By Diane Cohen

Goldwater Institute

In an extraordinary move, an expert in President Obama’s administration has challenged the federal health care law’s mandate to arbitrarily reduce funding for Medicare under as “unsustainable,” “unworkable,” and likely to block some people from seeing their doctors.

Richard Foster serves as chief actuary for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that administers Medicare coverage, and his job is to predict future health care costs. His office wrote a memo in August 2010 that objects to key estimates in the annual report about the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. Trustees of those two funds are also Obama administration officials, led by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathryn Sebelius.

The trustees’ annual report claims the federal health care bill “improves the financial outlook for Medicare substantially.” But Mr. Foster’s staff strongly disputed that, writing that the report’s projections “do not represent the ‘best estimate’ of actual future Medicare spending.” Even worse, people with Medicare coverage will “almost certainly face increasing severe problems with access to care,” the memo says.

The memo also pointed out the annual report doesn’t consider that required spending cuts for Medicare could stop people who do see their doctors from getting the best possible health care, which could result in more patients falling ill or dying early.

Notably, the chief actuary must predict future growth in Medicare enrollment and spending each year, and give that information to a new federal agency created by health care reform called the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). That board will have virtually unchecked power to adopt laws setting prices and payments for nearly all medical services.

The Goldwater Institute has identified IPAB as a critical reason why the federal health care bill is unconstitutional and must be struck down. Otherwise, as the chief actuary’s office has predicted, the mandated changes to Medicare likely will result in poorer health care for more people.

Diane Cohen is an attorney with the Goldwater Institute Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation.

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona

Thursday, September 2, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                                                   MEDIA CONTACT:

September 1, 2010                                                                        Sean McCaffrey (480/366-5975)

MEDIA ADVISORY: Pearce, Arpaio, Others

Press Conference  9:00 AM                                                                                            

PHOENIX, AZ¾ Arizona Senator Russell Pearce, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and other elected officials and VIPs will hold a 30-minute press conference in front of Arizona Diamondbacks Chase Field at South 5^th Street and East Jefferson Street.

 The press conference will take place at 9:00AM, Thursday, September 2, 2010.  Sheriff Arpaio and Senator Pearce will be joined by other elected officials and VIPs from around Arizona.

“Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Senator Russell Pearce, both national co-chairmen of BanAmnestyNow.com will be announcing the results of B.A.N.’s nationwide petition to keep the 2011 MLB All-Star Game here in Arizona,” said B.A.N. president Sean McCaffrey.

“Arizona is an All-Star State, leading the way in showing our federal government that laws can indeed be upheld,” McCaffrey said.  “Other states are joining us.  Citizens from all fifty states have signed B.A.N.’s petition asking Major League Baseball not to punish the citizens of Arizona because we chose to uphold the law.”

SUMMARY INFORATION:

Who: Sheriff Arpaio, Senator Pearce & Other VIPs

When: Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010 at 9:00AM

Where: Intersection of S. 5^th Street and E. Jefferson St., Phoenix

Why: Because Arizona is an All-Star State!

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

 Please contact Sean McCaffrey at B.A.N. at (480) 366-5975

or on his cell-phone at (602) 885-5815

by Nick Dranias

Goldwater Institute

Many local governments in Arizona want us to believe they have gone to extreme lengths to tighten their budget belts. But when you hear that Tucson is using its sign laws to squelch artistic murals on the historic Rialto Theater because the murals aren’t purely for artistic purposes—they also promote shows at the theater—your realize budgets can’t be that bare. Then there are the pool cops of Maricopa County, who are aiming to shut down weekend pool parties used by Phoenix-area resorts to boost their business during this recession.

Any government that can waste resources on such measures has too many idle hands on the payroll. The fact that local governments can’t recognize this shows that streamlining budgets requires more than a commitment to saving money. It requires a guiding philosophy of limited government.

In many cases, cities and counties cannot focus limited resources on core functions because they cannot identify what functions are core. Laws against genuine public nuisances have no higher standing than crack downs on wall murals and bans on resort pool parties where guests might eat or drink too close to the water. Resources are stretched because government officials are using them to perform needless and often abusive tasks.

