CD 2 Update: Aboud in (for now), Walden out
March 21, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: More fallout from Ron Barber's decision to run for a full term in Congressional District 2 this fall. Sen Paula Aboud (D-LD 28) says she is still running for Congress. The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) says "Aboud wouldn’t say whether she’ll drop out of the race if Barber wins the special … Read more
Stegeman and Pedicone: on the wrong side of history
March 20, 2012
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by David Safier
I could write thousands of words about Tom Horne and John Huppenthal and their crusade to deny TUSD students the right to participate in the successful and nationally respected Mexican American Studies program. But why bother? Their anti-Hispanic political agenda is too obvious to need much more discussion. TUSD Board President Mark Stegeman and Superintendent John Pedicone, on the other hand, are in a different category. Unlike Horne and Huppenthal, they are basically decent, intelligent people who aren't trying to use the MAS controversy to advance their careers. But to their great discredit, they have chosen to be on the wrong side of history.
The fights over Civil Rights in the 50s and 60s were far more vicious than Tucson's battles over Mexican American Studies. But if I were to compare the two struggles, I would not compare Stegeman and Pedicone to Orval Faubus, who called out the Arkansas National Guard to try and stop Little Rock's Central High School from being integregated, or George Wallace, who blocked the door at the University of Alabama to stop two black students from entering. No, the Hornes and Huppenthals and Russell Pearces are the Faubuses and Wallaces of present day Arizona.
Stegeman and Pedicone are the enablers, the people who should know better but make it possible for the truly vile politicians in this state to carry out their racist, politically charged agendas.
The new “Nation at Risk” report
March 20, 2012
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by David Safier A task force headed by Condi "Smoking gun into a mushroom cloud" Rice (so much for her credibility) and ex-New York school system chancellor Joel Klein has decided to use 9/11 langugage to up the ante on their conservative "education reform" agenda. "The dominant power of the 21st century will depend on … Read more
Terri Proud on abortion
March 20, 2012
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by David Safier Here's a statement Terri Proud made about abortion in an email to a constituent. "Personally I'd like to make a law that mandates a woman watch an abortion being performed prior to having a "surgical procedure". If it's not a life it shouldn't matter, if it doesn't harm a woman then she … Read more
The Great Renege: The GOP Roadmap to America’s Ruin Budget II
March 20, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The GOP's boy genius and Ayn Rand acolyte, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), who gave us the GOP's Roadmap to America's Ruin Budget last year that proposed to privatize Medicare by turning it into a voucher program, is back today with his revised Roadmap to America's Ruin Budget II that reneges on the budget deal agreed to last August by setting discretionary spending lower than the agreed upon level.
As Jonathan Bernstein says, Paul Ryan's budget is not serious:
Paul Ryan’s budget for fiscal year 2013 has now been released. It isn’t that different, in basic concept, from last year’s version. It’s a public relations document, not a real, detailed budget. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; it’s a perfectly legitimate strategy in an election-year with divided-government.
But there’s nothing “serious” about this document.
How did the Arizona Daily Star overlook J.T. Ready?
March 20, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Sunday Arizona Daily Star published this report, Report: Border-watch movement declining:
The Minuteman border-watch movement that exploded in Southern Arizona in the last decade has virtually disappeared, says a new report [by the Southern Poverty Law Center].
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In 2011, the number of groups termed by the center as “nativist extremists” — such as the Minuteman — declined by 42 percent, but at the same time the number of anti-government “Patriot” groups grew to record levels, the center said. The 1,274 extreme anti-government groups tabbed as belonging to the Patriot movement was the highest number since the center counted 858 in 1996.
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Groups such as the Arizona-based Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, once the best known of this category, splintered and dissolved. The arrest of one-time Minuteman Shawna Forde, for murdering an Arivaca man and his daughter in 2009, also drove people away.
Most important, anti-illegal-immigrant actions were taken up by state legislatures and absorbed as a major concern by groups such as the tea parties and the Republican Party. Many people who once concerned themselves with border-watch activities moved on to the broader concerns of the tea-party movement, she said.
Well, today there is an investigative report by Nick Martin at Talking Points Memo that has more details than what the Star report glosses over. Extremists Go To ‘War’ In The Arizona Desert | TPMMuckraker:
Arizona became a hotbed for a certain brand of extremist groups in the past decade as it took center stage in discussion about how to handle the nation’s broken immigration system. But while a report by the nation’s leading watchdog of the extremist movement shows the numbers of so-called “border watch” groups are dwindling, some that remain have shown a surprising penchant for violence. They are armed, angry and desperate to fight in what they see as a real-life war taking place in the nation’s borderlands.
Democrats Focus in on Arizona’s Extreme ‘Tell Your Boss Why You’re On the Pill’ Bill
March 20, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Last week, the Tea-Publican Arizona legislature took up the "Baby Blunt Amendment" that doubled-down on crazy, permitting employers to terminate contraception users on "religious or moral objections" to their private life Arizona Senate Committee Endorses 'Tell Your Boss Why You're On The Pill' Bill.
Former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona wrote this opinion in response. Richard H. Carmona, M.D.: Arizona Effort to Block Contraception Simply Bad Health Policy:
A recent push to block women from getting access to contraception shows the Arizona legislature is not operating from an evidence-based or reality-based point of view.
The legislature's recent actions actively create problems rather than trying to solve them. And, at best, they are wasting our time.
Whenever I've had to make a major decision as a doctor, cop or for a company I've worked for, I ask myself: What is the value proposition here? Will my decision bring added value to the population I have the privilege to serve?
These questions are clearly not being considered by the folks I like to call the "chronic politicians" at our state capitol and in Washington.
We have real problems here in Arizona, and there are reasonable and politically possible solutions to them. But it's pretty clear that solving problems isn't what these politicians hope to do. Instead, they seem intent on scoring political points rather than solving the problem.
Trying to block women from getting access to contraception or defunding Planned Parenthood is completely nonsensical from a policy standpoint. As the 17th Surgeon General of the United States, I can say without hesitation that these bills would be bad for public health and deleterious to the health of women.
Action Alert from the Arizona AFL-CIO
March 20, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Action alert from the Arizona AFL-CIO: Two bills being debated this week spell trouble for AZ working families and we need you to take action. Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee will be debating Gov. Brewer’s personnel bill at 10AM, which would open the door to cronyism and hurt the services that keep … Read more
