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Latinos/Hispanics and Republicans

April 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment

By Aaron Borders

I want to start this article with this thought in mind. Republicans don’t need to change their platform to bring in Latinos/ Hispanics to the GOP, they need to get their message to the Latino/ Hispanics people. I base that comment on my MANY conversations with Hispanic and Latino Arizonans. It seems that when I approach a Hispanic or Latino Voter I ask them what they think about the Republican Party. I usually get one of these two answers or both. “Republicans are racist and they hate Latinos/Hispanics”, or I get this,” you’re the first person that’s asked, I don’t even know what the Republicans believe”.

I grew up in a generation that didn’t see race as an issue at all. When I was a boy, Michael Jordan was the biggest basketball star, Tiger Woods was the biggest talent in golf, and Emmitt Smith was the best running back in the NFL. As I got older and I learned more about politics, I learned that Democrats opposed EVERY piece of civil rights legislation that our Congress has passed. Now I know you are reading this and thinking, ‘what do Latinos/ Hispanics have to do with the African- American Civil rights movement?’ Very simple, the same way the Democrats have sucked in the same people they fought to enslave (remember Lincoln was a Republican) and through big Government programs, they have destroyed their culture and family values. This is their plan for the Latino/ Hispanics population as well.

In the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s the African-American people were fighting for their civil rights and liberties. By in large, they were religious folks following Dr. Martin Luther King (Republican) and his quest for equality for his people. The African-American community had tight family bonds and values. ALL they wanted was to get equal pay and equal opportunity. So, with MUCH rejection from the “Dixiecrats” which were a proud group of Democrat segregationist and their supporters that had assumed control of the state Democratic parties in part or in full. They also opposed racial integration and wanted to retain Jim Crow laws and white supremacy. With great pressure from the Civil Rights Movement and the Republicans in Congress, a lot of civil rights legislation was passed into law. President Lyndon B. Johnson only went along because he saw the “voter loyalty” that came with it.

The Democrat Party continues to get the African-American vote solely out of loyalty to a Democratic President who signed Republican Civil Rights bills, they consistently vote against their own interest with blind loyalty. THIS is how African-Americans relate to Latinos/ Hispanics. With the Latinos/ Hispanics, however, it is just getting started. Here are a few examples.

Proposition 8 in California was a great illustration of what I am referring to. The LA Times recorded this, “California’s black and Latino voters, who turned out in droves for Barack Obama, also provided key support in favor of the state’s same-sex marriage ban. Seven in 10 black voters backed a successful ballot measure to overturn the California Supreme Court’s May decision allowing same-sex marriage, according to exit polls for The Associated Press. More than half of Latino voters supported Proposition 8.” It’s Amazing that something that is a core belief issue to African-Americans and Latinos who felt so strongly about same-sex marriage they, “turned out in droves” on an non presidential election year to oppose it, but; blindly voted for a party that openly supports it.

Here is another example, According to a Reuters report, “U.S. Hispanics — traditionally an anti-abortion group influenced by their predominant Roman Catholic faith. A 2007 joint survey by the respected Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and the Pew Hispanic Center shows that 65 % of first-generation U.S. Hispanics believe abortion should be illegal.” However, according to the New York Times, Nationwide Hispanics voted 67% in favor of Obama. Such a solid disconnect. An anti-abortion position is an unwavering position because there is a belief that legalized murder is taking place. Yet once again, the party that openly supports abortion and late term abortion was the party that got the anti-abortion Hispanic/Latino vote. Not to mention President Obama who openly supported infanticide as an Illinois State Senator.

I will give you one more example before I share with you what I feel the Republicans can do to fix this problem.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States increased by 43.7% to 2.3 million, more than twice the national rate of 18% between 2002 and 2007. About 45.8% of all Hispanic-owned businesses were owned by people of Mexican origin. Hispanic-owned businesses generated $345.2 billion in sales in 2007, up 55.5% compared with 2002. The number of Hispanic-owned businesses with receipts of $1 million or more increased 51.6%— from 29,168 to 44,206 businesses between 2002 and 2007.These new data come from the Survey of Business Owners: Hispanic-Owned Businesses: 2007. Once again common reasoning would tell you these folks would vote for Pro-Growth Candidates and support Pro-Small Business policies. Unfortunately as I previously stated, President Obama, who is certainly not Pro-Growth (unless you’re talking about Gov. Regulation) or Pro-Small Business, got 67% of the Hispanic vote.

So what does this all boil down to? I refer to the second comment I get from Hispanics and Latinos when I ask them their thoughts about Republican Party.

First the Democrats have told the lie that Republicans are racist. Republicans know that’s not true but we haven’t adequately reached out to the Hispanic Voters and explained our history of, NOT being racist. The truth is that the Republicans want a secure border. Not only to keep U.S. commerce in the U.S. to grow our economy, but for the security of our Nation. We MUST explain that there is proof that Hezbollah and Hamas have infiltrated the Mexican drug cartels and a dirty bomb from them will not discriminate between Republicans or Democrats. Hispanic and Latino Voters MUST see these lies as a ploy to pit them against Republicans; at the risk of their families’ security.

Second, the Republican Party must work harder to explain their platform to Hispanics and Latinos. I don’t want to discount the work that the Arizona Latino Republican local groups have done, but as a party we must do more. As I have illustrated, there is a huge voter base that agrees with the Conservative Republican platform, they just haven’t been told by us what we believe. The Democrats tell them what we believe and most of the time the Democrats are the only one talking to them. So in essence, they only hear lies about how we are racist, then we don’t reach out to them for their vote, and that further solidifies the lie in their mind.

As a current candidate for the LD-29 Arizona State House, I have been blown away when I speak to Hispanic and Latinos Voters. For some of these folks I am the first Republican that has ever talked to them. Furthermore, when I explain our platform to them they almost ALL look at me confounded and say, “I didn’t even know I was a Republican.”

As Republicans, we had better wake up as a party and invest in our message to the Hispanic and Latino Voters because they are us, they just don’t know it.

Aaron Borders is a Republican candidate for the Arizona Legislature in Legislative District 29. You can find out more about Aaron at his website at www.AaronBorders4AZ.com. You can also follow Aaron on Twitter and Facebook.

Filed Under: Arizona Politics, Campaigns & Elections, Conservatives, Demographics, Guest Opinion, Latinos, Political Parties, Political Science Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Uninsured May Have Better Access to Care than Medicaid Patients, Survey Shows

April 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Reposted from AAPSonline.org

The public relations campaign to support Medicaid expansion frequently uses testimony by patients with serious medical conditions who have lost their private insurance. It is assumed that once they qualify for Medicaid, they will easily get their chemotherapy, hepatitis c treatment, or defibrillator battery replacement.

