Union trying to bully Legislators into changing law

by Matthew Ladner, Ph.D.
Goldwater Institute
 
The movie Zombieland delivers a humorous take on the zombie movie genre. The protagonist has survived the outbreak of zombie-ism by following a set of self-developed rules. Rule number one: cardio. You must stay in shape so you can out run the zombies when necessary. Rule number two: double tap. When you shoot a zombie, don’t leave them lying around wounded so that you have to try to kill them again later; go ahead and shoot them twice.

Last session the Arizona Legislature passed some profoundly wise policy changes regarding public schools. They prohibited districts from paying people school district salaries to do union jobs. They required school district employees to use vacation days to do teachers association work. Finally, in the event of a reduction in force, the law prohibited the use of seniority as the sole criteria for deciding which teachers ought to be let go.

The first two items fall into the no-brainer category. No one should get paid to do classroom work unless they are actually working in the classroom.

But the final item is the most important of all. This figure from the Brookings Institution shows differences in academic gains by Los Angeles teachers based on how they were certified. In short, some teachers are great; they get large gains from their students. Some produce terrible results; not only do they fail to produce learning gains, they actually drag their students down.

 
 
The Arizona Education Association is actively seeking to have these policy changes overturned. Rumor has it that this will be a condition for Democratic support in the current budget special session.

Let me be clear: it would be IMMORAL to keep ineffective teachers in the classroom simply because they have already spent years mis-educating students. No one–conservative, liberal, libertarian or vegetarian–should support such a policy. The AEA brings disgrace upon itself for seeking it, and any member of the Legislature carrying this water should be ashamed of themselves.

Taking a cue from Zombieland, the Arizona legislature should go ahead and double tap the zombie by making it illegal for school districts to collect union dues from employee paychecks. School districts won’t collect dues for any other private association, and there is no case to be made for spending public money to do so for the AEA. If teachers and administrators find the services of the AEA useful, they can write them a check in the same fashion that a person would do for the Goldwater Institute or any other private organization they support.
 
Dr. Matthew Ladner is vice president for research at the Goldwater Institute.

Lies by Yvonne Wingett

A m e r i c a n P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N S E N S E , in Arizona

November 23, 2009

Another classic example of yellow journalism by Yvonne Wingett
Full of lies

As posted in Cactus Alliance:

http://cactusalliance.blogspot.com/2009/11/another-classic-example-of-yellow.html
wingnut

Yvonne Wingett, the Arizona Republic hack reporter assigned to cover Maricopa County government, developed a pattern of playing fast and loose with the facts. In the absence of any real news, she makes up her own. Her close relationship with the County Supervisors, colors her coverage of all county affairs. She turns a blind eye to the Supervisors’ illegal acts and gives their attempts to take over other county agencies a free pass. She is complicit in assisting the Supervisors smear other county agencies and is often seen cozying up to the County PIO, Richard de Uriarte. Take the article she wrote in Saturday’s Arizona Republic about an audit of the County Treasurer’s Office, entitled “Audit Cites Treasurer’s Office Slip-ups.” Did she even bother to read it first? (Read her reporting here)

The Supervisors ordered an audit of the County Treasurer’s Office for no reason other than to harass the office, which had not been acceding to its demands. Wingett ignores the overall positive report, and instead accuses the office of mishandling procurement and the hiring of contractors. She asserts that “the office failed to follow county procurement policies on tens of thousands of dollars of contracts.” This sounds terrible, but in reality, it involved two contracts for computer services. One of them was arranged by the County’s OET division, not the Treasurer’s Office. So the County Supervisors should have been dinged for failing to follow procurement policies, not the Treasurer’s Office.As for Wingett’s other accusation, she says the office did not properly formalize agreements before hiring two contract employees. She left out the fact that both the hiring and the payments took place during the prior administration. The exact quote from the report on the issue is,

“The payments to Help Desk Technology and Teri Johnson occurred before November 13, 2007 and were authorized by the previous Treasurer.” She also ignores the main audit finding. “For the period reviewed, we found that TIF expenditures were in compliance with ARS §11-495. In addition, we found that TIF revenues were collected and recorded in compliance with this statute.” Why would she do this? Simple, it’s more helpful to the Supervisors to smear their enemy, the current County Treasurer.

