Posted by AzBlueMeanie: I had to laugh when Sarah Palin cherry-picked a CBS News poll about Tea Party members being white, older, financially better-off (i.e., because of that "socialist" social security and Medicare life support) and "better educated" than the general public to assert that teabaggers are "above average" and have a "higher I.Q." than … Read more

by David Safier Yesterday I posted about Melvin's response to a takedown in the Republic criticizing his proposal to spend $200,000 in state funds to put vigilantes militia a Volunteer Security Force on the border to replace Melvin's beloved but defunct Minutemen. Melvin, I wrote, defended himself by saying we have an immigration problem. He … Read more

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: David Safier was way too polite in his treatment of this issue. David Neiwert, a reporter who has written extensively about right-wing extremist groups has this post at crooksandliars.com. Papers Please: In attacking illegal immigration, Arizona transforms itself to a police state Well, you gotta figure that if crypto-fascist Sheriff Joe Arpaio … Read more

by David Safier Our proposed harshest-in-the-nation anti-immigrant law is getting lots of national press. The latest is this piece on CBS News. Just what we need: Russell Pearce as the face of Arizona. The next logical step: Joe Arpaio in pink underwear on Dancing with the Stars. (Sorry about that image, folks. I hope you're … Read more

by David Safier I wasn't there, but word from people who were is that the big Tucson Tea Party Tax Day event drew a couple hundred people, and that includes the folks selling stuff and people who wandered by during their lunch hour. The Star story said there were 2,000 people at the rally. I … Read more

by David Safier Here's a telling graph showing the income of the 400 richest households in the U.S. since 1990 (in blue) and the amount of taxes they've paid over the same period (in red) Looks like the tax rate hasn't exactly been progressive. (h/t to Matt Yglesias) 

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Paul Krugman of the New York Times explains the need for financial services regulations in The Fire Next Time (excerpt): [Mr.] McConnell surely isn’t sincere; while pretending to oppose bank bailouts, he’s actually doing the bankers’ bidding. But before I get to that, let’s talk about why he’s wrong on substance. In his … Read more