40 Abortions Per Week
June 17, 2011 By 3 Comments
40 Abortions Per Week
Phoenix Magazine’s current edition portrays a glowing image of Valley abortionist Gabrielle Goodrick, who claims to perform, on average, 40 abortions per week. The article reads like a Planned Parenthood ad: dehumanizing the preborn and completely ignoring the considerable physical and emotional risks women face when they have an abortion.
Shane Wikfors at Sonoran Alliance blog this week wrote about what is also noticeably missing from the article. In February, Goodrick was placed on five years probation by the Arizona Medical Board. The Board said she reported she “may have a substance abuse problem,” and the Board’s Physician Health Program Contractor determined that Ms. Goodrick was “not safe to practice” and recommended “that she attend a chemical dependency evaluation.”
While not surprising, the lack of journalistic integrity is astounding. Once again, when all the facts are included, one cannot paint a sunny picture of Arizona’s abortion industry. I encourage you to pray for Goodrick and those entering her clinic. The facts are that abortion has tragic, life-altering consequences for all involved.
Leading a Family
Dad’s make a difference in our lives. They play a critical role in providing a loving, secure environment for families. A Heritage Foundation brief shows the importance for families of having a dad around:
- Fathers’ engagement in their children’s activities is linked to higher academic performance.
- Among adolescent boys, those who receive more parenting from their fathers are less likely to exhibit anti-social and delinquent behavior.
- Among adolescent girls, those who have a strong relationship with their fathers are less likely to report experiencing depression.
Today, a new group of children, though, may never know their fathers. Jennifer Lahl, the executive producer of Eggsploitation, is producing a new film, Anonymous Father’s Day. The film tells the story of children conceived through sperm donation who will most likely never know their fathers and how this has impacted their lives. Click here to watch the trailer, and visit AnonymousUs.com to hear some of these stories. Also be sure to thank and love on your dad this Father’s Day! Most likely, I’ll be watching the U.S. Open with my dad and my husband.
Eye-Opening
We screened Eggsploitation twice this week – at Arizona Christian University and for a joint House and Senate Health Committee. Eggsploitation tells how the retrieval of human eggs to create embryos through in vitro fertilization carries significant health risks for women, to say nothing of the potential harm to embryos. Most who see the movie – from legislators to college-age women – say the movie is eye-opening. Click here for a copy of CAP’s overview of the issue.
If you missed the screening, and would like to see Eggsploitation, you can purchase the DVD from CAP for $17 plus $3 shipping and handling. Also, if you’re interested in hosting a screening for your church, class, or small group, we can help. Email info@azpolicy.org or call the CAP office, 602.424.2525.
None of Arizona’s “Free Money” Being Spent by Other States in Wake of Extended Benefits Session
June 17, 2011 By 5 Comments
By Farrell Quinlan
The Arizona Legislature’s recently concluded special session on extending unemployment benefits revealed a number of misconceptions, misunderstandings and misrepresentations on how America’s and Arizona’s unemployment insurance systems work. Because unemployment benefits are governed by the weaving of complex federal and state laws that are designed to reflect certain principles of insurance and federalism, it is no surprise that the news media, elected officials, business owners and the general public were confused and developed certain assumptions that are untrue.
Two of the most broadly held but incorrectly understood aspects of triggering unemployment benefits in addition to the 72 weeks of regular state and federal emergency unemployment benefits are 1) who’s paying for the benefits and 2) who’s getting that money now that Arizona has forgone extending benefits.
There’s NO Free Money
Private-sector employers in Arizona pay 100 percent of all unemployment benefits regardless if the benefits are paid from state or federal accounts. Public-sector or government unemployment benefit liabilities are paid on a pay-as-you-go basis and do not contribute to net balances in the corpuses of the various state and federal unemployment insurance trust funds. Businesses are responsible for funding the state and federal accounts from which regular and extended benefits are paid. When the federal government “covers” extended benefits, the money is taken directly from an account that is 100 percent funded by the federal unemployment tax paid by private-sector employers.
