Goddard 'works it' in Tucson

Attorney General Terry Goddard knows that in order to beat Jan "beheadings!" Brewer in the race for governor of Arizona he has to win big in Pima County-- the one bright blue spot in a state dominated by that large red blob to the north.

Goddard has been everywhere in recent weeks. There was an impressive voter registration rally on October 4 with fellow Democrats on the UA mall, and this weekend there are back to back events.

Women for Goddard Rally and Movie at the Loft
Come to the Loft Cinema, hear Goddard speak and view the film Iron Jawed Angels, an amazing movie on the battle for the women's right to vote. (This is labeled as a women's rally, but I'm sure men can come also.)
What: Women Vote Rally
When: Saturday, October 9th from 10-11:30 am.
Where: The Loft Cinema, 3233 E Speedway Blvd.
For more info, please contact Erika Burkhart at (303) 514-3452.

Eastside Rally for Goddard
What: Eastside Rally for Terry Goddard hosted by City Council members Shirley Scott and Paul Cunningham
When: Saturday, October 9, 4-6 pm
Where: The Children's Outdoor Performance Area, 8123 E Poinciana (next to PCC East, north of Irvington, east of Pantano).
Come join us for food, music and show your support for Terry Goddard!
Please contact Max Torres at (520) 250-0473 or Pat Weidhoff at (520) 850-6755 for more information.

Goddard Got Art
The Goddard Got Art artist reception will be this Saturday. Goddard's campaign held a art competition. Come view the winners. This is the Second Saturday, so there will be loads of other things to do also. (If you're worried about parking, check out the Pennington Street Garage, by Cafe Poca Cosa. It's cheap or free for these events.)
When: Saturday, October 9, 5-7pm
Where: 1 E. Congress in downtown Tucson

17th Annual Pima County Democratic Party Honor Roll Gala
If you're into somewhat expensive political dinners, come this event and hear keynote speaker, Henry Cisneros, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development along with Goddard and State Senator Paula Aboud who will be the master of ceremonies.
What: Pima Democrats Honor Roll Gala, featuring Henry Cisneros and Terry Goddard
When: Saturday, October 9th at 12 pm. Registration begins at 11:30.
Where : University Marriot, 880 E 2nd St. Tickets are $75 ($65 for PCs and $50 for students). To purchase tickets, visit this Act Blue web link or call (520) 326-3716.

Cycling for Goddard
So, after that rubber chicken dinner at the Marriott on Sunday, join Goddard supporters Tuesday night for the community bike ride. We tried this last Tuesday, but that huge rain storm washed out our plans. We are calling on Goddard supporters to participate in the bike ride and show their support at the same time. We will be wearing lights and Goddard paraphernalia-- signs, t-shirts, bumper stickers-- to raise awareness. Barring bad weather (again), we plan do to this for each Tuesday night ride until the election on November 2.

Rumor has it that Connie Sanchez of Blondes for Brewer may even make an appearance at the art event and the cycling event. Is she switching sides? Come find out!
What: Tucson Community Bike Ride
When: Tuesdays, 7:30 pm
Where: in front of the Starbucks on University Blvd.

Goddard is workin' it in Tucson. Help him take back our state. Volunteer and vote!

Tucsonans can join the Rally to Restore Sanity or the March to Keep Fear Alive-- without leaving the Old Pueblo

I have been seriously jonesing to go to Washington, DC for the progressive rallies being held in October. After all I have a hybrid car and at least one person + 2 cattle dogs who would love to go on a road trip.

Problem is I also have a fulltime job and can't take 2 weeks off for the round trip.

Ever since I learned about these 3 rallies, I have been pining away to hear Ed Schultz, Jon Stewart, and/or Stephen Colbert address the teeming throngs of progressives on the mall in DC, but alas...

Now, thanks to the ingenuity and marketing savvy of the Hotel Congress, Tucson progressives can enjoy the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or the March to Keep Fear Alive without leaving town. The rallies begin at 9 a.m. on 10-30-10.

Personally, I think they should secure Governor Jan Brewer and Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall as keynote speakers for the Keep Fear Alive rally.

For Restoring Sanity...hmmm...definitely there are no Arizona Republican politicians who could address a rally with that title-- especially since Stewart called Arizona the "meth lab of democracy". Maybe Dave Ewoldt or Andrew Weil?