Fortunately, local governments can look right at the Arizona Constitution for guidance on identifying core functions: “All political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights.”

Officials who accept this basic principle of limited government are unlikely to prosecute  businesses for such offenses as painting wall murals on their own property that also advertise their business and planning some outdoor fun to attract more customers. No function of government is a core function if it has nothing to do with protecting and maintaining individual rights.

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

by Byron Schlomach, Ph.D.

Goldwater Institute

The nation’s high unemployment rate has barely fallen this year, in part because many businesses are waiting for the other shoe to drop from federal health care reform.

At this point, business people can only guess at what new employees will cost in the near future. Already, health care benefits constitute almost 8 percent of the total cost of an employee. Though these costs were rising before, they did so predictably.

Now, the Arizona Department of Administration has warned of a previously unexpected 37 percent increase in state employee health care costs due to federal reform. That follows announcements by John Deere and AT&T of unexpected expenses of $150 million and $1 billion, respectively, also due to the federal health care bill.

Michael Fleisher, president of Bogen Communications in New Jersey, recently wrote of an unexpected and extraordinary 28 percent increase in his company’s health insurance premiums. “As much as I might want to hire new salespeople, engineers and marketing staff in an effort to grow, I would be increasing my company’s vulnerability to government decisions to raise taxes, to policies that make health insurance more expensive, and to the difficulties of this economic environment,” he wrote in the Wall Street Journal.

Similarly, Steve Wynn, the hotel-casino magnate, while discussing new ventures in China, told CNBC, “No one in the (U.S.) business community from one coast to another has any idea what’s next…The uncertainty of the business climate in America is frightening, frightening to everybody, and it is delaying a recovery.”

Add the many thousands of regulations yet to be written to the current almost-3,000 pages of health reform legislation. It’s no wonder that entrepreneurs are skittish. The certainty needed to inspire widespread job growth will only return when this “reform” is stopped.

Dr. Byron Schlomach is an economist and the director of the Center for Economic Prosperity at the Goldwater Institute.

by Nick Dranias
Goldwater Institute

Last week, the Goldwater Institute filed a formal appeal to the Supreme Court to strike down matching funds once and for all. The appeal follows the Court’s decision on June 8, 2010, to suspend temporarily the distribution of matching funds to taxpayer-funded “Clean Elections” candidates.

Matching funds seek to “level the playing field” between taxpayer-funded and privately-funded candidates by showering taxpayer-funded candidates with matching subsidies for every dollar that an opposing privately-funded opponent raises or spends above a specific spending limit.

Imagine if this concept were applied to the media in general, news websites that get “too many” visitors could trigger subsidies to bail out failing newspapers. To provide “balance,” talk shows with ratings that spike “too high” could spawn access to tax dollars for their struggling competition.

Sounds pretty far-fetched, right. The Federal Trade Commission recently published a report urging more funds to public broadcasting, creation of a government program to pay reporters and fund local news, and taxes on electronic devices and online news aggregators. Columbia University President Lee Bollinger wrote this summer in the Wall Street Journal that there is nothing to fear from government subsidizing the media – highlighting China’s CCTV and Xinhua news as examples of unbiased journalism.

If these ideas gain momentum, the government could easily shape the marketplace of ideas through triggered subsidies. Stopping the government from silencing candidates with the threat of massive subsidies to their political opponents is a necessary step to preventing the government’s wider expansion of fiscally-engineered censorship.

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

by Clint Bolick

The federal health care bill is one of the most sweeping invasions of individual liberty in American history. Two weeks ago, the Goldwater Institute filed a lawsuit to bring down the law and restore your right to make your own health care decisions.

The lead plaintiff is Nick Coons, who owns a small computer sales and repair business in Tempe. Mr. Coons pays his health care expenses out of his own pocket, so that he can invest every possible dollar in expanding his business. When he gets older, Mr. Coons plans to purchase a high-deductable health insurance policy that would cover a catastrophic accident or illness.