That’s not just rhetoric from a small business advocate. According to latest UI Outlook report from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Unemployment Insurance, Division of Fiscal and Actuarial Services:
Heavy borrowing from the Federal Unemployment Account (FUA) is projected to continue over the next few years. The aggregate loan balance is projected to increase from $40.2 billion at the end of FY 2010 to a peak end-of-year balance of $68.3 billion in FY 2013. Up to 40 states are projected to borrow… Due to the high volume of state loans and increased [extended benefit] payments, FUA and EUCA [the Extended Unemployment Compensation Account] are projected to borrow $26.7 billion from the general fund in FY 2011 and an additional $19.4 billion in FY 2012. The general fund advances must be repaid with interest. Neither account is projected to return to a net positive balance by 2016. [Emphasis added]
Those FUA and EUCA accounts are 100 percent funded by the federal unemployment tax paid by private-sector employers (currently $56 per year per employee). The general fund “advances” are only significant in providing the necessary liquidity to pay these extended benefits. They do not “cover” the cost with “free money” or money paid for by employees through their federal income taxes. These accounts are incurring massive negative balances that the U.S. Department of Labor says must be covered by future federal unemployment tax receipts—and with interest!
No Other State Gets “Arizona’s Money”
The second biggest misunderstanding commonly repeated during the extended benefits debate was the idea that some other workers in some other state would be getting the benefits that Arizona is not accessing. Our unemployment insurance system is not set up like 2009’s federal stimulus program that committed the U.S. Treasury to spend a fixed amount of money and spread it around to those states participating. Instead, extended unemployment benefits are paid based on a state’s underlying unemployment insurance structure and limits. By Arizona not extending benefits beyond 72 weeks, the federal accounts providing liquidity will not accrue more negative balances that must be repaid with interest through taxes on private-sector employers. Moreover, Arizona saved the federal government from needing to add to the $14.3 trillion national debt to loan cash to the FUA and EUCA accounts to cover extended benefits past 72 weeks.
The debate over the extension of unemployment benefits is an important one requiring the careful and considered judgment of our elected representatives in Congress and state legislatures. But that debate must not be distorted by erroneous information and the misreading of fundamental facts. Arizonans out-of-work through no fault of their own and the private-sector businesses responsible to pay taxes to fund unemployment benefits deserve a full and fair debate based on the truth, not misrepresentations.
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Farrell Quinlan is state director for the National Federation of Independent Business which has 7,500 small business members in Arizona.
Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman Statement on the Decision Not to Seek Re-Election
June 17, 2011 By 2 Comments
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 17, 2011
CONTACT: Jason Rose
(Tempe, AZ) – The City of Tempe has done very well in the last seven years despite two recessions, one mild and one that deserves the term “the Great Recession.” Tempe’s fiscal house is in good order, our employees have met the challenges of doing more with less, and our leadership is forward-thinking, proactive and conservative in planning, but also aggressive in pursuing and capturing new opportunities. Our current condition, community character and quality of life are the envy of the State and much of the Country. With future opportunities of which we are nearly perfectly positioned to take advantage, Tempe is a community poised to reach an even brighter future.
Despite all that we have done and continue to do, our community, Tempe, is a captive of the leadership that now rules the direction and future of our Great State of Arizona. As hard as we might work to address every challenge presented to Tempe, we are limited in the results Tempe can achieve because of the limitations of vision and ability of many who are dictating our State’s direction. In the coming years, I will continue to commit myself to address the State’s need for leadership and to assist those who demonstrate a capacity and vision to build on the greatness of this State and its people.
Further, I have committed myself for the next year to continue addressing the issues facing Tempe that only can be addressed by working regionally. Tempe’s access to a fair share of federal dollars for roads and highways currently is at significant risk due to the arcane and bizarre federal rules governing air quality, and yet this challenge only can be met through the regional work conducted by the Maricopa Association of Governments, of which I currently am Vice Chair and for which I will provide service as Chairman for the next year. Beyond such “formal” work, the economic development of Tempe is inextricably tied to the successes and failures of Phoenix, certainly, but perhaps more, to the opportunities and challenges faced by our fellow East Valley cities. Success in these, and other, regional efforts are essential to Tempe’s future success. These efforts will take significant time and effort on behalf of Tempe.
