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And seriously, you could easily get the Tea Baggers support on this.
North Arizona & South Arizona would each automatically get "smaller government". Tell them how tired we are of Arizona not balancing a budget for 3 years.
The correct terminology is 'separation,' not 'secession' - get it right Arizona Daily Star
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The Arizona Daily Star today published a front page story above the fold about the "Start Our State" Committee, Could Baja Arizona be 51st state in US? The sub-headline reads "Idea of Pima secession from state isn't new, but this time it's for real, new panel insists." Th...
Succession doesn't sound good. How about "spin-off" or "branching out?
The correct terminology is 'separation,' not 'secession' - get it right Arizona Daily Star
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The Arizona Daily Star today published a front page story above the fold about the "Start Our State" Committee, Could Baja Arizona be 51st state in US? The sub-headline reads "Idea of Pima secession from state isn't new, but this time it's for real, new panel insists." Th...
Finally!
I've been waiting for someone to realize that Massachusetts has a better health care reform package than the one being peddled in the Senate. They voted for a guy who voted for, and continues to support "Romney-care".
Why would those voters want a Senate health care bill that might jeopardize their own copay caps, their employer mandate, or their state-run "public option" for self employed workers?
Why would they want abortion restrictions, even to protect the health of the mother, to their insurance?
Massachusetts voters said in their polling that they would support better, stronger health care reform. It's not "reform" for them if they end up with something worse than they already have.
Why Did So Many Democrats Vote for Brown?
By Michael Bryan Why would Democrats who voted for Obama turn around and vote for a moderate Republican like Brown? I think a post-election poll from Moveon.org does a convincing job of answering the question: The plurality of Democrats who cast votes for Brown, or who simply stayed home, were...
They were against it not just because of KBR. Other huge defense contractors (a.k.a. Republican campaign contributors) would lose billions in government money.
Dyncorp for example.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0512270176dec27,0,1632557.story
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=DynCorp
The Carlyle Group & Bechtel require the same language in their contracts.
Rape-Nuts
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: You may have seen a recent segment of The Daily Show captioned "Rape-Nuts," pertaining to Sen. Al Franken's amendment to a defense appropriation bill banning the use of mandatory arbitration clauses in employment contracts which bar employees from suing their employer for...
I don't think the $250 payment is necessarily a good idea either. It's not just that there was no inflation. Overall cost of living has decreased in the past year even when you factor in medical costs. Social Security isn't designed around dealing with medical costs, Medicare and the VA are. Any increases for medical costs should come through those systems, and not SS. Providing an additional $250 coverage inside the "donut hole" would probably be a better solution.
Rep. Jeff Flake to Seniors: Screw you Grandma and Grandpa!
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The White House has announced a plan to give seniors and disabled veterans $250 each as part of a mini-economic stimulus plan to compensate them for the fact that there will be no cost of living adjustment (COLA) this year to Social Security benefits because there has bee...
Ah, I didn't realize you wanted REAL quotes. It's unfortunate you completely misunderstood my point.
Here is one you probably won't find on Wikipedia.
"Happy for us that when we find our constitutions defective and insufficient to secure the happiness of our people, we can assemble with all the coolness of philosophers and set it to rights, while every other nation on earth must have recourse to arms to amend or to restore their constitutions."
Jefferson was involved in no conspiracy to take up arms whatsoever. I recall the document he drafted was not a Declaration of War, but a Declaration of Independence. Jefferson did his best to avoid war with the country he previously served under as an officer. Most of Jefferson's time during the Revolutionary War was spent running away from Benedict Arnold and his silver handcuffs. The rest of his time was spent trying to get support from the French and praying for peace with Britain.
If you want to know how long until it goes from first resort to last resort, it took the colonists 12 years and 3 months from the passing of the sugar act until they publicly declared their independence. It took 11 years from the sugar act until the first shot was fired at Lexington. I would suppose though that you have felt "put upon" by your representative government for much longer than 11 years, and that could easily justify your shooting whomever you like, as YOU must be the true patriot fighting for the rights of all Americans (except the ones you are shooting since your rights would outweigh theirs...)
Given your criteria for elitism, you should probably stop quoting Jefferson and stick with quotes from Glenn Beck or some of your libertarian heroes.
