🔥 The Buckmaster Breakdown: When Flat Tax Fantasies Meet Desert Mathematics
How Arizona's conservative shell game costs working families billions while politicians count their yacht money
Based on the Buckmaster Show for 6/17/25, a daily radio show in Tucson, AZ, interviewing local newsmakers. Analysis and opinions are my own.
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
Politicians in Arizona 🏜️ promised to save money with a "flat tax" 💰, but they used fake math 🤥 that only benefits rich people 🏦, taking billions from schools 🏫 and other essentials. Meanwhile, zoo workers 🦁 are truly solving problems by giving animals choices ⚖️ and keeping them cool 😎 during dangerous heat waves 🔥. Markets 📉 are confused by Trump's constant flip-flopping 🔄, leading Wall Street investors 📊 to create a nickname making fun of him. A smart researcher 🧠 proved the tax "savings" are mostly lies using simple examples 🏠🏰, like how averaging a cheap house with a mansion makes it seem like everyone lives in million-dollar homes 💵.
🗝️ Takeaways
🎯 Arizona's flat tax only saves $400 annually for 1 in 5 taxpayers—most families save $20-175 while the state loses $2 billion
💸 School vouchers cost an additional $360 million, with 75% going to families who never used public schools
📈 Markets coined "TACO" (Trump Always Chickens Out) to describe policy-induced volatility affecting retirement accounts
🐒 Reid Park Zoo's trauma-informed care for rescued monkeys offers better crisis management than Arizona politicians
🌡️ Zoo animals get choice, control, and cooling systems during extreme heat—more than many Arizona residents
🏛️ Tucson's 250+ birthday celebration acknowledges 4,000 years of Indigenous presence before Spanish colonization
The Buckmaster Breakdown: When Mathematics Meets Mythology in the Sonoran Desert
Another sweltering Tuesday in Tucson, another day of conservative arithmetic getting absolutely annihilated by actual facts.
While the mercury climbed toward a brutal 114 degrees—just three degrees shy of Tucson's all-time record—Bill Buckmaster's radio show served up some equally scorching reality checks about Arizona's budgetary bamboozlement.
In a state where politicians promise fiscal miracles while public services wither like desert wildflowers without monsoon rains, Tuesday's lineup delivered the kind of fact-based journalism that makes supply-side economists squirm in their air-conditioned offices.
The Great Flat Tax Flimflam: Dr. Dave Wells Drops Truth Bombs
Dr. Dave Wells from the Grand Canyon Institute arrived armed with calculators and cold, hard data to demolish the Common Sense Institute's latest mathematical mirage. Because nothing says "common sense" quite like cooking the books to make tax cuts for the wealthy sound like populist policy.
The backstory here is crucial for understanding just how thoroughly Arizona's working families have been hoodwinked. Back in 2021, the Republican-controlled legislature passed a "flat tax" that Governor Doug Ducey championed as a middle-class miracle. The promise? "The average family would save $300 per year," according to Ducey's promotional propaganda.
Spoiler alert: When politicians use the word "average" without explaining their math, grab your wallet and run.
Wells systematically eviscerated these claims with the precision of a forensic accountant exposing embezzlement. Arizona's previous tax system was progressive, ranging from 2.59% for low earners to 4.5% for high earners. The flat tax slashed everyone's rate to 2.5%, which sounds egalitarian until you realize who actually benefits.
"If you went from 2.59 to 2.5, you didn't want to save anything. But if you went from 4.5 to 2.5, you saved quite a bit," Wells explained, using the kind of basic arithmetic that apparently eludes conservative think tanks.
But here's where Wells delivered his knockout punch, using an analogy so devastatingly simple it should be taught in every statistics class: "If you take an average, if rich people save a lot, say you have two houses that are next to each other, one sells for $100,000, and the other one sells for $9,900,000. And then the average of the two is $5 million."
Chef's kiss to that mathematical murder.
The reality? Only about 20% of taxpayers actually save that mythical $400 annually. For the rest of us living in the real world:
Typical heads of household save around $20 per year
Single households save approximately $40
Married couples might pocket around $175
Meanwhile, this fiscal fairy tale costs Arizona "a little over $2 billion per year" in lost revenue—money that could fund schools, prevent evictions, or invest in quality pre-K programs instead of subsidizing yacht payments for Arizona's affluent.
