“Reality sets in”

Republicans lawmakers have approved a bill that cuts $300 million from the state budget, while Democrats pushed to raise taxes.

Arizona is facing a multi-billion-dollar budget deficit. If it were your family in financial trouble, you’d quit spending and shave your expenses. Is that such a difficult notion to comprehend?

Signing the bill, Gov. Brewer, acknowledged the devastating budget situation with these words: “This is the beginning of the process of turning around the crisis that Arizona faces. This is a good day.”

Her signature reverses the spending she restored 2 ½ months ago when she vetoed the cuts.  “Reality sets in,” she said at the signing. “We have no other alternative.”

Why don’t Democrats get  that concept?

The report in the daily is here.

Treasurer Dean Martin: Arizona faces historic debt level

Arizona legislators, convened in a special session, are  setting about shaving nearly $460 million from this year’s $2 billion budget deficit.

The session, expected to run through tomorrow, was called by Gov. Jan Brewer. It will look at restoring funding to a handful of state agencies, authorizing an $18 million payment to Science Foundation Arizona to satisfy a court ruling, and making changes in the state’s foreclosure laws to provide some protections to homebuyers caught in the mortgage bubble while also shielding lenders, according to the report in the daily. The article includes recommendations that are being offered to deal with the fiasco.

For the first time since its 1912 statehood, Arizona is preparing to turn to outside lenders, borrowing enough cash to carry it through ongoing revenue shortfalls, state Treasurer Dean Martin said.

Martin estimates the state will need to borrow $700 million to see it through the June 30 end of the fiscal year. As of yesterday, Martin said, the state had exceeded its threshold of $500 million in IOUs and would need to turn to institutional lenders. To date, the state has been borrowing against internal accounts.

“This is a record,” Martin said. “We’ve never been over $500 million (in IOUs) before.”

Treasurer Martin  is in the unenviable position of handling debt levels that increased through unrestrained spending by Democrat former Gov. Janet Napolitano who left the state in the throes of financial disaster as she resigned to join the Obama administration. The worsening national economy, exacerbated by Obama’s  costly bailouts and “stimulus” programs, has also negatively impacted the fiscal situation.

Here comes another explorer: Samuel Pearson Goddard, III

Leif Erickson, Ferdinand Magellan, Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus? 

Nope.  This one is Samuel Pearson Goddard, III. In case that elite name doesn’t ring a bell, you might recall him better as “Terry,” the more informal moniker for his family nickname of “Trey,” meaning The Third in continental-speak.

The Harvard graduate, who as a lad attended the toney Phillips Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, is the son of former Arizona Gov. Sam Goddard. Like the Babbitt’s and DiConcini’s, the Goddard family is an Arizona Democrat political dynasty.

Terry, a one-time Phoenix mayor, is currently the term-limited Arizona Attorney General. He has nursed long-standing aspirations to put another Goddard in the ninth floor governor’s office, trying and losing to Fife Symington twice.

Apparently the Brewer announcement last evening was too much for him to handle, causing him to impertinently leap into the fray today. He opened his gubernatorial exploratory campaign — within hours of hearing that Gov. Jan Brewer jumped the gun on him.  Apparently those Eastern schooled folks don’t know about the time honored Western concepts of keepin’ your powder dry, coolin’ your heels or Waiting for Godot.

His nearly 87-year-old campaign chairman is former Democrat Gov. Rose Mofford, who as Secretary of State inherited the office when Gov. Evan Mecham was impeached.  Mofford was a short-timer who did not run for her own term.

Say what, Gov. Brewer?

Gov. Jan Brewer, a longtime Republican officeholder who has never previously lost an election, tosses her hat in the ring again this evening in her hometown of Glendale where she is poised to make her public announcement — officially indicating her intent to seek a full, four-year term in 2010. She filed her campaign committee documents with the Secretary of State’s office this morning confirming her candidacy.

Although Brewer has gotten crossways with her own Republican party over her determined efforts to impose a one-cent sales tax hike to lift the state from the budgetary morass she inherited, she will find that insignificant when compared to the questions that will be raised by her selection of former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods as her campaign chairman. Woods, a sometime Republican, actually toyed with the idea of re-registering as a Democrat after he left office in 1998. Kate Fassett of HighGround Public Affairs Consultants will serve as Brewer’s campaign treasurer.

Woods lavished accolades and praise on liberal Democrat and former Gov. Janet Napolitano when she was selected as Obama’s secretary of Homeland Security, as reported by the Washington Post.

Brewer’s political career spans nearly three decades, beginning in the state legislature — with stints in both the House and Senate.  She was then elected to the Board of Supervisors and later as Secretary of State, before moving to the governor’s office last January. Brewer assumed office Napolitano‘s departure.

Several others potential candidates are eyeing the race. Currently, Tucson lawyer John Munger is the only officially announced Republican seeking the governor‘s office.

Gov. Brewer’s well received tax-hike idea intrigues Mayor Phil

Mayor Philly Gordon, Phoenix’s high flyin’ international jet-setter, is looking for a cash infusion for the monetarily anemic city. In addition to recently raising fees for numerous city services, Phil Gordon is now “floating” the idea of a “temporary sales-tax increase,” according to a report in the daily.

And why not? The concept was certainly a winner for Gov. Jan Brewer.

Suggestion to Slippery Phil: How about defunding the costly Sanctuary City policies you oversee, which provide refuge to illegal aliens as well as ensuring funding for their education, medical care, and the high costs associated with law enforcement, prosecution and incarceration incurred by many of the lawbreakers.

