 101, and failing miserably.

- He fights against efforts to help America's (and the Third District's) veterans, whether in empty gestures of support, or in a pattern of outright opposition, usually rationalized with in the name of his "small or no government" ideology.

- When many of his constituents in Paradise Valley were dealing water taps that delivered poison instead of water, he ignored it in favor of campaigning for fellow Republican John McCain in South Carolina.

He couldn't even be bothered to send an intern to NIBW meetings or have a low-level staffer write a press release expressing his concern over the issue.

- He even opposed the Act (H.R. 3021) that Harry Mitchell spoke in support of on Wednesday, voting against modernizing public schools and educational facilities.

Even the invitations to his re-election fundraisers don't bother to tout the work that Shadegg has done for his constituents, because there isn't any such work to tout.

The invite for this Saturday's fundraiser with Sens. McCain and Kyl touts Shadegg's record as "one of the most principled and steady conservative leaders" in Congress.

In something of an ironic twist, Saturday's fundraiser is at a home in Paradise Valley. Wonder if the house is in the service area of Arizona American Water, operator of the treatment facility that caused all the furor in November and January?

Mitchell's record is one of concern for and advocacy on behalf of his constituents; Shadegg's record is that of someone who places the interests of his party and his large campaign contributors above the interests of his constituents.


Is it any wonder that Harry Mitchell is ahead of the leading Republican contenders in this April poll of head-to-head matchups, and that John Shadegg's support is in decline and free fall in this current poll?

Part of Shadegg's problem may be his experience, or lack of it - unlike Mitchell who had a long resume of public service prior to entering Congress, Shadegg's pre-Congress resume is primarily that of a professional Republican, not a professional public servant. The closest he came was as a special assistant attorney general during the 1980s under Republican AG Bob Corbin.

Not exactly a job that motivates the jobholder to worry about the concerns of the people he meets during the course of his duties. :))

Anyway, about the only good news from the poll for Shadegg was the fact that he is outpolling the President - Bush has a 30% favorable rating, and Shadegg has 31% support for his reelection.

On second thought, maybe that isn't such good news... :)

Note: If you are interested in seeing the actual invitation to Shadegg's fundraiser, leave a comment with your email addy; I'll be happy to forward it.

Later!

Free Passes and Primary Challenges - Interesting Races This Fall

Edit on 6/10 to correct Linda Lopez' status as a State Representative, not an incumbent State Senator...

In the following lege races, the candidates are unopposed in both the primary and the general elections (courtesy the AZ Secretary of State's website) -

Jake Flake, Republican incumbent, running for LD5 State Senate.

Carolyn Allen, Republican incumbent, running for LD8 State Senate.

Richard Miranda, Democratic incumbent, running for LD13 State Senate.

Debbie McCune Davis, Democratic incumbent, running for LD14 State Senate.

Ken Cheuvront, Democratic incumbent, running for LD15 State Senate.

Chuck Gray, Republican incumbent, running for LD19 State Senate.

Jay Tibshraeny, Republican incumbent, running for LD21 State Senate.

Paula Aboud, Democratic incumbent, running for LD28 State Senate.

Linda Lopez, Democratic State Rep, running for LD29 State Senate.

That makes for 9 out of the 30 seats, or 30% are going completely unchallenged.


Over in the House, less than 7% (4 out of 60) are getting a free pass -

Lucy Mason and Andy Tobin, Republican incumbents running for LD1 State Representative.

David Bradley and Steve Farley, Democratic incumbents running for LD28 State Representative.


A number of incumbents in both the House and Senate are termed out, and are either seeking a new office or are stepping away from public office this time around. However, almost all of the races that are completely uncontested involve incumbents; the other seats have actual contests, even the open seats.

Some of the interesting races (I'll leave the commentary on the southern AZ races to Tedski at R-Cubed - he knows the players waayyyy better than I do :) ) -

...In the LD5 race for the State Representative seats, Democratic State Rep. Jack Brown and moderate Republican State Rep. Bill Konopnicki face the presence of Russell Pearce-favorite Sylvia Tenney Allen in their race to retain their seats.

...In the LD10 State Rep race looks to be crowded - 4 Democrats (including incumbent Jackie Thrasher) are vying for the chance to face House Speaker Jim Weiers and former (and wants-to-be-again) seatmate Doug Quelland. Thrasher was a surprise winner in 2006, and she won't sneak up on anyone this time around, but the Rep registration advantage in that district is now even smaller than it was in 2006. This district is close enough to split again but could easily sweep either way.

