Just Democrats Only: November 2013

Monday, November 11, 2013

Prosecutors just one part of the story, along with victims, conduct of defense <nbsp/>

(PNI) Regarding the prosecutorial- misconduct series, "The Gray Area of Courtroom Conduct."

There are three sides to any capital-case story: the prosecution, the defense and the victim/victim's family. We spent five years of hearings and two months in a trial with Maricopa County prosecutor Juan Martinez during my sister's murder-trial case (State vs. Dixon) and never saw prosecutorial misconduct.

Yet we saw multiple instances of defense manipulation, including delays, frivolous motions, etc., all of which were painful for the family of the victim.

The series is comprehensive, but the other two sides of the story should be explored and told.

--Leslie James, Phoenix

Montgomery driven by politics

I thoroughly enjoyed your special report on prosecutors who cross the line.

The larger point I took from the story was Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery's lack of accountability with regard to all the misconduct in his office. When he does learn of it, he treats it as if it is of little concern.

He is too busy chasing his ideology to manage his own office. He is the most political prosecutor we have seen here in a long time. It's time he gives up chasing ghosts and do his job as county attorney.

--Bill Acree, Phoenix

Kochs are good for Democrats

Columnist Doug MacEachern ("For liberals, Kochs are evil personified," Oct. 28) claims liberals demonize the Koch brothers.

Ironically, the Kochs are the best thing to happen to the Democratic Party in decades.

They have dumped huge amounts of cash into the "tea party" movement, and their radical notions have alienated moderates and split the GOP in two.

The tea party basks in righteous indignation and a negative, confrontational style.

That approach works well with older voters and in the red states, but it alienates most Americans and nearly guarantees Democratic presidential victories in the next several elections.

Despite the worship of Ronald Reagan, the GOP has missed his most critical message. Reagan was a great president because he made us feel good about ourselves.

Not because he lowered taxes or made the government smaller. His sincerity and honesty brought people together rather than driving them apart.

Reagan was a pragmatist and resolutely committed to success.

He never would have condoned the tea party's quixotic quest to repeal "Obamacare" 40 times! It only serves to illustrate how powerless the tea party is.

--M.L. Frischenmeyer,Chandler

Health law is a godsend to me

Although I did have problems accessing healthcare.gov early on, in about the second week of October, I was able to access information regarding what plans at each company were available to me.

Once I decided which company and which plan I wanted, I contacted a company representative directly to sign up. My experience was very positive, and the process easy.

I've been buying my own health insurance for almost 14years, and I can tell you the Affordable Care Act, even with all the rollout problems, is a godsend!

Although I do have a pre-existing condition, (I'm sure almost everyone over 45 has one), I'm healthy and only need to see my doctor for annual checkups.

For 14years, I've struggled almost every year to remain insured.

My last coverage was going to cost me about $1,300 per month just for myself. Under the Affordable Care Act, my insurance will cost me $575, my policy is much better and my deductible is lower.

For anyone who will ever have to buy his or her own insurance, you can thank the Affordable Care Act for making it even possible.

--David Johnson, Mesa

Cartoon open to interpretation

Steve Benson's cartoon Sunday shows a serpent and a sleeping baby. It's no surprise the baby is "Obamacare" and the serpent is the GOP.

I think many people who are demonized by the left feel the cartoon should be just the opposite. The snake is Obamacare, and the baby represents average American taxpaying citizens who have families and small businesses.

It could also be taken a step further with the serpent just titled "Big (out of control) Government." Labels for the cartoon are numerous. Pro-lifers see the snake as abortion, with the baby representing, well, a baby. You get the idea.

--Charles Lopresto, Phoenix

Copyright 2013 The Arizona Republic|azcentral.com. All rights reserved.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Sunday, November 10, 2013

Congress' heinous behavior creates nothing but suffering for U.S. citizens

(PNI) I think this is pretty accurate:

Congress creates a fiscal crisis with a known default date, and then takes the summer off. Congress passes a law that doesn't apply equally to all citizens, and then can't make it work.

The president and the Senate refuse to negotiate on anything, and the House Republicans get the blame.

Premeditated targeting of selected groups during the shutdown inflicts intentional suffering on citizens. The intentional, heinous actions of not caring for our fallen soldiers and their families is despicable.

We get to watch it happen all over again in 10 or 12 weeks -- after they take the Christmas holidays off. Brilliant!

What did I miss?

