Presidential Debate Schedule Set

The schedule for this fall's series of presidential debates has been announced, and while only one of them will be held west of the Mississippi, at least that one will be in a state in the Mountain West region.

From the Commission on Presidential Debates -

Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., and Michael D. McCurry, co-chairmen of the non-partisan, non-profit Commission on Presidential Debates ("CPD") today announced sites and dates for three presidential and one vice presidential debates during the 2012 general election. The dates and sites are:

First presidential debate:

Wednesday, October 3

University of Denver, Denver, CO

Vice presidential debate:

Thursday, October 11

Centre College, Danville, KY

Second presidential debate (town meeting format):

Tuesday, October 16

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY

Third presidential debate:

Monday, October 22

Lynn University, Boca Raton, FL

Washington University in St. Louis, MO will serve as the backup site. The CPD has asked Dominican University to lead an international project which will be announced early in 2012.

The Commission also released the 2012 Candidate Selection Criteria, which will be used to determine who is invited to participate in the general election debates. In addition to being Constitutionally eligible, candidates must appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to have a mathematical chance of winning a majority vote in the Electoral College, and have a level of support of at least 15% (fifteen percent) of the national electorate as determined by five selected national public opinion polling organizations, using the average of those organizations' most recent publicly-reported results at the time of the determination. The Gallup Organization will advise the CPD in the application of its Criteria to polling data as it did in 2000, 2004, and 2008.

Registration deadline looming for the August primary election

Monday, July 30, is the deadline to register to vote in Augusto's primary election (August 28). 

Many Independent voters will choose to sit this one out, but they shouldn't, and they don't have to - they can vote in either major party's primary simply by requesting that party's ballot.

Also, while most people refer to this upcoming election as a "primary" election, it is also the general election in non-partisan municipal elections, and sitting this one out could lead to four years of bad government officials at the level of government that has the most immediate impact on voters' quality of life.

If you want to register to vote, or to update your registration (i.e., if you have moved), you can do so here at ServiceArizona.com.

Note to folks who will reach their 18th birthday before the August election but after the deadline: You can still register to vote in the August election, but you must still do so by next Monday.

Candidate forums tonight and tomorrow

After ranting last night about how too many voters just don't pay attention, it probably would be a good idea to remind folks of upcoming opportunities to get to know some of their candidates.

...Tonight, Wednesday, July 25, from KJZZ.com -

Residents of Arizona’s newly formed 9th Congressional District will have an opportunity to meet the Democratic candidates running for this office during a community forum hosted by KJZZ Managing Editor Al Macias and Politics and Government Reporter Mark Brodie.

Wednesday, July 25 at 6 p.m.
Arizona Historical Society Museum
1300 N. College Ave.
Tempe, AZ 85281
(480) 929-9499

Admittance is free but reservations are required. Please reserve your seats by contacting Claire Kerrigan at (480) 774-8444 or ckerrigan@rioradio.org.

What do you want to know about the candidates? Share your questions in advance.

The three candidates are Andrei Cherny, David Schapira and Kyrsten Sinema.

The newly formed district will serve the Ahwatukee Foothills, west Chandler, west Mesa, Tempe, parts of Paradise Valley, south Scottsdale and north-central Phoenix.

KJZZ will broadcast the open question/answer session with the Democratic candidates on Thu., July 26 at 11 a.m. Audio of the entire forum will be posted on KJZZ.org.

KJZZ hosted a forum with the Republican candidates on June 25. You can listen to the entire forum at KJZZ.org.

...It may be a little late to RSVP to tonight's forum, but there will be another tomorrow on KAET's Horizon, live at 5:30 p.m. on channel 8.  No RSVP required.  In fact, no driving required - just tune in to channel 8 on your TV.

...Also tomorrow night (Thursday, July 26), the Coalition of Greater Scottsdale is hosting a forum for mayoral candidates at the Mountain View Community Center, 8526 E. Mountain View (between Pima and Hayden, south of Shea Blvd) from 6:30 p.m until 8 p.m.  All three candidates for mayor of Scottsdale were invited; John Washington and Drew Bernhardt will attend while incumbent Jim Lane won't attend, protesting the political arm of COGS' endorsement of Washington.