Here is a link to the Tucson rally and a link list of other states and cities that are having rallies. And, of course, in case you're not already distracted enough, you can follow it all on facebook and Twitter.

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?)

Budget cuts: Arizona Legislature has it's meat cleavers and chainsaws ready

Random Musings and Blog for Arizona cross-posted a pretty disgusting story this afternoon about the Arizona Legislature's Finance Advisory Committee (FAC) meeting last week.

As we all know, after decades of trickle down economics and other short-sighted policies, the Republican majority in the Arizona Legislature has run this state into the ground economically and socially.

But wait... there's more!

According to an article in the Arizona Republic, Arizona has a "$2.25 billion deficit that needs to be wiped out in the next 20 months."

The purpose of last week's FAC meeting was to discuss the budget and the state's economic crisis. The briefing materials for the meeting are here, and the video is here.

Pondering what these right-wing extremists will do to balance the budget without raising revenue keeps me awake at night. As the other bloggers pointed out, the state's abysmal financial situation underscores the need for us to elect Attorney General Terry Goddard to the governorship.

We saw how crazy Phoenix was last spring with Republican Governor Jan Brewer at the helm and Republicans controlling both houses in the Legislature. Boycotts and loss of business due to SB1070 aside, Arizona was the laughing stock of the country with regular stories on The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Saturday Night Live. With SB1070, the birther bill, anchor babies, "Constitutional carry" gun laws, and Brewer's babbling about beheadings, we gave the satirists plenty of material.

What happens in 2011 to our quality of life and our children's future may not be easily parodied if Goddard loses. Here is a little food for thought from Random Musings:

The Republicans in the legislature are sharpening their meat cleavers and oiling their chain saws in gleeful anticipation of inflicting mortal wounds upon public education in Arizona during the next budget cycle.

"However, the presence of Terry Goddard in the governor's office will serve to mitigate the carnage.

"He and his veto pen will be there to force the anti-society extremists in the legislature to the negotiating table and force them to minimize the long-term damage.

"Of course, electing Terry Goddard only sets up a strong, but not impenetrable, defense to the worst of the lege's machinations...

"Electing more Democrats to the legislature, maybe even enough to tie or take control of one of the chambers, would go a LONG way toward stopping the R-led slaughter of Arizona's physical and societal infrastructures.

Today is the last day to register to vote in Arizona. If you haven't done so already, go to the Service Arizona website before midnight October 4, register your sorry ass, and vote on November 2.

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"?

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.

The Migrant Trail: Walk a mile in their shoes

Illegal immigrants. Beheadings. Drug trafficking in the desert. Gang violence in Mexico. SB1070. Yada, yada, yada...

Rightly or wrongly, Arizona's SB1070 pushed immigration and border issues to the forefront in this election season.

Misinformation about immigration and the border abounds. For people who want to know more about migrants, gangs, the drug trade, and how it all relates to Americans, I suggest these movies:

- El Norte

- Sin Nombre

- Maria Full of Grace

- Traffic

- Plan Columbia

Watch these and then tell me who the real victims are. I'll give you a hint: It's related to poverty... on both sides of the border.

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.

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.

Who writes Tucson's real estate development contracts? Cuz I don't think they know what they are doing (Part 2)

This downtown development saga begins back in December 2008, but it keeps on... well...developing...

The Cliff Notes version is that the City of Tucson was going to swap land for development services to be completed by Scott Stiteler (and his various other partners who have come and gone in the past year and a half).

The Tucson Citizen (December 17, 2008) made a rosy announcement of the downtown "predevelopment plans" and the land/cash swaps.

Later in the Spring of 2009, the Tucson Weekly (April 9, 2009) published an extensive article on multiple downtown deals.

Quoting from the Weekly:
"The concept is the city has no money," explains Jaret Barr, of the city manager's office. "What if the DTDC [Downtown Tucson Development Company, Stiteler's business] could do the work, and our compensation (to the DTDC) would be properties?"

Under the terms of the predevelopment agreement, the developers would be given options to acquire numerous parcels of valuable property for $1 each. This land was to be transferred when the DTDC finished specific tasks.

