The Accidental Governor floats a trial balloon to Democrats

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: At her Tuesday press conference, the Accidental Governor floated a trial balloon to Democratic legislators. She said that she might allow the state property tax to go back on the books this fall if doing so would result in Democratic support for a ballot referral to raise the sales tax. Brewer, Democrats … Read more

UPDATE: More navel-gazing at the Legislature

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: On Monday the Legislature convened for the third week of the Special Session, but could not muster a quorum. Only 26 members of the House and 12 members of the Senate showed up. No quorum? No big deal, lawmakers say They held some discussions on the budget impasse, and agreed to reconvene … Read more

I regret the error

by David SafierI wrote a post about tax hikes, estate taxes and Tea Partiers. In it, I approximated the amount an estate has to be worth before it's taxed at $1 million. A reader corrected me. A single person's estate has to reach $3.5 million before it's taxed. For a couple, it's $7 million. The … Read more

Obama lowers crime rate

by David SafierWhat the hell. Why not give Obama credit for the lowered crime rate? No one has a better reason. Violent crime has plummeted in the Washington area and in major cities across the country, a trend criminologists describe as baffling and unexpected. The article doesn't give Obama credit, and no sensible social scientist … Read more

President Obama on health care reform at Children’s Hospital

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: President Obama addressed health care reform on Monday at Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C. Obama directly challenged the partisan comment from Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) last week. Text of prepared Remarks by the President on Health Care at Children's Hospital (excerpt): Now, there are some in this town who are content to … Read more