More news on McClung's ties to extremist groups

Over on my Tucson Citizen blog, I have posted several stories about CD7 Republican Congressional challenger Ruth McClung and her ties to extremist and often blatantly racist groups who are fundraising and endorsing her.

Will the real Ruth McClung please stand up? first brought to light her endorsement by the right wing Republican Majority Campaign and the Grover Norquist TV ad on her behalf.

The sequel: Will the real Ruth McClung please stand up? (part 2) continues the discussion of her ties to Norquist and Sarah Palin. Even though McClung signed the Norquist pledge and spouted his soundbites at the CD7 debate, she claims not to know who he is.

Desperately seeking ‘Republican Majority Campaign’, signed RM further delves into the shadowy Republican Majority Campaign and its racist ties. The title is a take-off on the 1980s cult classic "Desperately Seeking Susan" where bored housewife (Rosanna Arquette) places a newspaper ad to find her wild-child friend, Susan, (played by Madonna). Like the bored housewife, McClung want to play on the wild side with the RMC.

CD7 debates: fiery ideology vs ideas and facts

Last night's Congressional District 7 public debate revealed the stark contrast between the candidates and their followers.

Here are 2 stories that I posted on my Tucson Citizen blog.

CD7 debate: Fiery ideology vs ideas and facts

Ruth McClung: Brought to you by the Republican Party Machine

The main blog link is here: Tucson Progressive.

Big money could bring the end of life as we know it

• Jesse "no-social-security" Kelly (Arizona)
• Rand "who-needs-civil-rights?" Paul (Kentucky)
• Joe "no-minimum-wage" Miller (Alaska)
• Sharon "pay-your-doctor-with-a-chicken" Angle (Nevada)
• Christine "don't-masturbate" O'Donnell (Delaware)
• John "repeal-healthcare-reform-but-save-welfare-for-the-rich" Boehner (Ohio)
• Sarah "anti-feminist-pro-opportunist" Palin (Alaska)
• John "which-way-should-I-flip-flop-today?" McCain (Arizona)
• Jan "beheadings!" Brewer (Arizona)
• Russel "yikes-brown-people" Pearce (Arizona)
• John "who-needs-public-education" Huppenthal (Arizona)
• Greg "privatize-this" Krino (Arizona)

Are you scared yet? Should I go on?

These right-wing puppets (and-- thanks to the Roberts' court-- the corporatists and secretly-funded big-money groups behind them) want to end life as we know it in the United States of America. They don't want to take us back to the Bush era policies or the Contract for America.

With no Social Security, no healthcare safety net, no minimum wage, and, of course, no unions-- they want to take us back to the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, when people of all ages, including small children, slaved -- literally-- in factories and sweat shops for meager wages. If you were sick, old, or poor, it was your family's responsibility to take care of you. No family? Tough luck, you're on your own.

How could these ideas have gained so much popularity? Is it the sheer power of the moneyed forces behind the Tea Party-- like the John Birch Society Koch brothers or secretly-finded groups like Karl Rove's American Crossroads, which spent $3.5 million last week? All of this money + 24/7 yellow journalism courtesy of FOX News is trying to squash the progressive advances of the Obama Administration.

Here's some background on the origins of these ideas from The Billionaires Bankrolling the Tea Party by Frank Rich or the New York Times.

When David Koch ran to the right of Reagan as vice president on the 1980 Libertarian ticket (it polled 1 percent), his campaign called for the abolition not just of Social Security, federal regulatory agencies and welfare but also of the F.B.I., the C.I.A., and public schools — in other words, any government enterprise that would either inhibit his business profits or increase his taxes. He hasn’t changed. As Mayer details, Koch-supported lobbyists, foundations and political operatives are at the center of climate-science denial — a cause that forestalls threats to Koch Industries’ vast fossil fuel business. While Koch foundations donate to cancer hospitals like Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York, Koch Industries has been lobbying to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from classifying another product important to its bottom line, formaldehyde, as a “known carcinogen” in humans (which it is).

Tea Partiers may share the Kochs’ detestation of taxes, big government and Obama. But there’s a difference between mainstream conservatism and a fringe agenda that tilts completely toward big business, whether on Wall Street or in the Gulf of Mexico, while dismantling fundamental government safety nets designed to protect the unemployed, public health, workplace safety and the subsistence of the elderly.

