Why Not Recall the War on Women in Arizona?

April 29, 2012

By Michael Bryan With Arizona having become a primary front in the GOP's War on Women, it seems to me there is a possible means to make the GOP pay at the polls this November for their aggression against the rights and health of half the population. The GOP supermajority in the AZ legislature has … Read more

Update: Tea-Publican tyranny in Michigan – The slow death of democracy

April 29, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Did you catch this story last week? Laura Conaway posted at the Maddow Blog, Michigan, this is your democracy:

The Michigan Board of State Canvassers today rejected a petition drive that would have put the state's emergency manager law on the November ballot. The board's staff had reported (.pdf) that the petitioners had collected enough signatures, and recommended (.pdf) that the board deny a challenge on the basis that the petition's type size might be too small.

I found the Memorandum from the Michigan Board of State Canvassers referenced in the above document, which advises that Michigan, like almost every other state, follows the "Subtantial Compliance Doctrine (.pdf), which holds that:

"It is well established by both statute and case law that petitions need only substantially conform to the statutory requirements," and that “constitutional and statutory initiative and referendum provisions should be liberally construed to effectuate their purposes, to facilitate rather than hamper the exercise by the people of these reserved rights.” The general rule is that “all doubts as to technical deficiencies or failure to comply with the exact letter of procedural requirements in petitions . . . are resolved in favor of permitting the people to vote and express a choice on any proposal subject to election.”

Despite the fact that Michigan, like almost every other state, follows the "Substantial Compliance Doctrine," and the petition format had received the recommendation of the staff to deny the challenge to the petitions based upon a hyper-technical compliance with the statute, the Michigan Board of State Canvassers upheld the challenge on a partisan 2-2 vote.

Zombie economic policies

April 29, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Paul Krugman has a must-read column on how conservative economics austerity measures are depressing economic growth and job growth. Death of a Fairy Tale:

For the past two years most policy makers in Europe and many politicians and pundits in America have been in thrall to a destructive economic doctrine. According to this doctrine, governments should respond to a severely depressed economy not the way the textbooks say they should — by spending more to offset falling private demand — but with fiscal austerity, slashing spending in an effort to balance their budgets.

Critics warned from the beginning that austerity in the face of depression would only make that depression worse. But the “austerians” insisted that the reverse would happen. Why? Confidence! “Confidence-inspiring policies will foster and not hamper economic recovery,” declared Jean-Claude Trichet, the former president of the European Central Bank — a claim echoed by Republicans in Congress here. Or as I put it way back when, the idea was that the confidence fairy would come in and reward policy makers for their fiscal virtue.

The good news is that many influential people are finally admitting that the confidence fairy was a myth. The bad news is that despite this admission there seems to be little prospect of a near-term course change either in Europe or here in America, where we never fully embraced the doctrine, but have, nonetheless, had de facto austerity in the form of huge spending and employment cuts at the state and local level.

So, about that doctrine: appeals to the wonders of confidence are something Herbert Hoover would have found completely familiar — and faith in the confidence fairy has worked out about as well for modern Europe as it did for Hoover’s America.

Any news on the Ted Nugent concert?

April 29, 2012

by David Safier I haven't seen any media coverage of the Ted Nugent concert at the Pima County Fair. Does anyone have first hand or second hand information about the concert and/or related events? If so, either leave a comment or send me an email: safier@schooltales.net.

One Year Later

April 29, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It was one year ago on a Sunday (May 1) following the White House Correspondents Dinner at which President Obama figuratively "slayed" the Birther King, Donald Trump, with his brilliant comedy, that the nation learned the President was literally slaying the murderous terrorist Osama bin Laden responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks in a daring Seal Team Six raid into Pakistan. Just as he said he would during a presidential debate with John McCain in the 2008 campaign. Promises kept.

Just days before the anniversary of the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, a new video from the Obama campaign focuses on the presidential decision-making that was critical to the mission's success. New Obama campaign video highlights decision to launch bin Laden raid:

The video begins with previously unreleased footage of President Clinton talking about the political risk President Obama took in ordering the raid. A failed mission, Clinton said, "would have been horrible for him, but he reasoned 'I cannot in good conscience do nothing.' He took the harder and more honorable path, and the one that produced, in my opinion, the best result."

The video then contrasts Obama's decisive leadership with Mitt Romney's blasé attitude towards bringing bin Laden to justice. "Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?" the video asks before transitioning to a quote from an August, 2007 article about Romney's criticism of Obama's willingness to strike targets inside Pakistan without or without the Pakistani government's assistance. Next, a quote from Mitt Romney himself: "It's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person."

The video closes by returning to President Obama's decision. "He had to decide," President Clinton says. "And that's what you hire the president to do. You hire a president to make the calls when no one else can do it."

Video below the fold.

The Gathering of the Cochise County Democratic Party

April 29, 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