How to Quickly Peel a Boiled Egg in a Glass of Water

Free Trade versus Protectionism

What is the best economic policy, free trade or protectionism?

How is Jeff Flake doing as my Senator

For Tree trade

It is a very, very disturbing trend that we're seeing in the Republican Party against free trade. It's always been there but usually confined to a few isolated members, the Jeff Sessions of the world and others, but now it seems to be spreading. (Jeff Flake, From reason.com, 6 Sep 2016)

 Fiscal Conservative

"[Jeff Flake] will vote for a repeal of the Affordable Care Act without a replacement plan in place, protesters sit in the hallway outside the office Wednesday" ("Advocates: Obamacare repeal would ‘painfully disrupt’ Arizona care", Brianna Stearns, AZ PBS, 20 Jul 2017)

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If you want to know what keeps me up at night more than anything—and there are plenty of threats out there—it's waking up some morning and having the markets already decided that we're not going to buy your debt anymore, or we're only going to buy it at a premium and interest rates are going to have to go up. When that happens, then virtually all of our discretionary or non-military discretionary spending goes just to service the debt and then we are Japan. (Jeff Flake, From reason.com, 6 Sep 2016)

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"Rand Paul, Jeff Flake and other Senate Republican fiscal and budget hawks oppose increased defense spending either because they oppose any increase in federal spending" ("11 GOP Vote Against McCain’s $18B NDAA Add; AIA Briefs Trump", 9 Jun 2016)

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During his decade in the House, Flake accrued one of the most consistent fiscal conservative records of any Republican serving.  (John Catsimatidis, "Senator Jeff Flake on the CATS Roundtable Radio Show", 3 Jul 2016)

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In his six House terms, Flake has carved out a distinct profile as a spending hawk willing to take on anyone — including his own party’s leadership — to curb federal profligacy. When Congress banned spending earmarks in 2010, he could rightly claim to have actually changed Washington. 

“A true conservative, Flake is as rare as the dodo,” Esquire wrote in 2008. The Weekly Standard in 2011 called him “a tea partier before there were tea partiers.”
In the years since, the party orthodoxy on spending has only moved closer to Flake. But on other issues, Flake has stuck to his free-market, often libertarian principles even as the party has hardened around other positions, and conservative activists aren’t giving him the benefit of the doubt. 

("Why this lone Republican accompanied Kerry", Mike DeBonis, August 14, 2015)

How does Language Affect our Ability to Perceive?

without a word for a colour, without a way of identifying it as different, it’s much harder for us to notice what’s unique about it — even though our eyes are physically seeing ... it in the same way. ("No one could see the colour blue until modern times", Kevin Loria, 28 Feb 2015)

Arizona Corporation Commission

Election 2016

Primary Election 2016

Here is the Republican debate video from Aug 8.

"5 Republicans vie for 3 seats on utility regulation panel", Highlands Today

From Ballotpedia, "Incumbents Robert Burns (R) and Andy Tobin (R) are running for re-election in 2016. Commissioner Bob Stump (R) is ineligible for re-election due to term limits."

In addition Boyd Dunn, Rick Gray and Al Melvin are running.

Boyd Dunn
Attorney, city councilman, vice mayor of Chandler, former mayor of Chandler, Judge of Maricopa Superior court.
Ballotpedia page

Al Melvin
Arizona State Senate, District 26 in 2008, 2010 and 2012.
Ran for governor in 2014, "dropped out of the race in June due to campaign financing issues"
Ballotpedia page

Rick Gray
Representative, Arizona State House of Representatives, 2010, 2012, 2014
Retired plumbing contractor.
Lives in Sun City
Ballotpedia page

Bob Burns
Corporation Commission 2012
Senator, Arizona State Senate, 2002-2010
Representative, Arizona State House of Representatives, 1989-2000
Ballotpedia page
VoteSmart page

Andy Tobin
Appointed by Doug Ducey to the Corporation Commission. Started serving after Susan Bitter Smith resigned in Jan 2016.
Ran against Ann Kirkpatrick for the U.S. House, Arizona District 1 in 2014. He lost.
Representative, Arizona State House of Representatives 2008, 2010, 2012
Ballotpedia page


From "Robb: Arizona Corporation Commission is now a circus, thanks to these clowns", Robert Robb AzCentral.

Two outside groups, Save Our Future Now and the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, spent over $3 million in 2014 to help elect Commissioners Doug Little and Tom Forese. Arizona Public Service is widely believed to be the source of much of that spending. And APS has pointedly not denied it. 

The commission and individual commissioners have the right to inspect the records of regulated utilities. Burns wants to use that authority to try to determine whether APS or its parent, Pinnacle West, did contribute to those efforts and how much.

From "5 Republicans vie for 3 seats on utility regulation panel", Tampa Bay Times, 20 Aug 2016

The normally quiet race for Arizona Corporation Commission is anything but this year as two Republican incumbents and three GOP hopefuls battle over political spending that has embroiled the utility regulation panel in controversy.

This site (http://www.az-acc.com/) is promoting Tobin, Melvin and Gray as "your conservative team"




I am for the freedom of APS to