Phx Sun’s owner Sarver falls from grace by 2021 standards

Seeing Red AZ is a conservative political site that rarely delves into sports. A rare exception was in 2010 when the Phoenix Suns basketball team, under the leadership of majority owner Robert Sarver, veered into Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070. The legislation, signed into law by then-Gov. Jan Brewer, imposed penalties on illegal aliens invading Arizona.

At the time, Sarver made the decision for the team to wear “Los Suns” on their jerseys in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals in celebration of Cinco de Mayo and in a show of solidarity against SB 1071. Sarver, a Tucson native, said it was “to honor our Latino community and the diversity of our league, the state of Arizona, and our nation.”

Then-Suns guard Steve Nash, a South African-born Canadian, also opposed the new Arizona law that makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally.

Nash said Sarver came up with the “Los Suns” jersey idea but left it up to the players, and all of them were for it. Seeing Red AZ, advised, “Phoenix Suns: Play the game, stay out of politics.” That post was followed by, “Los Suns game 6 loss: 111-103,” describing the loss of fan support.

Fast forward to 2021, when the fallacious and divisive Critical Race Theory is being taught as fact in classrooms across the nation. Leftist Sarver is no longer embraced, but vilified, after having been accused of making “racist and misogynist comments,” which he denies, stating:

“I don’t know how to prove I didn’t do something.  Friends and colleagues, white and Black, who attest they’ve known me for 10 and 20 years and have never heard me use language like this or behave in a racist or sexist way are told their own experiences with me aren’t relevant. There was only one named source in the entire piece to stand behind these accusations, former coach Earl Watson. I understand that he is frustrated with me because we terminated him.” (This is an excerpt of a longer statement.)

Denials are worthless when being accused of racism or sexism. Sarver’s past of falling in with the prevailing open border policies of the left, will not save him. Nor will his impassioned statement. In 2021, his protests are the equivalent of spitting in the wind. 

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Dems trying to oust Judge Christopher Coury

Rational Maricopa County voters should vote to retain Superior Court Judge Coury

Although all 33 of the commissioners on the independent Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance Review were unanimous in giving 100% scores to Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher A. Coury, he is facing opposition on the judicial retention ballot…from Democrats.

Judge Coury, whose extensive bio can be viewed here was appointed by Gov. Jan Brewer on January 28, 2010, and has served with distinction with rotations on the criminal, civil, family and juvenile courts. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Notre Dame in 1991 and Cum Laude from University of Notre Dame Law School in 1994, credentials that parallel newly appointed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

So what has the Democrats in a frenzy over an exemplary judge this time?

The Arizona Supreme Court unanimously ruled it would allow the Invest in Education initiative to appear on the November 2020 ballot after it was previously removed by Judge Coury, who ruled its 100-word petition summary was “fraudulent or substantially confusing to Arizona voters,” since it omitted key components of what the initiative would actually enable.

It is now on the ballot as Proposition 208. Coury was correct. The Proposition is a deceptively worded education funding farce, that is a permanent and massive tax increase — estimated at $100 million annually — unmatched in Arizona history. The measure places Arizona in the top 10 states for highest income tax along with California and New York. It will negatively affect small businesses, harming our already struggling economy in a COVID-19 era.

Arizonans for Great Schools and a Strong Economy opposes Prop. 208. Pro-family, Center for Arizona Policy provides the facts on Prop. 208 and urges a NO vote.

This is the extensive list of Arizona Chambers of Commerce, elected leaders and small business associations that oppose this oppressive taxing authorization. Find out the truth about who’s financing this unending and costly tax hike effort and how they’re leveraging federal tax dollars to mount the campaign to permanently separate Arizona taxpayers from incalculable sums of their money.

Seeing Red AZ includes this April 27, 2018 post. The last two paragraphs detail the $multi-millions teachers unions contribute to Democrat politicians and the permanent school funding sources, in addition to their recent 20% pay increase and the continual school budget overrides.

SRAZ recently posted Ballot Propositions 207 and 208 deserve NO votes, referring to them as social and economic disasters.

Even the far-left Arizona Republic newspaper recognizes the permanent negative effects of Prop. 208, calling it an “extreme proposal with more pitfalls than promise, that deepens the divisions in our society and puts the state’s economy at risk,” editorially urging a vote against it.

