Month: October 2013

Tom ‘banned for life by the SEC’ Horne violated campaign finance laws

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

After the tag team of Arizona Secretary of State Ken "Birther" Bennett and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery totally mucked up the initial investigation into Arizona Attorney General Tom "banned for life by the SEC" Horne and had their case dismissed for not following the law, a second investigation by Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk has again concluded that Tommy Boy violated campaign finance laws. Arizona AG again found to have violated campaign law:

For the second time in a year, a county prosecutor has determined
Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne and his political-ally-turned-staffer
Kathleen Winn violated campaign-finance laws during Horne’s 2010 run
for office.

Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk on Thursday gave Horne 20 days to
return nearly $400,000 in donations to an independent-expenditure
committee, Business Leaders for Arizona, that Polk said illegally
coordinated its efforts with Horne’s campaign.

* * *

Polk, in her order, said several e-mails and the timing of phone
calls “provide convincing proof that Horne and Winn coordinated” on the
development of the anti-Rotellini ad and on raising money to pay for the
ad.

Therefore, Polk said, the cost of the ad must be counted as in-kind
contributions to Horne’s campaign and not to the independent-expenditure
committee.

Campaign laws forbid coordination between candidates and certain activities with independent-expenditure committees.

Pair of court decisions to cause confusion in campaign finances

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It has been an interesting week in the courts for campaign finance, and the picture is clear as mud.

GavelThe Arizona Court of Appeals this week overturned the new campaign spending limits in a bill sponsored by Rep. Justin Pierce, who announced this week that he is running for Secretary of State. An ignomious beginning to his campaign, dontcha think? His bill is unconstitutional, but that is not unusual for our lawless legislature.

The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reported Court of Appeals blocks new contribution limits:

The Arizona Court of Appeals blocked
Arizona’s new campaign contribution limits, reversing a trial judge’s
ruling and putting a halt to a month of fundraising under the higher
limits.

The court issued a preliminary injunction against HB2593
on Tuesday, about two hours after a three-judge panel finished hearing
an appeal of a Maricopa County Superior Court ruling that allowed the
new limits to take effect. The court did not explain its reasoning,
saying only that Secretary of State Ken Bennett is barred from enforcing
the new limits pending further order from the court.

Attorney Joe Kanefield, who represents the Citizens Clean Elections Commission in its challenge to the law, said he was thrilled with the decision.

“We have always believed that this law was unconstitutional. We’ve
said that from day one. We said the while it was being debated in
legislative proceedings,” said Kanefield, of the firm Ballard Spahr.

He argued in court that the Legislature violated the Voter Protection Act when it approved the new limits. Opponents have long claimed that because the Citizens Clean Elections Act,
which has always been considered a voter-protected law, reduces the
state’s contribution limits by 20 percent, the limits are subject to the
Voter Protection Act.     It only allows the Legislature to amend
voter-protected statutes with a three-fourths vote, and then only in a
way that furthers the intent of the voters.

* * *

[T]he appellate judges appear to have sided
with Kanefield, who said voters intended to regulate the limits as they
existed in 1998, when the Clean Elections Act was passed.

Old guard GOP establishment to declare war on Tea Party radicals?

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Yet another fascinating headline in the Washington Post today, from Karen Tumulty. GOP
sees chance to regain control from tea party:

Teabaggin_medThe GOP establishment has embarked, once again, on a round of
soul-searching. But this time, the question is: What will it take to
save the Republicans from the self-destructive impulses of the tea party
movement?

That the government shutdown was a political disaster for the party that
engineered it is widely acknowledged, except by the most ardent tea
partyers.

And that near-unanimity presents an opportunity for the establishment
to strike back — and maybe regain some control from the insurgent wing.

“You roll them,” advised former Senate majority leader Trent
Lott (R-Miss.). “I do think we need stronger leadership, and there’s got
to be some pushback on these guys who think they came here with all the
solutions.”

Only then, he said, can the party begin to push an agenda and “get things done,” rather than obstruct.

Wow. So the old guard GOP establishment wants to declare war on the Tea Party radicals. Is this a private fight, or can anyone join?

Be sure to tip your terrorists and say thank you

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Republic, formerly known as The Arizona Republican, has always been the media arm of the Arizona Republican Party. Despite this, the editors managed a couple of hard-hitting editorials in the past couple of weeks highly critical of the GOP for governing-by-extortion and taking hostages, i.e., the GOP government shutdown and threatening to default on the debt. (This may just reflect the divide between the GOP establishment and the wild-eyed Tea Party radicals).

But now that the immediate threat of Tea-Publican economic terrorists blowing up the U.S. and world's economy has been averted, The Arizona Republic(an) is back in its comfort zone of spinning narratives for the GOP, and falling back on the tried and true use of false equivalency to blame both sides.

Today's editorial opinion is a real howler. Lesson
or logjam? Congress will decide:

Sen. Ted Cruz is a sore loser.

President Barack Obama is a sorer winner.

* * *

Obama eschewed magnanimity after he signed the compromise. Instead of an
appeal to everyone’s better angels, he lashed out at Republicans for
their obstructionist ways. That’s going to get the House moving on
immigration reform? If he believes that, he is as deluded as Cruz was in
thinking he could defund “Obamacare.”

Wait, say what now? Let me get this right. The Tea-Publicans manufactured a pair of crises of their making to engage in the undemocratic and un-American tactic of governing-by-extortion to repeal "ObamaCare," took hostages — the GOP government shutdown and threatening to default on the debt — actually shot one of the hostages (the GOP government shutdown), and took us right to the brink of shooting the second hostage (defaulting on the debt) which would have caused a global economic catastrophe, and the editors say that President Obama should have demonstrated "magnanimity"?

Translation: "Be sure to tip your terrorists and say thank you for not blowing your head off." WTF?

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month: Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America to hold Domestic Gun Violence Event

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Press release from Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America:

MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA ARIZONA CHAPTER TO HOLD DOMESTIC GUN VIOLENCE AWARENESS EVENT

On the Top 10 Worst State List the Moms Demand Action-Arizona Chapter will host a Press Conference Highlighting the Need for Stronger Legislation

(Tucson, AZ) Oct. 19, 2013: In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America has launched a national domestic gun violence awareness campaign to push for stronger policies surrounding domestic violence and gun ownership.

The local Arizona Chapter will be participating with a press conference on October 19, 2013 at 3202 East 1st Street Tucson, Arizona 85716, 1:00 PM.

Featured speakers will include Jocelyn Strauss, regional manager of Moms Demand Action Arizona Chapter; Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild; Steve Kozachik, Ward 6 City Councilman; and Richard Miranda, City Manager.

Congressman Ron Barber, and State Representative Bruce Wheeler will also join us.

Moms Demand Action is partnering with the Violence Policy Center (VPC) to promote its report, When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2011 Homicide Data http://www.vpc.org/studies/wmmw2013.pdf, released Sept. 25, 2013, which lists the top 10 states with the highest rates of females murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents in 2011. The report revealed that Arizona had the #5 worst homicide rate among female victims murdered by males, with 56 percent of these homicides related to domestic violence, and 65 percent of those victims killed by guns.