Month: November 2012

Media enablers of Pete Peterson’s war on social security and Medicare

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I have been posting about the media  enablers of Pete Peterson's war on social security and Medicare since 2010. Pete Peterson's war on social security – and his media enablers:

In coming weeks you are going to see the name of Pete Peterson pop up frequently in news reports, but the reporting will not contain a disclaimer identifying whom he and the think tanks he funds are nor what his relationship is to the news organization. I warned you about this back in April, Republicans resurrect "welfare" charge for Tax Day: More GOP Tax Day Lies:

CNN even gave four hours of right-wing propaganda to Pete Peterson ("I.O.U.S.A. Solutions") who wants to repeal social security and Medicare. With More Deficit Hysteria Propaganda, CNN Becomes "Most Busted Name In News". The Washington Post recently partnered with Pete Peterson to write about the deficit, er, spread his propaganda. The Washington Post Lets Pete Peterson Write The News On The Deficit. The result of that unholy partnership is evident today. Washington Post Misinforms Readers About Deficit.

You need to maintain a wary eye for any reporting by the Washington Post or its stable of conservative syndicated columnists (David Broder, George Will, Charles Krauthammer, Michael Gerson, Richard Cohen, Robert Kagan, Robert Samuelson, Kathleen Parker, etc.) on the Obama Deficit Commission or the separate Peterson-Pew Commission (a partnership of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget). Bipartisan commission proposes strict budget rules to stabilize U.S. debt. (Post reporting and syndicated columnists fequently appear in The Arizona Republic and the Arizona Daily Star, so beware).

As I predicted, the Washington Post has never included a disclaimer disclosing its partnership with Pete Peterson, and by extension, neither have any of the newspapers that subscribe to the Washington Post news service, including The Arizona Republic and the Arizona Daily Star.

“Put my kid’s education on my state debit card, please.”

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by David Safier Anybody see potential problems with this voucher payment system? Arizona's "empowerment scholarships" legislation is a fast shuffle to get around the constitutional problems with vouchers by moving state money, which can't be used to fund religious education, into "savings accounts" for parents so they can spend it on their children's education at … Read more

The 2012 Hispanic vote

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by David Safier

Hispanics voted in larger percentages in Arizona and across the nation in 2012 than in other recent elections. In Arizona, according to the Capitol Times (subscription only),

Exit polls show Hispanic voters have made up a growing portion of Arizona’s electorate over the past several years. Latinos accounted for 12 percent of the 2004 vote, 16 percent of the 2008 vote and 18 percent of the vote in 2012.

The exit polls also deliver good news for Democrats, as Hispanic voters backed President Barack Obama over Mitt Romney 3-to-1.

The turnout is still below the population percentage: 23% of Arizonans are Hispanic with U.S. citizenship. Unfortunately, the article doesn't dig deeper into the demographics of the Arizona Hispanic community. It would be interesting to see the community broken down by age to determine, say, how the percentage of 18-29 year old Hispanic voters compares to 18-29 year olds in the Anglo population. Since the Hispanic population is younger than the Anglo population, that would tend to lower the voting percentages since younger people are less likely to vote.

The NY Times has an article about the get-out-the-vote push by Hispanic media and grass-roots organizations on a national level.

Students’ “Declaration of Intellectual Warriors”

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by David Safier

A group of students connected with the MAS program has created a document they call Declaration of Intellectual Warriors addressing the Unitary (desegration) Plan for TUSD. They submitted it to Willis Hawley, the Special Master in charge of creating the plan.

You can read the Declaration below or download the pdf.

Declaration of Intellectual Warriors
November 26, 2012
Created by:
Chicano Literature After School Studies program
Tucson High M.E.Ch.A
University of Arizona M.E.CH.A
U.N.I.D.O.S

Dear Special Master Hawley,

We, the youth belonging to the Chicano Literature After School Studies program (C.L.A.S.S.), Tucson High M.E.Ch.A, University of Arizona M.E.CH.A, and U.N.I.D.O.S., along with community input, collectively submit the following response addressing the proposed TUSD Unitary Status Plan:

Restoration of Mexican American Studies
The new Mexican American Indigenous Studies program must be built on the foundation of the previous program that had demonstrated quantitative and qualitative measures of success. Therefore, the implementation of the Mexican American Indigenous Studies program and the other Ethnic Studies Programs must take budgetary priority over the implementation of the Multicultural Program.

Democrats committed to protecting social security and Medicare, despite loose talk from David Plouffe

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

There was some consternation among liberals and progressives on Monday when word leaked that senior White House advisor David Plouffe was making noises again about a "grand bargain" and that Democrats would have to compromise on "entitlements." Top Obama Aide On Fiscal Cliff: "This Is Going To Get Hairy":

Obama senior adviser David Plouffe predicted that the fiscal cliff
negotiations are "going to get hairy" in the coming weeks, saying
President Barack Obama is committed to achieving the elusive "big deal"
on taxes and spending he and Speaker of the House John Boehner have
tried to strike for more than 18 months.

In post-election remarks
at the University of Delaware, Plouffe warned of "paralysis" if both
parties remain beholden to their base, saying Obama is looking for a
deal that sets the country on the right fiscal path for a 10- to 20-year
period.

"The only way that gets done is for Republicans again to
step back and get mercilessly criticized by Grover Norquist and the
Right, and it means that Democrats are going to have to do some tough
things on spending and entitlements that means that they'll criticized
on by their left," Plouffe said at his alma mater in conversation with
former McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt.