Think Tank guests share perspectives on half-century of Arizona politics

Martin Shultz and Herb Paine have been around Arizona politics practically since statehood, or so it might seem.

Often on opposite sides of partisan debates, very few have their collective understanding of how our politics have worked for the last 50 years or so.

As such, what they have to say is well worth listening to as we discuss:

• President Joe Biden’s speech on threats to democracy; is our democracy under unprecedented threat levels?

• Education: Voucher opponents’ assertion that voucher users are already in private schools when it was revealed that 75% of applicants have not recently attended a public school. Are vouchers just a subsidy for the well-off? How do we fix education?

This is just a taste of our wide-ranging discussion on politics over the last half-century.

Paine is a business strategy consultant and social critic who once ran for Congress. He is a regular columnist for the Arizona Republic and KJZZ.

Shultz is a retired lobbyist who worked for APS for many years. He was the driving force for many major public initiatives for education and transportation (including most of the freeways you drive on in the Valley).

The Think Tank airs on KTAR 92.3 FM on Saturday 6-7 p.m. and Sunday 9-10 p.m.

Podcasts are available after broadcast. Older shows are archived at www.mikeoneil.org.