The Real Brewer Jobs Plan
Posted on 07/13/2010 @ 02:29 PM
Gov. Brewer's campaign co-chair, Mary Peters, made a head-scratching claim at a GOP event in Ahwatukee. Speaking on behalf of the governor, Peters said that Brewer "has already created thousands of jobs and will continue to work on that.''
Really?
Peters, who was Transportation Secretary in the job-killing Bush administration, needs to be briefed about Brewer's true record on job creation:
In May, Arizona lost another 4,300 private-sector jobs and the unemployment rate here increased to 9.6 percent, according to the state Commerce Department. Arizona's only job gains in May were due to federal Census worker hires. Arizona has a net loss of 98,900 jobs since Brewer took the reins as governor in January 2009. [Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/schedule/archives/laus_nr.htm]
In February, Brewer signed off on massive cuts to AHCCCS and KidsCare. According to a study commissioned by the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association, these cuts could eliminate 42,000 Arizona jobs, devastating a sector of the economy that is actually growing in our state.
Gov. Jan Brewer's proposed cuts to health care would drain an estimated $2.7 billion in state and federal funding from Arizona's economy and result in the loss of 42,000 jobs, according to an analysis by economists at Arizona State University... The Governor's Office did not dispute the analysis. [Analysis conducted by Seidman Research Institute at ASU's W.P. Carey School of Business. -- AZ Republic, 2/25/10]
Brewer has also unveiled several "jobs plans," but so far they've only generated publicity - no actual jobs.
The Arizona Democratic Party imagined what Gov. Brewer's jobs plan must look like:
Is Brewer replacing Palin as Fox News darling?
Posted on 06/18/2010 @ 02:00 PM
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer seems to be replacing Sarah Palin as Fox News’ right-wing darling du jour. Brewer was just interviewed -- again -- for Fox News, making this at least the 5th time Fox has pitched softball questions at Brewer since she signed SB1070.
Maybe it was inevitable. After all, Brewer and Palin have a lot in common, and not just the faux border security website they launched together in May that features singing sock puppets. Brewer and Palin also share a knack for extreme rhetoric. And a gift for ignoring the facts.
Case in point: On June 16, Brewer told interviewer Greta Van Susteren that SB1070 is “another tool for us to be able to use in order to get our borders under control.” (Fact check: In April, Brewer admitted on TV that SB1070 “has nothing to do with securing the border.” See for yourself.)
Fortunately for Brewer, her interviews are a cake walk on Fox. Van Susteren sounds less like an interviewer and more like a practice buddy to help Brewer deliver talking points. Check out these “fair and balanced” comments from Van Susteren to Brewer:
- June 2: “You seem pretty tough. You don't seem -- you seem pretty tough. You don't seem very afraid.”
- June 3: “You sound like you're pretty tough.”
- June 16: “You're tough!”
Toughness fixation aside, Van Susteren is also cozy enough with Brewer to share a laugh or inside joke. Here’s an exchange on June 3:
VAN SUSTEREN: All right, you understand, from my perspective, here we have the two principals, we have the governor of the state and we have the president of the United States sitting across from each other in the Oval Office, and the president says, ‘We're going to send a staff to do all the talking to your staff,’ instead of the two of you talking together.
BREWER: That's correct.
VAN SUSTEREN: OK. So you must -- I take it by your silence or your pause that you have sort of a little of the same thought of mine, ‘Why not do it now?’
BREWER: Right.
VAN SUSTEREN: OK.
BREWER: And you know -- yes, I'll leave it at that.
(LAUGHTER)
VAN SUSTEREN: OK, leave it at that.
And so will we.
Help us fight back this November by electing Arizona Democrats. Visit arizonafightsback.com to sign our petition and learn more.You think YOU'RE outraged?
Posted on 06/09/2010 @ 08:22 PM
Jan Brewer and other out-of-touch officials continue to make Arizona famous for all the wrong reasons. Our accidental governor recently signed into law a ban on ethnic studies and a ban on human-animal hybrids. And just last week, a Prescott city councilman publicly called for artists to "lighten the skin" on images of children in a school mural. To help get our message across we have put together a new video to show how Arizonans really feel about what's happening in our state:
Join the 5,000 Democrats who have signed the Arizona Fights Back petition. Help us stop Gov. Brewer and extremist Republicans in Arizona and elect more Democrats this November. Help us send a powerful message that extremist values are not Arizona values.
Brewer joins list of politicians embellishing war records
Posted on 06/03/2010 @ 01:41 PM
In their words:
The Huffington Post reported:
Gov. Jan Brewer is the latest political figure to come under fire for making conflicting statements about military service. In this case Brewer appears to have misstated her father's military record.
Newsweek pointed out:
But she joins Blumenthal and Illinois Senate candidate Mark Kirk on the list of politicians who have recently felt comfortable being (at least) ambiguous about military service when it makes them look better.
