Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Ok, so I lost a bet yesterday on the Minnesota Vikings, but I won it all back today on a bet on the Arizona Daily Star.
The Daily Star announced on Sunday it would be interviewing Pima County legislators on their views on the state budget and the series would begin on Monday. State budget: our lawmakers' views I bet that the Daily Star could not wait to roll out an interview with Jonathan Paton. The Daily Star is so transparently predictable. I win. (Paton has announced he will resign soon, so he will have no role in the FY 2011 state budget. His views on the state budget are of little value).
It is the Daily Star's readers who lose. Because, you see, Jonathan Paton failed to answer a single question posed by the Arizona Daily Star. His answers were nonresponsive nonsequitors, with platitudes and talking points thrown in.
As a lawyer, when a witness is this purposefully evasive and nonresponsive I will keep asking the question until I get a response to the question I asked. Not so at the Arizona Daily Star. It's stenographers simply take down whatever is said, no follow-up, no aggressive pursuit of the truth, no fact checking.
Here is a tip for the Arizona Daily Star: instead of asking a question with a long premise that calls for a narrative response, ask a pointed question that calls for a simple yes or no response to your point. That's how you pin down slippery politicians like Jonathan Paton.
And below is how you do a transcript. You do not put the questions in one piece and the answers in another piece. Amateurs. Lawmakers response schedule; Sen. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, District 30
The Arizona Daily Star asked the following questions of each lawmaker:
1) Lawmakers have discretion over only 37 percent of K-12 education. School districts and universities have already taken millions in budget cuts, which affects everything from the economy to demands on government programs.
Should lawmakers continue to cut money to education? What, specifically, would you do?
A: As a product of Arizona public schools and a graduate of the University of Arizona, I'm proud of our great teachers. Anything we can do to minimize impacts to our education system is vital.
Everyday Arizonans know the difficulties we're facing firsthand. They're cutting their own budgets right now. Unlike Washington, Arizona can't print money when it's needed. So, we need to find ways to transform our education system to meet the budgetary and educational challenges of today.
2) The governor's budget includes $37 million in cuts to services for the seriously mentally-ill and the elimination of KidsCare, for a savings of $23 million. It also seeks to ask voters to drop 310,500 people from Medicaid by narrowing the eligibility rules.
That savings would be $382 million. Do you support these cuts? If not, how would you cover that $442 million budget gap?
A: The governor's budget is a starting point, and prior experiences tell us that the end product is likely to be much different.
As that process unfolds, I'm most concerned about programs to protect the state's most vulnerable children under the supervision of Child Protective Services and to make sure our schools are preparing students for the 21st century.
3) What is your priority for budget cuts? What, specifically, would you cut first, and why?
A: None of these cuts is easy. But in Arizona we've made the hard choices Washington has ignored during one of the most challenging economic periods in modern times. Child Protective Services and public safety should be protected at all costs.
In addition to reductions we've already made, we need to ban practices that allow politicians to waste taxpayers' money on promoting themselves in the media. I've personally led the effort to end Arizona's publicly-funded welfare for politicians scheme.
4) What kind of revenue increases do you support?
A: At the moment, there's been no agreement on any revenue increase. In own my legislative career, I've consistently fought for lower taxes for working families, the best way to encourage economic growth.
The only way Arizona will dig itself out of its economic problems is to diversify our economy – which will lead to less dependency on state programs and more economic prosperity – and that starts with encouraging the free enterprise system, not stifling it.
Who is responsible for this epic failure in Journalism 101? They signed their names to the series. State budget: our lawmakers' views:
John M. Humenik, publisher and editor jhumenik@azstarnet.com
Bobbie Jo Buel, executive editor bjbuel@azstarnet.com
Contact them directly and follow-up with your letter to the editor. letters@azstarnet.com
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