Marxist InvestInEd Prop 207 off Nov. ballot

Arizona’s Supreme Court has acted in the interest of the state’s taxpaying citizens by rejecting the latest curare arrow in the quiver of the educrat unionists. The Invest in Education Act, was a redistribution of wealth measure, that would have made Karl Marx proud.  It was crafted specifically to “tax the rich” — who already pay the highest tax rates. In its sights were job creators, often small business owners, dual-earner families, and even some retirees who made smart investments while living slim during their working years.

This is the order, reversing a trial court’s judgment, and signed by Chief Justice Scott Bales.  He wrote, “The description did not accurately represent the increased tax burden on the affected classes of taxpayers” and “failed to reference the elimination of bracket inflation indexing.”  All of the previous actions going back to the trial court case can be seen here.

This extortionist measure was endorsed by the same RedsforEd* public school teachers who abandoned their students for a week in April, violating their contractual agreements, while striking for a 20% pay increase. They marched in lockstep following pied piper Noah Karvelis, 24, a hip-hop music teacher and self described socialist, who was Bernie Sanders 2016 Arizona presidential campaign organizer.

Gov. Ducey, initially asserting he would not meet their demands,  rashly acquiesced to the teachers, providing the launching pad for the newly titled, Prop. 207. As a constitutional amendment, its tax penalties amounting to around $700 million annually would have been unalterable. But that wasn’t enough for the teachers. They are now protesting against Ducey.

The permanent funding stream would have been in addition to other subsidies already in place. Passage of ballot propositions — 301 in 2000 increasing the state sales tax and 123 in 2016 a grab from the state land trust — guaranteed more money for education, which apparently is never enough for the teachers who work 8½ months a year. School districts routinely hold budget overrides and bond elections to “get more money into the classroom” —- eduspeak for bolstering teacher’s salaries. A major premise of passing the Arizona Lottery in 1980 was that money from ticket sales would fund schools.

Arizona’s Supreme Court Justices deserve accolades for seeing through this deceptive con and acting in the interest of taxpayers.

* SRAZ added the “s” on Red for a more accurate description.

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Trump triumphs with federal judicial appointments

Pres. Trump’s 17th wave of judicial nominees

Senate Democrats, who use any excuse to put roadblocks in the way of President Trump, have shown an unusual willingness to back off their partisan agenda — when it benefits them.

In their rush to get out of town and campaign for reelection in their home states, they agreed to expedite votes on 15 of the president’s most recent nominees to federal courts.  The senate is now out of session until Sept. 4.

In a rare display of bipartisanship, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) agreed to work with Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), bypassing wait times on federal judicial nominations that would delay the confirmation process.

Among the judges is Bridget Shelton Bade, who currently serves as a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Arizona. Judge Bade has deep roots in Arizona, having earned her J.D., cum laude, from ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Her extensive background includes time in private practice and with both the Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The best news is, Judge Bade has been nominated to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has the dubious distinction of being the most reversed federal court of appeals,* due to its overabundance of liberal judges.

To date, during President Trump’s tenure, the senate has confirmed one Supreme Court justice — Neil Gorsuch, 26 circuit court judges and 26 district court judges — a record number for any president at this point in their term.

*In depth analysis by Derek T. Muller, Associate Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law

2018 AZ GOP Primary: Wed. morning quarterbacking

Time to go:

Incumbents, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Diane Douglas and Secretary of State Michele Reagan, were each handed their heads by their fellow GOP challengers. Frank Riggs (holding a slim 1,121 vote lead over Bob Branch) in the superintendent’s race and Steve Gaynor who mopped the floor with incompetent SoS Reagan, trouncing her 67.3% to 32.7%.

In the CD8 race Congresswoman Debbie Lesko handily beat Sandra Dowling, 77.1% to 22.9%, mounting a challenge that made no sense to political observers. Lurking in the Democrat weeds and readying for a rematch is well-funded Hiral Tipirneni. Why Dowling would cause Lesko to spend on this futile effort requires a study in egoism.

Speaking of which…Joe Arpaio, a once well-respected, former Maricopa County Sheriff at age 86, inexplicably entered the U.S. Senate race, siphoning votes from Dr. Kelli Ward. He took 18.93% of the political pie, aiding Martha McSally aka Sally McCain.

Republicans in CD9 are fortunate to have Dr. Stephen Ferrara step up to challenge longtime Democrat operative and former Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton. Ferrara easily routed primary challenger David Giles, 59.0% to 33.1%. This needless exercise and expenditure of campaign funds raises the same question as in the Lesko/Dowling match-up.

Another winner who should not have encountered a primary challenger is former state senator Kimberly Yee, running for state treasurer — who handily beat her perpetually angry challenger Jo Ann Sabbagh, 58.2 to 41.8%.

