It's Good to be King - Arizona politicans behaving badly

[Kopji]

One more reason to not date politicans. Imagine Scott's girlfriend's surprise when she was booked and spent several hours behind bars while he walked because he was immune.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/elect.../26/20110226bundgaard-arrest-violencebrk.html

...Scott Bundgaard, the majority leader of the Arizona state Senate, was briefly taken into custody on suspicion of domestic violence Friday but was released because he was immune to arrest under rules of the Arizona state Constitution...

...When officers arrived, they said Bundgaard, 43, and Ballard, 34, his passenger, showed marks of a physical altercation, "which constituted an act of domestic violence," Thompson said. After being taken into custody, Bundgaard told officers that because he is an Arizona state senator, he is immune from arrest. Thompson said the department confirmed Bundgaard's statement and he was not arrested...

This part is sorta funny:

...In an earlier statement Saturday, Bundgaard said he has "never inappropriately touched a woman and never would. Period," he stated. "I was not intoxicated. There was no 'domestic violence.' Such conduct is offensive to me as it should be to all people. I waive any and all 'legislative immunity.' If I did something wrong, charge me. I did not."

Of course, he did not waive it that night when he otherwise would have spent some time in booking.

 

[leftysergeant]

If the legislature takes no steps to investigate this incident, it will say to the whole country that the state has fallen to Third World levels of governance.

 

[Kopji]

No telling, maybe they'll put it right at the top of the agenda.

Back in 2001 or 02 in Glendale he was well known for not paying his many parking tickets. Before that he was convicted and sentenced to two years probation for theft.

Now he makes my laws... alongside Jan Brewer.

 

[leftysergeant]

Every time I tell myself they can't get any crazier or sleazier, one of them has to prove me wrong.

 

[C_Felix]

Can he still be charged?

 

[Swagomatic]

Can he still be charged?

Yes, he will be charged after the legislative session. It's one of those weird laws left over from the old days which is supposed to prevent the filing of trumped up charges to prevent legislator(s) from casting critical votes. It only applies during the session.

 

[Swagomatic]

No telling, maybe they'll put it right at the top of the agenda.

Back in 2001 or 02 in Glendale he was well known for not paying his many parking tickets. Before that he was convicted and sentenced to two years probation for theft.

Now he makes my laws... alongside Jan Brewer.

You're giving Jan Brewer way too much credit. She just sits quietly until it's time for her to sign something.

 

[TragicMonkey]

You're giving Jan Brewer way too much credit. She just sits quietly until it's time for her to sign something.

You could say she just sits and brews?

 

[Alferd_Packer]

If the legislature takes no steps to investigate this incident, it will say to the whole country that the state has fallen to Third World levels of governance.

Who will investigate it?

Not Russell Pearce.

He's got a few skeletons in his closet in that regard.

 

[Alferd_Packer]

Here's Jan Brewer's use of legislative immunity

http://vvoice.vo.llnwd.net/e14/5553296.0.pdf

back in '88, she got in an vehicle accident and dispite failing four field sobriety tests, she was able to excape any repercussions.

 

[Swagomatic]

Who will investigate it?

Not Russell Pearce.

He's got a few skeletons in his closet in that regard.

It's a misdemeanor and it has been/will be investigated by the local police and city attorney. Trust me, nobody is going to go to bat for this guy.

 

[Kopji]

Jan is an example of why I dislike politics so much - brings out my pollyana optimist side and then squashes me like a bug.

So, I didn't vote for her but she seemed rather moderate in office the first term. Ah I say, maybe a leader will emerge. Then her own party started working to defeat her because she is not conservative enough. She shaped right up. Now she seems more like a puppet than a governor. If she doesn't behave they'll make her do another public debate...

Poor Fulton Brock. Ya run on a Mormon family values platform and moral issues and what happens? His wife is caught having phone sex with a kid. An his right hand guy resigned yesterday. His dream job was always to work in the branch office of a gas company. Gotta grab that ring while you can.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/elect...ck-chief-of-staff-latto-resigns.html#comments

The longtime chief of staff to Maricopa County Supervisor Fulton Brock will resign in mid-March.

Eric Latto, who helped run the East Valley supervisor's office during the last eight years, is leaving county government to become the Arizona business development manager for Clean Energy, a California company that provides natural gas for alternative-fuel vehicles. The company, a venture of Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens, has a regional office in Tempe.

