Archive for July, 2009
July 17th, 2009, 12:19 pm by Le Templar
 Anti-tax protesters in Gilbert on July 4, 2009 (Tribune file photo by Darryl Webb). If a taxpayer town hall I attended last night at San Tan Flat is any harbinger of things to come, Gov. Jan Brewer is making a whole host of enemies within the Republican Party with her insistence on a statewide election for a temporary, 1-cent increase in the sales tax.
At least 120 people jammed into a side room for an event sponsored by Tom Jenney with Americans for Prosperity. While the meeting was ostensibly nonpartisan, these folks were almost universally Republicans from Queen Creek and Chandler.
They were upset that Brewer and a Republican-controlled Legislature have yet to adopt a balanced budget. But they seethed with anger that Brewer, widely viewed as a traditional conservative, is so adamant about the proposed sales tax increase instead of cutting back further on state government spending.
No one from the Brewer administration was present, but several Republican lawmakers from Gilbert and Chandler were pressed to explain the governor’s perspective. Rep. Andy Biggs and Sen. Thayer Verschoor (both from Gilbert) struggled to do so, but admitted they also oppose a sales tax election. At one point, a woman shouted out to ask why Brewer wasn’t supporting her own party. That word echoed off the lips of people around the room for long time (why? Why? WHY?) while the lawmakers looked around helplessly.
Others demanded that the lawmakers help to organize the Republican rank-and-file to flood Brewer’s office with phone calls, e-mails and faxes. The idea was that Brewer would change her mind and oppose a tax increase if she simply heard from enough protesters.
But Sen. John Huppenthal, R-Chandler, urged the crowd to not underestimate Brewer. Huppenthal has watched Brewer’s political career since they served together in the state Senate. The governor fights as hard as any politician in the state, Huppenthal said, and she never loses.
“When she’s on your side, she’s your best friend,” Huppenthal said. “But when she’s on the other side, it gets nasty. I have watched her go 13-0 in (political) death matches.”
Another person caught in the middle was Randy Pullen, the state Republican Party chairman, who sat quietly in the back until Biggs called Pullen out for issuing a news release supporting a sales tax election. Pullen said he backs an election because he’s convinced voters will reject higher taxes, and then Brewer and the Legislature will have no choice but to cut the budget further. Verschoor said he suspects that’s part of Brewer’s strategy as well.
Reacting to murmurs about a possible recall, Verschoor reminded the audience that Brewer is not Janet Napolitano, pointing to Brewer’s signing of bills in favor of gun rights and of placing new restrictions on abortions.
“I am grateful to have Jan Brewer in the governor’s office,” Verschoor said.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Congress • Election issues • Governor • Presidential campaign • Andy Biggs • Jan Brewer • John Huppenthal • state budget • TEA parties • Thayer Verschoor | 3 Comments »
July 16th, 2009, 4:33 pm by Le Templar
Wow, this seems messy. I wrote yesterday that Arizona State Treasurer Dean Martin had to borrow $130.9 million to complete the monthly state payment to local school districts. Martin blamed the lack of cash in the state bank on the Obama administration, claiming the feds were dragging their feet on the transfer of $250 million in stimulus dollars that Arizona is eligible for.
But Capitol Media Services is reporting today that Gov. Jan Brewer’s administration might be to blame, because it failed to correctly apply for the education stimulus money in the first place.
Brewer and the Legislature were counting on that $250 million this month to shore up the state’s daily cash-on-hand as they struggle to keep the budget balanced. But Capitol Media Services quotes Sandra Abrevaya, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education, as saying the federal stimulus law requires individual schools to apply for the funds and the money has go straight to schoolhouse — it can’t pass through the state’s hands.
The result of this is local school districts will get another $250 million, once they send in the correct applications to the federal education department with help from the state.
Meanwhile, Brewer and lawmakers will have to figure out how to get back $250 million already sent to school districts, or the state budget deficit will grow even bigger. Most likely, the state will reduce a future monthly payment by the same amount as part of a budget special session. But the state has to be sure such cuts wouldn’t violate another section of the federal stimulus law.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Schools • Dean Martin • federal stimulus • Jan Brewer • state budget • U.S. Education Department | 2 Comments »
July 15th, 2009, 1:44 pm by Le Templar
 Dean Martin Arizona State Treasurer Dean Martin just sent out a news release saying he had to borrow $130.9 million today to make the required monthly payment to local school districts. Martin said the state didn’t have the cash on hand, primarily because it was counting on up to $433 million in federal stimulus funds.
