Arizona's Own Espresso Pundit

Talton Loses It

On November 15th The Republic's Jon Talton gave a speech at the Scottsdale Town hall in front of a large crowd that included Scottsdale Mayor Mary Manross.   The transcript shows that he spent much of his time riduculing the city  and by all accounts Talton completely lost it during the question and answer session.  Becky Fenger was there with a tape recorder and has provided a transcript. Here's her take on it.  And here's the entire speech with the more outrageous comments in bold. (Download the_entire_speech.doc )   

The transcript is really amazing and includes gems like this.

"There’s a lot of work left to be done. You may get there and you may not. In the current issue of BizAZ Magazine--- they’ve asked me to write a regular column---  my first column I call, “How Scottsdale Got It’s Groove Back.” Because when you look at where Scottsdale south of Bell, you know, the SOBs, was 6 years ago, it was in a mess. You were willing to give yourselves away to Steve Ellman for a Wal-Mart? Oh, but it would be a Scottsdale Wal-Mart. That’s different! You know, we’ll have employees on AHCCCS, but they’ll all wear $800 shoes."

"I think you have to have diversity and edge, even in Scottsdale. I mean, it’s nice to come over here and see all these white people, but I don’t think that will help you in the long run."

Talton knew he was crossing the line.  Check out this references to his "bosses."

"Now, DMB has assured me that I can go out there and lie in their parks if I want, and I am grateful for that, especially after word of this speech gets back to the big bosses and I’m out of a job."

Talton opened the floor for questions afterwards and that's when things got really tense.  Here's an exchange that I'm told sounds even more shrill on tape than it does in print.

AUDIENCE MEMBER 4: I’m sorry. I’m going back to what you said earlier about inclusive. Portland doesn’t seem very inclusive to me.

TALTON:  Have you been there?

AUDIENCE MEMBER 4:  Oh, yes, quite often.

TALTON:  Well, I have quite often, and to me it’s very inclusive. More so than the exclusive parts of Greater Phoenix. You are in a competition for talent. And they have talent by the boatload. But, I mean, I don’t want to get into some kind of arid argument about, you know, this Socialist wants us to be Portland. God, I wish! That’s not what’s going to happen here. You need… you need to keep your eye on the real challenges we face and the real opportunities we face. Because if you just get derailed on Portland, “You said Portland!” then you’re going to miss the point.

AUDIENCE MEMBER 4: You said it was a model.

TALTON: It has many wonderful model things.

AUDIENCE QUESTION #5 (George Knowlton): Let’s go back here a minute. You talk about Portland…

TALTON: Pay attention, Mister (to #4)

KNOWLTON: I lived in Oregon. The reason Portland is the way it is is because of an appointed crew that could not be stopped by anybody called the LCDC who literally stopped all development, and ruined…

TALTON: I love it!

KNOWLTON: …  thousands of people.

TALTON: I love it.

KNOWLTON: Those people would love to shoot you right now.

TALTON: Well, I’d shoot ‘em back, because I don’t…

KNOWLTON: You’d lose.

TALTON: Don’t make threats, moron.  I was taught to shoot by my mother.

(Audience laughter)

KNOWLTON:  But I’m telling you..

TALTON: Are you making threats?

KNOWLTON: No. I’m telling you…

TALTON: Are you threatening me?

KNOWLTON: What I’m telling you…

TALTON: Because, step up here if you want to threaten me.

KNOWLTON: What I’m telling you…

TALTON: Step up here if you want to threaten me.

KNOWLTON: If you’d shut up and listen…

TALTON: I’m not going to shut up and listen if you’re going to threaten me. If you’re going to sit there and threaten to shoot me….

KNOWLTON: What I’m trying to tell you is…

TALTON: (In a fake accent) “What I’m trying to tell you, boy, is that we’ve got our property rights and nobody is going to take”--  Look, let me tell you something, boy…

KNOWLTON: That’s exactly right. I have property rights.

TALTON: You’ve got what you want here, and it’s a disaster. Now, if you’re willing to be open to some other ideas for a half a second when you’re not making threats to people who you don’t even know…

KNOWLTON: Don’t have to.

TALTON: Oh, well, I know you too, brother.

KNOWLTON: When you threaten my property rights, and what they did in Oregon was all wrong.

TALTON:  Oh, yeah. Well, you got what you want.

KNOWLTON:  I left there.

TALTON: Why are you here?

KNOWLTON: A million and a half dollar store, I left there.

TALTON:  Why are you here? And you came down here, and you made this place better I’ll bet.

KNOWLTON: I’m trying hard.

TALTON: Can we have a few questions of people who actually might be interested in something?

The guy in the back. Do you want to shoot me?

AUDIENCE QUESTION #6:  (Inaudible)   

TALTON:  I don’t think you’re going to (get light rail), so that just means more transit money for everybody else. I wish you were more open minded about it.

AUDIENCE MEMBER #6: (Inaudible)

TALTON: I didn’t say it should. Well, I think that’s what you were hearing. You can’t pave and drive your way out of the future.

AUDIENCE MEMBER #6:  Well, I know you said that, but, who do you think would be riding this light rail?   

TALTON: I don’t know. People who would live, people who would live in your downtown.

AUDIENCE MEMBER #6: (Inaudible)

TALTON:  The Pearl District in Portland. The streetcar is wildly successful.

AUDIENCE MEMBER #6: (Inaudible)

TALTON:  OK. Then you and I are on the same wavelength.

Mayor, do you want to shoot me?                                                                                                                                                         

MAYOR MANROSS:  (Inaudible question #7)

TALTON:  What Phoenix most needs is private sector investment. And, you know, the early adopters of downtowns tend to be highly educated, affluent people, and Phoenix does not have enough of those. And so both of those are challenges. They’ll get there. It’s going to take a long time. You guys have that, potentially, and so that’s an advantage.

Is there anybody else? Ma’am?

Comments Policy

When I switched to this format, I mentioned that I was nervous about leaving the comments section open.  I have to say that I have generally been very pleased with the comments.  Although I don't agree with some of them, they have been intelligent and respectful.

However, I did not anticipate that folks would use the comments section to discuss events that are only tangentially related to my posts.  That's fine, unfortunately however, some of those comments are aimed at private individuals and are getting pretty personal. 

So, I think I'm going to make a policy change.  Let's not discuss private individuals.

Haney Wins

Rob Haney won the District 11 Chairman's seat by a wide margin.  Sonoran Alliance has excellent coverage here.

The Answer I've Been Looking For

Every Legislator wonders what happens when he's no longer elected.  Do I have all these friends because I get to vote on your bills or because you actually care about me?

I think that question has been answered.

There is a fundraiser for the Groscost Children Education Trust Fund TONIGHT from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the SRP Pera Club. There is no set contribution amount.

Political Junkies will know where the PARA Club is.  It will be worth the price of admission just to watch Russell Smoldon emcee the event.  I can only stay until 6:00, but I'm sure I get to see a lot of old friends and I'm looking forward to seeing Russell in rare form. 

If you need more info, send me an email. 

Crossing the Line

In the U.S., it is rare that someone in a position of authority makes and maintains a claim that is truly outrageous.  Policy in other parts of the world plays out in the full range of the political spectrum, but in the U.S. the David Dukes of the world disappear pretty quickly.  If you are going to, say, deny that the Holocaust occured, call for segregation or forced sterilization, you aren't going to last long in a position of responsibility in American Society.

The Republic's Linda Valdez has crossed the line from the provocative to the repugnant when she used her position as editorial writer as a platform to advocate in favor of some of the worst types of religious discrimination and anti semitism working its way across Europe.

The French said it straight up with their ban, which includes Islamic head scarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses. They want to preserve France's secular foundations.

That's a good idea.

What?  Banning "Jewish skullcaps" is "a good idea"?   My gosh, Ann Coulter and Pat Buchanan certainly couldn't get away with saying that.

If my kids came to me and said "Dad, why is it that people are allowed to wear head scarves and yarmulkes?"  I would respond patiently that our Constitution protects the rights of people who want to exercise their religion, so it would be unconstitutional to tell Jewish people that they can't wear their hats. 

I would add that even if it were OK to tell people they couldn't wear head scarves or "Jewish skullcaps"  It would be wrong to pass a law to stop them.  After all, that would be really intolerant of other people's beliefs and even though we are not Jewish, we should respect their feelings, ideas and culture. 

Linda Valdez actually addresses--and rejects--those arguments. 

Society can, however, impose limitations on it, just as freedom of speech is restricted for the sake of safety (Don't yell fire in a crowded room) and civility (You can't slander or libel your neighbor). Religion should be restricted when it offends human rights.

The guarantee of freedom of religion etched in the U.S. Bill of Rights was designed to prevent the kind of top-down religious persecution that drove so many early Colonists to the new world. It is a healthy approach. But people and society also need protecting from religion.

She then goes on to provide three examples of religions gone wild:  Warren Jeffs, The 9-11 terrorists and a congregation in New Mexico that wants to import an illegal hallucinogen for use in sacred ceremonies.

So much for Constitutional protection.  After all, if I can't yell fire in a theater, why should you be able to wear a yarmulke in public?  Especially since the guys who blew up the World Trade Center were religious too. 

She treats the tolerance issue even more dismissively.   In opposing the Netherlands' approach, one Muslim leader made a pitch for diversity. Ah, yes, diversity. That's one of those concepts that gets trotted out when it's convenient.

Yeah, the whole diversity thing is simply trotted out when it's convenient.  Like when you are a female with an Hispanic surname who rounds out the Republic Editorial board.  Convenient like that. 

After her diatribe on the constitution, polygamists and terrorists, Valdez reiterates her main point about the European quest to eliminate head scarves, Jewish skullcaps and large crosses.  She is unrepentant.

Which brings us back to Europe and the quest to keep religious exhibitionism from undermining civil society.

We are not only clear about her position, but now we also know the reason--religious exhibitionism undermines civil society.

Golly, I've often thought the same thing.  I was in Costco just the other day and a guy was browsing the book aisle while wearing a yarmulke and I thought to myself "Dude, that guy is undermining society.  There ought to be a law to make him take that thing off."  "Religious exhibitionism" is undermining society?  My gosh, that is completely unhinged.

I don't know what is more astonishing that Linda Valdez could write this intolerant piece of hate literature or that she was still working for the Republic the following day. 

And Now a Word From Our Sponsor

Folks continue to ask me when espresso pundit is going to accept advertising.  My response has been "Man, espresso pundit is about the message.  It's about truth and light.  It's about...dare I say it...The Art."  Then I thought about it for a while and said to myself:  "Dude, what are you NPR?  You have a mortgage and kids who like to wear shoes and stuff.  Forget the Art, take the money."

So if you have a message that you want to get to the espresso pundit readership, send me an email and we'll see if we can work something out. 

More on the Flying Imams

The Washington Times analyses the behavior of the Phoenix Imams.

Muslim religious leaders removed from a Minneapolis flight last week exhibited behavior associated with a security probe by terrorists and were not merely engaged in prayers, according to witnesses, police reports and aviation security officials.

Passengers and flight attendants told law-enforcement officials the imams switched from their assigned seats to a pattern associated with the September 11 terrorist attacks and also found in probes of U.S. security since the attacks -- two in the front row first-class, two in the middle of the plane on the exit aisle and two in the rear of the cabin.