“The messages talk only about coverage, not care,” states Jane Orient, M.D., executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS). “But the real question is whether Medicaid provides access to care.”

An internet survey of AAPS members shows that about 47% of respondents think that it is more difficult for a Medicaid patient, compared with an uninsured patient, to get an appointment with a primary-care physician. Only 26% thought that the uninsured had more difficulty. For specialist appointments, 44% thought uninsured patients were better off, and 32% thought Medicaid patients were better off. Only 2% thought that Medicaid patients had “no problem” getting an appointment with a specialist.

When asked, “How easy is it for a Medicaid beneficiary to obtain drugs, medical equipment, or diagnostic tests?”, 48% said it could be “extremely difficult,” 27% said “moderately difficult at times,” and only 13% said it was “no problem.”

Of 166 respondents, 96 were physician specialists, 63 primary physicians, and 7 emergency physicians.

Open-ended comments were overwhelmingly negative about Medicaid. Rural patients who are unable to drive or travel may have no access to care at all except through charity. Some areas have no hand surgeons, endocrinologists, dentists, or rheumatologists who will accept Medicaid. Many cardiology tests, even echocardiograms on inpatients, are questioned or denied. Many drugs, even common generics, are unavailable without jumping through bureaucratic hoops. Treatment for chronic pain is especially difficult. It may be very challenging to get non-emergency surgery approved, no matter how necessary.

“Medicaid ends up as a jobs program for administrators and quasi-medical professionals,” writes one physician. “Very little of Medicaid money actually goes to the ‘health care’ part of the equation.” Another said that “poor customer service is the norm” and “excessive paperwork is routine.”

Because it may cost more to file a claim than a physician can hope to collect, physicians may lose on every Medicaid patient, and lose less if they just see the patients for free.

Stating that “denials were much more common than approvals for appropriate treatment options and diagnostic studies,” one physician concluded that “to expand such a horrendous program is insane.”

AAPS, which was founded in 1943, is a national organization representing physicians in all specialties.

Filed Under: Demographics, Entitlements, Federal Government, Government, Guest Opinion, Health Care, Legislation, State Government Tagged With: , , ,

Medicaid Expansion: What You Hear vs. What You See

April 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment

By Dr. G. Keith Smith
Reposted from AAPSonline.org

The strongest advocate for expanding Medicaid—and the likely source of funding for the massive advertising campaign—is the hospital lobby.

We hear that hospitals are going broke. They can’t make ends meet. The uninsured are breaking the hospitals’ backs from emergency room over-utilization. Hospitals won’t survive unless Medicaid is expanded. (This is the most interesting claim, as hospitals simultaneously complain that underpayment by Medicaid justifies their cost-shifting to others!)

These are the lies that are primarily responsible for bringing us ObamaCare.

But if we look around us, what do we see?

Hospitals are building everywhere. They sponsor sports franchises. They buy advertising in high-priced media outlets. They are ceaselessly buying physician practices—and also buying rural hospitals they destroyed by having bought all of the small-town physician practices and diverting their referrals. They are expanding their emergency rooms—and even building free-standing emergency rooms, so-called loss leaders for their institutions. They make multi-million-dollar “logo” changes. Their administrative staffs are huge and extremely well paid.

Why are patients terrified of becoming uninsured, or driven into bankruptcy by medical bills? It is not because of doctor bills. How many doctors have extracted such huge payments from patients as to cause them to lose their homes? It is hospitals that do that. Routinely.

After reading the recent article in Time magazine about abusive hospital billing practices, in which Oklahoma City’s own Mercy Hospital was named, one of my partners remarked that the rotating cross on top of their hospital should be replaced with a dollar symbol! My father recently asked me if any of the hospital administrators whose billing practices have bankrupted countless patients ever had face-to-face contact with those whose lives had been ruined by their greed. Or, he asked, were they like drone operators, destroying people’s lives in a remote, impersonal way, while they themselves remain safe in their office?

The truth is that, economically, hospitals are not unlike utility companies in that they have high fixed costs. As Thomas DiLorenzo explains in his brilliant book Organized Crime: the Unvarnished Truth about Government, once the plant is built and the power lines are present, the cost of adding another utility customer approaches zero. Once the emergency room is built and staffed, the actual cost of an additional patient approaches zero, other than the actual supply costs. As a physician who owns and operates a medical facility, I can tell you that the supply costs are not that high, even in a surgical environment.

Also, while the hospital spokesmen claim that they have to take everyone regardless of ability to pay, hospitals get paid even when they don’t get paid through the uncompensated care scam. As hospitals wave the charity flag with one hand, they are fleecing the taxpayers through this scam with the other.

When Jim Epstein of Reason magazine was writing an article about our facility, Surgery Center of Oklahoma, he discovered that the amount Medicaid paid local hospitals exceeded the prices we post publicly at http://www.surgerycenterok.com. Hospitals claim that these “horrible reimbursements” by Medicaid are one of the primary excuses used to justify the “hidden tax” they impose on uninsured (self-pay) and privately insured patients.

Think about this: if the costs for the indigent are shifted to others who do pay, or to taxpayers, how is it that the hospitals are providing “uncompensated” care? One way or the other, the hospital gets paid for everyone who comes through its doors.

We make a profit at the prices we have listed online. These prices are one-sixth to one-tenth of the prices charged for the same procedures at most “not for profit” hospitals. This is what you can see for yourself. What you now hear if you listen closely is a quiet panic engulfing those in the medical-industrial complex, as this free-market, transparent pricing model is getting noticed and gaining ground.

This movement, if allowed to grow, will reduce the cost of care and raise the quality bar, just like competition does in every other sector of the economy.

Why expand the bureaucratically encrusted waste and corruption-ridden Medicaid model that is bankrupting government, when freedom works so much better?

 

Dr. G. Keith Smith is a board certified anesthesiologist in private practice since 1990. In 1997, he co-founded The Surgery Center of Oklahoma, an outpatient surgery center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, owned by 40 of the top physicians and surgeons in central Oklahoma. Dr. Smith serves as the medical director, CEO and managing partner while maintaining an active anesthesia practice. 

In 2009, Dr. Smith launched a website displaying all-inclusive pricing for various surgical procedures, a move that has gained him and the facility, national and even international attention. Many Canadians and uninsured Americans have been treated at his facility, taking advantage of the low and transparent pricing available. 