Martin also suggests President Barack Obama’s administration is playing games with Arizona’s share of the stimulus, which possibly is a continuation of the high-scale assault on comments from Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., about ending the federal stimulus program.
“The Administration needs to either send the money, or repeal the program. It’s becoming clear that the Administration is holding education funding hostage to bully Arizona into submission. This is taxpayer money, not the Administration’s personal piggy bank,” Martin said.
The short-term debt is part of Arizona’s on-going state budget woes. House Republicans are now estimating that all of Gov. Jan Brewer’s vetoes have pushed the projected deficit back up to where it was before the Legislature adopted a budget early on July 1.
The state treasurer’s annoucement assures more gloomy clouds will be hovering when the legislative special session resumes Monday.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Congress • Election issues • Governor • Presidential campaign • Barack Obama • Dean Martin • federal stimulus • Jan Brewer | Post a Comment »
July 14th, 2009, 3:41 pm by Le Templar
Perhaps one of the most difficult decisions anyone might face is what to do if a loved one has slipped into a coma and doctors expect no recovery. Even when you believe know your loved one’s wishes, the choice to shut off feeding and hydration tubes is downright uncomfortable. The doctors say the person won’t feel any pain, but what if they are wrong? And for every Terri Schavio out there, someone else can point to people such as Jesse Ramirez, a Chandler man who regained consciousness two years ago after his family fought to restore his food and water. Ramirez’s wife had moved him to a hospice center and directed medical staff to let him fade away.
Ramirez’s story inspired a new state policy signed into law Monday by Gov. Jan Brewer that had been promoted by pro-life groups. Essentially, HB2616 seeks to tilt tough situations toward keeping patients alive.
The law will apply if the coma patient didn’t write a living will or health care directive, and a judge appoints a guardian to make health care decisions for that person. The guardian will be required to notify the court if he or she wants to withhold food and water, and the guardian must seek to contact family members who might not know about the patient’s condition. If any family member protests the guardian’s decision, the court will be required to override it and keep the patient supplied with food and water, unless the judge is convinced such measures will do more harm than good or that the patient wouldn’t want to be kept alive in this manner.
Even if the judge agrees to withhold food and water over a family member’s opposition, such action will be automatically delayed so that family member can pursue appeals.
As the result of this statute, without a living will or health care directive, it will far easier for family members who believe in miracles (or whose beliefs reject assisted suicide in any form) to stop the withholding of food and water.
The law goes into effect Sept. 30.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Courts • Governor • Center for Arizona Policy • end-of-life decisions • Jesse's Law • Terri Schavio | 4 Comments »
July 13th, 2009, 1:46 pm by Le Templar
 Sen. Ron Gould/Capitol Media Services At least another week will pass before state lawmakers address the remaining details of the budget, including a projected $2 billion to $2.7 billion deficit this year. The Senate and House met long enough this afternoon to offer prayers, say the Pledge of Allegiance and schedule to meet again next Monday. Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, did try to slip in a motion to immediately end the session without further action, but not a single colleague joined him.
“The only reason the special session is still open is to shove through a (sales) tax increase to the ballot,” Gould said after his lone vote to adjourn sine die. “I’m never going to vote to send any tax increase to the ballot and I’m disappointed no other Republicans supported my motion.”
Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, who normally stands right next to Gould on budget issues, said he wants the Republican-sponsored changes in the budget reconciliation bills vetoed by Gov. Jan Brewer. Many of those changes sought to reduce government fraud or waste, and would make policy changes intended to shrink state spending.
A reminder, the Legislature decided last week to suspend the pay of lawmakers on days it doesn’t actually meet during this special session on the budget.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Jack Harper • Jan Brewer • Ron Gould • State budget countdown | Post a Comment »
July 13th, 2009, 7:07 am by Le Templar
The Bashas’ grocery chain has become Arizona’s latest high-profile victim of the current recession as it is seeking bankruptcy protection, Capitol Media Services is reporting this morning. The news comes after Bashas’ tried furiously last week to work out new credit arrangements and confirmed Sunday the chain is closing 10 more stores, which Tribune writer David Woodfill first reported June 30.
