Schweikert made an appearance, along with U.S. Reps. Ben Quayle and Paul Gosar, at the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s “Welcome to Washington” breakfast today at the Hyatt. The three Republican freshmen said they had moved into their offices in D.C., and are expecting to receive their committee assignments by Friday.

Prime committee assignments will be even more valuable this year, and harder for freshmen to attain, because House leaders have decided to reduce the number of members serving on the committees.

Gosar, who represents the mostly rural 1st Congressional District, used a very unfortunate pun by saying he would be a ”natural” choice for a seat on the Natural Resources Committee, though he didn’t sound very optimistic that he’d get it. 

By the way, Gosar, a dentist by trade, used a toothbrush as a visual aid during his speech. It was part of an analogy about brushing away the plaque in Washington.

Quayle didn’t say which committees he was lobbying for. He said he plans to stand tall for Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District in whatever capacity is chosen for him, later taking a tone reminiscent of Ringo Starr when he told the crowd that he is just “really happy” to be serving in Congress.

Schweikert, who knocked off Harry Mitchell in Arizona’s 5th Congressional District, said he has been told that he won’t get his first choice of committee assignments: Financial Services. Instead, the former Maricopa County Treasurer said he is still in the running for a different committee where his skills with accounting and statistics would be useful.

Schweikert didn’t get into specifics, but all of his talk about numbers probably means he put in for Ways and Means or the Budget Committee. As a test of boldness, he may have requested a spot on Appropriations, though seats on that committee are extremely valuable commodities and usually off limits to freshmen.

“My gift is creating spreadsheets,” he said after the breakfast event.

On Dec. 8, one of Arizona’s longest-serving lawmakers packed his belongings in cardboard boxes, descended the stairs of the Senate and loaded them onto his car.

But Senate President Bob Burns’ departure reveals something more.

It is a result of term-limit laws that have sucked institutional knowledge out of the Capitol by not allowing legislators to stay long enough to become experts in how the multiple aspects of government work.

Burns is a member of a fading club of legislators who came on the political scene before laws limited how long politicians can stay in office.

As a result, they accumulated a great deal of knowledge about how government works, particularly when it comes to budgeting. And Burns probably knows the state budget process better than anyone. These lawmakers could tell which ideas work and more importantly, which ones don’t. Some could recite how many acre-feet of water were being diverted from the Colorado River to quench the thirst of Arizona’s expanding population.

They also tended to be less confrontational, although some could be acerbic and blunt.

This year, the Senate saw the biggest exodus of members because of term limits. In all, 11 senators were termed-out; a few others decided to retire.

Also retiring is Rep. Jack Brown, a Democrat from St. Johns who has been a lawmaker since the 1960s.

But while some are leaving, others are returning.

Sen. Debbie McCune Davis, a Phoenix Democrat who first joined the Legislature as a House member in 1979, will be joining the House next year. Lela Alston, a Democrat from Phoenix who served in the Senate from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, won her House race and will be back in the Capitol.

Burns had pretty much finished moving his stuff out – his office was already bare except for a box or two – when he took a break to talk to the Arizona Capitol Times.

It was bright outside, probably in the mid-70s, a perfect day for biking. In fact, if you wonder how a 72-year old man could keep up with all-night budget negotiations it’s because Burns is an endurance athlete. He often pedals his recumbent bike for more than 20 miles a day.

Burns, who has served the Legislature for two decades, did leave a few items in the drawer of his desk: A stapler, some pens, scissors, paper clips and a rarely used memo pad. They were there when he inherited the office from the previous Senate president, he explained.

But he is also leaving behind something he prefers he didn’t have to – a state budget that is grossly out of balance.

“It’s kind of leaving a job that’s not completely finished,” he said. “It’s going to be extremely difficult to get back on track.”

Burns, who is largely known for his cool demeanor, can be really funny at times. That day, he took a memento out from a box from his years in office – a miniature of a pig with battery-operated wings. He said he used to hang the flying pig from the ceiling during Appropriations Committee hearings and it would go round and round.

