Arizona's First Political Blog

E-mail Anonymous Mike at zonitics4-at-yahoo.com

By Anonymous Mike, pseudonymously.

 
For a Few Bits More

Article in the AZ Republic on the FY 2009 Budget:

With time running out for lawmakers to submit a state spending plan for fiscal 2009, Gov. Janet Napolitano blasted legislative leaders for stalled progress on the budget.

"This Legislature isn't getting to the work they were sent here to do," Napolitano, a Democrat, said Tuesday during her weekly press briefing.

I've written about the state budget crisis before. The fact that the FY2009 budget year, which starts in a little over 30 days, has the highest deficit on a per capita basis of any state in the country. I have also written that as bad as the FY2008 budget was, the FY2009 is worse not only because it's about 50% larger but because the politically easy tactics of tapping cash reserves and fund sweeps have been largely exhausted in solving that first crisis.

So you don't need to hear that. All you need to know is that this is the worst state fiscal crisis in decades, perhaps ever, and it's going to get solved one way or another in the next few weeks.

What is of interest is the fact of the Governor's press briefing.

The Governor has been using these briefings to accuse the Legislature, specifically the Republican leadership, for not proposing a budget plan. Well first the politics involved. You know, the Governor knows, the Legislature knows, and Willie the Panhandler at 19th Ave & Jefferson knows that the trick is not for the Legislature to submit a plan but to submit a plan she won't veto. In this budget showdown, she has the advantage of being a solitary actor while the Republican leadership must deal with a caucus that is split.

The thing is while we all know that the Republicans are mulling a combination of budget cuts, tapping the remaining cash reserves, and borrowing we have little to no idea what the Governor is proposing. The funny thing is that not only does she has the resources in terms of the Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting to craft budget proposals but she says she has sent her numbers to the Legislature the other week.

So here's the question, when the Governor accuses the Republicans of doing nothing on the budget did anyone in the press present at the briefing ask her what she is proposing as a solution to the crisis? Or better yet how does she plan to close the $1.9 billion gap? Not only does she have the leadership role as the executive but presumably she has the numbers. Did any one from the media, the great Fourth Estate, even ask?

We don't know.

So here's a suggestion, in order to promote a more informed citizenry with a more direct access to their elected officials and representatives. When there is a press briefing by any elected official in state government, require that either a transcript or a recording of the complete briefing be made available via the Web. Right now all information is filtered through not only the questions the reporters present at the briefing ask, but what those reporters choose to report as far as the answers. So let's cut the middle man out of one part of that equation, the reporters can continue to ask the questions but we the people get to see all the answers.

The media have been given a privileged place in our society and politics, based in large part on their supposed role as watch dogs on behalf of the people. However who is watching them? At least with this, we'll see if they're asking the right questions.

Come on guys we're almost a decade into the 21st Century. Web the primary information and go do something useful
posted by Anonymous Mike at 1:54 PM

 
The Silly Season

{T minus five seconds and counting. When the bells ring, the
students stream out the doors, but before they can disappear for
good, a teacher properly concludes their education.}

Teacher: Wait a minute! You didn't learn how World War II ended!
Class: [pause their celebration, awaiting the answer]
Teacher: We won!
Class: Yay! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Simpsons- Kamp Krusty

I wish the kids worked to the final bell.

Sometime ago on this blog I sparred with a teacher who took me to task when I said that on days before and after vacation, schools don't really make their students work. The teacher was aghast and demanded to know at what schools and district such unprofessional behavior was tolerated.

For evidence, I submit to you the final week's curriculum at my kids' schools.

Today: younger boy, field trip to a wave pool- because we all know this is the only time he'll be able to get to a pool before the start of the next school year; my Dad thinks that despite the fact the boy is in 3rd grade, this could provide excellent source material for a study on fluid dynamics. I have no idea what the older boy is studying but the infamous "Science Class Filmfest" has already started as of last week and he handed in his Math book last Friday.

