Blog For Arizona

The attempt to deregulate electricity in Arizona and to reduce Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff (REST) standards

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Ealier this year, Republican Arizona Corporation Commissioner Gary Pierce proposed but later withdrew a plan that would have effectively reduced the renewable-energy procurement requirement under the state’s Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff (REST) for Arizona Public Service Co. by excluding more large customers from the formula used to calculate total retail sales, in which the standard is based. Cuts to renewable-energy incentives blasted - Arizona Daily Star:

[APS] interpreted the proposal to mean the commission would effectively reduce its standard requiring utilities to obtain 15 percent of their retail energy sales from renewable sources by 2025 to 13.35 percent for APS.

Utilities are required to meet certain goals each year as they work up to the 15 percent standard, and APS is currently ahead, Rebecca Wilder, spokeswoman for the Arizona Corporation Commission, said.

But Wilder said that in order to reduce the standard, the commission would have to reopen and revise the 2006 regulations, which she said it has no plans to do.

'Tenther' Tea-Publican Senators want to repeal the 20th Century

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

A century ago this country permitted child labor and sweatshop labor, and did not regulate the hours and conditions of employment because of U.S. Supreme Court decisions like Kidd v. Pearson (1888) (intra-state commerce), Locher v. New York (1905) (economic liberty and private contract rights), Adair v. U.S. (1908) (labor unions), and Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918) (child labor). The Reel Foto: Lewis Hine: The Littlest Laborers (h/t photo).

"Tentherism" is a dormant and long-discredited legal theory today, but tenthers dominated the Supreme Court from the late 1800s until 1937, when a majority of the Court finally recognized that national leaders must be empowered to solve a national economic crisis like the Great Depression.

Now our "Tenther" Tea-Publican Senators want to repeal the advances of the 20th Century. Think Progress reports, 36 Senators Introduce Bill Prohibiting Virtually Any New Law Helping Workers:

More than three-quarters of the Senate Republican caucus signed onto legislation introduced Wednesday by Sens. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Rand Paul (R-KY) that could render it virtually impossible for Congress to enact any legislation intended to improve working conditions or otherwise regulate the workplace. Had their bill been in effect during the Twentieth Century, for example, there would likely be no nationwide minimum wage, no national ban on workplace discrimination, no national labor law and no overtime in most industries.

They're baaack! Energy deregulation in Arizona?

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Many of the states that went down the path of deregulation in the 1990s did an about-face when the results, typically, were not what was expected. The California Energy Crisis of the early 2000s and the Enron scandal -- remember them? -- led some states to reconsider deregulation. In Arizona, the Court of Appeals in 2004 ruled parts of the state’s deregulation rules were unconstitutional. Quick Reference Guide to Electricity Deregulation - Arizona's Energy Future (APS).

Unbridled greed and market manipulation in the commodities market is endemic. The banksters of Wall Streetare not to be trusted. Just last week, Goldman Sachs was disclosed to be manipulating the price of aluminum. Goldman Sachs's Aluminum Pile - NYTimes.com:

Unlike investors in the past that bought up the commodities they were trying to control, Goldman is not buying the world’s aluminum. Rather, it is storing the metal for other banks, traders and aluminum producers in a complex of warehouses outside Detroit that it acquired in 2010. The problem, as described in The Times by David Kocieniewski, is that since the bank entered this business, the time it takes buyers to get the metal from those warehouses has shot up to more than 16 months, from 6 weeks. Goldman has attributed the delays to a shortage of trucks and forklift drivers. But Goldman also pays incentives to owners of the metal to keep it in the bank’s warehouses.

About that Tea-Publican boycott (sabotage) of health insurance: practice what you preach

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Reuters reported last week that Tea-Publican economic terrorists and a phalanx of "Kochtopus" organizations are mobilizing a counter-offensive against "ObamaCare" including town hall meetings, protests and media promotions to dissuade uninsured Americans from obtaining health coverage through the health insurance exchanges. Republicans prepare for 'Obamacare' showdown, with eye to 2014 elections:

"The best way to get the juices of that right-wing electorate and activist group going is to attack Obamacare - make everything that happens look awful and voters will rebel against it," said Norman Ornstein, an expert on congressional politics at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

"It's a belief that if they highlight this, and sabotage it as much as they can, and if it's disruptive, that that will work for them in the mid-terms."

The White House and Department of Health and Human Services are well aware of their opponents' political maneuvers.

"There are folks out there who are actively working to make this law fail," Obama said in a speech on Wednesday, condemning the opponents' effort as "a politically motivated misinformation campaign."

Vast right-wing conspiracy plots a '30 front war' against America

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

"This is — the great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it is this vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president." - Hillary Clinton, Matt Lauer interview on The Today Show, January 27, 1998

Hillary Clinton was right. There really was (and is) a vast right-wing conspiracy of think tanks, non-profits, right-wing media outlets and pundits funded by a few dozen conservative billionaires first suggested in a memo dated August 23, 1971 by Lewis Powell, then a corporate lawyer and member of the boards of 11 corporations, who went on to become a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. The Powell Memo (or the Powell Manifesto): Text and Analysis.

And of course, there is Roger Ailes, a media consultant to Richard Nixon's 1968 campaign that pursued the Southern strategy of appealing to racism against African-Americans and white grievance to create a racially polarized electorate.The 1970 plot by Ailes and other Nixon aides for "A Plan For Putting the GOP on TV News" was the beginning of FAUX News. Roger Ailes' Secret Nixon-Era Blueprint for Fox News - Gawker.

David Corn at Mother Jones has a lengthy exposé on the latest from the "vast right-wing conspiracy." Inside Groundswell: Read the Memos of the New Right-Wing Strategy Group Planning a "30 Front War":

Believing they are losing the messaging war with progressives, a group of prominent conservatives in Washington—including the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and journalists from Breitbart News and the Washington Examiner—has been meeting privately since early this year to concoct talking points, coordinate messaging, and hatch plans for "a 30 front war seeking to fundamentally transform the nation," according to documents obtained by Mother Jones.

Arizona GOP all-in on 'states' rights' voter suppression

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Well isn't this special. Governor Jan Brewer, who supported the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder, nevertheless is still smarting from that same court striking down Arizona's Prop. 200 proof of citizenship requirement to register to vote in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona.

While it is a certainty that Governor Brewer does not support amendments to the Voting Rights Act which would reinvigorate its preclearance provisions, she does support an amendment to federal law to require proof of citizenship to register to vote for all Americans, not just Arizonans. Arizona's GOP voter suppression knows no limits. Brewer backs Salmon’s voter-ID bill:

Gov. Jan Brewer wants Congress to allow states to require citizenship documents from all prospective voters before they can cast a ballot.

Brewer sent a letter Wednesday to U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., expressing support for a bill the Mesa congressman introduced in response to a recent Supreme Court decision on the issue. The court ruled Arizona could demand proof of citizenship from would-be voters only when they register using state registration forms, not federal ones.

“The responsibility of state and local governments to protect the integrity of the voting process is essential to maintaining the democratic process and protecting the freedom and power of every citizens’ vote,” Brewer wrote. “I commend your efforts to improve federal law so that only United States citizens are voting. ... As a Governor, I particularly appreciate the respect for states’ rights inherent in this legislation.”

House GOP demonstrates its hostility to the Voting Rights Act

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

You know the game is rigged when the House GOP invites the guy notorious for GOP voter suppression efforts, Hans von Spakovsky, as its chief witness to Thursday's House Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice committee hearing on the Voting Rights Act. See Hans von Spakovsky: A familiar face behind voter suppression, and Hans Von Spakovsky 101: How To Suppress The Vote Like A Pro for a quick background.

