Featured Stories
Undocumented protesters arrested outside of Democratic Convention
September 5, 2012
by Pamela Powers Hannley
Ten undocumented protesters from Arizona were arrested late Tuesday afternoon outside of the Time Warner Arena in uptown Charlotte, as Democratic National Convention delegates watched.
Chanting in Spanish and English, the protesters– surrounded by media and conventioneers with smart phone cameras– quickly marched toward the arena where First Lady Michelle Obama was scheduled to speak.
As throngs of convention delegates bustled down the sidewalk, the small band of Latinos laid a large yellow mat decorated with butterflies in the middle of the intersection and sat in protest of US immigration policies. Just as quickly, they were surrounded by police on foot and on bicycles. Although it was difficult for passersby to see them, we could hear their stories and feel the passion.
More details and video after the jump.
AZ has the largest ed spending cuts in the country: yet more evidence we must pass Prop. 204
September 5, 2012
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by David Safier
I wrote a long post arguing against Mark Evans' column where he said we shouldn't pass Prop. 204, the initiative which would renew the already existing one cent sales tax and dedicate most of the funds to education. His major argument against the initiative is that we shouldn't "wall off" education funding because it limits the legislature's flexibility dealing with budget issues.
Here's what that flexibility has brought us over the last five years: the largest percentage drop in per student spending in the country. Remember, we were already rock bottom in the nation in our per student spending in 2008 when the counting started.
The study is by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The partial table at right shows the top 17 states in per-student spending cuts (full table below the fold). Arizona tops the list with a 21.89% drop in inflation-adjusted dollars over the five years. Virginia, number 17, cut less than half that much.
Remember, Arizona was already rock bottom in per student spending. Knowing that, our Republican legislature, with Jan Brewer's help, cut that already abysmally low funding by $21.89 out of every hundred dollars we were spending per student, more than any other state.
For people who say they support adequate funding for education yet are worried the legislature will lose its budgeting "flexibility" if Prop. 204 makes sure it spends no less than it did in the 2011 or 2012 budgets, here's the kind of company you're keeping. Republican Rep. John Kavanagh:
Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said that if passed the measure would tie the hands of the Legislature in determining where funds would best be spent.
“It removes budgeting flexibility from the Legislature and it does budgeting in a vacuum, not taking into account other needs and wants,” he said.
We simply cannot trust Republican legislators when it comes to education. They have no problem balancing the budget on the backs of our children. Prop. 204 is our best chance to stop the cuts in education funding.
The complete table is below the fold.
First Lady Michelle Obama owns the convention
September 5, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
First Lady Michelle Obama owned the convention last night with a brilliantly written emotive speech that connected on an emotional level with the delegates in the hall and viewers at home. This was a masterful speech that will be remembered as one of the great convention speeches, certainly by a First Lady.
And let's not forget that Michelle Obama is a skilled attorney. She deftly destroyed the narcissistic GOP meme of their convention, which took the words of President Obama out of context, to assert that "we built it" (all by ourselves). Transcript: Michelle Obama's Convention Speech:
Like so many American families, our families weren't asking for much.
They didn't begrudge anyone else's success or care that others had much more than they did…in fact, they admired it.
They simply believed in that fundamental American promise that, even if you don't start out with much, if you work hard and do what you're supposed to do, then you should be able to build a decent life for yourself and an even better life for your kids and grandkids.
That's how they raised us…that's what we learned from their example.
We learned about dignity and decency – that how hard you work matters more than how much you make…that helping others means more than just getting ahead yourself.
We learned about honesty and integrity – that the truth matters…that you don't take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules…and success doesn't count unless you earn it fair and square.
We learned about gratitude and humility – that so many people had a hand in our success, from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean…and we were taught to value everyone's contribution and treat everyone with respect.
Those are the values Barack and I – and so many of you – are trying to pass on to our own children.
That's who we are.
San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro delivers the Keynote Address
September 5, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, a rising star in the Democratic Party, is the first Latino to deliver the Keynote Address at the DNC National Convention. And boy howdy, did he deliver a speech! Mayor Castro rocked the house and he did it with a confident smile. Transcript of Julian Castro’s remarks at the Democratic National Convention:
Now, like many of you, I watched last week’s Republican convention. They told a few stories of individual success. We all celebrate individual success. But the question is, how do we multiply that success? The answer is President Barack Obama.
Mitt Romney, quite simply, doesn’t get it. A few months ago he visited a university in Ohio and gave the students there a little entrepreneurial advice. “Start a business,” he said. But how? “Borrow money if you have to from your parents,” he told them. Gee, why didn’t I think of that? Some people are lucky enough to borrow money from their parents, but that shouldn’t determine whether you can pursue your dreams. I don’t think Gov. Romney meant any harm. I think he’s a good guy. He just has no idea how good he’s had it.
We know that in our free market economy some will prosper more than others. What we don’t accept is the idea that some folks won’t even get a chance. And the thing is, Mitt Romney and the Republican Party are perfectly comfortable with that America. In fact, that’s exactly what they’re promising us.
The Romney-Ryan budget doesn’t just cut public education, cut Medicare, cut transportation and cut job training.