Operation of this free market medical practice, arguably the only one of its kind in the U.S., has gained the endorsement of policymakers and legislators nationally. More and more self-funded insurance plans are taking advantage of Dr. Smith’s pricing model, resulting in significant savings to their employee health plans. His hope is for as many facilities as possible to adopt a transparent pricing model, a move he believes will lower costs for all and improve quality of care.

Filed Under: Entitlements, Federal Government, Guest Opinion, Health Care Tagged With: , ,

Dr. Kelli Ward: Opposition to Medicaid Expansion is Real

April 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Dr. and Senator Kelli Ward

Dr. and Senator Kelli Ward

Since January, many of us at the State Capitol have been trying to determine a common sense way to approach reliable health care for our neediest citizens. It is clear that a full expansion of our Medicaid program to 138% above the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) will add 400,000 patients or more to an already overloaded system. After carefully studying this complex issue, I have determined the plan is unsustainable and potentially harmful to hardworking Arizona taxpayers. We simply do not have the doctors and other health care providers to offer primary care to these new patients. When people are sick or seek care for their chronic illnesses, they will not be able to get into a doctor’s office, so they will instead turn to our emergency departments. Not only will that be much more expensive to Arizonans, but the people are unlikely to get the kind of care they need most.

The last time we expanded AHCCCS (the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System – AZ’s Medicaid); we grossly underestimated the number of people who would enroll. Three times more parents of Medicaid-covered children and two times as many childless adults signed up. Costs went from an estimated $315 million to an actual $1.2 billion. Voters were told tobacco settlement money under Prop 204 would cover the added patients, but quickly we had to dig into the general fund. Now we are being told a hospital bed tax will cover this expansion proposal and the Federal government will bear the burden of the majority of the costs until 2017. Remember, the Federal government gets its money from us – the taxpayers. While no one can predict the true future price tag, experience proves that the costs have always been much higher than estimated.

Do not let people tell you there are no alternatives and we either expand or do nothing – there are real options. We should request that HHS allow Arizona to continue our current plan for those under 100% FPL and for Arizona to determine the best way to provide care for our indigent population. We should find ways to complete treatment of Medicaid patients that are in the midst of potentially lifesaving therapy for catastrophic illnesses despite the expiration of our current Federal waiver on December 31, 2013 – we can find a way to make an exception for this small number of patients. People above 100% FPL that are not otherwise eligible for coverage are able to buy subsidized policies through the federal exchange, we should let them. We should consider providing catastrophic coverage policies for those under 100% of the Federal Poverty Level and a graduated plan for other services. Cost transparency should be our goal. We must seek tort reform to discourage the practice of defensive medicine which drives up the cost of healthcare.

Our Medicaid system in Arizona is one of the best in the country, but I don’t believe that we need to make it bigger and give control of the hundreds of millions of dollars to an unelected agency director. I will continue to seek free market solutions to our health care dilemma and find ways to care for those who are unable to care for themselves. If you only remember one thing, remember this: the Medicaid expansion plan is about increasing the entitlement to healthcare coverage without any guarantees of increased accountability, improved access to care, higher quality, or lower costs of healthcare – it is a step in the direction of socialized medicine and much bigger government.

Senator Kelli Ward

Senator Kelli Ward, D.O., MPH is a Family Physician with additional expertise in Health Policy, she represents Arizona’s 5th Legislative District and resides in Lake Havasu City, AZ with her family. She serves on the Senate Health & Human Services (Vice-Chair), Appropriations, Education and Government & Environment Committees.

Filed Under: Conservatives, Elected Officials, Entitlements, Federal Government, Guest Opinion, Health Care, Legislation, State Budget, State Government Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Gary Nelson: Right On Crime, Right On Justice

March 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment

A CALL FOR A TRULY CONSERVATIVE APPROACH TO JUSTICE

By Gary Nelson

Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” – George Washington

I once heard a story about a couple who bought a large, aggressive dog with the intent of protecting their family from criminals. Tragically, however, the dog attacked one of their young children and nearly killed her, scarring her for life. Ironically, the very thing they hoped would protect them proved to be the source of violence far worse than they were ever likely to suffer at the hands of a criminal. The protector became the perpetrator, and their worst fears became reality.

The United States finds itself in a similar predicament today. Our vicious dog is a justice system which has become the most punitive in the free world. The “tough on crime” paradigm that has dominated our justice system for the past three decades has brought about the criminalization and incarceration of a radically disproportionate number of our citizens. We created it to ensure our safety, yet it now threatens greater societal harm than we ever imagined.

The perceived need to “crack down” on crime has resulted in severe punishments for crimes involving everything from assaults with firearms to personal use of drugs. Mandatory minimum sentences and “three-strikes” laws have drastically restricted judicial discretion, denying judges the ability to custom-fit sentences according to the circumstances of the offense or the needs of the community.

As a result, the United States of America imprisons a larger proportion of its population than any other civilized nation, including Cuba, China, & Iran. The number of Americans incarcerated has increased 400% since 1980, and it is estimated that over 30% of young adults now have criminal records.

The “Land of the Free” was rapidly becoming the “land of the imprisoned.” Recently, however, many have begun to understand that this trend has to change.

The implications for our nation’s future are profound. People with criminal records, including those only charged with misdemeanors, have an extremely difficult time finding work. The vast majority of employers will flatly refuse to hire anyone with a record. It is becoming increasingly clear that our over-dependence on punitive justice is creating a vast army of unemployable citizens destined to be dependent on government, or more crime, for their livelihoods.

As a veteran law enforcement officer and lifelong political conservative, I have come to believe that we conservatives have made a serious mistake in supporting the expansion of governmental power that is the inevitable consequence of “tough on crime” policies. We have embraced an approach to justice that has resulted in exponential increases in spending on corrections, courts, and police, as well as the criminalization and vocational incapacitation of 1 in 33 Americans. We have acquiesced to the erosion of individual liberty and the expansion of government power through over-regulation of nearly every aspect of our lives.

It is time for a return to a truly conservative, and American, model of justice. We must break our addiction to “crack-downs” and “get-tough” legislation, and move towards a restorative model of justice that provides real opportunities for the offender to return to productive citizenship.

It is for this reason I am pleased to be affiliated with Right On Crime, a campaign dedicated to “fighting crime, restoring victims, and protecting the taxpayer.” Endorsed by prominent conservatives like Grover Norquist, Marc Levin, and William Bennett, as well as eminent criminologists John DiIulio and George Kelling, Right On Crime is leading the way in returning our system of justice to a cost-effective,    restorative direction. If you are concerned about the future of our nation and want to see “justice” once again be the focus of our legal system, I encourage you to visit RightOnCrime.org and get involved.

