Featured Stories
Question of the Day
August 12, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: I see that all the feckless media villagers are writing stories today about how the Romney campaign kept his pick of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate a "secret" from them. When you get done congratulating the Romney campaign for playing you all for a bunch of fools, maybe you can … Read more
The price of Tea-Publican austerity measures
August 12, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: A friend of mine recently asked me what the unemployment rate would be today but for Tea-Publican "austerity" measures reducing public sector employment during a job recession. While I have posted about this before, here is the most recent study from Brookings: Without government job cuts, unemployment would be at 7.1 percent: … Read more
The GOP war on voting: New study finds voter impersonation at polls virtually non-existent
August 12, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
A decision in "Jim Crow on trial" in the state court of Pennsylvania is expected sometime this month. A decision in "Jim Crow on trial" in the D.C. Circuit Court from the state of Texas is also expected this month. The lawyers may want to supplement the trial record with this latest investigative report. Election Day impersonation, an impetus for voter ID laws, a rarity, data show:
A new nationwide analysis of more than 2,000 cases of alleged election fraud over the past dozen years shows that in-person voter impersonation on Election Day, which has prompted 37 state legislatures to enact or consider tougher voter ID laws, was virtually nonexistent.
The analysis of 2,068 reported fraud cases by News21, a Carnegie-Knight investigative reporting project, found 10 cases of alleged in-person voter impersonation since 2000. With 146 million registered voters in the United States, those represent about one for every 15 million prospective voters.
The News21 report is based on a national public-records search in which reporters sent thousands of requests to elections officers in all 50 states, asking for every case of alleged fraudulent activity — including registration fraud; absentee-ballot fraud; vote buying; false election counts; campaign fraud; the casting of ballots by ineligible voters, such as felons and non-citizens; double voting; and voter impersonation.
The analysis found that there is more alleged fraud in absentee ballots and voter registration than in any of the other categories. The analysis shows 491 cases of alleged absentee ballot fraud and 400 cases involving registration fraud. Requiring voters to show identification at the polls — the crux of most of the new legislation — would not have prevented those cases.
The analysis also found that more than 46 percent of the reported election fraud allegations resulted in acquittals, dropped charges or decisions not to bring charges.
In many cases, people simply made mistakes. Felons or non-citizens sometimes registered to vote or cast votes because they were confused about their eligibility. Some voters accidentally cast their ballots twice or went to the wrong precinct. And election officials made mistakes, such as clerical errors — giving voters ballots when they have already voted — and errors due to confusion about eligibility.
gekkogalt2012.com website
August 12, 2012
Both of the following domains exist: gekkogalt.com gekkogalt2012.com Right now, web accesses simply redirect to romneyryan.com. If anybody can come up with any more detailed content, please let us know. You can send email to <webmaster@gekkogalt2012.com>. Yours truly — Willard "Mitt" Gekko Paul Galt
Jeff Flake Doesn’t Want You to Vote For Him!
August 12, 2012
By Michael Bryan Jeff Flake told a crowd in Payson at a meet-and-greet that he thinks the Unted States should go back to the election of U.S. Senators by state legislatures. We changed our Constitution via the 17th Amendment in 1912 to allow the popular election of the Senate. Flake thinks that was mistake. He … Read more
‘Cyanide Beach’: Rosemont Mine documentary premiers Aug 23 in Tucson (video)
August 12, 2012
by Pamela Powers Hannley
Investigative reporter John Dougherty's InvestigativeMEDIA LLC has produced a short documentary about the proposed Rosemont Mine and a sister operation in Italy. Entitled Cyanide Beach, this short film will premier on August 23 at the Crossroads Cinema in Tucson. Click here to RSVP for this free event, which includes the movie and a discussion.
From InvestigativeMEDIA…
What does a small town in Sardinia, Italy have in common with the pitched battle over the proposed Rosemont copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson?
The same Canadian mining speculators that are now seeking government permits to blast a mile-wide, half-mile deep hole in the Santa Rita Mountains and dump waste rock and mine tailings on more than 3,000 acres of the Coronado National Forest once owned and operated an open-pit gold mine in Sardinia.
What happened near the iconic Sardinian farming town of Furtei provides crucial insight into what could happen here, in southern Arizona.
InvestigativeMEDIA, LLC’s 23-minute video documentary “Cyanide Beach” tells an important and timely story that anyone interested in the Rosemont copper mine project needs to know.
“Cyanide Beach” will premier at 7 p.m., Thursday, August 23 at the Crossroads Theater in Tucson.
InvestigativeMEDIA founder John Dougherty will answer questions following the screening. Admission is free. To reserve your seat, please RSVP here. “Cyanide Beach” is also available for private showings. Contact InvestigativeMEDIA for more information.
Check out the movie trailer after the jump.
Questions about employment and MAS purity: Will the real Kristel Foster please stand up?
August 12, 2012
by Pamela Powers Hannley
Activist and educator Kristel Foster began campaigning for a seat on the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) Governing Board not long after the board voted 4-1 to shut down the embattled Mexican American Studies (MAS) program– rather than lose $15 million over a program that had been declared illegal by the state of Arizona.
From the get-go, Foster made it clear that she was running as a "save MAS" candidate. In fact, when Foster and fellow "save MAS" candidate Ralph Ellinwood spoke at Drinking Liberally (DL) in June, the audience was twice the normal size, due to a strong showing of MAS stalwarts who came to cheer them on– including ThreeSonorans blogger Abie Morales and Tucson Weekly reporter Mari Herreras.
Unfortunately for Foster, since the August 8 Drinking Liberally kibitz fest, Morales has started attacking her for being an MAS turncoat. (He's even calling for MAS supporters to suggest possible write-in candidates.)
The special guest for the August 8 meeting was supposed to be Cam Juarez (also a "save MAS" candidate). Unfortunately, it poured down rain that night, and the DL turnout was very low. As a result, Drinking Liberally reverted to DL Classic Mode (ie, everyone sits around and endulges in free-form political discussion, with no official speaker). On that fateful night, four TUSD board candidates were present– Foster, Juarez, Betts Puttnam-Hildalgo, and incumbent Mark Stegeman.
Stegeman asked the others the $15 million question: Would they have voted to shut down MAS in order to avoid the $15 million fine from the state? Puttman-Hildalgo and Juarez said, No. They said they would have defied the state ruling and voted with board member Adeltia Grijalva to retain the program– regardless of the cost to the district. (This is the MAS true believer stance.) Foster said she would have voted with the majority to shut down MAS, hence the attack from the ThreeSonorans blog. This looks like a giant flip-flop from a long-time, in-the-trenches MAS supporter.
After the jump is her Facebook explanation. Also, the plot thickens with the question: Should a Sunnyside School District employee vote on the next superintendent of TUSD?
The GOP ticket: Galt – Gekko 2012
August 12, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Willard "Mittens" Romney introduced Paul Ryan as the next President of the United States, and a short time later came back on stage to correct himself by putting his arm around Ryan, and said "Every now and then, I'm known to make a mistake." You don't say! Paul Krugman has brilliantly named … Read more
