McCain // Current TV

Arizona senators working to take away Hopi/Navajo right to water for "time immemorial"

Mr. Kyl and Mr. McCain have introduced a bill known as the Navajo-Hopi Little Colorado River Water Rights Settlement, which would require the tribes to waive their water rights for “time immemorial” in exchange for groundwater delivery projects to three remote communities.

The tribes must sign off on the settlement, along with 30 other entities including Congress and the president, before the bill becomes law.

Mr. Kyl said the bill was on a “fast track” and he would like to see it pushed through Congress before this session ends. But the outcome is uncertain, as there is a disagreement within the Navajo and Hopi governments over whether or not to endorse the bill, as well as disapproval within the communities, which are pushing for more public hearings.

The settlement would benefit the two tribes by providing clean drinking water piped directly into their homes, Mr. Kyl said. There is very little surface water on the two reservations, he said, adding that most of the water that does exist is in aquifers and the tribes can’t afford to build the infrastructure necessary to gain access to it.

What the tribes would lose by settling is a crucial bargaining chip. Other parties, including Peabody Coal and two other corporations, want the water for ranching, farming and coal mining operations. Coal mining in particular uses copious amounts of water for its slurries.

The tiny Hopi reservation is completely surrounded by the much larger Navajo reservation, which covers 27,000 square miles of land over sections of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Many homes lack indoor plumbing, and one out of three families on the Navajo reservation does not have access to a public drinking water system, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Some wells and springs are still contaminated with uranium and other toxic heavy metals, a legacy of 40 years of mining.

In an arid region where water is scarce, some tribal leaders are in favor of settling their claims in exchange for running water. But the bill has also stirred some controversy among environmental groups and tribe members, who say that their leaders didn’t inform them about the details.

“Water is life, and when you take away our water, you take away our lives,” said Ed Becenti, a Navajo grass-roots organizer. He said that after the meeting, which took place behind closed doors, a crowd of about 200 milling outside followed the senators to their cars chanting “Kill bill 2109″ and “Leave our water alone.”

He said that Senator Kyl should “meet with the Navajo and Hopi grass-roots representation on the settlement agreement and go over it in detail.” He added, “Our tribal leaders have evidently dropped the ball on this one.”

Several environmental groups also oppose the bill. The Grand Canyon Trust, which was recently successful in halting new mining claims on federal land around the Grand Canyon, characterized the bill on its Web site as containing “several dangerous provisions that require a permanent waiver” of water rights.

More at the linkMr. Kyl and Mr. McCain have introduced a bill known as the Navajo-Hopi Little Colorado... more

JanforGore
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Senators file resolution to arm Syria opposition

War mongers: Senators McCain, Graham and Lieberman want to give weapons to Syrian... more

yodasworld
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3 comments

McCain offered Ghadaffi weapons

No wonder so many countries in the world hate us. Given the kind of double dealing... more

lazloman
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9 months ago
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Would America have been better off with President McCain?

The core question is, do we want to limp along defending a failed President who has no... more

hoosierdaddy
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11 months ago
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The Obama record thus far-------

Good article on the track record of the "Democrat" in the White House and... more

Frosty46
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11 months ago
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Foedero Civis : Response to President Barack Obama's Address of Mid East Wars Part 1

In the latter two minutes of President Obama’s speech, he identified the... more

Nexis_Hexus
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11 months ago
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Santorum: McCain 'Doesn't Understand' Interrogation

WASHINGTON -- Former Sen. Rick Santorum said Tuesday that Sen. John McCain, who spent... more

robbie2622
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Glenn Beck Reaches New Low

Long ago, political feuds may have been aired on the floor of Congress, or in the... more

littlwarrior
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63 comments

WHACKO-TV READING ABOUT GAS PRICES

The last newspaper reader is back and this time, he sees stories about Gas Prices,... more

dwightdouglas
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Delicious Irony for Teabaggers and Palin Lovers!

