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Pachyderm Coalition Releases 2011 Republican Legislator Rankings

May 13, 2011 By 8 Comments

Legislative Actions as of 5/9/2011
Last Updated 5/13/2011

We did an overview of the session from a Pachyderm Coalition rating perspective. Of legislation that passed the legislature, we supported 129 bills and opposed 16 for a percentage of 89%. When these were adjusted by the weights assigned to the bills, the percentage was slightly higher at 93% which meant that we were more successful, on average, with the bills that were more important to us. Also, there were 38 bills we opposed that did not pass in the legislature. The average scores of the legislators were good this session which reflected passing a good budget and probably also increased party discipline due to having larger majorities. The performance of Senators compared to Representatives, overall, was very comparable.

This year, we decided that it was important to add one more important player in the legislative process to our ratings: the Governor, Jan Brewer. We calculated her score after the session ended. After the governor decided which bills sent to her desk would become law and which she would veto, we applied our scoring to the Governor’s actions. For all bills sent by the legislature to the Governor, we considered signing the bill or allowing it to become law without signing would be considered as a YES vote while a veto would be considered a NO vote. The Governor either signed or vetoed all bills from the Regular Session – she did not allow a bill to become law without her signature. Signing a bill we positively weighted would increase her score and vetoing it would reduce her score. For negatively weighted bills, signing decreased her score and vetoing increased her score. As with the legislators, she was rated only on the actions she could take in the legislative process by a specific, recordable action. For the legislators, it is votes. For the Governor, it is allowing bills sent to her to become law or to veto them. Of the bills we were tracking, the Governor’s vetoed 20 bills we supported and 1 bill we opposed. She signed 109 bills we supported and 15 bills we opposed.

Governor Jan Brewer’s Pachyderm score is 56.7 which we label as Republican. This is substantially below the average scores of Republican Senators and Representatives at 81.3. It is, in fact, below the score of ANY Republican legislator – the lowest is 60.6. Governor Jan Brewer is the lowest scoring Republican in the state’s legislative process.

For additional information about the ratings, visit the Pachyderm Coalition website.

2011 Arizona State Senate Rankings:

2011 Arizona State House Rankings:

Filed Under: Elected Officials, Government, Legislation, PAC's, Political Parties, Press Release, Roll Call, State Government Tagged With:

We’re off to the United States Supreme Court!

March 27, 2011 By 20 Comments

I’m heading off to Washington, D.C. this morning along with fellow Arizonans, Steve Voeller (Arizona Free Enterprise Club), State Senator Rick Murphy and former State Treasurer, Dean Martin. We are all plaintiffs or co-plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the State of Arizona’s Citizens Clean Election law. (I serve as the Treasurer of the Arizona-registered political action committee, Arizona Taxpayer’s Action Committee.) Our legal team consist of The Institute for Justice and The Goldwater Institute. Lead attorneys are Bill Maurer (IJ) and Clint Bolick (GI). Monday morning our case will be argued before the Justices while the four of us sit in the courtroom. Watch my Twitter feed (AZTaxpayerAct) and posts here on Sonoran Alliance. Here is some additional case information:

Goldwater Institute Case Background
Institute for Justice Litigation Backgrounder

Watch the YouTube video about the case.

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Constitutional Law, PAC's, State Government, Taxation Tagged With: , , , , ,

Paycheck Protection continues toward 2012 Ballot despite Arizona Chamber’s destructive meddling

March 23, 2011 By 3 Comments

 

The Arizona House Government Committee on Tuesday passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 1028 which, if passed, would ask Arizona voters to amend the Arizona Constitution to recognize employees’ fundamental right to protect their paychecks from political machinations.

SCR 1028, introduced by Senator Frank Antenori and 43 co-sponsors, states:

“An employee in this state shall be free from any employer deducting or facilitating the deduction of a payment from an employee’s paycheck for political purposes, unless the employee annually provides express written permission to make the deduction.”

The language is fair, reasonable and straight-forward—precisely the qualities of a constitutional amendment that the Arizona electorate rewards with their votes. SCR 1028 places its focus where it belongs, on the right of Arizona workers to decide whether they wish to participate in political activities.

As a ballot referendum, the grassroots conservative proponents of this fundamental employee right embrace the clarity required in a single-subject constitutional proposition. SCR 1028 does not discriminate between management and labor by treating the political fundraising of each differently. Moreover, SCR 1028 does not invite the legitimate charge of political favoritism by denying this amendment’s constitutional protections to one or more groups of employees. SCR 1028 is so evenhanded and nondiscriminatory; it passed the Senate with bipartisan support.

