Close Reading, Part 2

I read the whole thing while TBG watched college football.

Yes, I read every single one of the 354 pages.

There are 13 Propositions on Arizona's ballot, and each one is printed in full, given a Legislative Analysis and sometimes a Fiscal Analysis, and followed by Arguments "for" and "against" each issue.

That's a lot of space that can be taken up by lots of different people, some of whom are writing from the same script.  The National Restaurant Association likes a bill that changes the amount of money an employer can pay a tipped employee; from my reading it is a money grab by businesses that will reduce tipped workers' pay by about 75 cents an hour, as long as they earn $2 more than minimum wage.

I've had this conversation with many tipped workers after I first read about the bill.  I'm not a tipped worker; I wondered what those who were thought about it.  

Unsurprisingly, all but one of the many had no idea such a thing was on the ballot.  That one said she earned well about minimum wage so she didn't care.  She should care - her employer wins and she loses.  But the dozens of letters from "service employees" remind the voter that their tips are important to them and that restaurants will close if this doesn't pass.

I recognize that food service enterprises run on very thin margins.  Taking money out of the pockets of their employees doesn't seem to be the best way to fix the problem. Calling the measure Save Our Tips certainly casts the NO vote in an unflattering light.

The Abortion measure's opponents quote a lot of God.  Republicans who want to retain the Maricopa County pro-Trump judges who interfered in the election's certification are offering a lifetime appointment measure, doing away with the Judicial Review Panel (on which I sat one session) and its recommendations.  Charging convicted felons $20 each for a relief fund for First Responders killed in the line of duty, allowing the Legislature to over turn State agencies' regulations and otherwise hamstring the Governor, there is so much to consider.

The easy way to decide is to vote against anything put on the ballot by the Legislature.  I chose to read it all, letting the arguments and their authors define the issue and vent their spleen all over my brain.  Denizens, sometimes it hurt.  

Obviously copying from the same script, some people skipped words or whole phrases; I had to read on to see what was missing.  That wasn't hard.  The Arizona Free Enterprise Club has a lot of members who all seem to have had exactly the same thoughts on the issues.

And then there was Hank Stephenson, Co-Founder, Arizona Agenda, Phoenix, who inserted this in several of the Arguments:

Do you ever wonder who comes up with these ideas and why ball this junk is on your ballot?  We can help answer that.  The Arizona Agenda is a daily reported newsletter that delivers a behind-the-scenes view of Arizona's political shenanigans and puts you, the voter, in those smoke-filled rooms where decisions are made.

We're here to fill you in on all the weird backstories and interesting nuggets from the Arizona Capitol and beyond. (Including fun facts like that you can write about anything in these ballot arguments.  Isn't that wild?  Someone should really make a law against using the publicity pamphlet to promote your newsletter...)

He goes on for a few more paragraphs, telling you more about the newsletter and how to subscribe, but I was laughing too hard to pay much attention.  The second time it popped up I had to interrupt College Game Day and read it to TBG.

That wasn't the only wonderful thing I picked up by a close reading of the pamphlet.  Scattered along the footers were tidbits of Arizona flora and fauna.  

Saguaros and road runners and Gambel's Quail

gave my brain a much needed break.

Aaron Sorkin was right.  Democracy is hard.  You have to really want it.

Fortunately, it's worth the work.