Featured Stories
Early Voting Month in Primary Election – VOTE! (Updated Locations)
August 2, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Early voting in the Primary Election begins Thursday. Mail-in ballots will be mailed to you on Thursday. Early voting runs from Thursday, August 2 to Friday, August 24, 2012. The last day to request an early ballot is August 17. There will be emergency voting on Monday, August 27, 2012. Primary Election Day is Tuesday, August … Read more
Code enforcement crackdown past due: Slumlord millionaires, part deux
August 2, 2012
by Pamela Powers Hannley
Exactly one month ago, I wrote a blog post trying to shame lazy landlords and trashy tenants and trying to push the City of Tucson into holding property owners accountable for illegal dumping. Apparently, slumlords are shameless bunch… but I perservere.
Instead of uploading another collection of trashy photos, I decided to focus on a case study– the midtown property owned by Alice Reynolds-Jordan and Gregory Jordan, 4160 Old York Rd., Monkton, MD. Why the Jordans? Because their collection of duplexes in midtown were in my July 2 code violation article (photo below), and a month later, the trash pile not only still sits in the curb lawn, it’s gotten bigger.
Alghough there have been several complaints to the city about this property, the original mattress is not only still there, but a couch and other pieces of furniture are now piled on top of and around the original couch (photo above). Also, often than not, there is junk furniture or just junk dumped illegally in the curb lawn in front of this property. My question to the city is: Why does it take SOOOOO LOOOONG to crackdown on repeat offenders like this?
The city has a graffiti reporting app to aid in rapid the reporting, clean-up, and tracking of graffiti. Why not a code enforcement app to report, clean-up and track illegal dumping? It could work the same way: concerned citizen snaps a digital photo and poof sends it to the city with the address and complaint.
Why don’t we have this app? The only reason I can think of is that the graffiti app potentially catches “criminals” while the code enforcement app would catch businessmen who are relying on the inefficiency and glacial speed of the city to aid them in breaking the law. (The plot thickens.)
More after the jump.
LD16 Republican Candidate Forum on Aug 2… could be interesting
August 1, 2012
LD16 Republican Candidate Forum? I can see your raised eyebrows. Well, yes, this topic seems a bit far-afield from my usual subjects, but it could be interesting. This primary pits businessman and freshman Representative John Fillmore against State Senator Rich Crandall, who moved to LD16 to avoid running against his "nemesis" (according to Sonoran Alliance) … Read more
Bring Back John Anderson
August 1, 2012
by
Posted by Bob Lord I'm really dating myself here, but it occurred to me today that a John Anderson candidacy today could attract a lot of support. OK, if you reached political awareness after 1980, Anderson was the independent in the 1980 race. He actually did pretty well, about 7% of the vote if memory … Read more
On MAS: AG Tom Horne is like a dog with a frickin’ bone (video)
August 1, 2012
by Pamela Powers Hannley
Multiple levels of court cases related to TUSD's Mexican American Studies (MAS) are winding their way through the judicial system.
There's the case of former MAS teacher and whistle-blower John Ward against former MAS chair Sean Arce and teacher Jose Gonzales. (Three versions of this story and links to fundraising appeasl for both sides, here: 1, 2, 3. #1 is Ward's affidavit plus other statements; it gives you an idea why he blew the whistle. #2 is a fundraising appeal for former MAS head Sean Arce. #3 is a fundraising event for Ward. It's interesting to note that Attorney General Tom Horne spoke at the fundraiser for Ward. Is that some sort of conflict of interest for an AG?)
There's the lawsuit against SB2281– the racist Arizona Legislature bill crafted by then Superintendent of Public Instruction Horne and gleefully implemented by AG Horne. (Close as I can tell, #1 above is an excerpt from the supporting documents for this court case.)
And last but certainly not least… the decades-old TUSD desegregation suit. Is TUSD in compliance with the desegregation suit or not? This goes back and forth. (Here's some background.) Horme wants to keep his thumb on the pulse of what's left of MAS and wants to play a role in the creation of the replacement curriculum, which would be protected under the desegregation order. Recently, a federal judge officially told Horne to butt out of the TUSD desegragation case, but Horne is not ready to let go of the MAS bone.
Video after the jump.
Freeport McMoRan mining company ousts South Bisbee residents from their homes (videos)
August 1, 2012
by Pamela Powers Hannley
"There is no more heinous crime one human being can commit against another than domination."
—Sara of South Bisbee
"The greatest crimes against humanity are perpetrated by people just doing their jobs."
– Chris Hedges.
