Politics

Maricopa County Elections Office Had More Materials With Wrong Election Date in Spanish, So It Got a Calendar

The Maricopa County Elections Department documents showing the incorrect date for the election -- but just in Spanish -- were not the only things offering the wrong date for Spanish speakers.See also:-Helen Purcell Urged to End Confusion Over CBS 5 Early Ballot Report-Maricopa County Elections Depar ... More >>

El Mirage Officials Throw Up Roadblocks for Councilman Who Wants to Host Meet-and-Greet With City Residents

El Mirage Councilman Jim McPhetres wants to hang out at the city-owned El Mirage Senior Center once a month, invite residents to stop by and chat about city issues. But, city officials are not making it easy -- even though it is pretty standard for elected officials to set up tables, typically in p ... More >>

Democrat Rich Carmona Races Toward the U.S. Senate

Obama vs. Romney: Arizona's Anti-Immigration Law Gets Mention During Second Presidential Debate

Arizona's anti-immigration laws and policies were center stage during part of the second presidential debate at Hofstra University in New York. President Barack Obama criticized Governor Mitt Romney for pledging to veto the DREAM Act and saying that "self deportation" was his plan to address the mi ... More >>

Jan Brewer Gets a "D" in Economics From the Libertarian Cato Institute

The libertarian Cato Institute has not been taking it easy on Arizona -- it has consistently said the state's immigration laws are no good for the economy, and now it's giving Governor Jan Brewer a "D" in fiscal policy.The idea behind the grade is simple: "governors who have cut taxes and spending t ... More >>

Glendale Councilwoman Joyce Clark's Got a Problem with Latinos? Angrily Says that Latina on City Council Doesn't Understand English

Councilwoman Joyce Clark is making some twisted comments about Latinos in her campaign literature as she seeks re-election to the Glendale City Council.   In her campaign fliers, Clark criticizes fellow Glendale Councilwoman Norma Alvarez because she "has endorsed and is solely supporting ... More >>

Alexander Fishenko's Houston Spy Network Shipped High-Tech Goods to Russian Defense Agencies, Feds Say; U.S. Commerce Department Fooled

The FBI has broken up a spy network based in Houston that "enhanced" the capabilities of the Russian military by exporting sensitive, U.S.-made electronics. Alexander Fishenko and 11 others have been charged with falsifying documents and generally fooling the U.S. Department of Commerce in the last ... More >>

Jeff Flake, Republican Congressman Running for U.S. Senate, Playing Basketball with President Obama

As much as Congressman Jeff Flake and his supporters would like voters to believe that his Democratic opponent, Rich Carmona, is BFFs with President Barack Obama -- best as we can tell, Carmona hasn't hit the courts to shoot some hoops with the prez. Here's a photo of Flake and Obama.

Arizona Immigration Laws (and Joe Arpaio) Called Out by Cato Institute for Economic Woes

The Cato Institute -- a libertarian think-tank -- needed just seven words to sum up its report today on how Arizona's immigration laws are affecting business, and put those words right at the front of its analysis: "Arizona's immigration laws have hurt its economy."Not only that, but the Maricopa Co ... More >>

Appeals Court Lets LD13 Foreigner Darin Mitchell Stay on Ballot

Legislative District 13 voters will be able to vote for state House candidate Darin Mitchell, despite the fact that a judge ruled he doesn't live in the district.Mitchell, a Republican, decided to appeal the county superior court ruling ordering him off the ballot, and he ended up winning that battl ... More >>

Election 2012: Catholic and Mormon Voters Face a Difficult Choice Between Obama and Romney

Religion has played an increasingly dominant -- and sometimes volatile -- role in politics in recent years. But what happens when religious beliefs conflict with a political party's platform? Or when voters have to square conflicting beliefs within their own church? In this week's feature story, M ... More >>

Catholic Conundrum: What's an Anti-Abortion, Pro-Immigrant Voter to Do?