“That’s when the budget gets fixed,” he said with a laugh.

Burns’ career has been a constant battle to rein in spending. He won some fights, and lost some.

He and other fiscal hawks successfully pushed down the state’s debt load in the 1990s only for it to balloon back in the next decade. He saw government feed its appetite for spending with an unsustainable level of revenue under former governor Janet Napolitano. In those same years Republicans also pushed for tax breaks that chipped away at the states’ revenue base.

All these budget decisions would come to haunt Arizona when the country’s economy tanked, exposing the state to its worst fiscal crisis in history.

It fell on Burns to lead his colleagues in the quest to find solutions to the state’s multi-billion dollar budget shortfall, and to say it was tough would be a gross understatement.

But if those who wielded power like Burns had a singular achievement in the last two years, it is that the doors of government offices have been kept mostly open. Programs and agencies were severely cut, but core government services are more or less intact.

Burns isn’t exactly happy with the budget solutions that have been adopted.

And who would be? Most of them were temporary fixes. Some, like borrowing, simply pushed painful decisions off into the future. Burns tried to put a lid on borrowing this year, but his proposal ultimately didn’t get through.

Still, the former G.E. and Honeywell programming analyst has had a very rich political career. As Senate president, he leaves the world of legislating on top of his field, and not very many can say that.

For now, at least, Burns signals he’s taking a break and taking it easy. When asked what he’s going to do next, his standard answer is to say he’s “running for the golf course.”

He’ll be spending more of his time in Sedona, where he and his wife have just finished constructing a house.

You’ll probably still see the outgoing Senate president trying to reach the top, though it’s likely he’ll be on his bike on the side of a hill.

-Luige del Puerto

Those are valid concerns and when the interview is over it isn’t unusual for the subject to contact the interviewer and ask for a do-over on a specific answer, and it’s always a judgment call for writers and editors whether to allow it.

That was the case for Dale Baich, who runs the Capital Habeas Unit of the Federal Public Defender in Phoenix, after he finished an interview last month for the weekly “UpClose” feature in the Arizona Capitol Times. The feature is a short Q&A that is meant to provide a glimpse of the subject’s personality while delving into the public policy issues the person deals with in his or her job. Baich’s interview is in this week’s paper (Dec. 10).

Baich defends Arizona’s condemned prisoners in the last legal stages before an execution and he
spoke with the Capitol Times about such serious subjects as witnessing executions, building relationships with convicted killers and battling the state over its use of a drug it got from a foreign source in the execution of Jeff Landrigan, the latest Arizona inmate to be executed.

Throughout most of the interview, his words were measured and he often paused before answering, so nothing flip or regrettable was likely to come out of his mouth.

But as the 51-minute interview moved to a series of lighter, off-beat subjects, there was no hesitation when I asked: “I understand you’re a blues aficionado. Who are your favorite artists?”

“I have to say Dave Riley and Bob Corritore and Tomcat Courtney because they’re on my record label,” Baich replied, smiling. He owns a small record label called Blue Witch Records and he has produced six albums.

Three days after the interview he sent an e-mail asking if he could revise and extend his answer to the above question. He said he wanted to change his comments because the question was unexpected and after thinking about his answer for a while, he thought he may have sounded flip and self-promotional.

There are many things to consider when deciding whether to allow for a change of remarks that were on the record and there’s no absolute journalistic principle that dictates whether it is appropriate.
In this case, we left the original answer in because we wanted to stay true to the Q&A format, which is conversational and spontaneous. Besides, who is going to blame a guy whose line of work involves life and death for being a tad flip on a light question and for wanting to plug the artists he’s recorded.

For the record, here’s the revised answer to the question of who are his favorite blues artists:

“I met and heard many great artists over the years. It’s hard to pick. I really enjoy the gritty sounds of Magic Slim, R.L. Burnside, Koko Taylor and Howlin’ Wolf. Dave Riley and Tomcat Courtney, who I recorded, have a special place in my soul.”

