AIRC Update: Secretive GOP FAIR Trust files lawsuits against AIRC

April 28, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The lawyers/lobbyists for the secretive GOP redistricting organization FAIR Trust that attempted to threaten and intimidate the AIRC during public hearings have now filed lawsuits against the AIRC challenging the new district maps. The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Republicans file 2 lawsuits challenging redistricting maps | Arizona Capitol Times:

The lawsuits, filed by attorney Mike Liburdi of the Republican-led FAIR Trust effort, take aim at the maps at both the state and federal court levels, and seek to challenge Arizona’s new district maps.

Liburdi is teaming up with FAIR Trust attorney David Cantelme and Lisa Hauser, who served as counsel for the inaugural IRC and helped lead Gov. Jan Brewer’s effort to remove commission chairwoman Colleen Mathis.

Note: You will recall that Lisa Hauser pitched a fit that the AIRC did not hire her as Republican legal counsel this time around and filed a complaint (which was rejected). Lisa Hauser also represented Governor Jan Brewer in her spectactular failed bid to oust AIRC chair Colleen Mathis in a blatant abuse of power for which the Arizona Supreme Court smacked her down decisively. Hauser also represented "King" Russell Pearce in his failed bid to stop his recall election. A real class act this Lisa Hauser.

For more about the comedy duo of David Cantalme and Mike Liburdi, go back and review the extensive reporting provided by Steve Muratore at The Arizona Eagletarian.

The challenge in state court seeks to force the IRC to redraw its congressional lines, which Liburdi said were drawn unlawfully because the commission deviated from a clear cut constitutional process for amending a basic grid map into a more finished and refined product.

* * *

The state court filing also alleges that the commission violated state open meeting laws through its secretive consideration of potential mapping consultants.

A request to the Motor Mouth Showman

April 28, 2012

by David Safier Ted Nugent, the "Motor City Madman," is not a madman, I'm reasonably certain, though he plays one whenever a microphone is in front of him. He exploits his in-control inner demons in pursuit of continued fame and fortune. I don't know who will be in Nugent's audience tonight at the Pima County … Read more

Whining, Posturing, And Wild-eyed Scheming: It’s Silly Season At The Lege

April 28, 2012

By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings   The time for real work at the lege has passed. All of the Democrats and most of the rank-and-file Republicans in the lege are spending their days (metaphorically) twiddling their thumbs. On Thursday, the Senate didn't even have a floor calendar. They met, prayed (Steve Yarbrough prayed … Read more

Vote Kelly for Oil Industry Subsidies

April 27, 2012

by Michael Bryan Jesse Kelly notoriously and repeatedly, and falsely, claims that the U.S. has more oil than Saudi Arabia. This has several implications that need examination. First, his fact-free sloganeering indicates that Kelly doesn't really give a crap about reality or facts. Nor is he interested in offering real solutions to kitchen-table problems of … Read more

The Middle of the Road Where the Road is Supposed To Be

April 27, 2012

Posted by Bob Lord

I’ve said this before — I bristle at empty platitudes. One we hear all the time is how our discourse is too polarized and how we need politicians to move to the center, with the clear implication that splitting the difference between the two “poles” is definitively the place to be. And, so, over the past three decades, as the entire spectrum on economic issues moved further and further right, with the perceived center moving right along, what used to be considered “fringe” right became center. Because center is presumptively the ideal place to be, as the spectrum moves over time, wacko becomes eminently sane.

And sane becomes wacko. Check out this link to a short piece in yesterday’s Guardian (it‘s a quick read): 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/apr/26/earth-population-consumption-disasters

KPHO TV News 5 is just sayin’

April 27, 2012

by David Safier

KPHO TV News has a story, AZ lawmakers benefit from own bills. The story names 7 legislators who have sponsored bills that benefit them personally, usually by helping their businesses. My perennial favorite on the list is Sen. Steve Yarbrough who sponsors and supports tuition tax credit bills which put a whole lot of dollar bills in his pocket.

Six of the seven have one thing in common. They're Republicans: Frank Pratt, Steve Urie, Justin Pierce, Karen Fann,  Steve Yarbrough and Jack Harper. All of them have businesses whose lives are made a little lot easier courtesy of their legislation.

The lone Democrat is Debbie McCune Davis. Her bill would make it mandatory for parents to talk with a doctor before they can refuse vaccinations for their children. Her special interest? She directs an organization advocating for immunizations. Call me a partisan, but counseling parents about the value of immunizations for their children is more in the public interest than, say, Frank Pratt sponsoring a bill to get rid of swimming pool motor efficiency standards. His business? Pratt's Pools, which, according to the story, doesn't deal in energy efficient pool motors.

You can watch the story below the fold.

Fact Checking the mendacity of ‘Mittens’

April 27, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Steve Benen's latest instalment of fact checking the pathological liar, Willard "Mittens" Romney. Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity, Vol. XV: After winning several more presidential primaries this week, Mitt Romney delivered a speech his campaign billed as the unofficial kickoff of the general election. And while making his pitch as the presumptive Republican nominee, … Read more