Override

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So we froze your salaries, but if the budget override doesn't pass in the November election you teachers will suffer a massive paycut.

Great.

Rich

Here are a series of emails between me and Rich Crandall, a former MPS school board prez and current legislator. This was before the governor vetoed the budget (bless her). I have heard him speak a couple times and as the head of the education committee he talks the talk but certainly doesn't walk it.

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Mr. Crandall,
After hearing you speak in Walter Delecki's leadership class in the Spring I thought for sure you would be the advocate for education you said you would be. It was clear in your emails, newspaper interviews, and such you try to portray yourself as a positive representative for AZ education. Your involvement with the MPS board would seem to support this. Alas, Mr. Crandall, you are no better than the rest of the legislation. Even Russell Pearce who you try to distance yourself from. Your vote today for cuts against education shows this. How sad. As a native Mesan, product of Mesa schools, and present day teacher in Mesa, I was happy to support you. You no longer have my support. Enjoy the increased budget the House and Senate budget are proposing--and no doubt will pass. If it means anything to you, I 100% support the tax hike the Governor is proposing. Keiko Dilbeck

Note: my favorite part is the burn regarding Russell Pearce because no one really likes this guy and RC alluded at one point just because he was from Mesa and LDS didn't mean they were two peas in a pod.

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Keiki (Ahem, yes, that is how he spelled my name. Classy.)
Thanks for your email. Now you know the challenge of solving a $3 billion hole. Even with the governor's tax referral to the ballot, which I support, we are still $2.7 billion short. You can disagree with me all you want and not support me, that's the greatness of the political process, but in the end I still have to find $2.7 billion. I was elected to make the tough choices, not the popular ones. I still respect your opinion, even though I disagree.
Sincerely, Rich Crandall

Note: I can totally imagine him cueing the patriot music on his boombox as he composed this.

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My response #1:

Rich, Thank you for your response. In regards to the lack of cuts in legislative programs, I sincerely hope you are not with Burns and Kavanagh who believe that cutting their budgets, which would interfere with staffing, would be unfair and open them up to "legal errors". Well, join the club. Plus, I believe the legislature is doing just about enough accruing of legal debt at the taxpayers expense.Thanks for your time and response. Keiko

My response #2:

Rich,
I am sending this email hours after a previous response I sent. One portion of your email kept rolling around in my mind. You say you were elected to make the tough choices, not the popular ones. Well, that sounds quite contrary to the idea of democracy. Elected representatives do just that: represent. Representatives need to start cutting the "I" out of their statements. If you are not representing the popular choice--which is the majority--then who are you representing? I have watched as theRepublicans have side lined Democrats during these budget talks and I am extremely troubled by these actions. Isn't good government one that involves everyone? After the last couple months I have seen "top" legislatures holding close door meetings, keeping other legislatures outof the loop, etc. This is not democracy, these are bully tactics. My representative could be excluded, which means I am not represented. How frustrating.

Truly, you must understand that I am concerned that in the face of the worst fincancial crisis we have faced in our lifetime, Arizona is not pulling together and considering all perspectives. This deeply troubles and saddens me. Again your time and consideration is appreciated. Keiko

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Keiko
When I return from work the end of July, let's go to breakfast. I want to better understand where you are coming from and vice versa. I hope your summer is fruitful. Rich Crandall

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We'll see if this actually happens. However, I will make him pay and I want to pick the place.

In the end the governor's line item veto on education forced the legislators to makes some adjustments and accept some stimulus money. There still won't be any textbooks or extar materials, my salary will still be frozen, teachers will still replace substitutes, but maybe classrooms won't be as stuffed, districts can rehire some teachers, and I might not have to take an additional paycut. This is certainly a temporary fix, we'll be right back here next year. Well, unless we can get a 1% tax hike. I can only imagine that will help. Some people are acting like this tax hike is going to swallow people alive, but if we want public services we need to be willing to pony up for them. I'm just sayin.

Rot

If you want to know how bad things can get when there is one political party who squats in power, look at Arizona. The State Legislature is populated with bullies--who happen to be Republican. I could easily make this a slam on Republicans, but I believe this is more about a group (it can be any group) that has been in power so long that they forget that there are others out there who do not share their opinion--or they don't care.

We are facing a $3.1 billion deficit for the new fiscal year that the current legislature is hollering has come because of liberal spending, blaming it on the past Governor. Ok, let's go with that and say that the Governor vetoed bills and made other legislation difficult. Now that she is gone this group is making the changes (i.e. cuts) that they think should have been in place all along, starting with education. I know that education is a huge chunk of any state's budget and I will even go as far to say that with this economy it would be ever more ridiculous not to make cuts to education. But the depth of the cuts will reverberate through schools for decades to come. Teachers are magicians, trying to make something out of barely anything--books and other materials--but now my hands have been twisted and tied that I can't even help myself.

