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Local Businessman, Robert Graham, Announces Run for AZ GOP Chairman

September 19, 2012 by 20 Comments

PHOENIX, Ariz. (September 19, 2012) – Today, local businessman Robert S. Graham announced his intention to run for State Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party.

With the presidential and critical local elections just seven weeks away, Graham feels his leadership would be beneficial to bringing solidarity and fresh strategies to the Party as well as electing Republican leaders across the state.

“My Arizona political experience, coupled with my successful business experience, serves as the foundation of what I bring to the role of the chairman: a blend of traditional party values with focused messaging and fresh strategies,” Graham said.

If elected, Graham pledges:

  • To passionately defend our Party’s ideals and values.
  • To bring cohesion and cooperation to advance the cause of liberty.
  • A professionally managed Party with a strong, respected media presence.
  • Contribute to strong Republican victories in elections on all levels across Arizona.
  • Establish education and training on GOP issues via a series of web-based tools.
  • To become a well-funded, well-organized Party.
  • With your input, to design and implement strategies for success.
  • Ear-to-the-ground, strong, passionate leadership.
  • To respect the grassroots conservatives and Tea Party members who have infused our Party with energy and recommitment to conservative ideals.

Graham has served as Precinct Committeeman and State Committeeman along with taking an active political role in successful campaigns locally and across the nation.

For more information about Robert Graham or to view his video announcement, visit www.grahamforarizona.com

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About Robert S. Graham

Robert S. Graham is President and CEO of RG Capital, responsible for the company’s financial advisory, investment banking/consulting and corporate development business. He brings more than fourteen years of experience in domestic and international strategic, financial, marketing, corporate development and operational management. Additionally, he has profitably managed three operating companies and three venture start-ups.

Graham is the author of Job Killers: The American Dream in Reverse. Job Killers highlights the negative impact modern labor unions are having on today’s economy and American jobs. http://www.jobkillers.com

Graham is a member of the Arizona GOP Leadership Council which serves to support and foster leadership, vision and the growth of the Arizona Republican Party. Graham is also a Life member of the National Rifle Association.

Graham has lived in Arizona for eighteen years. He and his wife, Julia, reside in Phoenix with their five children. Graham and his family are active members of their church and local community. The Grahams have helped support and several local and international charities through their church and directly such as Catholic Charities, New Beginnings Women Shelter, My Sister’s Place, Saint Mary’s Food Bank, Special Olympics and Healing Hands for Haiti, among others.

Filed Under: Arizona Politics, Campaigns & Elections, Political Parties, Press Release Tagged With: , ,

Sewers vs. Sports Arenas

September 19, 2012 by 1 Comment

By Stephen Slivinski, Goldwater Institute

When government issues debt, you probably think it’s paying for the construction of a highway or water and sewer improvements – the sort of things that we usually expect government to provide.

For almost a quarter of state and local government debt in Arizona, however, the bonds pay for projects that directly benefit private interests instead of the public at large. And none of this debt is subject to the constitutional debt limits, nor did voters approve much of it.

The city of Glendale, Ariz. is a prime example of what can happen when government is not bound by constitutional debt limits. Over 40 percent of Glendale’s current long-term debt load ($475 million out of just over $1.12 billion in debt) goes to finance the hockey arena, the Cardinals stadium, hotel and retail centers, and subsidies to retail giant Cabelas. Glendale has used financing methods that keep its debt outside of the debt limits in the state constitution.

Repayment of the bonds is premised on the revenue that these projects are expected to generate from, say, well-attended hockey games or highly popular retail centers. But if that revenue never materializes, as has happened often, someone else will have to pay the bonds. Taxpayers are the likely target.

One way to protect the public’s money from special debt-financed subsidies to private interests is to put an overall cap on all government debt and to subject all local debt issuance to voter approval. These steps would require elected officials to make the case to voters that a bond to give subsidies to a sports team or a big retail corporation is more important than keeping open some of their bonding capacity for things like sewer improvements or public safety. When the trade-offs are so explicit, it’s unlikely that voters will approve letting local governments abuse their power to issue debt.

Stephen Slivinski is a senior economist at the Goldwater Institute.

Learn More:

Goldwater Institute: Cutting up the Credit Cards: Seven Ideas to Reform the Culture of Debt in State and Local Government

Goldwater Institute: Debt and Taxes: Arizona Taxpayers on Hook for $66 Billion Tab Run Up by State, Local Governments

City of Glendale: Debt Management Plan

Filed Under: City Government, Debt, Economic Development, Economics Tagged With: