With the primary election upon us, it is time for Liberty Caucus supporters to ensure that everyone we know votes for those candidates most in tune with our sentiments.   In your area, you will know who they are.

While the statewide Republican Liberty Caucus in Arizona remains in its formative stage, no primary endorsements have been made.   This was discussed at the last Board meeting (April) and the issue was just revisited last week.  

In some cases, there are more than one candidate competing for a nomination who would be acceptable to our members.   In others the choice will be clear and in still others, we may have to settle for the best of two or more “evils”.

It is my feeling that as this caucus grows in Arizona, an endorsement will mean something and right now, it is more important to identify individuals across our state willing to organize a formal or informal network of pro-freedom individuals who themselves are willing to enhance their own networks.

The following are my personal observations:

Janet Brewer – our Governor has been saved thanks to the immigration issue, which was not of her making.   She must be reminded that there are a considerable number of Arizonians concerned about spending and taxation.   If she truly intends to take on the federal government over its encroachment of the states, then we will be well served.   If not, we will need to ensure that the Legislature holds her feet to the fire.    Jury’s out.

State Legislative Candidates – personally I prefer new people like Terry Proud in LD26 and Shawanna Bolick in LD11, there are many good people in office who deserve our attention.   If you know of any, as we move to the general, please let us know who they are.   I anticipate we will be asking legislative candidates to complete a questionnaire and their responses will be posted here for all to see.

Congress -  In District 3 it is a free for all and potentially an embarrassment for the party.   Moak, in my opinion is going to win and we should ensure that he is as good as his predecessor way.   There is no birthright, nor should there be, to a Republican nomination for anything and Junior Quayle is learning this.   The danger in this district is that the “good” candidates will split the vote and we will end up with someone not as aligned with our principles.   It is extremely important that those we elect this year are not saying things that are popular for the moment, but truly believe.    That’s our challenge and it’s not always an easy one.

District 8 has gotten nasty and RCL endorsed candidate Brian Miller has withdrawn in favor of Jonathan Paton.  Newcomer Jesse Kelly has worked hard and built a credible grassroots organization.   The troubling issue is it has never been articulated what exactly Paton found wrong with Kelly or Miller.  The party “leaders” recruited Paton in the belief that he will be the stronger candidate against Giffords.  I do not agree.  This is a very different kind of year and newcomers are “in”.    The AZ Board has opted not to select a preference in this race.   My fear – the winner is wounded after the primary and this will only help Giffords.

McCain – I just cannot get over the fact that I blame John McCain for Barack Obama, even though Glen Beck thinks he would have been just as bad.   I am not sure anyone can be as bad as what we now have.  That being said, this race does not give us a great choice.      I do not trust our Senator, if he is re-elected, to hold firm on principles.  He has not in the past and sought acceptance from the media elites.  Perhaps he now realizes that he was duped and used.   I don’t what is in his soul I can only assess on past performance, which has been questionable to say the least.

Please contribute your thoughts and comments so our readers can see where you’re coming from.

by Ed Martin.

I learned early in life that “crap happens” and sometimes there is absolutely nothing one can do to prevent it, despite all the knowledge, planning, precautions, and risk assessments.   In recent times we have seen a number of things “blow”:

1. Katrina: an act of God;
2. The US economic collapse of 2008: triggered by acts of cumulative individual greed and a government policy that insulated people from the ramifications of their own decisions (Fannie and Freddie backing loans for people who had no business borrowing that much;
3. The BP drilling rig in the Gulf:  cause not yet known.

As predictable as ants swarming over a discarded tuna sandwich were the Congressmen and women who held press conferences, pointed fingers, assigned blame, convened hearings, and otherwise pounded the table while looking earnest into the cameras so everyone could know they were on the job and watching our backs.    It doesn’t matter what “crap” happened, this specter is as predicable as sun in Arizona.   It’s enough to make one vomit and question the worth of all these so-called leaders we so naively have entrusted with power.

Janet Napolitano’s comments that BP is not doing enough to stop the spill or address the mess caused me to shut the tube off especially coming on the heels of her statement that the Mexican border is as secure as it has ever been, something she now is totally responsible for.    The “ants” in Washington are now scrambling to hold hearings so they can yell at someone just as they yelled and cursed at Goldman Sachs executives last week.