This is not a new idea. Cash-strapped municipalities have used this redevelopment tactic for many years: Give a developer some vacant land (or sell it for a token amount of money) and allow the developer to build on it, in a specified way. In the end, everyone is happy, theoretically. The developer owns a money-making property, and the city benefits from sales taxes and the value of having gleaming new construction where there once was a blighted property or a vacant lot.

During the spring of last year, several trial balloons were floated regarding which properties would be traded to Stiteler in exchange for his services. At one point, he was asking for the the Historic Train Depot and the Congress Street frontage of Ronstadt Center (which would have made it unusable as a bus station). This is when I started to pay attention. As I mentioned, these land-for-services swaps are common, but generally the municipality doesn't trade property that the city has spent millions developing. (In fact, last spring I even wrote letters to all of the City Council members asking, "The Ronstadt Center? The Train Depot? Really? What are you thinking???")

To add to the ongoing drama downtown last spring, there were two other city government/development stories also brewing in the local media. In April, the City Council fired Tucson City Manager Mike Hein. Was Hein scapegoated because of the city's problems and Rio Nuevo's ... well... sluggish progress? I don't know, but for a variety of opinions on this high-profile political action, check out these links 1,2,3,4, 5.

And, of course, who could forget the landlord-tenant food fight that sprang up between Stiteler and the the Rialto Theater Foundation, reported in the Weekly in late May 2009. The Rialto eventually lost this battle. (Note to self: never fight publicly with your landlord.)

On June 11, 2009, the Tucson Weekly reported that the Train Depot had been removed from the land swap, but the specific deal between Stiteler and the city seemed to be evolving-- just days before the June 16 deadline for a City Council decision. Furthermore, the Weekly reported that "the city could owe Stiteler and Martin [one of his partners] more than $900,000 if the document isn't ratified by June 16, due to language that was included in an earlier agreement."

Why did the city apparently sign a contract that had a deadline for their decision but not a deadline for submission of the plan? In the June 11 story, the Weekly reported several different possible multi-million-dollar scenarios-- just days before the final decision was to be made. In fact, Stiteler delivered the final plan to the City Council on the Friday before the Tuesday City Council meeting. Three days over a weekend was obviously not enough time for them to make an informed decision.

Ultimately, the City Council did what they do best; they delayed making a decision. This-- among many other Rio Nuevo snafus-- caused City Councilwoman Nina Trasoff to lose her City Council seat to Republican Steve Kozachik in the November 2009 election and gave Councilwoman Karin Ulich a very tight race. In October 2009, the Tucson Choices blog published a series of "Player Reports" with tidbits of information on several downtown deals.

Now let's fast forward to this summer 2010.

Remember the fee that the city "could owe" Stiteler? Well, the city did owe him a settlement because the 2009 deal fell through. On June 17, 2010 (a year and a day after the historic non-decision) the Tucson Weekly reported the city's settlement with Stiteler.

But, wait, there's more!

In the past year, the Arizona Legislature and Governor Jan Brewer created the Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District Board to oversee future development in downtown and to manage the Rio Nuevo funds.

On June 18, 2010 Inside Tucson Business reported that the Rio Nuevo Board (now in charge of spending the Rio Nuevo funds) doesn't approve of the city's lawsuit settlement with Stiteler. According the Inside Tucson Business, the Stiteler settlement includes a shared asset-- parking spaces in a downtown parking garage-- and the City Council didn't clear the deal with the Rio Nuevo Board. Sigh.

Again, I ask, "Who writes Tucson's real estate development contracts?"

Cartel wars come to Arizona

Only a week after the Arizona Primaries, Governor Jan Brewer is running ads linking her opponent Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard to Obama, unions, and the "boycott cartel."

OK, agreed, for some of us, these linkages are reasons to vote for Goddard, but his portrayal in these attack ads is damming. Blog for Arizona has an embedded video, and there is a similar but different radio version airing on 1330AM during the daily John C. Scott political talk show. (Personally, I think the radio ad is stronger than the TV ad.)

Not to be outdone, the Democrats are claiming that Brewer is ensconsed in a "lobbyist cartel."

In a previous post, I wrote about Brewer's ties to private prison lobbyists.

