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

It’s funny how becoming a politician often changes a person’s perspective on government transparency.

I recently contacted the Arizona Legislature and requested that lawmakers start working toward authorization of an Arizona State Border Security Force.

Most Arizonans know that the state faces dire fiscal problems. Yet, it is likely that few Arizonans have heard our state’s gubernatorial or legislative candidates talk about tax and budget policy solutions.

Recently a number of leading evangelicals announced plans to lobby Republican senators in Washington for “comprehensive immigration reform.”

At the Major League Baseball All-Star game on July 13, Commissioner Bud Selig was heavily pressured to move next year’s game from Phoenix because of Arizona’s immigration law.

Our government has allowed criminals to take control of our southern border and through federal action have purposely established the so-called Arizona Corridor. Under the Bush administration, the federal government successfully secured the San Diego, Yuma and El Paso areas, leaving the path of least resistance in the Tucson Sector of the Border Patrol, which is responsible for 268 miles of international border.

Once again, war is being paid for with a credit card while investments in our children's future are tossed aside.

The next Arizona Corporation Commission will determine policies that impact the daily lives of Arizonans perhaps more than most well-known elected offices in the state. Established by the Arizona Constitution, the commission regulates public utilities, corporate filings and securities, and railroad and pipeline safety.

According to a prominent new study, Arizona is winning a race, not to the top but to the bottom: We are about to lead the nation in jobs for high school dropouts. To help reverse this dangerous trend, the state must reshape its higher education system to attract, serve and graduate more college students.

Congress delivered to the President on July 15 a 2,000-page sweeping rewrite of rules governing the financial system, including banking. This is more government than is needed and an intrusion into the free-market system.