Blog For Arizona

CAP Christian Taliban threatens Governor Brewer's Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration plan with specious claims about abortion

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Mullah Cathi Herrod and her Christian Taliban at the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) have emerged as a principal opponent of Governor Jan Brewer's Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration plan. These fetus fetish anti-abortion extremists, who imagine abortion lurking in every bill in their fevered minds, have put forward specious claims that the Governor's plan will somehow "indirectly" provide funding for abortions, even though state and federal law has long prohibited such funding.

These radical extremists would rather see real live cancer patients and transplant patients in desperate need of AHCCCS healthcare coverage die, because they imagine a fictional fetus might somehow, someday be aborted. I fail to discern any "Christianity" in this position. WWJD?

The Arizona Republic reports, Arizona abortion issue heightens Medicaid standoff:

[Gov.] Brewer’s office is preparing language, to be amended onto a separate bill, that would ensure no federal expansion funding goes to health-care providers that perform abortions.

The move is a response to lobbying from Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy, who says Medicaid expansion would subsidize abortions — a claim that puts in a political vise anti-abortion GOP lawmakers who back the governor’s proposal.

[Herrod first raised the abortion issue in late March in a letter to Brewer, using an opinion from a Christian legal-defense organization to argue that the draft Medicaid legislation should be amended to disqualify the non-profit women’s health provider Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from receiving public money.]

“In response to some of the concerns raised by lawmakers, the governor has been willing to revisit this issue,” Brewer spokesman Matthew Benson said Tuesday. “It’s become clear that it would be difficult to move forward with Medicaid restoration until some of these legislative concerns about abortion are addressed.”

Tea-Publican controled Arizona legislature adopts wingnut end-timers apocalyptic fantasy

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

So how's that "De-Kook the Capitol" thing working out for ya, Laurie Roberts? The Glenn Beck conspiracy theorists, who apparently got burned in his Goldline fraud -- "The company’s business model was built on systemically swindling and scaring its mostly elderly clientele into purchasing overpriced gold coins, prosecutors in California alleged, leading the company to settle for $4.5 million in refunds to its customers," Beck-backed gold fraud? - Salon.com -- have found a way to unload their gold coins while living out their paranoid end-times apocalyptic fantasies. And just in time, too, because The Price of Gold Is Crashing. Here's Why - Bloomberg Businessweek.

The Tea-Publican controled Senate gave final approval Tuesday to Senate Bill 1439 which would make Arizona only the second state in the nation to recognize gold and silver as legal tender. The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports, Arizona bill making gold legal tender sent to Gov. Brewer:

If signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer, the measure would take effect in 2014.

The state Department of Revenue opposed the measure. It passed in the House only after an amendment was added to exempt the department from having to accept gold or silver as tax payments.

Thoughts on the election consolidation bill now in court

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.

This legislation purportedly is the first of its kind enacted in the nation -- a strong indication that it is an ALEC drafted bill, as it was also supported by other "Kochtopus" funded groups such as Americans for Prosperity, the Goldwater Institute, and the Tea Party. (In fact, the Goldwater Institute moved to file an amicus curiae brief in the case below).

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.

I was not able to attend the motion hearing scheduled for yesterday, April 29, 2013, because I have a job. I have not seen any reporting on this hearing, despite the fact that I posted the details about this hearing so that reporters could put it on their calendar and cover the hearing.

Gov. Jan Brewer appeases her GOP crazy base

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

So how's that "De-Kook the Capitol" thing working out for ya, Laurie Roberts? Gov. Jan Brewer, engaged in a civil war in the Tea-Publican Party over her Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration plan, appeased her GOP crazy base by signing several bills on Monday.

HB 2455 clarifies that local law-enforcement agencies must sell guns they acquire in situations such as gun-buyback programs -- even when the gun owner desires that their weapon be destroyed, in violation of their private property rights.

House Bill 2326 would prohibit local governments from keeping a list of gun owners (there is no evidence that any city is keeping such a list). This is prophylactic paranoia.

It is now official. Idolatrous gun worship is the official state religion in Arizona. Guns are sacred objects and holy relics that are protected from destruction.  Bill signed preventing Tucson from destroying 'buyback' guns:

Gov. Jan Brewer signed legislation aimed specifically at halting Tucson's practice of allowing police to destroy guns that people voluntarily surrender through buyback programs.

Instead, the state law, which takes effect later this year, will require that any weapons that come into a city or county's possession must be sold off, with the profits used to bolster the local treasury.

(Update) 'Kochtopus' spring retreat April 28-29 in Palm Springs

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I posted last week about the fabulous "Kochtopus" Confab in Coachella (Palm Springs) going on right now. 'Kochtopus' spring retreat April 28-29 in Palm Springs. Mother Jones intercepted an email invite to the "billionaires caucus" retreat and wrote about it.

I am hoping that Mother Jones will score another insider audio-visual exclusive story like they did with Willard "Mittens" Romney. These cockroaches like to operate in the dark. The double super-secret "no media" retreat for the "billionaires caucus" will receive no media attention otherwise. (The Local Desert Sun newspaper doesn't even mention the presence of all the high rollers in town).

The best that I can find (so far) is this report by Peter Stone at the Huffington Post. Maybe the local Arizona political media could, you know, maybe follow-up with some investigative reporting on Phoenix-based "Kochtopus" political operative Sean Noble, who is under investigation in California for money laundering? Hello? New Koch Brothers Group Revamps Billionaires' Dark Money Operation:

The sprawling conservative network backed by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch is being overhauled, with some key Koch operatives moving to a fledgling "dark money" group that is poised to become a chief financing vehicle for the mega donors' political and ideological projects, The Huffington Post has learned.

The new organization, called the Association for American Innovation, is expected to ultimately funnel millions of dollars to other dark money groups nationwide. It's being staffed with Koch stalwarts, including Marc Short, who currently oversees other Koch-funded projects, according to a few GOP operatives familiar with the overhaul.

The Wyden-Murkowski campaign finance bill

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Last Tuesday, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) unveiled the first bipartisan campaign disclosure bill in the Senate since the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling opened the door to unlimited electoral spending by groups that were not covered by any prior campaign disclosure regime. The Huffington Post reports:

The bill, known as the Follow the Money Act, would require any and all groups spending at least $10,000 on electoral activity to register and disclose contributions above $1,000. The bill would also raise the threshold for contributor disclosure from $200 to $1,000 for all political committees, including those of candidates and political parties.

* * *

In addition to expanding disclosure of independent group spending and reducing the contribution disclosure threshold, the Follow the Money Act would create a system of real-time disclosure, require independent groups to abide by "Stand By Your Ad" provisions (including the identification of their top three donors), require senators to file campaign reports electronically, require tax-exempt 527 groups to file disclosure reports with the FEC (instead of the Internal Revenue Service), and direct the FEC and IRS to work together to craft and enforce regulations.

Is campaign finance disclosure coming from the SEC?

