Conservation vs. Development: Follow the Money. Democratic Perspective welcomes Sandy Bahr, Director of the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon (Arizona) Chapter back the program for a discussion of the threat posed by an alliance of mining interests, anti-government oligarchs, and tea-party libertarianism to natural resource and wilderness conservation in Arizona.
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Eight Investigations, Fifty-Plus Meetings, and More Than Fourteen Million Dollars Later, What Do We Know? Democratic Perspective’s Mike Cosentino, Gary LaMaster, and Steve Williamson report on the outcome of the Benghazi frenzy in Congress. Was there ever any point to it other than to sabotage Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign? Apparently not….
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Rage, Ignorance, and Obstructionism in the House of Representatives: If Hating the Government Is the Only Qualification a Politician Needs to Get Elected to Congress, Maybe We’re in More Trouble Than We Thought. Paul Schwartz, publisher and democratic activist, pulls up a microphone and joins Democratic Perspective’s regular crew, Mike Cosentino, Gary LaMaster, and Steve Williamson, for a free-wheeling analysis of our dysfunctional House of Representatives. Manufactured debt-ceiling and Planned Parenthood controversies, government shutdown threats, and the seemingly interminable search for acceptably loony candidates for Speaker of the House, starring Paul Ryan and his godawful now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t fan dance. Why can’t these people just do their jobs already?
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Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: The Money Behind the Attacks on Keep Sedona Beautiful and the Sedona Verde Valley Red Rock National Monument Coalition. Democratic Perspective welcomes Barbara Litrell, former Sedona City Council member, and veteran Sedona community activist, for a closer look at the financial and ideological interests behind the recent attacks on Keep Sedona Beautiful and the National Monument Coalition, and a discussion of the real issue, stewardship or economic exploitation, which lies at the heart of the current controversy.
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Are We There Yet? Opinions May Be Changing, But Meaningful Action Seems As Far Away As Ever, Democratic Perspective’s Mike Cosentino and Gary LaMaster look at the politics of planetary stewardship. Can the gridlock of conflicting interests be broken in time to save what’s left of a natural environment that has nurtured us throughout our long evolution as a species?
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The Endangered Species Act, the Mexican Gray Wolf, and the Arizona Game and Fish Department: Yet Another Instance of Science Held Hostage by Right-Wing Ideology. Eva Lee Sargent, Southwest Program Director for Defenders of Wildlife, joins Democratic Perspective’s Mike Cosentino, Gary LaMaster, and Steve Williamson, for a discussion of the Defenders’ programs to preserve and defend Arizona’s endangered species of wildlife, and the political barriers erected by the states’ rights extremists of the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
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Feeding at the Public Trough: The Sleazy Economics of Charter School Scams and Ripoffs. Jan Nichols, Arizona native, retired Phoenix teacher, and education activist, joins Democratic Perspective hosts Mike Cosentino and Gary LaMaster for a discussion of charter school funding abuses — discover how and why much of the tax money earmarked for innovative projects in Arizona K-12 public education has instead been diverted to support private and religious schools, and to boost the profit margins of private education corporations with questionable connections to our state legislators.
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The Sedona Verde Valley Red Rock National Monument Proposal: What’s Really At Issue In the Current Controversy. Democratic Perspective looks deeper into the current flap over a National Monument designation for the Sedona area.
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Paid For In Blood: the Forgotten History of the Labor Movement in The U.S. Democratic Perspective looks at the history of our second Civil War — the struggle of the American Labor Movement for decent wages, working conditions, and the political influence crucial to preserving their hard-won gains. Mike Cosentino, Gary LaMaster, and Steve Williamson remember — and honor — the price in blood and deprivation paid by American workers for the benefits we enjoy today. When we celebrate Labor Day, we should remember that the 40 hour week, paid holidays, vacations and sick leave, minimum wage legislation, and the right to organize were not granted as gifts by employers or government, but fought for by people who braved lockouts, beatings, and bullets to improve the lot of all of us who work for a living.
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The Sedona Verde Valley Red Rock National Monument Proposal: Everything You Need to Know about Land Trades, Amendment 12, and the Protection of Sedona’s Public Lands. Democratic Perspective talks to Peggy Chaikin, volunteer at Keep Sedona Beautiful and Secretary of Friends of Verde River Greenway, about Keep Sedona Beautiful’s involvement in developing a community plan for the National Monument proposal.
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