LD10 bears close scrutiny (and lots of feet on the ground) this year.

...In the race for LD22 State Senate, Senate Majority Leader Thayer Verschoor (R) is facing two (2!!) primary challengers - termed out State Rep. Eddie Farnsworth and Joe Bedgood. It's unusual for a reliable winger like Verschoor to face a challenge from another winger like Farnsworth, but to face two challengers? That is almost unheard-of.

Should be a bloody primary; unfortunately, no Democratic candidate filed to take advantage of a (hopefully!) weakened Republican in the general election.

...As has been covered before, the race for LD18 State Senate sees Russell Pearce, who mounted an abortive challenge to Congressman Jeff Flake, facing Flake's brother-in-law, Kevin Gibbons, in the Republican primary.

At least here, there is a Democratic candidate, Judah Nativio, poised to take advantage of the expected-to-be brutal Republican race.

...In something of a pleasant surprise, in the LD State Senate race, incumbent Republican Jack Harper is facing a primary challenge from John Zerby. Zerby is no rookie as he is a veteran of the Wickenburg City Council.

Hope it's bloody; Democrat Robert Boehlke is already in position to take advantage.

There are a few other races to watch; but it's getting late, so I'll cover those in another post.

Later!

OK, sigs are in, and the races are set...

well, set pending verification of the sigs and any challenges...

Major races (Maricopa County, Mesa/Scottsdale/Tempe and statewide) contested by candidates from both major parties only. Many offices have Libertarian or Green candidates, but until one of those candidates garners enough support to make a difference in an election, I'm not going to waste space -


For County offices -

County Attorney -

Gerald Richard, Democrat. 2338 sigs required, 5186 submitted.

Tim Nelson, Democrat. 2338 sigs required, 5544 submitted.

Andrew Thomas, Republican. 3165 sigs required, 6518 submitted.


County Sheriff -

Dan Saban, Democrat. 2338 sigs required, 9071 submitted.

Joe Arpaio, Republican. 3165 sigs required, 12853 submitted.


Board of Supervisors, District 1 -

Ed Hermes, Democrat. 482 sigs required, 1254 submitted.

Fulton Brock, Republican. 712 sigs required, 1583 submitted.


Board of Supervisors, District 2 -

Joel Sinclaire, Democrat. 389 sigs required, 666 submitted.

Don Stapley, Republican. 794 sigs required, 1733 submitted.


Board of Supervisors, District 3 -

Marilyn Fox, Democrat. 449 sigs required, 975 submitted.

Andrew Kunasek, Republican. 617 sigs required, 2837 submitted.


The incumbents in Supervisor Districts 4 and 5, Max Wilson (R) and Mary Rose Wilcox (D) respectively, will be running without opposition.


For State and Congressional offices -

CD5 -

Harry Mitchell, Democrat. 463 signatures required, 1486 submitted.

Mark Anderson, Republican. 683 signatures required, 1647 submitted.

Susan Bitter Smith, Republican. 683 signatures required, 1349 submitted.

Lee Gentry, Republican. 683 signatures required, 1352 submitted.

Laura Knaperek, Republican. 683 signatures required, 1795 submitted.

Jim Ogsbury, Republican. 683 signatures required, 3390 submitted.

David Schweikert, Republican. 683 signatures required, 2078 submitted.

Note - Perhaps in a surprise to everyone outside the Gentry household, the heretofore semi-mythical Lee Gentry's candidacy is for real. He even gathered more sigs than longtime Scottsdale pol Susan Bitter Smith.


CD6 -

Chris Gramazio, Democrat. 494 signatures required, 695 submitted.

Rebecca Schneider, Democrat. 494 signatures required, 863 submitted.

Scott Bergren, Republican. 922 signatures required, 1029 submitted.

Jeff Flake, Republican. 922 signatures required, 2860 submitted.

Note - Wow! Jeff Flake is facing a primary challenger running at him from the right, and it *isn't* Russell Pearce? Who would have guessed that this time last year? Hell, who would have guessed that someone would even *think* of running against the ultraconservative Flake, while trying to portray him as 'not conservative enough'?


LD8 State Senate -

Carolyn Allen, Republican. 527 signatures required, 812 submitted.

Note - Senator Allen is apparently running unopposed in both the primary and general elections.