!5791915/did-sarah-palin-carry-out-the-biggest-hoax-in-american-political-history... more

TheAmbivalante
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Allegations of campaign finance wrongdoing tossed against Fiesta Bowl - The Washington Post

Allegations of campaign-finance wrongdoing tossed against Fiesta Bowl.... more

haydemon
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Breaking News: Tax Revenues Plummet

David Cay Johnston | Mar. 3, 2011 08:43 AM EST
We take you now to the official data for important news. Federal tax revenues in 2010 were much smaller than in 2000. Total individual income tax receipts fell 30 percent in real terms. Because the population kept growing, income taxes per capita plummeted.
Individual income taxes came to just $2,900 per capita in 2010, down 36 percent from more than $4,500 in 2000. Total income taxes and income taxes per capita declined even though the economy grew 16 percent overall and 6 percent per capita from 2000 through 2010.
Corporate income tax receipts fell 27 percent and declined 34 percent per capita, even though profits boomed, rising 60 percent.
Payroll taxes increased slightly overall, but slipped per capita because the nation's population grew five times faster than the number of people with any work. The average wage also declined slightly.
You read it here first. Lowered tax rates did not result in increased tax revenues as promised by politician after pundit after professional economist. And even though this harsh truth has been obvious from the official data for some time, the same politicians and pundits keep prevaricating. Some of them even say it is irrelevant that as a share of GDP, income tax revenues are at their lowest level since 1951, when Harry S. Truman was president.
No matter how many times advocates of lower tax rates said it, tax rate cuts did not pay for themselves, did not spur economic growth, did not increase jobs, and did not make America better off.
Now that the news has been broken, let's see how many political leaders start speaking facts instead of fairy tales. And let's also watch to see how many Washington reporters, news anchors, talk show guests, and syndicated columnists use the actual figures. It's called holding politicians accountable, and it used to be a mainstay of journalism, where the first rule is to check it out and the second is to cross-check until you know what is going on and can give context.
The tables accompanying this column should be easy enough to read and turn into graphics for television, newspapers, and magazines, not to mention all those blogs and digital journals.
So how soon will we see Washington journalists holding politicians accountable for what they say about taxes, tax rates, revenues, economic growth, and jobs?
Here's some advice: Don't hold your breath. Washington has become a city of ideological marketing, where those who would note that the emperors have no facts are unwelcome in their own newsrooms. It is a city where access matters most and those who ask tough questions don't get access.
Just as real Mad Men persuaded millions of men to put that greasy Brylcreem™ in their hair and convinced many more that cigarettes make you healthier, pure nonsense about tax cuts spurring growth and paying for themselves gets repeated and replayed and regurgitated as if it had some basis in reality. But Washington is the marketplace of ideas and governance, not the marketplace of products. Lies about taxes sold by people with no regard for facts are at least as dangerous to our society as cigarettes are to smokers.
Consider this nonsense from the syndicated column by Thomas Sowell, who holds the Rose and Milton Friedman chair at the Hoover Institution. Sowell at least hedged a bit when he applied the word "often," writing in December:

High tax rates on paper, that many people avoid, often does not bring in as much tax revenue as lower tax rates that more people actually pay, after it is safe to come out of tax shelters and earn higher rates of taxable income.1

But two months later, this former UCLA economics professor seems to have made up his facts, writing in his February column that "in each case, going back to the '20s, the reduced tax rates have led to increased tax revenues for the government."2

On the radio and television, I hear this sort of falsehood posing as fact all the time, sometimes by people who cite Sowell. It was true in the century past, and for limited times, that tax rate cuts were followed by more economic growth and increased revenues. But that has not been true in this century. And some tax increases have been followed by economic growth, a fact Sowell neglected to mention. Over time, as the facts have mounted, the leaders of the "tax cuts good, taxes bad" school have started moving from the unsupportable to the cleverly worded. Consider this quite typical 2003 report from Daniel J. Mitchell, then at the Heritage Foundation and now at the Cato Institute:(more at link & source material)David Cay Johnston | Mar. 3, 2011 08:43 AM EST We take you now to the official data... more

figgdimension
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If the Shoe Fits...