Ari Berman at The Nation reports, Rep. John Lewis: 'The Voting Rights Act Is Needed Now Like Never Before':

The House Judiciary Committee just concluded its first hearing on the VRA, where it was clear that no consensus exists between the parties on whether to fix the VRA or how to do so. The Republican congressmen and witnesses maintained that existing parts of the VRA, notably Sections 2 and 3, were sufficient replacements for Sections 4 and 5 and thus, in the words of Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation: “there’s no reason for Congress to take any action.”

California grand jury investigating Arizona-based dark money 'Kochtopus' groups

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

When last we heard about the Arizona-based "Kochtopus" dark money group Center to Protect Patient Rights, founded by GOP operative Sean Noble, California's Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) was ramping up its investigation into “the largest contribution ever disclosed as campaign money laundering in California history.” The Arzona political media has largely made this story disappear.

It now appears that a grand jury has been convened, and the butts of "Kochtopus" dark money contributors are beginning to pucker.

Peter H. Stone at The Daily Beast reports today in an Exclusive: California Grand Jury Probing Shadowy Money Groups:

A grand jury is now involved in a high-stakes California probe that is looking into whether a PAC and three so-called dark-money groups—including one with ties to the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch—broke a campaign disclosure law by funneling $11 million from secret sources to influence ballot initiatives in the state’s 2012 election, The Daily Beast has learned.

George Zimmerman verdict: let's change the law

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It is simply too easy to assert that the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial was due to racism, although racial profiling and stereotyping, and appeals to racial prejudice were certainly part of the defense strategy in this case.

In the end, the defense successfully put Travyon Martin on trial rather than George Zimmerman. The defense made Travyon Martin the perpetrator rather than the victim of the crime. They were able to do so because of Florida's perverse criminal laws.

I was deeply offended by defense counsels' statements after the verdict, when asked if the race of the individuals  had been reversed, would the outcome of the trial have been the same? Defense counsels asserted that there never would have been a trial because civil rights organizations would not have pressured prosecutors into bringing charges against an African-American -- a perverse claim of "reverse racism" that the race-baiters at FAUX News Fraudcasting have been hyping incessantly to their white grievance audience. (FAUX News was promoting the possibility of post-Rodney King verdict race riots breaking out after the verdict in this case. FAUX News is a malignant cancer in American journalism). As defense counsels tell it, George Zimmerman was the innocent victim of a lynch mob of civil rights organizations and the media. This is an alternate reality designed expressly for consumption by the conservative media entertainment complex. Defense counsels are shameless.

Oh, SNAP! House Tea-Publicans pass farm bill without any food stamps funding

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It was amatuer hour in the House today as Tea-Publicans, who cannot conceal their contempt for the working poor who depend on food stamps for their day-to-day survival, stripped the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) aka food stamps provisions out of the "farm bill," moving the bill even further to the right than the punitive bill that failed to pass the Congress last month when Tea-Publicans objected that it was not punitive enough against the working poor. Farm Bill passes House without food stamp funds:

House Republicans successfully passed a Farm Bill Thursday by splitting apart funding for food stamps from federal agricultural policy[.]

Lawmakers voted 216 to 208 make changes to federal agricultural policy and conservation programs and end direct subsidy payments to farmers. But the measure says nothing about funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, which historically constitutes about 80 percent of the funding in a Farm Bill.

No House Democrat voted for the measure. Twelve Republicans also opposed it. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) voted in favor of it, even though speakers traditionally don’t vote.

The vote made clear that Republicans intend to make significant reductions in food stamp money and handed Republican leaders a much-needed [pyrrhic] victory three weeks after conservative lawmakers and rural state Democrats revolted and blocked the original version of the bill that included food stamp money.

Senate Judiciary Committee to begin hearings to amend the Voting Rights Act

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Talking Points Memo reports that Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is following through on his promise to begin hearings to amend the Voting Rights Act. Senate Dems Set July 17 Hearing On Voting Rights Act:

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has scheduled a hearing on Wednesday, July 17 to consider a congressional response to the Supreme Court's ruling striking down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.

The witness list so far includes Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), a civil rights icon, and Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), a key Republican supporter of the Voting Rights Act.

"The Voting Rights Act has been a central pillar of the civil rights laws that have helped bring America’s ideals closer to reality for all Americans," Leahy said. "Congress reauthorized this law with overwhelming bipartisan support, and we again must work together to ensure that no Americans are discriminated against when exercising their fundamental right to vote. I look forward to hearing next week from Congressman Lewis and Congressman Sensenbrenner, two lawmakers who were instrumental in the 2006 reauthorization and who I hope to work closely with again this year."

The hearing will be livestreamed at this link.

President Obama's statement on Senate passage of immigration reform

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

From the White House: Statement by President Obama on Senate Passage of Immigration Reform:

Statement by President Obama on Senate Passage of Immigration Reform

Today, with a strong bipartisan vote, the United States Senate delivered for the American people, bringing us a critical step closer to fixing our broken immigration system once and for all. 

I thank Majority Leader Reid, Senator Leahy, Senator Schumer, and every member of the ‘Gang of Eight’ for their leadership, and I commend all Senators who worked across party lines to get this done.  

The bipartisan bill that passed today was a compromise.  By definition, nobody got everything they wanted.  Not Democrats.  Not Republicans.  Not me.  But the Senate bill is consistent with the key principles for commonsense reform that I – and many others – have repeatedly laid out. 

If enacted, the Senate bill would establish the most aggressive border security plan in our history.  It would offer a pathway to earned citizenship for the 11 million individuals who are in this country illegally – a pathway that includes passing a background check, learning English, paying taxes and a penalty, and then going to the back of the line behind everyone who’s playing by the rules and trying to come here legally.  It would modernize the legal immigration system so that it once again reflects our values as a nation and addresses the urgent needs of our time.  And it would provide a big boost to our recovery, by shrinking our deficits and growing our economy.

Today, the Senate did its job.  It’s now up to the House to do the same. 

'Gang of Eight' comprehensive immigration reform bill approved by U.S. Senate

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

This afternoon the U.S. Senate passed the "Gang of Eight" comprehensive immigration reform bill. Steve Benen reports, Senate approves comprehensive immigration reform, 68 to 32:

Following months of bipartisan negotiations, the U.S. Senate easily approved landmark immigration legislation with a 68-to-32 vote. In recognition of the seriousness with which Senate leaders took the issue, members took the unusual step of voting from their desks.

In the end, 14 Senate Republicans joined Senate Democrats in support of the proposal. Despite the so-called "border surge" and other provisions secured by GOP senators, 32 of the 46 Senate Republicans -- about 70% of the caucus -- still voted against the bill. (In 2006, 21 GOP senators voted for comprehensive immigration reform, suggesting, despite electoral pressures, the party is slowly becoming more hostile on the issue, not less.)

Immediately after the Gang of Eight's bill was approved, Dream Act kids in the Senate gallery could be heard chanting, "Yes we can."

How Progressives Stopped the Farm Bill

by Pamela Powers Hannley

When Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) rallied its membership and asked them to take to the streets, their computers, and their telephones to oppose food stamp cuts in the farm bill, stopping the multi-year, behemoth looked bleak.

Both versions of the bill had cuts to food stamps and school lunches; the House of Representatives version, which was defeated on Thursday, had $20 billion in cuts to food stamps + increased subsidies to agribusiness, and the Senate version has $4 billion in cuts. This is immoral– feeding the military industrial complex but not the children.

PDA mobilized nationally to stop this– hundreds of letter drops at Congressional offices around the country and in Washington DC, thousands of phone calls and e-mails to Congressional representatives. And it worked– for now. Details of the mobilization after the jump.

Veto the Voter Suppression Act, HB 2305

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Howard Fischer from Capitol Media Services has a decent explanation of the Voter Suppression Act, HB 2305, passed by the Tea-Publican controlled Arizona legislature before sine die. GOP OKs series of changes in election law:

Republicans used the final hours of their just-ended legislative session to push through a series of changes in election laws that could give them advantages in future elections.