Tomorrow: older boy is supposed to go to a skate park but he will have to stay back at school as punishment for licking a snail during a science class. Apparently the rest of his class, at least those who don't try to consume their science experiments, will be studying the role of physical mechanics at the skate park. Not sure what the younger boy is doing but since there hasn't been any homework assigned in almost 2 weeks.....

Thursday: The parties begin. Given that Friday is a half day and not all classes will meet, the various "wrap parties" will start, already the requests have gone out for all sorts of sugary and fat-laden foodstuffs and drinks because we all know children learn well on high blood sugar

Friday: The last day of school. Just to show you how little value the school places on the whole week, the school issues a certificate on this day to those who have a perfect attendance record for the entire marking period. The certificate is dated May 30 but for some reason my boy received his... last week on May 23.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 12:03 PM

 
You are Doing a Heck of a Job Brownie

I had been mulling a post about the incongruities about Governor Napolitano's public reputation and her actual performance in the areas of critical importance to the state such as the budget deficit, illegal immigration, and growth. Well when you mull too long news happens and you get overtaken by events.

Like last week.

Remember last year when investigators found cases of neglect and mismanagement at the Arizona State Veterans Home? Department of Veterans' Services director Patrick Chorpenning resigned and fines were levied against the home. Adding to the controversy was the fact that the Governor's co chief-of-staff at the time was immediately notified of the problem but he claimed that he neglected to inform the Governor until the day before the story broke.

Keep in mind that these cases came after the Washington Post ran a long and well-publicized set of stories about cases of neglect of wounded military personnel at Walter Reed, stories which led to a major scandal in Washington. You would think that if you were one of the staffers on the 9th Floor and you got a call at night from the Director of the state Department of Health Services
about an issue along the same lines as something that was echoing through the national press you would at least give your boss a head's up. Keep in mind this isn't the first time that the Governor has had staffers serve her poorly, remember Mario Diaz and Piestewa Peak?

Well all is well that ends well. When issues with the Home arose again late year, the cases involved were written off as common to many nursing facilities with any violations more along the lines of reporting than any problems with operations. The Republic reported health department officials as saying that unlike the inspection in February there were no problems that posed "immediate jeopardy" to residents' health.

So how do you explain this?

State Department of Health Services director Susan Gerard said licensing inspectors arrived at the Arizona State Veteran Home in Phoenix after hearing that a patient who couldn't care for himself was discharged, driven home and left to fend for himself.

The inspectors concluded that the case was so egregious that they would not leave the facility and declared its patients in immediate jeopardy, Gerard said Friday. That's the worst possible rating for a nursing home.

So let's review

Early last year, inspectors found the Veteran Home was putting their patients in jeopardy.

The Governor's top staffer was notified of the problem and despite the fact that its similarity to a current national scandal could lead to embarrassment of his boss, never bothers to notify her until the night before the news broke.

Chorpenning resigns, presumably under pressure, making him the presumptive scapegoat. I believe he is still suing on the grounds he was defamed

Chrpenning's replacement announces his retirement this month in order to take of his family. The Governor must have been pleased with his work because as her spokeswoman because as Jeanine L'Ecuyer states, "If she had her druthers, she would wish he would stay."

Less than two weeks after that statement from the Governor's office, state inspectors give the Veterans Home the worst possible rating a nursing home.

So at what stage did Governor Napolitano inherit ownership of the problem? When the scandal broke 15 months ago? When she hired Chorpenning's replacement? Was it when she stated he was doing such a fine job she wish she would stay?

Scandals in state government, of which she is the chief executive. Failure to be properly notified by her top staff. Failure to stay on top of the problems and ensure they are fixed. I am sorry where's the leadership?

Or is leadership just another word for finding someone else to blame?
posted by Anonymous Mike at 8:27 AM

 
Why the Internet is a Good Thing, Reason 197

How else could we see an African Grey Parrot doing an imitation of the media reporting on Obama? Now tell that parrot doesn't just sound a little bit like Chris Matthews.

