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Archive for the ‘Blog For Arizona’ Category

Tea-Publicans discover their inner Keynesian

Sunday, May 27th, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Steve Benen has an informative post on economics, Keynesians to the left of me, Keynesians to the right of me:

The gist of Keynesian economics is fairly straightforward: during an economic downturn, caused by insufficient demand, it's up to the public sector to inject capital into the system while consumers and businesses pull back. It's what FDR used to rescue the country from the Great Depression and it's what President Obama used to rescue us from the Great Recession.

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‘The vision thing’ returns

Sunday, May 27th, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It was reported that President George H.W. Bush's response to the suggestion that he turn his attention away from short-term campaign objectives and focus on the larger picture was "oh, the vision thing." The phrase "the vision thing" has come to personify any politician's failure to incorporate a greater vision in a campaign, and has often been applied by the media to politicians or public figures.

Enter POLITICO today, Mitt Romney not Into ‘vision thing’:

Mitt Romne...

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Wisconsin Update: The Total Recall/Walkergate Debate (with video)

Sunday, May 27th, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Associated Press reports on Friday night's Total Recall/Walkergate debate in Wisconsin. Tom Barrett, Scott Walker clash in first Wisconsin governor debate:

Total.RecallDemocratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, down in the polls to Gov. Scott Walker, aggressively went after Walker in a debate Friday and accused him of purposefully dividing the state and triggering the June 5 recall election.

Barrett kept Walker on the defensive throughout much of the hour-long debate in Milwaukee, w...

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Romney Leading in AZ: Just Don’t Run With an Arizonan on the Ticket

Sunday, May 27th, 2012

by Michael Bryan

The latest polling from Public Policy Polling (PDF link) indicates that Romney is leading in Arizona by 7 points (50%-43%), which is within the margin of error (+/-4.4%), but likely represents a small true advantage.

I don't find that terribly surprising, given the GOP registration advantage and the strong Mormon population and activation in Arizona. Arizona will be closer than 2008, and Obama may actually win Arizona this year, but it will be a damn close thing.

What I did fi...

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Much more on the Arizona Imagine School firings

Sunday, May 27th, 2012

by David Safier

Based on the comments and emails I've received from students and [former] teachers from Imagine Prep at Superstition in Apache Junction, there's lots more to the story about two-thirds of the school's teachers being fired. The Republic covered the story and I posted about it Friday.

I received an email with a few pictures from the student protest. A commenter on the earlier post, apparently a student, posted a long comment which I'm reproducing here in full.

Imagine_protest1

According to the per...

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Arizona Daily Star endorses Ron Barber for Congress

Sunday, May 27th, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Screenshot-12The Arizona Daily Star has gone out of its way to provide its readers with some of the worst political reporting I have seen in my lifetime. Just check out today's Political Notebook, the political gossip column that I have been praying for a merciful death to since the talentless hack Daniel Scarpinato was writing the column. Stenographic reporting and no fact checking is not reporting.

Despite its failings, the Star occasionally gets something right. Today's editorial e...

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Political Calendar: Week of May 27, 2012

Sunday, May 27th, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

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

SPECIAL ELECTION DEADLINES

  • Early ballots were mailed May 17 , 2012.
  • Early voting period from May 17 to June 8, 2012.
  • Candidate nomination petitions for the CD 2 congressional election are due Wednesday, May 30, 2012 ...

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Cartoon of The Week

Sunday, May 27th, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

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PAC+ ad – What Romney Thinks Of Us

Saturday, May 26th, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

A pro-Latino super PAC, called PAC+, has a new television ad in Arizona, criticizing Mitt Romney on immigration policy. (Must be in the Phoenix market?)

Video below the fold.


William Gheen of ALIPAC responds to Forrest Carr at KGUN

Saturday, May 26th, 2012

by David Safier

Jesse Kelly may not be talking about his application for endorsement by ALIPAC in 2010 and the group's re-endorsement this time around (you can watch 37 seconds of Jesse stonewalling the question in the next post), but ALIPAC sure is eager to talk. William Gheen, the group's President and Spokesman, has responded to KGUN a few times. The most recent (I think) is An Open Letter To the Liars Like Forrest Carr at KGUN 9.

To recap: During an interview with Kelly, KGUN reporter Marcel...

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Because you can’t see it too often

Saturday, May 26th, 2012

by David Safier

Here, for the second time on BfA, is the best 37 seconds in local news: Jesse Kelly on KGUN stonewalling the question about his application for an endorsement from ALIPAC in 2010 and the group's re-endorsement of his current run.

My favorite part is the smug look on Jesse's face. "I'm not ducking the question. Oh no, I'm cleverly showing up the lamestream media." No Jesse, you're ducking the question, which every reporter should continue to ask whenever she/he gets within shoutin...

