Blog For Arizona

Isn't that special! ADP Chair Andrei Cherny steps down

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

As Dana Carvey's SNL character the Church Lady would say: "Isn't that special!" Arizona Democratic Party Chair Andrei Cherny, for whom the party had to bend its bylaws last year in order to make him chair of the party, announced that he is stepping down today after only one year into a two year commitment to do what, exactly? He doesn't disclose in his letter to Democrats.

Some quick points. First, this is an announcement Cherny should have made in person to state committee members in Tucson on January 21. Second, when the party bent its bylaws last year to make him chair we were told he was some kind of wunderkind of fundraising. He has not been. I am sure that I was not the only one shocked by ADP Treasurer Rick McGuire's treasurer's report at the state committee meeting in Tucson. The fact that Democrats are doing slightly better than the Arizona GOP is little consolation in the age of Citizens United. Finally, I have had enough of people who use the chair's position only as a stepping stone to seek political office.

This leaves the Arizona Democratic Party with an interim chair, Vice Chairwoman Harriet Young, until the Arizona Democratic Party elects a new chair to complete Cherny's term at its Spring State Committee Meeting in Phoenix on April 21 -- already expected to be a very long and possibly contentious meeting with the selection of delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. Cherny's sense of timing could not be worse.

And just who is going to step into the chair's position well into a presidential election year who has the capacity to raise a ton of money for campaigns on such short notice? No name immediately comes to mind.

Keep all of this in mind when you read Cherny's self-congratulatory resignation letter below the fold (things ain't as as rosy as he portrays them):

NRA combines viciousness with self parody

by David Safier

This ad for the NRA store would be laughable if it weren't for the use of JFK, assassinated by rifle shots, as a supporter of the perversion of "Freedom" the NRA stands for.

The "I didn't say that," Much-louder-than-a-dog-whistle pairing of the killing a [Democratic] president with the "cost of freedom" borders on the obscene.

But then comes the self parody. How far can you stretch the concept of "freedom" to make a buck? You can sell jackets that allow the buyer to "Pursue Freedom from the Cold" ($79.95)  Further down the ad, you can buy a Peacemaker Wooden Box to "Pursue Freedom from Clutter" ($69.85). Or a Collectible Knife to "Pursue Freedom to Choose Quality." ($199.95). Or an NRA USA Long Sleeve T-Shirt to "Pursue Freedom of Motion" ($19.95)

EXTRA: ANTENORI'S VICIOUSNESS IN OUR OWN BACKYARD: For Frank, this country is a battlefield, literally, the more guns the better. What's the best he could come up with as a tribute to Giffords?

“She took a bullet for her country, just like many other people that I know, and she’s to be commended for that,” said Antenori, who served in the Army Special Forces. “Whether it’s a veteran or a congresswoman, they’re to be respected for that degree of sacrifice."

Frank, you callous son of a bitch, when you go to war with a gun in your hand, you're putting yourself in harm's way. You expect to be shot at. You know you might be injured or killed. When you are elected to office in the U.S., you should not "take a bullet for your country" from a madman who, because of our insanely lax gun laws, can buy guns easily. It's a false, obscene equivalence.

Son of TABOR 2 - Tea-Publican tyranny run amok

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

While I am on the subject of the Goldwater Institute's ready and willing stooge, Rep. Justin Olson (R-Mesa), this piece of work is up to something even more nefarious.

Olson is proposing that the House adopt a procedural rule that would effectively impose the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) by legislative fiat, rather than by law.

You may recall that the "Son of TABOR" bill last year HB 2707 was vetoed by Governor Jan Brewer as being too restrictive. Hence, the back-door attempt by legislative fiat. House GOP looks to rule change for spending limit -Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required):

The rule requires approval by a majority of the 60-member body – 40 of whom are Republicans – to be adopted.

Under the proposed rule, any future budget that exceeds the baseline would be deemed out of order, and lawmakers would be required to vote on whether they wanted to suspend the rule in order to approve the budget.

The change would be more flexible than a statutory or constitutional one, something Olson said remedies Brewer’s complain that last year’s bill tied future Legislatures’ hands. The purpose, he said, is to force a discussion about spending every time the Legislature considers a budget.

“It would require that debate and vote, and members would have to make the case as to why they were growing the budget,” he said.

House Speaker Andy Tobin called the rule “a good first step” in imposing a spending limit.

But when the rule came up during the House Republican caucus meeting on Tuesday, some of his colleagues had concerns.

Although Olson suggested that the flexibility was an advantage, Rep. John Fillmore, R-Apache Junction, called the rule “a toothless tiger” and said that it would be “embarrassing” if a lawmaker tried to tell his constituents that he had put this measure in place to control excessive spending, only to see the rule bypassed by a procedural vote.

“This is something I would expect out of Congress, not the state of Arizona. Why don’t we just do our job? I think this is beneath us,” he said.

Rep. Kate Brophy McGee, R-Phoenix, said that she was uncomfortable about the precedent of setting policy rather than procedure in the rules.

“We set the stage for some unanticipated consequences that I’m very uncomfortable with,” she said Tuesday.

Kill this Bill: The Goldwater Institute is a lobbyist organization

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

No single organization has caused more harm to the state of Arizona or contributed more to its image as an ideological backwater than the Goldwater Institute. The Goldwater Institute operates as a non-profit 501(c)(3), which means it does not have to disclose the donors who fund it, and it does not have to register as a lobbyist organization -- even though the Goldwater Institute has its so-called "experts" testifying on bills at the state legislature on a routine basis. They also draft model legislation as a member of ALEC.

The Goldwater Institute is the lobbyist organization trying to kill Arizona's Citizens Clean Elections and is all-in for expansion of Citizens United v. FEC to allow unlimited direct corporate contributions to candidates on the specious legal theories that "money = speech" and "corporations are people."

You may recall that Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett had quite enough of the Goldwater Institute operating as lobbyists without registering its members as lobbyists last year. Goldwater Institute ‘lobbies’ against registering more lobbyists - Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required):

In March, Amy Bjelland, elections director for the Secretary of State’s Office, sent the Goldwater Institute a letter urging it to register their analysts — who are testifying in legislative committees and contacting legislators — as lobbyists.

“The Goldwater Institute made 26 requests to speak before the 49th Legislature alone,” Bjelland wrote. “The Ninth Special Session was called at the institute’s urging relating to putting the issue of the right to a secret ballot before the voters… to the extent that employees of the principal will be engaging in the conduct regulated by Arizona law as noted above, each of these people must be added to the principal’s registration.”

Secretary of State Ken Bennett said he disagreed with the Goldwater Institute’s interpretation of the exemption from the statute.

“When you start to express positions on whether legislation is good or bad, that is no longer answering technical questions and that is no longer technical information,” he said.

Bennett said his office would look into new legislation to clarify the language before the impasse with the institute could be laid to rest.

Well, quite the opposit has occurred. The Goldwater Institute had one of its ready and willing stooges, Rep. Justin Olson (R-Mesa), sponsor HB 2565 defining non-profit groups as being outside the scope of "lobbyist" organizations, and thus exempt. Bill eyes definition of who is lobbyist:

The bill is designed to resolve a running debate between the Goldwater Institute and the Arizona Secretary of State's Office by putting non-profit groups such as the institute outside the definition of "lobbyist."

That would mean no need to adhere to state laws that limit gifts to public officials or to identify the interest a person represents when testifying to the Legislature. It also would exempt such groups from requirements to file quarterly public reports on spending.

The coming week, part 1

By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings

 

Due to the lateness of the hour, this post will cover only Monday's schedule at the Arizona Capitol. A post on the rest of the weeks schedule will go up Monday night. I'm not going into a lot of depth here tonight, so if an agenda or committee covers an area that you are interested in, click on the agenda and check out the rest of the bills...

All agendas and their specifics, including but not limited to, times, places, and bills to be considered, are subject to change without notice.

Note: All rooms beginning with an "HHR" prefix are in the House of Representatives building; "SHR" indicates the room is in the Senate building.


