Secretary of State Ken Bennett files campaign papers

For Immediate Release: May 17, 2010

PHOENIX – Republican Secretary of State Ken Bennett filed nomination petitions today qualifying him for the Aug. 24 primary election ballot.

Bennett and his campaign submitted 10,182 signatures, nearly double the 5,609 required of GOP candidates for statewide office. Bennett, a former president of the State Senate, called the impressive haul representative of his broad base of support among Arizonans of all stripes.

“I’m gratified at the support I’ve received and thankful for the help from my campaign volunteers in gathering these signatures,” Bennett said. “This is an encouraging start to what I’m sure will be a vigorous campaign.”

Tucson-born and Prescott-raised, Bennett now lives with his wife in Gilbert. He is unchallenged in the primary election. Bennett is a fiscal and social conservative with a 25-year record of public service. He has served with the Prescott City Council, State Board of Education, Arizona Charter Schools Board and state Legislature.

Bennett became Secretary of State in January 2009. He is running for a full, four-year term on a platform of ensuring election integrity, improving government transparency and efficiency and reducing red tape to spur job creation.

“The people of Arizona care about results, not rhetoric,” Bennett said. “I look forward to this campaign as an opportunity to tell the citizens what we’ve already accomplished and share our goals for the next four years.”

Glenn Beck: Go JD Hayworth!

Fresh from Glenn Beck’s show this morning:

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ICYMI: John Munger, “A Fearless Advocate, A Courteous Foe”

John Munger, “A Fearless Advocate, A Courteous Foe”

by Jim Kelley
Tucson Citizen
May 14, 2010
I received one third of my previous wish regarding the gubernatorial candidates for Arizona today. I spent two hours talking to John Munger about his plan for Arizona should he win the primary and defeat the Democratic Party nominee and become the governor of our state.

John Munger is a leader of both civic and political organizations on the local, state and national levels.  He has served previously as Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, Chairman of the Pima County Republican Party and was selected as a delegate to the 1984 Republican National Convention, where he cast all 32 votes for President Ronald Regan.

He is a longtime advocate for quality education and has been a passionate supporter of community-based business initiatives.  He has served as president and member of the Arizona Board of Regents, managing billions of dollars and thousands of employees in the university system, which consists of all three state universities.  He was also Chairman of the Board of the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce where he helped to spearhead local business development.

He is a small business owner and an accomplished entrepreneur himself, as a partner in the law firm of Munger Chadwick, P.L.C., where he has been variously listed among the best lawyers in the country, and as co-founder and vice-chairman of Commerce Bank of Arizona.  He holds a B.A. from Stanford University and a J.D. and L.L.M. in international trade and business law from The University of Arizona College of Law, where he served as editor of the law review and graduated with distinction.

He is a military veteran, a horseman; a black belt in Shotokan karate and both speaks and writes in Spanish.  He and his wife, Roseann, have 5 children and 6 grandchildren.  Among his many accolades, he is probably most proud to have been named as Tucson’s “Father of the Year” and as Tucson’s “Man of the Year”.
We began with discussing where Arizona is.

“Our business environment is so overly regulated that any one creating a job is discouraged from moving here or growing what they already have here.  As governor, I would create an ombudsman specifically to usher the companies through the process, a process that presently is long and cumbersome and eats up precious capital while the companies have to wait as each step is approved by the State. I want everything packaged for the regulator to approve or not based on the regulations presently in the codes. The problem is the regulators themselves are not shielded from the political processes and get co-opted into the politics of the regulations instead of just checking off the list, has this been mitigated or not.  We must create more taxpayers not keep raising taxes on those presently propping up the economy.”
We moved into the politics of regulation from there.
“We have to have courage, courage to stand on the moral principles of the free market system.  Our politicians keep compromising those principles to pander to various special interests that are eroding the very foundation of Capitalism. Whether it be pandering to “it’s for the kids” or “go green”.  All of our issues; education, the environment, public safety, transportation; all of the answers are in the free market.  Water can be taken care of with a desalinization plant that is built and can be paid for with usage fees by the largest users of water, and that isn’t domestic household or even industrial use. Combined that is only 25% of our use. Agriculture is our largest water consumers. Putting the burden of solving the problem on households just doesn’t make sense.  We need water to grow more taxpayers.  We could save 20% of the water lost through evaporation on the CAP if we just planted trees and shaded the darn thing.”