Rant time: Apathetic voters

{Begin rant}

This may tick off a few folks of all political persuasions, but that which ails Arizona society in general and politics/government in particular, isn't the voters/candidates in the Democratic Party (though one may find a few "problem children" who happen to be registered as Democrats), or the voters/candidates in the Republican Party (though one may find more than a few "problem children" who happen to be registered as Republicans), or even Independents.

Nope, it's what are euphemistically referred to as "low information" voters.

Those are the people who are too "busy" or have too many "more important" things to do to pay attention to politics.  They look at politics, politicians, and people who are politically active with unconcealed disdain.

Those are the people who can't name their representatives in Congress or the legislature, but can tell you "important stuff" like the names and complete life histories of the contestants on The Bachelor/The Bachelorette/Survivor/some stupid cooking show/etc.

Well, as Plato said,

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.

Those are the people who pay no attention to what is going on in government until it directly affects them, who can't be bothered to participate beyond casting a ballot in ignorance every four years or so, and who whine when someone in an elected office does something that they don't like (or as is often the case in AZ, does something completely embarrassing).

As a result, we end up with "leading lights" like Russell Pearce (who blamed the victims of Friday's mass shooting in Aurora for the death and destruction there; he has since apologized...more or less). Lori Klein (who aimed a pistol at a journalist in the lounge area of the AZ Senate building, just to show off the "purty l'il laser sight" on her pink pistol) and Sylvia Allen (of "strip mining Uranium is OK because the Earth is 6000 years old and doing just fine" fame).

And they're just the tip of the iceberg.

Perhaps the biggest reason that AZ politics (and national politics, for that matter) is so dysfunctional is that so many people, many of whom are "voters", don't pay attention to politics, or say that elected officials and candidates are aloof and unapproachable.

Yet that just isn't the way it is.

Some people are trying to changes things in their own small way - Columnist Laurie Roberts of the AZ Republic has her "De-kook the Capitol" campaign going and one of the ballot questions going before the voters this fall is a "top two" primary question that is supposed to reduce partisanship at the Capitol.

However, neither effort will address the underlying issue of voter apathy; the efforts are like trying to save the Titanic by rearranging the deck chairs.

Without trying too hard, in the two weeks between July 4 and July 18, I met -

Five Congressional candidates

Four legislators and nine legislative candidates

One Corporation Commissioner

One mayor and one city council member in Tempe

At least four school board members, and two more school board candidates

One former city council member, mayor, state senator, Congressman, and teacher, all rolled into one (yes, Harry Mitchell, and happy belated birthday to him, too)

A number of likely future candidates and office holders, and a whole lot of friends

And one Arizona blues legend, Big Pete Pearson (not politics, just seriously cool).

It didn't require going to any government meetings, or paid campaign fundraisers, or insider, "invitation-only" sort of events.  Everything was open to the public and was free (except for the fireworks in Tempe, but that was about a lot more than seeing public officials and candidates for office).

Some pics -

Big Pete Pearson (Tempe fireworks)

Corporation Commissioner Paul Newman helping a young voter (Tempe fireworks)

David Schapira, current AZ state senator and candidate for Congress, with the boss of the operation (Tempe Fireworks)

Kyrsten Sinema, former state legislator and current candidate for Congress (LD18 Democrats meeting, July 9)

Corey Harris, candidate for state house in LD18 (July 9)

Darin Fisher, candidate for state house in LD18 (July 9)

Janie Hydrick, candidate for state senate in LD18 (July 9)

Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell (LD26 meeting, July 10)

Kolby Granville, the newest member of the Tempe City Council (July 10)

Andrew Sherwood and Juan Mendez, candidates for state house in LD26 (July 10)

Ed Ableser, current state representative and candidate for state senate (July 10)

Alexis Tameron, campaign manager for US Senate candidate Richard Carmona, and probably a future candidate for office herself (at least, a lot of people think she should be) (July 10)

Tempe icon Harry Mitchell greeting friends at the beginning of the meeting (July 10)

Rebecca DeWitt (CD7) and Andrei Cherny (CD9), candidates for Congress (LD24 Democrats meeting, July 12)

Congressional candidates David Schapira, Kyrsten Sinema, Andrei Cherny, along with moderator John D'Anna at a forum at the Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe (July 17)

It was a *very* packed house at Changing Hands, full of people who want to make informed choices when they cast their ballots (yes, I know that was as subtle as a jackhammer :) )






In other words, it's easy to get to know public officials, candidates, and other curious people.  You just have to show up and pay a little attention, maybe ask a few questions, and get to know them as *people*, not as *them*.

