🧮 Dr. Dave Wells Reveals $2 Billion Cost of Ducey's Flat Tax on Arizona

Governor Ducey's tax policy impacts Arizona's economy and social investments. A powerful defense of diversity, equity, and inclusion as crucial elements of scientific and social progress.

Three Sonorans

Feb 12, 2025

Economic Truth Bombs

Dr. Dave Wells on Arizona's flat tax: "Money is sitting in people's bank accounts in real estate and Paradise Valley" - A searing indictment of wealth concentration that sounds less like economic analysis and more like a guillotine-adjacent whisper.
Shelly Fishman demolishing trickle-down economics: "The idea that corporate profits trickle down... has never worked" - Capitalism, meet your intellectual execution.
Wells on state budget constraints: "There's not a lot of discretionary money" - An understatement so dry it could turn the Sonoran Desert into a dust bowl.

Diversity and Scientific Imagination

Dr. Mark Sykes on scientific diversity: "If everybody looks like me and has a similar background, that's a fairly narrow range of imagination" - A mic drop moment for intellectual monocultures.
Sykes on scientific insights: "Scientific insights can spring from a recent research paper, a conversation with a friend, a religious experience, a dream, or watching a basketball game" - Breaking news: inspiration gives zero damns about your rigid academic boundaries.

Homeless Humanity

Dr. Dave Wells sharing a homeless individual's story: "To keep warm, he has to take meth at night, which both keeps his body warm and also helps keep him awake enough that he can be vigilant about his surroundings" - A heartbreaking snapshot of survival under systemic neglect.

🕵️ People of Interest: A Rogues' Gallery of Tucson Thought Leaders

Political Figures

Governor Katie Hobbs
- Inherited a fiscal nightmare from her predecessor
- Attempting modest social investments with limited resources
- Memorable quote: Basically invisible in this broadcast
Former Governor Doug Ducey
- Architect of the flat tax decimating state revenues
- Wells' assessment: Reduced tax brackets that "almost dropped in half" for wealthy residents
- The gift that keeps on taking from public coffers

Institutional Leaders

Dr. Dave Wells
- Research Director, Grand Canyon Institute
- Economic watchdog with a PhD in "calling out fiscal foolishness"
- Highlights systemic economic inequalities with surgical precision
Dr. Mark Sykes
- CEO, Planetary Science Institute
- Champion of scientific diversity
- Imagination's most articulate defender
Nancy Kluge
- CEO, Reid Park Zoo
- Conservation warrior
- Transforming a zoo into a classroom of empathy

Unsung Heroes

Vito (homeless individual mentioned by Wells)
- A painter surviving on the margins
- Reconnected with his daughter
- Symbolic of resilience in a system designed to crush human dignity

Notable Mentions

Gene Reid
- Original Tucson Parks Director
- Founder of Reid Park Zoo
- Started with 18 prairie dogs and an audacious vision
Bill Hartmann
- Founder of Planetary Science Institute
- One of the original cosmic curiosity seekers

💥 Systemic Burn Unit: The Unspoken Critiques

Between the lines of these conversations lies a scathing indictment of late-stage capitalism, systemic racism, and the ongoing war against public resources. From Wells' economic autopsies to Sykes' defense of scientific imagination, this broadcast was less a radio show and more a manifesto against mediocrity.

Tune in, wake up, rise up.

😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾

📻 This article is about how people on a radio show talk about important issues like 💰 money, 🐾 caring for animals, and why having different kinds of people is important. 🧮 Dr. Dave Wells explains how Arizona's money is spent and how taxes affect everyone. 💼 Shelly Fishman talks about how rich and poor people are affected differently by laws. 🦁 Nancy Kluge shares how the zoo helps people care about animals, and 🚀 Dr. Mark Sykes argues why having all kinds of people is important for science because it brings new ideas.

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🗝️ Takeaways

🧐 Budget Insights: Dr. Dave Wells highlights Arizona's economic challenges, focusing on budget limitations and the adverse effects of flat tax policies.
🌍 Economic Reality Check: Shelly Fishman argues that progressive tax states support the nation while criticizing the mythology of trickle-down economics.
🦓 Zoo's New Role: Nancy Kluge views Reid Park Zoo as a hub for community engagement and environmental awareness, encouraging people to care for the natural world.
🎨 Diversity's Role in Science: Dr. Mark Sykes emphasizes the necessity of diversity for scientific innovation and warns against the dangers of anti-diversity rhetoric.

Buckmaster's Bandwidth: A Progressive Dive into Tucson's Tuesday Talk Radio

On February 11, 2025, Bill Buckmaster's radio show once again proved why it remains a beacon of local journalism in Southern Arizona. Broadcasting from the Green Things Zocalo Village Studios, this edition of the show featured a lineup of brilliant minds tackling everything from state budgets to scientific diversity, with the kind of depth and nuance that commercial media can only dream about.

🧮 Dr. Dave Wells: Budget Breakdown and Bureaucratic Baloney

When Dr. Dave Wells, research director of the Grand Canyon Institute, took to the airwaves, he didn't just talk numbers—he dissected the economic anatomy of Arizona with surgical precision. The state's fiscal landscape is a terrain of strategic starvation, where conservative policies have effectively bled public resources dry.

