Arizona's Own Espresso Pundit

Credit where Credit is Due

This morning's Republic has an excellent editorial about the demonstrators shutting down the TUSD Board meeting.  This isn't surprising.  The Republic's Doug MacEachern has been on top of this story from day one and has done an excellent job bringing the issue to light.  Here's an example of MacEachern's outstanding coverage of the issue.

The courses ooze the sort of political indoctrination that would infuriate its supporters if some rival political faction attempted to foist an equally radical program - say, a curriculum espousing Tom Tancredo's immigration views - in some public-school district.

MacEachern is right and his coverage has been one of the primary forces leading to the elimination of these programs.

It's time for you to do your part against Anarchy.

In the previous post, I embedded the You Tube video of the Raza students taking over the the TUSD Board Room.   A bullhorn is the lowest form a communication and it's clear that these students haven't learned any other way to communicate.

I grew up in Tucson and I went to TUSD schools---Whitmore Elementary, Townsend Jr. High and Catalina High School.  It's sad to see how far the district has fallen. 

So I have a suggestion...you need to run for the TUSD Board.  Tucson used to be reliably liberal, but conservatives are getting tired of watching the city fall apart and are stepping up.  All of the Republican elected officials from Tucson who currently serve in the Legislature are conservative. So to my Republican friends from South of the Gila....I urge you to find candidates and get them elected.  Instead of letting TUSD incubate anarchy, let's get some people elected who will actually reform the system.

And while you are at it.  Let's not forget who first called our attention the racist "Raza" classes.  Tom Horne has been on this issue from day one.  He's the one who called TUSD out and he's the one who went to the Legislature and crafted a law to eliminate the Raza studies...and now he's in a position to enforce that law.

He's also $350,000 in debt for his efforts.  So here's a good opportunity to support him. For more information, you can click this link.

 

 

Your Education Dollars at Work

If there was ever any doubt that the TUSD "Raza" studies promote anarchy, this video should dispell that doubt.  

Just Making it up.

It's the one-year anniversary of the signing of SB 1070 and the folks at the Republic are desperate to claim that bill has been an economic disaster for the state.

Saturday's paper had three stories on the economic impact of SB 1070.  All of the information was anecdotal--businesses that cater to illegal immigrants are now selling less stuff--however there was one actual statistic from one actual report.  That statistic pointed out that the economic impact of SB 1070 was--insignificant to the point of being meaningless.

We've all heard that boycotts cost Arizona about $140 million in tourism losses.  Well, the author of that report was asked to put that number in context.

Pollack said though still not good news, that was tiny in the context of the state's economy. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis recently reported that the state's total gross domestic product, a rough indicator of the size of its economy, was $231 billion in 2009.

So the tourism hit was about one half of one one thousandth of Arizona's economy. This statistic doesn't take into account the tremendous budget savings that SB 1070 has generated.  After all, somewhere around 100,000 illegal immigrants have left the state.  If half of those leaving were children, then the state saw budget savings of nearly $500 million.  Indeed, the school enrollment statistics show a dip of around 50,000 kids when SB 1070 went into effect. 

You can also look a the AHCCCS numbers to see the budget effects of SB 1070.  In 2007, there were 20,000 births paid for by AHCCCS...last year there were 7,000. 

So the savings to the state have dwarfed the economic impact of the boycotts, but that doesn't fit the newspaper narrative, so they compensate by just making stuff up.  Here's an editorial that appeared on the same day as the articles.

The title of the editorial is "SB 1070 has been a costly failure."

Here's how the editorial opens.

A year later, SB 1070 looks like a big, expensive con.

Hmm, it looks to me like the big expensive con is on the editorial pages of the Republic...

Let's Go to The Big Surf...

Growing up in Tucson, we didn't have access to water parks, so every year we piled into old church buses and made the trip to The Big Surf.  Of course, we didn't call it "The" Big Surf.  That's because everyone knows that it's just "Big Surf."  The reason it's not "The" Big Surf is that "Big" is part of the name.  If "Big" was being used as an adjective to modify "Surf" then it would be "The Big Surf".

Why would I waste your time in order to make this obvious point?  I make it so that local journalists will stop writing about "The" Grand Canyon.  Dude.  It's just "Grand Canyon."  Check out this story by the Republic's Shaun McKinnon.

In a report to be released today, the National Parks Conservation Association describes what it characterizes as serious threats to natural and cultural resources in five national parks - including the Grand Canyon - along a stretch of the Colorado River and two tributaries in Colorado, Utah and Arizona.

No, it's "including Grand Canyon".  I wouldn't make a big deal about it except that Grand Canyon is, like, you know the thing Arizona is most famous for.  So people who write for the state's biggest newspaper should get the name right.

Like Clockwork

The media like to criticize the Legislature for passing gimmick-ridden budgets on the last day of the fiscal year.  So naturally, since President Pearce, Speaker Adams and their respective caucuses managed to pass an honest budget and adjourn in 100 days, the media are pointing out how brilliantly successful the session was...Ha, I slay me.  Actually, here's how the media will try to define the session:

The session will be remembered as much for the attention that measures such as the "birther" bill and the guns-on-campus bill drew as for the Legislature's relatively quick work putting out a balanced budget.

Really?  There were over 1300 bills introduced and over 200 that became law and the media is going to define the session by two bills that were vetoed.  That's classic.

While you and I understand that this is pure media spin, unfortunately, Republic readers oftentimes believe some of it.   I have clients who call me and ask why the Legislature spends all of its time focused on immigration, guns and fringe "birther" type issues when there are important issues--like the budget--that they should be working on.

