Who is surprised that the Governor could not be depended on to negotiate the way out of ESA expansion? She ran on being sane, as compared to Kari Lake , and being better than a nutcase is a pretty low bar. Corporate Dems continue to believe that that is enough , all the while talking about the importance of gaining the youth vote that was energized by Bernie Sanders. Who really believes that young people will bother to vote for a party that only stands for the “ normal” status quo of crushing student debt, abject refusal to fix the immigration system, watering down crucial labor demands etc? Yep, better than the other “guy” but when the other guy is a raving lunatic thats just not saying much.
As a Democrat, this intra-party problem saddens me. Not that it is unusual; as Will Rogers reportedly said almost a century ago, "I'm a member of no organized party. I'm a Democrat." I hope that the Governor and the Democratic legislators (and the AG and SOS) can connect more effectively in the future. The state needs them to.
I feel like I’m having an out of body experience. Trust me, I am constantly criticizing Dems for not adhering to message discipline and standing tough together. Who needs the opposition when we crap all over ourselves has been my mantra for YEARS. So, on that point, I couldn’t agree with you more. Usually.
But, I’m at a loss today. The tragedy unfolding before us as the voucher expansion privatizes education while we just LET IT HAPPEN without even a big public brawl, debate, walk out, fight has me.....very, very confused.
Every study shows that our private healthcare system is bad. People lose their homes due to medical bills yet we are more unhealthy, have shorter life spans, higher infant mortality, more costs than any other “wealthy” nation in the world. National, or government run healthcare systems, are better. I’m not saying that- every study ever says that. And, here we are, as a state, leading the nation, doing the same thing to public education and “we” (Dems) don’t appear to be putting up much of a fight.
The Dems didn’t create the problem. (Ahem, Laurie Robert’s, it wasn’t Katie Hobbs who thought universal vouchers were a great idea- not sure how anyone can write an entire article blaming vouchers in Hobbs- seriously, is she being paid by the AZGOP marketing firm?). And, I wasn’t born yesterday, I’m aware that Dems have little power without a majority in the state legislature to repeal vouchers. But, how did we not have a more public fight to, at least, cap the massive hemorrhaging of tax payer dollars with zero accountability or oversight? (Nod to Nancy Gutierrez who proposed a cap on the house floor this morning. Predictably, it failed along party lines, but at least it’s something even if only 8 people notice it.)
How do we not stand firm on this, though? If not for this, what in the hell are we even doing? Did I miss the memo where the right to a properly funded public education available to everyone is no longer a main priority of the Democratic Party? We have up on healthcare. We haven’t done anything about immigration. Screw women’s reproductive rights. Now, we have up on education. What do we even have left? Social security? I give that 5 years before we allow privatization of that. No doubt Sinema will be in the board of some hedge fund company making kick backs for that.
An earlier comment mentioned young people and crushing student debt. Can you even imagine how much more debt these young people will incur when their parents have to shell out even more for private school? (Except, I think we all know that once people can make money off education, the republicans will happily fork over more funding for education and the voucher amount will go up.) But, still. How can someone be opposed to any help for a 28 year old who owes $60,000 for college loans but they are hunky dory giving a multi millionaire a hand out to send their son to Brophy? How????
And, why aren’t the Dems, collectively, *all* of them, doing something about it? Even if they can’t succeed- I’m trying to understand why it’s not worth the fight? If we fight against it, they will take away the few things they threw our way? Is that it? Hey, we threw you out of your house but here’s this used tent we procured at Goodwill and a coupon for a sleeping bag. Off you go. And, the Dems are saying things like, “well, at least we got the tent, sure it has bed bugs, but they could have left us with just some mold newspaper so, yeah, look at us winning!!!”
I don’t and will never understand why people aren’t concerned. My kids are done with K12 schooling. And, they are incredibly bright, good students (ergo they can get in to any school) and we can pay for private school. I can pay for my future grandchildren. Does everyone else have a plan that they haven’t shared with me? Because, I heard an awful lot this last year about the cost of eggs and gas. Do people understand how much private school costs? Just...how are people not getting this? How is this not something that all Democrats are going to the mat over?
I’m with you. I want message discipline and party unity but I was hoping it would be for something we all say is important to us not party unity conceding to the demise of public education. People far more intelligent and with other information must know something that I am missing here.
I hear you. As I said in my comment, what happened saddens me. I don't mean to make light of it, I am just noting that the problem is one that is not new, although the particular players are. Each of the issues you discuss are serious ones. What we can work for each day is finding, each in our own way, a path to improve things. And hope that that "long arc of the moral universe" does indeed "bend toward justice"; but it doesn't do that all by itself - it does it with the actions of everyone who cares about it. As you do.
I didn’t think you were being flippant, at all. I have been describing the disarray in far less charitable terms.