International mining company Freeport-McMoRan is shutting down South Bisbee. Here is the story from Bisbee Video Blogger Alison McLeod.
No doubt Richard Ducote, Community Affairs Manager for Freeport-McMoRan, was doing his job when he informed the lifelong residents of South Bisbee, Arizona, that they would be paid $50 a square foot for their homes, and had five months to move out.
Like the Highland Clearances of the 18th and 19th centuries, some homes have already been destroyed before the homeowners had time to remove their belongings.
Although it seems a local issue, the plight of these residents is as global as it is timeless. It is the story of every person robbed of life savings by financial corporations, of every home foreclosed, of every indigenous people exploited and poisoned by the oil corporations.
Here are four stories, including that of 63-year resident Mabel Farley, whose husband worked all his life for "Phillip Dodge," who raised her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in her house in South Bisbee, and who cannot conceive of the multinational Freeport-McMoRan Mining Corporation except as a person, who "must be a very mean man."
Videos after the jump…
Romney’s tax plan: ‘He’s asking you to pay more so that people like him can get a tax cut’
August 1, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
And the sun rises in the East. Lori Montgomery reports in the Washington Post today, Study: Romney tax plan would result in cuts for rich, higher burden for others:
Mitt Romney's plan to overhaul the tax code would produce cuts for the richest 5 percent of Americans — and bigger bills for everybody else, according to an independent analysis set for release Wednesday. (.pdf).
The study was conducted by researchers at the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, who seem to bend over backward to be fair to the Republican presidential candidate. To cover the cost of his plan — which would reduce tax rates by 20 percent, repeal the estate tax and eliminate taxes on investment income for middle-class taxpayers — the researchers assume that Romney would go after breaks for the richest taxpayers first.
They even look at what would happen if Republicans’ dreams for tax reform came true and the proposal generated significant revenue through economic growth.
None of it helped Romney. His rate-cutting plan for individuals would reduce tax collections by about $360 billion in 2015, the study says. To avoid increasing deficits — as Romney has pledged — the plan would have to generate an equivalent amount of revenue by slashing tax breaks for mortgage interest, employer-provided health care, education, medical expenses, state and local taxes, and child care — all breaks that benefit the middle class.
“It is not mathematically possible to design a revenue-neutral plan that preserves current incentives for savings and investment and that does not result in a net tax cut for high-income taxpayers and a net tax increase for lower- and/or middle-income taxpayers,” the study concludes.
Even if tax breaks “are eliminated in a way designed to make the resulting tax system as progressive as possible, there would still be a shift in the tax burden of roughly $86 billion [a year] from those making over $200,000 to those making less” than that.
What would that mean for the average tax bill? Millionaires would get an $87,000 tax cut, the study says. But for 95 percent of the population, taxes would go up by about 1.2 percent, an average of $500 a year.
Steve Benen provides a handy chart at Romney's middle-class tax hike.
And here's the kicker: I had to leave off the top 0.1% of earners, because it made the chart unreadable. If you're in the bottom 80%, your tax increase under Romney would range from $128 to $1,880, but if you're in the top 0.1%, your tax break would be worth nearly a quarter of a million dollars.
Romney’s European Vacation – a ‘kiss’ before we say goodbye
August 1, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Willard "Mittens" Romney's European Vacation, or as the media has dubbed it, his "gaffe-a-thon," has come to a merciful end. Luckily it ended without the start of another war.
Well, with the exception of Romney's war with the "fourth estate … or whatever estate," his media tormentors. Romney aide berates reporters as GOP hopeful wraps up overseas trip – The Washington Post:
[T]he White House hopeful’s overseas tour took another rocky turn on its final day, as a campaign spokesman cursed at journalists shouting questions at Romney.
Romney had just laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw’s Pilsudski Square, personally thanking and shaking hands with about 50 uniformed Polish soldiers who watched the silent ceremony. Then, in a gesture of gratitude, Romney pressed his hand to his heart and bowed his head.
As he walked back to his vehicle, he ignored reporters’ shouted questions. When a journalist noted that Romney has taken almost no questions from his traveling press corps throughout the foreign trip, Romney spokesman Rick Gorka retorted, “Kiss my ass.”
“This is a holy site for the Polish people,” Gorka said. “Show some respect.”
Moments later, Gorka told another reporter to “shove it.” Gorka later called the reporters to apologize.
Aparently the irony was lost on Mr. Gorka.
It is lost on Mittens Romney as well. The guy who has spent more than two years berating President Obama for his European (code for "socialist") policies praised the government of Poland, saying "the world — and, by definition, the United States — should emulate Poland’s economic and societal transformation toward smaller government."