"That would alarm me," said a federal air marshal who asked to remain anonymous. "They now control all of the entry and exit routes to the plane."

Here's some commentary from Hugh Hewitt contributor Dean Barnett.

I KNOW I’M LATE TO WRITING ABOUT this, but I still can’t think about the incident with the flying Imams last week without getting angry. The more you consider the facts, the more apparent it becomes that the Imams were serving as provocateurs. As everyone knows by now, shortly before the Imams boarded their plane to Los Angles, they gathered at the gate in Minneapolis to do their evening prayers while offering a surfeit of Allah Akbars.

It is inconceivable that the Imams were unaware that their prayer ritual would scare the stuffing out of their fellow-passengers. Since we know that Islamophobia is actually a fear and a not particularly irrational one especially when boarding an airliner, the Imams were at best insensitive.

But when you consider the facts that a few of the Imams requested extra-long seatbelts (that they didn’t need) and engaged in a loud dialogue condemning America’s role in Iraq, it’s obvious that the Imams had mischief on their minds. For whatever reason, they deliberately intended to unnerve the plane’s other passengers. One can only wonder, to what ends? Would they really get such a kick out of making the other passengers terrified for four hours? I know Shar’ia doesn’t allow much in the way of fun, but that seems kind of desperate.

Media Manipulation 101

Here's a great little technique to spot media bias.  Whenever there is an article about two people and one of them is labeled "conservative" check to see what the other one is labeled.   You will find that they other party is never labeled "Liberal" and rarely labeled at all. 

Then a funny thing happened.  Liberal became a dirty word but conservative got cool.  That's why Republicans write "conservative" on their signs and liberals don't write anything on their signs.  So the media had to come up with a new way to subtly single out conservatives in a way that didn't make them sound so cool.  Right wing, hard right and far right are too obvious and don't fit the style books.  "Neo" worked for a while until reporters saw the Matrix and figured out that "Neo" means "new."  (Although many of them think it means "The One.")

They were stuck for a while, but the latest iteration is "Ultra."  Here's a great example from the Tribune's Paul Giblin.

"Specifically, Kyl was a tough opponent. And despite his ultraconservative positions on most issues, he presented an image of a reasoned and likeable politician who has remained clear of careerstaining mistakes. Plus, Kyl’s attack commercials against Pederson were crushing."

That's the ticket.  Kyl's opponent had $11 million to get his message out but Kyl won convincingly despite the fact that he is "ultraconservative" on "most" issues.  Really?  "Ultra" as in "radical, extreme, far beyond the norm"?  And that actually modifies "Conservative."   Is the man who was just overwhelmingly reelected to the US Senate a radical extremist on "most" issues.  That's a serious charge.  So Mr. Giblin why don't you name a handful of issues in which Jon Kyl is not a traditional Conservative, he's an "ultraconservative."  Then explain why your newspaper would endorse such a radical extremist. 

Is Pederson an ultra liberal?  No, Pederson is just "Pederson."  Napolitano is the "Popular Democratic Gov."  Bill Clinton is just the "Former President."  What, Janet wasn't elected despite being ultra liberal on most issues?

Kyl and Pederson each accused the other of supporting amnesty.  However notice that Kyl's commercials were "attack" commercials.  Does Pederson attack?  No Pederson "counters."

Initially, he decided to ignore the attack, then chose to counter it by painting Kyl as an amnesty supporter himself, based on Kyl’s comments 20 years ago about the same 1986 law.

Notice that Kyl presented "an image" of  "a reasoned and likeable politician."  Kly's not actually "reasoned" or "likeble," it's just an image.  That's because he's an ultraconservative radical extremist who fooled you.  After all, you are a sucker. 

That's the way it's done folks.  A few choice words, a few comparisons and the reader is disappointed that the mean old extremist beat up the nice developer. It takes natural talent, a J school education and a sleepy editor to work magic like that.

The War on Christmas Continues

This just out from the Governor's office. 


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 27, 2006

-ADVISORY-

-GOVERNOR TO LIGHT HOLIDAY TREE-

Governor Napolitano will turn on the lights of the Holiday Tree located in the lobby of the Capitol Executive Tower. At the time of the lighting ceremony, Governor Napolitano will declare December “Hope for the Holidays” Month in support of increased awareness of the statewide foster care system. The theme of Tuesday’s program is Hope for the Holidays – Sharing your heart, opening your home, offering your help and changing a lifetime.


  DATE:   Tuesday, November 28, 2006
 
  TIME:     10:15 am   
         
  LOCATION:   Executive Tower Lobby 1700 W. Washington   
         
  YOU WILL SEE:   Governor Napolitano will light the State Holiday Tree. Children within the State’s foster care system and representatives from adoption and foster supporting agencies will assist her.   
         
         
         

I don't Know But Pat Cantelme

Last Sunday, the Tribune's Mark Flatten and Dennis Welch stunned the political community with their revelation that the Governor had used an executive order to give exclusive authority to grant state-authorized student loans to two of her closest political allies.  The current and immediate past Presidents of the Firefighter's Union, Billy Shields and Pat Cantelme, have no experience with student loan administration. 

It's been a week and all we have are more questions. 

I got a copy of the organizational filing that the company made at the Arizona Corporation Commission and discovered two interesting points that haven't been mentioned in the media.  First, the bylaws state that the company was organized "at the request of the State of Arizona."

What?  It was formed at the "request of the State of Arizona"?  What does that mean?  Who requested it?  That doesn't make it look like Cantelme and Shields went to the Governor's office with a great idea.  It looks like the Governor's office went to THEM.  Is that what happened?  Did the Governor's office ask Shields and Cantelme to form this corporation and then grant them exclusive authority to issue $100 million worth of bonds annually?