But the Democrats' list of "lobbyist cartel" members in Brewer's cabinet is impressive-- in a bad way, of course. At least now we know where she gets her ideas. :)

Press release from the Arizona Democratic Party:

Governor Brewer, cut ties to your lobbyist cartel
As Arizona's working families struggle through crisis after crisis,
Brewer surrounds herself with special-interest lobbyists who profit

PHOENIX -- It's time for Gov. Jan Brewer to cut ties with her staff of special-interest lobbyists. They, not Brewer, are running the 9th floor, and Arizona is suffering the consequences -- we remain dead last in school funding and we lead the pack in job losses and foreclosures.

Brewer's campaign staff and governing staff are overrun with lobbyists, particularly those with direct ties to prison privatization. Brewer's lobbyists have been leaders in the efforts to privatize Arizona's prison system at the expense of public safety. Here's a quick Who's Who:

Campaign Manager Chuck Coughlin is a registered lobbyist and president of HighGround Public Affairs Consultants, which has represented Corrections Corporation of America.

Campaign Spokesman Doug Cole is a registered lobbyist for HighGround Public Affairs Consultants.

Governor's Office Chief of Staff Eileen Klein was a registered lobbyist.

Governor's Office Communications Director Paul Senseman was a registered lobbyist.

Governor's Office Deputy Communications Director Mark Genrich is a registered lobbyist.

Governor's Office Deputy Chief of Staff Richard Bark was a registered lobbyist.

Governor's Office Policy Adviser Kevin Kinsall was a registered lobbyist.

Today, Brewer and her fellow Republicans on the general-election slate launched a noisy, coordinated assault on Democrats who fight for hard-working Arizonans. Yet Brewer was eerily quiet throughout August as her handlers' deep ties to private prison lobbyists were exposed in the wake of murderers escaping from a private Kingman prison.

(NOTE to the Dems: nice press release, but it can't compete with a TV ad. Buy some air time. We need to save this state!)

Why SB1070? Because Brewer and Pearce Are Beholdin' to Private Prisons

There are a myriad of reasons why people either support or denounce SB1070, Arizona's harsh anti-illegal immigration bill.

Pro: "America's under attack! The brown people are coming to take our jobs! Stop the border-crossing terrorists and drug dealers."

Con: "This is a racist policy-- and an unfunded mandate-- that could foster racial profiling, discrimination and wrongful imprisonment."

On a recent Rachel Maddow Show, she offers some interesting facts regarding Governor Jan Brewer's and Arizona State Senator Russel Pearce's steadfast support for anti-illegal immigration legislation.

Both Brewer and Pearce have strong ties to the private prison industry-- particularly Corrections Corporation of America, the corporation that holds the contract to hold federal prisoners (including suspected illegal aliens.)

Although Brewer has 2 close aids who have worked with and/or lobbied for the private prison industry, Pearce has even closer ties. Private prison corporations have donated the maximum amount to his campaigns, according to Maddow's research. To repay them, he sponsored legislation to transfer Arizona's entire prison system to private corporations and was the father of SB1070, which would increase prison populations dramatically.

Frankly, they're both opportunistic sleezeballs.

Immigration reform: the rest of the story, part 2

Xenophobia will continue to re-surface in our [state] unless and until government finds long-term solutions to this very serious problem which seems to be a result of some of the poor, the desperate and the unemployed taking matters of government into their own hands.

Given the anti-immigrant fervor sweeping Arizona and the US this quote could have been uttered by a local politician or activist. In actuality, this is a statement by African Christian Democratic Party Gauteng leader Lydia Meshoe as quoted in today's Times Live from Johannesburg, South Africa. The online newspaper goes on to say, "Sixteen people, mostly foreign nationals, were attacked at Kya Sands informal settlement north of Johannesburg in the past few days."

Hmmm... this is not unlike actions of the neo-Nazis vigilantes patrolling Pinal County, is it? (OK, they haven't shot anyone that we know of, but they're armed and ready.) Why are we as a country sliding backward from racial equality and tolerance for "the other"?

I blame extremist politicians and media personalities who twist the facts.. and sometimes just plain lie (1, 2). I'm not going into how irresponsible and destructive Faux News celebrities like Glen Beck, Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly are but instead will focus on Arizona politicians' lies and the related facts.

