Maybe the guy who bankrupted casinos isn't the best financial example to follow

The bankruptcies, and their effects, from Mother Jones via the US House.

From NBC -

In latest fight, Republicans embrace Trump ethos: Don't pay debts

Republicans are taking a decidedly Trumpian approach to the possibility of a U.S. default: Only a sucker pays debts.

They want Democrats to be those suckers, and they will get their way. The Democrats are ready to shoulder the political hit to pay debts incurred by former President Donald Trump, who slashed revenue and spent profligately, and they are trying unsuccessfully to shame Republicans into walking away from a Senate floor showdown Wednesday.

Of course the Rs have embraced Trumpism - other folks will pay the price for their willingness to score political points based on their fiscal ineptitude.

Killing folks: it's a Republican thing.

From NPR -

Lawmakers and the pope ask Missouri's governor to halt an execution. He says no

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Monday declined to grant clemency to death row inmate Ernest Johnson, despite requests for mercy from the pope, two federal lawmakers and thousands of petition signers.

Johnson, 61, was convicted of killing three convenience store workers during a closing-time robbery in 1994. He is scheduled to die by injection at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the state prison in Bonne Terre, about 50 miles south of St. Louis.

"The state is prepared to deliver justice and carry out the lawful sentence Mr. Johnson received in accordance with the Missouri Supreme Court's order," Parson, a Republican, said in a statement about his decision not to reduce the sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

[snip]

Weiss said executing Johnson would violate the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits executing intellectually disabled people. He said multiple IQ tests and other exams have shown that Johnson has the intellectual capacity of a child. He also was born with fetal alcohol syndrome and in 2008, he lost about 20% of his brain tissue to the removal of a benign tumor.

Parson is a lot like Donald Trump, and not just in a death-for-others wish sort of way.

From Politico in early October of 2020 -

Missouri governor mirrors Trump: Covid-positive after months of virus criticism

 

If President Donald Trump wants to know what it’s like to contract coronavirus in the final weeks of a campaign while taking heat for a laissez-faire approach to the pandemic, he can ask Missouri Gov. Mike Parson.

Parson, a Trump ally in a Republican-leaning state, quickly reopened Missouri after issuing a stay-at-home order in April, leaving much of the later response up to local governments. His hands-off approach has remained even as infection rates climbed and he suffered his own: Parson announced in late September he tested positive, and then on Wednesday said that he and his wife had “recovered.”

Manchin and Sinema: Describing them as "centrists" is a misnomer.

 A better term for them would be "self-centered obstructionists".

From The Guardian -

Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema: the centrists blocking Biden’s agenda

 

Donald Trump’s favorite insult for political opponents inside his own party is “Rino” – Republican in name only. By such logic, Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are the epitome of Dinos, two elected Democrats whose dogged resistance to Joe Biden’s social agenda threatens/threatened to upend his entire presidency.

Their standoff with the party’s progressive wing over the price tag of Biden’s ambitious reform package has become almost more of a hazard to his legacy than anything the Republicans, currently in a narrow minority in both chambers of Congress, can throw at it.

Dear Paul Gosar: Cheeto might have a different opinion on the topic of "kings"

From Twitter -

Of course, our crazy Paul can say this because the person he *really* worships is not on Twitter.

For now.

From CNN -

Trump wants court to force Twitter to reinstate his account

Former President Donald Trump has asked a federal judge to restore his Twitter account, according to a court document filed Friday.

"Defendant exercises a degree of power and control over political discourse in this country that is immeasurable, historically unprecedented, and profoundly dangerous to open democratic debate," Trump's attorneys write about Twitter.

To be fair, Mark Zuckerberg may have a different opinion to offer on the "historically unprecedented" part of that last...

People are dying of Covid in Alabama. Alabama's response? Build prisons

From Business Insider via Yahoo! News - 

Alabama lawmakers approve controversial plan to use $400 million in COVID-19 relief funds to build 2 new prisons

Alabama lawmakers pushed forward Friday on a controversial plan to spend $400 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to build two new prisons in the state.

According to the Associated Press, lawmakers in the state approved a plan to construct two new prisons and renovate existing prison facilities for a total of $1.3 billion, with $400 million coming from federal funding provided to the state under President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan.

Six prison facilities would close under the new plan, according to the AP.

The $400 million is about 20% of the funding the state received under the ARP.

Of course, Alabama elects people like Mo Brooks and Tommy Tuberville, so honor, decency, and intelligence aren't valued there.

Neither are human lives.

From Johns Hopkins University -

1. Wear a damn mask.

2. Get vaccinated.  

Guessing that one of our senators, Kyrsten Sinema, isn't well read

At least, she hasn't read Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People".

