The Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the House

The Honorable Eric Cantor, Majority Leader

The Honorable Kevin McCarthy, Majority Whip

Dear Republican House Leaders:

In the just completed Illinois Republican congressional primary between incumbent Congressmen Don Manzullo and Adam Kinzinger, the Club for Growth PAC chose to stay neutral.  We did so because neither candidate’s record was entirely satisfactory.  Over the course of his long House career, Rep. Manzullo has cast several bad votes.  As a first-term Member of Congress, Rep. Kinzinger has an even worse record than Rep. Manzullo.  In fact, in the only year in which their records can be compared, in 2011, Rep. Manzullo had a clearly better record of voting for limited government then did Rep. Kinzinger. 

Despite our neutrality in this race, we were alarmed to see Majority Leader Cantor, Majority Whip McCarthy, and their Young Guns Action Fund aggressively take sides in favor of Rep. Kinzinger, and even use the committee to promote a false picture of Rep. Kinzinger’s record.

We raise this concern in the context of another upcoming redistricting-induced primary between two incumbent Republican Congressmen.  In Arizona’s sixth congressional district, incumbent Republicans David Schweikert and Ben Quayle are facing each other.  The Club for Growth PAC’s position in this race is neutral, because in this case both first-term Congressmen have outstanding pro-growth voting records. 

However, we note that Speaker Boehner’s Leadership PAC has already made a maximum contribution to Rep. Quayle’s campaign.  That contribution was made before redistricting put both men in the same district, and it is our hope that it does not signal that the House leadership has decided to take sides in this primary.  In the name of neutrality, we urge Speaker Boehner to contribute the same $10,000 to Rep. Schweikert that he has already given to Rep. Quayle.  We also urge Leader Cantor, Whip McCarthy, and their Young Guns Action Fund to join us in staying neutral in the Arizona race.

Should it become apparent that you are choosing sides on behalf of Rep. Quayle, the Club for Growth PAC will consider it necessary to intervene on behalf of Rep. Schweikert.  As is our practice, if the Club’s PAC entered this primary, it is highly likely that our 75,000 members would donate considerably more funds to Rep. Schweikert’s campaign than the Republican House leadership would contribute to Rep. Quayle’s campaign.

It is our preference to remain on the sidelines of the Arizona race, as both candidates have fine records.  However, we will not sit back and allow House Republican leaders to invest resources with impunity against an incumbent fiscal conservative like Rep. David Schweikert.  Rep. Schweikert stands for the principles of economic freedom even when members of his own party pressure him to do otherwise.  If those same Republican leaders attempt to defeat him, the Club for Growth PAC will vigorously come to his defense.

Sincerely,

Chris Chocola, President – Club for Growth

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 21, 2012
CONTACT: Michelle Clements

Arizona Right to Life Endorses Rick Santorum for President
We Pick Rick 

Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Right to Life Political Action Committee (AZRTL PAC) today announced its endorsement of Rick Santorum in the Republican presidential primary. AZRTL PAC endorsed Rick Santorum based on his strong pro-life record and his leadership over the years.

Santorum authored the law banning partial-birth abortions, as well as the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, providing appropriate care for infants who survive an abortion. He was a member of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, and also sponsored legislation related to end of life issues. He continues to be an outspoken opponent of federal funding of abortion. The AZRTL PAC considered Santorum’s support of these priority issues in deciding to endorse him.

“There are few who are as articulate and passionate on life issues as Senator Santorum,” said Michelle Clements, President of Arizona Right to Life. “He not only voted the right way, he talks about the dignity and value of every human life whenever he has the opportunity, and he lives out those values in his own personal life. We are grateful for his leadership and proud to endorse him.”

AZRTL PAC acknowledges that all the Republican presidential candidates have declared they are pro-life, and that other candidates have strong pro-life voting records. Arizona Right to Life commends them for their support and defense of life.

“The one person we know is unapologetically pro-choice, even supporting partial-birth abortion and federal funding of abortion, is President Barack Obama,” said Clements. “This is a critically important election, and we take comfort in knowing that the Republican nominee will take a strong position in contrast to President Obama who is the only pro-choice candidate.” 

“We encourage Arizonans to support Rick Santorum in the Republican presidential primary election Tuesday, February 28.”

For nearly 40 years Arizona Right to Life has been committed to articulating and protecting the right to life of all human beings, born and unborn. Our passion is reaching the next generation for LIFE. For more information visit www.azrtl.org.Find us on Facebook.com/AZRTL or follow us at Twitter.com/AZRTL. 

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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:

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.

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.

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

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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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!

 

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.

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.