Latest PAChyderm Coalition legislative ratings

 

The PAChyderm Coalition, a Reagan Republican organization, has just released its latest cumulative evaluations of legislators.

This list reflects legislative actions as of 3/2/2012 . It was last updated 3/06/2012. Scroll down to see the bills used in the evaluations and the summary of criteria used to weight bills.

Howard Levine’s narrative follows: “We have added a few more bills in response to feedback we have received and have removed a couple from the evaluation as well. Most changes in the bill weights from this point forward will be due to amendments.

The number of bills being tracked now is 198 (a net increase of 11 since last week) plus 37 bills that have strike all amendments.

Only one legislator still has a +100% rating! We still have quite a few Reagan Republicans, though.

Votes over the last week have caused Republican scores at the top to move down and some at the bottom to shift up. This typically happens as more floor votes are taken. Some changes in scores is due to changes in bill weights, but many of the votes taken on bills whose weights were recently added or changed were excluded from the evaluation because the legislators were not aware of what weights we had assigned to the bills.”

Girl Scouts taught to discern truth: Soros-style

Aptly named handbook: “Consider the Source”

The Girl Scouts of America isn’t quite the organization our mothers and sisters remember fondly. The updated group, Girl Scouts USA, “forever green” to the hilt, promotes Energy Star* light bulbs and appliances, and disdains using cars with a pledge to “be part of something bigger than yourself.”

It also teaches young girls how to process and understand media messages — a worthy tool considering today’s bombardment of not always reliable information. But what does the organization use as the guiding light in its book called “MEdia?”

Under the headline, “Consider the Source,” girls are encouraged to go to the George Soros-funded Media Matters for America website to clear up any media misinformation they might encounter. Nowhere is Media Matters identified as a leftwing propaganda spin machine.

“MEdia” reads, “Tired of not seeing your reality in the media around you? This journey is your chance to put some real ME in media. So get ready to shape media — for yourself, your community, the world!”

In view of the fact that young and impressionable girls are being sent to the partisan, leftwing site Media Matters as a truth filter, the cloak of impartiality is off. The book’s entire premise of teaching how to honestly assess information is exposed as more of what our children are force-fed on a daily basis at their public schools from their NEA unionist teachers. The Scouts would be much better served by a link to NewsBusters, a site that supplies facts.

A gift shop featuring pages of products to purchase, is also part of the experience.  Apparently shopping and spending isn’t on the prohibited list.

Click on picture to enlarge and read the portion under “Urban legends and other misinformation.”

“Moderate” think tank? Really?

The Republic waxes editorially eloquent this morning spinning the tale of a new “moderate” think tank called the Grand Canyon Institute. When the newspaper touts something as “centrist” and “moderate” any reader with a modicum of historical knowledge knows deception is afoot. The editorialist desperately wants to articulate “liberal” but the word just doesn’t form.

We’ll help out.

When the likes of former state legislators Carolyn Allen, Sue Gerard and Pete Hershberger — notorious RINOs all, are on the board as Republicans, it’s not a leap to question the thinking this tank will engage in.  They are joined by Democrats, including George Cunningham, cunningly referred to as a budget guru and onetime Phoenix mayor Paul Johnson, a Democrat reincarnated into an Independent — among other members.

Sounds like run-of-the-mill liberals to us. From the website, we know they plan to engage in “elevating, accelerating, promoting, stabilizing and linking.” They also want donations to support their activities.   Who’d a guessed?

The newspaper opines that “the institute is led by a bipartisan group of well-respected Arizonans with deep roots in the state,” who “see the pitfalls of extreme partisanship.”

Reading that uproarious line while drinking a morning cuppa Joe is a guaranteed snort-inducer. We suggest you put the cup down until you finish the poorly crafted attempt at fabrication and separating you from your money.

AZ’s SB1070: Need for law evident as numerous states follow our lead

Lawmakers in several states are crafting immigration laws similar to SB 1070, passed by our Arizona Legislature and signed by Gov. Jan Brewer last month, even as Barack Obama questions the law’s legitimacy.

At least eight states — Utah, Oklahoma, Ohio, Missouri, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, and Maryland — reportedly are considering legislation similar to Arizona’s law, which allows police to determine a person’s immigration status following a “lawful stop, detention, or arrest.” Of those looking to follow our lead, Texas is the only border state — making clear the pervasiveness of the issue of illegal aliens gaining unlawful access throughout the United States.