Filed Under: Conservatives, Crime and Punishment, Culture, Demographics, Guest Opinion, Spending Tagged With: , ,

The Beltway Bubble

March 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment

By Sam Stone

There’s no recession in Washington, D.C. Massive building and construction projects blossom like D.C.’s famous trees. Vast, unending snakes of luxury automobiles slither along the streets. On any given day, many of D.C.’s myriad pricey boutiques and restaurants are standing-room-only.

It’s a different world.

Even the commercials are different. City buses grind around town plastered in messages sponsored by the AFL-CIO, imploring Congress to avoid cuts in federal spending programs. Ads designed not to appeal to the masses, but to provide one more avenue for lobbyists and special interest organizations to bend the ear of our elected officials, run endlessly on television.

It’s a glitzy, seductive high-profile bubble.

Spend time in D.C. these days, and it’s easy to see how so many well-intentioned Congressmen and Senators get trapped by the system. It’s not just Washington politics; it’s D.C. life. Elected officials are treated like kings: car services, staffers catering to their every need, posh apartments. The most succulent, extravagant dinners served, because of ethics laws, on a stick. And free booze. Lots and lots of free booze.

But it’s a lie.

People on Main Street are suffering. Despite one optimistic forecast after another, the recession really hasn’t gone anywhere. Although the White House and Federal Reserve Bank keep parroting the line that inflation is stagnant, prices for basic necessities like food, gasoline and heating fuel have more than doubled in recent years. Official joblessness rates grossly undervalue the problem by including people working part-time or seasonal jobs, and by assuming that anyone who hasn’t had a job recently is no longer interested in finding one. Real national unemployment is probably closer to 15% than the 7.9% our government is willing to admit to.

At home, still stuck in the bubble

Members of Congress rarely – if ever – even get to see the truth. When they do return to their State or District, it’s usually for a quick weekend of campaigning. They’re hustled from place to place, rarely stopping anywhere for more than an hour or so. They’re still surrounded by staffers whose job it is to cater to their every whim.

Even during longer breaks when Congress is in session, the routine doesn’t really change. Campaigns these days essentially never close up shop. One of the great advantages of incumbency is access to the enormous cresting waves of PAC, union and special interest donations an incumbent can secure for their reelection war chest. So while Congress may be on recess from time to time, the business of staying in Congress doesn’t stop. Instead of spending time talking with everyday citizens when they’re home, elected officials are stuck on the phone soliciting donations from groups who are only too eager to assist – so long as the recipients of their cash remember those debts the next time a vote comes down on the floor.

What’s the answer?

Term limits sound great, but until everyone agrees to play by the same set of rules, term-limiting yourself is just a way to ensure your Party leadership doesn’t take you seriously. No one becomes Chair of Ways and Means in their first term.

No, the best thing we could do is ask Congress to work less. Six months out of each year in D.C. should be plenty and, if our Representatives had to spend half of each year at home surrounded by their constituents, it’d be a lot harder for them to miss (or simply ignore) what’s really going on in America. Voters would have far more opportunities to get in front of our elected officials. And, as we saw with the Obamacare Town Halls across the country in 2010, they might be more than a little surprised at what they find.

Of course, less time in Washington also means that our elected officials would have to do less. Which, considering the mess they’re making of our nation, might be the biggest improvement of all.

Reposted from Southern Arizona News-Examiner

Filed Under: Arizona Politics, Campaigns & Elections, Economics, Federal Government, Guest Opinion, PAC's, Political Parties, Political Science, Special Interests Tagged With:

Arizona State Treasurer Doug Ducey Earns Statesman of the Year Award

March 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Western Free Press is pleased to announce the inauguration of our annual award for Arizona Statesman of the Year for 2012. We give this award to someone whose contributions have had a profound and positive impact on the citizens and State of Arizona.

As with all such awards, choosing just one person is rarely easy. Improving the civic life of a state and its people is a collaborative effort of many, all of whom add a vital piece to the puzzle. And yet, in some years, there is someone who stands out and makes that decision a little easier. Luckily for us, 2012 was such a year.

Arizona State Treasurer Doug Ducey is, in every sense of the word, a statesman. Skilled. Experienced. Respected. Effective. Over the last year, Ducey has brought every one of these characteristics to bear, and Arizonans have been the happy beneficiaries. And so it is with no small pride—and gratitude—that Western Free Press salutes Doug Ducey with the first annual Arizona Statesman of the Year Award.

Doug Ducey is an American success story—his education and career in finance, marketing, and management all preparing him for his impressive record as CEO of Cold Stone Creamery. As the Arizona Food Industry Journal described it . . .

While Ducey presents a calm and agreeable demeanor, underneath is an aggressive and driven financial acumen that makes him a lion in the world of investments and accounting. He comes from the private sector, where he most famously built Cold Stone Creamery with a partner from a local start-up company to a national brand. By the time he sold it, Cold Stone Creamery had expanded to include 1,440 stores, with 800 more in the pipeline, in all 50 states—in only a decade.

Ducey’s performance as treasurer is no less impressive than his personal biography. Motivated by the same spirit of civic concern that animated the vibrant tea party movement, Ducey ran for state treasurer in 2009. He defeated well-connected career politicians in the primary and the general election, and immediately set to work to improve the fiscal health of Arizona.

When Ducey came into office, Arizona was the better part of a billion dollars in the red. After what Ducey describes as a “team sport . . . with a financially responsible legislature that will actually cut spending . . . a strong governor who will say no to harebrained ideas and . . . a conservative cash management plan from the state treasurers office,” Arizona enjoyed a 2.4 billion dollar swing to the positive. Bringing his leonine financial acumen to bear, Ducey is now helping to manage Arizona’s surplus, building cash reserves for the future fiscal health of the state.

But Ducey is not just a steady hand on the state’s financial tiller. Enter 2012 and Arizona’s Prop 204. During the heart of the fiscal crisis, Arizonans approved a temporary increase in the state sales tax to help get the state’s finances back on track. Eager to take advantage, special interests decided to try to make the increase permanent, via a ballot proposition with no accountability and no guarantees that any of the money raised would ever reach the classroom.

Early polls showed Prop 204 well ahead, with support as high as 62%. In spite of long odds, Ducey rose to the challenge.  He marshaled support from citizens, business leaders, and local chambers. He raised $1.7 million in two months for the effort. He made his case in public forums, and he even convinced local papers to oppose the measure. In the end, his efforts proved successful—opponents of Prop 204 carried the day by an impressive margin of 36–64%.

This accomplishment earned Ducey the plaudit “Hero of 2012” from the Arizona Chamber of Commerce. For his efforts to defeat Proposition 204, and for his tireless devotion to the well-being of the State Arizona, we are pleased to echo this accolade, and to name Ducey our Statesman of the Year for 2012.

