GOP attempting to depress Democratic voter turnout in CD 8
May 20, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: I have heard from Democrats since last week, several of them long-time party activists, who have told me that they have received mailers from the Jesse Kelly campaign, and have received both live calls asking them to vote for Jesse Kelly or robo calls asking them to vote for Jesse Kelly. They even … Read more
Democrats fight for your rights in the GOP war on voting
May 20, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
There is a promo ad on MSNBC by Mrs. Greenspan (Andrea Mitchell) in which she says how terrible it is that political parties — plural — are trying to restrict the voting rights of American citizens.
Newsflash Mrs. Greenspan, there is only one political party that is subject to a federal court consent decree for voter suppression for over thirty years and that is the GOP. The RNC's latest appeal was rejected by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Court Rejects Voter Suppression Efforts | Truthout.
It is the GOP that has sought to impose new restrictions on voting in state legislatures across the country over the past two years. Why don't you report that story on your program Mrs. Greenspan? Or would you and your hubby no longer be invited to the best cocktail parties in the Beltway media bubble?
Did you miss this story as well, Mrs. Greeenspan? This week in the War on Voting: Obama and House Democrats fight voter suppression:
[Dorothy Cooper is] 96 years old and almost wasn't going to be able to vote this year because stringent new voter identification laws passed in her state, Tennessee, intended to, well, keep people from her like voting. Because her story made news, she got some attention and help from a powerful source.
Obama for America volunteers helped secure Mrs. Cooper's identification and is featuring her in GottaVote.org, a new tool developed by the Obama campaign designed to help residents in every state navigate the increasingly complicated voter registration process. In an email announcing the new site, the campaign writes:
GottaVote.org is a one-stop shop for getting the facts on voting, reminders for key dates and deadlines, and alerts on the status of voting rights in your state. It’s available in both English and Spanish (www.gottavote.org/es) because different languages shouldn’t keep Americans from voting.
The Fire Next Time: The Euro Financial Crisis – G-8 to Germany: End Austerity
May 20, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
In advance of the G-8 Summit at Camp David this weekend, Paul Krugman's column on the the Euro financial crisis was decidedly pessimistic with the government in Greece this week rejecting the austerity plan forced on them by European Union leaders a few weeks ago, forcing new elections to be called in Greece. Apocalypse Fairly Soon:
Suddenly, it has become easy to see how the euro — that grand, flawed experiment in monetary union without political union — could come apart at the seams. We’re not talking about a distant prospect, either. Things could fall apart with stunning speed, in a matter of months, not years. And the costs — both economic and, arguably even more important, political — could be huge.
This doesn’t have to happen; the euro (or at least most of it) could still be saved. But this will require that European leaders, especially in Germany and at the European Central Bank, start acting very differently from the way they’ve acted these past few years. They need to stop moralizing and deal with reality; they need to stop temporizing and, for once, get ahead of the curve.
I wish I could say that I was optimistic.
Paul Krugman: Romney ‘a dangerous fool’
May 20, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Paul Krugman has said that Willard "Mittens" Romney is a pathological liar who will say anything to get elected. Now he is beginning to believe that Mittens is an ignorant dangerous fool. Win Some, Lose Some: Is it possible that I have misjudged Mitt Romney? My take has always been that he’s … Read more
Reminder: The Gathering of The Cochise County Democratic Party
May 20, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Announcement from the Cochise County Democratic Party: Please send your donation with this detachment to the address below, or call a contact number to RSVP. ============================================================================ The Gathering Cochise Democratic Party, May 26, 2012 Name ____________________________________________________________ Total Number of Guests _________ Address _________________________________________________________________________________________ City/ Sate / Zip _________________________________________________________________________________ … Read more
I think this guy is going places
May 19, 2012
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by David Safier Six years late for the party and 17 years after it was published, I finally got around to reading Barack Obama's "Dreams from My Father." I don't read book-length claptrap from politicians, but this was lying around the house and I was between books. It's not claptrap, not by miles. This is … Read more
New Ron Barber Ad: ‘The Right Way’
May 19, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Ron Barber for Congress has released a new ad, a thirty-second spot called “The Right Way.” The ad shows Jesse Kelly, in his own words, talking about his support for reducing the corporate tax rate to zero and his support for the so-called Fair Tax, a 23 percent consumption tax. Ron Barber for Congress Releases New Campaign Ad: “The Right Way” | Ron Barber for Congress:
Download a fact check of the ad here. [PDF]
At the Saddlebrooke Republican Club debate in January, 2010, Kelly said, “We must get the corporate tax rate to zero.”
