Arizona Politics for Conservatives: Sonoran Alliance
Arizona Politics, News, Commentary and Information with a Blatantly Conservative Worldview Presented by an Alliance of Writers, Activists, Consultants and Government Insiders.
The annual Oro Valley Easter egg hunt was a huge success. The Easter Bunny made a dramatic arrival by helicopter before an audience of excited children.
Thank you to the Oro Valley Police Department and Golder Ranch Fire Department for a great event.
An Arizona Daily Star article by Daniel Scarpinato details the opposition of most Southern Arizona Democrats to house CPS reform bills. House Bill 2454 would open the files on children who die while their case is under investigation by CPS. This openness is essential to finding the weaknesses in the system and implementing improvements for the benefit of the next child in need of intervention. The process was even delayed so that the bill could be improved to protect privacy of surviving children and to preserve the integrity of any ongoing investigations. That did not prevent most Tucson Democrats from voting against the bill.
A former critic of the process, Steve Farley (28,) voted for the bill. Seven other local Democrats, David Bradley (28,) Linda Lopez (29,) Manuel Alvarez (25,) Olivia Cajero Bedford (27,) Phil Lopes (27,) Tom Prezelski (29,) and Nancy Young Wright (26) voted against the reforms.
Why the opposition to reform? Linda Lopez is employed by CPS contractor La Frontera. Her vote against reform is explained by her well-documented conflict of interest. David Bradley has is in a similar situation as the CEO of La Paloma Family Services. His conflict of interest was exposed by Espresso Pundit. Our sources indicate that the Governor’s office exerted significant pressure to vote against the bill. For loyal partisans like Alvarez, Cajero Bedford, Lopes, and Prezelski it was probably not too difficult to go with the flow. With a safe seat in Central Tucson it is surprising that Steve Farley went against the Governor. Good for him for showing some independence and common sense. Nancy Young Wright may have made the biggest error. She was appointed to he seat in 26 and her lack of support for government reform may not play well in the nominally Republican district. Now that the Governor’s spokesperson is talking nice about the bill the Democrat house caucus is not amused. Look for more party friction if the Governor signs the bill.
This protection of the status quo and lack of openness in government comes on the heals of the Governor’s press conference where she unloads on the Treasurer for informing the public about the current situation. No wonder Espresso Pundit thinks things are not all bad for Republicans in 2008.
On Wednesday the Governor said that Arizona State Treasurer Dean Martin did not understand the financial position of the government because he was not aware how much state agencies were holding in reserve. Turns out these agencies are required to report these reserves to the Treasurer’s office. Looks like Janet has painted herself into a corner. KTAR has a short article on the issue:
Byron Schlomack with the Goldwater Institute says the state treasurer has to know about all of the state’s money, including reserves, otherwise the governor is breaking the law.
We’re talking about a much bigger issue here than just two politicians fighting. We’re talking about whether taxpayer money is going to be spent in a smoke-filled back room or in the open. We’re talking about the integrity of the state, says Scholmack.
For background information on the budget visit the Goldwater Institute web site.
Those waiting for the implosion of the state’s economy as a result of the employer sanctions law will have to wait a bit longer. The February unemployment numbers are online and the state’s unemployment level of 4% is 8/10% below the national average. The workforce is also slightly higher than the same time last year despite a large downturn in construction.
One of the additional backup services my bank provides me is an email alert when my balance dips below a certain threshhold. Sure, its not very personal but it does let me know when I need to throw some money in the account and/or watch my spending when I haven’t balanced my checkbook.
Yesterday, out Republican State Treasurer issued the following press release. I’m very pleased that someone is doing their job in State Government, acting responsible and looking out for the taxpayers of Arizona.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 18, 2008
Contact: Kimberly Yee, (602) 604-7882
Trasurer Dean Martin Addresses General Fund Crisis
General Fund in the Red in Five Weeks – Urges Governor & Legislature to Act Quickly
(STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX) – Arizona State Treasurer Dean Martin today urged the Arizona Legislature and Governor to quickly reach an agreement to balance the FY 2008 budget.
“The General Fund of the State of Arizona will be running RED INK in as little as five weeks if a revised budget is not passed,” said Treasurer Dean Martin. “The government has simply been spending much faster than revenues are coming in.”
“As State Treasurer, I essentially manage the State’s bank. We currently have over $12.7 billion dollars in deposits invested, of which $5.2 billion are state funds. We predicted this recession last year, and have been preparing our investment portfolio, including the rainy day fund accordingly.”
Martin continued, “We have structured our investments to ensure there is liquidity for both state and local governments to meet their cash needs during this economic downturn. As a bank we are in very good shape, but the Governor and Legislature have some work to do to make sure the General Fund account is not overdrawn in the next few weeks.”
