Last week, Arizona State Senator Shawnna Bolick issued a statement about economic calamities affecting families around her state.
Bolick said, “Since Kamala Harris and Joe Biden entered office, Arizona families have felt the weight of crippling inflation caused by their bad policies. In 2022, inflation hit its highest level in 40 years at 9%, and the price of every basic necessity skyrocketed. While the Federal Reserve reports inflation has since eased to near the target 2% threshold, and despite this month’s interest rate cut of 0.5%, conditions are not improving for hardworking Arizonans. Grocery store prices are 25% higher now than just before the pandemic. Homes are no longer affordable for our working class. Eviction filings have hit record highs in the Valley.”
Bolick added, “Republicans at the Legislature have made it our mission to lessen these burdens. We eliminated the tax renters pay on housing. We passed a ban on grocery taxes that sadly every Democrat voted against and the Governor vetoed. I vow to continue fighting for policies that will allow you to keep more of your money next legislative session.”
Last year, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signed SB 1131, which Republicans led through the state legislature. This legislation eliminated the rental tax for Arizona tenants.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Senate Republicans Deliver Inflation Relief to Struggling Arizonans by Prohibiting Sales Tax on Rent ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/8tGzEhrJxj
According to Arizona Senate Republicans, “There are approximately 70 municipalities within our state charging this tax, while cities and towns continue to collect record revenues. From fiscal years 2019 to 2023, state-shared revenues from both sales and income taxes combined grew $733 million, or 59%. This increase is on top of any sales taxes or property taxes individually levied by each city. Between FY 2024 and FY 2025, those shared revenues are expected to grow by an additional $389 million.”
Senate President Warren Petersen issued the following statement in conjunction with the announcement: “Charging a rental tax is bad tax policy. In fact, Arizona is one of only two states in the nation currently allowing this. While our first attempt at eliminating the tax passed out of the Legislature with solely Republican support and was eventually vetoed by the Governor, we’re grateful our Democrat colleagues came to the table with us and realized the real tangible relief this reform will provide.”
Earlier that session, Hobbs vetoed SB 1063, which would have repealed the food municipal tax across the state.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Governor Continues Unwillingness to Help Arizonans Amid Crippling Inflation ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/qwOJSxorOH
After the governor’s action against the Republican proposal, Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli said, “This veto is a disgraceful windfall for cities and an absolute gouge for families. We’re not only paying inflated prices to feed our families, but we’re also paying more in taxes as the cost of food rises. Food is not a luxury; it is a necessity. A tax on our groceries is regressive and hurts everyone. Over the next four fiscal years, cities and towns are estimated to receive an average of $2.3 billion per year in state-shared revenues, which is an increase of $844 million more than the average for the last four fiscal years. And yet the governor vetoed this bill, only padding cities’ bloated budgets instead of leaving more money in the wallets of hardworking taxpayers.”
Senator Bolick faces a tough General Election fight in November for her bid to return to the Arizona Legislature for another two years. Arizona Legislative District 2 is one of the most competitive in the state, with a 3.8% vote spread in the past nine statewide elections. It is very winnable for Republicans, however, as the party has emerged victorious in six out of those nine elections.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Recently, Tim Walz said the quiet part out loud, declaring, “We can’t afford four more years of this.” When Walz and JD Vance face off on the debate stage this week, this is one statement they will both agree on: Americans can’t afford four more years of the Biden-Harris agenda transformed to a Harris-Walz Administration.
As we and others around us grapple with skyrocketing inflation, depleting savings accounts, soaring interest rates, and wages unable to keep pace with the financial ruins from the Biden-Harris agenda, Tim Walz is right – Americans cannot afford four more years of Democrat failed policies. We’ve heard time and time again that Kamala is from a middle-class family. However, Harris continues to be oblivious to the consequences of her failed economic policies that impact our families at the grocery store, gas stations, and electricity bills. It seems she’s the only self-identified ‘middle-class’ person who is immune to the inflation crisis that she and President Joe Biden have created.
Here are the inconvenient facts for Harris and Walz. Inflation has cost the average Arizona household nearly $27,000. Everything from energy to food has dramatically increased in price. Our electric bills are up 30%, and gas prices are up 46%. Putting food on the table is increasingly expensive as grocery prices have spiked 21% since President Donald J. Trump left office. Under Biden-Harris, nothing in our lives is immune to inflation, which is a hidden tax on every American. And for growing families, everyday baby essentials have skyrocketed, with a pack of diapers increased by 32% and baby food up by nearly 12%.
While men and women are paying more for just about everything, we are also taking home less after inflation. Families around the nation have had to take out additional lines of credit just to make ends meet. Now, nearly four years into the Biden-Harris failed economy, those credit cards are maxed out, with debt reaching a record high of $1.14 trillion. Thanks to Kamalanomics, one in five Americans’ credit cards are maxed out.
