Arizona Politics for Conservatives: Sonoran Alliance
Arizona Politics, News, Commentary and Information with a Blatantly Conservative Worldview Presented by an Alliance of Writers, Activists, Consultants and Government Insiders.
Update: The full interview of Newt Gingrich on Sean Hannity is now available for viewing via Newt’s Youtube channel:
Two great clips from Sean Hannity’s interview with former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Newt addresses several hot questions everyone is asking as part of the national vetting process. Here is clip one from that interview:
Rasmussen also released a new poll today showing Newt Gingrich leading Barack Obama by two points, 45-43%. Read the poll here.
Apparently, John Huntsman has targeted Mitt Romney in his latest ad, “Scared Mittless.”
Members of the media have also argued that Mitt Romney avoids providing interviews at all cost. However, Mitt did grant this interview which appeared on Fox News with Bret Baier:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, July 14, 2011
CONTACT: Rachel Semmel
“This Administration, now to trying to play the blame game, is actually a little outrageous.”
Washington, D.C. – Congressman David Schweikert (R-AZ), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, discussed Treasury Secretary Geithner’s latest accusations on the debt ceiling, and what needs to be done to reach a deal on Reuters. Below is the video and excerpts from the interview:
He’s right on one point, time is running out. But I have to express my frustration. If you’ve ever sat through one of the Secretary’s speeches or have been in some of the private meetings as I’ve had with him, he’s been actually very honest about the scale of the problem and how the markets will crush us if we don’t demonstrate we’re bending the debt curve. But then they come out with something that in many ways almost sounds petulant and is actually stunningly partisan. This really disappoints me because I thought he would be one of the point men out of the Administration who would actually keep this discussion somewhat honest about the numbers.
Look, the Left has to understand that those of us Republicans believe that just to go out and raise taxes will crush economic growth. Though, both Right and Left around here seem willing to have an honest discussion about rebuilding our tax code. But this is something we should have done months ago. We stepped up as the Republican Majority in the House months and months ago, and did a budget. That would have been the time to embrace that and then do the discussion on rebuilding our tax code to create jobs. Now, to trying to play the blame game from this Administration is actually a little outrageous.
I appreciate his attempt to try to be creative. But you know people like me, we were elected to come here and do hard things but do the things that save this Republic. And postponing it or finding another gamesmanship way to move it off the books and push it to someone else’s responsibility, I believe is somewhat wrong-headed. Look, this is tough. There’s a lot of folks here who’ve been elected year after year, I believe, not telling the truth about the devastating amount of debt that has been piling up on us and now, to have to look into a camera like this and explain to the American people that we got to change it, we got to change this crazy spending.
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Our Congressman Jeff Flake recently sat down in late June for an interview with ReasonTV senior editor Tim Cavanaugh.
From ReasonTV’s description of the interview:
Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona) has represented the Diamondback State’s sixth congressional district since 2001, cutting a pro-immigration, pro-trade, limited-government, anti-spending path that contrasts sharply with the mainstream of the Republican Party.
Flake’s campaign against “earmarking,” or larding up bills with giveaways for legislators’ home districts, brought national attention to this issue and inspired some important rule changes. He has been a lonely voice in the House calling for an end to the U.S.-imposed travel ban on Cuba. And in a state that has shocked much of the country with its intolerance toward both documented and undocumented immigrants, Flake has consistently argued for reducing obstacles to legal immigration and establishing more effective guest worker programs.
Now Flake has his eye on the Senate seat being vacated next year by the retiring Republican Jon Kyl. While there’s plenty of competition for his House job, Flake is so far alone in the race for Arizona’s junior Senate seat.
A former head of the Goldwater Institute and practicing Mormon, Flake is a leading voice for freer markets and more personal freedom within the Republican Party.
Jennifer Wright has never voted for a tax hike and has never worked with or for any government unions.
Charlie Ellis is another conservative candidate seeking the office of City Councilman in Phoenix’s 5th District.
On Wednesday, Van the Radio Man conducted a lengthy interview of Charlie Ellis on his show. Listen as Ellis presents his philosophy and vision for the City of Phoenix.
Charlie Ellis expects to have his website up very soon but in the meantime, you may contact him via Facebook.
Thanks to Van the Radio Man for another candidate interview as the City of Phoenix moves closer to Election Day!
Here is the link to the Charlie Ellis interview.
In case you missed it, Sonoran Alliance is posting the recent online interview of Phoenix City Council candidate, Eric Frederick by Van the Radio Man.
This interview occurred last Thursday and allowed Eric Frederick to go into detail about his campaign for District 1 in the Phoenix Council race.