Wells pulled no punches when discussing Governor Hobbs' budget, revealing the Sisyphean struggle of state funding. "There's not a lot of discretionary money," he explained, highlighting a mere $900 million for over 7 million residents.

The most significant proposal? A $112 million investment to eliminate about half of the childcare waitlist—a drop in the bucket compared to previous years' funding.

But the real economic bloodletting? Former Governor Ducey's flat tax. Whisper it, but this is class warfare in spreadsheet form. Wells calculated that the flat tax costs Arizona approximately $2 billion annually, disproportionately benefiting the wealthy while gutting potential social investments. As he sardonically noted, the tax cut means "money is sitting in people's bank accounts in real estate and Paradise Valley."

The progressive takeaway? Tax policies aren't just numbers—they're moral documents that reveal who we collectively choose to support and who we're willing to leave behind.

💰 Shelly Fishman: Capitalism's Complicated Choreography

Shelly Fishman arrived with the financial wisdom of a seasoned navigator traversing the turbulent seas of late-stage capitalism. His discussion wasn't just about markets—it was a realpolitik examination of economic survival.

The conversation danced around critical issues: potential government shutdowns, interest rates, and the perpetual shell game of corporate taxation. Fishman's most cutting observation? States with progressive tax structures—California, New York, Massachusetts—are actually supporting the rest of the country, while states like Arizona remain "net takers" from federal resources.

"The idea that corporate profits trickle down... has never worked," Fishman declared, demolishing decades of neoliberal economic mythology in a single breath. His critique of potential further corporate tax cuts revealing the potential dismantling of social safety nets was chef's kiss levels of economic truth-telling.

🦁 Nancy Kluge: Conservation as Community Care

Nancy Kluge from Reid Park Zoo transformed what could have been a mere anniversary celebration into a profound meditation on institutional responsibility. The zoo's 60-year journey isn't just about animal exhibits—it's about reimagining human relationships with the natural world.

Highlighting their $6 admission weekend, community engagement initiatives, and expansive conservation programs, Kluge demonstrated how public institutions can be laboratories of empathy.

"We want to inspire people to care, to have animals touch their hearts," she explained—a radical statement in a world that often treats living beings as commodities.

🚀 Dr. Mark Sykes: Diversity as Scientific Superpower

In perhaps the most politically charged segment, Dr. Mark Sykes from the Planetary Science Institute delivered a nuanced, powerful defense of diversity, equity, and inclusion that transcended bureaucratic jargon to become a manifesto of scientific hope.

"Diversity is a strength of our institute and a strength to our science," Sykes declared, echoing the powerful words from his recently published editorial in the Tucson Sentinel.

But this wasn't mere rhetoric—it was a deeply considered philosophy of scientific progress. He articulated a vision of science that is inherently collaborative, deliberately inclusive, and fundamentally human.

In his own words, "Science depends not just on technical skill and knowledge, but more importantly on imagination." This isn't just a platitude—it's a radical reimagining of scientific pursuit.

Sykes argues that scientific insights can emerge from anywhere: "a recent research paper, a conversation with a friend, a religious experience, a dream, or watching a basketball game."

The Planetary Science Institute embodies this philosophy with remarkable intentionality. Their scientists represent a stunning tapestry of human experience—"Evangelical Christians, Jews, Mormons, Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists, atheists... Some are veterans. Our scientists have diverse personalities and a wide range of interpersonal skills. Some have physical challenges, some are neurodiverse, and everyone comes from a wide range of economic and cultural backgrounds."

But Sykes doesn't shy away from the political context. He openly acknowledges the current climate of DEI pushback, noting that these principles are "being purged by our government from a large swath of federal programs." His response is both a shield and a sword—defending the intrinsic value of diversity while challenging those who would seek to diminish it.

Most chillingly, Sykes voiced a profound concern that goes beyond professional discourse. "It worries me that such rhetoric has often presaged violence against those who are perceived to benefit from the denounced activity. Many of our scientists are concerned for their future and even physical safety." This isn't hyperbole—it's a raw, honest recognition of the real-world consequences of anti-diversity rhetoric.

Yet, he remains hopeful. Sykes doesn't just critique—he offers a constructive path forward. "There are legitimate complaints regarding some activities undertaken under the rubric of these principles. However, I would like to see those specific objections considered and addressed in a fashion that is narrowly tailored to relieve any wrong being committed while maintaining and building on all the good we have achieved."

In a world that often seeks to divide, Sykes offers a vision of science—and by extension, society—that is fundamentally about connection, understanding, and collective imagination.

Wrap-Up: Your Turn, Tucson

What struck you most about today's show? Was it Wells' fiscal forensics, Fishman's economic excavation, Kluge's conservation compassion, or Sykes' defense of scientific diversity?

Drop a comment below and share:

Which segment made you rethink something you thought you knew?
How do you see Arizona's economic and social landscape changing?
What does true diversity look like in your community