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

Events of the past year have created a general belief that the traditional large law firm model is broken. The question is how to fix it.

Thank you for the article on the Springerville Madonna of the Trail statue, located along the National Old Trails Highway, a precursor of Historic Route 66 (Harry Truman and the Springerville Madonna, Sept. 4, "Times Past"). However, the people of Kingman have a different view of the decision regarding where the statue was to be located in Arizona.

As the Legislature debates proposals to raise taxes and proposals to cut taxes, how many Arizonans realize state taxes have been cut over and over again during the past two decades to the point that now our the state budget loses $1.5 billion a year?

I am writing to complain about the article/photograph of the motorized railcar shown in the "Times Past" column in the Feb. 13, 2009, issue of the Arizona Capitol Times. The article states the "Hum Dinger" was used by the Mascot and Western Railroad that ran between Willcox and Dos Cabezas, Ariz., in the 1920s. The photograph included with the article is incorrect.

Arizona's legislative districts map received its final OK from the Arizona Supreme Court in May 2009 - eight years after the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission started the mapping process. The Supreme Court decided primarily in the commission's favor, citing some procedural errors, but declining to order a new map. Recent news articles, including an analysis in the Arizona Capitol Times, have speculated about the ruling's effect on the work of the next redistricting commission.

It comes as no surprise to me that a Rasmussen poll just released shows that 61 percent of Arizona Republicans think John McCain is out of touch with the Republican Party. As I campaign across Arizona, I'm finding a lot of discontent with McCain among the party base.

During the boom times, there was great concern that development would overrun valuable natural areas. Just as the housing market became exaggerated by speculation, so did our plans to preserve open space. Our preservation goals disproportionately targeted state trust land for preservation. Supporters assumed trust land laws would be changed to allow preservation of trust land at little cost.

The old adage: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," certainly isn't applicable to Arizona's budget. The state's budget and budget process is broken and needs some serious fixing. While elected officials and political pundits will no doubt continue to debate and disagree on whether to cut expenses and/or raise revenues, a more transparent budget and budget process is in the public's interest and should be embraced by all decision makers.

The "Cash for Clunkers" program for new cars may have ended, but the IRS wants to remind taxpayers about another special federal tax deduction available that can help you save money, in some cases hundreds of dollars, on auto purchases. This tax break will allow people who buy a new vehicle in 2009 to deduct the sales and excise taxes they pay when they file their tax return next year. The tax deduction is available on the 2009 federal tax return even for those who claim the standard deduction.

There are some recent news stories about Maricopa County and stimulus funds that are misleading and need to be clarified. Recent reports state "officials in Maricopa County have failed to obligate nearly all of its $105 million in stimulus money for road projects." The $105 million is the total provided for all 29 local governments in the Valley.