This kind of reporting demonstrates that Wingett cannot be trusted to be a fair and impartial reporter. She is the very model of the worst kind of reporter. Her biases come through, and it is reporting like hers that is the reason why people are increasingly deserting the Arizona Republic as a legitimate news source. She is a discredit to all real reporters and an embarrassment to the Arizona Republic, and that’s hard to do.

Goldwater Institute Sues Tempe Over Handouts for Aquarium

Phoenix–Today the Goldwater Institute asked a court to strike down an agreement between the City of Tempe and the developer of Sea Life Aquarium, a children’s theme park at Arizona Mills Mall. The agreement provides tax subsidies and concessions to the private business in violation of the Arizona Constitution and state law.

The Arizona Constitution bans giving subsidies to benefit a private business under the “Gift Clause.” The Equal Protection and Special Laws Clauses of the Arizona Constitution also prohibit these types of subsidy deals. In addition, the Arizona Legislature recently passed a statute prohibiting all retail sales tax subsidies in Maricopa and Pinal Counties, and another restricting sales tax subsidies throughout the state. The Sea Life subsidy runs afoul of both the Arizona Constitution and the state laws.

Subsidies offered to Sea Life, a division of UK-based Merlin Entertainments Group, the second largest operator of attractions in the world behind Disney, include rebates on all construction sales taxes to the developer; rebates on all retail taxes to the developer up to $78,000; rebates on planning, engineering, and building safety processing fees up to $70,000; and special assistance from the city on permitting, planning and other regulatory hurdles required of other, non-favored developers and business owners.

Goldwater Institute attorney Carrie Ann Sitren is representing Nick Coons, owner of Tempe-based Red Seven Computers; Interior Concepts, a Tempe business; and Tempe taxpayers Jack Gibson and Chuck Kirkhuff.

“Our client, Mr. Coons, was not offered any assistance from the city to get his business off the ground,” Ms. Sitren said. “The Arizona Constitution is crystal clear on giving taxpayer money to businesses and industries–it isn’t legal.”

This agreement represents a seismic shift in position by Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman who spoke out against a similar $97.4 million subsidy from the City of Phoenix to build the CityNorth mall. Mr. Hallman even contributed to an article on the subject that appeared in the Arizona Republic September 29, 2009.

“When government gives taxpayer money to a favored business, it must tax the rest of the public with that missing share,” Mr. Hallman wrote. “Small businesses, or those less connected to government leaders, or those who cannot hire lawyers and lobbyists to fight for their own subsidies, are left holding the bag.”

The Goldwater Institute filed suit against the CityNorth subsidy in 2007 and is awaiting a decision from the Arizona Supreme Court on its legality. The Arizona Court of Appeals unanimously declared the deal illegal in December 2008 and until the Arizona Supreme Court reverses that decision, it is the law and clearly makes the Sea Life subsidy illegal.

“The fact that the City of Tempe is offering these illegal subsidies while a similar case is being considered is proof that the courts need to put a stop to this practice once and for all,” continued Ms. Sitren. “They can do that by saying the Arizona Constitution’s Gift Clause provision means what it says, that no subsidy shall be given to benefit a private business.”

Construction is already underway on the Sea Life Aquarium. It is slated to open in June 2010.

This lawsuit, Coons v. Hallman, was filed in Maricopa County Superior Court by the Goldwater Institute Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation.

For more information on this and other Goldwater Institute lawsuits visit www.goldwaterinstitute.org/litigation. The Goldwater Institute is an independent government watchdog supported by people who are committed to expanding free enterprise and liberty.