In fact, the Tribune article says that the Governor signed the executive order in December of 2004.  The Corporation was formed on December 14th of 2004.  It's clear that the order was in process before the corporation was actually formed.  No wonder Shields and Cantelme said they formed it at "the request of the State of Arizona."

The Governor steadfastly denies that she knew Shields and Cantelme were involved in the Corporation.  However, the organization documents show that Shields and Cantelme ARE the organizaton.  There are only three board members, Shields, Cantelme and their lawyer. 

Is it possible that the Governor's staff would concoct such a plan and leave her in the dark?  Come on.   Can you imagine being on the Governor's staff and creating a plan like this and not telling her?  The person who crafted this would have to go way out of his way to hide it from her.  That's unbelievable.  If it's true, then someone did her a huge disservice.  This is past non-feasance.  This is malfeasance.  This may be criminal. 

In fact, the Governor's office is beginning to get the message that this is serious. According to the Trib, the Governor's office has conceded that the deal needs to be investigated. 

even the governor's office is suspicious of a trade-off between ADELA and Cantelme's marketing and advertising company,

"That is something I have asked the Arizona Department of Commerce to look at," L'Ecuyer said. "It is a situation we need to have more information on."

The State Commerce Department?  What, they were too busy at the Department of Motor Vehicles?  Give me a break.  The state Commerce Department is the most political agency of any Administration and its not known for its investigative ability.  Conceding that there needs to be an investigation and then choosing her own political appointees to conduct the investigation using an agency that has very little investigative ability is the worst of both worlds. 

Who would best be able to carry out the investigation?  The Attorney General would be an obvious choice.  However, Shields and Cantelme are as close to Goddard as they are to Napolitano, so he has an obvious conflict.  That leaves either the County Attorney or the Auditor General.  Both have the capacity to investigate and neiter are beholden to the Governor.  Since her office is calling for the investigation, she should have no problem with an independent investigator.

Finally, here's an interesting media note. 

The company that received this exclusive franchise is known by its abbreviation "AHELA".  That's a unique name and makes it easily searchable.  In fact, if you put AHELA into Google News, you will get plenty of hits.  A great feature of  Google News is that you can specify a source.  For example, if you search "AHELA Tribune".  You will get links to all of the Tribune's stories on the arrangement. 

If you specify the "AHELA Republic", you get this:  "Your search - ahela republic - did not match any documents."   Come on guys the election is over, you can cover the Napolitano Administration now.  Really, it's OK. 
 

Deer in the Headlights

OK, I admit it.  I used to look down on TV news anchors.  How hard can it be to read a 30-second story about forest fires from a Teleprompter?  Dude, it's dang near impossible!  Give those guys a raise. 

I've done Sunday Square Off 6 or 7 times now, and each time I have to write a 30 second final thought; at the end of the show I get to read my words of wisdom from a Teleprompter.  I invariably look like Mr. Magoo reading from a cue card. 

My son watched it this morning and said "It looks like you are reading."  My response was. "Well duh."  Here's how it was supposed to sound.   

Now that the dust has settled on the Election, it's clear that Arizona had two big winners--Jon Kyl and Governor Napolitano. Senator Kyl faced an opponent who spent 10 million dollars in the worst year for Republicans since Watergate and Kyl still won by 10 points.  If he can win this race in this year, he can win any race in any year and it's doubtful that he will ever draw another serious opponent. 

And Governor Napolitano?  Her huge margin of victory is a clear mandate.  But a mandate for what?  Her Commercials would lead me to believe that her mandate is to secure the border and cut taxes.  I'm sure the Republican legislature would be happy to help her succeed in that mandate.

As Nearly Free As Possible?

This letter raises an interesting question.  If you know the answer, please leave it in the comment section.

Greg-

I watched your appearance on Sunday Square Off this morning and I too have questions on the finances of ASU.

Last winter, ASU issued an RFP to invest an extra $200. million it had on hand, intending to invest the money in bonds of up to 5 years duration.

http://www.asu.edu/purchasing/bids/pdfs/280608.pdf  links you to the RFP.

What was particularly interesting about the timing of the RFP is that it occurred when the City of Phoenix had its big bond proposals pending which sought funding for downtown ASU.  With an extra $200. million on hand at ASU, why were the property owners of the CITY of Phoenix being asked to finance the construction of a new campus of Arizona STATE University?

We sent this RFP to numerous reporters, personally handed it to an Arizona Republic reporter, and only the Sonoran News ran a story on it.  We also asked Mr. Crowe and Mayor Gordon for an explanation and neither responded.

Why such huge increases in tuition during a period of low inflation and with so much extra cash on hand?  A full and complete audit of ASU's finances is in order before any more tax revenue is allocated to the institution.

Lynne Weaver

District 11 Debate

If you are just now getting to the District 11 story, you would do well to scroll down a few entries and start with the post called "Fife's Running."  As you scroll back toward the top, you will get a response from Rob Haney, Randy Pullen and Fife Symington.

Make sure to read the comments as well. 

Here's a letter from Fife.