Which brings me to my tip of the day...

If you ever get the chance spend some time with a friend of yours that has one of those African Grey Parrots, don't get one yourself but just befriend someone who has one. They are highly intelligent birds and if I remember correctly there was a researcher at the University of Arizona who was working with several of them to discover elements of human speech.

The real fun with the African Grey is that the bird picks up words very quickly. If you were to spend some time with one, say early morning during the breakfast hour, you could teach it say things like "Hail Nixon!" or laugh like Ross Perot or do lines from old Ren & Stimpy cartoons...

Not like I speak from personal experience or anything.

Btw... every child dreams of growing up, running for President of the United States, and having a bird mimic their campaign slogans. What a country.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 12:17 PM

 
A Project

Here's a great project for either a blogger with some time to kill or for a student who is looking for a dissertation topic for their Public Administration program.

Prove or disprove what I will call the "Reverse Washington Monument Syndrome"; there probably is a better name already in existence for this and if so I'm apologizing ahead of time.

The Washington Monument Syndrome is when during lean fiscal times, elected officials and bureaucrats threaten to cut the most popular and visible programs first, like the National Park Service stating that if Congress tries to cut its budget it will have to close the popular and cheap to operate Washington Monument.

The Reverse Washington Monument Syndrome doesn't deal with service cuts but rather tax increases. Right now on the state and local level, it's considered a political death wish to implement general increases in the sales and income tax. Rather governments use targeted increases in the sales tax that will go to pay for popular programs like the 0.2 cent increase in the Phoenix sales tax that will go to pay for increased police services or the election tomorrow that will decide whether to extend the 0.1 cent sales tax for another 30(!) years to pay for capital and operation of Phoenix parks.

You might think the government wastes your money but who could be against the police and parks? The supporters of these tax increases know that which is why I have been getting campaign fliers in the mail for tomorrow's election showing pictures of kids on playground equipment, desert landscapes, and families together. Who could be against that?

Well here's my concern and some opportunity for one of you young'ns to make their bones.

The concern is that funds raised by these targeted tax increases will end up in some fashion supplanting existing monies in these programs with the displaced resources being diverted to other, politically less popular programs. Take tomorrow's sales tax extension ballot, over the past 10 years the tax has raised about $250 million with about 90% of that figure going to the acquisition and development of preserve land and "regional parks." The proposed 30-year extension dedicates 60% of the proceeds to regional and community parks but with the added stipulation that the funds can go for "maintenance," in other words things that were already being provided for out of the general fund.

So here's the project. I don't have the projected growth figures in front of me (that would be your job) but let's be really conservative and estimate the parks tax will generate $30 million a year for a 30-year total of about $1 billion. Now you will need, in 2039, to discover whether we in fact provided an additional $1 billion worth of funding to parks and preserves or whether the City was able to use that new tax money to stop providing some general fund dollars to parks and preserves, so those public dollars could be diverted to say the future black hole known as the light rail operating budget.

Now you don't have to wait until 2039 to get going. You could take the next few years to see how that 0.2 sales tax for police was spent. You could go back and look at how the first years of the parks and preserve tax money was spent. You could back and look at the 0.5 sales tax extension for transportation we passed in Maricopa County in 2004.

Go to it and good luck.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 8:39 AM

 
Phoenix Parks and Investment

While I was at a social function the other night, I heard something from one of our more public-minded citizens that almost led me to throw my drink glass against the wall. Now of course I didn't because not only would I not be able to finish my portion of the brownest of the brown liquors that was in said glass but my wife might be upset at my antics. Now wife is the wisest of creatures because sure enough after I finished my bourbon I had calmed down to the point where I could think about what my fellow citizen said.

His comment was that a vote for yes on Phoenix's Proposition A which would extend the existing 0.1 cent sales tax for public parks would be an "investment" in our community. Now I have written before on the use and abuse of the term "investment" to justify public spending but I find the use here by many Prop A supporters to be especially infuriating.