57% Disapprove Brewer’s Job Performance, Loses Head-to-Head to Goddard by Nine Points

Terry Goddard vs. Dean Martin a dead heat, Arpaio most popular

From Rasmussen Reports
Monday, November 23, 2009

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is the Republicans’ best shot at holding onto the Arizona governorship in 2010 against likely Democratic candidate Terry Goddard.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Arizona voters finds Arpaio, famed for his crackdowns on illegal immigrants, leading Goddard, the state’s current attorney general, by 12 points – 51% to 39%. Seven percent (7%) prefer some other candidate, and four percent (4%) are undecided.

Embattled incumbent Republican Jan Brewer, who stepped up to the governorship from secretary of state when Janet Napolitano became secretary of Homeland Security, trails Goddard by nine points – 44% to 35%. In that match-up, nine percent (9%) like another candidate. Twelve percent (12%) are not sure whom they’ll vote for.

Another possible GOP candidate, State Treasurer Dean Martin, is in a virtual tie with Goddard. The Democrat beats Martin 40% to 38%, with 11% opting for some other candidate and another 11% undecided.

Brewer is seen very favorably by just five percent (5%) and very unfavorably by 19%.

For Martin, very favorables total nine percent (9%) and very unfavorables five percent (5%).

Goddard, who also served as mayor of Phoenix, is regarded very favorably by 15% and very unfavorably by 14%.

At this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with a strong opinion more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers.

Arizona is one of the hardest hit states in the country budgetwise, and just 39% of voters now approve of Brewer’s performance as governor. Only four percent (4%) strongly approve. Fifty-seven percent (57%) disapprove of the job she is doing, with 24% who strongly disapprove.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) say economic conditions in Arizona are getting worse. Just 13% say they are getting better, while 22% think they’re staying about the same.

[Click here to read the entire article.]

PR: Len Munsil Endorses Senator John Huppenthal for Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2010

Munsil endorses Huppenthal

PHOENIX – Republican leader Len Munsil today announced his endorsement of State Senator John Huppenthal for Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2010.  Senator Huppenthal, the current Senate Education Chairman, is weighing a potential run for this position.

“Ensuring a quality education for every child has always been an important issue for me, which is why I’m urging Arizona Republicans to support John Huppenthal for Superintendent of Public Instruction,” said Munsil.  “We need change at the Arizona Department of Education, and John Huppenthal is the right conservative leader to deliver that change.”

“Senator Huppenthal has the vision, the experience and the plan to deliver the reforms vital to improving accountability, increasing parental choice in education and boosting academic achievement in Arizona schools,” said Munsil.  “He also has the strength of character, depth of knowledge and intellectual rigor needed to take on the education bureaucracy.”

Munsil is one of Arizona’s most respected conservative leaders.  He was the Republican Party nominee for Governor of Arizona in 2006, winning the Republican primary by a large margin in his first run for public office.

“Len is a conservative leader that Arizona Republicans trust and I’m grateful for his support,” said Huppenthal.  “As a conservative reformer, Len has worked tirelessly for Arizona families and helped pass laws that promote education and improve our quality of life.”

Munsil’s endorsement of Huppenthal follows endorsements from other popular Republican leaders such as Secretary of State Ken Bennett and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Huppenthal is one of Arizona’s leading authorities on education issues.  In addition to being the current Senate Education Chairman, Huppenthal has served for 17 consecutive years on the State House and State Senate education committees.

Huppenthal played a key role in helping create school choice for parents. In 1995, as Senate Education Chairman, his legislation took the caps off charter schools.  This legislation moved Arizona to first in the nation in school choice (ALEC rankings).

During Huppenthal’s legislative career he successfully developed and passed over 200 bills – the most of any legislator in Arizona history.

Huppenthal is speaking to audiences statewide to assess public support.  He will make a formal decision about running for Superintendent this coming January.  For additional information, please call Senator John Huppenthal at (480) 330-3215 or visit www.JohnHuppenthal.com.  Senator Huppenthal is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/huppenthal.

