AZ Congressional Delegation

CD2 Candidates: Where Do Barber & McSally Stand on the Issues?

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Ron Barber vs Martha McSally
Venn diagram showing where CD2 Congressional Candidates Ron Barber and Martha McSally agree or disagree. (TPP = Trans-Pacific Partnership)

Progressives have their hair on fire regarding Congressman Ron Barber’s (and Kyrsten Sinema’s) recent votes to help Teapublicans in the House of Representatives create a Congressional  witch hunt committee to re-investigate the the terrorist attack in Benghazi in 2012, when Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. (Seriously, boys, if Benghazi and Monica Lewinsky’s article in Vanity Fair are all you have on Hillary, you’re in trouble. But I digress.)

On Facebook, Democrats and Progressives are vowing never to work or donate to Barber because of his Republican-lite voting record. Some say they may reluctantly vote for him but nothing more! I have often said that women’s issues (healthcare, choice, access to contraception, and equal pay) may save Barber, and that otherwise, he and challenger Martha McSally are pretty close in their views– particularly on the A-10.

Inspired by BfAZ blogger Donna Gratehouse’s Venn diagram earlier today, I offer the above Venn diagram to illustrate what issues Barber and McSally agree and disagree on. [Click on graphic to enlarge.] The information has been gleaned from statements, votes, news stories, and the candidates’ campaign websites. [NOTE: The Venn diagram includes an incomplete list of the “silent” issues. They also both void discussing: the environment; marijuana legalization; private prisons; undocumented workers; unemployment, food stamps, and other social safety net programs; and probably others I haven’t thought of.]

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The GOP is ‘the party of maximum deportations’

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The Arizona Republic today once again editorializes that Congress needs to pass an immigration reform bill this year. Fan the glimmers of immigration hope — Our View: Reform could emerge from Congress in late summer. Let’s press to ensure it does:

Image: Latinos protest in favor of comprehensive immigration reform while on West side of Capitol Hill in WashingtonAs the Senate-passed reform bill creeps toward its first birthday in June, the House continues to insist the omnibus approach won’t work. OK. So break it up.

Utah’s Rep. Mike Lee, a staunch tea party Republican, said recently that “most” House Republicans favor some sort of reform — as long as it is done piecemeal and “step-by-step.”

A piecemeal approach can work. Step-by-step is problematic if it means cherry picking the popular stuff.

Legalizing the current undocumented population remains the most contentious issue. It can’t be left out. A solution could coalesce around legalization that falls short of creating a special path to citizenship.

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Most of all, Congress needs to pass reform. House Republicans should build on the glimmers of hope and produce a bill that moves the nation — and their party — forward.

Did you catch that? The Arizona Republic wants legalization without a pathway to citizenship. What really matters to them is moving the Republican Party forward.

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Tea-Publican Senators filibuster the minimum wage bill

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Tea-Publicans in the millionaires’ Boys & Girls Club that is the U.S. Senate, Millionaires’ club: for first time, most lawmakers are worth $1 million-plus, today filibustered the minimum wage bill for low wage American workers struggling to get by.

In a real democracy with a simple majority vote, the bill actually passed 54-to 42, with Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-NV) taking the procedural step of voting against the bill so that he can reintroduce it at a later time. Senate GOP blocks minimum wage increase:

The Senate voted on Wednesday against going ahead on a bill that would gradually increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour, another rejection for legislation that has been a major focus of the Democrats’ 2014 midterm campaign.

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mccain_flakeDemocrats needed to amass 60 votes to overcome a Republican filibuster of the bill, which was introduced by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). But they were able to sway only one Republican — Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.) — to vote in favor of proceeding.

[It’s time to fire ideologue Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake.]

Four senators — Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Roger Wicker (R- Miss.) — missed the vote.

Pryor, Cochran and Wicker were in their home states dealing with the response to deadly tornadoes. Boozman was home recovering from heart surgery. All four were expected to vote against advancing the bill.

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Phoenix VA Medical Center — time to weigh in on the controversy

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Cross posted from the Arizona Eagletarian

Today, three members of Arizona’s Republican Congressional delegation sent letters to Veterans Affairs Secretary Erik Shinseki and Phoenix VA medical center director Sharon Helman calling for Helman’s resignation.

“Under your leadership, a ‘secret list’ or second set of books was kept, holding the official number of days that veterans waited for service artificially low.  Because of you and your leadership team’s choices, over forty veterans have died due to lack of care,” the letter reads.

“The mistakes made by the PVAHCS cannot be undone, and drastic changes need to be made to ensure that this never happens again.  In order to begin to restore faith in the veteran’s health care system, department executives who were aware of and presided over this unethical and alarming mismanagement must be held accountable,” the letter continues. “It is for this reason we demand that you and the leadership team at PVAHCS resign from all leadership positions.”

Of course, Helman has been interviewed by Arizona Republic reporters, on camera, denying the allegations. I cannot say to what degree the specifics in Schweikert’s letter are complete and factual but I know that the Congressman has specific information from veterans [disclosure: including me, because I live in the district he represents and have required the assistance of his constituent services staff to resolve several problems at the Phoenix VAMC over the last 6 to 8 months and less frequently prior to that] that he is not at liberty to disclose publicly at this time.

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