“We have analyzed the current spending for the first 262 days of this fiscal year (as of March 18th), and the state has not slowed its rate of spending during this budget crisis. The exact opposite has occurred; general fund spending is on a pace to even exceed the original FY 08 appropriation.”
“At the current spending rate, the General Fund only has enough revenue to make one more payment to schools, and perhaps three more paydays for employees before the account is overdrawn at the bank.”
“The state has already spent over $7.6 billion of the General Fund; that is over $29 million per day. Meanwhile revenues have continued to slide. Both the Governor and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) have lowered their General Fund revenue estimates. Without immediate intervention by the Governor and Legislature to pass a revised FY2008 budget, the General Fund will be overdrawn as soon as April 23 but no later than May 5,” Martin said.
“While the State does have other funds in other accounts, as Treasurer I do not have statutory authority to move money from the State’s other accounts to cover their deficit; only the Legislature and the Governor can move those funds through an appropriation. They need to act quickly before the General Fund account is overdrawn.”
State Treasurer Dean Martin is the Chief Financial Officer for Arizona, third in succession to the Governor, overseeing $12.7 billion in assets under management. Treasurer Martin has opened government finances to the public on his website AzTreasury.gov. Last fiscal year, Treasurer Martin made taxpayers over $730 million and increased investment earnings by 24% over the previous administration.
Here are some supporting documents:
Press Release – Treasurer’s Office, March 19, 2008
Treasurer’s Presentation on Budget Crisis
Treasurer’s Memo: Cash Balance
Governor Napolitano is usually pretty measured in her choice of works. On Wednesday she almost lost it over State Treasurer Dean Martin’s prediction that the state could run out of funds as soon as April.
Maybe they could tap the $700 million dollar rainy day fund. At a spending rate of $29 million a day the fund would give the governor and legislature an extra 24 days to find a solution.
Napolitano compared Martin to “Chicken Little” and called him a “sideplayer.” Nice move. Go after a former state senator who has strong support among Arizona Republicans.
If Napolitano bristles at the statement from Martin she is going to be really upset with the Joint Legislative Committee and their report that the deficit over the next two years is $3.1 billion. Yes, that is billion with a B.
Now that Obama has established the precedent that a black preacher can be excused for fiery rhetoric it opens the door to others besides the Rev. Wright. One interesting figure that can now be featured in the interests of equal time is the Hon. James David Manning, PhD. We are not endorsing the statements of Dr. Manning. The problem is that in a sense Barack has now set the standard as “anything goes.” Well here goes Pastor Manning.
Once cancelled and now back for season 2, Jericho is the ultimate in liberal/conservative crossover shows. Conservatives will love the small town self-reliance and plentiful use of firearms (very plentiful.) There is also a lot for liberals to like. Thomas Valente is a thinly disguised stand in for Dick Cheney. The new government is even based in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Jennings & Rall is the proxy for Blackwater Worldwide. These characters do not lose conservative viewers as the show is the “I love my country but distrust my government” TV series. Don’t miss it.
The last few weeks have featured competing ads in CD-5 and CD-8 over the FISA bill. The Republicans claim the Democrats are holding up important national security legislation. The Democrats are standing firm with the ACLU in their lawsuits against certain telecommunication companies.
If the GOP was counting on this as a key strategy to win congressional seats they had better re-tool their approach. Retroactive immunity for telecom companies that did a warrantless document dump so the administration could go a fishing expedition with citizens phone records is not the ticket to attracting swarms of Independent voters. Likewise the far-right is not impressed with the immunity play. The New American made this the lead story in their latest issue. This play on security comes after 7 years of the administration overlooking a porous and insecure border.
I think the ads were a dud and one Tucson blogger wrote that the ads backfired. Mitchell and Giffords both specialize in looking busy while accomplishing nothing and thus make difficult targets. In order to win back the seats the Republicans will need to be more focused in their efforts. Maybe a feasibility study would be a good idea before spending all that money on an ad campaign.
If the Republicans want to spy on someone maybe they should focus on the people running the NRCC. Think of all the money that could have been used against solid conservatives in the primary if the treasurer had not embezzled so much money. Sure I want this crowd to have unlimited warrantless access to my private information – Not!
For Immediate Release: March 18, 2008
Contact: Lauren Barnett, Office: (602) 326-3702
Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley Endorses Laura Knaperek for Congress
“Laura Knaperek is the leader we need in Washington”
Tempe, Ariz – Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley today announced his endorsement of Laura Knaperek for Congress in Arizona’s 5th Congressional District.
