Gifting ASU’s Prez with $95K raise+benies = one helluva deal

Crow called “a bargain” at $900,000 a year

When it wants to push its leftist perspective, the Arizona Republic is a marvel of inconsistencies. Look no further than the convoluted meanderings of Monday’s editorial as it attempts to justify the outrageous salary increase for Arizona State University president Michael Crow.  The heist is headlined, “It’s vision, not money, that motivates Crow.”

In this still troubled economy with many remaining behind the eight ball financially, the state Board of Regents awarded Crow a $95,000 raise and we are told we got a bargain in the process.

Betch’a didn’t know that Crow is a “gale force of big ideas, who swept into this intellectual desert” when he arrived in 2002.

He is also extolled for “throwing open the doors to a surge of low-income and minority students…”  Back in 2007, when Crow began promoting scholarship funding and in-state tuition for illegal alien students the open-border newspaper called Crow’s efforts  to subvert the voter approved Prop. 300 “courageous.”  Crow referred to the hundreds of foreign national students here illegally as “special-class international students.”

This previous post “Michael Crow, Sybil Francis: A$U’s pricey duo,” fills in the dollar amounts in salary, bonuses, pensions, retirement and “step up bonuses,” car and housing allowances that Crow and his wife Sybil Francis were previously raking in. Updated, enumerated numbers are not readily found, although this year alone he receives a $40,000 incentive and up to $180,000 in 2015 for “meeting goals.”

It’s difficult to pick a winning line in the blatherous editorial, but the words, “money doesn’t motivate him” which he proves by staying on here in Arizona, where this superhuman “visionary” is “underpaid,” float to the top.

“It’s no secret that a lot of major institutions would like to steal him away from us,” Regents Chairman Mark Killian said. “We think he’s doing a wonderful job, and we’d like him to stay around.”

Regent Greg Patterson “gushingly” heaped further praise, actually calling Crow “transformative.“

 That electric definition alone could power up Sybil Francis and Michael Crow’s $million+ nest in swanky Paradise Valley.

The swooning regents duo sound suspiciously like former U.S. Senator Dennis DeConcini, then a regent in 2007.  “He’s worth every dollar he gets paid because he delivers,” DeConcini said.

As Crow and Francis live large, citizen students feel the sting as tuition and fee hikes continue to rattle Arizona families. And the question remains, if  Crow isn’t motivated by money, why do the regents continually throw more of it at his well-shod feet?

Still awaiting Montgomery’s Flake decision

A contortionist is described as a performer who peculiarly twists his body for the entertainment of others.

Minus the amusement factor, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery is beginning to resemble such a nimble acrobat as he attempts to maneuver an end to the case of animal abuse resulting in the gruesome heat related deaths of nearly two dozen dogs. They died while supposedly in the care of Austin and Logan Flake at a Gilbert kennel on June 20.

Such a move would not serve him well. Twenty-one pet owners have joined together in filing a civil suit against four defendants. Besides the Flakes, Todd and MaLesia Hughes, Logan Flake’s mother and stepfather, are named in the suit.

On June 23, Sheriff Joe Arpaio promised a full investigation of the deaths. After an extensive three-month examination of facts, which included veterinarian performed necropsies on some of the dogs, the sheriff’’s office recommended 21 felony charges of animal neglect and cruelty in connection with mistreatment of the pets resulting in death by suffocation. The dogs were crammed in a laundry room without air-conditioning, food or water. When the dead and dying dogs were discovered, the Flakes did not call for veterinary assistance, opting to hose down the dogs and then callously pile their carcasses in a shed.

Arpaio, a champion of animals, has had an Animal Crimes Investigations Unit as part of his office for over a decade. “I’m very confident we have the proper evidence for a conviction,” the sheriff said.

At a Sept. 10 press conference Montgomery exhibited raw insensitivity to the grieving pet owners as he provided insight as to his bent. “This isn’t to cheapen or minimize the loss of the pets to the families,” Montgomery said. “But we’re not talking about the deaths of 23 children.” 

The kennel owners Todd and MaLesia Hughes were on vacation and left the animals in the care of their daughter Logan and her husband Austin.  Austin is the son of Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake —- a man the politically ambitious Montgomery does not want as an enemy. 

Numerous lies were initially told by the Hughes and Flakes, including that a dog chewed through the air conditioner’s power cord after the Flakes left the facility for the night. Owners were also told their pets had run away. No evidence supported the claims.

We are now just two days away from the beginning of October, months away from the blazingly hot June day. Montgomery remains mute. 

