SanTanValley.com

Paul Babeu’s lies never quit — they just get more outrageous.  His latest target is Pinal County Attorney James Walsh, and why is he going after Mr. Walsh? Because he can’t control him, that’s why.  

As you read this, your early primary ballot is on the way to your mailbox. I want to talk directly to the registered Republicans of our county. Four years ago you created the problem of Paul Babeu, and now you are the only ones who can fix it. We don’t often get the opportunity for “do-overs,” so please don’t waste this one!  

Here is a letter I wrote to the AJ New a few weeks ago - I'm hoping to get some feedback!

I don't really want to start another "letter" war, but I really can't ignore what Mr. Goldstein wrote last week. (AJ News, Mar 26 2012). He's peddling the "It's all Obama's Fault" message, and it doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Firstly, this president has approved approximately the same number of new drilling permits per month as did Bush. (There was a downturn after the BP catastrophe, as new safety regs were being devised and implemented, although not nearly enough, in my opinion!). But that's not the issue - more drilling would not lead to cheaper gas at the pump. It never has, and it never will.  That might work in some businesses, but with the oil industry they will always raise the prices just as high as they can get away with. They chatter about supply and demand, turmoil in the Middle East, storm-damaged refineries, and speculators in the global market, all to confuse us and make us believe it's just too complicated for us to understand.  But this I know:  if their costs are rising, and they pass the costs down the line to the pump, then their profits should be flat. But their profits continue to skyrocket. Net, gross, exponentially, in "real dollars" and adjusted for inflation!  Meanwhile, the U.S. Government continues the largest corporate welfare program in history.  The oil industry has enough bought-and-paid-for influence in Congress to ensure that the funds keep flowing.

So is there any way the President COULD bring down the price at the pump?  Sure!  He could impose price controls, as Nixon did.  He could put a stop to oil exports (did you know that in 2011 the US EXPORTED up to 3 million barrels of crude per month?)  Or he could just nationalize the entire industry.  Of course, all those things would be interfering with the free market, wouldn't it?  Socialism, even!  Can't have that.  (Not that subsidizing them in the first place isn't interference in the market!)

What we should have done was listen to President Carter about 3 decades ago, when he warned us about this very situation. If we had started getting off our dependence on oil back then, the world would be a very different place today.  (Remember the solar panels he was installing on the roof of the White House?  Reagan dismantled them.)  No, everyone ignored or ridiculed him, and as a result we've lost 30 years.  I suppose that's Obama's fault too.

So, that's was was published.  I had two responses.  One man jumped all over my claim that drilling was equal to the Bush years, but he obsessed about "private" versus "public" drilling.  Can't see the relevance, myself.  Another man told me to just wait until November, when Obama would be thrown out of office!  That's a pertinent response.  Does anyone else have any ideas?

A Question for Senator Steve Smith's Wife:

The Arizona House has just passed HB 2625. It will soon come up in the Senate.  This bill takes the Republican War on Women to new lows, which means that for Senator Steve Smith, it's a slam-dunk. I haven't heard him say that he will support it, but it would be a miracle of the ages if he didn't, considering his record. I think it's a safe assumption that he will proudly defend this abomination.  So I would like to ask his wife a question:  Mrs. Smith, why do you only have two children?

Paul Babeu is NOT unfit to hold office because he is gay. He IS unfit to hold office because he is a proven liar and hypocrite, because he has corrupted the Sheriff's Department by bringing in political cronies and bad cops from other cities, because he has grossly mismanaged his budget, because he has deliberately spread fear and hatred in order to further his own political ambitions, and because he has taken the salary of a full-time sheriff while spending most of his time campaigning for other candidates and promoting himself rather than doing the job he was elected to do.

I'm so disappointed.  The Republican Presidential race has been so entertaining, and now it's almost over.  I was really hoping we'd still have Michelle Bachman, Herman Cain, and Rick Perry to marvel at when the show came to our state, but it looks like there'll be hardly anyone left when they get here.  Santorum is about done, Newt may flame out at any moment, Paul will probably keep hanging around (but his squirreliness has gotten old) and frankly, Mitt is a bore. 

I think if I were a kinder person I'd feel pity for the poor Republicans. How on earth could you pick one from that lineup? I mean, come on!  Cain, Bachman, and Perry were the most bizarre trio I've ever seen.  So they were eventually eliminated. Santorum can only get support from the real fanatics from the religious side - the ones who don't care if he can win or not, but will support him to the end anyway. The Paul kids are totally dedicated to ideals they don't understand - but so what?  Legalize drugs! The Newt supporters are the real puzzling ones for me. After all, we've all been disillusioned by someone we trusted, whether a political figure, sports hero, or anyone else. It's tough to take when we find out we've been duped.  But why would anyone deliberately align themselves with someone who has already proven to be corrupt?  And with Newt, as I've said before, he's demonstrably corrupt across the board:  in his financial dealings, his professional career, and even his personal life.  Go figure.

So the winner is..........Mitt!  May I quote Andy Borowitz?  "Ron Paul believes 100 per cent of what he says. Gingrich believes 0 per cent of what he says. And Romney says 100 per cent of what he believes his audience wants to hear". 

It's really to early to be talking about the election, but in case anyone would like to see a quick summation of what President Barack Obama has accomplished to far, take a look at www.pinaldemocrats.org.  Down at the bottom of the home page you'll see a readable or printable list.  And of course, there will be updates added!

Okay, what do you think about Newt Gingrich's latest move, attacking Romney from the left? Imagine hearing one candidate accuse another: "He made millions of dollars for himself and his investors by destroying whole companies and putting them out of business, and laying off thousands of employees!  He was a VULTURE CAPITALIST!".  Well, obviously an attack like that must have come from a Democrat, right?  Smearing Capitalism? Clearly a Socialist who hates the American Way!

Oops. Nope. This is coming from a candidate who says he's a Conservative. Who says he's pro-business. Who says the government should stay out of the regulation game. Who is against the Consumer Protection Agency.  Who claims to worship unfettered free enterprise. Who made millions himself producing nothing - except "advice" to Franny and Freddie.

President Obama's campaign isn't going to have to do a thing except rerun Gingrich's own words.

So, what sticks out the most?  The irony of the right-winger attacking the moderate from the left, the consistent hypocrisy of Gingrich, or the hysterical funny-ness?  (Yes, I made that up).

I'm voting for funny.

Everybody should be familiar with the recent trends in voter registration, not only in Pinal County or the state of Arizona, but throughout the country.  Democratic and Republican registration is shrinking while Independent or No Party Designated (the same thing, actually) is on the rise.  Here are the latest registration figures from Pinal County as of December 31:

Democrats 48,827; Republicans 53,457; Others 61,466.

My very first blog post……..what should I talk about? Taxes? DOMA? Arizona Redistricting? World peace? How about an overview of the divisiveness in American politics today – from my perspective, of course. I’ve been thinking about this for nearly a year now, since Congresswoman Giffords was shot in Tucson. The catch-phrase became “finding common ground”. Everybody talked about it. But is anyone actually doing it? Is it even possible?