The Chandler-based corporation previously had been praised for its innovative, home-grown marketing strategies which has included its namesake mainstream stores, the upscale AJ’s Fine Foods and Food City, which focuses on Hispanic immigrants and lower socio-economic groups. Bashas had expanded while several national grocery chains consolidated over the past 15 years. Still, Bashas has felt the squeeze of recent new competitors such as Wal-Mart Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets, as well as British import Fresh & Easy.
Meanwhile, Bashas’ smaller, regional status might have left it more vulnerable than its bigger rivals during the deepest recession in 50 years or more. Also dragging on Bashas’ bottom line has been a two-year feud with United Food and Commerical Workers International Union. The union might have had some legitimate grievances. But instead of relying on federal law and public sympathy, the union has waged a nasty publicity war against Bashas’ with the intent of driving customers away.
Bashas’ claimed the union’s tactics weren’t working. But the Bashas’ family and the chain’s top administrators were deeply worried about long-term negative perceptions. They reached out to the media to counter the union PR, and filed a lawsuit trying to get UFCW to back off.
With Bashas’ now closing 15 stores this year and laying off more than 10 percent of its 12,000-person workforce, I wonder if it has occurred to UFCW that it has hurt the very people the union claims it was trying to help.
As for Bashas’ future, the chain can only hope that bankruptcy protection works half as well as it has for GM and Chrysler. Capitol Media Services reports Bashas’ wants the leverage of court intervention primarily to negotiate new leases with lower payments for those stores where the chain doesn’t own the space. Bashas’ says it has no plans to liquidate.
Posted in: Economic development • bankruptcy • Bashas' • Fresh & Easy • UFCW • Wal-Mart | Post a Comment »
July 10th, 2009, 2:24 pm by Le Templar
My thoughts on some recent political news:
Leadership shake-up — Arizona Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, revealed the depth of his frustration with his leadership team Wednesday when he removed Sen. Thayer Verschoor, R-Gilbert, as the Senate president pro tempore and replaced Republican whip Pamela Gorman, R-Anthem, on the Rules Committee. Verschoor’s ouster was more symbolic than substantive, however. In theory, the Senate president pro tem is part of that chamber’s leadership because he or she runs floor action when the president is absent. But as president pro temp is appointed, rather than elected by the party caucus, that position carries far less influence. And the Senate president usually is just around the corner and can take charge in an instant if the pro tem somehow gets off track.
The same used to be true for the House. But Bob Robson, a former (and possibly future) representative from Chandler, turned House speaker pro temp into a post with real power, especially after he was appointed to chair the House Rules Committee at the same time. My understanding is the current House speaker pro tem — Rep. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler (different district than Robson) — has held onto quite a bit of influence as well.
Bills become law — Gov. Jan Brewer signed Thursday the first set of nearly 200 bills sent to her on the final day of the regular session but unrelated to the state budget. Expect additional signings today and through the weekend. But probably 100 bills or so won’t be addressed until Monday, the 10-day deadline set by the state constitution. With the state Senate postponing nearly all bills until after a budget was adopted, Brewer received all of the Legislature’s “accomplishments” at once. So she needs every possible moment to read the paperwork, and to hear from various groups lobbying for or against the veto stamp on individual bills. As for controversial measures that Brewer is ready to act on, waiting until Monday as well to sign them could dilute any negative reaction as media and commentators will have to wade through dozens of bills at once.
Earmark of the week — Every Friday, Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., sends out a short news release highlighting a costly federal pork barrel project or local earmark as part of his campaign to put a stop to such things. Flake tries to make us laugh by including a brief quote with a pun or funny twist of phrase about the project’s name or location. This week, Flake calls attention to $475,000 for creation of business incubators in Casper, Wyo.
“Looks like earmark reform doesn’t have a ghost of a chance this year,” Flake said.
