Ducey allegedly tries to deplete the state's budget to aid an ally

Why isn't this a bigger story here?

From KJZZ (it's a USA Today story, and I'd link to that one, but the USA Today story is behind a paywall) - 

USA Today Investigation Links Ducey With Efforts To Extract $100M In Tax Refunds

Gov. Doug Ducey has long been seen as having ambitions beyond the Governor’s Office, perhaps even for the United States presidency. And to get there, he would need powerful and wealthy allies.

In his latest piece, Craig Harris, a reporter with USA Today who formerly worked at the Arizona Republic, investigated why Ducey and a handful of his top staffers supported a multi-year effort by a powerful Texas businessman and Republican donor to extract millions of dollars in tax refunds from Arizona’s Department of Revenue, despite alleged conflicts of interest.

The Urban Institute has a pretty good backgrounder on Arizona's budget here.

Some of the illustrations a quite eye-opening.

Arizona seeing increased Covid cases as Ducey misuses pandemic relief monies

Get vaccinated people!

From KTAR -

Arizona reports 980 new COVID-19 cases, 3 more deaths Sunday

Arizona public health officials on Sunday reported 980 new COVID-19 cases and three additional deaths from the virus.

The latest documented totals were 908,248 infections and 18,117 fatalities, according to the department’s COVID-19 dashboard.

Total cases, from AZDHS' Covid tracker -

Better than the peak, but still a bad trend.

But not to worry, Doug Ducey has the backs...of his friends in the hospitality business.

From AP -

Ducey uses federal pandemic cash to promote Arizona tourism

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Wednesday announced he’s using $101.1

 

million of federal relief funding to launch a new program to encourage

 

more tourism spending in the state and help the hospitality industry

 

recover from the pandemic.

 

The Visit Arizona Initiative will use the American Rescue Plan money to

 

help the tourism sector of the state’s economy to prosper and “continue

 

to recover from the effects of the pandemic,” Doug said in a statement.

Dear Lindsey: To be like Texas Democrats, first you'd have to grow a spine

 or at least a conscience.  

Probably not going to happen, not with someone who was noted for kissing Cheeto's butt so enthusiastically..

From USA Today -

Lindsey Graham says he'd 'leave town' to stop Democrats' reconciliation bill, citing Texas

Taking inspiration from Texas Democrats' bid to stop a new round of election laws in their cite, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he would leave the nation's capital to block Democrats from passing a key priority of President Joe Biden's agenda.

Graham said the move may be necessary to stop Senate Democrats from passing a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package, which includes many long-standing Democratic priorities regarding social services, the environment and infrastructure.

In the story, he goes on to explain that 51 Senators must be present for there to be a quorum and for the body to conduct business, but he would endeavor to block that.

GOP tenet -"When the 'Big Lie' no longer works, go with intimidation"

 

From HuffPost:

Cyber Ninjas Now Aims To Pound On Arizona Voters’ Doors To Grill Them Over 2020 Ballots

The long-running audit of Arizona presidential votes could become

more confrontational now that the head of Cyber Ninjas, the

company in charge of the recount, is demanding it be allowed to go

to voters’ homes to grill them about their ballots.

The audit of Maricopa County’s 2.1 million votes, launched by state

Senate Republicans and arranged by Cyber Ninjas, a little-known

company with partisan ties, was supposed to be completed by May 14. 

But there has been no report on the operation, and the company still

appears to be scrambling for information.

From the AZ Mirror -

Senate indicates more election review subpoenas are likely

The Arizona State Senate might issue more subpoenas related to an ongoing review of the Maricopa County 2020 election, which has been going on since late April. 

During a nearly two-hour hearing in the Senate Thursday morning with Senate President Karen Fann and Sen. Warren Petersen, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, contractors for the audit as well as the audit’s liaison, former Secretary of State Ken Bennett, said they wanted more materials that the county hadn’t yet provided. 

Guessing that Fann and Petersen (and the other GOPers in the AZ Senate) aren't planning on writing subpoenas targeted to Cyber Ninjas.

They probably do plan on using the subpoenas to intimidate other, county-level, electeds, into acquiescing to their wishes.

Man tries to teach alligator a lesson in Florida

 Yes, this guy seems to be a Darwin Award waiting to happen.