First I have to say that I find Phoenix's parks and mountain preserves, which will be supported by Prop A, to be a great civic treasure. Not only are the mountain preserves with their central urban location a great visual landmark, but the hiking in them is superb. However the issue here is "invest" and not necessarily "support." I understand using sales tax monies to fund parks is a different form of investment than say in transportation or education where those enhanced programs are expected to provide in part some sort of an economic return but the focus here is on the methodology of investment and not the exact form of the return on investment.

If you as a private citizen were approached by someone looking for you to invest in their venture you will want to have some questions answered before you whip out the checkbook. If the person who approaches you has a brain, they probably will anticipate some of those questions ahead of time things like their track record in using capital for previous investments, assurances such as the use of custodians or auditors to ensure that your money will be going to where it should and not say the Grand Caymans.

So here are my questions regarding Prop A that I have yet to have answered.

1) Prop A involves an extension of a 10-year old sales tax that has generated somewhere on the order of $200 million. How has that $200 million been spent?

2) There is an official Parks and Preserve Initiative Oversight Committee that "was created to annually review the expenditures of the Phoenix Parks and Preserve Initiative Program for conformance to the September, 1999 Ballot." I have searched through the official city records online and cannot find any copies of the Committee's annual reviews or any discussion of them by either the City Council or the Parks Board. I would venture to guess that those reviews would provide alot of insight into how well that $200 million was monitored and spent so where are they?

3) The ballot language states that "Funds raised from this initiative shall only be used for Phoenix parks and preserves." However in a later paragraph the language states that funds will be used to "... add shaded pedestrian and bike paths throughout the city." I assume those paths will be along the side of or within city streets so how do those expenditures square with "...only be used for Phoenix parks and preserves"?

Now I have been accused of overly parsing language so you will be happy to know that I am ignoring a similar clause that the funds will be used to "...add recreation programs for youth to fight drugs, gangs, and crime."

However I love the term "for youth to fight..." It's like the City will be creating a junior association of the Justice League where kids will be organized to fight the bad guys. I cannot wait to tell my 8 year old to get out his Ninja costume from last Halloween and report to the local park so he can go fight the Crips and Wedgewood Chicanos.

You didn't see it that way? Oh come one... have a few drinks and then go look again.

4) Look at the front page of the today's Phoenix section of the Arizona Republic. All three stories deal with either Prop A or the fact that the City is cutting youth recreation programs, the very programs that Prop A will support. Keep in mind that when a government entity cuts one program, it is implicitly deciding to spare another program either deeper cuts or any cuts at all. If Phoenix is cutting Parks & Recreation, that means somebody is being spared deeper cuts.

So this brings up the question of displacement. Yes Phoenix is in a deep budget crisis but the conventional wisdom is that good fiscal times will return and the opportunity will come to restore the youth recreation programs. Will the City restore the cuts out of general revenues or will consider them restored by Prop A?

5) Why is the program being extended for another 30 years instead of for another10? Wouldn't there be better oversight if the issue is returned to the voters on a more frequent basis.

Keep in mind that the answers to questions 1 and 2 are already available in some format. Somewhere, someone has copies of the annual reviews produced by the Oversight Committee. Also someone (presumably the Oversight Committee) has the numbers in some format of what has been raised by the sales tax and what it has been used on. Yet it is only publicaly available in the sense that I drive down to the City during business hours and request them.

Hmmmmm
posted by Anonymous Mike at 10:50 AM

 
The Perils of Parentage

When I was single, every weekend phone call was an invitation to some form of recreation, some episodes of which cannot be spoken to this day without dragging the name of some respectable citizen (or damsel) through the mud.

However when you are married, it is more than likely that such calls provide nothing but bitter disappointment. Take this past weekend...

