As it is, the ROD will cut another 750,000 acre-feet from what Central Arizona receives in addition to the 500,000 acre-feet of cuts it has already sustained. The cumulative cuts total almost 45 percent of its traditional allocation. While severe, the ROD essentially grants the Lower Basin the cuts it could live with under a proposal Arizona, California and Nevada made last May.

The looming problem, however, has to do with the out years three through 10. With levels at Lake Mead and Lake Powell at historical lows, the federal government could inflict more draconian cuts if drought persists.

Under the newly issued ROD, Central Arizona would have to scramble for new water sources if Interior orders the maximum cuts. Even so, areas served by the Central Arizona Project (CAP) will need to recover Colorado River water they have banked over several years, make a greater emphasis on using reclaimed water as Scottsdale attempts to do now, and/or find sources willing to make long-term leases.

I have written several times about another option no one seems to want to discuss. It is the 800- pound gorilla standing in the middle of the room who continues to hope it will go unnoticed. In the state’s 30-year failed attempt to protect the tiny delta smelt California has let millions of acre-feet of water flow to the Pacific Ocean . . . almost 5 million acre-feet per year. PUTTING PEOPLE OVER FISH - Cactus Reports

Hoping nobody notices! (Adobe Stock Images AI)

Even if California diverted a fraction of this back to agriculture, it could afford to take the brunt of the next round of hits should they come. The state of California, however, seems hell-bent on destroying itself and Arizona is simply collateral damage.

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Enjoying its senior water rights, which Central Arizona ceded to California years ago to obtain its congressional support for CAP funding, our neighbor to the west will not willingly sustain a significant hit to its allocation. The federal government, however, could strong-arm the Golden State to do the right thing.

The US Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) in conjunction with California’s State Water Project operates the Central Valley Project. BOR could amend operational rules to increase pumping from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers south toward California’s prime agricultural areas. The feds could also tie increased in-state diversions to federal funding for state projects.

Interior has already allocated California $40 million to raise Shasta Dam which supplies more than 40 percent of the agricultural water Central California uses and yet the Golden State has dithered on this project for at least a dozen years. At this rate, the California High Speed Rail project could be completed before California’s benighted leaders decide the fate of Shasta Dam. (See: Trump wants to raise California’s Shasta Dam. Who benefits?and This California dam could be enlarged under Trump- CalMatters

Shasta Dam (Photo from US Bureau of Reclamation)

The above represent just a few of the tools the feds have at their disposal to steer California into reality. As the nation’s largest state, California undoubtedly carries a large amount of political clout and so far, the federal government has not made a serious move to force its hand. If things get worse, however, Arizona’s next governor (whomever that is) should have the courage to step up and point out California’s folly.

Last June the Arizona Corporation Commission convened a workshop with utility companies, local governments, private business leaders and university representatives in attendance. The theme of the workshop explored the feasibility of a new nuclear power plant in Arizona. Arizona still pursuing nuclear energy despite hurdles | Arizona Capitol Times

Arizona continues to grow at a fast pace. While not at the very top of states as in years past, it still is ranked eighth with an annual growth rate of .89 of a percent. Were this rate to continue Arizona’s population would grow from about 7.62 million to 8.33 million in the next 10 years. Is Arizona’s population growing or shrinking? | USAFacts

From a population of 200,000 in 1912 to an estimated 9+ million by 2050

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In a state where population used to double every 20 years, a growth rate of less than 10 percent per decade seems manageable by comparison. Along with population growth, however, the recent arrival of Taiwan Semiconductor and the expansion of Intel has created a high-tech hub with a great need for electricity. Data centers have their own power needs, but hopefully any new ones will generate their own. In fact, according to the Phoenix Business Journal, Copia Power seeks to rezone 3100 acres in Tonopah which will include a solar farm with data centers planned on-site. Copia Power plans 3,100-acre solar project near Tonopah - Phoenix Business Journal

Taiwan Semiconductor has caused a high-tech construction boom (TSMC June 2026)

Photo by Cactus Reports

Ted Geisler, president of Arizona Public Service, says Arizona needs to double its electric grid in the next 15 years due to the growth in electric vehicles, data centers, AI, industrial reshoring and population growth. Regional Report: Powering Greater Phoenix’s Future | GPEC

In addition to the expansion of power infrastructure, some estimates show Arizona’s output of electricity needs to grow by 25 percent in the next decade. A large nuclear power plant like Palo Verde Generating Station could easily take care of that need, but the timeline from planning to construction could take 10 to 15 years.

Small modular reactors (SMRs) might take less time to place since a manufacturer can prefabricate many of the major components. With America’s regulatory framework still stuck in a Three Mile Island mentality, however, the placement of SMRs around the state might only be marginally faster until the technology becomes more accepted.

Overblown fears have guided America’s nuclear power policy

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Of course, one key issue of concern is the water needs of nuclear power plants. Palo Verde uses effluent generated by a group of West Valley communities. As an increasingly precious commodity, planners have to wonder what stress another nuclear power plant would put on Central Arizona’s water supply. Palo Verde loses as much as 80,000 acre-feet of treated effluent per year from its evaporation ponds. Indeed, it is the only nuclear power plant in the world not located near a large body of water. Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station - Wikipedia In the face of Colorado River cutbacks could Central Arizona’s water budget afford another one?

While the US has yet to have an operational SMR on-line, it has inched closer to having the first one operational in the next five years. Terra Power, co-founded by Bill Gates, uses a South Korean company, SK, to build it. Gates plans to use SMRs to power data centers. Meanwhile, Russia placed the world’s first operational SMR in 2020. In 2021 China connected a gas cooled SMR to its grid in 2021, thus solving the need for the large quantities of water conventional nuclear reactors need. (See: First U.S. SMR Built With Korean Technology: “Construction Continues Even in Snow” - Seoul Economic Daily and Small modular reactor - Wikipedia)

While the US seems late to the party, with sensible regulatory streamlining that reflects modern advancements, SMRs could answer incremental power needs in growing states like Arizona. In the meantime, it appears Arizona will scramble with an “all-of-the-above” approach to fill its energy gaps while waiting to build another large conventional nuclear power plant like Palo Verde.

If only . . .

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On a national scale and even in Arizona to a lesser degree, Democrats have taken a side-trip to Crazy Town. In their party’s quest to regain power and political momentum Democrats have flirted with the Democratic Socialists of America. The DSA’s political agenda includes abolishing the US Senate, public ownership of the “largest corporations and essential industries,” abolishing ICE, “demilitarizing” the police, abolishing the prison system and . . . you get the picture. DSA Program - Workers Deserve More!

Otto von Bismark, known as the Iron Chancellor, unified Germany in the 19^th century. He had a reputation as a pragmatist who accomplished many things by understanding the political and social framework in which he navigated. It was he who coined the oft-quoted phrase, “politics is the art of the possible.”

Another famous politician, former House Speaker Tip O’Neill, used to say, “All politics is local,” but frankly that is no longer the case. To a large extent, politics has been nationalized. Some Democrats at the state and local level want to be aligned with AOC and they all want to talk about “affordability,” their opposition to ICE, or support for “trans rights.”

Republicans want to talk about who is most aligned with Donald Trump, biological men competing in women’s sports and illegal immigration. In addition, both parties have adopted a federal strategy of “primarying” incumbents not seen as pure enough

Both parties organize themselves in various caucuses at the legislative level. Traditionally, there are Democrat and Republican caucuses in each chamber. Now, however, there are many informal caucuses based on a host of issues. The legislature has patterned itself after what it sees at the federal level.

While Congress continues to accomplish some important things, the inflammatory rhetoric seems focused on the “art of the impossible.” To a limited extent, the Arizona legislature has followed suit.

Sure thing. We’ll get right on that!

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The Arizona gubernatorial race will be interesting to see how it adheres to this national political narrative. Republican Congressman Andy Biggs has the anointing of Trump. The incumbent Democrat Katie Hobbs, however, has stayed away from national endorsements from prominent leaders in her own party and has favored endorsements from dis-affected Republicans or independents.

