It’s official: In Arizona corporations enjoy preferential rights and liberties superior to individuals
May 12, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
In another remarkable moment this week, Governor Jan Brewer signed HB 2625 into law on Friday. Brewer signs Arizona bill on contraception coverage:
Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law Friday a measure allowing some religious employers to opt out of covering prescription contraceptives as part of their health-care plans.
House Bill 2625 applies only to "religiously affiliated" employers, which are defined as non-profit groups that primarily employ and serve individuals of the same religion or religiously motivated organizations with articles of incorporation clearly stating that religious beliefs are central to the organization's operating principles.
* * *
"Mandating that a religious institution provide a service in direct contradiction with its faith would represent an obvious encroachment upon the First Amendment," she said in a news release.
Just… wow. First of all, religious institutions (churches) are already exempt from providing such coverage so that last statement from Gov. Brewer is a solution in search of a problem that did not exist.
The key to HB 2625 is how it amends A.R.S. Sec. 20-1057.08 (G) to define "religiously affiliated employer." Subsection 1 is unchanged from previous law and describes religious institutions (nonprofit entities for tax purposes) which are already exempt from providing such coverage under existing federal and state law.
A new subection 2, however, adds: "An entity whose articles of incorporation clearly state that it is a religiously motivated organization and whose religious beliefs are central to the organization's operating principles."
Got that? The legal fiction of a corporation now possesses constitutional rights and liberties under HB 2625, and Arizona says corporations enjoy preferential rights and liberties superior to individuals under this law.
Just… wow.
Dr. Richard Carmona: Governor Brewer and Arizona’s Legislature Got It Wrong
May 12, 2012
BlogForArizona Exclusive: By Dr. Richard Carmona The Arizona legislature pushed bad health policy throughout its session, and Governor Brewer just compounded those mistakes by signing a bill blocking access to contraception. This new law doesn't make any sense — and the harm it will cause the women of our state is startling. There is absolutely … Read more
A remarkable week in American politics
May 12, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
This has been a rather remarkable week in American politics. It began last Sunday when Vice President Joe Biden said that he believes in marriage equality for same-sex couples. A couple of days later, President Obama became the first sitting U.S. President to say that he too believes in marriage equality for same-sex couples.
The following day we learned that his presumptive opponent this fall, Willard "Mittens" Romney, is not the squeaky-clean "got milk" aw shucks dullard he projects, but rather has a dark side of mean-spirited intolerance and abuse epitomized by a high school "prank" (bullying) in which he organized a posse of preppies to hunt down a classmate, sit on top of him and cut off his hair. Mitt Romney's prep school classmates recall pranks but also troubling incidents. The article suggests the classmate was perceived to be gay.
Romney at first tried to laugh it off, then denied any knowledge of the incident — which begs the question, were there similar incidents of such "pranks" that now blend together in his memories that he can no longer remember which incident is which, so he is exercising extreme caution in his comments?
The right-wing noise machine predictably attacked the Post story, but it checks out. Romney story holds up to scrutiny. This story only lends credibility to the "Mr. Potter" image of Romney as the ruthless vulture capitalist at Bain Capitol who likes to fire people and to force businesses into bankruptcy to make money. And that's not a good thing.
But this week also ends remarkably. Willard "Mittens" Romney is delivering a commencement address at televangelist Jerry Falwell's ironically named Liberty University. These are the culture warrior Christian Reconstructionists and Dominionists who view Mormonism as a cult and even satanic (look it up).
And yet they are now willing to make league "with the devil" to support him against that falsely defamed "secret secular-socialist-Muslim from Kenya," Barack Obama. This is equally a remarkable moment in American politics, and should not go unnoticed.
McKay Coppins writes at BuzzFeed Cultist for President:
On page 173 of the course catalog for Liberty University, the country's largest Evangelical Christian college, there's a graduate course labeled Theology 678—Western and New Religions.
Its innocuous title belies the description of its curriculum:
"The history, doctrines, and present state of the major cults such as Mormonism, Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventism. The course will also include a study of the Occult Movement. Emphasis is placed on the errors of these groups and on methods and materials for confronting them effectively."
The course is just one reminder that when Mitt Romney takes the stand on Saturday to deliver the commencement speech at Liberty U, he will be addressing more than 2,000 evangelical students who have been taught that his Mormon faith is a cult that must be defeated.
But that doesn't mean they won't vote for him. As the Republican Party sits poised, for the first time in modern history, to nominate a presidential candidate who's not a protestant Christian, conservative Evangelicals across campus — and, indeed, across the country — are struggling to reconcile their theology with their politics. Can they really support a heretic for president?
