Vote Jeff Smith for AZ-6

We are coming down to the last few days before the August 24 primary election and Arizona Congressional District 6 voters have a choice to make in the Republican primary about whether to send Jeff Flake back to Washington for a sixth term or to send someone new, someone who has not lost touch with the concerns of the people of the district. For me, the choice is clear. Jeff Smith should get the nod. His postitons on some of the most important questions facing us today.

Immigration

Jeff Smith fully supports SB 1070 and is for building a complete double border fence, opposes any form of amnesty and believes we need to enforce the immigration laws that are already on the books. And he doesn't belive American taxpayers should be subsidizing the education of people who aren't supposed to be in the country in the first place.

Jeff Flake is soft on illegal immigration. He is an advocate of "Comprehensive Immigration Reform," including amnesty. Talking about comprehensive reform is a bit like being on a ship at sea that is taking on water and discussing how the engines need to be overhauled  the next time it is in port. If you don't deal with the leak, you'll never make it to port. We need to fix our leaky border first, then we can talk about fixing the system.

Flake was also against Prop 200, the 2004 Arizona voter initiative that denied funding of social services for illegal immigrants that passed with 56% of the vote. More recently he is quoted as saying that SB 1070, supported by over 70% of Arizona voters and over 60% of voters nationwide, was "imprudent". This sounds to me like someone who doesn't support the law at all but dares not say so outright because he knows he is out of step with his constituents on the issue. However, I will give him points for criticizing the DOJ decision to sue the state over it.

Another area in which Congressman Flake is out of step with his constituents is in his support for the DREAM act, which woulld make illegal immigrants eligible to receive federal student aid and to recieve in-state tuition rates at public universities.

Carbon Taxes

Jeff Smith is against any form of carbon taxes, cap and trade schemes, etc. and rejects the junk science of climate change. All of the proposed solutions to this non-problem will increase energy costs and give government even more control over how we live.

Jeff Flake has bought into the carbon nonsense and actually introduced legislation to impose a carbon tax which would increase every year for the next thirty years.  In addition to that he actually missed a crucial and very close vote on cap and trade so he could attend a beauty pageant his daughter was in. I'm proud of my daughter too, but when he went to Washington to represent the district, sacrificing things like that go with the territory.

Private Sector Experience

Jeff Smith comes from a private sector background, having worked for many years for Lucent and now is a private stock and options investor and has earned an MBA in Economics (not the Keynesian variety). 

Jeff Flake is a policy wonk with Political Science degree and think-tank work. He has never had to manage a business before. Private sector experience is a big plus in my book because it teaches how the real world, not the theoretical one works. 

Puerto Rico

Jeff Flake voted in favor of a bill on Puerto Rican statehood in what I can only conclude is a misguided attempt to "reach across the aisle." He did this despite the fact that Puerto Ricans already had the ability to vote on whether or not they want to become a state. In fact, they have managed to hold three such elections, voting against statehood every time. Couple this with his support for a bill that would grant permanent voting representation to Washington D.C. (in contravention to the will of the founders), and one has to wonder why Jeff Flake supports measures that are so obviously aimed at swelling the ranks of liberal Democrat voters and legislators.

Jeff Smith will not pander to the other side of the aisle, or anyone else for that matter.

Spending

Jeff Flake has made much of the fact that he doesn't ask for earmarks and that's good as far as it goes. However with only 1% or less of all federal spending going to earmarks, odious as the process of pork division is, the focus is misplaced.

Jeff Smith also opposes earmarks but more importantly he opposes all wasteful spending and will work towards reducing spending across the board, in particular he will work to reform entitlement programs, which are the largest part of the federal budget, an put them on a sustainable path.

A Broken Promise

When Jeff Flake was first elected in 2000, he promised to self term-limit to no more than three terms.  He is now running for his sixth term, which is evidence enough for me that he has gotten to like Washington a little too much. I am grateful for the service he has given the district, but it is time for him to come home.