Neither of those options is allowed under the new federal law. Starting in 2014, Mr. Coons will be forced to purchase government-approved health insurance – covering far more than he needs. If he refuses, he will have to pay a stiff penalty to the IRS every year.

Our lawsuit, Coons v. Geithner, argues that forcing Mr. Coons to buy government-mandated health insurance violates his constitutional rights and exceeds the limited powers of Congress.

Joining Mr. Coons in this lawsuit are 29 state legislators and three members of Congress who are prevented by the health care bill from providing meaningful oversight or voting solely in the best interest of Arizona citizens. I’ll explain more about those issues in future articles.

The title of my most recent book, David’s Hammer, depicts the judicial gavel as a force that can be wielded by ordinary Americans to bring down government oppression. If ever we needed that hammer, it is now.

Clint Bolick is director of the Goldwater Institute Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation.

Peter & Dena Smith

cordially invite you to their home for a reception with

Hugh Hewitt

in support of

Candidate for U.S. Congress in Arizona’s First Congressional District

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

Scottsdale, AZ

6:00pm

Suggested minimum contribution of $200 per person

Often referred to as, “the most influential Conservative you’ve never heard of”, Hewitt’s nationally syndicated radio show is heard in more than 120 cities across the United States every weekday afternoon which has an audience estimated at more than 2 million listeners every week. Hewitt is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, and has been teaching Constitutional Law at Chapman University Law School since it opened in 1995.

Professor Hewitt has been a frequent guest on CNN, Fox News Network, and MSNBC, and has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. He has also received three Emmys for his work as co-host of the ground-breaking Life & Times program.  Hewitt also served for nearly six years in the Reagan Administration in a variety of posts, including Assistant Counsel in the White House and Special Assistant to two Attorneys General.

____________________________________________________________________

Mr. Hewitt will also be joining Dr. Gosar in Prescott Valley earlier in the day. Thursday Aug 12th.

11:00am to 12:30pm.

The event is free and open to the public.  For more information or to RSVP visit

www.GosarforCongress.com/Get-Involved/Hugh-Hewitt

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona

Tuseday, August 3, 2010

The Obama administration and their allies in the media are celebrating Clinton appointee Susan Bolton’s temporary injunction against SB 1070.  I sure hope she gets that 9th Court appointment, she has earned it.  The New York Times called it “Warning to Other States.”  Some patriots are becoming discouraged.

In reality, SB 1070 is a warning to illegal aliens and their allies in the federal government respect our laws and Americans have reason to celebrate.

As of July 29, Sanctuary/Catch & Release policies in this state are illegal under state law.  Citizens, you remember the term, “We The People?” Well, We The People can sue our government for failure to enforce our laws and will and that will be a up to $5,000 per day for any policy that restricts or limits the enforcement our federal law to the full extent permitted by law.  State officials are required to report illegal aliens.  There are still increased penalties for hiring illegal day laborers.

SB 1070 is already working. CNN reported that even though SB 1070 “now heads for higher courts…some of the estimated 500,000 undocumented immigrants in Arizona are leaving the state.”

Judge Bolton’s temporary injunction against parts of the law is minor setback, but Arizona will fight this in court until we prevail just as we did when a judge issued an injunction against Proposition 200.

The citizens of the United States are standing with Arizona.  According to a July 19 Quinnipiac University Poll, Americans oppose the Justice Department’s lawsuit against SB 1070 by a margin of over 2-1 and in another national poll support SB1070 by 66%, again by over 2 to 1.

Most know that illegal immigrants are, well, you know illegal.  Barack Obama does not.

The basis of the Justice Department’s complaint is not that SB 1070 interferes with federal immigration law, but rather that it interferes with the Obama administration’s “discretion in enforcing the provisions of the federal immigration laws” that means his priorities of NON enforcement over ours of enforcement.

