Ron Barber is living in his own world. He just doesn’t get it.

Southern Arizonans are struggling with sky-high gas prices. And what does Barber want? Even higher energy costs for Arizona families.

Barber’s support for Obama’s Cap and Trade bill means that the radical environmentalists supporting his campaign win – while Southern Arizonans lose.

Question: Why won’t Ron Barber wake-up to the problems facing Southern Arizona families and instead denounce Cap and Trade?

Under the Obama-Pelosi-Barber anti-energy agenda, Arizona families would see their energy costs increase by almost $1,000 and it would cost up to 40,000 jobs.

“It’s no wonder radical environmentalists are funding Ron Barber’s campaign. His support for the Obama-Pelosi anti-energy agenda means higher taxes, soaring energy costs for Southern Arizona families and more jobs for China.” – NRCC Spokesman Daniel Scarpinato

After Obama’s Deficit-Filled Budget Received No Support In Either Chamber, It Is Time For Democrats To Switch Gears

WASHINGTON — Arizona families have watched Ron Barber’s Democrat allies in Washington preside over yearly trillion dollar deficits, push a wasteful almost trillion dollar stimulus package and impose a government takeover of healthcare that cuts $500 billion from Medicare to fuel Democrats’ spending addiction. Their agenda of taxing, borrowing and spending has crippled economic recovery and left small business owners with no ability to grow and hire workers.

“President Obama’s budget suffered an embarrassing defeat this week when it received no votes in the Senate, giving it no support in either chamber,” said NRCC Communications Director Paul Lindsay. “It is clear that Ron Barber’s party’s insistence on spending, taxing and borrowing has become so toxic with the American people that even they cannot vote for their own failed agenda that has made our economy worse.”

The President’s budget proposal received not one vote of support in Congress:

“President Obama’s budget suffered a second embarrassing defeat Wednesday, when senators voted 99-0 to reject it.

“Coupled with the House’s rejection in March, 414-0, that means Mr. Obama’s budget has failed to win a single vote in support this year.” (Stephen Dinan, “Obama budget defeated 99-0 in Senate,” The Washington Times, 5/16/2012)

A CBO report affirms the Democrats’ record-setting spending spree will continue to stifle economic growth:

“The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Friday that President Obama’s 2013 budget will hurt the economy in the long term, arguing the larger deficits it would produce would reduce the amount of capital available to businesses. After five years, the CBO says, the Obama proposals would reduce economic output by between 0.5 percent and 2.2 percent.” (Erik Wasson, “CBO estimates Obama’s 2013 budget plan would hit economic growth,” The Hill, 4/20/12)

How Many More Embarrassments Can Barber’s Party’s Failed Spending Agenda Take? http://ow.ly/aYtC7

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Breitbart News has obtained a promotional booklet produced in 1991 by Barack Obama’s then-literary agency, Acton & Dystel, which touts Obama as “born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii.”

The booklet, which was distributed to “business colleagues” in the publishing industry, includes a brief biography of Obama among the biographies of eighty-nine other authors represented by Acton & Dystel.

It also promotes Obama’s anticipated first book, Journeys in Black and White–which Obama abandoned, later publishing Dreams from My Father instead.

Obama’s biography in the booklet is as follows (image and text below):

Continue reading at Breitbart.com

It’s only Tuesday morning, and already, Ron Barber’s campaign isn’t having a good week.

Barber started Monday on the defensive, trying to hide his support for ObamaCare, which cuts $500 billion from Medicare.

Fact: Ron Barber still refuses to support the repeal of this government takeover of healthcare.

Next, Barber shunned a group of high school students who had organized a local debate, forcing them to cancel. Hours after the news broke, his campaign rushed out a laughable, late-night press release to play damage control.

Fact: Ron Barber still refuses to take questions from local high school government students.

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Daniel Scarpinato had this to say about Ron Barber’s defensive moves: “Positions on the issues matter in this race. If Ron Barber won’t take questions from local high school students, how does he expect to represent southern Arizonans in Congress?”

Richard Carmona and Ron Barber have a lot in common. No, not their backgrounds. After all, Carmona is a former Surgeon General of the United States, a SWAT team member, and once killed a guy in the streets of Tucson. Barber, a lifelong social worker, was shot in the streets of Tucson. And that’s really all we know about either of them. Except that if you believe what they’re saying, they must be the most conservative Democrats in the entire United States.