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

This is an under-reported story in the political media, although you can bet that corporate players in campaign finance are all over this like white on rice. Christine Hurt at The Conglomerate legal blog writes, “Is Mandatory Political Activities Disclosure Coming from the SEC?”:

Two summers ago, a group of well-known law professors submitted a proposal to the SEC to require disclosure of political contributions by Exchange Act filers.  The arguments for new rulemaking were valid and persuasive:  investors are increasingly interested in the political contributions corporations make; even a diligent investor would have a difficult time finding this information independently; many corporations voluntarily disclose such information; and disclosure rules have historically evolved to require disclosure in various areas.

Wednesday, the NYT ominously declared that "S.E.C. officials have indicated that they could propose a new disclosure rule by the end of April, setting up a major battle with business groups that oppose the proposal and are preparing for a fierce counterattack if the agency’s staff moves ahead."  That sounds very dramatic.  The article reports that half a million comments have been submitted to the proposal; I did not count, but you can try here.  The NYT also reports that the majority of the comments are in favor of the proposal; again, feel free to count yourself!

The one percent are in complete control of the economy and the government

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The elite über-rich plutocrats -- the one percent -- are in complete control of the economy and the government. The ninety-nine percent who lead their lives of quiet desperation trying to earn enough income to provide for their families and to pay the bills, are simply too exhausted, and too poor, to be politically active and engaged. They are the voiceless, whose suffering is ignored in favor of the well paid lobbyists doing the bidding of the plutocrats.

Paul Krugman writes today, The 1 Percent’s Solution:

Economic debates rarely end with a T.K.O. But the great policy debate of recent years between Keynesians, who advocate sustaining and, indeed, increasing government spending in a depression, and austerians, who demand immediate spending cuts, comes close — at least in the world of ideas. At this point, the austerian position has imploded; not only have its predictions about the real world failed completely, but the academic research invoked to support that position has turned out to be riddled with errors, omissions and dubious statistics.

* * *

[T]he dominance of austerians in influential circles should disturb anyone who likes to believe that policy is based on, or even strongly influenced by, actual evidence. After all, the two main studies providing the alleged intellectual justification for austerity — Alberto Alesina and Silvia Ardagna on “expansionary austerity” and Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff on the dangerous debt “threshold” at 90 percent of G.D.P. — faced withering criticism almost as soon as they came out.

And the studies did not hold up under scrutiny. By late 2010, the International Monetary Fund had reworked Alesina-Ardagna with better data and reversed their findings, while many economists raised fundamental questions about Reinhart-Rogoff long before we knew about the famous Excel error. Meanwhile, real-world events — stagnation in Ireland, the original poster child for austerity, falling interest rates in the United States, which was supposed to be facing an imminent fiscal crisis — quickly made nonsense of austerian predictions.

Yet austerity maintained and even strengthened its grip on elite opinion. Why?

Ask Governor Brewer to veto SB 1108

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Earlier this week I posted about Senate Bill 1108, a bill that would eliminate the requirement that foster families fully immunize their own children. When ideology endangers public health - call your state representatives. The bill passed on a 33-24 party-line vote in the Tea-Publican-controlled House, but it wasn’t enough of a margin to tack an emergency clause onto the bill that would have it take effect immediately if the governor signs it.

Today the Arizona Republic editorializes that Governor Jan Brewer should veto SB 1108. I agree. Junk science can harm foster kids:

Lawmakers were wrong to ease vaccination rules for potential foster parents.

Plain wrong.

They caved to people who believe junk science.

Arizona has a duty to protect the children who come into foster care.

Yet lawmakers passed a bill that forbids the Department of Economic Security from requiring people to immunize their own children before they become licensed as foster parents.

This reverses a smart rule that existed to protect foster children.

Laurie Roberts on the need for Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It looks as if the GOP insane clown posse rally against Governor Jan Brewer's Mediciad (AHCCCS) restoration plan did not sit well with the voice of the GOP establishment, the Arizona Republic's Laurie Roberts. The only exception I take is that the Tea Party tools she names would relish being the one to inform people that they are being kicked off of AHCCCS. Roberts gives them way too much credit for being caring human beings. Why is Medicaid expansion even an issue at this point?:

Arizona Republicans in the Legislature held a press conference this morning to denounce Gov. Jan Brewer’s proposal to expand Medicaid to insure nearly 300,000 people, all  without doing massive damage to the state’s budget.

I wish I’d gone because I would have loved to ask those who oppose Brewer’s plan one simple question:

Which of you wants to be the one to inform 63,000 childless adults in this state  – people whom voters in 2000 said they wanted to cover with AHCCCS – that they’re being cut off?

Which of you wants to pull the plug on treatment for 5,000 cancer patients and for 2,000 people who suffer from serious mental illness?

Step right up.  You, President Biggs?  You, Rep. Montenegro? How about you, Sen. Ward?

Rep. Bruce Wheeler on the need for Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Rep. Bruce Wheeler (D-LD 10) wrote this op-ed for the Arizona Daily Star in support of Governor Jan Brewer's Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration plan. Guest Column: Governor's AHCCCS plan provides critical coverage, keeps tax dollars here:

Arizona's Legislature has a momentous opportunity this year. We have the unprecedented ability to provide access to health coverage for nearly 400,000 Arizonans, many of whom are the most vulnerable among us.

Very few legislators will ever have the chance to participate in a legacy issue that will improve the lives of such a large number of our fellow residents. It has been said that "great moments are born from great opportunity." Expanding Medicaid is a watershed moment for the 51st Arizona Legislature and represents the opportunity for legislators to cast one of the most important and critical votes of any elected official's career.

The crux of the debate is Arizona's ability to leverage a reimbursable assessment on hospitals in order to draw down additional federal funds. That effectively eliminates the financial burden on the state's general fund to support the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, our state's award-winning Medicaid program, thereby allowing our limited resources to be diverted to other equally critical needs such as education.

The GOP insane clown posse rallies against Gov. Brewer's Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration plan

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Birthers-Birchers-Secessionists of the Tea Party, i.e., the GOP insane clown posse, held a rally yesterday in opposition to Governor Jan Brewer's Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration plan. "Fringe" describes the unhinged from reality circus clowns who came up with this "genius" (sic) plan. AHCCCS might drop coverage for childless adults:

Thousands of Arizonans receiving health care through Medicaid could be thrown out of that program under one alternative offered by opponents of the governor's plan to expand coverage.

Senate President Andy Biggs, who joined a rally of Medicaid-expansion critics, vowed to do all he can to prevent a vote on Gov. Jan Brewer's proposal to expand coverage to those making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, with the state share of the increased cost coming from a special assessment on hospitals.

* * *

Other speakers outlined their objections.

"We have a choice: More socialism and bigger government or more freedom and fiscal stability," said Rep. Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, one of the leaders of an ant-expansion rally on the Capitol lawn.

Sen. Kelli Ward, R-Lake Havasu City, called the care provided under Medicaid "substandard," and said entitlement programs like this "disincentivize the poor from improving themselves."

