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Arizona's own EspressoPundit Ruminations of an over-caffeinated political junkie |
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My Favorite blogs
Interesting Websites Arizona federation of taxpayers
Boring but essential Websites ATRA--Arizona Tax Research Association
Books that have influenced me most The Bible by: God Systematic Theology by: Wayne Grudem The Memory Book by: Harry Lorayne Slouching Toward Gomorra by: Robert Bork Lyndon Johnson's Path to Power By: Robert Caro Free to Choose By Milton Friedman The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by: Edmund Morris American Caesar by: Manchester Life of Churchill: Alone and Last Lion by Manchester Progress Paradox By Gregg Easterbrook
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February 28, 2006
Here's a Letter from Senator Huppenthal. Greg,
I am Like so Not Hip. The first time that I saw an email with "LOL" I had to hit reply and have the sender explain that it meant "Laugh Out Loud". I thought, "how cool, that way you don't have to, like you know, type all the words." Then she wrote "BTW you are the first person to ask me to explain that." I didn't have the guts to ask what "BTW" meant because I knew that she would respond "LOL." (I also thought it might be one of the terms from the New Times personals and I figured that it was between her and the other BTWs) But now I have the code. I'm cool once more. Just like earlier this year when my wife finally explained that I'm not supposed to tuck in my shirts. Now I can join her at the mall without a sense of shame. Since these codes have changed my life, I thought I would share them with you.
(Hat tip to my friend Pat Van Midde who broke the code.)
More national attention for Flores One of the most outrageous current examples of out-of-control judges is the case called Flores v. Arizona, now pending in federal court in Tucson, Arizona. Originally filed in 1992, plaintiff lawyers claim to represent an estimated 160,000 children of illegal aliens attending public schools.
Here's a fact I didn't know. Giffords is a smart politician whom even the Democratic field concedes privately to be the front-runner. At some point she owes it to Arizona voters to get specific, frame the debate and give us some detail. Might also be a good idea strategically because Democrats are certain to make hay of the fact that she was a Republican until 1999 - before she entered politics. Of course, it doesn't really matter. Weiss is going to win the primary.
Speaking of Predictions Da Vinci Code is going to bomb. It has everything going for it: Tom Hanks, Ron Howard, a huge book. But if you step back and look at it, the book was pretty lame. It was all the stuff that Dan Brown made up about Christianity that sparked the frenzy. Debates about the Gnostic Gospels don't make good movies.
February 27, 2006
All the News That's Fit to Bury I talked to Sheriff Arpaio over the weekend and he indicated that there will be a full report on the Pederson case out later this week. Be sure to stay tuned. Full coverage will be available in a 55 word summary on B11 of the Republic sometime in April or May.
Know your Enemy In case you had any doubt about the relative positions and tactics of each side in the cartoon debate. These pictures should make is pretty clear. The first sign is, of course, a Shakespeare allusion in defense of Denmark. (the protest was in Washington). The second sign is from a protest in Germany and is self explanatory.
Rage against the Machine Bob Robb had a great point in the back Sunday's Viewpoints section. Too bad that it is obscured behind an entire section devoted to the miracle of biotech. The extent to which Republicans in the
Legislature have bought into the bioscience spin is extraordinary. A bill
providing $150 million for bioscience research with virtually no state
oversight passed the House Appropriations Committee with nary a negative
vote.
Typo Nightmare One advantage that the dinosaur media has managed to maintain in its war with the bloggers is a proofreading department. I can read an espresso pundit entry 1,000 times and miss an obvious mistake. But occasionally, the dead tree folks have a catastrophe. At least I've never had a meltdown like the one. This is from Sunday's Star and was exposed by Tedski in Rum, Romanism and Rebellion. Reporter Rob O'Dell quoting developer Don Bourne. "A lot of my development friends say 'your nuts,' " he said, although he stressed he is still committed to the project. To which Tedski added the hypothetical response "My Testicles Are None of Your Business." February 24, 2006
Even a Broken Clock… Senator Jack Harper has learned a valuable lesson about imitating a piñata on the Senate floor, and just about every news outlet in the state has taken a swing. We’ve learned some lessons as well. The first and foremost lesson is that the candidate/elected official’s kids are off limits. As much acrimony as there is in politics today, there are still some topics that are taboo, and criticizing someone’s family is beyond the pale. The second lesson that we all realized is that while a rowdy four year old may be a reflection of poor parenting skills, adult children make choices and sometimes they are bad choices. The sins of the sons shall not be visited upon the fathers. The third lesson is that the media should show some restraint and not overplay a story just because the protagonist is related to an elected official. If the child of a local politician or candidate allegedly perpetrates a crime, the resulting story should receive roughly the same emphasis as it would if it had been perpetrated by the son of the local Discount Tire manager. Senator Harper missed lessons one and two and has paid a heavy price. However, buried in his floor speech, the pseudo apology and subsequent pummeling was one fact that everyone else seems to have overlooked…Bennett got a raw deal. There is no record of the arrest of Pederson’s son appearing on AzCentral, and the article that eventually made it into the Republic was 108 words on B5. The Bennett case was a feeding frenzy. The initial Republic article contained 433 words on B1. (See a partial list of the articles below.) Harper claimed that the disparate treatment was a sign of bias. Maybe. Or maybe the press simply recognized lessons one and two a bit late…kind of like Harper did. The bottom line is that the local media either dramatically overplayed the Bennett story, underplayed the Pederson story, or perhaps both. Ironically, the Pederson case appears to be much more serious than the Bennett case. A former prosecutor walked me through the Pederson charges (based on press accounts) and they are extremely serious. Drug charges alone are pretty serious, but add a gun and the case changes entirely. Guns + Drugs = Prison. No exceptions. If Pederson is convicted, he will be in prison long after the Bennett case is forgotten.
(These articles will give you a taste of the frenzy. The Republic has removed the underlying stories, but the fact that they were on Azcentral is demonstrated by these cached files.)
Senate president's
son arrested in 18 assaults
Ariz. senator’s son
arrested in Prescott camp hazing
Senate president's
son arrested for hazing
Senator's son
hurt campers, police say
Teens Accused in Alleged
Camp Assaults Post Bond
Teens Arrested in
Alleged Camp Assaults
Gilbert boy’s complaint
sparks arrests
February 23, 2006
National Review Online has some Advice to live By
Lawrence Summers has been booted from Harvard and Stanly Kurtz thinks there is a lesson that we can all take from his situation.
Appeasing tyrants is a bad idea. That's
what the Summers fiasco teaches. I've been disappointed by Summers'
repeated apologies for raising legitimate intellectual questions in a
fair and respectful way. I consoled myself with the thought that, if
Summers remained in place, he might ultimately do more for reform than
he might have by standing up for principle. Now even this second-best
consolation is gone, making it all the more obvious that Summers ought
to have stood up to the Harvard's dictators from the start, even if it
cost him his job. Now Summers must either remain silent, or hit back and
implicitly acknowledge that all those apologies were bogus.
So Summers behaved badly. But that just shows how serious the problem of our politically correct campuses is. Students face a daily choice between speaking their mind and harming their own career prospects by alienating the professors who control their grades and recommendations. And students are far less able than Summers to fight back. Now the pressure for silence grows. Our only consolation is that the academy is daily more discredited with the public. So I hope we've now learned that, at home or abroad, appeasing dictators is a mistake.
February 22, 2006 Breaking News Treasurer Petersen Won't seek Reelection I spoke to Paul Petersen, Treasurer David Petersen's son and attorney, this afternoon and Paul indicated that Treasurer Petersen will not seek re-election. "He wants to do what's best for the Party." "He's going to fight to clear his name and if there ultimately is an investigation, he wants to remove any political component and make sure that it is handled professionally. He is confident that he can be cleared if that's the case."