Instead of working to create a fair budget, the legislature has dragged its feet and played games. Last night they worked an all-nighter. Democrats who were excluded from meetings and left in the dark for hours ended up leaving. One Republican tried to leave, but...

Sen. John Nelson, R-Litchfield Park, was a late-night holdout, snagged by
Senate leaders as he was trying to leave via a back staircase. After about an
hour of closed-door meetings with Burns, as well as Adams, Nelson threw his
support behind a budget that, he said, resulted from a deeply flawed
process.

So shady. So sick.

I hope Governor Brewer vetoes this budget. I hope she has the balls to really push the one-cent tax proposal. No one wants to hear tax hike, especially now, but how is cutting going to help us any?

Speaking of balls, I hope Arizonans have enough to vote out these incompetent idiots. All of them. I don't care if they are red or blue, they are a part of the problem.

Peterson

Too often, our political leaders are just enablers, co-conspirators in a
disingenuous and greedy silence. Our children are unrepresented. The future is unrepresented. The moment is long overdue for us to become moral and worthy ancestors.

Pete Peterson's My Turn in Newsweek

California

It's no secret that I am all for allowing marriage rights to gays. When I heard that Miss California had offered her contrary opinion during the Miss USA pageant I was slightly annoyed. I was even more annoyed when I saw a clip from the pageant: Prejean starting off with a decent answer and then degenerating into a nincompoop (you are representing the USA, which encompasses all opinions, honey, learn audience sensitivity) and Perez Hilton for setting her up with a loaded question (considering he is a homosexual and apparently only satisfied with--and expecting--one answer).

My opinion of the whole situation has not improved.

I read Perez's blog on a daily basis and am sick of him picking on her. It is getting really old. However, she is doing nothing to improve her image by attaching herself to the No Offense Campaign (AKA National Organization for Marriage), who are the people who put out the Gathering Storm video that Stephen Colbert wonderfully mocked.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Colbert Coalition's Anti-Gay Marriage Ad
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Gay Marriage

Now, Prejean has this. (For you lazies, her boobies are in pictures.)

Anyway, what has this world come to when a person cannot openly state that she was raised in a home that valued marriage between a man and a woman? How intolerant of us, huh? We should learn to be more open-minded of other peoples' opinions, belief systems, and lifestyles.

Oh, wait.

Cuba

Can someone explain to me why people are pissed about us lifting parts of the Cuban embargo. I mean, c'mon... I keep hearing crap about Cuban policy, etc. and no one is saying anything about China. Well, except for my boyfriend.

Tea Party

I know the Tea Party Protests are supposed to be for all types of citizens, but it is was predominantly promoted by conservatives, especially those against President Obama. If I recall correctly it was President Bush who started handing out money to bailout companies. If I recall correctly it was this first handout that was done poorly with undisclosed amounts of money going to companies who padded their personal bank accounts. I don't agree with a majority of the current bailout plans, but I do appreciate that I know how much money is going where and under what circumstances.

That said, my anger lies with the people who recklessly spent outside their means and/or who don't qualify for the bailout plans in which they are participating. (poor sentence structure, sue me--I am pissed) If Republicans tout "individual responsibility," a tenant which I embrace, then stop pointing fingers at the people attempting to pick up the pieces. I was, and continue to be, responsible and all I have to show for it is an incredible amount of tax debt.

My shit list:

• People who flipped houses. Thanks, I can't sell my house.
• Wall Street
• People who foreclosed to get a better deal.
• Mortgage companies that played the game
• Wall Street
• Those (probably Republicans) who blame Clinton for this mess. Really? I mean, how many conservative administrations have we had in thirty years and he is the only one to blame? Knock it off.
• Those (Democrats and Republicans) for enabling companies to play games (ARMs, high credit limits, etc.)
• Those who don't seem to understand that better business means weeding out the morons (General Motors).
• Mesans who don't get the concept of how beneficial a property tax would be in the face of this mess.
• Anyone who thinks they have an answer how to get us out of this mess. Knock it off Nostradamus.
• Anyone in Arizona who voted for the current State Legislature, especially Russell Pearce. In the face this disaster they are acting like sanctimonious assholes...kind of like Wall Street.
• People who solely blame Obama for this mess.
• People who solely blame W for this mess.
• The media.

I missing a lot of people. Help me out.