What YOU can do to stop the Prop 204 tax hike

New poll shows the Prop 204 tax hike is losing!

AFP-Arizona activists can help defeat it!

Dear Arizona Taxpayer,

With barely two weeks left until Election Day, we must keep running until we cross the finish line.

Using Arizona’s children as a shield for their special-interest boondoggles, proponents of Proposition 204 want to take a billion dollars a year from Arizona families -- at a time when many families are still struggling and breadwinners are out of work.
Prop 204 boosters have told voters that the tax is necessary to aid an underfunded education system, even though overall education spending in Arizona has increased over 60 percent during the past decade.

According to a new report by the Goldwater Institute, per-pupil spending in Arizona has increased by 9 percent in real terms over the past decade -- even after recent budget cuts!  And the Arizona education system now puts a smaller proportion of available funds into the classroom than it did before the massive Prop 301 education tax was passed in 2000.

The good news is that the spending lobby's tactics may be failing.  A recent poll suggests that a majority of Arizonans now understands that a massive tax increase is not the right move for our state’s fragile economy. Throwing more money at the education bureaucracy isn’t the right path forward for our education system.  Our children and our classroom teachers need real reform.

What can YOU do to make sure that Prop 204 is defeated?

Here are some of the many ways you can get involved:

·        You can host a NO on Prop 204 speaker at your civic group.

·        You can drop off literature at the homes of voters in your precinct.

·        You can place a NO on Prop 204 yard sign on your front lawn

 ·       You can distribute NO on Prop 204 signs to your neighbors.

·        You can do what I did, and use glass paint to write "NO on Prop 204! Tax hikes will not fix our schools!" on the back window of your car...

AFP-Arizona hopes you will continue to stand with us in the fight to defeat Proposition 204! To get more involved in this effort, please contact Bill Fathauer at 480-332-0477 or bfathauer@afphq.org and learn more at www.votenoon204.com.
For Liberty, Tom
Tom Jenney
Arizona Director
Americans for Prosperity
www.aztaxpayers.org
tjenney@afphq.org
(602) 478-0146

Prop 204 Money Will Not Reach the Classroom

Dear Friends,  Proposition 204 will NOT help teachers or students, but will instead continue to reward an education system that has increasingly spent less and less money in the classroom. Dr. Craig Barrett, the former CEO and chairman of Intel Corp., has vocally expressed his opposition to Prop 204 because he knows there is zero accountability:  "Prop 204 throws money at education and numerous other special interest groups, but doesn't tie that money to performance improvements. Unless we fix the system, we won't see any improvement in results." – Dr. Craig Barrett Even Governor Jan Brewer, the driving force behind the temporary sales tax in 2010, is warning voters of the serious problems with Prop 204: "I believe what they're asking for is simply a blank check from the taxpayers that would generate billions of dollars with absolutely no assurance at all of where the funding would be devoted to." – Governor Jan Brewer Even during the worst years of the recession, operational per student spending only decreased 5 percent. This year alone education spending in the state budget increased by $28 MILLION dollars. The problem with Prop 204 is that it throws over a BILLION dollars a year in taxpayer funds into a broken system with no strings attached.  In fact, since the passage of Prop 300 in 2000, school districts have directed even less money into the classroom than ever before. In 2011, only 55 cents of every education dollar was dedicated to classrooms. We need real education reform, not Prop 204. Real reform guarantees that revenue raised goes where we need it most – to the teachers in the classroom. Please join me in voting NO on Prop 204. Thank you, Doug Ducey Chairman - No New Taxes, No on Prop 204  Paid for by No New Taxes, No on 204.  Major funding by Americans for Responsible Leadership, the Arizona Automobile Dealers Association, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, and the Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Company.

Vernon Parker Pulls Ahead in CD9!

 

Vernon Parker Takes the Lead Over Kyrsten Sinema

Voters Demand Sinema Reveal Names of

Murderers She Defended

Phoenix, AZ – Democratic Congressional candidate Krysten Sinema refuses to release the list of murderders she defended while working as a criminal defense lawyer. But now it’s become very apparent that voters aren’t letting her get away with it.