###

Arizona Taxpayer Action Committee Watching Legislative Votes

There’s an article in The Arizona Capitol Times this morning about a pair of political committees will be employed to “corral votes” as the budget process moves forward.

One PAC the Arizona Capitol Times failed to mention was the Arizona Taxpayer’s Action Committee, an independent PAC associated with the former Arizona Federation of Taxpayers – now known as the Arizona Chapter of Americans for Prosperity. ATAC has been especially vigilant of the votes being made by the current Legislature and will be weighing those votes as part of its endorsement process in 2010.

This PAC will carry tremendous weight as an independent PAC and because it has been closely allied with independent taxpayer advocacy organizations. As the 2010 election cycle continues to progress, watch for ATAC to play an important role in returning the State of Arizona to fiscal responsibility by working to elect solid taxpayer advocates.

Jonathan Paton – CD-8?

Jonathan PatonA few days ago, I mentioned to look out for more political shakeups in two other high profile races.

Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag as the Arizona Republic’s Political Insider broke the story today that State Senator Jonathan Paton is heavily weighing jumping into the CD-8 race against four other political newbies in an effort to unseat Democrat, Gabrielle Giffords. (Yes, Jonathan did call me.)

Paton’s entry into the race would certainly ratchet up the odds as Giffords could face off against a political known who has proven an ability to raise money.

Should Paton decide to run, he would need to form an exploratory committee likety-split and quickly transition to a full committee after January 1st since he is subject to Arizona’s “Resign to Run” law.

As I already mentioned, don’t be surprised to see new entries into races like CD-8. We are rapidly approaching a timeframe when potential candidates begin to surface in response to political donors who may not be impressed with campaigns or candidates who launched early in the election cycle. I sense this is what’s happening in CD-8 and may prompt other high profile candidates to jump in elsewhere like CD-5.

A Man with a Gun!! In Arizona its all good… we can open carry loaded

by Larkin Rose with all credit for an excellent piece of work, originally posted on freedomsphoenix.  Good food for thought on this lovely weekend.

A recent story regarding an “open carry” movement in California (of all places) gives a very telling glimpse into the mentality of the general public, and the state mercenaries (“police”).

Here’s the link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYWz7BEEg1k

The actual substance of the story would be laughably mundane if people weren’t so indoctrinated. The “story” was: “Some people are carrying firearms, and not doing bad stuff with them, and they’re allowed to!” How brain-washed does a populace have to be for that to be “news”? What will the headline say the next day? “Man with axe chops up firewood!; no charges filed.”

Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad the open-carry folk are bringing the issue up; it’s just pathetic that the country has sunk so low (with California in the lead) that it’s even necessary. But what is interesting about the story is the mentality of the general public, and the cops, in California. For example, the news story plays a clip of what I assume was a 911 call, where someone reports a guy (brace yourself, this is scary) sitting around a Starbucks wearing a firearm. Oh, the horror! (The caller, demonstrating either profound ignorance of firearms, or her x-ray vision superpowers, says the semi-auto handgun “appears to be loaded.”)

I admit, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that carrying a firearm is still “legal” (allowed by tyrants) in California as long as the firearm is unloaded, and in plain view. (You can also carry clips and ammo, but they can’t be in or attached to the gun.) The California control freaks also require those carrying firearms to let state mercenaries inspect their firearms at random, without any “probable cause,” to make sure they’re not loaded. (Fourth Amendment? What’s that?)

But again, the “legalities” are less interesting than the mentality displayed in the report. For example, the news narrator explains that nothing brings a cop faster than a report of “a man with a gun.” Oh, horrors! Lock up the women and children! Wait a second … a cop is a “man with a gun”! Is there some reason, when you see one guy with a gun, that you really need to bring over a second one?

