Arizona is a transient place.
People come and people go.
But one thing remains constant:
Arizona Republicans run scams.
Many years ago there was the "alternative fuel" scam, in which you could get a very nice check to offset the price of a new dual fuel vehicle. You did not have to ever use the duel fuel aspect of your shiny new vehicle. And most, if not all, of the people who took advantage of this didn't. No, they just took the very nice check and continued using gasoline. Because, well, because they could. So the rest of us were in effect subsidizing the purchase of their new vehicles with our taxes. With no benefit at all to the environment.
(By the way, this one smelled so bad that the Republican governor at the time decided to deep six it before it could bankrupt the state--but only after hundreds of millions of dollars had been wasted.)
Today there is the "sell a shit load of water to the Saudis for a pittance" scam. See, way out in western Arizona, some genius in the Republican controlled state government decided to let the Saudis have access to all the ground water they could pump to grow alfalfa for horses. During our ongoing multi-year drought. Oh, by the way, the horses are in Saudi Arabia. Because of course they are. Has anybody been fired for this? Are you kidding?
And always, ALWAYS, there is the never ending "school vouchers" scam, wherein money for public education is rerouted to charter and private school parents. They can get a voucher to help with tuition. They call this "school choice". And is supposed to help ALL students--according to its sponsors. That is a flat out lie.
Private schools cost two to three times more than the voucher provides, so the parents have to pay the difference. But guess what? Poorer families can't afford to pay the difference. Which means vouchers are in essence a subsidy for wealthy parents who are already sending their kids to private schools.
And all while draining money from the already under funded public schools. Neat trick, huh?