Arizona's Republican politicians-- particularly those running for office-- have been fanning the flames of xenophobia to further their political careers. Unelected Republican Governor Jan Brewer, septuagenarian Senator John McCain and his senatorial sidekick Joh Kyl, and Arizona Legislator Russel "Father of SB1070" Pearce are four politicians who obviously do not employ fact-checkers.

A few weeks ago, Brewer made headlines when she accused most border crossers of being drug dealers and talked about beheadings in the desert. (For a video, try this link.) Presented with the facts, she tried to mumble her way out of it. Although McCain flip-flops on multiple issues with impunity, recently he and Kyl have been beating the border enforcement and fear drums, along with Right-Wing Anchor Baby Pearce, who has no need for facts in his rhetoric.

So where is the truth? In yesterday's part 1 on The Rest of the Story, I quoted several polls that show most Americans favor comprehensive immigration reform and a path to citizenship. Today, I'll offer some statistics to debunk the lies being told by politicians who hope to capitalize on your fear.

40 people have died in the desert since July 1, 2010. Pima County's Medical Examiner is quoted as saying, this could be "the deadliest month of all time." These people are not ranchers or drug dealers; they are undocumented border crossers-- los desconocidos-- the unknown dead who come to the US everyday for work and a new life. According to the No More Deaths website, 153 have died in the desert since October 1, 2009.

Ironically, although more people are dying in the desert this year, fewer people are crossing the border illegally. According to the Arizona Daily Star, "Apprehensions in the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector have decreased each of the past five years; remittances to Mexico have declined and anecdotal reports show the economic recession has slowed illegal immigration. Yet more people are dying than ever."

Brewer, McCain, and others have blamed undocumented border crossers for beheadings, home invasions, murders, and kidnappings. In actuality, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the violent crime rate in Arizona has been decreasing since it peaked in 1993. (It will be interesting to see if Arizona's violent crime rate increases after the new "Constitutional" Carry law goes into effect next week.)

Again, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics, Tucson ranks 38th in crime-- far behind heartland cities like Columbus, Ohio and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Many US citizens are heavily armed, and people get shot everyday. As this blogger points out, when someone is shot in DC, no one calls for thousands of troupes to be deployed.

Unfortunately, in US politics, facts don't matter much, and according to a research study reported by National Public Radio (NPR), people don't generally change their minds-- even when presented with facts. Sigh.

Immigration reform: the rest of the story

Repeatedly, news outlets have reported that a majority of US and Arizona citizens support SB1070. More often than not, those reports do not provide the question(s) asked to determine that finding. For example, an early Rasmussen poll asked if people thought it was acceptable for police to ask for identification during a traffic stop. Most people said, "Sure. That's OK," since it is already standard procedure to ask for a drivers' license, registration, and proof of insurance. The problem with SB1070 is that it goes far beyond that (1,2).

An article from yesterday's Daily Kos quotes several other surveys that are not getting the same media attention as the pro-SB1070 polls. For example:

Did you know that most US citizens favor comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship -- particularly for undocumented workers who have been here for years? The Daily Kos quotes not one but four independent polls that revealed those results. Check the link for full details from these surveys conducted by the Associated Press, CNN, CBS/New York Times, and other reputable sources.

Even though the bill has not become law yet, SB1070 is already creating consequence beyond lawsuits, convention cancellations, protests, pizza boycotts, and the meteoric rise in Governor Jan Brewer's popularity.

We are seeing an increase in aggressive law enforcement by law officers and armed vigilantes. Last week, on the same day that the SB1070 hearing started in the courts, Sheriff Joe Arpaio conducted a desert raid with 100 of his men in the outskirts of Maricopa County. (How much did that cost to round up 11 people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time with brown skin?) In addition, we have civilian neo-Nazis patrolling the desert in Pinal County.

Seriously, folks, do we really want to live in a police state where big white boys with dangerous toys fan out across the desert looking for exhausted border-crossers to shoot? Enough is enough. I don't want to live in a heavily armed, extremist police state. This is what the Republican Legislature has given us with SB1070 and the new gun law SB1108. Both laws go into effect next week.

Sky Bar out of touch with clientele on SB1070

What started as another xenophobic law proposed by wingnut Republican Russel Pearce, SB1070 could be labeled the Ultimate Law of Unintended Consequences.