On the House side of the Capitol -

Rules will meet at 1 p.m. on Monday in HHR4. Long agenda, and mostly, but not completely, non-controversial. Most of the measures will appear on a floor agenda later in the week.

Ways and Means will meet at 2 p.m. on Monday in HHR1. Lots of mischief on this agenda, much of it focused on gutting or completely ending the state's capital gains tax.

Energy and Natural Resources will meet at 2 p.m. on Monday in HHR4. Some "red meat" kind of bills on the agenda, mostly of the "federal government is bad" variety.

Education will meet at 2 p.m. in HHR3. Some bad bills on this agenda, but the "highlight" of the agenda is a presentation on "Biblical Literacy and Academic Achievement" by an academic hired gun from California.

Banking and Insurance will meet at 2 p.m. in HHR5. Short agenda that looks to be pretty harmless.


On the Senate side of the Capitol -

Rules will meet upon adjournment of the floor session in Senate Caucus Room 1. Long agenda.

Natural Resources and Transportation will meet at 2 p.m or upon adjournment of Rules in SHR109. The agenda looks short and relatively harmless.

Judiciary will meet at 2 p.m. or upon adjournment of Rules in SHR1. Some very bad bills on this one. The worst: SB1241, mandating that weapons and explosives used in crimes that are forfeited must be sold off by the confiscating entity within a year, and removes local influence over the process. Note: it is already a requirement in Arizona that such confiscated items be sold and not destroyed. This measure would add a time requirement.

Education will meet at 2 p.m. or upon adjournment of Rules in SHR3. Short agenda, and not too bad. Yet. It's early in the session, though.

Do The Real Job Creators Even Care About The Tax Rate?

Posted by Bob Lord

We can’t tax the job creators! We can’t tax the job creators!

So goes the familiar refrain. The response is more or less to point out that the folks in the top 1% are not really job creators. Heck, many of them are coupon clippers. In addition, there’s the fact that they sure aren’t creating many jobs, those job creators. It’s hard to disagree with those points. After all, they’re true.

But even if Cantor, Boehner and company could get past those basic facts, isn’t all the job creator bullshit still bullshit? Here’s my take on it --

A job creator is just like any businessperson. He wants to make money. There’s nothing wrong with that. So, if a new employee, including benefits, is going to cost, say $50,000, the job creator is going to hire that person only if the net revenue from that job is positive. So, if the new employee will generate more than $50,000 in additional revenue, job creation makes sense.

Here’s where I get stuck. Assume the newly created job will generate $100,000 in revenue, for a net profit of $50,000. Today’s maximum rate corporate tax rate is 34%. So the tax would be $17,000, for an after tax profit of $33,000. Let’s say you increase the rate all the way to 40%. That increases the tax on the net additional profits to the job creator to $20,000. But the job creator still is left with a profit of $30,000 after tax. So unless the job creator is profit adverse, the job will be created, even that the sky high tax rate of 40%. And guess what? The job even would be created if the tax rate were 50%.

I suppose one could argue that the job creators need the after tax profits in order to invest in new job creating endeavors. But that’s a tough argument to make when there’s trillions of cash sloshing around corporate America and the top one percenters who own their own businesses are out there buying luxury items and chasing speculative investments.

So even if the top one percenters really were job creators, the elimination of the Bush tax cuts wouldn’t cost us any jobs. Of course, we already knew that.

Amazing. Genuine (but shaky) old 3-D images on the web

by David Safier

Here's a image taken with a stereo camera in 1905, which, through the magic of gif animation, is rendered in a shaky 3-D.

GIF made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator

It's on the NY Library Stereogranimator site, with lots of others.

For those not familiar with this old 3-D technnique: Photographers would take two images of the same scene from angles about the distance between your two eyes. They were printed side-by-side, then you viewed them through a device that only let you see each with one eye. It's like the Viewmaster, if you remember those.

Here, they've taken the two images and animated them, so you go back and forth so quickly, you get the sense of seeing them with separate eyes. This isn't a fake. It's a genuine 3-D image. You can read more explanation and see more examples on the site.

Question of the Day

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Why do all the media villagers keep repeating Jan Brewer's version of the facts that Obama was "testy" when sh is the only person present who continues to make this claim, and two others have flatly denied it?

Out of the three officials who met President Obama on an airport tarmac near Phoenix earlier this week, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) is now the only one who has characterized the president as anything other than cordial.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, who was standing just feet away from the president and the governor on Wednesday during their now-infamous encounter, told TPM that Obama seemed calm the whole time.

“He wasn’t tense at all,” Stanton said on Friday. “The guy’s a pro.”

And previously:

Mayor Scott Smith of Mesa, Ariz., declined to say exactly what he heard Obama and Brewer talk about during their now-infamous tiff next to Air Force One.

But the mayor said he was standing right next to the governor when the exchange took place and Obama didn’t seem to be in any kind of hurry to leave.

“There was no sense that he was running to or from anything,” Smith told TPM. In fact, he said, the president stayed and had a pleasant conversation with Smith, who’s a Republican, and Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, a Democrat.

It was “just the four of us,” Smith said. “Mayor Stanton and I had a decent talk with him.”

I expect Jan Brewer to keep spinning her FAUX News Fraudcasting talking points, but why are all the media villagers creating an echo chamber for her false story when two eye-witnesses to the converstation directly contradict Jan Brewer? I know that Howard Fischer will spin only Jan Brewer's version of the facts, but do all the media villagers have to perpetuate her lies?

It's good to be Queen i guess.

UPDATE: Elon Green writes at the Political Animal blog, When the Legend Becomes Fact, Print the Legend:

Why do I bother pointing this out? Particularly during Presidential campaigns, this nonsense so easily metastasizes into a factoid, Norman Mailer’s term for “an item of unreliable information that is repeated so often that it becomes accepted as fact.”

His example is the Al Gore "I invented the Internet" mockery of Al Gore. Although Gore never said it, the nedia villagers repeated this incessantly.

Of course, none of this was true. But thanks in no small part to an unquestioning press — voters swallowed it whole.

Political Calendar: Week of January 29, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Political Calendar is posted on Sundays. Please send us notice of your political events prior to the Sunday before your event (7 days would be most helpful). See the calendar icon in the right-hand column of the blog page for easy access to the calendar.

To volunteer to defeat Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and to recall Gov. Jan Brewer go to Volunteer – - Citizens for a Better Arizona. Randy Parraz will focus on Joe Arpaio in 2012, and consider a recall of Jan Brewer in 2013 when she would be the only question on the ballot.

We Are Listening in 2012! Campaigns are encouraged to submit notices of campaign events to BforAZ at BlogForArizona@gmail.com.

Political Calendar For The Week of January 29, 2012

Sundays, 6:00 p.m.: Drinking Liberally, at The Shanty, 401 E. 9th Street (at 4th Avenue). An informal, inclusive progressive social group, and lively discussion. Contact: www.livingliberallytucson.org.

White House Hispanic Community Action Summit in Tucson

Monday, January 30, 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.: White House Hispanic Community Action Summit, at Sunnyside High School, 1725 East Bilby Road (Tucson). The summit will connect senior Obama Administration officials from diverse policy areas with community leaders, business owners, and other stakeholders to discuss issues critical to the Hispanic community, Tucson, and the nation. Please go to this link to complete information to RSVP for this event. White House Hispanic Community Action Summit in Tucson, Arizona.

Monday, January 30, Noon: Democrats of Greater Tucson luncheon, Dragon's View Restaurant (400 N. Bonita, South of St. Mary's Road between the Freeway and Grande Avenue, turn South at Furr's Cafeteria), buffet lunch costs $8.50. Featured speaker is Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild. Visit DGT's web site at www.tucsondemocrats.org. Next Week: Pat Fleming, candidate for LD 25 (New LD 14) Senate, and Mohur Sarah Sidhwa, candidate for LD 28 (new LD 9) House.

Tuesday, January 31: Florida Primary.