Arizonans are at their breaking point, and the 2024 Democrat ticket will only make these economic crises worse. A Harris-Walz agenda is a page out of the socialist playbook. Between their costly Soviet-style price controls and a tax on small businesses that is higher than the tax rate in China, the Democrats’ agenda puts America last.
Don’t take my word for it; it was Tim Walz himself who once said, “One person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness.” He also told business leaders, “We’re not taxing people–we’re taxing businesses.” Walz clearly doesn’t understand basic economics. When you tax a business, they pass that cost onto consumers.
These price controls and record-high tax rates will decimate what’s left of the American economy. But it’s not just our pocketbooks that are at risk. Walz, like Kamala, is a far-left radical socialist.
Together, they are the most liberal presidential ticket inhistory.
Tim Walz has a long record as Minnesota Governor that shows us how he would assist Kamala Harris in their shared mission of destroying our country. At a time when families are struggling to make ends meet, Tim Walz will help usher in his Electric Vehicle mandate nationwide, requiring Americans to drive unaffordable electric cars that cost on average $56,575, which is over the average yearly salary in Arizona.
Tim Walz has a history of implementing unconstitutional mandates and socialist policies. Walz mandated lockdown long after Covid-19 ended, keeping children out of schools, and promoting the vaccine for children as young as six years old. During the lockdowns, Tim Walz even created a hotline to snitch on people who defied his ‘stay at home order,’ an authoritarian move that took officers from fighting crime to making criminals out of church services, and business owners who did not strictly follow masking rules – a power trip that turned Minnesota into North Korea.
Walz is no less radical on immigration and border security. As Governor, he signed legislation to provide free taxpayer-funded healthcare to illegal immigrants, and he celebrated issuing driver’s licenses and car registrations to over 81,000 illegal immigrants in his state. Going even further, Walz granted illegals access to free college tuition. It’s clear that he puts illegals above American citizens. In response to President Trump’s border wall, Tim Walz said he would invest in ladders so that unvetted illegal migrants could still come over. It’s hard to believe that this current crisis at the border could get much worse, but it definitely would under the Harris-Walz Administration!
Additionally, Walz and Harris’ radical defund-the-police ticket should concern every community in Arizona and around the country. Just a handful of years ago, Walz essentially stood by while his own cities burned down and businesses were looted and violently destroyed, and then Kamala Harris helped raise money to bail the criminals out of jail. They make quite a team in these and many more areas. Americans be warned: this is what would be heading to our Arizona cities if this weak, failed, and dangerously liberal ticket has its way.
Americans can’t afford to send the most radical socialist ticket in U.S. history to the White House. With days left until election day, we must vote for a strong economy, safety in our communities, and a secure border. To do that, we must send tested and proven leaders to the White House—Donald J. Trump and J.D. Vance. Let’s make the right decision for the future of our great nation!
Congresswoman Debbie Lesko represents Arizona’s 8th Congressional District. She is currently running for Maricopa County Supervisor in District 4.
When you hear Ruben Gallego’s Senate campaign ads, you might think he’s an outsider taking on the Biden-Harris administration’s policies. In reality, Gallego has been in Congress for ten years, fully backing the Biden-Harris agenda. Over the last four years, he voted with them 100% of the time.
Gallego is now trying to reposition himself for the general election, just like Harris, by running away from his record. But don’t be misled. He is a radical progressive with strong support from Alex Soros, the son of billionaire George Soros.
Gallego shares Soros’s radical views, including being anti-police and soft on crime. He’s even praised those wanting to defund the police, abolish ICE, and eliminate cash bail.
Gallego calls the border wall “stupid” and “useless,” and he mocks those of us who are concerned about 11 million illegals entering our country. According to Gallego, we shouldn’t worry about the hundreds of thousands of drug overdose deaths, the increase in violent crime, sex trafficking, and threats from potential terrorists allowed to enter America. We should look the other way when illegal violent gangs take over apartment buildings and terrorize American citizens in major U.S. cities.
While he decries “right-wing policies” for separating families at the border, Gallego backs Biden-Harris policies that have lost track of over 300,000 unaccompanied minors, with many likely falling into sex trafficking, child labor, or even killed. The Biden-Harris administration has no idea where they are.
Gallego says while in Congress, he has been at the forefront of sensible, comprehensive immigration reform. He claims several bills have passed the House only to be blocked by Senate Republicans. He fails to mention that he voted against H.R.2 – Secure the Border Act of 2023, which passed the House only to be blocked by Schumer in the Senate. He voted for mass amnesty for millions of illegals and for federal funding for sanctuary cities, and Gallego opposes the Remain in Mexico policy.
