AIRC Update: Federal panel of judges to hear Tea-Publican legislature’s constitutional challenge to the AIRC
June 15, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports that a Federal Panel of judges to hear Arizona redistricting case:
A three-judge panel will be appointed to hear the Arizona Legislature’s lawsuit challenging the state’s new congressional districts.
U.S. District Judge Paul Rosenblatt granted a motion requesting the appointment. The motion was filed by lawyers for Republican legislative leaders who acted on behalf of the Legislature.
Rosenblatt will serve on the panel and the chief judge of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will appoint the other two members.
The lawsuit contends Arizona’s use of an appointed commission to draw congressional districts violates a constitutional provision that says state legislatures are to decide election procedures.
The redistricting commission disputes that, saying that Arizona’s system is legal because it was created by voters who themselves have the power to make laws.
The citizens of Arizona are a "super legislature" and legislative acts enacted by the citizens of Arizona take precedence over the acts of their elected representatives in the state legislature. Not the other way around.
Governor Brewer throws a temper tantrum, gets it wrong on Obama immigration policy
June 15, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The woman who got elected governor by wrapping her arms around SB 1070 and fostering hatred for brown people, Jan Brewer, clearly gets her news from The Drudge Report and FAUX News fraudcasting where they just make shit up.
This sad, pathetic woman seems to be under the delusion that President Obama granted "amnesty" to the brown people she hates. He did not.
The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Brewer decries Obama “backdoor amnesty” policy:
Gov. Jan Brewer decried President Barack Obama’s new DREAM Act-style immigration policy as “backdoor amnesty” intended to undermine SB1070 and bolster his political support for his re-election bid.
Speaking to reporters during a rare press conference in the Executive Tower, Brewer, one of Obama’s most nationally prominent critics on immigration and border security policy, said the president’s announcement set a dangerous distraction from the need to secure the border.
“Most importantly, this unilateral act was a preemptive strike against the United States Supreme Court and its decision on Senate Bill 1070, which may come as early as this Monday,” she said. “It doesn’t take a cynic to recognize this action for what it is: blatant political pandering by a president desperate to shore up his political base.”
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“The crux of Senate Bill 1070, of course, is documentation. And what he has done by his announcement today is that he’s going to give documentation to nearly one million people who have arrived into our country illegally and not by the rule of law,” she said.
Obama’s announcement comes just three days after Brewer issued an executive order reiterating her 2010 call for law enforcement to be properly trained in the enforcement of SB1070. Once the Supreme Court rules on the law, Brewer said the state will “have to really drill down and look at exactly what they are about to embark upon.”
“We’ve got a lot of work on our plate,” she said.
Koch World Convention for The Corporatocracy
June 15, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Koch brothers’ political operations increasingly resemble its own political party — and later this month in San Diego it will hold a Koch World Convention. POLITICO finally discovers the "Kochtopus" in Inside the Koch World Convention:
Many of the dozens of rich conservative invitees are expected to write huge checks to a pool of cash distributed among Koch-approved groups, potentially boosting the Kochs’ 2012 spending plan beyond their historic $395 million goal. And it’s also a chance for the Kochs to show off their increasingly robust political machine, including a growing voter database project called Themis that played a major role in conservatives’ recent efforts in Wisconsin and in which POLITICO has learned Koch operatives have discussed investing $20 million.
It’s part of an ambitious expansion of the billionaire brothers’ political operation that includes the recruitment of new donors and fundraisers into their network by a development team led by summit emcee Kevin Gentry, and their recent hiring of in-house political operative Marc Short to oversee the spending of funds raised at the summits.
The expansion is also reflected in Charles and David Kochs’ bid to take over the libertarian Cato Institute as well as their operations steering cash to groups that aren’t commonly thought of as Koch affiliated. The 60 Plus Association, American Energy Alliance, American Future Fund, Americans for Limited Government and National Right to Life have all received funds through the Koch donor network.
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The specific location of the San Diego summit could not be determined. And a Koch spokesman declined to comment on details of the summit, which starts the weekend of June 23, or the brothers’ political plans.
Fact Checking the mendacity of ‘Mittens’
June 15, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Time once again for Steve Benen's weekly fact check of the shameless shapeshifter and pathological liar, Willard "Mittens" Romney. Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity, Vol. XXII: A New York Times editorial this morning noted, almost in passing, that Mitt Romney's "entire campaign rests on a foundation of short, utterly false sound bites." That's true, … Read more
Sen. McCain: Sheldon Adelson may be using foreign money to influence U.S. elections
June 15, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Back in October 2010, I posted that:
The concern trolls of the corporate media conglomerates are starting to push back against the Democratic attacks against the corrupting influence of corporate money in American elections, including foreign money in American elections (illegal), foreign money that has been commingled in the general account of the "U.S." Chamber of Commerce which is spending $75 million in this mid-term election.
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The ChiComs Chamber of Commerce has to prove that it actually has a firewall in place to prevent foreign money from being used to influence American elections, otherwise the commingling of funds is money laundering and is illegal. This would require the Chamber to disclose its financial procedures, its contributors, the amount of the contributions, and how that foreign money is accounted for, either segregated or commingled in the Chamber's general fund (as has been reported). This is something the Chamber does not want to do. It wants to protect the anonymity of its donors as a front group for corporate interests, some of them foreign, that want to operate in the shadows to influence American elections.
