Blog For Arizona

PCDP Precinct Committeeperson Workshop

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Late political calendar submission from the Pima County Democratic Party PC Development committee:

Join us on Sunday, February 16 for a PC Workshop!

This is a great opportunity for all PCs, new and experienced, to meet other PCs, and learn the latest information about PC activities, the VAN and how to present our message. All sessions will be held at Pima County Democratic Headquarters, 4639 E. First St., Tucson, AZ 85711.

1 PM VAN Training with Barbara Tellman

2:30 PM PC Development with Susan Bickel

4 PM Messaging with Michael Dues

Attend 1, 2 or all 3 sessions.

All attendees will receive a copy of the new PC Handbook. It is chock full of information, ideas, resources and forms designed to help you be a successful PC. No matter what your interest, you will find something in this workshop to interest you!

Please RSVP by 5 PM on Friday, Feb. 14 to receive a personalized pin, and neighborhood lists and/or LD maps. Please indicate whether you want maps or neighborhood lists and indicate how you want your name to appear on your pin.

RSVP to Susan Bickel

[email protected] or

520-559-3904

 

Justice Department policy: equal protection to married same-sex couples

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

In a speech Saturday night at the Human Rights Campaign’s Greater New York Gala at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. announced a new Justice Department policy. Justice Dept. to give married gay couples equal protection (modified and updated):

The Justice Department on Monday instructed all of its employees across the country, for the first time, to give lawful same-sex marriages sweeping equal protection under the law in every program it administers, from courthouse proceedings to prison visits to the compensation of surviving spouses of public safety officers.

In a new Policy Memo (.pdf), the department spells out the rights of same-sex couples, including the right to decline to give testimony that might incriminate their spouses, even if their marriages are not recognized in the state where the couple lives.

First Vice Chair of AZ GOP is raising money . . . to defeat Republicans

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Just how dysfunctional is the Arizona Republican Party? This dysfunctional: the First Vice Chair of the Arizona Republican Party is raising money . . . to defeat Republicans. The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports, SB1070 author Russell Pearce raising money to defeat Republicans:

[Recalled] former Senate President Russell Pearce is helping raise money that will be used to target former Republican legislative colleagues who backed Gov. Jan Brewer’s expansion of the state’s Medicaid program last year.

Pearce is headlining a Feb. 13 fundraiser for the Arizona Taxpayers Action Committee at the Paradise Valley home of former Republican legislator Colette Rosati.

Leaders of the conservative independent expenditure committee opposed Brewer’s proposal to restore funding that was cut from AHCCCS during the recession and expand enrollment to comply with the Affordable Care Act and capture additional federal health care funding.  The committee leaders have publicly targeted Republican legislators who voted for the plan.

Catholic Poll: The flock is not following their shepherds

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Remember this from back in November: Pope Francis Orders Survey Of Catholics On Hot-Button Social Issues:

U.S. bishops are among those the pope is asking to find out from their parishioners how they feel about abortion, same-sex marriage, divorce and birth control.

* * *

The decision is dividing some parishioners, some of whom fear the poll could be the first step in the church changing its stance on hot-button issues.

The results are trickling in and as they would say on the Family Feud, "survey says": Global Poll Finds Most Catholics Actually Support Birth Control And Abortion Rights:

A new global poll surveying the world’s Catholics finds that most of them don’t agree with the Church’s strict positions on issues of reproductive health. Specifically, most Catholics around the world actually support birth control and abortion rights — two “family values” issues that the Catholic hierarchy opposes.

E.J. Dionne on the failure of conservative economics

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Conservative economics is taking the ass-whooping it so richly deserves today. First Paul Krugman, now E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post weighs in. An economic school has led to gridlock in Washington:

One of my favorite moments during the 2012 Republican presidential contest came when Ron Paul, fresh from his strong showing in Iowa, triumphantly told his supporters: “We’re all Austrians now!”

* * *

Of course those in the know, particularly Ron Paul’s enthusiasts, understood the libertarian presidential candidate’s reference: that Americans were rejecting the economic ideas of John Maynard Keynes that encouraged government intervention and provided intellectual ballast for the New Deal. Instead, they were coming around to the principles of the anti-government economics of Austrians Friedrich A. Hayek and Ludwig von Mises.

Krugman on the GOP's ideological indifference to evidence

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Paul Krugman of the New York Times gets right to the heart of the matter today, Writing Off the Unemployed:

[I]t’s difficult to find a better example of the hardhearted, softheaded nature of today’s G.O.P. than what happened last week, as Senate Republicans once again used the filibuster to block aid to the long-term unemployed.

What do we know about long-term unemployment in America?

First, it’s still at near-record levels. Historically, the long-term unemployed — those out of work for 27 weeks or more — have usually been between 10 and 20 percent of total unemployment. Today the number is 35.8 percent. Yet extended unemployment benefits, which went into effect in 2008, have now been allowed to lapse. As a result, few of the long-term unemployed are receiving any kind of support.

(Update) Arizona needs a 'Moral Mondays' movement

Posted by AzblueMeanie:

The "meth lab of democracy," the far-right Tea-Publican controlled Arizona legislature, feels free to engage in their batshit crazy legislation because: (1) the Arizona political media does not shine a bright light on the crazy shit they are doing and call them out for it, and (2) there is no organized public opposition to publicly shame them for doing it.