We also are approaching the time for an election of a citizen who will provide the leadership for our community as Mayor, as well as an election of three others to serve on this Tempe Council. Such an election should encourage the full discussion of policy and capacities of those who seek to govern on behalf of the residents of this Great Arizona City. Further, with my parents’ principles and ethics as my guide, I also believe that these positions of trust should not be considered any form of “birthright” or be too long held. As we observe in far too many examples, longevity breeds arrogance, and arrogance breeds corruption. In such light, and with the knowledge that Tempe is well placed for the future, understanding the constraints imposed on directing important regional work while also seeking election, and recognizing that the future of our City and State may compel me to offer leadership in a broader capacity, I believe it appropriate now to apprise our community of my resolution that I will not seek reelection as Mayor of Tempe.
This has been a difficult decision to make, but I make this decision with my great thanks, love and affection, first to my wife and family for accepting the burdens of my service, and then to the great staff members of Tempe and all of my many friends and supporters who have provided such full encouragement and assistance during my years in elected office and other service to this community that, cumulatively, exceeds two decades. Our successes have been as a result of great effort by many, and for any failures I hope our community will forgive me my limitations. I remain grateful for the opportunity to have been of some service to our community.
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Flake Praises Passage of Amendment Preventing Payment to Brazilian Cotton Farmers
June 16, 2011 By 9 Comments
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 16, 2011
CONTACT: Genevieve Frye Rozansky
Congressman Flake Praises Passage of Amendment to Prevent Payment to Brazilian Cotton Farmers
First Step toward Much-Needed Reform of U.S. Cotton Subsidy Programs
Washington, D.C. – Republican Congressman Jeff Flake, who represents Arizona’s Sixth District, today praised the passage of an amendment he offered with Congressman Ron Kind of Wisconsin to the Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture Appropriations bill (H.R. 2112). The amendment prohibits funds in the bill from being used to pay Brazil cotton growers $143.7 million this year for “technical assistance and capacity building.” The payment is a result of an agreement reached between the United States and Brazil after the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled in 2002 that U.S. farm subsidies for our domestic cotton industry were inconsistent our WTO international trade obligations.
“Even by congressional standards, this funding doesn’t pass the laugh test,” said Flake. “The solution to extravagant subsidies to U.S. cotton growers shouldn’t be U.S. subsidies to Brazilian cotton growers. Eliminating this funding is a good first step in forcing Congress to pass much-needed reforms of our cotton subsidy programs.”
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Maricopa Community Colleges: Flush with cash and hungry for more
June 16, 2011 By 6 Comments
by Jonathan Butcher
Goldwater Institute
Pop quiz: what institution has 460 employees making over $100,000 per year, 38 of whom received raises of $10,000 or more between 2008 and 2010? Maricopa County residents should know, they paid for it—and now they are paying even more.
The giant sucking sound you hear is from the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD), one of the nation’s largest—and arguably most bloated—community college districts. While Arizona has lost over 300,000 jobs since 2007, the MCCCD has turned requests for property tax and tuition increases into an annual event. College leadership has requested property tax increases each year since 2005, while requesting tuition increases in six of the past seven years.
On Tuesday, by a 4 to 1 vote, MCCCD’s governing board approved a 3 percent hike to county residents’ primary property tax bill, bringing the total college tax bill for a $100,000 home to over $120.
As student enrollment has climbed steadily in the past decade, the college district’s spending has exploded. This year total spending hit $1.6 billion, reports Goldwater Institute investigative journalist Mark Flatten. Flatten’s latest, “Schooled in Obstruction: Maricopa Community College Staff Blocks Cost-Cutting Reforms while Pushing Tax and Tuition Hikes,” reports how Chancellor Rufus Glasper’s leadership has turned MCCCD into a serious financial drain on county residents.
“I have found no policies that specifically limit the Chancellor’s authority” over personnel decisions, wrote Glasper in an email uncovered by Flatten. “Staffing is a means not an end, and means are my prerogative.” Someone should ask what the “ends” are, and who is responsible for them, because the average completion rate for full-time students in the Maricopa system is 19 percent, below even the disturbingly low national average of 21 percent.
County residents should not fund MCCCD’s bloat any longer. The MCCCD board should pass a multi-year moratorium on any tax increases, and Arizona legislators should explore ways to break the district into smaller, independent community colleges to promote competition and more efficient use of tax dollars.
Jonathan Butcher is education director for the Goldwater Institute.