The Voucher Vendetta: Privatizing Public Education One Dollar at a Time
Wells also addressed Arizona's school voucher scheme—another conservative initiative masquerading as "school choice." The numbers are absolutely damning: Arizona's universal voucher program costs taxpayers an estimated $360 million annually in additional expenses.
The kicker?
"About three-fourths of the children have never attended a district or charter school" before receiving vouchers, meaning the state is essentially paying for private education that families were already purchasing.
It's reverse Robin Hood economics—robbing from public coffers to subsidize private academies.
Because nothing screams "fiscal responsibility" quite like paying twice for education while public schools crumble.
Wells noted that charter schools are getting hit hardest, as "a lot of parents who are choosing the essays, vouchers, the universal ones are pulling their kids out of charter schools more so than they are doing from district schools." This creates a devastating cycle where public education funding hemorrhages while private institutions profit.
For Arizona families, this means:
Reduced funding for the public schools your children attend
Increased class sizes as resources are diverted
Deteriorating school infrastructure and programs
Higher local taxes to compensate for state funding cuts
The cruel irony? While politicians promise "choice," they're systematically destroying the public option that most families depend on.
Financial Markets in the Time of TACO: Shelley Fishman's Economic Reality Check
Note: This segment was noted as a rerun, but the content reveals ongoing market volatility during the current political climate.
Financial advisor Shelley Fishman painted a picture of markets ping-ponging like a demented pinball machine every time Trump "opened his mouth and changed his mind." The business community's response? They coined a deliciously apt acronym: TACO—Trump Always Chickens Out.
When Wall Street starts making fun of your policy consistency, you know you've achieved a special level of incompetence.
Fishman described how "investors, both institutional investors and individual investors were bouncing back and forth every time Trump opened his mouth and changed his mind." The result has been unprecedented volatility, making long-term planning nearly impossible for businesses and families alike.
For ordinary Arizonans, this translates to:
Retirement accounts bouncing like tumbleweeds in a dust devil
Small businesses are unable to plan for inventory or expansion
Employment uncertainty as companies postpone hiring decisions
Increased costs for imported goods as tariff threats create supply chain chaos
Desert Wisdom: Reid Park Zoo's Climate Adaptation Masterclass
In refreshing contrast to political hot air, Deborah Carr from Reid Park Zoo offered genuine solutions for surviving extreme heat, something Arizona desperately needs as climate change intensifies our already brutal summers.
Finally, someone talking about actual adaptation instead of pretending climate change is just a liberal conspiracy.
The zoo's approach to extreme weather provides a masterclass in practical problem-solving that our politicians should study. Animals get "pools for our water-loving animals like the elephants, so they can get in and splash around and get a break from the heat," along with "water misters" and "evaporative coolers that blow cool air out into the habitat."
Most importantly, "every animal at the zoo has what we call choice and control. So they can go into air-conditioned quarters behind the scenes whenever they want."
Imagine that—giving vulnerable populations options to escape deadly heat instead of telling them to "adapt or die." Revolutionary concept.
Love in the Time of Climate Crisis
Carr introduced us to the zoo's newest residents: Burani and Little Fry, Asian small-clawed otters who found love in the desert. "These guys just, it was love at first sight. They take care of each other. They want to know, they want to be with each other all the time."
Even otters can find love and mutual aid in harsh conditions. Maybe there's hope for human cooperation too.
More poignant was the story of Toto, a squirrel monkey rescued from wildlife trafficking. "Two years ago, Toto was confiscated by the US Border Patrol while someone was attempting to take him over the border."
The trauma extended beyond captivity: "Their canine teeth are often filed down to make them less dangerous to humans. And that was the case with Toto."
Because nothing says "family pet" like mutilating an intelligent primate to make them less threatening to their captors.
Toto's rehabilitation story offers genuine hope. Other squirrel monkeys, "called Mango Matteo," have been "helping to bring him out of his shell" and teaching him "behaviors like facial expressions and vocalizations that he was never exposed to."
