Congressman John Shadegg backs guest worker program

This is an election year, Mr. Shadegg, and your constituents are not with you on this

 On the eve of a key vote on a temporary-worker program for Arizona, the proposal has won the endorsement of a friend in a high place: U.S. Rep. John Shadegg.

“I have been a consistent supporter of a guest-worker program from . . . forever,” Shadegg said Friday. “Since when I was growing up in Arizona.”

Although he emphasized that he is unfamiliar with the details of the bill, Shadegg finds the idea “appealing,” according to a report in the daily.

“I think a guest-worker program is a step down the road to solving this problem,” he said, referring to illegal immigration.

He neglects, however, to explain how he would deal with the issue of birthright citizenship when those ‘guests’ have American citizen children while they are here as “temporary workers.”

 

Shadegg was among congressional members who backed the McCain-Kennedy-Kyl “comprehensive immigration reform,” which many regarded as granting amnesty to the estimated 30 million illegals currently in this country. That plan was derailed as an unprecedented outcry from American citizens shut down the congressional switchboard, alerting representatives to the fury such a scheme generated.

But Shadegg on Friday said a temporary-worker program should ease the strain on the border. “If people could cross lawfully, the motivation for them to cross illegally would drop,” he said.

That makes sense. If they are legalized, they will no longer be illegal.

 Likewise, if employers have a legal way to hire the workers they need, particularly in agriculture, there should be less incentive to hire illegal workers, he said.

Smell the familiar stench of amnesty here?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Desirous of more “pork barrel” spending, AZ Republic prefers cash to prudence

Newspaper adheres to liberal mantra of “Gimme, gimme, gimme”

In a front page article, featuring the bold headline, Arizona ranks last in pork-barrel cash, the Arizona Republic displays large color photos of three AZ Republican lawmakers, with prominently displayed $0’s beneath their names.

It would appear that Sen. John McCain and Congressmen Jeff Flake and John Shadegg are to be congratulated for their disdain of ‘earmarks,’ or federal monies–paid by taxpayers–for favored projects.

But not so. The daily Fish-wrapper whines about the lack of pork brought back to the state, comparing it to Alaska–with approximately one tenth of Arizona’s population and the most greenbacks siphoned from the federal coffers to pet projects of Alaska’s Sen. Ted Stevens. Additionally, praise is heaped on the paper’s favored Democrats who brought home the purloined bacon.

Arizona has some powerful lawmakers in Washington, including Republican presidential candidate John McCain. But, the daily opines, when it comes to pork-barrel spending, otherwise known as earmarks, the state isn’t very powerful. In fact, it ranks last.

Seeing Red AZ has often been critical of both Flake and McCain.  However, this is not one of those times. Their responsible disdain of taking other people’s money for gratuitous ventures should be applauded rather than irresponsibly maneuvered into a reason to be taken to the woodshed.

Lordy, Lordy, that Phil Gordon—is always full of surprises

Congressional District 3 race is off to quite a start

Who would think that Mayor Philly would have a joker up his sleeve?  What a cut-up that fella is!

And, here we are weeks away from May Day and we get word that Steve won’t be dancing around that Congressional Maypole after all. Incumbent Republican John Shadegg should be safe as he attempts to retain his seat.

To ensure that outcome, Click here to contribute to Shadegg’s campaign. His Democrat opponent has amassed a sizable chuck of change.

John Shadegg requesting donors pony up for his CD 3 race

 

Offers conservatism vs. liberal 101

Congressman John Shadegg is back on the campaign trail as he seeks to retain his Congressional District 3 seat. Last month, he bounced out of the race for a millisecond, before pleas for him to reconsider his decision, caused him to do just that.

He’s back in and soliciting those very necessary dollars. This time, he has a viable opponent on the Democrat side, a liberal lawyer named Bob Lord. Seems Mr. Lord, a pro-abortion, stem cell research advocate, intent on “redeployment” of American troops (waving the white flag as we leave Iraq) has been fairly successful in bagging some Demo bucks.

So, now it starts.

There is a formula to fundraising mailers–one that is difficult to understand. Even those who live to breathe the political air, admit they never read them through. Yet mailboxes of onetime contributors are stuffed full of them, hoping for a repeat of those prior generosities.