Judge Christopher A. Coury was correct in his original assessment of the duplicitous wording of the petition summary and is deserving of your vote to retain him.

Marxist tax the rich school funding tossed off AZ Nov. ballot

No amount of money satisfies the #RedsforEd crowd

Amid business closures, resulting job losses and a bottom dragging stock market due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some good news emerged Friday.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Coury blocked a ballot initiative intended to penalize business owners and others who have worked to attain success by levying even higher taxes on them as another means of boosting education funding that delivers abysmal results. Coury found that the 100-word summary on petitions signed by voters to qualify for the November ballot was incomplete. He also ruled that a bonus system the petition company used to enhance the amounts paid to circulators violated a law banning paying per signature, though he allowed those petitions to stay, saying some were invalid but not enough to block the measure.

Don’t assume that because Judge Coury was appointed to the bench by Republican Gov. Jan Brewer that the decision indicated his aversion to this far left money grab. He stated otherwise. His decision was based on technicalities.

The judge said backers were required to write a transparent summary but instead “circulated an opaque ‘Trojan Horse’ 100-word description, concealing principal provisions of the Initiative.” They also persisted in deceptively referring to the new tax as a “surcharge” rather a tax, which was previously addressed in an earlier Supreme Court ruling. He said that ruling provided backers the “rare luxury” of an Arizona Supreme Court decision discussing how to phrase the proposed tax increase. Instead, they used the confusing term “surcharge” instead of “tax increase.” 

In January SRAZ wrote, “AZ educrats revive $5 billion “tax the rich” scheme,” which includes a link to the “Invest in Education Act.” We described it as contrived to extract an additional $500 million annually — specifically earmarked for teachers’ salaries — from higher wage earners, who already pay the highest taxes. They are the latest enemies. The most recent grab has now magically increased to nearly a $Billion yearly for the state’s education system. Taxpayers should be aware these astronomical amounts won’t obliterate routine school bond elections and budget overrides. “Underpaid” teachers put their money here.* As you scroll through the site, be sure to check out the fourth graph headlined, “Party Split, 1990-2020.” These donors are the people who turned your kids into Socialist Bernie Sanders supporters.

Leftists conveniently forget that “the rich” supply jobs that raise up individuals and benefit families. None of them work 8 1/2 months a year as teachers do. They are the people who took risks and worked long hours to realize their dreams of entrepreneurship or professions. They are those we should aspire to emulate. The Left view them with contempt.

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. 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.

Education has become a big business, with undisguised leftist leanings,* that routinely produces a shoddy product — pathetically under-educated American students. Teachers, its first line marketers, now routinely go on strike as we witnessed in Arizona, where they closed over 1,000 schools and abandoned over 840,000 students for nearly two weeks.

Gov. Doug Ducey ended up caving to their demands for a 20% pay increase, after publicly stating he would not capitulate.

This model would never survive in a truly competitive environment where outcomes matter.

For a memory jogger, read #REDSforEd: Educrats push socialist political agenda.

* Center for Responsive Politics

Sanity prevails: Tucson rejects ‘sanctuary city’ status

Voters overwhelmingly declare, “No sanc you!”

Tucson voters soundly rejected Prop 205 Tuesday, tossing out the prospect of characterizing the city as foolish by becoming Arizona’s first sanctuary city. The final vote was 71.40 against the ballot measure. A scant 28.60 voted in favor of sanity run amok.

A far left group with the benign sounding name, “Tucson Families Free and Together,” led the ballot initiative. The flawed measure was widely opposed by local leaders of both political parties, including the Pima County Sheriff, Tucson Police officials and Tucson’s majority Democrat city council and mayor.

Among the left-wing organizations supporting Prop. 205 were ACLU of Arizona; Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Tucson; Planned Parenthood; Standing Up for Racial Justice and No More Deaths.

The intent of the rejected ballot proposition was for the city of Tucson to formally limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities — in violation of state law. In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld provisions of Arizona‘s ‘Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act,’ known as SB 1070, (signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer in 2010) that required cooperation.

Destitute invaders sue US gov’t aided by leftist lawyer

American citizens, weary of the invasion of our sovereign border, first by Mexican nationals and then by hundreds of thousands of Central Americans, have a new problem to deal with.  Feeding, clothing, housing, educating their children, providing free medical services and incarcerating the criminals among them is not enough.