Chip Shot On December 2nd, it was clear that Len Munsil was going to resign his position at the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) and run for Governor. In the article that followed, the Republic's Chip Scutari used this sentence to describe CAP. The group distributes a voter's guide each election cycle that some have accused of being thinly veiled advocacy for staunch social conservatives. On Christmas day, the political insider previewed Munsil’s announcement and included the exact same quote about CAP. The group distributes a voter's guide each election cycle that some have accused of being thinly veiled advocacy for staunch social conservatives. On January 5th, I wrote that I could not find any record of these accusations. In the five years of Republic archives that I searched, there were no articles that included references to CAP’s “thinly veiled advocacy.” I also pointed out that this was a criminal allegation. A non profit corporation cannot advocate on behalf of a candidate and “thinly veiled advocacy for staunch social conservatives” is a Class 6 Felony. Accusations of this nature place a cloud over an entire organization, intimidate staff and decimate fundraising efforts. Good people—people who aren’t public figures—are damaged by these allegations. On February 15th, Chip Scutari covered Len Munsil’s announcement and include the same phrase to describe the Center for Arizona Policy.
The group
distributes a voter's guide each election cycle that some have accused of
being thinly veiled advocacy for staunch social conservatives. “This is analysis based on what several sources have told us.” What? There are no formal accusations? There are no sources that have come forward? These allegations that show up whenever Len Munsil surfaces are “analysis” based on things that Chip Scutari has heard from anonymous sources? The Arizona Republic has a rule that quotes from anonymous sources only run with the permission of an editor. The next day I emailed Chip and referred him to the Republic’s rule and asked him if he had received the requisite permission. The answer that I received would make Johnnie Cochran blush. Greg, that sentence is NOT a
quote. It's information that was gleaned Notice that he never claimed that the sources were not anonymous, his argument is that they are technically not quotes because they are not direct comments and they aren’t in quotation marks. I emailed and asked him if it was accurate to call it a "paraphrase of conversations that you have had with anonymous sources?" That was the last I heard from Chip. I’ll let the editors of the Republic be the final arbiters of their own policy manual. But it’s clear that “analysis” “gleaned from several sources” doesn’t even rise to the credibility level of an anonymous quote. At least an anonymous quote contains something that someone actually said. Flawed Analysis The amazing part of the story is that once you talk to Chip about what the sources actually said, it becomes obvious that the “analysis” is clearly wrong. Let me provide a little background. When I ran for the Legislature in 1990 dinosaurs roamed the earth and Legislators smoked in Committee. As soon as I announced my candidacy, dozens of groups that I had never heard of sent me questionnaires about issues that I didn’t know existed. The Manufactured Housing Association, AMIGOS, the Farm Bureau, together with Planned Parenthood, the NRA and yes the Center for Arizona Policy send questionnaires to every candidate, tabulate their answers and distribute them to their members. This is legal and common. Candidate advocacy, however, is illegal. The voter's guides venture into clear advocacy if they say “vote for candidate Smith because she supports the second amendment.” But no one is going to do something that obvious. No. An organization that tries to skirt the rules will send a bunch of direct mail pieces that tout how great it is that Senator Smith supports education, economic development and lower taxes...then urges you to call her office and tell her how much you appreciate her service. They send these pieces to her entire district about a week before the election. That’s “thinly veiled advocacy” and it’s a felony. It’s a felony because corporations—like Planned Parenthood and CAP—aren’t allowed to fund campaigns and the individual donors who contribute to Planned Parenthood, the NRA or CAP give more than the legal campaign limits. If I give $10,000 to the NRA and the NRA spends it to advocate on behalf of candidates, then I have a serious problem. That’s why allegations of “thinly veiled advocacy” devastate fundraising efforts. That’s why they ruin reputations. That’s why people who work for organizations that get caught engaging in thinly veiled advocacy pay large fines and end up working the night shift at Wal-Mart. But that’s not what the anonymous sources alleged happened in this case. Chip told me that at least some of the sources are former candidates who say that they received obnoxious phone calls from “CAP supporters” who implied that voters will know about their refusal to fill out the questionnaire. The sources didn’t indicate that these calls came from CAP. Well Duh. If I don’t return the Sierra Club’s questionnaire then the voters who get a copy will have a pretty good idea that I’m not a big Sierra Club fan. They may even call me and tell me that they aren’t going to vote for me. More likely, they are going to question the legitimacy of my birth and tell me that there is no way on earth that they are going to vote for scumbag like me. That’s why I don’t have the same phone number that I did when I was elected. Those phone calls have nothing to do with the fine people at the Sierra Club and the voter's guides that generated them are not advocacy. The PURPOSE of a voter’s guide is to inform an organization’s members how a particular candidate stands on the organization’s issues. If voters choose to call the candidate and tell him that he’s an idiot because he doesn’t care about owls or global warning, or the second amendment, or a woman’s right to choose, or partial birth abortion…they have a word for that--“Democracy.” If Chip had discussed these allegations with an editor, she might have said “you know, Chip, that doesn’t sound like thinly veiled advocacy to me. It sounds to me like CAP has some supporters who are jerks. Maybe we should run that by the legal department.” But that didn’t happen in this case. After all, this wasn’t a quote from an anonymous source; it was analysis gleaned from several sources who would prefer not to provide their names.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Jim Irvin WASHINGTON The U-S Supreme Court today let stand a decision -rejecting- a 60 million dollar punitive damage award won by a Houston company. The civil case was against former Arizona Corporation Commission member Jim Irvin. Justices declined to review a July appeals court decision to send the case back to a federal judge in Phoenix, to reduce punitive damages or set a new trial on the issue. Southern Union won punitive damages as well as nearly 391,000 dollars in compensatory damages during a 2002 jury trial. Irvin was found to have misused his office to improperly influence the outcome of a two billion dollar bidding war for Las Vegas-based Southwest Gas. A Southern Union lawyer didn't immediately comment. Irvin resigned in 2003 as the Arizona House prepared to begin impeachment proceedings.
You will Enjoy these Tips for Writers Here at Espresso Pundit, I avoid clichés like the plague and make sure not to be redundant or repeat myself.
February 21, 2006
Tom Patterson
Explodes the TABOR Myth
Big spenders
nationwide were relieved that Proposition C, the proposal to suspend
Colorado’s TABOR law, passed last year by 52 percent. They have rushed
to proclaim that TABOR “didn’t work” and economically suffocated
Colorado. Governor Napolitano says, “Anybody who thinks TABOR is a good
idea . . . should talk to Gov. Owens.”
We did. Owens
himself says that TABOR has worked well in Colorado. Indeed, Colorado
voters were persuaded to support Proposition C only by assuring them
that TABOR would not be eliminated by its passage.
TABOR contained a
“glitch,” as innovations often do. The bug is the so-called “ratchet
effect.” When state revenue levels dipped during the recent recession,
the TABOR limit also dropped and there was no provision for it to return
to the pre-recession spending level when the economy improved.
Proposition C corrected that.
Arizona state
government revenue is expected to grow by up to $1 billion this year,
and Governor Napolitano has proposed boosting state spending by 20
percent next year alone. In times like these, we desperately need
spending limitations. When revenue falls, the higher expenditures can’t
be supported, so we have deficits, accounting gimmicks, borrowing and
ultimately, higher taxes and economic stagnation.
Politicians
should prioritize their spending like the rest of us do, and take only
those dollars from taxpayers that are truly needed. TABOR would make
sure that happens.
Goldwater Institute Corrects the Republic
In a
recent
Arizona Republic article
reporting on political giving by Indian Tribes, the author writes that
Tribes, "aren’t limited in the amounts of money they can contribute,"
and then quotes James Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional
and Presidential Studies at American University in Washington, D.C.
saying, "It is perhaps the last frontier of essentially unregulated
campaign cash contributions."
To set the record
straight: First, while Indian Tribes, like Political Action Committees
(PACs), have no total limit on their giving, they are limited to giving
no more than $2,100 to any one candidate, pursuant to 2 U.S.C. Sec.
441a.
Second, pursuant to 2 U.S.C. Section 441g, they are not allowed to make cash contributions. Tribes are regulated, their contributions are not unlimited, and they do not make "cash" contributions. Good policy starts with good facts, but in the current hysteria to “do something” about the Abramoff scandal, good facts are getting lost in the shuffle. Bradley A. Smith is former chairman of the Federal Election Commission and a Goldwater Institute Senior Fellow.
It takes a Big Man...
