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 [...]
You know that special session called by the Accidental Guv to do some budget cutting? It didn't quite work out that way.
A fragile budget deal collapsed in the Senate Thursday when Sen. Thayer Verschoor skipped the floor session and tied his support to a last-minute amendment to' [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
When one of the Neocon Washington Post's deans of conservative apologists, George Will, sings someone's praises you know something dark and evil is afoot. It merits a closer examination of the object of his praise. (Will's columns should come with a disclosure statement).
Both of Arizona's two major newspapers [...]
I happened to be at the Capitol Wednesday, camera and notepad in hand, so I took in the Dem press conference.
The thrust of the conference was to criticize the Rs for their piecemeal approach to budgeting: cut some stuff today and worry about everything else [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
John Perr is one of the better economics bloggers. He posted this piece at crooksandliars.com Born Again Deficit Virgins:
Everything you need to know about the descent of the conservative movement into a hypocritical caricature is illustrated by two of its proudest constituencies: Republican deficit hawks and [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Earlier this year, the Accidental Governor and several Republican state legislators toyed with the idea of rejecting federal stimulus aid to the state. It was purely ideological grandstanding. Wiser heads prevailed and Arizona accepted the federal stimulus aid. The current budget deficit would have been far worse without the federal [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanIe:
I have always heard that Costco is a Labor/Democrat friendly business, despite the fact that it sells every screed from right-wing pulp fiction publishing houses at bulk discount prices.
Now it is selling Caribou Barbie -- no, not the doll -- the real-life Sarah Palin, [...]
If you live in Tucson and you want to know about the tuition tax credit/STO mess, there's currently only one place to go: my posts on BfA. The Star has been AWOL when it comes to covering the story. I don't think it would take all the fingers [...]
In the post below, I wrote about the recent meeting of the R-created committee looking into painting a happy face on the tuition tax credit mess. I mentioned it brought in an "expert," Charles North, to explain that tuition tax credits save Arizona millions and millions of tax [...]
The other legislative committee looking into tuition tax credits and STOs met Monday. I call it "the other committee" because it was set up by Rs to counter the task force set up by Ds. The D-created task force is trying to probe tuition tax credit abuses. The [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Rep. John Shadegg wins the bronze in World's Worst Persons for November 17, 2009.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
UPDATE: Rep. John Shadegg was forced to apologize on Tuesday for suggesting the family of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg could' [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Tea Party has moved into its next phase, opposition to immigration reform legislation soon to be introduced in the Congress. This past weekend, the nativist right-wingers at ALIPAC and the National Policy Institute organized a series of "Tea Parties Against Amnesty.
Things didn't go quite as the teabaggers'" [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Anti-Defamation League has released the following ADL Special Reports: Rage Grows in America: Anti-Government Conspiracies
Introduction: A Year of Growing Animosity
Since the election of Barack Obama as president, a current of anti-government hostility has swept across the United States, creating a climate of fervor and activism [...]
I thought I would never have to write about this one charter school principal again. But a news story from KPHO Phoenix let me know the principal, who should never have been allowed to be around students after what she did in 2005, is back in the [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
This is why I was careful to say "many conservatives" rather than generalize and paint with a broad brush all conservatives in my earlier post on this topic. There are still many conservatives who share with their more liberal counterparts an abiding faith in the Constitution and the [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Politico reported on Monday McCain camp: Palin account 'all fiction' Well, Duh! What did you expect?
Top aides to Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign hit back at Sarah Palin Friday and Saturday, calling the former vice presidential nominee’s soon-to-be-released book “revisionist and self serving” “fiction.” [...]
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Special Session will begin Tuesday afternoon. My sources say that the Republicans are still short a vote and will have to play "Let's Make a Deal." Howard Fischer, however, says the GOP has the votes and maybe some Democrats to spare. Budget, Rio Nuevo on' [...]
AZ BlueMeanie, David Safier, mbryanaz
