The state of Arizona continues to spend money it doesn’t have — or as John McCain says, “like drunken sailors and the bar is still open.”
Our state will still face a $1 billion deficit going into fiscal year 2012 and an additional $1 billion gap going into fiscal year 2013, even after the proposed cuts and assuming nearly $1 billion in revenue from the 1 percent sales tax increase passed by voters in the spring.
The Arizona housing market remains in crisis with foreclosures continuing to rise to new record levels. The state posted the nation’s second-highest foreclosure rate in July, with one in every 167 Arizona homes receiving a foreclosure filing during the month — more than twice the national average.
Nationally, the unemployment rate was down in July. However, the rate in Arizona remained the same at 9.6 percent — the highest in 27 years.
Arizona consumer confidence fell to 49.1 out of 100. In 2007 that number was 101.9!
One would think after listening to our non-elected governor pontificate that once we find a way to deport all those “drug-carrying mules” back across the border, all our problems would go away. Jan Brewer’s continued dwelling on the immigration issue is called the art of distraction. Find someone to blame your problems on, direct the voters’ attention away from what really ails us and finally get yourself elected.
That folks, is Jan Brewer’s leadership style. I call it shameless pandering. You think that she really agonized over her decision to sign Senate Bill 1070? After she signed the bill, she stated publicly that she never doubted for one minute that she would sign it. She simply dragged the process out over a week in order to maximize media attention and put Dean Martin and Buz Mills on ice. And to think of the thousands of people around the country who actually thought there was a chance she would veto SB 1070. Yeah right. Jim Carrey had a better chance of getting the girl in “Dumb and Dumber” when she told him that there was a one in a million chance that she would choose him.
Brewer is not the kind of leader Arizona so desperately needs. She has chosen not to rise above partisan bickering and seek consensus. She is not focused upon what’s really important — the economy, housing, unemployment.
Finally, she’s missed the biggest point of all and that is how we feel about ourselves. Attitude is everything and when we see the cup as half empty, it is. We need leadership that rises above shameless pandering for political gain. We need leadership that makes Arizona work again. We need Terry Goddard as our next governor.
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Jon Beydler is a 32-year Valley resident and the former mayor of Fountain Hills who now lives in Chandler
sbergren posted at 9:32 pm on Sun, Aug 22, 2010.
McCain is wrong on these issues
1. voted against the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts ( called them tax cuts for the rich
2. championed the immigration reform ( amnesty)
3. voted for the bank bailout ( wasted a 100 billions of dollars)
4. wants gitmo closed
5. no interrogation of top terror suspects
6. voted for Janet Napolitano for Homeland Security
7. Believes that man made global warming is real
8. What has he gotten done in Washington in the last 30 years?
Rich posted at 6:59 am on Sun, Aug 22, 2010.
Someone has to focus on the real problems of restoring the economy, jobs, the real estate market. People have been crossing the Rio Grande to go to work since the 1600s. People like Brewer, who just recently noticed, really aren't bright enough to be trusted with public office. Of course Goddard isn't much better. Therein lies the problem. Neither candidate is qualified to run the ferris wheel at the State Fair. The one who will eventually be elected will win because they juggled the real problems fast enough that we don't see them anymore.
But Terry Goddard is the lesser of two evils? When you vote that way all you end up with is an evil.
forkedlift1 posted at 10:06 pm on Sat, Aug 21, 2010.
Accuracy,
I recently saw this morsel of wisdom on someone else's blog and find it applicable here.
"A great deal of inteligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Saul Bellow
Accuracy posted at 6:13 pm on Sat, Aug 21, 2010.
forkedlift1, you have truly lost it.
forkedlift1 posted at 1:08 pm on Sat, Aug 21, 2010.
Excellent commentary, Jon. You see the big picture of this state well and have described Jan Brewer's "leadership style" (leadership?) to a T. I don't think many people "knew" her -- including myself -- until she suddenly became so public four months ago. Yikes! What a conniving, combative, partisan, dumb disaster. Dishonest to top it off.
I was one of those who actually thought she was a thinker and might be considering vetoing SB 1070 during that week she held everybody at bay, but I'm sure I wasn't alone. As a registered Republican, I'll be voting for Matt Jette in the primary and Terry Goddard in the general.....just as I crossed over and voted for Bruce Babbitt about 25 years ago -- an excellent governor with smarts, dedication and real leadership.
The partisan, irresponsible comment by Accuracy is a good example of lowering the bar of expectations voters should seek in electing a governor.
Instead, how about intelligence, ethics, ability to recognize, assess, tackle and work toward solutions of the big problems facing this state, honesty, experience in leadership positions, communication skills, etc.?
Goddard's got it. Brewer doesn't and never will.
Many non-thinkers with no solutions to complex problems rely on passe and often erroneous labels to hammer through their narrow and simplistic partisanship. (e.g., "Open Border" Janet Napolitano.) As a quid pro quo for Accuracy, how about "Private Prisons" Jan Brewer?
Accuracy posted at 10:04 am on Fri, Aug 20, 2010.
Concerning the 2010 Arizona gubernatorial race.
Liberal Jon Beydler stated: “We need leadership that makes Arizona work again. We need Terry Goddard as our next governor.”
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Arizonians had enough of former Democrat Gov. Janet Napolitano and her Liberal Democrat subordinate partner Terry Goddard. With Terry Goddard as governor, it would be like re-electing “Open Border” Janet Napolitano again.