by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Aug 12, 2021 | Opinion
By the Free Enterprise Club |
Rules for thee, but not for me. Apparently, that’s the lesson a growing number of Arizona public schools want to teach students in the coming year. (Perhaps they’re looking to replace science, since it appears they’re not interested in following that anymore.)
At the end of June, Governor Ducey signed HB2898, which included a provision prohibiting a city, town, county, school board, or charter school governing body from requiring students or teachers to wear masks.
That should be simple enough to follow. But it sent teachers’ unions and the establishment media into a tailspin. After all, the left LOVES mask mandates for kids, even though they may cause psychological harm and no study can back them up.
So, instead of teaching students a proper civics lesson about what it means to follow the law, various K-12 school districts have chosen to violate it…
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by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Aug 5, 2021 | Opinion
By the Free Enterprise Club |
Who doesn’t want more money in their pocket? After a brutal year that featured COVID lockdowns, small businesses and families trying to make ends meet could certainly use some.
And Arizona Republicans delivered.
At the end of June, the state legislature passed a $1.8 billion tax cut, the single largest tax cut in Arizona history. And Governor Ducey didn’t waste any time before signing the budget, which shouldn’t come as a big surprise. As Senator Mesnard explained while voting in favor of the budget:
At the end of the day, when this passes, every single taxpayer in Arizona will get a cut. Every single one.
It was certainly a day worth celebrating. But not everyone joined the party.
Apparently, Invest in Arizona, a political committee sponsored by Arizona Education Association and Stand for Children, isn’t happy with the idea of every Arizona taxpayer receiving a cut. In an effort to block the historic tax cuts, the group filed three referendums that include components from three bills passed this legislative session:
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by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Aug 4, 2021 | Opinion
By the Free Enterprise Club |
They said that it didn’t happen, it couldn’t happen, and that anyone who even dared to mention fraud in reference to the past election was a “conspiracy theorist” propagating “The Big Lie.” They began asserting and endlessly repeating that this was the “safest and most secure” election in U.S. history, ironically implying that past elections were actually not safe and secure? And they produced no objective measure as to why the claim is valid and not simply rhetoric regurgitated to stifle free discussion and common-sense reforms.
What’s the saying? The difference between conspiracy theory and truth is about 6-12 months? Just as the “conspiracy theory” about the origins of COVID, which was censored by Big Tech and suppressed by the corporate media, has now become accepted as likely true, a Grand Jury just indicted an Arizona voter of voter fraud.
It happened like this…
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by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Aug 2, 2021 | Opinion
By the Free Enterprise Club |
It turns out that Arizona Democrats like welfare for the wealthy after all. After spending weeks railing against a historic $1.8 billion, across the board tax cut that will benefit all Arizona taxpayers and small businesses, Democrats in the House and Senate overwhelmingly voted in favor of SB1124, legislation that (as Senator Javan Mesnard described during his vote explanation) is the definition of welfare for the wealthy.
SB 1124 was the ultimate special interest tax package, so loathsome that it was snuck through the last week of session to avoid the stench of lobbyist backscratching. In reality it was the only way they could put taxpayers on the hook for over $200 million to fund an absurd Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and Angel Investor Tax Credit program that will do nothing but line the pockets of wealthy Developers and Venture Capitalists.
But this didn’t seem to bother most Democrats, who on one hand refer to broad based tax cuts as “racist,” but are perfectly fine doling out tax carveouts and subsidies to their wealthy allies.
So now we are stuck with a Venture Capital Program that is government picking winners and losers at its worst. The Angel Investor tax credit shields “qualified investors” (i.e. rich people with political friends) from risk by giving them tax credits for their investments. And the icing on the cake—any profits from these taxpayer backed investments are exempt from capital gains taxes. This is welfare for the wealthy—and Democrats happily passed it with the help of a few Republicans…
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by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Jul 30, 2021 | Education, Opinion
By the Free Enterprise Club |
Sometimes, it’s not just what the media says. It’s what they don’t say.
Last week, the Arizona Auditor General concluded its financial investigation into Higley Unified School District (HUSD). And the findings of the report are mind blowing.
The Auditor General found that HUSD’s former superintendent Dr. Denise Birdwell, may have conspired with employees of Education Facilities Development Services (EFDS), along with Hunt & Caraway’s former president, to circumvent school district procurement rules to improperly award Higley’s $2,557,125 Project development services contract to EFDS.
But if you thought that was bad, there’s more. The report also alleges that Dr. Birdwell misused public monies when she authorized or caused the unlawful use of $6 million in restricted public funds toward construction of two new schools. And to top it all off, Dr. Birdwell, along with Gary Aller and Steven Nielsen from EFDS, appear to have concealed their wrongdoing by certifying false information on Higley records.
A State Grand Jury indicted Dr. Birdwell on 18 felony counts. In addition, Gary Aller, Steven Nielsen, and Kay Hartwell Hunnicutt (who shared a home and checking account with Dr. Birdwell) were indicted on three felony counts each…
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