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Our Faulty Fascination with Partial Solutions

Saturday, May 26th, 2012

By Karl Reiner

Brewer-obama-border-warning-signThe bill introduced in the Arizona legislature to establish a 62 mile deep warning zone along the Arizona- Mexico border was eventually withdrawn by its sponsor.  The objective of the bill was to alert residents and visitors to the dangers posed by illegal immigrants and drug traffickers in the zone, an area so large that it included Tucson.  There were a number of problems with how the warning information could be distributed. The groups that viewed the measure as another unnec...

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Stand up against Citizens United – corporations are not people!

Saturday, May 26th, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Two local events are coming up in opposition to Citizens United v. FEC.

First, the "Move to Amend Barnstorming Tour" is coming to Tucson on Tuesday, June 12, at 7:00 p.m., at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 4831 E. 22nd Street (at Swan Road). JUNE 1-17: Move to Amend Barnstorming Tour in Texas and Arizona.

David Cobb, a fiery speaker, and former Green Party presidential candidate, is touring ...

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First, demonize teachers, then what? Expect to raise teacher quality?

Saturday, May 26th, 2012

by David Safier

Generally during economic downturns, more men turn to teaching as a profession. You might not make lots of money, but it beats unemployment or asking, "Do you want fries with that burger?" Not this time, though. As bad as the employment situation is for college educated men, they're not turning to teaching.

Teachers have become the scapegoats for everything that's wrong with our kids and our competitiveness in the world economy. It has gone from a noble profession with job securi...

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FAUX News makes you stupid

Saturday, May 26th, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I blame all of 24/7 cable TV for this, really. I had to wait for a repairman to show up the other day and had the opportunity (misfortune) to channel surf through some daytime TV programming, something I never do. Oh my God! I could literally feel brain cells being destroyed. Turn it off, turn it off!

Let's say you decided to make a little fort out of your couch cushions, crawl inside, and just stay there. No television, no newspapers, no contact with the outside worl...

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Drinking Liberally LD9 House Democrats Debate, Wednesday, May 30th at 6pm

Friday, May 25th, 2012

By Michael Bryan

Bottle_bigThis Wednesday night, 5/30, Drinking Liberally will host a debate between the three Democratic candidates for the Arizona House of Representatives for LD9: Dustin CoxMohur Sidhwa, and Victoria Steele.

Drinking Liberally starts at 6pm (at The Shanty on 4th Avenue); the debate will start promptly at 6:30. The debate will be moderated by me.

You can submit suggested questions in comments.

The debate will be audio recorded and made available here on the blog.

So come on down, m...

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One of Arizona’s Imagine Schools fires two-thirds of its teachers

Friday, May 25th, 2012

by David Safier

Imagine Schools' problems have finally surfaced and gotten press in Arizona. According to the Republic, 10 or 11 of the 14 teachers at Imagine Prep at Superstition in Apache Junction have been let go. The reason given is that the school is going in a different direction.

Reporters Patrick Ryan and Chelsey Davis didn't get much in the way of details about that new direction or why those 10 or 11 teachers were let go. That's typical of the Imagine Schools corporate culture, playing...

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Fact checking the mendacity of ‘Mittens’

Friday, May 25th, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Time once again for Steve Benen's weekly fact checking of the pathological liar, Willard "Mittens" Romney. Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity, Vol. XIX:

Romney say anythingCampaigning in Iowa yesterday, President Obama reflected on some of Mitt Romney's recent speeches, including last week's remarks in Iowa. "I know Governor Romney came to Des Moines last week; warned about a 'prairie fire of debt,'" Obama said. "But he left out some facts. His speech was more like a cow pie of distortion. I don'...

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Willard ‘Mittens’ Romney embraces Birtherism

Friday, May 25th, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Earlier this week, Willard "Mittens" Romney was asked to admonish the actions of his Arizona campaign co-chairman, Secretary of State Ken Bennett, for embarrassing the state of Arizona by delving into the fringe Birther movement.

To my knowledge, Mittens has not publicly admonished the actions of Ken Bennett. I have not seen any public statement. The failure to object is to condone and to ratify the actions of Ken Bennett.

It gets worse. Also this week, the Romney campaig...

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Republicans want airplanes with rubber band wings, and no air traffic controllers

Friday, May 25th, 2012

by David Safier

Keep it simple. Get rid of regulations. That pretty much sums up what Jesse Kelly said in the debate and what he's been saying throughout the campaign. Most Republican politicians seem to agree.

Ask Kelly about Rosemont mine and he says we should dig the copper out of the ground. That's how you create jobs and make profits. Energy? Same thing. Dig up the coal and pump out the oil. Immigration? Build a double fence -- problem solved. Health care? Let people shop for it online like...

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