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Tom ‘banned for life by the SEC’ Horne under investigation by the FBI
April 2, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Another day, another political scandal in Arizona. Maybe we should build a prison for our politicians and the corporate lobbyists they serve.
The chief law enforcement officer of the state of Arizona, our Attorney General Tom "banned for life by the SEC" Horne, is under investigation by the FBI for campaign finance law violations. Oh, like nobody saw this coming — a leopard doesn't change his spots. Attorney General Tom Horne under investigation:
The FBI is investigating whether Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne illegally worked with an independent expenditure committee that raised and spent more than $500,000 in 2010 to run negative ads against his Democratic challenger.
The Republic learned that Horne was under investigation by federal officials about two months ago, but could only determine that it was tied to Horne's possible illegal involvement in an independent expenditure committee created in 2010.
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A complaint was filed in February by a whistle-blower, who worked for Horne. Former prosecutor Don Dybus — who also worked on Horne's campaign — alleged Horne worked with the committee and later hired the chairwoman.
The complaint was filed in February, and the Arizona Secretary of State's Office released it Monday.
The complaint http://www.azcentral.com/ic/pdf/0402-horne-complaint.pdf
A spokesman for the Secretary of State's Office said the complaint was forwarded to a law-enforcement agency, but would not specify which. The Republic has learned the complaint was forwarded to the FBI.
The complaint alleges that Horne coordinated with Business Leaders for Arizona, which raised thousands of dollars from Horne's brother-in-law Richard Newman.
The complaint also alleges that Horne and his campaign were actively engaged with the independent expenditure committee and once elected, that he rewarded its director, Kathleen Winn, by naming her director of community outreach for the Tucson office. Winn earns $98,134 a year.
Dybus alleges that Horne, Winn, Newman and Republican political consultant Nathan Sproul, who raised money for the committee, colluded to raise money for the committee and Horne's consulting group "provided active and regular campaign advice directly to Horne throughout the election cycle."
House Ethics Committee lawyers recommend expulsion of Rep. Daniel Patterson
April 2, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The Arizona Republic reports Attorneys recommend Patterson be expelled: Independent attorneys appointed to investigate allegations of ethics violations by Rep. Daniel Patterson are recommending expulsion. Attorneys Michael Manning, Craig Morgan, Sharon Ng and Danelle Kelling of Stinson Morrison Hecker conducted the investigation as special counsel for the House Ethics Committee. Patterson has … Read more
MAS updates. Sean Arce out? Students stay active.
April 2, 2012
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by David Safier Another domino prepares to fall. It looks like the TUSD Board is planning to vote against renewing MAS Director Sean Arce's contract for the next school year. Administrators don't have the same kind of protections as teachers and can pretty much be fired at will, so it's reasonably easy to get rid … Read more
Rebel without a cause: Daniel Patterson leaves Dems, now an Independent
April 2, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: From the many Democrats with whom I have spoken about this over the past few months, their collective response would be "good riddance, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out." The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Embattled Patterson leaves Dems; files as independent – Arizona Capitol Times: … Read more
In what way does this fulfill public media’s supposed role of better informing the public?
April 2, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Arizona Public Media is failing its viewers by interviewing guests who do not know the subject matter on which they speak and simply repeat political talking points aimed at low information voters who know even less about the subject matter than they do. In what way does this fulfill public media's supposed role of better informing the public?
Case in point, the Political Roundtable on Arizona Illustrated on Friday night invited Republican strategist Sam Stone to talk about health-care politics in Arizona, among other topics. I am told Mr. Stone is GOP congressional candidate Martha McSally's campaign manager, a fact not disclosed in the introductions.
For this example I will focus just on the Affordable Care Act topic. Political Roundtable: Health Care, Street Troubles, Bus Fares, Contraception Legislation & More.
