Right back at ya, buddy!

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

In a classic case of the kettle calling the pot black, Senate President Bob "Bluto" Burns started yet another GOP food fight at his press conference yesterday when he said that the Accidental Governor is incompetent and unqualified for the job. Burns lashes out, calls Brewer incompetent, Burns: Brewer bungling her job:

"It appears the governor is having problems managing the level of responsibility to which she has been elevated"…

The governor "has abused the public in what can only be described as a strong-arm tactic to take control of the legislative process"…

Brewer's veto of parts of the $8.4 billion spending plan "appears to be a vindictive retaliation against the Legislature for not rubber-stamping 'her plan.'"

The Accidental Governor's response to Burns was "right back at ya, buddy!" Well, with her inside voice. With her outside voice she called Burns' comments "terribly unproductive."

House Speaker Kirk Adams wanted in on this kettle calling the pot black action as well. GOP blasts Gov. Brewer for budget vetoes:

"I am alarmed this governor would harm education and the state's most vulnerable in pursuit of a tax increase," said Rep. Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, in a statement. "It's irresponsible and unbelievable that she would veto the budget she agreed to."

Alternatively, Adams reportedly called the Governor's veto "irresponsible and reckless," and her decision to totally eliminate the more than $3.2 billion in state aid to education "puts schoolchildren, hardworking teachers and employees in our public schools in jeopardy." Burns lashes out, calls Brewer incompetent

Burns was right, but for the wrong reason. By tradition and political expediency a Governor does not call for a Special Session until a deal has been struck with leadership which can be submitted to a vote of the Legislature and be dealt with quickly. The Accidental Governor called for a Special Session with no deal on the table, and given the tone of the comments from her own Legislative leaders, one does not appear likely before Monday.

Brewer's call for a Special Session appears to be an open-ended proposition designed to keep the Legislature in session as long as the July 15 deadline when a $300 million payment to schools is due, and administrators will be unable to fund teacher salaries or operating expenses without a budget.

This gives the Legislature 10 days to stew in its own juices before state government really does begin shutting down, absent any continuing resolutions or some other gimmicks to keep the state and its subdivisions running.

Prospects do not appear promising. Rep. Andy Tobin (R-Paulden) sponsored Brewer's sales-tax referral, which never came up for a vote. But in the wake of the vetoes, he has withdrawn his support.

"You're looking at someone whose word has very little value to the members down here," Tobin said of Brewer. GOP blasts Gov. Brewer for budget vetoes

Arizona is led by a Governor who has rendered herself irrelevant and ineffectual even within her own party as a result of her abject failure of leadership. The inmates are in charge of the asylum over at the Legislature. Together they can't produce a 2010 budget. And the same incompetent fools will be back in January to begin work on the 2011 budget. This summer is a preview of next summer as well.

On this July 4th weekend Arizonans should declare their independence and freedom from the Republican Party that has dominated this state for four decades. It's time to tell the Republicans "you're fired!"