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.
H/T to Greg over at Espresso Pundit for finding this video. As Greg mentions, this is a great example of new media done quickly at very low cost. Expect more of these to make the rounds. In the meantime, I want to make sure it gets some online time with our readers.
SADDLEBROOKE, AZ. Jesse Kelly won the first 2010 Congressional District 8 GOP primary debate. Hundreds of Republican voters gathered on the evening of Wednesday, January 6th in SaddleBrooke, Arizona, home to the largest Republican club in America.
Jesse won over the audience with a mix of specific facts and bold enthusiasm for taking back District 8 in November. Click on the link below to watch a 2 minute segment of Jesse discussing the economy and national defense.
Jesse Kelly is a candidate for Arizona’s Eighth Congressional District in the southeastern region of the state. For more information on the Jesse Kelly campaign please visit VoteJesseKelly.com. You can contact campaign manager Bret Summers at (520) 237-9056 or bret.summers@votejessekelly.com
Another Gubernatorial Announcement…
To: News Director
From: Matthew Jette: Candidate for Arizona Governor 2010
Matt@govjette.com
Date January 4, 2010
RE: Press Release to Announce the Republican Candidacy of Matthew Jette for Arizona Governor 2010
No name, no money, no experience: No Matter! I am Matt Jette and I am running for Arizona Governor.
I have been asked why run for Governor when the odds are greatly stacked against me and my response is simple. If we merely do that which we already know we can do, then we will never know what we are truly capable of doing. For example, I have studied American politics and public policy at the highest level, helped begin a non-profit organization, biked across the country, and became a community hero because I was provided an opportunity to rise time and time again after falling.
I humbly admit I do not carry with me the name, money, experience, or associations as others in this campaign. However, I have, in just one day, like most, learned that those with such privileges have little noted nor have they done much to provide real solutions to restore an ailing economy, offered real reform to resolve the immigration dilemma, provided real wisdom with which to approach a failing education system, nor had the desire to provide each resident in Arizona an opportunity to succeed. I do not promise solutions based on the interests these individuals. I promise instead solutions birthed from the ideals and principles found in the traditions of this great country.
It is quite correct to expect a press release to include in it personal information about the candidate in question. But the question we first must ask ourselves is not who I am. Rather, the primary aim is to find what we aspire to be and how best to reach that end. My story is not told by words alone, but by the scars I carry with me. I have overcome illnesses, dyslexia, and economic despair and, as a result I can, with that experience, help lead the great state of Arizona out of its current difficulties.
I am thankful for this opportunity and your time. I hope you desire and are willing to become a catalyst for a new campaign. Please visit my website and I look forward to talking with you soon.
Sincerely,
Candidate for Arizona Governor 2010
Requests meeting of open and honest dialogue in the best interest for the state.
PHOENIX, AZ – January 7, 2010 – After receiving numerous letters from supporters, Mayor Vernon Parker wrote a letter to Bryan Howard, President/CEO of Planned Parenthood Arizona opposing Jan Brewer attending the home of a prominent Planned Parenthood leader and requesting a meeting for open, honest dialog in the best interests for Arizona. The text of the letter follows:
Bryan Howard
5651 N. 7th St.
Phoenix, AZ 85014
Dear Mr. Howard:
I write to you today to let you know that I have been in contact and have agreed to meet with members of Planned Parenthood in case you can make it. This meeting is to discuss why I strongly opposed Jan Brewer attending a fundraising event held at the home of a prominent Planned Parenthood leader.
As you are aware, I have received many letters from supporters of Planned Parenthood. They all say basically the same thing. Most letters make the case that Planned Parenthood provides needed health services to low-income women and that abortion-related services are a fraction of the overall work of Planned Parenthood. That may in fact be the case.
As I noted in my press release (enclosed), many of my supporters are pro-choice. However, I can never support your organization’s position on abortions. And, worse yet, I cannot support an organization that lobbies the legislature and courts on behalf of one of the most gruesome procedures imaginable, partial birth abortion.
Planned Parenthood has consistently lobbied against middle-of-the-road reform such as parental consent, parental notification, informed consent and a waiting period. By any reasonable standard, Planned Parenthood is far outside the mainstream of public opinion on all these issues.
I strongly believe that life begins at conception. I can’t compromise that deeply held personal value.
My press release strongly encouraged Jan Brewer to cancel the fundraiser because she was sending mixed messages. As someone who is pro-life, I would not knowingly attend a fundraiser at a home of someone who played such a prominent leadership role with your organization.
I will coordinate a time with the group that has contacted me. While our differences on these critical issues will not be resolved by meeting, I believe open and honest dialogue is in the best interests of everyone.
Sincerely,
Vernon Parker
For more information go to www.Parker2010.com.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 7, 2010
Scottsdale, Ariz. (January 7, 2010) – Robert S. Graham knows the fastest route to economic recovery is through free market principles. His experience as a business leader has provided him with the understanding that cutting taxes and reducing burdens placed on Arizona citizens and small businesses are the keys to stimulating job creation. These jobs are critical to economic growth. Robert Graham released another video today to forward his efforts in telling Arizonans what he is focused on in 2010. The latest production displays Graham’s focus on conservative fiscal policy.
The video can be found on Graham’s website, www.GrahamforArizona.com. The site also features Graham’s ongoing series of videos highlighting his stance on state and national policy. As someone who has been creating jobs in the state for nearly two decades, Graham knows exactly what Arizona needs to get back on track financially.
“In times like these, how can we expect everyday Arizonans to tighten their budgets if their own government refuses to do so? Arizona needs to be a state that is favorable to businesses big and small. I want an economic climate where people can find employment and businesses can create jobs. That must be the first step towards recovery.”
During the past two decades, Graham has been focused on building and running his successful investment banking consulting, and private wealth management firm, RG Capital. As a business entrepreneur, Graham has worked with and educated thousands of individuals and organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies to private clients. Graham is an expert at taxation, innovation, entrepreneurialism, globalization, capital markets and tax efficiencies.
Graham’s fundamentally strong and simple platform is built on three key issues: the economy, education and secure borders. For more information on Robert S. Graham, please visit www.grahamforarizona.com.
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It’s been a pretty rough start to 2010 for Randy Pullen.
On Monday, the Arizona Guardian revealed that the Arizona Republican Party failed to disclose $50,000 it had received on November 24 from the Republican National Committee in its most recent campaign finance report to the Federal Election Commission.
Chairman Pullen, Treasurer of the Republican National Committee and a certified public accountant himself, had no comment. Neither did Timothy Lee, Treasurer of the Arizona Republican Party.
And now today another devastating bombshell: tens of thousands of dollars of debt owed by the Arizona Republican Party was not disclosed in its 2009 campaign finance filings as is required by law. According to the Guardian, an additional $50,000 was owed to Strategic Fundraising, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based call center that specializes in “telefundraising services”. Guess Pullen didn’t think he got his money’s worth:
The latest FEC filings show the party has had a tough time raising money. Heading into the last month of 2009, the party had about $49,000 in operating cash. That’s more than their Democratic rivals, who were left with about $4,000 cash on hand, but still well below prior years.
When asked about the unpaid bill, Pullen remained unbowed. As reported by Dennis Welch, he said the obligation was recorded but would not say where or why it doesn’t show up on its federal filings. Additionally, Pullen noted that an “overall report” produced each year accounted for the debt, but Pullen would not identify the document or say if it was publicly available.
It’s time for some answers. If Chairman Pullen and Treasurer Lee continue to refuse to provide these secret reports to the AZGOP membership voluntarily, then the grassroots must demand a full, fair and independent audit of the Party’s finances. It is far too important an election year for Republicans to stand by silently.
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From the Arizona Republic
Attorney Dennis Wilenchik was at the center of several political firestorms in 2007, all of them tied to Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas.
Consequently, he was the subject of four complaints made to the State Bar of Arizona, the quasi-governmental agency that licenses and regulates lawyers in this state. Bar complaints can result in sanctions against lawyers, including suspension from practice and revocation of the attorney’s license.
And although the reasons for the complaints made headlines, the complaints all quietly went away in the past six months.
“It’s a very difficult process to have to wait on, but of course I feel incredibly vindicated,” Wilenchik said Wednesday. “There was never anything there.”
But as state Bar counsel David Sandweiss pointed out in one of the dismissal letters, the matters at hand were “contentious and high profile.”
• In October 2007, Wilenchik was sent by Thomas to confront a Superior Court judge over bail for undocumented immigrants accused of serious crimes. In open court, Wilenchik called Judge Timothy Ryan “a danger to public safety” and asked him to step down from all cases involving Thomas’ office.
• Wilenchik was the special prosecutor appointed by Thomas to prosecute the owners of the Phoenix New Times newspaper. The owners were arrested in November 2007 for a story they published about their own case. Thomas dropped the charges after public outcry. Two complaints arose out of the case. One item of contention was that Wilenchik was accused of trying to improperly contact the judge hearing the case.
• And earlier that same year, Wilenchik engaged in a bitter fight with the Pima County Attorney’s Office over a reported $30 million in money seized from a purported illegal gambling operation. Wilenchik managed to wrench the case and the money back to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s and County Attorney’s Offices.
But all of those issues earned him complaints to the state Bar of Arizona.
Bar complaints are not matters of public record until they have been investigated and acted upon, a process that can take years.
In three letters written in June, July and November 2009, the Bar accepted Wilenchik’s explanations of his actions (though it did not memorialize those explanations) or stated that it could not prove that Wilenchik had committed ethical violations. But the Bar left him with words of caution about his behavior, saying that the claims had “provoked a robust debate” among the committee members who considered the complaints.
Wilenchik’s reponse: “I was representing my client. That’s what lawyers do.”
by Clint Bolick
Goldwater Institute
The health care bills passed by the U.S. House and Senate are so complex, convoluted, and Ponzi-like, they could only have been conceived by Bernie Madoff. Along with the devil that lies in the bills’ details lurk serious constitutional issues.
Foremost, Congress lacks constitutional authority to regulate commerce in a way that would compel individuals to purchase government-approved health insurance. If Arizonans pass the Health Care Freedom Act this November, our state constitution will expressly protect our citizens against such a mandate as well as penalties for noncompliance, it also will present serious federalism issues when the mandate becomes effective in 2014.
Likewise, various features of the bills “commandeer” the states to perform various actions as if they were mere functionaries of the federal government, in likely violation of state sovereignty protections under the 10th and 11th Amendments.
Some of the special deals embodied in the bills–such as Nebraska’s exemption from added Medicaid costs, included in the Senate bill to procure Sen. Ben Nelson’s vote–may raise equal protection concerns as well.
Governor Jan Brewer asked Attorney General Terry Goddard to join other state attorneys general in considering a legal challenge to the exemption. Though he called the provision “ill-conceived,” Goddard declined to examine its legality because it has not yet passed. That’s too bad considering that threat of a legal challenge by a Democrat Attorney General could influence the debate over reconciliation of the two versions of the health care bill.
Even if the Attorney General decides to abrogate his duty to defend the state against unconstitutional actions by the federal government, the Goldwater Institute stands prepared to defend state sovereignty and the rights of Arizonans.
Clint Bolick is director of the Goldwater Institute Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation.
