Subject: Government Spending

• RUNAWAY TRAINSTHE RAILROAD INDUSTRY WON'T TAKEN THE BLAME IF YOU GET KILLED AT ONE OF ITS CROSSINGS

  July 22, 1992

• Phoenix's Freebie for Fife

  The city torpedoed an urban development program when it let Symington off the hook for $2.7 million.

  October 19, 1995

• The Health-Care Mirage

  GOP boosters say Arizona's medical system for the poor should be a model for national health-care reform. But three federal investigations question whether Arizona's system is any less expensive than traditional Medicaid plans.

  December 28, 1995

• When Revolution Meets Reality

  Governor Symington says his massive tax cuts have brought prosperity to Arizona. Actually, they are bringing on a fiscal train wreck that could damage the state for decades.

  December 28, 1995

• Welfare That Doesn't Work

  Governor Symington has spoken of helping needy kids and improving the welfare system. His welfare agency, the Department of Economic Security, is famous for astonishing incompetence and children who die.

  December 28, 1995

• Children of Synanon

  An acclaimed Tucson drug-treatment program went suddenly, mysteriouly bankrupt. Administrators blame the board of directors. But others are questioning the administrators and their history at the notorious drug-treatment empire known as Synanon.

  October 10, 1996

• Grant's Doom

  State misspent $350,000 of federal funds earmarked for HIV and substance-abuse services

  April 1, 1999

• Jan Brewer: Herbert Hoover in High Heels and a Pantsuit

  Separated at birth? According to economist Paul Krugman, it's possible. Will soon-to-be Arizona Governor Jan Brewer repeat the mistakes of Republicans in the midst of the Great Depression, specifically those of President Herbert Hoover?It seems likely. With a GOP-led legislature intent on "starving the beast," as they call state government, Brewer & Co. are likely to swing an ax at any government programs or employees not tied to the floor. See, much of the state budget is held in place

  December 30, 2008

• Rick Renzi, Indicted Former Congressman, Getting His Earmarks Through

    If you don't like the $1.2 million in earmarks shoved into a Congressional spending bill headed for a vote in the U.S. Senate, it may be tough to get ahold of the man responsible: Indicted Former Congressman Rick Renzi. USA Today reports that Renzi is one of several former lawmakers who tucked 458 pet projects into a bill that's said to be needed to keep the government running through September. Renzi's projects include a drug enforcement program in Pinal County and road and bri

  March 5, 2009

• A Cancer on ASU

  Could Bob Pettit have cured cancer in his lifetime? We might never know, thanks to nasty university politics

  January 18, 2007

• Friends at Work

  When it comes to million-dollar contracts at the Arizona Department of Transportation, it's all about whose back gets scratched

  June 1, 2006

• Stealth Zealot

  Pop quiz. Who’s Arizona’s other U.S. senator? Here’s a clue: He makes Dubya look like a liberal

  April 13, 2006

• Lab Rats

  The University of Arizona's push to become one of the nation's great research institutions has paid off -- but at what cost to the state, faculty and students?

  December 20, 2001

• War of the Wards

  Phoenix Children's Hospital, for years hidden inside Good Samaritan hospital, seems to have been misplaced by the federal government

  September 30, 1999

• A Different School of Thought

  The state's unabashed enthusiasm for charter schools stops at the borders of Indian reservations

  July 23, 1998

• Class Reaction

  Legal aid to farmworkers and Indians slashed as Congress seeks end to mass lawsuits

  December 7, 1995

• LIBERAL TO A FAULTA LONG-RUNNING POLITICAL FEUD HAS BROUGHT DEMOCRATIC SOUTHWEST PHOENIX LITTLE BUT INTRIGUE, PARANOIA--AND A GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION

  August 24, 1995

• DEAD AND FORGOTTEN

  THE STATE'S MEDICAL SYSTEM FOR THE POOR DOESN'T KNOW WHETHER ITS CLIENTS ARE DEAD OR ALIVE. AND THAT'S HARDLY THE WORST OF THE PROBLEMS AT THE ARIZONA HEALTH CARE COST CONTAINMENT SYSTEM.