Learn More:
Goldwater Institute: Maricopa County Community College District Calls for Tax and Tuition Increases while Blocking Cost-Cutting Reforms
Goldwater Institute: Schooled in Obstruction: Maricopa Community College Staff Blocks Cost-Cutting Reforms While Pushing Tax and Tuition Hikes
Goldwater Institute: Maricopa County Community College District hurting businesses and students
Janet Contreras: Let’s Take Back Phoenix in 2011!
June 15, 2011 By
Our Tucson and Phoenix City Council candidates could use your help. Here is an opportunity to help Janet Contreras in the Phoenix Council race.
Did you know?
We are electing FIVE city council seats and a Mayor in Phoenix THIS YEAR? Yes, in August of 2011, one of the most important city elections in quite a long time will be held. This election could change the entire mindset of the Phoenix City Council in ONE election. We need a conservative majority, and we can take it in this election if we all work together.
This is from the city council meeting Wednesday:
Sal DiCiccio needs some more conservative voices on the council to get the city budget in line. With five conservative new council seats, the mayor’s chair, and Sal DiCiccio, we could have SEVEN conservative votes out of nine on the council! January starts the negotiations for new city employee contracts going forward. Who do you want at the table representing YOU, the taxpayer? Janet Contreras or Michael Nowakowski?
Our Arizona "Leadership" standing against Arizona with the unions, the federal government and Al Sharpton. (Left to right in Orange Los Suns jerserys: Mary Rose Wilcox, Al Sharpton, Michael Nowakowski)
Let’s take Phoenix back in 2011!
Phoenix is in far more financial trouble than the citizens are being told. Blame is irrelevant at this point. These issues must be addressed now, and the majority of the current council refuses to do so. The mindset is that when tax revenues fall short of their spending sprees, they will just tax us more and raise our water rates more and stop services to citizens more. It never occurs to them that they are “administration” heavy or that union demands are not reasonable. Labor costs are 90% of the city budget now. What happens when the 14,000+ city employees start retiring, we continue to pay and provide health care for them, and we still have to operate the city? The numbers do not add up!
We are facing a $59M 2013 budget deficit that they are refusing to address, but had no problem applying the $28.5M collected in food taxes to city employee pay raises. We are in deep, deep financial trouble, and it is time to take our city out of the hands of liberals and union thugs.
I need the support of all of the people who supported my congressional campaign last year against Ed Pastor to defeat Mike Nowakowski and his union-backed support in this election. I hope I can count on you for a donation, to put out a yard sign (if you live in the district) and/or to help make phone calls to other conservative voters to let them know the crucial importance of voting in this election.
Mike Nowakowski was elected with only 5,207 votes. He will have much stronger support from the unions this time around. There are 19,000 registered Republican voters in this district, and I need every one of them to vote for Janet Contreras, along with as many Independents as we can reach. Won’t you please help me reach them?
A donation of $5, $10, $25 is extremely helpful if all will contribute something. Your support is greatly appreciated!
Janet Contreras, Candidate
Phoenix City Council, Dist. 7
www.vote4janet.com
janet@theotherjanet.com
Paid for by Contreras for Arizona.
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If you are a conservative candidate running for office and want to place an ad on Sonoran Alliance, please contact us at sonoranallianceads@gmail.com.
Public School Funding – Understanding the Tangled Web
June 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 15, 2011
CONTACT: Karen Schutte
Chris Ackerley to be Featured Speaker at Public Seminar Sponsored by Rep. Terri Proud and Educating AZ Right
Tucson, AZ (June 15, 2011) — State Representative Terri Proud and Educating AZ Right are pleased to announce the first in a series of public seminars on “Public School Funding in Arizona – Understanding the Tangled Web” on Thursday, at 6:00 pm, June 23, 2011 at the Metro Water Building, 6265 North La Canada Rd., Tucson, AZ.
The featured speaker will be Chris Ackerley, a physics teacher at Amphi High School, Vice-President of the Amphitheater Education Association, and a Member of the Board of Directors for Arizona Education Association. Although a complex subject, this seminar will be geared for parents and the general public to increase their understanding of where and how public school funding is being used.
Educating AZ Right is a non-partisan, non-profit group founded by Representative Proud to enhance K through 12 public education with extracurricular activities through a team of leaders and concerned citizens working in partnership along with educators to bring about greatness in our schools. Educating AZ Right sponsors events and forums that encourage the creation and exchange of ideas and resources focused on improving Southern Arizona’s educational system.