These impoverished foreign nationals, warmly referred to by their advocates as “migrants,” are now suing us.

How can that be you might ask. They don’t speak English. They have broken into our country as surely as if they rammed their way through the front door of our home. They have no money to hire lawyers. 

Yet somehow they are able to accuse the U.S. government, claiming “the Trump administration has violated the rights of asylum-seekers through the arbitrary and capricious implementation of a virtual asylum ban at the southern border.”

Pretty fancy jargon for over 125 uneducated illegal aliens — described as “mothers and children.” Discerning American citizens no doubt smell a rat. An Arizona Capitol Times editorial  by former Gov. Jan Brewer illuminates the Trump administration’s implementation of DNA testing at the border, substantiating many of the children are exploited, and not even related to the adults with whom they they are traveling. Children are used to provide legitimacy to their claims of seeking asylum.

Fortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court just ruled the administration can bar illegal aliens from applying for asylum if they pass through another country — routinely Mexico — without seeking asylum there before arriving in the United States.

Hopefully, the lawsuit, filed by Virginia/D.C. based immigration lawyer Hassan M. Ahmed, will put to rest his political aspirations. Taking a substantial hit, Ahmad lost the June 11, 2019 primary for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates — the equivalent of a state legislator in Arizona.

Describing himself as a “progressive Democrat” he threatened:

“The people of Northern Virginia need for our next representative to be more than a reliable Democratic vote; we need an advocate, someone who can work within the rules when they benefit everyone and will bring the community together to change them when they don’t.”

An anti-Second Amendment and NRA reviler who blithely flings the word “racist” around to describe Republicans, Ahmad advocated “undertaking an investigation into the extent of the damage the NRA has done to the health of our communities in Virginia, and hold this extreme organization to account.”

What he considers “extreme” doesn’t include innocent life, which has no relevance to the immoral pro-abortion crusader. He claims that both the criminal justice and immigration systems are badly broken. Hassan Ahmad must be gauging them by his own moral compass.

Raw deceit keeps local columnist Montini employed

When one lies for a living, telling the truth doesn’t come easy. Being employed when colleagues have been given their walking papers in systematic cutbacks, no doubt presents a conundrum.  It’s good to have a salary, though tough to know former co-workers are facing hardships.  But disgorging odious spew three days a week is what keeps the bills paid. And if you’re E. J. Montini, writing columns for the Arizona Republic newspaper, bile automatically erupts by way of your leftist politics.  Dishonesty? That’s your stock in trade.

You’ve hung on longer by repeating falsehoods and denigrating American patriots who were repeatedly elected to office by Arizona voters.  Revulsion for Republicans oozes from your every pore.

The headline of Montini’s recent column contains the words “Operation Wetback,” relating to a mass deportation of illegal aliens in the 1950’s. The program was put into effect during the Eisenhower administration with the support of the Mexican government, facing a national worker shortage, since a majority of the illegals crossing the border were young men. It was only later when the Mexican government realized the value of reparations, bolstering its economy by over $30 billion each year, that it worked to facilitate the invasion.

The fascinating thing about liars is the ease with which they spin tall tales. Nowhere in the column is Pres. Eisenhower mentioned. Known as “Ike” he was the popular, two-term president who was a five-star general in the U.S. Army during World War II and served as the first supreme commander of NATO. He had previously been president of Columbia University.

Most assuredly not a bigot, in 1957 he ordered federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to protect nine black children integrating into a public school — the first time the US federal government ordered troops in the South since the end of the Civil War.

Though Eisenhower was mysteriously absent from Montini’s screed, President Donald Trump was maligned, hammered and battered for desiring to halt the unfettered invasion of our country by illegals. The United States welcomes approximately a million legal immigrants each year with the reasonable expectation of assimilation, which is too few and too restrictive for the ethically challenged E.J.

Also worthy of bashing are former Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce, who sponsored SB 1070 (actual title: “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act”), and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose deputies enforced the law, signed by Gov. Jan Brewer in 2010. Major portions of the law were later gutted by a federal court judge.

What do Trump, Pearce and Arpaio have in common? They are all men of unquestioned patriotism, principled courage and a deep commitment to the United States of America.

Those patriotic traits rankle Montini, who robotically tailors his vacuous verbal vomit to fit the newspaper’s agenda — facts be damned. He’s earning his keep.