“This legislation mirrors federal laws regarding immigration enforcement,” Gov. Brewer said when she signed the bill into law. ” Despite erroneous and misleading statements suggesting otherwise, the new state misdemeanor crime of willful failure to complete or carry an alien registration document is adopted verbatim from the same offense found in federal statute.”

The number of bills introduced this year so far is more than the first quarter of 2009, when 50 states considered 1,040 bills and resolutions, and only 25 states passed 35 laws and adopted 40 resolutions.

The NCSL notes that state laws related to immigration have increased dramatically in recent years:

In 2006, 570 bills were introduced, 84 laws were enacted and 12 resolutions adopted.

In 2007, 1,562 bills were introduced, 240 laws were enacted and 50 resolutions adopted. In 2008, 1,305 bills were introduced, 206 laws were enacted and 64 resolutions adopted. In 2009, more than 1,500 bills were introduced, 222 laws were enacted and 131 resolutions adopted.

Read more here.

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) reports that state legislatures continue to tackle immigration issues at an unprecedented rate. In the first quarter of this year, state legislators in 45 states had introduced 1,180 bills and resolutions relating to immigrants and refugees. As of March 31, 2010, 34 state legislatures had passed 107 laws and adopted 87 resolutions; 38 bills were pending signatures on governors’ desks. (Montana, Nevada, North Dakota and Texas are not in regular session in 2010, and North Carolina’s legislative session began in May.

Mexico finally warns nationals: “respect the local laws” of U.S.

Bloomberg reports that Mexico has issued a “travel warning for Arizona over law.” Referring to the new law that makes it a state crime to be in the U.S. illegally. Mexico’s Foreign Ministry warned, “There is an adverse political environment for migrant communities and all Mexican visitors, it’s important to act carefully and respect the local laws.”

Why now?

The United States has also issued warnings:

The U.S. Department of State Current Travel Warnings page lists “countries whose long-term, protracted conditions qualify them as dangerous or unstable. A Travel Warning is also issued when the U.S. Government’s ability to assist American citizens is constrained due to the closure of an embassy or consulate or because of a drawdown of its staff. The countries listed below meet those criteria:”

Congo, Democratic Republic of the 04/21/2010
Kyrgyz Republic 04/20/2010
Mexico 04/12/2010
Philippines 04/02/2010
Algeria 04/02/2010
Lebanon 03/29/2010
Iran 03/23/2010
Kenya 03/16/2010
Haiti 03/15/2010
Colombia 03/05/2010
Eritrea 03/02/2010
Central African Republic 02/26/2010
Yemen 02/25/2010
Iraq 02/25/2010
Saudi Arabia 02/18/2010
Pakistan 01/07/2010

The list continues here.

Honoring Our Veterans (Parade route included)

Veterans Day parade: 11:00 AM – 2 PM today

The annual VA Veterans Day Parade will kick off this morning at 11 A.M.. This year’s parade theme is “Home of the Free, Because of the Brave,” honoring veterans who have fought in the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, also referred to as the Global War on Terror.

The parade is one of the nation’s premier Veterans Day parades, with more than 200,000 people expected to attend. The Phoenix-based commemoration is one of the largest such events in the nation and has been designated as a Regional Site for celebrating the holiday.

It will feature approximately 100 entries, including historic military vehicles; numerous Veterans Service Organizations, marching units, color guards, canine and equestrian units, floats, giant helium balloons and bands.

This year’s Celebrity Grand Marshall is Dave Pratt, well-known local radio personality, entertainer, author and community supporter.

Phoenix Veterans Day Parade route:

The Parade runs northbound from the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center, beginning at Seventh Street and Montecito, turning westbound on Camelback Road, then northbound on Central Avenue to Bethany Home Road, where it will conclude at North Phoenix Baptist Church.

The Phoenix VA Health Care System’s Veterans Day Parade began in 1997 with 50 entries and approximately 10,000 spectators. The Parade is designed to commemorate and honor our veterans and to educate Americans about the service and sacrifices our veterans have made to protect our freedoms.

For additional information, including the listing of Grand Marshals, check here.  A photo display of participants and floats from the 2008 parade and events can be seen here.

SRP: “Never say never” on outsourcing AZ jobs

Salt River Project (SRP), the utility monopoly with a voracious appetite for corporate excesses, and negligible appreciation of its ratepayers, has decided against outsourcing Arizona tech jobs to foreign nationals. For now.