"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to think anymore."
by David Safier Out of the pens of cartoonists. Two of the most astute, our own local treasure, Fitz, and the inimitable Gary Trudeau.
How many times did Jefferson take up arms again? I forgot he was such a gun-totin' rampaging maniac, shooting any politicians he disagreed with.
It reminds me of Jefferson's famous quote: "The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a FIRST resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government, or if they just don't like their current elected leaders, or their elected party is not in power, or if they don't want to be bothered with the political process (that I helped to create), or if they are ignorant, bigoted and angry."
Jefferson was a true warrior statesman.
"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to think anymore."
by David Safier Out of the pens of cartoonists. Two of the most astute, our own local treasure, Fitz, and the inimitable Gary Trudeau.
The rumor I'm starting is that the whole health-care "debate" is a screen for the upcoming blanket-pardon/amnesty for illegal immigrants late 2009, early 2010.
President Obama wants an accurate census count.
It's the reason he has ignored the "excluding illegals" portions of the reform bill.
It's the reason he's been meeting with Harper & Calderon.
It adds potentially 12 million votes to the Democratic party.
It potentially changes several Republican districts into Democratic ones.
He would get to call it "Bi-Partisan" as he could claim the support of John McCain & Lindsay Graham.
Etc, etc, etc.
Health care rope-a-dope?
by David Safier Allow me to indulge in a bit of hopeful fantasy. I wonder if the Democrats, intentionally or unintentionally, have been playing rope-a-dope with the health care debate. Maybe the conservatives have more tricks hidden away that will match the town meeting shouters and the Death Pa...
Sanford finally did something good for South Carolina. Setting back any potential Republican candidates for governor.
Gov. Mark Sanford resurfaces, admits to an extramarital affair
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Normally I refrain from commenting on the personal failings of politicians. You noticed that I did not go on about Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) recently admitting to an extramarital affair with a campaign staffer Nevada Senator Ensign Admits Affair With Former Staffer, even ...
"Foo! I say apply this ONLY on the athletic department."
All of the coaches are exempt from the pay cut.
I'm just asking
by David Safier Why do Arizona Senate Republicans want to tax the rich? Well, that's not exactly what they want. This is what was actually voted on. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday voted to slash the salary of every state and university employee earning at least $100,000 a year by...
No. You would still have to pay the unsubsidized price. Due to the system they have in place to keep all of the peripheral costs down and reducing outsized profit motives, that unsubsidized price would still be a lot lower than ours is.
Not a rhetorical question
by David Safier This morning's Star has an article, Medical tourism keeps growing, about people going to other countries to get medical treatment. The main example is of someone who got a hip replacement for $20,000 in New Zealand -- in Aukland, at a private hospital. The cost included travel an...
New Zealand does have subsidized healthcare.
It sounds like an excellent system. A couple of key points as a friend explained it to me:
Just like in the US, there are free clinics & you can receive treatment for life-threatening issues without insurance, but most people carry insurance.
It's a quasi-public/private system for health insurance. There are private plans you purchase. The plans are basically set up & run by the medical providers themselves. The plans are all required to be non-profit, they have to meet a minimum set of standards, are accountable to government oversight & receive public funding to subsidize keeping costs down.
No issues with malpractice costs as you cannot sue for malpractice (or for any injuries). They have a nationwide Workers Compensation type system that covers your financial needs if you get injured for just about any reason. (Kind of helps explain all the crazy adventure sports they come up with since their finances will be covered whenever they get injured)
Not a rhetorical question
by David Safier This morning's Star has an article, Medical tourism keeps growing, about people going to other countries to get medical treatment. The main example is of someone who got a hip replacement for $20,000 in New Zealand -- in Aukland, at a private hospital. The cost included travel an...
Matthew,
If I promise not to throw some random accusations at you of illegal activity, would you be willing to cite your sources for your European education spending numbers?
While trying to find where your data came from, I found that the EU agrees with your statement that there's no direct link between education spending & student performance.
http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/publication11902_en.pdf
Two dirty little secrets about tuition tax credits
by David Safier Here are two facts lots of people aren't aware of about the way School Tuition Organizations (STOs) give out individual tuition tax credit money. People who give tuition tax credits can recommend who they want the scholarship to go to, so long as the child is not a dependent. Th...