Rep. Justin Olson, R-Mesa, said an expanded Medicaid program means more tax dollars for family-planning services would be paid to Planned Parenthood, which has "this mission of terminating life before it's even born."

"I'm not going to allow late introduction of a bill," Biggs said, pointing out the deadline for that was months ago. And even if what the governor wants does end up at the Senate, whether from a House bill or an amendment to something else, "I never made a commitment I'd put it on the floor" for a vote.

(Update) Election 'reform' bills still stalled in the Arizona legislature

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I posted about this a couple of weeks ago. Election 'reform' bills stalled in the Arizona legislature. The election 'reform' bills are still stalled in the Arizona legislature, and now the Tea-Publicans are looking for creative ways to get around the logjam. The reforms under consideration are unnecessary or counterproductive. As I detailed in an earlier post, the Arizona legislature fails to consider real solutions to the problems with our elections.

The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports today, AZ election reform bills face further problems:

Lawmakers attempted to push through a set of bogged-down election bills in a comprehensive 43-page amendment in conference committee Wednesday afternoon, but the committee was called off minutes after the amendment began circulating at the Capitol.

The lengthy amendment proposed to HB2305 includes essential portions of four election-reform bills – Sen. Michele Reagan’s SB1003, SB1261 and SB1264, as well as Rep. Michelle Ugenti’s HB2527 – that have languished at the Capitol.

West, Texas disaster a regulatory failure

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The West Fertilizer Co. explosion in West, Texas last week put an exclamation point on the need for government safety regulations and enforcement. The "free market" philosophy of no regulations and the mythical honor system imposed by the market place gets people killed.

This company appears to have pushed the envelope to see how much it could get away with -- and due to lax regulations and enforcement by "business friendly" Texas regulatory agencies, it got away with quite a lot.

There is plenty of blame to go around here, from the company, to state regulators, to the local planning & zoning board of West, Texas (assuming it had one).

The Dallas Morning News reports today, West Fertilizer Co.'s environmental compliance problems go back decades:

West Fertilizer Co.’s problems complying with Texas environmental rules go back decades, state records show.

In 1984, the company moved two large pressurized tanks of liquid anyhydrous ammonia, a potentially lethal poison, from a site in nearby Hill County to its current location in West without notifying state authorities.

Seven years passed before Texas regulators took notice and told the company to fix its paperwork. The tanks had sat at their new location, near homes, schools and a nursing home, with little or no state oversight for all that time.

The company’s regulatory history going back to 1976 comes to light as investigators seek the cause of last week’s fertilizer explosion that killed at least 14 people.

How the NRA aids terrorists and hampers law enforcement investigations

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Last week I posted about the "terror lophole" in the federal background checks law. F.B.I. Terrorist Watch List, Background Check Loophole - NYTimes:

The law that requires background checks on gun buyers is full of loopholes, some big and some small, but the most egregious loophole of all may be the fact that people on the F.B.I.’s terrorist watch list are legally entitled to buy firearms and explosives. And they have been doing so at an alarming rate. Between February 2004 and December 2010, individuals whose names turned up on the list were cleared to purchase firearms or explosives a total of 1,321 times, according to the General Accounting Office. Felons, illegal immigrants and mentally ill applicants are barred on the obvious grounds that they could present a heightened risk of violence. Not so, terrorist suspects — an anomaly that congress has occasionally tsk-tsked over since the 9/11 atrocities, but done nothing substantial to repair.

The National Rifle Association has opposed measures in the past because the terrorist watch list has been shown to "contain errors." So much for erring on the side of caution.

UPDATE: It turns out that the deceased Boston bomber, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was on a terror watch list.

MSNBC's The Last Word did a segment last week on how the NRA on behalf of its clients, the merchants of death, has prevented taggants from being required for gunpowder. How the gun lobby has already blocked Boston’s bombing investigators:

One avenue of investigation is already closed off to forensic officials working the Boston Marathon bombing case due to efforts dating back decades by the National Rifle Association and gun manufacturers.

Flake in the Rewrite

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell was a key legislative aide to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. From 1989 to 1991, he served as senior advisor to Senator Moynihan. From 1992 to 1993, he was staff director of the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, then chaired by Senator Moynihan. From 1993 to 1995, he was staff director of the United States Senate Committee on Finance, once again under Senator Moynihan’s chairmanship. O'Donnell has a deep respect for the history of the U.S. Senate and knows its institutional norms.

In his Rewrite segment on Tuesday, Lawrence O'Donnell heaped much-deserved opprobrium on Sens. Max  Baucus (D-MT) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) for their cowardly votes last week to filibuster to death consideration of the Manchin-Toomey background checks amendment.

When ideology endangers public health - call your state representatives

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I caught the European news on one of the PBS channels the other day and they did a report on a massive measles epidemic in Wales in Great Britain. The most important factor in this measles epidemic is that people had stopped immunizing their children against measles over the years. Measles outbreak in Wales soon to hit 1,000 - Daily Post North Wales:

Officials warned the outbreak could soon become the biggest in UK and Ireland for a generation, and may hit 1,000 cases by the time it peaks.

Shadow Health Minister Darrren Millar AM last night called on parents throughout North Wales to listen to public health professionals.

There are over 10,000 children who are not fully protected by the vaccine in the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board area and at risk of contracting measles.

Jeff Flake's political posturing, trying to have it both ways

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

You may have read about this in the Arizona Republic last week. Caren Teves’ son Alex died during the Aurora theater mass shooting while shielding his girlfriend from the gunman’s bullets. She wrote a letter to Sen. Flake, in which she “invited him to our home to sit in our son’s chair, his empty chair” and “feel the emptiness and have dinner with us and discuss” guns. Senator Told Shooting Victim’s Mother He Supported Background Checks, Then Voted Against Them:

In response, Flake sent Teves a hand-written letter claiming that he supported one of the most important steps Congress could take to improve gun safety — expanding background checks:

Just days after raising Teves’ hopes that the Senate would act to prevent future mothers from experiencing the same pain inflicted upon her family, Flake voted against background checks. Flake claimed to oppose the bill because it “would expand background checks far beyond commercial sales to include almost all private transfers — including between friends and neighbors,” but this claim is false.

FBI terrorist watch list would not have prevented the Boston bombing

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Boston Globe reported, FBI was warned 2 years ago of alleged bomber’s radical shift:

Russian authorities warned the FBI in early 2011 that suspected bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev may have been a follower of “radical Islam”[.]

* * *

A senior congressional aide privy to the Boston Marathon terror investigation confirmed Saturday that the FBI received the warning after Tsarnaev’s apparently suspicious activities caught the attention of Russian authorities keeping close surveillance on militant Islamist groups in the Caucasus region of the former Soviet Union.

The FBI acknowledged Friday that it had investigated Tsarnaev in 2011, even interviewing him and his family, but “did not find any terrorism activity,” either domestic or foreign.