The citizens of Arizona have been beaten down for so long by the far-right that many citizens are apothetic and have abandoned hope. Which is exactly what the forces of evil want. As Edmund Burke warned, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

So where are the religious and civic leaders of Arizona willing to stand up to the intellectually bankrupt and morally depraved "meth lab of democracy" far-right Tea-Publican controlled Arizona legislature? I have explained why Arizona needs a 'Moral Mondays' movement. This requires the moral suasion of religious leaders and civic leaders. Why do you continue to sit on the sidelines in comfortable complacency and surrender to your apathy? Stand up and fight for justice and what is morally right!

Tom 'banned for life by the SEC' goes on trial today

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The job of the Attorney General of the state is to conduct investigations and to prosecute trials. Arizona's Attorney General Tom "banned for life by the SEC" Horne must have misunderstood the job description, because since he has been in office he has been under investigation and is being prosecuted at trial. The man is a disgrace and embarassment to lawyers and law enforcement. If he had any sense of morality and decency, he would have resigned his office long ago -- and saved the taxpayers of Arizona the expense of investigating and prosecuting him.

Howard Fischer reports, AG Horne's campaign finance case heads to trial today:

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne heads to court Monday. But this time the state's top law enforcement officer isn't the prosecutor.

Instead, Horne and one of his aides are facing civil charges of violating the state's campaign finance laws when he ran for re-election four years ago.

Horne and aide Kathleen Winn deny the allegations that they illegally coordinated spending in his 2010 election while she ran an independent committee called Business Leaders for Arizona.

The charges were brought by Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk in October. A three-day hearing is scheduled before an Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings judge starting Monday.

The Teabaggers want a Constitutional Convention

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Your presence is requested. For those of you who have signed up for a legislative account to submit testimony online, now's your chance.

There's more GOP batshit crazy on Tuesday when the Teabaggers meet in the ironically named House Federalism, and Fiscal Responsibility Committee, Agenda (.pdf), in Room HHR 1 at 2:00 p.m.

Yowsa! The Teabaggers want a Constitutional Convention so they can discard the U.S. Constitution and start all over, because that is what happened the last time we did this in 1787 to rewrite the Articles of Confederation. I always find it amusing that the very people who like to call themselves "constitutional conservatives" are so hellbent on wanting to rewrite the U.S. Constitution (many of them much prefer the Articles of Confederation -- states rights!)

HCR 2017 (.pdf) is an "application for an Article V Convention to propose amendments to the United States (U.S.) Constitution." And what is it that the Teabaggers want?

• Impose fiscal restraints on the federal government;
• Limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and
• Limit the terms of office for officials of the federal government.

HCR 2017 (.pdf) calls for a balanced budget amendment, one of the most ignorant proposals of all time. It would mean (a) eliminating almost all government programs, even curtailing national defense and (b) everyone paying higher taxes. God forbid we have a national emergency like a major natural disaster or a war.

Senate Elections Committee hearing on Tuesday

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

In addition to attempting to repeal HB 2305 to deny the voters of Arizona their constitutional right to vote on a bill that the voters referred to the ballot as a referendum, there are several other election/campaign finance bills coming up in the Arizona legislature this week.

One of the principal architects of the GOP Voter Suppression Act, HB 2305, Sen. Michele Reagan, who has fantasies of becoming our next Secretary of State to make it easier for her to suppress your vote, has several bills scheduled in her Elections Committee on Tuesday Agenda (.pdf), Room SHR 1 at 2:00 p.m.

Remember how Rep. "Fast Eddie" Farnsworth swore last week that he was not aware of any legislator attempting to revive elements of HB 2305? Yeah, that was bullshit, and everyone knew it.

SB 1232 (.pdf) would "require circulators who are not residents of this state (non-residents) and paid petition circulators to register with the Secretary of State (SOS) prior to circulating petitions and prescribes circulator registration information." The bill also "permits any person to challenge the lawful registration of circulators in the superior court of the county in which the circulator is registered."

The bill "Conditions the enactment of the following provisions on the approval or rejection of Laws 2013, chapter 209, the subject of referendum petition R-03-2014, at the next general election, or the failure of Laws 2013, chapter 209 to be referred to the ballot at the next general election:

a) eliminates the requirement that non-resident circulators register with the SOS prior to circulating petitions and eliminates the requirement that the SOS provide for a method of receiving service of process for registered non-resident circulators.

b) directs the SOS to remove all petition sheets collected by a circulator who fails to register as required.

Action Alert: Manic Monday for the GOP batshit crazy base in the AZ Lege

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Your presence is requested. For those of you who have signed up for a legislative account to submit testimony online, now's your chance.

It's Manic Monday for the GOP batshit crazy base in the Arizona legislature. Below are just a few of the highlights (hardly a complete list).

MONDAY

Senate

Judiciary Committee Agenda (.pdf), Room SHR1, at 2:00 p.m. includes: SB 1270 (.pdf), the Senate version of Rep. "Fast Eddie" Farnsworth's (R-Gilbert) bill to repeal the GOP Voter Suppression Act, HB 2305 subject to a citizens referendum ("citizens veto"), HB 2196 (.pdf).

SB 1469 (.pdf) "Allows a person having an interest that is or may be adversely affected by a constitutional provision or a statute that was enacted by voter approved initiative or referendum to file a civil action in superior court on that person’s own behalf or to join an action as a matter of right alleging a violation of any portion of that measure, or defend an action in superior court on that person’s own behalf or to join in the defense of an action as a matter of right in defense of any portion of that measure." Senate Majority Whip Adam Driggs is the principal sponsor.

This is a "teabaggers want to reverse your citizen-approved initiatives and referendums" vexatious litigation free-for-all. Those health care and education citizens initiatives that Arizona voters passed over the years -- they are in the teabaggers' cross-hairs.