--Mike Sromek, Glendale

Responsibilities for lawmakers

An agreement on the partial government shutdown and the debt ceiling has been reached. Most Republicans again cave. Therefore, President Barack Obama, the Democratic Party and moderate Republicans are now responsible for:

1. Continued high unemployment.

2. Enormous public debt and its burden on our children and grandchildren.

3. "Obamacare" dysfunction.

4. Growing taxation.

5. The continuing loss of personal freedom.

--Lowell Ziemann, Happy Jack

Good riddance to the 'tea party'

In 2010, after the "tea party" rose to a minority voice in Congress, a member of President Barack Obama's staff said the tea party would be merely a footnote in history in two years.

Well, he was wrong; it took three years. Either way, good riddance.

Now maybe the Congress can get back to solving the nation's problems instead of creating them.

--Joe SecolaScottsdale

Get rid of the 'lords' in Congress

I have had it. Our federal lawmakers (House and Senate, Democrat and Republican) seem to forget that they are, or should be, subject to the laws they create.

Many have been in office much too long. As a result, they think they are lords and we are the serfs in their fiefdoms.

Those who have been there more than 12 years are the problem. They must remember that they set the spending levels, create laws for all of us, oversee bureaus and agencies. They have created this mess and refuse to fix it.

It's time to get rid of all of them and start over. We need people in office who are servants of this country and will work for the betterment of the country.

--Alice Wilson, Sun City

Congress, cut your own salaries

Hey, Congress! Why not pass a 10 to 20 percent cut in your salary to go along with your apology to America? Americans are understanding and just might re-elect you.

--Ed Laird, New River

Hatred is just bad propaganda

Because Rep. Brenda Barton, R-Payson, wants to make analogies related to the politics of the 1930s, I have one also: Joseph Goebbels (minister of propaganda for the most hated regime in history). He would have been proud of the success of the anti-Obama propaganda seen on the Internet, TV and print media.

Prejudice and hatred are the tools of a minority just as they were in Munich in the 1920s.

Give us back our democratic process.

--George Egly, Sun City

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Saturday, November 9, 2013

Constitution Day lauds political lessons of past

Most Americans appear fed up with gridlock, partisan divide and ideological intransigence in our nation's capital. President Barack Obama's approval ratings have fallen, and voters rate Congress even lower. Standing for political principle seems to have given way to posturing; political compromise is apparently a lost art.

Tuesday is Constitution Day. On a day intended to celebrate the founding document in our nation's unique experiment in republican government, we should step back and ask ourselves if the problems in Washington, D.C., are exclusively the fault of the politicians we elect.

National organizations such as the Jack Miller Center have suggested that we revisit the original debates at the time of the Constitution's drafting. In doing so, we may rediscover that high principle and political compromise can go hand-in-hand, and that the Constitution itself is an act of principled political compromise.

We should remind ourselves that our national heroes such as Abraham Lincoln understood that principle and practical politics were not contradictory. As president during the Civil War with its horrific casualties, Lincoln faced political opposition within his own party and growing Democratic Party opposition in the North. His sole aim as commander-in-chief was to win the war, but he was an anti-slave Republican who increasingly understood that the war itself was about abolishing slavery. Here he stood on high principle.

In late 1862, as the war continued to go poorly for Union forces, Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves of rebels. This limited measure served military purposes and expressed Lincoln's deep belief that the war was about freeing the slaves.

Press notices about the forthcoming proclamation aroused Democratic opponents and cheered the radical wing of Lincoln's own party. The proclamation cost Lincoln votes in the midterm elections of 1862, when Democrats won 35 congressional seats, including Lincoln's home district in Illinois.

Elected to a second term in 1864 (much to his surprise), Lincoln feared that a hostile judiciary might overturn his Emancipation Proclamation; he sought passage of a constitutional amendment guaranteeing African-Americans permanent freedom. As the war concluded, Lincoln brought before Congress the 13th Amendment to formally abolish slavery throughout the United States. Radical Republicans wanted a more expansive amendment, but were defeated in committee. Working with friendly congressmen, Lincoln instructed that all stops be pulled out to ensure passage of the amendment. All stops meant patronage, political pressure, deals and direct appeals by Lincoln to reticent House members. Lincoln achieved his ultimate goal: the end of slavery and the realization that the Union would not endure half-slave and half-free.

Are today's youths learning such lessons about Lincoln and about constitutional democracy? A frequent complaint is that our schools and universities are no longer teaching civics. Instead, they have become hotbeds of political indoctrination, often around identity politics.