Tuesday, January 31, 5:30 p.m.: U..S. Attorney’s First Public Civil Rights Forum for Southern Arizona, at the YWCA of Tucson, 525 N. Bonita Avenue. The YWCA of Tucson and the Southern Arizona Hate Crimes Taskforce would like to invite you to join us as we welcome Acting U.S. Attorney Ann Birmingham Scheel to her first public forum. Doors open at 5:30 pm and the forum will begin at 6 p.m. We encourage the public to attend with their questions for federal prosecutors and federal law enforcement. AUSA Karen Rolley and FBI Special Agent Christopher McKinney will present on how hate crimes are prosecuted using the Shepard-Byrd Act, as well as inform the public on how to report police misconduct and other civil rights abuses. Please invite your family and friends for an educational evening on how to protect your civil rights. For more information please contact Tim Jefferson, Victim Witness Specialist. at timothy.jefferson@usdoj.gov or (520) 620-7461. (h/t Carolyn's Community).

Wednesday, February 1, 7:00 p.m.: Legislative District 28 meeting, at the Pima County Democratic Party HQ, 4639 E. 1st Street (one block south of Speedway and West of Swan). For more information please contact Ted Prezelski at prezelski@aol.com or (520) 326-3716 (leave message).

Cartoon of The Week

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

What's that old Gershwin song from the Fred Astaire movie Shall We Dance? "Let's call the whole thing off."

Very bad news on the voucher front

by David Safier

A judge has given her OK to Arizona's "Education Empowerment Scholarships," which is the state's vouchers-on-steroids bill. She accepted the dual arguments that (1) creating "savings accounts" somehow launders the money of its government connection and it can therefore be used for religious education; and (2) because the parents can use the money cafeteria style, splitting it up for a variety of educational uses, that also takes away the religious education prohibition.

Of course, the decision is being appealed. But if this plan gets a final judicial blessing, it will quickly move from just being for children with educational disabilities or who have been in foster care to being available to every child in the state. That's a full blown voucher system, something which has been voted down every time it has been put up as a state initiative anywhere in the country.

Right now, even though the ink is barely dry on the original "Education Empowerment Scholarships" legislation -- it only passed last session -- an amendment, HB2626, has been proposed to broaden its scope. Children would be eligible if their school gets a D or F on the state evaluation, attended a public preschool the previous year, or -- and this could be a loophole you could drive a Humvee through -- "was deemed eligible by a School Tuition Organization for a scholarship under section 43‑1505." Who can be "deemed eligible"? There's room for interpretation here. It could add many people to the pool.

Another addition is that some of the "Scholarship" money can be used to pay for classes or extracurricular programs at public schools. That means a student could be enrolled in calculus or band during the school day and participate in a sport after school, by paying for those specific programs.

If this legislation is declared constitutional, everything changes in Arizona education -- for the worse, in my opinion, for the better in the opinion of the Goldwater Institute and every other conservative "pro choice," "education reform" advocate in the country. This will be the SB1070 of education bills, the original which is copied by other states.

Andy Tobin taking the lead in the Republican fight against independent redistricting

By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings

 

...and the fun part is: he wants the voters to pay $8 million for the privilege of subverting their own will...

Rep. Andy Tobin (R-Paulden), the Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, has introduced HB2710, HCR2051, HCR2052, HCR2053, and HR2005. If passed, they would mandate a special election in May where the voters would be "asked" to amend the independent redistricting provisions in the Arizona constitution.

HB2710 would call the special election.

If passed by the voters, HCR2051 would take the "independent" out of "independent redistricting commission". It would take the current 5-member Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC), where no political hacks are allowed (meaning no party precinct committeemen, or PCs. Full disclosure: I'm a Democratic PC, so I can call PCs "hacks." :) ) and turn it into a cesspool of hackery, with 12 politically-appointed members. It would also remove the requirement under current law that there be an Independent member of the AIRC. In addition, it would remove the requirement that the Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments screen the applicants.

[start sarcasm] Obviously, as the judicial branch of government in Arizona is the only branch the receives, or is even worthy of, respect for its professionalism, so it shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the redistricting process. [end sarcasm]

If passed by the voters, HCR2052 and HCR2053 would scrap the the legislative and Congressional maps, respectively, in favor of maps drawn by Tobin.

HR2005 is a resolution where the legislature (or to be realistic, the Republicans in the legislature) pledge to base their maps on the scribblings and the electoral alchemy of the Republicans' own Andy Tobin.

It's "alchemy" because Tobin is trying to turn the iron clauses of the Arizona constitution into a golden opportunity for job security for the Capitol's elected Republicans.

Even more infuriating than Tobin et. al.'s open contempt for the will of the voters (we are the ones who created the independent redistricting process specifically to take it away from legislators interested only in serving their own self interests above all else) or even the best interests of the people of Arizona (we are served best by public officials who have to answer to the entire electorate in their districts, not just a few partisan extremists) is his plan to have the voters pay (subscription required) more than $8 million for the special election/Hail Mary pass. On top of that, Tobin has defended (subscription required) the secrecy that shrouded his drawing of the maps that he wants to implement, and the use of a taxpayer-funded employee of the legislature, John Mills, to aid him in his quest to overthrow the voters' independent redistricting process.

An interesting two-step for someone who has criticized the AIRC for spending too much money (expenses incurred in part to deal with the litigation stemming from previous attempts to subvert the process by elected Republicans) and has complained that the AIRC's dozens of meetings and hearings with hundreds of hours of testimony isn't transparent enough.

Note: in this context, "interesting" is a synonym for "hypocritical." In case you couldn't figure that out on your own. :)

Of course, Tobin's scheme pre-supposes that...

a) the other Republicans in the lege go along with Tobin's scheme (IMO, highly likely);

b) the voters go along with Tobin's scheme (IMO, less likely, but given that a special election would be a low-turnout affair dominated by partisan GOTV efforts, definitely possible); and

c) the US DOJ goes along with Tobin's scheme (IMO, highly unlikely given the secrecy and deliberate exclusion of minority groups specifically and the public in general from the crafting of his maps).


On the other hand, Tobin's proposals are so sloppily written that it makes me wonder if this is more about posturing for his caucus or for the inevitable redistricting-related lawsuits than anything else.

As written, HCRs 2052 and 2053 appear to be mutually exclusive. They each propose to amend the same part of the Arizona constitution by inserting identically labelled clauses.

From HCR2052

From HCR2053

Now, I'm just a layman with no advanced (or even beginning-level) legal education or experience, but it seems any credible attempt to amend the Arizona constitution would at least be correctly written, especially as it comes from putative subject matter experts such as Tobin and his "associate" Mills.

However, given that Tobin's maps guarantee him a safe district, credibility may not have been a consideration in Tobin's scheming, just ensuring his continued seat on the West Washington Gravy Train.

As near as I can tell, the measures haven't been agendized for committee consideration as yet, probably because they haven't been assigned to any as yet while they await for the Speaker to "first read" the bills and assign them to committee. The timing of that and the specific committee that they are assigned to is completely within the Speaker's discretion and is often subject to the vagaries of the relationship between the introducing sponsor and the Speaker.

In this case, I expect the measures to be formally introduced, First Read, and assigned to committee on Monday.

Something tells me that Rep. Andy Tobin is on good terms with Speaker Andy Tobin. :)


Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services has coverage here, via the East Valley Tribune.

AZBlueMeanie at Blog for Arizona has his take here.

Steve at Arizona Eagletarian offers his take here.

The Democratic caucus of the Arizona House of Representatives has a statement from Rep. Chad Campbell, House Minority Leader, here.

A New Ironic Insipidity From Representative Gowan

Posted by Michael Bryan

The State House Committee on Military Affairs and Public Safety passed HCM2005, which expresses the august and considered judgment of the Arizona House that dismantling internal border patrol checkpoints and "relocating these agents from the streets and highways to the border fence, stationing them three hundred feet apart, and providing a constant patrol along the border fence will stop the crossing of illegal immigrants and result in little need for border patrol agents in the interior of this state."

