Arizona: Sen. Russell Pearce

by David Safier

Please, someone tell me the Onion has temporarily taken over the Phoenix Business Journal, or it's putting out its April Fools edition six months early. No one could really be talking about this, could they?

Talk of Russell Pearce heading state police swirls around Capitol

The already-tense fight over immigration in the state could get a lot more intense.

There is talk at the State Capitol of state Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, possibly being named head of the state police.

Sources familiar with the situation say Brewer could be replacing Arizona Department of Public Safety director Roger Vanderpool and Pearce’s name has popped up.

(At right, Cutman, AKA Russell Pearce, half of the legislative Dynamic Duo, Cutman and Melvin)

It's another day for the state budget drama, and all the action is centered in the Senate, where there will be another attempt to muster the 16 votes needed to pass the package, including a sales-tax referral. The Senate tried, but failed, to do this July 30-31 in an overnight session.
The sense of pending deja vu was clear to many lawmakers Monday, as they contemplated what lay ahead.
Someone compared it to Groundhog Day, the movie. That was a good movie, another lawmaker added.
"Yes, but that was intended to be funny," deadpanned Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, who has not been amused ...

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I had an opportunity to speak with some of our Democratic legislators over the weekend about the status of negotiations on the state budget.

In short, "it doesn't look good."

There will be a pro forma session of the Legislature to comply with the rules on Monday, but there are no other meetings scheduled for the rest of the week as informal budget negotiations continue.

I was told by one legislator his opinion is that the Republicans are trying to run out the clock on referring any sales tax matter to the ballot, then they will return in August and September (if necessary) to cut the budget even further as the deficit has grown from $2.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse -- House Speaker Kirk Adams, Senate President Bob Burns, House Appropriations Committee chairman John Kavanagh, and Senate Appropriations Committee chairman Russell Pearce -- tried their best to destroy the state of Arizona. But they were thwarted (temporarily) by the veto stamp of the Accidental Governor -- who would herself be the Fifth Horseman (woman?) of the Apocalypse if only she met the height and weight requirements.

Some of this blog's readers who see the world in stark contrasts of only black and white have argued that "So what if the government of Arizona shuts down? Would anyone even notice?" In other words, if the epic failure of leadership of our Accidental Governor and the GOP insane clown posse leadership does not immediately result in an end of the world Apocalypse, "what's the problem?" When one can only view the world in terms of such extreme dichotomy, it is easy to make excuses for the lack of competency to govern and the lack of basic human decency, dare I say, empathy and compassion for one's fellow man.