The cell phone rings, you note on the caller ID that it might be smartest man concerning beer you would ever know. He's in town and invites you to meet with him at the local brewpub in 30 minutes. You know that not only will good conversation and hilarity ensue but that you will leave the pub full of good beer and quite a bit smarter than when you entered. However there is one glitch....

You are 20 miles across town and your son is at his best friend's birthday party which has another 1 1/2 hours to run. You look to your left, you look to your right, and then you look at your boy having the time of his life. You tell your friend you must sadly decline.

A few hours later you enter said brewpub and your friend is long gone. You and your son belly up to the bar and after each of you have had several beers, or in the little guy's case root beers, you realize that you'll never be to explain to him why some people find NASCAR interesting.

You leave the bar full of good beer and somewhat less smarter than when you entered. Then your kid tells you he had a great day and says despite the fact he finds NASCAR boring to watch on the bar TV, that he likes hanging out with you. Somehow it makes it all worth it, but you wonder how much more fun it would have been with Thomas there too.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 8:49 PM

 
The Purpose of Bad Beer

All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts,

- Shakespeare

BOAM (Brother of Anonymous Mike) sent me a list of the 10 Worst Beers and man are they bad.

However I have come not to judge such beers but to praise them for they too bring some good to our world and not merely to separate the sheep from the goats.

As many of you know, I like good beer. As some of you know I like to drink alot of good beer. I may not be as much of an expert as say the Indomitable Thomas but I can hold my own as both a brewer and taster. So I say to you that even bad beer, even drainage fodder, has a part to play.

First allow me to recount a bit from my personal history....

Years ago while I was but a wee undergrad I accompanied my roommate as he visited some friends in the Upper New York State badlands. On a Friday afternoon in Syracuse, I accompanied said roommate and his friends to buy that night's beer supply. They picked as their beer of choice the most vile beverage known to man, of which its only virtue was that it was $3.99 a case. I tried to supply the money to upgrade the beer but was refused. We immediately departed to an apartment to consume.

After a few hours, I was still trying to choke down my first beer while the others in my party were into their sixth or seventh. All of the sudden the call went out for a cross-state road trip but who was still sober enough to drive? That would be me, the only person who couldn't drink the sewer water... which meant I was the designated driver for the remainder of the night.

So there you go, the purpose of bad beer... to stick some poor sucker with the role of the night's designated driver.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 10:23 AM

 
Depends on the Windmill

Remember a few years ago when Governor Napolitano was pounding on every initiative dealing with illegal immigration coming out of the Legislature? Remember he justification? That immigration was a federal issue?

So what's with the news that the Governor's Regulatory Review Council has adopted tougher tailpipe standards in order to reduce greenhouse gases and reduce the threat of global warming?

The standards OK'd by the Governor's Regulatory Review Council would be phased-in, requiring a fleetwide 30 percent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions from new cars and trucks by 2016. It was a big win for Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano, environmental groups and others pushing for Arizona to take tangible steps to head off global warming before it brings higher temperatures, reduced streamflows and worsening drought conditions to the desert Southwest.

Now it's one thing if you want to get an environmentally friendly car because you are responsible individual. It's another thing to mandate cleaner cars because say, the local air stinks, and it may be nice to make your local community doesn't have air like brown goop. It's another thing to mandate cleaner cars in your little corner of the world to combat a perceived global problem because while the effect may be akin to spitting in the world, the cost of the spitting is quite high.

...estimates that the new standards would increase the price of a new car or truck by more than $1,000. Vehicle manufacturers peg that figure at closer to $6,000.

Just so you know what the goal is

Tougher emissions standards are central to Napolitano's push to reduce the state's greenhouse-gas emissions to 2000 levels by 2020, and 50 percent below 2000 levels by 2040.

This reminds me of those t-shirts that are meant to irk vegetarians "For every animal you don't eat, I'll eat three!" Arizona could cut its greenhouse-gas emission to zero and it wouldn't make a dent in any global warming given how small our economy is in relation to the carbon-producing monsters in Asia. For every extra-expensive hybrid you buy in Tempe, there's another coal-powered plant coming online somewhere China.