Dolores Huerta International Women’s Day Luncheon & Awards Ceremony, and 14th Annual César E. Chávez March & Rally

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Announcement from the César E. Chávez Holiday Coalition:

Labor's Day of Action at the Capitol

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Announcement from the Arizona AFL-CIO:

Arizona List's 10th Anniversary Celebrations

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Announcement from Arizona List:

Arizona List's
  
10th Anniversary Celebrations

March 1, 2014

Tucson - Luncheon

11:00 am Marriott Hotel, 880 E. 2nd Street

Phoenix - Cocktail Reception

5:00 pm Alwun House, 1204 E. Roosevelt

 

---

 

 

Arizona List celebrates 10 years 

with 

Political Strategist Celinda Lake

"Super-strategist or, better yet, the Godmother" American Politics

Get your tickets and tables today at www.arizonalist.org!

In Tucson, join us in celebrating:

 Laura Hogan

&

with special honoree for the 10th Anniversary

EMILY's List Founder Ellen Malcolm

In Phoenix, join us in celebrating:

Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox

 Rising Star Nettie Silleck

It will be a Saturday to remember!

P.S. Want to sponsor a student to attend?

Last year, we were able to bring 40 young women to our events thanks to generous members who gave scholarships!

Buy a ticket at either luncheon and put "student scholarship" in the notes - it is the best way to get our next generation involved and committed.

 Arizona List + You =
Changing the Face of Power in Arizona

 

Contributions to Arizona List and Arizona List PAC are not deductible for tax purposes. Arizona Law limits the amount that an individual can contribute each year to candidates and non-party committees that support candidates. Paid for by Arizona List and not authorized by any candidate.

The YMCA: Celebrate Your Soul

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Announcement from the Pima County Democratic Party African-American Caucus:

Tucson Peace Fair & Music Festival

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Announcement from the Tucson Peace Center:

Café Roca Rendezvous, Meet the Candidates

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Announcement from the Cochise County Democratic Party:

Reservation Form below the fold.

Labor's Legislative Meetings

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Announcement from the Arizona AFL-CIO:

Capitol screening of Robert Reich's 'Inequality for All'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Blog for Arizona's own Bob Lord is a member of the panel discussion which follows:

 

Political Calendar: Week of February 9, 2014

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Political Calendar is posted on Sundays. Please send us notice of your political events prior to the Sunday before your event (7 days would be most helpful). See the calendar icon in the right-hand column of the blog page for easy access to the calendar.

Political Calendar For The Week of February 9, 2014:

Continuing to Sunday, February 23: Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

Monday, February 10, Noon: Democrats of Greater Tucson luncheon, Dragon's View Restaurant (400 N. Bonita, South of St. Mary's Road between the Freeway and Grande Avenue, turn South at Furr's Cafeteria), buffet lunch costs $8.50. Featured speaker is Jeremy Lasher, Field Organizer & Consultant to City of Tucson, on “How annexation benefits the city and you.” Next week: No DGT in observance of Presidents' Day.

Cartoon of The Week

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Tea-Publicans love their vexatious litigation

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Earlier this year I posted about Rep. John Kavanagh's bill to designate a person a “vexatious litigant’’ and to make it difficult for them to file lawsuits if they initiated at least five unmerited litigations, other than in small claims court, over a period of seven years. HB 2021 (.pdf) (Passed unanimously in the Judiciary Committee with amendment). As I said at the time:

I'm curious -- does this apply to the Arizona Legislature and the Goldwater Institute, which routinely file "vexatious" litigation only to have the court declare that the legislature's actions were unconstitutional and unlawful? Because they clearly qualify as a "vexatious litigant" given the number of lawsuits they have lost over the years (again today). These ideological extremists have been racking up millions of dollars in attorneys fees and court costs at taxpayer expense in pursuit of their ideological agenda. Shouldn't this be stopped?

Tea-Publicans believe that Kavanagh's notion of vexatious litigation "applies to thee, not to me."

The Arizona Daily Star today reports today that the gun worshipers and fetishists want a cause of action to sue any local government official (read the City of Tucson) which enacts "illegal" regulations of firearms in violation of their absolutist view of the Second Amendment.

Get in line, assholes! You get to sue for damages when the government violates the law or the Constitution when I get to sue our lawless legislature and governor for damages for pissing away taxpayer money on lawsuits defending their unconstitutional and unlawful extremist agenda in court. Proposed law wants to make elected officials to pay for adopting illegal gun laws:

A proposed state law would let gun owners sue city council members or county supervisors personally if those governments pass or try to enforce gun laws that are stricter than state law.

Under the bill, HB 2517 (.pdf), courts could hit individual elected officials with civil penalties of up to $5,000 for passing an ordinance out of compliance with state law.

Anyone who enforces an illegal ordinance would be subject to penalties as well.

January job numbers reflect GOP austerity measures

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Steve Benen has his monthly break down of the job numbers for January. Jobs report underwhelms again:

The good news is, U.S. job growth picked up in January following December’s awful totals. The bad news is, that’s not saying much.

The new report from Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the U.S. economy added 113,000 jobs in January, well below economists’ expectations. The unemployment rate dropped to 6.6% – its lowest point since October 2008 – but that’s cold comfort given the overall data, and is likely affected by congressional Republicans’ decision to cut off jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed.

As is often the case, there was also a sizable gap between the public and private sectors – in January, businesses added 142,000 jobs, while spending cuts forced 29,000 government job losses.

This report, like the one before it, offer yet another reminder to policymakers that the economic recovery is far from robust. For GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill to forfeit 200,000 jobs this year by failing to extend jobless aid – or worse, threaten deliberate harm through another debt-ceiling crisis – only makes it harder for the economy to get to where it needs to be.