I received plenty of comments on the "Al Gore becomes Jane Fonda" post. Several of them were along the lines of..."oh my gosh, what a porker." I don't want to pick on Gore too much, after all, a mind is terrible thing to lose. But since Vice Presidents have been in the news lately, I don't feel too bad pointing out that Gore is 6' 1" and in the summer of 2000, USA Today reported that he weighed 195 pounds. He's looking a lot closer to 250 these days.
Well, this is Making National News. Arizona senators exchanged harsh words during a floor session Monday as Republican Sen. Jack Harper criticized the arrest of a Democratic candidate's son and was in return denounced by another GOP lawmaker So would it be tacky of me to publish the guy's mugshot? Yes, actually it would.
February 20, 2006
Shouldn't they just buy them better Shampoo? This headline in on A 10 of Today's Trib. Women: Scientists Scratching their Heads
First Get a Million Dollars.... Remember the classic Steve Martin routine "how to earn a million dollars and never pay taxes?" It ended with the line "I forgot." I was reminded of that comedy routine when I read this bizarre story was in Friday's papers. A new organization that won't disclose its donors is running a media campaign supporting Gov. Janet Napolitano's legislative agenda. Phoenix radio ads that began airing Thursday urge support for pay raises for teachers and tax credits for businesses to offer health insurance to workers. The ads also disparage "reckless tax cuts that would undermine our financial stability and hamper our ability to retain and attract businesses." Golly, what a great idea. It's so much harder to raise money when people actually know who is contributing. So they've decided not tell anyone. I don't know if they have an attorney, but I would recommend getting one soon...because these names are going to be disclosed. The last group to try a trick like this was Mainstream Arizona. They filed as 527 group and they must have found some comfort in the fact that 527s file their disclosures with the IRS, not the FEC. IRS information is confidential right? Not always. For some reason Congress has made if very difficult to secretly spend money on political candidates or issues. A list of some of Mainstream Arizona's contributors is provided here. So where is local media on this issue? Are they planning to just sit back and say, "gosh, I guess if you guys want to spend $3 million promoting Governor Napolitano and you don't want to disclose your donors, that's OK with us." And how about the Governor herself? Is she going to call for the release of the information, or is she going to accept this anonymous largesse? If a group announced that it was going to spend $3 million to promote Jon Kyl and wasn't going to disclose its donors until after the election, wouldn't the Democrats cry foul? Wouldn't the media call on Kyl to ask that the names be released? Are the Republic, Tribune and Star going to let this stand, or are they going to call on Napolitano to insist that the contributors be disclosed or the ads stopped?
February 18, 2006
This Won't look Good on a Resume.
PHOENIX U-S Senate candidate Jim Pederson's son was arrested by Maricopa County sheriff's detectives last night after an investigation into the use and sales of narcotics. Lieutenant Paul Chagolla says 24-year-old James Robert Pederson was arrested after a search of his home near 15th and Glendale avenues in Phoenix. He was booked on a variety of drug possession charges and a weapons charge and released from jail this morning on his own recognizance. The younger Pederson wasn't booked on sales charges but investigators are still working on the case. Chagolla says the investigation started after tips came in about James Pederson selling drugs to college-age students. Sheriff Joe Arpaio says his office knew who Pederson's father was but politics had no bearing on the case. He says people selling drugs to students is a top priority, no matter who's involved. Jim Pederson is a Democrat who's challenging Republican U.S. Senator Jon Kyl. Arpaio has endorsed Kyl in the race, but says Pederson is a nice guy and any family can be affected by drugs.
Frankly I'm stunned. I can't believe that the son of a US Senate Candidate and muliti-millionaire would live at 15th avenue and Glendale. I'm sure that the Republic Headline on this unfortunate event will be Arpaio declares Pederson a nice guy
February 17, 2006
Earthquake Downtown State Senator Dean Martin rocked the Capitol yesterday as word leaked out that he had filed the paperwork to form an exploratory committee to run for the office of State Treasurer. I met with Martin on Thursday and why he was running. He emphasized his financial background and a long string of accomplishments--tax reform, Constitutional protection from sex offenders, as well as his status as a watch dog. Before word of Martin's move had leaked out, I spoke with Petersen Thursday morning and he indicated that he is considering not running for re-election. We had a previously scheduled appointment for an interview; he canceled the appointment and called me to say that he couldn't conduct the interview because he had some "decisions to make." I asked if he meant that he was considering not running and he said that he was meeting with people on Thursday morning and would get back to me. Calls to his office and cell phone were not returned later that day.
Petersen’s management style has come under intense criticism and the personnel turnover in the office exceeds 100%.
Petersen’s former Executive Secretary, Wanda Simeona, penned a scathing four page letter in which she announced her resignation and accused Petersen of mismanaging the office.
You have made a mess of this office, the morale is horrible and people are leaving faster than they can be replaced. For years, this office had no turnover. Since you have been here people are kicking down the doors to leave rather than enter.
The letter has been widely distributed at the State Capitol. I spoke with Petersen and he indicated that the letter would be a factor in his decision whether or not to seek re-election.
I asked Senator Martin to comment on Petersen's troubles and he demurred. Martin eventually said, "let's just say that I can do a better job. For the last two years, I've been approached by people urging me to run."
While the Simeona letter and the rumors swirling around his office may weigh in Petersen's decision whether or not to seek re-election, having Sen. Martin in the race will be a major factor.
Martin's first race was against Tom Horne for the open Senate seat vacated by Sue Grace. Horne was one of the State Representatives from that district and at the time, I must confess, that I thought Horne was invincible.
Two years later Horne, of course, went on the defeat an incumbent to become Superintendent of Public instruction. He's obviously a good campaigner yet Martin defeated him handily.
Martin has now had six years in which he has proven to be an effective legislator as well as an excellent campaigner. He also has $60,000 in the bank, which is more than Clean Elections provides to a challenger in the Primary Election.
These espresso leaves are pretty easy to read. Martin's going to be the next Treasurer and Petersen will be announcing shortly that he's not going to seek re-election.
The only question is what reason Petersen will provide for his decision. Hmm, I'm thinking that he wants to spend more time with his family.
Dominoes...and I don't mean Pizza
Look for Reps. Gorman and Carpenter to immediately announce for Martin's Senate seat. Gorman because she can win and Carpenter because it gives him an excuse to back away from the disastrous announcement that he's running for Governor.
In the Beginning the Earth was Void without Form...
The State Homeland Security Department was in budget hearings this week and one of the analysts said that he couldn't find the authorization for the agency in statute.
His counterpart in the executive branch admitted that there was no statutory authorization. The State Department of Homeland Security--a state agency that receives millions of dollars in federal funds--had been created by executive order.
When asked for a copy of the order, the executive analysts sheepishly admitted that...it was a VERBAL Executive order.
Is that cool or what? Think of all the sunset hearings that can be avoided. Not only can the Governor create a state agency ex nihilo, but also, she can do it by merely speaking.
Does she at least have to wave her arms and say Abracadabra?
February 16, 2006 With Friends like These… Daily Kos is the most popular blog in the United States. It leans hard left and is a favorite with Democrats. Daily Kos provided an update on the Pederson campaign today and it doesn’t look good. The post is a response to Pederson firing his national staffers and replacing them with Mario Diaz and Joe Yuhas. The entire post is interesting, but the last several paragraphs are a must read. Here’s a what Kos says about Mario Diaz. There are few political staff in Arizona to be known as so cut throat and hard knuckled. And here’s his assessment of the campaign itself. This should be a great shake up to a faltering campaign. OUCH. Here's the whole thing, or read it in its original format here. Pederson ( AZ ) Fires Campaign Manager, shakes up staff by Dour Tue Jan 17, 2006 at 02:36:17 PM PDT http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/... The mainstream media in Arizona really has not picked this up yet, so I figure ya'll should know at least. Pederson fired his campaign manager and several other positions last week and installed Mario Diaz and Joe Yuhas as his campaign team. "Yuhas and Diaz are both Arizona public affairs and campaign veterans and their appointments come on the heels of some grumblings that Pederson was relying too much on out-of-state campaign staff and consultants." "Diaz did not work on Kerry's general election effort and has a reputation for some hardball political tactics. He currently heads his own public affairs and consulting firm in Phoenix." Mario Diaz was most recently the campaign manager for John Kerry's presidential run in the 2004 Democratic Primary for Arizona. Before that he led then Attorney General Janet Napolitano to a stunning upset victory that wrestled controll of Arizona's Governorship from the Republicans. Mario is known mostly for his hardball approach to politics including the renaming of "Squaw Peak" by threatening the Chairman of the Board that renames historical monuments and then getting caught using state property to usurp Gov. Bill Richardson's campaign staff training camp by getting it to come to Arizona instead of New Mexico and renaming the camp to "Camp Napolitano" instead of "Camp Richardson". The scandal in that affair was he sent out some e-mails about the camp using his state e-mail account on accident since both his personal account and his state account are linked on his BlackBerry. There are few political staff in Arizona to be known as so cut throat and hard knuckled. This should be a great shake up to a faltering campaign.