Yet inexorably the Koch agenda is morphing into the G.O.P. agenda, as articulated by current Republican members of Congress, including the putative next speaker of the House, John Boehner, and Tea Party Senate candidates like Rand Paul, Sharron Angle, and the new kid on the block, Alaska’s anti-Medicaid, anti-unemployment insurance Palin protégé, Joe Miller. Their program opposes a federal deficit, but has no objection to running up trillions in red ink in tax cuts to corporations and the superrich; apologizes to corporate malefactors like BP and derides money put in escrow for oil spill victims as a “slush fund”; opposes the extension of unemployment benefits; and calls for a freeze on federal regulations in an era when abuses in the oil, financial, mining, pharmaceutical and even egg industries (among others) have been outrageous.

The Koch brothers must be laughing all the way to the bank knowing that working Americans are aiding and abetting their selfish interests.

Has the country gone mad? Do the small guv'ment Tea Partiers think their Social Security and Medicare will be funded, while everyone under 65 will be thrown to the wolves? Fat chance. Tea Partiers, after they have used you, they'll go after your Medicare-funded scooters next.

For a look at our future, check out this book from the past-- How the Other Half Lives-- or watch Walmart: the High Cost of Low Prices.

UPDATE, October 8: Diane Rehm's Friday News Roundup covers this story. (Diane, honey, mention my blog next time, OK?)

And why would we re-elect these incompetents?

Arizona has been racing to the bottom on pretty much all nationwide statistics for years. Two notable exceptions are poverty and unemployment. For the #1 slot nationwide in poverty, we are officially #2, but in reality, we are in a statistical dead heat with Mississippi.

With the latest statewide budget news, Arizona should be able to easily overcome Mississippi for the #1 slot in poverty next year-- especially if Governor Jan Brewer, her lobbyist advisors, and her cronies in the Republican-controlled Legislature are re-elected.

According to the Arizona Republic:

"The deficit for the current budget year has grown to $825 million, up from $700 million, and the projected hole for the next fiscal year has deepened by $400 million, to $1.4 billion.

"It adds up to a $2.25 billion deficit that needs to be wiped out in the next 20 months."

The Republic article says that Arizona Republicans are not willing to raise taxes (AKA raise revenue) to fill the budget gap. Arizona has relatively low business taxes. The Legislature has set up these corporate give-aways to lure business to the state. The problems with scenario are: 1) trickle-down economics doesn't work; and 2) relocating businesses want more than lower taxes; they want an educated workfore, a viable infrastructure, good schools, good universities, etc.-- all of the amenities that Brewer and her cronies in the Legislature have worked to minimize or destroy. Add to this dismal list Brewer's lies about violence and beheadings in the desert, and it is easy to see why no major corporations or private citizens would want to re-locate here.

So, what are Brewer and the Republican-controlled Legislature going to do? Education, health care, and children/family services are their favorite sacrificial lambs when it's time to cut budgets, but I doubt there is enough left in these funds to fill the budget gap-- even if they wiped them out.

Remember Brewer's sales tax for education initiative that voters overwhelmingly approved last spring? Skeptics like LD28 Representative Steve Farley warned not to vote for that tax because he believed that the Arizona Legislature would spend the funds for something other than education-- or worst of all would give it away in tax cuts for businesses and the rich. Will they take those funds? Probably. They are already trying to trick voters into wiping out the land-conservation fund (Prop 301) and the First Things First voter-created child welfare program (Prop 301) which pays for itself. What kind of person votes repeatedly to hurt programs for children?

So, with these seriously dire predictions, why would the Republic endorse the Republican status quo?

Seriously, folks, in a much-ballyhoo'd "throw-the-bums-out" election year, isn't it time for Arizona to "throw the bums (ie, Brewer, Brewer's lobbyist advisors, the Republicans in the Arizona Legislature and statewide offices, and John McCain) out"?

No one but the corporatists and the rich (who receive regular give-aways from Arizona Republicans) are happy with these inept ideologues. Isn't it time for a change in Arizona politics? Vote the bums out-- and vote NO on all of the ballot initiatives that the Arizona Legislature put on the ballot (the 100s and 300s).

UPDATE, October 4: Blog for Arizona reported today that the Republican Governors' Association, who received a $1 million donation from FOX News in recent months, is investing $200,000 in Arizona races-- probably including Brewer's. They also reported that the Arizona Republican Party funds had dwindled down to $5000 before this donation. For the year, Arizona Democrats have raised $2.1 million compared to the GOP's $490,000. Now, who's fired up and who's "sitting this one out"?

Are Congressional Republicans myopic? Or just really bad at math?