The 2 separate credits: 43.1183 & 43.1184. 43.1184 is the one without the income limit and defines "qualified students" as any child ever in foster care or children with disabilities. Disabilities for children 3-9 can, at the discretion of the state, be defined as nearly any developmental delay. Basically the only limitation in the AZ revised statutes states you cannot consider any developmental delay arising from living in a household where English is a secondary language. (Yup, it was the kid's own fault for being born to immigrants or Native Americans)
The scholarship limit is 90% of what the state is supposed to spend on the student's behalf, regardless if that is what they are spending or not.
http://www.azleg.gov/ars/43/01183.htm
This is the other, bigger credit for "low-income" children and still has an income limit. Under the current code, a family of 4 can earn up to $75,467 to qualify. Each child could then receive either $4,500 for K-8, or $5,800 for 9-12.
The income limit isn't that bad, but the "scholarship" amounts seem too high in this program if it's supposed to save the state any money.
"Not restricted for low income people"
by David Safier Steve Farley reporting from the special session to create a new $5 million corporate tuition tax credit: We did hear a lot of rhetoric about how private school choice is going to help everybody, if we can only unleash the free market to serve parents' needs. More to the point, we...
I've hiked the appalachian trail from it's start in Georgia, to about halfway through Smokey Mountains national park. Through most of that section of trail, I'd recommend carrying a gun.
On the way to SMNP, you will occasionally run across some sketchy people. It really saddens me that there has been some violent crimes on the trail. The AT travels through 6 national parks.
I've had friends do overnight hiking around Glacier national park & Katmai in Alaska, they'd recommend carrying a gun (and they did carry). Don't trust bells & pepper spray to keep you alive.
In some parks, it's just downright stupid to bring guns. Mammoth Cave is an easy example, but honestly there's no good reason for them in the Grand Canyon. At nearly all of the parks I've been, I felt perfectly safe.
Bill permits armed bears in national parks
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The credit card reform bill signed by President Obama on Friday contained a rider attached to it permitting armed bears in national parks and wildlife refuges. OK. I guess I can understand that. I mean, hunting is not really a "sport" unless the bears are armed and ca...
Mr. Ladner
"It's almost as amusing as watching the $9.2 billion public school elephant shriek in terror at the $50m tax credit mouse."
CityNorth was only $100 million.
"The credits have been around for 12 years. Wake me up when anyone on the progressive side wants to do anything more than bitch about them. My kingdom for an honest liberal..."
You guys are supposed to be Arizona's top government watchdog, but you won't do anything about Yarborough skimming a million dollars or more off the STO program because he'll introduce bills for you.
The Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) notes that language in the bill could be interpreted as allowing 185 percent of 185 percent of the limit required to qualify a child for reduced priced lunches. For fiscal year 2008-2009, that limit is $39,220 and 185 percent of that amount is $72,557.
Tough means test you've got there.
Can anyone tell me whether I'm right or wrong?
By David Safier In yesterday's post, Two dirty little secrets about tuition tax credits, I mainly presented facts about the way individual tuition tax credits are structured. But I also took three leaps into the realm of conjecture, and I would be grateful if anyone out there who has the facts w...
We should hope that Jesse Ventura doesn't get involved in the GOP. This is a guy who could reshape the party into something viable.
I'm betting Thane would vote for him.
Former Governor Jesse Ventura gets it right on torture
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura recently was a guest on Larry King Live! (isn't that an oxymoron?) and wasted no time in getting to the torture issue (at 1:20 into the video). Some snippets from Ventura: "We've created our own Hanoi Hilton. We can live with ...
I have to give the Republicans props on their timing of this. Any other time of year, the schools could threaten to close their doors. Can't really do that on summer break.
I hope the teacher's union is considering some action.
Dems not happy with raid on school funding
by David Safier I posted earlier today (What?) about the plan to withhold $300 million in state payments to school districts. That's bad enough, given how cash strapped schools are, but it's not the worst part. This is supposed to be a rollover, where you withhold payments now but make them some...
Since this is on the subject of education.
Cory Booker did an interesting article today on Hpost about education reform. I've been a fan of Mr. Booker for a few years.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cory-booker/a-hard-look-at-education_b_201368.html
He links to a group called the Alternative High School Initiative. http://www.ahsi.org/2009/01/newark-mayor-superintendent-launch-alternative-high-school-partnership/
So far, what I've read about their program is pretty good. I wonder if this is something that would even be possible here in Arizona with the state amendment the way it is.