Carmona is running to replace outgoing Sen. Jon Kyl. Barber is seeking the congressional seat formerly held by his boss, Gabrielle Giffords. And both are furiously channeling Barack Obama circa 2008.

Candidate Obama – a relatively unknown junior Senator from Illinois – was able to defeat Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary and then oust Sen. John McCain in the general election largely on the premise that he was a socially moderate, fiscally conservative candidate untainted by the acrimony of recent politics. Obama’s Campaign of a Million Promises went largely unchallenged because there was almost nothing to challenge, and – tellingly – no one to challenge him.

In 1996, when Barack Obama ran for the Illinois Senate he ensured his spot on the ballot by successfully challenging the nominating petitions of his four opponents. Then, during his 2004 race for the U.S. Senate, Obama’s opponents in both the primary and general election imploded when, according to the Chicago Tribune, “their messy divorce files were unsealed.” The Tribune even acknowledged in print that both stories were aggressively pushed by the Obama campaign, and that Obama’s designated attack-dog David Axelrod likely leaked the stories initially as well.

Apparently, however, legal challenges and dirty pool in the pressroom only take you so far. Now that he’s in the White House, President Obama has added another tool to his bag of tricks.

At the time Gabrielle Giffords announced her resignation on January 22^nd, a host of Southern Arizona Democrats immediately began formulating their plans. Businesswoman Nan Walden, State Senator Paula Aboud, and State Representatives Matt Heinz and Steve Farley – among others – were all scurrying around Tucson lining up support. But when Giffords announced her backing of former aide Barber for the seat the Democratic Party machine when into overdrive flooring everyone who wanted to run against Barber, muscling them out of the way so that Barber could be a “caretaker” for the rest of Rep. Giffords’ term.

Terrified that they might be accused of insensitivity (and in the Democrat world-view today, is there a more heinous crime?) they all bowed to the pressure and withdrew from the special election, assured that they would all have their chance in a few months since Barber would not run for the regular election in November. Then Ron Barber went to Washington.

The settlers at Jamestown have nothing on this guy. No one in history has managed to catch Potomac Fever faster than Ron Barber. In 24 hours, he was feted and vetted by the President. Nancy Pelosi and Raul Grijalva whispered a few sweet nothings in his ear. Act Blue and MoveOn.org lined his pillow with cash and tucked him into bed. And by the time Ron Barber woke up in the morning the fever was raging.  Ron was running for November.

Emboldened by their success in duplicating Obama’s field clearing strategy once already in Arizona, the Democrats decided to hold a BOGO sale. Obama used his high chair to push well-respected former Chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party Don Bivens out of the way in favor of his handpicked Senate candidate, Richard Carmona, which seems an odd choice considering that Bivens has a long track record within the state party, and has proven liberal chops. Carmona, meanwhile, worked for the Bush White House and was a registered independent until five months ago.

All of this begs the question, why? The numerous petrified fossils littering the U.S. Congress and Senate give often unfortunately verbose testimony to the rarity of open seats. So why has the Democratic Party machine twice interfered in Arizona elections, denying their Party’s primary voters the chance to choose their own representation?

Obama and his re-election team have made no secret of the fact they want to beat Mitt Romney in Arizona. But despite intensive efforts by Organizing for America, the SEIU, One Vote Arizona and Mi Familia Vota to register tens of thousands of new Democratic voters across the State, Arizona is still a moderately conservative-leaning state. No matter who won the primaries in the race to replace Gabrielle Giffords and Jon Kyl, Obama and the Democrats would have lost.

Even though he was personally recruited by Barack Obama and is receiving a ton of national democratic support, Carmona would have had a tough race against Don Bivens, and it’s entirely possible that Arizona’s solidly liberal Democratic primary voters would have rejected him as far too much of a compromise candidate. Even had he won, he would have been driven far to the left, a potentially fatal shift in a still-red state.

Ron Barber might have been in an even tougher position. Heinz, Aboud, Farley and Walden are all formidable opponents with strong progressive track records. Aboud and Heinz are also openly gay, meaning that social issues would likely have been a major issue in the special election primary. And, like the State in general, voters in Southern Arizona’s 8^th Congressional District are conservative enough to make that kind of discussion highly damaging in the general election.

Instead, neither Carmona nor Barber had to reveal any kind of platform during the “primary “ process. They and their campaigns simply stayed silent, not even posting any position statements on their websites until after the field had been swept aside on their behalf.

Now, listening to both, you’d think they were the most conservative Democrats on the planet. Barber talks about “overhauling” Obamacare, securing our border and protecting veterans and Carmona’s website touts his commitment to balancing the budget. Close your eyes, and you’d think you were tuned in to conservative talk radio.