“Bill Montgomery: Between a Flake and a hard place,” providing insight into the political aspects of his silence, was dated ten days ago.

BP under the federal gun to investigate agents

Criminal investigations center on law enforcement agents not illegals

The daily reports that Customs and Border Protection has issued a press release on the alleged assault on a teenage illegal detainee by an agent —- at the specific direction of the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The Jan. 30 incident, captured on a security camera video reputedly shows Border Agent Aldo Francisco Arteaga, a nine-year veteran, entering a holding area, confiscating the teen’s disallowed cell phone, and punching him in the stomach. Arteaga is stationed in Nogales, Arizona.  The area is a major portal for illegals and criminal gangs of drug traffickers. 

The article is rife with comments from the expected pro-illegal brigade including ACLU attorneys, a “skeptical” policy analyst at the American Immigration Council and representatives of “human rights” and “immigration rights” groups, expressing doubts regarding prosecution.

Border Patrol Agents are charged as “vigilant protectors of our Nation’s borders,” according to the Mission statement on U.S. Customs and Border Protection website. It neglects to mention that agents are supposed to do their job with one hand tied behind their backs, while being viewed with suspicion by the same federal government that employs them.

The US/Mexican border is a dangerous place. But the Border Agents protecting the U.S. from murderous drug cartels, jihadists intending harm to our homeland and defiant illegal invaders, are vilified by the leftist Periódico de la República de Arizona (Arizona Republic) newspaper —- as we noted in this post last year.

In 2010, the Sierra Vista Herald reported* there had been a marked increase in violence against U. S. Border Patrol agents —- up a stunning 300 percent in the first two months of the fiscal year. The report indicated 108 attacks on agents in the Tucson sector alone. The previous year there were 27 such reports.

This list of U.S. Border Patrol Agents who have died in the line of duty since Dec. 2003 gives an indication of where the actual focus of prosecution needs to be.

*Sierra Vista Herald report no longer accessible

Beheading horror comes to US, but don’t call it terror

Muslim convert decapitates Oklahoma woman, stabs another in case of “workplace violence”

In an act of savagery too horrific to imagine, Alton Nolen, just fired from his job at an Oklahoma food distribution plant, engaged in a bit of “workplace violence.” The feds and local law enforcement remain unable to use the term “Islamic terrorism.”

Shouting praise to Allah, Nolen decapitated Colleen Hufford, 54, and stabbed Traci Johnson 43. Johnson is hospitalized, as is the knife wielder, who was shot by an off-duty reserve deputy employed by the business.

Employees of the plant said Nolen had been attempting to convert co-workers to Islam. 

So what does Adam Soltani, executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Oklahoma, say about these actions? In his statement he refers to the savage murderer as a “gentleman.”

“It’s really unfortunate that there’s a lot of attention on Muslims these days for actions of people who are either part of extremist groups or who have extreme ideas. However, Islam is clear on what it stands for. Islam stands for peace, Islam stands for justice, Islam stands for love for humanity, compassion and mercy. What this gentleman did in Moore, which is inhumane and barbaric, is definitely not a representation of what our faith teaches and we hope and pray that justice will be brought against the perpetrator soon, so that the victims and their families can find some sort of solace in that justice.”

In an added insult ABC News consultant and former senior FBI agent Brad Garrett, described as having extensive experience in criminal profiling, opined that on the surface the incident appears to be “workplace violence.”

The Oklahoman newspaper used the same foolish language in its report.

Former Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan has been sentenced to death for the 2009 Fort Hood Army base massacre that left 14 dead and 32 wounded. Prosecutors argued the attack was a “jihad duty” under his Islamic faith, and witnesses reported him yelling Islamic blessings as he gunned down his fellow soldiers.

But Pentagon officials classified the attack as a “workplace violence” incident, arguing it did not meet the criteria for a terrorist or combat attack.

The victims are still struggling to get medical care and benefits they would receive now and into the future if this slaughter were classified as an act of terrorism, according to this report in the Navy Times.

White House officials declined a request from the victims of Hasan’s evil to meet with Barack Obama and discuss their ongoing difficulties.

The Hill uses unreliable information in McCain report

Polling shows John McCain carrying increasingly negative numbers as well as the wrath of a large swathe of his home state Republicans —– evidenced by multiple state and county censures.  As The Hill speculates about the senior senator’s political future, major flaws in the article “McCain gets ready for the race of his life,” are revealed in the sourcing and less than accurate skew.

Reading the article, one outside of Arizona would likely come away thinking McCain was invincible and that his three-plus decades in DC, have imbued him with brilliance in matters of national security and accumulated wisdom simply by virtue of staring octogenarian status in the eye.