You sure that 200 feet apart wouldn't be a better deterrent, guys? Come on. This sort of attempt to micro-manage Federal immigration policy and practices is just more political grandstanding by the anti-immigrant AZGOP.

The seeming unconcious hypocrisy of folks who complain about the intrusiveness of the border patrol's permanent internal checkpoints, but none-the-less support intruding on Latino-looking American citizens and residents using local police anywhere in the state, never ceases to amaze.

It's sometimes surprising what comes out of the mouths of our elected representatives on this topic. In the following clip you get to watch State Rep. David Gowan (R-LD30) bellyache about how he doesn't like the Federal government bugging folks like him (non-Hispanic-looking folks, presumably) about their immigration status inside our borders. Apparently, however, it's fine with Gowan for the State of Arizona to do so (as he is a proponent of the SB107), which is intrusive in EXACTLY this way.

Gowan says:

“We're talking the difference between the federal government and the State doing law-enforcement. There is a higher criteria that comes with the federal government. And that's the essence of this, is the federal government, what I was talking about earlier, asking about our citizenship inside America is what perturbs me.”

WTF? What higher criteria? I suspect that criteria is simply whether Gowan, and folks like him, feel that the "right people" are in charge of the law enforcement officers in question. If the officers are "properly" trained only to harass brown people -- like Sheriff Joe's crew -- it's OK. But if the officers are "improperly" trained not to racially profile -- like the Border Patrol under the communist Kenyan Obama -- then Gowan no likey.

See Gowan make an ass-hat of himself after the click... (h/t to Sarah Muench for pointing out the video)

Election Deadlines for the Giffords Seat

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

There will be two congressional races overlapping one another for the Giffords seat -- a special election and the general election.

Here are the dates you need to know:

SPECIAL ELECTION

Candidate nomination petitions are due Monday, February 27, 2012 by 5:00 p.m.

Legal challenges to candidate nomination petitions must be filed by Monday, March 5, 2012.

Early ballot voting begins Monday, April 2, 2012. (15 days)

Party primaries Primary Day is Tuesday, April 17, 2012.

Early ballot voting begins Tuesday, May 29 , 2012. (15 days)

'Special' Election Day is Tuesday, June 12, 2012.

Here's where it gets tricky:

GENERAL ELECTION

Candidate nomination petitions are due Wednesday, May 30, 2012 by 5:00 p.m. (prior to the Special Election)

Normal statutory rules for legal challenges to candidate nomination petitions apply.

Early ballot voting begins Thursday, August 2, 2012.

Party primaries Primary Day is Tuesday, August 28, 2012.

Early ballot voting begins October 11, 2012.

'General' Election Day is Tuesday, November 6, 2012.

If House Speaker Any Tobin gets the Tea-Publican legislature to agree to his unconstitutional plan to refer the redistricting maps that he and FAIR Trust operative John Mills put together in secret to a special election, this special election would occur on Tuesday, May 15, 2012, just two weeks prior to the filing deadline for candidate nomination petitions on May 30, 2012. This means that candidates will not know in what district they are running or the contours of their district. I suspect legal challenges and DOJ preclearance will prevent "Tobin's Tyranny" from ever occurring.

Too damn much to write about!

by David Safier

I feel like I'm ten posts behind right now.

These are interesting times, to paraphrase a Chinese proverb and curse.

Fukushima, bailing wire, duct tape and assurances everything is fine

by David Safier

Since Atomic Al Melvin has put the nuke issue back on Arizona's legislative table, a few thoughts about the "perfectly safe" Fukushima nuclear power plant are in order.

The Fukushima plant was deemed absolutely safe -- indestructable -- until the one-two punch of an earthquake-tsunami hit it. Then the danger was contained; then it wasn't. Then there was no meltdown; then there was. Now, it's perfectly stable, according to the Japanese government.

Can it withstand another blow to the buildings and containment tanks, held together by bailing wire and duct tape? I've heard people say it isn't leaking, but no one claims it's safe in its current condition.

Could there be another earthquake in the area?

A 5.5 magnitude earthquake hit Japan yesterday. Nowhere near Fukushima, though, so we're all good.

Japanese university researchers predict a 70% chance an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude or higher will hit Tokyo in the next 4 years. Japan is earthquake central, on land and offshore. There's a reason we've chosen a Japanese word, "tsunami," to describe these events.

Meanwhile, Japanese farmers within a wide circle around Fukushima have been told their crops are perfectly safe. But when they have them analyzed, they find radioactive isotopes far above the allowable limit.

My conclusions: Nuclear proliferation of any kind, peaceful as well as military, is incredibly dangerous. There is no such thing as a safe nuclear power plant, since there is no human estimation and no computer model capable of predicting the kinds of disasters which can hit a plant or a building's ability to withstand any given disaster. Governments will lie to us about the dangers, before, during and after a dangerous event.

Anyone who puts their faith in the I-love-nukes crowd is a fool. Anyone who puts their faith in anything that comes out of Al Melvin's mouth . . . well, fool is far too weak a word.

What Will Gabby Do?

Posted by Michael Bryan

Gabby Giffords finds herself in a fairly unique position: she is no longer a Member of Congress, but unquestionably has a vast reservoir of goodwill, respect, and love from her former constituents, regardless of party. To a far greater degree than any other resigning Member I can recall, Gabby has the power to influence the future political direction of her district. Arguably, should she choose to endorse a candidate for her former seat, that endorsement could have considerable, possibly dispositive, influence over who will take her place.

If her choice is well-considered, it could very well be determinative of the result of the upcoming elections in CD8, and it's successor CD2.

So, who will Gabby choose? I don't know.

Who could she choose? I have a few ideas.

Click through to keep reading...

The GOP war on the AIRC returns with a vengeance

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Just when you thought these Tea-Publican authoritarians had finally learned their lesson, the Tea-Publican tyranny is back, and they want to impose their authoritarian will on us again -- the will of the voters be damned.

House Speaker Andy Tobin introduced several measures on Thursday that would set a special election so voters could decide whether to use legislative and congressional maps drawn by the Legislature instead of those approved last month by the constitutional Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Tobin wants special election on new district maps:

Tobin, R-Paulden, introduced a handful of measures on Thursday that would put new maps drawn by the Legislature on the ballot for a May 15 special election. Another proposal would put a measure on the general election ballot in November to expand the membership of the IRC, among other changes.

HCR2052 and HCR2053 would call the special election so voters could decide on congressional and legislative maps approved by lawmakers. The proposals come as the IRC is preparing to send its own maps, approved in December, to the U.S. Department of Justice for approval.

Tobin said he and House staffer John Mills, who worked for the GOP-backed FAIR Trust and was a regular fixture at IRC meetings, already completed the congressional and legislative maps he wants to refer to the ballot. He said they began working on the maps about three weeks ago, using public input gleaned from seven days of hearings by a Joint Legislative Committee on Redistricting in October.

They did not speak with other lawmakers about the proposal, Tobin said.

Tobin has a laugh out loud lack of self-awareness and sense of irony with this statement:

“I think it’s clear that there should be an alternative to the IRC maps. And I think the voters should see a clear and distinct alternative,” Tobin said. “The politics that drew the IRC maps through the back door with the lights turned down is not going to stand. I think the voters know when they see deception.”

You mean like you and John Mills drawing up maps together? And the highly secretive GOP redistricting organization FAIR Trust operating in the shadows actively seeking to undermine the AIRC for over a year? This guy is a major tool!

Senate panel votes to give the Governor a state militia for the border

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Birthers-Birchers-Secessionists of our Tea-Publican legislature are at it again. A Senate panel has approved a proposal to create an armed militia that could be deployed to the Mexican border under the direction of the Governor. The bill, SB 1083, is backed by "states’ rights" advocates and anti-immigration zealots. What could possibly go wrong? (Jan Brewer and her teabaggers are recklessly irresponsible enough to create an international incident or start a war).

The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Senate panel OKs bill to create state militia for border security, disasters:

[The bill] would set aside $500,000 in one-time funding and $1.4 million annually for the new state militia.