Every argument McCain has proposed against repealing 'Don't Ask Don't... more

lucasives
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McCain faults military gays study, wants ban kept | General Headlines | Comcast.net

"We send these young people into combat," said McCain. "We think... more

mik661
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Bush Had Beef With McCain & Would Have Endorsed Obama, If Ask ?

Bush Now Denies He Wanted to Endorse Obama

President Bush said he probably wouldn't vote for John McCain--and would have endorsed Obama--during the frenzy of the 2008 presidential campaign, the Financial Times' Alex Barker reports. Bush's spokesman called the story "ridiculous," but, given the animosity between Bush and McCain, some say the anecdote is believable.

"The venue was the Oval Office. A group of British dignitaries, including Gordon Brown, were paying a visit," Barker writes. The Brits offered some diplomatic words for McCain, but Bush didn't share the sentiment. "'I probably won’t even vote for the guy,' Bush told the group, according to two people present. 'I had to endorse him. But I’d have endorsed Obama if they’d asked me.'" Then the Brits got flustered and mentioned the weather.
Never Happened, Politico's Andy Barr reports the Bush crew maintains. Spokesman David Sherzer tells Barr that “This is ridiculous and untrue... President Bush proudly supported John McCain in the election and voted for him.” Bush's new book is critical of McCain, and not Obama, but the former president never says how he voted.
It Was McCain Who Had Beef with Bush, not vice versa, Ed Morrissey writes at Hot Air. Barker "manages to get the antagonism between the two men correct in his reference to the 2000 primary in South Carolina that got infamously nasty and personal. But it wasn’t Bush that got angry with McCain — it was McCain who got angry with Bush, enough to play a little footsie with John Kerry in 2004 before endorsing and campaigning for Bush in his successful re-election campaign. McCain also backed Bush on Iraq and especially the surge strategy in 2007 and 2008... 'Ridiculous' is the right word for it; 'absurd' is perhaps a bit better."
And Obama Demonized Bush Pirate's Cove William Teach says. "Who are you going to believe, a guy who sat on what would have been a HUGE story during the 2008 Silly Season, or Bush, who knows what he said better? I’m going with Bush. He may have been a Big Government Social Conservative... but, there was no possible way he would have endorsed Obama, who was continuously slamming and slurring him all during the campaign, and certainly Bush could have seen what a disaster an Obama presidency would have been."
Dems in Uncomfortable Position of Agreeing with Bush, The War Room's Steve Kornacki observes. "Whatever his intent, it seems clear that McCain still very much irks Bush. After all, Bush took pains in his memoir not to criticize Barack Obama, but he couldn't resist taking a few swipes at his old GOP foe. Oddly enough, this means that there's now some common ground between Bush and many Democrats, who have come to view McCain as a spiteful, unprincipled and bitter old man. It's a development that would have been unfathomable 10 years ago, at the height of the Bush-McCain war, when McCain emerged as every Democrat's favorite Republican. ... Bush's low opinion of him used to make McCain attractive to Democrats. Now, though, they'd probably admit that it's one of the few judgment calls that Bush actually got right."
Maybe British People Don't Get American Jokes, Dan Amira writes at Daily Intel. "Now, Bush not voting for McCain and giving him a forced endorsement, sure, we can buy that. ... Bush laments that McCain kept his distance in the 2008 campaign. He also writes that McCain was unimpressive in their meeting during the financial crisis. But endorsing Obama? Come on. That never would have happened, ever, even if Bush secretly wished it could have, which is somewhat more plausible." Amira continues, "Maybe the Brits, with their unique comedic sensibilities, just didn't grasp that Bush was joking. Or, maybe this story has been exaggerated over time. British cocktail-party gossip isn't exactly the most reliable source in the world."Bush Now Denies He Wanted to Endorse Obama President Bush said he probably... more

keithponder
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Arizona Primary, McCain wins the race

John McCain, the US Senator easily claimed a win in an Arizona primary. Arizona... more

garrysobbers
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Nobody in Jacksonville Will Pay $50 to See Sarah Palin

Every morning she hears it as soon as she wakes up, tick-tock, tick-tock. It follows her wherever she goes. It is the sound of Sarah Palin’s 15 minutes almost being up. Another sign that the end is near for Palinmania came in Jacksonville, FL where her fundraiser for Heroic Media was moved from a 2,936 seat theatre to a 609 seat venue due to poor ticket sales.