A Day with Felecia Rotellini on Saturday

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

If you missed the campaign kickoff events for Felecia Rotellini this week, you still have one more chance on Saturday.

  

Please Join

Hon. Paula Aboud, Karen & Don Bahnick,

Marla & Dennis Daugherty, Miriam & Tom Lindmeier,

Ruth & Bill Maki, Nan & Dick Walden,

and Connie & Jim Woodbrey

for

Coffee and Conversation with

Arizona’s Next Attorney General

Felecia Rotellini

Saturday, February 8, 2014

9:30am – 11am

at

2785 East Posse Court, Green Valley

(Click Here for Map)

 

RSVP to Bill at[email protected]or (520) 232-3117

Suggested Contribution: $100

Any and all contributions will be gratefully accepted!

 

Contributions are limited to $2,000 per individual per election.

The primary and general elections are separate elections,
so individuals may give up to a total of $4,000.

If you are unable to attend but would like to contribute

please Click Hereto do so securely online

or

make your personal check payable to:

Felecia for Arizona 2014

PO Box 80025

Phoenix, AZ  85060

Personal contributions only.  No business or corporate contributions are allowed.

Foreign nationals who lack permanent residence are prohibited from contributing.

Contributions are not deductible for State or Federal Income Tax purposes.

 

www.FeleciaForArizona.com

 

Felecia for Arizona 2014  ●  PO Box 80025  ●  Phoenix, AZ  85060  ●  [email protected]

 

'Crazy' Carl Seel wants to return to the dark days of Russell Pearce

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Back in the dark days when disgraced and recalled former Senate President Russell Pearce was at the zenith of his anti-immigrant reign of terror, he and his good buddy Kris Kobach from the Immigration Law Reform Institute and Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) were proposing bills to deny undocumented immigrants access to health care, public education, rental properties, public services. etc. Many of these anti-immigrant measures were first beta-tested by Kris Kobach in the City of Hazleton, Pennsylvania.

Russell Pearce, who is now the First Vice Chair of the Arizona Republican Party, still has his loyal acolytes willing to carry out his anti-immigrant hysteria in the Arizona legislature.

"Crazy" Carl Seel -- you remember him, one of the sponsors of the "Birther" bills in 2011 and 2012 Arizona's Penis-Free "Birther" Bill Is Back in Action -- has filed HB 2192 (.pdf), a bill that would declare it "an unlawful use of public resources if the person uses any public resource while present in this state in violation of any [law] that has determined that the person is not lawfully present in this state..."

Rep. Seel is the only sponsor of this bill, and his bill has not yet been assigned to a committee. Arizona's business community has made it abundently clear in recent years that it does not want to revisit the dark days of Russell Pearce's reign of terror. So will the business community punish Seel for his sin?

Update on Arizona's proof-of-citizenship voter registration form case

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Arizona Attorney General Tom "banned for life by the SEC" Horne and Secretary of State Ken "Birther" Bennett are in U.S. District Court in Kansas, Kris W. Kobach et al. v. United States Election Assistance Commission (13-4095-EFM-DJW) suing the federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and threatening to impose a two-tier system for voting in Arizona and Kansas based upon whether you registered to vote with the Arizona voter registration form or the federal motor-voter form (NVRA).

Last month the EAC filed with the Court a detailed 46-page EAC Final Decision on Proof of Citizenship Requests (.pdf). In its decision, the EAC found that added documentation results in an overall decrease in registration of eligible citizens — undermining the core purpose of the National Voter Registration Act. The EAC essentially told Arizona and Kansas to "go pound sand."

The AP reports this week Kansas, Arizona rekindling lawsuit over proof-of-citizenship voter registration:

Kansas and Arizona have rekindled a lawsuit seeking to force the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to require residents to show proof-of-citizenship when registering to vote, arguing that a recent agency decision to deny the requests was unlawful.

In a filing late Friday in a case with broad implications for voting rights, the two states asked U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren to order federal officials to include state-specific requirements in federal voter registration forms.

ENDA bill filed by Democrats in the Arizona Legislature

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

In analyzing the Religious Bigotry bills approved in the House Government Committee earlier this week, I pointed out that:

The Arizona legislature has regularly refused to amend the state civil rights act to extend employment non-discrimination and non-discrimination in public accommodations and public housing to gays and lesbians since 1996. Since there is no cause of action under either the state or federal civil rights acts for gays as a protected class, this bill is a proactive right to discrimination.

A bill to amend the Arizona Civil Rights Act to add non-discrimination against gays and lesbians (and also transgenders) has been filed every year since 1996, to the best of my recollection, and this year is no exception.

Democrats have once again filed the state version of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA), SB 1443 (.pdf), which would amend the Arizona Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of "gender, gender identity or expression, and sexual orientation."

A party built upon a foundation of lies

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Remember the $700 billion lie that will not die (up fro $500 billion in 2010) about "cuts" to Medicare, even after every media fact check organization in America rated the GOP claim a "pants on fire" lie repeatedly since 2010? NRCC's 'pants on fire' - the $700 billion lie that will not die returns. Expect to see this lie return in 2014.

This week it was the epic media fail on the CBO report that GOPropagandists tweeted and retweeted: Obamacare to mean 2 million fewer workers. Corporate 'lamestream' media fail on CBO reports. Even the GOP-friendly AP (All Propaganda) has fact-checked this lie, Anti-Obamacare chorus on job losses is off key, as has the GOP-friendly FactCheck.org. The ACA: Losing Jobs vs. Choosing Not to Work - FactCheck.org.