As envisioned, the Arizona State Guard would have its own command structure apart from the Arizona National Guard.

It would be under the direct control of the governor, who could deploy it to respond to disasters and interdict those who engage in “cross-border criminal activity.”

The militia would also have arrest, detention and property seizure powers.

Ah, so what they are really saying is that Jan Brewer will have her own private armed militia that she can use to abuse the rights of citizens and non-citizens alike with the power of arrest, detention and property seizure.

Maj. Gen. Hugo Salazar, the head of the Arizona National Guard, candidly expressed his reservations during a hearing by the Senate Border Security, Federalism and States’ Sovereignty Committee.

Salazar said he believes he would ultimately be responsible for the new force because current state law gives him responsibility over military organizations in the state. He also said he has concerns about allowing militia volunteers carry weapons, noting that National Guard members go through extensive training before they are armed.

“I’m not saying that weapons cannot be carried, but there’s a lot of things that have to occur before I would be comfortable putting a weapon in a volunteer’s hand,” he said.

Salazar’s remarks prompted Sen. Sylvia Allen, the bill’s sponsor and the committee’s chairwoman, to ask: “How do we fight a war without weapons?”

Salazar said his soldiers that are deployed to the border there are “not fighting the war.”

Rather, he said their mission is to support federal law enforcement. Salazar also said the border issue is a law enforcement and policy problem — not a military one.

“The problem or concern I have is that you cannot solve what I believe is a law enforcement and policy problem with a military solution,” he said.

Maj. Gen. Hugo Salazar is a wise man.

American Library Association condemns closure of MAS program, removal of texts

by David Safier

The banning of the use of texts by former Mexican-American Studies teachers infuriates the English teacher in me. I understand, there are some good reasons why some books should not be in schools, but the ideas contained in them is not one of those good reasons.

But if you want to see a group of people rise up against unreasonable banning of books, look no further than librarians. They may seem like a demure group of folks, always speaking in whispers and shushing people in their libraries. But they are fierce defenders of access to books of all kinds.

The American Library Association released a resolution Tuesday condemning both the decision to get rid of the MAS program and the decision to prohibit the use of texts by former MAS teachers. You can read the whole resolution with all the WHEREASes after the jump, but here's the actual resolution:

RESOLVED, That the American Library Association:

1) Condemns the suppression of open inquiry and free expression caused by closure of ethnic and cultural studies programs on the basis of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
2) Condemns the restriction of access to educational materials associated with ethnic and cultural studies programs.
3) Urges the Arizona legislature to pass HB 2654, “An Act Repealing Sections 15-111 and 15-112, Arizona Revised Statutes; Relating to School Curriculum.”

Here's a list of the Library groups supporting the resolution:

[T]he ALA Committee on Diversity, ALA Committee on Legislation, American Association of School Librarians, American Indian Library Association, Asian Pacific American Librarians Association, Black Caucus of the American Library Association, Chinese American Library Association, Intellectual Freedom Round Table, REFORMA: The National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking, Social Responsibilities Round Table, and the Young Adult Library Services Association.

My advice: Kiss your local librarian -- but be sure to ask first. These people are defenders of our freedom and strong advocates for literacy. (You might ask a librarian how they responded when, during the Bush administration, they were told they had to release lists of books patrons had borrowed if the government asked.)

A MAJOR HAT TIP: Jeff Biggers just keeps writing about the MAS story, on Huffington Post, on Salon, wherever he finds a national outlet. He puts the links on Facebook, then sends them to me and others. I got the link to the ALA resolution from his article Arizona Unbound: National Actions on Mexican American Studies Banishment. (And a literary hat tip if I'm correct in assuming Jeff took his title from Prometheus Unbound, with versions written centuries apart by Aeschylus and Shelley). He sent me links to another group of articles I haven't had time to read yet. I'll post about them when I do.

Read the entire ALA resolution after the jump.

Antenori to run for the Giffords seat - already terrorizing the villagers

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

State Sen. "Don't make me angry" Frank(enstein) Antenori announced this morning that he is running in both the special election and November general election for the Giffords seat in CD 8. Antenori to seek Giffords' seat.

Whoever is elected to the Giffords seat should have the same temperament, character and judgment as Gabrielle Giffords and her sense of decency, fairness and willingness to work with all parties for what is best for Arizona. That clearly is not Antenori who has repeatedly demonstrated that he entirely lacks the temperament, character and judgment to serve in Congress, or any other elective office for that matter.

The Tucson Weekly reported yesterday that Antenori is already off terrorizing the villagers in his own Tea-Publican Party. Congressman Antenori? | The Range:

Rumor also has it that beaten CD8 candidate Jesse Kelly is looking to another run for Giffords’ seat — and Antenori had some harsh words for the man who within a percentage point of unseating Giffords in 2010, and then left Arizona for Texas.

“We went through a period of time in the state where there were a lot of political battles,” he said, citing the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission and the Tucson City Council. “Some of us stayed to fight those battles and work for the conservative cause in the party and some of us didn’t.”

“When the going gets tough, Jesse Kelly gets going,” he said.

Big talk for a guy who starts out trailing badly in a field poll, albeit by the Jesse Kelly camp (and just who paid for this poll - inquiring minds want to know). Jesse Kelly! He's Got a Poll! | The Range:

The beaten Republican candidate who limped off to Texas after nearly toppling Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in 2010 released a poll today which showed him out front of the pack of probable Republican candidates for the special election to replace Giffords.

According to the survey, Kelly has a combined 35 percent of definite and leaning voters. State Senator Frank Antenori pulls 15 percent of definite and leaning voters, and local sports broadcaster Dave Sitton gets 7 percent.

The poll was conducted on the 24th and 25th of January, 2012 and sampled 300 likely [GOP] primary voters from throughout the current Congressional District 8.

* * *

“What’s really astonishing is that he had no intentions of running in the normal election and he had already started cutting staff away, and all of a sudden Mr. opportunity is back in town,” Antenori said.

Grrrr! The Monster is angry and off terrorizing the villagers again -- more raw red meat!

UPDATE: Antenori told the Arizona Capitol Times he won’t be resigning from his legislative seat. He’ll also keep his position as Majority Whip.

Rich Crandall moves from deplorable to absurd in his free/reduced meals optional argument

by David Safier

I learned long ago, whenever anyone has lots of reasons why something is a good idea or a bad idea, usually none of the reasons given are the real reasons. There's something else going on. Rich Crandall is on my "Too many reasons, too many rationalizations" list.

Crandall is sponsoring the bill that would make participation in the federal free and reduced meals program optional. Here's his lastest argument, if you want to call it that.

“You’re trying to say, ‘Hey, this is the only way to feed kids.’ And I’m saying, no, it’s not. Our Arizona charter schools show that there are numerous ways to make sure kids are fed,” Crandall said.

Unbelievable. True, charter schools don't have to participate in the free/reduced meals program. But many of our charter schools simply don't feed their students. No cafeteria. No meals. The result is, kids from families who qualify for free or reduced meals don't attend those schools. That's not an option for students attending the local district school.

Crandall has also said, if a school district doesn't provide the service, the kids can always opt to attend another school. Of course, there may be no bus service provided. If it's a rural area, the next school may be 50 miles away, and it may not offer the service either. But Crandall doesn't give a damn.

So, if Crandall's too many reasons mean he's hiding his real agenda, what is it? He insists adamantly it has nothing to do with his Child Nutrition consulting and menu planning company. But in the words of the Immortal Bard, Crandall "doth protest too much, methinks."

Quick Nuke waste dump/reprossing quote

by David Safier

From today's NY Times, an article about problems disposing of our radioactive waste:

Some nuclear power advocates argue that the United States should develop factories and reactors that will recycle some of the spent fuel. But the [Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future] said that no existing technology was adequate for that purpose, given cost considerations and the risk of nuclear proliferation.