Eric Frederick is the only conservative running in this race and we encourage our readers to support his effort to remove a long-time government-union supported incumbent who voted for the tax on food, a hike on water rates and the notorious CityNorth Project.
Eric’s website is at www.ElectFrederick.com.
Here is Eric Frederick’s interview (edited for size).
Special thanks to Clair Van Steenwyk – “Van the Radio Man” for conducting this interview!
Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio was on with KFYI-550′s Jim Sharpe this morning to discuss his recent request to obtain information linking the food tax to city employee salaries.
Here is that interview.
And in case you missed Sal DiCiccio’s presentation on the budget and government employee salaries, here is the video:
In case you missed it, Congressman David Schweikert was on Fox Business’ Nightly Scoreboard with David Asman discussing his Thursday meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Great interview Congressman Schweikert!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 31, 2011
CONTACT: Rachel Semmel
REP. SCHWEIKERT DISCUSSES DEBT CEILING ON FOX NEWS: “RIGHT NOW I AM A ‘NO’”
Washington, D.C. – Congressman David Schweikert (R-AZ), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, appeared on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom this morning to discuss tonight’s vote on the debt ceiling. Below is the video and excerpts from the interview:
SCHWEIKERT ON DEBT CEILING VOTE
“Right now I am a ‘no.’ Because I’m not sure I see enough movement to do those things that are necessary, whether it be the combination of the short term, mid-term, long-term. You have to do a whole series of systemic changes if you are going to save this country.”
SCHWEIKERT ON WHAT A ‘YES’ VOTE REQUIRES
“If you and I tomorrow put together a package saying, here’s what we are willing to cut immediately; over the next year; over the next 10 years. Layered on top of that, Senator Mike Lee and myself have a balanced budget amendment that I believe is the strongest, tightest of all of them because it avoids some of the gimmicks. You might start to put together a package that provides visibility for our citizens, but also the world market for them to know the United States is getting serious about dealing with its debt.
“The reality of it is we bleed $4.7 billion every single day. Every single day we borrow $4.7 billion. You are going to have to do everything. And you are also going to have to have an honest discussion about the entitlements. You hear us have the discussion about Medicare. Medicare hits a brick wall stunningly soon … This place is engaged in rhetoric instead of reality.
“We literally have to be in the trillions over the next decade. We are borrowing $1.6 trillion just this year. These folks that make the comments of ‘this is too hard, it’s too tough,’ they are not telling the truth to the American people about how dangerous this spiraling of debt is.”
SCHWEIKERT ON WHERE DEMOCRATS STAND ON DEBT CEILING VOTE
“You have 100 Democrats that apparently have signed a letter to Speaker Boehner saying ‘we want a clean debt vote.’ Fine, they are about to get their clean debt vote. But for everyone that will vote to raise this debt ceiling, I think they are being absolutely duplicitous and not telling the American people the truth. If you don’t tie a series of systemic changes in how we are spending our money, I believe the debt markets would crush us. They would start to raise our risk premium, raise interest rates if we were just to raise the debt ceiling without changes.
“Sunday, if you watched some of the talking head shows, how many times did you see the Democrat Member get up in front of the camera and say if we would just tax the rich or big oil? They are lying to you. Those together don’t even buy you three days of borrowing. What are you going to do with the other 362 days?”
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The vast majority of Arizonans don’t realize just how much of their tax money pays for the pensions of those who work for the government. Arizona has one of the most generous retirement systems in place. That’s why you will often see lawmakers retire from the legislature only to run for a judicial position like justice of the peace or a statewide office – both types paying more than the meager $24,000/year the legislature pays.
With the budget crisis continuing to loom over a return to economic prosperity, one Arizona lawmaker is taking a very personal and professional step in reforming the system of elected Arizona’s multi-faceted retirement system.
Meet Kirk Adams, Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Arizona Legislature. Speaker Adams has chosen to withdraw from this system and forgo receiving his pension. He believes that it’s time to send a message that those who work for the government need to sacrifice and set the example. Adams also believes that Arizona’s government pension system is sitting on a financial bubble and it’s only a matter of time before that bubble bursts.
We’ll let Fox 10 Phoenix show the interview that aired on Sunday:
GOP House Speaker Withdraws From Retirement Plan: MyFoxPHOENIX.com
On the home page of AZ Political Interviews, you can find my interview with Mike Gular. Mike is the only Republican in LD 16 and I want to encourage every Republican in LD 16 to one-shot Mike and purposefully undervote so Mike gets elected. Any Republicans fully voting and casting votes for a democrat in the house races will only ensure that democrats are elected. This was our first production in the general election. Believe it or not, the ENTIRE thing was shot on a greenscreen. Even the table was covered with a green cloth. David Sipmann of Lightray Productions is a master with digitizing! We’re thankful that he lets us use his studio. If you’re looking for decently priced studio time, contact David via his webpage.
