Goldwater Institute CEO Darcy Olsen suggests fiscal fixes

The Goldwater Institute is among the most powerful public policy organizations in the Southwest, and behind all of its decisions is Darcy Olsen.

Settlement reported in tea party T-shirt case

There's reportedly a settlement in a lawsuit filed on behalf of a Coconino County woman who wants to wear a tea party T-shirt when going to vote on Nov. 2.

Court hearing set on Coconino County tea party T-shirt case

A federal magistrate plans to hold a hearing Wednesday in a Phoenix courtroom on whether to order Coconino County election officials to allow a woman to wear a tea party T-shirt to polls on Nov. 2.

Capitol Quotes: Oct. 8, 2010

“I thought it was said very well today that when you ask him what time it is, he explains to you how to make a watch.” — Arizona GOP Chairman Randy Pullen, on Terry Goddard.

State debt: Arizona’s money pit

The state has borrowed more than $2 billion during the past four fiscal years, boosting its total debt load to $9.7 billion. At least one-third of the state’s debt must be repaid using money from the same account that lawmakers draw upon to pay for public education, Medicaid programs and other basic government services.

AG’s Office: Corporations may donate to IE groups

The Attorney General’s Office won’t go after corporations and labor groups that donate to independent expenditure committees, despite its position that state law prohibits such contributions.

Suit filed over wearing tea party T-shirt at polls

A Phoenix-based conservative think tank has filed a federal lawsuit to ensure voters get to wear their tea party T-shirts at the polls.

Tight primary races put focus on halt to Clean Elections funding matches

David Lujan lost the Democratic primary for attorney general by 2,427 votes, less than 1 percent of all ballots cast in the race.

Watchdog group questions state universities’ spending

Arizona's three state universities spend too much on administrative costs, driving up the price of a college education, the Phoenix-based Goldwater Institute said in a study released Tuesday.

Watchdog agency files lawsuit over health care

An Arizona-based government watchdog group has filed a lawsuit against President Barack Obama and others in an attempt to derail the federal health care law.

Electronic government records should be free to public

Electronic documents were supposed to be the ultimate answer to government openness. Reams of information could be bundled and sent off en masse with basically no overhead and no dead trees, and it would take a few seconds of clicking on a computer rather than hours at the copy machine.

Ripple effect

Arizona’s matching funds system for publicly financed campaigns may be going down, but it probably won’t go alone.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to block Arizona’s Clean Elections system from distributing matching funds is a bad omen for similar systems in other states, and could portend their end if the court rules that matching funds are unconstitutional, according to legal [...]