Arizona
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9:50 p.m.
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Posted by Bob Lord So, I'm watching the end of the asshat debate tonight, which then turns to the commentary, and they have Gloria Borger (or Bolger, I'm not sure) interview Jan Brewer. The gist of the interview is Gloria......
Blog For Arizona - 9:21 p.m.
You'd think that people elected to office and exercising authority under the Arizona Constitution would occasionally read the think. But you'd think wrong. From HTRNews - A state House committee has approved a bill that will make thousands of Arizona university students dig a little deeper into their pockets to pay for school. The legislation would require full-time students to pay a...
Random Musings - 9:01 p.m.
...though I'm in my living room watching CNN. Seems the AZGOP didn't want to give out tickets or press credentials to lowly liberal bloggers. Not sure why... ;-) Anyway, it's time to hide the women, children, minorities, and small animals. The GOP's presidential candidates are in town. Well, hide them if you think the civil rights of ethnic and racial minorities (and e...
Random Musings - 5:23 p.m. - 9 clicks 
I had been holding off on doing Arizona for some time because I didn't want to have to deal with the Hispanic VRA seat issues, but I'm finally getting around to it and this is my attempt at finding the limit of what Democrats could do gerrymandering the state. I've created 6 seats Democrats should win, 5 of which were carried by Obama and Dem on average. This map also uses a lot of t...
DailyKos (Arizona) - 8:43 a.m. - 10 clicks
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: You were warned this would happen. Shooter considering banning public testimony on budget bills - Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required): The chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee said Tuesday he is considering banning all public testimony when......
Blog For Arizona - 8:43 a.m. - 9 clicks
If the Ohio, Georgia, Arizona, and Michigan primaries were tonight, the most likely outcome is that Willard would lose all four. That is shocking. I do wish for Rick Santorum to win the Republican nomination for President for the obvious reasons. ...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Tue 9:45 p.m. - 24 clicks
AZ Republicans Steve Pierce , Senate Pres., & Andy Tobin , House Speaker (right) House Democrats disappointed by influence of special interests and lack of transparency, long term vision in Legislative Republicans’ Tea Party budget plan STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX -- House Democrats criticized Legislative Tea Party Republicans for offering a budget proposal – crafted behind cl...
Daniel's News & Views - Tue 3:50 p.m. - 10 clicks
By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings With no notice, the Rs running the Arizona lege have scheduled the state's budget for committee hearings Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. Senate Appropriations agenda is here. House Appropriations agenda is here. Between......
Blog For Arizona - Tue 5:09 a.m. - 12 clicks
With no notice, the Rs running the Arizona lege have scheduled the state's budget for committee hearings Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. Senate Appropriations agenda is here . House Appropriations agenda is here . Between this and last week's ejection of a 12 News reporter from the House floor by a Republican functionary who cited an unannounced security policy, it's obvious that the Rs h...
Random Musings - Mon 8:07 p.m. - 11 clicks
Polling rarely takes a holiday, and this Presidents' Day weekend was no exception. In addition to the first set of fairly sobering poll numbers for Barack Obama in recent memory (whether we call these outliers or not is going to depend on what we see in the next couple of days), we also see three new polls which hint at an exceptionally close race not only in Michigan, but also in Arizona. W...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Mon 6:26 p.m. - 19 clicks
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: "Survivor - GOP Presidential Primary" returns from its Spring Break in Florida hiatus on Wednesday, February 22 from the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, Arizona. Once again the debate is hosted by TeaNN (formerly CNN) and the......
Blog For Arizona - Mon 3:01 p.m. - 11 clicks
by David Safier You're Cordially Invited to a Special Night with: Keynote Speaker John Nichols, The Nation Magazine, MSNBC Contributor and author of Uprising: How Wisconsin Renewed the Politics of Protest, from Madison to Wall Street Michael Moore says: "John......
