Archive for the 'Presidential campaign' Category
September 15th, 2009, 2:04 pm by Le Templar
 Mitt Romney/Associate Press photo If you believe you should be president, typically you are extremely self-confident and able to dream big. Well, Republican Mitt Romney must have both qualities in spades. Invitations went out to today for a Sept. 30 appearance by Romney here in the Valley to raise money for his Free and Strong America PAC. Romney is offering tickets from $300 to $3,000 for a noon luncheon at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Romney is not trying to fill a meeting room or a luxury box, but the entire baseball stadium! Blogger Bill Wyman noted that a sell-out (at $3,000 for each seat) would raise $15 million.
Renting out Chase Field for a political fundraiser might be overly optimistic. Romney has strong political support in Arizona, including Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, state Senate Majority Leader Chuck Gray, R-Mesa, and Mesa real estate developer Wilford Cardon. But this state didn’t figure that prominently in Romney fundraising during the 2008 campaign.
However, Romney hopes to capitalize on his strong, second place finish in the 2008 Arizona presidential primary to home state hero John McCain. Arizona’s senior senator won’t be a factor in 2012, while Romney has been preparing for that race from the day that Barack Obama was declared last year’s winner.
Posted in: Election issues • Presidential campaign • 2012 elections • Chase Field • Chuck Gray • Joe Arpaio • John McCain • Mitt Romney • Wilford Cardon | 1 Comment »
September 8th, 2009, 5:53 pm by Le Templar
Arizona lawmakers and state officials often talk about a constitutional requirement to adopt a balanced budget. That simple statement can be somewhat misleading, because there’s no way to really know if a budget is balanced under the state’s accounting system until the fiscal year is over and there’s a final tally of revenues and expenses.
The state constitution even anticipates a situation in which unpredicted expenses push the state budget out of balance when those tallies come in. Article 9, Section 4 authorizes the Legislature to imposes taxes that cover such potential deficits and also will balance the budget for the next year as well.
A new report from staff for the Joint Legislative Budget Committee makes it clear that the state now is in violation of that provision, and likely a second mandate in Article 9, Section 5, which limits state debt.
The report was prepared in response to Gov. Jan Brewer’s final actions on the 2009-10 budget last week, which included vetoes that bring back a statewide property tax and that restore funding for K-12 education and the Department of Economic Security. In essence, the JBLC report says a 2009-10 budget that was balanced when adopted by the Legislature now is predicted to have $464 million in deficit spending because of Brewer’s vetoes. The Legislature still could act on that problem before June 30 and wipe out the pending deficit.
But the JLBC report also notes that the last fiscal year concluded with a $500 million deficit, despite earlier rounds of funding cuts and other maneuvers. The current budget has no provisions to address that deficit, which also qualifies as debt because the money has been committed and is owed to someone.
Brewer could fix last year’s deficit on her own by directing federal stimulus money to cover it. But that would reduce even further the amount of federal money available in case this year’s budget stays in the red. Don’t even ask about the potential deficits for the next budget on the horizon.
Arizona’s courts have basically ignored the state debt limit for years — allowing state and local governments to enter various borrowing schemes including the sale of bonds and lease-to-purchase of state buildings. My guess is the judges also would treat the ongoing budget deficit as a political problem that can’t be solved with a court ruling.
But it’s still interesting to note that Arizona lawmakers still haven’t accomplished their one official task under the constitution.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Congress • Election issues • Governor • Presidential campaign • Arizona Constitution • Jan Brewer • Joint Legislative Budget Committee • state budget | 1 Comment »
August 31st, 2009, 4:54 pm by Le Templar
A statewide telephone poll of likely Arizona voters shows a temporary 1-cent sales tax to help shore up the state budget would have a good chance of passing. But those same voters wouldn’t elect Gov. Jan Brewer to a full term if the 2010 general election were held today.
The poll was commissioned by Mesa real estate magnet Wil Cardon, apparently in a bid to boost Cardon’s own potential candidacy for governor or some other statewide office. (In a news release, Scottsdale political strategist Jason Rose floats state treasurer or chairman of the Arizona Republican Party as other possibilities).
The poll surveyed 602 voters who had cast ballots in the past two statewide primary or general elections. Campaign strategists consider this type of sampling to be more reliable than other polls that sample all Arizonans or all registered voters. You can see the full results here, but I’ll pull out a few highlights:
* Voters narrowly favored passage of the temporary sales tax increase at 49 percent in favor and 43 percent against. That’s within the poll’s margin of error of 4 percent. But toss in the fact that these voters identified funding for K-12 education and resolving state budget as two of the state’s three top pressing concerns, and you can see that a sales tax definitely could pass. Only a handful of those survey were concerned about tax reductions, which has been a top priority for Republicans who control the Legislature.
