Governor Stealing from Taxpayers Nothing Short of Outrageous

Feb. 22, 2006

There is only one word to appropriately describe Gov. Janet Napolitano’s latest scam: outrage. She is literally robbing millions of taxpayer dollars from you and redistributing this wealth without legislative approval. The woman has no shame whatsoever.

 The U.S. District Court is fining the state $500,000 a day for not improving programs for students who need to learn English. The Republican-controlled legislature passed two bills to fulfill the court’s requirement, but Napolitano vetoed both. And now the fines have topped $13 million. Democrats sure are good at spending your money. But you haven’t heard the worst of it yet.

Napolitano asked U.S. District Judge Raner C. Collins to order the state to hand over the fine money to public schools to benefit approximately 150,000 students learning English. That is called highway robbery – and you, Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer, are getting fleeced.

Every taxpayer in Arizona ought to be running to the phone to complain to the governor about her outrageous and autocratic behavior by calling (602) 542-4331. Or faxing her at (602) 542-1381. Wait  another day to make that call and it’s another 500 grand. Wait until Friday and the fines go up to $1 million a day.

Republican leaders asked Judge Collins to let the state keep the fine money and use it to implement whatever plan is approved. The judge’s behavior is also outrageous and unacceptable; he’s complicit with Napolitano in robbing the taxpayers. His arrogance knows no bounds.

GOP legislators want to provide schools with money based on actual costs for state-approved instruction models and then cut the funding when school districts find other sources of funding.

Napolitano’s got to go. You and I need to fire her in November.

Petersen Out, Martin in?

Blogger chatter is saying that State Treasurer David Petersen will not seek re-election, due to high turnover and low morale in the office. Mr. Petersen seems to be one of the friendliest persons you’ll ever meet, so it is hard to imagine an unpleasant office atmosphere under his guidance. He’s going to make an announcement soon.

Who would run for the office on the GOP side without Petersen’s hat in the ring? State Senator Dean Martin, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and co-chairman of the Tax Reform for Arizona Citizens Committee, responsible for legislation related to taxes, retirement, insurance and financial issues. He also serves on the Senate Appropriations and Commerce Committees. Senator Martin has been a great friend to taxpayers by staunchly resisting tax increases. Furthermore, he won the “Freedom of Information Award” for his leadership on opening government and public records to taxpayers.

Martin has a great chance of winning election. He made quite a splash with his entry into politics    when he defeated incumbent and current state superintendent of public instruction Tom Horne in a District 6 primary, to win his seat in the Senate. That was before he reached the age of 30.

Martin has filed an exploratory committee for treasurer, and his move has created all kinds of ripples among fellow Republicans. I’ve also heard that State Rep. Laura Knaperek may run for treasurer, too. State Rep. Pamela Gorman filed an exploratory committee for Martin’s Senate seat, and State Rep. Ted Carpenter could drop out of the governor's race and run instead for the Senate. We’ll see how it all shakes out.

Hellon’s Band of RINO All-Stars

With Jim Kolbe retiring from Congress this year, libs are circling like sharks to win the District 8 seat in Congress. Mike Hellon, the Tucson RINO who in 2004 lost his bid for re-election as the Arizona National Republican Committeeman to Randy Pullen, is now running for that seat.

Hellon’s list of campaign supporters reads like a who’s who of Republicans In Name Only. Among them are former Governor Jane Hull, State Senators Carolyn Allen and Toni Hellon (Hellon’s former wife), Tom Liddy, Helen Purcell, Judy Gignac and Sharon Collins.

The Arizona Conservative will soon endorse conservative Randy Graf for that Congressional race. He’s by far the best candidate.

Grandstanding Gumbel Trying to Jump Start Flagging Career

Angry racist Bryant Gumbel is running his toxic mouth again. His “career” in tatters and going downhill faster than U.S. skier Bodie Miller flying down a mountain, the vitriolic one shot off his mouth just to get attention, as he is known for doing. Gumbel, who has sunk to sports commenting on HBO, said the winter Olympics lack racial diversity and look like a GOP convention. The Black civil rights group Project 21 criticized Gumbel for trying to score "cheap racial political points.”

Mouthing off worked for Jeanine Garafalo when her so-called “acting career” was going nowhere. Gumbel probably figured it was worth a try, too.

Dennis Durband is publisher and editor of The Arizona Conservative, is also a freelance writer and webmaster and a longtime journalist. He enjoys running conservative websites, mountain biking, distance running, hiking, camping, photography and reading Chuck Colson books.