Ruben Gallego supports the Harris plan to extend Social Security and Medicare benefits to illegal immigrants, which would cost taxpayers millions.
He has had years to address these issues in Congress, but his record shows a consistent push for policies that have worsened the problems. Now he promises change, but with his track record, why should we believe him?
On the economic front, Gallego voted for the Biden-Harris administration’s trillions in reckless spending that fueled inflation and rising prices. Under Biden-Harris, overall inflation is up 19.2%, average gas prices are up 46.6%, grocery prices are up 20.9%, electricity prices are up 29.6%, and real hourly wages are down 2.2%.
Now, despite this record, while running for the Senate after four years of voting for massive spending and billions in higher taxes, he promises to tackle cost-of-living issues and empower workers.
Gallego’s campaign ads say he has pushed back against his own party and has plans to fix all the problems caused by his continued support of the Biden-Harris administration. Does anyone believe that a former congressman, who would be the junior Senator from Arizona, with a track record of voting 100% in support of radical Democrat policies, will somehow become transformed and now vote against the Harris agenda? Not likely.
Just like Harris, the radical Gallego will say anything to get elected.
The overwhelming majority of Americans want a change. Voting for the same people who caused the problems and expecting things to change is foolish.
Radical Ruben Gallego is wrong on the economy and taxes, wrong on crime, and wrong on the border.
Mike Bengert is a husband, father, grandfather, and Scottsdale resident advocating for quality education in SUSD for over 30 years.
Arizona Rep. David Schweikert shared the shocking July Consumer Price Index (CPI) report of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that utterly shatters any narrative suggesting that the economy has recovered and inflation is abating. Citing the Bureau, Schweikert’s office noted that consumer prices are up 0.2% month-over-month and 2.9% compared to 2023. This requires the average family to spend $13,138 more per year to maintain the same lifestyle they enjoyed in 2021, while real average weekly earnings dropped 3.9%.
Most damningly, per the report, Cumulative CPI inflation (not seasonally adjusted) is up a devastating 20.2% with the American people effectively losing one-fifth of their buying power since President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took power in 2021.
It's no wonder that consumers have declining confidence in President Biden and Vice President Harris to improve their financial standing after 3.5 years of economic calamity.
— Joint Economic Committee Republicans (@JECRepublicans) August 14, 2024
In several states, the cumulative inflation is significantly higher still. In the states of Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Nevada, all key states in the 2024 Presidential election, cumulative inflation stands at 21.8%, and cumulative additional costs are the highest in the nation with Colorado’s the worst at $36,703 per average household. Colorado is exceeded only by Washington, D.C. where the cost increase is a staggering $41,313 per household. Arizonans have spent $32,625 more due to cumulative inflation.
Schweikert said in the statement:
“Though hardworking Americans received positive news this morning that inflation continued to slow in July, overall prices are still up more than 20% and real average weekly earnings are down 3.9% since the beginning of the Biden-Harris administration.
From Day One, this administration’s radical agenda has been a rubber stamp for growth-slowing tax hikes and runaway inflationary spending that have dramatically reduced Americans’ purchasing power and standard of living. It’s no wonder that consumers have declining confidence in President Biden and Vice President Harris to improve their financial standing after three-and-a-half years of economic calamity.”
The congressman’s office summarized the lengthy report, finding that food prices have increased 22% since January and energy costs have skyrocketed over 40%.
According to the JEC State Inflation Tracker, the average U.S. household was forced to spend $1,095 more in July, or $13,138 more per year, to maintain the same consumption basket they had in January 2021.
Headline CPI-U inflation increased 0.2% m/m and 2.9% y/y.
Core CPI-U inflation increased 0.2% m/m and 3.2% y/y.
Since January 2021:
Headline CPI-U inflation has increased 20.2%.
Core CPI-U inflation has increased 18.3%.
The food price index has increased 22%.
The energy price index has increased 40.2%.
Real average weekly earnings for all employees have decreased by 3.9%.
On the national inflation tracker, measuring the additional monthly cost for the average U.S. household since January 2021, Arizona placed 11th, well above the national average. The five states that enjoyed the smallest cost increases due to inflation were Arkansas, Oklahoma, Maine, West Virginia, and Louisiana.
On August 2, the Joint Economic Committee Republicans also reported that per the July jobs report, only 114,000 new jobs were added to the economy, well short of the 175,000 projected, and unemployment has increased to 4.3%, further indicating a weakening economy. A week prior, in a fiery speech to a largely empty House, Schweikert sarcastically congratulated Congress for the gross national debt passing $35 trillion.
Our gross national debt passed $35 trillion on Monday.