I'm sure Al Melvin will poo-poo the quote, given the source. The NY Times is just another one of those Commie Environmental Watermelons he referred to in a recent tweet:

#azright To show the political agenda of  environmentalists, slice a water melon open. It has a thin veneer of green but is Commie red inside

Arizona Daily Star: Governor Brewer embarrasses Arizona

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Daily Star unfortunately relies upon the AP and Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services for its news content on state government. Cheap bastards! You have the money, hire your own capitol reporter and expand the number of eyes and ears watching our state government and add another perspective to reporting. Howard Fischer should not enjoy a monopoly, I don't care that he used to work for the Star.

Leaving this aside, the Arizona Daily Star has an editorial opinion today that is spot-on. Finger-wagging Brewer cast state in a bad light:

Gov. Jan Brewer likes to cast herself in the tough-leader role - and sticking her finger in President Obama's face and jawing at him makes for a handy visual message to her political base. What the rest of the state, along with the nation, sees is boorish behavior from Arizona's top official.

* * *

On Wednesday, Brewer handed Obama a handwritten letter, which she described as discussing immigration and inviting him to visit Arizona again and join her for a border tour. By all accounts, he told the governor her book mischaracterized their last meeting. Heated words were exchanged. Reporters [i.e., Howard Fischer] nearby described the two leaders talking over each other, and then Obama walked away. [Not true according to Mayor Scott Smith of Mesa]

Brewer, as governor, represents all Arizonans and should act as an ambassador for our state. Obama was in Phoenix to visit a major economic accomplishment - a new Intel plant - and the tiff on the tarmac was graceless.

* * *

After initially contending that the letter was not a public document because it was a personal handwritten note, Brewer's office released the letter late Thursday afternoon.

It is what one would expect from a governor to a president of another party - mentioning "hard choices" and balanced budgets, while neglecting to mention, however, the high cost Arizona's citizens have paid in recent years through draconian cuts to school funding, health-care coverage for kids of the working poor and more.

Brewer's digital gesticulation got attention, and that's what any politico trying to raise her profile wants - and sales of her memoir have jumped.

But Brewer's jab comes at the expense of Arizona's national reputation and image.

Text of the snarky and delusional stage prop letter from Arizona's "savior" is below the fold.

David Fitzsimmons once again nails it!

The Barretts, Craig and Barbara: Power couple

by David Safier

Muckety, a website whose mission, in its own words, is "Mapping the paths of power and influence," has posted a power map of Craig Barrett and his wife, Barbara.

Craig currently heads Brewer's A-Wreck (AREC: Arizona Ready Education Council). He's a big player in the conservative Choice/Education Reform movement here in Arizona. In case anyone was wondering, both he and Barbara are big Republican donors.

Interestingly, Craig's position as head of BASIS Charter Schools isn't mentioned here. But his connection with K12 Inc., the huge national cyber school corporation, is.

Craig is very proud of his affiliation with BASIS and brags regularly about how wonderful their elite charter schools are (Sure, they have to accept everyone, but the students who end up enrolling and staying on can be called, in Occupy parlance, the Academic One Percent. The Ninety-nine Percent need not apply).

But I would like to hear what he has to say about this. K12 Inc's Arizona school, Arizona Virtual Academy, is currently one of 27 AZ charter schools on academic probation. The schools have been given conditional renewals.

The conditional renewal requires them to be reviewed annually until they meet their goals. If they fail, the state could close one or more of their schools or revoke their contract.

Mr. Barrett, what's good for your One Percent School is good for your Ninety-Nine Percent School as well. Why haven't you put your considerable energies and influence behind fixing the problems with Arizona Virtual Academy, which apparently isn't doing the job for its 4,000-plus students?

Can Howard Fischer fire himself from Capitol Media Services?

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Can Howard Fischer fire himself from Capitol Media Services? His PR work for Governor Jan Brewer and her fictional biography "Scorpions for Breakfast" is an utter embarrassment to someone who is often referred to as the Dean of the Arizona press corps. What a way to tarnish a career.

We have been over this territory before. The wrong way and right way to report the abuse of power by Governor Brewer and her Star Chamber:

Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services provides news content to many of Arizona's news outlets, including our sad small-town newspaper the Arizona Daily Star.

Fischer has been publishing what would appear to be nothing more than publisher PR press releases for Jan Brewer's new book "Scorpions for Breakfast" for several months now, including this most recent release on Tuesday, the date of release of her book. Brewer book tells different story of Arizona governor's meeting with Obama.

Color me skeptical of Fischer's ability to be objective in his reporting. He frequently inserts his own editorial opinion into what is purported to be objective factual reporting. Because his reporting is used by so many news outlets in Arizona, Fischer enjoys an outsized influence over public opinion through his reporting not enjoyed by any other political reporter in Arizona, and that is a problem.

Fischer was back hawking Governor Brewer's book this week with her staged political theater greeting the President. Brewer, Obama exchange tense greeting at Mesa airport - East Valley Tribune:

Three months after she published her unflattering description of him, it appears President Obama is still miffed with Gov. Jan Brewer.

[Several paragraphs promoting Brewer's fictional biography]

During the short encounter at the airport, Brewer pointed at the president, with that moment captured in a photograph. But the governor said that, whatever the picture looks like, she was not acting in anger.

"I've always been kind of animated,'' she said.

"We could have been talking about a lot of different things,'' Brewer continued, saying she respects the office of the president. "And I would never be disrespectful in that manner.''

But Brewer said that, the president's complaints Wednesday afternoon about the book aside, she and Obama clearly were not communicating much at all.

"He wants to talk about amnesty and I want to talk about securing our border,'' she said. "We're just not ever going to agree on that.'' [This was never part of their conversation from multiple media accounts]

That, she said, was underscored by how the conversation at the airport ended.

"I was in the middle of a sentence and he walked away,'' Brewer said.

Only that's not accurate. How do I know? Because Republican Mayor of Mesa Scott Smith and Democratic Mayor of Phoenix Greg Stanton were standing next to the governor.

Rep. Eddie Farnsworth Kowtows to Irrational Anti-Vaccination Crowd

Posted by Michael Bryan

Looks like the black helicopter crowd has joined forces with the vaccination conspiracy theorists. Eddie Farnsworth is backing a bill to restrict Arizona's colleges and universities from requiring vaccinations.

Perhaps this is really a problem that is keeping Arizonans from getting post-secondary education, but I sincerely doubt it.

Farnsworth claims "the change is needed because parents of some students from kindergarten through high school decide against having their children vaccinated." This seems merely to be pandering to those irresponsible and wackadoodle parents who still believe, against all evidence and in the face of a major scientific malpractice scandal discrediting the original study linking vaccinations and autism, that children are harmed by vaccination.

Amazing to think that this urban myth delusion has been around long enough that those (surviving) children denied vaccinations may now be approaching college age. It's a testimony to the staying power of irrational beliefs.

Poor form, Farnsworth. And poor public policy in service to an irrational fringe constituency.

Rep. Gowan Climbs Down From Unnecessary Legislative Communications Secrecy Bill

Posted by Michael Bryan

Looks like Rep. David Gowan (R-LD30) may be backing off the bill he dropped to cloak legislative commications in secrecy. As I pointed out in a previous post, exempting consistituent communications from public records requests is excessive and unnecessary. Apparently, Gowan decided to actually find out whether his bill is necessary: it's not.

David, why don't you actually learn a little bit about the law before you drop a bill next time?

Presented almost without comment

by David Safier

From the Phoenix New Times:

Barack Obama T-Shirt (Apparently) Blasted by Arizona Kids, from Cop Facebook Page

Here's a screen shot of the Facebook page, which has since been changed.

If you can't see the picture well, 7 guys, many with guns, stand around a T shirt with Obama's picture on it which looks like it's been shot full of holes.

The Peoria Police Department hasn't decided what to do. Does this cross into the legal territory of a threat to the President?

Stegeman: Yes, the Board "approved" 3 MAS texts, but it was "meaningless"

by David Safier

A few days ago, I posted about a constituent letter Mark Stegeman sent, and I mentioned three of the books banned/removed from classrooms of former MAS teachers had previously been approved by the board (h/t to Three Sonorans for posting the document). Stegeman responded in the comments section of the post. You can read his entire comment beneath the post, as well as my comment in response to his.