LD17 State Senate -

Meg Burton Cahill, Democrat. 253 signatures required, 754 submitted.

Jesse Hernandez, Republican. 245 signatures required, 425 submitted.


LD18 State Senate -

Judah Nativio, Democrat. 149 signatures required, 258 submitted.

Kevin Gibbons, Republican. 245 signatures required, 362 submitted.

Russell Pearce, Republican. 245 signatures required, 733 submitted.

Note - At 733 signatures, Russell Pearce submitted the maximum number.


LD8 State Representative -

Stephanie Rimmer, Democrat. 256 signatures required, 599 submitted.

John Kavanagh, Republican. 527 signatures required, 920 submitted.

Michelle Reagan, Republican. 527 signatures required, 1327 submitted.


LD17 State Representative -

Ed Ableser, Democrat. 253 signatures required, 715 submitted.

David Schapira, Democrat. 253 signatures required, 757 submitted.

Mark Thompson, Republican. 245 signatures required, 370 submitted.

Wes Waddle, Republican. 245 signatures required, 451 submitted.

Note - at 757 signatures, David Schapira subitted the maximum allowed.


LD18 State Representative -

Tammie Pursley, Democrat. 149 signatures required, 290 submitted.

Cecil Ash, Republican. 245 signatures required, 733 submitted.

Steve Court, Republican. 245 signatures required, 536 submitted.

Kanani Henderson, Republican. 245 signatures required, 392 submitted.

Ron Middlebrook, Republican. 245 signatures required, 320 submitted.

Note - at 733 signatures, Cecil Ash submitted the maximum number allowed.


Corporation Commission -

Sam George, Democrat. 4580 signatures required, 13915 submitted.

Kara Kelty, Democrat. 4580 signatures required, 7172 submitted.

Sandra Kennedy, Democrat. 4580 signatures required, 8343 submitted.

Paul Newman, Democrat. 4580 signatures required, 9314 submitted.

John Allen, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 6757 submitted.

Rick Fowlkes, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 7741 submitted.

Joseph Hobbs, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 7539 submitted.

Marian McClure, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 6697 submitted.

Bob Robson, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 9700 submitted.

Bob Stump, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 9154 submitted.

Keith Swapp, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 6811 submitted.

Barry Wong, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 7700 submitted.

Note - According to a note on his campaign website, George Arredondo suspended his campaign because he couldn't get enough sigs.


And finally, for Scottsdale municipal offices, courtesy an email from City Clerk Carolyn Jagger, forwarded to me by Sonnie of COGS, [note added by me] -

The following candidates for City Council filed nomination papers and petitions [1652 signatures required for all offices] :

Lisa Borowsky (3,323 signatures)
Joel Bramoweth (2,208 signatures)
Oren Davis (2,445 signatures)
Betty Drake (2,691 signatures)
Tom Giller (2,268 signatures)
Suzanne Klapp (2,672 signatures)
Ron McCullagh (2,481 signatures)
Nan Nesvig (2,599 signatures)

The following candidates for Mayor filed nomination papers and petitions:

W.J. "Jim" Lane (2,484 signatures)
Mary Manross (3,291 signatures)

Write-In Candidates: John Washington filed papers to run for as a write-in candidate for Mayor.

You know, for what is essentially a 'cut and paste' post, this post took a lot of work. Back to quick and snarky after this... :))

Expect a huge influx of snowbirds this year...

Had a conversation with my sister in Denver (who's putting up with me putting me up during the Democratic Convention in August :) ). Our father and his wife, who live in New York, were pricing home heating oil for next winter.

They estimated that during a typical winter, it takes 1500 gallons to heat the house.

The quote they received?

$4.70 per gallon, or more than $7,000 to stay warm for a few months.

They're in a position to handle it (though it's gonna hurt) - bite the bullet and pay, install a wood stove (there's a fireplace, but while those look nice and make for a great picture during the holidays, they suck for actual functionality in modern homes), add insulation, etc.

However, not everyone is in such a position (think: poor or elderly and on a fixed income).

Those folks are going to be left with a few unpleasant options - find a way to scrimp and save to pay for the heating oil, find warmer climes for the duration of the winter, or freeze.

Yep - live on a dog food diet, abandon their homes, homes that in many cases have been their homes for decades or even their entire lives, or die.

All so oil companies can make record profits every year, collectively $123 billion last year alone.

[As an aside - can anyone think of a better illustration of why a McCain presidency and another four years of Bushian economic policies would be horrible for the country?]

