Public Finance

Why Cinco de Mayo Is No Holiday in Minervaland

Dear 5th of May: We were never together and I never cared about you, but now we're officially over; you were, after all, never that important to me when I lived in Mexico. It's not like you have ever been a national holiday celebrated with closed banks and schools, paper flower-adorned floats flo ... More >>

Arizona Ranked Second-to-Last in the Nation in "Bachelor Party Freedom"

Arizonans have less freedom to engage in activities that may be related to bachelor parties than the residents of 48 other states.According to a study from George Washington University, Arizona gets its poor ranking from laws on gambling, victimless crime, tobacco, beer, kegs, fireworks, prostitutio ... More >>

Mayor Greg Stanton Switches Gears on Food Tax Repeal

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, who pledged during this 2011 mayoral campaign to repeal the city's 2 percent emergency food tax by April 1, is not likely to deliver on that promise. Stanton says he not betraying public trust. "I believed the economy was going to be in a better place, and a lot of econ ... More >>

Arizona Ballot Propositions: How to Vote Against (or With) Russell Pearce and His Ilk

Here's the thing about the propositions on the ballot for tomorrow's election: for the most part, they're boring, and at the end of the day, you may not really give a damn.Thankfully, people like ousted state Senate President Russell Pearce, Governor Jan Brewer, and the lobbyists from Center for Ari ... More >>

Joe Ricketts, Whose Family Owns the Chicago Cubs, Is Against Wasteful Government Spending ... Unless, Of Course, the Money is Going to the Family Team

Joe Ricketts -- whose family owns the Chicago Cubs -- is completely appalled at the government's frivolous waste of your hard-earned tax dollars. But, Ricketts' conviction to ending wasteful spending doesn't extend to his own billionaire family suckling on the government teat. Yeah, we're calling ... More >>

How Does it Make You Feel That Joe Arpaio Used Tax Dollars to Send a Deputy to Hawaii for "Birther" Purposes?

In case you missed it, it's you, John Q. Taxpayer, who's currently funding a trip for one of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's deputies to go on a trip to Hawaii for more "birther" bullshit.Indeed, the investigation once billed as being at "no cost to taxpayers" happens to have some cost to taxpa ... More >>

Paul Babeu Turns Distortion of Truth Into an Art Form

El Mirage Responds to AG's Investigation of Allegations Officials Used City Resources To Win November Bond Election

​The Arizona Attorney General continues its inquiry into El Mirage and allegations that city officials used city resources to influence the outcome of an $8.5 million bond election on November 8.The bond passed with a mere three-vote margin.El Mirage provided some rather interesting responses to q ... More >>

El Mirage Officials Celebrate Narrow Victory in Bond Election, AG Opens Investigation over Allegations City Used Public Resources to Influence Outcome

El Mirage Mayor Lana Mook​El Mirage officials are planning to declare victory regarding the narrow approval of an $8.5 million bond at a special City Council meeting this afternoon.Their adoption of election results comes two days after the Attorney General's Office opened an investigation into wh ... More >>

Occupy Phoenix FAIL: 46 "Occupiers" Arrested. Fed Still Exists; Corporate Greed Rampant

James KingPiggy: now an adjective.​The "Occupy Phoenix" protest against corporate greed, the Fed, the government, the banks, politicians, lobbyists, "the corporations" (etc., etc., etc.), has come to an end.(Ahem) Shockingly, nothing's really changed -- the Fed still exists, lobbyists are still lo ... More >>

Should the U.S. Government Subsidize Accordion Festivals?

​A group of accordion fanatics in Texas aren't happy with Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake.This coming weekend is the International Accordion Festival in San Antonio, Texas. The Festival is subsidized by the National Endowment of the Arts, an independent agency of the federal government pegged with ... More >>

Morning Poll: Should Taxpayers Continue to Pick Up Tab for Andrew Thomas Defense?