Of course, the terror of “a man with a gun” does not, in the minds of the peasantry, include a government mercenary with a gun. What actually scares the peasantry is “a man with a gun who isn’t pretending to be ‘authority‘.” But consider how weird that is. What it boils down to is this: “Oh my gosh, there’s a guy over there with a gun, and he doesn’t think he has the right to rule me!!” Um, isn’t that a good thing? Most Americans have no idea what they should and shouldn’t be scared of.

I’ve seen quite a few people carrying firearms in my lifetime. The only ones who ever invaded my home were “police.” The only ones who ever stole my stuff were “police.” The only ones who ever took me hostage were “police.” And frankly, the only ones whose firearms ever worried me were the “police”–the robots trained to do the bidding of the politicians, forcibly carrying out whatever arbitrary commands the government crooks might decide to make up.

If I heard someone say, “there’s a man with a gun,” my immediate question would be, “And what’s he doing with it?” (Well, my first though might be, “You mean a man with a gun other than me?“) If I heard about “a man with a chain-saw,” or “a man with a crowbar,” I wouldn’t automatically assume they were about to go on a killing spree. So why would anyone assume that of a man with a gun? The simple answer is: indoctrination.

Near the end of the “news” report, a propaganda specialist (“spokesman”) for the California mercenaries (“police”), while admitting that people have a “legal right” (never mind that that is an oxymoron) to carry unloaded firearms openly, said he doesn’t see what it adds to society. Hey, what’s that thing on his hip? Golly gee, it’s a firearm! I wonder what he thinks that “adds to society.”

In short, most state mercenaries today, having devolved deeply into the tyrannical mindset, think they should always outgun the general populace. From their perspective, it’s good for them to always have the ability to kill people, but it’s bad for you to have that ability. (Excuse me, officer, your fascism is showing.)

How sad that the public has been trained to fear those people who have taken on the responsibility to protect themselves and others from the predators of the world. And no, I’m not talking about “law enforcers,” who pretend to be protectors, but are in reality the hired thugs of the biggest gang of predators around.

I was happy, and somewhat surprised, that the news report included a comment from one of the “open carry” advocates, correctly pointing out that the state mercenaries (my word, not his), according to the Supreme Court, have no obligation to protect anyone. That being the case, if I see a guy in a Starbucks with a gun, I’m sitting in his general vicinity. Because, if some bad guy is unlucky enough to pick that time and place to play tough guy, I and the other “man with a gun” will have him outnumbered.

Dowling vindicated in Supervisors’ witchhunt against her

Sandra DowlingEven the liberal Arizona Republic editorial board agreed that the investigation of former County Schools Superintendent, urged by the County Supervisors and initiated by Attorney General Terry Goddard, was groundless. In a stunning defeat for the Supervisors, who hounded Dowling with lawsuits the last couple of years she was in office, fighting to drastically reduce funding to her agency the way they have done to other county agencies and keep it for themselves instead, the court awarded Dowling $25,000 in legal fees.

From yesterday’s editorial:

Compared with what came before – furious claims against Dowling of criminal theft and gross incompetence; declarations by prosecutors that Dowling’s actions in office constituted a “sad and serious breach of trust” – this conclusion is strangely anticlimactic. Surely, it seemed, someone’s head should roll.

At least it will not be the head of Dowling. The former Marine – the woman whose sole “crime” may have been that she was too devoted to the education of homeless kids in Maricopa County – can walk away from these years of conflict with her head held high.

But as the case unfolded, the central charge against Dowling – that she stole $1.8 million from the Pappas schools for homeless children – disintegrated. The crime is that more of us did not see sooner the political vengeance in the eyes of her attackers.

Rumors abound that Dowling is planning on running for County Supervisor against Max Wilson, who currently represents the West Valley.

JD Hayworth for US Senate?

RasPolThis should come as no surprise and I’m willing to bet it’s fueling many a behind-the-scenes discussion on the US Senate race here in Arizona.

According to a recent Rasmussen poll, JD. Hayworth is within two percentage points of John McCain and JD isn’t even running, yet.