Asked if the Brock family's recent sex scandal - which has taken an emotional toll on the supervisor and county officials - played a role in his decision, Latto responded: "Absolutely not. If he'd just been elected U.S. senator, I'd still take this job. It's kind of like a dream job. Fulton was extremely supportive of my move."

http://www.azcentral.com/community/...-fulton-brock-divorcing-wife-sex-scandal.html

Maricopa County Supervisor Fulton Brock, whose wife is charged with 15 sex-abuse counts connected to an alleged three-year affair with a boy, is getting a divorce.

"I have filed paperwork to end my marriage of 28 years," Supervisor Fulton Brock said through spokesman Jason Rose...

Sheesh makes me want to go check my wife's email.

 

[pipelineaudio]

It's a misdemeanor and it has been/will be investigated by the local police and city attorney. Trust me, nobody is going to go to bat for this guy.

Where's Grant Woods? Bundgardd needs a Woody

 

[Swagomatic]

Where's Grant Woods? Bundgardd needs a Woody

I keep waiting for Grant Woods to swoop in and run for governor. I always liked him when he was AG.

 

[Kopji]

"It has been so darn frustrating watching fringe legislators trying to dismantle our state and to tarnish our state’s reputation,” said state Senate Minority Whip Paula Aboud, a Tucson Democrat, who recently offered a secessionist amendment to a Republican-backed bill that would create a legislative committee to decide which federal laws to nullify. (The amendment was defeated.)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41858048/ns/us_news-life/

I think we should declare a state of irony.

 

[Kopji]

Under the bus with him!

http://www.azcentral.com/news/elect...izona-democrats-want-bundgaard-to-resign.html

The chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee said he will allow an investigation into Majority Leader Scott Bundgaard, R-Peoria, in the wake of a domestic-violence incident last month.

Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, also called for Bundgaard to resign his leadership position.

"Getting in a fistfight with your girlfriend on the side of the freeway is behavior unbecoming a senator," Gould said Monday. "I won't be led by somebody who does those kinds of things."

Ouch, even opposed by Gould, that's sinking pretty low. Gould is bought and paid for by the Kingman private prison without alarms.

http://tucsoncitizen.com/cell-out-a...gould-private-prison-oversight-not-necessary/

 

[dudalb]

Ah, for the good old days in Arizona of The Earps and the Clantons.....

 

[Swagomatic]

Ah, for the good old days in Arizona of The Earps and the Clantons.....

... or the Pleasant Valley War.

 

[dudalb]

... or the Pleasant Valley War.

Yeah, the Graham Tewkesbury feud made the Hatfields the and McCoys look like amateurs.
The Book "Arizona's Dark and Bloody Ground" is a very good read on that feud.

 

[Kopji]

Yeah, something to be said for good old fashioned politics.

So, we in District 1 kicked out our Democrat that was largely deemed not Liberal Enough by Democrats so they stayed home last election and let her be embarassed in defeat.

And I'm frustrated today. We now have Paul Gosar, self proclaimed Teabagger and Dentist as rep. Gosar has been educating us on the virtues of Small Goverment Values lately, interesting but sometimes leaving me confused at the implications of his reasoning.

Gosar is from a suburb of Flagstaff called Doney Park (no relation to South Park). There was a terrible fire last summer, started by some campers (who got away) and left a large burned area of watershed.

The people living below the burned area wisely went right out and bought federal flood insurance. Unfortunately there is a 30 day waiting period after you buy such insurance, presumably in case something happens where you are suddenly in a flood - which is what happened about 10 days later when the rains came. Many Doney park area homes were damaged and home values in the area have suffered.

Now, I am sympathetic to their plight. I am perfectly fine with compassion being a consideration in helping people out. I am even ok with paying taxes that end up helping people out. But then, I was not elected to office on a platform to decimate government spending at the expense of poor people and the mentally ill.

So anyway... (bear with me here) Gosar today explained a new Rule... that "the Federal government bears the responsibility for what happens on federal land" and additionally, "It is absolutely vital that Congress address the Schultz fire and the tragedy that occured". So he has introduced legislation to waive the 30 day waiting period.

That's the part I find a little confusing. The value of the homes was as high as it was because the lands nearby were Federal land. If they were owned by developers, the homes would have been worth much less. So Gosar's reasoning seems really, well, sloppy if not outright hypocritcal. Darn it, it's the goverment's fault that these homes were not protected better and now they must pay.

His reasoning could easily lead to justification for his higher taxes that he was elected in opposition to, since Federal ownership of the nearby forest was what made the private property more valuable in the first place.


http://www.azdailysun.com/news/loca...cle_265d3206-5c8b-5bce-be50-478d14454d1a.html