Vote today!

Today, August 24, is primary election day in Arizona. For those of you who were asleep in high school government class, a primary election is when the major parties pick their candidates to run in the November general election.

Several statewide offices will be decided in November, including governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, and superintendent of public instruction. In addition, Congressional representatives (CD7 and 8 in Southern Arizona) and US Senate will be decided, along with many state Legislative races.

For Arizona Democrats and progressive independents, there are many, many well-qualified candidates running for offices. I am not going to make any predictions or endorsements because pretty much any of the Democratic candidates in contested races would do a fine job. For predictions, you can check out other progressive blogs like Random Musings.

If you don't know where to vote, check out this link on the Pima County Recorder's website.

A few years back, Pima County made it much easier to vote by instituting early mail-in ballots and early voting sites. These services have been very popular and successful according to the County Recorder's statistics.

If you have an early ballot and have not returned it, it's too late to mail it. You can drop it in a ballot box at any polling place today-- no waiting in line.

Also, if you would like to always vote by mail (after today), you can request to be on the Permanent Early Voter List (PEVL). Once you are on the PEVL, the County Recorder's office will automatically mail a ballot to you.

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.

More than 1000 Signs Removed from Tucson Streets

On Monday morning, I posted a rather fiery blog post about political signs being removed in midtown Tucson.

Well, I kicked a hornet's nest with that story.

After multiple e-mail exchanges with the Ward 6 Office-- including Steve himself-- and neighborhood association leaders, I learned that the sign sweep was not in just Ward 6 but citywide. I also learn that only illegally-posted signs would be removed.

According to data provided by Councilman Kozachik, 1140 illegal signs were removed, including 865 political signs and 275 non-political signs. (Personally, I think that this is a waste of manpower-- volunteer manpower in posting the illegal signs and city staff manpower to remove them.)

Anyway, I want to thank Councilman Kozachik for providing the above data and clarifying the sign blight situation.

For information regarding legal vs illegal signs on city streets, check out this brochure published by the City of Tucson.

BTW, in my note back to Steve, I suggested that he could really help with the neighborhood blight caused by graffiti, illegally tall grass and weeds, and illegal dumping of trash and discarded furniture in the curb lawns by slum lords (long before a scheduled bulky pick-up). Blight begone!

Political signs coming down in midtown Tucson

Midtown Tucson with its mix of funky old houses and mid-century in-fill is an economically and culturally diversely part of Tucson. But at its core, it's heavily Democratic.

Due to the fluke of city-wide City Council elections and a marginally performing Democratic Party incumbant, midtown's Ward 6 is now represented by Republican City Councilman Steve Kozachik.

This summer, as always in an election year, political signs are popping up all over town. According to my neighborhood's newsletter, some residents (not sure how many) are concerned about the blight caused by political signs in and around our neighborhood. As a result, our neighborhood president contacted the Ward 6 office about this, and Kozachik's office has agreed to remove all political signs not on private property.

This statement from our recent newsletter bothers me: "City personnel are removing ALL [political] signs from the intersections for the next three weeks."

I also understand that political signs can be unsightly. In my opinion Tucson has hundreds of unsightly signs and billboards. What is Kozachik's opinion on the sign code regulations?

I take issue with removing political signs right before the primary and general elections. I see this as an unnecessary intervention and an infringement of free speech. The Arizona primary will be held in 8 days. Half or more of those signs will be removed soon after that.

Legislative District 28 (which includes Ward 6) has 5 Democrats running for the Arizona Legislature. There are also many highly qualified Democrats who are vying for Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction-- not to mention the hotly contested Congressional District 8 (Gabrielle Giffords' seat) and the US Senate race for John McCain's seat.

My point is: Republican Councilman Kozachik is more than happy to remove signs because, in reality, he will be removing primarily the signs of hard-working Democratic candidates, thus hurting their name recognition and wasting valuable campaign funds.

This is a problem. If the signs have been placed in accordance with city sign ordinances, they should not be removed. If you live in midtown, contact Kozachik's office at ward6@tucsonaz.gov and tell him that you value free speech and you want him to leave the signs as they are.

I understand the concerns about neighborhood blight. If Kosachik wants to help midtown neighborhoods, get after neighborhoods with illegally tall grass and weeds, broken furniture in the curb lawns, and graffiti.

UPDATE: For an update to this story click here.

Should the RTA take over SunTran? I vote "no"

For several weeks, the issue of SunTran control has been bouncing around the City Council Chambers and the media.