As a professor of history at Arizona State University, I have a different perspective.

My colleagues in history work hard in the classroom to ensure that students learn the most important lesson of the past: That while people and societies are not perfect, social, political and cultural changes do occur through human struggle and a desire to make their world better.

This commitment to education is most evident in an undergraduate program in Political Thought and Leadership recently established at ASU.

The program's purpose is to train a new generation of state and national leaders in the principles of constitutional government.

In celebrating Constitution Day, we -- the American voters and citizens of our great state of Arizona -- acknowledge the continuing presence of the past.

Donald T. Critchlow is a history professor at Arizona State University.

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Friday, November 8, 2013

House Republicans, Obama seek end to budget stalemate

WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON Negotiations to end the government shutdown and avert default continued Friday as Senate Republicans huddled with President Barack Obama privately to discuss a pathway out of the impasse.

POLL: MOST FAULT REPUBLICANS FOR SHUTDOWN

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll showed more people blaming Republicans than President Barack Obama for the shutdown, 53percent to 31percent. Just 24percent viewed the Republican Party positively, compared with 39 percent with positive views of the Democratic Party.

"The question is: Can you get something in the next 72 hours? The president seems committed to being engaged in it, and he hadn't been up to this point, so I'm optimistic," said Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., after the meeting.

House and Senate Republicans appear to be pursuing different negotiations with the White House, and it is unclear whether either proposal can win over Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who is leading congressional Democrats in the negotiations.

Democrats have resisted GOP efforts, led by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to engage in budget talks until the government is reopened and the debt ceiling is increased before the Oct.17 deadline.

Day 11

The shutdown, in its 11th day Friday, began when Republicans demanded a delay or defunding of the Affordable Care Act in exchange for their votes to keep the government running.

The funding discussion has now snowballed to include a plan to increase the U.S. borrowing limit so the nation can continue to pay its bills on time. Republicans have since moved on from focusing solely on the health care law to seeking broader concessions on fiscal issues.

Congress will continue to work through the weekend. House Republicans will huddle Saturday morning and the Senate is scheduled to vote on a key procedural hurdle to move ahead with a 15-month increase in the debt ceiling with no conditions attached.

House Republicans have offered a short-term path to resolve the shutdown and avert default in order to reach a broader budget deal, while Senate Republicans appear to be mulling longer-term solutions in order to reach an agreement.

Stopgap measure

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is working with senators in both parties on a budget framework that includes a six-month stopgap funding bill and suspends the debt ceiling through January. The extensions would give Congress breathing room to reach a broader budget agreement.

"I believe that still gives us plenty of leverage to work out a long-term fiscal plan, but it removes the threat of an immediate default," Collins said Friday.

Multiple Senate Republicans said the conversation with the president did not include the competing House proposal that would increase the debt ceiling for six weeks.

Republicans have also proposed a short-term stopgap spending bill to reopen the government after Obama rejected their proposal for only a debt ceiling increase.

Senate Republicans seem eager to resolve the impasse. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., cited a "devastating" NBC/WSJ polled released Thursday that showed the Republican Party's favorability at an all-time low. "I know that they're reading the polls," McCain said of House Republicans.

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Thursday, November 7, 2013

Tom Foley, 84, former House speaker

WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON Tall and courtly, Tom Foley served 30 years in the House when partisan confrontation was less rancorous than today and Democrats had dominated for decades. He crowned his long political career by becoming speaker, only to be toppled when Republicans seized control of Congress in 1994, turned out by angry voters with little taste for incumbents.

Foley, the first speaker to be booted from office by his constituents since the Civil War, died Friday at the age of 84 of complications from a stroke, according to his wife, Heather.

She said he had suffered a stroke last December and was hospitalized in May with pneumonia. He returned home after a week and had been on hospice care there ever since, she said.

Foley "was very much a believer that the perfect should not get in the way of the achievable," Heather Foley wrote in a 10-page obituary of her husband. She said he believed that "half of something was better than none."

"There was always another day and another Congress to move forward and get the other half done," she wrote.

"America has lost a legend of the United States Congress," President Barack Obama said in a statement Friday, adding, "Tom's straightforward approach helped him find common ground with members of both parties."

Foley, who grew up in a politically active family in Spokane, Wash., represented that agriculture-heavy area for 15 terms in the House, including more than five years in the speaker's chair.