Greg,

I have been reading Espresso Pundit with great interest.  Of course I decided to run for LD11 Chair before the election!  As I said, I am a grass roots guy who has long nurtured our Republican Party from many different positions….precinct committeeman, State Finance Chairman, Trunk and Tusk head, Governor…to name a few.  I first decided to run because I was very concerned about the deep divisions in LD 11 and I was convinced that these divisions would lead to problems for Republican candidates.  I felt that my prior experience at all political levels could benefit the District and bring us together.  My fears came true when we had a huge failure on election day with the loss of a legislative seat (the first in over 30 years).  One can make many excuses for failure, but this serious defeat clearly lays at the feet of current leadership. I hear that the word is out that I haven’t been to meetings in the District.  Well, I am a recent arrival and just ran for precinct committeeman.  But, seriously, how could anyone believe that I am not a dedicated Republican warrior?  I have been to more Republican meetings around this State, spoken on behalf of more candidates, and held more fundraisers  than most.  I ran statewide for office five times (two primaries and three generals) successfully and I know how vital it is to have a united effort at the grassroots in order to succeed on election day !

Thanks,

Fife

More On District 11

Here's a letter from Randy Pullen.

Greg,

As an elected Precinct Committeeman in Legislative District 11, I am well
aware of the efforts of the Grassroots Arizona PAC to unseat Rob Haney as
the District Chairman. I found it interesting to read your interview of
Fife.   I know Rob and Fife quite well and count them both as friends. The
plan for Fife to run against Rob was in the works well before the general
election and was part of a well orchestrated plan to seize control of LD11.
The effort fizzled out in the primary when Grassroots Arizona PAC failed to
elect enough of their Precinct Committeemen in a multitude of contested
precinct races in the district. If someone is interested in learning more
about the Grassroots Arizona PAC and why their only interest is in LD11
Republican Party elections, I suggest they can search the Secretary of
State's website to learn who the founders and supporters are.

Fife states his decision to run for Chairman is based on Don Hesselbrock
losing his race for the Arizona State House; although, Fife's name had
already been placed in nomination in LD11 two weeks before the November 7th
election. Don lost a very closely contested race for a number of reasons,
none of which could be attributed to the lack of effort by our Precinct
Committeemen. The Democrats had a very good candidate; there was a lot of
single shot voting going on amongst Republican Adam Drigg's supporters; The
Arizona Democratic Party spent a tremendous amount of money on legislative
races, easily outspending the Republican Party; and Democratic legislative
candidates rode the coattails of Janet's reelection victory.  On top of
these issues, I have not even mentioned the national issues, which resulted
in the loss of the senate and house to the Democrats and spilled over into
local state races.

Also, this is not the first time that LD11 has gone Democratic.  One need
only look to 2002 when LD11 went for Janet Napolitano and effectively cost
Matt Salmon the governorship.  Since that loss in 2002, Rob has worked very
hard to build LD11 into the strongest Republican grassroots district in the
state with over 400 Precinct Committeemen. Isn't that what district chairs
are suppose to do?

Fife was right in supporting Rob in his calling attention to the precinct
committeemen in LD11 who publicly supported Janet Napolitano in this past
election.  While it is certainly all right for a citizen who belongs to
either party to vote for whomever they so desire in the voting booth, it is
not OK for an elected precinct committeeman to publicly support a candidate
of the other party.  These Precinct Committeemen should have had enough
respect for the party to which they claim allegiance to resign their elected
position before declaring for Janet Napolitano.  After all, as Precinct
Committeemen, they have access to a tremendous amount of confidential
information provided by the Republican Party.

In closing, I am confident that Republicans will regain the lost LD11 house
seat in 2008 along with a number of other legislative seats around the
State; as well as congressional districts 5 and 8.

Cordially,

Randy Pullen
Arizona Republican National Committeeman

UPDATE from Greg:  Several folks have commented that Fife got in the race before Hesslebrock lost.  I don't find that to be inconsistent with his statements in the interview.  It looks to me like Symington may have decided to get into the race before the General Election, but Hesslebrock's loss is a good example of why he's running. 

Here's Haney's Response

If you are following the District 11 election, you will want to check out Rob Haney's comment on the Symington interview.  I've coppied it here. 

Greg

There is no requirement in State, County, or District meetings to place a resolution on a pre-meeting Agenda. The fact is that resolutions are regularly introduce without prior notice. There absolutely was a quorum, but no one even asked about one until the following month's meeting. It is not the responsibility of PCs to blindly follow an arrogant politician who disses the Platform and the Constitution.

Greg, time for some "straight talk express". That was a pathetic interview you posted with Fife. When Fife stated that he was running because we lost a legislative seat, did it ever dawn on you that Fife
entered his name for Chairman on October 26. Hesselbrock didn't lose until Nov 7. Fife attending meetings? Not in Dist 11, nor in Dist 8. Nor have Fife's top two running mates attended any meetings. The 9 Republican PCs for Janet elected in Dist 11 are all directly linked
to McCain. Embarrass McCain? Hardly. Just trying to give voice to the grass root Republicans who are outraged over McCain's representation. I could go on indefinitely, but I know where you stand ever since you squelched the story on the scandle ridden Dist 20 election. Thomas, Schweikert, et al.
burried that one deep. This election is all about shutting down all opposition to McCain's presidential run. You know it,I know it,and so does everyone else. Say here's one Greg, why don't you look into who authorized the $10,000 donation from the Arizona Republican Party to the Groscost family. Doesn't pass the smell test with me, but looking into that one may offend some of your close associates, so better not.

Rob Haney

Also, hotazitgets has posted a letter in support of Symington's candidacy signed by Kyl, Shadegg, Flake, Renzi, Horne, Thomas, Tully, Pierce, Waring and Knaperek. 

While you are visiting hotazitgets, make sure to mark it as a favorite.  They do great work

Sunday Square Off

I'll be on Sunday Square Off with Kyrsten Sinema and Albero Gutier this Sunday at about 8:05 on channel 12. 

Fife's Running

In the 1990s I represented District 26 in the House of Representatives.  In 2000, most of District 26 was combined with pieces of Districts 18 and 24 to form a huge Republican swath from Central Phoenix through Paradise Valley and Arcadia to the Scottsdale boarder.  The whole amalgamation was rechristened District 11.