One would think the GOP would simply admit to making an error, as Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) did on Wednesday, Paul Ryan has momentary lapse into truthfulness, and say "my bad, it won't happen again."

Oh, you would be so wrong.

'Kochtopus' list of donors

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Ruh-roh. Someone who attended the recent "Kochtopus" confab in Palm Springs left behind evidence of the conspiracy of the corporatocracy to end our democratic Republic. The Washington Post reports, A rare look inside the Koch brothers’ political empire:

The labyrinthian design of the political network backed by the Koch brothers and their fellow conservative donors serves several purposes, but one of the biggest is to ensure the privacy of its financial backers. As we detailed last month, the money flows through a complex maze of tax-exempt groups and limited liability corporations, creating multiple barriers that shield the identities of the donors. Such anonymous contributions should be allowed, Charles Koch has argued, to protect people from the attacks that he and his brother David and their company have fielded. Critics say the Kochs and their allies seek to influence elections without accountability.

Now a document published by Mother Jones provides a rare glimpse inside the closely held network. The spreadsheet -- apparently left behind by a guest who attended a recent Koch-sponsored donor seminar at a resort outside Palm Springs – lists the names of more than 40 top donors, along with the senior Koch officials they met with during the three-day conclave.

Senate GOP to punish the unemployed, will filibuster unemployment insurance extension

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has scheduled a test vote on Thursday to extend long-term unemployment insurance benefits after having rejected Republican requests that they be allowed to propose a number of "poison pill" amendments to the Democratic bill. Reid sets up test vote on jobless aid:

Democrats controlling the Senate have set up a test vote on Thursday for the party’s new plan to extend unemployment benefits for people who have been out of work for more than six months.

The latest plan would extend long-term jobless benefits for three months at a cost of almost $7 billion, paid for by a tweak to pension law that Republicans call a gimmick.

Democrats don’t expect the measure to get enough GOP support to overcome a filibuster threshold of 60 votes. Democrats control the Senate with 55 votes and so far expect just three Republicans to join with them. They are Susan Collins of Maine, Dean Heller of Nevada and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

I would encourage you to call our senators, but we all know how these two losers will vote. By the way, in a real democracy without the tyranny of the minority engaging in obstruction and filibuster, this bill would have already passed the Senate.

Let's be Clear: House Tea-Publicans killed immigration reform

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The AP headline in the The Arizona Republic and Arizona Daily Star this morning makes it clear: House conservatives rule out immigration this year:

Conservative Republicans on Wednesday ruled out any immigration legislation in the House this year, insisting that the GOP should wait until next year when the party might also control the Senate.

House GOP leaders unveiled their broad immigration principles last week that gave hope to advocates and the Obama administration that the first changes in the nation’s laws in three decades might happen in the coming months.

Immigration legislation is one of the top priorities for Obama’s second term.

But several of the conservatives were adamant that the House should do nothing on the issue this year, a midterm election year when the GOP is angling to gain six seats in the Senate and seize majority control. Democrats currently have a 55-45 advantage but are defending more seats, including ones in Republican-leaning states.

“I think it’s a mistake for us to have an internal battle in the Republican Party this year about immigration reform,” Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, told reporters at a gathering of conservatives. “I think when we take back the Senate in 2014 one of the first things we should do next year after we do certain economic issues, I think we should address the immigration issue.”

Labrador’s comments were noteworthy as he was one of eight House members working on bipartisan immigration legislation last year. He later abandoned the negotiations.

Corporate 'lamestream' media fail on CBO reports

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Tea-Publicans in Congress were tripping all over themselves to get to a microphone on Tuesday to trumpet a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report that the conservative media entertainment complex, and its enablers in the corporate "lamestream" media either did not read or purposefully misrepresented with headlines like this in the Washington Post: CBO: Health law to mean 2 million fewer workers.

After initially blowing the story, the Washington Post at least did an admirable job of walking it back. It's media critic Eric Wemple wrote, The media’s massive revisions on CBO-Obamacare story:

The [Washington Post’s "Fact Checker"] Glenn Kessler today published a fact-checking post breaking some news: No, he wrote, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) never, ever reported that Obamacare would somehow or other kill more than 2 million U.S. jobs.

Okay, to say that Kessler broke this news is a rhetorical exaggeration to highlight the point that many-o-many media outlets misconstrued the CBO findings. For a while this morning, the Internet was hopping with job-killing hype, when in fact the truth was vastly different. Obamacare’s impact, the CBO concluded, would lessen the supply of labor by encouraging certain folks not to work: “The estimated reduction stems almost entirely from a net decline in the amount of labor that workers choose to supply, rather than from a net drop in businesses’ demand for labor, so it will appear almost entirely as a reduction in labor force participation and in hours worked. . . .”

For someone approaching retirement, notes Kessler, Obamacare could well mean that they needn’t hold onto a bad job just to keep health insurance. That’s a far different dynamic from job-killing.

The Arizona Republic: Sen. Gail Griffin is targeting Mexican gray wolves

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

When Tea-Publicans aren't targeting actual Mexicans with anti-immigrant legislation, they are targeting Mexican gray wolves for extinction. The Arizona Republic in a editorial opinion writes today, Stop targeting wolves, senator:

Pause for a moment and savor this: The population of endangered Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico grew from 75 to 83 last year. That’s nearly double the 2009 count.

It’s a victory for our shared national values, which are expressed in the Endangered Species Act.

OK. Enough savoring. Now, back to a reality.

Lobos remain perilously close to extinction’s cliff, and Arizona’s Legislature is poised to give them a shove over the edge.