But, I’m not sure there is anything left to fight for at this point. I think this is it. I think hoping that by 2026 the state legislature *might* flip and *then* we can repeal vouchers is total fantasy. Give people something, they grow accustomed to it and next thing you know- they won’t give it up. Don’t believe me? Think about the routing Dems took over the Affordable Healthcare Act. Congressional districts across this country swung blue to red and have remained so to this day (I’m looking at you, Schweikert). The GOP got people so fired up about Granny Death Squads that we had one of the worst mid term elections in history. And, yet, the Republicans have never been able to get rid of “Obama Care” once people grew accustomed to not being denied coverage for existing conditions and keeping their kids on their policies until age 26. Note, republicans don’t lose elections for trying to repeal Obamacare. Hell, they put it up for a vote how many times? Must be hundreds. But, they’d catch hell if they had actually been successful at ratcheting back what the American people now take for granted. (See, taking a stand, even when useless, even when you can’t win, doesn’t hurt you! Your base still loves you! You know, the base that knocks on doors and gives you money.)
Next year, who knows how many more families will sign up for vouchers? Now, that family is entrenched in their new private parochial school and they are going to fight tooth and nail to keep that money coming in. Parents stay in houses they don’t like because they don’t want their kids to have to move schools! They will go ballistic if their $7K per kid goes bye bye.
At least, that’s what I think. And, I know we couldn’t get caps or a repeal, at the end of the day without any GOP crossing party lines which will never happen, but just for the sake of honor and integrity- I can’t figure out why so many voted yes. Hobbs still gets to look like a Sinema moderate that crosses party lines to work with the GOP or whatever she is trying to do. She can even say, “Look! I pissed off my socialist CRT BLM loving own party! I’m John McCain! Not a single Dem voted for it! State before party!” I don’t know what her plan was. But, to have some of the Dems that actively spoke out against universal vouchers and openly lobbied for repeal and caps- to have them vote Yes???? Why? I swear. The average voter doesn’t know their names much less will remember how they voted on a budget. But, the people that canvass and donate and work their tails off- especially in swing districts- they are going to remember how you voted. So, what was the benefit to not fighting harder?
Sigh. They all must know something this dumbo (me) can’t figure out. I genuinely and sincerely wish someone smart would explain the strategy here as I don’t get it.
If any strategist is bored enough to read my comments. Seriously. Reach out and ask explain this to me.
I think that Dems will turn their back on Katie at next year's state-of-the-state while Repubs will guffaw. I really don't think she should even mention her "opposition" to ESA funding because it is such a joke.
Jennifer mcDowell i am with you every step of the way. We dream of flipping the legislature the way we once dreamt that a democratic governor would make everything better. With a veto pen? Yes. But with actually good proactive policies? Still waiting. There is NO guarantee that a dem legislature will solve arizonas issues either….
Who is surprised that the Governor could not be depended on to negotiate the way out of ESA expansion? She ran on being sane, as compared to Kari Lake , and being better than a nutcase is a pretty low bar. Corporate Dems continue to believe that that is enough , all the while talking about the importance of gaining the youth vote that was energized by Bernie Sanders. Who really believes that young people will bother to vote for a party that only stands for the “ normal” status quo of crushing student debt, abject refusal to fix the immigration system, watering down crucial labor demands etc? Yep, better than the other “guy” but when the other guy is a raving lunatic thats just not saying much.
As a Democrat, this intra-party problem saddens me. Not that it is unusual; as Will Rogers reportedly said almost a century ago, "I'm a member of no organized party. I'm a Democrat." I hope that the Governor and the Democratic legislators (and the AG and SOS) can connect more effectively in the future. The state needs them to.
I think about that quote all the time lol including yesterday
I feel like I’m having an out of body experience. Trust me, I am constantly criticizing Dems for not adhering to message discipline and standing tough together. Who needs the opposition when we crap all over ourselves has been my mantra for YEARS. So, on that point, I couldn’t agree with you more. Usually.
But, I’m at a loss today. The tragedy unfolding before us as the voucher expansion privatizes education while we just LET IT HAPPEN without even a big public brawl, debate, walk out, fight has me.....very, very confused.
Every study shows that our private healthcare system is bad. People lose their homes due to medical bills yet we are more unhealthy, have shorter life spans, higher infant mortality, more costs than any other “wealthy” nation in the world. National, or government run healthcare systems, are better. I’m not saying that- every study ever says that. And, here we are, as a state, leading the nation, doing the same thing to public education and “we” (Dems) don’t appear to be putting up much of a fight.
The Dems didn’t create the problem. (Ahem, Laurie Robert’s, it wasn’t Katie Hobbs who thought universal vouchers were a great idea- not sure how anyone can write an entire article blaming vouchers in Hobbs- seriously, is she being paid by the AZGOP marketing firm?). And, I wasn’t born yesterday, I’m aware that Dems have little power without a majority in the state legislature to repeal vouchers. But, how did we not have a more public fight to, at least, cap the massive hemorrhaging of tax payer dollars with zero accountability or oversight? (Nod to Nancy Gutierrez who proposed a cap on the house floor this morning. Predictably, it failed along party lines, but at least it’s something even if only 8 people notice it.)