From CNN -

Sinema says lack of infrastructure vote 'inexcusable' and erodes trust within Democratic party

Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema strongly rebuked the House of Representatives' lack of a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill in a statement Saturday, calling the delay "inexcusable and deeply disappointing for communities across our country."

Sinema's statement came after a dramatic week in the House when Speaker Nancy Pelosi delayed the vote on the infrastructure bill because progressives threatened to withhold support until details are ironed out for the separate, massive social benefits and climate spending bill. President Joe Biden vowed Friday that Democrats will deliver on their agenda as congressional leaders attempt to resolve intra-party divisions that have put passage of the two bills in jeopardy.

Know what really "erodes trust within Democratic party"?

(Allegedly) Democratic electeds behaving like self-absorbed and anti-society Republicans.

Still, patience with Sinema is wearing thin, and not just mine.

From The Hill -

Arizona Democrats' frustration with Sinema comes to a head

Democratic anger with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) is beginning to reach a boil in Arizona over her opposition to Democrats’ $3.5 trillion reconciliation package, fueling speculation that a primary challenger could be awaiting her when she runs for a second term in 2024.

A handful of Democratic groups critical of Sinema popped up this week, with some looking to fund a potential primary challenger and at least one looking to specifically recruit Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) to run against her in the Democratic nominating contest. At the same time, the Arizona Democratic Party is threatening to hold a no-confidence vote on Sinema unless she falls in line with the rest of her caucus.

Someone can recruit Ruben Gallego all that they want, but I think that he may be the wrong Gallego to challenge Sinema (assuming she runs for for reelection and doesn't already have a corporate lobbying gig already lined up.)

Of course, if Sinema does actually run for reelection in 2024, she may face a primary challenge, not from a Democrat, but from Doug Ducey.

"Leadership PAC" is another way of saying "questionable use of money"

From Election Law Blog -

“Scores of lawmakers’ leadership PACs spent vast sums on luxurious dining, lodging, and travel, new Issue One and Campaign Legal Center report shows”

From the report:

New research from Issue One and Campaign Legal Center shows that scores of lawmakers are not using the bulk of the money they raise in their leadership PACs to assist other candidates, political groups, or their parties — the intended purpose of leadership PACs when they were approved by the Federal Election Commission more than 40 years ago.

While most members of Congress primarily use their leadership PACs to make political contributions, Issue One and Campaign Legal Center found that the leadership PACs of 120 members of Congress spent less than 50% on politics between January 2019 and December 2020 — roughly one of every five members of Congress….

Note: The report doesn't include Senator Mark Kelly, who, at that point, hadn't been a member of the Senate during most of the covered period of time.

From the report, Arizona's Congressional contingent, listed alphabetically by last name - 

The worst offenders by percent spent on politics - 

Ordered by amount of money spent -

Notice a pattern?

The only time that Senator Kyrsten Sinema is near the bottom of the list is when it's presented alphabetically.

Otherwise, she spent far and away the most money from her leadership PAC and she is tied for lowest percentage spent on politics.

Of course, of the only three Arizona members under 50% there, one was unelected and is no longer a member of Congress (McSally), one is, ahem, "ethically challenged" (Schweikert). and Sinema, who, even when she was in the AZ lege, was notorious for not helping other Democrats.

Refilling the money coffers may be one of the reasons that she's hobnobbing with business groups today.

State committees update

From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State -

Republican Beaudoin is a corporate geologist running for a position that's normally a landing spot for a rural former legislator.

Republican Little is an ethically tarnished former member of the Arizona Corporation Commission and the Trump administration.  No, I'm not being redundant.

Supreme Court Justice Thinks That Criticism Of The Court Constitutes "Intimidation"

From The National Review via Yahoo! News - 

Alito Defends Supreme Court’s Texas Heartbeat Ruling in Defiant Speech

Justice Samuel Alito rebutted Thursday what he called “unfair and damaging attacks” on the Supreme Court over its emergency adjudication of politically-charged cases, such as the Texas heartbeat law, which recently went into effect after the bench declined to block it.

Responding to criticisms that the conservative-dominated court has been strategically rushing into hasty decisions to advance a secret political agenda, Alito objected to the media’s use of the term “shadow docket” as a misnomer, and claimed such an accusation erodes the legitimacy of the federal judiciary.

From The Guardian (UK) -

Alito hits out at ‘intimidation’ in defence of supreme court’s Texas abortion ruling

[snip]

“The catchy and sinister term ‘shadow docket’ has been used to portray the court as having been captured by a dangerous cabal that resorts to sneaky and improper methods to get its ways,” Alito said at Notre Dame, referring to increasingly common emergency applications that come before the justices outside regular sessions.