The facts belie such notions. His left-of-center alliances and preference for illegal invaders over Arizona’s citizens have earned him the ire of grassroots Republicans .

The Hill anoints Wes Harris as the ‘grassroots conservative expert’ to speak for all of Arizona. Although Harris’ observation of McCain’s unpopularity is correct, his assertion that McCain won reelection in 2010 because his conservative challenger —- former Congressman J.D. Hayworth —- was a flawed candidate laden with too much “baggage,” has no basis in reality.

Wes Harris has alienated many conservatives. Few would say he speaks for them.

In fact, the popular Hayworth was formidable. After a year-end Rasmussen Reports survey showed McCain in a virtual dead heat with the still-undeclared Hayworth, McOperatives did the expected, launching into counterattack mode by running a disreputable push poll to inflate McCain’s numbers. Hayworth, who carried strong conservative support, was not hobbled by baggage, but rather by being outspent roughly 10 to 1.

The man with baggage galore is John McCain. Last January at the annual mandatory meeting of the Maricopa County Republican Committee, elected precinct committeemen voted to censure McCain. The measure passed overwhelmingly — 1,150 in support with only 351 opposed. Read the complete Resolution to Censure John McCain, including a list of grievances 

Later the same month, McCain was censured again, this time by elected state committeemen at their statutory meeting of the State Committee of the Arizona Republican Party.

The Hill article does include one telling segment worthy of a second glance:

Former Sen. Jon Kyl, a longtime Republican colleague, said McCain would likely draw a challenger but predicted he would prevail. Kyl is quoted as saying the state party make-up next year will be different from the one that censured McCain in January.

 “I think you’ll see a different party make-up after the primary election. There will be a new group of precinct committeemen. I don’t think you’ll see many of the same old faces,” Kyl said.

Kyl’s facile words tell a much more significant story.  The McCain/Kyl/Flake establishment has been hard at work attempting to remove  diligent, conservative elected Republican precinct committeemen and replace them with compliant moderates. This past Primary Election cycle, when committeemen are elected, there were numerous reports of recruiters being paid for enlisting new people to run against conservatives. McCain’s frequent censures were a national embarrassment the McCabal doesn’t want repeated. 

Thursday’s post MC GOP Chair LaFaro exposes Wes Gullett in complaint explains the efforts being taken to oust elected committeemen.

This post card is an example of those sent out by then-Sen. Jon Kyl in 2012, as he inserted himself into the LD 28 precinct committeemen races and attempted to facilitate the removal of conservatives.

In the end, it’s all about maintaining McCain and his ilk, even if it means destroying the Arizona Republican party by eliminating committed party stalwarts in the process.

MC GOP Chair LaFaro exposes Wes Gullett in complaint

Maricopa County Republican Chairman A J LaFaro has filed a campaign finance complaint against ‘Arizona Grassroots Action’ with the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Arizona Secretary of State’s Office and Maricopa County Elections Office.   

Here is the complaint:

I wish to file a campaign finance complaint against Arizona Grassroots Action (AGA), which lists its address at 300 West Clarendon, Suite 460, Phoenix, AZ, 85013.  We encourage anyone who reads this complaint to “Google” the address to see who is really located there.*

AGA conducted independent expenditures in multiple Legislative Districts (LD) in multiple counties to effect the outcome of Precinct Committeemen (PC) races.  However, AGA never registered as a political committee, nor has it disclosed its donors or its expenditures.  We went to a great deal of effort to verify that AGA was not filed with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office and with the various counties in which it campaigned, etc. 

AGA is also not registered with the Arizona Corporation Commission.  It appears that AGA is a name selected to mimic an old campaign committee that was called Arizona Grassroots PAC and was closed in March of 2014.  It is also the precise name of a federal PAC formed to benefit GOP Congressional candidates Martha McSally and Andy Tobin.  However, the federal PAC uses a Virginia address and appears to be quite separate.  So the selection of the name seems to be purposefully for the sake of creating confusion.

At this time we do not have a firm idea on exactly how many expenditures were made, however we have proof that AGA used a series of up to three mailers per precinct that was targeted in their Graham County efforts, two to three mailers per targeted precinct along with robo calls here in Maricopa County.  PCs have reported receiving and seeing AGA’s campaign literature in LD23, LD25, LD28, and LD29. 

We have put the word out asking people to report if AGA’s campaign literature was used in their LDs and will update our list as we get more responses.