Last week, the national Republican Party unveiled their Pledge to America. If you watched the brilliant Jon Stewart piece on this, you know that the much-ballyhoo'd Pledge is the Same Old Sh-- from the Grand Old Party (AKA, the Party of No Ideas): tax cuts for the rich (AKA, trickle down economics); elimination of "Obamacare" (AKA, pay-your-own-way health savings accounts); traditional values (AKA, we hope everyone has forgotten those gay sex scandals); control spending (AKA, we hope everyone has forgotten our deficit-spending binge under Bush II); reduce government (AKA, we hope everyone has forgotten those earmarks and bail-outs we voted for); support the troupes; stand by our friends; tort reform; yada, yada, yada.

There was much comparison in the media of the Pledge to America and the Contract with America, Newt Gingrich's document from the early 1990s when the Republicans took control of Congress. As Stewart so aptly pointed out, the Pledge to America is "not even a sequel [to the Contract with America], it's a shot-by-shot remake." He proceed to show clips of long-term Congressional Republicans like House Minority Leader John Boehner (above, courtesy of NPR) spouting the same ideas in 1994 - 2004 as they outlined last week in the Pledge.

The grand finale was Boehner 2010 side-by-side with Boehner of the past saying exactly the same words with the same emphasis and pacing. (How's that for living up to your stereotype of the Party of No Ideas?)

Fast forward one week...

Pundits are now analyzing and commenting on the content of the Pledge to America, and more data are being released about the dismal state of the economy. ("Drat, we thought we could get by with soundbites!" Boehner is overheard saying in Southern Ohio tanning spa.)

- The Economic Policy Institute released a report that says the Republicans' job creation plan (AKA, give more money to the rich) would result in the loss of 1.1 million jobs. (I guess they are the only ones who have not heard that giving money to the rich is the least effective way to stimulate the economy and jobs and that trickle down economics doesn't work.)

- The 2010 Census data revealed that the gap between rich and poor is widening (duh), and that poverty has increased in most states. (So, why have Republicans vote against extension of unemployment repeatedly? Why are they holding extension of the middle class tax cuts hostage? Why did they try to block Obama's jobs bill? Why do they want to eliminate the public safety nets of healthcare reform and Social Security? Why? Because all of these things are unfriendly to the corportists. They represent the multinational corporations of America-- not the people.)

- Robert Reich said on NPR that the middle class can't go any deeper into debt and can't work longer hours. They're doing everything they can to survive.

And besides all of this, their plan just doesn't add up. They want to repeal healthcare reform and make all of the Bush II's tax cuts (especially those for the ultra rich) permanent PLUS cut government and cut the deficit.

George Bush I called trickle down economics "voodoo economics" when he ran against Ronald Reagan for president. What the Republicans are proposing with the Pledge to America is "voodoo math". Healthcare reform and sunsetting Bush II's tax cuts on the richest Americans save us BILLIONS of dollars. If Congressional Republicans are allowed to accomplish these two goals, the US economy will be hurt even more. Also, decreasing the size of government means eliminating government jobs. On the NPR's Diane Rehm Show, one commentator said that even if the Republicans take government spending back to Reagan era levels + cut more, we would still be no where near a balanced budget.

The bottom line is: the Pledge to American is a hoax. Don't buy the lie.

Giffords stands with the middle class and fiscal responsibility

The Arizona Daily Star reported today that CD8 Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords chose to stand with the middle class and fiscally responsible-- rather than caving in and going along with those who want to continue the budget-busting Bush tax cuts for the richest Americans.

Forty-seven House Democrats sent a letter to President Obama saying that they would support extension ofall of the Bush era tax cuts.

Obama has been promoting keeping the Bush tax cuts for people who make less than $250,000 but allowing the cuts to expire for the richest Americans.

Although the Republicans have been pushing the IDEA of fiscal responsibility (in order to win over the Tea Bagger vote), they also have been pushing hard to make all of the Bush tax cuts permanent, which add BILLIONS to the deficit.

This fall Republicans have been willing to let all of the tax cuts expire-- even cuts for the middle class-- if they can't get continued give-aways for their rich cronies. When will they give up on trickle down economics?

I am seriously disappointed that these DINOs wrote a letter of support for this fiscally irresponsible Republican plan, but I am proud of Giffords for not caving. Go, Gabby.

We want those 8 million jobs back

Don't forget, Ed Schultz's One Nation Working Together March is this Saturday, October 2, in Washington, DC.

The Nation recently posted a great background piece-- For Jobs, Justice, and Education. In a nutshell, the article talks about the plight of working families in America, tone-deaf Republican and Blue Dog Democrats who are fighting for the rich (instead of working for workers), and the rationale behind the march.

Here is a small excerpt.