“Some would say that if we ‘invested more money in education’ or had smaller class sizes, all our problems would vanish.” “Not so,” according to Rep. Terri Proud. “California tried it, with nothing to show for their enormous investments but a bigger state debt. There are school districts with less funding and greater academic gains, so it is not simply an issue of funding. We need to understand how our money is being spent before we can comment it’s all about more money.”
This seminar is intended to answer many of the questions the public has raised on funding in our public schools. Don’t miss this opportunity to improve your understanding of this complex subject.
For more information on this seminar, or future events, go to http://www.EducatingAZRight.com
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Arizona’s OpenBooks Reveals More than Just Spending
June 15, 2011 By 1 Comment
Two years ago, almost $1.5 billion of Arizona’s total spending was classified under a category called “Other Miscellaneous Operating.” That is, around 5 percent of Arizona’s spending was classified into a meaningless category that should never amount to more than a pittance. “Other Miscellaneous Operating” is meaningless to a manager, it’s meaningless to a taxpayer, and it’s meaningless to a member of the legislature. Last year, another $1.5 billion of spending was classified under “Other Miscellaneous Operating.”
So far this year, only $28.4 million in spending is classified under “Other Miscellaneous Operating.” It’s now suddenly closer to the pittance it should be compared to the state’s total spending.
Why the big difference? State comptroller Clark Partridge says state spending is now classified into more meaningful categories, some of them new. What prompted the change? Agency accountants found out their books would be open to the public through a transparency website (openbooks.az.gov) launched in January, a result of legislation championed by the Goldwater Institute.
While this change is wonderful, it does highlight some disturbing questions. How do state managers manage when they don’t know how money is being spent? Why didn’t they care before the transparency website went live? When they say they need more money, how do they know?
Transparency reveals more than how and where taxpayer money is spent. It also reveals how government operates. The next step is to understand what government agencies really accomplish and get an accurate picture of their performance.
Dr. Byron Schlomach is the director of the Goldwater Institute’s Center for Economic Prosperity.
Learn More:
Goldwater Institute: Piercing the Fog: A Call for Greater Transparency in State and Local Government
Arizona Department of Administration: Openbooks.az.gov
Texas Public Policy Foundation: Demanding Performance: Outcome and Efficiency Measures
CNBC: “Congress Is Taking Debt Ceiling Seriously: Rep. Schweikert”
June 15, 2011 By 2 Comments
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 15, 2011
CONTACT: Rachel Semmel
The U.S. Congress will not wait for the country’s debt crisis to reach the levels of Southern Europe, David Schweikert, a Republican congressman and part of the bipartisan commission on budget told CNBC on Tuesday.
In Washington DC, Republicans and Democrats are debating on where and how to cut US budget and on whether or not the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling should be raised. The clock is ticking as the deadline for negotiations is set on August 2nd, 2010.
“This is kind of the dance of legislation,” Schweikert said. “What we’re asking the president and the Senate, and obviously our representatives to do, is something that almost has never been done before. And that’s actually cut spending and do what’s absolutely necessary to save us from this avalanche of debt that this country is dealing with,” he said.
Congress is finally taking the debt issue seriously, Schweikert explained, as it doesn’t want to wait until the situation is as bad as it is in Portugal, or even Greece, whose debt rating has been lowered to a CCC grade — the lowest in the world — by Standard and Poor’s.
“It is crucial that we telegraph to the world and to our own markets that this Congress is deadly serious on bending the debt curve,” Schweikert said. “When you look at the demographics in this country, the curve gets much, much worse over the following decade,” he added.
But which spending sector should be prioritized, as well as what room is there for coupons, will be questions the commission needs to tackle.
“I understand it was a negotiating technique, that ‘the hair is on fire’, ‘the world is coming to an end,’ ‘Congress must just go out and do a clean debt ceiling’,” Schweikert added, “but a clean debt ceiling as a first wanted, would, I believe, have been a bad, bad thing, because how do you tell the world we’re taking our debt seriously but now for Treasury to say ‘oh, we get this cash flow, but we can’t prioritize it to our coupons.’ It’s just borderline silly.”