Vanity Fair put their cosmetic spin on it:
Jan Brewer, imperial sun queen of Arizona’s chromatocracy, told the Arizona Republic that her father died fighting Nazis during World War II. The saga is very sad, except its tragedy is somewhat mitigated by the fact that it is extremely untrue.
While the Daily Kos observed:
Ah yes, claiming her father died fighting Nazis in Germany should, in no way, be construed as implying that her father died fighting Nazis in Germany.
The embellishment also got the attention of one of her Republican primary opponents, Buz Mills:
"While (Mills) strongly objects to those who use the Nazi label to describe (SB) 1070 and Governor Brewer, that does not give the governor the right to alter history for the purpose of an eye-catching quote."
Finally, the Arizona Republic's E.J. Montini posed the following question:
But I’m wondering if you would feel the same if the embellishments had been made by former Gov. Janet Napolitano? Because these days we seem to make excuses for those with whom we agree and condemn those with whom we disagree no matter WHAT the facts.
In Arizona, Goddard takes action while Brewer makes sock-puppet videos
Posted on 05/28/2010 @ 11:55 PM
In the past week, two distinct messages were delivered to Arizonans.
One came from Gov. Jan Brewer in the form of a singing sock-puppet on YouTube.
The other came from Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, who announced that President Obama will deploy 1,200 National Guard troops along the U.S.-Mexico border and ask Congress for $500 million in funding for border security.
From the Associated Press:
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, a Democrat who has prosecuted rings of drug and immigrant smugglers, said the planned deployment was a good first step, but believes that the president's plan should evolve to include more troops and more authority for the soldiers.
A day later, Goddard also unveiled plans for a new border-crime prosecution team funded by the $94 million settlement he secured in February from Western Union. That historic agreement helped cut the pipeline of cash to criminal cartels. Goddard’s team will be targeting the cartels’ smuggling operations that send drugs, weapons and people across Arizona’s border with Mexico.
Meanwhile, Gov. Jan Brewer is focused on her website project with Sarah Palin, no doubt working on their next YouTube comedy. There are some serious problems in our state, so maybe Gov. Brewer should heed her own words: “No one in Arizona is laughing.”
Brewer & Palin: Border Confusion
Posted on 05/20/2010 @ 11:08 AM
Brewer going rogue in Arizona? You betcha
Posted on 05/17/2010 @ 03:31 PM
Instead of bringing us real leadership on Arizona’s border-security problems, Gov. Jan Brewer brought us Sarah Palin, a leader on … um… seeing Russia’s border from Alaska.
Crime and violence along Arizona’s border and in our neighborhoods are real. But Brewer has already admitted that SB1070 “has nothing to do with securing the border.” And her stunt last Saturday with Palin was just as phony. They co-starred in a dog-and-pony show where they talked tough but said nothing -- and unveiled a website to nowhere.
By enlisting Palin, Brewer proved she is focused more on her political future than on Arizona’s real immigration-related problems – drug and weapons traffickers, human smuggling and kidnapping in our neighborhoods. These are the very problems Arizona’s attorney general and Democrats in the state Legislature are working hard to combat. But Arizona will continue to suffer as its governor rolls out publicity stunts designed to help her win the GOP primary.
In just over a year, our unelected “accidental governor” has done more damage to Arizona than we can wrap our heads around. She and the Republicans in power continue to push Arizona down the wrong track by cutting jobs, ignoring our soaring foreclosure rate and driving the state economy into a deeper hole. Their values are not Arizona values. Consider:
-After promising not to “decimate” education and programs for the most vulnerable, Brewer made the largest cut to education in state history. We now rank last in the nation for education funding.
-She cut thousands of jobs during an economic crisis.
-She took police officers and firefighters off the streets and out of our neighborhoods when she made massive cuts to public safety.
-She eliminated federally mandated and funded health care for more than 40,000 working-class kids, making Arizona the only state in the nation to do so.
We need to get Arizona on the right track by implementing real immigration reform and cracking down on the criminal cartels. We need to attract businesses and jobs to our state. And we must strengthen our education system. But with Brewer as governor and her Republican cronies in the majority, Arizona will stay on the wrong track.
Republicans have been in office too long. Brewer has failed to lead. It’s time for a change in Arizona. Please join us in this fight!
Boycott Brewer, Not Arizona
Posted on 05/13/2010 @ 12:10 PM
The rest of the nation recently learned what Arizona Democrats have long known: Extremist Republicans control our state government. But now there is momentum in Arizona and a chance to take back our state.
Thanks to SB1070, the rest of the nation recently learned what Arizona Democrats have long known: Extremist Republicans control our state government. But now there is momentum in Arizona and a unique chance to take back our state. The Arizona Democratic Party has launched a nationwide campaign - Arizona Fights Back (www.arizonafightsback.com) to send a strong message: Don't boycott Arizona. Instead, help us change Arizona by electing Democrats.