Disappointments:

Senate candidate Kelli Ward, a two-term state senator and physician, who was massively outspent by her opponent John McCain in 2016, and this time around by his hand picked Republicrat CD 2 Congresswoman, Martha McSally. Following his lead, McSally refused to debate Ward, denying Arizona voters the opportunity to make a comparison beyond the sound bite ads filled with distortions and lies. Establishment McMoney was flowing in for McSally, who ran televised ads that had not even a nodding acquaintance with the truth.

Well qualified Jim O’Connor came up up one percentage point short in his bid for a seat on the Corporation Commission.  That this good man fell behind charlatan Rodney Glassman is a travesty.

Ken Bennett, former AZ Secretary of State and president of the state senate, entered the race too late and ran into problems with the Clean Elections Commission in his race for governor. He would have been a viable conservative alternative to Republicrat Doug Ducey — who many fear will appoint Cindy Hensley McCain to succeed her recently deceased husband. Ducey has close ties with the McCain’s. His first job when arriving in Arizona was working at the Hensley Anheuser-Busch beer distributorship.

Proof that voters are easily conned:

In the GOP primary, Rodney Glassman captured one of the two seats on the utility rate setting Corporation Commission. Glassman has developed an affinity for the word, “Conservative” — which he tosses around liberally as a self description. The phony maneuver worked for the leftist who previously ran for the U.S. Senate as a Democrat challenging McCain, and also for the state chairman of the AZ Democrat Party. This cycle, his mailers, radio and TV ads and robo calls all identified this impostor as a “conservative.” Republican voters, too apathetic to look past the deceit, believed the sound bites and voted for glib Glassman.

* According to the Secretary of State’s webpage, all counts are “unofficial.”

AZ Primary Election Results – Aug. 28, 2018

Polls close tonight at 7 p.m., and continually updated results will be available after 8 p.m.

                       

The AZ Secretary of State’s Office has categorized the election results into FEDERAL, STATE, and LEGISLATIVE races. 

Oddly, the links omit some of the candidates, who can only be seen by clicking on “view more.” The snafu plagued site, might explain why Secretary of State Michele Reagan is in the race of her life. It’s a repetition of her last election misadventures.  Reagan’s office, obviously anticipating problems on her watch, even put up an election night Help page that is sure to get a workout.

Of the early ballots mailed out in Maricopa County, approximately 44% were returned before election day. 

Primary Election Day: An in-depth look at the numbers

Armed with this treasure trove of trends and info, you might have a leg up betting on the outcomes of tonight’s Arizona Primary Election.

Data Orbital describes itself in part as “a full-service data analytics and survey research firm with local, state and national experience.”

Check out its Early Voting Tracker which breaks down Arizona’s data statewide, by county, congressional, legislative districts, and even precincts — including ballots requested and returned by Republican, Democrats and Independents.

There is no more “Election Day” as we knew it, since the majority of voters have already cast their ballots by mail.

Urgent! Help Ken Bennett raise $5’s 5 – 9 pm tonight

Ken Bennett was prematurely locked out of the Clean Elections system. It is being reopened to allow this short window to collect the $5 contributions enabling him to qualify for the Clean Elections funding that will allow Ken Bennett to run a competitive race for governor of the state of Arizona. Bennett is the conservative in this race. Please step up during this short time period to take back our state.

AZSOS ordered to re-open portal at 5:00 PM to allow $5 contributions online for Bennett after closing it hours before the original deadline.

Contribute $5 for Bennett now before it closes again at 9 PM!

It is important to follow these steps exactly:

Have your Drivers License and Debit/Credit card or PayPal information ready.

IMPORTANT: Do NOT hit the BACK button… EVER!

PAGE 1: You will enter your Driver’s License info

PAGE 2: (This is where the errors occur) – you must uncheck the PAYPAL box if you are using a card.

PAGE 3: Depending on your payment option – you will get a confirmation that it was successful as well as an e-mail.

If you are not sure that your payment was successful – please call the campaign right away! We can verify if it was successful or not. We have volunteers available to help tonight. If everyone is busy – leave a message so that we can call you back ASAP!    928-615-5703

We have been told the CCEC system has not been updated since 2011!  This is outrageous and explains so many of the problems that you encountered.  Please continue to send any difficulty you had donating the $5.00 and if you think you gave, please verify you did.

A common problem many experienced is the system saying they gave when they did not give. If you had this problem or any problem, please let me know at info@kenbennett.com 

Thank You!

Paid for by Bennett for Governor

 Authorized by Ken Bennett

The comment section is closed on this single post. “Talk” is not needed. Actions are!

Shootings should not redefine our freedom

Another Florida mass shooting brings out the anti-NRA crowd

On Sunday, a shooter killed two people and wounded 11 others at the regional qualifier for the Madden NFL 19 online video game tournament at the GLHF Game Bar inside a Chicago Pizza restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida.

The suspect, David Katz, 24, of Baltimore, Maryland — a football video game competition participant — took his own life following the shooting of fellow contestants, after losing the tournament.

