Why Trump? It’s Really Not a Mystery. Democratic Perspective takes on the Donald. How does a narcissist billionaire with a dyed comb-over send 16 credentialed Republican wanna-bes home with their tails between their legs, and take over the Grand Old Party lock, stock, and barrel? The truth is, this is who the party has been asking for since Dick Nixon and his enemies’ list headed off into the sunset in 1974.
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Dark Money and Legislative Malfeasance: the Evil Synergies Working to Complete the Corruption of Arizona Politics. Juli Myers, Development Director of the Arizona Advocacy Network, and Ken Clark (D), State Representative from Arizona Legislative District 24, join Democratic Perspective co-hosts Mike Cosentino and Gary LaMaster to discuss the blatant corruption reflected in the passage of AZ SB1516, and what we as concerned citizens can do about it. If we don’t want the last remnant of democracy in our state sold off to the highest bidder, now is the time to act.
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The 5th Annual Verde Valley Wine Symposium: A Look Ahead. We welcome Tom Schumacher, President, and Paula Woolsey, Vice-President, of the Verde Valley Wine Consortium, back to Democratic Perspective for a discussion the 2016 Verde Valley Wine Symposium at the Yavapai College Sedona Center on May 28. Wine, food, and a closer look at the art of winemaking in Arizona and the Verde Valley — its successes to date, and its prospects for the future.
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The Politics of Public Lands, Part II: National Monument Battles. Paul Schwartz rejoins Democratic Perspective regulars, Mike Cosentino, Gary LaMaster, and Steve Williamson for part II of a discussion on curbing the destructive exploitation by private interests of our remaining public lands.. How a National Monument designation can guarantee protections that the Forestry Service’s legal mandate prevents it from addressing.
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The Politics of Public Lands, Part I: A Willful Ignorance of History. Democratic Perspective’s regulars, Mike Cosentino, Gary LaMaster, and Steve Williamson, are joined by Paul Schwartz for the first of a two-part series on the developing controversy over the ownership of federally-administered public lands. How did the Federal Government come to own and administer so much land in the western United States, and why have so many people in the West come to believe that federal ownership of these lands is illegitimate? The short answer: to take the anti-federalist position of a Cliven or Ammon Bundy, or a Paul Gosar, you have to pretty much ignore a) the public interest, b) 240 years of United States history, and c) what the Constitution actually says. This would be quite a reach for honest people, but when there’s money to be made, there’ve always been those willing to give it a try, the public interest be damned.
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Election Year 2016: Trump, Cruz, Bernie, Hillary, Prop. 123 and 124. Six More Months of Crazy Left Before We Can Go Back to Sleep. Democratic Perspective’s veteran election watchers, Mike Cosentino, Gary LaMaster, and Steve Williamson, look at the national primary elections, and at the state ballot propositions. Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Is it an oncoming train?
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The Arizona Corporation Commission: A Sordid Example of the Consequences of Regulatory Capture. Tom Chabin and Bill Mundell, Democrats running for the Arizona Corporation Commission join Democratic Perspective hosts Mike Cosentino and Gary LaMaster for a discussion of what happens when a public utility — in this case APS, the Arizona Public Services Electric Company — employs large-scale anonymous contributions to influence the election of commissioners to the state agency charged with regulating it, Once upon a time this was rightly called corruption, Now, thanks to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, it’s just business as usual.
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For the Love of Arizona: Mikel Weisser is Running for Congress. Mikel Weisser, Democratic Candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Arizona’s Congressional District 4, talks to Democratic Perspective’s Mike Cosentino and Gary LaMaster about his background, his view of the issues facing Arizona in 2016, and what it’s like to run in a Congressional district that’s larger than the state of Pennsylvania.
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On Being More Careful What We Wish For: What Electing an Ignorant and Corrupt Republican Legislative Majority Has Cost Arizonans. An impoverished public education system. Incompetently managed private prisons. Denial of health care to needy children. Hysterical ideological crusades against the federal government. Voter suppression laws. Gun-nuttery. Anti-immigrant demagoguery. A shrinking state revenue base. Is this really what we voted for? Democratic Perspective reviews the failures of the Tea Party Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature with Harriet Young, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Northern Arizona University, and Vice-President of the Coconino County Democratic Party. Maybe it’s time to remind our fellow Arizonans once again that elections have consequences.
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Compassion: The Politics of the Golden Rule. Democratic Perspective’s co-hosts, Mike Cosentino and Steve Williamson speak with Heidi Wayment, Professor of Social Psychology at Northern Arizona University, about the importance of compassion as a psychological concept, a moral practice, and a foundation for a more humane politics. Why does the natural tendency to defend the self against real and imagined threats so often result in heightened competitiveness and aggression, and a willful blindness to the legitimate needs of others? Why is compassion, a virtue according to all of the world’s religions, so often perceived as weakness? If we want less conflict and violence in the world, we need answers to both of these questions.
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