-Gary Grado

Sen. Russell Pearce and numerous out-of-state allies plan to unveil his birthright-citizenship bill during the first week of January in Washington, D.C. The model legislation will serve as a template for lawmakers in 14 states, including Arizona, which hope to force a U.S. Supreme Court case that would challenge the longstanding interpretation of the 14th Amendment and end the practice of granting automatic citizenship to children born on U.S. soil to illegal immigrant parents.

Daryl Metcalfe, a Pennsylvania state representative who is pushing the birthright-citizenship proposal in that state’s Legislature, said the model legislation will give anti-illegal immigration lawmakers a rallying point for the war against birthright citizenship and show unity among members of State Legislators for Legal Immigration, which is what the group of lawmakers is calling itself.

“First we have to have the language formulated,” said Metcalfe, a Republican from Cranberry Township, Penn. “Then you have the process of rolling that out to various legislators across the country that are interested in working on the rollout project and then bringing a number of us together to actually announce the final working product, the final language that’s come out of our efforts.”

The high-profile rollout likely will rile Arizona lawmakers and members of the state’s business community who wanted birthright citizenship to take a back seat during the 2011 session, at least until the Legislature passes a budget and a jobs bill. Some lawmakers claimed Pearce pledged to put birthright citizenship on hiatus until those priorities were out of the way, though Pearce disputes the claims.

“I hope it doesn’t distract Senator Pearce from what our primary objectives are this session, in terms of budget and economic,” said incoming Sen. John McComish. “The first week of January (is) a very busy time for us.”

Senate Democratic leader David Schapira said the press conference will be a distraction for lawmakers who should have higher priorities.

“It appears that the focus of the leadership of the Legislature is going to be on this issue instead of on economic develoment and job creation,” he said. “I’m waiting to hear about Pearce’s announcement of a press conference on economic development and job creation. That’s a priority right now.”

Pearce did not return messages seeking comment. But his stalwart ally in the House, Rep. John Kavanagh, said the unveiling wouldn’t distract from the more immediate tasks of balancing the budget and putting the economy back on track.

“We’ll file the bill early,” Kavanagh said. “My understanding is we want to put the budget and the jobs bill to bed before we move on to this. But it will be this session.”

Kavanagh, a Fountain Hills Republican, said the rollout will get some attention, but he doesn’t expect it to last long.

“I guess you can get a day (of coverage), but that’s hardly the 1070 tsunami,” he said.

The Fountain Hills Republican’s baby, Noelle Kristiania Ugenti, weighed in at 8 pounds, 6 ounces and was 20½ inches long.

“November was a really good month,” said Ugenti, who was elected to the House Nov. 2 in LD8. “I could not be more blessed and happier that I won and she’s here.”

Ugenti, who ran on a tea party platform, will be joining 34 other freshman in the 50th Legislature.

She said her husband works from home, so he’ll be caring for the infant while she’s at the Capitol. A nanny will help out with her 2-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter.

“I’m just going to make it work like everyone else does,” Ugenti said.

Ugenti said everyone was kind to her in the late stages of her pregnancy and final days of the campaign, making it a pleasant experience even though she was the “only one waddling around.”

“I wanted to make sure I had my kids at certain times,” Ugenti said. “I’m at an age where the family is something that is important and I just didn’t want to give that up because I was also running for office, I wanted to have both.”

