Where does Brewer stand on payday loans, or repealing the law that would get rid of payday loans in Arizona? She's not sure. Remember the ballot measure that would have kept payday loans here? The one that lost big time?
Brewer said she couldn’t remember how she voted [...]
The good news: good charter schools can be very good. For certain parts of the student population, they can be better than public schools.
The bad news: bad charter schools can be just awful. They're run either by incompetents or profiteers -- sometimes by incompetent profiteers -- and the' [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Remember how Roger Ailes and Lee Atwater used this fearmongering ad to destroy the Michael Dukakis presidential campaign in 1988? (This was one version of the ad)
George H. W. Bush's campaign manager, Lee Atwater, predicted that "by the time this election is over, Willie Horton will be a'" [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Sarah Palin had some nice things to say about America's "Fearmonger-In-Chief", Glenn Beck of Faux News. In an interview with right-wing Newsmax.com, Palin was asked, "Is a "dream ticket" of Palin-Beck ticket completely out of the question? " Palin-Beck Ticket? Sarah Doesn't Rule it Out:
Palin [...]
How do newspapers transition away from paper and still make enough money to survive? Here's one scenario I think might work. Create three levels of reading ease: Clunky with lots of ads (free), reasonably efficient and with fewer ads (moderate subscription cost) and smooth as silk (higher subscription' [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
After eight years of war, Afghanistan remains a failed state.
Bush puppet Hamid Karzai is barely the mayor of Kabul; he has no control over the Afghan countryside. Voice of America Newsreported that the Taliban have a "permanent presence" in 80 percent of Afghanistan. "Permanent presence" in a [...]
This may seem like blasphemy: the House Bill on energy known as The American Clean Energy Act is the most detrimental bill the House has passed since the Patriot Act. Like the Patriot Act, it is not what it says it is. It should never become law.
It is not [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Allen Barra at The Daily Beast has posted a book review of two new biographies about the life of Ayn Rand: Ayn Rand and the World She Made by Anne C. Heller, and Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American [...]
Here's another comment from the teacher in Tempe whose comment I moved to the front a few days ago. He spotlights one of the ironies good teachers understand. They complain, rightly, about budget cuts and unnecessary restrictions. But when the students walk in the classroom, all that goes' [...]
Commenters have been doing my work for me lately -- and better than I do it in many instances. Here's a terrific comment by davewave64 on the subject of rating teachers based on student test scores. As you'll see, he's in the ed research profession. My favorite idea:' [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Ti's the season for Billo the Clown and Faux News to light up its annual "War on Christmas" nonsense. And this year Arizona's Accidental Governor kicks off the festivities. Arizona Capitol Times » Brewer brings Christmas, Hanukkah back to Capitol displays
“I believe in calling something what [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
My apologies to Lesley Gore for the caption.
The Republican National Committee will hold its winter meeting in January in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Honolulu? Isn't Hawaii dismissed by conservatives as being "some sort of foreign, exotic place" not quite part of the United States, despite being' [...]
As much as I've read about linking teacher salaries and retention to student testing, I've never found a satisfactory answer to this question: what about teachers in subjects that aren't tested?
The trend toward tying everything to tests is accelerating.
[New York's] Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said on Wednesday [...]
I received this comment on a post I wrote about some of the changes affecting teachers that were thrown in with the latest round of budget cuts.
I'm a teacher in the Tempe Union school district, and I now have my eye on the exit signs because of' [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without the traditional playing of Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant (The Massacree Revisited). Enjoy.
' [...]Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
I briefly touched upon the comments of Rep. Ray Barnes during the recent special session in an earlier post, i.e., he said that the state could file for bankruptcy (as I explained, no, it cannot).
I had not seen Rep. Barnes' extended comments at the time. It turns out' [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Arizona has gone from Governor Janet Napolitano and the Republican legislature enacting a ten percent income tax cut in 2006-07 to give back a tax surplus because "it's your money," to a state in economic free fall and financial collapse in 2008-09.
As anyone who attended school in' [...]
I received an email this morning from a teacher at an Arizona independent school who is planning to ask his students if they were surveyed for the civics test Goldwater Institute used to create 3 separate studies comparing high school students attending public and private schools.
The question [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
While I was trying to enjoy a rare night of television on Monday night, I was constantly barraged by television ads from major retailers for their "Black Friday" sales: Open at 5 a.m.! Open at 4 a.m.! Open Thanksgiving Day!
After the tragic trampling death of Jdimytai Damour, a [...]
More on the survey results used for the G.I. civics study (No, I'm not obsessed, just very interested). Here's a way to get closer to finding out whether Strategic Vision LLC actually completed the survey for G.I. and didn't just make up the results.
It can be worth a' [...]
I don't know if Matthew Ladner is working from his end to discover whether or not the public school/private school survey he commissioned from Strategic Vision LLC was legit or fraudulent. But I have to say, he's been very forthcoming with documentation. I asked him if he would [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
If you needed any further evidence that the Accidental Governor is a lame duck governor who is neither respected nor feared by her own Republican dominated legislature, Monday should have erased any doubt.
Governor Jan Brewer on July 1, 2009 in her veto message of the state budget:
I received [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Legislative Advocacy Sessions - Tucson
Dates: Tue., December 1st and Mon., December 7th
Time: 6:30 - 8:00 PM for both sessions
December 1st Location: Cross Middle School, 1000 W. Chapala Dr. (in Tucson)
December 7th Location: Eckstrom Columbus Library, 4350 E. 22nd St.