In an auto poll conducted on October 15^th by The Summit Group, an overwhelming 63% of likely voters polled demanded she release her client list.

The race in CD9 has been a dead heat for weeks.  But in the days since Ms. Sinema has refused to release her client list, that’s changed.  Vernon Parker now has a several point lead in this race.

“The reality is, it’s a lose-lose situation for her, said Parker’s Communications Director Alyssa Pivirotto.  “Voters are upset that Ms. Sinema won’t reveal her client list.  But if they knew the murderers who are on that list, they would be appalled.”

The following are the results from Monday’s poll of 600 registered Republican, Democratic and Independent likely voters with a margin of error of 4.2% and a 95% confidence level:

When asked who people are voting for -

Parker                   44.46%

Sinema                  41.78%

UND                      13.76%

When asked if Ms. Sinema should release her client list-

Yes                         63.17%

No                          36.83%

--
Alyssa Pivirotto

Communications Director

Vernon Parker for Congress

Obama Treating Women Like Breeding Animals

The primary issue Obama is concerned about for women is also society's primary concern about feral cats and wild animals: preventing them from breeding.

An article earlier this year in Politico speculated that this presidential election may be the first one ever to be decided by women. The Obama campaign understands this, and has trotted out a series of ditzy female celebrities to declare their support for Obama because he is for “women’s rights.” Eva Longoria, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Ashley Judd, Scarlett Johansson and others have come out publicly with statements within the past few weeks. Longoria spoke at the Democratic National Convention, and has said, "There is an attack on women’s health care and President Obama's policies are the only ones that are going to move the agenda for women’s rights.....I find such a champion in President Obama -- which is why I passionately support him -- specifically because I'm a woman.” But what exactly does this mean?

Women have essentially achieved equality in American society, they have the right to vote, they can obtain virtually any job a man can hold, and studies show that women receive salaries equal to men when factors like experience are taken into consideration. There is essentially nothing left to achieve in the area of “women's rights” in the U.S. So Obama has championed the made up “women's rights” of abortions and birth control. 

Abortion and birth control are highly controversial issues, with women divided over their use and funding. Consequently, it cannot be said that they equate to “women's rights,” which all women have traditionally supported. Additionally, with all of the free women's clinics around the country, it is ludicrous to claim that access to abortions and birth control is a problem. You can't drive a couple of miles without seeing a women's clinic. 

By obsessing over a problem that does not exist, it is apparent that Obama is tricking women and distracting them from real issues. The primary issue Obama is concerned about for women is also society's primary concern about feral cats and wild animals: preventing them from breeding. Instead of being concerned about women's education, brains, safety, children, or other issues, Obama has fooled women - particularly ditzy celebrities – into thinking that stopping them from breeding is their most important issue.

Read the rest of the article at Townhall

Remember When They Promised the One-Cent Sales Tax Would Be Temporary?

	Dear Friends, I am emailing you to thank you for all the support we continue to receive as we speak with hard-working Arizonans on the dangers of Proposition 204. It has been amazing to see how many people care about Arizona’s fiscal future. We are greatly pleased with our momentum and the overwhelming number of voters we speak with who are voting NO on Prop 204. But we still need your help to get the message out about how Prop 204 is a PERMANENT sales tax increase that is a bad idea for Arizona families. We were promised the sales tax increase would be temporary, but now special interest groups are taking advantage of the sacrifice voters made in 2010 and asking for a $1 BILLION dollar tax hike that lasts FOREVER. This week we launched our first television ad, “Temporary.” Will you please help this ad stay on TV? We are facing a well-funded network of government unions and special interest groups and we need your help to get the facts out on how damaging Prop 204 will be to our local economy. Please consider a donation by clicking on the DONATE button. Any amount is greatly appreciated. Help us spread the word and stay up on the air across the state through Election Day. Thank you so much for your help. Together we can send the clear sign that Arizona is open for business and that we want real education reform, not special interest giveaways. Vote No on Prop 204! Thank you, Doug Ducey Arizona State Treasurer Chairman - No New Taxes, No on Prop 204

Paid for by No New Taxes, No on 204.
Major funding by Americans for Responsible Leadership, the Arizona Automobile Dealers Association, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, and the Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Company.

