Posted by Bob Lord

So, I'm watching the end of the asshat debate tonight, which then turns to the commentary, and they have Gloria Borger (or Bolger, I'm not sure) interview Jan Brewer. The gist of the interview is Gloria trying to get her to endorse a candidate. Brewer of course resists, like she's holding us all in suspense or something.

That part was totally predictable, and boring. But then Anderson Cooper makes the otherwise wasted five minutes all worthwhile. At the end of the interview, B...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Who knew that "small government" conservative actually means:

"A government small enough to insert into a woman's vagina"

(Trans-vaginal ultrasound probe)

WTF? What is wrong with these sick bastards? Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell no longer guaranteeing he'll sign state-sponsored rape bill:

Virginia Republicans continue frantically trying to figure out what to do about the state-sanctioned rape bill they seemingly didn't realize people would object to. With the state House p...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Founding Father's tried to prevent this from ever occurring by inserting in the U.S. Constitution, Article VI, Paragraph 3:

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or p...

by David Safier

Another big hat tip to Debbie Reese who writes on the American Indians in Children's Literature blog out of New Mexico for linking me to this AP article connecting Lori Klein's bill to use FCC broadcast standards as the touchstone for speech standards in the classroom to Floyd Brown, founding chairman of Citizens United and the producer of the "Willie Horton" ad used against Michael Dukakis during his 1998 presidential race.

According to the article, it was Floyd Brown's complain...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

You were warned this would happen. Shooter considering banning public testimony on budget bills - Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required):

The chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee said Tuesday he is considering banning all public testimony when lawmakers take up the state budget later this year.

And Insider: Budget hearing won't have comments:

Public comment? "I heard it last year," Shooter said.

Our tyrannical Tea-Publican legislature's budget, which wa...

by David Safier

Literally hundreds of articles around the country have criticized Imagine Schools, the nation's largest chain of charters, for delivering poor education and charging its schools oversized rent on their buildings.

But this is the first time I've seen the for profit EMO referred to as

". . . the troubled Arlington-Va. based Imagine Schools"

The reference isn't from some hotbed of anti-charter liberalism, by the way. It's from the Marietta Daily Journal in Cobb County, Georgia.

Ther...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Time once again for The Farley Report from Rep. Steve Farley (D-LD 28):

To start off tonight I want to let you know that next Wednesday, February 29, I will be making a pretty exciting announcement about my political future. I would love to have you there with me to share that moment. 

The first stop on the announcement tour will be at the Tucson Botanical Gardens at 10:30am -- on Alvernon just south of Grant. Next I will appear on the Bill Buckmaster Show at noon on KVO...

by David Safier

Based on TUSD proposed funding formulas Board President Mark Stegeman included in his recent constituent newsletter, schools with lower income students will receive less money to spend on teachers than schools with higher income students. (Download School budget formulas 2012-13)

This is a serious equity issue which is not exclusive to TUSD. It happens in school district funding formulas across the country and has been the subject of a great deal of serious examination. It will t...

by David Safier

In ways, Babeu is showing himself to be the truest of conservatives. He's for all kinds of draconian laws and budget cuts directed at others, but he's a selective liberal when it comes to himself and the people he loves.

In an interview with Wolf Blitzer, Babeu said he supports gay marriage.

"This is where our government needs to get the heck out of the way," Babeu said. "You can’t legislate love."

His stand puts him in the company of people like Dick Cheney and the Republican ...

By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings

With no notice, the Rs running the Arizona lege have scheduled the state's budget for committee hearings Tuesday morning at 8 a.m.

Senate Appropriations agenda is here. House Appropriations agenda is here.

Between this and last week's ejection of a 12 News reporter from the House floor by a Republican functionary who cited an unannounced security policy, it's obvious that the Rs haven't learned the lesson from the recall election loss of former ...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

"Survivor - GOP Presidential Primary" returns from its Spring Break in Florida hiatus on Wednesday, February 22 from the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, Arizona. Once again the debate is hosted by TeaNN (formerly CNN) and the Arizona Republican Party on TeaNN at 8:00 p.m. ET. For those of you who prefer live punishment, there may still be some tickets left to attend this debate from the AZGOP. Arizona Presidential Debate.

This may be the series finale for this reality TV show, ...

by David Safier

You're Cordially Invited to a Special Night with:

Keynote Speaker John Nichols, The Nation Magazine, MSNBC Contributor and author of
Uprising: How Wisconsin Renewed the Politics of Protest, from Madison to Wall Street

Michael Moore says: "John Nichols recognized right away that the fight in Wisconsin was about a lot more  than one state. It was the fight we had all been waiting for, the one where people say, 'We have had it!'"

Linda Hatfield: Chair, Pima Area Labor Federation and ...

by David Safier

The name "ALEC" was known by just a few people as recently as a few months ago. Now it's surfacing in the news -- it's about time! -- and in a speech by Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton. Dayton vetoed four "tort reform" bills, saying they came straight out of an ALEC boot camp manual.

“These bills are laughably referred to as ‘jobs bills’, Governor Dayton told a press conference. ” Well calling a crow a swan doesn’t make it one. These bills impact on job impact in job cre...

by David Safier

In 2008, I broke the story that the online education corporation, K12 Inc, was outsourcing student essays to India to be graded without parents' knowledge. The corporation eventually apologized, calling the outsourcing "growing pains" and one of those "occasional glitches." It says it has stopped the practice.

Since then, when articles are written questioning K12 Inc, like a story today in the Des Moines Register, they often talk about this as being exclusive to K12's Arizona cha...

by David Safier

Conflicting Mormon views on immigration continue to cause political ripples. The Mormon Church's acceptance of the principles in the Utah Compact and the backlash against Russell Pearce's anti-immigrant policies have been the clearest recent examples.

Here's another, a Latino Mormon movement against supporting Romney's presidential bid.

[T]wo decades after her conversion while a college student at Mississippi State, the 43-year-old [Antonella Cecilia] Packard finds herself on a n...

by David Safier

Talking Points Memo published a piece by a resident of Babeu's old home town, North Adams, MA, giving background about the sheriff's pre-Arizona days. Funny thing, though. TPM puts a correction at the end saying there were errors in the piece and cites an article in our own Star to correct the record.

It's a May, 2010, article by Tim Steller and Brady McCombs, two reporters I've praised in the past for their investigative skills. It's a thorough, well researched discussion of Bab...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

"Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it." - Arapaho Proverb

Rick "man on dog" Santorum strongly disagrees with this concept of "environmental stewardship":

Environmental stewardship refers to responsible use and protection of the natural environment through conservation and sustainable practices. Aldo Leopold (1887–1948) championed a land ethic "dealing with man's relation to land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it." According to the ...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Contestants must contact District 30 by mid-week for contest rules to enter. And chili's will not be of the red hot variety.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Announcement from the Arizona AFL-CIO:

By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings

It's shaping up to be a relatively quiet week at the Arizona legislature...emphasis on "relatively". There are still going to be a number of controversial bills, but not the large number that we've seen in recent weeks. Of course, agendas, particularly those for meetings later in the week, are subject to change without notice.

While many sources have reported that bills that haven't been heard in committee in their originating chamber as yet...