"...we should be investing in rebuilding America, thereby helping to close the jobs gap, which will then help close the budget gap.

"Instead, as we careen toward a possible double-dip recession and a second round of devastating home foreclosures, the extreme right-wing media machine is desperately trying to discredit the idea that America's government can and should move aggressively to create more jobs...

"Nothing they say should persuade our leaders to throw America's working families under the bus. We are in the middle of the biggest economic crisis in half a century. Through its negligence and recklessness, Wall Street has already forced a brutal austerity program on Main Street. The role of America's government is to mitigate its effects and reverse the damage, not to make things worse by heaping suffering on top of suffering. This is not the time to abandon schools, shut down clinics, ignore crumbling infrastructure and forego job creation. This is not the time to take more away from families and communities that are already losing so much. We don't need a public austerity program on top of the private sector–imposed austerity that we are already enduring.

"But some members of Congress apparently think they should focus on closing the federal budget gap, even if it means letting millions more American families tumble. They are mistaken. America's workers find themselves in a deep hole. You don't cut your way out of a hole. You grow your way out of a hole. We can afford to invest more in America's long-term success. We are the wealthiest nation in the world. We should not be giving billions of dollars to companies like Halliburton abroad, while closing hospitals at home.

"...the American people finally will be able to choose between two movements: one that wants to demagogue problems and divide us, and another that wants to promote solutions and unite America."

Greg Krino: One scary guy

If you drive around midtown Tucson, you can't help but see Republican Greg Krino's smiling white face on hundreds of very expensive, 4-color, illegal signs (1,2).

Krino is an opportunistic, young Republican write-in candidate challenging Democrat Paula Aboud for her state senate seat in LD28. Aboud and Krino are in a four-way race with former state Representative Ted Downing and Green Party activist Dave Ewoldt.

Normally, Republicans don't bother with LD28 because it is overwhelmingly Democratic-- "about 36,000 Democrats, 22,000 Republicans and 24,000 others spread out across the political spectrum," according to the Tucson Weekly.

While Aboud, Downing, and Ewoldt duking it out from the center to the far left, Krino has the extreme far right all to himself. You know all those things that progressives don't like about the current legislature and Governor Jan Brewer? Let me refresh your memory, in case you have suppressed the last 2 legislative sessions: no support or core services for families, kids, or the poor; minimalist public health; privatization of everything including education, prisons, and parks; give-aways (AKA tax breaks) to the rich and to hell with everyone else; demonization of undocumented workers, etc.

Well, Krino marches in lock step with these Republican core ideas-- hence my headline. He's a scary guy.

I heard him on the John C. Scott show the other day. People-- like former Congressman Jim Kolbe-- are saying that Krino is a "rising star" in the Republican party. When Scott asked him about his stance on issues, Krino said that government should get back to basics-- police, fire, and roads... period.

Yikes! You'll note all of the government services that are not on that list: education, prisons, public health, providing a safety net or support for the poor.

I know this "back to basics" is popular rhetoric amongst the tea bag types this year, but I seriously don't think people realize how this would impact them if these wing-nuts get elected.

As an aside, those 4-color signs are expensive. Obviously, this guy has big money behind him. The corporatists really like having the Arizona Legislature in their pocket.

UPDATE, October 8: Most of Krino's illegally-placed 4-color signs are gone from city streets now. You'll note his new illegally-placed signs are the standard red/black type, no 4-color smiling photo, and still no indication that he is an extremist Republican.

It ain't over 'til it's over: the Goddard 'Surge' vs the robocalls

I just returned from the Women for Goddard gig with a list of my soon-to-be 20 new best friends -- women I have to call and convince to vote for Terry Goddard for Arizona governor. Between 100-150 women gathered tonight to collect lists and calling procedures. If last night's Women for Goddard event was that big, that means hundreds of women will be calling Pima County Democratic women to encourage them to vote for Goddard and other Democrats on the ticket.

Hillary Clinton used the same women-calling-women strategy in 2008, came to Tucson herself (instead of sending the second string, sorry, Michelle), and won Arizona-- despite Obama endorsements from Raul Grijalva and Janet Napolitano.

With the state and federal Republicans' abysmal voting records on women's issues (AKA, reproductive rights, healthcare, education, and poverty), it would be amazing to me if any women-- except the ultra-rich or those with ties to an ultra-conservative, highly-repressive religion popular in Arizona-- would vote Republican.

Feeling pretty good on my way home, I was thinking about the new Goddard-Brewer polling data that was sent out today. From the Goddard press release:

New polling data released today indicates Terry Goddard is gaining ground on Jan Brewer in the race for Governor of Arizona.