From WAVY - 

Florida man steals alligator from golf course, tries ‘teaching it a lesson’ by throwing it on roof of bar

DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man told police officers he was “teaching it a lesson” when he tried to throw a live alligator he had stolen from a miniature golf course onto the roof of a beachside cocktail lounge, authorities said.

The 32-year-old man was arrested early Thursday when Daytona Beach Shores police officers spotted him attempting to throw the gator onto the roof of a cocktail lounge located just off Highway A1A, according to a police report.

Guessing two things from this -

1. Intoxication was involved.

2. This guy isn't vaccinated.

Not only can't Florida count, it can't vaccinate either

It looks like Ron DeSantis and other Floridians have the same attitude toward disinformation about Covid that Yoda had toward The Force.

Strong is good.

Yoda was a fictional character, and DeSantis and the others are wrong.

From HuffPost -

‘Pandemic Of The Unvaccinated’: Florida Tallies 20% Of Soaring New COVID-19 Cases In U.S.

COVID-19 cases in Florida soared to close to 46,000 this week,

 

accounting for 20% of all new cases in the nation.

The astonishing number is double the cases of the previous week and

four times the cases in mid-June, according to statistics from the

 

Florida Health Department.

The health department also reported 231 new deaths, up from 172 the

 

week ending July 9, according to The Orlando Sentinel.

States with the highest outbreaks now also include Nevada, Missouri

 

and Arkansas, which all have low vaccination rates of about 50% of

 

the population with at least one dose. Arkansas and Missouri are

 

tallying more cases now than they did in the winter. Some

 

rural areas have vaccination rates as low as 20%.

The CDC's Covid Tracker is here.

Arizona is doing better than Florida, but it isn't doing well. Report is here.

Cheeto is out of office, but the MAGA grift continues

Is anyone really surprised?

Turns out that where Hillary Clinton thought Trump's supporters may have been "deplorable", Trump et. al. thought "easy marks".

From Yahoo! News -

Trump fans like Candace Owens and Jack Posobiec are hyping the $500 Freedom Phone, which appears to be a cheap Chinese handset with a big markup

The launch of an "uncensorable" smartphone aimed at US conservatives is being hyped by Trumpworld figures such as Candace Owens and Jack Posobiec - but it may not be all it's cracked up to be.

The $500 Freedom Phone targets users concerned about big tech censorship and freedom of speech. It comes pre-loaded with apps like Parler, Rumble and Newsxmax's app, as well as a privacy guard.

Despite the price tag, the phone appears to be a reworking of Chinese handsets available for as little as $119, per several reports.

From Input -

Surprise, Erik Finman's 'Freedom Phone' is a scam and a privacy horror

Ah, there’s nothing quite like the sweet smell of an easily debunked scam in the morning. Yesterday bitcoin millionaire Erik Finman unveiled the “Freedom Phone,” which he says is the “first major pushback on the Big Tech companies that attacked us - for just thinking different.” Turns out it’s just a super-cheap Android phone — and a security hellhole, at that.

The teaser video for Finman’s phone is so earnest it begins to read as a parody of itself before he’s even shown off the device. “The Big Tech overlords are violating your privacy and censoring your speech and I think that’s so wrong,” Finman narrates. “That’s why I created the Freedom Phone.”

It seems that hurtful and hateful are both GOP characteristics

"Hurtful"?   Taking the life of someone else.

"Hateful"?  Desecrating a memorial to that person.

From  KJZZ -

Scottsdale detectives have found probable cause to file charges against Paradise Valley Town Councilman Paul Dembow for theft, according to police.

Dembow was allegedly caught on camera stealing a cross from a memorial made for a man killed after being struck by a car in 2015. 

The car was driven by then-Vice Mayor Dembow’s daughter, who was never charged with a crime because the act was ruled an accident.

While I suspected that he was a GOPer (being from PV and that contemptuous of human life and civil society), I couldn't prove it.  Then I found this - 

According to the website of the Maricopa County Recorder, he was a Republican Precinct Committeeman as of 6/4/3021, elected to that position in 2020.

.He's up for reelection in 2022.

Dear PV: 

Don't vote for him.

For the record, I am NOT accusing Paul Dembow of killing someone.  I DO want to see if he skates on this matter (which would be Scottsdale PD tanking the case or him receiving a light or no sentence if he's convicted), though, because of his position.