This discretion means they only will go after illegal aliens who are also “engaged in or suspected of terrorism or espionage; aliens convicted of crimes, with a particular emphasis on violent criminals, felons, and repeat offenders; certain gang members; aliens subject to outstanding criminal warrants; and fugitive aliens, especially those with criminal records.”  He means they must commit another crime and have another victim before they will do anything and then maybe.  What is another homicide, molestation, home invasion, kidnapping, of job taken from an American bread winner to getting those future votes or the cheap labor the profits over patriotism crowd is demanding.

All this while the Mexican drug wars are flooding across the border into Arizona with home invasions and kidnappings becoming commonplace.  Phoenix is the kidnapping capital of America.  15 police officers have been shot or maimed by illegal aliens in Phoenix alone.  During the debate over 1070, my friend and 5th Generation Arizona Rancher Rob Krentz was murdered by illegal alien drug dealers.  Days after the law passed, a police officer was shot by other illegal alien drug smugglers.  I have a son who is a Deputy Sheriff who was shot and critically wounded while serving Homicide warrants on illegal alien suspects.

Illegal immigration also strains the economy of Arizona.  The non-partisan Federation for American Immigration Reform recently released a study that found illegal aliens cost Arizona Taxpayers 2.6 billion dollars a year.  Before Arizona passed the Legal Arizona Workers Act to keep employers for hiring illegal aliens, 9.8% of our workforce as illegal.

Arizona’s stand against illegal immigration is not just about States’ Rights, it’s about a State’s Responsibility.

When I assumed office, I put my hand on the bible and solemnly swore to “support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution and laws of the State of Arizona, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and defend them against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

SB 1070 is the law of the State of Arizona.

Article IV Section 4 of the US Constitution states: “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion.”  The flood of illegal aliens—many of whom are terrorists, violent drug dealers, and gang members—is nothing short of an invasion.   I swore to protect the Constitution as the founders intended it, not the political agenda of a left wing activist judge and administration.

By siding with lawbreakers and undermining the Democratic will of the American people, I’m tempted to call the Obama and his lackeys domestic enemies.   At the very least he is more concerned about what America’s enemies think about SB 1070 than the American people.  Obama’s Deputy Secretary of State issued an affidavit against SB 1070.  Among his justifications was Venezuela’s outrageous accusation that the law “could lead to the legitimization of racist attitudes and the latent risk of violence.”

That’s right, Obama’s state department is using slander by anti-American Socialist Dictators like Hugo Chavez as an excuse to overturn the democratic process in Arizona!

I do not take my oath of office lightly.  It is my duty as a public servant and an American citizen to ensure that SB 1070 is enacted and enforced.  The people of Arizona will not rest until this happens.

It was with deep disappointment that I read the following letter forwarded to me from my colleagues in the  RTKBA community . 

I hope our readers will share this with United We Stand for Americans; the good patriots in the 912 Project; and the Campaign for Liberty.  Share via FB with those who have scraped their dimes and nickels together to pay Sheriff Mack’s speaking fee.   You’ve been sold out.

Konopnicki simply want a “prop” or “trophy wife” to showcase to voters that he really is a “Constitutional Conservative” and is spending mega-bucks to prove it.  But his actions speak louder than words so he needed “street cred” … and bought some.  What follows is how someone betrays his cause, his friends, and those who have trusted him.

Sheriff Mack … there is no explanation for this betrayal to a politician who only wishes to use you to get what he wants.

From: Richard Mack
Subject: my appologies, but
Date: Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Dear friends:
I have some news for you that is weighing heavy on me, but I must go with my heart and

what I feel is best. I have decided to support Bill Konopnicki for State Senate. Please allow

me to explain my decision.  I have known Bill for a very long time, perhaps 35 maybe 40 years.

He has been a good friend and a good friend of my parents.

I know Bill to be a good husband and father. Because of this relationship I’ve been struggling

with my decision as to who to support in this race. I know Sylvia is a good person, also.

Then yesterday Bill asked to meet with me in his office. He was most eager to hear more about my victory at the U S Supreme Court and how the ruling might benefit Arizona in its present litigation with the federal gov’t. He was very impressed and told me that he would make certain that the Governor and her counsel would receive this vital information. There is no question that my case, based on state sovereignty, will help us all in these trying times of federal intervention and control. Bill took it upon himself to get my info. to the Governor. He showed leadership and dedication; he took the initiative to

help and to make a difference.  Needless to say, I was moved and impressed.