However, special interests are trying to hijack the legislation and risk its chances of victory on the November 2012 ballot. Worse, if their actions are successful would likely invalidate the proposition and void its fitness to appear on the ballot.

The assault on SCR 1028 took the form a failed amendment crafted by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry that would make an exception for “payments to a separate segregated fund maintained by an employer.”

The Arizona Chamber’s destructive and shortsighted amendment is designed to deny corporate political action committee contributors the same rights every other employee enjoys under SCR 1028. However, in addition to carving out Big Business PACs, such “separate segregated funds” present an enormous loophole that union bosses will use to continue to spend their members’ pay for political causes the employees do not support.

On policy grounds alone, it is a bad amendment and must not be allowed to be made to SCR 1028. But the amendment’s destructiveness goes deeper.

According to constitutional law expert Clint Bolick of the Goldwater Institute, “That exception would destroy the universality of the principle at issue. It also could expose the measure to an equal protection challenge under the United States Constitution.”

Also, by accommodating this one special interest’s shortsightedness, the entire paycheck protection effort will likely founder on the rocks of a single subject challenge in the courts. Such a single subject challenge should be fresh in our minds because it derailed what would have been Prop. 108 in 2010. That troubled effort required a desperately assembled Special Session at the last possible moment in August 2010 to re-refer a valid version of the Save Our Secret Ballot Anti-Card Check Referendum (Prop. 113).

Why would legislative leadership ever entertain risking the validity of another referral on the flimsy and self-serving meddling of a special interest? If a special interest like the Arizona Chamber cannot abide SCR 1028 without their carve-out then they should oppose the measure in the light of day and allow lawmakers to discern the value of the unaltered legislation.

Grassroots conservative supporters of a viable paycheck protection constitutional amendment should contact the bill’s sponsor Sen. Frank Antenori and all members of the Republican House Caucus and support the SCR 1028 WITHOUT AMENDMENT.

Please contact the following legislators and ask them to support SCR 1028 WITHOUT AMENDMENTS.

House GOP Caucus District Email Phone
Kirk Adams (Speaker of the House) 19 kadams@azleg.gov 602-926-5495
Cecil Ash 18 cash@azleg.gov 602-926-3160
Brenda Barton 5 bbarton@azleg.gov 602-926-4129
Kate Brophy McGee 11 kbrophymcgee@azleg.gov 602-926-4486
Judy Burges 4 jburges@azleg.gov 602-926-5861
Heather Carter 7 hcarter@azleg.gov 602-926-5503
Steve Court 18 scourt@azleg.gov 602-926-4467
Chester Crandell 5 ccrandell@azleg.gov 602-926-5409
Jeff Dial 20 jdial@azleg.gov 602-926-5550
Karen Fann 1 kfann@azleg.gov 602-926-5874
Eddie Farnsworth 22 efarnsworth@azleg.gov 602-926-5735
John Fillmore 23 jfillmore@azleg.gov 602-926-3012
Tom Forese 21 tforese@azleg.gov 602-926-5168
Doris Goodale 3 dgoodale@azleg.gov 602-926-5408
David Gowan 30 dgowan@azleg.gov 602-926-3312
Rick Gray 9 rgray@azleg.gov 602-926-5993
Jack Harper 4 jharper@azleg.gov 602-926-4178
Russ Jones 24 rjones@azleg.gov 602-926-3002
Peggy Judd 25 pjudd@azleg.gov 602-926-5836
John Kavanagh 8 jkavanagh@azleg.gov 602-926-5170
Debbie Lesko (Majority Whip) 9 dlesko@azleg.gov 602-926-5413
Nancy McLain 3 nmclain@azleg.gov 602-926-5051
J.D. Mesnard 21 jmesnard@azleg.gov 602-926-4481
Steve Montenegro (Speaker Pro Tempore) 12 smontenegro@azleg.gov 602-926-5955
Justin Olson 19 jolson@azleg.gov 602-926-5288
Frank Pratt 23 fpratt@azleg.gov 602-926-5761
Amanda Reeve 6 areeve@azleg.gov 602-926-3014
Bob Robson 20 brobson@azleg.gov 602-926-5549
Carl Seel 6 cseel@azleg.gov 602-926-3018
David Burnell Smith 7 dsmith@azleg.gov 602-926-4916
David W. Stevens 25 dstevens@azleg.gov 602-926-4321
Andy Tobin (Majority Leader) 1 atobin@azleg.gov 602-926-5172
Michelle Ugenti 8 mugenti@azleg.gov 602-926-4480
Steve Urie 22 surie@azleg.gov 602-926-4136
Ted Vogt 30 tvogt@azleg.gov 602-926-3235
Jim Weiers 10 jweiers@azleg.gov 602-926-4173
Jerry Weiers 12 jpweiers@azleg.gov 602-926-5894
Vic Williams 26 vwilliams@azleg.gov 602-926-5839
Kimberly Yee 10 kyee@azleg.gov 602-926-3024
SCR 1028′s Prime Sponsor
Frank Antenori 30 fantenori@azleg.gov 602-926-5683