{End rant}

Reminder: CD9 Forum for Democratic Candidates Tuesday

Tuesday, July 17 at 7 p.m., the David Schapira, Kyrsten Sinema, and Andrei Cherny, the three candidates for the Democratic nomination in the new Ninth Congressional District, will gather at a forum at Changing Hands Bookstore, 6428 S. McClintock Drive, Tempe, AZ 85283 (SE corner of McClintock and Guadalupe) at 7 p.m. 

Seating is limited, so arrive early (it's a great bookstore, so arriving early won't exactly be a burden).

For a preview, the video of this weekend's Sunday Square Off, with all three candidates, is here.

Lester Pearce the subject of an ethics investigation

Lester Pearce, a former Justice of the Peace in North Mesa and current candidate for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, is best-known as the older brother of ethically-challenged nativist blatherer Russell Pearce.

Like his brother, he tends to hold some rather extreme political views.

Like his brother, he is quite willing to use his position of public trust to promulgate those views.

Now, like his brother, he is facing an ethics investigation.

Perhaps it's only fitting that (alleged) ethical transgressions are related to his brother.

During his brother's recall election last fall, Lester Pearce allegedly campaigned for Russell Pearce, including helping to put a sham Latina candidate on the ballot in order to split the anti-Pearce vote, and publicly endorsed his brother.

Things that judges are specifically barred from doing (actually, the whole sham candidate thing goes beyond a violation of standards of judicial conduct; that sort of behavior is frowned upon for all of us).

From Canon 4 of the Arizona Code of Judicial Conduct -

RULE 4.1. Political and Campaign Activities of Judges and Judicial Candidates in General

(A) A judge or a judicial candidate shall not do any of the following:

{snip}

(2) make speeches on behalf of a political organization or another candidate for public office;

(3) publicly endorse or oppose another candidate for any public office;

{snip}

(5) actively take part in any political campaign other than his or her own campaign for election, reelection or retention in office;

Stephen Lemons of the Phoenix New Times has an article here regarding Lester's apparent violations of all of the above.

Now, the Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct is investigating a complaint against Pearce.  They won't post the complaint on their website until the matter is resolved.

The ethics investigation may not be the worst thing facing Lester and the Pearce clan -

I wonder if the ethics investigation will be a topic of conversation at the Pearce family fundraiser scheduled for Saturday, July 21 in Fountain Hills?

It will be that, or talk about how desperately poor the Pearces have been at fundraising this year.

During the five months between January 1 and May 31, Russell raised ~$2800 in his race for the LD25 Senate seat.

During the same period, big brother Lester raised $100,223.87.

Sounds good, even great...until you notice that $100,000 came from a loan from the candidate himself.  Meaning he actually raised $223.87.

Many words will probably be written about the fundraiser, both before and after the event (it's possible my post-event write-up will include the words "klavern meeting".  Just sayin' :) ).

I'm just guessing here, but the Pearces won't care what anyone writes about the event so long as one of the words used after the event is "lucrative".

Fun with campaign signs; part 1

One of the traditions of campaign season is campaign signs. 

One of the traditions with campaign signs is that there are mistakes, mishaps, and just plain game-playing with campaign signs.

And one of my traditions?  Writing about the mistakes, mishaps, and game-playing with signs.  :)

It's early still, generally the "fun with campaign signs" period starts after the primary, but occasionally there are some enterprising folks who like to get a head start on things, like -

Yes, underneath that gang tagging (at least, I think it is gang-related), is a sign from the rather infamous Lester Pearce, a candidate for county supervisor in District 2 (most of Mesa, Scottsdale, and northeastern Maricopa County).

This sign was on the SE corner of Pima Road and McDowell Road, at the border of the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC) and the City of Scottsdale.

I say "was" because the sign is gone now, not because of the tagging but because the sign was placed on SRPMIC land.

A call to the Community Relations office of the SRPMIC confirmed what I already suspected was true - they don't allow signs of any kind to simply be thrown up anywhere on their land.  They don't discriminate; all of them come down.

