Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

A new poll out this week has found that nearly 9 in 10 voters believe it's important for the U.S. to maintain an active role in the United Nations. I'm one of them.

Signals from the Environmental Protection Agency that the agency is taking a positive view of Salt River Project’s and other stakeholders’ proposal to keep the Navajo Generating Station near Page operating is good news for Arizona utility ratepayers.

Washington is broken. Arizona, like other states throughout the country, is bearing the burden. The crown jewel of the National Park System, Grand Canyon National Park, is closed. The New York Times reports that trip cancellations "are pouring in," while hotels are offering refunds, tour groups are cancelled, and restaurants find themselves without customers.

The Corporation Commission recently closed the docket considering electric deregulation in Arizona. The conclusion was good for Arizona for a number of reasons.

According to the lead story in (the Sept. 9 edition of) The Washington Post, the meat inspection program that the U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to roll out in meat and poultry plants nationwide has repeatedly failed to stop production of contaminated meat. The program allows meat producers to increase the speed of processing lines and replace USDA safety inspectors with their own employees.

Edythe Jensen’s article “Pricing Transparency — Arizona joins national crusade for medical cost transparency” has implications far beyond price shopping or public disclosure.

Regarding your Aug. 9 piece on the Juvenile Court’s treatment of petitions from minor girls seeking permission to obtain an abortion: I think the real news is not that most girls receive permission, but that one-fourth or so do not. I find that surprising. My guess is that it says something about the extraordinary caution, perhaps political caution, of our state’s judges. Let me explain why I make that guess.

In his famous book, “1984,” George Orwell describes “newspeak,” the use of language to fool people into believing the opposite of the truth. You can witness it today in the name of the Arizona Power Consumers Coalition, which opposes restructuring the electricity industry.

When we look at the complex and contentious issue of immigration reform, some wonder how big of an issue it is to small businesses. The answer is that it’s just as big of an issue to America’s small business community as it is to corporate America.

Arizona Republican Party Chairman Robert Graham describes Fred DuVal as “the most uninteresting man in the world.” As a native of Arizona who has met Fred several times, I would suggest that Robert Graham get to know him better.