* Brewer’s political fortunes would seem closely tied to that sales tax proposal. But this sampling of voters found much unhappiness with the governor’s performance. Only 18 percent said they would vote for her in 2010 and 45 percent said they are likely to vote for someone else.
* Who might that someone else be? Well, the poll also asked respondents to consider the potential challengers by job title or political experience (no names were used). “A successful businessman with a young family” got the most picks at 42 percent, which is exactly the description that Cardon would use in a statewide campaign. The next closest were “a former state senate president and secretary of state” (Ken Bennett) at 27 percent, and “an incumbent Attorney General” (Terry Goddard) at 12 percent.
* The poll also found strong support for a flat income tax (although the wording of the question appears slanted to support that proposal’s most favorable arguments) and expanding term limits to require politicians to sit out for two years before they could run for a new office. But the poll respondents were opposed to stripping lawmakers of the pay ($24,000 a year plus expenses) or to going to one legislative session every two years as the Texas Legislature does.
Coming this weekend: Read Austin Hill’s interview with Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker, who is also considering a run for governor as a Republican in 2010. In the Tribune Opinion section.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Arizona secretary of state • Congress • Election issues • Governor • Presidential campaign • Jan Brewer • Jason Rose • state budget • Summit Group • Vernon Parker • Wil Cardon | 1 Comment »
August 28th, 2009, 1:37 pm by Le Templar
 Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., is managing some damage control after an Arizona newspaper erroneously reported that he was considering a lawsuit to challenge the natural-born citizenship of President Barack Obama. In fact, Franks says in a statement that he did consider a lawsuit last year when the question about Obama’s eligibility was first raised. But Franks’ own research into the matter convinced him that Obama was born in Hawaii and always was eligible to be president:
“…the fact that we found [the evidence that Pres. Obama is a natural-born, American citizen] made it impossible for me in good conscience to go into a big lawsuit.”
Franks explains the flap started when a reporter for the Mohave Daily News misinterpreted his comments at a local town hall meeting. Franks doesn’t beat up the reporter for this “honest mistake” and gives the reporter credit for writing a follow-up story explaining his actual position.
However, the original story was picked up instantly across the nation by news sites and political blogs, in part because the conspiracy theorists known as “birthers” refuse to go away. Politico’s version was one of its top 5 stories on Monday because of the novelty of a member of Congress suggesting that the current president should have been barred by the Constitution from running for election.
But Franks says it’s false, all false. Franks might be “terrified” by Obama’s policies, but he no longer doubts that Obama is a red-blooded American.
Of course, this doesn’t explain why Franks couldn’t communicate his views clearly last week when confronted with a “birther” question, or why he believes Obama still needs to produce a different birth certificate.
Posted in: Journalism • Presidential campaign • "birthers" • Barack Obama • Trent Franks | 5 Comments »
August 25th, 2009, 1:23 pm by Le Templar
The Arizona Legislature is moving to end the budget special session by adjourning sine die, which will have the net effect of granting Gov. Jan Brewer more time to decide what to do with most of the budget bills sent to her last week (she signed one bill dealing with the state parks and the state land department).
Under the state constitution, Brewer had five days to sign or veto the bills while the Legislature was in session — or they automatically became law. Her deadline is Wednesday. But a quirk in constitutional language means that once the Legislature ends the special session, Brewer will have another 10 days.
If Brewer decides to veto anything or reaches a new deal with lawmakers, she can call the Legislature back into another special session almost immediately.
UPDATE: House Democrats are calling today’s end of the special session are “sign of hope.” From a news release:
“We are hopeful that Gov. Brewer and our Republican colleagues will continue to work in a bipartisan way with Democrats so we can solve this budget together,” said House Democratic Leader David Lujan. “Bipartisanship is necessary to pave a road toward economic recovery and prosperity for the future of education and middle-class families in Arizona.”
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Congress • Election issues • Governor • Presidential campaign • Jan Brewer | Post a Comment »
July 17th, 2009, 12:19 pm by Le Templar
 Anti-tax protesters in Gilbert on July 4, 2009 (Tribune file photo by Darryl Webb). If a taxpayer town hall I attended last night at San Tan Flat is any harbinger of things to come, Gov. Jan Brewer is making a whole host of enemies within the Republican Party with her insistence on a statewide election for a temporary, 1-cent increase in the sales tax.