For instance, signs have gone up on the NE corner of the same intersection and were gone so quickly that I didn't have a chance to take a pic of them (Jeff Flake for Senate most recently, and [I think] Travis Grantham in the CD9 race).

One of the basics of a campaign is that the person responsible for sign placement learns the sign rules in the different jurisdictions where the campaign plans to put up signs.

Obviously, there is some on-the-job training going on right now. :)

...On the west side, however, things are more deliberate in the race for mayor of Glendale -

Courtesy Jeff Stana, a loyal reader in Glendale







And in case you are familiar with the name of Jerry Weiers, a long-time Republican state legislator (not "career" but definitely was there for far too long), this isn't the doing of a Democrat -

Courtesy the same reader






In case you can't read the fine print, the sign was paid for by the campaign of Walt Opaska, a tea party type who is also running for mayor of Glendale.

It shouldn't be too much of a surprise that Opaska is going after Weiers. 

It's become obvious that neither one will get 50% plus one vote or even can catch Manny Cruz in the race...in the August election.  They just need to come in second (and hence, not be eliminated) and hope to win over the votes of the other's supporters in the November election.

More to come...

Romney crashes the Antoinette family reunion

OK, not really, but he spent the weekend partying with his friends in the Hamptons, and charging the "friends" $50K a head for that rather dubious privilege.

But at least he wasn't gauche enough to make the party "BYOB"...

h/t to Taegan Goddard's Political Wire for the heads-up on this

From the LA Times, written by Maeve Reston -

As protesters assembled on a beach in advance of Mitt Romney's evening event at the home of conservative billionaire David Koch, the candidate slipped to East Hampton for his first of three fundraisers on this tony stretch of Long Island.

The line of Range Rovers, BMWs, Porsche roadsters and one gleaming cherry red Ferrari began queuing outside of Revlon Chairman Ronald Perelman's estate off Montauk Highway long before Romney arrived, as campaign aides and staffers in white polo shirts emblazoned with the logo of Perelman's property -- the Creeks -- checked off names under tight security.

The "Antoinette" quote came a little later in the story -

A New York City donor a few cars back, who also would not give her name, said Romney needed to do a better job connecting. "I don't think the common person is getting it," she said from the passenger seat of a Range Rover stamped with East Hampton beach permits. "Nobody understands why Obama is hurting them.

"We've got the message," she added. "But my college kid, the baby sitters, the nails ladies -- everybody who's got the right to vote -- they don't understand what's going on. I just think if you're lower income -- one, you're not as educated, two, they don't understand how it works, they don't understand how the systems work, they don't understand the impact."

"They don't understand"??  WTF?!? 

People understand that while the economy has grown over the last few decades, the vast majority of the benefits of that have helped only the wealthiest 1%.

And we understand that Romney will work only to widen the economic disparity that is devastating America.

Romney is widely viewed as aloof, dismissive and out of touch with the average American (if "average" means 99% of us).

It seems that his plan to remedy that, if there is a plan at all, is to hang out people who may actually be more contemptuous of America and Americans than him, and hope that he looks good by comparison.

Given that he pulled this stunt on the weekend before President Obama proposed helping America's middle class by extending the Bush-era tax cuts on income under $250K, I think he needs a new plan.

Cha-ching! Campaign finance report time...

Mary Jo Pitzl of the Arizona Republic has a story up on the most recent round of campaign finance reports for state legislative candidates, covering the period from the beginning of the year thru the end of May.

That inspired a look at some specific races and candidates -

This will tend to focus on races of note in Maricopa County.  If you are interested in a race that isn't covered this post, the AZSOS' campaign finance search page is here.

Note:  the complete list of candidates who are running under Clean Elections financing and how much they have received to date is here.

In LD24 (my new district):

House candidates -
State Rep. Lela Alston (D) (traditional financing) - raised more than $19K; nearly $25K cash on hand
State Rep. Chad Campbell (D) (traditional) - raised nearly $12K; more than $19K on hand
Tom Nerini (D) (Clean Elections financing) - raised slightly more than $3K; slightly less than $100 on hand.  Has not received any CE funding as yet.
Jean Cheuvront McDermott (D) (traditional) - raised nearly $1900; approximately $750 on hand.  Note: she had been ordered off of the ballot over discrepancies with her name but appealed the ruling and has been restored to the ballot.  The only significant change ordered by the court was that instead of appearing on the ballot as "Cheuvront-McDermott, Jean", she will be listed as "McDermott, Jean Cheuvront".
Brian Kaufman (R) (CE) - raised $575; a little more than $500 on hand.  Has not received any CE funding as yet.