Mr. Stone asserted that "right from the start this legislation did nothing to address the problem of rising health care costs in our system." Really? Bending the health care cost curve is primarily what the ACA addresses. Peter Orszag and Ezekiel Emanuel wrote at the New England Journal of Medicine, Health Care Reform and Cost Control — NEJM:
In fact, it institutes myriad elements that experts have long advocated as the foundation for effective cost control. More important is how the legislation approaches this goal. The ACA does not establish a rigid bureaucratic structure to be changed only episodically through arduous legislative action. Rather, it establishes dynamic and flexible structures that can develop and institute policies that respond in real time to changes in the system in order to improve quality and restrain unnecessary cost growth.
The article goes on to address the various cost containment programs. In addition, the Congressional Budget Office:
(CBO) determined that the ACA will reduce the federal budget deficit by more than $100 billion over the first decade and by more than $1 trillion between 2020 and 2030. And the Commonwealth Fund recently projected that expenditures for the whole health care system will be reduced by nearly $600 billion in the first decade.
In fact, the Commonwealth Fund's most recent study (January 2012) is projecting lower health spending over the rest of the decade. Bending the Health Care Cost Curve – The Commonwealth Fund:
CMS's estimates of health care spending through the end of the decade have been steadily falling over the last year and a half. As shown in Exhibit 1, the most recent projection of national health spending in 2020 is $4.6 trillion, or 19.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), compared with its projection of $4.9 trillion, or 21.1 percent of GDP, in 2009 in the absence of reform. This represents a $275 billion (5.6 percent) reduction for 2020, compared with pre-reform estimates. Moreover, that projection represents a cumulative reduction of $1.7 trillion over the 10 years from 2011 to 2020.
This reduction in projected national health spending is particularly important because the pre-reform projection of health care costs was used by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the CMS Office of the Actuary in estimating the cost and impact of health reform. Already, spending is far below the trajectory projected to result from implementation of the Affordable Care Act. In fact, reduction in utilization of health services and trims in payment rates under the Affordable Care Act more than offset the projected cost of covering the uninsured.
Medical Marijuana
April 1, 2012
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Posted by Bob Lord I’ve always supported medical marijuana. But I’ve never had any real life experiences to justify it. Until now. Some months ago, a close friend of mine called to let me know he couldn’t make it to my daughter’s wedding. He would be traveling back to the mid-west to spend time with … Read more
Update on Texas Voter ID case
April 1, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The D.C. District Court has set a trial in Texas’ voter ID suit for July 9-13. Texas Redistricting blog, http://txredistricting.org/, reports Court sets July 9 trial date in Texas voter ID case: [T]he court also directed that issues related to the constitutionality of section 5 of the Voting Rights Act be bifurcated … Read more
President Obama’s message to Planned Parenthood supporters
April 1, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Transcript via Daily Kos:
For you, and for most Americans, protecting women's health is a mission that stands above politics. And yet, over the past year, you've had to stand up to politicians who want to deny millions of women the care they rely on, and inject themselves into decisions that are best made between a woman and her doctor.
Let's be clear here: Women are not an interest group.
They're mothers, and daughters, and sisters, and wives. They're half of this country. They're perfectly capable of making their own choices about their health.
So we're grateful that, through it all, you never forgot who you're fighting for: The woman with a new lease on life because a mammogram caught her cancer in time; the woman who can sleep easier at night because of a cervical cancer screening; the woman who is able to choose when to start a family, because she could afford contraception.
So when some professional politicians casually say that they'll "get rid of" Planned Parenthood, don't forget what they're really talking about: Eliminating the funding for preventive care that millions of women rely on, and leaving them to fend for themselves.
That's why, last year, when Republicans in Congress threatened to shut down the government unless we stopped funding Planned Parenthood, I had a simple answer: No.
But we know this debate is far from over. We must continue to send the message loud and clear: If you truly value families, you shouldn't play politics with a woman's health.
It's why I know that Planned Parenthood will continue providing care, no matter what. I know you'll never stop fighting to protect the healthcare and the choices that America's women deserve.
As long as I have the privilege of being your president, neither will I. Thanks.
Video below thwe fold.
