Featured Stories
Dr. Heinz goes to Naco (video)
July 13, 2012
by Pamela Powers Hannley
Those of us grumbling about newly-elected Democratic Congressman Ron Barber's Republican voting record must remember that Barber still has a primary challenger for the CD2 race in November.
After the jump, check out State Legislator and Democratic challenger Dr. Matt Heinz touring and speaking in Naco. Check out his website for townhalls and upcoming appearances. Heinz will hold a Happy Hour fundraiser at Woody's Bar in Tucson on July 16 at 6 p.m., and he will be in Sierra Vista on July 18.
Mexican American Studies legal defense goes national
July 12, 2012
by
by David Safier
According to a Media Release from Save Ethnic Studies, two law professors from Seattle University School of Law, Robert Chang and Anjana Malhotra, have joined local lawyer Richard Martinez in the fight to preserve Mexican American Studies by declaring the Arizona law targeting MAS unconstitutional. Also joining the case is Sujal Shah in the San Francisco office of Bingham McCutchen. Sujal Shah grew up in Tucson and went to Canyon Del Oro High School.
Chang and Malhotra have been assisting on the case since January, 2012 along with some of their students.
Chang, who with Malhotra launched a new civil rights clinic this winter, states, "This important case fits with Seattle University's social justice mission and advances the legacy of Fred Korematsu, who fought in our courts during World War II against the injustice of Japanese American internment. The Tucson students are fighting in the courts against the injustice of a law that has discriminatorily targeted them."
Sujal Shah joined the case last month and credits his Tucson roots for his interest in the case. He's joined by four other lawyers from Bingham McCutchen.
Shah comments, "As someone who attended high school in Tucson, this case hits close to home. We need to ensure that our education policy is dictated by what's best for the students, not discrimination. Bingham has long been committed to fighting discrimination through its pro bono efforts, and is proud to work alongside plaintiffs and co-counsel to overturn HB 2811." Joining Shah on the Bingham team are John Reese, Kristen Palumbo, Karen Lu, and Marcelo Quiñones.
Read the whole Media release below the fold.
Representative Dr. Suess Gosar Disses Obamacare
July 12, 2012
By Michael Bryan On the House floor, Paul Gosar spoke to explain his vote to repeal the ACA, thusly: “Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the resolution, 6079. The Court said Congress can impose new taxes and the individual mandate is constitutional as a tax. And, as Dr. Seuss would rhyme: If it walks … Read more
CBO debunks GOP lie that Obama raised taxes
July 12, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
There is not a Tea-Publican politician anywhere in America at any level of political office who has not repeated the lie that "Barack Obama is a tax and spend liberal who is raising your taxes!"
Progressive Democrats would dispute the "liberal" part — Obama clearly is a centrist politician.
The CBO yesterday debunked the "Obama is raising your taxes!" part. CBO: federal tax burden keeps dropping:
Given the Republican Party's hyper-orthodoxy on taxes, and the Tea Party activists' cries that they are "Taxed Enough Already," it might be tempting to think the far-right enmity was driven by soaring tax rates that became so oppressive, they created an intense public backlash.
A nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office report released yesterday reminds us that the opposite is true: Americans' federal tax burden keeps shrinking.
Americans paid the lowest tax rates in 30 years to the federal government in 2009, in part because of tax cuts President Obama sought to combat the Great Recession, congressional budget analysts said Tuesday. […]
[A]t the very moment anti-tax protesters were emerging as the most powerful force in American politics, handing Republicans landslide control of the U.S. House, the data show that people were sending the smallest portion of their income to the federal government since 1979.
During Obama's first year in office, the average tax rate paid by all households fell to 17.4 percent, down from 19.9 percent in 2007, according to the CBO. The 2009 rate was significantly lower than the previous low of 19.4 percent in 2003 and well below the 30-year average of 21 percent.
The tax burden — which includes all forms of federal levies, including income, payroll and corporate taxes — lightened for households across the board, the result in part of Obama's signature "Making Work Pay" tax credit and other tax cuts passed as part of the 2009 economic stimulus package, the CBO said.
Most Tea-Publican voters who live in the closed-loop alternate reality world of FAUX Nation and hate radio — and a significant chunk of the electorate overall due to the feckless corporate media echo chamber — are likely convinced that their federal taxes went up after Obama took office. The facts say otherhwise.
As Stephen Colbert observed, "The facts have a well-known liberal bias."
Note: The Affordable Care Act provisions do not go into effect until 2014, and the Obama tax plan to allow the Bush tax cuts for the top 2% to expire and to return to Clinton era levels has not even had a vote in the Tea-Publican Congrerss.
GOP filibusters tax break for small business owners – the real ‘job creators’
July 12, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: It's like being trapped in Bill Murray's Groundhog Day (cue Sonny & Cher's "I got you Babe"). This country keeps repeating the same mistake over and over again. When are Americans going to wake up and realize that the GOP is full-o-crap! Tea-Publicans like to proclaim they represent "small businesses." The GOP … Read more
Carpetbagger ‘Payday’ Paton finds CD 1 a ‘burden’
July 12, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
I suppose Jonathan "Payday" Paton thought that no one would notice this gaffe, since he said it on a Tucson radio talk show (Source: Bill Buckmaster Show, June 27, 2012). Has anyone verified that Payday has moved into his new district?
The Ann Kirkpatrick campaign noticed, amnd sent this press release:
Paton: It's a 'burden' getting to know CD1 voters
FLAGSTAFF – “Burden.” That’s the word Tucson lobbyist Jonathan Paton recently used when asked about his campaign's voter outreach in the new CD1, a district where he is carpetbagging.
Ann Kirkpatrick has a different perspective. “This is a big district, and I’ve spent a lifetime of service in nearly every corner of it. It’s not a burden – it’s an honor to get to know and serve the good folks in these communities,” said Kirkpatrick, who raised her family, ran a business, and served as a prosecutor and lawmaker in CD1.
Watch our 30-second video (below the fold):
Dr. Richard Carmona raises $1.1 million in second quarter
July 12, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Now this is how you attract national attention and campaign dollars! The AP reports Dem. Carmona raises $1.1 million in 2nd quarter: WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Richard Carmona has raised $1.1 million in the second quarter of 2012. Carmona’s haul for April through June was his most lucrative to date, … Read more
Team Obama addresses the NAACP Convention
July 12, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
What a difference a day makes. A day after Willard "Mittens" Romney insulted the NAACP Convention and used them as a photo-op stage prop to rally the "white, old, fat" people of FAUX Nation, Team Obama addressed the organization with respect and to raucus applause. Videos below the fold.