Senate candidates -
State Rep. Katie Hobbs (D) (traditional) - raised nearly $14K; nearly $17K on hand
Ken Cheuvront (D) (traditional) - raised $21K; a little more than $18K on hand
Augustine Bartning (R) (CE) - raised $550; $478 on hand.  Has not received any CE funding as yet.


LD25 State Senate:
Russell Pearce (R) (traditional) - raised $2800; more than $31K on hand.  This is an amended report, as noted by Laurie Roberts of the AZ Republic here.
Bob Worsley (R) (traditional) - raised nearly $67K; more than $17K on hand
Greg Gadek (D) (CE) - raised $2500; a little more than $2200 on hand. Gadek has received his CE funding, but it is not reflected in this report.


LD26:

Senate candidates -
State Rep. Ed Ableser (D) (CE) - raised almost $1900; nearly $2900 on hand.  Has not received any CE funding as yet.
State Sen. Jerry Lewis (R) (traditional) - raised nearly $9200; $6200 on hand.  While Lewis is leading the money race in this district, his numbers are a far cry from the $84K he raised in the 2011 recall election against Russell Pearce.  It seems that the "anti-Pearce" donors outnumber the "pro-Lewis" donors (just check out the numbers for Bob Worsley, above.  Worsley is Pearce's opponent this time around.)

House candidates -
Buckley Merrill (R) (traditional) - raised I don't know how much.  He hasn't filed a report, which is a big no-no.
Raymond Speakman (R) (CE) - raised $185; $157 on hand.  Has not received any CE funding as yet.
Mary Lou Taylor (R) (traditional) - raised $0; $0 on hand.  At least she filed a report, but it could be a problem - even if no other expeditures were made, *somebody* had to pay for the petitions she circulated.  Either she (or her campaign) paid for them and it should be reported, or somebody else, in which case it was an "in-kind" contribution, which must also be reported  Not submitting a report is bad, but generally only gets a committee fined.  Submitting a report with false information is far worse.
Jason Youn (R) (CE) - raised more than $1800; nearly $800 on hand.  Has not received any CE funding as yet.


LD28 State House:
State Rep. Kate Brophy McGee (R) (traditional) - raised nearly $9500; more than $25K on hand.
State Rep. Eric Meyer (D) (traditional) - raised $39K; more than $38K on hand
State Rep. Amanda Reeve (R) (traditional) - raised $9400; almost $28K on hand

This district is definitely Republican-leaning in terms of voter registration, but as the fundraising numbers show, this race is going to be a close one.

Look for a post on the financial reports of Congressional candidates later this month, after the reporting deadline.

In case you missed it...

 There have been a few developments of note over the last few days...

...State Senator John Nelson (R-Litchfield Park) has dropped his reelection bid, leaving a clear path to the seat for State Senator Don Shooter (R-Yuma) (no Democrat is running in the district).  The primary battle was set up when Shooter moved into Nelson's R-leaning district to avoid having to face a strong Democrat in the general election in his former district.  That district became a D-friendly one as a result of redistricting.

Nelson, while a die-hard conservative R, would do things that the tea party types frowned upon.  Like on those occasions when he would vote in the best interests of his constituents. 

At age 76, Nelson has been in public office for nearly three decades, starting with the Phoenix City Council and continuing in the state lege.

Shooter, on the other hand, is a tea party type who never held public office prior to winning a seat in the state senate in 2010.  The highlights of his political career thus far:  as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, he refused to take public comment on the state budget, and at a special session of the lege in 2011, he appeared in costume, in a serape and with a half-empty bottle of tequila in a holster.  He chose to use his position not to work for his constituents but instead chose to use it to mock a large percentage of them.

...In a non-Arizona development, but one that is so bizarre that it could be an AZ development, Michigan Congressman Thaddeus McCotter resigned from office.

He's gone from running for president to botching his nominating petitions and ending his reelection campaign in a safe R district to resigning office for reasons that are unknown, thus far.