Are Arizona's private school tax credits illegal?
by David Safier This is potentially very big news. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decided that portions of Arizona's private school tuition tax credit programs violate the U.S. Constitution. Before you pop champagne corks or pull out your pitchforks, depending on which side of the controv...
I really like his quote: "Americans are pragmatists. A pragmatist thinks that if something works, it's right. An ideologue believes that if something is wrong, it can't possibly work, even when it's working."
"The Republicans Aren't a Party, They're a Cult"
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Steve Benen writes the Political Animal blog at The Washington Monthly. He has an interesting post about a speech recently given by CNN political analyst Bill Schneider at UCLA. CNN's Bill Schneider is hardly a liberal voice in media. He's a resident fellow at the con...
This stuff always boggles me.
I went to Catholic schools and no one carried around Jesus pictures.
These guys will write a bill protecting a kid's religious ornamentation but are against protecting the same kids from getting strip searched for Advil.
Crandall: ban religious censorship in schools
by David Safier Here we go again. A student had a picture of a bloody Christ on the cross on her notebook. Another student complained, and the teacher sent the student to the principal, who said the student couldn't bring the notebook to school. The student had a right to complain about the note...
If this was really politically motivated they would have impounded his car, given it a few scratches & an impound fee.
I agree with you about having investigations, Greg.
As a democrat, I hope the last thing he does is apologize and try to put the story to rest. I want to see him bitch & moan & throw fits at the police & threaten to send in "big-shot" lawyers to sue the state & the officers. I'm sure he'll get plenty of sympathy from the public. Everyone around here just loves seeing d*bags in a "trans-am" ripping around the 101 at 110mph!
Keep on writing about this..... please!!!
What, No SWAT Team? Updated---Who is Bart Graves?
Let me get this straight. There are over 40,000 unserved felony warrants in Maricopa County alone and DPS sends a team to arrest the Executive Director of the Republican Party at his office--for a traffic ticket? OK, so it sounds like a serious ticket, but dude, it's a ticket. At worst it's a...
I hate that this is being pushed by Dodd....
-Thane. You say the Democrats let torture continue for the last 2 years. Everything I've seen so far is that it effectively stopped in 2007.
Nancy Pelosi blocked impeachment proceedings against President Bush. Hmm...I can only assume that the Republicans would also block impeachment proceedings against her in return....
Sen. Christopher Dodd is open to torture prosecutions
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Senator Christopher Dodd is the son of Thomas Dodd, who served as a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Tribunals after World War II. Thomas Dodd's cross-examination of Hermann Göring provided the centerpiece of the trials. In 2007, Senator Dodd published "Letters From Nuremberg:...
Said Kavanaugh: "I guess it's great to be a Democrat in a situation like this," he said. "Democrats, unfortunately, are myopic. They don't see beyond the current year. They don't see 2011."
I'm thinking Democrats do see 2011 pretty well. I'm hoping what they see is a Democrat sitting in District 8's seat so they can untangle this mess he's helping to make.
Kavanagh has a sensitive side
by David Safier Awhile back, in a post titled, Is Kavanagh somewhat warped?, I linked together a few sneering "It won't kill you" comments he made, referring to people who complained about cuts to education. At the end, I wrote, This is a man who makes fun of people who are in pain. He's the sch...
One of my favorite statements coming out of the Notre Dame commencement hoopla: “This crowd,” Mr. McBrien said, referring to conservative Catholics, “are simply Republicans who are upset that Obama won the election — and they want to pick a fight.”
I was very lucky to get to know well several Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, including Sister Barb Fiand & Sister Kay Brogle, while I lived in Cincinnati. There are many strong liberal voices in the Catholic church. Catholics United is a great example: http://www.catholics-united.org/
I also believe that having a fairly unpopular Pope following JP2 is driving more dissent against the conservative positions of the church.
The media conflates conservative criticism of President Obama delivering the commencement address at Notre Dame
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: I have been noticing over the past several weeks that the media has been conflating the criticism from a small number of very vocal anti-choice conservative Catholics, who are opposed to President Obama delivering the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, ...
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