Stapley is currently serving in his fourth term as the supervisor from Maricopa County District 2, which encompasses parts of the east valley cities of Gilbert, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Scottsdale and Fountain Hills.
“As a supervisor from one of the largest counties in the country, I know that we need strong leadership in Washington to guide an effective working relationship between the federal government and state, county, and local governments,” Stapley said. “After looking at all the candidates in the race for Congressional District 5, I believe that Laura Knaperek is the leader we need in Washington.”
Knaperek said she was grateful for the support of Supervisor Stapley.
“The Stapley name is synonymous with Arizona pride, and it is an honor to count Don as a member of our team,” Knaperek said. “Having a community stalwart like Don on board- someone who has consistently been re-elected by Maricopa County voters- shows the importance of my 10-year trusted track record with community leaders and voters.”
Sources tell us that Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll will follow up his cross-over endorsement of Salette Latas in the primary with an endorsement of current council member Terry Parrish.
Parrish and Barry Gillespie will face off in the May general election for the one remaining seat on the council. It is rumored that the county Democratic Party will get involved on Barry’s behalf as they did for Salette during the primary.
Your childrens’ children could grow old waiting for the Pima County Republican Party to get involved in NW Tucson politics but the State Republican Party has no such reservations about working on behalf of Republicans running for office. Word on the street is that they will put their new office to use in support of Parish. What a concept.
I’ll admit that these calls were made under false pretenses but the Planned Parenthood employee seems very eager to take the money. Now Planned Parenthood of Idaho has apologized. Didn’t Don Imus apologize right before CBS fired him?
Sydney Hay has her first television ad up and running. It is an excellent mix of introductory story line on Sydney and positions on specific issues.
The state budget deficit is looming up to $2 billion now and Goddard is continuing to issue glossy booklets with his picture in a transparent effort to promote himself for a gubernatorial run in 2010. His latest publication is a “Housing Discrimination” guide instructing minorities and others on how to find discrimination against themselves in the housing industry, dated March 2008. There’s a clearly posed picture of himself on page 3 (does a staffer take all these pictures of him or are taxpayers paying for a professional photographer?).
Curiously, the publication is not listed on his website – could this be because of fallout from his last publication which was issued only a couple of weeks earlier?
Why hasn’t the Arizona Republic covered any of these publications by Goddard? Could it be because they’re all liberals and hoping to score plumb jobs in a Goddard governorship? Remember the revolving door between the Republic and working for Democrat politicians? Let’s not forget when Goddard hired former Republic columnist Steve Wilson as his PR flak – other eager Republic reporters clearly haven’t. In a letter to the East Valley Tribune, Goddard defended the booklet he released a couple of weeks ago regarding young adults and consumer fraud as only costing $6,600.
But what about the cost of the rest of his glossy publications? There’s a long list of them on his website, and clearly most of them have been issued in glossy print – not just online. $6,600 x 70 equals $462,000. Someone needs to submit a public records request and find the cost of all these booklets he’s been issuing over the years. Below is the list taken directly from his website of all of his publications – although we’ve come across plenty more than just these, this is only what he lists on his website. The link to these publications is one of 6 main links on the AG’s homepage – apparently he’s so sure he’s immune from serious criticism for all the self-promotion he has no qualms about prominently linking to them. An easy expose for most lazy reporters – obviously they’re not avoiding covering this taxpayer waste because it’s hard to find information on it.
We did find this 2-page “Housing Discrimination Tip Card” listed on his website, which of course features a prominent picture of Goddard. No doubt there weren’t very many copies of it printed – most illegal immigrants are more likely to download it from the website – NOT.
Bill Garner and Salette Latas actually won yesterday’s Oro Valley Town Council election. In order to win in the primary you need a vote total that exceeds 50% of the number of ballots cast. Bill and Salette both reached that threshold. I was originally thrown off by the percentage of the vote listed in the Pima County elections web site.
The East Valley Tribune ran a fair article on the wasteful self-promoting “Consumer Guide for Young Adults” that Attorney General Terry Goddard just released; a full-size 8×11 glossy 28-page booklet featuring a large picture of himself on the outside and another inside. The article failed to mention however that this was done while the state is currently facing a $1 billion deficit and the reason Goddard continues issuing booklets promoting himself is because he’s trying to increase his name recognition in preparation for a run for governor in 2010.
“Two months after another politician was criticized for using public money to promote his own name and image, one of the state’s top elected officials has done roughly the same thing. Last week, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard released a 28-page booklet with a full-page cover photo in which he’s featured prominently. The thousands of dollars it cost to design and print the booklet came from money intended for public use.”
The Bruce Jacobs show has also been covering Goddard’s booklet.