If that isn't bizarre enough to make him an honorary member of the AZ lege's Republican caucus, consider this - in his farewell statement, he declared that he is becoming a "sovereign citizen."

Ummm...the "sovereign citizen" movement is growing in notoriety, if not numbers.  Its ideology is anti-society, anti-government, and violent.

Something tells me that we haven't heard the last of McCotter, and that when he makes national news again, it will be in the police log and there may just be a body count associated with the events that bring him back into public notice.

...Something you may have missed unless you are on all the right (or wrong, depending on your perspective) email lists is the launch of an apparently Republican-sponsored effort to suppress the under-30 vote.  It's called "Beers Not Ballots"

Its website (Google it; I'm not going to link to it) is dedicated to urging eligible voters to *not* vote in order to "take direct action" to "delegitimize" the political class. 

What they don't say on their website is that the message would be "damn, are we stupid, or what?"

Their scheme for "fixing" our dysfunctional political system is not work to fix it.  They want people to believe that not paying attention to and not supporting/opposing particular candidates/officials is the most effective way to convince those particular candidates/officials to do a better job.

Really.

It's a shadowy group.  I say "apparently Republican" because while the "movement" is supposedly non-partisan, most of the rhetoric on the website is anti-Obama, anti-health care reform, etc.  However, so far I have been unable to find out who is behind it.

The website' "WhoIs" info -

There aren't any names of the people behind this listed on the website or in the emailed press release.

In addition, while the group seems to be most active in AZ and WA, I cannot find any corporate or campaign finance records in either state under that name, nor is there anything on the FEC's website.

The Arizona (East Valley) phone number above tracks back to Mesa, to a likely Republican (didn't check his voter registration, but on his Facebook page, he gloated over Scott Walker's victory in the Wisconsin recall election in June).

Note: I'm not naming him here, not yet, until I can confirm his association with the website and organization.  Phone numbers change.

Until more info becomes available...

Hide the kids and small animals: Special session of the lege on tap

Update on 7/7 -

Based on tweets from Jeremy Duda (AZ Capitol Times) and Mary Jo Pitzl (AZ Republic), the special session has fallen apart -

However, it ain't over 'til it's over.  This story will be fluid until it becomes too late for the lege to put a competing question on November's ballot.  The "drop dead" date is around the third week of July, though that's sort of fluid, too - Ken Bennett, the Secretary of State, is in the lege's pocket (not least because he wants as many of them on his side as he can get in 2014 when he runs for the R nomination for governor).

End update...

From the Arizona Republic, written by Mary Jo Pitzl -

Gov. Jan Brewer intends to call the Legislature back to work next week to put a measure on the ballot designed to counter one of the key aspects of a citizen's initiative that overhauls Arizona's primary-election system.

The move immediately triggered complaints of intentional voter confusion from backers of the Open Government/Open Elections campaign, which on Thursday filed more than 365,000 signatures to get their measure on the Nov. 6 ballot.

{snip}

Senate Majority Whip Frank Antenori, R-Tucson, said many lawmakers, Republican and Democratic alike, don't like the citizen initiative and would favor an alternative.

But he admitted confusion is part of the game plan.

"If you put two or three (similar proposals) out there, they vote 'no'," he said of voters. "That's the default."

The ballot question that the lege is seeking to override is here.

It's a sloppily-written measure that is rife with the potential for mischief (and I'll be voting against it), but it's also a legitimate matter for the voters to decide, and not one for self-serving Republican tea party types in the lege to screw with.

Expect the session to be quick and efficient, unlike the *very* special session that they called last year, ostensibly to make a change to Arizona law that would have extended unemployment benefits for Arizona's long-term unemployed, at no cost to Arizona.

They didn't do anything to help the Arizonans hardest hit by the Great Recession.  Instead, they used the special session as a platform for pushing for more tax breaks for corporations that were (and are) wallowing in record profits, and when they weren't busy doing that, they were engaged in bigoted preening, showing their utter contempt for most of the people of Arizona, be they employed or unemployed.

Expect next week's session to be over in a day, perhaps three...OK, most likely one - it's an election year and they want to get back out on the campaign trail.

Privatizing public safety: not a safe idea

...and not a particularly ethical or bright one, either...

One of the great watchwords of Republican rhetoric is "privatize!".

