Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

Arizonans are watching as the misinformed rhetoric and vitriol obfuscate an issue that close to a million voters made perfectly clear they support. . .twice.

With the “fiscal cliff” behind us, Americans now have a new concern on the horizon — the debt ceiling. The fiscal cliff resulted in an average tax increase of $1,600 per year for most taxpayers, and the impact debt ceiling negotiations will have is still uncertain. In light of the uncertainty, consumers are becoming even more diligent when it comes to their spending and saving habits.

As a Phoenix firefighter for 26 years and the president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Arizona (PFFA), an organization that represents more than 6,700 firefighters statewide, I know quite a bit about “protection.” In fact, protecting others has been the basis of my career.

We know when our opponents do not have a strong argument, they resort to personal attacks and don’t really address the key issue, in this case, clean air. In its hit piece “Sierra Club 'Clearing the Haze' comments undermine its credibility” published March 15 in the Arizona Capitol Times, Arizona Electric Power Cooperative (AEPCO) leaves out key factors regarding the cleanup of its coal-fired Apache Generating Station.

Following on the success of the 2011 ouster of state Senate President Russell Pearce, immigrants’ rights groups and others are now aiming at a more prominent official — Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

As the father of two young boys, I have great respect for the good work of Keep Arizona Drug Free, even as I may disagree with their political punditry, as expressed in the Feb. 22 commentary “Marijuana legalization is far from inevitable.”

SB1421, which will allow Arizona schools to stock epinephrine for use during emergency situations, is introduced at an ideal time and could save lives.

We are disappointed that the Sierra Club chose to misrepresent the facts in the current debate over regional haze controls at Apache Generating Station in southeastern Arizona.

In the days after the 2012 general election, Arizona made national headlines for all the wrong reasons. A large number of provisional and early ballots remained uncounted from election night, and the multi- week process of counting these ballots provided the national media fodder to continue the theme of dysfunction in Arizona government.

There has been plenty of misinformation about a resolution I’ve sponsored that is moving through the legislature, and I am trying to clear it up.