Ha, ha. Wyoming happens to be my native state. So I know the city of Casper has nothing to do with that friendly spirit, but in fact is named for a military fort, which in turn was named for Lt. Caspar Collins, who was killed in 1865 in a battle with Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. Wyoming residents apparently didn’t spell very well in those days, and someone switched “Caspar” to “Casper” when the city was named.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Bob Burns • Bob Robson • Casper • Jan Brewer • Jeff Flake • Pamela Gorman • Thayer Verschoor • Wyoming | Post a Comment »
July 9th, 2009, 11:30 am by Le Templar
 Sen. Jon Kyl I guess Washington politics must be boring this week, as the Democratic National Committee is trying to rile things up by casting Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., as a blackhearted penny-pincher who wants to shut down jobs in Arizona. Kyl wrote in his weekly column about all of the recent news that President Barack Obama’s massive spending plan to boost the economy isn’t working out so well. Few actual jobs have been created and in many cases, the money hasn’t even been spent yet. In his conclusion, Kyl calls for canceling the rest of the stimulus program and stop adding to that massive federal debt.
The DNC went into a small tizzy, sending out a lengthy news release about the thousands of the jobs that Arizona will “lose” without the federal stimulus, primarily with highway construction contracts. Several politicos will seek to turn up the volume this afternoon with a telephone news conference that scheduled to include state Democratic Party executive director Luis Heredia, State Rep. Lynn Pancrazi, D-Yuma, and two Phoenix councilmen.
It’s unusual to kick over political anthills just because of a senator’s regular column, especially when that senator isn’t up for re-election.
But what is so silly about this is Kyl voted against the stimulus package to begin with, so his column really is a “I told you so” piece. He points to political polls that show more Americans are turning sour on the whole idea.
Democrats are just blowing hot air on this issue because Arizonans already know where Kyl stands, and that position is probably more popular today that it was back in January.
Update: Wow! The Democrats are putting some real energy in this. Now they have rushed out a video as well.
Posted in: Congress • Arizona Democratic Party • Barack Obama • Democratic National Party • Jon Kyl | 6 Comments »
July 8th, 2009, 11:18 am by Le Templar
Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, has continued a “tradition” for Arizona lawmakers of blithely staking out positions that cause most people to scratch their heads or laugh uncontrollably. In the following video from a committee hearing this year on a resolution that calls on Congress to stop designating wilderness areas in Arizona, Allen confidently notes that the Earth is 6,000 years old and has survived for most of that time without any environmental regulations.
The video was originally grabbed by the Arizona Guardian and posted on its site and on YouTube early last week. But the piece apparently went viral, with nearly 66,000 views this morning, after it caught the scathing attention of a blog at Discover magazine.
Allen’s foolish statement is obvious, unless you also reject all scientific evidence that the planet is several billion years old. Of course, that also would require you to reject the scientific principles that make nuclear power plants work safely.
But Allen is only the latest lawmaker with odd notions of our world. Former Sen. Karen Johnson, R-Mesa, is still convinced the U.S. government was somehow involved in vast conspiracies behind 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing.
In 2000, Johnson actually got some other lawmakers to support the idea that Arizona might need to secede from the United States as an one-world government was imminent.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Bad Astronomy • Discover magazine • Karen Johnson • Sylvia Allen | Post a Comment »
July 7th, 2009, 4:30 pm by Le Templar
 Casey Kasem/Associated Press photo With all of the attention today on the public memorial service for Michael Jackson, I didn’t want this bit of news to pass unnoticed: radio DJ Casey Kasem has retired after nearly 40 years of counting down the top songs in the land.
A member of the Radio Hall of Fame, Kasem launched his American Top 40 on Independence Day in 1970, when FM radio was the dominant media forum for relatively unknown music artists to reach the general public. A decade later, Kasem became my touchstone in rural Wyoming for what was most popular among my generation every week from coast to coast. I didn’t realize then that the program’s format was slanted toward music favored by white subcultures. Other popular forms, especially hip-hop and rap, would be largely shut out for a long time.
Even as a teenager in isolated ranch country, I viewed Kasem’s patter as stilted and his trademark phrases as a little corny. So I was shocked a few years ago when I came across Kasem on a Valley radio station still doing the same old thing. His style just seemed so out of place while playing modern urban tunes.
It turns out Kasem wasn’t doing exactly the same old thing. He had handed American Top 40 over to American Idol host Ryan Seacrest in 2004. But Kasem continued to do voice work for shorter versions (American Top 10 and American Top 20). Still, time and changing tastes among radio audiences finally have caught up with the 77-year-old Kasem. He announced that Saturday was his last countdown.
“Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.”
Posted in: Uncategorized • American Top 10 • casey kasem • Ryan Seacrest | 1 Comment »
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