Voters responded with a resounding ‘no’ on Proposition 121, also known as the “top two” primary system, which would have created one primary for all candidates.
Read More »Election reforms should start by reducing excessive provisional ballots
Arizona must seriously examine its election system to avoid becoming the next Florida, circa 2000. With this in mind, Secretary of State Ken Bennett rightly recommended overhauling Arizona’s elections system and working to reduce the number of provisional ballots.
Read More »Republicans ignore foreclosure settlement agreement
Earlier this year, Joseph Smith, who monitors the $25 billion mortgage settlement fund for 49 states, declined to comment on the Arizona legislative Republicans’ decision to sweep $50 million from Arizona’s portion of this settlement.
Read More »GOP’s trouble is not with color, it’s with kind
The GOP doesn’t have a problem with black. Clarence Thomas, Condoleezza Rice, Allen West, Mia Love, Vernon Parker and many others are respected conservatives of color. The issue is the kind of black that Republicans prefer.
Read More »The looming specter of the political-industrial complex
A half-century ago, President Dwight D. Eisenhower cautioned Americans to be mindful of the “military-industrial complex.”
Read More »Obamacare’s insurance exchanges are all wrong
I spent 16 years in the United States Congress fighting for patient choice/free market health care reform. No member of Congress pushed harder for health care reform than I did. I fought Obamacare with every ounce of my being.
Read More »Contribution limits to candidates need to be removed to curb outside spending
In 2010, the general election for attorney general in Arizona was a tight one. Republican Tom Horne had endured an expensive primary that left him financially weakened going into the general election against Democrat Felicia Rotellini, who proved to be a stronger than expected candidate.
Read More »We can have both high-quality education and safe, cost-effective prisons
In 2012, the Arizona Department of Corrections’ budget increased by 11 percent. It was the only agency that increased its share of the state’s general fund. At the same time, education funding at all levels plummeted, with our state’s education system ranking 44 out of 51, according to “Education Week.”
Read More »The root of the health care problem
Where are we on health care? We have made a political debate out of health care, which exceeds any federal or state government’s capacity to solve. Whatever evolution the remedies take, statutory and regulatory thrusts and parries will be insufficient. Yet, wisdom in the deliberation and passage of such efforts will be required.
Read More »Prop. 117 is more gimmick than good public policy
Anyone who carefully studies this issue and is intellectually honest must come to the conclusion that the valuation limits proposed in Prop. 117 are bad for Arizona and for economic development.
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