“Education needs to be principal based. Decentralizing the districts, making the principal of the school the boss, flipping the classroom dollar from only receiving $2,000 per pupil and the administration receiving the other $5,000 to the classroom receives the $5,000 per pupil spending and the administrations receiving the smaller share.  The only thing districts should be doing is building the school and giving it over to the principal and parents. It will be up to them to spend the money where their needs are.”

“As Governor, I’ll be leading our delegations negotiating with the Governor of Sonora for a port of Arizona in Yuma.  I’ll be leading not by just being a cheerleader but identifying and empowering those people that will get things done. We don’t need more facilitators of PowerPoint presentations; we need people who have created jobs, created wealth, created factories. There are so many organizations in our community and the State that put business in their name but the people running those organizations have never created a job. They know how to write grant proposals to get Federal and State money, but they have never shoveled one spade full of dirt on a jobsite in their life.”

His feeling about the other candidates particularly Governor Brewer is unequivocal.
“The governor has done some good things but mismanaged the messaging. SB1070 should just have been signed like any other bill and move on. She created this Boycott Arizona mess with her need to pander to the right so she can distract us from her career politician mentality with regards to education. Both her and Dean Martin have been in Phoenix a long time and I never saw either of them fight very hard as our states spending went from 6.2 billion in 2002 to almost 9.4 billion just four years later. Spending increased but revenue didn’t. The size of the budget and of the government increased beyond the need and now the nice to have programs won’t go away on their own because the lobbyists are calling them entitlements guaranteed to them.  Proposition 100 does not solve the structural deficit our state is in right now or in 3 years, it is a vain attempt at kicking the can down the road and a huge political mistake for the Governor to hang her hat on it.”

John has an innate sense of confidence in his own skill set at problem solving.
“It’s my name on the door and my bottom in that chair, I’m responsible.”
What calibrates your moral compass?
“Well, first and foremost I wake up with a sense of duty to serve God; I express my gratitude for his amazing grace in my life. In the toughest times, my darkest hours, it has been his grace that saw me through. The song says more about my need for him than anything I can express here. Secondly, my sense of duty and gratitude to my family, my wife Roseann and my children are the reasons I do what I do. After my duty to God, they come first.”

What sustains you during the day?
He arose from the table, walked to his desk and handed me a simple chrome bar with the inscription, “What would you attempt today if you knew you could not fail.”
What is your definition of failure?
I think if I ever damaged my own sense of principle or integrity. That would be a failure. I believe we all have purpose. I have absolute faith that free people will make the right decisions every time.  People in bondage, people who are afraid don’t make moral decisions. The Free Enterprise system is a moral economic system because it is not based on fear of economic insecurity but because it is based on a desire for more freedom.
My spiritual faith is based on freedom from the bondage of fear. Any decision based on duress and deception will be unprincipled, selfish, and fear based. That leads to failure. And when and if you do fail, and there has been failure in my life, GET UP! Nothing scares your enemy more than after they have given you a beating and you get up. The very act of getting up off the floor tends to make who ever smacked you down think twice about smacking you again. Fight so hard that even if you lose, no one will want to fight you again.
Who does John Munger want to be?
I want to be Governor of Arizona. There is a statue in San Francisco California of a lawyer.  His name was Hall Mcallister and under the statue is an inscription “Hall Mcallister, Learned Able Eloquent, A Fearless Advocate, A Courteous Foe.” At the end of the day I hope people see me as an intellectual warrior.
If  you were a cactus what kind of cactus would you be?
A Saguaro, standing proud.