While races for Precinct Committeemen do not attract the media attention that larger offices do, they are very important to the candidates who participate in them. The outcome of those races determine the makeup of party leadership both at the county and state level, and control of that leadership includes the ability to speak for the party as well as control over the party’s purse strings.  These races can be very high-stakes.  As such, the strategic advantage that accrues to a group that knowingly violates election law in order to gain a stealth advantage is tremendous. You do not have time to gather an effort to counter something that you have no idea is coming.

The penalties for failing to file a committee and failing to file reports that detail contributions and expenditures are substantial and are laid out in ARS 16-904 for example.  The failure to file and report are both violations of ARS 16-902, 16-902.01, 16-904, 16-912, 16-913 and potentially 16-913.01 and 16-914.02 depending on the source and nature of the funds used to pay for this electioneering and expressed advocacy.

Furthermore, AGA failed to notify the candidates who were listed on their mailers of their independent expenditures in a timely manner as prescribed by ARS 16-917.  The penalties for failing to do this shall be three times the cost of the literature.

Lastly, AGA would be required to list any individuals, corporations, LLCs and labor organizations paying for these expenditures should the source of any of this money come from any of these individuals, corporations, LLCs and labor organizations.  There is no such disclosure save for “Paid for by Arizona Grassroots Action” and the penalties for failing to properly disclose are up to three times the cost of the literature.

It is too late to undo the damage done to the candidates who were disadvantaged by these unannounced and unreported mailings.  However, your office can and should send a strong message to this group and those groups who would mimic this technique in the future that their actions carry severe financial penalties.

People and organizations that feel they are above the law by not registering with the appropriate state and county agencies so they can use their dirty money to fund their egregious acts of misleading and confusing the voters is totally unacceptable.

It is quite obvious AGA has violated election laws by not registering as a political committee or filing campaign finance reports, and I am requesting a full and thorough investigation into this heinous matter.  Please consider this complaint a “class action complaint” on behalf of the thousands of individuals that have been wronged.

– A. J. LaFaro, Chairman, Maricopa County Republican Committee (MCRC) Office: 480-752-9164, E-mail: aj_ml@hotmail.com

 * First Strategic Communications and Public Affairs

Under “Our Team” you’ll find the names Wes Gullett, Kurt Davis, Marcus Dell’Artino, Barry Dill, Crystal Bradley, Bettina Nava, and Steve Roman. Five of the six highlighted names share a common thread: They have all worked for John McCain.  At least a couple of those McCain cohorts show up on this 2006 Republicans for Janet (Napolitano) list.

___________________

Seeing Red AZ has previously provided additional background on such shenanigans:

This post card is an example of those sent out by then-Sen. Jon Kyl in 2012, as he intruded in the LD 28 precinct committeemen races and attempted to facilitate the removal of conservatives.

Another example of Republicrat duplicity also took place in District 28, where conservatives were targeted for removal on a slate pushing RINOs for election as state committeemen.

Integrity is in short supply these days. Here is a list of RINOs supporting liberal Democrat Felecia Rotellini. “Republican” is a convenient label for these turncoats to keep as they show their true colors while ripping fellow Republicans.  If they reregistered as Democrats, their traitorous acts would lose their potency.

 

RIP: David Gage, former Maricopa County GOP chair

We note with sadness the passing of David Gage, former chairman of the Maricopa County Republican Party. He was elected to that post in 1971 at age 32. 

David was a respected lawyer who had an exemplary career and also devoted time to serving his community.

Time and place of the memorial service to honor his life can be found here.

GOP voters dissatisfied with party’s amnesty stance

Two new polls stand as evidence of a dramatic shift in priorities among Republican voters as they assess their party leadership.  A newly released Pew Research poll finds that a majority of Republicans think their party is not representing their views on illegal immigration. 

Just 37% of Republicans and self-identified Republican “leaners” think the GOP is doing a good job representing their views on illegal immigration while a massive 56% say the party is not doing a good job.

These findings follow last week’s Gallop poll which also indicates illegal immigration and its costly repercussions has grown to the leading concern among Republicans.

Despite these numbers, the establishment elites in the Republican Party continue to press for what they now slyly refer to as a “piecemeal,” or incremental approach to implementing comprehensive amnesty legislation which would further alienate the GOP base. 

In fact, the issue is eclipsing all others. What many now refer to as the “illegal invasion” rose from 4% to 15% among all adults as the top problem. Gallup reported that “in the past three months, 20% of national adults who self-identify as Republican named illegal immigration as a top issue, compared with 8% of Democrats. In the first half of the year, a nearly identical 4% of Republicans and 3% of Democrats referred to the issue the country’s most important problem.”

