Arizona: Daniel Scarpinato

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Guardian (subscription required) reports that efforts by the Accidental Governor and the GOP insane clown posse leadership's effort to ram a complicated state budget though the Legislature stalled Wednesday night after leaders couldn't come up with enough votes to get the package through the Senate Appropriations Committee. Oops! Somebody couldn't count votes.

A tentative agreement to redo the 2010 state budget hung by a thread late Wednesday, with Senate President Bob Burns conceding that he doesn't have the votes he needs. Both chambers delayed action until today. Sales-tax plan stalls state budget compromise, again

As has been the case for months, the biggest cause for heartburn among the majority GOP was a temporary sales-tax increase sought by Gov.

by David Safier
It was a solemn, bipartisan moment at the state legislature. A bust of the late Jake Flake was unveiled. Flake was known as a gentleman in the legislature, and people on both sides of the aisle spoke warmly about him.

But first came Al Melvin.

According to Daniel Scarpinato's blog,

[Melvin] didn’t mention the former senator.

Instead, he launched into a criticism of universal health care, which eventually led the Senate president to instruct senators to stick only to honoring Flake.

Melvin told the assembled about the wonders of our health care system and how their lives would be in imminent peril if they had the misfortune of being sick in Canada.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Earlier this week Tedski over at Rum, Romanism and Rebellion speculated that our "Accidental Governor" Jan Brewer would not seek a four year term of her own. There are two schools of thought on this, one school says Jan will not run (I tend to believe this is coming from supporters of other candidates), and the other school says she definitely will run.

I tend to believe Jan will run. Jan Brewer is a career politician (since 1982), it's all she knows. Arizonans enacted term limits to prevent career politicians like Jan Brewer from hanging around too long. How's that been working out for ya?

Tedski says the GOP party establishment candidate for governor is Congressman Jeff Flake (aka the Earmark Slayer).

I had one of my unplanned hiatuses yesterday. I’m entitled to not sit in front of this infernal machine once in a while.

Anyway, Sunday, Daniel Scarpinato had a bit in the Political Notebook about how much was spent on Jan Brewer’s inauguration ceremony. Scarpinato seems to agree with the current spin that Brewer’s ceremony was “thrifty,” since it cost less than Napolitano’s:

Brewer’s staff says she saw the value of being thrifty — even if, well, the whole event was completely ceremonial.

But if you compare the price tag to [Janet] Napolitano’s 2006 inauguration — which cost the Department of Administration $53,339 (not including additional costs paid for by the governor’s office) — we’d say, yeah, the new guv was pretty thrifty.