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Editor’s Thought Bubble: The Capitol COVID outbreak is coming
What happens when the inevitable COVID outbreak happens at the Capitol during this year’s legislative session? Both the state House and Senate have protocols in place to reduce the spread of the illness, though the House’s requirements are laughably weak, chiefly because they are mere suggestions to the legislators. As we saw on Monday, when […]
Editor’s Thought Bubble: Ducey will see Biden sworn in
Donald Trump won’t be attending Joe Biden’s inauguration next week — a first in modern American politics — but we learned Thursday morning that Doug Ducey will. The governor told Arizona Public Media, the Tucson PBS affiliate, that he was invited and plans to attend. Ducey was slow to acknowledge Biden’s win in Arizona (it took […]
Ducey’s attempt to hand-wave away our COVID crisis only highlights his failure
Maybe if Doug Ducey had donned a brown hooded robe or grown a trim white beard, his Obi Wan Kenobi impression would have worked and the Jedi mind trick he tried to pull off Monday would have been successful.
Editor’s Thought Bubble: Of course Arizonans helped plan the Jan. 6 coup attempt
After a year in which it seemed like we saw everything imaginable, the mantra so far of 2021 seems to be, “Hey 2020, hold my beer!” The president is set to be impeached for a second time (a first in American history), the joint chiefs of the military have concerns of a coup and so […]
Editor’s Thought Bubble: The shameful mask-less House of Representatives
I saw something shameful yesterday that I’ve never seen in my 16 years covering Arizona’s government: two swearing-in ceremonies in the state House of Representatives. Why? Well, a large number of Republican legislators refuse to abide by the chamber’s rule that everyone in the building wear masks. Their masked colleagues apparently didn’t want to be […]
Editor’s Thought Bubble: The legislature returns, more dangerous than ever
Today marks the first day that Arizona’s 55th Legislature will meet. It will be the first time that state lawmakers have gathered to do the people’s business since late May, when they briefly convened after a nearly two-month hiatus due to fears of the coronavirus. Now, of course, our situation is much more dire, but […]
Editor’s Thought Bubble: Literal death panels are in our future
While the nation’s attention this week has understandably been on the violence in the nation’s capital incited by the president and his sycophants in the Republican Party, the pandemic has continued to rage virtually out of control in Arizona. Today, there were 11,658 new COVID-19 cases reported. How bad is it? Today is the seventh […]
Some Arizona Republicans defended, excused the violent pro-Trump mob
Several Arizona Republican officials defended Wednesday’s violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, sought to blame political enemies for the pro-Trump mob’s criminal activity or spread conspiracy theories deflecting responsibility away from the president’s supporters.
Editor’s Thought Bubble: These Republicans have blood on their hands
Wednesday was among our nation’s darkest days. For the first time since 1814, invaders breached the sanctum of the U.S. Capitol. Two centuries ago, it was the British army. In 2021, it is fellow Americans, so ensconced in lies and fantasies that they have abandoned all reason. So committed are they to do the bidding of […]
Every Arizona business that got a PPP loan and how much they got
Arizona businesses received more than 85,000 emergency pandemic loans worth $8.6 billion under the Paycheck Protection Program. The loans were used to keep a claimed 887,000 workers employed, according to data released this week by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Arizona Senate will subpoena Maricopa County for election audit
Amid false claims of election fraud spread by President Donald Trump and Arizona Republican leaders, the Arizona Senate will issue subpoenas to inspect and audit ballot counting machines in Maricopa County, a top Republican senator announced Monday at the conclusion of a six-hour-long legislative hearing into the November election.
White House Coronavirus Task Force: Arizona needs ‘aggressive’ statewide measures
A document prepared for the White House Coronavirus Task Force late last month concluded that Gov. Doug Ducey is not doing enough to combat COVID-19 in Arizona.