This is an article that presents a lot of data but is written like a hatchet job -- which leads me to view the data skeptically.

This is a good article. It is through and well written. It likely applies to many other states.

This article accurately represents what happens when ideology rules and the leaders of a state become incapable of rational, independent governance. Where the article fails is when it falls into name-calling: "The general unsightliness of the capitol makes it a fitting home for today’s Arizona legislature, which is composed almost entirely of dimwits, racists, and cranks." This one sentence guarantees that only those who agree with the author's ad hominem characterization will continue reading, which is a shame. Whether we are talking rightist ideologues or leftist ideologues, neither mind-set is productive of governmental policies that actually work.

Because of the opinionated denegrative byline, I had avoided reading this article. But now, due to an ideological clash between two reviewers, I am pleasantly surprised by an extremely well written (albeit biased) overview of Arizona politics.

Though I ranked this as an opinion piece because the author does express strong feelings, it also contains a lot of facts to back them up. Well written and informative. Scary too.

If this story didn't contain so much biased language, it would be an outstanding story. As it is, it's very good, but only if the reader agrees with, or can ignore, the biases expressed at the beginning.

This is a well -written and thought provoking article, a good piece of journalism. It covers the spectrum on Arizona's economic and political realities in a well documented analysis of both.

First, note that this article was written in July 2010, not January 2011 as indicated in the information section. The metadata in the URL confirms this. Secondly, the article condemns not only the government of the State of Arizona, but the history and entire populace as well. And there are numerous inaccuracies. I know this because I am a former employee of the State of Arizona Department of Health Services, furloughed since March 2009. I am a resident of the State of Arizona at present. This article, despite being an opinion piece, is so biased that perhaps I should consider myself as having a conflict of interest merely by living in the state.

This opinion piece has no journalistic merit. The author is totally consumed with hatred of people who disagree with him. His religious bigotry is also notable: most people even on the left do not hate Mormons at all, while this person conspicuously does hate them. Not clear why this way out of date piece from a far-left magazine was posted on NewsTrust.