 

Fact-Finding Mission Uncovers Serious Issues along U.S. Border

For Immediate Release: May 17, 2010

PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. (May 17, 2010) – Arizona Congressional Candidate Ed Winkler traveled to the Arizona/Mexico border May 7-8 to conduct a fact-finding mission in the area and meet with Cochise County officials, border patrol officers, members of the local law enforcement, and area residents and ranchers. Winkler’s first-hand experience uncovered several issues with Arizona’s border:

To say that our border is more secure today than ever before is completely bogus. Our government has had 20 years to solve this complex problem, and today Arizonans and Americans are in greater danger from illegal aliens than ever before. I was amazed to see just how easy it is to cross over. If you want to enter the United States illegally, just travel a bit east of Douglas and you can enter – no problem. The surveillance by Border Patrol agents over this stretch was thin at best.

Another thing that I found very disturbing is how organized the trafficking industry is. They are well-armed, dangerous and very good at what they do. They even set-up people as decoys to cross the border for the purpose of distracting the officers, allowing them to be caught so that the traffickers themselves can sneak their more valuable contraband past the Border Patrol.

Residents in Portal, Ariz., a small town 50 miles north of the Chiricahua Mountains can’t even leave their homes unattended for fear of a dangerous home invasion. One resident told me they had experienced four attempted home invasions and had been robbed 15 times. For an American citizen to have to deal with this on a regular basis is completely unacceptable. We have to secure our border once and for all, and offer our constituents the protection and life that they deserve. This will be my main goal if I am elected to the United States House of Representatives.

A complete report of the fact-finding mission is available upon request.

Candidate Ed Winkler is running to replace Congressman John Shadegg’s seat representing the 3rd Congressional District which consists of Phoenix, Paradise Valley, Cave Creek, Carefree, Anthem and New River, Ariz. Fiscal responsibility, enforcing immigration law and a strong foreign policy are top priorities for Winkler’s campaign.

ABOUT ED WINKLER: Ed Winkler was elected to the Paradise Valley Town Council in 1998 and re-elected in 2000 and 2004. In 2006, he was elected as mayor of Paradise Valley. Winkler a small business owner also had a career with IBM for 30 years. He has lived in Paradise Valley since 1982 with his wife, Karen. They have two daughters and four grandchildren.

Witness the Quality of People Supporting Prop. 100

We’ve seen Jan Brewer’s inarticulate admonitions to vote for Prop. 100, we’ve seen Goldwater underscore that there is more fat to be cut from government. Now, we see the quality of individuals who support prop 100 in this video.  According to this story, a benighted ASU student who supports Prop 100 decided free speech isn’t a right to be accorded to those he disagrees with.  The student was caught red-handed tearing down anti-Prop 100 signs by Mr. Brandon Trichel.  According to Mr. Trichel, about 80% of the anti-Prop 100 signs have been torn down by those who want to take more money from you to spend on what they deem your money is best spent on.  It is little wonder the No on Prop. 100 campaign looks disorganized when thugs are tearing down the signs.

I can’t urge voters enough to go to the polls on Tuesday and vote NO on Prop. 100.  The election was purposefully held on an odd date (Tuesday, May 18) and was intended to be the only issue on the ballot so that a low voter turnout and voter disinterest would allow highly organized constituencies to confiscate more of your money so they can waste it.  Teachers unions, school administrators, police unions, fire unions, the brainwashed parents of public school students, local government workers, construction contractors that build schools and their associated trade unions, etc. will all turn out on Tuesday if they haven’t already sent in their early ballots to force those least able to afford higher taxes to pay more for their purchases.  Arizonans should know well that the lottery was supposed to fund education, and we have repeatedly voted for bonds and overrides and we have thrown money at education time and again all to no avail.  No matter how much money we throw at education, greedy administrators and entrenched special interests will ensure Arizona’s students remain at the back of the pack.  It’s time to send state government a loud and clear message that it’s time to trim the fat.

Mr. Trichel, I strongly urge you to press charges against the student.  It will teach him that the First Amendment still means something and it will convince future tyrants who hate liberty and the free exchange of ideas to think twice before trampling on the rights of others.  Would this tool or his ilk have mercy for any anti-Prop 100 individuals who were caught tearing down Yes on Prop. 100 signs?

Eve Nunez: “We need to treat the immigrants that are here humanely.”