One person who could control the dynamics of the US Senate race is former Minuteman, Chris Simcox who is currently polling at four percent. If Simcox were to bow out, and JD decides to get in the race, McCain would be in big trouble. (I’ve been saying for months that John McCain was vulnerable!)

If you listen to JD’s show (at KFYI-550) on a daily basis, you’ll know that JD has been coy lately over his intentions. But I’m willing to bet that he’s going to get real serious in a hurry after seeing these results. We can also assume that Simcox has already being approached and asked to bow out.

This could be the next big shakeup here in Arizona but don’t be surprised to see two other high profile races see a shakeup in the weeks ahead.

Doug Trench Discusses John McCain

YouTube Preview Image

OUCH! That’s gotta leave a mark!

Two press releases today aimed at elected officials who were MIA during the Arizona Legislature’s Special Session. The first one was issued by Senate President Bob Burns:

APB out for missing senator

Senate President Bob Burns issued the following statement:

“The Senate, and subsequently, the House, had to adjourn today before completing the final votes to continue our work on closing the huge budget gap when Sen. Thayer Verschoor failed to appear and did not respond to repeated attempts to contact him.

This state is in crisis and it is very disappointing and frankly embarrassing that one member of our caucus did not have the decency to show up. I left the floor open to give him every opportunity to do the right thing.

We all have to abandon our individual wants and needs to tackle this statewide issue. We are past the point of using individual demands to hold the state hostage.

I am sorry that this happened and I hope this weekend will provide the time and reflection we need to come back on Monday to perform our legislative duties. I hope Sen. Verschoor is part of that.”

And from Gubernatorial candidate, Vernon Parker:

Governor Brewer Goes AWOL.

Leaves on Jet Plane for Junket Rather Than Getting Job Done At Capitol

NOVEMBER 19, 2009. She’s failed to resolve the budget deficit. She refuses to cut her own budget while asking everyone else to sacrifice. She wants a massive tax increase. And now she’s chosen a junket over getting the job done at the State Capitol.

“Governor Brewer is right about one thing: we do need a ‘tough leader for tough times.’ But today’s failure is yet another example why it is not her,” said Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker, who is exploring a run for governor.

Parker collected the maximum amount of seed money allowable for gubernatorial candidates in just 41 days.

Parker had previously called out Brewer for asking Arizonans for an 18 percent increase in the state sales tax yet failing to cut her own office budget.

Parker has presided over budget cuts as Mayor of Paradise Valley. Spending has been reduced by 25 percent while the budget for Mayor and Council has been reduced by 54 percent.

“Republicans will not beat a career politician like Terry Goddard with a failed one from the GOP. We need a fresh voice, new message and someone who can fight on Terry’s turf rather than he on ours,” said Parker.

Parker, 50, is the current mayor of Paradise Valley, Arizona. He has previously served the administrations of George H.W. Bush, George Bush, as an Assistant Secretary for the $90 billion United States Department of Agriculture, small businessman.

Parker has the most compelling life story of any candidate emerging for Governor.

“I truly believe it’s going to take someone who has defied the odds to help Arizona overcoming the odds now facing it. And we can start with a Governor’s Office that believes in shared sacrifice and makes Arizona have faith again in its Governor,” Parker said.

For more information contact Jason Rose or go to www.Parker2010.com.

Republican Professionals Continue Networking with Class

Munger EventScottsdale, Arizona – The Republican Professionals’ November networking event was another great success.  Hosted by the elegant Mondrian Hotel in Old Town Scottsdale, over 125 prominent professionals and politicians gathered to listen to gubernatorial candidate John Munger, as well as to pay tribute to our veterans.

Andy McMillan, the Vice President of Public Relations for RP’s Phoenix chapter and a veteran himself, initiated the tribute to our veterans with a speech, moment of silence, and the sounding of ‘Taps’.  Kathleen Lewis then spoke as both a mother to a soldier fighting in Afghanistan and the founder of Packages from Home.  The mission of Packages from Home is to send care and comfort packages to deployed American military heroes who are stationed in active duty theaters around the world, as well as to facilitate activities that elevate morale of all veterans.  Volunteers and donators can visit www.packagesfromhome.org to find out more.  Republican Professionals raised $100 to donate at the event.