As Sarah Jones reported on Sunday, Palin was set to be the big draw and the headliner for a fundraiser benefiting the conservative anti-abortion organization Heroic Media, and as will all organizations that get conned into paying Palin to show up and babble with promises of filled coffers in return, Heroic Media is finding out that Palin is not quite the draw that they thought she was, or to put it another way, she isn’t much of a draw at all.

According to the Florida Times-Union, organizers of the event were very upfront and honest about why they decided to move, “An Evening With Sarah Palin” from the 2,936 seat Moran Theatre, to the 609 seat Terry Theatre, Florida Director for Heroic Media Mark Nelson admitted that there weren’t enough tickets sold to hold the event in the bigger building, “We would rather have a packed theater than a theater that’s not so packed.”

Not so packed, is a very polite way of saying, “Palin isn’t selling any tickets and if we hold this thing in the big building, we are going to look like idiots because it will be less than a quarter full.” How many tickets have been sold to the Jacksonville fundraiser? Considering that the venue holds 609 people and there are still some $50 tickets for sale on Ticketmaster, a generous sales estimate is probably somewhere in the 400-500 range, which means that the event organizers were expecting about 3,000 people, and instead will be lucky to get 20% of that total. (The Palin popularity myth has claimed another victim).

Heroic Media has a generic sounding name, but the group was founded by Swift Boater Brian R. Follett, so the curse of the Palin Money Pit could not happen to a more deserving person or organization. Heroic Media was really hoping to rake in the bucks with Palin. They are also offering a special $500 package, where the sucker, I mean lucky audience member gets, “2 reserved seating tickets, 2 tickets to private reception with Gov. Palin, recognition in event program, memento photo with Gov. Palin.” In case anyone wanted to part with even more money, for $1,500 you could have, “10 reserved seating tickets, 2 tickets to private reception with Gov. Palin, special recognition in event program and on web site, memento photo with Gov. Palin special gift bag with copy of Gov. Palin’s book Going Rogue, pennant flag with your logo and name displayed and/or event signage.”

Like any good grifter, Sarah Palin has managed to gain the confidence of her marks by selling them on the notion that she is a marketable commodity. She isn’t. Mother Jones reported on the disaster that was the Sarah Palin Tea Party Convention Banquet. There was the fiasco in Atlanta where a religious benefit for special needs kids was booked for a 13,000 seat arena, but only sold 1,000 tickets, via The Immoral Minority and now the Jacksonville debacle.

Sarah Palin can’t sell tickets, and she can’t draw a paying crowd. Few people will want to pay for the privilege of seeing someone who will not go away. Palin is divisive and at best will only be able to draw from a niche audience. If an organization wants to hold a fundraiser, don’t waste your time and money on Sarah Palin, instead, book the most popular professional athlete in your community. They probably won’t cost $100,000 plus expenses, and some of them may even appear for free, if you still find yourself needing to have Sarah Palin appear at your event, in the words of Thomas Tusser, “A fool and his money are soon parted.”Every morning she hears it as soon as she wakes up, tick-tock, tick-tock. It follows... more

toyotabedzrock
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Why did Ron Paul lose in 2008? The freedom spin starts here!

I bet they are better prepared now!

OnTimeTruth
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McCain Blocks Defense Authorization Bill Over DADT

And complains about the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act in the process.

toyotabedzrock
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Undocumented Students Protest Outside Mccain’s Office in Arizona

A group of undocumented students and a legal resident are staging a sit-in in... more

Sahuaro
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2 years ago
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