AZ AG Tom Horne clarifies Bisbee issue

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne provides clarification of what actually occurred in the Arizona city of Bisbee regarding the city ordinance related to same-sex unions. Take time to read his statement, “Bisbee – What Really Happened.”

Valley Interfaith’s leftward “social justice” lurch

Valley Interfaith again shows its true liberal colors with this Medicaid expansion community propaganda fest.  Check out the confirmed guests here.

As examples, Rep. Heather Carter (LD15) is one of only two GOP House members earning the Arizona Conservative Coalition’s infamous RINO designation. The Pres. and CEO of the socialist leaning AZ Chamber of Commerce, Glenn Hamer, is perhaps best known for his extreme leftwing views, and overseeing the group’s endorsement of liberal Democrat Janet Napolitano immediately after leaving his ED position at the state GOP.

Flores v. AZ: Tim Hogan’s never ending case

Back in 2009, in a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court took a major step toward ending what was then a 17-year legal battle in the Flores v. Arizona case. In their opinion, the justices wrote that lower courts erred by placing extraordinary focus on forcing Arizona to spend more money to assist English Language-Learner (ELL) students.

At the time, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wrote, the Court of Appeals “improperly substituted its own policy judgments for those of the state and local officials entrusted with the decision.”

Flores was sent back to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals with instructions to consider whether Arizona had complied with civil-rights law by improving both English-learner programs and K-12 education policies.

The case was argued by Arizona’s then-Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Horne. He served in that capacity from 2003 – 2011. Horne was elected Arizona Attorney General in 2010. He and Jim Weiers, then-Speaker of the Arizona House were listed as petitioners.

The majority opinion was issued by Justice Alito and joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas. Justice Stephen Breyer filed the 47-page dissenting opinion, joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Paul Stevens and David Souter. If you’re so inclined, the Supreme Court’s 89-page opinion can be read here.

Fast forward to 2013. The lawsuit has reached the ripe old age of 21. And whad’ya know? A federal court decision last month upholding the state’s English Language Learner programs is being appealed by Tim Hogan of the left-of-center Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest. The case is now renamed Flores v. Huppenthal. Associate Justices Souter (replaced by Sonia Sotomayor) and John Paul Stevens (replaced by Elena Kagan) have retired.

Today the State Superintendent of Public Instruction is fomer state senator John Huppenthal. He contends ELL students are making progress in the English program. Most test out of the program within three years. He believes the state will prevail in the lawsuit.

Tim Hogan remains, still representing the plaintiffs. Of his career-long case, Hogan has this to say. “We just think the district court judge has gotten the law wrong.”

The Center for Law in the Public Interest refers to itself as a “non-profit.” Obviously Hogan has been making a living from this long-in-the-tooth case.  What’s the funding source?

The daily’s coverage of this ongoing bonanza can be read here.

Arizona Republic exposes its foul, radical core

In a single issue — Sunday’s edition — The Periódico de la República de Arizona (Arizona Republic), bawdily bared itself in a fashion befitting a porn star. 

The Viewpoints section opened with illegal immigration hustler, Linda Valdez, spewing seemingly endless bile at recently deceased British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as she links her to conservative icon Ronald Reagan, hurling insults at both. Her abhorrence of the pair is palpable from the headline “Maggie, Ronnie cast dark shadows,” through the vicious conclusion of her commentary in which she characteristically berates what she calls hard-line conservatives and blames the ills on both sides of the Atlantic — and oddly Arizona — on the Tory and Conservative who contributed mightily to their nation’s progress.

Following Valdez’s vitriol is a lone editorial. It is a paean to Arizona’s senators and their key roles in extending the gift of amnesty to lawbreakers, noting that both John McCain and Jeff Flake “have a history of supporting reform,” though “both forgot that for a while.” The missing words are “while campaigning.” The editorial welcomes them both back to leadership roles in undercutting our national sovereignty and adherence to the rule of law. In 2011, the Republic denounced Flake as a mere “politician” — no longer a “statesman” — for emulating John McCain’s border transformation during his last senatorial campaign. Editorialist Doug MacEachern called Flake’s change of heart on legalizing millions of illegal aliens “jarring.”  (click on the links for a reminder of their campaign duplicity.)