In that job, he was third in line of succession to the presidency and was the first speaker from west of the Rocky Mountains.

As speaker, he was an active negotiator in the 1990 budget talks that led to President George H.W. Bush breaking his pledge to never agree to raise taxes, an episode that played a role in Bush's 1992 defeat. Even so, Bush released a statement Friday lauding Foley.

"Tom never got personal or burned bridges," said Bush. "We didn't agree on every issue, but on key issues we managed to put the good of the country ahead of politics."

Also in 1990, Foley let the House vote on a resolution authorizing Bush to use force against Iraq for its invasion of Kuwait, despite "strong personal reservations and the strenuous objections of a good many" House Democrats, Bob Michel, an Illinois Republican who was House minority leader at the time, recalled Friday.

"But he granted our request for a vote because it was the right thing to do. He was that kind of leader," Michel said in a statement.

Foley was also at the helm when, in 1992, revelations that many lawmakers had been allowed to overdraw their checking accounts at the House bank provoked a wave of anger against incumbents. In 1993, he helped shepherd President Bill Clinton's budget through the House.

He never served a day as a member of the House's minority party. The Republican capture of the chamber in 1994 gave them control for the first time in 40 years and Foley, it turned out, was their prize victim.

He was replaced as speaker by his nemesis, Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., leader of a group of rebellious younger Republicans who rejected the less-combative tactics of established GOP leaders like Michel.

Foley was defeated in 1994 by 4,000 votes by Spokane attorney George Nethercutt, a Republican who supported term limits, which the speaker fought. Also hurting Foley was his ability to bring home federal benefits, which Nethercutt used by accusing him of pork-barrel politics.

Foley later served as U.S. ambassador to Japan for four years in the Clinton administration.

On Friday, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, called Foley "forthright and warmhearted" in a written statement.

"Tom Foley endeared himself not only to the wheat farmers back home but also colleagues on both sides of the aisle," Boehner said. "That had a lot to do with his solid sense of fairness, which remains a model for any speaker or representative."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called Foley "a quintessential champion of the common good" who "inspired a sense of purpose and civility that reflects the best of our democracy."

She added, "Speaker Foley's unrivaled ability to build consensus and find common ground earned him genuine respect on both sides of the aisle."

In a 2004 Associated Press interview, Foley spoke about how voters did not appreciate the value of service as party leader and said rural voters were turning against Democrats.

"We need to examine how we are responding to this division ? particularly the sense in some rural areas that the Democratic Party is not a party that respects faith or family or has respect for values," he said. "I think that's wrong, but it's a dangerous perception if it develops as it has."

Foley loved the classics and art, hobnobbing with presidents, and his steady rise to power in Congress and diplomacy. He had a fine stereo system in his Capitol office.

He also loved riding horseback in parades and getting his boots dirty in the rolling hills of the Palouse country that his pioneer forebears helped settle.

Foley studied at the feet of the state's two legendary senators, Henry M. Jackson and Warren G. Magnuson. "Scoop" Jackson was his mentor and urged his former aide to run for the House in 1964, a landslide year for Democrats.

Foley worked with leadership to get plum committee assignments. Retirement, new seniority rules, election losses and leadership battles lifted Foley into the Agriculture Committee chairmanship by age 44. He eventually left that post, which he later called his favorite leadership position, to become Democratic whip, the caucus' third-ranking post.

Similar good fortune elevated him to majority leader, and the downfall of Jim Wright of Texas lifted him to the speaker's chair, where he served from June 1989 until January 1995.

"I wish I could say it was merit and hard work, but I think so much of what happens in a political career is the result of circumstances that are favorable and opportunities that come about," Foley told the AP in 2003.

He said his proudest achievements were farm bills, hunger programs, civil liberties, environmental legislation and civil-rights bills. Helping individual constituents also was satisfying, he said. Even though his views were often considerably to the left of his mostly Republican constituents, he said he tried to stay in touch.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., tweeted Friday, "Tom Foley was a tireless, dedicated public servant for WA & the nation. I wouldn't be where I am today w/o his support. He'll be missed."

Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., the No. 4 House GOP leader who holds Foley's old eastern Washington seat, called him "an honorable leader and colleague" who was "highly regarded and respected by Democrats and Republicans."

After leaving Congress, he joined a blue chip law firm in Washington, D.C., and served on corporate boards. Foley and his wife, Heather, his unpaid political adviser and staff aide, had built their dream home in the capital in 1992.