Blog For Arizona - Mon 1:28 p.m. - 11 clicks
Two weeks ago, Rick Santorum shocked Mitt Romney to the core by sweeping Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado. Then a few days later, Romney's victory in Maine turned out to be not much of a victory, as the state GOP botched the whole affair. Now we are a week out from big contests in Michigan and Arizona. Not big because of number of delegates, but big because of perception and momentum. For Ro...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Mon 11:02 a.m. - 16 clicks
Wow. Romney's seriously coming under pressure in Arizona where Santorum has spent no money. Latest from PPP : The Republican race for President in Arizona looks like a close one, with Mitt Romney leading Rick Santorum only 36-33. Newt Gingrich is third at 16% and Ron Paul fourth at 9%. Santorum is better liked by Arizona Republicans than Romney, but the gap isn't as wide as we're finding in...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Mon 9:27 a.m. - 15 clicks
by David Safier Talking Points Memo published a piece by a resident of Babeu's old home town, North Adams, MA, giving background about the sheriff's pre-Arizona days. Funny thing, though. TPM puts a correction at the end saying there were......
Blog For Arizona - Mon 7:45 a.m. - 17 clicks
By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings It's shaping up to be a relatively quiet week at the Arizona legislature...emphasis on "relatively". There are still going to be a number of controversial bills, but not the large number that we've......
Blog For Arizona - Sun 6:49 p.m. - 11 clicks
It's shaping up to be a relatively quiet week at the Arizona legislature...emphasis on "relatively". There are still going to be a number of controversial bills, but not the large number that we've seen in recent weeks. Of course, agendas, particularly those for meetings later in the week, are subject to change without notice. While many sources have reported that bills that have...
Random Musings - Sun 6:20 p.m. - 11 clicks
This diary of mine is cross posted at my blog, where you'll find a great photo of Babeu, Gov Jan Brewer and an unidentified muscle hunk law enforcement official snagged from Brewer's Flickr account , along with a link to Babeu's FEC files. ...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Sun 1:08 p.m. - 18 clicks
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Back in the 1990's the Tucson Weekly used to refer to the "old" Town of Marana as "Dogpatch," when it was ruled by Mayor Ora "Mammy Yokum" Harn. Not much has changed. The Town of Marana is......
Blog For Arizona - Sun 8:07 a.m. - 14 clicks
Some elected officials should be barred from using social media...but I'm glad they're not. Wiseasses like me have more to write about. :) From the Arizona Republic, Tweet of the week: "Heard the Governor read a proclaimation (sic) and she looked young! Does her husband know she left the house looking great?" -- Rep. Jack Harper , R-Surprise, tweeting under the handle @H...
Random Musings - Sat 11:48 p.m. - 15 clicks
Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew, consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors ScottyUrb, Bentliberal, wader, Oke, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors palantir and jlms qkw, guest editors maggiejean and annetteboardman, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent, along with anyone else who reads and comments, informs and entertains you with this week's news abou...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Sat 10:07 p.m. - 11 clicks
The Confederate invasion of New Mexico NPS / Robert Utley In early 1862 the Confederacy determined to mount an expedition from Texas into New Mexico with the objective of seizing that territory and using it as a springboard into Colorado, Arizona, and ultimately, California. Had this campaign succeeded, the Confederates dreamed of...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Sat 6:43 p.m. - 25 clicks
Bottom line: in order to run for Congressman, Paul Babeu had to hide he was gay.... Why is that? Why.... is.... that? Why? Here you have a good man , good enough to run for Congress, who for reasons beyond his control prefers a long term relationship with someone his same gender, and if he is to run, he has to pretend he is not gay?... Even to the point of "deporting" his forme...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Sat 5:49 p.m. - 11 clicks
...I don't often make predictions about Republican primaries (mostly because I'm usually wrong - something about not being a Republican :) ), but I don't think that it's going too far out on a limb to predict that Pinal Sheriff Paul Babeu is toast in the R primary in the new CD4. One thing that I won't predict is whether the information in the linked article from the Phoenix New Times was ...
Random Musings - Sat 3:27 p.m. - 13 clicks
by David Safier I just saw this Republic story: Political committee for education registers with Secretary of State A group of parents and education advocates eying continued funding for schools has registered as a political committee with the Arizona secretary......
Blog For Arizona - Sat 1:49 p.m. - 14 clicks
Yeah, the ad that started airing today in Arizona says that. Our primary is February 28. Oh happy dagger, be quick. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign on Friday unveiled a new Arizona ad that features Latinos criticizing President Barack Obama and extolling Gingrich's virtues. azcentral.com Have a gander, 30 seconds: "We owe Barack Obama nothing" s...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Fri 11:27 p.m. - 12 clicks
...Paul Babeu, appears to be just another self loathing right wing gay man. In an article on the Arizona Republics website titled, Article's claim: Babeu threatened ex-lover , details how Babeu is accused of trying to silence an ex-lover. A male ex-lover. ...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Fri 11:04 p.m. - 20 clicks
TUCSON -- For the first time in Arizona voters may now sign our petition and donate a clean elections $5 online . Voters in Tucson LD29 downtown, south and southeast ( map ) please go to DanielPatterson.net right now for the link to sign and donate clean $5 to help me win re-election in the new LD3 this fall. With your support I will keep fighting in the Arizona Legislature for stronger ...