This most recent Florida shooting is already strengthening the resolve of Second Amendment restrictionists that was heightened by the horrific February 14, 2018 massacre of 17 people and wounding 17 others, at a high school in Parkland, Florida perpetrated by former student Nikolas Cruz.

In June 2016, a gunman identifying himself as a Jihadist “Islamic Soldier” killed 49 people at the Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

Despite this latest violence, Americans who respect our Constitutional rights to self protection will not be intimidated by demands to restrict gun and ammo sales following horrific crimes perpetrated by reprehensible monsters. Federal Election Commission records show donations to the NRA’s Political Victory Fund increased appreciably from February 1, 2018 to February 28, 2018 as more Americans join the group they rely on to defend this enshrined basic right that is increasingly under assault. The Victory Fund grades, endorses and donates to candidates supportive of the Second Amendment.

This excellent video speaks eloquently for Americans who value their Constitutionally protected freedom:

Sen. John McCain: Dead at 81

Aug. 29, 1936 — Aug. 25, 2018

19 charged in crime we’ve been told never occurs

Voter fraud is a figment of overly fertile imaginations. It never occurs, we’ve been told. Evidence we’ve seen here, here and here, (videos) to the contrary is fantasy.  Democrats preposterously claim any talk about routing out fraud by requiring photo ID is actually engaging in “voter suppression,” and “disenfranchisement” of poor, minority, and elderly voters.

Federal prosecutors in North Carolina see things differently.

Robert J. Higdon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, on Friday announced the grand jury indictments of 19 non-citizens, ranging in age from 26 to 71, on charges of illegal voting in the 2016 election. The press release, charging multiple defendants voted in more than one election, can be read here.

Democrats who prefer to focus on nonexistent Trump-Russian collusion in the last presidential election need look no further than North Carolina to see evidence of actual fraud. These crimes are undoubtedly replicated across the nation.

Those charged with illegal voting face up to a $100,000 fine and up to a year in prison. Those accused of falsely obtaining citizenship face up to a $350,000 fine and up to six years in prison.

“Up to” indicates a wide range. And what happens when the fines are beyond the ability of the criminals to pay?  Extending their prison time sounds like a decent deterrent.

Yes, illegals do commit more crimes than citizens

Every crime committed by an illegal alien is one that wouldn’t have occurred if that alien wasn’t in the United States in the first place*

Bogged down with busy schedules, most of us go blithely through our lives without thinking about the scourge of violent crime that now permeates our country.  When high profile cases occur, they shake us into acknowledging the hideous truth once again.

The discovery this week of the body of missing Iowa University coed Mollie Tibbetts shook us back to consciousness. The fact that her stalking murderer was an illegal alien from Mexico living in the United States for an estimated 7 years who confessed to the crime, woke us to reality. This narrative has been repeated too often to ignore, as Federation for Immigration Reform reveals.

Yet that is exactly what we are told to do. Anything else exposes bigotry. When conservative U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Kelli Ward linked the fact that the 20-year-old psychology major’s death at the hands of  Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, by “multiple sharp force injuries,” exposed the lack of commitment to a border wall by Arizona’s current senators, she was blasted in the local newspaper. This is a truth that dare not be spoken.

Thursday’s edition of Arizona’s sports and entertainment contrivance passing as a disseminator of news used the USA Today insert to declare in oversized type, “NO…immigrants don’t commit more crimes than US-born people.”

Peter Kirsanow an attorney and President of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights disputes the USA Today premise.

His superb National Review article, “Illegal Immigrants and Crime,” exposes the way the left manipulates statistics, with glaring omissions of a multitude of criminal activities that go unreported as the costly crimes they are.

 Kirsanow cites Arizona Department of Corrections data spanning 1985–2017, as John Lott, President of the Crime Prevention Center, calculates that illegal immigrants in Arizona aged 18-35, for example, are 250 percent more likely to commit crimes than young U.S. citizens. Further, such illegal immigrants commit more serious crimes — such as murder, robbery, and sexual assault.

Another study included in his report points out that in Arizona, California, and New York, illegal aliens are convicted of homicide at dramatically higher rates than are native-born citizens and legal residents.

Steven A. Camarota, Director of Research for the Center for Immigration Studies substantiates those statistics in “Non-Citizens Committed a Disproportionate Share of Federal Crimes, 2011-16,” concluding 21% of those convicted of non-immigration crimes were non-citizens — 2.5 times their share of the population.

The Heritage Foundation,* whose quote we used under today’s headline, has a corroborating commentary, “What the Media Won’t Tell You About Illegal Immigration and Criminal Activity,” by Hans A. von Spakovsky, Senior Legal Fellow and Grant Strobl, Chairman of Young Americans for Freedom.

The liberal media has an open borders agenda. Sociologists, criminologists, researchers and statisticians deal in facts. It’s time border state Arizonans elect a U.S. Senator with an acknowledged commitment to joining with President Trump in protecting American citizens. We haven’t been represented by John McCain, Jeff Flake, and previously Jon Kyl, who have concentrated their efforts on amnesty for illegals.