In 1997, he took one of the most prestigious assignments in diplomacy, ambassador to Japan. A longtime Japan scholar, Foley had been a frequent visitor to that nation, in part to promote the farm products his district produces.

His father, Ralph, was a judge for decades and a school classmate of Bing Crosby's. His mother, Helen, was a teacher.

Foley attended Gonzaga Preparatory School and Gonzaga University in Spokane. He graduated from the University of Washington Law School and worked as a prosecutor and assistant state attorney general and as counsel for Jackson's Senate Interior Committe.

Then came the long House career.

Cornell Clayton, director of the Foley Institute for Public Policy at Washington State University, said that growing up during the Depression and World War II made Foley part of a generation that worked in a more bipartisan manner.

"They saw us all on the same team," Clayton said.

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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Obama returns to campaign mode

NEW YORK — NEW YORK President Barack Obama is opening a six-week burst of fundraising for Democrats, offering an early look at how he'll frame the messy health overhaul rollout and recent government shutdown for donors and voters ahead of next year's pivotal midterm elections.

After putting political events on hold for about a month, Obama was returning to campaign mode Friday in New York, first at a top-dollar fundraiser for House Democrats, flanked by film producer Harvey Weinstein and prominent CEOs before another, closed-door event benefiting the national Democratic Party.

Before the fundraisers, Obama visited a Brooklyn high school to showcase a rare partnership among public schools, a public university system and IBM that lets students finish high school with an associate's degree in computers or engineering. With budget talks set to resume next week, he urged Congress to put more money into education.

"I don't want to hear the same old stuff about how America can't afford to invest in the things that have always made us strong," Obama said. "Don't tell me we can afford to shut down the government, which costs our economy billions of dollars, but we can't afford to invest in our education systems. There's nothing more important than this."

Accompanied by Bill de Blasio, the Democratic mayoral candidate who is leading in the polls going into the Nov.5 general election, Obama made a campaign-style appearance at Junior's, a Brooklyn landmark known for its cheesecakes. He shook hands, gave out hugs, posed for photos and bought two cakes to go.

His fundraising schedule condensed, Obama will headline at least nine fundraisers from Florida to Texas to California before the end of November for Democratic campaign committees. Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are holding their own events.

Traditionally the president is a party's most potent fundraising tool, and the effort isn't without potential reward for Obama. A return of Congress to full Democratic control next year would open the door to sweeping policies Obama would love to enact, but Republicans refuse to consider. After winning re-election last year, Obama vowed to go all-in for Democrats by holding at least 20 fundraisers ahead of the midterm elections.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Plugged in

(PNI) Feds need to step up, protect essential creatures: Wolves

Gray wolves, including Mexican gray wolves, were poisoned, trapped and hunted until only a few isolated populations remained in the contiguous 48 states. Today, we have wolves in Arizona and New Mexico due to strong public support and the Endangered Species Act. Still, with only 75 animals in the wild, Mexican gray wolves remain one of the most endangered animals in North America, and they have less protection than they need. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to continue and expand the designation of these animals as "non-essential." The wolves are essential and should be afforded full protection under the Endangered Species Act. Tell Fish and Wildlife.

Sandy Bahr

Sierra Club, Grand Canyon chapter

'Unsustainable borrowing'will mean brutal cuts later on

The Obama administration insists that Congress pass a debt-limit increase "without any conditions." Under the current system, Congress first commits our taxes and then figures out how to pay. American families have to first know how much money they have and then adjust their spending to accommodate their lifestyles. Under Congress' system, they don't have to justify increases in spending because there isn't a system of priorities and a limit on what's available. Instead, they just continue what the Congressional Budget Office says is "unsustainable borrowing." The unintended consequence will force cuts in critical areas like education. This dynamic has to change.

Jim Barber

Retiree, Camp Verde

I was stunned to read in Robert Robb's column Monday about the growing Republican registration advantage in Arizona. I reregistered Democratic after 30 years as a Republican Party activist and a staunch fiscal conservative because the Arizona Republican Party has moved too far right. Moreover, right-wing politicians and their corrupt band of political operatives enjoy a virtual monopoly over our state government. This kind of political imbalance is not good government. Absolute power corrupts. In Arizona, the party of moderation is the Democratic Party. Narrowing this registration gap and turning Arizona purple should be the No. 1 priority of good government activists.

