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Scottsdale Taxpayer Events

February 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Arizonans for Prosperity

February 25, 2010

Dear Scottsdale/CD5 Taxpayer:

Three upcoming taxpayer events are listed below. Be sure to check out the picture of our gigantic inflatable ATM machine, which we will deploy in front of Scottsdale City Hall for the rally against the Bed Tax on Tuesday afternoon, March 2:

http://www.americansforprosperity.org/022510-three-big-taxpayer-events-scottsdale

(ATM stands for “Already Taxed to the Max.” The message of our upcoming statewide ATM campaign is that politicians should stop treating taxpayers like an ATM machine whenever they get short on cash.)

If that link doesn’t work for you, just go to www.aztaxpayers.org and scroll down under What’s New until you see the photo.

Event Type: Tea Party Protest
Topic: HONKING for Health Care Freedom
City: Scottsdale
Date: Saturday, February 27
Time: 1:00 to 3:00 pm
Host(s): Scottsdale Tea Party Patriots
Location: Harry Mitchell District Office, Camelback and Scottsdale Road, SE corner.
Ideological Orientation of Host(s): Patriotic/Free-Market/ Conservative/Libertarian/Constitutionalist
Contact/Sign Ideas: Judy Hoelscher, judy@shadowlakes.com
More Info: http://www.meetup.com/Scottsdale-Tea-Party/calendar/12706997/ Keep calling Congressman Mitchell! His Scottsdale number is 480-946-2411. DC number: 202-225-2190.

Here is a video from our last Honking event, in Flagstaff:
http://www.americansforprosperity.org/021710-video-honking-health-care-freedom-flagstaff

Event Type: Rally Against the Prop 200 Bed Tax
City: Scottsdale
Date: Tuesday, March 2
Time: 4:30 to 5:30 pm
Host(s): AFP Arizona, Scottsdale Tea Party Patriots, Stop the Tax – NO on 200
Ideological Orientation of Host(s): Patriotic/Free-Market/ Conservative/Libertarian/Constitutionalist
More info on the Bed Tax: http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/article/4423
Media Inquiries: Ryan O’Daniel, (480) 941-0781, Tom Jenney, (602) 478-0146
Protest Info: Among other fun things, AFP Arizona will deploy its giant ATM machine, to make the point that the people of Scottsdale are Already Taxed to the Max. We are encouraging the people of Scottsdale to vote NO on the Prop 200 Bed Tax.

Event Type: Tea Party Meeting
Topic(s): Defending American Freedom
City: Scottsdale
Date: Tuesday, March 2
Time: 5:15 to 7:30 pm
Host(s): Scottsdale Tea Party Patriots
Location: Arabian Trail Library, 10187 E. McDowell Mountain Ranch Road, 85255
Ideological Orientation of Host(s): Patriotic/Free-Market/ Conservative/Libertarian/Constitutionalist
Contact: Honey Marques, h.marquesz@cox.net, (808) 283-3661
More Info: http://www.meetup.com/Scottsdale-Tea-Party/calendar/12374001
More statewide taxpayer events are posted at www.aztaxpayers.org. Scroll down to the top items under What’s New.

For Liberty,

–Tom
Tom Jenney
Arizona Director
Americans for Prosperity
(Arizona Federation of Taxpayers)
www.aztaxpayers.org
tjenney@afphq.org
(602) 478-0146

Filed Under: City Government, Freedom of Speech, Protests, Special Event, Spending, Taxation

NFIB Poll: Arizona small business owners rejecting Proposition 100

February 25, 2010 By 6 Comments

[Ran across this press released today and now the Arizona Guardian is reporting that Sen. Thayer Vershoor has formed the "Axe The Tax - No on 100" committee to fight Jan Brewer's signature policy priority... apparently the Arizona GOP Governor Primary has been advanced to Tuesday, May 18th.  MBW]

Seven in 10 entrepreneurs saying ‘No’ to 1¢ sales tax increase

PHOENIX, Ariz., Feb. 25, 2010 – Results from a special poll of Arizona small business owners released today by their leading representative association show 71 percent of them voting ‘No’ on Proposition 100, the May 18 ballot referendum seeking a three-year, 1¢ increase in the state sales tax.

“The response to this special survey of our members on Proposition 100 came back fast and emphatic,” said Farrell Quinlan, Arizona state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, Arizona’s and America’s leading small business association. “NFIB/Arizona is actively exploring how our organization and members can be most effective in the campaign to defeat Proposition 100. Small business owners’ opposition to increasing the sales tax is overwhelming and their voice will be heard during the statewide debate over raising our taxes.”

Unique among most associations, NFIB bases its legislative lobbying positions and political action solely on what its members tell it, through regular balloting, are the issues vital to their survival as small business owners. The special ballot on Proposition 100 was faxed and e-mailed February 17-19.

“In conversations I’ve had with many of our members, there seems to be an over-arching attitude that they spend their daily lives balancing revenues with expenditures so they expect state government to do the same,” said Quinlan. “Arizona is not an under-taxed state. We have the fifth-highest sales-tax burden in the nation. The average Arizonan annually pays $1,440.83 in sales taxes, which is 43 percent above the national average. Add to this income taxes and the new state property tax we all pay and Arizonans are indignant that the state must make do with what it has.”