Andrew Thomas​Disgraced former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas already has blown through $100,000 in taxpayer money he was granted to defend himself in his upcoming state Bar ethics hearing, and he's getting more.On Friday, the county agreed to continue funding his defense after his attorne ... More >>

Arizona's Public Universities Plan All-Time High Tuition; Could Go Higher if Senate Has Its Way

​Tuition increases proposed late last week by Arizona's three public university presidents make getting a public education in Arizona pricier than ever. Worse, they were probably underestimated -- again. Presidents of the three universities sent their pitch for new tuition increases to the Arizon ... More >>

Phoenix Kidnapping Statistics: Review Panel Includes Retired Judges, FBI Agent

Karen Thoreson will chair the committee charged with reviewing Phoenix kidnapping stats​A panel of independent experts charged with reviewing Phoenix's kidnapping statistics will be headed by Karen Thoreson, president of Alliance for Innovation. The other members are retired FBI Agent Larry ... More >>

Herman Cain Favored by Tea Partiers For Presidential Run. Take That, NAACP

www.projectqatlanta.comHerman Cain leads the pack of potential Tea Party presidential candidates.​The Tea Partiers were in Phoenix over the weekend for the group's first ever "American Policy Summit," and according to a straw poll conducted during the conference, Georgia businessman Herman Cain, a ... More >>

Moody's Credit-Rating Service Lowers Arizona's Outlook to "Negative," Worries About Expiration of New Sales Tax

  ​Arizona looks like a potential deadbeat to the world-famous Moody's credit-rating service. Citing concerns over a sales-tax increase set to expire in mid-2013 and a budget that relies on the federal government to make changes caused Moody's to downgrade Arizona's outlook this week f ... More >>

Andrei Cherny Announces Bid for Arizona Democratic Party Chair

Andrei Cherny, the next Arizona Democratic Party Chair, if the Dems are luckyI'm on deadline at the moment, but I want to bring you this much anticipated news: erstwhile state Treasurer candidate Andrei Cherny just called me to tell me he formally putting two feet in the river, and making a bid for ... More >>

Arizona Food Stamp Recipients Tops One Million

www.theoracularopinion.com​The number of food stamp recipients in Arizona has increased drastically in the past year, to the point that now more than one million people are eating government funded meals.That means about one in every six Arizonans is on food stamps.KTAR spoke with Steve Meissner f ... More >>

Temple Grandin Latest Movie Set in Arizona Not Filmed Here

www.hollywoodoutbreak.comClaire Danes won an Emmy for her portrayal of Temple Grandin. The movie was set in Arizona, so, obviously, it was filmed somewhere else.​If you watched the Emmys last night you undoubtedly became aware of Temple Grandin -- even if you don't have HBO (like certain lowly New ... More >>

Governor Jan Brewer and the Hypocrites of Clean Elections

Harrison Ford to Star in Latest Arizona-Based Movie Not Being Shot in Arizona

www.boston.comHarrison Ford​John Favreau's futuristic answer to the über-successful Avatar, is a 3-D journey into a Southwestern conflict between settlers in Silver City, Arizona, who must resolve their differences when an alien spaceship crash-lands in their city.The movie is called Cowboys ... More >>

Doug Lingner's Tenure at the Housing Authority of Maricopa County Has Been Marked by Nepotism, Cronyism -- and Plenty of Turmoil

Andrew Thomas Raises Just $25K in Quest to Be AZ Attorney General

Andrew Thomas had better be counting on public funding for his campaign, because his donor list is pretty crappy.​Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, who's exploring a run for attorney general this fall, has so far drummed up just $25,070 in donations, according to newly filed documents at the ... More >>

Arizona Republic Political Reporter Jumps Ship for Post in Secretary of State's Office and the Repub Seems a Little Bitter

​Arizona Republic political reporter Matt Benson was pegged last week as the newest addition to Secretary of State Ken Bennett's office.Benson, who has been a reporter for at the Republic since 2005, has joined team Bennett as the secretary's communications director. The move, however, seems fairl ... More >>

Former Arizona Veterans' Department Director Pleads Not Guilty to Corruption Charges

Patrick Chorpenning, the former director of the Arizona Department of Veterans' Services, pleaded not guilty today to charges of fraud and misuse of public funds. The state Attorney General's office is prosecuting Chorpenning after a two-year investigation turned up a mountain of evidence that he ha ... More >>

Legislators Want to Start Taking Donations from Taxpayers to Help Bridge Budget Gap. Good Luck