Paula Pennypacker

Occupy Washington Grassroots Coalition

Arizona Fall League provides some entertaining baseball

As the Arizona Diamondbacks wrap up another disappointing season, it's time for some real baseball as Oct. 8 is opening day of the Arizona Fall League. Those six teams are composed of young guys hustling to make a major-league roster, and whether you root for the Scottsdale Scorpions or one of the other teams, it's a chance to inexpensively discover the grass-roots of baseball in the pleasant autumn climate of Arizona. The season ends Nov. 16 with the championship game. It's worth attending as the winners always celebrate as if they just won the World Series.

Jim McAllister

Scottsdale blogger

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Monday, November 4, 2013

Landrum Taylor ousted as head of Senate Dem caucus

Arizona has a new top Democrat.

The Senate Democratic caucus overthrew its leadership team in a surprise move Tuesday, tossing the minority party into turmoil.

Sen. Leah Landrum Taylor of Phoenix, the state's highest-ranking Democrat, was ousted as Senate minority leader. She will be replaced by Sen. Anna Tovar of Tolleson.

Landrum Taylor, who is running for secretary of state next year, appeared stunned by developments and said she was furious with the decision.

"They said I could not possibly run for state office and serve as the leader in the Legislature," she said, adding that prior male leaders have done just that numerous times. "It's disgusting and degrading."

Landrum Taylor also alluded to possible racial motivations, saying some had alleged that she represents too small a percentage of Arizona voters. Landrum Taylor is the state's only African-American state lawmaker. Tovar is a Latina.

The Arizona Legislature's 13 Democratic senators had scheduled a caucus meeting to replace Assistant Minority Leader Linda Lopez of Tucson. Lopez had previously announced she was voluntarily stepping down from leadership to deal with new job responsibilities.

Tovar, the minority whip, was expected to move up into that spot but declined the nomination.

Sen. Steve Gallardo of Phoenix then nominated Tovar to be minority leader, replacing Landrum Taylor.

Tovar won the position by an 8-5 vote. Landrum Taylor and four of her supporters walked out of the meeting.

Sen. Lynne Pancrazi, D-Yuma, was then voted in as assistant minority leader, and Gallardo became the new minority whip.

Landrum Taylor said she may push for a revote, noting that members of the community are calling for the same.

"The community is outraged," she said.

When asked for a reason behind the move, Pancrazi said, "(The) caucus just decided to move in a new direction.

"We have a lot to do this session. Tovar is full of energy. She's very dynamic."

Tovar said she was saddened by allegations that the change was based on Landrum Taylor's race or gender.

"Many of our caucus is minority, and many of them are women," she said. "That is not a relative issue to why this transpired."

She said there were a "multitude of things that transpired" leading up to the vote.

"Each caucus member has their own perspective on why they came to this decision," she said. "As a whole, we chose to move forward in a positive direction."

Tovar said she looks forward to working with the entire caucus, including Landrum Taylor, next session. She said they will continue to focus on education, job creation and health care.

Gallardo said the move wasn't personal and was intended to take Democrats in a different direction for the 2014 election. "Personally, I'd like to see us be a bit more aggressive on many of these key issues," said Gallardo, who is among the most outspoken legislative Democrats.

He said the best way for the minority party to win on an issue is often by swaying public opinion. "It's about messaging," Gallardo added.

Sen. Olivia Cajero Bedford, D-Tucson, was among the lawmakers who walked out with Landrum Taylor.

"They talked about what a strong caucus we were last year and then said Leah could not run for state leadership and still be the legislative leader," she said. "The logic is a detriment to the Democratic Party. It was ridiculous."

She said she has lost respect for the members of her caucus behind the coup. "We'll see if they can produce any better than Leah did last year," Cajero Bedford said, alluding to successful efforts to unite with more moderate Republicans and pass Medicaid expansion.

Cajero Bedford said she fears the Senate Democrats next session may find themselves in a predicament similar to the Republicans this past session, with a massive split in the caucus that crippled their voting power.

"We've been gloating about what has been going on with the Republicans, and now look," she said. "It's a shame."

Pancrazi dismissed those concerns.

"Caucus decisions will be made as a whole, and I look forward to a wonderful caucus," she said. "Our goal is to get through this session and get good, strong people elected."

Tovar said there will likely be hurt feelings for a while, but she hopes the caucus can put the division behind them and focus on the state and their constituents.

The infighting quickly became campaign fodder for Republicans. Arizona Republican Party Chairman Robert Graham glommed onto the allegations of racism and sexism.