As in "we should privatize all government functions because private business can do anything better than the government can!"

They say it frequently and loudly but it seems more like the one thing that private business does best is accrue wealth unto those at the top of the business org chart.  Something that isn't necessarily unethical; in fact, it's what business is all about.

However, that isn't what society is all about, not if it wants to be a healthy society.

The one consistent characteristic of "privatization" efforts is that they turn into mechanisms to funnel money intended to serve the public good away from public purposes and into private pockets (ask state legislator Steve Yarbrough).

It may be legal, mostly because the people writing the laws are the ones benefitting from the misuse of public funds (think: the Mob writing racketeering laws), but it isn't ethical.

And when they start privatizing public safety functions?

The scheme stops being "merely" unethical and starts being hazardous to life and liberty.

Two stories that broke this week highlight this fact -

- In this story, Ethan Bronner of the New York Times chronicled the devastating impact on real people of privatizing probation and jail services.  People who have committed minor infractions end up in jail because they are unable to pay exorbitant fees imposed on them by private probation companies.  Once they are in jail, more fees are imposed on them by the private businesses overseeing that part of the cycle.

Fees that they are still unable to pay, a situation that fuels another go-round in the cycle of debt in which restrictions on freedom are nothing but a revenue generator for private companies.

In other words, in many areas of the country, the public safety system, specifically the local jail/probation apparatus, has been co-opted into enhancing private profit instead of enhancing public safety.

- As bad as the above is, it pales in comparison to an incident in Florida, where a lifeguard was fired from his job for going to rescue a distressed swimmer in an area of a beach that was outside "the section of the beach his company is paid to patrol".

The company deemed the lifeguard's actions inappropriate because its policy, based on "liability concerns" is that only people who are swimming in areas that the company profits from are worthy of rescue (no, they didn't use those specific words, but they might just as well have), and terminated his employment.

The company has since offered the lifeguard, Tomas Lopez, his job back; he has declined the offer.

Lest you think that the people running the company came to their senses and that was behind the turnaround, it should be known that they were eviscerated in the court of public opinion and the offer was less an exercise in "common sense" and more an exercise in "damage control."


The incident serves as a prime example of the darkest side of "privatization."  A company ostensibly hired to protect public safety was willing to let someone die in order to protect their profits.

No matter the nature of the privatized function, the highest priority of a private company is to protect and serve its own profits, not to protect and serve the public.

On Tuesday, I posted a transcript of the Declaration of Independence.

My, how times have changed.

236 years ago, America's leaders pledged their own "lives...fortunes, and...sacred honor " in support of an independent America.

Today, too many of America's leaders have no "honor" and it's our lives and fortunes on the line...to support the bottom lines of their friends.

Enough.

Whenever a politician starts advocating for the privatization of some public function (i.e. - Russell Pearce pushing for the privatization of most MVD functions or  Steve Yarbrough pushing for ever more privatization of public education, in a way that is set up to make him ever more wealthy), audit him (or her; men don't have a monopoly on corruption).  And if the official, the official's family, or the official's friends benefit from the proposed move in even the tiniest way, the official goes to prison. 

And not a private Holiday Inn camouflaged as a prison.

236 Years Ago...

From the US Archives -

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

---

Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton

William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton

John Hancock
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton

Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean

William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark

Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple

Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
Matthew Thornton

CD9 Forum at Changing Hands on July 17

The candidates for the Democratic nomination in the new Ninth Congressional District, David Schapira, Kyrsten Sinema, and Andrei Cherny, will meet at a forum held at Changing Hands Bookstore on Tuesday, July 17 at 7 p.m.

The forum will be moderated by John D'Anna, editor of the Mesa Republic.

Changing Hands is located at 6428 S McClintock Dr., Tempe, Arizona 85283 (SWC of McClintock and Guadalupe).

Arrive early, for two reasons -

1. To get a good seat.
2. To have time to browse the coolest bookstore in the Phoenix area.

See you there!

The week that was...

Because of work, posting has been light.  Apologies to regular readers, and thanks for your patience.

...Health care reform, SB1070: A good week for President Obama.  Not a perfect week, but definitely one that will go in the "good" column...