Why is that important? Obama’s low approval ratings don’t provide much in the way of coattails for candidates to grab on to. Instead, in Arizona, the President has adopted a strategy from NASCAR: drafting. Obama and his team are hoping that Barber can turn out key voters in the Democratic stronghold of Southern Arizona while Carmona does the same for him statewide.

Instead of leading them to victory, Obama hopes to be there, using his money, organization and influence to reduce the drag on his chosen candidates, and cling to their fenders at the end of the race in the hope that they can pull him across the finish line as well. It’s a plan that depends on having two unknown, and now unknowable, candidates unsullied by having to expose their positions in contested primaries.

What Richard Carmona and Ron Barber really believe is, essentially, immaterial at this point. Like Obama in 2008, they can say anything they want.  Now we’ll have to find out if voters are willing to believe the magic act once again.

Sam Stone is a Republican political consultant in Southern Arizona.

Another week – another Ron Barber.

Barber’s campaign was in an utter state of panic yesterday, attempting to recast the candidate. Unfortunately, the latest Ron Barber needs to reconcile himself with the old Ron Barber. And goodness knows what next week’s Ron Barber will bring.

Let’s take a look:

On Monday, April 23, 2012, Ron Barber said, “I was not in Congress to vote on the Affordable Care Act or the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, nor did I have any role in shaping that legislation.” 

On February 9, 2012, Ron Barber said, “In terms of differences between myself and the congresswoman there probably aren’t much – there aren’t many. All of the policies and priorities that she has worked with, I’ve been right alongside with her, providing advice when asked and sometimes helping shape those policies through the work we’ve done together… So I’ve been part of that process right alongside with her, and there really isn’t any policy decision that she’s made that I disagree with.” (Tucson Sentinel, 2/9/2012)

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Ron Barber isn’t Marty McFly. He can’t go back in time and change the facts. Southern Arizonans don’t want ObamaCare’s $500 billion cut to Medicare or the $1 trillion in failed stimulus. Ron Barber supports both.” – NRCC Spokesman Daniel Scarpinato

You have probably seen the hit piece put out by the Mitchell campaign, claiming that the historic Monti’s La Casa Vieja “was sued multiple times by vendors for failure to pay bills.”

And you know what, it’s true. Monti’s, like a lot of small businesses, have endured tough times in this economy, and have had to make hard choices to keep their doors open and avoid laying people off.

A lot of businesses like … Mark Mitchell’s company.

Did he leave that part out? That’s odd.

Anyway, Mitchell’s company – Tempe Decorator Center – was sued multiple times in just the past two years, owing hundreds of thousands of dollars to paint companies and other contractors, according to Maricopa County court records. The business was sued for millions by M&I Bank, and even stiffed the Phoenix Suns on Suite tickets. The company also had state and city tax liens filed against it, including one filed by the City of Tucson just last year.

By the way, if you are confused by the fact that Mitchell says he serves as Vice President of a company called Arizona Flooring & Interiors, and not Tempe Decorator Center (TDC) its because TDC shut down in 2010 and re-opened at around the same time under a different name. I’ll leave it to you to guess why. Here’s a copy of Mitchell’s financial disclosure forms showing both names from 2010.

But wait, it gets better.

Four separate employees of Mark Mitchell had to file complaints with the Arizona Department of Labor over unpaid wages – just last year. The Labor Department then went to court on their behalf to try and get a judgment against Mitchell’s company to pay the wages rightfully owed to them – which the government eventually did.

Even better, while his employees were trying to figure out how to get by without the paychecks they were counting on, Mark Mitchell went on vaca …oh excuse me… to conferences in Washington DC, Denver and Charlotte, stayed at hotels costing upwards of $300 a night, and stuck taxpayers with the bill.

There is a larger point here. That both Monti and Mitchell have seen their businesses struggle in a rough economy isn’t really the issue. We have all felt the effects of the financial crisis. The more important issue is that Mark Mitchell is the type of politician that would demonize someone for struggling, even though his own business had gone through the same thing but worse. And unlike Mitchell, Michael Monti always made sure his employees were taken care of.

We have to do better than Mark Mitchell. It obviously hasn’t occured to Mitchell that the experience of navigating a restaurant through tough times and tight budgets is exactly what we need in Tempe’s next Mayor. Not someone who demagogues them for political gain, and certainly not someone who is a hypocrite for doing so.