On the other hand, Sylvia has not called me or asked me to help in the least.  She and I were asked to speak at an event in Globe together and she declined the invitation. Now, I think I have seen a difference and it has moved me to support Bill Konopnicki.

I am asking for your understanding and assure you that this decision has been a matter of prayer and deep contemplation. My wife and I discussed it in great detail, also.  I will always fight for freedom and try with all my might to restore the Constitution as the law of this great land.  I will never shrink from this quest.

Respectfully,

Sheriff Richard Mack  (Ret)

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

State Senator Russell Pearce, Author of Arizona’s

SB 1070, Seeks to Intervene in Federal Lawsuit to Defend Arizona Immigration Law

Judicial Watch to RepresentState Senator Pearce in “Legal Battle of Epic Proportions” against Obama Justice Department

(Washington, DC) — Judicial Watch, the government watchdog group, announced today that it has filed a “Motion to Intervene” on behalf of Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce, author of Arizona’s new illegal immigration law SB 1070, in an Obama Justice Department lawsuit challenging the law which set to take effect on July 29th.  On July 6, the Obama Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the State of Arizona and Governor Jan Brewer and requested a preliminary injunction preventing the law from being enforced.

According to today’s Judicial Watch’s court filing:

“To further the interests of his legislative district and all citizens of Arizona, Senator Pearce authored SB 1070.  On January 13, 2010, Senator Pearce introduced SB 1070 into the Arizona Senate.  Over several months, Senator Pearce worked with his colleagues to enact a statutory scheme that made SB 1070 the public policy of all state and local government agencies in Arizona.  Senator Pearce was the chief sponsor of SB 1070 and voted in favor of its passage.  Senator Pearce’s efforts came to fruition when Governor Brewer signed SB 1070 and HB 2762 into law.”

“As the author and driving force behind the enactment of SB 1070, Senator Pierce has the right to defend it.”

On April 23, 2010, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law legislation authored by State Sen. Pearce that, among other provisions, makes it a crime to be in the State of Arizona without proper documentation.  State Sen. Pearce crafted the language in the bill consistent with federal law.  However, the Obama Justice Department filed a lawsuit challenging the law and requesting a preliminary injunction preventing the law from being enforced.

 State Senator Pearce issued the following statement today on his legal effort to defend SB 1070:

“The purpose of SB 1070 is to protect the citizens of Arizona from the devastating and deadly impact of rampant illegal immigration.  And it is outrageous that the Obama administration would attack Arizona for simply protecting its own citizens, especially when it has failed so miserably to do its constitutional duty and secure the border.  This is a legal battle of epic proportions. As a Senator in a state on the frontlines, I see firsthand the damage being done to our state and our country. What happens here in Arizona will impact every state in the country interested in protecting its citizens by enforcing the rule of law.  We are a nation of laws.  We must have the courage – the fortitude – to enforce, with compassion but without apology, those laws that protect the integrity of our borders and the rights of our lawful citizens.”

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton issued the following statement today on the new push to defend SB 1070:

Our work to defend SB 1070 for Senator Pearce may be the most important piece of litigation that Judicial Watch has undertaken in its 16 year history.  In many ways, this comes down to a fight between those who want to enforce the law and those who do not.  The Obama White House wants to kill this law because it does not want to bear its constitutional responsibility to secure the border and enforce the law.  We are proud to stand with Arizona State Sen. Pearce, Governor Brewer and the citizens of Arizona in support of the rule of law.”

Judicial Watch’s Arizona counsel is Geoffrey Kercsmar of the firm Kercsmar & Feltus PLLC.

