Republicans Don't Get Economics

Robert Robb of the Arizona Republic has a column in today's paper that suggests that our Governor isn't following the right course in dealing with the surprising (surprising to whom, I've written about this coming since before the last election) reduction in tax revenues. Not that I'm disagreeing with Robb, but the bone-head tax-cuts-are-the-answer crowd have all chimed in to say in the comments section that secret to our survival are more tax cuts. This blinder mentality is what's harming Arizona and more people need to point out how stupid that notion actually is.

A poster called CooperG responded to another named JackD who said he knew what he was talking about because he (JackD) "ha(s) the mathematical background necessary to grasp the necessary concepts." I couldn't have said it better myself.

There's a joke that goes like this: what do you call someone who graduates at the bottom of his medical school class? You call him "Doctor." I would argue your understanding of the Laffer Curve has more to do with things you've learned from propaganda than reading the good Doctor Laffer's paper and understanding it.

While I won't waste my time on explaining it to you (you really don't understand it), suffice it to say that you need to pay attention to the assumptions Laffer makes. Like there is a point where tax rates reach an optimal point when increases in productivity produce equal increases in tax revenues. What you don't understand is it is a C-U-R-V-E, meaning reductions or increases in taxes will have the negative effect of either causing reductions in revenues or reductions in productivity. You Tax-Cuts-R-Us folks think you can cut taxes forever and get the same result. Hmmm, that sounds a bit like that old chesnut of doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

As for the other posters, if tax cuts are so good at increasing revenues at the state level (Laffer focused on the national economy), then how come the expected increases haven't appeared? When will it start showing up? Why are revenues down? With apologies to Ronald Reagan and Clara Peller, "Where's the beef?"

I'd bet money that every one of the people who posted messages on that web page that support tax cuts are retirement age and either live on investment income or pensions. But CooperG is correct, the Laffer Curve is a "curve" and not a flat line. Unfortunately for us, a flat line is what we'll get if we continue to listen to these legsilators who think cutting taxes is the only answer to revenue problems.

The unfortunate thing is that the nitwits in the legislature are already redirecting attention away from their failed strategies for increasing revenues at a time when we need them, to blaming it on ballot-required spending measures. How any of these so-called "friends of the taxpayer" can say that cutting revenues when we have no choice but to spend money on these things by cutting spending on things we need that are NOT ballot-required is plainly and simply reckless and irresponsible.

Arpaio Promotes Immigration Hot-line, Accomplishes Nothing

The Arizona Republic, in its editor's desire to really inform the public of important news, has published a story in today's newspaper that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has painted signs advertising his illegal immigration hot-line on trucks and vans. According to the story, he did this because "We had a problem because we were having trouble getting the number out to the public." Apparently not enough people get copies of his press releases.

So let me make sure I understand this: Sheriff Arpaio is spending taxpayer dollars on "rolling billboard" that advertise a hot-line that has a success rate of barely four percent? Out of 2,000 calls, he's arrested 85 "suspects," which means 1,915 were a waste of time of the officers he has assigned to answer the calls and chase after the leads. If I recall other reports correctly, these 85 arrests are a combination of hot-line calls and the result of other investigations. What will probably lower the number even more is the fact these are "suspects" and won't be "convicted" until they're through the court system.

Look, nobody likes it when anyone breaks the law. But for a sheriff who has over watched as the county’s murder, rape and property crime rates have increased well above the national average; sits on 45,000 un-served felony warrants; is the subject of 4,900 outstanding lawsuits he pays private lawyers millions of taxpayer dollars to defend; and spends over $500,000 a year for fancy office space in the Wells Fargo Bank building, that spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on a program that has a 4.25% success rate, it seems to me to demonstrate totally misplaced priorities and a lack of fiscal accountability.

Sheriff Arpaio is no longer entertaining or funny. He's not even successful at doing his job. He's now the joke and it's a really old joke that's getting older. It's time to retire Joe Arpaio.

Russell Pearce: Unfit for public office of any kind

According to a front page story in the East Valley Tribune, it appears that Republican Representative Russell Pearce (LD-19) seems unwilling to let voters have an unaffected vote in their opinion of him. A Republican web site had posted a poll asking which candidate GOP voters preferred for CD-5; Jeff Flake or Russell Pearce. Upon learning he was behind, Pearce sent an email to a "couple" of his supporters (more likely mailing lists) with this subject: "I am behind in the poll," followed by detailed instructions on how to cheat the poll and roll up his numbers. According to the Tribune story, he instructed recipients to "Pass this to people you trust," an obvious recognition that this was not an honest way to participate in an opinion poll. For some reason it took Pearce three hours to realize he "made a mistake." Gee, I would have thought that notion should have crossed his mind at the beginning, but it didn't. Pearce then sent another email asking folks to ignore the poll. Unfortunately (or fortunately, in our view) for Mr. Pearce, that damage has been done.