Hobbs has shown the political shrewdness to keep the whackier members of her own party at arm’s length (hint: they never liked her anyway). She has chosen as her running mate former Republican Mayor of Mesa John Giles. Her campaign has also cobbled together a group of Republicans and independents under the banner of “Arizona Over Party,” co-anchored by veteran civic leader John Graham. This gives Hobbs at least the patina of non-partisanship she covets in a state that still nominally aligns with Republicans. You could call it, “The Other Side is Crazy” strategy.

Or you could call it, “They’re All Crazy but Me” strategy

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To win, Biggs must reach out in a similar fashion. I don’t, however, see a “Democrats for Biggs” organization, or anything close to that. As a congressman, he chaired the Freedom Caucus which his opponent has used against Biggs to paint him as an extremist. His selection of Republican Sena Kerr, a former state senator, as his running-mate, does little to reach outside of his core base. As a dairy farmer, she has appeal to rural areas that have traditionally voted Republican anyway.

Four years ago, Republican Kari Lake won 10 of the 13 rural counties. Hobbs carried Coconino, Apache and Santa Cruz counties. These counties never vote Republican and Kerr probably won’t provide the momentum to change that. Lake lost the election by 17,117 votes. She lost Maricopa County by 37,238 votes. Do the math. 2022dec05_general_election_canvass_web.pdf

To win, Biggs must show in practical terms why he is the better choice. He has to appeal beyond the primary voters in his own party. On a positive note, Biggs counts on history repeating itself with Hobbs’ refusal to debate. She may think her “rope-a-dope” strategy served her well in 2022 and she may do it again in 2026. If she declines, this gives Biggs room to expand on an agenda that would hopefully appeal beyond his core base. If she accepts an invitation to debate, then Biggs must prepare himself to counter her “Big Problem” ad arguments. At that point he must pivot on Hobbs and delve into her own vulnerabilities, but this isn’t a perfect world. We’ll just have to wait and see how shrewed a campaigner Biggs is in a statewide race.; 17) Big Problem - YouTube,

Water buffaloes at work

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Try as they might, the seven water buffaloes just couldn’t get it done. After three years of off and on negotiations the seven Colorado River Basin States remained at an impasse . . . that is, until the US Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) issued its Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) last Friday. Federal proposal would cut Colorado River water for Arizona, California and Nevada

The three water buffaloes on the left, representing Arizona, California and Nevada are outraged at the plan, while the four water buffaloes on the right, representing Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, are defending a federal plan that leaves them totally unscathed.

The new federal plan provides a flexible 10-year framework that would adjust to hydrologic conditions on the river from year to year. The federal plan, however, could result in cuts to the Lower Basin of up to 3 million acre-feet annually. These potential cuts are almost twice the cuts the Lower Basin offered up in a plan of their own last May.

Under the federal plan Arizona would face the brunt of cuts to the Lower Basin. Under the original compact Arizona received 2.8 million acre-feet of Colorado River water per year. Due to the 25-year drought we have already sustained annual cuts to the allocation of 500,000 acre-feet. On top of that Arizona will likely face an additional 760,000 acre-foot cut and that is only if things don’t get worse from here.

The Arizona Department of Water Resources issued a press release the same day BOR released its FEIS. The press release states:

The FEIS contains a framework that (is) unacceptable for the state of Arizona including reductions in the Lower Basin of up to 3 million acre-feet per year . . .Such reductions would devastate Arizona’s water users and its economy. (emphasis mine) The FEIS framework also fails to include any Upper Basin reductions or use of water stored in . . . (reservoirs above Lake Powell) ADWR statement on Reclamation’s Final Environmental Impact Statement for Future Colorado River Operations – Arizona Water News

BOR will release its Record of Decision (ROD) in a couple of days which will formalize its water management approach with more detail and then . . .

Three water buffaloes in court pleading their case!

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If the Lower Basin Water Buffaloes (LBWBs) despise the ROD and sue, which is highly likely, the US District Court for the District of Arizona would be the court of jurisdiction. If the LBWBs get a decision they don’t like, then the appeal would go to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit headquartered in San Francisco.

The LBWBs would argue that the ROD violates the terms of the Colorado River Compact of 1922. That compact compels the Upper Basin to deliver an average of 7.5 million acre-feet (MAF) of water over a 10-year period. In addition, Arizona would argue that the ROD violates the 1963 Supreme Court decision of Arizona v. California which entitles Arizona to 2.8 MAF of Colorado River annually.

When the Basin States agreed to the Colorado River Compact over 100 years ago, the long-term average flow of the river was approximately 17.4 MAF, which was even less than the flow of the years immediately preceding the compact. Negotiators settled on the lower long-term average figure and then conservatively divided only 15 MAF between the upper and lower basins.

Of course, Colorado River flows have tapered off drastically in the last 25 years since the drought began. In just the last five years flow has decreased by approximately 20 percent, which leaves an annual deficit of 3 MAF.

One would think the law on its face would side with the Lower Basin, but we are in uncharted territory. The facts would call for a political solution involving compromise. That means the Upper Basin States should come back to the negotiating table or gamble with the prospect of losing in court.

Water buffaloes in accord. Wishful thinking?

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Big market fans in places like LA can slice and dice the statistics all they want and while small market teams occasionally surprise, the larger markets typically dominate. I’ll have more to write on this when the inevitable lockout ensues this December. Until then, baseball fans, enjoy it while you can!

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Major League Baseball needs an enema . . . a good colon cleansing stool softening whoosh of real compromise to unclog the constipated collective bargaining logjam that has so hampered the sport in recent decades. With the MLB’s collective bargaining agreement set to expire on December 1 of this year, the resignation of the Major League Baseball Players’ Association Executive Director and former Arizona Diamondback Tony Clark comes at an inopportune time for the union.

The MLB is the only major sport that doesn’t have a salary cap. The NFL, NBA and NHL all have a system that provides a fixed percentage of revenue for both owners and players. Baseball stands alone with an increasingly uncompetitive system that creates “haves” and “have-nots” between large market and small market teams. It is time to blow up this system. It is time for a lockout!

It is time to blow this thing up!

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Clark finds himself in hot water due to a couple of issues that led to his resignation. First of all, he has had an affair with a subordinate, his sister-in-law, who works for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association (MLBPA) out of its Scottsdale office. In addition, the US Department of Justice’s Eastern District of New York is investigating MLBPA officials for using “licensing money or equity to improperly enrich themselves,” according to The Athletic. Union head Tony Clark, MLBPA hire separate lawyers in face of federal probe - The Athletic

Wow! This sounds like typical union stuff. Next thing you know, they’ll start endorsing presidential candidates. Perhaps the Eastern District of New York should look for buried bodies under Yankee Stadium.

Despite its confident tone, the union finds itself in a precarious position before negotiations begin. Deputy Executive Director of the MLBPA Bruce Meyer said:

At the end of the day, our union is strong and always has been strong because of the solidarity of . . .our players. That is going to continue, and as I’ve said in the past, in different contexts, anybody who underestimates the strength and solidarity of the MLB Players Association does so with their peril. Tony Clark sister-in-law scandal leaves MLBPA ‘devastated’ and scrambling

MLBPA Deputy Director Bruce Meyer is whistling past the graveyard

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Meyers, who apparently aspires to take Clark’s place, finds himself in an equally precarious position. In 2024 members of the MLBPA tried to oust him as their lead negotiator and now Clark, who has supported him, will not be there to defend him.

That brings us to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the poster children of what has gone wrong with major league baseball. The team has by far and away the highest payroll in the MLB. The $416 million in payroll for the 2026 season is a third higher than the next highest payroll which belongs to the New York Mets. 2026 MLB payrolls revealed: Top 10 highest-spending teams When one considers deferred salaries (a gigantic loophole to get around the MLB’s so-called luxury tax), their player payroll tops $1 billion. Dodgers’ deferred payments hit $1.051B to 8 players in 2028-46 - ESPN

Instead of a salary cap the MLB uses a luxury tax that big spending owners must pay if their total team payroll goes over a certain amount. By themselves, the Dodgers have paid over a third of the MLB total of $402,764,410 for 2026. 2026 MLB Team Tax Tracker The first $3.5 million goes into funding “player benefits.” Half of the remaining total goes for player pensions. The rest, which in 2026 would amount to $199,632,205, goes to the commissioner of baseball. The commissioner parcels out the money in a discretionary/byzantine manner to teams that have tried to increase ticket sales and fan engagement. Details From The New 2022-2026 Collective Bargaining Agreement

The MLBPA is not just any union

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The disbursement of these funds is a highly secretive process. Assuming the other 24 non-luxury tax teams received a distribution, they might receive just slightly over $9 million per team. This sounds like big bucks, but remember we are not talking about pipe fitters, brick layers and carpenters here. MLB union players make an average of over $5 million a season. That $9 million wouldn’t pay for one starting player on the Dodgers. 2026 Los Angeles Dodgers Payroll | RosterResource | FanGraphs Baseball Simply stated, the luxury tax scam is an absolute joke in terms of creating any semblance of parity.