The next President and the next Congress are going to have some tough choices to make, the kind of choices that most Republicans are ideologically incapable of making.

Think: investigations and prosecutions (when appropriate) into price-fixing and more, a windfall profits tax, a working (and actually funded!) program for research into renewable energy beyond solar power tax credits (perhaps paid for by the windfall profits tax?), etc.

Of course, none of that will come to pass until some other things come to pass -

...the November elections, because no one in D.C. is going to admit to the existence of an energy crisis or the deep recession that we are already experiencing until after the votes are tallied. Until they're willing to honestly talk about the economy, nothing is going to get done about it.

...a Democrat, Barack Obama, assumes the Presidency, and enters office working with a Congress with a strong Democratic majority in both chambers.

Unfortunately, neither of those will happen until January, by which time it will be too late for some.

The news headlines as the country enters January will be of the pending change in Presidential Administrations, but breaking news from Chicago, the Rust Belt of Ohio, or perhaps even upstate New York, will drive the coverage of inauguration preparations below the fold.

People will start dying.


The boring statistics part of the post -

According to price surveys by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the average price of home heating oil in New York State has risen more than 62% in the last year and more than 168% since George W. Bush took office in January 2001 (and more than 244% since its Bush-term low in December of 2001.)

I used New York's numbers because of the family connection, but the while the numbers vary, the trend holds true across the nation -

Nebraska - up 430% since December 2001

Michigan - up 265% since December 2001.

Maine - as of March, up 136% since September 2004 (the earliest date available on their website)

According to this U.S. Department of Energy document, through March, the average U.S. price has increased 174% since 2001.


Somebody will be sure to comment on this post, or at least think very loudly, that the increases in consumer prices only reflect increased costs to the producers.

To that I ask - If that is the case, that the price increases are only a case of passing along cost increases, why are oil companies generating billions more in profits?

Later...

Congrats to the NCAA Softball National Champions, ASU!

Congratulations to the women of the ASU Sun Devil softball team on their decisive victory over Texas A&M tonight.

With the 11 - 0 win, highlighted by a 7-run seventh inning they clinched ASU's first national championship in softball.

The entire roster should be proud of their achievement, and the entire university community and the entire state should cheer them.

The roster (courtesy ASU's softball website) -

Clarissa Andorfer-Lopez, Rhiannon Baca, Katie Burkhart, Caylyn Carlson, Kaitlin Cochran, Mindy Cowles, Katie Crabb, Krista Donnenwirth, Megan Elliott, Dani Rae Lougheed, Jessica Mapes, Brittney Matta, Kristen Miller, Ashley Muenz, Amanda Nesbitt, Brooke Neuman, Michelle Nulliner, Sarah Rice, Colleen Robbins, Lesley Rogers, Mandy Urfer, Jackie Vasquez, Jessie Ware, Renee Welty, assistant coaches Kirsten Voak and Robert Wagner, and head coach Clint Myers.

Cochran, Donnenwirth, Rogers, and Vasquez were each named to the Women's College World Series All-Tournament Team, and Katie Burkhart was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player for her dominating pitching performance. (HokieSports.com)

AZRep coverage here.

An end run around professional ethics and standards: Andrew Thomas and his friends

...Sooooo....when Thomas loses in November, will the (self-appointed) Judicial Advisory Subcommittee of The Flat Earth Society, Arizona Chapter reverse it's position on the disciplinary powers of the state Bar Association? More importantly, will their health insurance cover the whiplash?

On Monday, 15 state legislators (including previous Legislative Loon award winners Sen. Jack Harper and Rep. Russell Pearce) released a letter that they had signed condemning the Arizona Bar Association's investigations into complaints about Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

They're upset that their fellow elected official could lose his office because of professional misconduct.

I was going to write a long, detailed, and profoundly perceptive post on this, but Michael Bryan of Blog for Arizona beat me to it, so I get stuck making wiseass comments.

That's truly disappointing.

Really.

Trust me. :))


I wonder what they're more concerned with - preserving Andrew Thomas' future, or quashing the radical idea proposed by the bar association, that elected officials should be held to the same professional standards as their un-elected colleagues?

AZ Republic's Political Insider coverage here; PolitickerAZ coverage here.