Nunez pro-illegal aliens

In the above video, Eve Nunez, candidate for LD 12 Senate, is characterized as opposing SB 1070.  She claims she’s against illegal immigration and that she believes in securing the border. Then she says at 4:22, “[w]e need to treat the immigrants that are here humanely.” She also says that Leviticus 19:33-34 directs that, “[w]e should treat immigrants as we treat our own.”

A point of semantics, but an important point none the less: “Immigrants” are here legally and if an individual is in the U.S. illegally, they are an “illegal alien.” If one believed in deconstruction, the subtext of Ms. Nunez’s quotes is that she believes illegal aliens are legal immigrants. Do the quotes above sound like statements from someone who believes in secured borders and stopping the flow of illegal aliens into the U.S.?

I don’t see how, under SB 1070, law enforcement officers are being inhumane by asking if someone is here illegally if they have no ID AFTER the individual has been stopped for some unrelated offense.

The Left has criticized the U.S. for sending mixed messages, for claiming it wants to stop the flow of illegal, yet it offers benefits at taxpayer expense to illegal aliens. By asserting that the U.S. should coddle illegal aliens, Ms. Nunez is sending those mixed signals. One could conclude that Ms. Nunez’s quotes are exactly what the Left wants to hear: that the mixed signals will continue and the flow of illegal aliens will continue unabated. One could conclude that Ms. Nunez is actually sympathetic to the Left’s hopes.

Ms. Nunez tries to use the Bible to shame citizens into not supporting the enforcement of immigration laws. I ask Ms. Nunez and illegal aliens, “What would Jesus Christ do?” Would Jesus break the laws of a neighboring country and enter illegally? Would Jesus pay a criminal a large sum of money to smuggle him into a foreign country? Would Jesus be a mule for a drug cartel? Would Jesus be unwise and allow coyotes to hold him hostage for ransom? Would Jesus associate with individuals known to be rapists or would he show them the error of their ways? Would Jesus remain in a country illegally? Would Jesus work under the table in contravention of U.S. labor laws? If the law required a work permit, would he work without one? Would Jesus lie to get a drivers’ license? Would Jesus drive without a drivers’ license? Would Jesus acquire a fake ID or Social Security card? If Jesus were going to pay taxes on his illegal labor, would he illegally acquire and use the Social Security number of another or a deceased individual? Would Jesus use an emergency room at U.S. taxpayer expense? Ms. Nunez, is it humane for illegal aliens to cost Arizonans $2 billion a year or are illegal aliens doing economic violence to the taxpayers? Would Jesus sneak his pregnant wife across the border so that his child would be born a U.S. citizen? Would Jesus, as an illegal alien, send his children to public schools at taxpayer expense? Would Jesus loiter on private property hoping to get a job? Would Jesus submit fake documents to an employer to illegally obtain work? I think everyone can see that every illegal alien breaks multiple laws and it is not Christ-like activity. In fact, Jesus Christ, in the New Testament, tells us to, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s.” I think most believers and scholars would agree that the admonition applies to more than just taxes. I’m sure most believers and Bible scholars would agree that being law abiding is the Christian thing to do. Illegal aliens simply aren’t law abiding, yet I don’t see Ms. Nunez asking illegals to return home like Jesus Christ would do. Instead, I hear Ms. Nunez, in contravention of what Jesus Christ would do, saying, “Hey, make illegal aliens comfortable so that not only are more illegal aliens encouraged to come to the U.S., but those already here have no incentive to return home.” In essence, Ms. Nunez is urging us to encourage illegal aliens to remain in the U.S. and continue to break laws.

Let’s also not forget the “Golden Rule”: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Does anyone believe illegal aliens in the U.S. would have their countries invaded by illegal aliens from other countries? Would illegal aliens in the U.S. welcome others to come into their country and break laws repeatedly? Would illegal aliens in the U.S. have others come into their home countries and impose billions of dollars in costs to the government and ultimately them as taxpayers? The truth is that illegal aliens are not doing unto U.S. citizens as they would have others do unto them in their home countries. Would Jesus Christ approve? One could argue that Jesus would stay home and try to change things from within in his home country before illegally seeking opportunity in a foreign country, continuously breaking laws in a foreign land, and leeching off foreign taxpayers.