House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) confirmed on Sunday, Rep. Mike Rogers: Tamerlan Tsarnaev May Have Traveled To Russia Under An Alias - Huffington Post:

Law enforcement officials confirmed Saturday that the FBI had interrogated Tsarnaev in 2011 after the Russian government raised concerns to U.S. authorities that he was a follower of radical Islam. Rogers told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that the FBI stopped tracking Tsarnaev after a foreign intelligence service failed to cooperate with its investigation.

"The FBI did their due diligence, did a very thorough job about trying to run that to ground and then asked for more help from that intelligence service to get further clarification," said Rogers. "Unfortunately, that intelligence service stopped cooperating, so what happens is that case gets closed down."

He then said that Tsarnaev "may have actually traveled on an alias to get back to his home country" last year and "that six and a half months or so becomes extremely important."

Background checks for speaking out, but not for buying a gun

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Seriously? WTF! Petula Dvorak writes for the Washington Post, At the Senate, a background check for speaking out but not for buying a gun:

It turns out, none of the deaths mattered to much of the U.S. Senate.

Not the Batman fans sitting in a dark Colorado movie theater, not the folks waiting to chat with their congresswoman outside a Tucson Safeway, not the 15-year-old hanging out with friends in a Chicago park, not the college kids trying to master German at Virginia Tech, not even the 20 first-graders cowering in their classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

* * *

“Shame on you!” shouted an emotional Lori Haas from the Senate gallery after 100 of the world’s most powerful men and women refused to impose any new restrictions on gun ownership. Even background checks went down to defeat.

“We were just frustrated and angry,” said Haas, whose daughter Emily was 19 when she survived two bullet wounds to the head during the Virginia Tech massacre. It happened six years ago this week.

And what did Haas get for her emotional outburst? You aren’t going to believe it.

She and Patricia Maisch — who also shouted “Shame on you” but is better known as the hero who knocked a high-capacity magazine out of Loughner’s hands before he could kill more people in Tucson — were escorted out of the Senate gallery by Capitol Police.

“They detained us for about an hour and a half,” said Haas, 55, who lives in Richmond.

They had to turn over their IDs and wait. For what?

A background check.

Gabrielle Giffords op-ed: A Senate in the Gun Lobby’s Grip

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was herself the victim of a mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona on January 8, 2011, responds to the shameful cowardice of the U.S. Senate in this op-ed today in the New York Times. A Senate in the Gun Lobby’s Grip:

SENATORS say they fear the N.R.A. and the gun lobby. But I think that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets. The fear that those children who survived the massacre must feel every time they remember their teachers stacking them into closets and bathrooms, whispering that they loved them, so that love would be the last thing the students heard if the gunman found them.

On Wednesday, a minority of senators gave into fear and blocked common-sense legislation that would have made it harder for criminals and people with dangerous mental illnesses to get hold of deadly firearms — a bill that could prevent future tragedies like those in Newtown, Conn., Aurora, Colo., Blacksburg, Va., and too many communities to count.

Some of the senators who voted against the background-check amendments have met with grieving parents whose children were murdered at Sandy Hook, in Newtown. Some of the senators who voted no have also looked into my eyes as I talked about my experience being shot in the head at point-blank range in suburban Tucson two years ago, and expressed sympathy for the 18 other people shot besides me, 6 of whom died. These senators have heard from their constituents — who polls show overwhelmingly favored expanding background checks. And still these senators decided to do nothing. Shame on them.

'All in all, this was a pretty shameful day for Washington'

Posted  by AzBlueMeanie:

President Barack Obama arrives to participate in a news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, April 17, 2013, in Washington, about measures to reduce gun violence. With Obama is former Rep. Gabby Giffords, left, and Mark Barden, the father of Newtown shooting victim Daniel. Photo by Associated Press/Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Speaking in the Rose Garden after today's Senate vote, President Obama used the "bully pulpit" and expressed righteous indignation about the defeat of the Manchin-Toomey background checks amendment as parents of victims of last year's Newtown school shootings and former congresswoman Gabby Giffords looked on. Obama: Senate background check failure 'shameful':

"I see this as just Round One," Obama said in his Rose Garden remarks.

"All in all, this was a pretty shameful day for Washington," he said sternly, urging backers of gun control to continue the fight. 

Slamming critics who said that victims were used as "props," Obama said that their voices and experiences should have been welcomed, adding that gun lobbyists "willfully lied" about the consequences of the background check measure.

Craven Cowardice: GOP filibusters bipartisan Manchin-Toomey background checks bill

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

In a supreme act of craven cowardice, Republican senators led a filibuster to prevent even advancing to debate of the Manchin-Toomey background checks amendment, and a simple up or down vote on the merits. The final vote was 54 to 46.

Sen. Harry Reid changed his vote from yes to no to preserve his right to bring a motion for reconsideration.

Sen. John McCain voted to end the filibuster. Sen. Jeff Flake demonstrated his craven cowardice by voting for the filibuster to deny his friend Gabby Giffords a simple up or down vote on the merits.

This is a 55 54-vote majority of senators in favor of this amendment, all that should ever be required to pass legislation in a democracy. The recent GOP abuse of the Senate filibuster rules to obstruct any and all legislation required a 60 vote super-majority to break the GOP filibuster and to move to debate of the amendment.

Mark Kelly: Americans for Responsible Solutions will replace Sen. Jeff Flake

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Mark Kelly, husband of former US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, says the gun-control organization the couple has founded will work to defeat Sen. Jeff Flake (R) in the next election if the Arizona senator votes against expanding background checks to include more gun buyers. The Christian Science Monitor reports, Mark Kelly on gun control bill: 'We do have a problem' with many senators:

Mr. Kelly, a retired Navy captain and astronaut, said Senator Flake is “a good friend” of Ms. Giffords. But he gave this warning Tuesday at a Monitor-hosted breakfast with reporters: “If there was the right candidate out there and he [Flake] didn’t support this legislation,… you know friendship is one thing … saving people’s lives, especially first-graders', is another.” 

On Monday, Flake posted on Facebook a statement that he will oppose the bipartisan legislation on background checks drafted by Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. The measure “simply goes too far,” Flake said.

Kelly criticized Flake's action.

“Senator Flake’s timing for his posting to his Facebook was not ideal in my opinion,” he said. On Tuesday afternoon, Flake [was] slated to join Giffords and Kelly, along with Vice President Joseph Biden and House Speaker John Boehner, to dedicate a room in the House in honor of Gabriel Zimmerman. He was a member of Giffords's staff and was killed in the attack that gravely wounded her in January 2011.

The warning to Flake from the cofounder of Americans for Responsible Solutions comes amid reports that prospects are dimming for new gun-control legislation. Republican opposition to expanded background checks is growing in the Senate, “enough to put the proposal’s fate in jeopardy.”

Sen. Flake: Will you deny your friend Gabby Giffords a simple up or down vote?

