Month: February 2013

Monday was tinfoil hat day at the Lege

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Posted  by AzBlueMeanie:

Screenshot-7Monday was tinfoil hat day at the Arizona Legislature, led by the Birther Queen, Sen. Judy Burges (R-Crazyland).

You will recall that in addition to being a principal sponsor of the Birther bill, Birther Queen Judy was also a principal sponsor of another bill last year for a far-right conspiracy theory, "Agenda 21." SB1507 would prevent the state, county, and city governments of Arizona from adopting any tenets of the UN Declaration and the Statement of Principles for Sustainable Development (the "Rio Declaration"). It would also have blocked any other international "schemes" that violate the U.S. or state constitutions as well.

Birther Queen Judy's bill passed the state senate on a party-line vote, but died in the House where the bill was held until sine die.

Well, she's baaack! Birther Queen Judy is pushing her "Agenda 21" far-right conspiracy theory in a new bill this year, SB 1403, which would prevent the state, county, and city governments of Arizona from adopting any tenets of the UN Declaration and the Statement of Principles for Sustainable Development (the "Rio Declaration").

The Company Doug MacEachern Keeps

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Posted by Bob Lord

The Arizona Republic's Doug MacEachern is out with his nuanced view of the minimum wage, which he's reduced to 78 words: 

The minimum wage is to the Left a sort of private-sector welfare: By the state’s edict, other people’s money is spent on counterproductive feel-goodism. See? Same as welfare. Over 37 percent of Black teens and 20 percent of White teens lack jobs for a reason. When entry-level jobs are more costly, there are fewer of them. The president’s proposal to hike the minimum wage will steal jobs; steal training; steal futures. Is that really worth making libs feel good inside?

Pretty deep thinking there, dude. Hope you didn't strain any brain cells. 

Doug's in some very impressive company with this view. The folks who have railed against the minimum wage include:

  • Michele Bachman;
  • Herman Cain;
  • Rick Perry;
  • Joe Miller (remember him?);
  • Ron Paul and Rand Paul; and
  • Peter Schiff

Quite a group.

“It’s time to separate the Tucson Police Department from the Border Patrol.”

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by David Safier

2_18_13_demonstr2I attended the 4pm rally at the Tucson Police Department to protest the arrest of Rene Meza Huertha by the TPD and the Border Patrol as well as the arrest of Raúl Alcaráz Ochoa who laid down under the Border Patrol vehicle to try and stop the arrest. Pamela Powers has  more details about the arrest in an earlier post.

The crowd numbered about 250-300 — that's a conservative estimate — and the media showed up to record the event. A number of people spoke, including Raúl Alcaráz Ochoa, pictured.

I spoke with City Council member Karin Uhlich after the event. She said we need "full and transparent information from the Tucson Police Department" about what happened during the arrest. "The mission of the police," she said, "is to keep the community safe. The future of the community is dependent on the relationship between the TPD and community members." She expressed concern that events like this jeopardize both the atmosphere in Tucson and the regular flow of people who come here from Mexico and elsewhere to visit and shop. "This is the kind of thing that could undermine our efforts to assure everyone that this is a safe and respectful community."

Another rally is planned for Tuesday, 12:30pm, at the Federal Courthouse.

More photos below the fold.

John McCain’s partisan rage

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Mcain grimaceSenator McNasty, John McCain, is only relevant to his political base — the Beltway media. No one else gives a damn what Arizona's angry old man has to say.

This is why i despise the Beltway media: "If it's Sunday, it's John McCain." This Sunday was Meet The Press Gregory, where McCain has his own green room. The Neocon war monger Senator McNasty was engaging in "Benghazi Fever" to give political cover to his puppet boy, Little Lindsey Graham, from a Tea Party challenge for reelection. Politico’s David Rogers reports today why John McCain has so decisively turned against Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense, and confirms that it’s all about Lindsey!

Steve Benen adds, McCain lost in a fog of partisan rage:

Looking back at the tragic and deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in
Benghazi last fall, we know quite a bit about what happened. We also
know, thanks to an independent investigation, that "Republican charges
of a cover-up" were "pure fiction."

But as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) argued yesterday, he can't be bothered with facts — he has a partisan vendetta to pursue.

The Weeper of The House takes ownership of the sequester

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The GOP approach to the sequester is so deeply unserious that no deal looks even remotely possible. Greg Sargent reported last week, GOP approach to sequester jumps shark:

[Weeper of The House John] Boehner told reporters that the Senate would have to go first in coming up with a plan to avert the sequester. [This is an abdication of his constitutional duty: all tax and spending bills must originate in the House, Article 1, Section 7.] Then he added:

“I’ll tell you the same thing I told my Republican
colleagues at our retreat,” Boehner said. “The sequester will be in
effect until there are cuts and reforms that put us on a path to balance
the budget in the next 10 years.”

So, Boehner says House Republicans are not only willing to let the
sequester hit, but that the only acceptable replacement for it will be a
plan that wipes away the deficit in 10 years — all without [new] revenues.