The poll, conducted on behalf of Project New West, shows that in one of the more conservative Congressional districts in Arizona, Terry Goddard has moved to within single digits with 45% of the vote, Brewer at 52%.

"Jan Brewer has failed to bring new jobs or new business to Arizona. She has failed us on education - and is willing to cut even more from the education budget. Times are bad, and voters are recognizing that Jan Brewer is not the kind of decisive leader we need, to lead us out of this mess," added Goddard.

The huge gain of more than a dozen points since a Rasmussen poll on September 8, shows a dramatic shift in momentum as voters learn about Terry Goddard, his success as Attorney General, and his plan to bring new jobs and support business expansion in Arizona.

OK, Terry, sorry, man, but there are a few things wrong with this press release information.

1- It is frickin' awesome that you have gained a significant number of percentage points in a conservative district; 52% Brewer vs 45% for you puts you in striking distance-- especially considering the army of scared progressive out their working for you. (But here comes the but...)

2- But you really can't compare the new data with the Rasmussen robocall data. To use research terminology, you're comparing apples with oranges. :) To compare these polls, the surveyors would have had to ask the same questions in the same way (live person vs robocall computer) in the same order to the same types of voters (ie, likely voters, not likely, anyone who answers the phone and speaks English, anyone who has a land line, etc.) Also, I believe that the puny Rasmussen polls (500-600 likely voters) are supposed to be representative of statewide demographics, which would be most heavily weighted for Maricopa County-- rather than just looking at one district. (Speaking of statewide data, do either of these groups-- Rasmussen or or Project New West-- have Spanish-speaking surveyors. I doubt it.) Having a research background, my guess is that only a certain type of person-- and not me-- would answer a computerized telephone survey. In my opinion, that skews the Rasmussen data as much or more than their conservative bent. (And here comes another but...)

3- Believe it or not-- this is good news. I hope I'm not giving away the secret strategy here, but my guess is that Goddard is trying to follow in Napolitano's footsteps (ie, win big in Pima and other blue/purple areas outside of Maricopa to take the state). So, if the Rasmussen polls are heavily weighted to Maricopa-- who cares what their data says?

Woo, hoo. Volunteer. Donate. Vote! Go Goddard. Beat the Bruja.

Republicans and 'illegal' immigrants: Since when has breaking the law been a problem for Republicans?

Migrants from Mexico and Central America have become political footballs this election season (1, 2) -- thanks for the most part to Governor Jan Brewer, Russel "Racial Purity" Pearce, Pearce's baby SB1070, John and Jon (Arizona's Senatorial Do-Nothing Duo), and a herd of Democrats who are trying desperately not to look like progressive cream puffs.

Despite all of the right-wing rhetoric about border violence, the statistics show that the border situation is improving (crime down, crossings down). Yes, gang violence in Mexico-- due to the drug trade and poverty-- is up, but migrant workers aren't the cause of that violence. They are victims-- even more than we are.

Arizona's right-wingers pontificate about migrants breaking our laws! by crossing the border illegally! Given the bevy of crooks and liars-- literally-- that the Arizona Republican Party has put forth as candidates this election season, I'm surprised that breaking the law is a problem.

Check out these links for Andrew Thomas, Tom Horne, Jan Brewer, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and Steve May for current examples of Republican corruption and Ev Mecham and J. Fife Symington III for historical reference.)

Some people shrug this off as the wild west, but personally, I'm shocked by this widespread corruption in Arizona's Republican Party. I'm also shocked that the Arizona electorate is duped into voting for these crooks and liars.

I got scared yesterday but Keith and Gabby helped me through it

I was scared and depressed yesterday by the time I left work. Too much talk radio can do that to you, and I don't listen to the really horrible shows (ie, Jon Justice, Rush, etc.)

It started with Diane Rehm talking about the fate of education in the US if the Tea Baggers make strides in the November election. She asked the US head of the Department of Education what would happen if the Congress voted to eliminate the Department of Education, which is apparently one of their campaign rallying cries.

After she asked that question, the call was dropped. It was almost prophetic. I could hear in Diane's voice that she felt the same way. Silence... that's what would happen if they eliminated the Department of Education. Ideas would be lost or not shared-- especially unpopular ones. Education would be left to special interest groups-- religious, political, cultural-- and the melting pot of public education would die, thus creating more inequity, more division, more distrust. Sigh...

Later in the day, on the John C. Scott Show, there was a mixed bag, as usual. He started out with big-wig Republican operative Bruce Ash (grrrrr) gloating about a Republican Congress-- as if it were a done deal.

