AZ Congressional Delegation

If Montana can do it, why can’t Arizona?

by

In news that you did not see reported here in Arizona last week, the Montana legislature passed sweeping campaign finance legislation that will require the disclosure of all donors to any independent group spending money on state-level elections.

The Huffington Post reported, Montana Republicans And Democrats Unite To Ban Dark Money:

dark_moneyThe bipartisan Montana Disclose Act will effectively end the flood of “dark money” — electoral spending by nonprofit groups that do not disclose their donors — that has plagued recent Montana elections.

“Montana elections are about to become the most transparent in the nation, requiring those trying to influence our elections to come out of the dark money shadows,” Gov. Steve Bullock (D), who plans to sign the bill, said in a statement. “Our elections should be decided by Montanans, not shadowy dark money groups.”

The bill will require all groups, no matter their tax status, to disclose their donors if they spend money on electoral communications either targeting or mentioning a candidate within 60 days of an election.

“What Montana shows is that the issue of money in politics is really only a partisan issue in Washington, D.C.,” Adam Smith, spokesman for the campaign finance reform group Every Voice, said. “People can come together — Republicans and Democrats — and pass real effective reforms of the system.”

Read more

Why is Rep. Kyrsten Sinema voting to repeal the estate tax?

by

I warned you earlier in the week about the GOP’s Gimmicks-R-Us Shoppe during tax week.

Steve Benen reports, GOP passes massive tax break for millionaires, billionaires:

In recent months, high-profile Republicans, sounding quite a bit like class warriors, have complained bitterly about the wealthy benefiting most from the recent economic recovery. Even House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), without a hint of irony, complained that recent trends point to “exacerbated inequality.” The far-right congressman added that only “the wealthy are doing really well.”

It’s genuinely impossible to reconcile Republican rhetoric and Republican priorities in light of votes like these.

The House voted Thursday to repeal the estate tax, a longtime priority of Republicans that also spurred Democratic charges that the GOP is in the pockets of the rich. […]

The White House has threatened to veto the measure, and the bill does not appear to have the 60 votes necessary to break a Democratic filibuster and get through the Senate.

The final tally was 240 to 179, with nearly every GOP lawmaker voting for it and nearly every Democrat voting against it.

Yeah, about this “almost every Democrat” . . . our own Kyrsten Sinema, once again, voted with the Greedy Oligarchs and Plutocrats (GOP). This has become a routine habit of Rep. Sinema.

Read more

Rep. Martha McSally endorses Sen. McCain’s Neocon war mongering

by

McSallyOn Friday, Rep. Martha McSally (R-Raytheon) attended an invitation-only event hosted by the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance aka the “military-industrial-congressional complex,” at Raytheon, her former employer, along with Neocon war monger Sen. John McCain.

The Arizona Republic reports, McCain, McSally pan Iran deal, praise defense industry:

U.S. Sen. John McCain, fresh off announcing he will run for re-election in 2016, drew promises of support at a meeting of southern Arizona defense hawks Friday, as he praised the state’s missile-defense industry and criticized the Obama administration’s emerging deal with Iran.

McCain was joined by U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, the Tucson freshman and retired A-10 pilot who was the first female airman to fly in combat.

The Republicans said companies such as Raytheon Missile Systems in southern Arizona protect Americans from threats abroad, including North Korea, Iran, Russia and non-state actors. They spoke to a meeting of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance in Tucson.

McCain said the end of the Cold War was hastened by America’s development of weapons capable of downing enemy missiles. The need for such defenses continues, he said.

“As we speak, it is clear to me — if not to the president of the United States — that the Iranians are bent on the development of nuclear weapons,” McCain said. “Missile defense is not a story of the past. It’s a story of the future.”

McCain criticized the Obama administration’s negotiations with Iran, calling the tentative deal appeasement.

McSally agreed.

“We’ve conceded,” she said. “(Iran is) playing right out of North Korea’s playbook: pretend they’re willing to negotiate and then march toward nuclear weapons.”

Read more

Were any GOP lawmakers on that bus from Phoenix?

by

I posted yesterday about the Arizona land grab bills and the anniversary of Bundy ranch.

Racist deadbeat rancher Cliven Bundy and his band of Neo-Confederate secessionists rallied at the Nevada state capitol in Carson City for the federal land grab bill sponsored by Tea-Publicans in the Silver State, heard in committee today.

BundyThe AP report below from U.S. News & World Report says that “A bus from Phoenix and another from Las Vegas brought more than 100 people, according to Bundy’s son, Ammon Bundy.” (AP Photo/The Reno Gazette-Journal, Jason Bean).

Did that bus from Phoenix include any of the several GOP politicians in the “caravan” to the Bundy Ranch a year ago? This included Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ), state Representatives Bob Thorpe (R-Flagstaff), David Livingston (R-Peoria), Kelly Townsend (R-Mesa), Senators Judy Burges (R-Sun City West), and Kelli Ward (R-Lake Havasu City), several county level elected officials, and of course, former Graham County Sheriff and “Patriot” (sic) leader Richard Mack.

Gosar Bundy Ward 14 April 2014Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and state Senator Kelli Ward (R- Lake Havasu City) with their good buddy Cliven Bundy.

Read more

NY Times puff piece today on Rep. Martha McSally

by

Ashley Parker of the New York Times does a “New faces of Congress” puff piece today on Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ), that reads like it belongs in the Society Pages of the Times. Nothing substantive to read here. Pioneering Combat Pilot Persists in Rise From Arizona.