Georgia joins GOP-controlled states challenging Voting Rights Act
October 10, 2011
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Back in August, Arizona Attorney General Tom "banned for life by the SEC" Horne filed a legal challenge to the Voting Rights Act. Tom Horne files a politically motivated challenge to the Voting Rights Act. The lawsuit asks the court to either eliminate the original criteria for scrutiny as well as the … Read more
Mixed results/no results from educational software
October 9, 2011
by
by David Safier Ask any company selling educational software, and they'll show you studies pointing to strong academic gains from students who use their products. But for every study they point to, three others show little or no gains for students who use their software versus those who don't. And the company's favorite studies are … Read more
American Jobs Act up for vote in the Senate this week
October 9, 2011
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: This week, the Senate will vote on its version of President Obama's American Jobs Act. The Congressional Budget Office has scored S. 1660 [PDF], the Senate Democrats' version of the American Jobs Act, President Obama's jobs plan. The Senate bill replaces a number of tax increases on the oil and gas and … Read more
Grand Canyon Institute – ‘Keep Redistricting Independent’
October 9, 2011
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: For those of you who have been following Steve Muratore's must-read The Arizona Eagletarian blog and Blog for Arizona for information about redistricting in Arizona, the Arizona Republic today revealed a new resource for information is joining the fray: the centrist think tank the Grand Canyon Institute "announced its 'Keep Redistricting Independent' … Read more
Dr. Word asks: What do Al Melvin, Herman Cain and Ronald Reagan have in common? (Hint: it’s not Abe Lincoln)
October 9, 2011
by
by David Safier Words matter, and so do attributions, especially when you're attributing words to Abraham Lincoln. So I'll ask Herman Cain and Cap'n Al Melvin, who said the following words? (Too late to ask Ronald Reagan, obviously, though he used the words in his 1992 speech at the Republican National Convention.) "You can't help … Read more
Call the Wahhmbulance! Robert Robb whines the AIRC is unfair to Tea-Publicans
October 9, 2011
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: I posted last week about the coordinated media assault on the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) by FAIR Trust (the Arizona Republican Caucus), whining that the congressional "draft map" is unfair to Republicans because it creates only four "safe" GOP districts, two majority-minority Voting Rights Act districts that favor democrats, and three … Read more
Fast and Furious, meet Wide Receiver
October 9, 2011
by
by David Safier Ask Darrell Issa. It's the scandal of the century. Obama's ATF goons let guns walk across the border to Mexico as part of the wrong-headed Operation Fast and Furious. Never in the history of this nation has . . . No other president would ever allow . . . Well, never in … Read more
Stalking state laws: the NRA and its lobbyists work slowly but inexorably
October 9, 2011
By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings The NRA is proving that when it comes to lobbying state legislatures, persistence is almost as important as money, as is the patience to take small bites. (Not that lots of money hurts. :) ) Perhaps it's the old saw about repeating a lie often enough that it becomes fact … Read more