Dragging bottom of the same page are My Turn columns by ASU President Michael Crow and Daniel Ortega, the former chairman of the racist La Raza, which the newspaper terms a “the nation’s largest and most influential Latino advocacy group.”  La Raza’s motto — “For The Race everything. Outside The Race, nothing” — is chilling to any sane person who values equality.

Crow uses his space to once again push for foreign ‘STEM’ (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) students — those he claims are the best and brightest — to bypass our nation’s “antiquated immigration laws” and compete with our own American citizens for a place in university classes and in today’s tough job market.

Ortega rails about the “stain” on Arizona caused by the passage of SB 1070, and the imperative of “fixing” our immigration system by adopting a “sensible, humane, federal immigration-reform bill” that will “set our state and national economy on a road to greater prosperity.”

Stir in a photo of demonstrators rallying for amnesty — this time waving American, rather than Mexican, flags as John McCain helpfully advised them — along with a vicious cartoon lampooning Sheriff Joe Arpaio who was recently the target of an intercepted package bomb that officials say was capable of killing a person opening the box.

It’s all in the fish-wrapper so worthy of the name: The Periódico de la República de Arizona. No wonder it’s dying.

GOP lawmakers tank supporting OBrewerCare

Republican voters strongly oppose Gov. Brewer’s Medicaid expansion

Magellan Strategies has released further information from its previously reported survey.  GOP voters in six Republican-dominated legislative districts: 13, 17, 18, 20, 25 and 28 have little patience with their Republican state legislators who break ranks and endorse Gov. Jan Brewer’s support of Medicaid expansion.

In a telephone survey of 718 self-identified Republican voters who plan to vote in next year’s primary election, 51% said they oppose Gov. Jan Brewer’s proposed Medicaid expansion, while only 30% said they support the plan. The remaining 19% were unsure or had no opinion on the matter.

Fifty-three percent of respondents said they would be less likely to reelect a legislator who voted to expand Medicaid coverage, with only 22 % saying they’d be more likely to vote for a pro-expansion legislator.

Sixty-eight percent said they would be less likely to re-elect a legislator who voted to fund expansion with a new hospital tax — which is a major component of Gov. Brewer’s scheme.

The numbers are especially dismal for GOP lawmakers in Legislative Districts 13, 17; and 18, where a whopping 78% percent of Republican voters in LD 13 and LD 18 said they were less likely to reelect pro-expansion lawmakers. Running close behind, 76 percent in LD 17 express little tolerance for Republican legislators who would stray so far afield of conservative principles.

Sen. Bob Worsley (LD 25) and Rep. Kate Brophy McGee (LD 28) remain staunch supporters of Brewer’s plan — even standing with her during her press conference in March. Although Rep. Paul Boyer (LD 20) also stood alongside Brewer and endorsed her Obama-like socialized plan, he has since had a change of heart. Taking the pulse of your district can have that affect.

The results of the survey released earlier in the week can be viewed here.

Jeff Flake: Why is only 1 bridge “too far?”

Inconsistent positions on mega issues of guns and amnesty

While colluding with Democrats and his mentor John McCain to throw open our nation’s southern border to illegal aliens, Jeff McFlake demonstrated his political savvy Sunday on NBC’s ”Meet the Press”— doing a great impression of an equivocator.  Aware that he has alienated a good segment of Republican grassroots activists with his longstanding allegiance to amnesty, he scurries to take a tougher position on universal background checks on gun sales, hoping to solidify his eroding support.

“We do need to strengthen the background check system, but universal background checks, I think, is a bridge too far for most of us. The paperwork requirements alone would be significant,” said the Flakester.

Flake, using McCain toady Lindsey Graham (SC) as a prop, teamed with Democrat Sens. Mark Begich (AK) and Mark L. Pryor (AR) to introduce legislation intended to determine the mysteries surrounding mental illness and which people are legally barred from buying or owning a firearm.