In addition to helping our GED-toting, unelected governor vanquish her Republican primary opponents, the ill-conceived bill has become a national sensation, fodder for comedians, rationale for boycotts, and the deciding factor on where to buy pizza in Tucson.

In early July, the humanitarian group No More Deaths started We Mean Business, the business-friendly answer song to Congressman Raul Grijalva's call for boycotts of Arizona after passage of SB1070. Approximately 90 local businesses agreed to post anti-SB1070 We Mean Business or We Reject Racism signs in their establishments. The rationale was that flaming liberals like me who oppose SB1070 would know which businesses to frequent and which to... well... boycott. (For a list of these businesses and a map, click here.)

Given the huge economic impact of Mexican shoppers in Arizona-- $7.3 million per day-- it makes good business sense to oppose SB1070.

According to the No More Deaths website, businesses interested in participating in the We Reject Racism movement are asked to take the following three actions:

- Post the “We Reject Racism” sign to publicly oppose SB1070

- Not allow law enforcement into their business for the sole purpose of checking immigration status of people inside*

- Not financially supporting lawmakers who voted for SB1070

*Legally businesses have the right to prevent anyone from entering or ask them to leave. The exception for law enforcement is if they have a warrant for someone inside or believe an individual is an immediate danger to the public.

Tony Vaccaro, owner of Brooklyn's Pizza and the adjoining Sky Bar on 4th Avenue, was one of the Tucson businessmen who initially supported We Mean Business 2 weeks ago. In a turn of events, Vaccaro took the We Mean Business signs down this week and contacted the Arizona Daily Star stating his flip-flop support of SB1070.

Vaccaro is quoted in the Star as saying that after having read SB1070, he now agrees with it. The Star also quotes Vaccaro as saying, "...I do not believe that businesses should get involved in politics. That is for individuals, politicians and lobby groups. I feel that I have let some of my customers down by getting involved in the SB 1070 debate."

Businesses shouldn't get involved in politics? Has this guy been living in a cave? The corporatists control our elected officials, run our country-- and are trying to run our city!

I find it hard to believe that he really thinks he let his customers down by opposing SB1070 and racism. Vaccaro's 2 businesses-- Brooklyn's Pizza and Sky Bar-- are in the heart of the 4th Ave shopping district-- nestled between the University of Arizona, the downtown arts district, and Tucson High School (whose student population is less than 50% Anglo).

Personally, I liked (note the past tense) Sky Bar. The open, airy venue features affordable pizza and adult beverages, theme nights, eclectic live music, and dancing. The downtown crowd is far from white bread-- being diverse in race, ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation. Vaccaro's new position on SB1070 is out of step with them.

Artists for Action, another anti-SB1070 movement that popped up in July, may give Vaccaro-- who hires dozens of musicians to play at his club and whose clientele includes local artists-- some heart burn.

Spearheaded by Calexico's John Convertino and Joey Burns, Artists for Action urges artists and musicians to take a stand against SB1070 and help educate the public. The group is not advocating boycotts; in fact, it is encouraging out-of-state musicians to come to Arizona and voice their opposition to SB1070 -- rather than boycotting in protest.

Who will win this tug of war? Hopefully, not the xenophobes or those who exploit immigrants (documented or not).

53,000 a day: Brother can you spare a dime?

53,000 people are losing their unemployment benefits a day, according to the Ed Schultz Show on Thursday.

While the Senate quibbles about how or if unemployment benefits should be extended, people's lives are being destroyed.

It's time that we ask everyone who is running for statewide or federal office:
How will you prevent joblessness from becoming homelessness?

A great follow-up question for candidates like J.D. Hayworth, who relies heavily on his "Christian values" in his advertising, would be:
What would Jesus do?

A follow-up question for the Republicans would be:
Do you really want to push unemployment higher to improve your election chances? (If so, that's despicable.)

Here is a list of candidates' websites. Go ahead, ask 'em! Call them! Write to them! Or better yet, ask them at a public event!

