Doug Ducey

It’s nice in the privileged bubble

by

Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

Governor Ducey (or someone on his staff), in a manner consistent with the forced sunnily optimistic tone of his administration, praised this story in the Weekly Standard about a couple from the East Coast, author and neoconservative think tank associate Cita Stelzer and her husband, economist Irwin Stelzer, who are now snowbirds and having an idyllic time with the evangelical Christians in the outer suburbs of Phoenix.

We never thought we would find ourselves stocking a pantry in Arizona. But now that Phoenix is our winter base, there we were, on line at the deli counter of a supermarket located in one of the ubiquitous strip malls that we love because they are home to thrusting small businesses as well as huge anchor tenants like the store we were in. After waiting awhile, we realized we were in a take-a-number queue. We remedied the oversight and got number 61. We both remember it because of what followed. When a customer who’d arrived after us, but taken a number promptly, was called, she nodded toward us and told the clerk, “These people were here before me. They just forgot to take a number. So serve them first.”

Read more

Stanford University vs the State of Arizona. A contrast in priorities.

by

I accompanied Mark to his 1980 undergrad class reunion at Stanford this past weekend. It was my first visit to the campus and had me wishing I could commandeer a DeLorean to get me back to 1980s Donna Gratehouse (I’m still stuck on that decade lately) and get my teenage shit together so that I could be celebrating my 1990 graduation from that institution as well.

Mark and I ran into a former classmate of his, an Arizona native now living in Seattle, who said that outgoing Stanford President John L. Hennessy had visited Washington to raise funds for Stanford’s endowment and that Hennessy’s stated goal was in the billions. That’s with billions with a B. This is money going to one (admittedly excellent) college in California.

This is not wishful thinking on Hennessy’s part. Get a load of the cash Stanford has on hand:

Stanford endowment

Read more

Governor Ducey hops aboard the idiot train on Planned Parenthood

by

duceyPhoto: ABC15.com

This took longer than I expected, honestly:

Governor Doug Ducey’s Statement on Planned Parenthood

JULY 20, 2015

PHOENIX – In light of recent allegations of unlawful practices and procedures being performed by Planned Parenthood, Governor Doug Ducey today directed the Arizona Department of Health Services to conduct a thorough review of current law and immediately promulgate emergency rules designed to prohibit the illegal sale of any tissue from an unborn child.

“The footage released by The Center for Medical Progress regarding the alleged sale and trafficking of aborted fetal tissue and body parts by Planned Parenthood is horrifying and has no place in a civilized society. I am calling on the Department of Health Services to conduct a thorough review of the law and immediately promulgate emergency rules designed to prohibit the illegal sale of any tissue from an unborn child. This is consistent with federal law and will deter action that we all agree is abhorrent. Further, I have instructed ADHS to provide any and all assistance required to Attorney General Brnovich in any efforts conducted by his office.”

###

Read more

Pretty much everything you need to know about modern Republican governance of states in one sentence

by

In the aftermath of Wednesday evening in Charleston, SC, when a white supremacist terrorist murdered nine African-American people in cold blood after they welcomed him into their church, a lot of people are demanding that South Carolina take down the Confederate flag that festoons the State Capitol and questioning why the flag remains a popular symbol in that state and many other parts of the country despite its ugly, hateful history*. It turns out that the Stars and Bars (which was not even flown at half-mast the day after the shootings as the U.S flag was) is protected by state law and controlled solely by the state legislature.

I did a search to see if South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley had weighed in on that and found something astounding from last October. It seems the subject came up during Haley’s reelection campaign at a televised candidate forum.

haley video screenshot
Link with video because of course I can’t embed one here

Read more

Gov. Ducey scraps monthly unemployment report. Maybe proving my (earlier) point?

by

Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

ducey herrodI’m always willing to portray Doug Ducey next to Cathi Herrod.

My last post was about the wealthiest Americans and polling showing that they are (highly) disinclined to see the government as a force to increase the employment rate. And then there was this Howie Fischer piece on Tuesday:

Following some less-than-spectacular jobless reports, the Ducey administration is scrapping at least temporarily – and perhaps forever – the monthly media briefings on the state’s unemployment situation.

Read more