Talton has Lost It. I try to ignore Jon Talton, and indeed, if he were a writer at a small newspaper, new hire, or blogger working on a labor of love, I would never single him out. But Jon Talton is the Business columnist in the state's newspaper of record. He makes six figures and has a position that requires some degree of responsibility. This blog entry is scary. When I worked at the Senate, we would turn letters like this over to security. Take a second and read it...
Ready, air, fire02/14/2006 08:17:34 
The TV talking heads and radio demagogues can't poo-poo the Cheney hunting accident fast enough. There are, they seem to be saying, more important issues facing the nation. Aside from the VP's "I am above the law manner" (or is it a Teddy Kennedy after Chappaquidick attitude?), there are more important things. Such as the administration coming clean about breaking the law to out a CIA agent in order to settle a political grudge. Such as accounting for the billions spent in Iraq, including a "lost" $9 billion, and the country has less electricity, oil and safety than before the invasion. Such as climate change, and stopping the White House effort to give sweetheart deals to oil companies while doing nothing about global warmiing. And on and on. Bloggers who haven't drunk the Kool-Aid can add their own. Ready, aim, fire. It's more that Cheney did.
Wow, where to begin. Now, I'm in no position to complain about typos and we've all split an infinitive, used "effect" instead of "affect" or "further" instead of "farther." And we all have our chronic mistakes. I tend to use "it's" and "its" interchangeably. But Talton went to J school and he works for a major newspaper. The five typos in the column are an indication that he's sloppy or angry or perhaps both. First, the title should read "aim", not "air." The word poo-poo is supposed to be spelled pooh-pooh. (Unless you are dealing with preschoolers who say things like "your mommy is a poo-poo head.") Chappaquiddick is spelled incorrectly, and he has a typo in the word "warming." Finally, in the last line, he means "than" not "that." And what does "Ready, aim fire" have to do with the rest of the column anyway? Those are just symptoms. The real problem with the column is that it is an angry, incoherent rant--one long sentence filled with conspiracy theories and Kool-Aid references. James Joyce meets the Unibomber. After reading this column, I know that Talton's garage is filled to capacity with copies of Catcher in the Rye. Does this really matter? How does Talton affect the Republic? First is the "one bozo effect." What do you think of the Legislature? Just a bunch of clowns right? Actually, the Legislature is filled with people who are much smarter and better educated than average. I served with several Harvard lawyers, not to mention the engineers, doctors, genuine war heroes and the occasional test pilot. So why are they held in such low esteem? Because there is always one bozo, and it only takes one vocal bozo to give the impression that the entire place is populated with idiots. Talton is the Republic's bozo. No matter how talented the rest of the reporters, columnists and editors are, the paper will be regarded as a confederacy of bozos. Second, Talton's typo-laden stream of consciousness rants eliminate his credibility when he needs to make the case for an issue that's actually important to the Republic. Who is going to quote Jon Talton's support of the upcoming Phoenix Bond Election? No one. The guy's a laughingstock. Who cares what he thinks about a bond election? Or the Civic Center, or biotech? That's why most companies don't let their employees go off half cocked. It diminishes their credibility when they have to make a point on behalf of their employer. Finally Talton hurts the Republic because the paper doesn't have a true business columnist. Newspapers are increasingly serving niche audiences. Some folks subscribe for the sports page. My wife read the Dillard's ads. I read politics and business. The paper tries to enhance its circulation by creating features that appeal to a wider audience. That's why you see new sections like "Y.E.S., Your Essential Style." I don't read that, but who cares; I already subscribe. Every paper needs a traditional business columnist and most of them actually know a little bit about business and don't spend every column chastising the Kookocracy, the Real Estate Industrial Complex or Wal-Mart. Even the Arizona Daily Star has a traditional business columnist. Talton was supposed to fill that role. Now, those readers simply go elsewhere. The next letter is from Ed Foster who was a Republic reporter for many years. He has some insight on what's happening in the newspaper business. (Notice that his interest is business, so the subscribes to the Wall Street Journal instead of the Republic.)
Here's a Great Letter. Greg: I ran across this in the Wall Street Journal. It confirmed what I thought I already knew. Nonetheless, it is stunning. Newspaper executives have to be worried sick by this. It is from a story about the Bismarck (ND) Tribune. The article’s thrust is that rural papers have continued to prosper. They have less competition from broadband, and they focus intensely on local issues. However, the killer information was in the last two paragraphs: "One of the reasons that the newspapers out here hung on longer than most is that the people out here, because of our rural nature, were more reluctant to adapt to the Internet," says Steve Scheel, chairman and chief executive of Scheels All Sports Inc. That is changing. Scheels, a family-run business based in Fargo with 22 sporting-goods stores, has about 3,000 employees, a little more than half of whom are 40 years old or younger. The company took a poll recently, Mr. Scheel says, and almost no one in that age range got the local paper at home. At the same time, the response rate to the company's newspaper ads is half of what it was 10 years ago, he says. So increasingly, Mr. Scheel is skipping newspaper ads and reaching out to customers directly through email. Just think: This guy has 1,500 employees under 40, and practically none subscribe to a newspaper. I have three guys working for me under 40. They don’t take a paper, either. Nor do other people around the office, as far as I know. (I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal.) Newspapers are floundering around, looking for a model that works. They’ve made their big money on advertising, traditionally. They used to say that they lost money on every subscriber. Subscribers are necessary to attract advertisers. Newspapers are aggregating eyeballs on the Internet. But how do you get people to look at advertising there? Even though dead-tree newspapers are still the best vehicle for mass advertising, more retailers are turning to mail. And the real danger is the loss of classified advertising. There are numerous ways to advertise your old car on the Internet. Many are free. The same is true for employers looking for help. I use sites like Monster.com, not newspapers. (Newspapers own CareerBuilder.com.) Classified advertising is the newspapers’ gold mine. They’re in the process of losing it. That’s got to hurt. Traditionally, the local publisher has been among the most powerful people in town. Think of Eugene C. Pulliam and Duke Tully. Nobody in their right mind crossed them. Even five years ago, this was an immensely powerful business. Newspaper executives would tell you that they are still making huge profits. That was true of GM and Ford until a few years ago, too. The writing is on the wall. Ed Foster
February 14, 2006 An Interview with Len Munsil
Len Munsil is an Arizona native, graduating from Scottsdale High School and Arizona State University. At ASU, he served as Editor of the university's daily newspaper. He was named Outstanding Journalism Graduate of the Walter Cronkite School. From 1981 to 1985 he was a professional sportswriter for the Scottsdale Daily Progress (now Tribune.) Munsil was founding President and General Counsel for The Center for Arizona Policy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy organization, and presided over CAP's rapid growth into one of the largest and most powerful state public policy organizations in the United States, with a staff of 18 and a 2005 budget of nearly 1.8 million. Mr. Munsil and I recently had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen in Scottsdale. Espresso Pundit: So when God told you to run for Governor, was the shrubbery in your yard on fire? Len Munsil: Actually, the first time God appeared to me, I was driving my car and it began to rain…inside the car... and this fellow who looked like George Burns just appeared next to me. EP: And the second time? LM: Morgan Freeman in a white suit. Seriously, the decision to run for Governor was a monumental decision – I was in charge of a highly successful conservative think tank that I’d started from scratch. It was a job I loved, and one that provided well for my family. The decision to give it up and move in a new direction was very difficult. Of course I prayed hard about it, and came to a decision. I think most people can understand that. EP: Based on some of the media coverage, I’m tempted to ask you how old the Earth is. LM: (Laughing) I went to law school, which is the opposite of seminary. I am not a theologian, and I’m not running for a theological position. I’m also not a scientist. EP: Let’s discuss some real issues, how about immigration? LM: The Governor ignored illegal immigration for 3 years until it showed up in her polls. People want to see the rule of law enforced and the border secured, and I think the people of this state are ready to spend money to do that. That view is particularly strong in Southern Arizona where the invasion is felt most profoundly. EP: What is your stand on school choice? LM: I received a great education in the Arizona public school system. But I think parents should be empowered to have all the choices possible – wherever their kids happen to be educated. The Governor has done everything she can to interfere with parental choice. Monopolies don’t work and our schools will improve