Month: October 2018

Comedy for Charity presents “Whose Live Anyway” on Nov. 1st

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  THURSDAY, NOV 1, 2018 7:30PM – 9:00PM AT THE FOX THEATRE, 17 W. Congress St. Tucson “Comedy for Charity is proud to announce it is co-promoting and co-producing the hilarious Whose Live Anyway with The Fox Theatre on November 1st. Back by popular demand, this show sold out in 2016, so get your tickets … Read more

The Arizona Republic endorses Kyrsten Sinema for U.S. Senate

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In a “woe is the state of political discourse and civility” editorial today, the Arizona Republic endorsed Rep. Kyrsten Sinema for U.S. Senate. Don’t believe the attack ads. Here’s who Kyrsten Sinema and Martha McSally really are:

Kyrsten Sinema and Martha McSally have been in campaign mask.

Both U.S. Senate candidates have been wearing false fronts since the primary, and everyone knows it. But Sinema and McSally continue with the fiction, somehow thinking their masks are going to make them look better.

They don’t.

That’s the pity of this race.

All either candidate had to do was be herself –– or, at least, the self both displayed as U.S. House members – and the race would be just as competitive, particularly among independents and moderates. Because the real Sinema and McSally are centrists, accomplished women with moxie and class and the ability to work with people who aren’t like them to get stuff done in Congress.

Is Kyrsten Sinema really a radical?

McSally and other groups have painted Sinema as a tutu-wearing leftist who – repeat it with us, because we know you’ve seen the ad –– was protesting our country while McSally was on a combat mission defending it.

It’s true. Sinema did wear a tutu. She told a Libertarian talk-show host that she had no problem with him joining the Taliban.

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Martha McSally and the Vulture Capitalist: not a bedtime story

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Vulture capitalist Paul Singer
Vulture capitalist Paul Singer made huge profits attacking miners dying of asbestos exposure. He donated heavily to Martha McSally’s campaign.

“Follow the Money” a phrase popularized after Watergate, has never been more true than today.  Some are blatant about it, as Trump on Saudi Arabia: “They spend $40 million, $50 million….Am I supposed to dislike them?”

Martha McSally would probably prefer to keep her big money connections quiet. When she first ran for Congress in 2016, she received over $100,000 from an innocent-sounding PAC called Winning Women.  This was over one-third of her entire budget during that critical quarter.  As reported on this blog, Winning Women is funded largely by vulture capitalist Paul Singer.

What does it mean to be a Vulture Capitalist?  In the case of Paul Singer, it meant that he made huge profits attacking miners dying of asbestos exposure and seizing money meant to address a cholera epidemic in the Congo.  You can’t make this stuff up.  Investigative journalist Greg Palast, author of Vulture’s Picnic, has researched this deeply.  He explains:

Singer’s modus operandi is to find some forgotten tiny debt owed by a very poor nation (Peru and Congo were on his menu). He waits for the United States and European taxpayers to forgive the poor nations’ debts, then waits at bit longer for offers of food aid, medicine and investment loans. Then Singer pounces, legally grabbing at every resource and all the money going to the desperate country. Trade stops, funds freeze and an entire economy is effectively held hostage.

Singer then demands aid-giving nations pay monstrous ransoms to let trade resume. At BBC TV’s Newsnight, we learned that Singer demanded $400 million dollars from the Congo for a debt he picked up for less than $10 million. If he doesn’t get his 4,000 percent profit, he can effectively starve the nation. I don’t mean that figuratively – I mean starve as in no food. In Congo-Brazzaville last year, one-fourth of all deaths of children under five were caused by malnutrition. (as of Oct 2011)

Recently, former United Nations envoy Winston Tubman suggested I ask Singer or his business associates, “Do you know you’re causing babies to die?”

 

The key is, that Singer depends on finding a jurisdiction that will allow his legal maneuvers to put his claims before those of the population, so having lawmakers on his side is important to his business model.

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Time is running out for early voting – just do it!

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Arizona has always been a low voter participation state. Citizens register to vote, but then fail to vote. What the hell?

The 2014 midterm election saw the lowest voter turnout since 1942, in the midst of World War II. Voter turnout in 2014 was the lowest since WWII. Arizona was only slightly better, beating out the aberational year of 1998, or it would have also been the lowest voter turnout since 1942.

NPR reports that in 2018, Voter Turnout Could Hit 50-Year Record For Midterm Elections:

The 2018 elections could see the highest turnout for a midterm since the mid-1960s, another time of cultural and social upheaval.

“It’s probably going to be a turnout rate that most people have never experienced in their lives for a midterm election,” Michael McDonald, a professor at the University of Florida who studies turnout and maintains a turnout database, told NPR.

McDonald is predicting that 45 to 50 percent of eligible voters will cast a ballot. That would be a level not seen since 1970 when 47 percent of voters turned out or 1966 when a record 49 percent turned out in a midterm.

I’m sorry, but when less than half of eligible voters turn out to vote in an election and this is considered to be a record turnout, that is a democracy seriously in decline. That turnout number should be 75 percent or higher in a healthy democracy.

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Political Calendar: Week of October 21, 2018

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The Political Calendar is posted on Sundays. Please send us notice of your political events prior to the Sunday before your event (7 days would be most helpful). See the calendar icon in the right-hand column of the blog page for easy access to the calendar.

Send notices of your events to blogforarizona@gmail.com.

Note: For Event Notices and Fliers, click on the “Calendar” button in the menu options above.

Early voting in the General Election is in Progress. No excuses – VOTE! Early Voting Sites in Pima County.

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Political Calendar for the Week of October 21, 2018:

Sunday, October 21, 4:30 p.m.: Rally for Gun Safety with David Garcia, Ann Kirkpatrick, & Gabby Giffords at Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress Street, Tucson.

Sunday, October 21 – 6:00 p.m.: “David Garcia for Governor: Build Arizona Town Hall,” at Alliance for Global Justice, 225 E. 26th Street, Tucson. David Garcia will discuss his economic plan for Arizona.

Monday, October 22, Noon: Democrats of Greater Tucson luncheon, Dragon’s View Restaurant (400 N. Bonita, South of St. Mary’s Road between the Freeway and Grande Avenue, turn South at Furr’s Cafeteria). New price: buffet lunch is $10.00 cash, $12 credit; just a drink is $3.50. Featured speaker is Sam Almy, AZ Democratic Party Data Director. Next Week: Councilman Paul Cunningham on Preparing for GOTV.

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