MINNEAPOLIS, Dec 01, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — The Dolan Company (NYSE:DM), a leading provider of services and business information to professionals in law, finance and real estate, said today it acquired DataStream Content Solutions, LLC, a leading provider of federal legislative and regulatory data and advanced content management systems to information businesses, publishers and governments.
DataStream’s proprietary processes and technology transform highly complex and unstructured data into valuable products and services for its business and government clients. It specializes in applying XML markup language to convert complex and unstructured data into “smarter” forms, allowing flexible queries and dynamic database updates.
DataStream’s proprietary business lines include Legislative Impact(R) and Regulatory Impact(R), data management technologies which simplify searches of vast federal databases and are licensed to business clients and to the U.S. House of Representatives Office of Legislative Counsel. The company also offers other data management, conversion and analytic tools and services. Its subsidiary Potomac Publishing was included in the transaction.
Its target markets have been government, legislative and regulatory sectors.
The Dolan Company Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer James P. Dolan said that DataStream will become part of The Dolan Company’s Business Information Division. “DataStream’s successful subscription-based model is a good example of how we plan to grow this part of The Dolan Company in the future,” Dolan said.
DataStream will continue to be run by its founder and president, Mark Anstey, and its chief information architect, Ed Schulke. Both will report to The Dolan Company’s Business Information Division Executive Vice President Mark Stodder. DataStream will remain in its College Park, Maryland, offices, Stodder said.
“We are very pleased to be joining The Dolan Company,” said Anstey. “It’s an exciting fit between our technological approach to government information and Dolan’s ability to market high-value business information and intelligence.”
The Dolan Company said the transaction would not affect its previous 2010 financial guidance. Management said it believes that DataStream will be modestly accretive to 2011 financial results on a cash earnings basis and effectively neutral to 2011 financial results on a net income basis.
The Dolan Company’s Business Information Division publishes business journals, court and commercial media and other highly-focused information products and services, operates web sites and produces events for targeted legal and professional audiences in 21 geographic markets across the United States. The Company’s Professional Services Division provides specialized outsourced services to the legal profession through three subsidiaries. NDeX is a leading provider of mortgage default processing services in the United States. DiscoverReady provides outsourced discovery management and document review services to major companies and their law firms. Counsel Press is the nation’s largest provider of appellate services to the legal community.
Non-GAAP Financial Measure: Cash earnings, a non-GAAP financial measure, is used in this press release. Cash earnings is defined as GAAP net income attributable to The Dolan Company adjusted for the impact of the following: non-cash expenses, including non-cash interest income or expense related to the changes in the fair value of interest rate swaps, charges for stock options and restricted stock granted, fair value adjustments on earnouts recorded in connection with acquisitions, and amortization; non-recurring items of income or expense; and an adjustment to income tax expense related to the above reconciling items at the appropriate then-in-effect tax rate.
Safe Harbor Statement: This release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the company’s current expectations and projections about future results, performance, prospects and opportunities. The words “plan”, “believe,” “may,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “continue,” “will,” “would,” “estimate,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the company and are subject to many risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities to be materially different from those expressed in, or implied by, such forward looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, the following: costs or difficulties relating to this Datastream transaction may be greater than expected and may adversely affect the company’s results of operations and financial condition; the expected benefits of this Datastream transaction may take longer than anticipated to achieve or may not be achieved in their entirety or at all; the company operates in highly competitive markets and depends upon the economies and the demographics of the legal, financial and real estate sectors in the markets served, and changes in those sectors could have an adverse effect on revenues, cash flows and profitability; David A. Trott, the chairman and chief executive officer of NDeX, and certain other employees of NDeX who are also shareholders and principal attorneys of the company’s law firm customers, may under certain circumstances have interests that differ from, or conflict with, the company’s interests; NDeX’s business revenues are very concentrated, as NDeX currently provides mortgage default processing services to eight law firm customers, and if the number of case files referred by its mortgage default processing service law firm customers, or loan servicers and mortgage lenders served directly for properties located in California, decreases or fails to increase, the company’s operating results and ability to execute its growth strategy could be adversely affected; regulations, laws, bills introduced, court orders, investigations by state or federal officials, and voluntary programs or moratoria seeking to review or mitigate foreclosures in states where the company does business may have an adverse effect on, restrict, or slow the company’s mortgage default processing services and public notice operations (including legislation in Michigan, Indiana and Florida, the Hope for Homeowners Act, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, the Streamlined Modification Program, the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan, the Making Home Affordable Program, the Home Affordable Modification Program, the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program, the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act, investigations by state attorneys general, and voluntary foreclosure relief programs developed by lenders, loan servicers and the Hope Now Alliance); The Dolan Company has owned and operated DiscoverReady LLC for one year and is dependent on the skills and knowledge of the individuals serving as chief executive officer and president of DiscoverReady; DiscoverReady’s business revenues are very concentrated among a few customers and if these customers choose to manage their discovery with their own staffs or engage another provider and if DiscoverReady is unable to develop new customer relationships, operating results and the ability to execute growth strategies for DiscoverReady may be adversely affected; The Dolan Company is dependent on its senior management team; the company intends to continue to pursue acquisition opportunities, which it may not do successfully and which may subject the company to considerable business and financial risk, and the company may be required to incur additional indebtedness or raise additional capital to fund these acquisitions and this additional financing may not be available on satisfactory terms or at all; and growing the company may place a strain on management and internal systems, processes and controls. Please also see “Risk Factors” contained in Item 1A of the company’s annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 8, 2010, which is available at the SEC’s Web site at www.sec.gov, for a description of these and other risks, uncertainties and factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, forward-looking statements. Except as required by federal securities law, the company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement.
SOURCE: The Dolan Company
The Dolan Company
Robert J. Evans, 612-317-9430 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              612-317-9430      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Director of Investor Relations
Bob.evans@thedolancompany.com
or
Mark W.C. Stodder, 612-317-9437 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              612-317-9437      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Executive Vice President/Business Information
Mark.stodder@thedolancompany.com