US Senate
Rodney Glassman(D)
Randy Parrez (D)
John Dougherty (D)
John McCain (R)
J.D. Hayworth (R)
Jim Deakin (R)

Arizona Governor
Terry Goddard (D)
Jan Brewer (R)
Buz Mills (R)
Dean Martin (R)

Congressional District 8
Gabrielle Giffords (D)
Johnathan "Payday Loan" Paton (R)
Jesse Kelly (R)
Andy Gross (R) (This guy needs a new webmaster. His campaign website doesn't come up.)
Brian Miller (R)

Congressional District 7
Raul Grijalva (D)
Ruth McClung (R)
Christopher Flowers (R)
Robert Wilson (R)

Brewer, beheadings, and those pesky facts

You're entitled to your own opinions but not your own set of facts.
-- Senator Harry Reid, during the televised bipartisan healthcare negotiations.

Those pesky facts. We don't like facts in Arizona-- or science for that matter.

Arizona Legislator Russel Pearce's penchant for making up facts about undocumented workers has catapulted him and his baby (SB1070) to national notoriety.

Not to be outdone, unelected Republican Governor Jan Brewer has started ginning up fear-mongering sound bites about beheadings and drug-smuggling illegal immigrants to keep ahead of her fellow reactionary ideologue Republican challengers in the governor's race.

Although right-wingers would like to blame convention cancellations and a tourism slump on Congressman Raul Grijalva's call for an Arizona boycott, Brewer is doing her part to further destroy the state's economy by signing SB 1070 and continuing to tell blatant lies about undocumented border crossers, the drug trade, and violence in Arizona.

Rather than rehash the facts -- or lack of them. Here are a few well-written blog posts on the subject:

Follow the Yellow Brick Road… “Gun-Fighting, Drug-Smuggling, Be-Headings, Oh My!”

Beheadings & Tourism. That's the Ticket.

Gov. Jan Brewer and Sen. John McCain lying with impunity
This one includes a video link to Brewer lying about illegals beheading innocent Arizonans.

Quick Thought of the Day

And here are 2 stories about the $250,000 public relations campaign-- started by Governor Brewer to combat the boycott Arizona fervor. Now it looks as if the PR folks also will be battling Brewer's own negative campaign tactics. (And this woman is somehow ahead in the polls???)

AZ battles negative image

JAN BREWER GETS $250K TO COUNTERACT HER OWN RHETORIC.

I hope Brewer enjoys the protest rallies at the governors' conference this coming weekend.

Send 3-year-olds to school? The French do...

All-day kindergarten was one of the victims of Republican budget cuts this year. Ignoring the scientific research on the benefits (1,2) of early education, right-wingers in the Legislature and the Goldwater Institute said there was no data to prove it. (Ironically, this "no supporting data" argument was ignored when they funded abstinence only education, but that's a story for another time.)

Repeatedly Arizona's short-sighted Legislature has chosen to ignore our most vulnerable citizens by cutting education funding and thus forcing teacher layoffs, larger class sizes, shorter school years, and school closings. Arizona actually spends less per student than it did in 1987.

The crux of the problem is that Arizona's Republican Governor and Legislature see public education as an unnecessary expense-- not an investment in the state's future.

When compared to other states, our rugged individualism has earned us the #50 slot in education funding and the #5 slot in jobs that don't require a high school education. When compared to European countries, Arizona's public education efforts are paltry, at best.

Today, National Public Radio (NPR) aired a story about early childhood education in France, where all 3- and 4-year-olds attend public school.

"Society as a whole [not just students and parents] benefits from this," said one French education official. Early childhood education is "not an expense but an investment."

France's Ecole Maternal -- a nationwide, state-supported preschool-- gives all French children the same start in life-- regardless of income, gender, race or religion. According to the NPR reporter, the French view the Ecole Maternal as a symbol of their Republican Revolution, which toppled the French monarchy and brought equal rights and equal treatment for all citizens (including women).

In the US, preschool is a patchwork, and the determining factor is money. People who can afford it send their children to high-priced preschools (which offer a variety of stimulating experiences), hire in-home nannies, and/or have at least one stay-at-home parent.

Children growing up in middle and lower class homes have limited choices-- low-cost preschools and day cares; preschool scholarships; care by family members or unlicensed baby-sitters; Head Start. For these families, all-day kindergarten helped their children catch up, and now it's gone.