* * *

Among the additions:

• Making it a crime for volunteer political workers and organizations to collect early ballots from voters and take them to polling places;

• Increasing the number of signatures that minor-party legislative and congressional candidates need to get on the ballot;

• Imposing higher legal standards on voter-sponsored initiatives, making it easier to throw them off the ballot if they do not strictly comply with each and every provision of the law;

• Adding some procedural requirements to recall laws.

Let's unpack some of these changes. If you are a member of the Libertarian Party, or the Green Party, or the new Americans Elect Party, you now have a big problem qualifying your candidates for the ballot.

Current law sets the number of signatures a candidate needs to qualify for the ballot based upon the number of registered voters in the candidate's political party. For example, in a Democratic voter registration advantage district, a Democrat may need 385 minimum number of signatures to qualify, a Republican may need only 165 minimum number of signatures to qualify, and minor political parties have a ridiculously low number of minimum signatures to qualify.

(Update) 'Omnibus' voter suppression bill HB 2305 passes the Senate on reconsideration

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

How many times have I told you that it's never over until sine die?

In a late-night final act of betrayal before saying goodbye, the Senate reconsidered the "omnibus" voter suppression bil, HB 2305, and Republican Sens. Steve Pierce, John McComish and Rich Crandall -- who had earlier voted with the Democrats to defeat the bill -- changed their votes to pass this bill on a straight party-line vote, and to transmit the bill to the governor.

Here is the vote detail on the Motion for Reconsideration:

Member Name	Vote	Member Name	Vote	Member Name	Vote
Ed Ableser	N	Nancy Barto	Y	David Bradley	N
Judy Burges	Y	Olivia Cajero Bedford	N	Rich Crandall	Y
Chester Crandell	Y	Adam Driggs	Y	Steve Farley	N
Steve Gallardo	N	Gail Griffin	Y	Katie Hobbs	N
Jack Jackson Jr.	N	Leah Landrum Taylor	N	Linda Lopez	N
John McComish	Y	Barbara McGuire	N	Al Melvin	Y
Robert Meza	N	Rick Murphy	NV	Lynne Pancrazi	N
Steve Pierce	Y	Michele Reagan	Y	Don Shooter	Y
Anna Tovar	N	Kelli Ward	Y	Bob Worsley	Y
Steve Yarbrough	Y	Kimberly Yee	Y	Andy Biggs	Y

 

AYES: 16   NAYS: 13   NOT VOTING: 1   EXCUSED: 0   VACANT: 0

If you read the newspaper this morning, you read that this bill was defeated. Both Howard Fischer at Capitol Media Services AZ legislature closes out session in flurry, approve sales tax overhaul and The Arizona Republic Rancorous session ends with Medicaid and budget approved reported that HB 2305 was defeated in the Senate.

Let's roll! (the leadership): Governor Brewer calls special session

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

There is very little that Governor Jan Brewer and I have ever agreed upon during her long political career. But I have to grudgingly admire her latest tactical move and give her props to call a special session to pass her budget over the Tea Party minority obstructionists. This is exactly what I would have done. Well played. Gov. Jan Brewer calls lawmakers into surprise special session:

Fed up with weeks of debate and delay on her top legislative priority, Gov. Jan Brewer called lawmakers into an unprecedented special session late Tuesday, bypassing the leadership of her own party to push through Medicaid expansion and the 2014 budget.

The governor’s surprise move comes after House Speaker Andy Tobin, R-Paulden, adjourned until Thursday, stalling efforts by a bipartisan House coalition to pass Brewer’s 2014 budget and Medicaid expansion.

Many legislators were on their way home when Brewer called key lawmakers to a meeting in her offices, where the special session plans were organized. They agreed to unseat the speaker and Senate president, if necessary, to get Medicaid expansion and the budget passed.

Brewer issued a special session proclamation at 5 p.m., and by then Democrats and the expansion-friendly Republicans were already gathering on the House floor.

Proclamation for Special Session Governor Brewer Calls Special Session for Budget-Related Matters

In the Arizona Legislature Today

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

After Monday's dog and pony show in the House Appropriations Committee, the action moves to the House floor today.

The Committee of the Whole (COW) calendar lists the following bills to be debated today:

Bill Number    Short Title 

SB1057            AHCCCS; ambulance services; rates

*SB1069           CPS; psychological assessments and services

                      (s/e:  abortion clinics; regulations; inspections)

SB1337            schools; CPR training

SB1375            behavioral health services; dependent children

*Pending Rules and Caucus

The Arizona Republic reports, Medicaid showdown today?:

The Arizona House could consider Medicaid expansion as early as today, less than 24 hours after Republicans in a key committee defeated Gov. Jan Brewer’s top legislative priority.

Leaders of a bipartisan coalition backing expansion of the health-care program for the poor met late Monday to plot their options for bringing the measure to a vote.

A floor debate today offers the group its first opportunity to attach it to another bill. But some supporters favored waiting until at least Wednesday to give House Speaker Andy Tobin, who opposes Brewer’s Medicaid expansion plan, an opportunity to bring forward the budget bills rather than see the coalition go around him.

A House vote on the issue, which has driven a wedge through the state’s GOP, would clear the way for consideration of the rest of the fiscal 2014 budget and adjournment of the legislative session.

House Appropriations Committee hearing on Senate Health and Welfare Budget

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

There is an overflow crowd of interested persons wanting to testify today at the Arizona House Appropriations Committee today on the Senate Health and Welfare Budget, SB 1492, which includes Governor Jan Brewer''s Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration/expansion plan.

As you might expect, the JLBC, AHCCCS, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and other business organizations, and hospital associations are testifying in favor of the appropriations bill. The Valley Interfaith Council also testifiend in favor of the bill.

Opposing the bill are the Goldwater Institute, Tea Party types and the so-called "Christian" Right anti-abortion extremists who turned out for the CAP "poison pill" amendment.

It does not appear that any minds are being changed. This hearing is going on longer than I have time to follow.

You can watch the committee hearing here. Click to visit ACTV.

UPDATE: SB 1492 FAILED to pass on the same party-line 7-4 vote in committee.

Howard Fischer reports House panel rejects Brewer's plan to expand Medicaid:

With all Republicans opposed, a House panel voted Monday to reject the proposal by Gov. Jan Brewer to use federal dollars to expand the state's Medicaid program.

* * *

But Monday's 7-4 vote against SB 1492 by the Appropriations Committee could prove largely meaningless.

At least seven Republicans in the 60-member House are expected to support expansion. That, combined with the backing of 24 Democrats, should provide enough support to have the issue resurrected when it goes to the full House, likely later this week.

Nuns on The Bus with Congressman Raúl Grijalva

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Please join the Office of Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva for and informative event on immigration reform in conjunction with Nuns on the Bus:

 

NETWORK's Nuns on the Bus Is Coming to Tucson

to Support Commonsense Immigration Reform

 

We need immigration policies that reflect

our values, not our fears.

 

Also, learn how immigration affects the lives of Native Americans,

specifically the Pascua Yaqui and Tohono O’Odham Nations.

 

Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva & Nuns On the Bus

Public Forum on Comprehensive Immigration Reform

and Native Nations

 

Tuesday, June 11, 6 PM

Pascua Yaqui Nation, Albert D. Garcia Justice Center

7777 S. Camino Huivisim, Bldg C 

 

This year, they are traveling across the United States – 6,500 miles over 15 states – 53 events in 40 cities – standing with immigrants, faith-filled activists, and Catholic Sisters who serve immigrant communities.

For More Information on This Event:

Contact Ruben Reyes, (520) 622-6788, ruben.reyes@mail.house.gov

  

For More Information on NETWORK’s Nuns on the Bus: www.nunsonthebus.org

  

NETWORK’s Nuns on the Bus is a campaign of NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby which was founded by 47 Catholic Sisters more than 40 years ago.  www.networklobby.org

CAP 'poison pill' amendment approved by House Appropriations Committee

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona House Appropriations Committee began its hearing today with the eleventh hour "strike everything amendment" to SB 1069 for the benefit of the Mullah Cathi Herrod and her Christian Taliban at the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) to allow the Arizona Department of Health Services to conduct unannounced inspections of abortion clinics, in violation of a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Tucson Women’s Clinic v. Eden (2004) which does not allow surprise inspections without an administrative warrant. The strike-everything amendment would also require AHCCCS to conduct financial audits of Medicaid providers to ensure that the money isn’t being co-mingled.