Republican have been  buzzing for the last couple of years over the events in District 11.  A few years back, a Conservative Republican named Rob Haney worked incredibly hard, recruited a ton of Precinct Committeemen and was elected District Chairman.  Unfortunately few folks realized that one of his big priorities was trying to embarrass John McCain.  He actually managed to get the District 11 Republican Party to vote to censure McCain. 

As my mom always said.  "That's all fun and games until someone loses an eye."  Well District 11 just lost an eye.  Representative John Allen was defeated by two Republicans in the Primary and one of those Republicans was defeated by a Democrat in the General Election.  For the first time in at least 30 years, District 11 is represented by a Democrat in the House.   

Someone needs to straighten things out and Fife Symington has announced that he is running for the District 11 Chairmanship.

Symington and I met for coffee at the Starbucks in the Scottsdale Seville to discuss his race. 

Espresso Pundit.  "You developed this shopping center, didn't you?"

Fife Symington:  "Yes and this one never failed.  It's a great project." 

He went on to enthusiastically explain zoning issues, drainage problems and the other details that it took to get the project built.   I asked about the District 11 race.

EP:  "You are a former Governor, why are you running to be Chairman of a Legislative District?"

FS:  "I'm a grass roots guy.  When I was Governor, we took Government on the road. I like to get out and meet people."

EP:  "Have you  been attending District 11 meetings?"

FS:  "No, I've just moved in from District 8.  I'm a legal immigrant.  I have a lot of connections with District 11.  My father in law John Pritzlaff represented the District and I lived in it for many years."

EP: "Why are you running?"

FS:  "I'm upset that we lost a legislative Seat.  Don Hesslebrock is the dead body in the room.  We need to retake that seat.   A District Chairman's duty is to hold the District together.  If the District Chairman just participates with his own agenda, it depresses the vote.  The Chairman has to keep the family together. 

EP: "What about the folks who are Republican Precinct Committeemen but worked on Janet Napolitano's Campaign?

FS:  "When you jump ship and back a liberal Democrat, there are consequences.  There's a price to be paid for that."  Symington added,  "Janet will lead us off the cliff.  But by then, she will be long gone."

We talked a bit about the recent elections and the coverage then a question dawned on me.

EP:  "Do you subscribe to the Republic?"

FS:  "No, and my life is much happier."

EP:  "Where do you get your news?"

FS:  "I read Espresso Pundit and I have a vast email network.   I read the Wall Street Journal, Washington Times and the Weekly Standard, and occasionally, I read the New York Times."

EP: "Any closing thoughts?"

FS:  "I'm still young enough.  I've still got life and energy in me and the whole District 11 could benefit from my experience."

EP:  Thanks for meeting with me.

FS:  Thank you Greg.

Bee Announces Committee Chairs

Here's the list of all the Senate Chairs.

Download chairmen.doc

Power Behind the Throne

Alan Stephens, the Governor's Chief of Staff, was featured prominently in the now infamous Tribune article.  Stephens has always had reputation as a man not to be trifled with, a man who moved political pieces around like Bobby Fisher.  Sometimes the reputation was deserved and sometimes it wasn't.  I played a role in one of the times that it wasn't.

I first met Stephens in 1990 when I was running for the House of Representatives.  I didn't know a thing about politics so I called the Republican Party and asked what district I lived in and what I needed to do to get elected.  They told me that I had to go to the Secretary of State's office and get a "signature packet." 

As I was leaving the Secretary of State's office a man on the elevator saw my Legislative packet and introduced himself as Alan Stephens.   He told me that he was the Senate minority leader and asked me if I was running for office.  He was the first Legislator I had ever met and, naturally, I was quite impressed.  I told him that I was a Republican and that I planned to run against the two incumbents in District 26.  He responded that one of those incumbents was the House Majority Leader.

Stephens asked how much I was planning to spend and I told him that my wife and I had saved $1,000 as a down payment on a house but that I was going to use the money to get elected.  He patiently informed me that a credible race for contested House seat would cost about $60,000.  That was a pretty sobering elevator ride. 

Later, I went to the District 26 meeting to introduce myself and someone asked me how much I thought it would take to run a campaign.  I said "Alan Stephens told me that it will cost about $60,000 to run a credible race."

Boom.

Little did I know that folks in the district thought I was part of Alan Stephens' brilliant plan to take out the House Majority Leader.  Folks were stunned at his audacity.

Meanwhile, I spent $119 on palm cards, borrowed a walking list for the district, and walked door-to-door for six months.  I spent the rest of the money on yard signs.  I received a couple checks in late August and I used them to buy 2x8 signs.  The signs took so long to assemble and install that I was still putting some up on election day.  I won by 250 votes. 

It's possible that even today, there are a few folks in the district who wonder if Alan Stephens got me elected. 

Real Journalism

Congratulations to Mark Flatten and Dennis Welch for their amazing A1 story in Sunday's Tribune.

Two years ago, Gov. Janet Napolitano signed an order that granted a newly formed corporation the power to oversee state-authorized, low-interest student loans.

Now, the governor says, she didn’t know that the company, the nonprofit Arizona Higher Education Loan Authority, or AHELA, was headed by two of her closest political allies, Billy Shields and Pat Cantelme, the current and former heads of the Phoenix firefighters’ union, the United Phoenix Firefighters Association, when she signed the order in December 2004.

It's an incredible story.  Read the whole thing. 

UPDATE:  "Nick" commented on this post and said that Phoenix New Times broke the story on November 16th.  I was unaware of that, but he's right.  Here's the link.

