In the Israel – Palestine debate, the actions and supposed intentions of Hamas are invoked in defense of Israel’s actions. Unless and until Hamas is eliminated, the logic goes, Israel has no choice but to continue on its current course.
But does this make sense? Does the argument withstand careful scrutiny? Let’s explore.
After the TanMan, Weeper of the House John Boehner, was humiliated by the Tea Party Caucus of his party on the border emergency funding bill on Thursday, he capitulated to the anti-immigrant nativists and racists of the Tea Party Caucus and told them to write whatever border bill they wanted (because it would be dead … Read more
Union Woman The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 99 and the Pima Dems invite you to a special legislative canvass and phone bank. Featuring: Congressman Raúl Grijalva, LD-10 Rep. Bruce Wheeler, LD-30 Rep. Jonathan Larkin and very special guest Dolores Huerta! 3 p.m. Saturday, August 2 Pima County Democratic Party Headquarters, 4639 E. First … Read more
The GOP Clown Car Primary for governor came to Tucson on Wednesday for a debate hosted by the League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson. The debate was broadcast on KUAT, the local PBS station, and was moderated by Arizona Week‘s Lorraine Rivera.
Our sad small town newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star gave the debate front page above-the-fold coverage on Thursday. Congeniality rules at GOP governor debate (print edition headline).”Mostly soft questions served up in meeting at Pima College West.” It was a snooze fest for which the alleged frontrunner, “Cathi’s Clown” Doug Ducey, failed to even attend.
There was another political event in Tucson on Wednesday evening that our sad small town newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star, failed to report on. The Democratic “Dream Team” of Fred DuVal, Felecia Rotellini and Terry Goddard (David Garcia could not attend due to a scheduling conflict) were at Dunbar Auditorium. Apparently the Star did not have a college intern available to assign to cover this event. (Tip: videotape the televised debate and attend the live event, that way you can cover both. Duh!)
Earlier this year during the “winter doldrums,” there was some concern about the staying power of the economic recovery. There was a modest decline in GDP during the first quarter, largely blamed on an unusually harsh winter. Economists predicted the economy would bounce back in the spring and summer. It turns out they were right. Bouncing Back, Economy Grew 4% in Second Quarter.
And despite the “winter doldrums” in the economy, the jobs recovery continued unabated at a steady pace. Steve Benen reports on the July jobs report today. Job creation tops 200k for sixth straight month:
The new report from Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in July. The overall unemployment rate ticked slightly higher to 6.2% — still hovering around a six-year low. (This is one of those times when an uptick is good news, not bad, since more people are entering the workforce looking for jobs.)