Jeff Flake Tries to Shut Out His Competition

I learned from Seeing Red AZ that Congressman Jeff Flake is using his clout in his home legislative district, State Legislative District 22, to keep his constituents from having the opportunity to hear  from another candidate for the Arizona Congressional District 6 seat he now occupies, Jeff Smith, a man I have met and who I think would be an excellent representative. Flake has been in Washington too long. He originally ran on a promise to self term limit to three terms. He is now running for his sixth. He has also bought into the buncombe that carbon dioxide is a pollutant that needs to be regulated and is co-sponsoring legislation to tax emissions (HR 2380).

What's the matter, Mr. Flake? Are you feeling a bit insecure about your record lately? The voters in AZ6/State District 22 deserve an opprotunity to hear what Mr. Smith has to offer them. If you are confident of your record, what do you have to be afraid of?

LD 22 meets on the second Thursday of each month. The meeting location is undisclosed. The widely distributed GOP calendar of events lists District Chairman Chad Heywood at (480) 388-6149 or email him at chadheywood@gmail.com for further information. This would be a good opportunity to ask about the restrictive policies and let him know you want to hear from all the candidates.

After the Storm - Four Peaks With a Fresh Coat of Snow

We've had a very stormy, rainy week here in Arizona. Of course the California coast got it far worse. We just got what was left over after the storms rolled through there, which is how it usually works. Bad weather is rare for us here. In fact we're kind of glad for the change of pace and we can always use the rain. There are other compensations too. Take a look at the view of Four Peaks, which is about 25-30 miles Northeast of us. We're at 1,400 feet MSL, Four Peaks rises to 7,500 feet so after one of these Winter storms we're almost always treated to a view of snow-capped mountains, even as we wander around the valley in short sleeves.

Note the palm trees visble over the rooftops in the foreground.

This is a view along one of the SRP (Salt River Project) canal paths which forms part of a network of walking and bike paths around town. And here are some canal residents......

All together, a very pleasant weekend.

Sedona Getaway Pictures

Last weekend missus and I had a rare opportunity to get away for a couple of days by ourselves so we decided to drive up to Sedona, AZ in the mouth of Oak Creek Canyon, about 2 hours north of Phoenix. The scenery is breathtakingly beautiful up there and I took several pictures I thought I'd share.

This (above) was taken from the top of Tabletop Mountain, looking northwest just outside the airport gate, about an hour before sunset.

Same spot, looking north.

One of about half a dozen hawks looking for a last minute meal before nightfall.

After spending the night in Sedona we decided to take the long way home down route 89A through Cottonwood, then Jerome and over the top of Mingus Mountain to Prescott then route 69 back to I-17 and on down the hill to Phoenix.

Jerome is an old copper mining town that has found new life as a sort of artist colony. It is perched precariously on the side of the mountain at about 5,500 feet (I guess that must be the average altitude). It is only 10 miles from Cottonwood, which is at about 3,300 feet, so you can imagine the climb up a narrow road with numerous switchbacks and in some places, no guardrail. The road is like that all the way to the mountain top where you finaly start down again from 7,023 feet. If you are prone to vertigo, better find a diffferent route but the views are too stunning to miss.

This was taken from Jerome, looking back to the north over Cottonwood (near distance) and Sedona (about 30 miles). The mountain in the distance is Humphrey's Peak, on the northern outskirts of Flagstaff, about 60 miles away.

Arizona Tea Party

I headed down to the State Capitol in downtown Phoenix after work today to attend the local tea party event. The crowd was enthusiastic but well behaved, as you might expect of the law-abiding, tax-paying types. Local news reports put the crowd at around 6,000. That feels about right to me. There were several speakers, including local politicians and some local radio personalities. It was kind of difficult to hear them more than 50 feet or so away as the audio equipment was set up with the speakers pointing in one direction, but most people didn't seem to mind. They were all admiring each other's signs.

This was my first protest and I just turned 50. I think it was the first time for a lot more too and I think we were all kind of pleasantly surprised that there were so many others with similar concerns that showed up. If it's true that the people that show up for protests are generally a small percentage of those that care about the issue at hand, the political class had better be paying attention or they'll be getting a nasty shock next election day. Here are a few photos from the event.

Snow on the Superstitions

This is a picture of the Superstition Mountains, to the East of where I live (as long as I continue to believe they are anyway) taken with my cellphone camera today on my way back from foraging for lunch. Seeing snow on the Superstitions is pretty rare. The peaks range from about 3500 to 4500 feet above sea level. We're at 1400.