Gubernatorial candidate John Munger energized the crowd as he laid out his plan for prosperity and qualifications to be the next Arizona governor.  Mr. Munger also fielded questions from the audience and honored Veterans Day.  The John Munger campaign website is: www.JohnMunger.com.

A few of the notable guests on Wednesday night included gubernatorial candidate John Munger, congressional candidates (CD-5) Jim Ward and Eric Wnuck, State Senator Jim Waring, candidates for state representative Nicholas Burr and Brenda Barton, and a slew of prominent political consultants: Bert Coleman, Tom Dalton, Kyle Moyer and Constantin Querard.  Be sure to visit www.phxrp.com in the coming days to learn the latest about Republican Professionals of Phoenix and to keep updated on next month’s free networking event to be held Thursday, December 3.  David Schweikert, candidate for United States Congress, will be the featured speaker.

The purpose of Republican Professionals is to increase the participation of Republicans in the political process, further the goals of the Republican Party, and bring Republicans together so that they may network, volunteer, organize and communicate with fellow professionals.

Casting Sunshine on Solar Costs for the Average Homeowner

We’d heard so much great publicity about the new affordability of solar power we got a solar installer to give us an estimate during August this year.  Arizona’s sunshine seemed just too abundant to let go to waste.  Our house is roughly 3,000 sq feet, including a small, unfinished basement, so it’s a very typical, average sized residence.

The estimate for solarizing our house was $60,000.   We had to rub our eyes before reading  it again;  sixty thousand dollars and the word, “affordable,” didn’t naturally go together.    Plus, because of trees next to the house, we would need to set aside a piece of ground on the property the equivalent of the footprint of an ample  guest house to place the solar array.    Neighboring houses of the equivalent square footage have been on the market for $120,000, still unsold for two years, down from initial offers of over $200,000, $250,000 and $300,000.   How can anyone justify an outlay of $60,000 for house that might eventually sell for $110 – 100,000 or even LESS, when houses aren’t selling, and jobs are disappearing?

To further expose the problem, even with “sell-back electricity” sugar plum assurances, it’ll take far more than a decade to recover the cost thru “savings” – about the time the aged batteries will need to be completely replaced and well-advanced towards the end of the useful life of the solar panels, and the entire battery-panel combo also will have additional costs to be maintained and serviced, plus a weekly added chore to be kept clean of DUST – which in our Arizona region is pervasive.    And APS still will bill a fee because once on the grid, one stays on the grid, even if one isn’t using it.

If it was truly cost-effective, people would already be solarized without being forced to.  If it BECOMES truly cost-effective, not falsely thru subsidies, which don’t make anything cheaper, just shift costs around, people would be lined up to convert right over to it.   But it’s not, and it won’t be anytime soon.

How about a partial conversion?
$8,000 up front to solarize JUST the WATER HEATER.

What’s going to happen when people living hand-to-mouth in $120,000 homes are hit with higher electrical bills because they DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY to shell out $60 GRAND to convert their homes?   Or as the hopeful installer said, “It ends up to be only about $25,000 after tax rebates.” What? “Only?”

No one gets the tax rebate until the money’s been paid out.  Who is going to be able to get any energy loan approved when they can hardly meet their current obligations of mortgage, utilities and other monthly expenses, like … food?  Who is going to dare to stretch their shaky finances to take on more debt?   Scofflaws do it all the time, but more people who are more responsible than that will not add debt they think they cannot repay.

Solar rebates are ultimately funded through taxes, today’s reality is a shrinking tax base as people lose their jobs, so the government demands MORE money through higher taxes, a vicious cycle of increasing debt burdens on a public increasingly unable to pay.  Callously, the government, to force inefficient solar, is pushing punitive higher energy costs that the utility companies pass on to the consumer – people will be punished on both sides of the energy equation.   The sunny rhetoric for “sustainability” is eclipsed by unsustainable real-life costs.

