Corrupt Kavanagh’s disdain for democracy, abuse of power

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Rep. John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills) is a corrupt politician who uses his position to advance his own personal, often bizarre agenda, rather than to represent the best interests of his constitutuents and Arizonans.

There was this tidbit in the Arizona Republic this morning, Brewer wants Legislature to take up her priorities:

TPT is the state transaction privilege tax. A bill to streamline the tax, which effectively is the sales tax, is set for a hearing before the Senate Finance Committee this afternoon.

The bill had stalled in the House, where Speaker Andy Tobin, R-Paulden, had worried that the bill’s overhaul of the construction sales tax could hurt local governments and where Appropriations Chairman John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, had not scheduled it for a hearing. Kavanagh’s wife, Linda, is Fountain Hills’ mayor.

The House Approriations Committee is not his personal fiefdom to keep his wifey happy. This tax reform bill is important to the state of Arizona and for future economic development. This is an abuse of power.

Now to Kavanagh's bizarre personal agenda. Law governing transgender use of restrooms proposed:

Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, wants to create Arizona’s first law governing restroom privileges. Under Senate Bill 1432, someone would be guilty of disorderly conduct if he or she uses a bathroom, locker room or dressing room that’s not designated for the sex listed on his or her birth certificate.

* * *

SB 1432 would make it illegal to enter a bathroom if signage indicates it is exclusively for the opposite sex. Authorities could charge violators with a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by a $2,500 fine and up to six months in jail.

Are you f#&king kidding me?! This man is so unsecure in his own sexuality that he is paranoid about who may be using the bathroom stall next to him? You know the "Bro Rule," Dude — eyes straigt ahead, don't be checking out the junk of the guy next to you. This "Birther" has now found a new "Birther" use for birth certificates. Unbelievable.

So where does this bit of insanity come from you ask? Where else, but Mullah Cathi Herrod and her Christian Taliban at the Center for Arizona Policy:

Critics of Phoenix’s move have repeatedly raised fears that the city opened the door for sexual predators to share bathrooms with women and girls. They labeled it the “bathroom bill,” a nickname gay-rights advocates said was an inflammatory distraction.

“This is about the person who will use gender identity or expression as their ruse to gain access to opposite-sex facilities,” Cathi Herrod, president of the conservative Center for Arizona Policy, said after the council approved the ordinance.

So transgenders are all sexual predators? That's typical of the discrimination and bigotry that spews out of the mouth of Mullah Herrod. It seems to me that I frequently read in the newspaper that some Christian minister or anti-gay GOP politician has been caught with his pants down having gay sex. And don't even get me started about the Catholic Church and pedophilia. I have always said that these "super-Christians" who are fixated on sex have something to hide.

While the corrupt Kavanagh wants to impose "big brother" government into the most personal and private aspects of your life (while criminalizing being a transgender), he is concerned about protecting the privacy rights of Arizona Lottery winners. No, really. He is the sponsor of HB 2082, on behalf of a constitutent who won a few hundred million bucks recently, which has already cleared the House and got preliminary approval in the Senate on Monday. It’s now one vote away from going to the governor.

The corrupt Kavanagh has an ulterior motive for submitting his "striker" and putting this discriminatory bill on his committee's agenda today — he is stacking his committee hearing agenda to screw with public testimony on Governor Jan Brewer's Medicaid (AHCCCS) Restoration Plan also scheduled for an informational hearing today. The Arizona Republic called him out on his abuse of power this morning. A big issue becomes a joke:

One of the most important issues facing Arizona is on the agenda, but today’s legislative committee hearing promises to be a fast-paced comic review complete with bathroom humor. Really.

The odds are against anything productive happening.

The hearing on Gov. Jan Brewer’s proposal to expand health-care coverage under the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System was moved from the House Health Committee to the House Appropriations Committee, chaired by Rep. John Kavanagh, a strong opponent of Brewer’s plan.

Kavanagh expects a crowd, so he says people may get as little as 60 seconds each to talk about the biggest proposed change in Arizona’s health care system in 30 years.

You’ve heard of speed dating? This is faster.

Kavanagh blames AHCCCS for sending an e-mail inviting people to attend the hearing and let lawmakers know if they support the governor.

“Outrageous behavior,” he called it.

Outrageous? Asking people to participate in their government?

Gee whiz.

But that’s not all, folks.

Kavanagh added another bill to today’s already crowded Appropriations Committee agenda – and it’s bound to be a real talker, too, though there are no appropriations connected to it.

This bill, a strike-everything amendment on Senate Bill 1432, makes it a crime to go into a public restroom, shower, locker room, etc., that is labeled for members of one gender unless your birth certificate says you share that gender. (These guys are fascinated with birth certificates.)

This is an overreaction to the Phoenix City Council’s vote to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Kavanagh expects a lot of comments.

He says he’ll hear all the bills on the agenda before talking about Brewer’s plan. The obvious goal: Let a lengthy discussion about bathroom etiquette chase off doctors, nurses and patients who show up to testify about the AHCCCS Medicaid expansion.

Kavanagh is among legislative Republicans who adamantly oppose signing up Arizona for a generous federal funding match – a match that would cover 90 percent of the costs of extending medical coverage to hundreds of thousands of Arizonans.

We get it. They don’t like “Obamacare.” Fine. But let’s play fair.

Putting the first discussion of the governor’s proposal on unfriendly turf, stacking the agenda and reducing testimony to Twitter-sized comments is not only unfair, it is an insult to Arizona taxpayers.

The corrupt Kavanagh's disdain for democracy and abuse of power should get his sorry ass thrown out of office. He is term limited in the House, but this tool has already made noises about running for the Senate. The State of Arizona should buy him a one-way ticket back to New York. Good riddance.