Referendum to block the Voter Suppression Act, HB 2305 filed today – it’s on!

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

6a00d8341bf80c53ef0192abd1b7ee970d-piThe Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports, Election law opponents move toward a referendum:


Critics of the state’s new election law today filed papers to create a political committee that will challenge the legislation through a referendum.

The new group, Protect Your Right to Vote, faces a daunting task: to gather 86,405 valid signatures by Sept. 12 to halt the law’s implementation until voters get the chance to weigh on it in the 2014 general election.

The group filed a referendum petition with the Secretary of State today.

The referendum committee is chaired by Julie Erfle, who writes for the blog site Politics Uncuffed and is the widow of a police officer killed in the line of duty.

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Barbara McGuire and Mark Cardenas: AZ’s voucher-supporting Democratic legislators

by David Safier

Mark Cardenas (LD-19) and Barbara McGuire (LD-8) support the conservative “education reform” movement. Cardenas is from a safe Democratic district with a 20 point advantage over Republicans, so there’s no reason why a candidate who’s more progressive on education issues shouldn’t primary Cardenas in 2014 and try to take that seat. McGuire is in a swing district with a 2% Democratic edge, and the House members are both Republican, so it’s a dicier situation.

Barbara McGuire’s conservative education credentials have been given the stamp of approval by the Goldwater Institute. G.I. praised her because she was the swing vote for SB1363 which expands the number of children who can take advantage of Arizona’s vouchers-on-steroids program, also known as education savings accounts. She voted No on the bill, which meant it failed, then switched her vote to Yes, which meant it passed. She also received praise for her vote from the very conservative, very pro-voucher American Federation for Children (AFC). She was one of two Democrats AFC supported in the 2012 general election. The other was Mark Cardenas. AFC endorsed them and created independent expenditure campaigns to help them win.

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Our Shredded Values — Hunger and Malnutrition In America

Posted by Bob Lord

I generally watch very few documentaries, but saw two this weekend: Dirty Wars, by Jeremy Scahill, and A Place At The Table. More on Dirty Wars in another post. It’s a powerful movie, one every American should see.

A Place At The Table may be as powerful as Dirty Wars, but in a different way. Dirty Wars exposes the work of an imperialistic American regime, waging aggressive war all over the planet, while the majority of its own citizenry remains clueless. A Place At The Table smacks us in the face with what we already know — that about one in every six Americans — and one in every four children — lives in poverty, not fully knowing where the next meal is coming from, or if it’s coming at all. And it tells us how badly our society’s moral compass is broken. 

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