Daniel's News & Views - Fri 10:07 p.m. - 16 clicks
by David Safier I'm not going to even give a run-up to this Phoenix New Times story. Here are some excerpts. Paul Babeu's Mexican Ex-Lover Says Sheriff's Attorney Threatened Him With Deportation Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu — who became......
Blog For Arizona - Fri 7:09 p.m. - 20 clicks
by David Safier Here are a few quick stories about for profit Education Management Organizations (EMOs) bleeding charter schools dry for personal gain. According to Phoenix Business Journal, a new online charter is coming to Arizona: Life Skills Online. Life......
Blog For Arizona - Fri 2:25 p.m. - 10 clicks
by David Safier From the AFL-CIO: Extreme politicians in Arizona have tried to silence the voice of Arizonans who oppose bills attacking firefighters, teachers and other public workers. They know these bills are unpopular and have fast-tracked them with little......
Blog For Arizona - Fri 1:22 p.m. - 8 clicks
First we had the attempt to ban protests from the capitol mall, then there was Don Shooter’s assertion that there was no need for public comment at budget hearings, then there was the closed caucus to discuss la Cervecera’s plan to eviscerate the civil service system…is there more? Yep. So, yesterday, Melissa Blasius, a Phoenix [...]...
Rum, Romanism and Rebellion - Fri 12:44 p.m. - 14 clicks
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Announcement from the Arizona Democratic Party: On March 31, 2012, Democrats will gather to initiate Arizona's first step in a presidential election. The Arizona Democratic Presidential Preference Caucus will be held for each congressional district in locations......
Blog For Arizona - Fri 10:40 a.m. - 12 clicks
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Announcement from the Raúl Grijalva for Congress campaign: A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE FOR GRIJALVA PRESENT 2012 CAMPAIGN KICKOFF Live Music by Los Gallegos Sunday, February 19, 2012 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm El Casino Ballroom 437......
Blog For Arizona - Fri 10:40 a.m. - 10 clicks
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The Goldwater Institute has been the single most destructive influence in Arizona politics since its founding. It produces more "bad government" ideas, in partnership with affiliated partners like ALEC, than any other organization in Arizona. It's goal......
Blog For Arizona - Fri 9:06 a.m. - 11 clicks
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Every year our Arizona legislature wastes an ungodly amount of time on trivial bills that matter only to a lobbyist, or a small number of people, or an individual who has the ear of a legislator. Committee......
Blog For Arizona - Fri 8:07 a.m. - 13 clicks
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has a habit of ignoring the will of voters. A medical marijuana ballot initiative passed last year, but the Governor has done everything imaginable to stall its implementation. Similarly, in 2000 citizens approved an Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, to take the controversial map-drawing job away from legislators and put it in the hands of an independent...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Thu 10:49 p.m. - 17 clicks
Posted by Michael Bryan If you have been following this topsy-turvey GOP primary contest, you might already know that Mitt Romney won Iowa... until he didn't. The night of the caucus, despite incomplete results and an incredibly narrow lead for......
Blog For Arizona - Thu 10:03 p.m. - 16 clicks
According to this story from the Arizona Capitol Times, written by Caitlin Coakley Beckner (subscription required), Rep. Richard Miranda (D-Tolleson) has resigned from the Arizona House of Representatives, effective Monday. In his letter, he cited health and family concerns as the reason for his resignation. In short order, the Democratic PCs in LD13 will gather to select three nominees, whose...
Random Musings - Thu 8:00 p.m. - 16 clicks
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Rep. Justin Olson introduced Gov. Jan Brewer’s "personnel reforms" plan on Tuesday, less than 48 hours before the 275-page bill will be heard in committee on Thursday (today). They really didn't want the public to know what......
Blog For Arizona - Thu 11:01 a.m. - 15 clicks
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: E. J. Montini in his column today has a quote he attributes to the Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix. Bishop is confusing hospital with church : "These revisions to......
