Month: January 2019

Politico Updates Rural Arizona Transit Woes Due To Government Shutdown – “We’re Out of Business”

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Politico has updated an earlier Arizona Republic story about effects of an ongoing federal government shutdown threatening rural Arizona transit service. In fact, Yavapai Regional Transit could be “out of business.” The shutdown is now into its second month, and today’s votes in the Senate mean that there is no solution currently in sight. Yavapai Regional Transit Board Chairman Ron … Read more

Deal, no deal on federal government shutdown

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In December, the Senate approved unanimously by voice vote a spending bill that had been approved by party leadership to which President Trump had agreed.

But then racist polemicists Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter told the president that he was done with his white nationalist racist base if he did not build the “big beautiful wall” on the Mexico border that Mexico was going to pay for, as he had promised his gullible MAGA supporters. Trump then reneged on the deal he had agreed to with his party leadership.

House Speaker Paul Ryan dutifully substituted a bill which contained $5 billion dollars for a border wall, a round number which Trump simply pulled out of his ass, which the lame-duck losers of the Republican caucus who had just been tossed out of office by the largest Democratic landslide since the post-Watergate 1974 election voted for the bill on their way out the door. Good riddance.

The new Democratic majority Congress that took office in January passed the Senate bill to which President Trump had previously agreed (before reneging on his deal), and sent it back to the Senate where it should have been a no-brainer to pass (it already passed the Senate unanimously).

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Steve Benson is an Asset to the Arizona Republic; How can Gannett lay him off?

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  The war on journalism by conservative corporate interests continued yesterday. The Gannett Company, like Sinclair in other media outlets, is apparently attempting to steer the bias of journalistic coverage towards a conservative orientation. The latest example is Gannett’s January 23, 2019 decision to lay off 1993 Pulitzer Prize-Winning Editorial Cartoonist Steve Benson. Working at the … Read more

Federal Furloughed Employees’ Rally in Tucson

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  Friday Jan. 25, 1 to 2 p.m. US Federal Bldg., 300 W. Congress St., Tucson Hosted by Southern Arizona Furloughed Feds Connection, Pima Area Labor Federation, Justice Alliance: Indivisible Southern Arizona “The Government Shutdown is in its 32nd day. On Friday, January 25, most impacted workers will see a second payday come and go … Read more

A generational realignment of the political parties

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According to a January poll from the Pew Research Center, the politics of Generation Z is more liberal. The next generation of voters is more liberal, more inclusive and believes in government:

Generation Z, defined as those born after 1996, is on the cusp of adulthood. The oldest are graduating college. By 2020, almost half will be eligible to vote in the presidential election, which means their values and opinions could soon help shape national politics.

According to the survey, Gen Z teens and young adults have overwhelmingly adopted left-leaning beliefs similar to those of the millennials before them. They overwhelmingly disapprove of President Trump, believe the government should do more and reject American exceptionalism.

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It’s not uncommon for young people to hold liberal views that moderate as they age. But Gen Zers grew up in a very different world than previous generations. The oldest among them was 11 when the first black president was elected. They became teenagers as same-sex marriage was legalized around the country. They also, according to Pew, will be the most racially diverse and well-educated generation.

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