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Shining some light on the darkness of abortion in Arizona
June 14, 2011 By 6 Comments
Update on this post as of June 16th: Several of our readers brought to our attention that in February, the Arizona Board of Medical Examiners conducted an investigation of Goodrick and released its findings in a document available online here. According to BOMEX’s Findings of Facts, Goodrick, “reported to Board Staff that she had taken Fentanyl from her office for her personal use and that she may have a substance abuse problem.” The Board’s Physician Health Program Contractor also “determined that Respondent [Goodrick] was not safe to practice due to her health issues and recommended that she attend a chemical dependency evaluation.” BOMEX then place Goodrick on probation for five years.
I remained stunned that Phoenix Magazine would still publish this article!
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My wife picked up the latest issue of Phoenix Magazine today and was shocked to read a disturbing and disgusting puff piece on a local Phoenix abortionist. The article is entitled “The Provider” and it is hitting mailboxes today.
The abortionist, Gabrielle Goodrick, proudly and readily admits that she performs about 40 abortions a week. That’s over 2,000 babies a year!
The article even mentions several pieces of pro-life legislation that were recently passed and signed by Governor Jan Brewer including legislation that prohibits abortions based on race and sex.
I’m not going to take the time to repost the entire article but you can view a copy of the images below.
Phoenix Magazine and Jessica Testa, the author of this article, ought to be ashamed for glorifying and presenting this practice in such a positive manner.
As a board member of a local crisis pregnancy center, we have to pick up the pieces for women who go through an abortion. Many of them carry the tragic burden of an abortion the rest of their lives. We have to help them try to heal after undergoing an abortion.
According to CamelbackFamilyPlanning.com, the website for Goodrick’s practice, she charges the following for the abortions she conducts:
Doing the math on performing 2,000 abortions at the rate of $460 (the cheapest rate at 5-11.6 weeks), Goodrick is paid around $920,000 a year! I guess you could say that Gabrielle Goodrick is really “making a killing” doing abortions here in Arizona.
NFIB: Consumer Spending Remains Weak; Small-Business Optimism Dips a Little Lower
June 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Cynthia Magnuson 202-314-2036 (media)
Holly Wade 202-314-2022 (research)
WASHINGTON, June 14, 2011 – For the third consecutive month, NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index fell. While the drop was slight—0.3 points, with the index settling at 90.9 in May—the index makes clear that optimism is moving in the wrong direction: a recession-level reading for an economy fighting its way through a recovery. A leading cause of the low reading is the stubborn problem of weak consumer spending, which is especially problematic for services, a sector dominated by small businesses.
“Corporate profits may be at a record high, but businesses on Main Street are still scraping by,” said NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Washington is throwing misdirected policies at the problem, offering tax breaks for hiring and equipment investment, but acting surprised when they don’t bear any fruit. The failure to understand why small-business owners are not hiring or investing has resulted in a set of policies that have not been very effective, and Main Street is suffering. The icing on the cake: the growing debt, large deficits, threats of higher taxes, regulations being spewed out by state and local administrations, and the uncertainty of the new health care law—is it any wonder that optimism is down?”
For the third month running, several key economic indicators continued their downward tumble. Job market indicators continued to deteriorate, anticipating very weak job creation and a higher unemployment rate. Capital spending plans and inventory investment plans all weakened and remain at recession levels. Inflation continues to rise, a notable business concern for owners who are raising their own prices at the fastest pace seen in years. And driving the economic uncertainty, one in four owners still report weak sales as their top business problem (followed by taxes and regulations and red tape, only 3 percent cite financing).
Some other highlights of May’s Optimism Index include:
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For small firms, the average employment change was +0.01 employees (per firm) over the past three months, or virtually zero. Twelve percent (seasonally adjusted) reported unfilled job openings, down 2 points and a clear signal that unemployment rates will rise. Over the next three months, 13 percent plan to increase employment (down 3 points from April, down 5 points from March), and 8 percent plan to reduce their workforce (up 2 points), yielding a seasonally adjusted net negative 1 percent of owners planning to create new jobs.
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Only 5 percent of the owners view the current period as a good time to expand; of those who view it as a bad time to expand, 71 percent of those blame the weak economy, and 14 percent cite political uncertainty. The net percent of owners expecting better business conditions in six months was a negative 5 percent, 15 percentage points lower than January.
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Capital spending remains historically low in spite of very low interest rates and all sorts of expensing incentives. Fifty percent of firms reported making capital expenditures over the past six months, and the percent of owners planning capital outlays in the next 3 to 6 months fell 1 point to 20 percent, a recession level reading.