Sen. Nancy Barto (R-Phoenix) briefly testified in support of the amendment, citing convicted Dr. Kermit Gosnell as a reason for this untimely amendment, and a secretly recorded video by the anti-abortion organization Live Action, between a pregnant woman and a doctor and counselor at the Family Planning Associates Medical Group at a Phoenix abortion clinic.

Bryan Howard, CEO of Planned Parenthood, testified against the "strike everything amendment" on the basis of language restricting Medicaid funds -- it is unnecessary (unannounced inspections are already provided by law) and illegal under the 2004 9th Circuit decision. It is also unconstitutional under the 4th Amendment.

Howard cited the recent U.S. Supreme Court denial of cert from an Indiana case in which the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a law that prevents Medicaid recipients from being reimbursed for health services at Planned Parenthood because some of its clinics offer abortions.

Action Alert: House Appropriations Committee takes up Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration/expansion on Monday - and a poison pill from CAP

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to meet on Monday, June 10 at 10:00 a.m. in Room HHR 1 to take up the appropriations bill which includes Governor Jan Brewer's Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration/expansion plan, SB 1492.

The Committee Chairman, John Kavanaugh, R-Fountain Hills, the man who sponsored the "show me your papers before you pee" bill, has also agreed to take up a "strike everything amendment" to SB 1069 (CPS; psychological assessments and services) as a vehicle for Mullah Cathi Herrod and her Christian Taliban at the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) to insert a poison pill amendment to limit abortion providers’ ability to participate in Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion plan that Governor Brewer earlier rejected as unnecessary.

Your presence at this critical committee hearing is requested. It is time for a show of force against the opponents of Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration/expansion who dare to call themselves "Christians." WWJD? (Matthew 25:31-46).

The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Medicaid anti-abortion language returns in House Approps:

A pro-life forced birth bill scheduled for a hearing in the House Appropriations Committee includes language that is nearly identical to a proposal from a leading evangelical Christian group that sought to limit abortion providers’ ability to participate in Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion plan.

The strike-everything amendment to SB1069 would prohibit funds from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System from being used to “directly or indirectly” subsidize abortions, including the use of Medicaid money on administrative expenses such as building rent, employee salaries and utility costs by abortion providers. House Appropriations Chairman Rep. John Kavanagh, who sponsored the amendment, said the language was requested by the Center for Arizona Policy.

Action Alert: Kill This Bill - HB 2305 Voter Suppression

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Yesterday the Arizona legislature took up the so-called election "reform" bills designed to restrict your constitutional rights as an Arizona citizen to citizen initiatives and referendums and to make it more difficult to submit petitions, and to make it more difficult for some people to vote (aka voter suppression). The conference committee approved it in five minutes without any public testimony.

Once again, these so-called election "reform" bills have now been grouped together under HB 2305 pertaining to "Initiatives; filings; circulators," House Engrossed Version and Senate Engrossed Version (the conference committee bill is not yet available).

The Arizona Republic reports, Arizona lawmakers forward bill on election changes:

Lawmakers broke a stalemate over wide-ranging changes to Arizona election procedures Thursday, bundling several hotly disputed proposals into one bill and triggering warnings of potential lawsuits over voter suppression.

The changes, if approved by the House and Senate, would tighten procedures for citizen initiatives and referenda, limit who can return a voter’s ballot to the polls, and drop people from the permanent early-voting list if they fail to vote by mail in consecutive elections.

“The one commonality in the bill is inhibiting people’s ability to exercise the right to vote,” said state Sen. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix.

Gallardo attended the brief conference committee on House Bill 2305, which ran less than five minutes, did not provide any explanation of the proposed changes to the public in attendance, and passed without any comment from the four Republicans and two Democrats on the committee.

Out-of-state right-wing organization behind public employee pension initiative in Tucson

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Back in March of this year, the City of Phoenix referred two ballot measures to the city election ballot pertaining to the City of Phoenix Employee Retirement System (COPERS). City of Phoenix Pension Reform, Propositions 201 and 202 - Ballotpedia:

Two City of Phoenix Pension Reform Questions, Propositions 201 and 202, were on the March 12, 2013 ballot for voters in the City of Phoenix in Maricopa County, Arizona. Both propositions were overwhelmingly approved.

Proposition 201 amended the Phoenix City Charter to make five changes in the City of Phoenix Employee Retirement System (COPERS). The most important of these changes requires any member of the Plan to contribute half of the funds for his or her retirement and establish that retirement eligibility occurs when the sum of the employee's age and years of service equals 87 instead of 80, which was the rule before Proposition 201 was enacted. Proposition 201 left intact the previous retirement eligibility rules of 60 years of age with 10 years of service and 62 years of age with 5 years of service. Proposition 201 also established certain multiplier benefits to increase over time instead of decrease in order to encourage later retirement.

Proposition 202 puts in place what is known as a "prudent investor rule". It also ensures that the city's Retirement Plan remains tax-exempt and makes the amended plan compatible with all applicable federal tax laws.

Proposition 201 applies only to those employees hired on or after July 1, 2013. The provisions do not apply to any employees who were hired by the city prior to July 1, 2013, nor do the provisions apply to any now-retired former city employees. Police and fire employees, and elected officials, are exempt from the changes in Propositions 201 and 202.

With the enactment of Proposition 201, the city's contribution to COPERS is expected to decrease by 51%, yielding an approximate cumulative savings of $596 million by year 2037, while the highest employee contribution rate is estimated to be 13.6 percent of salary.

Propositions 201 and 202 were referred to the March 12, 2013 ballot on October 31, 2012 through a unanimous (9-0) vote of the Phoenix City Council.

Action Alert: Election 'Reform' Bills being heard today

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The AP reports that Arizona Republican lawmakers are again working to revive a series of divisive election bills that opponents say will limit Democratic and Hispanic voter turnout. Arizona lawmakers move to revive election bills - Fox 10:

Lawmakers are slated to debate the election bills Thursday and opponents are asking their supporters to lobby lawmakers against the provisions.

Democrats who support Gov. Jan Brewer's Medicaid expansion plan opposed by conservative Republicans say the GOP-leadership wants to revive the election bills to stall the budget approval process.

Some Senate Democrats have said they won't support the proposed Medicaid expansion plan in the state budget if it also includes the election bills. Brewer needs Democratic votes to get the Medicaid overhaul passed.

The election bills seek to trim the state's permanent early voting list, among other measures.

REVISED 2 CONFERENCE COMMITTEE SCHEDULE 6-6-13 (Senate)

Thursday, June 6, 2013

 

Time	Room	Bill Number On Agenda	Short/Now Title	Type	Senators	Representatives
11:00 AM	HHR 4	2305	initiatives; filings; circulators	FCC	*MCCOMISH, DRIGGS, HOBBS BURGESS, WARD	FARNSWORTH, MESNARD, QUEZADA

*McComish replaced by Burgess and Driggs replaced by Ward

REVISED 2 CONFERENCE COMMITTEE SCHEDULE 6-6-13 (House)

Thursday, June 6, 2013

 

Time	Room	Bill Number On Agenda	Short/Now Title	Type	Representatives	Senators
11:00 AM	HHR 4	2305	initiatives; filings; circulators	FCC	FARNSWORTH, MESNARD, QUEZADA	*MCCOMISH, **DRIGGS, HOBBS, BURGES, WARD

*  McComish is being replaced by Burges

** Driggs is being replaced by Ward

REVISED CONFERENCE COMMITTEE SCHEDULE 6-6-13 (House)

Thursday, June 6, 2013

 

Time	Room	Bill Number On Agenda	Short/Now Title	Type	Representatives	Senators
11:00 AM	HHR 4	2305	initiatives; filings; circulators	FCC	FARNSWORTH, MESNARD, QUEZADA	*MCCOMISH, DRIGGS, HOBBS, BURGES

* McComish has been replaced by Burges

Nuns On The Bus Tour in Arizona

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Nuns On The Bus Tour for comprehensive immigration reform is coming to Arizona. Go to Nuns on the Bus - Network for more tour information and to RSVP.