Note: This isn't Pearce's first attempt to shield Thomas from his misconduct. In April, he proposed a "strike-everything" amendment to a bill that would have exempted public officials and employees from investigation by or sanctions from the state bar association or the State Supreme Court. Ultimately, the striker wasn't passed or even heard in committee as Pearce chose to not bring it forward because, to paraphrase, "the court will take care of the problem itself." (My post on the topic here)

Perhaps the best solution would be to make the issue a moot one -

Either Gerald Richard or Tim Nelson would make for a far superior public servant and prosecutor than Thomas.

Of course, so would I, and my only exposure to the Arizona legal system has been getting summonsed for jury duty a few times. (BTW: the candidate who promises free wi-fi in all court jury pool waiting areas in the county has the inside track on getting my vote. :)) )

Later!

Tim Bee - is it bipartisanship or bullying?...

Tim Bee likes to tout his willingness to work with Democrats (check out the 'About' page on his campaign website, under the heading 'Statesman'), but it looks as if his bipartisanship is limited to situations where he doesn't have any choice, like getting a state budget passed. Without the OKs of Governor Napolitano and the Democrats in the lege, he wouldn't be able to say "Tim put policy and people above politics working with Republicans, Democrats, and the Governor to create a responsible budget" on his website.

Whether it is situations where he illegally suppresses debate because a bill or amendment sponsored by a Democrat might actually pass (AZCentral.com coverage here) or simply abandoning his duties for the week after one minute's worth of "work" on Wednesday, when left to his own devices, he shows his true colors as nothing more than a rabidly partisan and profoundly petty tyrant.

That was clearly illustrated on Friday.

On Tuesday, June 3, the Senate Democrats will be holding a public forum on the mortgage crisis and how it's affecting Arizona. In preparation for that event, they asked that champion of bipartisanship himself for permission to use a Senate hearing room to hold the event.

And in his usual spirit of bipartisan civility, Bee refused such permission unless State Sens. Pamela Gorman and John Huppenthal were given major roles in the forum. (PolitickerAZ coverage here; R-Cubed coverage here)

Like Bee, Gorman and Huppenthal are among the most reliably conservative (aka - pro-business and anti-consumer) members of the Senate. If the Democrats had given in to his demand, they would have derailed the forum.

Instead of surrendering to Bee's bullying, they spoke to the Governor's office.

Turns out the Governor is more interesting in addressing Arizona's mortgage crisis than Tim Bee or the Republicans in the Senate.

The forum has been moved to the 2nd floor conference room of State Capitol Executive Tower (4 p.m. - 6 p.m.)

Slade Mead over at The Dry Heat has the scoop that part of Bee's (and the Senate's) problem is that Bee hasn't been able to focus on his duties in the Senate (like seeing that a balanced budget is passed, like, before the end of the fiscal year) because he is running for Congress.

Does Senator Bee realize that when he screws up here in metro Phoenix, voters in Tucson hear about it? They don't even have to wait for the pony express to come in with the latest dispatches from the Republican Party headquarters anymore - many of them have radios or telephones. Some are even hooked up to a complicated series of tubes called the internets....

:))

Anyway, somebody should tell Bee that every time he sacrifices true bipartisanship on the altar of petty gamesmanship, he loses even more ground to Gabrielle Giffords.

Really.

Press Release Of The Day - AZ5 Edition

Well, it's an even-numbered year, and Memorial Day has come and gone, so that means that gas prices are going ever higher, Arizona temperatures are racing to catch up to gas prices, and campaigns are pumping out election year attack press releases.

Of those three sure signs of summer's arrival, campaign press releases are the most fun - they can be counted on to make creative use of misinformation, incomplete information, out-of-context quotes, misleading statistics, and outright lies.

All of which is perfect fodder for a snarky but enterprising blogger. :)


The Ogsbury for Congress campaign in CD5 is taking shots at Harry Mitchell in this press release, trying to say that Harry Mitchell is out of step with his district because he has voted with the Democratic caucus 88.8% of the time (according to the Washington Post).

What the press release neglected to mention is that of the 240 Democratic members tracked, the average adherence to the Democratic position was 92.2%.

So Mitchell was far above average in straying from his party's line; in fact, only 11 other Democrats voted the party line less frequently.

That covers "incomplete information," "misinformation," and "misleading statistics" in one fell swoop.

As for the "outright lies", the Ogsbury release talked about Mitchell's "strident opposition to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)."

OK, this one I didn't even need to look up.