My observation about all of this is very simple: many of these Congress people we see on television have been around for a long time.    Their job is to ensure that emergency management functions properly when there is a Katrina; political motivations do not compromise normal economic decisions about loan integrity; and to ensure that offshore drilling permits are issued with proper environmental safeguards.   All this is to be done BEFORE there is a crisis and if things didn’t work out then they, as much as anyone else, are to blame.

Frankly I do not yet know what to think of the BP mess in the Gulf other than what matters most right now is to stop the oil from coming out as it currently is.   Government, BP, and everyone else for that matter, should be figuring out a way to stop the 200,000 plus gallons spewing forth each day as fast as possible while trying to contain the slick that will most surely damage our shores, cripple commercial fishing, impact tourism and affect thousands upon thousands of people.   Napolitano’s finger pointing, congressional table pounding, and Obama’s smart alec assignment of blame are sophomoric and nothing more than a low class transparent attempt to insulate themselves from criticism.

But what about us?   This is not about them.   When do they start thinking about the country first?  Where ARE our true leaders?

What is clear is that the current political class is reactive to whatever happens in the news and quick to point the finger at others rather than take a good hard look at what happened, why, and address the question of whether these events were truly “crap” that happened or could they have been prevented if THEY in fact had done a better job at having foresight, wisdom, and knowledge to ensure that those things properly the function of government were working right?

Every day we see examples of how government has screwed something up.   It’s amazing to listen to these politicians throw stones at Arizona on the immigration issue yet continue to absolve themselves for their failure to secure our borders.

While they stand around pointing fingers, I, as an ordinary taxpaying American, would like to know when is it that we will hold these people who work for us accountable.    Hopefully, this year.

By Ed Martin.

Make no mistake about it, there is a civil way underway here in America being fought out without violence but in the hearts and minds of countless Americans who want reform but not the wholesale change promised by the extreme leftists who have spun their way into power.   The upcoming election will be the most important of any of our lives.

The choice is not one between liberals or conservatives or even Democrats or Republicans.  It is a choice between BIG GOVERNMENT and ORDINARY PEOPLE.    It is a choice between those who go-along to get along, regardless of party and those who are willing to stand on principle to combat policies that are destroying individual initiative, strength, and entrepreneurship that have made this country as successful as we have been.

The battle is between government control and individual responsibility.   If those who advocate bigger and stronger government control win, then those of us who have worked hard our entire life so as not to be a burden to anyone else will be tempted to give up and say “why bother?”.  (The Atlas Shrugged syndrome.)

In my humble opinion the strongest candidates for the federal and state legislatures are those who have never run for office before, but are motivated by a true philosophical core that knows that we have been compromised, sold out, and then handed a bill to pay for those who have not been responsible for their own survival in a society that affords us the ability to be all that we can.

We are not victims!   We are Americans.   But the BIG Government types, largely within the Democratic Party (with occasional support from a bunch of lilly livered weaklings in the Republican Party) have convinced literally millions of Americans that they are victims and need to be taken care of.   They promise money they and we don’t have, sinking us into deeper and deeper collective debt.

The Washington based news media has no idea what is going on beyond the Beltway.  They sit around and dismiss the Tea Party movement, buy into the Obama talking points, and discount any real alternative proposal to big government solutions as not serious.   EXCUSE ME!!!!      Have they bothered to take a look at how those big government solutions have utterly failed wherever they have been tried?   Just look at the inner cities where the Democrats have stifled real development, initiative, and private sector job creation.    Why is it that Obama never used the term “Yes We Can” to mobilze people on the Southside of Chicago to create their own jobs, work hard, and read to educate themselves.   Why it is that this slogan was only used when he and his radical cronies sought the ultimate power of the Presidency?

People in America are strong, but too many stopped thinking that way.   Reliance on government solutions will weaken us, entrap us, and ultimately enslave us.   That is the history of BIG GOVERNMENT wherever it has been tried.    I’m voting for the people because I know that if you teach someone a trade they will find work.   I’m voting for the people because I know that if you teach a child to read and to want to read the boundaries of education are endless.   Schools give us a start but the responsibility to become educated rests with us, no one else.   

Bureaucracies need your money to keep going.   Obama has given us no change, only a continuation of the bigger and bigger bureacracies that have been strangling our free enterprise opportunity.

The next election is coming.  Talk to everyone you know and get them engaged.

If the people continue to lose, we will be overrun and then God help us all.