See who else supports SCR 1028:

AMIGOS Supports SCR 1028
Alliance for Worker Freedom supports SCR 1028
National Taxpayers Union supports SCR 1028
NFIB supports SCR 1028

Filed Under: Ballot Measures, Campaign Finance, Elected Officials, Freedom of Speech, Jobs/Labor, Legislation, PAC's Tagged With: , , ,

Gov. Sarah Palin Endorses Dr. Paul Gosar

July 19, 2010 By 23 Comments

Contact: J.P. Twist
Mobile: 602-689-7647
jp@GosarforCongress.com

Sarah Palin Endorses Dr. Paul Gosar for Congress

“Paul stands firmly behind Governor Jan Brewer’s
efforts to protect Arizonans”

(Prescott, Arizona)  Today, Governor Sarah Palin endorsed Dr. Paul Gosar for Congress. Dr. Paul Gosar is running in the Republican Primary Election in Arizona’s First Congressional District.

In announcing here endorsement of Facebook, Governor Sarah Palin stated:

“I’m also proud to endorse Dr. Paul Gosar for Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. Thankfully, Paul shares our belief that the federal government’s reckless spending is putting us on a dangerous path towards insolvency – and he’s determined to do something about that. In addition to being a proud family man, Paul is a dentist, and as a small business owner running his practice, Paul understands the challenges confronting job creators when DC stifles us with endless mandates, over-regulation, plans to impose new energy taxes, and just generally (and unnecessarily) overreaches into the private sector. The good doctor knows that true job creation comes from the private sector, not government; and he will work to rein in the fed’s long arm and get our economy moving again by getting government out of the way.

Paul stands firmly behind Governor Jan Brewer’s efforts to protect Arizonans, and the rest of us for that matter, by securing the border. He’s endorsed by three of Arizona’s leading sheriffs because they know America needs Dr. Paul Gosar to hold Washington accountable on this imperative national security issue.

Paul is a bold man! He deserves our support, so please join me in helping him help this great country. You can visit his website at www.gosarforcongress.com and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.”

“I am very honored to have received the endorsement and support of Governor Sarah Palin,” said Dr. Paul Gosar. “I ask that Republican voters join her in supporting my campaign and together we will take back Congress.”

Dr. Paul Gosar is a small businessman who knows how to create and protect jobs. He is a dentist and health care provider who has garnered many awards and honors, such as the Arizona Dental Association’s “Dentist of the Year,” and was inducted into the Arizona Dental Association’s Hall of Fame.  He served as the President of both the Northern Arizona Dental Society and the Arizona Dental Association. He also served as the Vice-Chair of the ADA Council on Governmental Affairs.

Dr. Gosar is a 25 year active resident of Flagstaff where he has been married to Maude for 22 years. They have three children.

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Filed Under: 2nd Amendment, Campaigns & Elections, Economics, Endorsements, Family, Health Care, Illegal Immigration, National Security, PAC's, Press Release

Beauchamp Endorsed by National Border Patrol Council

June 16, 2010 By 4 Comments

BEAUCHAMP ENDORSED BY NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL

Bradley Beauchamp, candidate for Congress is Arizona’s First Congressional District, has officially been endorsed by the National Border Patrol Council’s largest sector, Local 2544. Along with their endorsement of Mr. Beauchamp, the Border Patrol Council endorsed Bradley’s plan to secure our border.  This endorsement puts the Border Patrol on a long list of Arizona law enforcement leaders that are supporting Beauchamp, such as Mohave County Sheriff Sheahan and Yavapai County Sheriff Waugh.

