Arizona's First Political Blog

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

By Anonymous Mike, pseudonymously.

 
Killing Hope, Children, Puppies, and Kittens

What did I tell you? Already the media is painting the Republican Legislature as a bunch of child-hating monsters for wanting to cut, in part, education spending in order to balance the massive budget deficit.

First we have Laurie Roberts in the Republic:

OK, raise your hand if you're happy with Arizona's budget plan, the one put out last week by Republican leaders.

Because as we all know everyone is always happy with the options available when trying to cut a budget deficit...

The one that guts one of the nation's most woefully underfunded school systems and debones the universities. The one that eliminates all-day kindergarten and health care for 63,000 kids. The one that slashes services to autistic children and the mentally ill and old people and, oh yeah, abused babies. Applause? Anyone?......

..... A path, by the way, that runs right over the youngest, the oldest and the weakest among us.

Well, considering the bulk of the budget dealt with things such as education and ACHCCCS it only makes sense that many of the cuts will fall on those aspects of the budget. As for the "youngest, the oldest and the weakest" well if there are parts of the state budget that involve giving oodles of money to the "strongest, prime of life, and the strongest" then let's cut that first. Oh there isn't a part of the budget that serves that community, oh, okay.... so basically what part of the budget can we cut that avoids the "youngest, the oldest and the weakest"? Prisons or would it be wise to be cut the budget involving the "strong, malicious, and respect-for-the-law-challenged" among us ?

So if you cannot cut anything, where does that leave us?

On to Republic reporter Casey Newton down at the Capitol...

As a feisty Capitol press corps pressed the leadership to consider tax hikes, Senate President Bob Burns said his top priority was to reduce spending.

Hey did you remember outgoing Governor Napoltano's budgets saying anything about tax increases? Nope, they were filled with what even Ms. Roberts says are "...fund sweeps, borrowing, and other maneuvers..." SSoo why wasn't a "feisty Capitol press corps" getting after the leadership to consider those "maneuvers" from her budgets? Is it because the press already knew such maneuvers were a joke and that her budgets weren't worth the paper they are printed on? Better yet why didn't a "feisty Capitol press corps" get after Napolitano to "consider tax hikes" in those budgets? Oh, it was because she had already left town with a one-way plane ticket to her confirmation hearings in Washington.

If you want to another example of a member of the Capitol press corps full of great ideas and snark for the Republican Legislature, check out Howie Fischer's piece (h/t Espresso Pundit.) Why, Howie asks, cut spending when you can raise taxes? I don't remember him being so helpful to Napolitano.

Gosh it's great the press is helpful and feisty when it comes to tax increases, but where was this great surge of energy, say, last week?

To top it, victims of the budget cut are already making plans to close the Washington Monument. That reference is in regard to a common tactic used by government agencies when threatened with budget cuts; they don't try to find the least essential program to cut first , no instead they'll have to eliminate the most popular programs first. Check out ASU President Michael Crow's threat to close ASU Polytechnic... which just happns to be one of Senate Appropriations Chairman Russell Pearce's pet projects.
they proclaim that if the cuts are enacted they'll have to
posted by Anonymous Mike at 10:59 AM