if they are forced to compete. We need to begin focusing less on money and more on producing educated students. We could be first in money spent per child and last in educational outcome, like Washington D.C. I would rather be first in test scores, and that’s what should be measured. The incumbent’s solution to every problem is to throw money at it without any accountability for improvement. EP: Do you think your views on social issues will be viewed as extreme? LM: No. My views on those issues are identical to those of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, both popularly elected presidents. Those views are absolutely in the mainstream. For example, Arizonans don’t support unrestricted abortion on demand. Governor Napolitano does. She has said no restriction on abortion would be acceptable to her. She opposes any reasonable regulation – parental consent, women’s right to know bills, sex selection abortions, even late term and partial-birth abortions. Now that’s extreme. And most people believe we should not allow activist judges to redefine the institution of marriage. But my campaign for governor is not about a few social issues. My core values line up with the core values of most Arizonans, and that will become clear. EP: How about the fiscal issues? LM: I’m a Reagan Republican across the board and always have been. Although much of my professional career focused on other aspects of policy, I have always believed in limited government. Individuals always know better what to do with their money than the government does. I’ve already come out in favor of across-the-board tax cuts. As a college journalist I wrote about economic freedom. During the Reagan administration, when I was in Washington DC, I had many discussions on economic freedom with other young conservatives from Heritage, CATO and The Federalist Society. Here in Arizona, I have financially supported the excellent work of the Goldwater Institute. EP: What were you doing in DC? LM: I worked at the Legal Services Corporation in Washington between college and law school. We worked to ensure that the organization did what it was intended to do … help poor people with legal issues. A few years earlier, with Hillary Clinton on its board of directors, it had turned into a lobbying group for left-wing lawyers. We tried to fix that. EP: You are an attorney; you clerked for a federal judge; and CAP has been active in judicial selection issues. You have also been critical of Governor Napolitano’s Supreme Court picks. LM: I’ve been writing about judicial activism since I founded The Federalist Society at ASU in 1985. It is imperative that Judges understand their role is limited to interpreting law. Like Chief Justice Roberts said – they must be umpires. Some judges use their unchecked power to impose their policy preferences on the rest of us by making new laws. Right now there’s a federal judge in Tucson who is dictating precisely how young children must be taught English. The Governor seems to think judges ought to be allowed to make new law, usually because they are reaching liberal conclusions with which she agrees. As a private lawyer she went to Congress and fought against Republican judicial nominees. Her Supreme Court appointments are surely capable lawyers, but there’s no reason to believe they will exercise judicial restraint. EP: There is some tension between the pro-life and pro-choice wings of the Republican Party. The race between John Greene and Andy Thomas comes to mind. Greene is more of a libertarian and certainly not a RINO. He was a conservative Senate President and the Goldwater Institute named him one of their “Champions of the Millennium.” Yet the religious Conservatives in the Republican Party treat him badly. Rightly or wrongly, you have come to symbolize the pro-life wing. LM: Yes, there’s some tension there. I agree with you about Greene – he is not a liberal or a RINO, he is a movement conservative who leans strongly libertarian on social issues. While I profoundly disagree with him on social issues – and my views, not his, are consistent with the Republican platform – I respect his intellect and his commitment to limited government Some, in the heat of battle, may not always have given him the benefit of the doubt. He should know that I’m much closer to a Jon Kyl in terms of approach and civility and respect for those who disagree than he realizes. EP: Will you endorse John Greene if he beats you? LM: Absolutely, I would support John Greene or whoever wins the Republican primary. Social conservatives need to understand that John Greene would be a much better Governor than Gov. Napolitano, even on social issues. He would sign a ban on late-term abortions, for example. Napolitano would not. And on tax and spend issues, there is no comparison. For either one of us to be elected, we need each other’s supporters. That’s why we absolutely cannot have a divisive primary. EP: Aren’t you and the other Republican challengers just vying for the opportunity to get crushed by Napolitano? LM: Long before I decided to run, I thought she was vulnerable to a principled economic and social conservative. She’s smart and formidable. But, she was appointed to her first position of leadership—US Attorney. Then she was narrowly elected Attorney General after the Republicans imploded. Then she was elected Governor in a perfect storm, and she won narrowly. It took 5 days to confirm that she won. EP: So do you go back to CAP if you lose? LM: No, I’m not going back to CAP. CAP is in great shape with great leadership. But I don’t expect to lose. I intend to win. EP: Thanks for taking the time to meet with me Len. LM: Thank you Greg.
Al Gore becomes Jane Fonda
Former Vice President Al Gore told a mainly Saudi audience on Sunday that the U.S. government committed "terrible abuses" against Arabs after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and that most Americans did not support such treatment. Fifteen of the 19 September 11th hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. So I have one bit of advice for Al Gore. The next time that you decide to make a quick buck by flying to Saudi Arabia and trashing America...stay there. I'm not as concerned about exactly when he turned on America, I want to know when he decided to become a Trekkie.
February 13, 2006 This is an awesome Brokeback parody.
Here's My Advice: Don't go Hunting with Cheney In 2003, Justice Scalia went duck hunting with Vice President Dick Cheney and was subject to substantial criticism. Vice President Dick Cheney and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia spent part of last week duck hunting together at a private camp in southern Louisiana, just three weeks after the court agreed to take up the vice president's appeal in lawsuits over his handling of the administration's energy task force, the Los Angeles Times says in its Saturday editions. Scalia has a thick hide, but at least he didn't experience this: Cheney accidentally shoots hunting companion Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally wounded a companion with shotgun pellets on a weekend quail hunt in Texas, his office said on Sunday. Cheney's companion, Harry Whittington, 78, was listed in stable condition after being brought in on Saturday night. As we speak, Ann Coulter is forging an invitation from Cheney to her favorite Supreme Court Justice. Dear Justice Stevens, Please join me on a duck hunting trip to Texas, I promise that it will be a blast. Just think, Cheney is a heartbeat away from the REAL trigger.
The Vetoes are Starting to get National Attention This from Fox News... During budget negotiations last summer, Gov. Napolitano agreed to provide $5 million in tax credits for corporations contributing to private-school scholarship funds for low-income students who now attend public schools. The governor -- long opposed to school choice -- explained at a news conference that “the $5 million tax credit was not a bad price to pay” to reach a budget compromise But days later, Napolitano changed her mind and vetoed the measure. She told the Arizona Republic she did this because the tax credit wouldn’t automatically “sunset,” as she had requested in the negotiations. Jim Weiers, then the Republican speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, couldn’t believe his ears. “There's only one way to put this,” he said. “The governor lied to me.” Consider this: On Jan. 11 of this year, the state legislature again passed tax credits for school choice. And this time, it included the sunset provision Gov. Napolitano had requested. A few days later, Gov. Napolitano vetoed the measure again. This time, she said she will consider a tax credit only during budget negotiations in the spring. Just wait until Fox notices that she has vetoed Flores three times. I can see the headline now: "No Illegal Alien Left Behind"
Congressional Quarterly on District 8
Many Arizona Republicans welcomed the recent announcements by state Rep. Steve Huffman and former party official Mike Hellon that they were joining the GOP primary field in the state’s 8th District, which is held by retiring 11-term GOP Rep. Jim Kolbe. For these Republicans, Huffman and Hellon would be stronger candidates in the November election than former state Rep. Randy Graf, a strongly conservative contender who took a respectable 43 percent of the vote against Kolbe in the 2004 primary. Kolbe, a prominent GOP moderate, has said Graf cannot win a general election that should be highly competitive. Huffman and Hellon are regarded as more centrist-minded Republicans in the mold of Kolbe, who is one of the most prominent GOP moderates in Congress and who usually dominated elections in the 8th, a southeastern Arizona district that includes part of Tucson and its suburbs. Here's the rub. Yet the near-simultaneous entry of Huffman and Hellon does raise the possibility that the two men might split the votes of moderate Republicans and allow Graf to prevail in the Sept. 12 primary. Here's an interesting point. Kolbe has not endorsed a candidate in the primary but has vocally opposed Graf, whom he says “could not, under any circumstances, win the general election.”
