“While the legislature’s leadership ignores efforts to target pimps who sell children for sex, Kavanagh is worried about bathroom etiquette.” This was a quote on my Facebook page from retired Mesa police officer Bill Richardson after I expressed my dismay over Representative John Kavanagh’s bill, SB1432, which would criminalize using the wrong bathroom. Kavanagh is …
Read MoreMany of us have concluded that our state Capitol is filled with extremist legislators who value craziness instead of intelligence. And now it seems some of our local reporters agree. This past weekend, Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts published an article requesting help for “an election-year search for a Legislature that actually lines up with …
Read MoreCollege athletes have earned their way into college, but veterans have not. Those aren’t my words but rather the sentiment of House Republicans such as John Kavanagh who refused to give military vets an exemption to the minimum tuition bill that recently made its way out of committee. Mr. Kavanagh said, “I’m a veteran and …
Read MoreArizona’s legislators have certainly made education reform a top priority at the Capitol. Unfortunately, their “fixes” do more harm than good. Let’s start with Senator Ron Gould’s guns on campus bill. Here’s a classic example of a legislator determined to fix something that isn’t broken. I speak about this bill in detail in an earlier …
Read MoreFundamental to American life is the idea that if one works hard, studies hard, he/she can overcome a life of poverty and realize the American Dream. But these days, the American Dream is virtually impossible without a college degree, and while President Obama works to make college tuition more affordable, Arizona’s Republican legislators take the …
Read MoreAccording to Arizona’s former U.S. Democratic Senator Dennis DeConcini, private prisons like Corrections Corp of America are the gold standard in inmate care. His words, in a recent editorial for the Arizona Republic, paint a rosy picture of private prisons, describing CCA as offering a cost-effective means to provide “humane treatment” without sacrificing “safety, quality …
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