Representative Judy Burges​Members of the Arizona Legislature are working on a, umm, great idea to help bridge the state's now $1.5 budget gap -- they want to start taking donations from you. As if the taxpayers are the ones who got us into this mess. Legislators are drumming up support for ... More >>

Joe Arpaio Best in Field Against Terry Goddard for Governor's Race Rasmussen Reports

Gov. Arpaio? If Rasmussen's right, start packing your bags... Arizona voters apparently love racial profiling and corruption. That's the conclusion I'm drawing from newly released Rasmussen poll numbers showing that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio does the best of possible GOP candidates ag ... More >>

Arizona Treasurer Dean Martin Says Budget Deal May Be Too Late to Fix Problem

Cronkite News Service Arizona Treasurer Dean Martin​Arizona Treasurer Dean Martin hit the airways last night on KTAR's Jay Lawrence Show expressing his lack of optimism about the way the Legislature and Governor Jan Brewer are handling the budget fiasco.Can you blame him?

Brewer Gives $1.7 Million in Stimulus Money to Fix Coliseum Roof so State Fair Events Can Go On

Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum​Governor Jan Brewer announced that she's releasing money from the state's Fiscal Stabilization Government Services Fund to finish repairs on the saddle-shaped roof of the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.Brewer says in a press release that she's pledged $1.7 mill ... More >>

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 us ... More >>

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 int ... More >>

Arizona Supreme Court Reject's Brewer's Demand, Allows Lawmakers More Time to Send Budget Bill

The Arizona Supreme Court today decided not to force lawmakers to send Governor Jan Brewer a budget bill she wants to veto, but only because lawmakers said they'd send the bill in five days. Brewer's argument -- that the State Legislature should not be allowed to hold back on sending the bill - ... More >>

Many Happy Returns

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 ... More >>

County Agrees to Delay Raiding $24 Million in Special Funds Until Courts Give Green Light

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors agreed today to delay the taking of more than $24 million from special funds to help balance the county's budget until a judge decides if the transfer is legal. The action was the first in a new lawsuit brought against the county by County Attorney ... More >>

Hot Links: ASU Settles in Rape Case, Lawmakers Ponder Tax Code Overhaul; Tribe Allows Liquor Sales for Loop 101-Area Restaurants

So-called "date rape" cases will be handled differently at the state's three universities because of a lawsuit settlement -- no more sweeping cases under the rug. State lawmakers are considering a change to tax code -- critics say that's code for tax hike. Drink up on Indian land: The Salt ... More >>

Free Hot Air Balloon Rides at Event Condemning Costs of Global Warming Solutions

The right-leaning American for Prosperity group is bringing its Hot Air Tour to Phoenix on Saturday, offering tethered hot air balloon rides and speeches on the huge costs of trying to solve global warming. Tom Jenney, director of the AFP's Arizona chapt ... More >>

Janet Napolitano Sends E-mail to Democrats Announcing Acceptance of Cabinet Post Offer

Janet Napolitano says in an e-mailed letter to Democratic supporters today that she will submit a balanced budget proposal for the state's fiscal year 2010 and keep working for Arizonans if she is confirmed as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The full text of her e-mail follows:

Relatives Can Certainly Be Taxing

And taxes remain relatively certain

Friends at Work

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

Authorities Swarm Polygamists

State and federal law enforcement launches a multifaceted campaign against fugitive fundamentalist Mormon Prophet Warren Jeffs and his followers

The "T" Word

State leaders can't stomach the truth -- Arizonans need to be taxed more, and right away!

Slummin' in Scottsdale

With his new residence built atop his antique shop, John Mollard thought he was set for life. He couldn't have imagined that the same city that encouraged him to build his home was laying plans to declare his neighborhood a blight, seize his property and

Ascent of a Woman

Meet Jane Hull. She's probably your next governor.

Decease and Exist

State letter to dead woman cancels her food-stamp benefits, suggests she reapply

Flashes

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

THE COUNCIL'S SACRED COW

$80 MILLION CITY HALL PROJECT SPARED FROM SCRUTINY

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

DOWN THE DRAIN ARE WE HAVING A CRISIS YET?