February 10, 2006 Jon Talton: Unhinged The Republic has opened its blog page to its columnists and for the most part it's been successful. Most of the columnists are talented and write well--Robb, Nowicki and Montini certainly fit this category and have done an excellent job capturing the casual, insider tone that makes a blog enjoyable. Talton however has used his spot on the Republic's Blog page to unleash a stunning display of invective. His entries drip with steam of consciousness displays of venom and name calling. This entry is typical. Right-wing extremists have long been enamored of TABOR, the so-called Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which would set stingy and arbitrary limits on government expenditures, tying the hands of elected leaders. It's the ultimate expression of "starve the beast," their approach to governing. Naturally, the Kookocracy in Arizona loves it. This is from Thursday. I’m sure some so-called conservatives, who usually wrap themselves in the Constitution, are happy to give up their freedom for a little perceived security, and they hope most Americans are too busy working/shopping/driving to notice. We’re driving all right, on the road to dictatorship. This is how he began his preview of the State of the Union address. Caesar goes before the Senate (and the House) tonight. Makes me wonder why he bothers. Kookocracy? the road to dictatorship? Caesar? My gosh, Talton is the BUSINESS columnist. Are there no grown ups at the Republic? Is there not one person on the top floor who can say "enough"? Someone who gets monthly reports of declining circulation and tries to compensate by creating new and interesting niche markets to compensate for declining core readership? Someone who perhaps has a really nice office and got it by making tough decisions? Does that person exist at the Republic? There are thoughtful and talented people at the Republic, but allowing one columnist to use his position to unleash a daily stream of nihilism damages the reputation of the entire paper. Someone in a position of responsibility, someone who provides adult supervision, someone who has a really nice office, needs to convert Talton: Unhinged into Talton: Unplugged. Click here for more examples of Talton's daily rants.
What Goes Around... This from The Hill During his visit in Washington this week, Arizona congressional candidate Randy Graf said his biggest challenge could be dodging attacks from Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), who is retiring this year at the end of his 11th term.
More Pima County News Pima County Democratic Party chairman Paul Eckerstrom is stepping down at the end of the month, he announced Wednesday. Eckerstrom, who was elected chairman of the party in 2003, cited the need to focus on his family as his reason for his resignation. Here's the Star's take on it: Eckerstrom quitting as head of Pima Democrats
February 8, 2006 Looks like Obama's off McCain's Christmas Card List. Dear Senator Obama:
It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye. The internecine battle between the left wing of the Democratic party and the far left wing of the Democratic party has been fun to watch. It's not a big tent, but it sure is a wide one. Both sides briefly coalesced while the national media was momentarily obsessed with Cindy Sheehan. The normal left remained on the sidelines cheering on the far left starlet while she camped outside the president's ranch in Crawford. Then after creating Sheehan, the media and the Democrats were stunned to discover that she was no longer content to challenge Bush. Now she's going after her own party. Cindy Sheehan, the peace activist who set up camp near President Bush's Texas ranch last summer, said Saturday she is considering running against Sen. Dianne Feinstein to protest what she called the California lawmaker's support for the war in Iraq.
February 7, 2006 Blogging from a Glass House
Tucson's über blogger Ted Prezelski has noticed that Matt Salmon is the Chairman of the Republican party and also serves as a lobbyist. Tedski is somewhat torn. Salmon lobbies for the solar industry which is a cause that Ted supports, so Ted is acting like the guy who watches his mother in law drive off a cliff in his new Corvette. I don't have a problem with a lobbyist leading a state party. Even though being a state party chairman is a quasi-public office, it doesn't possess the real constitutional power of a state legislator or county row officer. However, this seems to be sketchy. Ted actually has a point. However, there is no such thing as a "quasi-public" office. The Chairmen of the state's two largest political parties are almost certainly holding a public office. In fact, Party Chairmen are elected to their position by Precinct Committeemen who are themselves elected by voters during the Primary Election. Furthermore, the Party Chairmen have duties imposed on them by statute. ARS 16-344, for example, indicates that the State Party Chairman names the Presidential Electors that appear on the ballot for each party and 16-168 states that the official precinct registers are to be delivered to the State Party Chairman who then determines their use and distribution. Ted may think that it's "sketchy" to be a lobbyist and hold the office of Party Chairman, but it's clearly legal. However Democratic Party Chairman Harry Mitchell is a sitting State Senator. The Arizona Constitution Article 4 Part 2 Section 5 says No member of the legislature, during the term for which he shall have been elected or appointed shall be eligible to hold any other office or be otherwise employed by the state of Arizona or, any county or incorporated city or town thereof. The provision is strict. The Attorney General has opined, for example, that a potential Legislator who was a member of a city planning and zoning board was in violation of this provision. In January, Senator Bill Brotherton filed an ethics complaint against Senator Jack Harper because he "had concerns" over Harper's handling of the District 20 investigation. Maybe it's time for a Senator or two to express some "concern" to the Ethics Committee about the fact that Senator Harry Mitchell appears to be in violation of the Constitution by holding a public office in addition to his State Senate seat. Post Script Senator Mitchell would be on shaky ethical ground even if the Constitution didn't forbid him to hold another office. The Party Chairman is completely partisan. I am not the least bit offended if Senate President Ken Bennett says he wants to work with the governor to move the state forward. But I don't want to hear Matt Salmon talking about working out a "win win" with the Governor. I don't want him to say that Jim Pederson would make a fine Senator. Likewise, Harry Mitchell--in his role as Party Chairman--is expected to provide no quarter to Republicans. However, Senator Mitchell is supposed to represent all of his constituents--Republicans and Democrats. Senator Mitchell is supposed to work for the good of the State. Chairman Mitchell is supposed to work for the good of the Democratic Party. Many times those duties will conflict. To be sure, Senators are partisan. But if you don't spend much time at the legislature, you may be surprised to learn that Senators take their role as representatives of a broad populace very seriously. When I speak to Democratic Senator Ken Cheuvront, for example, he is always gracious and professional. I would never expect him to take a partisan jab at me because I'm a Republican. Senator Mitchell doesn't have that luxury. In fact Senator Mitchell was pushing hard for the investigation of Harper. Was he doing so in his capacity as a Senator, or in his capacity as Chairman? If Mitchell ends up in front of the Ethics Committee, maybe someone should ask him.
Too Dusty for Rusty Former Senate Majority Leader Rusty Bowers sent me this really cool picture together with the following letter. The picture was taken by an Arizona Republic photographer from the roof of the Republic building. (The camera was mounted on the old tripod that the Republic used when they aimed lasers at Governor Mecham's office.)