After that Jim Kiser (pro-Charter Change hack) quoting a Southern Arizona Leadership Council (SALC) poll of a whopping 600 people that concluded 2/3 of Tucsonans are not satisfied with the way the city is being run.

OK, there are some smart people among the SALC membership-- including former UA president Peter Likins-- so I would expect them to conduct valid surveys ... but apparently not. Drawing conclusions for a city of nearly 1 million from a sample of 600 is laughable. Unfortunately, they can get away with it because reporters and talk show hosts never challenge the sampling on surveys, ask exactly what questions were asked, or ask if the findings are statistically significant.

I am particularly suspicious of the Rasmussen polls which are published widely and which regularly offer Ash a reason to gloat (grrr). Their latest poll, which also came out yesterday, reports that Governor Jan Brewer gained 2 points over her challenger Terry Goddard after her disastrous performance in the debate last week. (This seems unbelievable, really.) Again, what question was asked? Is 2 points a significant change? My guess is that 2 points is within the margin of error-- so no real change-- which is also surprising since she came across as a dolt.

So, after a day of depressing news and bad numbers, I decided to take action and stopped at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' office on the way home. OK, some times she annoys me with that Blue Dog thing, but maybe she's just acting that way to appease the Chochise County voters. Anyway, she's sooooooooooo much more reasonable than Jesse "privatize this" Kelly. It would be a very dark day in Southern Arizona if Kelly were elected. Anyway, I signed up to volunteer for her, as I have in the past. Like Harvey Milk, I won't give up without a fight.

A glutton for punishment, I watched Keith Olberman online later in the evening, and he actually picked up my spirits significantly.

Last night, Olberman reported Gallup data on whether people would vote for a generic Republican or Democrat for Congress. This question is asked every week. Last week the Republicans were up significantly. This week the 2 parties are in a dead heat-- see the graphic above. (So, why was Bruce Ash gloating?) Anyway, Olberman further reported that the lead on that question-- generic Republican vs. generic Democrat-- has changed 6 times since May 2010.

Anyway, that data doesn't sound like or look like a referendum against Democrats to me. I believe that some of this midterm election gloom and doom is being fueled by big money from corporations (thanks to the Roberts court decision), ginned up by Faux News, and then repeated by reporters and bloggers to demoralize us.

We can do this, people! Don't listen to the pundits. Let's make some phone calls and knock on doors.

UPDATE: In the category of great minds think alike, Blog for Arizona posted a similar article this morning (ahem... a few hours after mine, I must add). Check it out because the AZ Blue Meanie does go into more depth than I did.

Harvard vs GED: Don't forget the Goddard-Brewer debate tonight!

Governor Jan "Are-You-Scared-Yet?" Brewer and her challenger Attorney General Terry "How-Can-I-Turn-This-Around-and-Keep-My-Nice-Guy-Image?" Goddard will debate tonight on television.

The debate will be from 7-8 p.m. on Arizona Public Media Channel 6 in Tucson and on KAET-Horizon Channel 8 in Phoenix.

The Pima County Democrats are having a debate watch party at the headquarters on 1st Street, beginning at 6:30.

In Phoenix, the watch party is at Majerle's Sports Grill, 24 North 2nd Street.

Given their dramatically different backgrounds and... er... smarts, it should be an interesting hour.

I love Paul Krugman

Yes, there I said it, "I love you, Paul Krugman."

Why am I in love with a NY times columnist? Because he's not afraid to tell it like it is.

In a column entitled Now That's Rich in Sunday's NY Times, Krugman called for an end to the Bush tax cuts, which will sunset at the end of 2010-- unless the Congress votes to extend these budget-busting give-aways to the rich.

Several weeks ago, Republican lawmakers-- like our 2 Arizona Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl-- started the spin to save the tax cuts for their rich cronies. Earlier in the summer, they voted to deny extension of unemployment benefits because paying these benefits would increase the deficit; at the same time, they were promoting extension of the Bush tax cuts. (It is blatantly obvious whose side they are on.)

The Faux News spin on the sunset of the Bush tax cuts is that Obama is a tax-and-spend liberal who wants to push through the largest tax increase in history-- or some such drivel.

The truth is that Obama wants to extend the miniscule part of the Bush tax cuts that benefits the middle class, while ending the tax cuts for the richest 0.1% of the US population.

According to the Tax Policy Center, full extension of the Bush tax cuts-- originally instituted in 2001 and 2003-- would add $3.7 trillion (with a T) to the budget deficit over the next 10 years. (Click on the link for the full sobering report.)