In the end, Ms. Nunez selectively quotes the Bible to support her position. That is not Biblical. It’s also an example of the trouble with allowing lay worshipers to call themselves “Reverend.”

LD 12, you have a choice in the Senate race. Please, make a wise choice at the ballot box on August 24th.

Angry Citizen at McCain Town Hall

This gentleman is obviously angry and on a crusade to expose John McCain and Bob Barrett over some sort of coverup.

Some great shots of the McCain staffers at work.

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McCain “Transitioning” staff

This appeared on Dan Nowicki’s blog yesterday.

McCain shakes up staff in re-election battle
Sen. John McCain is shuffling his campaign staff as the Arizona Republican’s re-election team readies for an all-out ground fight in his bid for a fifth term. McCain is in a closely watched GOP primary race against former Arizona Congressman J.D. Hayworth.
Campaign manager Shiree Verdone is moving to a 2010 “Republican Victory” operation. Mike Hellon, a former Arizona Republican Party chairman who had a part-time role with the McCain campaign, will join her there.
Brian Rogers, McCain’s campaign spokesman, confirmed the staff changes in a statement to The Arizona Republic:
“As part of the campaign’s plan for this election year, Shiree and Mike are transitioning over to work with party committees to create a ticket-wide Republican Victory operation. At Victory, they’ll work to raise money and organize for the statewide general election, which is vitally important to help Republican candidates win up and down the ballot all across Arizona. Sen. McCain is very grateful for all that Shiree and Mike have done to launch the re-election campaign and establish it on a firm footing, and looks forward to working closely with them for Victory in November.”
Neither Verdone nor Hellon were fired, Rogers said.
More staff announcements are expected next week. The latest developments come as McCain opens his Tucson office Friday and is poised to open other full-time offices in Prescott, Lake Havasu City and Yuma.
McCain’s strategy and decision-making brain trust of longtime advisers Rick Davis, Charlie Black, Mark Salter, Carla Eudy and Mark Buse will remain intact.
===========
Question: Does Randy Pullen and the State Party know that Shiree Verdone and Mike Hellon are coming to work for them as part of the “2010 Republican Victory” operation?

 

Another Danged Parody

And they keep rolling out!

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Arizona Elected Leaders Could Take A Lesson from New Jersey

If only Governor Jan Brewer could take the same approach to cutting spending, cutting taxes and reducing the size of government.

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McCain feeling pressure from the social justice faith community

On May 14, 2010, an emergency delegation of Bishops and prominent religious leaders from Arizona met with Senator John McCain and White House officials to ask for immediate action on comprehensive immigration reform.

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A Danged Hero Lies In You

This will make you all weepy

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Shocking Brewer Verbal Assault Video Should End Her Political Career

I fear for my state.  The video posted below by SoundAdvice is disturbing and very important for every voter to see before the August 24th Arizona Republican gubernatorial primary.  If you know someone who has not yet voted on Prop. 100, please show them this video and have them read the transcript I provide below before the May 18th special election.  This video is guaranteed to motivate the apathetic voter to rally to the “NO on 100” side and show up to cast their ballot in person on Tuesday.  

The Buz Mills campaign, please, carefully and fairly edit this spectacle down to 60 seconds and broadcast it on every Arizona television station.  You have the resources.  As a man who believes he has what it takes to lead us through these terrible economic times, you have a duty to Republicans and to Arizona to ensure Gov. Brewer never again takes the oath of office as Arizona’s governor.  There will be plenty of time to sort out Dean Martin and John Munger.  Expose Brewer now before it’s too late.

When I first watched it, I found the sound in the explosive Brewer Verbal Assault Video a little hard to make out.  So, I decided to create a transcript to clearly reveal the true offensiveness and creepiness of Brewer’s unprofessional and thoroughly inappropriate rant.

Please make sure this video and transcript get wide distribution before Tuesday’s important vote.  I’m honestly unsettled about having that woman in a position of trust and responsibility.  It might be too late to defeat Prop. 100 with all those early ballots already submitted.  But it is not too late to save our state from an over-her-head political flunky who has risen far, far beyond her Peter Principle level.