This may be something Cheeto won't talk about when he's here

 

He'll be here July 24th.

From US News & World Report -

AP: Few AZ Voter Fraud Cases, Discrediting Trump's Claims

Arizona county election officials have identified fewer than 200 cases of potential voter fraud out of more than 3 million ballots cast in last year's presidential election, further discrediting former President Donald Trump's claims of a stolen election as his allies continue a disputed ballot review in the state's most populous county.

Matt Gaetz hires Jeffrey Epstein's attorney. Not exactly adding to his credibility there.

 And it worked out *so* well for Epstein.

From Taegan Goddard's Political Wire -

Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL) congressional campaign paid $25,000 last month for “legal consulting” fees to Manhattan criminal defense attorney Marc Fernich, who lists among his “notable clients” the accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, Insider reports.

Whether it was murder, as some believe, or suicide, as others believe, Epstein still died in a jail.

From CBSNews -

In July 2019, Jeffrey Epstein, already a convicted sex offender, was arrested and charged with sex trafficking by federal prosecutors. On August 10, Epstein was found dead in his federal jail cell at Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC).

The New York City Medical Examiner's Office ruled Epstein's death a suicide by hanging, but a forensic pathologist who observed the four-hour autopsy on behalf of  Epstein's brother, Mark, tells 60 Minutes the evidence released so far points more to murder than suicide in his view. Dr. Michael Baden's key reason: the unusual fractures he saw in Epstein's neck.

And whether a prison cell or a jail cell, it seems to be a place where Gaetz seems to be destined to end up.

Ducey is now an expert at the hypocritical two step

And he's dancing as fast as he can.

Now he's accusing two public school districts of violating the law...by following the guidance of his own health department.

From KJZZ -

The Arizona Governor’s Office sent two letters to Peoria Unified School District and Catalina Foothills School District, informing them that their quarantine policies for unvaccinated students was breaking the law.

[snip]

In a statement, Julie Farbarik, a spokesperson for Catalina Foothills School District in Tucson, says they are “perplexed” by Ducey’s letter. She says public schools use quarantine and isolation practices established by the Arizona Department of Health Services. And currently, both Catalina Foothills School District and Peoria Unified School District are doing just that. 

From AZDHS -

Note: Pic of AZDHS' guidelines posted because I expect that Ducey and/or his "advisers" to have them changed so that the school districts violate what is posted.

From Peoria Unified School District -

July 7, 2021 Update: This legislative session, a bill was passed that prohibits Arizona school districts from requiring students or staff wear masks during school hours and on district property. Schools are also prohibited from requiring vaccines or masks to participate in in-person instruction. 

Vaccinations: Students, staff and community members are not required to be vaccinated in order to be on campus. 
Quarantine: All students must follow requirements from Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) which state that students who are exposed to COVID-19 must quarantine for 10 days from the date of exposure. Exposure is defined as being within 6-feet for 15 cumulative minutes or more. A student who has proof of vaccination will not be required to quarantine if they are exposed to someone with COVID-19 on campus, as per MCDPH.
Face Coverings/Masks: Optional for staff, students, and visitors, inside and outside. 
PPE and Hygiene: PPE will continue to be available to students and staff who request them. Individual bottles and hand sanitizer stations will continue to be available on all campuses.
Cafeteria Operations: Returning to as close to normal as possible, with 3 ft. distancing when feasible. Hand sanitizing stations available where lines form. Continued packaging of items such as fruit and veggie bar selections. 
Additional Measures:

• Daily cleaning has returned to normal operations, in addition to summer “deep cleaning." 
• Disinfecting only in locations in which a positive case has been reported, or when requested by staff.
• Individual schools will notify parents regarding morning drop-off procedures.
• Use of air purifiers will continue indefinitely.

Additional updates may be made in accordance with Arizona Department of Public Health (ADHS), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Executive Orders issued by Governor Doug Ducey and the decisions made by the district’s Governing Board and Leadership Team. Some procedures and protocols may vary by school based on enrollment or layout of school campus and will be shared with parents by school principals.

I don't see any violation, and unless the judge in this matter was appointed by Ducey, I expect that a judge won't either when this is litigated in court.

Lauren Kuby running for ACC

 From the website of the AZSOS -

She's a member of the Tempe City Council, works at ASU, and has long been active in her community (AZ in general, and Tempe in particular).