The technique consists of a minimum of two sheets, single spaced and typed with intermittent bold face and italicized type, punctuated by underlined sentences. They all compete for the reader’s attention in a wild mumbo jumbo of solicitation, thank you, plea and sharing of small parts of inner reflection and grand scale layouts of a vision.

Shadegg’s correspondence goes one better, including the text of the letter signed by 146 congressional colleagues and another by 33 leaders of conservative organizations, asking him to reconsider his early retirement.Not too shabby, by anyone’s gauge.

So in he is. We wish him well. The district is solidly Republican and he is generally well-liked–although he veered a bit and ticked off some of the party activists by endorsing a Republican for Janet in the last city council campaign.

Online donations are accepted at www.johnshadegg.com.

Virtually De-Fenceless

The question: Why is Rep. Trent Franks the only AZ congressman actually representing us?

Congressman Duncan Hunter (R- CA) has written a fine op-ed piece on a subject with which is has more than a passing acquaintance. Hunter is responsible for the effective double-layered fencing in place along 14 miles of his San Diego district abutting Mexico.

Writing for Human Events, he says: Illegal immigration is no longer just an issue reserved for border states and communities. It is now a national security issue and we must anticipate that the same human and drug smugglers that cross the border on a daily basis would not hesitate to help terrorists cross the border into the United States.

Consider that in 2005 alone, 155,000 foreign citizens from countries other than Mexico were apprehended attempting to cross our border with Mexico. These individuals came from countries all around the world, several of which have an adversarial relationship with the United States. If it is accurate to assume that an estimated 4 out of every 10 crossing attempts are successful, as some reports suggest, then we can infer that at least 62,000 individuals from countries like China, Iran and Syria, made it into the United States.

Understanding today’s security threat, we must know who is crossing the border and what they are carrying with them. Unfortunately, we are incapable of ascertaining either and, without a physical impediment along our Southern border, achieving these objectives remains nearly impossible.

To date, the following 16 members of Congress have added their names as co-sponsors to build the fence as promised:

Bilbray (CA-50)                        Waite-Brown (FL-5)
Coble (NC-6)                            Drier (CA-26)
Franks (AZ-2)                          Gingery (GA-11)
Goode (VA-5)                          Graves (MO-6
Johnson (TX-3)                         Marchant (TX-24)
Myrick (NC-9)                          Poe (TX-2)
Rohrabacher (CA-46)                Royce (CA-40)
Saxton (NJ-5)                          Sullivan (OK-1)

Only Rep. Trent Franks is representing Arizona.  Where are his colleagues?

Time magazine covers AZ congressman

The House Ethics Committee has begun an investigation into the conduct of three-term CD 1 Rep. Rick Renzi, 49, recently indicted on conspiracy, extortion and other charges.

Renzi could face censure or, in the worst case, expulsion, which would require a two-thirds vote of his congressional colleagues.

Renzi, who announced last year that he would not seek re-election, has denied wrongdoing. He has resisted suggestions that he resign.

Renzi makes his plans clear

“…I will continue to serve my constituents.”

Congressman Rick Renzi (Rep.- CD 1) has announced he will not resign from his congressional seat and plans to fight the federal fraud charges brought against him by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Arizona.

“I will not resign and take on the cloak of guilt because I am innocent,” Renzi told FOX News. “My legal team of Reid Weingarten and Kelly Kramer will handle these legal issues while I continue to serve my constituents.”

Congressional Quarterly weighs in on Shadegg’s decision

Retirement flip by Arizona’s Shadegg moves GOP back to favored, opines CQ.

Renzi indicted

 U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi was indicted this morning on charges of extortion, wire fraud and money laundering related to a land deal in Arizona.

Fox News reports that the U.S. Attorney’s office in Phoenix, which is prosecuting the case, announced the indictment at a news conference this morning.

Authorities unsealed a 26-page federal indictment Friday accusing Renzi and two former business partners of conspiring to promote the sale of land that buyers could swap for property owned by the federal government. The sale netted one of Renzi’s former partners $4.5 million.

The complete indictment available through Fox News is posted here.

GOP Rep. Shadegg stays in the race

“My decision was made after deep reflection and consultation with my family,” the seven-term congressman said in a statement. “It was entirely a personal decision between me and my family. The reactions of my constituents and my friends now suggest there were implications far broader than we had contemplated.”

Read the complete coverage here.