The Dodger’s payroll looms more than five times larger than that of the Miami Marlins. If deferred salaries are included, of which Miami has none, the Dodgers payroll would tower 15 times over Miami’s payroll. LA’s spending also dwarfs its competitors in the National League West division. This has led to the Dodger’s winning 11 out of the last 12 division titles. It is akin to the Harlem Globetrotters beating the Kentucky Colonels every single time!

They never lose! (Photo through Creative Commons battlecreekcvb)

Clark’s resignation has come at an opportune time to create a salary cap structure. At the very least negotiators should close the deferred salary loophole. If the owners cannot at least get rid of that, then they will have blown an opportunity to create any semblance of the parity that exists in every other American major professional sport. Let the lockout begin!

Too often, Republican primaries dominated by Maricopa County politicians, turn into bloody cage fights. Candidate A claims to have more conservative bona fides than candidate B. Candidate B claims to have the anointing of Donald Trump. Candidate A counters by having his picture taken with county sheriffs wearing cowboy hats. If the candidate can have his picture taken with a menacing look and standing next to the border wall, so much the better.

AG candidate Rodney Glassman at border wall with menacing look

Photo from Glassman campaign website

In a clash between the two candidates last May that resembled a brawl more than a debate, Glassman and Petersen came out swinging.

“I would never in a million years support a charlatan like Rodney Glassman,” Petersen exclaimed. He followed up that comment by, “You belong in prison.” Arizona GOP attorney general debate turns personal with insults, name-calling

This last barb probably had to do with accusations by Petersen supporters that Glassman sexually molested his younger brother when they were children. Of course, Petersen claimed he had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with raising these allegations. (See: Arizona AG hopeful’s allies push unproven sexual claim about rival)

Glassman struck back by pointing out Petersen’s thin legal resume and that he only received his law license 28 months prior . . . but who’s counting?

“He has never filed a lawsuit as a lawyer. He has never prosecuted a criminal as a lawyer,” Glassman said of his opponent. Arizona GOP attorney general debate turns personal with insults, name-calling

Petersen with obligatory county sheriff pic in front of The Wall . . . so it’s a twofer!

Photo from Petersen campaign website

To which Petersen responded by saying, “I have done more in three years than Rodney Glassman will even get done in his life because he’s a trust fund baby who’s just looking for a place. He’s been running for 15 years and he’s lost six elections in a row.” (Ibid)

Petersen’s supporters have also called into question Glassman’s 17 years of experience as an attorney. Glassman has stated he is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force JAG Reserve. A Petersen supporter claims to have called Luke Air Force Base and asked for Rodney Glassman. According to the person on the other end of the call, she didn’t know who Glassman was. NOT RODNEY

You get the picture. This primary campaign has been anything but cordial. This is typical moronish Maricopa County Republican primary politics. Gone are the days when you can get into a knife fight with your Republican primary opponent and expect to have a cake walk in the general. The demographics of the state have changed and people will vote Democrat if you can’t give them a compelling reason to vote for the Republican.

These guys need a wake-up call and a strong cup of coffee!

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So, with that in mind, I have a great idea for a write-in candidate. You know him. You love him. He has statewide name ID and an unbelievable amount of courtroom experience. If you’re in a wreck and need a check, YOU KNOW WHO TO CALL!

Photo by Cactus Reports

The episode that later gave rise to that popular phrase aired the same year. It featured the lovable Cunningham family leaving their Milwaukee environs for a California vacation along with Arthur “The Fonze” Fonzarelli. When someone challenged Fonzie’s manhood he entered a shark tank wearing swim trunks and his trademark black leather jacket. He then jumped over a live shark while on water skis.

In essence, “jumping the shark” became a metaphor “for any creative or institutional decline, extending beyond television to politics, business, and culture. It captures the transition from authentic storytelling to spectacle-driven content, often signaling that the creators have exhausted their original ideas and are resorting to gimmicks.” jumped the shark origin - Search

AG Kris Mayes attempts to “Jumps the Shark!”

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Our attorney general, Kris Mayes, won the closest state-wide race in Arizona history when she beat Abe Hamadeh by 280 votes out of more than 2.5 million cast, or by .0112 of a percent. Certainly, one can’t characterize her 2022 election win as a mandate, but she has operated her office as if it were.

Soon after she took over, Mayes filed criminal charges against the “fake electors.” She botched the case by leaving out critical information to the grand jury and a judge overturned the indictment. Mayes has dropped the case for now, but hopes to, years after the fact, refile it later. Arizona AG drops 'fake electors' case but only for now

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Bolstered by her 280-vote “mandate,” amidst her many duties, she has found time to sue the Trump administration on 44 separate occasions with mixed results. Space won’t permit going over these lawsuits in fine detail. You can read a broad overview of the lawsuits in a New Times article here: Arizona AG Kris Mayes has sued Trump 44 times. Is she winning?

Bottom line: Lots of injunctions against Orange Man doing Orange Man things like cutting public health grants, unleashing the Department of Governmental Efficiency to slash the bureaucracy, instigating “illegal mass layoffs,” seeking federal oversite of local elections, etc. . . (Ibid)

Mayes has also used Arizona’s nuisance statute in a novel way to try and stop a Saudi Arabian owned alfalfa farm from pumping groundwater in La Paz County. I am sympathetic to her actions, but where does it stop? She threatened to do the same thing against a proposed $190 million aluminum recycling plant in Benson. After public outcry, the company gave up and a rural area with low employment opportunities lost out. Did I mention the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality had already permitted the proposed plant? ATTORNEY GENERAL KRIS MAYES’ NEW FAVORITE TOOL

Now we find out that General Mayes seeks to enjoin Paramount Skydance from merging with Warner Bros. Mayes claims, “The industry that has brought so much joy and entertainment to generation after generation is at grave risk due to corporate consolidation of movie studios . . . We cannot let (them) slowly die, strangled by unlawful corporate consolidation led by mega-billionaires.”

Of course, like the rest of the lawsuits filed against the Trump administration, this is another grenade launched by Blue State attorneys general and against a corporation (Paramount Skydance) that unlike most media conglomerates, has a more conservative reputation. Never mind that the administration and 15 international regulators have already approved the merger, according to Paramount. Arizona joins in case to block Paramount, Warner Bros. merger

Blue State AG’s keep throwing those grenades

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What does the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger really have to do with Arizona? Apparently, Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo and Jane Fonda care, but who in Arizona, besides Kris Mayes, really gives a rip? (Ibid)

This looks like trying to chalk up another score for the Blue Team and perhaps getting more press before the November election. What it really amounts to, however, is jumping the shark.

(For an excellent analysis of the lawsuit see Robert Robb’s article: Is Arizona really opposed to the Paramount-Warner merger?)

With the multi-decade decline of the dollar, foreign countries and other holders of US debt have become increasingly reluctant to buy US Treasury bonds. Central banks across the world are dumping their holdings in US Treasury bonds and buying more gold instead. Gold has now become the second leading global reserve asset second only to the dollar itself.

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Its founder, Charlie Kirk, birthed a cause that has appealed to a younger generation looking for answers in a country that has become unmoored from its Judeo/Christian heritage and its founding principles. Kirk’s message resonates with a younger generation dissatisfied with the answers the dominant culture and its educational institutions continue to offer in the midst of America’s moral drift.

In its rapid rise, TPUSA has become a political force, but as with any young and youthful organization it is understandable when it makes mistakes. Some of its hires didn’t reflect well on TPUSA. Austin Smith, their former strategic director, forged his own petitions when running for re-election to the Arizona House. In addition, it hired former legislator Justine Wadsack shortly after she lost her primary due to trying to use legislative immunity to get out of a criminal speeding ticket. To her credit, she seems to have stayed out of controversy since that fiasco. (https://jimbuster2gmailcom.substack.com/p/the-speeding-ticket-that-cost-a-re)

In addition, TPUSA ventured into public utility politics by backing the incumbents for the Salt River Project board. With the exception of the president and vice-president slots, its slate of incumbents lost in an upset to the “Clean Energy Team.”