Caveat: I know Lauren, and not only do I like her, I respect her.  And I'll be making a financial contribution to her campaign.  

She'll make a great addition to the Arizona Corporation Commission.

Ummm...maybe a mirror is in order

Of course, that would assume that they can see themselves in a mirror.

 From The Hill -

Senate Republicans attack circuit court pick over voting rights advocacy

Senate Republicans on Wednesday attacked President Biden's nominee for a prestigious appellate court seat over her record as a voting rights activist, taking issue with her advocacy against voting restrictions.

During a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republican members criticized Myrna Pérez, a nominee for a seat on the New York-based 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, for her work leading the Brennan Center for Justice's voting rights efforts.

From BloombergLaw in 2019 -

Another ABA ‘Unqualified’ Trump Nominee Confirmed as Judge

A Donald Trump nominee criticized for her anti-abortion advocacy and considered unqualified by the American Bar Association for a lifetime judicial appointment was confirmed to a federal district court seat.

The Republican-led Senate voted 49 to 44 on Dec. 4 to confirm Sarah Pitlyk to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

TN condemns its kids to die from disease - right after firing their top vaccine person

From the Tennessean -

Tennessee abandons vaccine outreach to minors - not just for COVID-19

The Tennessee Department of Health will halt all adolescent vaccine outreach – not just for coronavirus, but all diseases – amid pressure from Republican state lawmakers, according to an internal report and agency emails obtained by the Tennessean. If the health department must issue any information about vaccines, staff are instructed to strip the agency logo off the documents.

The health department will also stop all COVID-19 vaccine events on school property, despite holding at least one such event this month. The decisions to end vaccine outreach and school events come directly from Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey, the internal report states.

From NPR -

She Says She Was Fired For Saying That Teens Don't Need Parental Consent For Vaccines

Tennessee's top vaccine official says she has been fired as punishment for doing her job in the face of political pushback.

Dr. Michelle Fiscus was caught up in a controversy after she passed along legal guidance to health providers saying teenagers do not need parents' consent to receive a COVID-19 vaccine shot — a position established by decades of state law.

Of course, TN is the state that has seen the sharpest increase in Covid cases.

From Healthline -

[snip]

Tennessee had the highest increase with a 250 percent jump. That was followed by California with a 110 percent hike and Alabama with a 103 percent jump.

Three of the top five states in terms of percentage increase of new COVID-19 cases are also among the states with the lowest vaccinations rates:

State	New COVID-19 cases	Fully vaccinated percentage
Tennessee	2,345 (250% increase)	38%
California	14,408 (110% increase)	51%
Alabama	2,773 (103% increase)	33%
Massachusetts	692 (87% increase)	62%
Idaho	742 (86% increase)	36%
Source: Reuters

In overall numbers, the CDC reported that Florida had the most new cases in the past 7 days with 32,127. That’s almost 15,000 more than the previous week.

[snip]

[Update on 7/15 to add] 

Even the CDC thinks this is a bad idea.

From CNBC -

CDC Director Walensky calls Tennessee’s decision to cease 

vaccine outreach to teens ‘incredibly disturbing’

Tennessee’s decision to cease vaccine outreach to teenagers while in the midst of a pandemic is “incredibly disturbing,” the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

“I find this incredibly disturbing. Not only is it disturbing for Covid, but it is disturbing for all vaccine-preventable illnesses,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in an interview Thursday with CBS This Morning.

[end update]

Coincidence?

Biden names Flake as an ambassador

 From Politico - 

Biden nominates ex-GOP Sen. Jeff Flake as ambassador to Turkey

President Joe Biden on Tuesday nominated former Sen. Jeff Flake to serve as ambassador to Turkey, extending a high-profile diplomatic post to the anti-Trump Republican.

Flake praised the Biden administration’s “strong, experienced and capable team representing U.S. interests abroad,” and nodded to the significance of selecting him for such a strategically important post.

Two things -

1. Flake going Turkey isn't bad; on the other hand, while it's not as tough as being assigned to Russia, Turkey's going to be a hot spot.  I expect that Flake will earn his paycheck.

2. I personally despise the wording of this headline.  Placing "ex" in front of "GOP" make it seems as if Flake is no longer a Republican.  He *is*; he just used to be a Senator.