Tea Party leader Wes Harris speaks out against the City of Phoenix implementing Agenda 21

by Wes Harris, North Phoenix Tea Party

For some two years now I have been warning everyone at City Hall of the dangers of the United Nation's Agenda 21 and the fact that through ICLEI and other organizations the City of Phoenix has been marching down this path, in many case, totally unaware of what program they are being duped into following. Our un affordable and destructive installation and the current plans for expansion of Light Rail is the main building block (our should I say destruction ball) of Agenda 21.

Our current planning department's push for the Ten Year Plan with heavy emphasis on Light Rail is but another example. A reading of the 'suggestions' on the Planning Department's web site for the 10 year plan reads like a U. N. Dream of the goals of Agenda 21 with suggestions to 'force' automobiles off of our freeways, out of our down town, eliminate any business that deals with automobiles, dedicating major streets to bicycles, high density combinations of business and living quarters, taking over of private property for community gathering places, dictating to land owners what type of structure and business is acceptable, etc. etc.

The Planning Department's contract with ASU's College of "Sustainability" to assist with the plan drives another nail in the coffin of individual freedom in the city of Phoenix, in my opinion. There is no such thing as "Sustainability" and the study of it is an abomination and brainwashing of our otherwise potentially productive college aged students...again, in my opinion.

Many conservatives, including the author of the following article, are now standing up to the dangers of the United Nation's Agenda 21 and I forward this on to you as a word to the wise. As elected and appointed representatives of the citizens of the City of Phoenix and the County of Maricopa, you need to be made aware of this danger so that, now and in the future, you will recognize this 'beast' for what it is...a direct threat to our nation's sovereignty Our President and Bill Clinton before him have been pushing for this U.N. takeover which is against the terms and conditions of our Constitution...a document you and they all took an oath to uphold.

Click here for Dick Morris's new article on Agenda 21

AFP: NO on 204: the AZ grassroots can win this one!

Dear Arizona Taxpayer:Sometimes it's hard for taxpayers and friends of economic freedom to imagine victory when they find themselves up against well-funded liberal interest groups seeking more tax money and greater political power.But we can win, and we have.  In 2010, over the opposition of powerful unions, Arizona citizens passed the Save Our Secret Ballot amendment to the state Constitution. Save Our Secret Ballot was designed to keep the federal government (through “card check” legislation) from forcing workers to unionize without holding secret-ballot elections.Big Labor didn't like that, so Obama's union-dominated National Labor Relations Board sued Arizona. But on September 5, a federal court ruled in favor of Arizona, protecting workers' secret ballots from the bullying power of Big Labor. Right now, the education spending lobby is pushing hard for Prop 204, which would impose a permanent sales tax hike on Arizona families and small businesses.  If they win on November 6, this job-killing tax increase will give Arizona the second highest sales tax rate in America.Of course, this is not Arizona's first rodeo... In 2000, many of our business leaders supported the Prop 301 sales tax hike, because they believed the promises of the education spending lobby: that the new tax would deliver more money to Arizona's classrooms and improve student performance. A decade later, the evidence is in: the tax hike failed to put a greater proportion of money into Arizona's classrooms, and failed to improve student test scores.  Facing the threat of the Prop 204 tax hike, state treasurer and successful entrepreneur Doug Ducey has put together a strong coalition of business and civic organizations to fight the tax, including the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business, and the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Even proponents of 2010's temporary Prop 100 sales tax increase, such as Governor Jan Brewer, former Intel CEO Craig Barrett, and longtime government relations expert Martin Shultz, have come out against the Prop 204 tax hike. This is not only a good fight -- it's a fight we can win!  But business leaders alone can't win the battle: they need grassroots taxpayer activists to stand with them, to beat the spending interests in the ground game. Please visit VoteNOon204.com to learn more about Prop 204 and to find out how you can volunteer your time and energy to a very good cause.  For more about AFP-Arizona's grassroots actions against Prop 204, contact Bill Fathauer at bfathauer@afphq.org For Liberty, TomTom JenneyArizona DirectorAmericans for Prosperitywww.aztaxpayers.org