Description: The Democratic Caucus of the House of Representatives is [...]
The legislature just passed a whole bunch of changes affecting teachers, not just budget cuts. They were passed earlier but Brewer's budget vetoes eliminated them. Now they're back. And the teacher's union is suing.
First, a comment. If I'm a serious teacher planning to make it a career, [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
I am going to repost this essay by Sam Pizzigatti posted at Campaign for America's Future in its entirety. Sam makes essentially the same economic arguments I have made in several posts over the last couple of years with new recently released research. What Ever Happened to' [...]
I learned recently that my posts are being used on another site without my permission. The posts aren't simply being quoted from or compiled with other posts from other sites. They are nearly the only original content on the site. They have my name at the top, but' [...]
Matthew Ladner commented on the concerns I have expressed, along with others, about the survey Strategic Vision LLC was paid to conduct for G.I. Here are his comments, in full.
David-
I believed you linked to a post last week where I explained that I am awaiting further evidence from [...]
It's always a little dangerous to enter an econ prof's turf and question his use of numbers, but, what the hell, I'll give it a try.
Charles North, an econ prof from Baylor University in Texas, entertained the House committee looking into whitewashing tuition tax credits with his' [...]
This is just me being curious. I rarely write about the Goldwater Institute, and especially about Matthew Ladner's work, without getting a fairly prompt response in the Comments. Recently I've been tag-teaming with others all over the country to question the accuracy of Ladner's Civics study, as well' [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
A brutal report issued last Monday by a government watchdog holds Timothy Geithner -- then the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and now the nation's Treasury Secretary -- responsible for over payments that put billions of extra tax dollars in the coffers of major' [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Are Obama's economic policies actually working?
Intelligence Squared posed this question to six policy experts at a debate in New York on November 16. The statement, "Obama's economic policies are working effectively," was defended by Lawrence Mishel from the Economic Policy Institute; investor and former 'Car Czar' [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
In an unprecedented defeat for the Federal Reserve, an amendment to audit the multi-trillion dollar institution was approved by the House Finance Committee with an overwhelming and bipartisan 43-26 vote on Thursday afternoon despite harried last-minute lobbying from top Fed officials and the surprise opposition of Chairman Barney [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The New York Times reported on Saturday that dispassionate economic analysts have reached a consensus that the stimulus package, messy as it is, is working. New Consensus Views Stimulus as Worthy Step:
The legislation, a variety of economists say, is helping an economy in free fall a year [...]
Here's a press release from Grijalva's office:
Grijalva Announces Bill To Help Struggling Schools Prevent Dropouts, Encourage Pursuit of Higher Education
Washington, DC – Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva today announced the release of H.R. 4122, the Graduation for All Act, which seeks to decrease dropout rates and provide assistance to [...]
Ad for the President Obama, United We Serve and NFL Team Up fitness and service campaign.
This goes out to friend of the blog Steve Gall who is trying once again to get a 30 minute mandatory recess bill through the legislature and is talking to and working at [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Arizona's Neoconservative Senator John McCain is at it again. This is the man who was a patron of Ahmed Chalabi and his Iraqi National Congress which fabricated intelligence of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. This is the man who advocated for war with Iraq and confidently predicted [...]
by David Safier
The Rs planned to cut $144 million in soft capital funding from district schools. The snafu Thursday only delayed the move.
But now some legislators are asking, Why aren't charter schools feeling the budget ax as well?
Here is among the lamest reasons imaginable for not making cuts to' [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
First, some background. The Washington Post reported that one of former Vice President Dick Cheney’s daughters, Mary, was “leaving the political consulting firm Navigators Global to start her own consulting company.” Though one of Mary’s friends told the Post that Mary’s dad and her sister, Liz, would [...]
by David Safier
A few days ago, I posted about problems with the survey Goldwater Institute's Matthew Ladner used for his study about how little high school students know about Civics. It seems the company that conducted the survey, Strategic Vision LLC, has a history of complaints about their methodology [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Republicans have controlled the Arizona House since 1967 -- 42 years. And with a few short-lived exceptions, Republicans have controlled the Arizona Senate during the same period of time. Arizona's governors, Republicans and Democrats alike, have been hostage to Republican legislators.
With this kind of iron-fisted control over' [...]
If you've been watching Rachel Maddow or following the blogs, you've probably seen that one of the latest anti-Obama slogans is a line from one of the Old Testament Psalms of David, 109, verse 8:
Let his days be few; and let another take his office.
This isn't just a' [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Nothing is ever the fault of Republicans (just ask our governor and legislators). And nobody shirks personal responsibility better than Sarah Palin. "True Americans" (white American Christian conservatives) are the true victims. And Sarah Palin in 2012 would allow conservatives to snatch "victimry" from the jaws of their defeat.
[...]No, not Sarah for Arizona. I want Sarah in Arizona during the 2010 primaries supporting the Senate candidate of her choice. Will it be her running mate, John McCain? Will it be her more natural ally, J.D. Hayworth? Or will it be Chris Build-a-wall-around-the-entire-country Simcox? Arizona wants to [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
I know I have explained this before, but apparently some people up at the state capitol need a refresher course. The way a special session is supposed to work is that the Governor and House and Senate leadership get together and craft a bill that they can all [...]
This is about Maricopa and it's about community colleges -- a bit out of my usual physical and educational geography -- but really, it's about a rogue members of a Board trying to use the colleges for personal and political ends, educational mission be damned. And that kind [...]
David Safier, AZ BlueMeanie, Russell Lowes