I say, let's finally give up on trickle down economics and end the give-aways to the richest 0.1% of Americans. Bush and his Republican-controlled Congress (including John and Jon) wrote each of them a check for $3 million. Enough is enough. Don't buy the lie. End welfare to the rich.

Birthing a Big Baby-- the Final Push

Congress has been in labor for more than a year over healthcare reform.

Sweaty, red-faced, exhausted, strong-willed but nervous, the Democratic Mother is pushing hard and looking forward to the birth of her big reform Baby. She can't predict the future of her offspring. Will this reform Baby be the light of their lives, bringing the Parents and millions of Family members health, joy, and happiness, or will the Parents look back in regret for ever conceiving this Baby?

Nervous Nellies in the Delivery Room, Republican relatives predict a dire future if this Baby lives. Abort this Baby, and let's try again, they urge. Convinced the baby will have a 666 on it's forehead, they favor killing it. To most of the Family, it is obvious that these naysayers are more worried about their inheritance and their own future than the future of the Baby and the Family as a whole. They spin lies about the Baby's Father and the reform Baby itself and worry distant relatives.

"No one likes this Baby. It's too big!"

"No one wants this Baby."

"No one likes this Baby's Father."

While the Mother's relatives have different opinions.

"The Father is well-liked and trusted."

"We want that Baby to be born already. This Baby will help the Family."

Only 4% of the Family favors aborting this Baby.

Most of the Family just wants everyone to work together-- as a Family.

In the meantime, while Family members argue and the Mother pushes, the Father is visiting with relatives around the country saying, "Hey, I know this may not be the prettiest, most well-like Baby in the world, but it's time. At home in Washington, we shouldn't be worrying about our survival. We should do what's best for the Family."

The Father knows there are backward wilderness clans in the Family-- like the one in Phoenix-- that would allow Family members to die, rather than pay for their care, so he keeps fighting for the reform Baby.

As the contractions get harder, the Mother is only marginally reassured when the Father whispers, "It will be OK, Honey. No one ever said parenthood would be easy. Think of the good of the Family." Although she's nervous about what motherhood will bring, she realizes she's gone too far to stop now. The Baby's head is in view. The birth is eminent.

This article originally appeared in my Progressive Examiner column.

Disgusted? It's Time to Organize

No, I'm not joining the Tea Baggers... er...Tea Partiers. On the contrary, I believe that it's time for the left to get organized.

After weeks of discouraging news from Phoenix about the Arizona legislature's plans to dismantle public education, close the parks, increase taxes for the middle class, deny healthcare for thousands of poor Arizonans-- AND offer even more tax breaks for the rich, I must say I'm pretty disgusted with our state government. Arizona Legislators are pandering to the corporatists, the gun lobby, and anti-immigrant extremists while ignoring the citizens of this state -- especially our children and the poor. At the same time, Arizona's US Senators Jon Kyl and John McCain-- brought to you by big banks, big insurance, big pharma, and big guns-- are marching in lock step with the Party of No and stonewalling all progressive legislation offered by the Obama Administration.

What's a lefty to do? With lingering recession, high unemployment, deep budget cuts, and failed government (particularly at the state level), these are dark times for our country. The grass roots populists who elected America's first black president are no match for the corporatists' multi-million-dollar war chests. But as The Doors sang, "They got the guns. We got the numbers."

Three recent Tucson events have given me hope-- the Martin Luther King Jr. Day events sponsored by the local Black Chamber of Commerce and Pima County African American Democratic Caucus, the Corozon de Justicia Awards Dinner sponsored by Derechos Humanos, and the Charlie King concert sponsored by No More Deaths.

These events gave me hope because it brought me face-to-face with hundreds of local activists of all colors who are working quietly and organizing on multiple progressive issues.

Particularly inspiring was the Corozon de Justicia keynote speaker Roberto Lovato, a writer and Latino activist, who addressed a highly diverse activist audience on Friday night. In 2009, Lovato launched the successful Basta Dobbs campaign which led to the resignation of right wing commentator Lou Dobbs from CNN. This campaign is a shining example of how the masses can take on corporate America-- and win. On Sunday, KXCI's Amanda Shauger aired a very insightful interview with Lovato, whose latest projects can be found at Presente.org.

Lovato said that national boundaries are irrelevant to corporations and that there should be no national boundaries in the human rights struggle against corporatism and fascism. Ironically, Iranians protesting against their repressive government are using The Doors' anthem from the 1960s anti-war protests as a rallying cry against fascism and sexism in their country. Is it time for us to dust off the vinyl and take to the streets? The Tea Partiers are not the only ones who are disgusted.