  April 27, 1995

• The Abortion Survey

  September 2, 1992

• Arizona Governor Wants New, "Sustainable" Model for Universities; Will Use Federal Money to Ease Tuition

  Arizona needs a more affordable business model for its universities in the face of state budget realities, Governor Jan Brewer said this morning to the Arizona Board of Regents. In the short term, hundreds of millions of federal stimulus dollars will be used over the next couple of years to keep tuition reasonably low, Brewer told the Regents, who oversee the state's three universities. But "another huge financial shortfall" awaits once those dollars are spent unles

  April 30, 2009

• AFL-CIO Calls Two State Reps "Heroes" for Voting "No" on Republican Bills; Huppenthal's Trial Delayed

  Daniel Patterson State Representatives Daniel Patterson and Jack Brown were called "heroes" this week by the AFL-CIO for their committment to vote "no" on most Republican bills. Patterson and Brown began their voting boycott a couple of weeks ago and haven't yet relented, resulting in some kind words from the labor union:  

  June 23, 2009

• Obama Mafia Asks Governor if She Supports Jon Kyl and Wants to Kiss Stimulus Money Goodbye

      www.mrrl.org Has Obama taken the role of Don Corleone? In Corleone fashion, top Obama officials made Arizona Governor Jan Brewer an offer she shouldn't refuse. They want her to back the President's stimulas plan, and if she doesn't and agrees with Senator Jon Kyl, she should say ciao to the federal funds. Capiche?! Several cabinet-level Luca Brasis, including Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and housing Secretary Shaun Donovan, sent lett

  July 16, 2009

• Hot Links: Monsoons, ADOT's Outsourced PR, and 'Racinos'

  The monsoons have finally arrived in the Valley. After a series of thunderstorms Monday night, the city saw more storms early this morning. Although temperatures in the Valley are expected to be around 108 the next several days, the Weather Service says the chance for thunderstorms will continue into next week...Despite having a public relations staff of up to 30 people, the Arizona Department of Transportation has been paying millions in taxpayer dollars to outsource public relations. Fiscal re

  July 21, 2009

• ASU Offers Classes for Businesses Looking to Use Stimulus Funds; Level of Scrutiny by Feds to be "Unprecedented"

  Image: Arizona State UniversityGary Aller Federal handouts come with long, twisted regulatory strings attached. Now, thanks to a series of new Arizona State University classes, stimulus-grabbing businesses can prepare for the bureaucratic onslaught.The classes are being offered by a side-gig of the ASU's Ira A. Fulton's School of Engineering called the Alliance for Construction Excellence, run by Gary Aller. The letters in ACE also represent the project's mission "to advance, collaborate and enr

  July 22, 2009

• Telemarketing Scam Bilking Phoenix Seniors Revealed in Federal Court

  www.spoofcard.com​A complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix today alleging that several Kansas-based telemarketing firms have been ripping off suckers and the elderly in countless states including Arizona.The complaint says Landmark Publishing Group, Grant Writers Institute, Apex Holdings International and Real Estate Buyers Financial Network, would sell consumers a "federal grants guidebook," guaranteeing them more than $25,000 in federal grants. They claime

  August 5, 2009

• Hot Links: Solar Cameras, 306 DUI Arrests, and Bones on Base

  ​Scottsdale-based company Redflex Traffic Solutions Inc. is developing a solar-powered photo enforcement camera. The company has an agreement with Tempe-based Arizona Solar Concepts to design the cameras, but both companies refuse to elaborate until the project is further along. A Redflex spokesperson says the cameras are "not roadworthy" yet...A Mesa resident is in critical condition after a weekend bicycle race in Utah. The rider, Dave Collins, crashed through the back of an SUV that had sto

  August 24, 2009

• Governor Brewer Could be Investigated by Goddard's Office, Says the Business Journal

  ​ Three unidentified sources "from different parts of the political spectrum" hint that a state investigation of Governor Janice Brewer may be coming down the pike, says the Phoenix Business Journal.A September 5 article by Mike Sunnucks says that questions have arisen about the way Brewer uses her power and how, when she was Arizona Secretary of State, she handled $57 million in federal funds designed to help states modernize voting equipment. County election officials may be "pushing fo

  September 16, 2009