Any organization runs the risk of stubbing its toes from time to time, but unforced errors are a different matter entirely. Frankly, TPUSA’s COO Tyler Bowyer’s remarks regarding Prescott Valley legislator Rep. Quang Nguyen were a total screw-up. Bowyer remarked on social media that, “Quang has one of the worst scores in the state leg.” (More on that later)

Rep. Quang Nguyen (R-Prescott Valley) Photo from Arizona Legislature website

In a reply with typographical errors, Nguyen called his frequent critic “a clown,” to which Bowyer, in his own typo filled response asked Quang, an escapee during the fall of South Viet Nam, “can you speak English?” https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2026/07/08/gop-lawmaker-calls-turning-point-tyler-bowyer-racist/90840668007/

But it gets worse . . . Rep. Nick Kupper rose to Nguyen’s defense. According to TPUSA, Kupper’s voting record is similar to Nguyen’s and yet TPUSA endorsed Kupper and then un-endorsed him when Kupper pointed that out. (Ibid)

But it gets worse . . . Bowyer, who emotionally speaking, apparently never graduated from high school, replied to Kupper, “We’ll primary you too. Won’t be hard. You’re terrible” . . . and “a total dousche.” (Ibid) Wow! That last part really hurt!

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But it gets worse . . . Well respected House Appropriations Committee chair Rep. David Livingston of Peoria rose to Kupper’s defense by commending him for “Republicans supporting Conservative Republicans.” In response Bowyer continued his verbal jihad by disparaging Livingston’s TPUSA score as well. Is there anyone pure enough for Mr. Bowyer?

For those of you who don’t know, voting scorecards are highly subjective. Political organizations often have their own pet issues they track to the exclusion of many others. Conservative organizations typically track tax and spending issues. As a former rural legislator I would get dinged for some line item favoring Yuma County, while a much larger piece of pork for Maricopa County would get completely ignored. Hmmm …

Organizations can skew scorecards to put their preferred politicians in a favorable light. In the case of Nguyen and Kupper both still had lifetime scores of around 80 percent. https://www.tpaction.com/scorecard/states/az As Ronald Reagan once said, “The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally—not a 20 percent traitor.”

It’s easy for someone in a safe district to have a 100 percent voting record for some organization’s legislative score card. Critics often ignore, however, the differing needs of individual legislative district.

Legislators in safe districts are often oblivious to the pressures put on their colleagues in swing districts. As the first Republican ever elected to the state senate in my district, I know a thing or two about that. TPUSA labels Michelle Pena who has a lifetime score of 85.59 as “becoming erratic.” Oh, dear! She is one of the legislators I admire most. She keeps winning in a predominantly Democrat district and still stands for her values.

Or look at Livingston, who chairs the Appropriations Committee. He has a lifetime TPUSA score of just under 80 percent. Someone needs to tell Bowyer that legislative leaders have to make compromises to get a budget passed.

“I have always figured that a half a loaf is better than none.” Ronald Reagan Adobe Stock Images AI

Reagan used his 80/20 rule to build a broad governing coalition. Instead of letting minor disagreements cloud his judgment he built a coalition united around common goals. He once said, “I’d rather get 80 percent of what I want than go over the cliff with flags flying.” https://time.com/3858793/ronald-reagan-history/

Many modern politicians today know how to get elected, but they don’t know how to govern. Bowyer’s all or nothing attitude feeds into that sentiment. I can’t help but think that, were he still alive, Charlie Kirk would have called Bowyer into his office for a closed door discussion regarding his recent comments.

Photo from Creative Commons: Jeepersmedia

As America celebrates the 250^th anniversary of its independence, it bears looking back on what has made the greatness of this nation. Much has been made of the term “American exceptionalism.”

When asked if he agreed with the term, then President Barack Obama replied, “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism,” to which I would say, “Wrong answer.”

Characterizing America as “exceptional” is not simply about rooting for the home team, or, as the Beach Boys would say, “being true to your school.”

Speaking of high school, did it leave a profound impression with you? The girls? The football team? The social events? Or were you just into every AP class you could possibly take on your way to a full ride scholarship at Harvard?

Most high schools can’t be considered exceptional and while we may have fond memories of our own, based upon friendships or simply nostalgia, very few would stand out on a national scale. I mean, if for no other reason than peer pressure, you had an obligation to root for your team . . . even though my high school had a crappy football team that lost to Westwood High (whose quarterback happened to be future Dallas Cowboys QB Danny White) by a score of 100-6. I always wondered, did they really have to run up the score like that? Bad sportsmanship. Perhaps a scout was in the stands, but I digress.

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines “exceptional” as “rare, better than average, superior.” (Ok, so maybe Westwood High had an “exceptional” football program at the time) By definition then, one can’t characterize every country as “exceptional,” even if it has great skiing, or makes great cheese.

Simply put, so many things stand out about America that even its detractors must admit to its exceptionality. While the USA makes up only 4.5 percent of the population it creates 26 percent of the world’s GDP. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD

In terms of our nation’s generosity, the USA is the world’s undisputed leader in charitable giving. Our people donate approximately $600 billion every year which amounts to approximately 2 percent of GDP. While some individuals may give much more, developed countries such as the UK, Australia and Canada give only .5 to .8 of a percent GDP by comparison. Individual donations of the French amount to approximately .11 percent of GDP. (Although the link to the following charts is from 2016 it still gives a ranking similar to the latest statistics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_charitable_donation)

Based on his visit to America in 1831 French diplomat, philosopher and politician Alexis de Tocqueville wrote Democracy in America. Among other things Tocqueville was struck by the generosity of its people, the number of its philanthropic/volunteer associations and the fact that even though the state didn’t fund the church, religion flourished. He looked to America as a model for what could be as France transitioned from a monarchy to a republic.

One of his most famous quotes regarding our country is, “America is great because America is good. And if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”

Tocqueville’s prescient observation is really the key to American exceptionalism. While the term makes some people on the Left want to wretch, America’s goodness is the foundational cause for its greatness. It starts with the very “uncool and old-fashioned” idea that there is a God and that its citizens derive all their rights and freedoms from Him.

In a monarchy or any totalitarian state, the people are merely subjects who live in a state where there are only privileges which a government may grant or take away. America’s founders saw it differently. They saw Americans as citizens with inherent rights granted by God. The founders built a government with check and balances to defend those rights from governmental encroachment.

The concept of inherent and inalienable rights makes America exceptional. This concept allows the individual to flourish and achieve his or her full potential.

As he looked back on the sad experiment of the French Revolution, Tocqueville remarked, “. . . one . . . finds in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to want to bring the strong down to their level, and which reduces men to preferring equality in servitude to inequality in freedom.”^[41]

As the Democratic Socialists of America continue to make inroads among traditional Democrats, hopefully, this depraved taste for a government mandated equality will not result in making America another failed socialist experiment.

TDS: We’re racing toward a cure!

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Ok, I get that you may not like him. In public he comes across as a brash New Yorker who intentionally pushes the buttons of his opponents who then become enraged. He can also come across as egotistical. Unlike other Republican presidents before him such as Bush I and Bush II, he is an unmatched counterpuncher who will not simply take a punch to the gut and ask for more. While a president shouldn’t be a doormat, however, a president shouldn’t engage in a perpetual game of tit-for-tat either.

Like it or not, “likeability” is a critical factor in electoral politics. The perfect president should be easy to lift; i.e., someone people would want to associate with. Of course, with the 24/7 Hate Machine that is the mainstream media, universal popularity has become an impossibility. That doesn’t mean, however, that aspiring candidates and public officials shouldn’t try.

The question I would ask my friend and anyone else infected with TDS is, what would you do differently? While we can’t dismiss the importance of likeability as a factor in getting elected, it’s issues that matter most. To prove the point, Democrats rallied around Bill Clinton even though he had his share of scandals and boorish behavior. Why? They approved of his agenda.