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Sales are down; the net percent of all owners (seasonally adjusted) reporting higher nominal sales over the past three months lost 4 percentage points, falling to a net negative 9 percent, with more firms with sales trending down than up. Unadjusted, 23 percent of all owners reported higher sales (last three months compared to prior three months, up 1 point) while 36 percent reported lower sales (unchanged). The net percent of owners expecting higher real sales fell 2 points to a net 3 percent of all owners (seasonally adjusted), 10 points below January’s reading.
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The seasonally adjusted net percent of owners raising average selling prices reached 15 percent, up 3 points. Thirty-one percent reported raising average selling prices which is twice the percent of owners who are cutting prices, suggesting that average price levels will be rising, or inflation.
Today’s report is based on the responses of 733 randomly sampled small businesses in NFIB’s membership, surveyed throughout the month of May. Download the complete study at http://www.nfib.com/sbetindex.
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NFIB’s Small Business Economic Trends is a monthly survey of small-business owners’ plans and opinions. Decision makers at the federal, state and local levels actively monitor these reports, ensuring that the voice of small business is heard. The NFIB Research Foundation conducts some of the most comprehensive research of small-business issues in the nation. The National Federation of Independent Business is the nation’s leading small-business association. A nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 1943, NFIB represents the consensus views of its members in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals.
Defending the right to a secret ballot and Arizona’s constitution
June 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
by Clint Bolick
Goldwater Institute
Last year, voters in Arizona approved Proposition 113, a state constitutional amendment drafted by the Goldwater Institute to protect every worker’s right to a secret-ballot vote if they are asked to join a union. Voters in South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah also added this protection to their state constitutions last year, and more states are signing up this year.
But the National Labor Relations Board wants to take that protection away, and it has filed a federal lawsuit to strike down Prop. 113. The Goldwater Institute had pledged to defend this law and the right to vote by secret ballot if it was challenged, and I am happy to report that we are fulfilling that promise. The Institute has gone to federal court on behalf of dozens of individuals – construction workers, nurses, and teachers – to stop the NLRB and keep this important protection in place for workers in Arizona and any state that passes this law.
The right to a secret ballot is one of the most sacred principles of American democracy. But that right is under attack by an out-of-control federal agency that would expose workers to coercion or intimidation when they are trying to decide if they should join a union.
The NLRB under President Barack Obama is quickly becoming a rogue agency. It has taken action to prevent Boeing from opening a new facility in South Carolina, claiming the airplane manufacturer is retaliating against unions. If a company can’t choose where to locate a facility, it has lost its economic freedom. And if workers can’t voluntarily choose whether to form a union, they have lost their freedom of association.
The Goldwater Institute will continue to stand up for the rights of all workers threatened by the actions of the NLRB.
Clint Bolick is director of the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation.
Learn More:
Goldwater Institute: National Labor Relations Board v. State of Arizona
Goldwater Institute: Feds threaten to sue over card check
Arizona Daily Star: Arizona sued over amendment on secret ballot for unionization
Tonight on the Alexander & Goldman Show: Bankruptcy attorneys discuss bankruptcies, mortgages and foreclosures
June 11, 2011 By
Tonight from 6-7pm on the Alexander & Goldman Show we will talk to bankruptcy attorneys Dennis Riccio and Bill Ponath about bankruptcies, mortgages and foreclosures. There is no longer much of a stigma associated with bankruptcy, the Obama administration has destroyed the middle class to such an extent that average Americans are filing for bankruptcy in droves. There are so many people filing for bankruptcy I have opened up my own Alexander Bankruptcy Law Firm. Should you short sell? What should you do about your mortgage if you can no longer afford your home and everyone on your street is foreclosing? When should you file for bankruptcy? What are the pros and cons to filing bankruptcy?
Last week’s show with the North Phoenix Tea Party leader Wes Harris discussing wasteful spending at the City of Phoenix is archived here.
Please call in at 602.508.0960 and let us know your thoughts. Tune in locally to KKNT 960 AM or listen live online at KKNT960.com, which you can access by clicking here. Watch the ustream live at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/alexander-and-goldman-show. Click here to get weekly email updates on our upcoming shows.