At least 120 people jammed into a side room for an event sponsored by Tom Jenney with Americans for Prosperity. While the meeting was ostensibly nonpartisan, these folks were almost universally Republicans from Queen Creek and Chandler.
They were upset that Brewer and a Republican-controlled Legislature have yet to adopt a balanced budget. But they seethed with anger that Brewer, widely viewed as a traditional conservative, is so adamant about the proposed sales tax increase instead of cutting back further on state government spending.
No one from the Brewer administration was present, but several Republican lawmakers from Gilbert and Chandler were pressed to explain the governor’s perspective. Rep. Andy Biggs and Sen. Thayer Verschoor (both from Gilbert) struggled to do so, but admitted they also oppose a sales tax election. At one point, a woman shouted out to ask why Brewer wasn’t supporting her own party. That word echoed off the lips of people around the room for long time (why? Why? WHY?) while the lawmakers looked around helplessly.
Others demanded that the lawmakers help to organize the Republican rank-and-file to flood Brewer’s office with phone calls, e-mails and faxes. The idea was that Brewer would change her mind and oppose a tax increase if she simply heard from enough protesters.
But Sen. John Huppenthal, R-Chandler, urged the crowd to not underestimate Brewer. Huppenthal has watched Brewer’s political career since they served together in the state Senate. The governor fights as hard as any politician in the state, Huppenthal said, and she never loses.
“When she’s on your side, she’s your best friend,” Huppenthal said. “But when she’s on the other side, it gets nasty. I have watched her go 13-0 in (political) death matches.”
Another person caught in the middle was Randy Pullen, the state Republican Party chairman, who sat quietly in the back until Biggs called Pullen out for issuing a news release supporting a sales tax election. Pullen said he backs an election because he’s convinced voters will reject higher taxes, and then Brewer and the Legislature will have no choice but to cut the budget further. Verschoor said he suspects that’s part of Brewer’s strategy as well.
Reacting to murmurs about a possible recall, Verschoor reminded the audience that Brewer is not Janet Napolitano, pointing to Brewer’s signing of bills in favor of gun rights and of placing new restrictions on abortions.
“I am grateful to have Jan Brewer in the governor’s office,” Verschoor said.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Congress • Election issues • Governor • Presidential campaign • Andy Biggs • Jan Brewer • John Huppenthal • state budget • TEA parties • Thayer Verschoor | 3 Comments »
July 15th, 2009, 1:44 pm by Le Templar
 Dean Martin Arizona State Treasurer Dean Martin just sent out a news release saying he had to borrow $130.9 million today to make the required monthly payment to local school districts. Martin said the state didn’t have the cash on hand, primarily because it was counting on up to $433 million in federal stimulus funds.
Martin also suggests President Barack Obama’s administration is playing games with Arizona’s share of the stimulus, which possibly is a continuation of the high-scale assault on comments from Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., about ending the federal stimulus program.
“The Administration needs to either send the money, or repeal the program. It’s becoming clear that the Administration is holding education funding hostage to bully Arizona into submission. This is taxpayer money, not the Administration’s personal piggy bank,” Martin said.
The short-term debt is part of Arizona’s on-going state budget woes. House Republicans are now estimating that all of Gov. Jan Brewer’s vetoes have pushed the projected deficit back up to where it was before the Legislature adopted a budget early on July 1.
The state treasurer’s annoucement assures more gloomy clouds will be hovering when the legislative special session resumes Monday.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Congress • Election issues • Governor • Presidential campaign • Barack Obama • Dean Martin • federal stimulus • Jan Brewer | Post a Comment »
July 6th, 2009, 10:46 am by Le Templar
 Senate President Bob Burns (left, sitting down) and Gov. Jan Brewer might need some mediation after his harsh words last week about Brewer's budget vetoes and a special session today (Photos by Capitol Media Services). When state lawmakers gather at 1 p.m. today to again deal with budget woes, a new set of clouds will darken the proceedings after the top two legislative leaders lashed out at Gov. Jan Brewer for her vetoes last week, which included striking down all funding for public education just to make sure Brewer has the Legislature’s attention.
Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, was particularly caustic. As Capitol Media Services reported, Burns essentially called Brewer incompetent and accused her of a “strong-arm tactic to take control of the legislative process.”
Several Capitol insiders noted Burns was angry, in part, because he had to cancel a long-anticipated trip to Europe that was supposed to start over the July 4th holiday. His language was so strong that it prompted a direct, public response from Brewer, in which she said she won’t take his comments personally. Nice words, but it’s going to be a while before these two become political friends once more.
