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.