Fmr. Sen. Steve Pierce replaces perv Stringer

That’s obviously not our best headline, since no one with any degree of principle would be a replacement for disgraced child rapist, pedophile, and child porn aficionado David Stringer. Though Stringer maintained he served no time for his crimes, he accepted a plea deal, including five years probation on the charges. Stringer resigned March 27, when the hideous facts became irrefutable…and got even worse, as reported by the local newspaper.

Prescott rancher Steve Pierce, 69, has been selected by the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors to complete the House term. Pierce was previously a state senator from 2009-2017 and served as senate president from 2011-2012. He has indicated he will serve out the rest of the term, but will not run for election.

Make no mistake. Pierce is neither a fiscal nor social conservative. During his previous term, he was a supporter of expanding the Medicaid provisions of Obamacare, not a popular Republican position.

Former Arizona Secretary of State and senate president, Ken Bennett who challenged Doug Ducey as a Clean Elections candidate in 2018, would have been our preference. He adamantly opposed the expansion, saying, “Obamacare is the biggest job killer and destroyer of small business in history. And the entire U.S. has it because of Gov. Ducey and Sen. McCain.” His full quote is here.

In 2014, after supporting SB1062, known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Steve Pierce described his action by saying, “I screwed up,” after getting heat from the LBGTQ community and the ACLU. Gov. Brewer also caved to the loudest voices and vetoed the bill that had mainstream support.

Fortunately we now have conservative leadership at the AZ GOP following the January election of Dr. Kelli Ward as state chairman and a reliable supporter of President Donald Trump.  Join the team.  Become a precinct committeeman.

Call (602) 957-7770 and find out who your district chairman is to get the ball rolling.

Want news? Failing AZ Republic invites you to write it

Editorial Page editor Boas’ shocking metamorphosis into a beggar 

It’s no secret the Arizona Republic is on its last legs. The situation has turned so dire for the local newspaper, that its parent company, Gannett, Co. Inc. recently laid off its Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist to save a few bucks. The action even threw the newspaper for a loop, featuring an editorial bidding a fond farewell to Steve Benson and his talented but venomous pen. This boot follows previous massive layoffs preceded by large scale buyouts of senior staffers.

A quick Internet search reveals countless publications detailing the company’s layoffs and overall wretched state. The Wall Street Journal recently headlined its report, “Gannett’s Loss Widens as Ad, Circulation Revenue Fall.” Its been death by a thousand cuts, with so little coursing life blood left that the anorexic publication relies on vapid ASU Cronkite Journalism School student reporters who write as colloquially they speak. The absurdity could be entertaining, if you enjoy farce.  

But there is a bright light at the end of this darkened tunnel.

Editorial Page editor Phil Boas, is, of course, a deep thinker. Who could forget Boas? He’s the guy who dedicated years of his life to the craven pursuit of taking down popular 6-term Republican Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio — his own father-in-law.  Boas oversaw the endorsement of the problem plagued Democrat with this headline: “Elect Paul Penzone, not Sheriff Showboat.” After Penzone was elected, the new sheriff referred to illegal aliens as “guests.”

Now, functioning with editorless staff, a couple of far-leftwing columnists, and mostly purchased content, Boas has had to become inventive. His latest cost-cutting gimmick is called “Voices.” That’s the slick way he sells what they are not paying for but expect you to provide — previously known as op-ed pages. Those haven’t existed in the left-wing echo chamber for years. Not only can’t the newspaper afford established conservative opinion writers, it definitely doesn’t want them.

But the fact remains subscriptions are continuing to tank because few Trump-supporters can tolerate the elitist radical leftism that oozes off every page of the Hillary-endorsing newspaper. Boas and his like-thinking ideologues are bonded to the policy of insulting the very people who pay their increasingly overpriced subscription rates for emaciated editions.

Yet Boas farcically writes, “…we began our experiment with conservative writers [former Gov. Jan Brewer who pushed Medicaid expansion, was the odd choice]. And for a reason. After Donald Trump won election, most newspapers could not turn to their in-house and syndicated conservatives to express pro-Trump points of view, because so many media conservatives opposed Trump. I fit that category.”

After admitting his own bias against President Trump, Boas doesn’t name any conservatives on the Arizona Republic’s staff —- because he can’t. Even Libertarian-leaning Robert Robb has fallen in with the newspaper’s standard.

