Remember when your parents would cut your allowance for slacking off on your chores?
Well, that's kind of how Arizonans treat our politicians.
On Monday, the Legislature hits the 120-day mark, and that means starting Tuesday our local lawmakers will see their daily expense stipend drop from $60 a day to $20. Those who live in Maricopa County, nearer to the Capitol, will now get $10 a day for expenses instead of $35.
See, in addition to their whopping $24,000-a-year salary, legislators receive a daily "per diem" for lodging and food expenses. State law cuts it after 120 days in an effort to get things wrapped up.
But the technique ain't so effective, mostly because much of the Legislature is now made up of Phoenix-area folk.
So, our advice for getting through the next several weeks on a slim allowance: Stock up on ramen, guys.
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Honey, I shrank the gov't
In the continuing saga known as the Congressional District 8 race, Republican candidate Tim Bee took some hits from Democrats this week over the guest star of his latest campaign fundraiser.
Looking to keep the dollars rolling in for his high-stakes race against Democratic incumbent Gabrielle Giffords, Bee held a Phoenix powwow featuring Grover Norquist, a conservative who Democrats claim is much at odds with Bee's image of civility.
For example, Norquist once told the Denver Post: "Bipartisanship is another name for date rape.
"We are trying to change the tones in the state capitals — and turn them toward bitter nastiness and partisanship," he said back in 2003.
He also once said he wanted to shrink government to the size where "we can drown it in a bathtub."
In contrast, Bee — held up by supporters as a model of bipartisanship — has declared: "You can disagree with people and have a strong stake in the issues, but I have found that we are all interested in solving problems."
In his campaign announcement, he stated that Congress is "mired in partisan gridlock that's cheating the American people."
Bee's campaign spokesman, Tom Dunn, said Norquist — president of Americans for Tax Reform — was here to highlight the fact that Bee has pledged not to raise taxes if elected to Congress.
Does Tim agree with Norquist's entire agenda? Dunn didn't really seem to want to go there.
But if Bee's campaign promises are sincere, then Norquist's fundraising efforts would seem pretty self- defeating.
Making the playoffs
If politics is a contact sport, then Tony Bouie should fit right it.
Bouie, who played football at the University of Arizona back in the early '90s, is involved in a different kind of scrimmage these days. He's running for the state House as a Republican in the Phoenix area.
An All-American safety during Arizona's Desert Swarm years, Bouie played four seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after his 1991-94 UA career. And he's a recent cancer survivor.
Now he's chairman and CEO of Halo Cups Inc., which makes insulated, stackable cups.
If Bouie wins, he'll surely feel at home. Decorum on the House floor isn't too different from behavior on the 50-yard line.
DID YOU KNOW
The longest legislative session in state history was in 1988, when lawmakers went 173 days.
In 2007, they came close to beating that mark, going for 164 days — the fourth-longest session in history.