Author Archives: Gary LaMaster

The End Of Arpaiocracy?

This week, Democratic Perspective hosted Paul Penzone who is running against Joe Arpaio, self-proclaimed as “America’s Toughest Sheriff.” Penzone studied criminal justice, graduating from Northern Arizona University before joining the Phoenix Police Department in 1998. During his 21-year career, he began as … Continue reading

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A Blatant Attempt To Steal The Election

Once again, Democratic Perspective looked at Republican attempts to suppress the vote. As we’ve noted before, numerous studies, including a 2007 study by the Bush administration, have found very few instances of voter fraud. Nevertheless, Republicans have used antecdotal evidence … Continue reading

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Republicans In Their Own Words.

This week, rather than talk about Republican politicians, Democratic Perspective chose to let them speak for themselves. Mitt Romney — “We have a president, who I think is a nice guy, but he spent too much time at Harvard, perhaps.” … Continue reading

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“The Most Fraudulent Budget In American History.”

That’s how Nobel Prize-winning economist, Paul Krugman, describes the Romney-Ryan budget plan. Those are strong words, yet they seem inadequate to describe the consequences of this plan if it’s ever adopted. A study by the Joint Economic Committee shows that the Romney-Ryan plan … Continue reading

Posted in Deficit Reduction, Economic Policy, Fiscal Policy, Government, Jobs and Employment, Military, National Politics, Taxes and the Deficit, U.S. Budget, Unemployment | Tagged , | Comments Off on “The Most Fraudulent Budget In American History.”

Mitt’s Money.

Through the Republican primaries, Gov. Mitt Romney resisted calls from other candidates to release more details of his net worth, tax returns, investments and assets. Even when he finally released his 2010 tax return, The Washington Post called them “the … Continue reading

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Fast And Furious Lies.

In the wake of the House vote to find Attorney General Holder in contempt of Congress, Democratic Perspective addressed the many misconceptions and lies surrounding the ATF operation known as Fast and Furious. Of course, the Congressman Darrell Issa and … Continue reading

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Bringing Sanity And Expertise To The Arizona Legislature.

The Verde Valley hasn’t had a representative in the legislature for a very long time; not since the Republican Party purged Tom O’Hallorhan as a RINO (Republican In Name Only) because he understood the value of improving public education. This … Continue reading

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Of Regulation, Risk, Deficits And Austerity.

Democratic Perspective is fortunate to have an outstanding economist in our ranks.  Chuck Williamson is a member of Verde Valley Independent Democrats and the brother of co-host, Stephen Williamson.  He spent his career in the banking industry, much of it as Chief Investment … Continue reading

Posted in Affordable Care Act, Deficit Reduction, Economic Policy, Financial Crisis, Government, Health Care, Interviews, Investment Banking, National Debt Ceiling, National Politics, Taxes and the Deficit, U.S. Budget | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Of Regulation, Risk, Deficits And Austerity.

From Financial Crisis To Stagnation.

Democratic Perspective had the opportunity to interview Thomas Palley, PhD about his new book, From Financial Crisis to Stagnation, The Destruction of Shared Prosperity and the Role of Economics. Palley received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Oxford University in … Continue reading

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A Prison System That Punishes Taxpayers.

Our own Bill Timberman was this week’s guest on Democratic Perspective. Bill has made several presentations in the past. This time, he focused on the privatization of prisons in Arizona. He began by saying, “This idea of the outsourcing and … Continue reading

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