To read State Senator Pearce’s “Motion to Intervene” in the Obama administration’s lawsuit against the State of Arizona, please visit www.judicialwatch.org

Happy 4th, all! At UnitedWeStandforAmericans.org, we had a special 2 hour show with Goldwater Institute attorney Clint Bolick on the Constitution and the current state of Constitutional law. Sounds long, but I think it goes by VERY fast! We cover everything from basic Constitutional concepts to recent cases like the McDonald gun rights case and Clean Elections. Enjoy!

4th of July UWSFA show on the Constitution

COMMON SENSE

“In the following sheets, the author hath studiously avoided every thing which is personal among ourselves. Compliments as well as censure to individuals make no part thereof. The wise and the worthy need not the triumph of a pamphlet; and those whose sentiments are injudicious or unfriendly, will cease of themselves, unless too much pains is bestowed upon their conversion.”

  July 4th, 2010

Celebrating the Declaration of Independence

Happy Birthday, America

Conceived in liberty, born in conflict, the United States of America has stood as a beacon of hope for mankind the world over, ever since that fateful day 234 years ago in Philadelphia, when courageous men signed the Declaration of Independence. They came from all walks of life, but shared one thing in common, a burning desire to be free, and to confer that freedom to all of their descendants, whether by family ties or those bound by the unity of their American citizenship.

The road we have walked as American has rarely been smooth or straight. We have been challenged and tested many times in many ways – by wars, natural disasters, disease, economic chaos, political strife, and yet the underlying documents that bind us have prevailed until now.

 Today, we stand at crossroads as we face a new kind of enemy, more insidious, and in numerous ways, more insidious than any we have ever known. The enemy is among us, having insinuated its way into the highest offices of the land, threatening our liberty and the very foundations that have made us the nation we have become.

There have been times past when our patriotism has waxed and waned, when the pedestrian burdens that life imposes have distracted us, when we have become complacent in the assumption that all we enjoy is the normal human condition, but it is not. Our liberty was hard won, and must be fought for to maintain.

We are reminded, today, of an immigrant to these shores – Mr. Thomas Paine, a man of modest means who became an anonymous pamphleteer, in a role we well know. Mr. Paine cloaked himself in anonymity to avoid the hangman’s noose. Not all of brave signers of the Declaration of Independence were equally fortunate to survive the Revolution without having to wear the necktie of death. We at   C O M M O N  S E N S E are similarly anonymous, but for reasons that we wish only our ideas to be challenged, and this is best accomplished without the publication of persona.

Throughout the year, we normally ask you to examine just facts and events using your intellect. Today, on our Nation’s birthday, we would like to pull at the heartstrings of your emotions.

Feel free to read the Declaration of Independence http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/  and then take a moment to see and hear the debut of one of our nation’s most stirring anthems. Written in 1917 by Irving Berlin, it was first performed by Kate Smith on Armistice Day, November 11, 1941, just a bare two weeks before the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnQDW-NMaRs As you hear the words, join us in wishing America a grand happy birthday, with many happy returns.

God Bless America.

 ______________________________________________________________________

Who the author of this Production is, is wholly unnecessary to the Public, as the Object for Attention is the Doctrine itself, not the Man. Yet it may not be unnecessary to say, That he is unconnected with any Party, and under no sort of Influence public or private, but the influence of reason and principle.

Philadelphia, February 14, 1776.”

Today “wise” men from the east will make a visit to our lovely state.  With them, they will bring gifts of malarkey, double-speak, and duplicitous intentions.  You have to wonder what the east cost elitists with their full-blown cases of Potomac Fever must think of our homegrown Governor.  With her determined demeanor, boot-straps style and not a bit of entitlement to be found, she has a proven record of accomplishing what others cannot. Janice K. Brewer makes up in grit and integrity what she might lack in pretentious polish and I’ll take that any day!   

The very real cost of our porous border affects Arizona unlike any other state.  It is right that Governor Brewer is taking on the challenge.  She is definitely up to it! 

The Republic columnist, Laurie Roberts, who says she doesn’t necessarily like SB 1070 appreciates Governor Brewer advocating for the state and has this to say about the meeting:

Maybe Obama’s staffers will be bringing a pile of gold today when they meet with Brewer, to satisfy their debt. If not, was I governor I might be inclined to toss in one more gift for Obama’s staffers to deliver to the White House . . . a summons.