First, the US Supreme Court overturned three of the four sections of Arizona's SB1070 anti-immigrant law that the Obama administration challenged in court.  The downside is that the USSC left in place (for now, anyway) the section that allows/requires law enforcement officials to demand to see "the papers" of anyone they suspect may be in the country illegally.  However, the justices declined to rule on that because it hasn't actually been implemented yet.  

The Republicans/nativists have been spinning this as an unequivocal victory for them but this cartoon from Clay Bennett of the Chattanooga Times Free Press best sums up that school of "thought" -

Then, the USSC upheld President Obama's signature initiative, the Affordable Care Act.  Democrats were overjoyed; Republicans were apoplectic.  Especially since one of the justices who voted to uphold the law was Chief Justice John Roberts, heretofore a Republican hero.  However, he seems to have realized that the USSC's main strength is its credibility and and years of deciding cases on a partisan basis instead of their merits is pissing away the credibility of the Court.

At roughly the same time that the Court released its decision on health care reform, the Republicans (aided and abetted by a few spineless Democrats, including AZ's Ron Barber) in Congress snapped-to and voted to find US Attorney General in contempt of Congress when gun industry lobbyists at the NRA crooked their little fingers.

Not a good thing for the president (and certainly not for Holder himself), but not as bad as it could be, if the vote wasn't a purely political stunt/hatchet job.  Even the Republicans realize that this one could come back to bite them in the ass, which may be why the vote was deliberately scheduled so that it would be lost in the hubbub surrounding the USSC's ruling on health care reform.

...Still, while the focus this week was on Washington, not all of the political news came out of DC this week.

- Former AZ state representative Daniel Patterson, who resigned his office earlier this year after some allegations of domestic violence arose, withdrew his application for membership on a municipal planning and zoning board in New Mexico after it became known that the "D.R. Patterson" on the application was the disgraced former AZ lawmaker "Daniel R. Patterson."

Left unexplained is how someone who is supposedly a resident of Arizona (one of the requirements to be a member of the AZ legislature) could also be a resident of New Mexico (one of the requirements to be on a municipal board there).  I'm not a lawyer, so I can't say for certain, but his withdrawal from consideration in NM may allow him to avoid fraud related charges (or something similar).  On the other hand, he has hinted that he will run for office again in 2014 (in AZ, as of last hint); expect this matter to come up again if he chooses to do so.

- Not wanting to be out-"get-a-clued" by Patterson is his former legislative colleague, former state senator Scott Bundgaard. 

Like Patterson, he resigned from office before he was expelled from the lege over domestic violence issues.

Like Patterson, he has a history of domestic violence allegations, both involving an ex-wife (past divorce matter) and a girlfriend (the more recent case).

Like Patterson, he blamed the victim rather than taking responsibility for his actions..

Like Patterson, he said his troubles were part of a conspiracy to destroy his political career.

Unlike Patterson, however, he's not going away to New Mexico; he's going to court.

From the Arizona Republic, written by Mary Jo Pitzl -

Former state Sen. Scott Bundgaard is seeking $10 million in damages from the city of Phoenix, alleging the city bungled his arrest and investigation stemming from a freeway fight with his ex-girlfriend 16 months ago.

In a notice of claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, Bundgaard, a Peoria Republican, alleges Phoenix police withheld reports of the February 2011 event and colluded with the state Senate's Ethics Committee as it examined a complaint against him. That left him with little choice but to resign rather than be expelled from the Legislature, Bundgaard said in an interview Friday.

Truth be told, I'm not sure which one is more pathetic...

...Related to the first item above (SB1070 ruling) - news broke this week that the costs to Arizona's taxpayers aren't limited to just the costs of defending Russell Pearce's (and Jan Brewer's) bigoted legislation in court.  After the bill passed in 2010 and Brewer signed it.

From the Arizona Republic, written by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez -

Gov. Jan Brewer's office paid about $98,000 in fees after she canceled the Border Governors Conference scheduled to take place at the Arizona Biltmore in September 2010, The Arizona Republic has learned.

Brewer canceled the annual conference between the governors of U.S. border states and their counterparts in Mexico after the Mexican governors refused to attend because of immigration law Senate Bill 1070.

Guess that in Jan Brewer's world fiscal responsibility takes a back seat to nativist posturing...or making sure that her "friends" in the private prison industry have plenty of bodies filling their revenue generators.

...Later...