House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, didn’t go quite as far as Burns. But he did call the vetoes “irresponsible and reckless.” That’s not something a leader says in public and then expects to quickly resolve the source of the conflict.
What has to be galling for Burns and Adams is they find themselves trapped in the same position as their predecessors while Janet Napolitano was governor. Not that Brewer is much closer to Napolitano’s political ideology than previously suspected. But Brewer is demonstrating that many of the budget conflicts between Napolitano and lawmakers arose from the tension between the executive and legislative branches instead of naked partisanship.
In the end, Burns and Adams counted on Brewer’s loyalty to her fellow Republicans to accept she had received all they were willing to approve. But Adams and Burns ignored the long independence streak of Arizona governors who consistently have been willing to stand up to their own party, when they believed it would in the best interest of the state (and their own political careers).
Now, unless some Republican lawmakers changed their minds over the weekend about a temporary sales tax increase, Brewer is going to look for help from Democrats to get a final budget done. The governor’s challenge is putting together a strong enough coalition that can move a new budget package through the legislative process that Burns and Adams still firmly control.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Congress • Election issues • Governor • Presidential campaign • Bob Burns • Jan Brewer • Janet Napolitano • Kirk Adams • State budget countdown | 1 Comment »
July 2nd, 2009, 10:21 am by Le Templar
 U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano (far left) was part of a White House meeting in February with President Barack Obama in this photo posted at whitehouse.gov by the Obama administration. With the state budget crisis on hold until Monday, I can take a moment to mention other tidbits that have happened in the past week or so. Here’s a few items that caught my eye:
- Janet Napolitano, one-time governor and now U.S. Homeland Security secretary, was named by President Barack Obama to be his lead negotiator with Congress on immigration reform policies. Obama revealed this after a high-level June 25 meeting at the White House intended to jump-start an effort to finally resolve the nation’s broken immigration system. Napolitano received a huge amount of media attention when the swine flu pandemic was first identified. She seemed to be on my television news every day for weeks. Now, she it’s likely she’ll be back in the spotlight this fall on an issue that, until the economy collapsed, had been one of hottest domestic topics especially among talk radio and television and certainly here in Arizona.
- Have you taken the Tribune’s Fourth of July quiz yet? And you passed, right? Of course you did, that’s why you read this blog! But if you are, say, under 30, you are likely to be in a shrinking minority who actually understand basic American civics. Tribune writer Mandy Zajac used questions from the official test given to all immigrants seeking to become U.S. citizens. The Goldwater Institute used the same test when it recently surveyed 1,350 Arizona public high school students and found nearly 97 percent couldn’t pass the exam! The institute’s Matthew Ladner suggests high schools should require the citizenship test for graduation, or colleges should require it for admission. I’ve got to say, if we expect foreigners in this country to have this knowledge, how we can fail to demand it from everyone else?
- The Associated Press reported on a Republican candidate for Maine’s governor who appears to have “borrowed” the Obama campaign logo from last year. I’m detecting a pattern here, as we noticed a similar concern in April with John Paul Mitchell, a Republican candidate for Arizona governor.
Posted in: Election issues • Immigration • Journalism • Presidential campaign • Barack Obama • Goldwater Institute • Independence Day • Janet Napolitano • John Paul Mitchell | Post a Comment »
July 1st, 2009, 9:18 am by Le Templar
The Legislature has ended the regular session, adopting a final version of the new state budget in the middle of the night and then passing a final bushel of bills in the wee hours before voting to adjourn sine die.
But many lawmakers predicted Gov. Jan Brewer would veto most, if not all, of the budget package and call lawmakers back in a special session as soon as Monday. KJZZ radio reported this morning that the doors to the Senate building where briefly locked while lawmakers were still debating bills, apparently in an attempt to prevent Brewer from sending back a vetoed budget before the Legislature could adjourn at about 7:30 a.m.
Now, the Arizona Guardian speculates that Brewer could sign portions of the spending bills to keep “essential” government services operating while using her line-item veto powers to reject the rest.
A note placed at the top of the Arizona Department of Administration’s home page at 5:30 a.m. urged all state employees to report to work today. The Arizona State Parks agency had claimed it was closing all but two of its parks at midnight, but its Web site this morning implies the agency has reversed that decision.
Meanwhile, we await word from the governor’s office on what happens next…
UPDATE: Arizona State Parks has announced the agency is reopening all state parks this morning.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Congress • Election issues • Governor • Presidential campaign • Jan Brewer • State budget countdown | 2 Comments »
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