“This portrayal feeds unprecedented efforts to intimidate the court or damage it as an independent institution. There was nothing new or shadowy about the procedures we followed in those cases. It’s hard to see how we can handle most emergency matters any differently.”

In many ways, he's echoing a fellow justice, Amy Coney Barrett.  From the Louisville Courier-Journal - 

Justice Amy Coney Barrett argues US Supreme Court isn't 'a bunch of partisan hacks'

In the wake of a controversial decision on abortion rights, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett told a crowd of more than 100 here that she doesn't believe the highest court in the land is politically driven.

“My goal today is to convince you that this court is not comprised of a bunch of partisan hacks,” she told the guests at a Sunday celebration of the 30th anniversary of the opening of the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville.

Maybe Alito would have more credibility if he wasn't such a snowflake who ignored the stacking of the federal judiciary (not just the Supreme Court) with legally unqualified but ideologically pure Trumpkins.

And maybe Barrett would have more credibility is she didn't give her speech at an event named after the person who used politics to grease/facilitate her appointment to the USSC.

Kelly leads Republicans in 2022 race

Guess being anti-vax/anti mask/anti society isn't a good way to attract voters.

Pointed to this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

From OH Predictive Insights -

Kelly Leads in All Head-To-Head Matchups

Brnovich on Top in GOP Senate Primary

When Democratic U.S. Senator Mark Kelly was elected last November, he faced a rather unique position than most of his other freshman colleagues: U.S. Senators are normally elected to six-year terms, but Kelly – who won a special election to finish the late-Sen. John McCain's term – would have to face voters once again in two years for a fresh six-year term. According to OH Predictive Insights’ (OHPI) latest Arizona Public Opinion Pulse (AZPOP) survey, Senator Mark Kelly is leading the pack in all head-to-head matchups. 

This Arizona Public Opinion Pulse (AZPOP) survey was conducted September 7th – September 12th, 2021 and surveyed 882 registered voters in Arizona and had a margin of error of +/- 3.3%. 

[snip]

Toplines and crosstabs here; 

Must be something in SD's water. Now a killer is investigating the actions of the corrupt.

From The Hill -

SD attorney general reviewing Noem meeting with official as daughter sought license

South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg (R) announced on Tuesday that he will review a meeting Gov. Kristi Noem (R) held with her daughter and two state employees last year as her daughter was seeking a real estate appraiser license from the state. 

Ravnsborg reportedly said that citizens and state lawmakers have voiced concern about the meeting.

The "killer" part?

From NPR -

An Attorney General Won't Serve Any Jail Time For A Crash That Killed A Pedestrian

South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg pleaded no contest Thursday to a pair of misdemeanor traffic charges over a crash last year that killed a pedestrian, avoiding jail time despite bitter complaints from the victim's family that he was being too lightly punished for actions they called "inexcusable."

Circuit Judge John Brown had little leeway to order jail time. Instead, he fined the state's top law enforcement official $500 for each count plus court costs of $3,742. Brown also ordered the Republican to "do a significant public service event" in each of the next five years near the date of Joseph Boever's death — granting a request from the Boever family. But he put that on hold pending a final ruling after Ravnsborg's attorney objected that it was not allowed by statute.

From The Hill -

Noem draws scrutiny for meeting with official as daughter sought state license

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) called the head of the state agency that oversees appraiser certifications to her office after the agency allegedly denied her daughter’s application to become a certified residential appraiser last year. 

The meeting, which was reported on Monday by The Associated Press, also included Noem’s daughter Kassidy Peters and South Dakota Labor Secretary Marcia Hultman. 

 

Of course, Ravnborg may be "investigating" her because Noem criticized him when he skated on killing someone.

From a press release from Noem -

Today, following South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg’s plea of “no contest” to charges against him regarding the death of Joseph Boever, Governor Kristi Noem issued the following statement: 

 

“With today’s plea, Jason Ravnsborg’s legal proceedings have concluded.  Like many South Dakotans, I am not only disappointed in how this process was handled by prosecutors, but outraged at the result of today’s plea hearing and sentencing.  Ravnsborg has not accepted responsibility for the death of Joseph Boever and did not even appear in court today to face the charges or the Boever family.

 

Ravnborg may want to be quick about it because he may lose his job soon.

From the Argus (SD) Leader -

South Dakota House leaders call for special session to consider impeachment of Attorney General Ravnsborg

A bipartisan group of leadership members in the South Dakota House of Representatives are calling for a special legislative session to consider whether to pursue impeachment of the state's attorney general.

