It should come as a shock to absolutely no one that the guy y’all elected governor is following the Right Wing Playbook to the letter. Actually, it’s the updated Seventh Edition of the Right Wing Playbook, with a forward on Vindictive Action and Teacher Humiliation written specifically for Gov. Ducey by his friends and masters at the Goldwater Institute.
There are several exciting chapters to this playbook, including:
• Chapter I: When the Law Doesn’t Match the Ideology, Just Ignore The Law. This is an exciting new approach to pesky laws that were probably written back when Democrats roamed Arizona. The strategy used to be if you didn’t like a law, you should demonize it and try to get it repealed or changed. Now, just pretend it doesn’t exist.
This bold stroke was first used by a handful of members of the Arizona State Legislature. After stealing money from the public schools for years to help pay for tax breaks for the wealthy, the lawmakers were aghast when, first, the schools had the nerve to ask for the money that the State Constitution says is due them, and then, second, when the Commie courts had the nerve to side with the schools (as though the people at the courts don’t know from whence their paychecks come).
The legislators first tried to be nice, explaining that since they had given away all the money in tax breaks, they simply couldn’t afford to pay the schools what was legally theirs, so let’s just forget about it. When the unreasonably stubborn courts said “Huh-uh!,” the legislators came up with a new idea. Every time the courts told the Legislature that the schools were owed $336 million immediately and probably another billion dollars down the road, the Republican lawmakers just put their hands over their ears and said “Nyah! Nyah! Nyah! Nyah” over and over and over again.
Pretending the school-money issue doesn’t exist has worked so well, Ducey has now adopted the strategy. Even though Arizona state law clearly prohibits “companies” like Uber and Lyft from providing what amounts to taxi service without meeting any of the legal criteria for taxi service, Ducey has, from on high, declared that the state of Arizona will ignore those laws in the name of “entrepreneurship.”
Ducey quite boldly said that the state will ignore those laws until the Legislature gets around to either re-writing them or getting rid of them altogether. One law no one can ignore forever is the law of probability. If you have unregistered, unlicensed and un- or under-insured drivers giving people rides for money, something bad is going to happen. And when it does, I hope Ducey’s name is on the lawsuit that follows.
•Chapters II through VI: How To Squeeze the Last Drop of Blood Out of Public School Teachers. Public school teachers are evil. You could have an entire season of “Sleepy Hollow” with public-school teachers as the villains. They don’t have the common decency to vote for the people who are slashing their income, threatening their job security, and questioning their integrity—all in the name of making a few political points with the Tea Party Clampetts of the world.
For years now, the haters at Goldwater Institute have been waging open warfare against teachers, cops, firefighters, and just about everybody else who didn’t belong to a fraternity in college. In truth, Ducey probably thinks that teachers are beneath his notice, but in order to keep the Overlords at Goldwater happy, he’ll join in on the bloodbath.
•Chapter VII: One Rich Donor is Worth 10,000 of Those People. It’s more convenient, too, since the Rich Donor lives right down the street, while Those People live way down the hill.
•Chapter IX: School Choice. Be it known that Ducey is in favor of parents sending their children to the school of their choice. This, of course, is the same as my being in favor of people being allowed to breathe. This isn’t the Jim Crow South. Arizonans have long held the right to the send their kids to whatever school they wanted. However, when the governor says that, what he means is that he wants Arizonans to be able to send their kids to the school of their choice and have YOU pay for it.
That should offend the crap out of self-proclaimed fiscal conservatives, but for some reason, it doesn’t.
The latest nonsense involves a plan to seize school buildings from public districts and hand them over to charter schools at little or no cost. This, of course, is against the law, but for that, you can just refer back to Chapter I.
When discussing some of the governor’s plans, official mouthpiece Daniel Scarpinato—who used to have credibility, but now just has a high-paying job—said, “We still have to flush out the details.”
Well, first of all, details are fleshed out, but then again, considering the subject matter, perhaps “flushed” is the right word, after all.
This article appears in Feb 5-11, 2015.
Get over it – liberals lost, BIG TIME. And we have a representative democracy, no matter how that idea offends your marxist ambitions.
Your scathing hatred for those that prefer freedom and liberty over the all powerful centrally planned government does not become a professional.
And to read your complaints of “Just Ignore the Law” is quite hysterical. Is that only important to you when discussing a white man? Seems to be it’s your mantra if it’s your messiah Obama.
Don’t worry the pendulum will shift back quite fast when the people realize that right wing whackos’ screw things up faster than a few liberals did.
Moyloa75 – “Don’t worry the pendulum will shift back quite fast when the people realize that right wing whackos’ screw things up faster than a few liberals did.”
Just look at the shining example of Tucson, run by liberals for many years. 7th poorest city in America, no jobs, noone between the ages of 25 and 50. Well, except illegals.
YEEHAAAW!
What, the same tired crap again from right-wingers with no actual argument in favor of their position? Not to mention an extremely warped view of reality from the comfort of their own special bubble.
Ducey is going to try doing the same thing to schools that the courts just got done telling the Legislature they can’t do to the schools because of that pesky Arizona State Constitution. Judging by the completely overwhelming response from companies not moving to Arizona, cutting taxes by screwing education is not going to work, yet the Republican-led circus in Phoenix is convinced that trying this approach, yet again, is going to work this time. There’s a definition of insanity that is very much being played out here, much to the detriment of 99% of the citizenry.
Ldonyo – “Judging by the completely overwhelming response from companies not moving to Arizona”
You really need to get out of Baja Arizona, the Phoenix valley is BOOMING! Jobs, jobs, jobs.
You are correct they aren’t moving to Tucson, the town too far left to survive.