The Senate Government and Environment Committee approved three measures this week aimed at wolf reintroduction like a bullet to the brain.

SB 1211 would allow the Arizona Department of Agriculture or ranchers to kill wolves suspected of eating beef without fear of federal prosecution — an amnesty from federal law that Arizona lacks the authority to grant.

SB 1212 appropriates $250,000 from the general fund “for litigation expenses.” That’ll come in handy.

A resolution, SCR 1006, calls for shifting management of this endangered species from federal to state control and focusing reintroduction efforts on the mountains of Mexico. Because, of course, Arizona can dictate to the governments of two nations.

These measures are championed by Republican Sen. Gail Griffin. All passed the committee on party-line votes.

Sen. Gail Griffin wants a piece of Pima County for Rosemont Mine

Posted by AzblueMeanie:

On Tuesday, the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted to oppose the Rosemont Mine in Pima County. Supervisors OK formal objection to Rosemont Mine. "The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 Tuesday to send the Forest Service a formal objection to the agency’s tentative approval of the mine and its final environmental impact statement. The letter is expected to compel the federal agency to respond to Pima County’s long list of concerns over the planned copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains."

So Rosemont Mine and its supporters have proposed a novel idea: they will seize part of Pima County and give it to to Santa Cruz County, where they apparently believe people are more amenable to being bought off with Canadian "loonie" to approve their mine. This is some in-your-face corruption.

The Green Valley News reports, Griffin introduces bill to move Santa Cruz County line north:

State Sen. Gail Griffin on Tuesday breathed life into a bid to bring Green Valley, Sahuarita and the mines into Santa Cruz County, though the idea hasn't proven popular locally.

* * *

Griffin said she introduced the bill at the request of constituents, doesn't expect to have trouble getting it through the Legislature, and wants to hear “about any possible unintended consequences” it may bring about.

Griffin, a Republican whose District 14 skirts the eastern edge of Green Valley, introduced SB 1357, which would put a boundary change to a vote in Santa Cruz County and to those affected in southern Pima County.

That "constituent" is Emmit McGloughlin, " a former Tucson City Council member who now lives in Sonoita, and formed the Santa Cruz County Committee for Quality Jobs more than a year ago to explore moving the county line from Amado to Pima Mine Road, which is where Griffin's bill would put it."

Virginia is for Lovers: federal judge promises a decision 'soon'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

On Tuesday, Virginia Solicitor General Stuart A. Raphael compared his state's constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages to the commonwealth’s previous defense of segregation, a ban on interracial marriage and resistance to admitting women to VMI — all decisions overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Quick ruling pledged on Va. gay marriage ban:

“We are not going to make the mistakes our predecessors made,” Raphael told U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen.

Wright Allen did not ask a question of any of the five lawyers who addressed her during the nearly two hours of arguments but said she will rule quickly on an issue that all agreed will ultimately be settled by the Supreme Court.

“You’ll be hearing from me soon,” she said, emphasizing the last word.

At issue is a question the Supreme Court justices left unanswered in June in their first consideration of same-sex marriage: Does a state’s traditional role in defining marriage mean it may ban same-sex unions without violating the equal protection and due process rights of gay men and lesbians?

The case in Wright Allen’s courtroom marked the first time such a challenge has advanced so far in a state that was part of the Old South.

New Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) infuriated Republicans and conservatives in the state when he decided soon after taking office last month that he would not defend the ban.

The Arizona Republic: One step forward, two steps back on religious bigotry

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Republic's E.J. Montini addresses a point today that I have made many times over the years about the FAUXification of the news with their "fair and balanced" bullshit. O'Reilly unfair? Yes. But it shouldn't matter.

Fairness is a fallacy.

In politics, there is no such thing as fair.

* * *

Unfair questions can still get at the truth.

Fairness isn’t our problem.

Our problem, on a much larger scale, is willful ignorance.

Humans come with a built-in ability to disregard or disbelieve facts because they’ve been presented by people with whom we disagree philosophically, as if anything that contradicts our preconceived notions of a person or situation or issue cannot be true.

The media used to fight such notions. Now, some of us encourage it.

If there is a danger in the media these days it is not that we are unfair, it’s that rather than challenge a reader’s or viewer’s willful ignorance we embolden it. We treat the news, which changes daily, like a religion, which is based on longstanding consistent unshakeable beliefs.

* * *

Our problem isn’t fairness.

Our problem is that too many people in the media are allowing, even urging, audiences to turn a blind eye to unpleasant facts.

And, worse, doing so ourselves.

Too bad the editorial page editors of the Republic ignored Mr. Montini.

Religious Bigotry Bills Advance in House

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Daily Star's creative headline writer strikes again today. The headline in the Star reads Bill enhancing religious defense advances in Arizona Legislature. That's some spin there. These bills are about giving religious bigots a "get out of jail free" card to discriminate against anyone with whom they disagree supposedly based upon their "sincerely held religious beliefs" -- the new code word for "haters gotta hate."

I do believe that Howard Fischer intended the factually correct headline which appears in the East Valley Tribune. Bill to allow businesses to bar service based on 'sincerely held' religious belief moves forward in House. It's time for the Daily Star to reprimand or to fire the biased copy editor responsible for these politically biased creative headlines. Howard Fischer reports:

[A] House panel voted 5-2 Tuesday to give individuals and the businesses they own more rights to refuse to provide services based on their religious beliefs.

The vote by the Government Committee came despite comments from several individuals that the measure would allow anyone to claim a “sincerely held” religious belief as an defense in discrimination lawsuits.

“This bill allows anyone who should normally comply with state or local laws that are neutral to claim that those laws burden their religious beliefs,” said Rep. Martin Quezada, D-Phoenix.

But Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, R-Gilbert, sponsor of HB 2153, said it protects business owners from being forced to do anything that would violate their faith, and Farnsworth lashed out at foes of the legislation for being intolerant of the religious views of others.

“This is pretty remarkable and ironic the screaming and yelling about tolerance apparently flows only one way,” he said. “They want the (religious) tolerance simply to be I'm going to tolerate their opinion and my opinion counts for nothing.”

Yes, people should tolerate "Fast Eddie's" religious bigotry, because "haters gotta hate."

Boehner raises the white flag on the latest GOP debt ceiling hostage taking

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Have Tea-Publicans finally learned their lesson about taking America hostage and threatening to default on the national debt and destroying the economy every few months? Or is it just because this is an election year and "once burned, twice shy?" (A new CNN poll finds that 54 percent would blame Republicans if the debt ceiling isn’t raised, versus 29 percent who would blame Obama. Independents would blame the GOP by 49-30.)

Following a meeting with his GOP caucus today, the TanMan, Weeper of the House John Boehner, raised the white flag on the latest GOP debt ceiling hostage taking. Steve Benen writes, A half-hearted hostage strategy unravels:

Just last year, the Speaker was eager to push the so-called "Boehner Rule" on spending cuts, all while proclaiming that there was simply no way his caucus would approve a clean increase the way he and other GOP colleagues used to.

All of that posturing has been replaced with a more circumspect approach.

Just days away from the administration's deadline to extend the nation's borrowing authority, Speaker John A. Boehner told House Republicans he sees no reason to pick a fight they cannot win on the issue.

"There's no sense picking a fight we can't win," the Ohio Republican told members in a private conference meeting, according to sources in the room.

He added, "No one wants to default on our debt." Since the Speaker is very likely sincere about this point, the crisis is already effectively over -- Boehner won't want to crash the economy on purpose, especially in an election year, so Democrats, who already remember Republicans caving twice on the debt ceiling last year, will have no incentive to pay a ransom now.

Brent Bozell plots a 'decapitation' strategy against GOP congressional leadership

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The GOP has long practiced the political tactic of "decapitation" -- a strategy of taking out the other party's top leadership. Former Democratic House Speaker Tom Foley (D-WA) lost his seat in the Gingrich Revolution in the 1994 election. Former Democratic Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle lost his seat in 2004.

Now Brent Bozell, a conservative media entertainment complex troll (Media Research Center) and the president and treasurer of a Virginia non-profit corporation called America, Inc., operating as ForAmerica, is plotting a "decapitation" strategy against the GOP leadership in Congress. Brent Bozell Will Try To Remove Every GOP Leader From Office:

ForAmerica announced Tuesday that it's pouring six-figures into its "Dump The Leadership" campaign.

It probably won't come as a surprise that the man behind the group is none other than L. Brent Bozell III, the right-wing flamethrower who's proven himself plenty willing to take on the GOP establishment.

After Paul Ryan hashed out a bipartisan budget deal late last year, Bozell predicted that the conservative base would "stampede away from a party that has lost its principles and bearings.”

"Time and again, year after year, the Republican leadership in the House and Senate has come to grassroots conservatives, and Tea Party supporters pleading for our money, our volunteers, our time, our energy and our votes," Bozell told CNN in a statement.

Demion Clinco appointed to LD 2 House Seat

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Pima County Board of Supervisors this morning by a 3-2 vote appointed Demion Clinco, president of the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation, to the LD 2 House seat vacated when Rep. Andrea Dalessandro was appointed to fill the LD 2 Senate seat vacated earlier this year when Sen. Linda Lopez retired.

This may be a bit of a controversial decision as there was strong support for Annabelle Nuñez, an associate librarian at the Arizona Health Sciences Library at the University of Arizona.

LD 2 had been represented by three women until Clinco's appointment.

UPDATE: From the PIma County Demcoratic Party press release:

No date has been set for Clinco to take the oath of office. The House Majority staff will organize the ceremony. Clinco will serve out the remainder of Dalessandro's term.

"The Board of Supervisors has selected a worthy public servant to represent Southern Arizona in the House of Representatives," said Pima County Democratic Party Chair Don Jorgensen."We look forward to working with Representative Clinco."

Clinco is President of the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation Board and CEO of Frontier Consulting Group LLC. He also serves on the Tucson-Pima County Historic Commission and the board of the Center for Desert Archeology. He has a B.A. in Art History from Occidental College in Los Angeles.

Sen. Leah Landrum Taylor withdraws from Secretary of State race

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Landrum Taylor exits secretary of state race:

Sen. Leah Landrum Taylor, a Phoenix Democrat, is dropping her bid to become the next secretary of state.

Landrum Taylor, a veteran legislator, said she will instead focus on child welfare and added she is open to working in this arena after her retirement.

“This is the direction that I would rather spend my energy on,” she said.

Former Attorney General Terry Goddard announced in December that he was running for secretary of state, prompting many to speculate that Landrum Taylor would soon end her campaign.

Landrum Taylor said her decision to drop out has nothing to do with Goddard’s candidacy. A rigorous primary challenge has “never scared me off,” she said.

Action Alert: Religious Bigotry bill on the agenda on Tuesday

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

One of life's imponderable questions:

Why do the very people who believe an individual, association, partnership, corporation, trust, foundation or other legal entity (because "corporations are people my friend") possess a religious liberty to not comply with state and federal anti-discrimination laws simply by invoking the "magic words" that it is "my sincerely held religious belief" to discriminate against gays -- or women, or other religious faiths, or people of color, or other nationalities, etc.