Last August, the House passed S. 1927, The Protect America Act (aka - FISA modernization). The bill gave George Bush and then-Attorney General Gonzales the authority to, virtually without oversight, wiretap and otherwise electronically eavesdrop on foreign terror suspects' communications and any Americans suspected of being associated with them.

41 Democrats, including Harry Mitchell, crossed over and voted with the Republicans.

While I've disagreed with Harry on many of his votes, this one remains the only one that I was truly upset about.

As such, I remember it *very* well.

In this regard, Ogsbury's statement that Mitchell opposes FISA, "stridently" or otherwise, is utterly false.

About the best thing that can be said about Ogsbury's press release is that it didn't use an out-of-context quote from Harry Mitchell.

Republicans shouldn't worry, however - summer is just getting started and campaign season, like Arizona, is just warming up. There's plenty of time to get his fear, smear, and lie machine fully up to speed.

Less snarky analysis of the Ogsbury press release from PolitickerAZ here.

Later!

New Feature - The Boycott List

Time to introduce a new feature - The Boycott List.

The list isn't meant to be a local version of Buy Blue, something that lists companies worthy of support (because they or their owners/management tend to support Democratic/progressive causes) or to avoid (because they or their owners/management favor Republican/conservative causes).

Instead, this will just be a list of businesses that I won't do business with because of something specific that they have done that merits such a response.

First up is, of course, Wal-Mart. With its record of contempt for employees, customers, and communities, there is an endless litany of reasons to never do business with them.

However, I can only pick one, so for the purposes of this post, I'm selecting the misbegotten move to sue a disabled former employee.

The then-employee had been the victim of a vehicle accident and incurred medical expenses which Wal-Mart's insurance plan covered. She and her family then sued the trucking company responsible for the accident, winning a little more than $400K.

At which point, Wal-Mart, citing a clause in its insurance plan that allowed it to do so, sued the now brain-damaged and nursing-home confined woman to recover its expenses.

The fact that Wal-Mart backed off after word got out about their move and the ensuing national furor turned the whole thing into a PR mega-disaster doesn't make them any less vile.

Joining Wal-Mart as a charter member of the list, heading up the "Gutless Wonder" wing of this hall of shame, is Dunkin Donuts.

The Massachusetts-based chain had an internet up that showed TV chef Rachael Ray wearing a scarf.

The right-wing nutosphere went nuts, claiming that Ray was wearing a keffiyeh, a headdress tradionally worn by Arab men, including those who are active in jihadist and/or terrorist activities.

The fact that the article of clothing was just a simple silk scarf with a paisley pattern didn't stop Fox News, led by Michelle Malkin, from complaining and inciting their kool-aid drinking followers to harass DD.

Also, the fact that the article of clothing was nothing more than a simple scarf didn't stop Dunkin Donuts from abjectly surrendering to the McCarthyist fear-mongering and bullying.

So for that cowardice, they too are charter members of the Boycott List, companies that I won't do business with.

P.S. - this one hurts. Not doing business with Wal-Mart is easy - most of what they sell is imported from China and contaminated with lead, or is simply cheap crap.

Dunkin Donuts actually makes a good product, perhaps the best of the chains (and wayyyy better than Krispy Kreme. Must go duck now. Lots of flying objects coming. :)) ).

On the other hand, while I'll miss them, but it's not like I exactly need them.

Nope, not at all.

Later!

Could Renzi take down both McCain and Kyl with him?

From The Hill -

Federal agents interviewed staffers for likely Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) as part of their corruption case against Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.).
U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona Diane J. Humetewa and fellow prosecutors disclosed the interviews with aides for McCain and fellow Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl in a written response to Renzi’s attorneys, who asked for the contents of the interview to help prepare for Renzi’s upcoming trial, which is scheduled for October.

OK, so given that Renzi's trial isn't starting until October, any "taking down" probably won't happen until after the fall elections, if at all. However, it *is* fun to watch how the Renzi scandal just keeps expanding to include some of the most senior members of the GOP members of the AZ delegation to D.C.

With this report, the public count is at four out of the six GOPers - Renzi himself (of course), Kyl, McCain (of course, McCain has land deal and lobbyist issues of his own to deal with), and John Shadegg (those darn wiretaps!)

Wonder if he is going to go for a clean sweep and drag down Trent Franks and Jeff Flake too?

We can only hope...

Stay tuned on this one...

More sigs and registration numbers

Time to update last week's post on signatures; specifically, on candidates in the Mesa/Tempe/Scottsdale area who have turned in their petitions.