Date	Type of Visit	Place
Jun 11, 2013 (10:00 AM)	Voices from Annunciation House	Casa Vides 325 Leon St, El Paso, TX 79901	RSVP
Jun 11, 2013 (Noon)	Lobby Visit	Office of Congressman Steve Pearce 570 N Telshor Blvd, Las Cruces, NM 88011	RSVP
Jun 11, 2013 (6:00 PM)	Event Sponsored by Rep. Grijalva's Office	Albert D. Garcia Justice Center/Building C, Pascua Yaqui Nation 7777 S Camino Huivism, Tucson, AZ 85746	RSVP
Jun 12, 2013 (9:30 AM)	Kino Border Initiative Event	On the Border West Street and International Street, Nogales, AZ	RSVP	More Info
Jun 12, 2013 (3:00 PM)	Lobby Visit	Offices of Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake 2200 and 2201 E Camelback Rd (meet at the corner of 22nd St & Camelback Rd.), Phoenix, AZ 85016	RSVP	More Info
Jun 12, 2013 (6:00 PM)	Friendraiser	St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Sonntag Pavillion 350 W Thomas Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85013	RSVP	More Info

*All events are open to press, unless otherwise noted.

Why so much hatred for women, children, the disabled, and the elderly?

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

From the Department of Economic Security (DES) standardized AHCCCS eligibility letter:

For a person over the age of 18 to be elibible for AHCCCS Health Insurance they must be in one of the groups listed below

-- A parent or relative living with a child under the age of 18, or age 18 and a full-time student, who is deprived of parental care and support because:

• A parent is continually absent from the home, or
• A parent has died, or
• A parent is physcially or mentally disabled, or
• A parent is unemployed or underemployed.

-- Age 65 or older -- referred to AHCCCS for a determination.

-- Under the age of 65 and is blind or has a disability -- referred to ACCCS for a determination.

-- Pregnant.

The person must also meet other program rules such as United States Citizenship, Qualified Non-Citizen, Arizona Residency, and income limits.

So typically a single mother head of household with children (or pregnant), or "dual eligible" disabled who qualify for both social security disability and Medicaid, or "dual eligible" elderly poor who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid.

When we are talking about Governor Brewer's Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration/expansion plan, these are the people we are talking about.

Why so much hatred for women, children, the disabled, and the elderly? That is the question opponents of Gov. Brewer's plan should have to answer.

Frank Antenori and Ron Gould are desperate for media attention

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

When I opened the Arizona Daily Star this morning, I was treated to a Howard Fischer report on how former state legislators Frank Antenori and Ron Gould are planning a referendum drive should the Arizona legislature enact Governor Jan Brewer's Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration plan. 2 want Medicaid issue up to voters:

Frank Antenori, who represented Tucson, said Tuesday he already has written commitments from 500 GOP precinct committeemen to gather signatures this summer to refer the issue to the ballot if the proposal by Gov. Jan Brewer is approved by the Legislature. He and Ron Gould of Lake Havasu City need just 86,405 valid signatures within 90 days of the end of the session -- whenever that happens -- to force the issue to a public vote.

* * *

House Speaker Andy Tobin said Tuesday he has given up on his own bid to make approval of Brewer's plan contingent on voter approval at a special election. Tobin said he cannot line up support in his chamber.

* * *

Antenori said, though, it should be no problem finding enough Arizonans to sign referendum petitions -- especially if the measure is sold as a way to kill "Obamacare.''

Just getting the signatures would be a setback for Brewer. The Arizona Constitution says any measure referred to the ballot cannot take effect until voters get a chance to either ratify or reject what lawmakers have approved.

The earliest that could happen is the 2014 general election. Antenori said that delay works in his favor.

Sinema too Republican? Votes to Reduce Banking Regulations

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Citigroup knows how to schmooze Congress-- and how to write legislation, apparently.

Ever since the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act reinstated some regulations on Wall Street gamblers in 2010, the banksters have been trying to reduce or eliminate those regulations.

The newest chapter in this banking regulation saga finds Citigroup writing the latest round of financial regulations and wining and dining Congressional representatives-- including Arizona Blue Dog Democrat Rep. Kyrsten Sinema-- to make the legislation happen. In Sinema's case, it worked. As a member of the Financial Services Committee, she voted with Republicans to allow  the Citigroup Protection Act... er... relaxed banking regulations to move out of committee.

I have been in Arizona long enough to have seen Sinema rise through the ranks of the Arizona Legislature and move to the US Congress. When she was in the State Senate, I enjoyed watching her Facebook posts cracking on Arizona Teapublicans and the video speeches where she openly challenged recalled Senate President Russell Pearce. Although I backed her for Congress because of her strong stance on women's issues, I'm seriously disgusted with her overall performance in Congress.

For months, Maricopa County members of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) have been urging Sinema to support the Financial Speculation Tax (AKA the Robin Hood Tax), which would charge a tiny fee on every Wall Street trade-- generating billions of dollars, while reducing risky, computerized micro-trades.

Not only has Sinema not supporting the Robin Hood Tax, her recent vote exempts many Wall Street trades from any regulation. This is the wrong direction for the American people. How many Wall Street bankers live in CD9? How many people who would benefit from the revenue generated by the Robin Hood Tax live in CD9? It's time for Sinema to do the math. Voting with Wall Street is a vote against her constituents in Arizona.

If you live in CD9, it's time to call Sinema and tell her you thought you were voting for that fiery State Senator-- not the banksters' handmaiden.

Paul Krugman on succesful implementation of 'ObamaCare'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Paul Krugman has more on the good news for the implementation of "ObamaCare" today. The Obamacare Shock:

The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, goes fully into effect at the beginning of next year, and predictions of disaster are being heard far and wide. There will be an administrative “train wreck,” we’re told; consumers will face a terrible shock. Republicans, one hears, are already counting on the law’s troubles to give them a big electoral advantage.

[See this AP report GOP to frame 'debacle' of Obama health law as 2014 campaign issue in today's Arizona Daily Star.]

No doubt there will be problems, as there are with any large new government initiative, and in this case, we have the added complication that many Republican governors and legislators are doing all they can to sabotage reform. Yet important new evidence — especially from California, the law’s most important test case — suggests that the real Obamacare shock will be one of unexpected success.

Before I can explain what the news means, I need to make a crucial point: Obamacare is a deeply conservative reform, not in a political sense (although it was originally a Republican proposal) but in terms of leaving most people’s health care unaffected. Americans who receive health insurance from their employers, Medicare or Medicaid — which is to say, the vast majority of those who have any kind of health insurance at all — will see almost no changes when the law goes into effect.

'Nuns on The Bus' for immigration reform coming to Arizona

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The “Nuns on the Bus” are revving up their engines for another national campaign, only this time the Catholic sisters are taking their mobile platform for social justice along the country’s Southern border to push Congress to pass immigration reform. Nuns on the Bus - Religion News Service:

“The ‘Nuns on the Bus’ is going on the road again!”

“This time we’re going out for common-sense immigration reform,” Sister Simone Campbell said to rousing applause.

Details of the latest tour are still to be announced, but the bus trip is expected to start at the end of the month, beginning in New York and winding up in California by way of Florida and the U.S. border with Mexico.

Nuns on the Bus - Washington, DC - Organization | Facebook

Campbell believes the right moment and the right issue are coinciding again, and like many longtime immigration reform advocates she is willing to back the current bill despite reservations.

“We want to amend it, yes, but we want to pass it. We don’t want to nitpick it to death. That’s what we did in 2007,” she said, referring to the previous attempt to overhaul immigration, which ended in failure.

The banksters of Wall Street are back to writing their own laws again

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The banksters of Wall Street perpetrated the largest fraud in the history of mankind, nearly melting down our financial system and doing substantial harm to the world's economy that peaked with the economic collapse in 2008, the worst economic catastrophe since the Great Depression.

At the time I called for Congress to establish a new Pecora Commission to investigate the banksters of Wall Street and the causes of the economic collapse. (Historical note: As a result of the Pecora Commission's findings, the United States Congress passed the Glass–Steagall Banking Act of 1933 to separate commercial and investment banking, the Securities Act of 1933 to set penalties for filing false information about stock offerings, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which formed the SEC, to regulate the stock exchanges.)

I also called for a "sheriff of Wall Street," a hard-nosed prosecutor who would pursue the idea that "somebody's going to emergency, somebody's going to jail." This did not happen.

'Gang of Eight' immigration reform bill advances in the Senate

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It has often been said that people do not want to see the "sausage making" process of legislation, and nowhere is that a truer statement than with the "Gang of Eight" immigration reform bill.

After multiple attempts by Tea Party senators to add "poison pill" amendments to kill the bill -- all defeated -- there was a death-defying friendly amendment offered yesterday by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to treat gay partners equally under federal law for immigration purposes. Tea-Publicans howled that this was a deal breaker, and Sen. Leahy eventually withdrew his amendment.

Of course, Advocates were outraged at lack of LGBT protection in immigration bill. This is a timing problem. This bill needs to move forward in the Senate now. The U.S. Supreme Court is not expected to rule on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) until June. Should the Court strike down DOMA, as most court observers anticipate, it would remove the obstacle to treating gay partners equally under federal law. The immigration bill will still be going through the "sausage making" process, and may be amended to respond to any Supreme Court ruling. Patience and perseverance are virtues in the "sausage making" process.

So it is good news that the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved its final mark-up of the comprehensive immigration reform bill on a vote of 13 to 5. Senate panel approves sweeping immigration reform bill:

After five days of debate over dozens of amendments, the Judiciary Committee voted 13 to 5 in support of the bill, with three Republicans joining the committee’s 10 Democrats. The legislation emerged with its core provisions largely intact, including new visa programs for high-tech and low-skilled workers and new investments in strengthening border control.

“The dysfunction in our current immigration system affects all of us and it is long past time for reform. I hope that our history, our values, and our decency can inspire us finally to take action,” committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said. “We need an immigration system that lives up to American values and helps write the next great chapter in American history by reinvigorating our economy and enriching our communities.”

Robert Robb is right: refer a clean Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration bill to the voters

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I hate it when I have to agree with the Arizona Republic's über-conservative columnist Robert Robb, but even a broken clock is right twice a day, am I right?

Keep in mind that this latest column from Robert Robb is actually the strategy for a legal challenge to Governor Jan Brewer's Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration plan, likely from his old employer, the Goldwater Institute, which is actively opposing the Governor's plan. If the Governor's plan is enacted by the legislature, the Goldwater Institute will file a lawsuit. (To his credit, Robb has written several columns arguing in favor of Governor Brewer's plan as a practical matter, much to Goldwater's chagrin I imagine).

I have had several Democratic legislators tell me that they agree with the Governor's legal analysis that the hospital bed tax is just a provider assessment that can be imposed by an agency head. I suspect this is wishful thinking. I have little confidence in the Governor's lawyers. I have previously posted that I disagree with this analysis. I believe this is rightly characterized as a tax, and any new tax requires a two-thirds super-majority vote of both chambers of the legislature to be approved under Prop. 108 (1992). This is why I have long argued for the repeal of the undemocratic Prop. 108.

Action Alert: Call your state senator now to oppose SB 1493

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Craig McDermott posted about the upcoming week in the legislature, and covered the Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration and budget which moves to the House this week.

The Senate held the omnibus elections bill last week from its marathon appropriations bills session. The omnibus elections bill is likely to be scheduled for action in the Senate before the end of this week.

After a cursory review of SB 1493, it appears to me that Sen. Michele Reagan (R-Scottsdale) and Rep. Michelle Ugenti (R-Scottsdale) have abandoned earlier attempts to modify their so-called election "reform" bills to address the complaints of voting rights groups and Democratic legislators, and are now sticking with the earlier versions approved in committee in an attempt to ram these unnecessary and counter-productive measures through the legislature.

This is a middle-finger salute to voting rights groups and Democrats. It moves Arizona backwards on voting rights.

Budget Update: Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration plan passes the Senate

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

In 2004, a handful of Republican senators joined with Democratic senators to wrest control of the Arizona Senate chamber from an obstructionist Senate President. It hasn't happened since -- until today.

A bipartisan Senate coalition, led by the Republican majority leader John McComish no less, gave tentative approval Thursday to Gov. Jan Brewer’s proposal to restore and expand Medicaid (AHCCCS). Ariz. moves closer to Medicaid expansion:

[The coalition beat back more than a dozen hostile GOP amendments sponsored by Senate President Andy Biggs and Sen. Kelli Ward, in a failed attempt to weaken the measure.]

The measure awaits a formal vote of the full Senate, which is expected to come later today. If it passes, as expected, it’s likely to run up against a buzzsaw in the House, where the fate of Medicaid expansion, and the budget it’s attached to, remain uncertain.

Senate President Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, a steadfast opponent of the governor’s proposal, fought unsuccessfully to kill it with a slew of amendments, including requiring a two-thirds vote for approval, eliminating a hospital tax that will help pay for expansion, converting all state employee health insurance to Medicaid and repealing expansion if even one Medicaid patient is found to be an undocumented citizen.

* * *

But again and again, two members of Biggs’ leadership team and three other GOP senators stood with the chamber’s 13 Democrats to defeat Biggs’ amendment. Majority Leader John McComish, Majority Whip Adam Driggs and Sens. Rich Crandall, Steve Pierce and Bob Worsley joined Democrats to approve the Medicaid amendment on an 18-12 vote.

Neo-Confederate dead-enders put the long discredited and unconstitutional theories of 'nullification, interposition and secession' on the 2014 ballot

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I posted about this previously, Arizona's Neo-Confederate dead-enders and secession:

Remember the "Checks and Balances in Government" citizens initiative aka the "nullification" initiative from a nutty Scottsdale millionaire businessman, Jack Biltis, that failed to qualify for the ballot due to an insufficient number of signatures last year? Businessman spends $1.2 million to put nullification measure on ballot.

Biltis has decided to bypass the expense of another initiative effort and to take the easy route of getting his fellow Neo-Confederate dead-enders in the legislature to repackage his "nullification" initiative as a constitutional amendment referred to the ballot by the Arizona legislature. SCR1016 is sponsored by the usual suspects, Sen. Rich Crandell (R-Heber), Sen. Judy Burges (R-Sun City West), and cosponsors Sen. Cap'n Al Melvin (R-Saddlebrooke), and Rep. Brenda Barton (R-Payson).

The ballot measure would amend the state Constitution to allow the state to reject any federal action the public deems to be a violation of the US Constitution by passing an initiative, referendum or bill, or by using any other legal remedy. The proposal also prohibits the state from using its employees or resources to enforce or cooperate with a federal action that’s rejected by the people.

It turns out that Jack Biltis has a lobbyist buddy who helped him out in getting these yahoos to sponsor SCR1016: the wannabe tinhorn dictator of Tucson, Jonathan "Payday" Paton. If there is a bad idea, you can bet this tool is behind it.

Action Alert: Call your state senator now to oppose SB 1493

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Craig McDermott posted earlier about Senate President Andy Biggs' budget package introduced yesterday, and mentioned the omnibus elections bill tacked onto the appropriations bills. Here's Biggs' deal: Medicaid restoration in exchange for reducing voting rights.

After a cursory review of SB 1493, it appears to me that Sen. Michele Reagan (R-Scottsdale) and Rep. Michelle Ugenti (R-Scottsdale) have abandoned earlier attempts to modify their so-called election "reform" bills to address the complaints of voting rights groups and Democratic legislators, and are now sticking with the earlier versions approved in committee in an attempt to ram these unnecessary and counter-productive measures through the legislature.

This is a middle-finger salute to voting rights groups and Democrats. It moves Arizona backwards on voting rights.

Each of the measures standing alone attracted unified opposition from Democrats and enough Republican opposition to stall these bills in the legislature. By combining all of these measures into a single omnibus bill and tacking it onto the budget appropriations bills, Senate President Andy Biggs is hoping to strong-arm this bill through the Senate by insisting on party unity. You can bet his whips are going to be working over Republican senators.

Your senators need to hear from you now. Pick up the phone and call your state senator to oppose SB 1493. The Senate directory is here: http://www.azleg.gov/MemberRoster.asp?Body=S. Keep calling them until this bill is defeated.

So how's that GOP rebranding working out?

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

On Sunday, the Arizona Republic for some reason felt compelled to publish a guest opinion (and video) by the disgraced and recalled former Senate President, Russell Pearce, writing on behalf of his anti-immigrant nativist hate group, BanAmnestyNow.com.

Pearce discloses a continuing working relationship with the anti-immigrant nativist hate group,  Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR), whose lawyer Kris Kobach wrote SB 1070 for Pearce.

Pearce also cites the widely discredited Heritage Foundation report (.pdf) released last week, which was drafted, in part, by Jason Richwine, who subscribes to the controversial "science" of hereditarianism and eugenics. Richwine was forced to resign from the Heritage Foundation on Friday, presumably after Russell Pearce submitted his guest opinion to the Republic.

Ol' Russel writes, Immigration tug-of-war: Reform effort is a sham:

The 3-year-old Senate Bill 1070, America’s toughest anti-illegal immigration law, has had a dramatic impact on Arizona. We are a better place.

* * *

According to information from the Federation of American Immigration Reform, Arizonans pay $2.6 billion per year to educate, medicate and incarcerate illegal aliens. According to the Heritage Foundation, the billions we pay today are but one-third of our eventual tab a decade from now if the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill becomes law.

* * *

However, despite the many advances we have made, the burdens of illegal immigration still are too high. This is why I call upon my fellow citizens to join me in opposing the latest amnesty/citizenship bill. The group of eight U.S. senators’ legislation (including Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake) risks America’s financial and national security. This bill is the epitome of everything that is wrong, backward and corrupt in Washington.

More B.S. from the Goldwater Institute and Tea-Publicans on Gov. Brewer's Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration plan

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

You can file this one under stupid shit the Goldwater Institute says and that reporters unquestionly repeat as mere stenographers. You can cross-file it under stupid shit that Tea-Publicans believe but which has no basis in the reality based world (they believe in confidence fairies and unicorns, i.e., the entirely disproved and discredited faith based supply-side "trickle down" GOP economic theory).

The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Medicaid expansion critics question viability of hospital tax:

Opponents of Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion plan are concerned the proposed hospital tax that would pay for Arizona’s share of the new AHCCCS coverage may not last long, leaving the state on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Christina Corieri, a health care policy analyst at the conservative Goldwater Institute, said the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, often referred to as the Simpson-Bowles commission, has proposed eliminating states’ ability to use hospital taxes to pay for their share of Medicaid costs. Even President Obama and leading congressional Democrats have floated the idea of scaling back provider taxes, she said, which are currently capped at 5.5 percent of a hospital’s revenue.

Heritage Foundation jettisons white supremacist autthor of its immigration study

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Oh, like no one saw this coming. Heritage Foundation fellow Jason Richwine, who subcribes to the controversial "science" of hereditarianism and eugenics, long championed by white supremacists and segregationists, is out of a job today. Maybe the Aryan Nation or the KKK have a job opening.

Think Progress reports, Author Of Heritage Immigration Study Resigns Amid Racism Scandal:

Jason Richwine, a coauthor of the Heritage Foundation’s report on the cost of the current immigration bill, has resigned after it emerged that his graduate dissertation on immigration was premised on the idea that Latinos were less intelligent than whites.

The controversy, which began after The Washington Post’s Dylan Matthews unearthed the dissertation on Latino intelligence, forced the conservative think tank into emergency damage control for the remainder of the week, when it emerged that Richwine had ties to extreme anti-immigration groups. On Friday afternoon, Heritage announced that Richwine has resigned. Heritage’s statement:

Jason Richwine let us know he’s decided to resign from his position. He’s no longer employed by Heritage. It is our long-standing policy not to discuss internal personnel matters.

Repeal Citizens United movement gaining momentum

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Maybe the Arizona legislature would like to jump on the bandwagon? Oh right, they do the bidding of the Goldwater Institute, a charter member of the "Kochtopus," and a big supporter of its dark money organizations and Citizens United v. FEC, and also gutting Arizona's Citizens Clean Elections. "Power to the Plutocrats!"

John Nichols at The Nation reports that Maine, a pioneer of publicly financed campaigns, has become the thirteenth state to pass a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. As Maine Goes… a Bipartisan Call to Overturn 'Citizens United':

When the Maine State House voted 111-33 this week to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the support for this bold gesture was notably bipartisan. Twenty-five Republicans joined four independents and all eighty-two Democrats to back the call.

Similarly, when the Maine State Senate voted 25-9 for the resolution, five Republicans joined with nineteen Democrats and independent Senator Richard Woodbury to “call upon each Member of the Maine Congressional Delegation to actively support and promote in Congress an amendment to the United States Constitution on campaign finance.”

What happened in Maine this week was a big deal for several reasons:

1. Maine became the thirteenth state to urge Congress to develop an amendment to address the money-in-politics crisis that is unfolding as a result of Supreme Court rulings that that have effectively struck down campaign-finance regulations and ushered in a new era of unlimited spending by wealthy individuals and corporate interests. Maine joins West Virginia, Colorado, Montana, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, California, Rhode Island, Maryland, Vermont, New Mexico and Hawaii in calling for an amendment. Washington, DC, has also backed the drive.

Immigration reform bill begins markup in Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin marking up the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, the bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill from the "Gang of Eight."

301 amendments have been filed, setting the stage for extended debate. Senate immigration bill brings flood of amendments:

About two-thirds of the 301 proposals came from Senate Republicans, including measures to grant Congress more authority over security along the border with Mexico, to require illegal immigrants to provide DNA samples before gaining legal status and to reduce the number of undocumented workers who would be eligible to pursue citizenship.

The amendments reflected the desires of many GOP lawmakers, who say that they will support only a comprehensive overhaul that puts a higher priority on law enforcement along the border and in the workplace. The Senate Judiciary Committee will begin considering the amendments Thursday, and the fate of the 844-page bill will be tested by a process that is likely to stretch through several days of hearings in coming weeks.

* * *

Although Democrats have generally been more supportive of the bill, they offered dozens of amendments, including two from Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.) that would allow same-sex foreign spouses and partners of U.S. citizens to apply for visas. Republicans have said that they will not support any comprehensive bill that includes gay rights protections.

Author of Heritage Foundation report subscribes to the controversial 'science' of hereditarianism and eugenics

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It appears that the Pioneer Fund and its support for the "study and research into the problems of heredity and eugenics in the human race" and "into the problems of race betterment with special reference to the people of the United States," still has influence in the 21st Century. For a lengthy backgrounder on this subject, see History of the race and intelligence controversy - Wikipedia.