. . . are the very same people who do not believe in the religious liberty or moral conscience choice of a woman to make medical decisions in consultation with her doctor regarding her own body for contraception and abortion? Shouldn't a woman be allowed to invoke her "sincerely held religious belief" in exercising her constitutional rights to contraception and abortion by logical extension of this argument?

Maybe someone should try to get an answer to this moral dilemna from Cathi Herrod and her Christian Taliban at the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) on Tuesday when she is expected to testify in favor of Rep. "Fast Eddie" Farnsworth's House version of the Religious Bigotry bill, HB 2153 (.pdf), in the Committee on Government, at 2:00 p.m. in House Hearing Room 4.

This bill is a "get out of jail free card" for compliance with the public accommodations provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and the Arizona Civil Rights Act, as amended. Since religion is defined under his bill as an individual's "sincerely held religious beliefs" rather than that of a religious institution -- and the government cannot discriminate among religious beliefs under the First Amendment -- an individual's "sincerely held religious beliefs" that he or she may discriminate against persons of other religious faiths, or another race, ethnic origin, or sex would be permissible. Such a "get out of jail free card" for compliance with laws based upon the mere assertion of "sincerely held religious beliefs" leads to anarchy.

Virginia is for Lovers: Court hearing on same-sex marriage tomorrow

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Washington Post reports on the latest from Virginia, Race on same-sex marriage cases runs through Virginia:

The race to get the Supreme Court to decide whether it is unconstitutional for states to withhold marriage from same-sex couples may run through Virginia.

* * *

[T]he Virginia cases are moving quickly, and some lawyers are hopeful they emerge through the appeals process as favored vehicles for an ultimate decision by the Supreme Court.

U.S. District Judge Michael F. Urbanski ruled Friday that a suit brought by American Civil Liberties Union lawyers in Harrisonburg on behalf of four lesbians should become a class action covering Virginia’s estimated 15,000 same-sex couples who might want to marry. [Harris, et al. v. McDonnel, et al., U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virgina – Harrisonburg Division (Civil Action No. 5:13-cv-00077)]

And Tuesday, in a courtroom just over 200 miles away in Norfolk, U.S. District Court Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen will consider for the first time Virginia’s startling reversal of the commonwealth’s legal position on same-sex marriage. [Bostic v. Rainey, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia – Norfolk Division (Civil Action No. 2:13-cv-395)]

New Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) said the state’s ban, approved by voters in 2006, is unconstitutional and cannot be defended.

The Arizona Republic should check with Gov. Brewer on immigration reform: 'throw them out!'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Republic, formerly known as The Arizona Republican, the media arm of the Republican Party establishment in Arizona (namely Senator John McCain, see the pushback to the Arizona Republican Party's crazy base censure of McCain on Sunday, Arizona GOP censure riles McCain backers), published a schizophrenic editorial opinion on Sunday extolling the Tea-Publican House "principles" on immigration reform released last week. A step to the middle:

There was a national sigh of relief when the House Republicans released their principles for immigration reform last week. Their plan creates space for genuine debate that could lead to finally reforming fatally flawed immigration policies. The biggest divide is over what to do about 11 million undocumented people. The House principles are a welcome step toward the middle.

In calling for [permanent] legal residency and citizenship [only] for young people who were brought into the country illegally as children, House Republicans have recognized what the nation has long understood: You don’t punish children for the actions of their parents.

In calling for legalization for the larger undocumented population, House Republicans have moved away from the more extremist factions of their caucus who denounce anything short of deportation as “amnesty.”

They now have to find accommodation with Democrats who denounce anything short of a path to citizenship as a sellout.

The key word here is “incremental.”

Labor's Day of Action at the Capitol

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Announcement from the Arizona AFL-CIO:

Arizona List's 10th Anniversary Celebrations

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Announcement from Arizona List:

Arizona List's
  
10th Anniversary Celebrations

March 1, 2014

Tucson - Luncheon

11:00 am Marriott Hotel, 880 E. 2nd Street

Phoenix - Cocktail Reception

5:00 pm Alwun House, 1204 E. Roosevelt

 

---

 

 

Arizona List celebrates 10 years 

with 

Political Strategist Celinda Lake

"Super-strategist or, better yet, the Godmother" American Politics

Get your tickets and tables today at www.arizonalist.org!

In Tucson, join us in celebrating:

 Laura Hogan

&

with special honoree for the 10th Anniversary

EMILY's List Founder Ellen Malcolm

In Phoenix, join us in celebrating:

Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox

 Rising Star Nettie Silleck

It will be a Saturday to remember!

P.S. Want to sponsor a student to attend?

Last year, we were able to bring 40 young women to our events thanks to generous members who gave scholarships!

Buy a ticket at either luncheon and put "student scholarship" in the notes - it is the best way to get our next generation involved and committed.

 Arizona List + You =
Changing the Face of Power in Arizona

 

Contributions to Arizona List and Arizona List PAC are not deductible for tax purposes. Arizona Law limits the amount that an individual can contribute each year to candidates and non-party committees that support candidates. Paid for by Arizona List and not authorized by any candidate.

The YMCA: Celebrate Your Soul

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Announcement from the Pima County Democratic Party African-American Caucus:

Tucson Peace Fair & Music Festival

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Announcement from the Tucson Peace Center:

Café Roca Rendezvous, Meet the Candidates

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Announcement from the Cochise County Democratic Party:

Reservation Form below the fold.

Capitol screening of Robert Reich's 'Inequality for All'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Blog for Arizona's own Bob Lord is a member of the panel discussion which follows: