ALEC and the Arizona legislature: anti-Affirmative Action Initiative
by David Safier In 2010, Prop 107, whose purpose was to end affirmative action in Arizona's schools, public employment and public contracting, was passed by the voters. The proposition has a long history which began in California in 1996, made its way into ALEC's model legislation database, passed in Washington, Michigan and Nebraska, and came … Read more
For-profit colleges eat students for lunch
by David Safier Here we go again: another chain of for-profit colleges in trouble. This time it's Career Education Corp.'s California Culinary Academy in San Francisco: Under a pending $40 million settlement in state court, Career Education has agreed to offer rebates of up to $20,000 to 8,500 students who attended the academy between 2003 … Read more
What’s next – concentration camps for the unemployed and poor?
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: I read two articles this weekend that could be harbingers of the Tea-Publican tyranny to come. At a time when we are in a New Gilded Age of wealth concentrated in the hands of a very few über-rich plutocrats, the greatest income disparity since just before the Crash of 1929, inequality.org, the … Read more
Please, just stop the ridiculous point/counterpoint opinions in the Star
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: In recent weeks the Arizona Daily Star has taken to publishing a point/counterpoint series of opinions on Monday from McClatchy News. These opinions are invariably written by think tanks or politicians with an agenda and a partisan axe to grind. There is very little factual content and even less credible analysis. This … Read more
I’m beginning to believe that Arizona’s Republican lawmakers really *don’t* understand the rule of law…
By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings For the longest time, I thought that the lies and disinformation spouted by the Rs concerning AIRC were just that, lies and disinformation, and calculated to both rouse their base and to inoculate themselves from blame for not properly preparing for the redistricting process. I thought that while … Read more
Republic article on private prisons, ALEC
by David Safier Bob Ortega has written an excellent article about how Corrections Corp. of America (CCA) and other private prison corporations lobby for more private prisons and, directly and indirectly, more incarceration to boost their bottom lines. Here's an extensive quote from the middle of the article, about the Arizona/ALEC/private prisons connection. Where the … Read more
You can’t trust a word they say . . . or write
by David Safier Steven Brill trashes teachers and district schools while he sings the praises of charters in his book, "Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America's Schools." (Full disclosure: I haven't read it and don't intend to waste my time reading it in the future.) The book has been reviewed extensively by serious … Read more