Reprinted from Western Free Press

Filed Under: Conservatives, Elected Officials, Endorsements, Guest Opinion

A Reason for Conservatives to Cheer?

March 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment

According to the Arizona Capitol Times’ Yellow Sheet, a group of nearly 20 conservative leaders from across Arizona have written a letter to State Representative Steve Montenegro urging him to explore a campaign for Secretary of State.  While liberal State Senator Michele Reagan has long coveted the job, there has not been a conservative candidate mentioned, related to the SOS race, that has elicited any real excitement among the grassroots of the AZGOP.  If Montenegro were to run, that would all change very quickly.  Montenegro is in his third term and has been a real fighter for conservative issues.  His scores from taxpayer groups, pro-family groups, libertarian-leaning groups like the Goldwater Institute, and conservative groups are always among the very best, and he has been a leader on issues like border security, fiscal restraint, the defense of human life, our 2nd Amendment rights, and more.  With so much of the national Republican Party looking for credible Hispanic candidates, a candidate like Montenegro might not only be attractive to Arizona conservatives, but Republican party stalwarts across the country.  We will try to get a list of the signers and will update this post as soon as we get them.  In the meantime, check out this clip of a younger Steve Montenegro (starts at 1:40) speaking at the first Arizona Tea Party back in 2009, and consider that this is him as a rookie, after just a few months in office!

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Filed Under: Arizona Politics, Campaigns & Elections, Conservatives, Elected Officials, Guest Opinion, Latinos Tagged With: , , ,

The Shadow of Big Government

March 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment

By Thomas Purcell

Shadow GovernmentIt’s been said that ennui and employment are simply incompatible. Obviously the person that said that has never lived in a country run by statists.

Yesterday I spoke with an old friend; we worked together for a few years back in the early 90’s during a roaring economy here in Arizona. He was still in the same business today, but was explaining that he was going to leave the business to sell something else, as his business was awful.

He explained some issues revolving around his financial situation, living condition etc. but basically all his problems revolved around a lack of money.

“People just aren’t buying stuff. It’s not 1995 you know” he explained.

As the conversation ended I realized that this was not the first time I heard it. Everywhere people were saying that exact expression, ‘it’s not the 1990’s you know’ or ‘it’s not what it was’. Funny thing though, the President swore his policies were the same as Clinton’s just a few short months ago at the Democratic convention.

Even people who are working are taking on roommates, working two jobs, or doing something more to make ends meet. They stay in unhappy or violent relationships because they have no other place to go; they stay in jobs with bosses they hate because they are uncertain about their prospects for another job, they take less money than they think they are worth to avoid layoffs.

Thomas Purcell

Thomas Purcell

Then they go home at night and sit in front of the TV or computer rather than going out because they are worn out from work and have no money for extras and take their medication to get through another day.

A quiet ennui has settled over the land as we continue to accept less, work more, and feed more of our money to a hungry government. We worry about government inspectors who look over our shoulder, we worry about that report that needs to be filled out for the state, and we read the emails from the boss on the new regulations and change our procedures once again.

This is the legacy of big government. It’s not the promise of a utopic society; it’s the nightmare of government telling us what to do and how to behave. It’s like living with your parents again and working for minimum wage hoping that you can save enough to move out.

We passed laws yesterday to enhance programs to protect women from violence, but fail to address the real issue causing societal unrest—the pressure of working too hard, for too little, with too much oversight—which leads to violence in the first place, not just at home, but at work and school. Like too many rats in cage with too little cheese, eventually the rats being to prey on each other. Men blame women for a feeling of emasculation and so they kill their wives in a fit of rage. School kids blame classmates for being bullied and the schoolmasters for allowing to happen and so they go ballistic and massacre them. Workers ‘go postal’ at the guy in the cubicle next to them as they pop their gum one too many times, or they fail to get that promotion that the boss decides they can’t afford.

How often do we see it happen where men prefer killing everyone rather than go through the financial chaos of divorce? Or criminals commit suicide rather than face the prospect of prison and humiliation?

Instead we decide more programs are necessary and exacerbate the problem. Each new program now costs 5 times what they say, since we have to borrow to pay for it, increase the taxes to compensate, and return the principle at compounding interest. The debt piles up and the pressure piles on. All those little programs are straws that beginning to break the camel’s back—we are bankrupt and are foolishly thinking of cutting the defense of our nation and the safety net for our elderly when we are sick and old.

A pall has fallen over the land; the shadow of big government.

Read more of Thomas Purcell at his blog: www.Thomas-Purcell.com

Filed Under: 2nd Amendment, Conservatives, Culture, Economics, Entitlements, Federal Government, Freedom of Speech, Government Reform, Guest Opinion, Political Correctness, Political Parties, Political Science, Spending, Taxation Tagged With:

Taking Women’s Rights Forward With A Hard Left

March 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Suzanne SharerBy Suzanne Sharer

Talk about a war against women! Currently ground zero is right here in my own back yard as Arizona is once again front and center when it comes to so called “human rights” vs. right and wrong! Women’s rights have just taken a giant step backward in the city of Phoenix this past month with the passing of Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton’s infamous “Bathroom Bill”. This bill does nothing more than degrade women while putting us into dangerous situations and stripping us of our dignity and the respect we deserve. When was it; about two weeks ago that the left came out with some absolutely brilliant maneuvers to stop rapists? Now women are being legislated into questionable situations in the name of “civil rights” to where they have just made it easier for rapists and deviants to have easy access to women and children. Sadly it appears that Stanton has put special interests and a radical political agenda ahead of the personal safety and concerns of the ladies who grace his city. Grown men will now be allowed into girls/women’s restrooms in our parks and public places in the name of sexual equality and human rights.

The false argument; By passing a an expansion of the city’s human relations ordinance, known as the Bathroom Bill, much to the dismay of the mayor and his supporters, we are supposed to believe that under the guise of “prohibiting discrimination” on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, this new law will not have any devastating consequences for our churches, religious organizations, businesses, and families.

All I can say is move over Mayor Bloomberg it appears that Mayor Stanton of Phoenix is going to give you a run for your money when it comes to making false arguments on behalf of the ridiculous legislation you are putting out there! Oh and by the way this article isn’t even covering Stanton’s absurd gun “buy back” program that he just revealed! I can’t wait to touch on that soon! I truly hope people won’t rally behind that brain trust as women will need their guns locked and loaded now more than ever just to use a public restroom in the city of Phoenix!) Stanton has made his position clear. He is taking the City of Phoenix on a serious left turn at the risk of women and children, pandering for the dollars he feels the LGBT community will bring him. Now anybody who wants to wear women’s clothing will not be prohibited from entering into the girls/women’s bathrooms of our schools, parks and restaurants as well as our place of worship and any other public places in the name of prohibiting discrimination, tolerance and of course let’s not forget the mighty dollar in that forward thinking America.