In addition, the idea of rewarding a censured spendthrift of taxpayer funds with the job of county manager is preposterous, yet Gordon cast his ballot for David Cavazos, despite his week-long disciplinary work suspension and imposition of sanctions in the form of reimbursement for his personal travel extravagances,

Another example of city wastefulness is the “ very, very severe” punishing salary of  a mere $81,245 to the city’s chief spokesman, David Ramirez for his ongoing crude and vulgar mistreatment of subordinates. Ramirez had previously earned $105,368 plus numerous perks — including a monthly car allowance of $435.

We don’t need no stinkin’ tax increase, Mayor. We need tax relief. There are additional places to cut. When you get off the plane, take a look around City Hall.

Ouch! It must have pained the daily to report this

Arizona voters like Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s approach to his job and disagree with the federal government’s immigration-related decisions to curtail the sheriff, according to a KAET Cronkite/Eight poll released last evening. The poll indicates a 61 percent job-approval rating for Arpaio, while 34 percent of voters disapproved, according to a telephone survey of 652 registered voters around the state, as reported in the daily.

The results were nearly the opposite when it came to the U.S. government’s recent decision to restrict Arpaio’s federal immigration enforcement authorization to the county’s jails. Sixty percent disagreed with the government and 36 percent agreed.

For Sheriff Arpaio, the news was especially sweet. Despite the incessant hammering he takes from his amnesty-bent foes at the newspaper, the poll indicated a 6 point up-tick from the support he enjoyed in the November 2008 election, when he received 55 percent of the vote compared with 42 percent for his opponent.

The poll also gave high ratings to Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. He drew a 44 percent approval rating, with 33 percent indicating no opinion. Only 23 percent disapproved of the job the two-term county attorney is doing.

Given that the role of the chief prosecutor is less known to the electorate, these numbers can also be considered a reflection of citizen satisfaction.

Also worth noting are Republican Gov. Jan Brewer’s odd polling numbers. She fairs as well — or poorly – with Democrats as Republicans. While 40 percent of Republicans disapproved of her performance, 40 percent of the Democrats approved of the job she is doing.

Gov. Brewer: Appointing Napolitano associates?

The mass exodus from the Ninth Floor offices of Gov. Jan Brewer have resulted in a good deal of staff shuffling. The most recent is especially curious. 

First, a recap of the latest defection and the resulting fallout. Four days ago we reported that Kevin Tyne, Brewer’s longtime aide, confidant and most recently, Chief of Staff, had moved on. The news that he had taken a position with the Republican Governor’s Association was yet another embarrassment for the fledgling administration.

Eileen Klein, Deputy Chief of Staff for Finance and Director of the Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting, was appointed to fill Tyne’s Chief of Staff post.

Here’s where the oddity factor creeps in: Brewer announced yesterday that John Arnold is stepping down as executive director of the School Facilities Board to become director of the Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting. Arnold has previously served on the budget office’s staff, and from 2006 to 2009 Arnold was a member of Democrat Gov. Janet Napolitano’s Growth Cabinet.

And in the seemingly endless game of musical chairs, Arnold’s replacement as School Facilities Board director is current Deputy Director Dean Gray.

For those needing a scorecard, a long line has formed.

Brewer’s plan for Pearce: A non-starter?

As rumors swirl that Sen. Russell Pearce (R-Dist.18) might be tapped by Gov. Jan Brewer to replace Arizona Department of Public Safety director Roger Vanderpool, there is a not-so-small consideration that could be the fly in the ointment.

Constitutional restrictions imposed on state lawmakers prevent them from assuming another governmental job during their terms. That means Pearce would have to wait until the end of next year, even if he left his current post of state senator now.

Besides which, few conservatives would be desirous of having this stalwart leader leave the senate where he has been an effective, dependable and courageous defender of the rule of law.

Here’s further proof Brewer is leaving

Gov. Brewer’s Chief of Staff Kevin Tyne, curiously absent of late, has found himself a new job with the Republican Governor’s Association. Eileen Klein, Deputy Chief of Staff for Finance and Director of the Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting, will assume Tyne’s duties.

Tyne has been Brewer’s longtime and trusted aide as well as a major player on the ninth floor. His departure marks the third key advisor in the Brewer administration to leave in the short-tenured governorship.  She took the state’s reins January 21, 2009, after Janet Napolitano abruptly left to join the Obama administration.

In July, Deputy Chief of Staff for Finance Tom Manos cited “family reasons” as he vamoosed. Within a couple of months, Deputy Chief of Staff Brian McNeil abruptly left, citing the desire to “explore something different.” 

 Today’s press release from the governor’s office, putting the best face on this obviously embarrassing  exodus can be read here.

Could this be the precursor to a Brewer retirement announcement?

The Arizona Capitol Times reports that Gov. Jan Brewer has acknowledged that she made mistakes as she pursued a budget deal with the Legislature.

“Obviously I did something wrong. There were mistakes made in an effort to get them to understand the problem that Arizona was facing.”

Participating in a roundtable discussion sponsored by the Tempe Chamber of Commerce, Brewer said that “bad times and bad choices were made — probably on both sides – with the Legislature and with the Governor’s Office.”

When asked about specific mistakes she made, Brewer, who has never lost an election, responded that she might not have done as good a job as possible of getting lawmakers to understand the magnitude of the state’s budget deficit, as well as the need for additional revenue. The governor pushed for months for a temporary 1-cent sales tax increase, although the idea was rejected by the Legislature.

“I will take responsibility for that,” Brewer said.

She had previously blamed “extremists” of both parties for holding up the budget process and threatening the state with bankruptcy.

Seeing Red AZ covered her vetoes and those comments here.

Gov. Brewer’s five-point plan for returning the state to prosperity, which she outlined back in March, was predicated on the temporary hike in tax revenues.

Meanwhile, with the scent of blood in the water, the list of declared candidates, exploratory campaigns and those aspirants still rumored to be eying the office — grows.