Blog For Arizona - Thu 10:42 a.m. - 14 clicks
The private prison industry in Arizona sickens me. More so today, as I have read a new report from the Arizona Republic demonstrating the utter failure of private prisons to do their job in a reasonable or cost-effective manner. And an ACLU lawsuit on behalf of the family of a Hawaii inmate murdered in our state. And how Republicans in the state legislature kill Democrat-sponsored bills to e...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Thu 7:48 a.m. - 17 clicks
Here’s what Arizona Congressman Trent Franks said in an interview with Concerned Women of America (motto: “We’re concerned!”): The greatest challenge we have, and I’m going to be partisan for a moment but its reality, we must change presidents. At all costs, we must change presidents. This is the most pro-abortion president in the history [...]...
Democratic Diva - Feb 15 - 17 clicks
Posted by Michael Bryan At Drinking Liberally we love a good argument. Not the shouting, ranting non-sense that often passes for political dialogue these days, but respectful, challenging, and meaningful discussion of political and philosophical differences. Republican politicos have joined......
Blog For Arizona - Feb 15 - 14 clicks
The Arizona Corporation Commission is an independent branch of the state government, enshrined into existence by Article 15 of the state constitution. The Commission is responsible for regulating utilities, securities, and corporate entities registered in Arizona. But all that independent authority is apparently too much of a burden for Commissioner Gary Pierce, who wants to [...]...
Democratic Diva - Feb 15 - 16 clicks
Arizona unions have been quietly lobbying against the set of anti-union bills being pushed by Republicans in the state Senate, and it appears that their efforts are achieving some success. TPM cites a report in the state that: “Senate President Steve Pierce and Senate Whip Frank Antenori expressed serious doubt that there were enough Republicans in the upper chamber willing to pass a bi...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Feb 15 - 15 clicks
On the day Arizona celebrated its Centennial of Statehood, February 14, Senator Sylvia Allen helped launch the next century of wackadoodlism. Allen, a real estate agent from the White Mountains, plays one of the leading roles in Arizona's puppet-show of nonsense. She was the bright light, you may recall, who famously said during a natural resources committee hearing last session that the earth...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Feb 15 - 17 clicks
It's always been easy to remember Arizona's birthday -- February 14, Valentine's Day. This year, 2012, is also the Centennial of the Grand Canyon State, the last of the Lower 48 to join the US of A. As the newest kid, Arizona sure gets a shit load of attention. Arizona and New Mexico, which also celebrated its Centennial this year on January 6, could have been granted statehood much earlier than...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Feb 13 - 6 clicks
Arizona just cannot be not crazy. Via Think Progress , the latest is SB 1467 , a measure to protect Arizona's school children from learning anything interesting or useful curtail educators' speech, including what books they can teach. Educators, at all levels, would be fined, suspended or ultimately fired for what they say in or out of the classroom. Those punishments would be levied a...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Feb 13 - 4 clicks
Hidee-ho everybody, I just thought I would update everyone on the latest bit of silly goofiness that the Arizona State legislature is proposing. You all know some of the other goofy little laws that have been passed here...that SB1070 law that helps Mexican and other non-Arizonans pack and move to better places...some new laws that will make the lives of happy workers better by eliminatin...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Feb 11 - 2 clicks
...and I'm not talking about just East Valley Congressman Jeff Flake choosing to run for US Senate, opening up his spot in the US House of Representatives. The creation of a new Congressional district, combined with the continuing fallout from the now-famous recall election loss of former state senator Russell Pearce, is serving as the catalyst for a shake up among politicos in Mesa. While che...
Random Musings - Feb 10
Southern Arizona Democrats have an excellent opportunity to ensure the seat of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords remains safely in competent Democratic hands - by uniting behind the candidacies of Ron Barber for CD8 in the April primary and June special election, and then for Matt Heinz for the August primary and November general election. Both are fantastic candidates and will be excellen...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Feb 10
This past Monday the AZ Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on SB1474, the “guns on campus” bill, which would allow concealed weapons to be carried on Arizona college campuses. My dear friend Jennifer Longdon testified against it. She had expected to get 5 minutes to speak but it was shortened to 3 minutes due [...]...