LD8 State Senate - no change (no sigs filed yet)

LD17 State Senate -

Meg Burton-Cahill (D), incumbent - 632 sigs filed, 253 required. Running as a Clean Elections candidate. Filed May 28, 2008.

LD18 State Senate -

Russell Pearce (R) - 733 sigs, 245 required. Clean Elections. Filed May 28, 2008.


LD8 State Representative - no changes.

LD17 State Representative - no changes.

LD18 State Representative - no changes.


As for statewide office, within the last week, the following candidates filed sigs for their runs for Corporation Commission -

John Allen (R) - 6145 sigs, 5184 required. Clean Elections. Filed May 23, 2008.

Bob Robson (R) - 7576 sigs, 5184 required. Traditional financing. Filed May 28, 2008.


In Scottsdale sig news, the EV Tribune has the story of Jim Lane's filing. He's currently a member of the City Council and is a candidate for mayor.


On the voter registration figures front, according to the Maricopa County Recorder's website...

...In District 17, the Democrats have extended their registration advantage over the Reps to 1584 (24,281 - 26405). That up from the advantage of 771 in March, based on the March figures from the AZ Secretary of State's office.

...In LD8, the Republican registration advantage was closed slightly (by 70 voters) to 27,020 (53,430 - 26,418).

...In LD18, the margin favors the Republicans by 9198 (24,917 - 15,719). That's an advantage of 14.5%. According to the March SOS figures, the gap was 9585 (24,437 - 14,852).

My March post on voter reg figures is here; take the comparisons in this one with a grain of salt - the AZ SOS and Maricopa County Recorder usually have slightly different figures, so this isn't a perfect, "apples to apples" comparison. It's close enough for blogging, though. :)

And on the other hand, their numbers usually aren't that far off from each other's either. :))

I'll do an update on sigs next week after the deadline for turning in petitions (Wednesday, June 4), but I won't anything on registration numbers until early August, which is when early voting starts for the September primary election.

Later!

Enough Already

You know it's a tough week when I find myself in agreement with Greg at Espresso Pundit... :))

During an interview last week, Hillary Clinton made a remark that the mentioned the June 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.

That set off a firestorm of criticism on the internet and by media pundits ever since. Most took the view that her remark was some sort of wish/threat that Barack Obama could be assassinated.

(Don't believe me? Just go to Google's 'advanced news search' and use the words "Clinton" and "RFK" and set it to "search by date - newest first.")

Anyway, after reading the remarks in print and watching the YouTube video of the interview, I find myself in agreement with many of the pundits - she did mis-speak that day.

However, her mistake was not her reference to the assassination of Bobby Kennedy.

At most, the hubbub is an overblown reaction to a clumsily delivered line (see: the uproar over John Kerry's lack of education/Iraq war jab at George Bush). From the context of the video, it's clear that her point was that primary races frequently last until the end (or nearly the end) of primary seasons.

Even Obama, Clinton's opponent in the hard-fought Democratic primary, says that her remark was more careless than malicious.

Instead, her mistake, and it is one that she has repeated more than once, is her equating of herself and her husband to the Kennedys.

While the Kennedys are a *long* way from perfect (hell, what family is perfect??), they do have a long history, covering multiple generations of the family, of public service. A history that compares favorably with any other family's.

Actually, few families have a history that is even in the same ballpark as theirs.

The Clintons? Not so much.

When she has nieces, nephews, and grandchildren with careers in public service including politics, charity, and even some military service, maybe she can talk about the Clintons and the Kennedys in the same breath.

That time hasn't come to pass yet, and may never


Anyway, her RFK reference, while clumsy, doesn't merit the sort of rhetorical pigpile that she has been subjected to. It's been unfair, and on the part of the media pundits (Faux News, Chris Matthews, etc.), it's also been unprofessional.

I'm not a huge fan of Hillary Clinton, but this needs to be said -

Enough already.

Games Senators Play

Perhaps they were intoxicated by the nearness of King...errr...President George "No Steenkin' Rules Apply To Me" Bush, but the Republican leadership of the Arizona State Senate spent Wednesday feeling their "debate suppression" oats.

The following details of the Senate floor activity are courtesy Rep. Steve Farley (D-LD28). He sends out weekly "Farley Reports From Phoenix". Most readers, however, refer to them as "Farley-grams" and we look forward to each issue's arrival in our inboxes. I strongly recommend signing up for it here.