House Majority Leader Kent Peterson, R-Salem, in a news release Thursday announced he is formally requesting lawmakers return to the capital in November to "evaluate the matter of Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg," convicted of a pair of misdemeanor traffic charges last month stemming from his role in a vehicle crash that killed a pedestrian a year earlier.

Brace yourselves - the 2022 campaign season has already started

Of course, that isn't much of a surprise to anyone whose been watching.

Got some interesting mail today.

At first, I thought it was a legitimate but an unsolicited something or other (I'm old enough to be eligible for AARP membership with a few medical issues), then I opened it.

It was an expensive political ad.

The sender, Common Sense Leadership Fund Inc., is a dark money group based out of Virginia.

According to this American Independent article, they're targeting Pres. Joe Biden and some Congressional Democrats, but according to Google, and my mail, they're going after so Democratic senators too.

Get your popcorn and then fasten your seatbelts.

The coming ride will be both entertaining and bumpy.

Maybe it's time for Rs in blue and purple states to stop kissing Cheeto's butt

Not gonna hold my breath waiting for that to happen, though.

But it's nice to see that I'm not the only one who thinks so...

While this headline reads "Nevadans", it could easily be about "Arizonans", or even just "people" in general.

Many of the Rs running for office in AZ in 2022 are solidly pro-Trump and pro-fraudit; their open contempt for democracy that doesn't go their preferred way utterly disqualifies them for any position of public trust.

An editorial from the Las Vegas Sun - 

Nevadans have no reason to trust candidates who humor the Big Lie

MATT YORK, POOL, FILE / AP

In this May 6, 2021, file photo, Maricopa County ballots cast in the 2020 general election are examined and recounted by contractors working for Florida-based company, Cyber Ninjas at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

Late last week, the nation learned the outcome of the circus-like Republican-led election “audit” in Arizona, and boy was it a shocker.

Not.

A draft version of the report, produced by partisans who were unqualified to conduct an actual audit, showed that Joe Biden won the vote in Arizona, as had been verified and certified already. The only surprise in the report — one that undoubtedly sent former President Donald Trump into an orange-faced tantrum — was that Biden won by a few hundred votes more in Maricopa County than had been originally reported.

Lindsey Graham makes his case for being Trump's "Enabler-in-Chief"

From Yahoo! -

Lindsey Graham says that he wants Donald Trump to run again in 2024, just a few days after the former president trashed him

Sen. Lindsey Graham told a crowd in Michigan on Saturday night that he hopes former President Donald Trump runs again in 2024, according to The Detroit News.

Speaking on the second day of the Mackinac Republican Party's Leadership Conference, The Detroit News reported that Graham elicited cheers from the crowd when he shared his hopes for Trump's political future.

"I don't think Trump is listening. He might be," Graham reportedly said. "I hope President Trump runs again."

Graham is loyal to Cheeto, even when Cheeto isn't loyal to him.  Of course, Graham may be falling into some of his old habits - he has a long history of kissing Cheeto's butt.

I don't know if "enabler-in-chief" is the right time for Graham.

The Merriam-Webster definition of "enabler" describes one as someone who aids "another to persist in self-destructive behavior" yet what Graham does when Trump is involved is to engage in some self-destructive behavior of his own.

Why is that?

Anyway, I'll stick with referring to him as an enabler; the definition may not be a perfect fit, but other than the one exception as noted above, the appellation suits him.

Ducey follows the GOP playbook: puts fox in charge of henhouse security

In case you missed it...

This has all of the hallmarks of a financial scandal waiting to happen.

From KTAR -

Arizona Gov. Ducey appoints new Liquor Licenses and Control director

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced Thursday a new director for the state’s Department of Liquor Licenses and Control.

Tracy Uffelman replaces John Cocca, who resigned from his post in April. Arizona Department of Public Safety Director Col. Heston Silbert has been serving as the interim director.

[snip]

Uffelman held numerous positions working at Alliance Beverage from 1990 to 2013, including general manager, director of sales, hotels and resorts as well as vice president of legislative and community relations, according to the release.

Prior to that, he was the western regional manager for William Grant and Sons from 1991 to 2001, a family-owned company that sells whisky and other spirits to almost 200 markets.

[snip]

Uffelman became a partner of TBK Partnership LLC. after his time with Alliance Beverage, according to the release.

From the website of the Arizona Corporation Commission -

From the website of the AZ Department of Liquor -

TBK looks to have gone bankrupt but the actual docs are available only on PACER (the document system for the federal court system) and they want money to access the docs.  Something that isn't in the blogging budget :) .

From the Inforuptcy website -

Ducey's press release bragging about the appointment is here.