Two years ago, Governor Janet Napolitano gave sole rights to tens of millions of dollars in bond business to a group of politically connected retired firefighters with zero experience in the field, New Times has learned.

And then she vetoed a plan that would have given them competition.

Walking-Around Money?

The State Compensation Fund of Arizona is taking money that would otherwise be returned to Arizona Businesses and handing it out to various interest groups that support the Governor.  Here's a list of tables purchased at various events.  Check out this incredibly candid spreadsheet. 

Download 2006_community_outreach_events.xls

The first category is the "date of the event".  So far, so good.  The second category is "Issue &/Or Ethnicity."  Ethnicity?  March 3rd is a good example.  The event is classified as "Hispanic/Business" and shows a $5,000 contribution to buy a table at a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce event.

Why are they classifying events by ethnicity?  For example, a meeting of the Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce is categorized as "African American." 

The spreadsheet contains 84 events for 2006 alone and totals $187,364.  Why is the State Comp. Fund spending this much money to buy tables at these events?  To be sure, they all seem like worthy causes.  But that doesn't mean that insurance premiums from the Worker's Comp. fund should be used to fund them.  Golf and Casino night at Ventana Canyon on behalf of the University Medical Center Foundation for $10,000? 

The State Comp. Fund was created by the legislature to be the provider of last resort for worker's compensation insurance.  It has a Board of Directors appointed by the Governor to five-year staggered terms.  The Governor also appoints the Chairman.

I don't want to sound overly cynical, but it looks to me like some of the excess money in the State Compensation fund is being spread around to various causes that are naturally sympathetic to a Democratic Administration. 

There is a category titled "Board Approval?" and in almost every case, the answer is "N/A".  Who is approving these events?

If the Symington administration had spent 200K in excess premiums annually to attend events like the Center for Arizona Policy Dinner, or the Arizonans for Tax Reform lunch, all hell would break lose.  And if the Symington administration had classified those events as by "ethnicity" heads would roll.

Honor in Your Own Land

Club for Growth founder and Wall Street Journal editorial writer Steve Moore was the guest speaker for the Arizona Federation of Taxpayer's annual awards presentation in Phoenix today.  Moore said that John Shadegg and Jeff Flake are the superstars in Congress and added that "We need to elect Jeff Flake President."  Wow.  That's not just hyperbole from some East Valley district Chairman.  Moore's stature as WSJ editorial writer makes it high praise indeed. 

Moore commented on the spending spree that Congress has undertaken in the six years that Republicans have controlled both houses of Congress and the White house and went on to point out that that last week's elections results were "an awesome opportunity for our movement."

Moore pointed out that the real election is in 2008 and went on to discuss the Republican front runners.  Moore listed McCain, Giuliani, Gengrich and Romney.  The crowd was openly hostile at the mention of McCain and Moore was clearly stunned.  I think he was counting on it as an applause line.  He asked for a show hands for those who were supporting McCain and not one hand went up.  Moore could only respond "and this is Arizona!"  Someone from the back crowd of over 200 yelled, "we know him."

It probably didn't help that most of McCain's inner circle is part of the "Republican's for Janet" team. 

It's a Little Tent

Senator Ron Gould won the Arizona Federation of Taxpayers "Barry M. Goldwater Legislative Leadership Award" for the second time in a row.  He was also named the first ever "Hero of the Taxpayer."  The event was held in a large tent on the grounds of the Crowne Plaza hotel.  Gould stands about 6' 5 and the podium was on a small riser, Rep. Trish Groe was on stage to receive an award as well and she had to hold the tent up to keep it off of Gould's head.

I'm sure Gould's head was much bigger after Steve Moore's speech.  Moore told the crowd that they need to send Gould to Congress.    In case you are wondering, that's Becky Fenger dressed as Dolly Parton to hand out the awards.  It is an understatement to say that it was an interesting lunch. 

 

Head Fake

I've had several people ask me if the Republic faked this picture.  Well, the cow looks Photo shopped to me.  But the original is on-line and it looks like it was just a technical glitch in the print version

. 

Those of you who follow blogs closely will check every photo to see if you can find the green helmet guy, identical puffs of smoke, or the wailing Lebanese woman whose house gets blown up every couple weeks.

Introduction to Logic

In the post below this one, I pointed out that the Communist Party is happy that Mitchell defeated Hayworth.  An astute reader has provided the appropriate comment..."So what?"

I'll go one step further.  Here's a common logical fallacy.  "Hitler liked Wagner.  Therefore Wagner is bad."  That's obviously bogus.  Here's the extension.  "Hitler liked Wagner.  You like Wagner.  Therefore you are bad."  In a political campaign, that logical fallacy is followed up the the question  "When are you going to denounce Wagner?"  That's followed by newpaper articles and hit pieces demanding to know why you refuse to distance yourself from Wagner.

So now that we have all passed logic 101, check out this hit piece the state Democratic Party used to defeat Laura Knaperek.  You will notice that it follows the second pattern exactly.  "Neo-Nazis like Pearce. Laura Knaperek likes Pearce. Knaperek refuses to denounce Pearce.  Knaperek is too extreme for Arizona."

 

The Communists Are Happy.

From the People's Weekly World.

We are thankful that so many victories came in so-called “red states” long considered “Bush country.” In Kansas, two rabidly right-wing Republican House, members were defeated and the moderate Democratic Kansas governor was re-elected. In Arizona, Republican J.D. Hayworth, a fanatic anti-immigrant lawmaker in the House, went down to defeat.

A Great Light is Extinguished

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman has died at the age of 94, according to media reports Thursday. Friedman, one of the most influential economists of the past century, died last night, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site, citing an official at the Cato Institute in Washington. Friedman was a professor at the University of Chicago from 1946 until 1976. He was awarded the Nobel in 1976.