Liberal Sen. Charles Schumer (NY), has introduced a bill that would require near-universal background checks for all gun sales, an issue he‘s long supported. His bill passed Senate Judiciary along a party-line vote after talks broke down over the issue of record-keeping on gun sales. McCain continues to infuriate conservatives as he positions himself as a key player aiding senate Democrat efforts to pass legislation to expand background checks for private sales of firearms.

A nimble student, Flake is already playing McCain’s “bi-partisanship” game like a pro. Democrat Schumer is one of his “Gang of Eight” amnesty partners, as is Lindsey Graham.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a party switching multi-billionaire, recently launched a privately funded $12 million massive ad campaign targeting senators of both parties on gun control. Schumer said he greatly respects Bloomberg’s passion on the issue, while disingenuously contending the ads are pro-gun.

And guess who is being targeted by Bloomberg’s ad to restrict Second Amendment rights?  None other than Jeff the Flake. Proof that having the convictions of a waffle isn’t a winning position.

Gov. Jan Brewer: Doing Obama‘s job in AZ

Gov. Brewer is showing her allegiance to the Obama agenda in various ways — all of them troubling.  We recently wrote about the numerous statewide Legislative Districts and County Executive Committees that have passed resolutions in opposition to the Governor’s Medicaid Expansion (AHCCCS) in support of ObamaCare — which includes expansion of funding for abortion providers. We noted it was an odd step for the pro-life governor.

The entire Democrat caucus supported this outrageous and economically unsustainable government overreach.

Now Republican Brewer is touting her signing of HB 2425, a gigantic leap in implementing the Obama administration’s insidious Common Core Standards so beloved by the left. Every Democrat in both the AZ House and Senate voted for this bill, also. The Maricopa County Executive Guidance Committee unanimously passed a resolution opposing Common Core.

It is interesting to note that Gov. Brewer took 10 days before signing SB1070 into law.  Yet she took less than 10 hours to sign legislation supporting the Obama education plan endorsed by uber-liberal U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

Conservative Columnist Michelle Malkin has a series devoted to this program, which she has aptly named Rotten to the Core. Gov. Brewer must have missed an installment or two.

H/T:  “Surrender art” GilbertWatch

Illegal invasion: AZ República blames security efforts

In a tribute to convoluted thinking regarding the dangerously porous U.S.-Mexico border, today’s edition of the Periódico de la República de Arizona (Arizona Republic) front pages a report by another of its open border enthusiast staffers. This latest piece of deception posing as news is titled “Tight border discourages migrants from going home.”

File that headline –as well as the entire fallacious report — under “bizarre.”

It’s not worth going into the depth of the absurdity that undergirds this most recent dose of snake oil — dishonestly packaging illegal aliens as mere “migrants” — that is being sold to the newspaper’s few remaining readers. The headline says it all.  For help in deciphering such drivel, our popular post Lingo, a primer on decoding Republicese is indispensable.

The bottom line is this: For desiring to have our sovereign national borders secured and respected — which the Obama administration and our own Arizona Sens. Juan McAmnesty and his toady Jeff McFlake — are working diligently to subvert, it is American citizens who are to blame.

The Arizona-Mexico border is the major portal for drugs, crime and illegal invaders who come not only from Mexico and a wide array of Latin American countries, but also from those which sponsor terrorism.

In 2011 we posted Hezbollah on our doorstep: Radical Muslims in border towns. It was based on this troubling report by San Diego’s ABC News 10.

As far back as October 2001, WND reported in an article titled “Arab terrorists crossing border,” that there has been a “tremendous increase in OTM’s (law enforcement’s term for ‘Other Than Mexicans’). Illegals from the former Soviet Union, Asia, and the Middle East are joining the flood of Mexicans, Central and South Americans — all slipping in through our incredibly accessible and porous Southern border. Apprehensions have included illegals from the Sudan, Iran, and even Iraq.”