Funding Abortion Providers: Prop 204’s Unintended Consequences

Prolife community announces opposition to Prop 204

PHOENIX - Center for Arizona Policy and Arizona Right to Life announced opposition to Proposition 204 today due to vague and ill-defined language contained in the proposition that could allow up to $100 million of taxpayer dollars to be given to abortion providers annually.

While the proposition has been billed as an education measure, it creates a $100 million slush fund that a governor could allocate for “family stability” and “basic needs” that “lead to family stability”. These terms are not clearly defined in the proposition, leaving the door open for chief executives to use this section to funnel monies to abortion providers. 

“Center for Arizona Policy typically does not get involved in tax policy. In 2010, we were neutral on the temporary one-cent sales tax. But after our legal analysis, we found that Prop 204’s vague language could be abused by future governors to subsidize an industrythat ends the lives of preborn children and hurts thousands of women every day,” said Cathi Herrod, President of Center for Arizona Policy.

Herrod released an online advertisement explaining her opposition to Prop 204 today. Watch it here: http://youtu.be/K0TPwQN83OM

“Voters are getting more than they bargained for under Prop 204,” said Erik Twist, board chairman of Arizona Right to Life. “This is truly a Trojan horse. What’s being sold as an education proposal is actually a $1 billion permanent sales tax increase that could be used to finance abortion providers under the guise of funding “basic needs.”

Under section 41-113 in Prop 204, a “Family-stability and self-sufficiency fund” is created, which according to section 42-5029.02, is appropriated $100 million every year. Besides the fact that this section has nothing to do with putting more money into Arizona classrooms, the obscure language in 41-113 could be exploited by a pro-abortion Governor.

Read the ballot language here: http://bit.ly/VDwT2v

For more information, contact Aaron Baer, 602.424.2525, go to www.azpolicy.org, or www.azrtl.org.

Center for Arizona Policy promotes and defends the foundational values of life, marriage and family, and, religious liberty.

Arizona Right to Life is the state’s oldest, largest and strongest pro-life organization, committed to preserving, protecting and promoting the sanctity of life from conception to natural death.