Democratic Diva - Feb 9
This morning on the way to work, I experienced one of those spectacular sights you sometimes see, that make you want to pull to the side of the road and write a poem, or something. Take a picture. My cell phone doesn’t have a phone so I scribbled a few lines, nearly illegible. It doesn’t capture the view. The skies were grey overhead, cloudy, almost as if you would think it might rain, but this ...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Feb 9
The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) garnered its share of the national spotlight last November when Governor Jan Brewer and the GOP-controlled Senate, along strict party lines, voted to remove the sole Independent commissioner from the 5-member panel. The Governor cited "gross negligence" as the reason to remove Colleen Mathis, who was also chair of the AIRC. At the tim...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Feb 8 - 2 clicks
A South Dakota House committee has reportedly killed the bill that would have taken collective bargaining rights from public workers in the state. The bill's Senate sponsor had previously reversed himself , not just withdrawing support but announcing his opposition, and, according to the Associated Press, its House sponsor "says no lawmakers will speak in favor of his bill because they fe...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Feb 8 - 3 clicks
Today came news that the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the removal of Alejandrina Cabrera's name from the city council race in San Luis, a town that straddles the Arizona-Mexico border just south of Yuma. The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed a ruling that barred a woman from running for a city council seat because she doesn't speak English proficiently. Arizona Republic State law r...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Feb 7
The Arizona Capitol Times has a story up, written by Luige del Puerto ( subscription required ) about how the GOP members of the Arizona Senate went behind closed doors Tuesday to discuss the ways they plan to remove Arizona's few employment protections for state workers. Among the "highlights" of the scheme, which is pretty much the same as a scheme she pushed at the end of the 2011 legis...
Random Musings - Feb 7
DNC News Release: Feb 6, 2012 Arizona Representative Daniel Patterson highlights 23 straight months of private sector job growth TUCSON -- Arizona State Representative Daniel Patterson (D-Tucson-LD29/ LD3 ) today issued the following statement highlighting 23 straight months of private sector job growth under President Obama ’s leadership. “When the President took office, our ...
Daniel's News & Views - Feb 7
Yesterday the Arizona Senate Judiciary Committee moved SCR 1021 forward, which would put a referendum to overturn Clean Elections on the ballot. It would be called, misleadingly, the “No Taxpayer Subsidies for Political Campaigns Act”. Polling shows that public support for Clean Elections is high but the impetus for getting rid of it comes from [...]...
Democratic Diva - Feb 7
Although an unexpected veto from Jan Brewer killed this idea in 2011, this year it's back, and has now passed through its committee vote in the AZ state Senate: requiring guns to be allowed onto colleges and universities in the state. This bill, along with last year's veto, raises a few questions for me. In the end, though, I'll just count myself lucky that I do not expect to be on a local col...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Feb 7
The Arizona Capitol Times reports that while unions were caught flat-footed by the speed with which Republicans launched their comprehensive attack on public workers last week, they're gearing up to fight back , starting with an online petition while they pull together an in-person campaign, and that "it appears that some key senators are at least open to softening" the bills. Of cour...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Feb 7 - 2 clicks
In Trent Franks' wackadoodle world, that is. The Arizona Congressman, easily a finalist for the most Looney Tune fundamentalist in Washington DC, is back with his federal bill outlawing abortions based on the race or gender of the fetus. Yes, Arizonans regularly turn to Republican Trent Franks for inspiring civil rights policy, so it's no surprise he's titled his bill "The Susan B. Anthony and...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Feb 6
Greetings to All Kossacks ... ... in The Great State of Arizona and everywhere else in the Kossack Nation.You read that right, I said The Great State of Arizona . February is always a good month to be in Baja. Spring is in the air and here in the Old Pueblo, February is rodeo month and the schools take two days off for the Fiesta de los Vaqueros . But this February i...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Feb 6
...In CD8 (Tucson), Ron Barber, the long-time district director for Gabby Giffords, is likely to enter the race to serve out the rest of her term. He seems most likely to enter the race as a placeholder, finishing out the term but not running for a full term of his own. If that is so, most of the Ds who have expressed interest in the seat will probably forego a run in the special ele...
Random Musings - Feb 6
For the full, original article, feel free to visit the Trial by Fire. Arizona sate employees’ unions were caught off guard this week with news that the state’s republican controlled senate was passing a series of bills which, amongst other provisions, would completely ban unions from engaging in any negotiation which effects the terms of a persons employment with state, county or city govern...
DailyKos (Arizona) - Feb 6