The Heritage Foundation released its long awaited report this week for the stated purpose of defeating the "Gang of Eight" immigration reform bill (and thus it is a political document). The report was written in part by Jason Richwine. Dylan Matthews at Ezra Klein's Wonkblog introduces us to Mr. Richwine, Heritage study co-author opposed letting in immigrants with low IQs:

Jason Richwine is relatively new to the think tank world. He received his PhD in public policy from Harvard in 2009, and joined Heritage after a brief stay at the American Enterprise Institute. Richwine’s doctoral dissertation is titled “IQ and Immigration Policy”; the contents are well summarized in the dissertation abstract:

The statistical construct known as IQ can reliably estimate general mental ability, or intelligence. The average IQ of immigrants in the United States is substantially lower than that of the white native population, and the difference is likely to persist over several generations. The consequences are a lack of socioeconomic assimilation among low-IQ immigrant groups, more underclass behavior, less social trust, and an increase in the proportion of unskilled workers in the American labor market. Selecting high-IQ immigrants would ameliorate these problems in the U.S., while at the same time benefiting smart potential immigrants who lack educational access in their home countries.

Jim DeMint and the Heritage Foundation try to kill immigration reform

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Tea Party darlin', former Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), now pulling down big bucks for his conservative demagoguery at the Heritage Foundation, has an op-ed in the Washington Post (where else) this afternoon, What amnesty for illegal immigrants will cost America (note the code language to the nativist base) claiming that:

An exhaustive study by the Heritage Foundation has found that after amnesty, current unlawful immigrants would receive $9.4 trillion in government benefits and services and pay more than $3 trillion in taxes over their lifetimes. That leaves a net fiscal deficit (benefits minus taxes) of $6.3 trillion. That deficit would have to be financed by increasing the government debt or raising taxes on U.S. citizens.

* * *

Given the U.S. debt of $17 trillion, the fiscal effects detailed in our study should be at the forefront of legislators’ minds as they consider immigration reform.

Ummm, sorry, but no. By now any rational intelligent human being should know that one does not give any credence to anything produced by the Heritage Foundation. Ever. Especially now that a demagogue like Jim DeMint is at its helm.

Greg Sargent writes in The right’s last stand against immigration reform?:

The Heritage Foundation has just released its long awaited report supposedly documenting that the path to citizenship in the Gang of Eight immigration reform compromise will sock the taxpayer with a multi-trillion-dollar bill. You cannot overstate how much opponents of reform have staked on the hope that this report will be the magic bullet to kill the proposal. This is the report that’s supposed to send House conservatives running away, never to return.

Update on Special Action challenge to the consolidated elections bill

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Last year, Rep. Michelle Ugenti (R-Scottsdale) sponsored HB 2826 (consolidated election dates; political subdivisions), a bill providing for the consolidation of elections in the fall of even numbered years only. The law will apply to elections in 2014 and thereafter.

The City of Tucson filed its special action for declaratory and injunctive relief on October 10, 2013 in the Pima County Superior Court, City of Tucson v. State of Arizona et al. (Case No. C20126272). The City of Phoenix Intervened as a plaintiff. The case is assigned to Judge James E. Marner.

Last Monday, the Court heard pending motions in this special action. I am not sure why it took a week for the Minute Entry for that hearing to be posted, but here it is. Minute Entry dated April 29, 2013.

The posture of this case is as follows:

There being no objections,

IT IS ORDERED that Defendant State of Arizona’s Motion for Leave to File Consolidated Response to Motions for Summary Judgment Filed by Plaintiff City of Tucson and Intervenor-Plaintiff City of Phoenix is GRANTED.

* * *

As to the Goldwater Institute's Request to file Amicus Brief,

The Court did not find a rule, either cited or un-cited, statute, case law or law review article that would have supported the notion that an Amicus Brief could be filed at the trial court level. Further, there was not a rule that was directly on point or even tangentially.

IT IS ORDERED that Goldwater’s Request for Amicus Briefing is DENIED.

And these high-priced suits call themselves constitutional law experts. They just make up their own rules as they go along. Such arrogance.

'None dare call it treason'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Ed Kilgore at the Political Animal blog has some important posts about the growing use of eliminationist rhetoric by the far-right, and their threatening armed insurrection and sedition, None Dare Call It Treason, if they do not get their way in the democratic political process (see this Fairleigh Dickinson University poll in which 44% of Republicans, think “in the next few years, an armed revolution may be necessary to protect our liberties”):

As Steve Benen notes this morning, the National Rifle Association’s new president, James Porter of Birmingham, Alabama, likes to talk about the importance of the Second Amendment as a way to ensure the American people will be able to “resist tyranny”—i.e., shoot and kill law enforcement officers, members of the U.S. armed services, and presumably anyone else (you know, like their neighbors) who might disagree with their definition of their essential “liberties”—at some undefined point in the future. And while I’ve not yet seen evidence of him calling Barack Obama a “tyrant” (though he has called him a “fake president”) I’d be shocked if it doesn’t exist.

So let’s put it this way: Porter seems to be highly representative of the amazingly common type of contemporary “conservatives” who combine extremist language about their political opponents with violent language about their political options—who in effect point their guns at “liberals” while making it known they and they alone will decide what “liberties” to surrender, democracy or laws be damned.

Colorado passes model election reform legislation

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Longtime readers of this blog know the election reforms that I have been advocating for years. I cannot get a bill, let alone get a bill heard, in our Tea-Publican dominated legislature. All they care about is restricting your right to vote and making participation in the political process more difficult for voters.

But the Democratic controled legislature of the state of Colorado just passed several of the election reforms that I have long advocated for. Can you say "model legislation"? This is the bright-line policy divide in the Secretary of State race in 2014. Colorado Legislature Passes Major Voting Rights Expansion Bill:

Both houses of the Colorado legislature passed a major overhaul of state election law that would implement same-day registration and voting, automatically send mail-in ballots to every voter, and create a real-time statewide voter database to prevent fraud. [They stopped short of universal voter registration.] Proponents view the bill, written by a bipartisan group of county clerks, as a national model for other states.

Election Integrity Action Alert

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The election "reform" bills that have been stalled in the Arizona legislature, see (Update) Election 'reform' bills still stalled in the Arizona legislature, have been put on the calendar for Wednesday afternoon. Your urgent attention is requested.

Action Alert from the Arizona Democratic Party:

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday! We need your help. Zero hour is 3 p.m. on Wednesday, May 1st. That’s when a conference committee will meet to discuss Republican Senator Michele Reagan’s latest attempt to circumvent open government.

Senator Reagan is replacing HB 2305 with the onerous and objectionable parts of two other bills which would severely limit a person’s ability to vote. Because she hasn’t been able to get SB 1003 and SB 1261 through the legislature, Reagan and other Tea Party extremists are resorting to back door maneuvering that eliminates any public comment.

We need you to call and/or email members of the conference committee and let them know you will not stand for their sneak attack on voter’s rights and democracy. Here is the contact information for committee members (below the fold).

The trouble with 'E.Orr' redux

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

During the 2012 campaign, Ethan Orr (aka "E.Orr") fashioned himself after moderate Tucson Republicans like former Reps. Pete Hershberger and Toni Hellon, and said he hopes to work with the southern Arizona Democratic delegation to pass legislation that can help the people and Tucson. The local media bought his act. Orr was elected to the House.

Rep. Orr (R-LD 9), voted in favor of HB 2455, which clarifies that local law-enforcement agencies must sell guns they acquire in situations such as gun buy-back programs -- even where the gun owner voluntarily surrenders his or her weapon for the express purpose that their weapon be safely destroyed by law enforcement.

HB 2455 is a bill that was introduced by the gun worshipers and fetishists in direct response to Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik's gun buy-back program earlier this year. It is a bill fashioned by our "big brother" colonial overlords in the state of Maricopa to subjugate the City of Tucson and to micromanage the affairs of this charter city. "Small government" conservative is just a lie.