If tolerance is so important in this new age of forced acceptance I have to ask the question; where is the tolerance for those of us who find this bill offensive to our rights? I find it very objectionable as a woman and as a mother to a beautiful young girl that I am being told I must be accepting of men who want to identify themselves as women, giving them more of a right than I have! Legislating people into uncomfortable and dangerous situations by telling them they are being narrow-minded of others rights if they disagree is not a step towards a future I feel we should be embracing! If you have an innocent young daughter would you want her exposed to a man irrespective of whether he may think of himself as a woman using the public restroom? Does how he feels on the inside change what is on the outside? There are clear physical differences that need to remain separate and regardless of how a person “feels”! I believe we need to base our decision on common sense and the fact that men and women have physical differences that need to be kept separate and private when it comes to these situations for everyone’s comfort and security not just those of the minority who are screaming the loudest.

Aside from all the problems this creates for women and young girls, local business’s and church’s now have to be concerned with being cautious not to violate these new “rights” if they wish to avoid any legal action that can now be taken against them by the passing of this new bill simply for standing up for their own ethics. Essentially what Stanton is saying to Phoenicians is that with the passing of his new “bathroom bill” the good people of Phoenix no longer have the right to speak out in defense of their morals or can use their judgment on an issue of common sense and public safety, now that we are living in a kinder more forward thinking society based on these new “human rights” given to us via Phoenix City Council.

What strikes me as odd is how Mayor Stanton put such urgency to this bill under a veil of media silence. With so many other more pressing issues that actually involve public safety, Stanton panders more to special interest groups that make public safety even more of an issue! If it wasn’t for a few media outlets such as Mike Broomhead of KFYI who dedicated some very valuable and insightful time on this subject during his radio show last week, most of Phoenix would not even be aware of what has just transpired. It appears that Stanton who made a promise to be transparent is getting a failing grade at this much like our current President. You can bet this bill was fast tracked through the city council to avoid media and public scrutiny to prevent the large outpouring of opposition it deserves! You can find some good links to read what is in the bill here on Mike Broomhead’s page; http://www.kfyi.com/pages/broomhead.html?article=10955139

After all is said and done what astounds me the most is the total lack of respect and the disregard for the comfort and safety of the women of Phoenix! The left flippantly states that it makes no difference which way the feet are facing in the stall but I couldn’t disagree more…First off it this is what they believe then why are we having this discussion? Second, I am 5’4” and weigh 112 lbs. What chance would I have if cornered in a secluded restroom by a man who weighs twice as much as me and much stronger? What chance do women really have, our mothers, sisters, wives and daughters? What are you going to worry about more, the so called “civil rights” of transgendered men to have access to women’s restrooms or the safety of your loved ones now exposed to any deviant who wishes to put on a dress?

Read more: http://www.kfyi.com/pages/suzanne-sharer.html?article=11017473#.UTSr1GNzu6E.facebook#ixzz2MaGTvVl1

Filed Under: City Government, Culture, Debates, Elected Officials, Family, Guest Opinion, LGBT, Political Correctness, Public Safety, Small Business

In Memoriam: Tribute to Andrew Breitbart – I Can’t Stand to Say Goodbye

March 1, 2013 by 2 Comments

By John Ondrasik

I see Andrew every day. When I fire up my buddy list there is Bodiaz bringing his dose of happy-sad. Thanks, someone, for not turning his computer off.

On the one-year anniversary of his death, many folks will speak of Andrew’s loss to the cause. Go ahead and cube that vacuum a few times. It’s true, in some measure he lives on in all of us. When I was out campaigning for Romney last year, all my tough decisions were decided by a simple What Would Andrew Do?

But for me, and many, it’s not about politics or movements. I’m still mourning the small “b” Breitbart. I miss my friend terribly. I loved the guy.

A few days after Andrew’s funeral last year I wrote a song. It was never meant for public consumption. With his wife’s Susie’s permission, here’s the demo/lyric.

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I Can’t Stand to Say Goodbye
Here
Gone
Unfinished Song
All was there
All is lost

No Silver Linings
No God’s will
No Sense or Reason
Our heart is still

All that remains is moving on
Lessened
Cheated
Robbed us all

I can’t stand to say goodbye
Oh No…

Memories
Not enough
In the Home of the Brave
You were the best of the lot
There’s no replacing
This hole won’t fill
Death is cold and it’s cruel
Real and unreal

All that remains is to carry on
With Tears and Riddles
We’ll never solve

I can’t stand to say goodbye
I can’t stand to say goodbye
Oh No…

Here at the bridge we will never cross
Here at the bridge…Lost

I can’t stand to say goodbye
I can’t stand to say goodbye
I can’t stand to say goodbye
Goodbye
Oh No…

Reprinted from http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2013/03/01/Original-Song–Tribute-to-Andrew-Breitbart-I-Cant-Stand-to-Say-Goodbye#sthash.ud8RVwP4

Filed Under: Conservatives, Culture, Memorial Tagged With:

Representative Bob Robson – Release HB2026 & HB2330!

February 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Conservative activists Marcus Huey just released the following email:

US House Representatives Franks, Schweikert, Salmon and Gosar have sent a letter to Arizona House Speaker Tobin, urging him to debate and vote on the union reform bills currently proposed in the legislature.

As of today, Tobin is still holding these bills. The logic (excuse?) Tobin seems to be using is to wait and see if the AZ Senate passes any union reform bills. If the Senate does not pass union reform bills, then why should the House be bothered?

UnionsThis is not true leadership. A real leader would be working for the distressed taxpayer and rallying his membership to get behind union reform. Passing off excuses and hiding behind the Senate is cowardly and WILL have consequences. If you are a government union supporter then man up and publicly admit it, stop using the system to hide. What happens at the legislature no longer stays in the legislature. Those days are gone.

Please help get Representative Ugenti’s HB2026, Paycheck Protection, and Representative Montenegro’s HB 2330, Union Transparency, moved out of Robson’s Rules Committee so that these important bills can be debated and voted on on the House floor. This is how true Democracy is supposed to work.

Please Email Rep. Robson at: brobson@azleg.gov | 602-926-5549

Also, let’s call Tobin’s bluff and get Senator Griffin’s Paycheck Protection bill SB 1182 approved in the Senate. This bill will be voted on at the beginning of this week. The vote is EXTREMELY close.

Please email and urge the following Senators to vote YES on SB 1182:

Senator Biggs: abiggs@azleg.gov | 602-926-4371

Senator McComish: jmccomish@azleg.gov | 602-926-5898

Senator Crandall: rcrandall@azleg.gov | 602-956-3020

Senator Worsley: bworsley@azleg.gov | 602-926-5760

Time is short – we need to get this done in the next few days or these bills will die!

Filed Under: Elected Officials, Government Reform, Guest Opinion, Legislation, State Government, Unions Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Representative Warren Petersen Needs Your Help on Three Bills

February 14, 2013 by 1 Comment
I want to make you aware of 3 bills that I am concerned about.   Your involvement can make a big difference.  There is a great website called lifelibertyfreedom.com that will allow you to email all of the legislators of the House and let them know how you feel.
HB2060 – Censure Bill (link)
This bill will allow school board members to censure each other.  This could be a tool used to ruin the reputation of a conservative or a liberal school board member.  School board members should feel free to speak their mind and their concerns whether or not they are in the minority of the board.  Please email the legislature and tell them to vote NO on HB2060.  It will be voted on in the house tomorrow 2/14/13 at 1:30 pm.
HB2343 – Public Employees, compensation for union activity (link)
This bill prohibits taxpayer dollars to be used for union activity.  If you believe union dues and not taxpayer dollars should fund union activities then please email the legislature and tell them to vote YES on HB2343.  It will be heard in committee on 2/19/13.
HB2456 - Revenue allocation districts (link)
This bill passed out of committee and will soon go to the House floor for a vote.  This would allow town councils to draw boundaries around businesses and form a board that will tax the businesses.  The revenue from the businesses will be used by the board for “economic development”.  This bill is a dream come true for big business and the well connected to create taxing districts and then control the funds.  If you don’t believe in business taxing districts then please email the legislature and tell them to vote NO on HB2456.
Small businesses and individuals have little to no voice at the Capitol.  They can’t afford to hire a lobbyist to protect their interest.  We need your help.  Please pick the issues above that you feel are important and use lifelibertyfreedom.com to email every Republican legislator in the house to tell them how you feel.  It will be Republicans that decide if these bills pass or not.  Please do not attack any of the legislators sponsoring the bills but focus on the bill itself.
You can reach State Representative Warren Petersen online.
Filed Under: Education, Elected Officials, Government, Government Reform, Guest Opinion, Legislation, State Economy, State Government Tagged With: , ,

Arizona Patriots – Urgent Call to Action – Contact Representative Bob Robson!

February 12, 2013 by 3 Comments

We have two important pro taxpayer bills being held in the House Rules Committee:

HB2026 (Rep. Ugenti) Paycheck Protection & HB2330 (Rep. Montenegro) Transparency in Government Union Negotiations

The Chair of the Rules Committee is Rep. Bob Robson. In last year’s legislative session Robson killed two pro taxpayer bills, by never giving them a hearing.

HB2330 & HB2026 meet Arizona Constitutional requirements and should be sent to the House floor for a vote, not held to die in Committee.

In the last session we scored a stunning victory. Versions of Consolidated Elections had been put forward and defeated in the AZ legislature for over 10 years.

Last session Rep. Ugenti sponsored HB2826, Consolidated Elections, and fought tooth and nail for this bill throughout the entire session. The activist community joined Rep. Ugenti in this battle and responded with hundreds, perhaps over 1,000, phone calls and emails to resistant legislators. In the end we prevailed.

It will take this same effort to get further union reform bills passed as we, unfortunately, still have Republican government union supporting legislative members.

We need HB2330 & HB2026 to continue the effort to level the playing field for the overburdened taxpayer.

It appears that Rep.Robson has chosen to be on the side of the government unions. 

It is up to us to stand up for the hardworking Arizona taxpayer.

PLEASE email and/ or call Rep. Robson, everyday if possible, and tell him that the taxpayers want HB2330 & HB2026 sent out of his Rules Committee immediately.

We need to get this done as quickly as possible.

Rep. Bob Robson: brobson@azleg.gov 602-926-5549 

If Robson is opposed to these bills, he can cast his vote on the House floor along with all of the other State Representatives.

This is a democracy, not a dictatorship.

Thank you again!

Marcus Huey
Arizona Taxpayer

Filed Under: Elected Officials, Government Reform, Guest Opinion, Legislation, State Government, Unions Tagged With: , ,

WSJ – Governor Brewer’s Spectacular Flip-Flop

February 5, 2013 by 3 Comments

The GOP’s ObamaCare Flippers

Reprinted from The Wall Street Journal

February 4, 2013

As D-Day looms for ObamaCare, one big question is how many states will sign up for its Medicaid expansion. The recent and spectacular flip-flop of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is a case study in the political pressure and fiscal gimmicks designed to get states to succumb. It’s also a study in the arcane and perverse ObamaCare incentives that are intended to gather ever more health-care spending under federal control.

***

Arizona’s current Medicaid program is well run by the program’s standards—a low bar—but it is also too large. The program now finances one of every two in-state births and two of every three days seniors spend in nursing homes. Spending tripled in the last decade to $9 billion a year.

That’s despite $1.8 billion in cuts since 2009. The state fisc was such a mess that in 2010 Arizona Medicaid banned paying for several types of organ transplants. In March of that year, Ms. Brewer wrote to Mr. Obama calling the Affordable Care Act “a vast new entitlement program that our country does not have the resources to support” and also one that “makes our situation much worse, exacerbating our state’s fiscal woes by billions of dollars.”

Arizona argued before the Supreme Court that the Medicaid mandate was unconstitutional, anti-federalist commandeering—and seven Justices agreed it was “a gun to the head” and allowed states to opt out without penalty.

But so much for that. In her State of the State address last month, Ms. Brewer pulled a political 180°—or maybe 540°—and said expanding Medicaid would “inject $2 billion into our economy and “save and create thousands of jobs.” (Is Larry Summers moonlighting as a Brewer speechwriter?)

One secret of her switcheroo is Medicaid’s “matching rate” formula, in which the feds pick up 67% of Arizona’s existing spending and 100% (and later 90%) of the costs of ObamaCare’s newly eligible population. The state supposedly no longer needs to spend “billions” but merely an extra $154 million in 2014—then bank $1.6 billion from Washington, which her budget documents call “a return on investment of more than 10-to-1.”

Associated PressArizona Governor Jan Brewer

How can the state conjure such money from nothing? The answer is that Ms. Brewer and Arizona hospitals have cooked up a spending scheme to rip off national taxpayers to avoid even the $154 million the state would at first pay. The hospital lobby first floated this scheme in 2011 “for the specific purpose of generating matching federal Medicaid funds.”