This article originally appeared in my Progressive Examiner column.

Same-sex marriage is 'business-friendly'

Same-sex marriage-- I'm sure that this is not what Bruce Ash, John Munger, Jan Brewer, Steve Kozachik, Jack Kemper, and John C. Scott have in mind when they talk about making Tucson and Arizona more "business friendly," but as Judy Tenuta would say, "It could happen."

Work with me on this one....
1- Arizona has a multi-million-dollar budget mess on it's hands and no real solutions.

2- Our Republican governor and legislature refuse to take steps to bring more money into the state coffers because the obvious way to increase revenues would be to roll back the tax cuts that they have given businesses and rich people, and that would not be "business friendly."

2- Historically, Arizona has been a major tourist destination. We have plenty of hotels, resorts, and scenic vistas, which are perfect honeymoon retreats.

3- Arizona has the Grand Canyon, great weather in the winter, and the Gem and Mineral Show as tourist magnets, but fostering a new niche market for the tourist industry would make good marketing sense.

4- Arizona politicians-- both Democrat and Republican-- want to appear "business friendly."

So, why not develop same-sex marriage as a niche tourist market? According to this post on Alan Colmes' website, Edmund Egan, chief economist for the City of San Francisco, estimated that same-sex marriages could have earned that city $35 million a year + additional funds in tax revenues (except that California made it illegal with Prop 8).

Same-sex marriage also is illegal in Arizona, but-- hey-- if the legislature really wants to be "business friendly," they can make it happen. Si se puede, fellas. After all, bringing in several million dollars without raising taxes or fees would be "business friendly."

This article originally appeared in my Progressive Examiner column.

Jan Brewer: Cut the ideology and start governing

On Monday, January 11, 2010, the Arizona Legislature goes back into session. My wish for the new year is that Arizona's Republican lawmakers will put aside right wing ideology and work with Democratic lawmakers to develop shared solutions to the state's tremendous economic and social problems.

In other words, it's time to govern.

2009 was a disastrous year in Arizona politics. A year ago, when Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano moved to the post of Homeland Security Director in the Obama administration, Secretary of State Jan Brewer became governor. Napoitano brought lawmakers from both sides of the aisle together to create legislation. Brewer and her fellow Republicans in the legislature have shut Democratic lawmakers out of the process and essentially disenfranchised Baja Arizona residents represented by them.

Disregarding the Democrats' ideas and legislation has been a long-standing Republican tactic in the Arizona Legislature, but at a time when Arizona faces a monumental, multi-billion-dollar budget crisis, it is unconscionable for the Governor and other state-level Republicans to ignore Democratic legislators and their constituents.

Republican budget cuts affect us--our schools, our universities, our children, our jobs-- but we Democrats in Southern Arizona are basically unrepresented in the legislature.

In addition to the 2009 regular session, legislators have tackled budget issues on and off for months in multiple special sessions, but even with millions of dollars in cuts they have only nipped around the edges of the deficit.

How did Arizona get into such a financial fix? Of course, the US economic downturn has played a large role in the states' financial problems, but Republicans on both the state and federal levels who gave multiple tax cuts to the richest Americans must own some of the blame for the deficits. In Arizona, multiple tax cuts have resulted in a government that relies heavily on sales tax. With sales of homes and other goods down and unemployment at a record high, the state's revenues continue to shrink.
Undoubtedly, the blood-letting with continue during 2010. Republicans refuse to entertain revenue-generating solutions. In fact, this week, House Republicans announced plans to raise taxes on middle class Arizonans while offering more tax cuts to businesses.

How can they in good conscience off revenue cuts in the midst of a budget crisis? Their claim is that these business tax cuts will incentivize businesses to relocate to Arizona. They have a short-sighted view of what businesses want. Yes, it has become fashionable for states and cities to bend over backwards and offer multiple incentives to entice national sports teams and large businesses to relocate, but businesses look for other amenities-- like quality schools and universities, an educated workforce to draw from, a well-maintain infrastructure, and enlightened government.

As an old hippie, I wonder why are we Baja Arizonans not outraged over our disenfranchisement, the ineptitude of our state government, and the lack of leadership displayed by our governor?

We should be protesting at Jan Brewer's speech in Phoenix next week. Or at the very least, we should be bugging them on the phone and on e-mail. Check out the link box on this page for contact information and updates about proposed bill. Viva Baja Arizona!

This article originally appeared in my Progressive Examiner column.