Greg - A couple of years ago I was informed that the ADEQ used a "Technical Criteria Document" written under their care and oversight to evaluate whether naturally occurring events, so huge that they overwhelm our puny control mechanisms, should be considered when ADEQ is reviewing exceedances of our PM-10 standard. We had two or three that year and ADEQ was worried that it would impact our PM-10 goals with the EPA. If the factors describing certain events were on this checklist then an event could be flagged and not count against our efforts. Then some pointed out that the dates in question were right in the middle of the monsoon season. If you have lived through one summer here you would know in a hurry that then the storms come marching towards us, and the bursts of wind and rain start hitting the desert landscape, you get a little something called a dust storm. (See Attached - courtesy of the Republic) Coincidentally, the monitor infractions occurred on days when this happened, and ADEQ hoped to find a way around this natural event - which I dare say was not caused by Sand and Gravel trucks spinning brodies in the Catalinas! Imagine our collective surprise that the Technical Criteria Document did not allow any dust event associated with rainfall to be considered! For the last year plus ADEQ has been creating and vetting a new document that would be sufficient to consider dust storms of sufficient concentration to be reviewed and perhaps accepted for "flagging". An unnaturally large natural event! What we have faced these past two and one-half months are stagnation inversions. It naturally happens every year - right? Something you have to plan around it, according to the pollution police. With this particular stagnation has come a record 19 days of exceedances of the PM - 10 standard., with more in '06. More than in the last 17 years of record keeping (We had one last year). Also the valley has endured abnormally hot temperatures for this time of year, and by small coincidence - 101 plus days without rain and no end in sight. Because of this number we will fail our PM-10 plans and regulated sectors will have to reduce their PM-10 emissions by a mandatory 5% or face the loss of Federal transportation dollars. Now, facing a draconian future of 5% mandatory reductions at enormous effort and cost, we have to ask - why don't our environmental people show any enthusiasm about reviewing whether this seemingly unnaturally large natural event can't get "flagged" too? Dust storms and stagnation happen regularly. But when they are so huge that they overwhelm all our control measures, why don't our regulators go to bat for us? No way, they say. Not our job, they say. Feds won't accept it, they say--institutional lethargy across the board. I thought that the blogger’s blogger would find a solution and fire up them thar regalatarrs to get off the monitor and recognize that there are some things that can't be stopped. I would love to have heard their explanation of Mount Pinatubo. Sorry son, its natural. Now - stand that fellow and his leaf-blower up against the wall. Ready, aim - Rusty
Flores Update Last week I mentioned that Attorney General Terry Goddard had refused to defend the state by appealing the Flores case. Superintendent of Education Tom Horne has stepped into that breach. SUPERINTENDENT HORNE APPEALS FLORES DECISION; MOVES FOR STAY OF ENFORCEMENT PHOENIX (Tuesday, January 17, 2006) - State School Superintendent Tom Horne today filed his notice opposing both aspects of the Flores decision: the order exempting English language learners from passing the AIMS test to graduate, and the order imposing sanctions on the State until legislation is passed increasing funding for English language learners. Simultaneously, Motions to Stay the enforcement of both orders were filed with the trial court, a necessary precondition to seeking a stay from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The motions included many of the arguments ultimately to be included in the appellate briefs. Horne stated: “Both motions raise constitutional arguments that the Court does not have jurisdiction to dictate education policy to the state of Arizona. While it is good policy to ensure that everything is being done to teach English to English language learners as quickly as possible, this is properly a legislative function; details of education policy should not be dictated to the state by a federal court. Among the bases raised are the 10th, 11th and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution. The 10th Amendment reserves to the states those powers, which should include the details of education policy, not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution. The 11th Amendment prohibits suits against states in federal courts. The 14th Amendment, which was the purported bases for the statute relied upon by the court, requires equal treatment, and cannot be used to require that one group of students receive favorable treatment over another. Indeed, applying lower standards to English language learners than to other students is the opposite of preferential treatment.”
February 6, 2006
The Ultimate test of Post Modernism
Post modernism values tolerance above--and often to the exclusion of--all other virtues. The post modern mind refuses to acknowledge that some ideas, cultures, values, traditions and practices can be better or worse than others. After all, there is no "right" answer, there is no "inherent" good--simply different perspectives. Who are we to export our xenophobic, ethnocentric, imperialistic views to the world? Post modernism finds its strongest adherents in academia, European capitols, the mainstream media, American schools and the Move.On wing of the Democratic party. Those institutions have become unable to recognize, much less confront, true evil. The New York Times and NPR crowd will continue to debate the "privacy rights" of known terrorists while European embassies burn across the Middle East. The debate is so vociferous and the "culture war" is so intense because the dominant paradigm of the world's cultural elite is coming unraveled. The world will soon be divided into those who: recognize evil, call it evil and resist it as evil and their counterparts...the remnant who remain in government funded universities, dying newspapers and on the slopes of Davos clinging to a doctrine of relativism, tolerance and weakness.
The Crisis Deepens If you have been following the Flores case, you will recall that a federal judge is holding the state in contempt for failing to provide enough money for ELL students. Terry Goddard and Governor Napolitano agree with his position and haven't defended the state by appealing. The Legislature has passed three bills to solve the problem and Governor Napolitano has vetoed them instead of allowing the judge to decide it they comply. The judge has imposed an escalating series of fines and the Governor has requested that the money be spent on ELL students--thus circumventing the appropriations process. State Treasurer David Peterson has indicated that, absent an appropriation, he does not have the authority to issue a check for the fines. The latest wrinkle is that the Governor has instructed the Department of Administration Director Bill Bell to write the checks. If the state Treasurer doesn't have the authority to write a check from the general fund in the absence of an appropriation, what makes the Governor think she can bypass the Treasure's office and instruct one of her appointees to write it?
February 4, 2006
That was Then... "Until we have a comprehensive agreement about next year's budget, it is premature to consider individual budget-related legislation on a piecemeal budget," Letter from the Governor to House Speaker Jim Weiers explaining her veto of the Tuition tax credits. January 18, 2006 This is Now... Governor Napolitano today signed into law most of a fast-track bill passed by the Legislature to give state employees a salary raise that includes a one-thousand-650 dollar increase in annual pay and possibly more based on performance. January 30, 2006
Don't Ask. Don't Tell? This was in my in basket.
----- Original Message -----
From:
Arizona Together
To:
greg@azcpa.org
Sent: Friday, February 03, 2006 7:15 AM
Subject: Campaign Boot Camp
ACLU Ballot Initiative Training To help ACLU affiliates and state-based LGBT organizations effectively fight back marriage amendments, the ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project is offering the "Fighting for Marriage Ballot Initiative Training" in Phoenix from Thursday, February 9th to Sunday, February 12th.
Here's a Response to Goldwater on Talton Greg, Very concise article about school choice, (Goldwater Institute on Talton) I checked the AIMS scores from the AZ Department of Education. Just for Kenilworth, Spring 2005, Grade 8, Category 1 test takers, 37 students took the math portion. 35% fell far below the objective, 24% approached (but did not meet) the objective, and 41% met the objective. No one exceeded the objective. (I love the double-speak terms the depart. of ed. uses so that they can avoid saying that 59% of the kids failed the test.) Reading is much better, 39% failed, 61% passed. Writing is the high point, 18% failed, 82% passed. Remember that Category 1 are the English proficient students. I love using the AIMS report wizard (http://www.ade.state.az.us/profile/publicview) on the Department of Ed's web site. It is the biggest single piece of evidence in favor of vouchers. It shows the latest raw data for how many children are failing the state's own test. John from Pima County
Maybe She checked "Native American." I saw this headline in an Associated Press story. "Minority Lawmakers Unite After Katrina" Much to my surprise it contained the following picture.
The article initially didn't offer any clues... WASHINGTON - The racial divide exposed by Hurricane Katrina has united minority lawmakers in Congress who hope to leverage their numbers to aid overlooked communities. However, in the 6th paragraph we get our answer. "What happened in Katrina can be a lesson to understanding what could happen in other areas," said Rep. Grace Napolitano D-Calif., who heads the Hispanic caucus.
February 3, 2006 Chip Scutari an Richard Hatch: Separated at Birth. Becky Fenger has the proof and she swears it's not Photoshop. (I bet Chip wears pants and pays taxes.)