Trump’s opponents simply oppose anything he does. To them, every day is Opposite Day! If Trump is for it, they’re against it, even if they were previously for it. If Trump changes his mind, then they will too.

In the 1972 movie The Candidate, Robert Redford’s character, Bill McKay, wins an upset senate race. In the closing scene McKay asks his campaign manager, “What do we do now?”

Unlike Bill McKay, I have a feeling I know what Trump’s opponents want to do now. They just don’t want to talk about it yet.

Just what is behind Door #3?

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The energy in the Democrat Party at the national level is with the insurgent Democrat Socialists of America Party (DSA). Newly elected New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, himself a Democrat Socialist, recently endorsed House candidates that won primaries in the New York area. Seattle elected self-described socialist Katie Wilson as its new mayor. Democrats Congresswomen Sandra Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib have the backing of the DSA.

While not a majority, the DSA has successfully moved conventional Democrats leftward. It would simply be helpful then to know what the DSA stands for. This party wants Medicare for all, the abolishment of mandatory minimum sentencing and the end of cash bail. The party also calls for the “demilitarization” of police departments, free college for all and, among other things, universal rent control. How about a 32-hour work week and raising taxes on the rich which would include a wealth tax on assets that have already been taxed? Yeh, they want that too! DSA Platform - Workers Deserve More!

Let me let you in on a little secret. The top one percent of income earners already pay 38 percent of federal income taxes. The top five percent pay 60 percent. 40 percent of income earners pay no federal income tax at all. Without skin in the game, it’s easy for everyone else to claim as the saying goes, “Don’t tax him! Don’t tax me! Tax the man behind the tree!” (See: Who Will Pay No Federal Individual Income Tax in 2025? | Tax Policy Center)

The graduated income tax has led to uncontrolled spending in this country. As Benjamin Franklin said, “When the people find they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic.” Famous Quote by Benjamin Franklin - Liberty Quotes

The DSA lives in a dream world and Mamdani, as mayor of New York City, is finding he simply can’t deliver on his promises without even higher taxes in the highest taxed city in America. If this is the future of the Democrat Party, small wonder their up-and-coming candidates don’t want to talk about anything other than Donald Trump. First, they must gain power and only then can they try to implement their agenda. Cities with the Highest City Taxes in 2025 - CPA Solutions

When political debate devolves into a personality contest, the issues, the things that really matter, get swept under the rug. Those with TDS come out loud and clear that they hate Donald Trump. The country would be better served, however, with a fact-based debate on the issues. It’s time for everyone to turn down the volume and have a serious discussion about the direction of the country.

As that stalwart defender of democracy, Joseph Stalin said, “Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything.”

And so it goes in California and particularly, the very blue city of Los Angeles. On election night upstart candidate Spencer Pratt, the “Republican” in this non-partisan race held a very comfortable spot as one of the top two vote getters in the non-partisan municipal primary. Democrat incumbent mayor, Karen Bass, held the lead with 35 percent of the vote, followed by Pratt with approximately 29 percent and Democrat City Councilmember Nithya Raman who has run to the left of Bass, held third place with approximately 23 percent of the vote.

On election night Raman tearfully addressed her supporters. She clearly thought she lost. (Watch here: Bing Videos) She should have known better. California’s loose election laws bailed her out. She beat Pratt by a 2-1 margin when the mail-in votes came in.

You see, the Golden State sends mail-in ballots to every voter whether they request one or not. The state also allows a form of same-day voter registration. Additionally, it allows unlimited ballot harvesting. What could go wrong? No wonder this one-party state has refused to let the US Justice Department audit its voter rolls.

If you are a Democrat candidate in California the wind is at your back and since Democrats control all major state-wide offices and have solid majorities in both houses of the legislature this will NEVER change. California will be a one-party state in perpetuity, which for you low information California voters, means FOREVER.

Since one ballot looks just like another, there is simply no way to prove fraud unless some idiot tries to cast one made with crayon.

Not too many of these floating around!

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The important question is, where does that leave California? In California’s jungle primary for governor, Xavier Becerra, former US Secretary of Health and Human Services, came up from second place as counting proceeded to overtake Republican candidate Steve Hilton. The two of them will face off in November and Hilton will most certainly lose.

Third place candidate Tom Steyer had approximately 23 percent of the vote and when added with Becerra’s vote total they had 53 percent of the vote in a crowded primary. Republican Sherriff Chad Bianco had slightly over 10 percent of the vote. The two Republicans together had approximately 35 percent of the total. Actually, Hilton and Bianco punched above their weight in a state where Republicans only hold 25 percent of voter registration.

It is interesting to note that when Republican Ronald Reagan won his first election for governor of California in 1966 only 3.3 percent of the vote was cast absentee. In the general election of 2024 81 percent of all votes were mail-in.(See: CA Secretary of State - Vote96 - Absentee Voter Chart and How did mail-in voting affect voter turnout in Califor...) Ronald Reagan couldn’t get elected dog catcher in California today.

The California exodus

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Since 2010 California has sustained a net population loss of approximately 3 million people. Much of this population decline has to do with rising housing prices, an unemployment rate higher than the national average, over-taxation and over-regulation. (See: Who’s Leaving California—and Who’s Moving In? - Public Policy Institute of California, The California Death-spiral - Cactus Reports and CALIFORNIA EXODUS - Cactus Reports)

Speaking of the decline of LA and its legendary film industry particularly, Michael Lynton, former CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, said, “Los Angeles is becoming a sunny version of Detroit.”

Detroit with palm trees?

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The City of Los Angeles has yet to meaningfully rebuild from last year’s catastrophic wildfires in January. This lack of action underscores a sclerotic bureaucracy that has failed its citizens. Candidate Pratt pointed this out along with the high cost of housing, the homeless in the streets, potholes, the supplying of crack pipes and syringes for drug addicts, etc. . . . But as the saying goes, “If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.” As Californians and Angelinos are about to find this out for themselves, Arizonans need to brace themselves for more immigrants coming from the west.

This deficit could have been solved if California became serious about managing its water resources instead of pursuing the decades-long failed attempt at protecting the delta smelt. Instead of California more fully using its own water resources, Arizona has primarily borne the brunt of almost every single Colorado River allocation cut to the Lower Basin States. CALIFORNIA’S WATER POLICIES ARE ADVERSELY AFFECTING ITS NEIGHBORS

Photo from US Fish and Wildlife Service

President Donald Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office on January 20, 2025 entitled “Putting People Over Fish,” and since that time no serious action has been taken. Putting People Over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California – The White House Since no elected or appointed official will touch this issue, Arizona will continue to be the sacrificial lamb when cuts continue.

Rather than fight California, Arizona has joined forces with the Golden State and with Nevada to persuade the federal government to take some of the Upper Basin’s share of Colorado River water. This latest proposal would commit the Lower Basin to another 1.25 million acre-feet in cuts with Arizona taking 60 percent of them. Arizona has already taken a 512,000 acre-foot cut under a Tier 1 shortage in addition to earlier voluntary cuts. In turn, the Upper Basin would take the next round of cuts.

In fairness to Arizona’s water buffaloes, things could get worse. If a deal with the Basin States can’t be reached Arizona could face a cut of 77 percent if drought conditions persist. Arizona could dodge a bullet, however, if the Golden State undertook some reforms.

Currently, Lake Mead sits at 28.5 percent capacity and due to another year of scant snowfall in the Rocky Mountains this could result in the lowest lake elevation ever.

“We’re going to go to 1035 (feet). There’s no question that’s going to happen,” Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke said. To put that in perspective, Lake Mead’s elevation at the turn of the century was 1220 feet. Lake Mead could cross Hoover Dam’s critical threshold within months, slashing power by 70%

So, if California won’t responsibly manage its water resources, who will really feel the pain?

I think we all know the answer to that question

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A recent Governing Magazine article states, “Upper Basin states point to Lower Basin agriculture as a prime source of overuse, including Arizona’s Yuma County, one of the driest places in the U.S.” When the River Runs Dry

Bingo!

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and her administration have defended Yuma agriculture, which supplies the nation’s leafy greens during winter months. Yuma farmers have become much more efficient in water usage over time. In fact, Patrick Adams, senior water policy advisor to Hobbs, points out that Arizona uses less water than it did in 1957 even as the population has grown sevenfold. (Ibid) That won’t, however, stop the Upper Basin from clamoring for more.