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

With friends like these . . .

The friendship between Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) is well documented and genuine. At the State of The Union Address in February, Sen. Flake stood and cheered when President Obama intoned:

Gabby Giffords deserves a vote.

The families of Newtown deserve a vote.

The families of Aurora deserve a vote.

The families of Oak Creek, and Tucson, and Blacksburg, and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence – they deserve a simple vote.

Last week, Sen. Flake was among those Senators who voted against a GOP filibuster of any debate of the gun safety bill. But that was only the first GOP filibuster test; each provision of the bill and offered amendments are subject to GOP filibuster obstruction.

On Monday, when the nation was focused on the tragedy in Boston, Sen. Flake quietly announced in a Facebook post that he would vote against the background checks compromise hammered out by his fellow Sens. Manchin and Toomey. He continues the line of B.S. that he has been saying for weeks, that he "supports background checks" -- just not anything that has a snowball's chance in hell of passing Congress.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill Introduced Today

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., two members of the "Gang of Eight," plan to brief President Barack Obama on the group's comprehensive immigration reform biill on Tuesday. Senators had originally planned a high-profile rollout of their measure, including a Tuesday morning news conference where they would be flanked by immigration reform advocates. But the group opted to postpone the event late Monday because of bombings at the Boston Marathon. Schumer, McCain Issue Summary of Immigration Bill - Roll Call:

The bipartisan group of senators working on an immigration overhaul proposal has released a 17-page summary of its bill, which includes a provision that will exempt the children of unauthorized immigrants from a $500 penalty charged to those seeking to have their status legalized.

[A Scribd copy of the 17 page summary is available here. Outline of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 (h/t Talking Points Memo).]

Under the bill, unauthorized immigrants may apply to receive legalized status, known as Registered Provisional Immigrant Status.

In order to be eligible, an individual must have immigrated to the United States prior to Dec. 31, 2011, and maintained a continuous physical presence since then.

Election 'reform' bills stalled in the Arizona legislature

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Election "reform" bills have stalled in the Arizona legislature. SB1003 and SB1261, sponsored by Sen. Michele Reagan, have stalled in the House at her request in an effort to give Latino groups and Democrats a say in the measures and pitch amendments.The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Despite changes to election reform bills, Democrats, Hispanics still opposed:

The bipartisan discussions have resulted in agreements for several changes in the bills.

But some Democrats say the efforts aren’t enough and are still urging Reagan to hold the bills until next year and use the interim as a chance to meet with all stakeholders — county recorders, lawmakers and voters — before drafting new legislation to make Arizona’s voting systems more efficient and accurate.

“I do appreciate the sponsor of the bill at least trying right now to bring everyone together, but it makes it a little more difficult once a bill is prepared to come to an agreement,” said Senate Minority Leader Leah Landrum Taylor, D-Phoenix.

Reagan said House Speaker Andy Tobin has withheld the bills from votes in the House Committee of the Whole at her urging.  The Scottsdale Republican used the extra time to meet with the Arizona Association of Counties, the Secretary of State’s Office and Democratic lawmakers to address concerns with the bills.

Though Democrats convinced Reagan to make a few changes to the bills in a stakeholders meeting on April 8, Sen. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, called Reagan’s efforts a “waste of time” — without significant changes to both bills, his vote on the bill won’t change from a no to a yes.

U.S. Supreme Court rejects appeal of New York concealed carry law

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The U.S. Supreme Court has proven that the Second Amendment absolutists (absurdists) who argue there can be no laws regulating guns are wrong, yet again. The Court today declined to hear a challenge to a strict New York law that makes it difficult for residents to get a license to carry a concealed handgun in public. Oh, gnashing of teeeth and wailing among the gun worshipers and fetisihists! Supreme Court leaves in place strict N.Y. limit on carrying concealed firearms:

The justices on Monday declined to hear a challenge to a strict New York law that makes it difficult for residents to get a license to carry a concealed handgun in public.

The court did not comment in turning away an appeal from five state residents and the Second Amendment Foundation. Their lawsuit also drew support from the National Rifle Association and 20 states.

The U.S. Supreme Court has made clear in its Second Amendment cases that government regulation of firearms is permissible. There is no support in law for the absolutist (absurdist) position.

Compromise on background checks comes at the expense of other gun safety laws

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

"Bipartisan compromise" has become code for "the devil is in the details." The compromise on background checks comes at the expense of other gun safety laws.

The nation's second largest "gun rights" organization, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, claiming 650,000 members and supporters, endorsed the background checks compromise drafted by Sens. Manchin and Toomey on Sunday. Gun rights group endorses Manchin-Toomey background-check bill:

[The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms functions as a kind of sister organization to the Second Amendment Foundation, a legal think tank and law firm based in Bellevue, Wash., that, along with the NRA, has been a leader in filing major court challenges to halt restrictions on gun rights.]

[Late Sunday, a second gun rights group, the Independent Firearm Owners Association, joined the Citizens Committee in endorsing the Manchin-Toomey proposal. The group is led by a former NRA regional political director, Richard Feldman, but has far fewer members than either of the more established gun rights groups.]

[T]he announcement of support on Sunday from the Citizens Committee reveals that substantial parts of the bill are viewed as “wins” for the gun lobby, including provisions that would prohibit a government registry of gun ownership and make it easier to transport and market weapons across state lines.

Comprehensive immigration reform battle lines are drawn

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Beltway media villager meme for months now has been that the GOP will agree to comprehensive immigration reform after losing three-fourths of the Hispanic vote in 2012. The GOP allegedly has learned its lesson and now realizes that its ability to win national elections in the future depends upon appealing to Hispanic voters and understands the changing demographics of America.

Silly reporters, you don't understand how deep nativism and racism runs in America. it is America's original sin.

The only reason there has not been hysterical anti-immigrant opposition to comprehensive immigration reform up to now is because there has not been an actual bill around which to rally the opposition of the nativists and racists -- timing is everything in politics.

That is about to change this week. The Senate's "Gang of Eight" is expected to unveil its comprehensive immigration reform bill this week.

The "Know Nothing Party" anti-immigrant nativists and the Dixiecrats-cum-"solid Republican South" racists are now gearing up for battle. Time to fire up the anti-immigrant hysteria of hate radio demagogues and FAUX News Fraudcasting.

Sen. Marco 'Big Gulp' Rubio and poison pills

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The darling of the Tea Party -- and Beltway media villagers -- Sen. Marco "Big Gulp" Rubio (R-FL), did the "full Ginsburg," er "full Rubio" to his Beltway media villager sycophants, on the Sunday bobblehead shows today. Have water handy! Out: Full Ginsburg. In: Full Rubio.

I really don't get why this freshman back bencher and intellectual lightweight garners so much fawning by the Beltway media villagers. Maybe it is because he is as shallow and vacuous as they are, kindred spirits of sorts. Talk about the "dumbing down" od America.

