Want to know more about TUSD Board candidate Cam Juarez?
October 1, 2012
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by David Safier
If you haven't had a chance to hear and see the TUSD Board candidates, you have another shot tonight (Oct. 1), 6:30-8:30pm, YWCA, 525 Bonita ((just south of the Fur's Cafeteria on St. Mary's Rd).
If you want to know more about Cam Juarez, he's made a 4 minute video which is a combination biography and statement on the issues. To my mind, it's the best video piece I've seen for a down-ballot candidate in terms of information and production skills.
Four minutes is long for a campaign vid. I'll tell you what. Watch the first minute. My guess is, you'll stick around for the rest. Video below the fold.
WaPo editorial: The thrill is gone for the GOP’s flimflam man
October 1, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Two years ago Paul Krugman wrote:
One depressing aspect of American politics is the susceptibility of the political and media establishment to charlatans. You might have thought, given past experience, that D.C. insiders would be on their guard against conservatives with grandiose plans. But no: as long as someone on the right claims to have bold new proposals, he’s hailed as an innovative thinker. And nobody checks his arithmetic.
– The Flimflam Man
Paul Krugman was among the first to expose the GOP's alleged boy genius, Ayn Rand fanboy Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), as a pseudo-intellectual fraud: "he’s serving up leftovers from the 1990s, drenched in flimflam sauce."
Today the editors of the Neoconservative Washington Post have belatedly come to the same conclusion. The thrill is gone for the GOP's flimflam man. Paul Ryan’s budget flimflam:
PAUL RYAN wants to tell you about the wonders of the 20 percent cut in tax rates that he and running mate Mitt Romney propose. He doesn’t want to tell you how much it will cost. On Sunday, Fox News’s Chris Wallace asked the Republican vice presidential nominee this basic question four times, citing projections of a 10-year cost of $5 trillion. Four times, Mr. Ryan dodged, hiding behind a flimsy scaffolding of pseudo-wonkiness. “Look, I won’t give you a baseline with these because that’s what a lot of this is about,” he said.
Breaking: Maricopa County Attorney announces campaign finance law enforcement action against Attorney General Tom Horne
October 1, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montogomery held a press conference this morning to announce a civil enforcement action for violation of campaign finance laws under Title 16 for illegal coordination between Tome Horne's attorney general candidate committee and an independent expenditure committee headed by Kathleen Winn in 2010.
Montgomery said he will not use Title 13 criminal statutes to supplement inadequate Title 16 campaign finance law civil remedies. He said that he has spoke with legislators about new legislation in January.
Montgomery also said Title 16 civil remedies do not require Tom Horne to resign from office. (A criminal conviction would).
Montgomery said there is no personal liability under Title 16 civil remedies. Horne's campaign committee and the independent expenditure committee headed by Kathleen Winn are the liable parties. The civil penalty can be up to three times the expenditure in question. $513,540 was spent on TV ads during the 2010 election, which means the fine could exceed $1.5 million. Montgomery found that the monies donated to the independent expenditure committee of Kathleen Winn were in fact intended for Tom Horne's candidate committee.
Montgomery is required to give Tom Horne and Kathleen Winn an opportunity to take corrective action, which could affect this enforcement action, i.e., correct the finance reports and return the money. If corrective action is taken, there is nothing more he can do. Montgomery says this is a serious shortcoming in campaign finance law.
An FBI spokesperson was also present. The FBI has turned over its investigation to the U.S. Attorneys Office, will not comment on the case. The FBI does not make prosecutorial recommendations.
It is also possible this matter will result in a State Bar of Arizona professional conduct investigation.
Montgomery repeatedly denied that he has any interest in running for Attorney General in 2014. His office did, however, coordinate this civil enforcement action with Secretary of State Ken Bennett, who is a rival of Attorney General Tom Horne for the Republican nomination for governor in 2014.
Felicia Rotellini, Horne’s Democrat opponent, is expected to make a statement.
Tucson Weekly wins big. (No surprise there.)
October 1, 2012
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by David Safier Travel to any other city and pick up a weekly newspaper. You're likely to see some good local gossip, personal and political, maybe one good feature, and lots of coverage of the local art and music scene. Pick up the Tucson Weekly and you're likely to be reading column after column and … Read more
Preschool? Romney says one parent should stay home instead
October 1, 2012
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by David Safier In Romney's elite Never Never Land, all children are raised by two parent families that can live on one income. That's the only way his solution to early childhood education works, which is, one parent should be home during children's early years — unless, I guess, a single parent is wealthy enough … Read more
TUSD candidate forum: What about TUSD’s finances and projected budget shortfall? (video)
October 1, 2012
by Pamela Powers Hannley
This is the fourth video in a series shot at the Tucson Unified School District candidate forum hosted by Drinking Liberally Tucson on September 26, 2012.
In this segment, candidates talk about budget cuts and the district's finances. Each candidate got 1.5 minutes to answer the question; three candidates were allowed 30 second rebuttals because they or their policies were specifically attacked by another candidate.
If you want to see the TUSD candidates live, the League of Women Voters, YWCA, and others are sponsoring a debate tonight, Monday, October 1.
Watch this video after the jump. Watch the whole collection here.
Election law cases in Court today
October 1, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
While we are awaiting a decision from the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on voter ID in Pennsylvania (certain to be appealed to the state supreme court), let's take a look at other election law cases in court today.
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied petitions for certiorari this morning in:
Washington State Democratic Central Committee v. Washington State Grange, Docket: 11-1263
– and –
Libertarian Party of Washington State v. Washington State Grange, Docket: 11-1266
These are cases challenging Washington state's top-two primary system on a theory of trademark infringement to protect the use of the trademark of "Democratic Party" and "Libertarian Party" by candidates who are not the official candidate of the party, under a primary system that allows candidates to self identify party affiliation through voter registration. High court rejects Wash. top-2 primary appeal – AP. This is relevant to Prop. 121 in Arizona on the ballot in November.
In Ohio, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit will hear two appeals today on early voting and Ohio's so-called "right church, wrong pew" rule for rejecting provisional ballots due to poll worker errors. Edward Foley, an election law expert writes at Election Law @ Moritz – Commentary: Two Big Cases Ready for Major Appellate Rulings:
In the next week or two, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit will decide two Ohio election cases with both practical and jurisprudential importance. One concerns the rollback of early voting during the last three days before Election Day (November 6 this year). The other involves the invalidation of a ballot cast by a valid voter in the correct polling location, but to whom the poll worker erroneously gives the incorrect ballot for the voter's specific precinct.
Both cases present claims based on the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and both expose the current uncertainty of how the Fourteenth Amendment applies to voting rules, particularly in the aftermath of Bush v. Gore. The Ohio government lost both cases in the federal district court, but is seeking to reverse those two rulings on appeal. The Secretary of State, Jon Husted, declined to appeal the main portion of the provisional voting case, but the Attorney General, Mike DeWine, appealed on behalf of the State of Ohio as an independent litigating entity.
Huppenthal knows better, which means his “facts” can’t be trusted
October 1, 2012
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by David Safier Ed Supe John Huppenthal prides himself on his research, by which he means plowing through education studies and finding the ones that reinforce his preconceived notions — or if he can't find a whole study that works, cherry-picking an out-of-context stat. Whatever works. Here's an example of Hupp using a clever but … Read more