In a just released white paper water experts from Arizona State, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah State universities wrote, “Given that agriculture is responsible for more than half of the consumptive use of water in the Colorado Basin while municipal, commercial and industrial uses comprise only 18%, strategies for substantially reducing agricultural water use should be a major focus of the discussion.” Wilburys-system-crash.pdf

According to water expert Kathryn Sorenson of the ASU Kyle Center for Water Policy, the federal government may have to step in to buy out farmland and create another National Grasslands type of project like it did after the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s. A dry winter will devastate the Colorado River, draining reservoirs

Yuma County’s future?

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Yuma sits on the banks of the Colorado River and has some of its oldest water rights. Taking a substantial amount of Yuma’s water would unalterably change its economy and turn much of its prime farmland into worthless desert. To prevent that from happening Yuma County would require enough water and massive assistance to transform its economy. A better solution would require equal sacrifice from all the Basin states and especially from California.

The governor has a long list of duties set by statute, but in essence she leads the state by setting an agenda, submits a budget and presides over the state agencies while dueling with the legislature.

Sometimes the duties of these offices seem to overlap, or one of these public servants might veer, if you will, into the lane of the other public servant. When that happens things can get tense.

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This certainly happened when Attorney General Kris Mayes attempted to stop the transfer of $50.9 million in opioid settlement money to the prison system in a budget deal struck by Gov. Katie Hobbs and the legislature in 2024. At that time the courts decided for Hobbs and the legislature’s constitutional power over the purse.

Lawmakers and the governor felt that Mayes should have “stayed in her lane.” The AG may win the next round of this battle, however, since the prison system seems to have lacked any accounting that these opioid dollars were spent in accordance with the One Arizona Agreement of 2021. What further complicates matters is that both Hobbs and the legislature have proposed using another $40 million from the settlement fund to balance the budget. Mayes weighs challenge against allegedly misspent opioid settlement | Arizona Capitol Times

While Mayes may ultimately prove her point in court that the legislature misappropriated these dollars, it could also jeopardize over $1 billion in future settlement payments. Arizona Attorney General Mayes Challenges Misspent Opioid Settlement Funds | NWVCIL Blog

While Hobbs must be annoyed by Mayes’ interference in budget negotiations, she has also shown an underlying tension with the AG’s comments on warning ICE agents about Arizona’s “Stand Your Ground” law.

When asked to respond, Hobbs said, “I think her comments were inappropriate and she should retract them.” She added that “leaders have a responsibility to turn the temperature down.” ‘She should retract them’: Gov. Hobbs criticizes AG Kris Mayes’ ICE comments | 12news.com

Hobbs recently supported the AG’s use of the nuisance suit to stop the over-pumping of groundwater in rural Arizona by vetoing a bill designed to thwart Mayes’ efforts in this area. Further tension, however, bubbles beneath the surface as Mayes seeks to interview Hobbs in the Sunshine Residential Homes matter.

This issue has simmered since shortly after Hobbs’ inauguration in 2023. Detractors contend the governor’s Department of Child Safety raised the basic bed rate in residential facilities by almost 40 percent shortly after Sunshine Residential Homes contributed $100,000 to her inaugural fund. Sunshine received another 20 percent boost in its contract shortly thereafter. Gov. Hobbs faces probe over alleged ‘pay-to-play’ scheme with Sunshine Homes | Arizona Capitol Times

These things seldom end well

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The facts show that Sunshine had made an earlier $200,000 contribution to the Arizona Democratic Party before the election and another $100,000 to the party afterward. (Ibid)

Republicans have called this “pay to play” and it will no doubt come up in the general election this November by Congressman Andy Biggs, her likely opponent. While Republican lawmakers have hired an out-of-state attorney to investigate this matter, Democrat Mayes has her own separate investigation. The AG’s investigation gives this probe a non-partisan look and complicates things politically for Hobbs.

The tension between Hobbs and Mayes has come at the wrong time. Hobbs would do well to accede with Mayes’ request to sit down and discuss this issue. Having dragged her feet on this for almost two years, Hobbs has turned Sunshine Residential Homes into a campaign topic that won’t go away.

If this issue can’t be resolved before the election, what voters will see is Biggs calling Hobbs a corrupt politician who hands out favors to her friends while Hobbs calls Biggs a Trump crony and an election denier. To her benefit, Hobbs should swallow hard and meet with Mayes to settle this and take the issue away from her opponents before Election Day.

NOT EVEN YOU! By the way, you’re standing on stolen ground.

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As the anti-Chamber of Commerce, the CBD has stalled several job creating projects, but it specializes in preventing copper mines from opening in the Copper State. Through several legal maneuvers the organization has stalled the development of the Rosemont copper mine in the Santa Rita mountains near Tucson for almost 20 years.

One of its latest fights, however, has centered around preventing the Hermosa project near Patagonia from mining zinc and manganese which the aerospace, automotive and electronics industries use extensively.

Of course, most mining projects have environmental challenges of one sort or another. In the case of the South32 project in the Patagonia Mountains, the Center has highlighted the mine tailings issue. If not managed properly the mine waste can leach into groundwater. It can also create air quality problems if the mounds of waste have no type of cover to prevent blowing dust.

Proper environmental permitting can eliminate or mitigate these issues. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality issued both water quality and air quality permits for the project, yet the CBD together with the Patagonia Area Resource Alliance has challenged the issuance of both permits in court. The groups lost on their water quality permit fight, but continue to litigate the issuance of the air quality permit at the federal level.

The CBD notoriously peppers the federal government with so many citizen lawsuits it cannot respond in a timely fashion. In fact, it gets much of its money this way since the Endangered Species Act allows it to sue for attorney fees if the government cannot respond within 90 days. Suing is what these environmental shakedown artists do best, so pardon me for my skepticism when it comes to Kieren Suckling and the Center for Biological Diversity.

A former member of the radical Earth First!, Suckling was arrested in 1989 for chaining himself to a road to block a timber sale, because . . . why not? Center for Biological Diversity: An Activist Facts Profile

Center for Biological Diversity Executive Director Kieran Suckling

Photo from Center for Biological Diversity website

Suckling formed the Center with three friends in 1989. Speaking about the ESA and private right-of-action lawsuits that year, Suckling said, “We’re crazy to sit in trees when there’s this incredible law where we can make people do whatever we want.” And they’ve been suing ever since . . . (Ibid)

This group along with a few others ruined the logging industry in the mountain regions of Arizona back in the 90’s, has tried to destroy cattle ranching on public lands, participated in a failed 20- year battle to stop the University of Arizona from building an observatory on Mt. Graham and continues to pester the observatory with lawsuits almost 20 years later.

In opposing the South32 project, the CBD brought one of their best friends out of retirement, the Mexican spotted owl. The group insists that the final environmental review failed to address concerns about disturbing the owl and its critical habitat.

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Some environmental groups have a pragmatism and realize the need to balance environmental concerns with economic necessity. These groups understand that wealthy nations do a better job of protecting their environments than Third World countries that slash and burn forests, or permanently scar the earth with their out-of-control mining projects. These groups also understand, however, that try as we might, America isn’t returning to a pre-Columbian environment anytime soon.

Modern economies need zinc and manganese. Yes, the often-reviled data centers need copper, but so do wind, hydro and thermal energy projects. If our nation ever builds out its EV fleet it will need much more copper than it has now. All these minerals need to be mined, because as I will remind the CBD, THERE AIN’T NO SUCH THING AS THE COPPER FAIRY!

Sorry, she doesn’t exist!

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Whenever I have writer’s block my mind turns to California. It’s such a target rich environment. California is a one-party state that keeps doing the same things over and over while expecting different results. Its people continue to leave.

Middle class people who can’t afford a home have fled to red states with a good economy and reasonable housing prices. Wealthy people are leaving with the specter of the retro-active wealth tax hanging over their heads. More and more, that leaves the lower end of the economic spectrum that has tied itself to the generous California welfare state. ((1) CALIFORNIANS ATTEMPT TO KILL THE GOOSE THAT LAID THE GOLDEN EGG!)