K12 Inc’s “96% satisfaction rating* from parents” is 87% bunkum*
May 12, 2012
by
by David Safier
[*Source of "87% bunkum" figure: I pulled it out of my own head.]
The for-profit, publicly traded online education corporation, K12 Inc., expends a great deal of effort recruiting new students. With a "churn rate" (students who leave each year) close to 33%, it has to replace a third of its students every year just to stay even, and it also needs to grow to make a profit. The corporation is known for resorting to all kinds of high pressure, deceptive practices to lure and keep students — the kind of behavior that makes me question whether K-12 Inc. has the ethical integrity needed to educate students successfully.
I recently ran across an online ad for Arizona Virtual Academy that proclaims, "96% satisfaction rating* from parents." See that asterix in the statement? Follow it to the bottom of the page and you find, "*Source: K-3 Experience Survey, TRC."
The survey by TRC Market Research, which advertises it tailors its research to meet a company's needs, only includes parents of very young children, not the entire K-12 population of the schools, something you only learn by reading the fine print no one reads. It's likely parents of younger children are going to find the online environment more satisfactory than parents who have to take responsibility for the education of their older children. But even so, it's hard for me to believe, with a churn rate of 33% — probably lower for the early grades — only 4% of parents would be dissatisfied. There had to be a far larger number of unhappy campers.
That 96% satisfaction figure has an interesting history in K12 Inc. literature. More below the fold.
Imagine Schools take more hits
May 12, 2012
by
by David Safier This isn't local news, unless you acknowledge that the justly maligned, for profit Imagine Charter Schools corporation runs 14 schools in Arizona. Six Imagine Schools in St. Louis were closed by the state because of their students' shamefully low test scores, leaving 3,800 students with no place to go. Of course, the … Read more
New Obama campaign ad: ‘Reverse’
May 11, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Remember how bad things were? Do we really want to reverse course now?
The Obama campaign released a new ad on Thursday about job creation titled "Reverse." The ad is airing in Florida. Hmmm, that chart looks familiar.
Video below the fold.
Fact Checking the mendacity of ‘Mittens’
May 11, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Time once again for Steve Benen's weekly fact checking of the pathological liar Willard "Mittens" Romney. Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity, Vol. XVII:
As the 2012 presidential campaign advances, impatience with Mitt Romney's penchant for falsehoods grows. Jamelle Bouie this week reflected on the the fact that "the former Massachusetts governor has no use for honesty in his campaign."
"Constant mendacity is the norm for Romney and his campaign, and odds are good that he won't suffer for it," Bouie wrote. "Campaign reporters don't have a strong incentive to challenge him on his misrepresentations, and interested parties have a hard time dealing with the deluge."
And yet, we remain undeterred, as evidenced by the 17th installment of my weekly series, chronicling Mitt's mendacity.
1. At an event in Euclid, Ohio, Romney argued, "We will not forget the fact that when [President Obama] was putting in place $787 billion of borrowing in his first few months in office that he said the borrowing would keep the unemployment rate below 8%."
That's a popular claim for Romney, but it's completely untrue.
2. Romney said in the same remarks the only reason the unemployment rate dropped from 10% to 8.1% is "because of the people that dropped out of the work force."
That's demonstrably false.
3. At the event, Romney also said of the president, "[H]is vision is that it is ok for a small business to raise taxes from 35% to 40% of small businesses."
In reality, Obama has cut taxes on small businesses, and raising the top income tax rate would not adversely affect small businesses, no matter how often Republicans argue to the contrary.
4. Romney added, "You know, the number of ships in the U.S. Navy is smaller than any time since 1917."
This one again? Romney dropped this lie a while ago, but it's apparently back.
5. Romney went on to say, "Let me tell you, we will take America in a very different place. He is taking America on a path towards Europe and Europe is not working there. It will not work here."
The irony is, Europe is trying to grow through austerity, just as Romney intends to do here. He's lying in a self-refuting sort of way.
6. Romney also argued, "Syria is Iran's source of access to the Mediterranean."
Iran doesn't share a border with Syria.
7. Romney said of the American auto industry, "I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry's come back."
Pete Hershberger on Barber, Kelly
May 11, 2012
by
by David Safier We LD-26-ers certainly remember Pete Hershberger as our moderate Republican state rep who was chased out of office by the right wing that took over his party. Al Melvin beat him in a Senate primary, and the rest is part of our shameful history. Hershberger is still a Republican and still a … Read more