Feedback from the Issue of Thursday August 30, 2012

Pinal County: Paul Babeu's Buddy, Cheryl Chase, Likely Secures Spot on Board of Supervisors

Cheryl Chase, a political ally of Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, grabbed the most votes in the District 2 race for Board of Supervisors. Republican voters chose Chase in the five-way race for that seat, giving her almost 46 percent of the vote, with her next closest competitor, John Acton, getti ... More >>

Kirsten Sinema, Vernon Parker and Why Top-Two Was and Is a Dumb Idea

What's interesting about the result of the primary races in the newly drawn Ninth Congressional District is not that Republican Vernon Parker and Democrat Kirsten Sinema won their respective primaries. Rather it's that taken together, those primaries offer a textbook example of why the so-called Top ... More >>

Paul Babeu, Pinal County Sheriff, Leading Far Ahead of Republican Challengers

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu has an early, and unsurmountable, lead with more than 62 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results in the Pinal County Sheriff's race. Only about half of the precinct votes have been counted. It isn't surprising that Babeu will beat out three other Repub ... More >>

Daniel Patterson Free From Domestic-Violence Charges, Which Were Part of Ethics Complaint

See also: Daniel Patterson Calls it Quits, Resigns From HouseSee also: Ethics Investigators Say Daniel Patterson Has Got to GoSee also: Daniel Patterson Responds to Ethics ComplaintFormer Democratic state Representative Daniel Patterson was acquitted of the domestic-violence charges against him, whi ... More >>

Ben Quayle Accused of Swimming, Which Is a Scandal or Something

Republican Congressman Ben Quayle is accused of swimming in a lake.Politico published the story last night, claiming several Republican congressmen jumped in a lake last year in Israel during a trip funded by a pro-Israel lobbyist organization.Congressman Kevin Yoder, of Kansas, hopped in naked. Qua ... More >>

Ben Quayle and David Schweikert Take Part in Forum, Say Mostly the Same Things but Use Different Words

If there are Republican voters in Arizona's Sixth Congressional District who still can't figure out which candidate's position on issues most closely match their own, yesterday's candidate forum in Scottsdale probably didn't help.Congressmen Ben Quayle and David Schweikert said mostly the same thing ... More >>

Tuscon City Council Votes to Support Law Calling for Stricter Background Checks On Potential Gun-Owners

The Tucson city council voted unanimously last night to support the federal Fix Gun Checks Act of 2012 after hearing testimony from the survivors of the January 2011 Tucson shootings. "Based on the testimony from them, based on what's happened in the last couple of weeks in Milwaukee and Aurora, a ... More >>

El Mirage Officials Withholding Accident Stats at Intersection with Speed Camera Until After Election, Despite Councilman's Request for Data

El Mirage's appointed and elected city officials are not releasing accident data for an intersection with a speed camera -- until after the election. That, despite repeated requests by El Mirage City Councilman Jim McPhetres for those statistics.

Tom Horne: Arizona Medical Marijuana Act Preempted by Federal Law, in Part; Cardholders OK, Dispensaries Could be Nixed by Court

See also: Medical Marijuana Dispensary Lottery Coming Tuesday, and Will Be Streamed Live Online Arizona should not authorize medical-marijuana dispensaries as voters intended because they are against state law, says state Attorney General Tom Horne. But the state's 2010 medical-marijuana law isn' ... More >>

Joe Arpaio's Favorability Rating "Falls" to (Sigh) 53 Percent

See also: Victims Wonder Why Arpaio Let Sex-Abuse Cases Languish See also: Mike Stauffer's Third-Wheel Bid for Sheriff May Keep Arpaio in Office See also: Joe Arpaio's Scooby Doo Gang Nails Obama on Alleged Damning Phone Interview With 95-year-old Woman, Presents Zero Real Evidence The good news? S ... More >>