###

Aaron Baer
Communications Director

Clint Bolick and the Goldwater Institute Quietly Transforming the Country

While national political campaigns and politicians are regularly featured in the news for their accomplishments on the right, one small state-based think tank is quietly grinding away victory after victory. The Goldwater Institute was already a leading state-based think tank when libertarian lawyer Clint Bolick came on board five years ago to launch a litigation division. Since then, Bolick has greatly expanded the reach of the right-leaning think tank, filing lawsuits against all levels of government to protect taxpayers and businesses from government overreach. Bolick's favorite line, which he says with a grin, is, “I get paid to sue government bureaucrats.”
Bolick's litigation against government dates back to his days at The Institute for Justice, the libertarian public interest litigation firm he co-founded with Chip Mellor in 1991. Between his tenure at the Institute for Justice and the Goldwater Institute, Bolick served as President and General Counsel of the Alliance for School Choice, where he became a hero of the school choice movement, aggressively defending tuition voucher programs around the country. Bolick has successfully won landmark precedents defending school choice, freedom of enterprise, private property rights and challenging corporate subsidies and racial classifications.
Phoenix Magazine calls the Goldwater Institute “a ninja-lawyer squad.” Conservative writer George Will wrote in 2010, "Pound for pound, the Goldwater Institute is the best (state-level) think tank in the country.” The Goldwater Institute was launched in 1988, appropriately named after Arizona's famous conservative, the late Barry Goldwater. Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ) was the Executive Director, and left a few years later to run for Congress. The Institute built up a respected reputation as a public policy think tank, issuing exhaustively researched policy reports about local government. Darcy Olsen, a bright young visionary, became President and CEO in 2001 and wisely expanded the organization by bringing in Bolick to start a litigation center, the first of its kind for a state-based policy group.
One of the Goldwater Institute's first most notable victories was taking down Arizona's publicly-funded political campaign system, Clean Elections. Clean Elections is funded by traffic tickets and taxpayers who choose to contribute $5 on their taxes, which reduces their taxes by $5. Implemented by voters through a ballot initiative in 2000, the agency immediately began aggressively targeting conservative candidates. In 2002, Matt Salmon, the Republican candidate for governor, was harshly penalized by Clean Elections through its “matching funds” provision. Salmon was the only major gubernatorial candidate who declined to run using Clean Elections funding. Anytime he raised private funds, Clean Elections would award a matching amount to his opponents, including Democratic candidate Janet Napolitano.
Even more grossly unfair was that Salmon was essentially penalized by Clean Elections for his expenses. When President Bush came to Arizona and raised $750,000 for Salmon, Salmon only received $500,000, since $250,000 went to expense the fundraiser. Yet Napolitano and another opponent were each awarded a full $750,000 in matching funds. Another way Salmon was penalized was by matching independent expenditures. When Republicans spent $330,000 to help Salmon, Clean Elections wrote checks for that amount to both of Salmon's opponents. Yet when the Democrats spent $1 million to help Napolitano, no such matching check went to Salmon. Napolitano narrowly won the race, no doubt aided by Clean Elections.
The Goldwater Institute filed a lawsuit in January 2004 spearheaded by its other top litigator, Nick Dranias, against the state, alleging that the matching-funds provision was unconstitutional. In June 2011, the Supreme Court struck down that provision, significantly dismantling the program. Now, what remains of Clean Elections has been reduced to mostly voter education and outreach.
The Institute has aggressively started going after unions in Arizona, which are bankrupting the state. Bolick filed a lawsuit against the City of Phoenix last year over its practice of paying police officers “release time,” which allows officers to spend thousands of hours performing union work while getting paid by the taxpayers. The trial court has issued an injunction prohibiting the practice while the case winds its way through the legal system.
In 2010, the Goldwater Institute championed the Save Our Secret Ballot constitutional amendment, and it was subsequently voted into law in four states. That same year, the Institute sued the City of Phoenix over a $97.4 million subsidy to the real estate developer CityNorth to build a high-end retail development. Bolick argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court that the subsidy violated the state constitution's gift clause, and although the court did not disallow the incentive, it ruled that in the future there must be additional considerations when providing subsidies to private entities. CityNorth proved to be an unsuccessful venture, and today stands mostly vacant.
The Institute has not been shy about taking on powerful, moderate Republican politicians. It successfully sued Republican Tom Horne, Arizona's Attorney General, when he tried to restrict the ability of charter schools to choose their own curriculum. Bolick stood up to Senator John McCain (R-AZ) when McCain backed the City of Glendale's attempt to subsidize the Phoenix Coyotes hockey team with government bonds, in order to entice the team not to leave the state.
One of the Institute's biggest lawsuits currently is against Obamacare. challenging the creation of an Independent Payment Advisory Board—the all-powerful healthcare rationing agency that is set to launch in 2014. Concurrently, the Goldwater Institute drafted the Healthcare Freedom Act, which has been adopted by 10 states and will be on the ballot in four more this fall.
The Goldwater Institute has successfully sued over government transparency. When a school board in the little town of Congress, AZ, tried to prohibit taxpayers from filing public records requests, the Institute sued on behalf of taxpayers and won, setting a precedent around the state ensuring this would never happen again. The Institute filed a lawsuit against the Arizona Corporation Commission in June 2008 challenging its efforts to require renewable-energy standards. The Institute stood up for free speech and won a lawsuit to allow voters to wear a Tea Party shirt into a polling place.
Bolick goes around the country helping similar public policy groups start litigation divisions modeled after the Goldwater Institute's model. Local governments in Arizona now turn to the Institute first when planning new funding schemes, in order to avoid lawsuits later. While some on the right are critical of using the courts to effect policy, labeling it “judicial activism,” Bolick would argue that we don't have a choice. These kinds of issues are ultimately being decided by the courts whether we like it or not, so why not choose the best cases now for the maximum advantage, instead of being blindsided by them later?
The number of people whose lives have been touched by the Institute keeps increasing. One mother discovered the Educational Savings Accounts advocated by the Institute, and was able to put her special needs child in a private school that could properly educate him. Parent Katherine Visser said, “It allows parents to have a choice they wouldn’t have had otherwise. It’s been a Godsend.”
The Goldwater Institute may not receive the media coverage that Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker does when he takes on the unions, nor is it a favorite juicy target of the unions, but perhaps that is why it is so successful. Respected by everyone on the right, with an impressive record of raising funding, Bolick and Olsen have developed the Institute to a level that should be emulated by right-leaning organizations everywhere.