By the way, what is the fetish the Progressive Left has with college and university education?  They seem to think it magically bestows some kind of smartness on those who endured four or more years of higher education.  They seem to look down their collective noses on those who are graduates of the School of Hard Knocks, in other words, those who may possess good old common sense.  Liberals seem to believe that once you leave high school your ability to continue learning ends unless you sit for endless hours listening to a college professor who’s never practiced anything remotely like what he teaches.  But I digress.  Read this example of *civility* that hails from the enlightened troglodytes in Baja Arizona.

Fitz: Kelly wins

Fellow Patriots,

You hopefully read the email I sent Thursday asking you to join our boycott of businesses which support the pro-amnesty, pro-illegal immigration Phoenix New Times. As a “free” publication, they are 100% funded by advertising revenue… which ultimately comes from businesses where WE spend our hard-earned money!

There is another reason why responsible businesses MUST pull their ads from the New Times:

According to reports in the Associated Press and many other news agencies and sites, for at least THREE YEARS and possibly longer, the Phoenix New Times and their parent company, Village Voice Media, have been complicit in something even worse… something even dirtier and darker than supporting illegal immigration and amnesty for criminal illegal aliens:

According to prosecutors, the New Times company REFUSED TO STOP RUNNING ADVERTISEMENTS THAT ARE A FRONT FOR PROSTITUTION AND OTHER SEX CRIMES!

PETITION LAW ENFORCEMENT TO INVESTIGATE THE PRO-AMNESTY NEW-TIMES TODAY! 

And who is paying to advertise alongside those who would exploit women and children in our society? Car dealers, movie theaters, retailers and restaurants that you and I go to!

Can you believe what arrogance and greed it must take for prosecutors to show the Phoenix New Times company evidence that 50 cases of sex trafficking from 22 states have originated on their pages…

…and they still refuse to stop running the ads promoting such terrible criminal behavior?

Is it any wonder they oppose Sheriff Joe Arpaio so much, when he’s not just America’s toughest lawman, but also one of the leading law enforcement agents in the nation in the fight against human trafficking!

PETITION LAW ENFORCEMENT TO INVESTIGATE THE PRO-AMNESTY NEW-TIMES TODAY! 

Now, what happened when confronted by our proposed boycott of their advertisers? Last week, New Times editor-in-chief Rick Barrs went to our Ban Amnesty Now page on Facebook and called our 29,000+ Facebook members “racists”!

Did he express any concern about the hateful actions of his staff, or the remorse for the prostitution or sex-trafficking businesses run on their advertising pages? No. He ranted that we were racists.

Today, what we need most is YOU! Please join me today in signing this petition against the New Times Company:

Calling on law enforcement to investigate whether the New Times has knowingly profited from a criminal enterprise;

Calling on all responsible Arizona businesses to cancel their advertising in this ultra-liberal, pro-amnesty business with alleged ties to prostitution and worse; and

Pledging to boycott businesses who continue to advertise with the Phoenix New Times.

Fellow conservatives, we must stand up to pariahs in society like this… The media and blogosphere is coming around to see our side, and we need your support!

Writes Greg Patterson in The Espresso Pundit, “The [Ban Amnesty Now] boycott is unlikely to actually drive New Times out of business, but he will hurt them and he may even manage to tip the balance and finish them off.”

PETITION LAW ENFORCEMENT TO INVESTIGATE THE PRO-AMNESTY NEW-TIMES TODAY! 

When you think about the New Times, never forget: according to prosecutors, for THREE YEARS, they knew their ad pages were being used by the worst sexual predators in society to sell women for sex…

…and not only did they do nothing, but they repeatedly refused to take down these ad pages because of the millions of dollars they were making!

Remember every crude, vicious attack the New Times has unleashed on conservatives like Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Senator Pearce, Governor Brewer and others. Remember the years they have spent ranting and raving against those who oppose amnesty and illegal immigration, and the campaigns of hate they wage even on citizens and groups who oppose them. Remember every vile word, every vicious hit piece, every slated attack…

PETITION LAW ENFORCEMENT TO INVESTIGATE THE PRO-AMNESTY NEW-TIMES TODAY! 

…and now please join us in righting a wrong by signing this petition so that law enforcement acts quickly, and legitimate businesses stop sharing advertising space with the worst sex offenders plaguing our society!

For America,

Sean McCaffrey
Founder

That didn’t take long.

On Monday, our campaign was honored to win the endorsement of State Sen. Sylvia Allen, a rock-solid conservative who represents much of the new First Congressional District.