Sen. "Big Gulp," a member of the Gang of Eight (what is it with senators and their need for gang membership?), decried the use of "poison pill" amendments he expects from his fellow Tea-Publicans on immigration reform.Then turning on hs heel, Sen. "Big Gulp" endorsed the NRA "poison pill" amendment to kill the bipartisan background checks agreement reached by Sens. Manchin and Toomey.

The only principle that Sen. "big Gulp" believes in is his own self promotion for consideration as a presidential candidate in 2016. This Tea Party punk should focus on how to be a senator first. He is definitely not ready for prime time.

Sandy Hook victim's mother delivers the Weekly Address

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

From the White House blog, Weekly Address: Sandy Hook Victim’s Mother Calls for Commonsense Gun Responsibility Reforms:

This week’s address is delivered by Francine Wheeler, whose six year old son, Ben, was murdered alongside nineteen other children and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, four months ago. Now, Francine – joined by her husband David – is asking the American people to help prevent this type of tragedy from happening to more families like hers. Since that terrible day in December, thousands more Americans have died, and thousands more families have suffered the pain of losing a loved one to violence.

Now that the Senate has agreed that commonsense gun safety reforms deserve a vote, they must finish the job and pass those reforms to protect our children and our communities. Now is the time for all Americans to help make this a moment of real change.

Transcript. Video below the fold.

Sen. Tom Coburn demolishes arguments against background checks

Posted  by AzBlueMeanie:

The gun worshipers and fetishists frequently violate Godwin's Law by invoking Hitler and the Nazis in any debate over gun reform. They just can't help themselves, it's almost a variation of Tourette syndrome.

Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) took this fearmongering over gun reform to new levels in a Facebook post on Thursday that compared expanding background checks to the Rwandan genocide. GOP Congressman Warns Background Checks Will Lead To A Genocide Like In Rwanda. No really, he did.

So now gun worshipers and fetishists are comparing themselves to to the victims of genocide? European Jews killed in the Holocaust and Tutsis killed in the ethnic cleansing in Rwanda, all because they may have to complete a background check to buy a gun? This is offensive and demeaning to the memory of the actual victims of genocide. These demagogues are without shame or any sense of decency.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), a staunch conservative, has demolished this unhinged fear mongering in a letter he sent to his Senate colleagues who are engaging in shameless demagoguery. Conservative pro-gun Senator demolishes arguments against background checks:

Senator Tom Coburn, a staunchly conservative Senator with impeccable “pro gun” credentials, has done us all a tremendous service: He has effectively demolished many of the arguments coming from the right against expanded background checks.

Coburn has sent a letter to his Senate colleagues making the case that his proposal for expanded background checks is better than the one produced by Senators Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey. But in the process of defending his own proposal from the inevitable claims by fellow conservatives that it would violate people’s Second Amendment rights, he effectively destroys that same argument as it is being applied to the Manchin-Toomey proposal.

Gov. Brewer rallies support for Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration/expansion plan

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Gov. Jan Brewer held the latest in a series of rallies at the Capitol on Thursday to show she has broad support for her Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration/expansion plan. Gov. Brewer rallies Medicaid allies:

A growing number of lawmakers in both parties believe the Legislature will pass Brewer’s expansion.

That’s a change from earlier this year, when the main voices heard in the debate were those of conservative Republicans opposed to the expansion, a signature part of President Barack Obama’s heath care overhaul law.

“It’ll get passed,” said Sen. Steve Pierce, R-Prescott, the most outspoken GOP supporter in the chamber. “She’s got the power of the veto and she will be there until she gets it.”

Democrats, who broadly support the expansion, hold 13 of the 30 seats in the Senate. Pierce believes the Senate vote could reach the required two-thirds majority, which would see at least eight Republicans vote in favor of the proposal.

“The governor’s sitting, as I see it, in the catbird’s seat, and she has tools at her command,” said Assistant Minority Leader Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Tucson.

The House, with 36 Republicans and 24 Democrats, may be tighter, but the push being led by Rep. Heather Carter, R-Cave Creek, is gaining traction.

“When we finally put together the package, I believe that we’ll have enough support to pass it,” Carter said Wednesday.

'Kochtopus' push polling on Gov. Brewer's Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration plan

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I previously posted about the 'Kochtopus' astroturf campaign against Gov. Jan Brewer's Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration plan.

This now includes push polling by the Colorado-based conservative polling firm Magellan Strategies commissioned by a "client who does not want to be identified."

A previous client of Magellan Strategies is the political consulting firm DC London, Inc., headed by GOP consultant Sean Noble. You remember him. Sean Noble also heads up the Center to Protect Patient Rights, an Arizona 501(c)(4) organization in the "Kochtopus." It was his organization which was the "dark money" conduit that laundered $11 million dollars to Americans for Responsible Leadership, an Arizona 501(c)(4) organization in the "Kochtopus," that California’s political watchdog agency said represented the largest case of campaign money laundering in state history. Sean Noble and campaign money laundering by the 'Kochtopus'.

It's a safe bet that the "client who does not want to be identified" is an operative from one of the tentacle organizations of the "Kochtopus."

The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reported on the first push poll by Magellan Strategies on Wednesday. Dueling polls reach different results on Medicaid expansion support:

The Magellan poll showed marginal support for the Medicaid plan, with 41 percent of respondents supporting the plan and 37 percent opposing it. The 4 percent margin of support fell just outside the poll’s 3.44 percent margin of error. 

The auto-dial poll of 812 registered voters, which was conducted by Colorado-based Magellan Strategies, also showed a majority of Republicans opposing the expansion plan. A majority also said they would be less likely to vote for a lawmaker who votes for it. Sixty-three percent of Republican respondents, who made up 35 percent of the poll, said they would be less likely to reelect a legislator who voted for the plan, while 72 percent of the GOP voters said they’d be less likely to reelect a lawmaker who voted to fund the expansion with a new tax on hospitals.

Back-door assault on Citizens Clean Elections goes to the Governor - tell her to veto the bill

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Our lawless legislature is disregarding sound legal advice and passing unconstitutional legislation again, pissing away your tax dollars on the litigation which is certain to follow.

This time it is the Tea-Publican back-door assault on Citizens Clean Elections. Arizona Legislature OKs higher election-donor caps:

The Senate approved higher contribution limits Tuesday, as a grass-roots group lobbied state lawmakers to reject the measure and critics warned the bill is unconstitutional. Even before House Bill 2593 gets to the governor’s desk, critics are asking Brewer to veto it.

Supporters said the increase in how much individuals and political-action committees can give to campaigns is needed to combat the rising influence of independent-expenditure committees, effectively fighting the committees’ financial firepower with beefed-up finances from candidates themselves. It would apply to all elections under state control, from the gubernatorial race to school-board seats.

[Bullshit Alert: No candidate can hope to outspend an independent-expenditure committee with unlimited resources from undisclosed donors. All this does is make elections so expensive that it freezes out qualified candidates from running for office who are not independently wealthy or have a lot of rich friends and relatives. This is another step towards a wealthy elite plutocracy.]