Hold Onto Your Wallet or Buy Solarpanels Now

New EU-US energy council to be set up early November

According to the EUObserver in a recent article:

The EU and the US will set up a joint energy council at ministerial and commissioner level to streamline policy initiatives relating to green technologies, research and energy security on both sides of the Atlantic, a US official told this website.

As soon as I hear that ministers and the kommisars from the US and EU are getting together to harmonize energy policy, I know what that means: hold onto my wallet.

“Energy is an important foreign policy priority for the US and a very important component of our bilateral relationship with the EU. We wanted to have a form of engagement with the Europeans to reflect that and to raise it to the policy level, to the cabinet level,” the US official said in a phone interview, under condition of anonymity…

However, it was released that the US will be represented by none other than (drumroll), Hillary Clinton.

We know the goal of Cap and Trade, Copenhagen and now this is heading in one direction: higher taxes for Joe SixPack, US citizen.  Get ready for energy price increases on the order of 20% over today before the end of Obama’s first term as well as at least a 20% increase in taxes on your energy uses.

Hey, why not take advantage of the solar industry subsidies passed by our conservative legislature?  Buy your solar panels now.  I hear even Phil Gordon is pawning some.

Is Konopnicki polling in CD1 or LD5?

Several readers have alerted us to a telephone poll that asks people their opinions on a hypothetical matchup between State Rep. Bill Konopnicki and Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick. It then goes on for a while about the state’s budget before asking who the callers would favor in a hypothetical matchup between Konopnicki and State Senator Sylvia Allen. If true, it sounds like Konopnicki is still trying to decide which race to run.

Capitol observers think that his left-of-center fiscal voting record is a better fit for a general election in CD1 than a primary election in LD5, noting that former Congressman Rick Renzi had a conservative voting record on social issues while bringing home the pork to the district.  By comparison, Allen has already beaten Konopnicki among party insiders when she got appointed to fill the late Senator Jake Flake’s seat, and she out-polled Konopnicki in the 2008 primaries, getting 10,205 votes to his 9,375 votes, in spite of his significantly longer service.

‘Reverse The Vote’ Will Help GOP in CD-8

Reverse The Vote!

Recently, we mentioned the website “Harry Mitchell Watch” and how that site is keeping a watchful eye on Congressman Harry Mitchell.

Now, thanks to the brilliance of radio talk-show host, Hugh Hewitt, a new political action committee called Reverse the Vote Victory Committee has launched utilizing new media to help conservative candidates across the country. The new website is called “Reverse the Vote.”

This site will specifically raise money to help the winners of Republican Primaries in 24 districts where a Democrat is vulnerable. Guess what congressional district in Arizona is being targeted? That’s right CD-8!

Here’s how this will work. The site will raise money nationwide under the theme of reversing the vote. Once the Primary Election takes place in 2010, whoever emerges victorious from the Primary on the Republican ticket will be the recipient of a divided pot of money.

What is your role? First, get out and help your favorite CD-8 candidate. There are already three Republicans running in CD-8. Next, give generously to this effort so that our CD-8 winner can get a larger share of the money raised.

Why is this important? Because in 2008, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee pumped over a $375,000 dollars into the 2008 General Election to buoy Gabrielle Giffords up by tearing down Tim Bee.

It was a real travesty that the DCCC spent that amount of money to attack a good Republican candidate in order to shore up a substandard Democratic candidate.

Don’t expect the DCCC to bail out Gabrielle again in 2010. Other “more important” Democrats need the DCCC money and Gabby ain’t one of them. Besides, the DCCC is having difficulty raising money this time around (You wonder why).

Head on over to ReversetheVote.org and make your donation today.

And don’t forget about the other great conservative Republican candidates running for Congress here in Arizona!