Ethics Complaint Against State Senator Rich Crandall Tossed Straight in the Garbage

See also: Rich Crandall Leaves a Somewhat Angry Voicemail for Fellow State SenatorThat didn't take long: state Senator Brenda Barton's ethics complaint against fellow Republican Senator Rich Crandall was thrown straight in the garbage (or possibly the recycle bin).Barton filed the complaint because ... More >>

Russell Pearce's Mexican-Bashing E-mails Slammed By Randy Parraz, Others

See Also: Russell Pearce's Racism "Discovered" by Arizona's Media Former Senate President Russell Pearce's racist e-mails, recently made public by the ACLU, were slammed today by politicians and activists at the Arizona State Capitol. Around 20 members of Citizens for a Better Arizona, the group t ... More >>

Ask a Mexican on Mexico's Lost Artifacts and Skinny Jeans

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu's Deputy Reports to ICE a Speeding Teenager -- Along With the Boy's Parents Who Weren't Even in the Car

See also SB 1070: Supreme Court Upholds "Papers Please" Section, Invalidates OthersSee also Brewer Declares "Victory" as Court Tosses Unconstitutional SB 1070 ProvisionsSee also Babeu Turns Distortion of Truth Into an Art FormSee also Babeu Calls Obama's DREAM Act Policy "Shocking" Pinal Coun ... More >>

Congressional Candidate Matt Salmon Says Lobbyist Matt Salmon Never Lobbied for "Obamacare"; Kirk Adams Says Otherwise

Republican Congressman-turned-lobbyist-turned-congressional candidate Matt Salmon promises he'll "join the fight to repeal Obamacare" if he's elected to Congress this fall.If you ask his primary opponent in the state's Fifth Congressional District, former Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams, Salmon alr ... More >>

SB 1070 Fuels a Movement of New Voters

John McCain High-Fives Enrique Pena Nieto, Mexico's President-Elect

See also: Arizonans Cast Ballots in Mexican Elections, from ArizonaU.S. Senator John McCain sent his congratulations via Twitter to Mexico's president-elect, soap-opera-actress lover  Enrique Pena Nieto on a historic win bringing back to power the PRI, a once authoritarian political party ... More >>

Arizonans Cast Ballots in Mexican Elections, from Arizona

When Mexico's Congress allowed its country's citizens to vote from abroad for the first time in 2006, local immigrant-rights activist Carmen Cornejo leapt at the chance to cast her ballot for President Felipe Calderon.With the 2012 Mexican presidential elections scheduled for Sunday, Cornejo, a natu ... More >>

CNN Flubs Coverage of U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Obamacare, Incorrectly Reports That Bill was Not Upheld

Everyone was watching the big moment this morning, awaiting the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on Obamacare... and CNN blew it. The flub started as veteran newscaster Wolf Blitzer breathlessly announces that reporter Kate Balduan has some news from the steps of the courthouse. Then&nbs ... More >>

"Obamacare": Nancy Barto, Senate Health Chair, Drops Multiple Debunked Talking Points About Law, Including the "Lie of the Year"

Republican state Senator Nancy Barto is the chairman of the Senate Healthcare and Medical Liability Reform Committee, which would make you think Barto knows a thing or two about how health care works.After taking a look at her comments on the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the Patient Protection ... More >>

Mitt Romney's Arizona Problem: Randy Pullen vs. Shane Wikfors (and Maybe Tom Morrissey)

Wikfors on Sunday Square Off, sparking a firestorm Mitt Romney may be attempting a shift to the center on immigration, but word has yet to trickle down to the hardcore nativists of the Arizona Republican Party.As the GOP presidential hopeful was in Florida yesterday trying to woo the National A ... More >>

Feedback from the Issue of Thursday, June 14, 2012

New Voting Laws Could Take Out Obama This Fall

Daniel Patterson, Disgraced Ex-Legislator, Not Running in 2012, but Doesn't Rule Out 2014