Bipartisan compromise bill reached on background checks

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

"Half a loaf is better than no bread." - Thomas Jefferson, paraphrasing an ancient proverb

Political compromise used to be defined by this ancient proverb. Or as a Democratic senator once told me, progress is made through incremental change -- we'll take the half loaf today and come back next year to try again for the other half. When you demand "all or nothing" you usually get nothing.

There is not a whole lot of this "long game" patience and perseverance in today's politics. As I have said before, I blame the instant gratification society that modern technology has created. Everybody wants everything right now!

So there is bound to be disappointment for some over the bipartisan compromise bill on background checks announced today. Senators: Bipartisan deal reached on expanding gun background checks:

A bipartisan group of senators has struck a deal to expand gun background checks to all commercial sales — whether at gun shows, via the Internet or in any circumstance involving paid advertising, according to Senate aides familiar with the talks.

The amendment to the guns legislation already proposed in the Senate would not cover private transactions between individuals, unless there was advertising or an online service involved.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns to score congressional gun votes

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Press release from Mayors Against Illegal Guns. "Mayors Against Illegal Guns to Score Congressional Gun Votes" April 9, 2013:

MAYORS AGAINST ILLEGAL GUNS TO SCORE CONGRESSIONAL GUN VOTES

Coalition Also Releases New Ad Featuring Newtown Father Neil Heslin Calling on Congress to Support Commonsense Reforms Like Comprehensive Background Checks; www.DemandAction.org

Mayors Against Illegal Guns announced today that, for the first time, it will score votes and other official activity on firearms policy in the 113^th Congress. In a letter that will be sent to all members of Congress today, the coalition states that it will issue a scorecard assigning members a letter grade on their gun policy records. The letter can be found at: www.demandaction.org/score.

The coalition also released a new ad today featuring Neil Heslin, whose son Jesse Lewis was killed in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. In the ad Heslin recalls his final moments with his son and calls on Congress to take action to support sensible reforms like comprehensive background checks. The ad will air in Washington, D.C. and in key states – represented by both Democrats and Republicans – where it can most influence the upcoming Senate vote. It can be viewed at: www.demandaction.org/neil. (below the fold).

Teabagger Senate filibuster of gun safety bill may be broken

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Oh geezus. The Septegenarian Ninja Turtle, Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who polls lower than toe fungus in Kentucky (PPP's second Kentucky poll), should just resign as Senate Minority Leader right now. Our boy Mitch says he will join the village idiot Aqua Buddha, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), and his 12 Disciples in a blind filibuster of any and all new gun safety regulations, bill unseen. Leadership never participates in a filibuster (McConnell did briefly join the junior senator from Kentucky in his filibuster of the nomination of John Brennan for CIA director over the administration's drone warfare policy).

The Washington Post reports Mitch McConnell plans to join filibuster of guns bill:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) plans to join a Republican filibuster of legislation aimed at curbing gun violence should Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) bring it to the floor.

“While nobody knows yet what Senator Reid’s plan is for the gun bill, if he chooses to file cloture on the motion to proceed to the Reid Bill (S. 649), Senator McConnell will oppose cloture on proceeding to that bill,” a McConnell spokesman said.

'They deserve a vote'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

"Each of these proposals deserves a vote in Congress. If you want to vote no, that's your choice. But these proposals deserve a vote. Because in the two months since Newtown, more than a thousand birthdays, graduations, and anniversaries have been stolen from our lives by a bullet from a gun.

* * *

Gabby Giffords deserves a vote.

The families of Newtown deserve a vote.

The families of Aurora deserve a vote.

The families of Oak Creek, and Tucson, and Blacksburg, and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence – they deserve a simple vote."

-- President Obama, State of the Union Address

In case you missed 60 Minutes last night, there was an extended interview with the parents of the children massacred at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Newtown families voice support for gun control.

The village idiot Aqua Buddha, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), and his 12 Disciples threatening to filibuster any and all gun safety bills should be locked in a room with these grieving families and have to answer to them.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' op-ed in the New York Daily News for universal background checks

Posted by AzBlueMeanie

Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords penned an op-ed in the New York Daily News Sunday urging Congress to pass universal background check legislation. Gabby Giffords: Join the fight for safer U.S.:

We're all used to hearing people say that patience is a virtue.

I think about patience every day as I continue to regain my speech and the mobility I lost after I was shot in the head two years ago, while meeting with my constituents in the parking lot of grocery store in my district.

I think about patience and determination, because I still wake up every day wanting to make the world a better place.

But lately I’m not feeling too patient toward senators and representatives who are listening to the misinformation that’s out there about universal background checks instead of to their constituents, and saying they may not support common sense solutions to ending gun violence.

What are they waiting for? Ninety percent of Americans support universal background checks, which will be debated soon. Seventy-four percent of NRA members support background checks. Seventy-two percent of hunters support background checks, the Bull Moose Society reported this week. I can’t remember a time when this many Americans spoke with such a united voice in favor of anything.

Sen. John McCain questions Aqua Buddha and his 12 Disciples for blind opposition to any and all gun safety regulations

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

According to POLITICO Tiger Beat on the Potomac, 12 Tea-Publicans in the U.S. Senate have now committed to the village idiot Aqua Buddha, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), in a blind filibuster of any and all new gun safety regulations, bill unseen. 12 GOP senators back Rand Paul on gun-control filibuster:

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s threat to filibuster any new gun restrictions is gathering steam, as a dozen of his Republican colleagues have now signed onto his plan.

The Kentucky Republican and Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) first wrote to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid late last month to warn him of their intention to try to tie up the Senate if, as planned, Reid moved forward with legislation that would expand background checks and attempt to crack down on interstate gun trafficking.

* * *

In addition to Paul, Lee, Cruz, Rubio and Moran, the Republican who have signed the second letter are Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Enzi of Wyoming, Jim Risch and Mike Crapo of Idaho, Dan Coats of Indiana and Pat Roberts of Kansas.

“We will oppose the motion to proceed on any legislation that will serve as a vehicle for any additional gun restrictions,” they write.

Update on the City of Tucson's legal challenge to consolidated election dates

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.

This legislation purportedly is the first of its kind enacted in the nation -- a strong indication that it is an ALEC drafted bill, as it was also supported by other "Kochtopus" funded groups such as Americans for Prosperity, the Goldwater Institute, and the Tea Party.

Charter cities are entitled under the Arizona Constitution to determine how they are governed, and how to conduct elections. Arizona Supreme Court unanimously rejects 'Paton's Law'.

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 filed a Motion to Intervene as a plaintiff. The case is now assigned to Judge James E. Marner.

In a Minute Entry Order dated March 20, 2013, Judge Marner ordered:

IT IS ORDERED as follows:

1. Opening briefs are due by March 29, 2013 and are limited to a maximum of thirty pages.

2. Responses are due by April 15, 2013 and are limited to a maximum of fifteen pages.

3. There will be no replies to the responses.

4. Oral Argument on Plaintiffs’ Complaint for Special Action and for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief set on Monday, April 29, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. in Division 10 for two hours is affirmed.