[Saddlebrooke Republican Club Debate, 1/07/10]
According the non-partisan Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, the Fair Tax proposal would eliminate all federal corporate taxes.
[P. 1, “The Effects of Replacing Most Federal Taxes with a National Sales Tax: A State-by-State Distributional Analysis,” Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, 9/01/04]
The same study by the ITEP shows that this tax plan would increase federal taxes on 80% of American families by $3,828 per year, while rewarding the richest five percent of American families with a tax cut of over $40,000.
[P. 6, “The Effects of Replacing Most Federal Taxes with a National Sales Tax: A State-by-State Distributional Analysis,” Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, 9/01/04]
On Kelly’s campaign YouTube channel, he uploaded a March, 2010 video in which he said, “A lot of people want to know how I feel about the Fair Tax, this 23% consumption tax that’s out there right now. I’ll tell you right now, I would vote for the Fair Tax. I do support the Fair Tax.”
[Kelly4Congress YouTube Channel, Uploaded 3/5/10]
At the University of Arizona Republican Club debate in April, 2010, Kelly said, “Fair tax, flat-tax, I support them both. They’re both fantastic and a lot better than what we have now.”
[University of Arizona Republican Club Debate, 4/08/10]
Kelly has also trumpeted his support of the so-called Fair Tax on the Jon Justice radio program. In July, 2010, Kelly told Justice, “As far as the Fair Tax goes, I would support the Fair Tax, would sign on as a sponsor immediately to the Fair Tax. […] the Fair Tax has my support one hundred percent.”
In September, 2010 he said, “I’ve also said I would support the Fair Tax because it’s better than what we have now.”
“Now that Southern Arizonans are being reminded of Kelly’s radical statements in favor of a tax policy that will hurt middle class families, we expect Kelly to deny ever having made them,” said Jessica Schultz, spokeswoman for Barber for Congress. “Sadly, that is what Southern Arizona has seen from Jesse Kelly: irresponsible ideas followed by unbelievable denials.”
“Middle class families need someone who will fight for them—not tilt the playing field further in favor of big corporations and the rich,” Barber said. “Unfortunately, Jesse Kelly has shown that he’s just fine with tax increases for the middle class—as long as corporations don’t have to pay their fair share.”
Video below the fold.
Tea-Publican insane clown posse makes Arizona the laughingstock of the nation
May 19, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
It seems every week there is a new political corruption scandal in Arizona. As I have said before, we should designate one of our prisons just for politicians and the lobbytists they serve.
Then there are the batshit crazy bills promoted by the Birthers-Birchers-Secessionists of the Tea Party in the Arizona legislature that keep late night comedians in business. Our Tea-Publican insane clown posse leadership in Arizona makes Arizona the laughingstock of the nation.
The stupid, it burns!
Laurie Roberts of The Arizona Republic writes today, Once again, Arizona is the nation's laughingstock:
Aaaaaaaaand we're off to the races once again.
The race, that would be, to determine the loopiest, looniest oh-so-laughable state in the land.
Cue Secretary of State Ken Bennett: "I'm not a birther. I believe the president was born in Hawaii or at least I hope he was. But my responsibility as secretary of state is to make sure that the ballots in Arizona are correct and that those people whose names are on the ballot have met the qualifications for the office that they seeking."
So starts the official kickoff to the 2014 gubernatorial campaign, a contest in which every God-fearing, gubernatorial-aspiring Republican will apparently feel the need to court the "tea party."