Note that the 2001 article by J. Zane Walley was datelined Cochise County, Arizona — where rancher Robert Krentz was murdered on his family property.

McCain, Flake, gangsters, take absurd PR border tour

In a newscast nearly as vacuous as Arizona’s amnesty twins John McCain and Jeff McFlake, reporter Navideh Forghani glowingly describes the scene at the Arizona-Mexico border where “this kid” hopped the fence  The Republicrats took a couple of their “Gang of 8” Dem cohorts for a stroll along the border yesterday afternoon. Chuck Schumer (NY) and Michael Bennet (Colo.) got an eyeful as they watched illegals jumping the fence that is woefully inadequate in providing security.

Forghani said, “One of the key tools these senators want to do is provide agents with the right technology to help them patrol the vast border along Mexico. And it’s technology like that tower,” she said pointing off in the distance, “that the senators are talking about, and they tell me that technology will pay for itself because they’ll be charging those hi-tech companies to be a part of border security.”

Doesn’t it seem they should be paying for the services instead of charging the providers?

As if on cue, the reporter pronounced that these wizards are “90 percent complete with the proposed immigration reform.”

New Yorker Schumer who can return to his home 3,000 miles away from the porous border, inanely stated, “Secure the border, and once the border is secured by specific metrics, then people can become citizens.” He said, “What I learned today is we have adequate manpower, but not adequate technology. Technology will work.”

Schumer must have been asleep five years ago when former Homeland Insecurity Chief Michael Chertoff promised the $20 million technology newly put in place was “looking good.” But the “virtual fence” turned out to be a virtual flop. Two months after completion, the feds announced plans to replace the highly touted “virtual fence” with new towers, radars, cameras and computer software, scrapping the brand-new and costly system because it didn’t work.

McCain and Schumer promised this overhaul would pay for itself, while cautioning that their proposed border security package would be costly. “Nobody is going to be totally happy with this legislation, no one will be because we have to make compromises,” John McMaverick said.

Bennet added the Gang of Eight are opposed to double-sided fences along the length of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Makes sense. That might be more difficult to navigate.

In his most sincere tone, Flake opined: “It is difficult sometimes to get a good picture of where we are. We just know we aren’t there yet. We have to do more, but we’ve come a long way.”

Indeed.

AZ Medicaid expansion takes a major blow

Abortion funding assured under Gov. Brewer’s surrender to ObamaCare

In addition to the continually mounting grassroots opposition of Republican activists in counties and districts across Arizona to Gov. Jan Brewer’s reckless Medicaid expansion, we now have this letter from M. Casey Mattox, Senior Counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom.

Mattox’s letter is in response to a request for clarity from State Rep. Justin Olson (R-LD 25). In it, Mattox unequivocally defines the impact of the proposed expansion on funding for abortion providers, stating, “In our judgment, expanding Medicaid pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) would necessarily result in increased funding of abortion providers in Arizona and would subsidize abortions.”

It doesn’t get much clearer than that. The facts contained in his legal response also raise some key questions:

Why would Gov. Brewer, regarded as one of the most pro-life governors in the country, be pushing this agenda that will result in death to countless pre-born Arizona babies?  Will this news cause the Arizona Conference of Catholic Bishops to rethink their support of the expansion?

We also include this letter to Gov. Brewer and AZ House and Senate leadership from Cathi Herrod, President of pro-life, pro-family Center for Arizona Policy. Oddly the organization “remains neutral” on the massive and costly federal intrusion into our personal health care delivery system, although offering alternative language to the Medicaid legislation, to guarantee “no increased funding to abortion providers results” from the implementation of the health care scheme.

We applaud all pro-life efforts, on either end of the life cycle. But taking a resolute stand against the encroachment of socialism in no way diminishes the importance of honoring the sanctity of life.

And although Obama vowed the new law will bring costs down, a startling  new study released by the Society of Actuaries says claims cost, the most important driver of health care premiums, will jump an average 32 percent, with the costs to many soaring much higher. (Read paragraph four in the link).