Here’s how it works: Arizona will tax hospitals and insurers for the $154 million. Then it will return $154 million to the health industry via more Medicaid business that will cover the cost of the tax and then some. The money needs to make a round trip from providers to the state and back to providers to game that 67% federal matching rate.

So Arizona takes (say) $3 from a hospital and then turns around and pays the $3 back, using one of the hospital’s own dollars that Arizona converted to “revenue” plus two dollars courtesy of Washington for its 67% federal share of the $3 payment. Arizona can then use the hospital’s remaining $2 of the original $3 to pay for another $6 of Medicaid expansion.

Some 49 state now use this trick of so-called provider taxes to goose federal spending, up from 21 in 2003. (Alaska is the exception.) But the practice is so abusive that even Mr. Obama proposed new limits in his last two budgets.

This subsidy honeypot can’t last forever, which is why other Governors are more skeptical about this Obama Medicaid windfall. When the money inevitably runs out, states will retain permanently larger obligations and lose budget autonomy for a generation or two as health care crowds out other priorities like education and roads.

Ms. Brewer was nonetheless besieged by health-industry lobbying, especially from hospitals that want more government money and the insurers that administer Medicaid. The campaign is orchestrated by Chuck Coughlin, Ms. Brewer’s former political strategist, and Peter Burns, a former Brewer budget consultant.

Providers are especially powerful at the state and local level, and the goal now is to rush the Brewer-Obama condominium through the Phoenix legislature with little debate. A particular offender is the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association, a trade group whose 2012 agenda includes “Oppose Taxpayer Bill of Rights-style legislative referendums or bills that arbitrarily limit state spending.”

Ms. Brewer’s other rationale is that everybody else is doing it, and that if Arizona opts out of a larger Medicaid then “Arizona’s tax dollars would simply be passed to another state.” Well, no, Washington would simply spend less money that it doesn’t have. In any event Arizona is already a net tax beneficiary—pulling down $1.19 from the feds for every dollar it sends to D.C., according to the Tax Foundation.

Ten other GOP Governors have rejected Mr. Obama’s Medicaid bribe, with another 20, Democrats and Republicans, undecided. Twenty are expanding, including Republicans Brian Sandoval of Nevada, Susana Martinez of New Mexico, Jack Dalrymple of North Dakota and even, on Monday, Ohio’s John Kasich. Thus does modern government create the carrots and sticks of ever-larger government.

 

 

Filed Under: Economics, Elected Officials, Entitlements, Guest Opinion, Health Care, Legislation, State Budget, State Economy Tagged With: , , ,

Doug Little Video. In His Own Words

January 24, 2013 by 14 Comments

By Russell Pearce

As most of you know I have endorsed Robert Graham for State Chairman of the Republican Party. I have been quiet as to any position Doug Little has taken.

However here is what, Doug Little says, “People leave the Republican Party because they can’t stand the tone. Because they don’t care about some of the extreme positions that certain people take. We have to change the message…I want people listening to what we have to say in an environment where people are not in their face about something like immigration or something about abortion or some other contentious or divisive issue.”

But, I must express my concerns when he talks about our “EXTREME” positions on “immigration, abortion, or other divisive issues (2nd Amendment, traditional values????). The reason people are leaving this Party is because we have failed to stand for what we believe. We elect folks only to have them violate their promises and their Oath of Office.

Those divisive issues are the same divisive issues our Founders stood for and fought for and they committed their lives, they fortunes and their sacred honor to defend these values and tried to protect those God given rights in a Constitution and a Bill of Rights from those who would attack us for those beliefs, what I call our core values. We have a solemn duty to protect them at all cost. Protecting the UnBorn is divisive? Securing our Borders from those who violate our laws and do harm to this nation and take jobs from Americans is divisive? Protecting honest law abiding employers from dishonest employers who have an illegal, immoral advantage by breaking the law … is divisive? Apparently defense of freedom, moral values and our responsibility to protect law abiding citizens from those who break the laws is divisive!!!

Campaigns are a good opportunity to vet and ask questions about candidates. I have endorsed Robert Graham for AZ GOP chairman. I believe Robert to be a Constitutional Conservative who stands up for what he believes in. He get’s attacked by the left which means he must be doing something right. I look forward to serving with him on the Executive Committee for the next few years, as we serve you,as I currently serve as 1st Vice Chairman.

Doug Little seems like a good man, but I was shocked to see him say in a debate this week, that Constitutional Conservatives should not stand up for what they believe in for fear of turning people off. I don’t see the point of having a party if it doesn’t stand up for its principles. Watch Doug Little for yourself and ask yourself if this does not concern you. These comments come right out of the left wing media’s pages attacking our core values.

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Also, in a debate this week, Mr. Little shows little concern for President Obama’s unconstitutional executive orders in regards to the second amendment 23 executive orders in one sweep!! Mr. Little has also stated that he would not withdraw the United States from the UN!

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Let’s elect someone who will stand up for our values, regardless of the consequences. Please vote for Robert Graham on Saturday.

Now, more than ever, we must take a stand to support our core values, against an administration undermining what this nation and this Party was built on and we must do these things together, as one nation, and one people. My fellow Patriots/Americans, this is why I belong to this Party. I believe we are the best hope for this Republic and in restoring and defending our core values. We cannot retreat, we must not surrender to the left. We must stay united, we must stay vigilant as a Party as Patriots as Americans.

“The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, ’till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole People, is sacredly obligatory upon all.” –George Washington (1796)

Filed Under: Arizona Politics, Campaigns & Elections, Conservatives, Endorsements, Guest Opinion, Illegal Immigration

Phoenix City Councilman Speaks out on Phoenix Food Tax Repeal

January 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Sal DiCiccioPolice and fire cuts were a hoax.

Budget and research numbers released this week show $107 million doled out for pay raises and bonuses.

Not one police officer was hired.

Pay raises could have hired 272 more police officer protecting your family. Average total compensation jumps to over $105,000 per person for over 14,500 employees. Yes you read that correctly. The average cost per employee is over $105,000 for more than 14,000 employees. Mayor Stanton must follow through on his promise to abolish food tax by April, 2013.

No more scare tactics. No more delays. No more phony and tired stories about how police and fire will be cut. I’m not going to let this go.

Promises must be kept.

Read more by Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts – “Is Greg Stanton waffling on food tax repeal?”

Filed Under: Arizona Politics, City Government, Elected Officials, Government Reform, Guest Opinion Tagged With: , , , ,
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