– MBW

VIDEO:

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TRANSCRIPT:

[The exchange is largely inaudible until Voter holds up a penny in her left hand while Gov. Jan Brewer clutches her on her right side in an awkward embrace]

VOTER: Penny tax, Penny tax!

BREWER: You vote “yes.”

[Voter holds up her hand where “NO on 100” is written in marker on her palm]

VOTER: I voted “no.”  Sorry.

BREWER: Are they your children?

VOTER: These are my kids, yeah!  No, I’m sorry.  You know what? It’s been such a struggle for me.  And if, if there would have been a pay cut for…

BREWER: You know what?

VOTER: If there would have been…

BREWER: Know what?

VOTER: …a pay cut for those fat-cat administrators…

BREWER: Let me tell you something … let me tell you… if you vote “no” it’s going to be more trouble for you because you are going to have uneducated children, you are not going to have any jobs in the state of Arizona and no recovery and who will you have to blame but yourself?

VOTER: You know what I heard?  We can take the money for other programs…

[Brewer repeatedly points her finger or fingers at the chest of the voter throughout the following]

BREWER: That’s not true.  Do you think that Jan Brewer… do you think… do you think that I, whose has never voted for a tax increase in my life, would have done that? Do you think that I, who has stayed up night after night after night, week after week after week, making myself sick – to say we can’t raise taxes, it just can’t make it work?  There is no other way to turn our economy around.  If you say “no” just because you don’t have the facts… and I don’t think you have the facts… if you had the facts, I think you would vote “yes.”  You can’t do that to your children. You can’t do that to yourself and you can’t do that to the state of Arizona.  It’s a one penny tax, temporary, for three years so we can correct the structural deficit.

VOTER: That would be fine with me if, if other people would take a pay cut.  The $41 million in Paradise Valley…

BREWER: Who hasn’t taken… who hasn’t taken a pay cut?

VOTER: I think there needs to be…

BREWER: Who? 

VOTER: There needs to be more…

BREWER: Who?

VOTER: More…

BREWER: Who? Who? Who hasn’t taken a pay cut?

VOTER: I’m sorry.  I’m sorry.  I don’t want to… I’m sorry… [inaudible]

BREWER: I’m just… You know I’m just so concerned because you’ve got your children. I have no… no… I don’t have, but I don’t have children in the schools.

[Fade to disgust]

Complete the “Danged” Fence a la Star Wars

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Unhinged Brewer goes ballistic over Prop. 100!

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Arizona Sheriffs battle over immigration on national media

Santa Cruz Sheriff Antonio Estrada appeared on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow’s show last night. Here is the video from that show.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Meanwhile, Sheriff Joe Arpaio appeared on CNN’s Anderson Cooper. Here is that video.

Romley continues to line up Democrat support

Temporary County Attorney Rick Romley continues to line up support in his quest for the Republican nomination for that office.  But someone needs to tell him that he should probably be lining up Republican support.

It’s a subscription only website, but the Arizona Guardian’s Dennis Welch is doing a great job exposing Romley and how the Dems won’t bother putting someone up because they already have their guy in Romley.

Here’s a gem from Welch: “Democrats say they’re confident interim County Attorney Richard Romley will defeat his more conservative opponents in the primary and represent their interests.”

Of course they’re confident, because Romley has long represented their interests.  He opposes SB 1070 and crackdowns on illegal immigration in general, regularly endorses liberal Democrats, and served as a top staffer to Democrat Attorney General Terry Goddard.

Side note: the article notes how Romley has picked up the endorsement of Terry Goddard’s second in command, Tim Nelson, who says Romley will do a “good job.”  He will do a good job by Nelson’s standards.  Nelson was a failed Democrat candidate for County Attorney (who, surprise surprise, Romley endorsed) and the lawyer for Janet Napolitano during her administration, which did so much damage to Arizona.

It’s not surprising to see Nelson line up with Romley.  But here’s a question: are there any actual REPUBLICANS of any note supporting Romley?  We haven’t heard of one.  If you’re out there, we’d like to hear from you.  We won’t hold our breath.