How do we not stand firm on this, though? If not for this, what in the hell are we even doing? Did I miss the memo where the right to a properly funded public education available to everyone is no longer a main priority of the Democratic Party? We have up on healthcare. We haven’t done anything about immigration. Screw women’s reproductive rights. Now, we have up on education. What do we even have left? Social security? I give that 5 years before we allow privatization of that. No doubt Sinema will be in the board of some hedge fund company making kick backs for that.
An earlier comment mentioned young people and crushing student debt. Can you even imagine how much more debt these young people will incur when their parents have to shell out even more for private school? (Except, I think we all know that once people can make money off education, the republicans will happily fork over more funding for education and the voucher amount will go up.) But, still. How can someone be opposed to any help for a 28 year old who owes $60,000 for college loans but they are hunky dory giving a multi millionaire a hand out to send their son to Brophy? How????
And, why aren’t the Dems, collectively, *all* of them, doing something about it? Even if they can’t succeed- I’m trying to understand why it’s not worth the fight? If we fight against it, they will take away the few things they threw our way? Is that it? Hey, we threw you out of your house but here’s this used tent we procured at Goodwill and a coupon for a sleeping bag. Off you go. And, the Dems are saying things like, “well, at least we got the tent, sure it has bed bugs, but they could have left us with just some mold newspaper so, yeah, look at us winning!!!”
I don’t and will never understand why people aren’t concerned. My kids are done with K12 schooling. And, they are incredibly bright, good students (ergo they can get in to any school) and we can pay for private school. I can pay for my future grandchildren. Does everyone else have a plan that they haven’t shared with me? Because, I heard an awful lot this last year about the cost of eggs and gas. Do people understand how much private school costs? Just...how are people not getting this? How is this not something that all Democrats are going to the mat over?
I’m with you. I want message discipline and party unity but I was hoping it would be for something we all say is important to us not party unity conceding to the demise of public education. People far more intelligent and with other information must know something that I am missing here.
I hear you. As I said in my comment, what happened saddens me. I don't mean to make light of it, I am just noting that the problem is one that is not new, although the particular players are. Each of the issues you discuss are serious ones. What we can work for each day is finding, each in our own way, a path to improve things. And hope that that "long arc of the moral universe" does indeed "bend toward justice"; but it doesn't do that all by itself - it does it with the actions of everyone who cares about it. As you do.
I didn’t think you were being flippant, at all. I have been describing the disarray in far less charitable terms.
But, I’m not sure there is anything left to fight for at this point. I think this is it. I think hoping that by 2026 the state legislature *might* flip and *then* we can repeal vouchers is total fantasy. Give people something, they grow accustomed to it and next thing you know- they won’t give it up. Don’t believe me? Think about the routing Dems took over the Affordable Healthcare Act. Congressional districts across this country swung blue to red and have remained so to this day (I’m looking at you, Schweikert). The GOP got people so fired up about Granny Death Squads that we had one of the worst mid term elections in history. And, yet, the Republicans have never been able to get rid of “Obama Care” once people grew accustomed to not being denied coverage for existing conditions and keeping their kids on their policies until age 26. Note, republicans don’t lose elections for trying to repeal Obamacare. Hell, they put it up for a vote how many times? Must be hundreds. But, they’d catch hell if they had actually been successful at ratcheting back what the American people now take for granted. (See, taking a stand, even when useless, even when you can’t win, doesn’t hurt you! Your base still loves you! You know, the base that knocks on doors and gives you money.)
Next year, who knows how many more families will sign up for vouchers? Now, that family is entrenched in their new private parochial school and they are going to fight tooth and nail to keep that money coming in. Parents stay in houses they don’t like because they don’t want their kids to have to move schools! They will go ballistic if their $7K per kid goes bye bye.
At least, that’s what I think. And, I know we couldn’t get caps or a repeal, at the end of the day without any GOP crossing party lines which will never happen, but just for the sake of honor and integrity- I can’t figure out why so many voted yes. Hobbs still gets to look like a Sinema moderate that crosses party lines to work with the GOP or whatever she is trying to do. She can even say, “Look! I pissed off my socialist CRT BLM loving own party! I’m John McCain! Not a single Dem voted for it! State before party!” I don’t know what her plan was. But, to have some of the Dems that actively spoke out against universal vouchers and openly lobbied for repeal and caps- to have them vote Yes???? Why? I swear. The average voter doesn’t know their names much less will remember how they voted on a budget. But, the people that canvass and donate and work their tails off- especially in swing districts- they are going to remember how you voted. So, what was the benefit to not fighting harder?
Sigh. They all must know something this dumbo (me) can’t figure out. I genuinely and sincerely wish someone smart would explain the strategy here as I don’t get it.
If any strategist is bored enough to read my comments. Seriously. Reach out and ask explain this to me.
I think that Dems will turn their back on Katie at next year's state-of-the-state while Repubs will guffaw. I really don't think she should even mention her "opposition" to ESA funding because it is such a joke.
Jennifer mcDowell i am with you every step of the way. We dream of flipping the legislature the way we once dreamt that a democratic governor would make everything better. With a veto pen? Yes. But with actually good proactive policies? Still waiting. There is NO guarantee that a dem legislature will solve arizonas issues either….
I wonder if Fontes runs for governor next term?