This issue returns today with a new twist from our own Sen. John McCain. The Caucus: Adelson Is Contributing ‘Foreign Money,’ McCain Says:
Senator John McCain of Arizona suggested in an interview posted online on Friday that a “super PAC” backing Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee, may have provided a conduit for foreign money to enter the presidential race.
Mr. McCain, his party’s 2008 presidential nominee and one of Mr. Romney’s most prominent surrogates, was asked in the interview about recent contributions of $10 million to the super PAC, called Restore our Future, from Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire casino owner, and his wife, Miriam. Mr. McCain noted that Mr. Adelson’s casino empire draws much of its revenue from overseas casinos, including major properties in Macau.
President Obama acts, fulfils a DREAM
June 15, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Steve Benen reports today that Obama moves on immigration, fulfils a DREAM:
President Obama will announce today one of the biggest moves of his presidency on immigration policy, and in the process, will offer needed relief to hundreds of thousands of families.
The Obama administration will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and have since led law-abiding lives. The election-year initiative addresses a top priority of an influential Latino electorate that has been vocal in its opposition to administration deportation policies.
The policy change, described to The Associated Press by two senior administration officials, will affect as many as 800,000 immigrants who have lived in fear of deportation. It also bypasses Congress and partially achieves the goals of the so-called DREAM Act, a long-sought but never enacted plan to establish a path toward citizenship for young people who came to the United States illegally but who have attended college or served in the military.
For all the talk about Obama's reluctance to take bold moves on key progressive policies, this is a major breakthrough. The president is going to face fierce condemnations from the right, but to his credit, it appears Obama is going to do it anyway.
Every year, tens of thousands of young, undocumented immigrants graduate from American high schools, but quickly find themselves stuck. They can't qualify for college aid, and they can't work legally. America is the only home they've ever known — in most cases, they were, at a very young age, brought into the country illegally by their parents — but at 18, they have few options. Many face deportation.
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How does this relate to Obama's new move? The president, no longer willing to wait for a dysfunctional and far-right Congress, will effectively implement the DREAM Act's goals on his own — which is arguably the boldest thing he's done since the 2010 midterms.
* * *
Anti-immigrant Republicans will no doubt be apoplectic, but they live in a perpetual state of outrage anyway, and Obama wasn't getting anywhere waiting for them to strike a broader compromise.
The GOP pander to Hispanic voters continues to fail with blunders like this: the RNC Latino site features photos of Asian children. RNC Latino Site Features Stock Photo of Asian Children.
When you are living in a lily-white country club gated community, I guess people of color all look alike to them.
UPDATE: Greg Sargent writes Obama leapfrogs GOP DREAM Act:
This could have far-reaching implications for the presidential race, and could complicate GOP efforts to make inroads among Latinos, a crucial constituency in key states Obama needs[.]
Two Competing Economic Theories: Forward or Backward
June 15, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
I posted the other day that:
If we want to restore the American middle-class, there is only one path forward. We must consign the fantasies of conservative economics to the ash heap of history forever, and return to the pragmatic solutions of what we know worked for over 50 years. This election is a choice between two competing economic theories: Keyensian economics that works, and conservative economics that is a miserable failure. The choice is yours. Choose wisely.
On Thursday, President Obama and Willard "Mittens" Romney gave competing speeches on economic theory in Ohio. President Obama used the stark choice framing above.
Mittens Romney kept to his campaign strategy of not going into any details that can be attacked and, you know, fact checked. His speech is filled with platitudes and ad hominem attacks on President Obama. The Romney strategy is simply to make this election a referendum on how you feel about President Obama without revealing anything at all about Romney.
The feckless media villagers are playing the role of Monty Hall on "Let's Make a Deal" — "You can keep this fabulous prize, or you can risk it all for what is behind door number 3." Blindly selecting door number 3 without knowing what is behind door number 3 has never turned out well on Let's Make a Deal, and has resulted in disaster for nations that have followed this course.
Earlier this year, RNC spokesperson Alexandra Franchesi confirmed what we already knew: that Romney's economic policies are the "Bush plan just updated." Romney Economic Policies Are "Bush Plan Just Updated" – YouTube. Tax expert David Cay Johnston described the Romney tax plan as "Romney's Tax Plan is George W. Bush on Steroids." – YouTube.
If you listen to Romney closely, you will hear that he is a true believer in the GOP's new religion of Ayn Rand free market capitalism — a belief in the "invisible hand" of the free marketplace that will magically set the world aright.
Romney is also a true believer in the faith based supply-side "trickle down" GOP economics ("Bushonomics") that has been entirely disproved and discredited over the past twelve years. Romney wants to double-down on the miserable failure of Bushonomics because if our faith is just strong enough it will work this time, really, we promise!
Romney is promising you George W. Bush's third term "on steroids." Repost: The Bush Years Were a Lost Decade.
After viewing both speeches, I have to agree with Lawrence O'Donnell's assessment last night: If you want to know what Romney's economic plan is you have to listen to President Obama's speech.
I Presume Due Credit Will Be Given To Obama?
June 15, 2012
By Michael Bryan KOLD 13 reports: AZ gasoline prices down for 10th week in row. I presume that Arizona's GOP candidates are now cutting ads praising President Obama for his leadership in using that lever labeled "Gas Prices" hidden under his desk? You can't have it both ways, guys and gals. If you blame him … Read more