There's not a person on earth who can single handedly-make a pencil. 

That's only one of the insights that Friedman pointed out in Free to Choose.  It's a great book and and his writings have had a significant impact on my views of government and the marketplace. 

My Biggest Election Surprise

There was one thing about Tuesday's election that really surprised me.  It was pretty clear that voters are fed up with illegal immigration.  The overwhelming passage of Prop. 200 in 2004 foreshadowed that the electorate was way ahead of the politicians on get-tough measures. 

This year's ballot was loaded with propositions dealing with illegal immigration and they passed overwhelmingly.   Prop. 103, Official English, was approved with 74% of the vote.  It received 42,642 yes votes, compared to only 12,919 no votes in PIMA County!  That's unbelievable. 

But those votes didn't transfer to candidates.  Gabby Giffords voted against even putting these propositions on the ballot, but she won Pima County by 12%.  How could so many people vote to deny bail for illegal immigrants, support official English and vote for Gabby Giffords?  Don't get me wrong.  It would have been fine if Pima County had overwhlemingly supported Gabby and voted against the intitiatives but supporting the immigration measures and Gabby overwhelmingly is a bit of a head scratcher.

The biggest surprise of the election is that a clear anti immigration voter sentiment didn't transfer to candidates.   

Schweikert's Heading North

Maricopa County Treasure David Schweikert is on his honeymoon in Europe and I've had one hit from London, one from Venice and now one from Paris. 

I love the internet.

One of These Things is not Like the Other

Let's play "Spot the Bias."  Here's an article detailing the results of the of the Propositions.

The tightest battle is currently on Prop. 101, the "Taxpayer Protection Act,"

Voters liked Prop. 104, allowing municipalities to incur debt up to 20 percent, and Pro. 105, the "State Trust Land Reform."

By the latest count, Proposition 101, the so-called "Protect Marriage Amendment," failed by a narrow margin,

"So-called" Protect Marriage Amendment?  Look, all the propositions have titles that were chosen to make them sound good.  We don't call it "so-called Clean Elections."  Either use the titles or don't, but don't pick and choose based on the propositions that you like. 

Welcome Hugh Hewitt Fans

Here's what Hugh Hewitt said about EP this morning.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Espresso Pundit

Posted by Hugh Hewitt  | 10:11 AM

I spoke to the fall dinner of the Council on Arizona Policy last night, and beforehand had a chance to meet EspressoPundit --clearly the go-to blogger on Arizon politics.  A former state legislator turned law student, EP has become an alternative to the old media in Arizona, and his audience will continue to grow even as the Republic's and similar dinosaurs see their declines accelerate.

Bowing to the Inevitable

The Republic laid off 31 people on Monday. 

I've often mentioned that the current model is not sustainable.  Classified advertising is dead.  Craig's List is free and provides a better product.  Print ads are not far behind. 

The entire "A" section is obsolete.  National news is a day old by the time it's at your door step and the variety and quality are much lower than you can find on the net. 

National columnists?  What a joke.  George Will, and the gang are free on the web. Hugh Hewitt, Powerline provide beter commentary while Drudge and Glenn Reynolds provide better content.

My house was built in 1953.  My mail is delivered through a slot in my door.  If your house was built in the 1983, your mail goes to a box in your front yard.  If your house was built in 1993 your mail is delivered to a big box at the end of your street. Large distribution systems are not easily managed. The post office is struggling to remain viable and it isn't facing a fall in circulation--everyone gets mail.  For a while anyway. 

The Republic's circulation is dropping, the population is climbing and perhaps more importantly, the population is spreading out.  Fewer papers carrying less advertising delivered over a larger area--that's not sustainable.  Former Republic Publisher Sue Clark-Johnson makes nearly a million dollars a year at Gannett.  The guys from Powerline work for free.  It's tough to compete with free. 

A lot of people have emailed me to say that they were so upset about the election coverage that they have no intention of renewing the Republic.  To be sure, the paper isn't going away.  There will always be a newspaper in a city the size of metro Phoenix.  But it's already a mere shell of what it was as recently as the mid 90s.  What's it going to look like in 10 years? 

One thing's for sure.  This isn't the last time that I write about a lay off at the Republic. 

Dinner Party Disaster

Have you every hosted a diner party only to have two of the guests get into a fight?  I feel that way about my first experience with open comments.  The Republic's Doug MacEachern chimed in and was quickly flamed by some folks who clearly have some pent up frustration.  While I wouldn't have written those comments myself, they didn't mention the F word or Nazis so I think the experiment is a success so far. 

Doug was good sport to comment and he had two complaints.  First he didn't like the picture that I used of him.  How is it that that hideous picture of me is getting around the Internet so much these days? Suddenly, I'm feeling Britney's pain.

So I have resolved to use this picture of Doug that I found on the Internet.  I think it's an older picture, but he looks good.

Additionally, Doug finds it frustrating to have do deal with someone who remains anonymous.  I haven't yet made the leap to Internet culture for a lot of reasons, but a big one is my inability to have "conversations" with people who don't identify themselves. Am I really "chatting" with something called "SaveOurAZ"? Why am I doing that?

Don't like fighting what you can't see?  Those of us who have awakened on a Sunday morning and found ourselves nailed in an anonymous editorial or the Political Insider aren't going to give you any  sympathy on that one--and there are a lot of us. 

Latest Line

I attended the Center for Arizona Policy dinner last night with 3,000 of my closest friends.  Hugh Hewitt was the featured speaker and I had a chance to chat with him for a while.  He mentioned that he plugged espresso pundit at the question and answer session. 

Hewitt is a great speaker, but the best line of the night went to Len Munsil wh