“I’ll buy him a box of Kleenex,” Pearce said of McComish’s complaints. “The whining’s got to stop.”

Pearce took umbrage with McComish’s complaints to the Arizona Capitol Times that the Senate president assigned him to only two committees, while every other member got at least three, and some Pearce allies got as many as five. Pearce denied that he used committee assignments to punish senators who didn’t support him in the Senate president’s race or that he gave less-favorable spots to new members who are moving over from the House.

The Senate president said he “bent over backwards” to give McComish preferable committee assignmenst and said he even created the Banking and Insurance Committee, which McComish will chair, based on McComish’s recommendation. McComish also will serve on the Economic Development and Jobs Creation panel.

Other senators who didn’t support Pearce for the presidency got key committee chairmanships, Pearce said. Senator-elect Rich Crandall will chair the Education Committee, Senator-elect Steve Yarbrough will chair the Finance Committee, and Senator-elect Nancy Barto will chair the Healthcare and Medical Liability Reform Committee.

“I have not punished anybody in this process,” Pearce said. “Don’t make up a story here. Don’t be giving credit to a pandering crybaby.”

McComish, a House member who was elected to the Senate in November, ran for Senate president but dropped out before the voting began. Pearce said that’s probably the source of McComish’s discontentedness.

“I was hoping he’d get over the fact that he didn’t win the presidency, couldn’t get out of the chutes,” Pearce said.

Pearce said McComish should have brought his complaints to him before airing them to the media. McComish told the Arizona Capitol Times that he sent Pearce an e-mail about the issue, but Pearce said he never received it.

McComish said he was disappointed that Pearce lashed out at him instead of addressing his complaints that he and other members will be “underutilized” during the upcoming session due to lopsided distribution of committee assignments.

“It’s unfortunate that Russell wants to make personal attacks. That’s not what I did. That’s not my intention. And it’s also unfortunate that he didn’t respond to the merits of my concern,” the Phoenix Republican said.

Some senators have too heavy a workload, McComish said. Sen. Andy Biggs, for example, will chair the Appropriations Committee while serving as vice chair of two other committees. Sen. Sylvia Allen will serve in leadership as president pro tem while serving on five committees.

McComish said Pearce appears to haved doled out better assignments to his allies.

“I’m not going to judge his motives. But if you look at the facts it would certainly seem that way,” McComish said.

Despite his harsh words, Pearce said he didn’t realize McComish had only two committee assignments and is willing to find another spot for him somewhere.

“I’ll fit him on Finance or another committee if I need to do that. I’m not opposed to that. But it seems like the nice thing John could’ve done is give me a call and let me know, instead of this approach,” Pearce said.