We must stop Jan Brewer and the far-right Republicans who have taken over the state Legislature. With more funding, resources and field operations, the Arizona Democratic Party can help more Democrats get elected and restore balance to Arizona's government. Democrats will never let divisive, extremist measures like SB1070 see the light of day!
To learn more about the Arizona Fights Back campaign, why the state Democratic Party is firmly against a boycott of Arizona, and how we hope to mobilize voters between now and November, check out the site...and don't forget to sign the petition!
Boycott? No, Lets Win In Arizona!
Posted on 05/10/2010 @ 03:45 PM
Lately a lot of people have been asking us, has Arizona gone nuts?
The Arizona Republican Party is in a circular firing squad. More than in perhaps any other state, the Republicans here are in a civil war to determine if social conservatives can take control. This internal fight coupled with the new immigration law creates a unique opportunity for Democrats this election. This is a state where the netroots could well spell the difference and in fact, there is a solid chance of knocking off Republican icon John McCain, but we need your help.
Participating clean elections candidate running for statewide offices have to collect over 5,000 $5 contributions and cannot accept any further contributions. Attorney General Terry Goddard is running for Governor and a clean elections candidate. A DailyKos poll had Goddard 6 points over Brewer and with double digit leads over all other Republican candidates. But Goddard can't take any further individual contributions.
Under Arizona’s Clean Elections system, the Party is empowered to have a strong voice in campaigns. The Arizona Democratic Party can accept unlimited amounts of personal contributions. We are committed to grassroots democracy and building an army of regular Americans who want to contribute to the effort to stop Jan Brewer and the GOP legislators who are giving our state a bad reputation.
The role of the Democratic Party in Arizona is critical. We manage an intense field operation, massive voter contact programs, and one of the most sophisticated vote-by-mail campaigns in the country to increase Democratic turnout to elect Democrats up and down the ballot. The Party’s role is central for statewide Democratic candidates. We launched a new website this week, http://www.arizonafightsback.com/
Progressives are going to take some lumps this election cycle, but Arizona is a place we can draw a line in the sand and have a resounding victory up and down the ballot. With you we can shape history. Can you help out? Can we get the same impressive effort we've watched happen in the netroots, happening here in Arizona to defeat the crazy Republicans running this state?
We have an opportunity in Arizona but we really need to build up our field team and fund an aggressive media plan. We feel Arizona is a top-tier target in 2010 with a rising stock for 2012.
Arizona’s new immigration law is a sham, and that’s just fine by Republicans
By Luis Heredia on 04/29/2010 @ 04:09 PM
Greetings from Arizona, where we have a brand new immigration law. It's been called many things, a few of them even printable. But here's what I call that law: a sham.
It's a sham because the Republicans who drafted the bill, SB1070, know it does nothing to protect Arizona. They know it doesn't help secure the border. And they know it makes law enforcement's job even harder. Local police who are busy solving crimes and catching criminals will now have to enforce federal immigration laws. But Republicans passed the bill anyway – it's an election year, after all -- and Republican Gov. Jan Brewer signed it into law on Friday.
Brewer says she did “the right thing” for Arizona. I say she did it for the right-wing in Arizona. After all, the governor is locked in a race to the right with a handful of GOP primary challengers.
Arizona is a border state — it's no secret we have a serious crime problem at our border. Over the decades, the federal government has neither secured the border nor passed comprehensive immigration reform to protect our families and our economy.
But let's be clear: SB1070 is a sham. The real public-safety threats to Arizona are border violence, drug cartels and human smuggling. This new law does nothing – I repeat – nothing to secure our border, make us safer, or put a dent in the cartels' operations. Instead, it diverts law enforcement's attention from more serious crimes. It forces police to defend frivolous lawsuits. It creates fear among Hispanic communities. And it puts a black mark on Arizona nationally at a time when our state needs to attract businesses and tourism.
Despite all their chest-thumping about being tough on immigration, the Republicans could take a lesson from a Democrat – Attorney General Terry Goddard – who takes on the drug and human smuggling rings every day in his job. His work keeps Arizona safer, unlike the empty GOP grandstanding. Our state party is working hard to help elect Democrats up and down the ticket in November, starting with Terry Goddard at the top. He called on Brewer to veto SB1070, but she caved in to the right wing.
We love Arizona, and we're angry about what's happening here. We know people across the country are angry too. So what happens after the protesters and the TV trucks go home? We register voters. We boost community outreach. We raise money. We spread our message in every way, across every form of media. In other words, we use all of our resources to elect strong, common-sense Democrats. It's the only way to get Arizona back on track. If you're angry too, we invite you to join us.
Unless we win this fight, Arizona is stuck with this sham of a law – and sham of leadership.
Luis Heredia is executive director of the Arizona Democratic Party. He is a native of Somerton, Ariz., a farming community just north of the U.S.-Mexican border.