I know that the do-it-for-the-children, pro-education argument falls on deaf ears in the Arizona Legislature, but let's look at this as capitalists. How can the US -- and particularly Arizona-- compete economically inn the global marketplace with an uneducated workforce?

Don't get me wrong. I am not promoting a government requirement that would force parents to send all 3- and 4-year-olds to school. I am advocating for equal opportunities in education -- and life. Arizona needs an attitude adjustment; we need more "liberty, equality, and fraternity" and less "I got mine; screw you."

Arizona voters approved a new sales tax to fund education in May. We need to make sure the Legislature spends these funds wisely.

Tucson May Day March draws 1000s supporting human rights

Thousands of people marched through Tucson's south side to Armory Park to commemorate May Day and show their support for human rights and immigration reform.

The multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multi-cultural crowd of an estimated 7000 marchers snaked through neighborhoods chanting and waving homemade signs. The crowd, which was approximately 30% non-Hispanic, was so large that it was impossible to see the beginning or the end until it dispersed at Armory Park to hear speeches and music.

Although May Day Marches have commemorated workers' rights for more than a century, they have evolved into celebrations of human rights in recent years. With the passage of Arizona's new strict anti-illegal immigrant bill a week ago, May Day Marches across the country focused on civil rights for everyone in the US--regardless of status. The march in Los Angeles was the largest.

Several speakers, including Dolores Huerta, Congressman Raul Grijalva, and singer Linda Ronstadt addressed the marchers in both Spanish and English.

Huerta, who organized migrant farm workers in the 1960s with Cesar Chavez, urged the audience to forget petty differences and work together for comprehensive immigration reform-- now. A life-long activitist, Huerta told everyone not to leave Arizona but to stay and vote Governor Jan Brewer and her cronies out of office.

Grijalva, who came under attack for his call for a boycott of Arizona due to SB1070, said that when reporters asked him who they would see at May Day March, he replied that they would see America-- a diversified country.

Across the street from the May Day rally, a small but noisy, all-white group of SB1070 supporters gathered. From behind the police line, they tried to provoke the May Day Marchers by flipping the bird and jeering, but their voices were drowned out by the Aztec drummers and dancers.

Pictures speak louder than words. Please check out the attached slide show and the KVOA video.

This article originally appeared in my Progressive Examiner column. To see the slide show and great video coverage from KVOA, click on the link.

Show us the money: can bribes... er, incentives... combat calls for Arizona boycott?

Arizona continued to be in the media spotlight today with multiple stories about the recent passage of the anti-illegal immigration bill (SB1070) and related boycotts.

This morning, the Diane Rehm Show on National Public Radio (NPR) devoted a full hour to Arizona and immigration. You can listen to the show here. In a nutshell (no pun intended), even the most conservative commentators said that with the passage of SB1070 Arizona's Republican governor and legislature have gone to far.

Reuters, NPR, and USA Today-- all say that the Arizona boycotts have begun.

According to Reuters, the Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association reported six organizations had canceled conventions in the state. This includes the 11,000-member Immigration Lawyers Association, which had planned a fall annual meeting in Scottsdale. In addition, Reuters eported that the California Senate voted to "cut ties with companies based in neighboring Arizona". Reuters also said that immigration rights advocates have called for boycotts Arizona Diamondbacks baseball games.

NPR's All Things Considered reported that the city of San Francisco passed a resolution to boycott Arizona and all Arizona-based businesses because of SB1070, which they called "un-American." NPR also reported that a Tucson icon-- the Arizona Inn-- is losing long-time customers who "love the Inn but won't come back to Arizona."

According to USA Today, Mexico has issued a "travel alert" warning citizens not to go to Arizona. On the surface, you may think that this is what Arizona legislators wanted, but in reality, Mexicans often shop across the border in Arizona. A travel alert and unhospitable attitude could hurt commerce in Arizona border towns like Nogales.

Lastly, to counter all of this-- at least a little-- Arizona Public Media reported today that the Arizona government is offering incentives for motion picture companies that want to do business in Arizona.

Will economic incentives help Arizona buy its way out of boycott threats? I don't think so.

In the meantime, according to NPR, Governor Jan Brewer is "not worried about the boycotts" and believes that they will not hurt businesses in the state.

This article originally appeared in my Progressive Examiner column.