Stegeman maintains the approval of the three books is "meaningless" because the Board didn't follow procedure.

The board "approved" the books in a long list of books for many different courses, in a routine consent agenda item with no attached information and no board discussion. It was meaningless from the viewpoint of oversight and very far from a proper curriculum approval, by the standards of either statute or TUSD policy.

So, it's an approval that's not an approval, according to Stegeman, even though it's there in black and white for all to see. I wonder, does the TUSD administration and the rest of the Board agree with Stegeman's assertion the approval is meaningless? Stegeman's authority rests on his one Board vote out of five, so his interpretation holds no weight by itself. I wonder if TUSD Supe Pedicone wants to weigh in on this, or if the Board wants to formally rescind its approval, which would mean the current District and Board doesn't stand behind past decisions and is willing to wipe them out retroactively. Either is possible, I suppose, but honestly, TUSD is running out of feet to shoot itself in. It should probably let the approvals stand, though that puts it in another difficult position, prohibiting certain teachers from using books it has already approved. The district can't seem to win for losing.

Later in his comments, Stegeman claims I was "factually incorrect" when I stated some of the banned texts are still being used in classes not run by former MAS teachers. My reply includes quotes from The Star and The Weekly backing up my assertion, plus a bonus quote from Huppenthal himself, who says, "The books aren't of concern at all." You can read my whole response in the comments beneath the post.

Jan Brewer behaving badly

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Quiz: Who said "I'm not going to let this freaking governor push me around"?

Answer: No, not this guy (pictured right). It was Sen. "Don't make me angry" Frank Antenori, when Gov. Brewer would not call a Special Session for his bill to repeal the AIRC.

President Obama was far more calm in dealing with our Governor. I mean look at this photo -- you can see the hint of an amused smile forming on his lips as Brewer throws a hissy fit wagging her boney finger at him.

Yes, Jan Brewer behaving badly, again (sigh). Stay classy, Jan.

Brewer wanted to engage in political theater to upstage the visit by the President of the United States to let him know that she is the Queen of Arizona. Brewer came prepared with prop in hand, allegedly a hand-written letter inviting the President to Arizona to meet with her to discuss border issues and to visit the border with her (a recurrent theme in Brewer's 2010 campaign). You can bet she will use this photo in the future: "Jan Brewer is standing up to the big bad Feds. Contribute now."

This would be the same president who has had more deportations in his administration than previous administrations. This would be the same president who has put more border agents and other federal law enforcement personnel on the border than previous administrations. This would be the same president who has seen a dramatic decline in the number of border crossings, detentions and related crime during his administration. He has done everything our pretentious Governor has demanded of him except one: participate in her political theater by meeting with her in Arizona and visiting the border with her, and thus play a subservient role to the Queen of Arizona. Ain't gonna happen.

President Obama knew that he had been set-up for political theater by our Governor. When she greeted him with her prop letter in hand asking him for a meeting and to visit the border with her, President Obama responded, in words to the effect, "you mean like the last meeting we had that you lied about in your fictional biography that you didn't even write?" Bwah! Bwah! Jan Brewer freaked out and threw her hissy fit finger-waving for the cameras. "Did you boys get the photo?" Golden! Brewer, Obama exchange tense words over book, immigration at airport:

"He was a little disturbed about my book, 'Scorpions for Breakfast,' " Brewer told a pool reporter who is a member of the traveling White House press corps shortly after her encounter with Obama. "I said to him that I have all the respect in the world for the office of the president. The book is what the book is. I asked him if he read the book. He said he read the excerpt."

Asked what aspect of the book disturbed him, Brewer said: "That he didn't feel that I had treated him cordially. I said I was sorry he felt that way, but I didn't get my sentence finished. Anyway, we're glad he's here."

I'm just sayin'

by David Safier

     

 

Cheap shot. Couldn't help myself.

Rich Crandall, child nutrition consultant, objects to improved child nutrition

by David Safier

The evil scheme is out, everywhere. The feds want to make school meals better for students. Fewer calories. More fruits and vegetables. More whole grains. Less salt. No trans fat. The horror!

Rich Crandall, who runs a child nutrition consulting business that makes money by advising schools and other agencies on nutrition and menus -- though not in Arizona (currently, anyway) -- thinks all this is terrible. So he's got a bill to stop the evil feds, making participation in the free/reduced meals program optional. And even more important, he has to stop Michelle Obama, who has made nutrition her signature issue, from bossing our kids around. "You're not the boss of me, Bad Obama Woman!"

Let 'em overeat whatever the hell they want in school! School has no place educating kids in proper nutrition or looking out for their general health and well-being! Oops. Um, maybe they do. Forget I just said that.

If schools take federal money, they have to follow the fed's nutrition guidelines. If they don't take the money, they can ignore the guidelines. Free/reduced lunch programs have federal grants attached. Get rid of those, and you cut the connection. That's why Crandall is going after the free/reduced lunch program.

Speculation time: If the feds set the nutrition guidelines and basic menus, schools don't need outside nutrition consultants to help them. But if schools go conservative rogue and break free of federal interference, they are more likely to need nutrition and menu consulting from a company like, say, CN Resource, run by Rich Crandall. The "CN" stands for "Child Nutrition," and the company's mission, according to its website, is "to help organizations around the country feed children - whether at home, in day care, at school or after school." Why would they need help if the feds are already giving them all the guidelines they need?

Crandall is doing all this for the sake of the children, the schools and the state, he says. If he makes a little green off of putting fewer green vegetables and fruit on children's plates, what's the harm in that?

Queen of Delusions

Posted by Michael Bryan

Our Governor is delusional. And very rude.

Jan Brewer explains her finger-wagging lecture of the President by claiming that "he just doesn't get it." Radio Interview of Brewer. Once again, Brewer has succeeded in making Arizona look foolish in the national press while garnering fawning right-wing press for herself.

Apparently, Brewer's presumptuous advice on how to bring her ridiculous, self-asserted 'Arizona Comeback' to the rest of America did not meet with a willing audience in our President. After Brewer poked her finger in the President's face because he had the temerity to express displeasure about her characterization in her book of him as 'patronizing' on the issue of immigration, he walked away from her mid-sentence in exasperation with her hectoring rudeness.

Obama has your number, Jan.

You are a blowhard, an embarrassment to our State, a no-class huckster attempting to hit way above your intellectual weight, and a wanna-be low-rent Palin (though it may be tautological to use such a phrase). Obama may have to be civil with you out of respect for your office and the people of Arizona whom you (to our great shame) represent, but he doesn't have any obligation to participate in your grand delusion of competence.

The Governor seems not to realize that her delusional belief that she has accomplished something here in Arizona that deserves to be emulated is not shared among all Arizonans, and certainly not by the rest of the United States. Her policies have made Arizona the laughingstock of America, and harmed our State's standing in just about any metric you care to use.

The sheer brass of Brewer seeking to 'advise' the President about anything is absurd. This is a Governor who allowed her own capitol buildings to be pawned to give tax breaks to the wealthy. A Governor who balanced her budgets on backs of the terminally ill, the poor, and our children. A Governor who stole the treasuries of her State's localities and still claimed not to have raised taxes. A Governor who embarrassed her State by enacting racist (and unconstitutional) legislation in order to get reelected.

Though I may be crediting Brewer with a certain low cunning she doesn't deserve, I suspect she planned this embarrassing public spat to enhance her standing among her Obama-derangement-syndrome-suffering supporters. I'll be very surprised if we don't soon discover her fund-raising using this image. Such antics may ultimately help Brewer politically. And that seems to be all Brewer is interested in.

Activism against the Crandall bill to make Free/reduced lunches optional

by David Safier

This is what I like to see. I just got a Facebook note from Mitzi telling me what she and others are doing in LD20 to fight Crandall's Free/reduced lunches optional bill.