Most pathetically, following articles is this plea: “Support local journalism. Subscribe….today.” (We omitted the link the failing newspaper provided.)  The big-time beg should be written on corrugated cardboard with a black marker and held up for passing traffic on Van Buren Street by Editorial Page editor Phil Boas.

Lesko’s AZ CD8 victory? You can’t believe your lyin’ eyes

Dejected Arizona Republic skews the news….again

Dang! We thought Republican Debbie Lesko won the AZ Congressional District 8 Special Election Tuesday night. We watched as the votes were tallied, and saw the broad smile on former Arizona Senate President Pro-Tempore Debbie Lesko’s face as her hand was held aloft by former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. We saw Lesko plant a smooch on her husband, and joyfully introduce her son and daughter.  We even thought we heard cheers and applause. Apparently it was all a wishful apparition.

According to the Arizona Republic newspaper, what we witnessed was a post mortem. Those cheers were wails, as mourning Republicans realized the victory wasn’t decisive enough.  Leftwing reporters Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald Hansen, called it “lackluster and tepid“ and termed what we thought was a victory, “a wake up call.”

The article doesn’t mention the fact that liberal Democrat challenger Hiral Tipirneni played fast and loose with the truth in campaign ads depicting her in scrubs with a stethoscope around her neck, at a patient’s bedside. In fact, she has not practiced medicine since 2007, after a serious medical malpractice charge was brought against her. In the intervening years she’s been a dedicated lobbyist for Obamacare.

To bolster its contention that Lesko’s win was less than a victory, the newspaper quoted a misguided Republican who voted for Tipirneni. It also quotes Arizona Democrat Party Chair Felecia Rotellini, who knows a thing or two about losing elections. “The same chaos and dysfunction that we’re seeing in the Republican GOP in D.C. is reflected in Arizona’s GOP, (and) the lack of leadership, the lack of a platform that speaks to Arizona,” adding “the voters have awakened.”

Rotellini ran twice for Arizona Attorney General and though trounced by the Republican candidates in 2010 and 2014, she stubbornly waited days to concede her losses.

The elephant in the newsroom is Lesko’s unwavering support of President Donald Trump, called “broadly unpopular,” by the Hillary Clinton endorsing newspaper — which ignores his list of accomplishments and the wide range of support he enjoys among his loyalists.

This morning’s editorial oddly consists of a dialogue between the unhinged members of the editorial board and their shameless editor. They are unable to fathom the voter rejection of their Second Amendment restrictionist and pro-abortion supporter, who opposes actual border security. Tipirneni used verbal contortions in an attempt to carefully conceal the facts of her liberalism that is far out of step with the district and the editorial board is reeling.  They regard CD 8 voters as being easily duped.

If you still get skewed information from the Arizona Republic, let us give you the good news: Conservative Debbie Lesko, an unapologetic Trump supporting,  pro-Second Amendment and pro-life candidate who also stressed national and border security, support of our military, tax reform and parental choice in education, won!

Supremes give AZ supremely foolish silent treatment

Without even trying to rationalize its decision, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s efforts to uphold a 6-year old executive order issued by then-Gov. Jan Brewer, which denied driver’s licenses to those known as DACA recipients — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Though characterized as children brought to the United States by their illegal alien parents, there is no means of verifying the claims. Those who have signed up for DACA are shielded from deportation, allowed driver’s licenses and given work permits.

They need only affirm they were 16 years of age or younger when they initially entered the United States and are currently 35 years of age or younger. They have to declare that they have been persons of good moral character since initially being brought to the U.S. as children by their parents — illegally. Authenticating how many came as babes in arms or ably propelled themselves over the border last year at age 34 is impossible to substantiate. As we’ve previously pointed out many of these “kids” could actually be grandparents. 

“Our case has always been about more than just driver’s licenses,” Attorney General Brnovich said in a statement. “It’s about the separation of powers and whether the president, any president, can unilaterally act and bypass Congress to create new laws.”

This ongoing legal issue was precipitated by Barack Obama and was stopped dead in its tracks on Monday. Read the May 22, 2017 petition to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which begins with the “Question Presented“ and ends with the “Conclusion” which authorized the denial, stating it did “not warrant the Court‘s consideration.”

That is exactly what occurred yesterday at the U.S. Supreme Court.

For the U.S. Supreme Court to remain silent on this crucial issue is shameful.