Disingenuous responses from the utility’s Assistant General Manager Barbara Hoffnagle included this gem, “There were cost savings (with outsourcing), but not as high as anticipated,” she said of the bids from Accenture Ltd. of Ireland and Infosys Technologies Ltd. of India.

The public outcries of “Foul!” obviously didn’t merit her attention.

Unable to resist rubbing a bit of that famous Salt River salt in the wound caused by SRP‘s foreign overtures, Hoffnagle said outsourcing could be an option when the economy rebounds and the up-front costs are not such a critical issue. “Never say never,” she said. All that was missing was a all-knowing wink and crossed fingers held behind her back.

But don’t think Arizona Public Service is any better. It has also interviewed several outsourcing companies this year, researching the benefits of having computer-programming jobs done “offshore.”

We get it. Arizona’s taxpayers are good enough to foot the bill for these mega-buck companies, but not good enough to hire.

The daily’s Business section carries the report here.

Hizzoner yanks self-serving springboard scheme

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, likely getting a whiff of the negative reaction to a ballot proposal intended to merge staggered city elections, while extending his own term and those of the City Council by two years, has backed off the scheme.

The motivation was to give him a springboard to another office without the two year sit-it-out delay, which can keep politicians out of the limelight while waiting for the office they desire to pursue to become available.

Gordon calculatingly configured this as a cost saving measure for the taxpaying citizens. “The intent was never to make this about me; it was to make this about the city,” Gordon unconvincingly declared.

Term limits will drive Gordon out of office in January 2012. But under the proposal, Gordon and council members Maria Baier, Claude Mattox, Michael Nowakowski and Thelda Williams would have had their terms extended by two years, to January 2014, according to a report in the daily.

Former Mayor Skip Rimsza, whom Gordon served as chief-of-staff, called the proposal “perfectly silly.” When Gordon told him about the initiative, Rimsza said he urged the mayor to drop the idea — advice Gordon initially ignored.

“You have elections for a reason: to hold elected officials’ feet to the fire once every four years,” Rimsza said. “Every elected official tends to want to stay in office forever, but term limits were put in place to make sure you don’t develop cronyism amongst elected officials and the people they are doing business with.”

Gordon admitted he knew of the plan for several months and that the Phoenix Election Consolidation Committee had pursued it “with my concurrence.”

In plain English that means that Gordon’s “supporters” had his full agreement to ram this outrageous plan though. We can only assume the phones must have been ringing fast and furiously enough to get him to rethink the self-serving and grandiose strategy.

Obama the Omnipotent ready “to rule”

And we thought U. S. Presidents presided over a representative Republic

Valerie Jarrett, a co-chair of Barack Obama’s transition team, appeared on Meet the Press yesterday and used an interesting turn of phrase to describe Barack Obama’s activities after he is officially sworn in as President of the Untied States on January 20, 2009.

Jarrett told Tom Brokaw that Obama will be ready to “rule on day one”

This concept reflects the dread many people have regarding the Obamessiah administration.

Jarrett told Tom Brokaw that “given the daunting challenges that we face, it’s important that President-elect Obama is prepared to really take power and begin to rule day one.”

 Watch this stunning video.

The Republic bids JNo a warm adieu

Looks like the newly mum Guv is poised to put an egg in her shoe and beat it

In an editorial titled, She’s earned it, the daily newspaper gives Gov. Janet Napolitano a friendly shove out the door, as they praise her worthiness for a cabinet position in the new Obama administration.

It won’t be the first time we’ve had an Arizona Governor leave without a backward glance.

In June, Seeing Red AZ wrote about this very issue and reminded newcomers to the state about another Democrat Governor, Raul Castro, who jumped ship for a cushier job in the 1970′s.

This time the stakes are higher. When Castro left for his gig in Argentina, his successor was the well-known and affable fellow Democrat, Wesley Bolin. Unforeseen circumstances made his tenure a brief one and yet another Democrat governor slipped comfortably into his seat.

In 2008, the bridesmaid waiting in the wings is none other than the accomplished Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer, sporting a list of political credentials a mile long. Although Brewer is a dream come true for Republicans, she is also a good bet for the people of the state, longing for reasonable leadership from a knowledgeable, yet down-to-earth, woman.

Napolitano’s roots here are not deep. She was born in New York, raised in Pennsylvania and New Mexico and educated in California and Virginia.  Arizona conveniently provided her with credentials on her path to the Potomac.

We join the Republic in hoping Janet takes the earliest stage outta Dodge. Frankly, we’ve had enough.