-Jeremy Duda

While speaking to reporters on Nov. 29, Brewer said she may seek a special election to get voter approval for cuts to the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS). Many legal experts say the proposed cuts would violate Proposition 204, which voters passed in 2000 to expand Arizona’s Medicaid program.

“There’s a possibility we’ll have a special election,” Brewer said following the official statewide canvass of the Nov. 2 election at the Secretary of State’s Office. “That’s one of the options that we’re looking into.”

Brewer spokesman Paul Senseman said he believes the state could still make the cuts without getting voter approval. Senseman said Brewer may seek voter approval, “Just so it’s abundantly clear, legally.”

But Senseman did not say what led the governor to deviate from her longstanding message on Prop. 204, or why she would risk rejection at the polls if a special election wasn’t needed. He acknowledged that voter rejection of any AHCCCS cuts would likely nix the entire plan.

“I think what she’s saying is the option’s on the table. We really haven’t speculated beyond whether it may or may not succeed,” Senseman said.

Many legal scholars and attorneys said cuts to AHCCCS would likely be overturned by the courts. Not only that, but cuts to AHCCCS may put the state at odds, again, with the federal government.

Before Brewer can contemplate a special election, the state must get permission from the federal government to make the cuts, which would violate the health care law passed by Congress in March. The law includes a maintenance-of-effort provision that prohibits states from scaling back their Medicaid programs.

Brewer said she will seek a waiver from the federal government, which would allow the state to cut about $1 billion from the AHCCCS budget. Some Republican lawmakers said they will enact the cuts, regardless of whether the feds lift the maintenance-of-effort provision, but Brewer would not say whether she would veto such legislation.

“That’s hypothetical. I don’t know if I can move forward and give you an answer on that today,” Brewer said.

If Arizona made the cuts without permission, the federal government could retaliate by stripping the state of about $7.5 billion per year in Medicaid funding.

-Jeremy Duda

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (Photo by Glory Shim)

The musk of democracy in full swing hangs in the air over the Hayden Lawn at Arizona State University as Ron Paul supporters gather to hear the Texas representative speak.

Roughly 200 people – smaller than his last speech at ASU – rally like moths to the flame around the podium set up on the north end of the lawn backlit by the school’s solar panels. A recording of the Beatles “Come Together” plays softly in the background as guests settle on the grass in front of the podium.

Master of ceremonies Barry Goldwater Jr. clamors like a drunken prospector overlooking the steady stream of young voters making their way to the Nov. 19 rally.

“The next thing they’re going to outlaw is Four Loko,” he says with a drawl akin to a 1940′s John Wayne impression.

First at the microphone is Tyler Bowyer, head of the College Republicans at ASU, who sums up the libertarian attitude surrounding the rally.

“Free markets, civil liberties and a peace seeking foreign policy are the most beneficial ways to structure society,” he says.

He continues by unleashing a resounding call for the protection of personal liberties; slamming into the mainline of the each speaker’s talking points.

The next few speakers shuffle on and off stage like the opening bands you didn’t pay to see, luckily the rally is free and there are plenty of interesting folk to prognosticate on the country’s state of affairs.

Nicole Holden, An animal physiology student at ASU, came to show support for Ron Paul and his policies; like Paul’s American Traveler Dignity Act that would prevent the Transportation Security Administration from using X-rays and enhanced pat downs to screen passengers for flights.

“I like everything that Ron Paul is about, which I’ve never found in any politician ever,” she said.

A flagrant socialist is next to catch my eye, sporting dreadlocks and a bright red T-shirt with the hammer and sickle scrawled across the front.

Marshall Goldschmidt says he’s here to support the opposition. Last year Goldschmidt said he was hassled by the head of the Students for Liberty for shouting communist slogans during a speech. While Goldschmidt agrees with some of Paul’s policies, he also wants to act as a voice of opposition; touting his First Amendment rights.

“Nobody else is here to express the opposition, nobody has the cojones to do this,” says Goldschmidt.