Today as the Tucson City Council considered whether or not to relinquish control of the SunTran bus service to the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), pro- and anti-RTA demonstrators gathered outside (1, 2). The Teamsters Union (below) supports the move to RTA because they believe the RTA will provide a more stable funding source for the bus service and, therefore, the union members. Bus riders and representatives from Casa Maria Soup Kitchen (above) protested against the move to RTA because they fear steep fare increases and cuts to services if the regional authority takes over the buses.

Yes, the city is strapped for cash, but I disagree with the proposal to transfer SunTran to the RTA.

First of all, the vast majority of SunTran riders (in the neighborhood of 80-90%) are residents of the City of Tucson; this alone should be reason enough for the city to retain control. SunTran riders are people who don't have other transportation, can't afford to park or can't find parking where they work (ie, the University of Arizona), or can't drive, ride a bike, or walk to their destinations. Often-- but not always-- these people just can't afford cars.

If SunTran were controlled by a regional authority, Tucson would have one equal vote along with several smaller suburban cities-- such as Oro Valley or Marana. Obviously, potential suburban bus riders have different needs than the poor people and students who ride the city buses. Although Tucson is the biggest city in this group and has the most riders, it would be one voice among many at the RTA table.

RTA claims that it has solid funding, and this is why the Teamsters are supporting the RTA take-over. According to a radio interview between former City Councilman Steve Leal and activist Brian Flagg of Casa Maria, RTA would increase fares-- perhaps even doubling them-- if they take over SunTran.

The tragedy of all of this is that it pits workers who are fighting for their jobs and a living wage, against riders, who are fighting for affordable transportation and a means to get to their jobs or school. These groups should stick together, rather than battling against each other. At the end of the day, drivers and riders have more in common than they may believe today.

Arpaio on a hit list? So, what else is new?

Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a media whore.

The big news out of Maricopa County yesterday was that (reportedly) a Mexican drug cartel has put a $1 million reward on Arpaio's head.

So, what else is new?

Arpaio has built his nationwide reputation as the toughest sheriff in the US on the backs of inmates and immigrants. I suspect there has been a price on his head for many years-- thanks to his notoriously poor treatment for inmates and his immigrant sweeps in Phoenix, as well as in the deserts around it.

CNN and other major news channels are carrying the story ab out Arpaio's text message threat today. I found a link to the text message image on theNoisy Room blog.

Right off the bat, I'm suspicious of this text message. Do drug dealers have particularly bad spelling skills? Here is an excerpt:

"Miyon d dolares por la k?besa d arpayo i dies mil dls por kualkier amerikano ..."

I can't even count the numbers of spelling errors in this message fragment. I can understand that Mexican drug dealers may not be able to spell English words very well, but this text looks like really poor Spanglish. I can see spelling a few words wrong to make the message harder to trace, but, personally, I think this looks like a hoax.

We are all workers

Walking down Madison Ave last night after dinner, I saw this advertisement for Levis. Initially it struck me because I identify with the egalitarian message, "We are all workers."

We are all workers-- except for those who aren't-- that is the 1% of the population who are living off of our sweat and their accumulated wealth and the mostly Republican politicians who do their bidding.

As I was reading the NY Times this morning and eating breakfast at the hotel, Paul Krugman's editorial reminded me sadly of this small black boy in his "workers'" uniform.

Krugman predicts more unemployment for American workers and continued intransigence by Republican and conservative Democrat lawmakers and the Federal Reserve.

Republican and conservative Democrat members of Congress have repeatedly blocked legislation to help workers. Recent examples include the long battle to extend unemployment benefits earlier in the summer and last week's demise of the so-called jobs bill which would have given community banks more funds to lend to small businesses to create jobs.

While conservative members of Congress want to hold the line on deficit spending if the expenditure will help workers (ie, 99% of us), they are all for retaining the Bush era tax cuts for the rich.

As Krugman puts it, "The point is that a large part of Congress — large enough to block any action on jobs — cares a lot about taxes on the richest 1 percent of the population, but very little about the plight of Americans who can’t find work."

So, no problem with spending to help the rich. Check out this video that shows the devastating impact of the Bush tax cuts on the US economy. (These cuts must sunset if we really want to get out of debt.)

Krugam laments that this trend will not end as long as the public's outrage is unfocused.

Tea Baggers are outraged-- but for the wrong reasons, in my opinion. Many of them are calling for less government-- except for the government that provides their Social Security checks.

Hello, People, less government is what we are suffering from now. When unemployment is looming near 10% and the Congress refuses to take action, that's serious. When cities like San Jose, California are laying off fire fighters, that's serious. When Arizona is laying off teachers and furloughing thousands of workers, that's serious.

Where's the outrage? Wake up.

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).