Thinking globally and acting locally makes a good bumper sticker but lousy regulatory policy.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 8:41 PM

 
The Strong Must Protect the Sweet- Wally Pipp Edition

So Krispy Kreme is coming back to the Valley...

So what?

Back when KK left the Valley, without ever calling me to say good bye I might add, I had to fend for myself for my monthly donut. They left me depressed, abandoned, and without even a severance package.

Well I moved on, got stronger, and found a better and may I add even cheaper donut- the Basha's chocolate-iced butter cream. I cannot decide which it is, either a heart attack or diabetic attack for the low, low price of 59 cents.

I have it on good authority that if you get to know the assistant bakery manager at the 7th St. & Missouri store, that she will let you have the special bootleg donuts which are more butter cream delivery vehicles than anything else.

So thanks for nothing Krispy Kreme, welcome back, and now leave me alone.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 10:46 AM

 
The Wright Stuff

A few thoughts on the whole Obama-Wright affair...

Back when Obama gave his first remarks on the Reverend Wright back on March 18, I thought the Senator was doubling down his bets. Obama had a chance to put the issue to bed by backing away from Wright, but instead he not only stuck by Wright but placed his own grandmother in the line of fire by equating attacks on his pastor as attacks on her. Remember "I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother"?

You would have thought Obama gave one of the greatest speeches of all time.

Well instead of lasting for the ages, it lasted about 6 weeks as Obama has started to back away from Wright as the latter made the same remarks this week in a public forum that he has been accused of making from the pulpit of his church, a church that Obama was a member of for 20 years.

Political campaigns are about getting to know a candidate. Their campaigns spends millions and work night and day to make surer we get to know them on their terms, but the unexpected will pop up and we get to know them through their actions. So what does this say about Obama?

When he said in Tuesday's press conference"...that obviously whatever relationship I had with Reverend Wright has changed as a consequence of this", what is obvious? The only thing that had changed since Obama's March 18th speech was not the content of Wright's remarks but the fact that he made them this time in public at the National Press Club for all the media to see. Yes that was a "show of disrespect" to Obama in the sense that it exposes his prevarications on March 18.

So the most logical conclusions from all of this is that Obama sat in Wright's church for 20 years and listened to this crap. Did he believe it? I doubt it, if there is one defining characteristic of Obama is his decency. Did he understand what was being said? Almost surely, this was the man who graduated from Harvard Law magna cum laude.

So he isn't a racist or dumb, so the most charitable explanation for his behavior is opportunism. He likely sat in that church for 20 years, listening to remarks that must have repulsed him, because of the political credibility it gave him. In short, he acted like a normal politician. Where he got caught was to milk the same cow twice by basing his candidacy in large part on transcending race.

Being a politician isn't a crime. After all his Democratic opponent reeks political opportunism through her pores and the presumptive Republican nominee's signature legislative achievement is to restrict the First Amendment.

What is a crime is that a major part of Obama's appeal is his race and the hope that he offers the country with a history of black slavery and segregation by electing a black man to the highest elected office in the country. We know and he knows that and he has implicitly based his campaign on it. Now we find out that not only has he been basing his spiritual life on an institution that reeks of racism but that he considers as a father figure a man who repeatedly makes and without shame the most vile of racist remarks. He has tied his life intimately to a man who is so vile that if you suggested his as a character for a Hollywood movie, he would be rejected as being simply too fantastic.

To top it off, when he is caught in this hypocrisy like the proverbial minister who has made his name by preaching virtue but is found caught in the bed of a prostitute, he doubles down his bets and excuses the racist creep by invoking the sins of not only the country but of his own grandmother

So what is the compelling reason for his candidacy again?

Oh yeah he's a Democrat whose name isn't Hillary Clinton.

Whoa
posted by Anonymous Mike at 9:18 AM