Great thought Tom: “if you didn’t like a law, you should demonize it and try to get it repealed or changed. Now, just pretend it doesn’t exist” What a marvelous description of 44.
Governor Ducey is obviously becoming the Scott Walker (governor Wisconsin) and Sam Brownback (governor of Kansas) for Arizona. Cutting taxes for the wealthy and gutting unions are the mantras of these governors and they are mightily supported by Charles and David Koch, their benefactors.
Arizona gets what it deserves. What kind of dimwit, votes, against their own best interests to elect a politician who repeatedly dodges out of debate invitations and claims to have plans to revamp a rapidly deteriorating state but refuses to disclose those plans before the election.? Now that the election is over we find that his plans are more of the same, rape and pillage of any government service that benefits the citizens. The Republican legislature will go through the motions of balancing the budget by devious means so that they can get to work on their real programs of passing unconstitutional laws to pander to the religious and monied crackpots, whose votes they rely on, instead of developing a FAIR system of taxation. Next election how about a voter referendum to reduce the salaries of the legislature to minimum wage to reward them for the value of their job performance? Just asking.
It really does my heart good to hear the pigs at the trough squealing when they think their slop will be cutoff.
Losers
Well, where to begin, first of all, ” When the Law Doesn’t Match the Ideology, Just Ignore The Law.” Sounds like a tribute to the Obama administration, from the “you must be an American born citizen to become president” to the complete disregard for the constitution at every turn. Secondly, Ducey visited Pima College where I work and I met with him ( as I am sure Tom has not) . He stressed how important education is to him and how our tax dollars should go to programs that produce skilled technical jobs and not underwater basket weaving or liberal arts degrees that cost taxpayers billions each year nationwide. How many of you reading this know a U of A grad who is serving at Denny’s. The rest of his diatribe is not worth comment.
Wow, Mark, thanks for starting of your comment with your birther delusion so that we know from whence comes the rest of your venom.
“When the Law Doesn’t Match the Ideology, Just Ignore The Law.”
Just taking a page from Obama. When the law (number of authorized work permits) doesn’t match the ideology (open borders) just ignore the law and grant 5 million more permits than Congress authorized. You can’t have lawlessness just when it matches your ideology. Both are wrong.
Isn’t it funny that when someone comments about State issues, it seems to always be President Obama’s fault. Lets face reality hear in the state of AZ!! When the legislature is doing something wrong an will hurt our children’s future, it is our responsibility as citizens to stand up. So lets stop acting like a 6 year old when you did something wrong by pointing fingers and blaming others. To all Republicans and Liberals!
Back on the public school topic again. Let the whining and name calling begin. Great entertainment. Elections have consequences as your side loves to mention Tom. Love the Goldwater institute, and I hope Ducey has a pair like Gov. Scott Walker. God bless the Koch brothers too. Have to balance Soros and Tom Stier. Dems seem to have lots of rich friends considering how many times Barry has snarled Manhattan traffic with his fund raising entourages.
Hey, why not ask Adelita why only 46 per cent of the money gets to the TUSD classroom? Could we have a local problem? Oh, that must be a Goldwater number.
You sound like a punk b—- instead of the stand up guy I remember from the radio.
Or maybe you’re just playing ” who can be farther to the left” and then count how many “likes”
you receive in the comments from your Birkenstock brigade.
Birkenstock brigade !!! Outstanding !!
Owe ya a beer, Vince.
Vince,
You (and others) don’t seem to get it. The Legislature steals money from the schools; I write about it. Then, they do away with job protection and cut salaries for teachers. That’s a totally different attack, but I’m not supposed to write about it because I already wrote something about schools before? And, if I do, then when they break the law in their crusade to hand the state over to charter schools, well, I can’t write about that because I wrote about education before. That’s how the bastards win; they just grind you down and wait for you to throw your hands up in exasperation. For me, if they do 10 bad things, I need to complain 11 times. As for the Goldwater Institute, they have no credibility whatsoever. They used to have a mission; now they have an agenda. Somebody like you should be outraged that they publicly campaign for transparency in all governmental expenditures and actions, but when it comes to their beloved charter schools, they want those expenditures (of public money) to be kept secret. That should send you and other fiscal conservatives screaming into the street, but, for some reason, it doesn’t. And then they serve on the boards of the charter schools that they are helping to scam us taxpayers out of our money. You would think that in an entire gaggle of lawyers, at least one would know the definition of conflict of interest. If the Goldwater Institute went after everybody with the same zeal, I would show them respect. Instead, they exhibit selective outrage and use their insider status to fatten their own wallets. They’re a bunch of hypocrites.
Mark, DuVal also visited Pima College and talked very specifically about public education and the role of the community colleges. No where did he mention cutting the legislative appropriation for PCC by 50%. Guess you missed that day at work.
Or maybe they have an agenda much like Brian Williams does.
So you don’t have an agenda Tom?
Where is your zeal for calling out the local school board which won’t allow an independent audit?
Talk about selective outrage.
Wow, we might stop some of the theft and poorly thought out programs and bureaucratic bloat that burden our public schools. A 450 million dollar budget and TUSD is still a joke. I remember when you thought it was cool a few years back when the little munchkins handcuffed themselves to the furniture over their right to have “hate America” studies. Then they wonder why hard asses like me
who bust our tails so our kids could avoid public schools have no mercy for the students or the lefty teachers who influence their thinking.
By the way, schools have no money of their own, taxpayers have money. I’m still looking for that “Right” to an education. Is it next to that “Right” to healthcare? I appreciate your passion but my public school experience was the polar opposite of yours and if you speak out eleven times, I’m going for twelve.
Also, be careful calling people hypocrites when you really don’t know their hearts.