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Carol Turoff: Politic & Social Commentary
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Candidate Interview
Jim Weiers: State Senate Ed. Note: State Senator Jim Weiers is running for re-election this year in Legislative District 10. The Arizona Conservative (TAC) conducted an interview with Senator Weiers (JW) about the 2004 election, and here is what he had to say. Questions TAC: How would you rate your chance of re-election this year? JW: I believe 95 percent likely, but I always run my campaign as if it is less than 50 percent. I believe it is important to keep my constituents informed, happy and to never take their support for granted. TAC: What are the key issues in this year’s race? JW: Education, taxes, and protection and safety are the most important to my district at the moment. TAC: Why should voters re-elect you? JW: I have served the people of my district for a decade now. I have a long record of votes and positions, and most people in my district know who I am and what I believe in. During the whole time I have been a rock solid conservative, I have voted for numerous tax cuts and would never support a tax increase. During my time in office, and during my term as Speaker of the House, education funding has grown more than at any time in history. I believe that fiscal conservatism coupled with a strong support for education and public safety will continue to be a winning combination. TAC: What were your top accomplishments in your last term? JW: In my first term, we cut taxes that year after seven years of tax increases. The first tax relief was called the “Hamburger cut” because the liberal press said that is all you could buy. The next year they called it the “Dinner and a movie” tax cut. After 10 years of cuts, they stopped labeling them. We also passed the Premium Sharing Program, which allowed working families to get health insurance. If they made very little, the state paid a lot of their premium, if they made a lot, they paid it all, based on a sliding fee scale. Thousands of uninsurable working families received healthcare. We also passed welfare reform and cut several unproductive welfare programs. Despite the dire predictions, our poor actually did much better with the new incentives to support themselves, and the taxpayer stopped paying for some ineffective programs. TAC: What’s your opinion of this year’s budget bill? JW: Absolutely horrible. It raises spending by 13 percent in a year we have a deficit. Normal citizens like you and I would not go out and spend 13 percent more when our checks were already bouncing. The budget was horribly botched and even with that huge increase, did not fully fund education. If you can spend like a drunken sailor and still not fund your number one priority, something is wrong. Needless to say, I was a no vote. TAC: How did the Legislature do on the social issues this year, in your evaluation? JW: With a liberal governor and divided Republican caucuses in the House and Senate, we did remarkably well. I was concerned we should rename the House and Senate Sodom and Gomorrah, but we were able to barely kill most of the really bad stuff. In all, several pieces of bad liberal legislation went through, but it was only a trickle. We dodged a bullet this session. TAC: Can Republicans resist the governor’s incessant push for tax increases? JW: For the last 20 years, spending by the state government has exceeded population growth and inflation combined. Most of those years were controlled by Republicans. Unfortunately, many moderate and liberal Republicans want to spend just as bad as the Democrats and use that as an excuse. What we need are more real conservatives who advocate for less spending, not more. The reason I discussed spending is that the more you spend, the more tax increases become inevitable. Several registered Republicans at the Capitol know they are setting the state up for tax increases and are secretly pleased. The only way to win is to have a majority of conservative Republicans. TAC: The 2002 GOP primary was a great election for conservatives. Do you expect that trend to repeat this year? JW: It depends. First, you need a good crop of conservative candidates. Often times conservatives, by their very nature, are busy with their families, churches and careers. They often only pay attention to politics if they are getting harmed by it. We need to continually recruit good candidates. Second, they have to get out their message. I am convinced that most people respond well to the conservative message. It is just often hard for a new candidate to get to people. TAC: Have you determined which bills you plan to introduce next term, if re-elected? JW: I usually only introduce bills to help constituents with problems in my district, to run an important topic for leadership or agency bills for my committee. (Each committee oversees certain agencies and those agencies usually go to the committee chairman to introduce their bill). In general, I think we need fewer laws, not more. Most of the time I find myself helping to prevent bad laws than in passing new ones. TAC: In light of some legislators refusing to represent their district and refusing to vote on key issues (namely the marriage amendment postcard), will you commit to voting on all the bills for which you are physically present in the Senate chamber? JW: I have never “took a walk” in my career and I won’t start now. It is a well known tactic for members who know their views are contrary to that of the voters, to conveniently disappear for votes. I am proud of my voting record and have no fear that my district will disagree. TAC: Do you believe the legislature can make better progress next term on judicial reform? JW: It is a tough road. I have always championed judicial reform in this state and certainly want to pass much-needed changes. Several members are either attorneys, or somehow intimidated by judges coming down to fight the legislation. Oddly enough, if a legislator ever calls a judge about a ruling, they say it is a total breach of separation of powers, but that same logic does not interfere with them lobbying the legislature on their paid time. The only thing holding us back from passing needed reform is getting enough legislators with the political will to vote yes. TAC: Do you support or oppose the Clean Elections initiative? JW: I think it is terrible. Fringe candidates with no support get our tax dollars to spew whatever nonsense they want. You used to have to earn the support of your district to run, but not any more. Clean Elections also gets involved with things that are none of its business, like the content of ads, who you can hire, what you can do on your campaign, and even investigations of privately funded candidates that don’t even take their money. They are also exempt from the rules process, so they make up whatever rules they want, with no review and no public comment. TAC: Do you support or oppose the Protect Arizona Now initiative? JW: I completely support PAN. All of us were immigrants once, or descended from immigrants. But we came here legally. It is an injustice to all the honest immigrants who spent years getting the opportunity to come to America to let lawbreakers take up their space. With terrorism, it is unbelievable to me that we do not control our borders simply because of political correctness. I have legal immigrants working for me as well as second- and third-generation children of immigrants. I love to welcome new people to our country. It is outrageous, though, to let terrorists, criminals, whomever, come over at will because we are afraid to offend people. TAC: General comments: Please comment on anything that hasn’t been included in the questions above.
JW: I first ran for office so
there would be at least one small businessman at the Capitol willing to
look out for taxpayers, families and businesses. I am still there for the
same reason. So many times legislators get overwhelmed by the armies of
lobbyists telling them to spend spend
spend, and they forget that the vast majority
of their community only want a good education system, a safe place to live
and to be left alone. Home |News |State Briefs |Editorials|Letters |Key Legislation |Privacy Policy |Contact Us
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