Not a bad idea!  They bring us their gifts, we give them ours.

Phoenix, AZ – ALRA Chairman, Jesse Hernandez, commented on the recent federal court decision of the State of New York. “On behalf of ALRA, we are appalled at the gigantic step backwards a New York federal court and the New York suburb of Port Chester have taken in regards to race relations and voting rights. They have chosen to give Latino residents six votes instead of one in an election for village trustees. As a nation, we have made great strides from the days when blacks were only considered 3/5 of a person. That unfair treatment was rightly reversed by the 14th and 15th Amendments. It is equally wrong now to give one race or ethnicity additional votes, regardless of the motive. It has the same effect; unfairly reducing the vote of those who are not Latino.

The United States is no longer the land of Jim Crowe. It is unlikely the reason there aren’t any Latinos on the village council is due to racism. It is more likely there aren’t any because none chose to run for office. Almost half of the village population is Latino, but many are too young to vote or are there illegally and therefore disenabling to participate in a legal voting process. If people are concerned there are not enough Latinos as village trustees, they should recruit Latinos using their private resources, not the heavy hand of government.

Even so, we would hope that people would select their leaders based on whether they are the best candidate for the office, not the color of their skin. Martin Luther King, Jr., famously said in his ‘I Have a Dream Speech’, that he had a dream that his four little children would one day live in a nation where they would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

Today the extra votes may superficially seem to benefit us as Latinos, but tomorrow a ruling on another issue could easily cut against us. The right to vote is one of our most cherished rights. To have it diluted and restricted for some is an affront to the equal opportunities our nation provides. This is a slippery slope we do not want to go down. We strongly denounce this court decision and its negative effect on the foundation of our political system.”

CONTACT: Arizona Latino Republican Association Jesse Hernandez, Chairman mexgop (602) 549-9296 www.latinogop.org

Goldwater Institute News Release

PHOENIX – After a three-year legal battle, Tom and Elizabeth Preston soon will be able to open Body Accents Tattoo and Piercing Studio in Tempe.

The Prestons have settled their lawsuit against Tempe which challenged the City’s refusal to allow the couple to open a tattoo studio near Scottsdale and Curry Roads. Both sides have agreed to dismiss their appeals of a 2009 trial court ruling. Maricopa County Judge Robert H. Oberbillig ruled the City’s revocation of the Prestons’ operating permit was arbitrary and capricious, and ordered Tempe to restore the permit. But Judge Oberbillig determined the Prestons shouldn’t receive monetary damages for more than $20,000 that they had invested in the business before Tempe revoked their permit.

“This lifts such a weight off of our shoulders,” Elizabeth Preston said. “Clearly, we lost money because we couldn’t open the studio three years ago. Now, we can do something that we are passionate about and will allow us to recover our losses in a business that continues to grow.”

“This little studio will be a monument to the triumph of economic freedom,” said Clint Bolick, director of the Goldwater Institute Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation, which represented the Prestons. “No business owner should have to endure what the Prestons went through. After the trial court precedent, we hope no one will have to do so again.”

This case protects the fundamental right of anyone to pursue a livelihood and operate a legal business without a local government shutting it down because of personal, negative feelings not based in fact or the law, Mr. Bolick said.
 
The Prestons have owned Virtual Reality, a tattoo studio in Mesa, for 20 years with no complaints filed against them. In 2007, the City of Tempe issued a permit for their new studio, Body Accents. But the City Council rescinded that permit after substantial investment by the Prestons based on the “perception” that the studio would harm the neighborhood.

The Prestons received their Tempe operating permit today and hope to open the Body Accents studio in early August. Mr. Bolick plans to fulfill a vow to get “inked” with his first tattoo when the studio opens.

Read more about this and other Goldwater lawsuits to protect individual rights and keep government within its constitutional limits at www.goldwaterinstitute.org/litigation. The Goldwater Institute is a research and litigation organization whose work is made possible by the generosity of its supporters.