It doesn’t just pummel the middle class — it dismantles it. It dismantles what generations before have built to ensure that everybody can enter and stay in the middle class. When it comes to getting the middle class back to work, Mitt Romney says, “No.” When it comes to respecting women’s rights, Mitt Romney says, “No.” When it comes to letting people marry whomever they love, Mitt Romney says, “No.” When it comes to expanding access to good health care, Mitt Romney says, “No.”
Actually, Mitt Romney said, “Yes,” and now he says, “No.” Gov. Romney has undergone an extreme makeover, and it ain’t pretty. So here’s what we’re going to say to Mitt Romney. We’re going to say, “No.”
Gov. Deval Patrick: ‘In Massachusetts, we know Mitt Romney’
September 5, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick focused his convention speech on his predecessor's record in Massachusetts, something that Willard "Mittens" Romney rarely talks about. "In Massachusetts, we know Mitt Romney." 2012 Democratic National Convention: Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by The Honorable Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusett:
In Massachusetts, we know Mitt Romney. By the time he left office, Massachusetts was 47th in the nation in job creation—during better economic times—and household income in our state was declining. He cut education deeper than anywhere else in America. Roads and bridges were crumbling. Business taxes were up, and business confidence was down. Our clean energy potential was stalled. And we had a structural budget deficit. Mitt Romney talks a lot about all the things he's fixed. I can tell you that Massachusetts wasn't one of them. He's a fine fellow and a great salesman, but as governor he was more interested in having the job than doing it.
When I came to office, we set out on a different course: investing in ourselves and our future. And today Massachusetts leads the nation in economic competitiveness, student achievement, health care coverage, life sciences and biotech, energy efficiency and veterans' services. Today, with the help of the Obama administration, we are rebuilding our roads and bridges and expanding broadband access. Today we're out of the deficit hole Mr. Romney left, and we've achieved the highest bond rating in our history. Today—with labor at the table—we've made the reforms in our pension and benefits systems, our schools, our transportation system and more that Mr. Romney only talked about. And today in Massachusetts, you can also marry whomever you love. We have much more still to do. But we are on a better track because we placed our faith not in trickle-down fantasies and divisive rhetoric but in our values and common sense.
Gov. Patrick then rallied the troops with an impassioned plea to Democrats to work their hearts out:
If we want to win elections in November and keep our country moving forward, if we want to earn the privilege to lead, it's time for Democrats to stiffen our backbone and stand up for what we believe. Quit waiting for pundits or polls or super PACs to tell us who the next president or senator or congressman is going to be. We're Americans.
We shape our own future. Let's start by standing up for President Barack Obama.
Video below the fold.
Gov. Ted Strickland goes old school on Mitt Romney
September 5, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Former Governor Ted Strickland of Ohio went old school on Willard "Mittens" Romney in his convention speech on Tuesday night. 2012 Democratic National Convention: Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by The Honorable Ted… — CHARLOTTE, Sept. 4, 2012:
Now, Mitt Romney, he lives by a different code. To him, American workers are just numbers on a spreadsheet.
To him, all profits are created equal, whether made on our shores or off. That's why companies Romney invested in were dubbed "outsourcing pioneers." Our nation was built by pioneers—pioneers who accepted untold risks in pursuit of freedom, not by pioneers seeking offshore profits at the expense of American workers here at home.
Mitt Romney proudly wrote an op-ed entitled, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt." If he had had his way, devastation would have cascaded from Michigan to Ohio and across the nation. Mitt Romney never saw the point of building something when he could profit from tearing it down. If Mitt was Santa Claus, he'd fire the reindeer and outsource the elves.
Mitt Romney has so little economic patriotism that even his money needs a passport. It summers on the beaches of the Cayman Islands and winters on the slopes of the Swiss Alps. In Matthew, chapter 6, verse 21, the scriptures teach us that where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. My friends, any man who aspires to be our president should keep both his treasure and his heart in the United States of America. And it's well past time for Mitt Romney to come clean with the American people.
On what he's saying about the president's policy for welfare to work, he's lying. Simple as that. On his tax returns, he's hiding. You have to wonder, just what is so embarrassing that he's gone to such great lengths to bury the truth? Whatever he's doing to avoid taxes, can it possibly be worse than the Romney-Ryan tax plan that would have sliced Mitt's total tax rate to less than one percent?
Predictably, the "civility cops" among the concern trolls of the D.C. media villagers clutched their pearls and got their panties in a twist over Strickland's speech. They have no knowledge or appreciation for American history or political traditions. Strickland's speech was actually quite mild in comparison to convention speeches back in the day.
Video below the fold.
They can’t help themselves. It’s in their political (and personal) DNA
September 5, 2012
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by David Safier Invoking images of violence and death is so ingrained in the violent/militaristic thinking of some Republican leaders, they can't help themselves. They've just got to let it out. Karl Rove said — joking! joking! — he'd like to be the guy who kills Todd Akin. “We should sink Todd Akin. If he’s … Read more
The Republicans like to chirp about “voter fraud”. What’s their stance on “candidate fraud”?
September 4, 2012
By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings Republicans all over the country have been crying wolf voter fraud to rationalize their efforts to suppress the voting rights of minorities. The fact that the number of cases is actually miniscule is irrelevent. They aren't trying to address the alleged problem that they are citing. They're … Read more