Well, today the Phoenix-based Democrat Party wasted no time attacking Sen. Allen, and lambasting Jonathan for accepting the support of one of the state’s most conservative legislators – proving that Jonathan is the only candidate Democrats are afraid of in this race.

“By aligning with Sylvia Allen, Jonathan Paton is already on the wrong side of women’s health, job creation and protecting seniors,” Democrat Executive Director Luis Heredia said in a news release.

Actually, Ann Kirkpatrick is on the wrong side of those issues, and it’s why she is supported by a Who’s Who of liberal out-of-state groups. Democrats are attacking Jonathan Paton and Sylvia Allen in an effort to hide Kirkpatrick’s support for ObamaCare and the failed stimulus that wasted $1 trillion.

Sen. Allen and Jonathan are standing together in this campaign’s effort to prevent Ann Kirkpatrick from going back to Washington and doing more damage to our country and our Constitution.

Will you stand with Jonathan Paton and Sylvia Allen right now?

Help us send a message to Washington Democrats in November that they’re the ones who are out-of-touch with Arizona – not us!

Colleagues — The allegations against me are lies. I have not been arrested, charged, served or invoked immunity.

It seems I am being blackmailed by a person with bad mental health problems and a violent criminal history I only recently realized the severity of. When I asked this person to please consider moving out of my house, to protect my daughter, she went in to [sic] a rage. She attacked me, but I never hit her.

The truth will come out. You should not rush to judgment, please.

Members, I ask you please to call me to discuss my side of the story, the truth.

Then there is this little tidbit from The Yellow Sheet Report:

ETHICS COMPLAINT ‘POLITICALLY MOTIVATED’

Patterson also struck back at his caucus for calling for his resignation and filing an ethics complaint – moves that Patterson said were politically motivated. “Sometimes, they have a lynch mob mentality in politics. People want to elevate themselves by throwing someone else under the bus,” he said. Although he said on multiple occasions that he doesn’t hold anything against his colleagues and that he likes and respects Campbell and Hobbs, he said that he suspects they are trying to bolster their own political image at his expense. Campbell’s call for him to step down, he said, was driven by the fact that he was “one of the more independent members of the Democratic caucus, and some of the Democratic Party bosses in Phoenix don’t like that. Maybe they’re hoping to replace me with a yes-man who will toe the party line.” Hobbs, meanwhile, was seeking a cause to build her Senate campaign around: “Katie has always been a crusader on these types of issues. Maybe this is something she thinks will help her in her Senate campaign.” But, ultimately, he said, he works for his constituents, not his party leaders. Patterson attended the floor session today, but was only present to record his attendance. During the multiple COW calendars, he was not on the floor, but he returned for the third reading of bills.

It’s time for another round of America’s favorite political quiz game, “Who’s that Politician?”

For 100 points and a trip to Arizona: “This Grand Canyon State resident was one of 31 congressmen to vote to refuse to certify Ohio election results in 2004, and in 2008 was rated the most liberal congressman in the country by the National Journal. He even co-chairs the House Progressive Caucus with Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN).”

The correct answer is Rep. Raul Grijalva (minus 100 point for anyone who answered Gabrielle Giffords. She’s far more moderate in both her politics and persona). In spite of this deeply liberal worldview (and voting record to match), he has handily won re-election in his D+6 District since his first foray into Congress back in 2002. There are various reasons for his electoral success. I would speculate that part of his success is simply due to his visible contrast to the rest of the Arizona political class. In a political climate defined by the politics of immigration restriction, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) is an anomaly. Rather than embrace the “stand with Arizona” motto of the tea party, he opted to organize a “big-business” boycott of the very state he represents in Congress. When SB1070 author and now former State Senator Russell Pearce (R-AZ) was pandering to neonazis and racists, Grijalva was organizing for the pro-reconquista group MEChA. If nothing else, Grijalva has been the voice of the disaffected fringe left of Arizona – such political posturing is bound to attract some political support, even as it alienates other potential allies.

A more likely (admittedly partial) explanation of Grijalva’s political success is his strong support from Veteran’s Groups. His record on veteran’s issues is indeed very commendable; he’s filed and/or supported many bills on behalf of Veterans over the years, including the popular REVAMP Act, a bill designed to repair crumbling Veteran’s facilities. Certainly, focusing constituent services on veteran’s assistance is a praiseworthy trait. Alas, “one-issue” voters do not a Republic make, and Grijalva’s attention to this issue can’t conceal his far left-of-center beliefs on other issues.

