Our appreciation to those of you who have noticed and commented on the national attention Seeing Red AZ is garnering. Between the hits we are getting from POLITICO, (Sheriff Joe fundraises for a potential McCain primary challenger), the liberal Huffington Poster Dawn Teo and The Hill, alone, our stats for the past two days are off the charts! We couldn’t have gotten this national coverage without J.D. Hayworth’s powerful name attracting such prominent attention.
This is a clear indication that the nation is watching Arizona’s 2010 senate race and senses the vulnerability of John McCain, who won his home state by a mere 10 percentage points in the 2008 presidential match-up. Just two months ago, Rasmussen Reports headlined that a decisive 61% of Arizona Republicans say McCain is out of touch with the party base.
Although other candidates have entered the race to affect a challenge, they are clearly second-stringers. Former Congressman Hayworth is formidable. If he declares for this seat, we believe it is his.
You have contacted me with words of encouragement following the release of a Rasmussen Reports Poll which finds me in a statistical dead heat with John McCain for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate in 2010.
Miss Mary, our children, and I will do a lot of praying and a lot of talking in the days ahead, as we determine the best course of action to take for our nation and for our family.
You have also asked what you can do in the days ahead.
There is something you can do right now…you will find attached an invitation to an event scheduled for Dec. 5, featuring Joe Arpaio, “America’s Toughest Sheriff.” “Sheriff Joe” has very graciously agreed to raise funds for the “Freedom In Truth Trust.” The FIT Trust is the fund that was established to help us satisfy legal debts incurred during the 2006 campaign. You can read more about it at http://www.jdhayworth.com/fit-trust.html
That would certainly be a factor in the decision we will make at the “Hayworth Hacienda!”
Please feel free to share this e-mail and the attached invitation with others.
In closing, let me stress again that I have made no formal decision regarding a campaign for the U.S. Senate, but if your kind words are followed by tangible support of the upcoming event on Dec. 5, that would serve as another encouraging sign—even eclipsing the recent poll results!
Thank you for your support, and may God bless you and yours.
Sincerely,
J.D. Hayworth
Member of Congress, 1995-2007
The link to the invitation is here. The reply card and contribution form is here.
Charles Krauthammer’s column, Travesty in New York, reveals the security nightmare, forum for terror threats, and the setting of the stage to proclaim the glory of jihad.
This morning is the second time in recent months that I have been personally attacked by Senate President Bob Burns for stopping TAX INCREASES to my fellow Arizonans.
SB 1003 was written with enacting language to give unchecked authority for unelected appointees of the governor to raise taxes in the form of fees across a broad spectrum of our everyday lives.
It has never been good policy to give the governor and her appointees this absolute unchecked authority. Our Constitution is clear that taxing and appropriation authority rests solely with the legislature. SB1003 would not even have given the legislature minimal oversight over the increases OR the use of the funds raised.
I have made my position known for many weeks IN WRITING to the Senate leadership that I would not support any legislation that ceded this constitutional authority to the governor and her appointees. For example, if the governor wants to give 1 million dollars to his /her favorite cause, all he /she would have to do is raise the price of a duplicate driver’s license by “only” one dollar. The legislature could do little more than complain about it.
It is important to emphasize that once this authority is granted, it would be nearly impossible to return the authority to its proper place. All the Governor would have to do is veto the legislation.
Senate leadership complains about the Governor having authority to appropriate twenty BILLION DOLLARS in federal funds that come to the state without any legislative over sight and they complain about the abuse of Executive orders. Now, they have decided through SB1003 to expand the power of the Governor to raise and distribute funds without approval or oversight of the legislature. Their actions beg the question whether they have the will to either pass the increases themselves or cut the spending to deal with this budget deficit.
Finally, President Burns knows that SB1003 skirts around the intent of Proposition 108 which was passed by the voters. He knows that Prop 108 requires the legislature to get 2/3rd of the vote in both houses of the legislature to increase taxes and fees.
I find it disheartening that the President feels the need to attack me personally by misrepresenting the facts and timetables of what happened on this occasion. Please call (602) 926-5999 or email your Senator and Representatives. Ask them to Vote NO on SB1003 that would give fee (tax) setting authority to the governor and his/her appointed, unelected agency heads
Senator Thayer Verschoor, District 22
This letter was sent out yesterday. For those with access to AZ Capitol Times, more information isavailable here.
POLITICO has reported that the Republican National Committee had a health care plan that included coverage for abortion. This was played in the media that the RNC was just like everyone else — duplicitous — due to its public stand against abortion, while providing coverage for its own employees.
The difference is that there is NO record of anyone ever using the coverage provided by the RNC for an abortion. The policy had been in place since 1991 and had not been audited for specific coverage this decade. Additionally, and of even more significance, as soon as Chairman Michael Steele learned of the provision included in the policy, he immediately issued orders for the RNC to opt out of that specific coverage.
“Money from our loyal donors should not be used for this purpose,” Chairman Michael Steele said in a statement. “I don’t know why this policy existed in the past, but it will not exist under my administration. Consider this issue settled.” Steele instructed the committee’s director of administration to opt out of coverage for elective abortion in the policy it uses from Cigna.
Remember, all of this has happened in less than one business day — proving it is possible for a national organization to implement policy changes with haste when the issue is as important as protecting life.
Thank you, Michael Steele, for your prompt action to solve this problem of perception. We are equally proud that the RNC has hired the type of personnel over the last two decades who never sought to implement this coverage.
The 7th annual Goldwater Institute Legislative Report Card considers how well Arizona legislators are fulfilling their constitutional obligation to uphold liberty. The report scores legislators on 305 votes across four categories: education, constitutional government, regulation, and tax and budget. The primary criterion is whether a vote for or against each bill expands or restricts liberty.
The Executive Summary and Report Card link can be read here.
Individual legislators can also be located by zip code, district, and last name.
The Arizona Legislature considers nearly 1,500 bills each session.
The annual VA Veterans Day Parade will kick off this morning at 11 A.M.. This year’s parade theme is “Home of the Free, Because of the Brave,” honoring veterans who have fought in the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, also referred to as the Global War on Terror.
The parade is one of the nation’s premier Veterans Day parades, with more than 200,000 people expected to attend. The Phoenix-based commemoration is one of the largest such events in the nation and has been designated as a Regional Site for celebrating the holiday.
It will feature approximately 100 entries, including historic military vehicles; numerous Veterans Service Organizations, marching units, color guards, canine and equestrian units, floats, giant helium balloons and bands.
The Parade runs northbound from the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center, beginning at Seventh Street and Montecito, turning westbound on Camelback Road, then northbound on Central Avenue to Bethany Home Road, where it will conclude at North Phoenix Baptist Church.
The Phoenix VA Health Care System’s Veterans Day Parade began in 1997 with 50 entries and approximately 10,000 spectators. The Parade is designed to commemorate and honor our veterans and to educate Americans about the service and sacrifices our veterans have made to protect our freedoms.
For additional information, including the listing of Grand Marshals, check here. A photo display of participants and floats from the 2008 parade and events can be seen here.
World leaders — minus Barack Hussein Obama — gathered in Berlin today, two decades after the fall of the wall, to celebrate and reflect on the event. Many will remember that we once had a president who didn’t travel the world apologizing for America, but reveled in its greatness and referred to it as “the shining city upon a hill,” whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere.
Symbolizing the fall of the Berlin Wall, 1,000 towering plastic foam dominoes were placed along the wall’s route to be tipped over. The New York Times, European edition has a spectacular pictorial covering the time line.