On their website, www.YesPublicEd.org [You had me at "Yes, Public Ed," Mitzi], their first item is:

Action:  Please  urge your  legislators  to  STOP  the School Lunch  Opt-Out bill.

Due to dialogue with community members in LD20,  Sen. John McComish and Rep. Bob Robson  have  asked Sen. Crandall to withdraw  SB1061.     Kudos to them for listening to the community to learn about an issue!   This Bad Bill  would allow AZ District schools  to opt out of the National School Lunch program.

[snip]

According to the ADE (AZ Dept. of Education)  in the committee hearing,  if this bill passes as it is,  500 very needy children or more will no longer be able to eat lunch for  free or for a reduced price.  We've heard adults who are now successful  describe the national lunch  program as the only opportunity they had for a full meal on many days when they were youngsters in school.  

From a human standpoint:  500 hungry children  is 500 too many.   Plus,  it could pave the was for many school districts to  no longer offer nutrition for children in need. 

From a taxpayer's  perspective: Hungry children cannot learn well.  The national program was developed because the  return on investment is huge.  If you  provide nutrition for the most vulnerable children,  they can achieve.

These folks in the Kyrene School District have gotten together to fight a bad bill, and what's more, they've gotten two of their Republican legislators to agree with them -- publicly.

Way to go, "Yes, Public Ed." Way to go, Kyrene.

Sign a petition protesting TUSD actions on Mexican-American Studies

by David Safier

Presente.org has put up a petition to be sent to TUSD about its decision to ban Mexican-American Studies and the books connected with the program. Its goal is to get 25,000 signatures. The meter on the site says it's already up to 22,383. Put them over the top! If they're already over the top, turn it into a landslide!

Representing Blog for Arizona on the Buckmaster Show

by David Safier

I had my 10 minutes of fame on Bill Buckmaster's radio show today, which leaves me 5 minutes more until I use up the entire 15 minutes Andy Warhol allotted me.

You can hear the show on Buckmaster's site. The whole show is an hour. If you want to skip to my portion, I start at just about the 30 minute mark. I found that if you start the audio, let the file load for a minute, then click in the white space where it says "Track #1" and move to the right until the number moves up to 30:00, you can get to the spot you want to start.

I should say, it was a hell of a lot of fun. Bill, I'll come back any time. Say the word.

Birther Queen replaces Scott Bundgaard in the senate

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The other day I posed the question, Will the 'Birther Queen' replace Scott Bundgaard in the Senate?

Survey says: Yes, she can! States' rights "nullifaction" teabagger and "Birther Queen" Rep. Judy Burges, Ahhh, the "Birther" Queen's bill dies in the Senate, was among the three individuals nominated by Tea-Publicans as potential replacements for Sen. Scott Bundgaard, who resigned this month during an ethics trial in the Senate.

The state of Maricopa Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the Birther Queen, who was sworn in as a senator. Supervisors appoint Burges to fill Bundgaard Senate seat:

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors on Monday unanimously appointed state Rep. Judy Burges to the Legislative District 4 Senate seat to replace former state Sen. Scott Bundgaard.

Bundgaard abruptly resigned amid an ethics scandal.

* * *

Burges has become best known for her efforts in recent years to require presidential candidates to show proof of citizenship in order to qualify for the state's ballot. The Legislature last year passed her bill, but Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed it. She has proposed a version of the bill again this year.

That's just special. This is why we can't have nice things in Arizona -- no one in the state of Maricopa has the courage to stand up to crazy.

Burges' appointment to the senate now creates a vacancy in her House seat, which I am confident the state of Maricopa Board of Supervisors will fill with someone equally unqualified for public service. Thanks for nothing.

Don 'Tequila' Shooter: 'We don't need no stinkin' testimony on the budget'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Just how authoritarian is our Tea-Publican legislature? This authoritarian. Shooter considering banning public testimony on budget bills - Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required):

The chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee said Tuesday he is considering banning all public testimony when lawmakers take up the state budget later this year.

Sen. Don Shooter told the Arizona Capitol Times that he was weighing that decision on the same day he took criticism for not taking public testimony during presentations by two government agencies.

“I’m not saying they will or won’t (testify). That decision hasn’t been made yet,” the Yuma Republican said. “It’s possible there’s no public testimony. It’s possible there will be some limited testimony or whatever.”

His decision not to hear public testimony during budget presentations by government agencies isn’t entirely unprecedented, but banning testimony during budget-bill debates is.

If he takes the more restrictive route, it will surely invite criticisms from Democrats and groups who expect to at least be heard in committee.

* * *

Shooter told the Capitol Times he wants to avoid “14-hour” hearings.

He added it’s not the most efficient use of time and it doesn’t serve anybody well, particularly if people are making decisions in the wee hours of the morning.

He also said he’s already hearing from the public even now.

“I get so much public input every day that I can’t keep up with it,” he said.

Well, maybe you should look for more suitable work.

Don "Tequila" Shooter is in the new LD 4 which now takes in parts of West Tucson and Western Pima County into Southern Yuma County (San Luis, Somerton, Yuma), largely an Hispanic Voting Rights Act district. If this guy can't be defeated, I don't know who can. Time for Democratic candidates to step up.

UPDATE: Mary Jo Pitzl at the Arizona Republic has more. Insider: Budget hearing won't have comments. Public comment? "I heard it last year," Shooter said.

UPDATE: More authoritarianism from Don "Tequila" Shooter. Republicans want IRC?to explain ‘overspending’ - Arizona Capitol Times:

The Arizona Constitution states, “The Legislature shall make the necessary appropriations” for the IRC. But some GOP lawmakers are wondering how much latitude they have in setting the IRC’s budget, especially when it comes to the supplemental funding request the IRC plans to make.

Sen. Don Shooter, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that constitutional provision is subjective and vague.

“We decide what we think’s appropriate,” said Shooter, R-Yuma. “And since we seem to be the ones that are given the constitutional duties of appropriations, I think that would be our decision, not the activist courts and other clowns who like to interfere.”

Jonathan 'Payday' Paton to run for Congress in CD 1

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Don't say that I didn't give you fair warning. Watch out Alta Arizona! This carpetbagger has eyes for you.

That's right, former state senator Jonathan "Payday" Paton, the wannabe tinhorn dictator of Tucson, is going to run for Congress in the new CD 1. The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Paton to run in vast CD1, won’t seek Giffords’ seat:

Former state legislator Jonathan Paton is making another run for a congressional seat, but he won’t be seeking to replace U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who resigned her seat today a year after she was shot in the head in an assassination attempt.

* * *

Paton this morning announced on a Tucson conservative talk radio show that he will run for the new 1st Congressional District, which includes most of northern and eastern Arizona. It stretches from the Grand Canyon to the state’s eastern border, and south around the metro Phoenix area. It also includes communities northwest of Tucson that were previously in CD8.

The seat in CD1 became vacant earlier this month when U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Flagstaff, announced he would instead seek re-election in the heavily Republican 4th Congressional District instead of squaring off against Flagstaff Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick, whom he defeated in 2010.

Ann Kirkpatrick shows that she is a regular reader of this blog:

Kirkpatrick’s campaign wasted no time and resurrected an attack that the Arizona Democratic Party leveled at Paton during the 2010 campaign.

“Here in Congressional District One, the last thing we need is a payday-lending lobbyist or a carpetbagger representing us in Congress. Jonathan Paton is both,” said Kirkpatrick spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson.

First, the Arizona Democratic Party needs to revive its paydaypaton.com web page today. The campaign signs can be obtained from the Pima County Democratic Party HQ by our friends in Alta Arizona.

Second, and more importantly, "Payday" Paton should immediately submit his resignation from the Rio Nuevo District Board from which he has sought to subjugate the City of Tucson to the dictates of our colonial overlords from the state of Maricopa. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out!

Finally, Jim Nintzel at the Tucson Weekly, who hosts the political week in review on Arizona Illustrated, needs to find another talking head from the GOP to replace "Payday" Paton. I suggest that you go back to having the Pima County political party chairs debate. No seconds!