Enter Blanca Guerra, Arizona co-leader of Café Con Leche Republicans. She’s pro-immigration reform, but doesn’t embrace Rep. Grijalva’s economic extremism. She’s socially conservative with private sector experience and business acumen. She’s even able to neutralize Grijalva’s pro-veteran bona fides, as Blanca is a veteran of the United States Air Force. Grijalva’s renown and the overall partisan nature of the 7th CD will certainly be difficult to overcome. Nonetheless, Grijalva’s intemperate and ill-fated response to SB1070, when combined with his virulently left-wing ideology, could allow a Republican the opportunity to oust him from his seat. Needless to say, we’re very proud of Blanca here at CCLR, and we’d love nothing more than to see Blanca’s campaign send shockwaves throughout the Arizona political establishment. Here’s your chance, Arizona GOPers: let’s give Blanca the support she needs to win this thing!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Let’s remember that Linda Lopez has been a longtime advocate and sponsor or legislation that would force doctors to euthanize patients.

Contact State Rep Lopez and demand that she apologize for her statement.

Also demand that Linda Lopez attend mandatory remedial training at the University of Arizona’s National Institute for Civil Discourse.

Click here to view the embedded video.

HB2625, sponsored by AZ House Majority Whip Debbie Lesko, allows employers to opt-out of certain mandated benefits, based on the business owner’s beliefs. It doesn’t authorize the firing of women, it doesn’t violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), it won’t deprive women of health care or contraceptive choices, kill kittens, or dictate the color of your panties.

HB2625 merely lets a business owner choose what they will and won’t pay for in the reproductive health insurance area. Contrary to the ACLU’s dishonest agitprop, the bill doesn’t, “give your boss the green light to fire you for using birth control.” It does prevent employees and politicians from forcing their beliefs onto a business owner. An employer’s rights shouldn’t be any different than yours.

Sadly, there are allegedly liberated women, freaking out that the government might not use laws to take care of their tender bits. Shocking isn’t it?

This outraged woman happily shared her personal details with Arizona State Representative Brenda Barton and everyone else on Facebook. Alvin (not her real name) can’t claim privacy rights when she’s posting the details of her period for the whole world to see.

I thought most women wanted the government to stay out of their nether regions. These outraged women are unfortunately getting false information and haven’t stepped back to look at the situation. If you invite the government, and your employer, into your “women’s healthcare” issues, don’t be surprised when the government, or your boss, wants to have a say in what you do with those body parts. This bill removes your boss and your government from your reproductive organs.

If you believe contraceptive issues are your private business, please support HB2625 and don’t use the government to force other people to pay for your beliefs.

Reposted with permission from Great Satan, Inc.

Arizona Heralds Arrival of New Bipartisan Think Tank 

Too often ideology, rather than economics, has guided policy in Arizona, with the result being a state that finds itself caught in an unsound fiscal situation with one of the worst structural deficits in the country.  Arizona continues to lag in the development of a diversified, education-led economy, and relies on a greatly atrophied tax system that fails to provide the resources needed to sustain critical investments for the state’s future.

To remedy the dire situation, Arizona now has a new nonpartisan think tank, the Grand Canyon Institute, led by a bipartisan group of former state lawmakers, economists, community leaders, and academicians. The Grand Canyon Institute will serve as an independent voice reflecting mainstream American values and a pragmatic approach to addressing economic, fiscal, budgetary and taxation challenges confronting Americans with a special emphasis on Arizona issues.  As Arizona begins its second century, the Grand Canyon Institute aims to bridge this immense gap between policy and results by providing sound research expertise from a network of fellows to help inform the public and lawmakers …

Over time, the board of the nonprofit will expand and be composed of an even more diverse, broad based, bi-partisan group of business, community, and academic leaders who share the Institute’s vision during the 21st Century.

The Institute serves as an independent voice reflecting mainstream American values and a pragmatic approach to addressing economic, fiscal, budgetary, and taxation challenges confronting all Americans with a special emphasis on Arizona issues.

Board of Directors

Carolyn Allen (R)

Jack L. August, Jr., Ph.D. (D)

Jeff Chapman, Ph.D. (D)

Tom Chapman (R)

George Cunningham (D)

Susan Gerard (R)

Ryan Harper (R)

Pete Hershberger (R)

Paul Johnson (I)

Bill Konopnicki (R)

George Seitts (R)

Dave Wells, Ph.D. (D)