Be sure to stay tuned in to the show afterwards from 7-8pm for the Arizona Latino Republican Association’s ALRA Airwaves. Stay tuned afterwards for ALRA On the Air, they have a terrific show lined up from 7-8pm with Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio discussing the Phoenix food tax and Senator Sylvia Tenney Allen talking about the Wallow fire. Is an environmentalist wacko to blame?
Prior to our show check out the Tim Horn show from 5-6pm for more conservative talk.
Wendy Rogers responds to David Schapira
June 10, 2011 By 42 Comments
In case you missed it, The East Valley Tribune ran a guest opinion by State Senate Minority Leader David Schapira on Tuesday. We won’t retread that article here but we will provide some space for the woman who should have been elected to that seat.
David Schapira is 100% Wrong
By Wendy Rogers
David Schapira, D-Tempe is 100% wrong.
I’ve owned an actual bricks-and-mortar business of 10 employees for 14 years. Employers like me pay 100% of unemployment insurance taxes in Arizona, not Schapira’s mythical employees “paying into the system”.
Unemployment insurance is an insurance product where experience ratings determine my business’s relative tax versus other employers’ taxes. The more my former employees draw Unemployment, the higher my set-aside rates are. Employers never see that money again, regardless of how well we take care of our employees. Moreover, employers like me pay Unemployment to both Arizona (dedicated toward the first 26 weeks of benefits) and the federal government. Combined – Arizona and the feds charge employers more than 3% on the first $7,000 of pay for each of their employees.
It’s true, extended benefits currently are being paid from the fed’s general fund – which these days means more debt; but how that debt is reimbursed is still “our problem” as businesses and taxpayers. We don’t differentiate between a dollar taken as federal tax vis-a-vis state tax as the governor and legislators do. They seem to think if it doesn’t come out of state funds; it must be free, right?
Bottom Line: Keeping Arizonans on Unemployment prolongs the ill effects and adversity of our sick market. It aggravates job recovery by spiraling down a deepening debt which makes recovery even more uncertain.
David Schapira should recognize who’s really paying for these benefits instead of making specious claims about pots of “free money”.
Arizona’s Roe v Wade?
June 10, 2011 By 2 Comments
Arizona’s Roe v Wade?
On Tuesday, the CAP policy team will attend the Arizona Court of Appeals hearing on the 2009 Abortion Consent Act in Planned Parenthood v Horne. This case could decide if there is a greater right to an abortion in the Arizona Constitution than in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v Wade decision.
The Abortion Consent Act, which was signed by Governor Brewer but challenged in court soon after, includes provisions to:
- Ensure that a parent’s signature authorizing an abortion for their minor daughter be notarized before the abortion can happen.
- Provide women with greater informed consent protections.
- Protect health care professionals from being forced to perform abortions if they have sincerely held moral or religious pro-life beliefs.
Guarantee that non-doctors cannot perform surgical abortions.
Follow me on Twitter or CAP on Twitter and Facebook to get up-to-the-moment updates from the hearing. Please be in prayer for a favorable outcome.
The Eggsploitation of Women
There are just a handful of seats for Monday night’s screening of Eggsploitation at Arizona Christian University at 7:00 p.m. Immediately following the screening there will be a panel discussion with some of the nation’s leading experts on egg donation:
- Jennifer Lahl, Executive Producer of Eggsploitation and President of the Center for Bioethics and Culture.
- Nik Nikas, President and General Counsel of the Bioethics Defense Fund.
- Brett Harvey, Senior Legal Counsel for Alliance Defense Fund.
Deborah Sheasby, CAP’s Legal Counsel, and I will also be on the panel. To guarantee your seat you must RSVP. We won’t be able to take walk-ups and you won’t want to miss this unique event!
Elections are Closer Than You Think!
Election season is right around the corner – and I’m not talking about the Presidential primary. Throughout Arizona, city elections will be held in August and November. CAP is currently working on compiling a City Voter Guide for Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma, and Prescott, and will post the responses at azvoterguide.com.
But first things first: You have to be registered to vote! June 26 and July 3 are Voter Registration Sundays, and we have plenty of Voter Registration Kits to help you start your drive at your church.
CAP Policy Intern, Michal Ann Morrison, wrote a blog post this week about how just a few votes have made the difference in some very important elections. Check it out; then order your Voter Registration kit here.