Fiscal conservatives know full well that Jan Brewer is a tax and spend liberal. She increased spending with her line item vetoes and had to call three special sessions just to undo her damage. She was the poster girl for Prop. 100. Spending levels are still as they were in 2009. She lied about fixing the state’s structural budget deficit. Revenue projections for Prop. 100 shows that the 18% tax increase isn’t bringing in the revenue Coughlin told Brewer it would. We’re looking at a budget deficit of at least $700 million next year and over $1 billion in 2012…all because Brewer and the state legislature don’t have the spine to cut the budget and unnecessary spending. She has shown on YouTube and in the CCEC debate just how stupid she really is. If it weren’t for S.B. 1070, we’d likely have a different nominee. Some polls show that Goddard, of all people, is narrowing her lead. I’d wager this wouldn’t be the case if we had a better nominee.
If, like me, you refuse to vote for Brewer because she’s demonstrated that she loves big government, there are alternatives. One alternative is Libertarian candidate Barry Hess. I recently interviewed him on AZ Political Interviews. As with David Nolan or any Libertarian, there may be enough bright-line difference in ideology that may prevent a conservative from voting for a Libertarian. See for yourself. The link to my audio interview is below.
One thing I meant to bring up with Barry, and I wish I had, but we were running short on time (and these Libertarians LOVE to talk!), is that he may be partially responsible for Arizona suffering 6 years with Napolitano as governor. Barry garnered roughly 15K votes in 2002…about twice the margin that Matt Salmon lost by. If the Libertarians had voted with the Republicans in 2002, we wouldn’t be in the budget mess that we’re in now and JaNo would not be the head of the Department of Homeland Security. Perhaps Barry will comment in this thread.
Link to audio interview with Libertarian gubernatorial candidate, Barry Hess
Some conservative Republicans are incredibly unhappy with the nomination of John McCain to be our U.S. Senator. We know full well that he lied through his teeth during the campaign, posturing as a conservative, when he’s demonstrably not. Not only do we know full well that the traitor (to Republican principles) will throw off his disguise as soon as he’s elected and take a hard left, but he, or his staff, continues to wage war on conservative activists within the party while simultaneously and disingenuously trying to sell unity. I’m not buying it. Coming from John McCain, I know it’s snake oil. For that reason, he’ll get no quarter or respite from me.
If, like me, there’s no way you’re going to vote for the Democrat in Disguise that’s our Republican nominee, there’s alternatives. One of the alternatives is David Nolan, the Libertarian candidate. However, there are some bright-line differences between Libertarians and Republicans…perhaps stark enough to prevent some conservatives, especially social conservatives, from voting for a Libertarian. See for yourself: I’ve linked to my AZ Political Interviews show with Mr. Nolan. Make up your own mind. It’s an audio interview. Enjoy.
AZ Political Interviews debuts with an interview of Independent write-in candidate for U.S. Senate, Ian Gilyeat. If you’re fed up with McCain’s liberalism, Mr. Gilyeat is an alternative to voting for McCain. You won’t see his name on the ballot, so, you’ll have to write his name in. He certainly seems to hold more values in common with the Republican platform than does Mr. McCain.
Interview with State Mine Inspector Joe Hart
Recently, I was honored to have Joe Hart, our State Mine Inspector, as a guest on my show, Grassroots Interviews. I spent about 45 minutes talking with Joe about the mining industry in Arizona, his background and experience and the campaign. I talked with Joe about his opponent’s, Manuel Cruz’s, spurious claims that Joe doesn’t have the required experience for the office.
To me, the most interesting aspects of the interview is that Arizona has a lot of uranium it could mine in the north, yet we’ve got the Left opposing any and all attempts to capitalize on those resources. This draws a bright-line distinction between the Left and the Right to my mind: the right wants economic expansion and opportunity. The Left wants inertia, poverty and government restrictions on all aspects of human behavior.
This is a pre-production copy of my interview with State Mine Inspector Joe Hart. It’s all greenscreen. As I said, we’re still tweaking the show to come up with something that works seamlessly.
We recently started taping Grassroots Interviews again. Accept no imitations! The interview with Sen. Huppenthal is our second show. Of course, he’s the Republican nominee for Superintendent of Public Instruction. I thought education was one of my weak points, but this is an exhaustive 1.5 hour interview.
We’re still working out the kinks, so, expect changes to future interviews. If you’re running for office in a contested race and want to be interviewed, or you represent a ballot initiative, look me up on Facebook and send me a message.