Disgraced Democratic-turned-Independent ex-state Representative Daniel Patterson isn't making an official end to his political career.Patterson took to Twitter to say he's not running again for his former seat, based in Tucson, but ends with "2014?"That might be a tough one, since Patterson resigned ... More >>

Ask a Mexican on California DREAMing and Mexican Nombres

Ken Bennett, Arizona Secretary of State, Plays to the "Birthers"

Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, who just recently filed the paperwork for an exploratory committee in the 2014 Arizona gubernatorial race, appears to be the latest Arizona politician to play to the "birther" crowd.In the mess that is Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's "investigation" into ... More >>

"Birther" Bill Is a Favorite of Arizona Voters, According to Poll

Of some of the more controversial ideas tossed around the Arizona Legislature, the "birther" bill is the most popular to voters, according to a poll.The Morrison Institute for Public Policy quizzed Arizona voters on five of the more controversial bills brought up by the right-hand side of the Legisl ... More >>

Jan Brewer Gives the Axe to Planned Parenthood Funding

Abortion still seems to be a top priority for Governor Jan Brewer and the Legislature, as the governor announced the signing of yet another bill that's not making Planned Parenthood happy at all.The governor signed House Bill 2800 into law late last week, which described in the broadest sense by the ... More >>

SB 1070: Why Obama Is Partly to Blame for the Racist Bill

Russell Pearce: Plot to Give $260K of Taxpayer Cash to Recalled Pol Still Alive?

The Capitol Times' Luigi del Puerto is reporting that the plot to cut a $260,000 check to recalled, disgraced former state Senate President Russell Pearce remains alive at the state Legislature.I've heard the votes are not there in the Senate, but, hell, ya never know. Also, it's not in the bud ... More >>

Russell Pearce Plot: Is His 260K "Reimbursement" Deal Dead?

Is the effort by some GOPers to "reimburse" their erstwhile God, recalled state Senate President Russell Pearce, D.O.A.?Just recently, the Arizona Republican Caucus Tweeted a response to statements made by Democratic state Senator Steve Gallardo that were critical of the right-wing plot to reimburse ... More >>

Russell Pearce's Nemesis Randy Parraz and Fellow CBA Members Blast Pearce's Personal $260K Welfare Plan

If the plot to give 12 point-loser and former state Senate President Russell Pearce $260,000 is squashed (and I'm not convinced that it has been), it will be because of the efforts of Randy Parraz and Citizens for a Better Arizona, the folks that made the Pearce recall a reality in 2011.Sure, before ... More >>

DREAM Act Has Support From 73 Percent of Arizonans, According to Poll

If you trust public-opinion polling, then Arizonans aren't the hard-asses about illegal immigration that they're portrayed to be.According to a new poll from the Merrill/Morrison Institute -- which found earlier in the week that the race between President Obama and eventual GOP nominee Mitt Romney i ... More >>

Russell Pearce Wants $260,000 of Your Money, and His Flunkies Want to Give It to Him

Remember when I informed you of the trial balloon being floated by toadies of recalled state Senate President Russell Pearce, lickspittles who long to give their lord and master more than $260,000 of taxpayer funds because he had to endure a recall election, one he lost by a humiliating 12 points?We ... More >>

Russell Pearce's GOP Toadies Want to Give Him $260,000 of Your Money

Of all the trial balloons in the history of politics, this one most deserves to be shot down, stomped, incinerated, and spat on, with the remains dumped in the nearest landfill to rot.Seems there's a cadre of hardcore Russell Pearce-worshippers in the state legislature that want to give the recalled ... More >>

Was Daniel Patterson "Forced to Resign"?

State Representative Daniel Patterson resigned from the House yesterday, before a vote on his expulsion could take place.The House Ethics Committee unanimously voted earlier yesterday to boot Patterson, which was apparently enough of an indication for Patterson to just take off early."I have been ... More >>