There appears with Mr. Pearce an uncanny ability to not think, shoot first and apologize later. Voters may recall last year when Mr. Pearce forwarded an email containing quotes from the Neo-Nazi National Socialist Alliance to his supporters and then sending a follow-up email saying it was a mistake. His excuse was "he didn't read it thoroughly." Some people question Pearce's naiveté and there is recent evidence that his connections to extremist groups are more than meets the eye. Now Pearce plainly demonstrates that when he doesn't like public opinion, he drafts his "supporters" to "fix" the election. Is this really the type of person we want in --any-- elected office? Is Russell Pearce the type of representative we want in Congress? Does this demonstrate a person of integrity? Does this show a willingness of Russell Pearce to accept opinions of him that are not to his liking? No, it does not. This plainly shows that Russell Pearce has neither the temperment, the integrity nor the respect for the voters to be an elected public servant.

Attempting to fix an election or a poll is as undemocratic and unpatriotic and is unimmaginable and unforgivable for any public servant. Russell Pearce has demonstrated he is clearly unfit for public office.

Hey, Hey. Ho, ho. Joe Arpaio has got to go.

Check out the East Valley Tribune's article "Seriff's office stars in TV cop comedy show pilot." The pilot, prepared for Fox TV (who else?) "is considering a comedic reality cop show whose pilot episode starred the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office." It seems that the criminals in Sheriff Arpaio's world, get to keep the prizes that lure them to jail. No, I'm not kidding!

Let me get this straight, "America's Toughest Sheriff" is "starring" in a "comedy pilot" where at the end of the day the "criminals keep the prizes?" There are over 45,000 unserved felony warrants and Arpaio thinks the only way to capture them is to reward them?

Crime is up in Maricopa County under his watch. Meth use is up under his watch. Auto theft is up under his watch. Property crime is up under his watch. His famous illegal immigrant hot line has a success rate of less than one percent and costs taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. His lawsuit losses that are paid for by the taxpayers are close to $20,000,000. His solution: he wants to be on a comedy show! Who's the joke on? The voters? Seems like it to me.

Arpaio's past being entertaining. We need a sheriff who actually fights crime, not one that supports making it profitable for criminals. Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Joe Arpaio has got to go.

Arizona Lax on Charter Schools? This Is News?

The Arizona Republic in today's (9/2/2007) paper has an article pointing out that charter schools are held to lesser account when it comes to how they handle taxpayer money. Well, duh. This is news? Apparently to the Republic. Where have they been? The article reports there have been examples of this going back years. What have they been doing? What have the Republican Legislators who own, operate or lobby for Charter Schools been doing? Opps, silly question. They've been lining their pockets with taxpayer money while making it look like they are for improving education. What was I thinking?

Charter schools in Arizona are nothing more than a way to subsidize private corporations and politician's efforts to use taxpayer money to undermine public education. The reason there are a lot of reports stating charter schools are deficient is because they ARE deficient. Anyone can cherry-pick one kid or one school, but overall, charters cannot compete with public schools.

Has the notion of competition worked? Yes, but only in the sense that someone is watching and waiting for educational systems to do better. However, at the end of the day public schools in Arizona are producing better educated children than charter schools. The numbers are out there. Go look at them. It's true! But here's a dirty secret: if you're an underperforming kid at a charter school, they'll kick you back into the public system so they look better. Boy's it's great to see how interested they are in each child, isn't it?

What the problem few people here recognize is Arizona --still-- ranks last in education. So arguments about saving money are assinine when our kids are not able to compete with children from other states or countries. THAT is what gets lost in this public vs. charter debate.

I will also point out that every other state in the country labels charter schools as an EXPERIMENT--except Arizona, where elected officials own or manage charter schools. There should be plenty of outrage about that, but why look at that issue when you should be looking at this shiny ball I have in my other hand. The PBS program NOW did an expose on charter schools in New Orleans and they're attrocious. In fact, one of the charter operators there that has been kicked out runs charters here. Where's the story on that?

People need to get their heads out of their (inappropriate term) and look at education as a way to prepare our kids for the future, not how can we give them the minimum of training at the lowest cost. It's not our future, it's theirs.