Reprinted from Townhall

Arizona Proposition 204 is Really About Special Interest Money

Proposition 204 – the Quality Education and Jobs Initiative – not only sets aside permanent spending for the education bureaucracy and road building, it also provides social services spending for families and children out of reach of the officials elected to spend the taxpayer’s money.

Few citizens would argue that the state should provide funds for education and social services within year-to-year budget constraints. But many citizens would argue against automatic and permanent spending free of control by elected officials.

That is what Proposition 204 does with a number of social services programs for families and children. The funding would be allocated through two of the seven “designated funds” dictated by the initiative.
Funding for all the proposition’s “designated funds” would come from a permanent one-cent increase in the state sales tax rate. The tax hike would yield $1 billion a year.

Proposition 204 calls for $500 million annually for K-12 compliance with “assessment and accountability rules” and $100 million for the “state infrastructure fund.”

The next $100 million would go to match federal funds for the “family stability and self-sufficiency fund” to support families living below the federal poverty level. Another $25 million would go to the “children’s health insurance program fund” to reduce
costs for publicly funded health care programs for poor children under the age of 19.

These laudable social service programs deserve consideration by the states elected officials. They are designed to serve the state’s citizens in need of financial assistance.

Regardless, they should not be lumped together with other special interest spending walled off from consideration by elected officials. This is spending on automatic pilot that ignores the consent of the governed. The proposition should be defeated on November 6.

Doug Ducey: No New Taxes, Vote No on Prop 204

	Dear Friends, As your Arizona State Treasurer, coupled with my 20 plus years of experience as a businessman and entrepreneur in the private sector, solving problems and fixing budgets has been a big part of my career. That is why I am leading the effort to defeat Proposition 204. Prop 204 raises our taxes $1 BILLION annually and FOREVER. This PERMANENT sales tax increase will give our state the 2nd highest sales tax rate in the nation. Its passage will delay our economic recovery and put Arizona back on the path of fiscal irresponsibility. This initiative breaks the promise that Arizona’s TEMPORARY sales tax would not become permanent. It is being deceptively marketed as essential for education, but carves out 14-different earmarks for special interest groups. How can Arizona compete to attract and retain jobs with the 2nd highest sales tax rate in the country? It is simple - if Prop 204 passes in November, Arizona will lose jobs. We need REAL education reform - Prop 204 is not the answer. Prop 204 does not guarantee that the money will be directed to the classroom and to the teachers where it is needed the most. It is a blank check that will provide more money to the same education funding formulas that are failing our teachers and our children. We’ve worked hard through this recession to restore Arizona’s financial footing. We can not let the special interest groups pass a California-styled initiative that will prevent us from making the changes needed in the future that come with changing circumstances. Please join me in opposition to Proposition 204 by clicking on the banner above. Thank you, Doug Ducey Arizona State Treasurer Chairman - No New Taxes, No on Prop 204

Paid for by No New Taxes, No on 204.
Major funding by Americans for Responsible Leadership, Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Company, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, and the Arizona Chapter of NAIOP.