Politically this exodus of the middle and upper-class Californians has led to a political death spiral where those who remain will vote to support politicians who promise “free” stuff, while those who pay for the “free” stuff quietly leave out the backdoor. This will lead to an increasingly massive debt burden for the once “Golden” state.

In a recent candidate forum, California gubernatorial candidate and former congresswoman Katie Porter said, “These Californians (referring to illegal immigrants) they contribute to our economy, they pay taxes and they’re one of the only ways that our state has been growing in recent years.” (emphasis mine) Internet erupts after CA Dem on debate stage admits quiet part out loud on immigration

Setting aside the debate on illegal immigration, Porter’s comments on the topic reveal that California has gamed the system by becoming a sanctuary state in hopes of staunching the outflow of its citizens. Of course, while these illegals are generally hard-working and provide a necessary role in our economy, they usually consume more public resources than they pay in taxes. It typically takes the next generation for their families to move up another wrung on the economic ladder.

Perhaps all this is why San Francisco City Attorney David Chu, rhymes with “sue,” has decided to bring a lawsuit against Big (insert the name of your favorite bogeyman here) Food. Using the template of the tobacco lawsuits of the 1990’s he posits that Big Food has knowingly manufactured dangerous and addictive products it knew to be unhealthy. San Francisco City Attorney Chiu sues largest manufacturers of ultra-processed foods | SF.gov

David Chu thinks we’re all just lab rats in the Big Food conspiracy

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Over the first 25 years of the tobacco settlement the states have brought in over $246 billion under the guise of using the funds for smoking cessation and smoking related healthcare costs . . . sure . . . The money eventually has become a piggybank for the District of Columbia, 46 states and five territories that entered into the settlement in 1998. Tobacco industry settlement | Law | Research Starters | EBSCO Research

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately one in four American adults smoked in 1998. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4939a1.htm I’m sure no one has to tell David Chu that in 2026 100 percent of Americans, including those under the age of 18, EAT! If ever California needed another cash cow THIS IS IT! I’m thinking a trillion-dollar settlement could very well come to pass if this goes national. If Big Food settles, the name “David Chu” will belong in the Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame.

Someone get this man an ambulance. He just ate a whole bag of Cheetos! (Disclaimer: DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME!) Adobe Stock Images AI

And as I continue this rant, I must ask, what ever happened to self-control? Contrary to Mr. Chu’s interesting food theories, nothing made you eat those Cheetos. You could stop. Instead of looking at the television, Mr. Slob, you could get up off that couch and do some exercise. But no, according to Mr. Chu we are all just rats in Big Food’s giant laboratory.

If Chu’s efforts were anything more than a revenue grab, he would have started with outlawing junk food purchases under the federal SNAP program, but this would have offended the electoral base his party has cultivated for decades.

Seen to its logical conclusion, a successful lawsuit will simply result in higher food prices and eventually hurt California’s Democrat base. Of course, when their voter base complains political leaders will simply wag their fingers at Big Food. Then, when the money dries up and government needs just a little more, California politicians (using classic political subterfuge) will simply point the finger at Big Fast-food as the California death-spiral continues.

From my cold, dead hands . . .

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If only . . . (Adobe Stock Images AI)

Speaking of silver shrapnel, the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCW) is pursuing a deal with Arizona and Nevada to sell water from its Poseidon Desalination Plant in Carlsbad, California. The two states would pay for this water, but SDCW wouldn’t deliver it. Arizona and Nevada would simply take a commensurate portion from the Colorado River. I heard rumors about such a deal months ago, but I could never confirm it.

If the deal goes through, the two states would receive an additional 56,000 acre-feet of water between them. To put this in perspective, however, Central Arizona alone could be cut almost 700,000 acre-feet of water according to the recent US Bureau of Reclamation’s 24-month study. WE’VE BEEN HERE BEFORE - Cactus Reports

Poseidon Water Desalination Plant in Carlsbad, California

Photo from Poseidonwater.com

An even greater cut could result from a recent proposal from the three Lower Basin States which could result in conservation measures of an additional 700,00 to 1 million acre-feet. If those conservation measures prove necessary, California and Arizona would take additional cuts of 300,000 acre-feet while Nevada, which has a much smaller share of the river’s water, would take a cut of an additional 100,000 acre-feet. Ariz., Calif., Nev. announce plan to save Colo. River water

While helpful, that 56,000 acre-feet split two ways, doesn’t do much to replace the cuts Arizona has experienced. Not only that, but desalinized ocean water has a high cost. While the current Central Arizona Water Conservation District rate to area cities hovers around $300 per acre-foot, the Poseidon plant charges the SDCW almost nine times that amount. (See: Board-approved-CAWCD-2025-2030-Water-Rate-Schedule-060624.pdf and Poseidon’s Water: What’s The Cost? | ShunCy)

This deal would help, but it doesn’t totally solve the problem

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Just this Monday, the US Office of Management and Budget approved a US Bureau of Reclamation proposal to allocate $450 million into programs to carry out additional conservation measures in the Lower Basin States. These measures will assist the states in their efforts to accomplish their stated goal of conserving up to an additional 1 million acre-feet. Feds will front big bucks to conserve Colorado River water, says Arizona water chief - Las Vegas Sun News

Conservation measures such as fallowing farmland, promoting conversion to drip irrigation methods for certain crops, recycling municipal water, turf removal along with other measures can prove helpful. Aside from a total phase-out of agriculture in the most productive farming areas of the nation, however, we can’t simply conserve our way out of this predicament.

A group promoting nuclear powered desalination, the BlueRibbon Coalition (See: Colorado River Abundance Act - BlueRibbon Coalition), has received lots of attention recently for a bold plan to place eight large desalination plants off the coast of California and Mexico that would produce 7 million acre-feet of fresh water. The plan calls for powering them with small modular nuclear reactors. This group estimates the cost at $40 billion, while critics believe it would cost much more. Colorado River water crisis and a $40B plan to solve it

While this particular plan may be overly ambitious and costly, doing nothing is not a responsible alternative either. Even California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom understands the need for augmenting Western water supplies. In a February 11^th letter to the Basin State governors Newsom wrote:

We welcome shared investment in infrastructure, from water reuse

to desalination, that can reduce pressure on precious water supplies

in Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Our reality is clear. We need to manage

with less rain and snow to provide water for our communities and farms

each year. It is a shared reality that requires a shared solution. (Ibid)

The seven Basin States don’t have any silver bullets. Any solution to our water supply issues will require many small measures and perhaps some bold solutions to meet these challenges. It will also require crossing party lines and uniting behind a shared vision to find a way forward during these unprecedented times.

An Upper Basin snowpack less than 50 percent of the median has resulted in an anemic inflow into Lake Powell. This, coupled with a late winter heatwave in March that created a thirsty dry soil, has exacerbated the problem by soaking up much of the early runoff. THE SLOW-MOTION DISASTER IN THE COLORADO RIVER BASIN

As a result of this paltry runoff, BOR will very likely withhold the customary 7.48 maf to the Lower Basin. According to its recent 24-month study, BOR projects a delivery of only .861 maf to the Central Arizona Project. This would represent a 43 percent cut from its normal allocation.

Okay, you’re thinking, we’ve seen this disaster movie before. True enough. In 2022 BOR predicted Lake Mead would have an elevation of 1025 feet by the following year. This unprecedently low level would have triggered a Tier 3 reduction and an allocation of just slightly over .5 maf. Thank God it didn’t happen. AS LAKE MEAD DECLINES FIELDS WILL BE FALLOWED

Lake Mead levels between 2021 and 2026

Source: lakesonline.com

Ideally, planners would prefer to see Lake Mead’s level above 1090 feet. Currently the lake’s elevation sits at 1058 feet. As you can see in the chart above, at this point in late April 2023 the levels in Lake Mead were at approximately 1047 feet. Hydrologically speaking, however, that was a weird year. Throw in a heavy snowpack coupled with late storms and the inflow in Lake Mead increased all through the summer and into the fall. Lake Mead Water Level (This is a great interactive chart) BUT THIS AIN’T NO 2023!