The poll found that a third of Republicans (33%) say their party has not done a good job on illegal immigration because it is too willing to allow foreign nationals living illegally in the U.S. to gain legal status.

Republicans who believe in the rule of law are speaking. Are their members of congress listening?

2014 U.S. Senate races take center stage

The battle for the U.S. Senate looms as the national mega issue in the upcoming November midterm elections. The GOP needs 51 seats to wrest control from the Democrats and neutralize Obama. In the search for hard numbers and changes in status from previous polling, Real Clear Politics is a reliable go-to site. The current senate has 55 Democrats and 45 Republicans, with two so-called “Independents,” Sens. Bernard Sanders (I-VT) and Angus King (I-Maine) who caucus with the Dems.

Watch Republicans in these key races:  Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, South Dakota, and West Virginia. The last three listed are open seats previously held by Democrats and expected to flip to the GOP column.

Democrats who are running for senate seats are also running from Obama —- attempting to distance themselves from his increasingly abysmal ratings on issues ranging from the blunderous Obamacare and still sagging economy to his incredibly shaky foreign policy.

Thirty-six states are holding gubernatorial elections this year —- Arizona, among them. Currently, Republicans hold 29 governorships to the Democrats’ 21

Human Events did the congressional math months ago, summing up the situation this way:  “Today, there are 45 Republican Senators and the GOP needs a net gain of six seats to win control of the 114th Congress in January 2015. But winning a bare majority in 2014 is not enough. Republicans need to pick up enough seats in 2014 to ensure they have 51 or more Senators after the 2016 election where Republicans will defend potentially vulnerable Senate seats won in the GOP landslide year of 2010.

If Republicans win six seats they will control the House and Senate for two years but still face the Obama veto for both years. But if they capture the nine seats needed to be comfortable that GOP control of congress would continue in 2017 and 2018 then, if they are joined by a Republican President after the 2016 election, they can begin undoing much of the damage of the past eight years and enact the Ryan budget plan that begins the U-turn away from our present path to socialism. That is winning.”

 

Obamanized schools: Illegals take precedence over U.S. students

English competency tests in Spanish, waiver of health & immunization requirements for illegal students

Just when you think you’ve heard it all, comes this report from the New Orleans Times-Picayune, detailing the gutless response to the Obama administration depositing over 1,200 illegal Central American minors in Louisiana. The state has authorized the federally imposed Common Core test for English Language Arts and Literacy to be administered in….Spanish.

State schools Superintendent John White ordered the controversial test —- called the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) to be given in Spanish to newly arrived illegal foreign nationals. 

To his credit, Gov. Bobby Jindal tried to block White and the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education from purchasing the PARCC test for Louisiana schools this summer, but was unsuccessful.

Judge Todd Hernandez ruled against the governor, saying Jindal had acted inappropriately in blocking the test purchase. Jindal is appealing the ruling, but White and the state school board, mostly Common Core supporters, have moved forward with implementing PARCC testing, scheduled to be administered in March.

That’s not all. Breitbart Big Government reports the Virginia Department of Education recently issued a memo to its 132 divisions outlining how schools should handle the influx of about 3,000 foreign national children now in that state. In addition to giving them “homeless” status, which includes benefits under the Homeless Assistance Act, the state is also ordering schools to “immediately enroll” the students and waive their health and immunization requirements.

Apparently, it’s unfair that people who illegally invade our country should be subject to the same rules as ordinary American citizens. And, if your children come down with a mysterious Central American virus, there’s always the fallback of Obamacare.

This is the three page fact sheet from the U.S. Department of Education regarding policies, rights and services to be afforded to the illegal minors under the Homeless Assistance Act.

Since October, approximately 63,000 unaccompanied minors have illegally entered the United States through our southern border. The vast majority are from Central America. 

Arizonans have a clear choice in the upcoming election for state Superintendent of Public Instruction. Conservative Diane Douglas, the runaway primary winner handily clobbered incumbent John Huppenthal in a 58 to 41 percent stunning upset. She garnered the highest number of votes of any contested election, and beat all unopposed Democrats, securing 16½ percent more votes than Dem gubernatorial candidate Fred DuVal. 

Diane Douglas’ success is due to her unwavering opposition to the fed’s heavy handedness in promoting the increasingly unpopular Common Core. Her liberal opponent David Garcia supports the controversial fed ed program. 

Election Day is Nov. 4, but early voting begins Oct. 9.  Vote early and ensure the demise of the federal overreach of Common Core, deceptively renamed “Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards,” by Gov. Brewer and her colluder Huppenthal.  

Arizona needs Diane Douglas in this important office.