House Tea-Publicans jump off the cliff (again), vote for radical Ryan Budget 2.0

March 29, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

We are watching the slow suicide of a major political party. The Republican Party long ago ceased being the "Party of Lincoln," and as I have oft repeated, "this is not your father's GOP."

The Republican Party host has been hollowed out by its far-right extremist fringe parasites. All that remains of the GOP today are far-right radical extemists. And that poses a clear and present danger to the future of this country.

For all the talk in the media about "why can't we have compromise and find common ground solutions in the middle?," this is naive fantasy when one political party has dedicated itself to the destruction of government as its primary goal, and the destruction of its political opponents as the means to achieve it. We are living in troubling times.

Steve Benen writes, "A year ago, House Republicans linked arms, stepped off the cliff, and voted en masse for Paul Ryan's right-wing budget plan. GOP leaders demanded the support of nervous lawmakers, many of whom feared the party was overreaching just a few months into their term, and more than 98% of the caucus went along, as ordered." House Approves Radical GOP Budget Plan:

The blowback was far more intense than Republicans expected, especially given the fact that GOP lawmakers had voted to eliminate Medicare and replace it with a private voucher scheme.

A year later, it's happened again. The House this afternoon voted to approve Paul Ryan's new-but-not-improved budget plan, 228 to 191. As was the case in 2011, all House Democrats, including the Blue Dogs, opposed the far-right budget, but today, 10 House Republicans broke ranks and opposed the measure, up from 4 GOP members a year ago.

The rank hypocrisy of ‘Fornicator’ Frank

March 29, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The true objection of the religious right to insurance coverage for contraception for women is that it leads to sex for pleasure rather than procreation, often outside of marriage between single adults. Fornicators! According to these "sex police," sex should only be between one man and one woman who are married to one another, and only for the purpose of procreation, never for carnal pleasure. I will assume always in the missionary position, under the covers with the lights off, just for good measure.

They are essentially anti-sex, because sex is a sin, don't you know, unless the above preconditions are satisifed.

With that in mind, I almost spit out my coffee this morning while reading the Tucson Weekly. Sen. "Don't make me angry" Frank Antenori brags about being a prolific fornicator in his his youth — sinner! — while failing entirely to comprehend health insurance or the concept of religious liberty. And this guy is running for Congress? Conservative Agenda | Tucson Weekly:

HB 2625, sponsored by Rep. Debbie Lesko, would allow any employer in the state to opt out of providing contraception coverage as part of health insurance if the employer has a moral objection to preventing pregnancy. [The bill failed on a 13-17 vote on Wednesday, but Sen. Nancy Barto promises to bring it back for a revote].

State Sen. Frank Antenori, who is running in the April 17 GOP primary in the special election to replace Gabrielle Giffords in Congressional District 8, said last week that he would support HB 2625 if it came up for a vote.

"Do you force someone against their will to provide something that they morally or religiously object to? That is a tough call, and that is what this battle is all about," Antenori said. "Like I told another lady who was upset about it, I said, 'What makes you think you're entitled to have someone else paying for it?' Nobody is stopping you from going out and getting contraceptives. I mean, when I was in high school, I paid for it all the time; I didn't have (any) trouble. It was kind of hard going up to the cash register."

Maybe you should have got yourself one of these condom vendo machines, Frank. And just how many young girls did you have sex with outside of marriage for your carnal pleasure? Were they of the age of consent? Have you ever heard of statutory rape laws? The "sex cops" of the religious right are going to want to know, Frank. You set a bad example for their children. And what rank hypocrisy: it's OK for me, but not for anyone else.

Tea-Publican tyranny: auditing Pima County

March 29, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Our Tea-Publican overlords from the state of Maricopa and their Tea-Publican insurgents in Baja Arizona went ahead and did it — they passed "special" legislation requiring a forensic audit of Pima County bonds — and only Pima County — as a political favor to Tea-Publican insurgents in the Town of Marana.

I posted about this previously. Tea-Publican Tyranny: Micromanaging Cities and Counties:

Then there is the ongoing feud between the Town of Marana and Pima County over the Tea-Publican legisature seizing a sewage treatment plant from Pima County last year and handing it over to Marana, for which Marana has yet to pay the county. In retaliation, a Senate panel of the Tea-Publican legislature on Wednesday voted to audit Pima county's bond spending. Senate panel OKs audit of Pima's bond spending:

Rep. Terri Proud, R-Tucson, said there are many discrepancies between what the county claims to have built with the bond funds voters authorized and what actually exists. That's because, Proud contends, "there's some bullying going around with (County Administrator) Chuck Huckelberry."

To address that, the measure she pushed through the Senate Committee on Government Reform calls not only for a forensic audit of where the 1997, 2004 and 2006 bonds were spent, but also whether the county changed the timing or amount of projects "to reward or to punish an entity, party or official who stood to benefit from or be affected by the project."

Proud is not alone in the push. The town of Marana is lobbying for the examination, too. [Jonathan "Payday" Paton is a consutant to the Town of Marana.]

County lobbyist Michael Racy told lawmakers they are free to spend state resources to put the auditor general to work. And he said they also are legally entitled to force the county to spend the money to respond to each request.

But he said HB 2408 amounts to using "public money for what is more of a McCarthyesque witch hunt."

Jan Brewer Has an Historic Moment

March 29, 2012

By Michael Bryan I wasn't at all sure this moment would ever come, but… Thank you, Governor Brewer. You vetoed an incredibly shortsighted bill that put a quick buck for some political donors to some in your party ahead of the long-term health of a vital industry for this state, not to mention a vital … Read more