Community healing in action. If traumatized monkeys can learn to trust again through collective care, perhaps there is hope for our fractured democracy.
Progressive Pricing That Actually Helps
The zoo's 60th anniversary celebration includes "$3.00 ticket Tuesdays"—a genuinely progressive gesture that "is meant to provide a break to folks that might be struggling in these economic times."
Imagine that—an institution actually acknowledging economic hardship instead of pretending everyone can afford $30 admission fees.
Deep Time Perspective: Tucson's 250-Plus Birthday Bash
Historian Ken Scoville wrapped up the show with a perspective on Tucson's "250 Plus" birthday celebration, emphasizing the "4,000 years, people have been living along the banks of the Santa Cruz River. The "Plus" designation recognizes Indigenous presence that predates Spanish colonization by millennia.
Finally, someone acknowledged that history didn't begin when Europeans showed up.
Scoville's description of Santa Cruz's ecological collapse around 1900-1901 offers sobering lessons for our climate crisis. The river died from "overuse, over-pumping" combined with an 1887 earthquake that "changed some of the plumbing to underground."
Turns out you can't infinitely extract water from a desert ecosystem without consequences. Who could have predicted this shocking development?
Father Kino's 1700 description of the Santa Cruz valley as "the richest and most beautiful grazing and natural regions" he'd ever seen reminds us of what we've lost through extractive colonialism and capitalist exploitation.
The Bottom Line: Fighting Back Against Fiscal Fantasy
This Tuesday's Buckmaster Show demonstrated why fact-based journalism matters in our post-truth political hellscape. While conservative think tanks peddle mathematical misdirection and politicians promise painless solutions, reality-based reporting reveals the true costs of ideological economics.
For Arizona families, the impact is devastating:
Public services gutted while wealthy taxpayers profit
Public education is systematically defunded through voucher schemes
Economic uncertainty as markets react to policy chaos
Climate impacts ignored while infrastructure crumbles
But here's the thing about truth—it has a way of surfacing, even in the desert.
Finding Hope in Unexpected Places
In a world where politicians promise easy answers to complex problems, perhaps our greatest hope lies in the patient work of researchers like Dr. Wells, the daily dedication of zoo professionals like Deborah Carr, and the historical perspective offered by folks like Ken Scoville.
The zoo's collaborative approach to crisis management offers lessons our politicians desperately need. When faced with extreme conditions, successful adaptation requires:
Acknowledging reality instead of denying problems
Providing multiple options and support systems
Prioritizing collective welfare over individual profit
Learning from both scientific evidence and traditional knowledge
Even traumatized monkeys can heal through community support. Maybe there's hope for our fractured democracy after all.
Take Action: Because Democracy Requires Participation
The fight for fiscal justice and climate adaptation won't be won in legislative chambers alone—it requires grassroots organizing and sustained pressure on elected officials. Here's how you can get involved:
Contact Your Representatives: Demand they reject tax cuts for the wealthy and fully fund public education. Find your legislators at azleg.gov.
Support Fact-Based Journalism: Subscribe to Three Sonorans Substack to stay informed about the real impacts of policy decisions on working families.
Join Local Organizations: Get involved with groups like the Grand Canyon Institute, education advocacy organizations, and environmental justice coalitions.
Vote in Every Election: Especially local elections, where your vote carries more weight and impacts daily life most directly.
The work continues, the resistance persists, and truth-telling remains our most powerful weapon against manufactured ignorance. Even in 114-degree heat, authentic solutions are always worth fighting for.
Support Three Sonorans Substack to keep this kind of in-depth analysis and progressive commentary coming. Independent journalism thrives with reader support—and democracy depends on an informed citizenry.
What Do You Think?
After reading about the real costs of Arizona's flat tax and voucher schemes, how do you think we can better educate voters about the mathematical realities behind political promises? And what lessons from Reid Park Zoo's collaborative crisis management could be applied to addressing Arizona's education funding crisis?
Leave your thoughts in the comments below—especially if you've experienced the real-world impacts of these policies or found inspiration in unexpected places during these challenging times.
Have a scoop or a story you want us to follow up on? Send us a message!