And now for something a little more serious: An Interview with Jan Smith Florez
Jan Smith Florez, the first in her family of eight siblings to graduate from college, was a public and parochial school teacher and adjunct professor for over fourteen years. Smith Florez continued to teach as she worked her way through law school at the University of Arizona. Smith Florez was elected to the office of Santa Cruz County Attorney and was later appointed to be a judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals by Gov. Symington. She has been honored as one of the 100 Outstanding Women and Minority Lawyers in the History of Arizona by the Arizona State Bar. She is a resident of Nogales and has lived on the border for the last thirty-five years. She is fluent in Spanish and teaches Sunday School at Emmanuel Baptist Church, a bilingual congregation in Nogales. Espresso Pundit: You have lived near the border for 35 years. What is your solution to the illegal immigration issue? Jan Smith Florez: There are a limited number of things that we as a state can do—but we should do those. The Governor is moving slowly, so slowly, but I’m glad she is finally waking up. I call her “Janet- come-lately” as to every issue. This is just one example. EP: what do you propose? JF Well, to start, we can make it a state crime to be here illegally. We need to create a business environment that doesn’t depend on illegal immigrant labor. Crack down on illegal documents. Help employers verify eligibility for work in an efficient, secure, reliable manner. Sanction employers who knowingly hire illegal workers. Jan Brewer’s going to kill me, but I advocate a wholesale re-registration of voters. Every 10 years, we need to make everyone reregister. Increase the penalty for using fraudulent documents to get benefits. Not provide driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants. EP: Troops on the border? JF: This is a federal obligation but where there is a role for the state, we should act. Any objections that I have would be tactical, not philosophical. We have a right to secure our border and a responsibility to secure our border and after 9/11, we no longer have a choice. EP: What about the steps the Governor has taken? JF: She has only come recently to these positions and her base will never hold her accountable for her words, but the rest of the state needs to hold her accountable. She sent DPS down to the border to watch the Minutemen. She made a big deal out of sending the DPS officers, but they did nothing that I can find out that helped stop illegal immigration. She’s poisoned the water with the feds and her real purpose is to subvert federal efforts. She’s reluctant to make Arizona unattractive to illegal immigrants. She was US attorney, AG and then Governor. Only now does she finally see the need; then she makes empty promises. She’ll be reluctant to do anything on this just like she’s been reluctant to enforce Prop 200. I hope Arizonans are tired of words and ready for actions on the border issues. EP: Wow, how do you really feel? How about a fence? JF: Strategic use of a fence is a good idea, but a solid fence isn’t that practical; we need a virtual fence. People don’t realize how rugged the border terrain is. I’ve been 35 years on the border it would be very difficult to build a physical fence. EP: How are you planning to collect 4,000 $5 forms? JF: Traditional Republican groups and Independents. I’m making a bipartisan push in southern Arizona. EP Why is that? JF: I was elected as County Attorney in Santa Cruz County. I have broad bipartisan support in Southern Arizona. EP I noticed that you are wearing a right to life pin on your lapel. JF Yes, I’m very Pro-life. EP Since you are a retired judge, I’m curious about your views on judicial reform. JF: At the Supreme Court level when some cases are really policy decisions, it is important to have people who will show restraint. She has appointed young, dynamic liberal thinkers to the Supreme Court, her lasting imprint will be on the judicial system because of the judges. EP: So you support the current process, but you would pick different people. Are her Supreme Court picks turning out to be that liberal? We don’t know yet. We will have to see how they turn out. Both are very intelligent men; the direction they will turn the law in our state is yet to be seen. EP: What about electing judges? Electing judges rarely engenders respect for the judicial system or government in general. Electing judges is brutal and unseemly. And, apparently the merit selection system isn’t that much better. I don’t have a better suggestion as to a method, frankly. But, whatever system, every person involved must maintain at the highest ethical and moral levels. Otherwise, no system will work. I don’t think the problem is so much with the method as with the manner it is executed. EP: I assume there’s no relation between you and the famous Flores case that’s creating an impasse at the legislature. JF No, but we’re both from Nogales. EP: What do you think of the case? JF: I think it’s pretty outrageous. But, the only one who can determine if it’s outrageous is an appellate judge. We need an answer to that question, but Goddard didn’t appeal the decision. I am hopeful that it is appealed by others who have standing to do so. EP: How would you handle the case if you were Governor? JF: I would work with the legislature and the judge. When I become Governor, I will let the legislators know how federal dollars are spent. I would make sure that all dollars go where they are needed, not where they are needed only for political benefit. I would seek a solution for the benefit of the ELL students without grandstanding or showboating. EP: What would you do with the current budget surplus? To the extent it exists, we need to pay back funds that were swept as well as replenish the rainy day fund. That fund is like a 401K. The education and HURF funds are earmarked for a certain situations but were used in a crunch; we now need to replace them. And, another rainy day will come; we need to be prepared. If there remains a surplus after that, it should be returned to the tax payers whose money it really is. She sounds like she’s trying to give raises to everyone. She’s not dealing with reality. I was a teacher for 14 years. I know what teachers make. It’s not enough, but I think local districts should determine teachers’ salaries. We don’t need more power concentrated in Phoenix. In general, I defer to local control. EP: Speaking of education, what’s your stand on school choice? JF: I believe in the widest variety of choice in educational alternatives: vouchers or tax credits or home schooling. When children’s education is at stake, our future is at stake. Why are we closing our minds to ideas that have actually worked. I think it’s a haughty attitude to think that only a system which often does not work is the only way. We need to encourage positive change to reach the desired result: a responsible, educated, and moral population. EP: Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. JF: Thank you, Greg.
February 2, 2006
Subpoenas in District 20 Federal authorities have issued a grand jury subpoena to Maricopa County Treasurer David Schweikert and have taken possession of the ballots in for the 2004 election in District 20. I contacted special assistant county attorney Barnett Lotstein to ask about the subpoenas. “This is the best of all worlds, an independent review. And that’s all we want. And they got a court order in the form of a grand jury subpoena. The ballots are in the process of being turned over to them. Lotstien stressed that the county Attorney’s office is very pleased by this development. “We are very pleased, there is no hesitancy, we want an independent review and we have always maintained that there needs to be a court order. A grand jury subpoena qualifies as a court order. We have no axe to grind, Andy Thomas endorsed Anton Orlich. Maricopa County Treasurer David Schweikert concurred. “My office is just the vault. I’ve been clear from the beginning that we would turn the ballots over as soon as we received the proper court order.” Schweikert confirmed that FBI agents showed up at his secured storage area in an unmarked white van and removed 32 boxes of ballots.
Espresso Pundit in Opinion Journal On January 18th, I commented on Dennis DeConcini's appointment to the Board of Regents. The online edition of the Wall Street Journal picked it up this morning.
February 1, 2006 That was Then... Chip Scutari
This is Now. After Napolitano's first veto on Tuesday, lawmakers worked into the night to respond. Republicans capped the unlimited tuition-tax credit plan at $50 million, but Napolitano has made it clear that she does not want tax credits in any English-learner bill. After the veto, Napolitano and Republican legislative leaders each pointed fingers at the other for the fines. Chip Scutari and Robbie Sherwood
Goldwater Institute on Talton
Jon Talton’s
January 29 column against the evils of providing English language
learners school choice offered up the following:
The real issue is
a sustained war by extremist lawmakers on public education. Bogus
‘school choice’ and other questionable experiments have been no
substitute for quality…It's all the more shocking considering that most
baby-boomer voters were the beneficiaries of quality public schools (as
I was at Kenilworth School in central Phoenix).
Kenilworth in
fact exemplifies the quality crisis facing our public schools. Test
score data from Greatschools.net reveals that Kenilworth’s eighth
graders, the end product in this PK-8 school in the Phoenix Elementary
District, scored near the bottom third of students nationally in
language arts, reading and math on the most recent Stanford 9 exam.
Kenilworth’s
district spent an average of $12,600 per 4-8th grade student in 2003.
The average private elementary and middle school tuition in Arizona, by
contrast, is about $3,700.
“Quality costs
money, and we're getting nowhere being second-from-last in student
funding,” Talton went on. Setting aside the canard that Arizona is
“second-from-last” (the truth is we’re right in the middle), Kenilworth
is case in point that more money doesn’t increase student achievement.
The only “questionable experiment” in this debate is continuing to spend
enormous amounts of money without teaching kids to read and write.
Feeling Strongly Both Ways The Business Journal's Mike Sunnucks steps into the breach and points out that consistency isn't one of the Governor's strong suits. Gov. Janet Napolitano is steering clear of the tenuous issue of whether the state should grant driver's license to illegal immigrants. Napolitano, in 2003, voiced support for a proposal that would allow illegal immigrants to get state driver's licenses. Now, the Democratic governor is staying away from the issue, declining to take stand on the matter or a proposal but forward by state Rep. Ben Miranda, D-Phoenix, that would allow illegals to get licenses.
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