Unless Colorado gets a “Miracle May” dump of snow the basin states will move into uncharted territory. Without federal intervention water levels in Lake Powell could drop too low to generate hydropower. To prevent this BOR will eventually trigger a release from Utah’s Flaming Gorge reservoir of between 600,000 to 1 million acre-feet. BOR has also indicated it will allow Lake Powell to withhold 1.48 maf from what the Lower Basin states would insist is their legal entitlement. Absent any last-minute agreement among the seven Colorado River Basin states, this could trigger litigation and further complicate matters. Colorado River outlook grows bleak with new risks for hydropower

Let the lawsuits begin!

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With the hit to Lake Mead from the cuts BOR has indicated it will pursue, this could trigger a 40 percent reduction in hydropower production from Hoover Dam. (Ibid)

As they sit on their deck chairs floating on a raft down the River of Denial, consensus eludes the water buffaloes. After missing their Valentine’s Day deadline to come up with an agreement of their own, the seven states have also rejected the five alternatives offered by BOR. Without a plan they’ll simply get what the river has to offer. Hope isn’t much of a strategy. At this point I suggest lots of prayer! THE VALENTINE’S DAY DEADLINE - Cactus Reports

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The nuisance statute can be a very versatile tool

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Well over a year ago I wrote about how Attorney General Kris Mayes used a novel legal approach to sue Fondomonte LLC for pumping groundwater in La Paz County. In growing alfalfa which it exports to Saudi Arabia, Fondomonte has lowered groundwater levels and negatively impacted neighboring wells. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE LEGISLATURE FAILS TO ACT?

Frustrated by legislative inaction, she took it upon herself to use Arizona’s nuisance statutes to stop Fondomonte from continuing to pump groundwater in the area. While I supported her intent and am equally frustrated with the legislature’s inability to act, I wrote that if the courts upheld her nuisance suit it could set a dangerous precedent. (Ibid)

Arizona law deems a wide range of things to be a public nuisance including anything: “injurious to health, indecent, offensive to the senses or an obstruction to the free use of property that interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by an entire community or neighborhood or by a considerable number of persons.” ARS 13-2917 View Document

Mayes could make a compelling case that a large corporate farm that sucks up groundwater and makes neighboring wells go dry just might “interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property,” but where does this stop?

If Mayes wins this court battle she could take her new favorite tool out of her legal toolbox to deal with other matters she deems nuisances. Case in point, she recently said she might use the public nuisance law to halt the building of an aluminum recycling plant in Benson. Never mind the fact that the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has given the plant a permit to operate or that the City of Benson zoned the property for industrial use years ago. If some local NIMBY group squawks loud enough, then it could be a nuisance! AQD | Aluminum Dynamics, Inc. | ADEQ

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In my years in public office as a city councilman, mayor and county supervisor I have witnessed many planning and zoning cases where irate citizens simply didn’t want a certain type of business within miles of their neighborhood. They wanted to dictate what the property owner, even if he already had the proper zoning, could put on his lot.

“How about some upscale shops, or a Trader Joe’s,” they might ask, to which I’m sitting there thinking, “THIS AIN’T BURGER KING! YOU DON’T GET IT YOUR WAY!!!”

If you want it your way, you know where to go

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What these irate citizens want and what makes business sense are often two different things. Furthermore, if this aluminum recycler has the zoning and operates under the conditions of its environmental permit, then the business has the right to use its private property however it sees fit.

Unrestrained, the attorney general could use her new favorite tool to stop any data center, mining, heavy industry, or any politically incorrect type of business in its tracks. She would be the hero of NIMBYs everywhere!

Rep. Lupe Diaz (R-Benson) introduced legislation to put a check on the attorney general that would assess damages against the office paid to any victim of a failed nuisance suit. (HB 2167) Microsoft Word - HB2167H.1.docx He claimed she has used the law to fend off business she simply didn’t like, according to an April 15^th article in the Arizona Republic The Arizona Republic (behind a paywall)

“She was using her office and weaponizing the ability to use the nuisance laws to threaten industries that would bring good jobs to people,” he said. (Ibid) Gov. Katie Hobbs, however, vetoed this bill stating, “I will not curtail a tool that is used to protect Arizonans from bad actors.” SKM_C751i26041310150

One could argue that the problem does not lie in the statute itself, but the application of that statute to new areas of law. One could also argue that the legislature should tighten up the existing statute to exclude established zoning or water law. Either way, this issue could get out of hand if Hobbs and legislators don’t find a solution.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-CD 3) Source: Wikipedia

If a congressman wants to be a member of the Squad in good standing he/she must outdo the rank-and-file members of their caucus in advocating for free stuff, be aggrieved about something (just about anything), be a member of any ever-expanding class of what some would term a minority and, most of all, to really prove their bona fides, advocate for the impeachment of somebody . . . anybody!

The Squad: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib Source: Wikipedia

Democrats already have claimed success over the ousting of former Attorney General Pam Bondi and former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. They can feel the momentum building and ultimately they want to go for the hat trick and impeach President Donald J. Trump again. Before they can do that, however, they must retake control of Congress and then it’s a 24/7 Impeach-a-thon.

Building up to her party’s holy grail, however, Ansari must find someone to impeach. If she could get away with impeaching Karoline Leavitt, Ansari probably would. That would be a great scalp, but although the Constitution might construe her to be a “civil officer of the United States” Congress has never gone down to the level of impeaching a lowly press secretary. How about Presidential Son-in-Law Jared Kushner? He’s a suspicious sort and a billionaire to boot. Unfortunately, I don’t think Congress has the power to impeach sons-in-law. Could Congress strip Melania Trump of her first lady title? Constitutionally speaking, I doubt it.

Fortunately for Ansari, there is yet another cabinet member in the spotlight. Secretary of Defense/Department of War (take your pick) Pete Hegseth is now the subject of her outrage. She has just called for his impeachment and has introduced legislation to that effect. She has accused Hegseth of “reckless endangerment” of our troops and “repeated war crimes.”

While one can argue the advisability of bombing Iran back into the Stone Age, the War Powers Act, until it ever makes it to the Supreme Court, is the law. According to said act, Trump can legally prosecute Operation Epic Fury for 60 days, which ends at the end of April. After that time Congress must authorize any extension. I doubt such a bill will ever make it to the floor for a vote, although it should.

Given Ansari’s background as the daughter of Iranian immigrants who came to this country when Ayatollah Khomeini remade Iran into a theocracy, one might think she would have some sympathy for what the president is doing. Even if she disagrees with Trump’s methods, what would she do differently?

True enough, for years Americans have heard that Iran is “this close” to developing a nuclear weapon. How close is “this close” is hard to say, although Iranian officials apparently told US negotiators in February they had enough enriched uranium to eventually make 11 nuclear bombs. I’d say that’s pretty close! Trump envoy Steve Witkoff says Iran claimed it had enough enriched uranium to make 11 nuclear bombs - CBS News

Setting aside Iran’s alleged nuclear capability, however, what we do know is that since 1979 this regime has labeled the United States “The Great Satan.” Iran has taken many American lives and maimed countless more through their proxies in the region.

Many presidents have acknowledged the mayhem Iran’s regime has caused, but up until now, none of them have done anything other than engage in an ongoing campaign of economic sanctions and strategic air strikes. While that might deter most bad actors, clearly, this Iranian suicide cult doesn’t care. Iran’s leaders would rather squander their vast oil resources to convert oil tankers into ballistic missiles and deadly drones.

As a kid, I remember watching Wile E. Coyote do whatever he could to kill Roadrunner. I don’t know what his source of income was, but Coyote would order various products from the Acme Corporation such as 50-pound anvils, rocket skates, or the stereotypical spherical black bomb with the fuse on the top to destroy Roadrunner. It never worked. He should have sued Acme Corporation for product liability!

A perfect analogy Source: Adobe Stock Images AI

Animator Chuck Jones explained in his book, Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist that cartoonists had to follow certain basic rules. Rule #3: “The Coyote could stop anytime—if he were not a fanatic. (Repeat: ‘A fanatic is one who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim.’ — George Santayana).’ ” (For a list of all nine rules see: Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner - Wikipedia)

Setting aside Iran’s ability to one day produce a nuclear weapon, the damage the regime has done to the United States, not to mention the daily barrages against our key ally in the region, Israel, must stop. To date, nothing any previous administration has done has really worked. In her quest for attention, Ansari should come up with a plan of her own, instead of lobbing verbal missiles. If her real goal is to be a member of the Squad in good standing, however, she has accomplished her mission.