On Tuesday, Brandon Judd, President of the National Border Patrol Council’s Local 2544, sent an official letter of endorsement to the Beauchamp for Congress campaign. President Judd wrote, “On behalf of the nearly 3,000 rank and file men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol in the Tucson Sector, it is my pleasure to endorse you in the Republican Primary for Congressional District 1 in the U.S. House of Representatives. Your no-nonsense approach and belief that our nation was founded on checks and balances afforded in our Great Constitution will be a refreshing change in a political climate controlled by special interests and the interests of self-serving politicians.  We hope you will accept our endorsement and our best wishes in your primary campaign.  We are confident you will win the primary and we look forward to working with you in the future.”

Bradley Beauchamp was proud to have the endorsement, saying, “I am honored to be endorsed by the brave men and women who do all they can to protect our borders.  In Congress, I will work tirelessly to make sure these great patriots have all the tools necessary to keep our southern border safe and secure.”

A copy of the letter can be found HERE, and a copy of Beauchamp’s plan to secure our border can be viewed HERE.

Bradley Beauchamp was born and raised in Arizona. He worked his way up from washing dishes in a café and laboring in a turquoise mine to becoming a schoolteacher, successful attorney and most importantly, a defender of the Constitution.

Bradley Beauchamp graduated from Northern Arizona University and began teaching government and civics in Globe, Arizona. After several years in the classroom, and desiring to study the Constitution more in depth, he was accepted into the Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Upon graduating, he returned to Globe to practice law in the small towns and rural communities of Arizona. He is endorsed by many Republican leaders in Arizona’s First Congressional District, including Andy Tobin, Steve Waugh, Charles Christensen, Bobbi Peterson, John Rhodes, Terri Kibler, and Rick Fernau.

For more information, please visit www.bradleybeauchamp.com.

Filed Under: Border, Campaigns & Elections, Endorsements, Illegal Aliens, Illegal Immigration, National Security, PAC's, Press Release, Public Safety Tagged With: , , , , ,

Tastes Like Chicken

February 13, 2010 By 26 Comments

McCain-Yard-Sign

Have you ever been asked to taste something that is different than your normal menu du jour?  Typically, this happens with things that might be considered gamey, wild, or offensive.  They have a certain allure, the challenge of the hunt, the novelty of being edgy and different but when you ask…”What does it taste like?”  the answer is…”Tastes like chicken.”

The food item might have a different name, a different species, an entirely different origin…but when you peel back the skin or pluck the feathers and the heat gets to it….it is very similar to something very familiar.

We are currently enduring the presidency of a man with great oratorical skills, who can take a message and spin it well.  He is able to affect dialects of various regions without giving away that it isn’t really his at all.  He talks a good game.  His rhetoric and running “against” rather than “for” was enough to get him elected POTUS.

Most of us know of his record.  Not much to it, lots of “present” votes and little else.  Well, then there is that ugly little matter back in Illinois when he voted for late term abortions.  But…he managed to spin that right out of the public eye.  How did he do it?  He deflected, deferred, marginalized, and with his exceptional rhetorical continues to blame others for all that is wrong and he alone can, and will, make it right.

Lately, I’ve had this nagging notion of déjà vu.  What was it?  It was like I was seeing something so familiar but…different.  Then, watching the video of JD Hayworth at the LD21 meeting…it hit me!

JD Hayworth  is the latest version of “tastes like chicken”!

Can JD talk a good game?  YES HE CAN!

Heck, he talked about games for years before running for office.

Can JD captivate an audience? YES HE CAN!

He was paid for his ability to maintain ratings while a sportscaster. What great training and experience that must have been.  Then all those years on drive time radio, where he controlled the mike, the dialogue, and the subject…who could ask for a better venue?

Can JD market himself to appeal to the consumer?  YES HE CAN!

He has been working on it ever since he was booted from office in a district with an 18% Republican advantage.  He had to; his job was to create an image that would appeal to the market his boss served.  If along the way he made a great living and elevated his chances of returning to DC… just a perk.

Can JD spin a news cycle with the best of them? OH, YES HE CAN!

He has marginalized his own record by pointing out the flaws in others and done so with such grace as to make it appear like business as usual.

The guy is good.  He has made a living out of it.

But, what did he do while in office.  What reasonable expectation can the voter have that he will be more than a great voice with exceptional speaking skills?

Well, let’s look at that….. Congressman Dick Armey, who was House Majority Leader for 8 years of JDs time on The Hill had this to say recently:

….J.D. had a fairly short, undistinguished congressional career with virtually no initiative on his part.”

No initiative?  That’s not good.  But, that’s not all….

As I recall, J.D. was on the Ways and Means Committee and I didn’t really see him make any distinguished effort, for example, like people like (Arizona GOP Reps.) Jeff Flake and John Shadegg in terms of creative ideas and legislative initiative,” Armey said. “Certainly nothing on the cost-control front. But John McCain was the first guy to understand the need to get earmarks under control. He took a real leadership role, as did Jeff Flake.”