ALEC Exposed via Arizona Eagletarian blog

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Kudos to Steve Muratore of the Arizona Eagletarian blog for his coverage of ALEC Exposed this week. ALEC is a member of the "Kochtopus" network of far-right organizations funded by the billionaire bastard Koch brothers and their like-minded corporate friends.

Steve Muratore attended the showing of "ALEC Exposed" at the Playhouse on the Park Theater in Phoenix on Wednesdsay, you can read about it here. ALEC (was) Exposed this evening. Steve attached a video from the September 28, 2012 Moyers & Company report, "United States of ALEC," that you can watch below the fold.

'Kochtopus' astroturf campaign against Gov. Jan Brewer's Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration plan

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I have said it before, and I will say it again: how long are Arizonans going to tolerate the billionaire bastard Koch brothers dictating public policy in Arizona? It's time to tear up the "Kochtopus" network of astroturf far-right organizations in this state by the roots and salt the ground to make sure that they never grow back again.

The opposition to Gov. Jan Brewer's Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration plan does not come from rank and file voters in this state, but rather an astroturf campaign by the "Kochtopus" far-right organizations, incuding the Tea Party groups. The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) calls them out. AFP, anti-Obamacare docs denounce Medicaid expansion:

A small group of conservative doctors gathered at the Capitol in opposition to Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion proposal, arguing that it will damage health care in Arizona and cause a host of problems at the federal level.

At a Tuesday afternoon press conference organized by the Arizona chapter of the conservative group Americans for Prosperity, three doctors urged the state to reject Brewer’s plan, which would expand Medicaid to cover anyone earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. The doctors have been vocal opponents of the Affordable Care Act.

Christian Taliban bullies Bisbee over civil unions ordinance

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Bisbee City Council is scheduled to cast a final vote Tuesday night on an ordinance allowing civil unions for gay couples. Bisbee council is poised to recognize civil unions.

Naturally, this has caused unhinged apoplexy among the "God hates gays" crowd, including Arizona Attorney General Tom "banned for life by the SEC" Horne. Geezus, hasn't this poster boy for political corruption been indicted yet? AG Horne threatens legal action against Bisbee over civil union vote:

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne warned Bisbee on Tuesday that his office would take legal action against the city if council members approve an ordinance tonight allowing civil unions for gay couples. 

The unions would be recognized only within the city limits and would grant rights given to a married couple, including property ownership, inheritance, guardianship and adoption.

Horne opposed the measure in a letter to city officials, saying Bisbee doesn’t have the authority to offer such unions and that “the impact goes beyond (city) boundaries.”

Not an April Fool's Joke: Arizona moves one step closer to making idolatrous gun worship the official state religion

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

One would think the sheer stupidity of giving guns legal rights superior to an individual's private property rights to do with his or her own property as they deem fit would derail this crazy bill.

This is not an April Fool's joke: the Tea-Publican controled Arizona legislature is one vote away from sending this bill making idolatrous gun worship the official state religion to the Governor. The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reported, Republicans defeat Democrats’ gun safety amendments:

The Arizona Senate today defeated 18 amendments sponsored by Democrats for a bill to prevent the destruction of firearms surrendered to law enforcement agencies.

Among other things, the amendments would have required lost or stolen firearms to be reported to police and implemented university background checks for firearm sales. Almost all were defeated along party lines.

Democrats said the amendments were the only way they could raise concerns about gun safety after dozens of their bills had gone nowhere in the Legislature.

Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Tucson, and Sen. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, combined to sponsor each of the amendments to HB2455, Rep. Brenda Barton’s bill to prevent the destruction of firearms purchased in gun buyback programs or weapons simply turned over to a law enforcement agency. The Senate’s Committee of the Whole voted in favor of HB2455, which faces a final vote in the Senate before it would go to the governor’s desk.

The amendments were all introduced and rejected with little debate from Senate Republicans, who challenged them not germane to the underlying bill.

U.N. Treaty to regulate the global arms trade

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

North Korea, Iran and Syria, and their ally, the National Rifle Association, tried to stop Christmas from coming, but Christmas came anyway. The Grinch merchants of death are having a sad today. U.N. adopts treaty to regulate $70 billion global arms trade:

The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to create the first international treaty regulating the global arms trade, a landmark decision that imposes new constraints on the sale of conventional arms to governments and armed groups that commit war crimes, genocide and other mass atrocities.

[The United Nations’ 193-member assembly voted 154 to 3 to adopt the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). There were 23 abstentions, including from major arms traders including China, India and Russia, as well as Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are supplying weapons to opposition groups in Syria. The treaty will not go into force until 90 days after it is ratified by 50 states.]

The U.N. vote was hailed by arms-control advocates and scores of governments, including the United States, as a major step in the global effort to enforce basic controls on the $70 billion international arms trade. But it was denounced by Iran, North Korea and Syria for imposing restrictions that prevent smaller states from buying and selling weapons to ensure their self-defense.

(Update) Redistricting trial in U.S. District Court

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Hopefully you were all following reporting by Steve Muratore at the Arizona Eagletarian blog last week as I recommended because, I have to be honest, the corporate media reporting on this case has been so pedestrian and politicized it appears to have been culled from press releases from the conservative media entertainment complex. Bloomberg News, Arizona Capitol Times, and The Arizona Republic in particular were horrible.

This poor court reporting occurred the same week that a legend of court reporting, Anthony Lewis, the great New York Times reporter and columnist, passed away at the age of 85. On Anthony Lewis:

As a journalist, Lewis is best known for revolutionizing the coverage of the Supreme Court. In his remembrance of Lewis, current New York Times legal reporter Adam Liptak wrote:

As a reporter, Mr. Lewis brought an entirely new approach to coverage of the Supreme Court, for which he won his second Pulitzer, in 1963.

90%+ of Americans want universal background checks; Sen. Flake: It's 'a bridge too far' for the GOP

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Every Senator who opposes expanded background checks needs to be asked whether they want the current background check law repealed. If they support the current law, then how is expanding the current law a threat to Constitutional rights? Greg Sargent writes, Don’t let Senators off the hook on guns:

Every Senator who is refusing to support expanded background checks — Republican or Democrat — needs to be asked a simple question: Do you support the current background system, or do you see it as an infringement on the rights of the law-abiding?

Every one of them will answer with a Yes, because they are taking refuge behind the idea that the current law needs to be strengthened in various ways but not expanded. Once they are on record confirming they don’t view the current system as a threat to Constitutional rights, the arguments against expanding it dissolve into incoherence.

Sen. Jeff Flake said on Sunday he could support improving the current system through better data sharing by states on the mentally ill and other such moves, while opposing expanding checks to private sales (leaving the massive gun show loophole in place).