My response is that the legislature spends almost all of its time on the budget.  It spends almost no time on the 5 or 6 "crazy" bills that it considers each year.  However, the media seek to define the session by the crazy bills because that's what sells newspapers. 

This type of coverage is a disservice to readers and wouldn't be tolerated in other sections of the paper.  Can you imagine if the sports page covered Bobble Head sales, but not the actual baseball games?  What if it covered the personal lives of the Suns players and then simply listed the scores on the back page?  What if the coverage of US Air and Southwest Airlines was limited to crew member frashions?  Eventually, the public would think that the only thing that Airline CEOs cared about was skirt length. 

If you get 20 people in a room, they can't decide what to order for lunch.  In fact, have you ever been with a group of 6 or 7 coworkers trying to decide where to go to lunch on a Friday?  Either one person steps up to decide, or the group goes hungry.

Yet the legislature--90 people from different parties and different regions--work together and process 1300 major pieces of legislation and allocate an $8 billion dollar budget in 100 days.  And these topics aren't mundane lunch decisions...the legislature deals with abortion, marriage, school funding, healthcare, pension reform and a thousand other issues that polite people know they shouldn't discuss at work.  And for that they get paid a whopping $24,000 a year. 

So next time you see legislators, thank them and congratulate them on how well they do their job. 

It Takes a Bully

The left--fresh off staggering losses at the ballot box and losing the battle of public opinion--is responding with bullying tactics.  Arizona's Tax Rally was disrupted by protesters blaring sirens and using bullhorns while carrying signs that decried Republicans as Nazis. 

Protesters have been camped out at the Capitol for months yelling at people through bullhorns and using sirens when they run out of F bombs to drop. 

I don't really understand the strategy behind  these bullying tactics.  Elections are decided by Independents.  The group that can keep its base while appealing to a broader audience wins the election.  Janet Napolitano understood this.  Her elections were about all day kindergarten and renewable energy.  So what message does it send when protester drown out the opening prayer at a tax rally using bullhorns and sirens while waving signs that decry Republicans as Nazi's?  I think it drives the Independents into the Republican camp.

If you are looking for a great example of public bullying, check out this video of the crowd's antics while a 14 year old girl attempts to address the Wisconsin Tea Party Rally. 

 

Two Great Things that Go Great Together...

I'm looking forward to seeing the Atlas Shrugged movie.  Ayn Rand's 1957 book has turned out to be prophetic and provides a great blueprint to government under either the Bush or Obama Administrations.  Government has grown so pervasive that producers no longer simply try to out perform their competition, they must also out regulate the competition.  It's much easier to seek your competitive advantage from the Government than from the Market. 

The other half of Rand's vision--and the genesis of the title--is that people who actually produce things will be vilified by the people who consume things.  That's why the US has one of the world's most "progressive" tax systems. The rich pay much more than their "share" of taxes and half of the families in the US don't pay any income taxes.  Under Rand's vision, the Hectored producers eventually shrug off the burden and stop producing. That leaves the politicians and consuming class to fend for themselves.  Chaos ensues.

Espresso Pundit readers will also know that I'm a big David Schweikert fan. I was best man at his wedding; we hike nearly every weekend and have hiked Grand Canyon a handful of times.   Of course, you don't need to be an Espresso Pundit reader to know that I like Atlas Shrugged and David Schweikert....you can just follow me down the road.  That's a picture of my car above. Those of you who know the book will understand the "GOTGALT" reference.

That's why I thought it was pretty cool to get this email from Schweikert's office. 

David would like to invite you to join him and Joyce to a Team Schweikert trip the movies this week!

Playing: Atlas Shrugged
Date: Tuesday, April 19th
Time: 4:00pm-5:45pm

Where: Harkins Valley Arts Theater
509 S. Mill Ave, Tempe, AZ 85251
Adult ticket price: $7.00 (click to order)

Please feel welcome to call Oliver with any questions at (480) 522-4999, or the theater at (480) 446-7272.

So David, you can count this as my RSVP. And for the rest of you, I hope to see you on Tuesday. And if Governor Brewer attends as well, I'll have all three of the things that I advertise on the the freeway.

Time For Tea

The Tea Party and Arizonan's for Prosperity are holding a rally tonight at the Capitol.

The Arizona chapter of Americans for Prosperity, along with allied Tea Party groups and policy organizations, is hosting a giant Feet to the Fire Tea Party from 6:00 to 9:00 pm on the evening of April 15, 2011. The event will take place on the House and Senate lawns at the Arizona Capitol, and will feature a meet-and-greet with elected officials on the lawns, beginning at 4:00 pm.

On Tax Day in 2009, we brought a crowd of over 7,000 people to the Arizona Capitol. Our goal was to let fed-up Tea Partiers know that the Arizona Legislature actually does have a core of solid fiscal conservatives. Thanks in large part to local Tea Party groups around the state, the Legislature now has even more conservatives. But we cannot simply trust them to do the right thing. On Tax Day in 2011, we must hold their Feet to the Fire.

 

As Long as you Don't Eat or Drive, You are doing fine...

Here's a great example of the government and the media working together to keep you uninformed.  I don't think it's a big conspiracy.  But I think it's a great example of the herd mentality in corporate journalism.  Why should the government be allowed to redefine inflation to exclude food and energy--which are, of course, a major item in every American's budget?  And why is the media so quick to to accept this mythology?