The background info about the bills mentioned in today's post is available on the lege's website.

Note: 'COW' refers to "Committee of the Whole", a session of the Senate where amendments are allowed and actual debate can take place. During a regular session, no amendments are allowed and debate consists of members "rising to explain" their votes.

Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled post... :)


Turns out that the Senate was supposed to consider an amendment to HB2049 that would ban texting while driving (TWD).

The amendment was authored by Rep. Farley, a Democrat, and was brought forward in the Senate by Sen. Charlene Pesquiera of Oro Valley, another Democrat. However, while this amendment (and HB2396, Farley's original attempt to ban texting while driving) has overwhelming support among the state's voters and rare bipartisan support in the lege, the leadership of the Senate, including Senate President Tim Bee, is loathe to give it an open and fair hearing.

The original bill was killed early in the legislative session when Rep. Andy Biggs (R - LD22), chairman of the House Transportation Committee, refused to allow it to be heard in his committee. It was sponsored by a Democrat, after all.

On Tuesday, the Senate leadership used every trick in the book, and a few that aren't in any book that the Senate's members, staffers, or lawyers know about, to block Farley's amendment from passage.

First up was Sen. Ron Gould and his attempt to block the amendment from being heard, by moving to have the bill "retained on the calendar". When that failed, he began offering substitute amendments to the amendment.

After those all failed, Senate Majority Leader Thayer Verschoor (R-Gilbert) moved again to have the bill retained on the calendar, a move that was against the rules of the Senate, as debate on the bill had already started. The chair of the COW session, and my favorite senator, Jack Harper (R-Surprise!) ruled that Verschoor's motion was in order. The senate voted to overturn his ruling.

After more failed attempts to amend the amendment, Sen. Pam Gorman moved to have the COW session rise, postponing further debate until later in the day. After some confusion (and the disregarding of a vote that didn't fit the desires of the Senate leadership), the Senate did rise from its COW session.

At that point, most of the Senate's Republican caucus bugged out to go attend the McCain fundraiser/public appearance with Bush at a defense contractor in Mesa.

More than five hours later, the Senate reconvened, but before any action could be taken, Thayer Verschoor moved to have the Senate adjourn. While Tim Bee tried to call the voice vote on that motion as "ayes have it" but there were only 3 Republicans in the chamber. A headcount was taken, and the motion failed 3 - 10.

At that point, things really started getting out of hand.

Next up, Bee said that with 13 votes cast on the adjournment motion, a quorum wasn't present (the Senate cannot conduct business unless a quorum, or a majority of members, is present - 16 is that magic number).

Bee tried to conduct an electronic roll call (senators push a button on their desks indicating their presence), but ran into problems with that when Sen. Meg Burton-Cahill (D-Tempe) refused to press her button unless Bee allowed her to speak. Bee then switched to a manual roll call where each Senator's name was called out and they had to respond to indicate their presence.

After that, Senate Minority Leader Jorge Luis Garcia of Tucson tried to move for a "Call to the Senate" which would have had DPS officers out tracking down the wayward (and mostly Republican) legislators.

Bee looked directly at him and then gaveled the session to adjournment at 7:40 p.m.

And so ended a breathtaking day marked by Tim Bee's shameless abuse of his power as Senate President to prevent passage of a bill that he doesn't like.

The actual status of the bill, amendment, and the COW session is unclear, as the Senate actually had to re-enter it's COW session for the motion to adjourn to be a legal one, and they never actually re-entered COW.

Rep. Farley promises that this isn't the end of the effort to ban texting while driving, so stay tuned.

Two comments -

1. If they put as much effort into passing a budget as they did into killing the TWD amendment, a balanced budget would have passed weeks ago, the lege would already be adjourned for the year, and this amendment never would have come up for consideration. All of today's arm- and rule-twisting would have been unnecessary.

2. Does anyone else think that Bee really, REALLY screwed up when he decided that he shouldn't have resigned from the State Senate to run for Gabrielle Giffords' seat in Congress? Instead of being home in Tucson meeting constituents and raising money (and 'tsk-tsking' at the antics of the lege), he's now stuck in a partisan quagmire of his own making.

And partisan quagmires aren't the best place to find support from Independent voters, support he will need to unseat the popular Giffords.


AZCentral.com coverage here.

Eventually, the video of the COW session will be available on the lege's website here; however, when that will be is anyone's guess.


Later...