The math isn’t partisan.
It’s not Republican, nor is it Democrat.
Doing the math is MORAL. We need to be willing to have hard conversations to save future generations. And it starts by putting batteries in the calculator. pic.twitter.com/ORAryaBqKr
A report released by the American Farm Bureau Federation has revealed that for the third year in a row, the national average consumer cost for putting on a typical Fourth of July cookout has increased. This year the average given for a conservative celebration feeding 10 is approximately $71.22. The increase of about 5% from 2023 would seem minor if it were not merely the latest increment of the 30% jump from 2019 prices enjoyed during the Trump administration.
The report contradicts a White House release from June 20 that claimed, “grocery inflation is, in fact, way down.” In a survey conducted by the Farm Bureau, volunteers across the country registered a record high result since the survey began in 2013. The volunteers priced out the constituent components of cheeseburgers, chicken breasts, pork chops, homemade potato salad, strawberries, and ice cream, with other common accompaniments.
AFBF Chief Economist Roger Cryan laid it out in a statement,
“Higher prices at the grocery store reflect a number of challenges facing America’s families. Lower availability of some cookout staples and inflation are hitting people in their wallets. Farmers are also feeling the effects of high prices. They’re price takers, not price makers. Their share of the retail food dollar is just 15%, but they still pay elevated fuel, fertilizer and other supply prices.”
The Bureau reported the price increases broken down by individual purchases:
2 pounds of ground beef, $12.77 (+11%)
2 pounds of chicken breasts, $7.83 (-4%)
3 pounds of pork chops, $15.49 (+8%)
1 pound of cheese, $3.57 (+1%)
1 package of hamburger buns, $2.41 (+7%)
2 ½ pounds of homemade potato salad, $3.32 (-4%)
32 ounces of pork and beans, $2.49 (+2%)
16 ounces of potato chips, $4.90 (+8%)
13-ounce package of chocolate chip cookies, $3.99 (+2%)
½ gallon of ice cream, $5.65 (+7%)
2 pints of strawberries, $4.61 (+1%)
2 ½ quarts of lemonade, $4.19 (+12%)
While a record high, the report detailed that costs have not exceeded the all-time high in 2022 crediting the adaptability of the American farmer. AFBF wrote, “Our volunteer shoppers had their most expensive Fourth of July grocery bill in the history of the survey this year. However, when adjusted for the high inflation rates plaguing the United States in recent years, the real value of their Independence Day party has not surpassed the previous record set in 2022. Though faced with disease outbreaks, inventory shortages and operating challenges, farmers and ranchers have adapted to increased demand across the world for U.S. products, providing safe, affordable food for your Independence Day celebration and every other day, showcasing the resilience of the American food system.”
In an interview with Yahoo Finance’s Jennifer Schonberger, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen made the Biden administration’s case as to why food prices have not noticeably declined despite alleged improvements in the economy. She essentially blamed increased labor costs and grocery store profit margins claiming, “I think largely reflects cost increases including labor cost increases that um firms, um grocery firms have experienced, although there may be some increases in margins.”
On June 20, the Biden White House put out a report based on the most recent Consumer Price Index data alleging that not only “some grocery prices have fallen,” but that “wage growth has been strong, grocery purchasing power is up.”
A survey from Intuit Credit Karma reported by CNBC on June 17 seemed to align with the Farm Bureau’s assessment with 80% of Americans polled stating a noticeable increase in the cost of groceries with many having to skip necessities like rent or mortgage bills to afford food. They wrote, “That includes 28% who sacrificed other needs like rent or bills to pay for groceries, and 27% who occasionally skipped meals. Additionally, 18% have either applied for or considered applying for food stamps, while 15% rely on or have considered turning to food banks.”
Startlingly though, 53% of those asked told pollsters that they “earn too much to qualify” for food stamps or any other government assistance and despite their earnings are still struggling to make ends meet.
In a statement, AFBF President Zippy Duvall said, “As we celebrate this nation’s independence, we also celebrate America’s food independence. And while all families in America are paying more for food than before, we still have one of the most affordable food supplies in the world. In the United States, we are blessed with the tools to grow the food, fiber and renewable fuel to meet the needs of every family across the country.”
Duvall stressed the importance of Congress passing legislation to better support agriculture to ensure the nation remains dominant in the field. “The success of America’s farmers is due in part to partnerships in research, conservation and farm safety net programs that are made possible through a strong farm bill. It’s crucial that as we celebrate the holiday we also urge members of Congress to return to Washington and pass a new, modernized five-year farm bill. We cannot afford more delays and short-term extensions. Farmers, and every family in America, are relying on them to get the job done to ensure America continues to lead the world in agriculture.”