Should Proposition 100, adding 1-cent to the state sales tax rate for 3 years, be passed into law?

Yes   24.8%
No  70.6%
Undecided  4.6%

NFIB is the nation’s leading small business association, with offices in Washington, D.C. and all 50 state capitals. Founded in 1943 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, NFIB gives small and independent business owners a voice in shaping the public policy issues that affect their business. NFIB’s powerful network of grassroots activists send their views directly to state and federal lawmakers through our unique member-only ballot, thus playing a critical role in supporting America’s free enterprise system. NFIB’s mission is to promote and protect the right of our members to own, operate and grow their businesses. More information is available online at www.NFIB.com/newsroom.

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Polls, Press Release, Taxation Tagged With: , ,

Hayworth Challenges McCain to Series of Debates!

February 25, 2010 By 40 Comments

JD Hayworth for US Senate

For Immediate Release: February 25, 2010

Hayworth Asks For As Many McCain Debates As McCain Asked Of Obama, Conservative Challenger Wants At Least Ten Debates with 24-Year Incumbent

PHOENIX, Ariz. February 25, 2010. Senator John McCain asked for ten debates when he faced Barack Obama in 2008. And conservative U.S. Senate challenger JD Hayworth doesn’t think the people of Arizona deserve less.

At McCain Campaign headquarters in Phoenix on Thursday morning, Hayworth presented an official letter to McCain staff requesting the public debates for Arizona voters. The letter specifies that he wants – at minimum – the amount of debates that McCain asked for in the 2008 campaign.

“Senator McCain has always demonstrated himself to be willing to face off with his opponents in political campaigns. I look forward to a vigorous and respectful series of joint appearances where we can discuss how we view the future of the Republican Party and our country,” said Hayworth.

Hayworth feels that, given the years Senator McCain spent away from Arizona to run for President, he can certainly spend a few days away from Washington to better inform the people of Arizona he represents

“It should not be acceptable to any Republican, indeed any Arizonan, that Senator McCain would debate more in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina than he would before his constituents,” Hayworth said.

“What a welcome change it would be were presidential candidates in our time to treat each other and the people they seek to lead with respect and courtesy as they discussed the great issues of the day, without the empty sound bites and media-filtered exchanges that dominate our elections,” McCain said in a letter to Obama released by McCain’s campaign in June of 2008.

That public letter to Obama asked for the candidates to travel by plane together to the first of ten debates in the spirit of the Goldwater-Kennedy race that never came to fruition.

“The Hayworth campaign encouraged all Arizona and national media to immediately schedule debates with the McCain campaign. They should begin in March,” Hayworth officials said.

Hayworth agrees and is encouraged that McCain has shown a propensity to engage in public discourse with those who disagree with him on key issues. Hayworth and McCain disagree on tax cuts, fighting illegal immigration, pro-life and pro-family issues as well as other key conservative concerns. McCain has also urged such ideas as “Question Time” for the American President.

“My campaign is open to all ideas regarding the format of these important debates including town hall formats,” said Hayworth. “But we won’t settle for anything less for Arizona than Senator McCain asked for America in 2008.”

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Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Press Release

Supreme Court encourages Ninth Circuit to act on matching funds by June 1

February 25, 2010 By 3 Comments

by Nick Dranias
Goldwater Institute
 
The U.S. Supreme Court has sent a strong signal that it will seriously consider intervening if the fate of matching funds in Arizona’s system of publicly funded campaigns is not determined quickly by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In January, U.S. District Court judge Roslyn Silver ruled in favor of the Goldwater Institute and struck down the matching funds portion of Clean Elections, calling it “unconstitutional under the First Amendment.” However, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit voted 2-1 to put Silver’s ruling on hold until it acts on the case.

In response, the Goldwater Institute Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation filed an emergency motion with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy to lift the stay from the Ninth Circuit, arguing the Ninth Circuit “defied” the principles enforced in Citizens United v. FEC by keeping alive the threat of matching funds being handed out to state-funded candidates during Arizona’s 2010 election cycle. Justice Kennedy is the author of the majority opinion in Citizens United, which struck down laws that had prohibited groups of individuals–whether corporations, unions or informal associations–from freely spending their money to express their support or opposition for political candidates.

Last week, Justice Kennedy denied “without prejudice” the Goldwater Institute’s emergency motion after referring it to the full Court for consideration. The referral to the full Court was an unusual act, signaling the possibility that Justice Kennedy considered taking more sweeping action on the case. Instead, the Court decided to give the Ninth Circuit an opportunity to rule on the pending appeals, saying if the Ninth Circuit does not decide the matching funds issue by June 1, 2010, the emergency application can be filed again.

Because the state can start handing out matching funds to taxpayer-funded candidates on June 22, 2010, this shows the Supreme Court wants candidates and their supporters to have reasonable certainty about the rules that will apply to the 2010 statewide elections.

In fact, there is a good chance that the First Amendment will be vindicated before the primary election begins; oral arguments are scheduled before the Ninth Circuit on April 12, 2010.

Nick Dranias holds the Clarence J. and Katherine P. Duncan Chair for Constitutional Government and is Director of the Joseph and Dorothy Donnelly Moller Center for Constitutional Government at the Goldwater Institute.

Filed Under: Campaign Finance, Constitutional Law, Freedom of Speech, Judicial