"Again we see the elites in the Democrat Party using gender and race criteria to drive people away from participation in their party's decisions," he said in a statement.

Conservative political consultant Constantin Querard wondered what the development means for Landrum Taylor's chances in the race for secretary of state.

"Fair to say that today's events show that Leah Landrum Taylor's run for #AZSOS will not enjoy a united Democrat base supporting her?" he said on Twitter.

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Sunday, November 3, 2013

'Tea party' conservatives just want a health-care system that can work

(PNI) The news media and the Democratic Party have done an excellent job portraying the Republicans and especially the "tea party" conservatives as being stingy and selfish.

The tea party's main goal is for the federal government to start acting fiscally responsible. We spend too much on welfare. We were a stronger country back in the early 1960s before welfare got out of control with LBJ's Great Society program.

Social Security funds were spent in the 1960s and both parties pushed program expansions over the years to make it unsustainable for the long run. The tea party does not want to end Social Security. It wants the program to operate more fiscally responsibly so it lasts longer for those who really need it.

Tea-party conservatives are willing to make sacrifices for future fiscal success. They do not want to defund the $1.7trillion "Obamacare" and throw grandma off the cliff. They want a health-care program that actually works for grandma -- not a train wreck that is now on the horizon.

--Ken Wade, Scottsdale

Ariz. attitudes need to change

The Republic editorial board's "New Arizona" series has some surprising revelations. We border Mexico. We live in a desert (Arid Zone-a).

We have industries that depend on dry, clear skies, warm weather and federal government spending including aerospace/military, agriculture/ranching, hospitality/tourism, retirement living and health care.

We have a long history of actively offending our Mexican neighbors and local Latinos. Most of our leaders don't accept the reality of climate change and our special desert vulnerability.

Our support for education ranks near the bottom both financially and intellectually as we parasitize other states for much of our educated workforce. Transportation is limited pretty much to more freeways.

Even to provide basic health care requires semi-heroic efforts to accept billions of federal dollars.

Until these attitudes change, New Arizona, same as Old Arizona.

--Andrew March, Phoenix

Secure border is humane border

I completely agree with the premise in the editorial "Put humanity in border policy" (Opinions, Tuesday). I couldn't disagree more with the incorrect statement, "Enforcement alone doesn't work. It kills."

The opposite is true: The tighter the border, the less chance you have of someone being able to cross it and endangering themselves.

A secure border is a humane border, one which we obviously don't have yet or we wouldn't have more than 11million people in the U.S. currently seeking a solution for their illegal-immigrant status.

--Rusty Childress, Phoenix

Gun violence is the new normal

The latest shooting spree in Chicago drives home one chilling point: As long as we, as a country, embrace our firearms and neglect the sad state of mental-health care, refusing to do anything about either issue, then we should not be surprised to see more incidents of mass murder.

The hysterical news reporting and anguished hand-wringing can stop; it will have become as commonplace as the tens of thousands of gun-related homicides and suicides that occur every year in this country.

So, if we're not going to do anything about it, then we're just going to have to get used to it. What a sick thought.

--Ed Coleman, Tempe

Health insurance not in budget

It looks like I'll be one of those who will be fined for not having health insurance.

I can barely pay my expenses. I don't get assistance with food nor do I have a cellphone. I live with antenna TV. I cook all meals at home and don't go to movies. I have Internet service for bill pay instead of paying for checks and stamps.

I make less than $1,500 a month, but I make it work. I'm on the verge of becoming a vegetarian because of meat prices.

The expense of health care isn't in my budget, and I don't expect the taxpayers to pay for me to have AHCCCS. I go to the store and get what's cheap and stand in line behind someone that has every form of welfare known and has a hair weave and manicure. Not to mention the designer clothes.

Mr. President, if you fine me, I have no choice but to steal a shopping cart to live out of.

--Merry Lindquist, Glendale

Dodgers deserved pool time

A note to the Arizona Diamondbacks:

The No.1 way to keep the L.A. Dodgers out of your pool -- win the final game.

I lost a little respect for my D-Backs hearing them complain about the Dodgers celebrating their division championship by jumping into our pool -- by the way, in basically an empty stadium when there were no fans or D-Back players around.

What's that saying from "Field of Dreams"? To paraphrase, if you build it, they will come. Well, what do you expect if you want to have a clever marketing idea by putting a pool in your stadium?

--Michael Shoff, Gilbert

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