Finally, Ron Paul enters the stage amidst a burst of jubilation from the crowd.

“I’m on time this year. I was a little bit late last time. I got through TSA without hitting anybody even though I felt like it,” Paul says. And with those words the tone of the rally is confirmed.

The speech centers on the notion that government has been ineffective in dealing with the terrorist threat and has sacrificed civil liberties for safety. Like the thread that destroys a sweater, Paul describes the government as “our own worst enemies,” a threat that’s pulling at the fabric of America’s freedom and liberty.

“The government has failed,” he decries.

Focusing on the rugged individuality that today’s college generation craves, Paul coddles students, reminding them they are the center of their own universe and no one, especially not the government has the right to take away their personal liberties.

“They will fail at the effort to take away your liberties,” Paul says.

Behind me a self-proclaimed anarchist corroborates this sentiment toward self ownership.

“If you own yourself and the fruit of your labor then there is no justifiable reason for people to take what you make, starting with taxes. If anyone else takes what you make it would be theft. Yea that would be anarchy and that’s what I want,” he says.

Paul continues with his regular talking points: End the Federal Reserve, bring back the troops, stop all foreign occupation, get rid of income taxes and oppose the government’s attack on civil liberties.

He concludes the speech with an ominous prediction of the future, briefly citing a collapse of the country’s currency as the reason for the government’s future downfall. He then reminds the crowd that the role of the government is to protect personal liberties, not prevent us from harm. By shrugging off the shackles of big government and standing in civil disobedience to the rights that are being stripped from the people, our liberties will be restored, he says.

Empty cans and flyers litter ground as the crowd disperses. Yellow rubber bracelets are strewn across the grass inscribed with the words “WE THE PEOPLE. IN GOD WE TRUST.”

I can’t help but walk away thinking our generation wears scowls like the hippies wore flowers, but perhaps with more apathy.

- Arizona Capitol Times‘ intern Ryan Van Velzer is a senior at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Republican Grant Woods, Democrat Fred DuVal

Even as 2010′s votes are being counted, Republican Grant Woods said he’s considering a possible 2014 gubernatorial run as an independent candidate.

The former state Attorney General and longtime adviser to U.S. Sen. John McCain, said he’s had conversations with Democratic operative Fred DuVal about Wood’s possible run for the state’s highest office.

And those talks included the possibility of DuVal running down-ticket as secretary of state, also as an independent candidate.

“Running with Fred would be a dream come true,” Woods told the Arizona Capitol Times of his Occidental (Calif.) College roommate. The two graduated from the Liberal Arts college in 1976. “That would be very exciting. Running as an independent would be exciting, as well.”

Woods was an adviser to McCain’s and Gov. Jan Brewer’s campaigns this election cycle – and he also made a controversial endorsement of Democratic attorney general candidate Felecia Rotellini, which drew the ire of the Maricopa County Republican Party.

Woods, an attorney and radio talk-show host, said he and Duval, who was the top aide during former Gov. Bruce Babbitt’s administrations and also served in the Clinton administration, have talked about their concern about Arizona’s future with the divisive nature of politics in the state, and that a remedy to that would be running as independents.

The talk of a Woods/Duval run apparently came up in at least one conversation with Wes Gullett, who was chatting up Woods about Gullett’s possible run for Phoenix mayor (Woods was once rumored to be on a short-list of big names to seek the Phoenix’s highest post, as well).

Woods said he doesn’t remember specifically whether the two discussed a gubernatorial/secretary of state run by Woods and DuVal.

As for now, Woods said he’s not changing his party affiliation and will be focused on helping McCain and Brewer in their respective terms.

As for the future: “I’m intrigued by the independent run by somebody, and I think there is a reasonable chance that the next governor in Arizona would be an independent. The timing would have to be right.”

Indeed, independents are gaining ground on the Democratic Party registration in the state, and Woods said he believes Dems will be surpassed within four years.

DuVal could not be reached for comment.

- Bill Bertolino