So, what about his record?  JD Hayworth is deeply tied, unfortunately, to the two things that have caused the prairie fire of anti-Washington and anti-GOP sentiment….corruption and spending.

I will be the first to say unequivocally… JD Hayworth was exonerated of any wrong doing.  However, there is no denying  Hayworth was involved with former “super-lobbyist” Jack Abramoff and the largest recipient of campaign money from the now-convicted Abramoff.

No “illegal” activity.  But what about judgment and desire to win at all costs?

On to spending…..boy, this could fill a page! So, how about the highlights?

The 2002 Highway Bill…the pork-laden bill that gave us the Highway to Nowhere and filled the pockets of lots of folks with money taken directly from ours.

The unfunded Medicare bill, $7 trillion in debt bequeathed to our children.  Yep, he voted for it.

He supported the 527 campaign loophole bill that created more problems than McCain-Feingold.

And while you are on the bi-partisanship never got us anywhere kick…how about his support of the Dem sponsored, job killing, small business impeding  Sarbanes-Oxley Act?

Yeah….definitely, taste like chicken!

Filed Under: Ethics, Federal Budget, Gaming, Legislation, PAC's

YS reports GOP bookkeeping troubles

February 10, 2010 By 20 Comments

This afternoon’s Yellow Sheet had this story:

 

MORE PROBLEMS WITH GOP BOOKKEEPING, SAY SOURCES 

Two Republicans claiming knowledge of the Arizona Republican Party’s finances say the party’s year-end federal campaign finance report is a sham that greatly exaggerated available cash on hand. The report, filed last month, claims the party’s federal account held $65,000 at the end of 2009, but the sources said the real figure was closer to several thousand dollars. YS made several attempts to reach Pullen for comment and requested to view the party’s banking statements, but calls on the subject matter were not returned. State GOP Director Brett Mecum said: “If a Republican has a problem with the state party showing what we have on hand, it would be nice if they actually picked up the phone and called the office and maybe talked to some of us over here. They should take it up with the party and not the press.”

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the committee held less than $5,000 in late December. One of the sources said they pulled a sleuth move and called the party’s bank (M & I Thunderbird) in late December to ask if the federal account balance could cover a (non-existent) $5,000 check. The inquiry, said the source, prompted the bank to respond in the negative. “The guy (Pullen) is the treasurer of the RNC and his books are a joke,” said the source. “Their entire reporting system is riddled with fraud.” The second insider who contacted YS said the party’s federal account funds were “not anywhere close” to $65,000. A more accurate figure by the end of 2009 would be roughly $3,000, said the Republican. Mecum said the party has “multiple bank accounts so it’d be interesting” to see which account was tested with the fund verification test. SOS records show the in-state account for the party reported $10,600 cash on hand at the end of 2009.

 

Would Brett Mecum really provide the bank statements if asked?  What does he mean by ”take it up with the party”?  That happened and those folks were dismissed.  The questions linger and suspicion is not easily dissuaded with avoidance. 

 

It is time for Mr. Pullen and Mr. Mecum to provide a full accounting of each account, money in and money out with dates to match.  No accrual accounting, without the date of transactions, the real story. 

 

Avoidance of disclosure and facts and repeatedly distracting the focus from obtaining answers to blaming the one with the questions are not signs of a willingness for transparency.  Hey guys, it isn’t your money.  It isn’t your party.  And we aren’t idiots.

Filed Under: Campaign Finance, PAC's, Political Parties

Arizona Taxpayer Action Committee Watching Legislative Votes

November 23, 2009 By 1 Comment

There’s an article in The Arizona Capitol Times this morning about a pair of political committees will be employed to “corral votes” as the budget process moves forward.

One PAC the Arizona Capitol Times failed to mention was the Arizona Taxpayer’s Action Committee, an independent PAC associated with the former Arizona Federation of Taxpayers – now known as the Arizona Chapter of Americans for Prosperity. ATAC has been especially vigilant of the votes being made by the current Legislature and will be weighing those votes as part of its endorsement process in 2010.

This PAC will carry tremendous weight as an independent PAC and because it has been closely allied with independent taxpayer advocacy organizations. As the 2010 election cycle continues to progress, watch for ATAC to play an important role in returning the State of Arizona to fiscal responsibility by working to elect solid taxpayer advocates.

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Endorsements, PAC's, Taxation